Hmmph... this junior is a good seed [Cultivation Management Quest]

occipitallobe · Oct 2, 2020

Good Seed and Omake Spreadsheet Rules:

Firstly, if you have questions about Good Seeds and the like please read here. If that doesn't answer your question please ping me in thread, or on Discord.

If you write a new Good Seed, or write an omake, please update the spreadsheet if you have access.

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This is mandatory. If a Good Seed does not record their omake by pinging collabs (or just requesting access and editing things themselves - this is the preferred option), I won't give out awards. If a new Good Seed is not recorded here, they won't advance. By doing this it makes the whole thing manageable for me - it's gotten pretty unwieldy!

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Omake Writer Instructions:

There are four fields you need to fill out.

Omake Link, which is just a link to your first omake for the turn. This makes it easier for me to read them as I do the update - without this it's tough to know off the bat which omake were written this turn, and to properly

Requested Bonus, which is your requested bonus for your omake. You can leave it up to me if you like. You can see more info in the Good Seed infopost here.

Cultivation Aims. For those following unorthodox paths - higher than 9th Heavenstage or later than 7th Dao Pillar paths. Please put in what you are aiming for before you break through. I have left it as 'default'. If you do not edit it, I'll go with that.

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All other fields are for QM use to record character information to properly run the flow of the game.

uri · Sep 21, 2020

Hey @occipitallobe , reading Alectai omake brought a question to my mind, what happens when an attack that can shatter any defense in a great realm (like my hand of immortal steel) meats a defense that can defend against all attacks in the same great realm (like Alectai magical cauldron)?

Do they cancel each other out? Dos the person with more Qi to full the attack/ defense wins?

occipitallobe · Sep 21, 2020

uri said:
Hey @occipitallobe , reading Alectai omake brought a question to my mind, what happens when an attack that can shatter any defense in a great realm (like my hand of immortal steel) meats a defense that can defend against all attacks in the same great realm (like Alectai magical cauldron)?

Do they cancel each other out? Dos the person with more Qi to full the attack/ defense wins?

It's not absolute. 'Can shatter any defense in the same great realm' isn't always true, but it is 999 times out of a thousand.

Alectai said:
Okay, seriously, what the fuck?

Are the Devil Bees known for their skill with Formations? Presumably not or we wouldn't have been caught out this badly by them.

The Devil Bees have never been known to use formations at all. Being able to use a Formation of this scale and might is completely outside of what any reasonable observer would have expected from them.

Gore17 · Sep 21, 2020

occipitallobe said:
The Devil Bees have never been known to use formations at all. Being able to use a Formation of this scale and might is completely outside of what any reasonable observer would have expected from them.

Yeah, that's twice in a century we've had to deal with a Blood Path Sect suddenly expanding, gaining new powers and stabbing us in the kidneys. So we're currently as coincidence. Now, the waiting game to see if number 3 appears.

Regardless, 3 possibilities appear:
1) There's been an undetected reshuffling of the Sect, and this new technique is a symptom of that.
2) This was the secret project, whether of the Sect as a whole or a very talented individual, seeking to improve the Sects power through an unexpected avenue.
3) As noted by the above pattern, we may have someone helping them in secret. The bigger question is, if so, are they after us specifically, or are they just trying to enhance Blood Path Sects in general. Or maybe even just doing it in exchange for payment.

Incidentally, the update mentioned they might have been using this to win their recent victories. If they did, is us not hearing reasonable due to being a isolationist Clan stuck in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere that nobody likes, or would we probably have heard of it being used?

Edit: Thought I just had. What odds does everyone give to it being a plot of Demonic Altar Sect, using members of the other Blood Path Sects as both testers for their own stuff, while also causing trouble that would hopefully improve their own odds? The Abyssal Bee and Battle Blood Sects are in prime position to interfere with the Spirit Stone trade, something which the Strength Purity Sect is very eager to keep intact and flowing.

occipitallobe · Sep 21, 2020

The previous vote is still Open.

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Manuel stalked back and forth. Disaster. Should he take the field? Should he not? Both had merits and demerits.

There was a notion he was fond of, when he had entered the Bell of Shen-Ji and gambled with the wood demons there.

'Stealing silver from a Nascent Soul.'

He had been a mere Foundation Building lad at the time, and the notion was simple. Steal silver from out under the nose of a Nascent Soul. It was likely to succeed, for such things did not interest the powerful, but if you raised the ire of such a being, your ruin was absolute. The chance of success was very high, but the risk could be disastrous.

He had done so, and in the end had been forced to escape, trading his hand for a hand of wood. He had managed to regrow it in time, but the thought had stuck with him ever since. A hundred victories could be wiped out in one defeat.

This was his dilemma. If he took to the field, it would be easy enough to rectify things and repel the Devil Bees. Unless...

The thought was not completed, but he knew the risk. If he died without a successor, it would be the end of the Clan. But the Clan was constantly bleeding from a thousand cuts - to do nothing might be the end of the Clan, but slower. It was no easy choice.

As he paced, he tried to make sense of the situation. The thing that had struck him as peculiar was the invasion to begin with. Why did the Devil Bees invade? Even with a glorious victory, they could not have won merits sufficient to outdo their costs. Why? To remove a portion of their disciples? Senseless, they had gained the biggest influx of wealth for millennia. If anything, they should have simply waited another fifty years and struck after the Trials. Far more sensible, and also why he hadn't seen it coming. There was something he was missing.

A knock came at the door.

"Yes?", Manuel snapped.

"It is Nikephoros Theophylaktos, Archegetes. He states there is news of great import."

Manuel waved the man in. Nikephoros had been flitting back and forth for days, now, treating every piece of information around Aikaterine's death as crucial. It frustrated him, being reminded of the depths of his failure, but it could not be changed. An alliance with a rising star, tying her closer into the Clan, being able to draw on the full resources of the Callista family, and gaining the likeliest talent for Protostrator in the years to come... all fallen apart in a moment. Whoever he chose after this would be a mere stopgap, picking someone to fill the shoes and get themselves acquainted with the Legions quickly for the Trials to come.

Still, that was no reason to antagonise his former apprentice. Manuel closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a moment, a concession to his rising stress.

Nikephoros entered, shaved bald. That much was new.

"Nikephoros. What news."

"The Seven Divine Saber Palace, Archegetes!", Nikephoros near-shouted.

Manuel looked at him curiously.

"Speak more plainly."

Nikephoros took a breath, allowing his face to settle into a semblance of calm, though his words came at lightning speed.

"I have found out- found out the cause of things. I believe I have pieced together the events leading to the Devil Bee invasion."

Manuel pulled up a chair.

"Sit. I will call for tea. I think we will both need it, and this is no time to speak hastily, or make mistakes."

A few minutes later they were sipping on some fine tea, an infusion of jasmine into leaves grown on a plant that in turn lived on an old Earth Tortoise. A truly excellent brew.

As their heartbeats slowed, Manuel gestured.

"Speak."

Nikephoros had gathered his thoughts.

"The Devil Bees clearly used their new formation to shatter defenses and kill unprepared enemies in the Verdant South. I do not know why the various Powers there did not warn one another - one assumes none of them wished to be the only one laid waste to."

They both snorted at the hypocrisy of the Righteous Path.

"Or perhaps they merely used it the once against the Seven Divine Saber Palace. I am unsure. Still, they returned, laden with treasures and lives. More treasures than I could have ever expected. Secret arts, a magical Blood Saber technique I believe you yourself bore witness to. Why?"

Manuel gestured again, not wishing to answer the rhetorical question.

"The Seven Divine Saber Palace. Only hints, but enough to piece together the truth. Why did the Devil Bees leave so handily? Why did they lose a Nascent Soul? Tribute is the answer for the first, and treachery over the tribute likely the second. For the assistance in settling internal disputes, the Devil Bees found themselves paid generously to invade Clan territory. I suspect the more they take, the more they gain. The Saber Palace gains a much-needed reprieve, and settles accounts with two of its sworn enemies at once. I do not know who fed Child Corpse Gulper that technique, but imagine if you were badly wounded. Such a war would be a disaster for the Clan, even at the cost of Corpse Gulper's life. Such a disaster would mean war to the knife with us and the Devil Bees, war for decades and perhaps centuries as we fought to reclaim our lands. The Devil Bees would be preoccupied seizing their new territory, and pouring resources into it."

Manuel's eyes widened, and he spoke.

"And in the meantime, the Seven Divine Saber Palace benefits. How did you find this out, Nikephoros?"

The other man looked uncomfortable.

"A Saber Palace Elder's son is known to be a lecher with strange tastes in men, and I happened to make a Qi Condensation clone that-"

Manuel cut him off with a wave of the hand as Nikephoros's face reddened a little.

"It is no humiliation. Well done. I have not said this in a long time, apprentice - no, Parakoimomenos - but you have been worthy of my trust. Thank you for the work you have done. As a reward..."

He let his voice trail off, eliciting a response Nikephoros had not spoken in nearly a century.

They spoke in unison. "More blood, more sweat, and even more work!"

Manuel sighed.

"There will certainly be more work in the future. This does not change the task ahead of us, but at least we know why the Devil Bees are invading. I suspect they are being paid either by the kill, or by the seizure of territory. This necessitates a heavily defensive war. Let them ravage the lands around us, and we will protect what can be held. With a little time I should be able to divine how they are being paid, and then it is simply a matter of targeting their bottom line."

Nikephoros left. Manuel chuckled. Having to use a clone to seduce some arrogant young master... well, he had never had the luxury of using a clone, but only a fool dispensed with any of the means at hand. Nikephoros had been so embarrassed, though. Honestly. In Core Formation and embarrassed about a simple seduction, his former apprentice was such a child.

(I had originally planned for the good Intrigue roll to come as a report in the Council meeting, but it seemed to flow better to get the results mid-War after a disaster.)

Olivebirdy · Sep 21, 2020

[X] Draft a new Protostrator - There are no true excellent candidates, but plenty who could be well-tempered. Get the best Core Formation Elder and raise them to Protostrator. You'll need to do this eventually, and this will give them plenty of experience. It is likely to draw out the war, though, and command will be difficult as they will need to accustom themselves to their new position mid-war.

Gore17 · Sep 21, 2020

Well, never mind my speculation. It was indeed the Saber Palace's acting as the enemy. I don't suppose this info being made public in a way that they couldn't deny would actually hurt them, would it? /tone of resigned unbelieving

occipitallobe · Sep 21, 2020

Gore17 said:
Well, never mind my speculation. It was indeed the Saber Palace's acting as the enemy. I don't suppose this info being made public in a way that they couldn't deny would actually hurt them, would it? /tone of resigned unbelieving

The problem you always have is that the Saber Palace paying off a Demonic Power to go hurt another Demonic Power is practically saintly behaviour. Nobody in the Righteous Path is going to openly object to them using another Demonic power to try and murder you. If you were a Righteous Power and this went public the Saber Palace would be in an incredible amount of trouble.

But one of the core rules of the Righteous Path is 'fuck the Demonic Path'.

Gore17 · Sep 21, 2020

occipitallobe said:
The problem you always have is that the Saber Palace paying off a Demonic Power to go hurt another Demonic Power is practically saintly behaviour. Nobody in the Righteous Path is going to openly object to them using another Demonic power to try and murder you. If you were a Righteous Power and this went public the Saber Palace would be in an incredible amount of trouble.

But one of the core rules of the Righteous Path is 'fuck the Demonic Path'.

You know, I'm curious, are the rules and division between Righteous/Demonic they follow cultural or due to the heavens? Because we see with the Ninth Prince the use of snakes, which involve venom/poison. So was Ninth Prince Demonic over on the 5th Sea, or is that just a thing for this Region/Sea?

uri · Sep 21, 2020

occipitallobe said:
The problem you always have is that the Saber Palace paying off a Demonic Power to go hurt another Demonic Power is practically saintly behaviour. Nobody in the Righteous Path is going to openly object to them using another Demonic power to try and murder you. If you were a Righteous Power and this went public the Saber Palace would be in an incredible amount of trouble

what if we try to make the righteous powers spies get to the conclusion that the saber palace paid the devil bees to raid them and are using the fact that they paying the devil bees to attack us, to slip in payments for raiding their fellow righteous powers(even if we need to fake some stuff)?

Mochinator · Sep 21, 2020

Alectai said:
"Ah, poor Nana" The pot--Muqin Guo--seemed to dip. "She was a good girl once, you know? But then she got involved in that big war and just got rotten. She wasn't even talking to me at the end--just too occupied with that Saint Treasure they offered her for actively fighting." It seemed to perk up at that. "But it is what it is, at least I got a good long nap in the meantime. Besides! I got a nice cute new master to protect now!"

"Umm. I'm flattered?" Rina added. "I'm not really an alchemist though if that's something you do too…"

"Oh nonsense, sure, I'm a superlative cauldron after all--and I certainly love the process of doing so. But how many people pick it up as a side path? Plenty! It's just the process of throwing all kinds of shady materials together and cooking it up at temperatures most would consider unnatural!"

"The fact you describe it that way causes me some concern…" Rina muses, but giggles a bit. "If you'll follow me then, my name is Rina Callista"

"Oooh, that's a new naming scheme!" Muqin Guo mused. "I guess you poor folk got settled in eventually? Good! Everyone deserves a nice home of their own to enjoy, and people were just so nasty when you showed up! It'd be nicer if everyone could get along--but there's just so many bruised egos. I hope you won't be doing that yours

Well, now i get the impression of Grandma Chef from Monhun World taking care of Rina. " Here here deary, have some soup i brewed to keep you warm and toasty "

Alectai said:
"Huh, it would be mean to just leave them behind." Rina agrees, and kneels over the fire--which shrunk back a little. She frowns, and says. "I'm not going to hurt you! I promise!"

It stays shrunk back at first, but slowly inches forward. It licks at Rina's fingers--extended towards it, and seems surprised when they don't catch fire.

"Aww, you're such a nice girl!" Muqin Guo gushes. "It seems to like you!"

Again, CUTE. In keeping with the Grandma Chef image, she now has the small assistants that preps the dishes and serves!

FixerUpper said:
As for the cool thing, could this go towards a Keiros-developed array of some sort? I'm not too fussed as to the details though the thing I had in mind was an array that repaired fortifications. It hence requires an interface that monitors the condition of the actual fortification and then a main array which activates to seal gaps with materials generated by spirit stone or beast core. That's a bit of a longer-term project for him, so his initial array night only be the successful development of an accurate monitoring array that could double as a sort of early warning detection system.

Sorry, I'm... not sure if I'm asking for the right Cool Things at this point. I can't tell if I'm asking for too much or too little.

Usually, Cool Things Bonus are more passive stuff that help the Good Seed, so while i guess your example is fine it's a bit vague on how it it can affect Keiros on a personal level ? Maybe narrow it down to a array that prevents him from being ambushed from cultivators of his level and gradually build it up via future omakes ?

occipitallobe said:
"The Seven Divine Saber Palace. Only hints, but enough to piece together the truth. Why did the Devil Bees leave so handily? Why did they lose a Nascent Soul? Tribute is the answer for the first, and treachery over the tribute likely the second. For the assistance in settling internal disputes, the Devil Bees found themselves paid generously to invade Clan territory. I suspect the more they take, the more they gain. The Saber Palace gains a much-needed reprieve, and settles accounts with two of its sworn enemies at once. I do not know who fed Child Corpse Gulper that technique, but imagine if you were badly wounded. Such a war would be a disaster for the Clan, even at the cost of Corpse Gulper's life. Such a disaster would mean war to the knife with us and the Devil Bees, war for decades and perhaps centuries as we fought to reclaim our lands. The Devil Bees would be preoccupied seizing their new territory, and pouring resources into it."

Manuel's eyes widened, and he spoke.

"And in the meantime, the Seven Divine Saber Palace benefits. How did you find this out, Nikephoros?"

Oh wow, it really was the Saber Palace.

FixerUpper · Sep 21, 2020

Mochinator said:
Usually, Cool Things Bonus are more passive stuff that help the Good Seed, so while i guess your example is fine it's a bit vague on how it it can affect Keiros on a personal level ? Maybe narrow it down to a array that prevents him from being ambushed from cultivators of his level and gradually build it up via future omakes ?

So like being an array savant as opposed to inventing a specific array? Also, I was under the impression arrays weren't quite so... portable.

Chronic · Sep 21, 2020

Gore17 said:
You know, I'm curious, are the rules and division between Righteous/Demonic they follow cultural or due to the heavens? Because we see with the Ninth Prince the use of snakes, which involve venom/poison. So was Ninth Prince Demonic over on the 5th Sea, or is that just a thing for this Region/Sea?

I'd wager its cultural, because apparently Blood Path didn't exist until Demonic Soup Chefs rise, and the suppression of Blood Path users is the heart of the Righteous/Demonic divide, everything else just seems tacked on. The divide may not even exist in seas that DSC never visisted.

veekie · Sep 21, 2020

[X] Draft a new Protostrator - There are no true excellent candidates, but plenty who could be well-tempered. Get the best Core Formation Elder and raise them to Protostrator. You'll need to do this eventually, and this will give them plenty of experience. It is likely to draw out the war, though, and command will be difficult as they will need to accustom themselves to their new position mid-war.

Faraway-R · Sep 21, 2020

@occipitallobe since the question is one that many are probably asking - is there a way to remove the Bad Karmic Luck from the Clan?

Katana1515 · Sep 21, 2020

Those are some harsh losses, putting it mildly. We might have to make some difficult choices if we are going to be ready for the Trials.

[X] Take Command - This will replace your Action for the turn and risk escalating the matter, as well as weaken you elsewhere. Still, you are the best commander in the Clan bar none, and you are confident that with your personal intervention the war will be easily won. Don't take the field directly, though - keep yourself off the field for a potential counterstrike against enemy Nascent Souls.

We can't afford to let this war drag on into the next turn. Hopefully deploying Manuel will get us there.

mastigos · Sep 21, 2020

occipitallobe said:
This necessitates a heavily defensive war. Let them ravage the lands around us, and we will protect what can be held. With a little time I should be able to divine how they are being paid, and then it is simply a matter of targeting their bottom line.

What about maybe setting up instances of the new array to increase their attrition even more by annihilating all of them in a city at a given time?

FixerUpper · Sep 21, 2020

[X] Draft a new Protostrator - There are no true excellent candidates, but plenty who could be well-tempered. Get the best Core Formation Elder and raise them to Protostrator. You'll need to do this eventually, and this will give them plenty of experience. It is likely to draw out the war, though, and command will be difficult as they will need to accustom themselves to their new position mid-war.

occipitallobe · Sep 21, 2020

Faraway-R said:
@occipitallobe since the question is one that many are probably asking - is there a way to remove the Bad Karmic Luck from the Clan?

Yes. Time.

It used to be much worse - the Clan once nearly ruled the Turtle World and challenged the Heavens themselves, and the punishment was not light.

However, the more Heaven exerts itself to bring ruin to the Clan, the less it is inclined to do so in future. Whenever Heaven tilts the scales against you, the curse is weakened just a tiny amount.

uri · Sep 21, 2020

@occipitallobe Can we do what I purposed? Try to make righteous powers spies in the saber palace believe the saber palace are using the fact they are paying the devil bees to attack us as cover for paying them to attack their fellow righteous powers?

Mochinator · Sep 21, 2020

FixerUpper said:
So like being an array savant as opposed to inventing a specific array? Also, I was under the impression arrays weren't quite so... portable.

Not exactly, like being an Array Savant is along the lines of the Unique point of the Good Seed. This would be a specific array that acts as a radar so to speak.

And as for array, it depends i believe. While there are huge arrays, there are also ones that are engraved into metal plates and thrown to activate. Think of it as the Seals from Naruto. You can go and do stuff like seal a Jinnchurriki which needs a big array or do battlefield stuff like prep and throw an explosive tag.

@occipitallobe quick question about the Secret Realm, maybe my interpretation is wrong but since Rina got out without using a Life-saving Treasure, is it right to assume that the rolls will go until either they need to use that treasure or the roll is so average that nothing happens ?

TimEd · Sep 21, 2020

[X] Draft a new Protostrator - There are no true excellent candidates, but plenty who could be well-tempered. Get the best Core Formation Elder and raise them to Protostrator. You'll need to do this eventually, and this will give them plenty of experience. It is likely to draw out the war, though, and command will be difficult as they will need to accustom themselves to their new position mid-war.

This changes things. We need to STALL, STALL, STALL.

If we go to the field, 100% certaintly we will be met with a Nascent Soul, while a Saber Palace Nascent Soul attacks our home base.

We need the flexibility allowed by having a Prostrator. We do not want to be too paralized to not strike back, either on the Bees or Swords. Pure Defense will bleed us too much too close to the Trials.

No7sHere · Sep 21, 2020

[X] Draft a new Protostrator - There are no true excellent candidates, but plenty who could be well-tempered. Get the best Core Formation Elder and raise them to Protostrator. You'll need to do this eventually, and this will give them plenty of experience. It is likely to draw out the war, though, and command will be difficult as they will need to accustom themselves to their new position mid-war.

Mochinator · Sep 21, 2020

Idle musings, but with the confirmation that the Saber Place is really out to get us, i'm seriously considering making a Cool Thing Bonus that will drive conflict between my Good Seed and the Palace.

Something along the lines of a lost saber art, with the idea that the 1st cool thing bonus unlocks 1 passive, the 2nd another one and so on. Adding a bit of Cultivation technique milestones to it.

Roughly, it would be called something like Eclipse Saber Scripture with the 1 bonus being a art that brings forth a Golden Yang Saber, the 2nd a Silver Yin Saber and the last combining them for the Eclipse saber.

I can come up with stuff for the Yang Saber in the from of heat, flames etc, but Yin is vague enough that i have trouble coming up with some thematic

moon-llama · Sep 21, 2020

Mochinator said:
Idle musings, but with the confirmation that the Saber Place is really out to get us, i'm seriously considering making a Cool Thing Bonus that will drive conflict between my Good Seed and the Palace.

Something along the lines of a lost saber art, with the idea that the 1st cool thing bonus unlocks 1 passive, the 2nd another one and so on. Adding a bit of Cultivation technique milestones to it.

Roughly, it would be called something like Eclipse Saber Scripture with the 1 bonus being a art that brings forth a Golden Yang Saber, the 2nd a Silver Yin Saber and the last combining them for the Eclipse saber.

I can come up with stuff for the Yang Saber in the from of heat, flames etc, but Yin is vague enough that i have trouble coming up with some thematic

yin is usually more about death dark and cold think winter vs summer.
so if the yang saber is about flames light and heat you could make the yin saber be about cold ice and shadows

Gore17 · Sep 21, 2020

Mirages would be my suggestion. Stuff that makes it hard to tell where you/the sword is.

Hmmph... this junior is a good seed [Cultivation Management Quest]

mook.

Protect the weak against the evil strong.

Protect the weak against the evil strong.

Meteor maker

Protect the weak against the evil strong.