Mother Nyx
Mother of Elpis
- Location
- The Kei Klub
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[] Hanyi, whose nature was a key to the mission. (Increase group social cohesion)
Look guys, talking is a free action.
Look guys, talking is a free action.
Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- Leeds
Yes Cui wants to play.
- Location
- Canada
I feel like what the "friendly" option gave us was the insight into Xian Lin's nature, where the formal option would have given us less of that, but maybe more knowledge about her strength.
NoxOfUmbra
Shadow of the night
- Location
- Colombia, South América
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Hanyi, whose nature was a key to the mission. (Increase group social cohesion)
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globalwarmth
ruining the weather.
- Location
- Polar ice caps
holy shit, was that methane clathrate ?
*considers Liming, and the piece of it infused into Renxiang*
It's unlikely that the halberd has as much of a supermode like Liming, but this strikes me as something Shenhua would like in her personal elite strike force — the capability to artificially elevate themselves into higher cultivation to punch up.
Also, probably the source of the weird perfect synchronicity they showed last update. Bonding with a weapon, and vice versa, that's just like the other weapons in their regiment, provides a good basis for sublimating your individuality behind a group.
- Location
- Finland
AAAAAAAAAAARGH!
Why u do tis?
How are we supposed to pick between our babies.
- Location
- Somewhere
Ah, Ling Qi casually being a wraith. Love to see it.
Heh. Ling Qi, that's not supposed to be normal, you silly girl.
Children, even ones with super powers, should not play around with chemistry. Good thing they can both take an explosion
Given that Xia Lin doesn't believe she will play a significant role socially, instead acting as a bodyguard, maybe combat synergy would be best this once. We probably don't want to put all our cards in the social basket if Yrs says there will be multiple votes affecting rolls, there'll probably be more appropriate. Especially if the rolls won't affect the meeting itself.
Hanyi was at the forefront last arc so maybe we want to give Zhengui some narrative attention. Or it might be best to give her a double for the meeting before we focus on Zhengui. Zhengui will definitely have multiple scenes Gardening during turns 12-13 and Hanyi will likely also play a role in creating FSS+ turn 13 onward. So really I don't think either one is going to be forgotten the next few months.
Hanyi was at the forefront last arc so maybe we want to give Zhengui some narrative attention. Or it might be best to give her a double for the meeting before we focus on Zhengui. Zhengui will definitely have multiple scenes Gardening during turns 12-13 and Hanyi will likely also play a role in creating FSS+ turn 13 onward. So really I don't think either one is going to be forgotten the next few months.
- Location
- UK
Hmm, based on Xia Lin's position best guess is that her focus on Meizhen is her trying to sort out an unknown element. Based on her given mission Ling Qi, as Cai Renxiang's retainer, goes right next to the Young Mistress as 'VIP to bodyguard' and there's very little that would move Ling Qi out of that box, but Meizhen is currently an unknown element, and either through elemental affinity (steel, orderly etc), an art or just general military training Xia Lin will try to place unknown elements into boxes to determine how to proceed (asset, threat, bystander etc).
Or maybe she's just curious. Her comment on treating spirit beasts as family implies something, whatever is going on there..
Dry ice? That's interesting, wonder where that might end up leading to. And explosive ice too. Sounds like fun times.
Black Noise
Curious
- Location
- About 1AU from Sol
I like the cross-play between Meizhen and LQ letting the two get a better read on Xia Lin and make her more comfortable at the same time. Also like Lin looking at LQ's spirits and mentally going "2+2=5...?"
- Location
- Europe
[] Hanyi, whose nature was a key to the mission. (Increase group social cohesion)
This ties Xia Lin into our social team, which could be very useful, and also gives Meizhen and Zhen some space to set up a play date with Cui.
Given that we're planning to enter a social battlefield having social cohesion will be essential, do not underestimate it.
This ties Xia Lin into our social team, which could be very useful, and also gives Meizhen and Zhen some space to set up a play date with Cui.
Given that we're planning to enter a social battlefield having social cohesion will be essential, do not underestimate it.
Mentioned most of this in the discord, but my take on Xia Lin and her interest in Meizhen, plus those complicated feelings regarding spirits on clan rolls basically amounts to this:
I suspect that when General Xia went knee deep into the Shenhua camp that involved dragging her clan by its hairs away from their tribal traditions and also probably the murder of any dissidents.
If the clan used to have spirits among their clan rolls, those were probably among said dissidents.
Furthermore, I suspect Xia Lin herself is actually rather curious about her own tribal heritage and effectively lost traditions and culture.
Part of the issue being that there's not much in terms of safe ways to express this cause it's both going against current clan policy and it's generally gonna get you looked down on by all the peakaboos around court.
Enter Meizhen, who comes from one of the few clans whose pre-imperial, non-peakaboo traditions and culture is not only alive and well and whose traditions you not only can't afford to offend because the Bai will fucking murder you, but who you are actively encouraged to make nice with by the current political situation.
Basically Meizhen is the perfect way to explore non-peakaboo interests in a safe and justifiable manner.
I suspect that when General Xia went knee deep into the Shenhua camp that involved dragging her clan by its hairs away from their tribal traditions and also probably the murder of any dissidents.
If the clan used to have spirits among their clan rolls, those were probably among said dissidents.
Furthermore, I suspect Xia Lin herself is actually rather curious about her own tribal heritage and effectively lost traditions and culture.
Part of the issue being that there's not much in terms of safe ways to express this cause it's both going against current clan policy and it's generally gonna get you looked down on by all the peakaboos around court.
Enter Meizhen, who comes from one of the few clans whose pre-imperial, non-peakaboo traditions and culture is not only alive and well and whose traditions you not only can't afford to offend because the Bai will fucking murder you, but who you are actively encouraged to make nice with by the current political situation.
Basically Meizhen is the perfect way to explore non-peakaboo interests in a safe and justifiable manner.
- Location
- UK
I wonder, did noone brief her on the Xuanwu?
"This is Baroness Ling, she is a darkness/mist/ice cultivator who through a spirit teacher may be distant kin to the White Sky."
"Understood."
"This is Hanyi, she is the daughter of aforementioned spirit teacher and an ice spirit herself, also perhaps kin to White Sky, treated as younger sister by Baroness Ling."
"Makes sense."
"This is Sixiang, immaterial muse of the Dreaming Moon."
"Huh?"
"Baroness Ling is also a moon cultivator."
"Oh. Right. Darkness. Okay, that also makes sense."
"This is Zhengui. He is a Xuanwu."
"What."
"Of a previously undiscovered wood/fire breed.
"But-"
"He is also called little brother by Baroness Ling."
Error 404 Lin Xia has stopped working. Please contact your nearest Cai Administrator.
- Location
- The Space Between
this went much better than expected! Which, for me, was doom and gloom because I'm a dour sort that's spent too much time in dwarf quests.
Xia Lin is a normal human. The Cai Arms and Armor are what creates the incredibly potent Social Shell around Xia Lin. Excellent. Her Halberd is an item spirit attuned to Xia Lin? Cool!
it seems pretty clear that she had a bad time with a fit of mad spirits. This is good to know about, because the Ice Ladies are particularly terrifying spirits and we might need to mmm. Smooth things out. Seems like she has a good affinity/like for Spirit Beasts though, and was interested in the wild places.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So you know how Old Tribe culture like Alingge has some pretty serious Bonds with their Spirit Beast companion? She mentioned that the White Plumes do not Bond with their mounts. Her Halberd is Bonded with her.
Think about this idea:
Old Tribe bonding techniques, used on Item Spirits instead of Spirit Beasts. We know that the Barbs Souls are fused and mixed with their partner to the degree they are the same, but beasts are wildly varied and life of their own. Item Spirits? Item Spirits are made of Tools. Often Metal. Sometimes Wood.
Imperials purge cultures. That's what they do.
If Xia Ren took the initiative and shifted their culture from a very frowned upon practice seen as "too close to barbarism, we should really bring them into the fold" to a "wow look at those goodbarbarians citizens. See those Old Tribes? Those are some of the good ones. We support them" while still maintaining the cultural knowledge (and judging by Xia Lin, perhaps cultural values as well) she could have gotten out in front of it.
The White Plumes and support for the Rushing Cloud Sect allows the Old Tribes to have political clout in the Emerald Seas, especially among the Imperial factions that might want to dominate them. This is better than the Weilu, who have definitely sought to dominate them more than once. With armor crafted to provide social-screens, they can avoid seeming anything but professional and effective at their job. Since the Old Tribes primary desire is to be left alone, but they are aware that "alone" is a dangerous place to be, now they have a consistent political inroad that allows them to dictate terms of engagement while not bothering any overmuch with their professionalism and competence combined with the fact that not every White Plume will be Old Tribe. Other groups will have their children join with them, unknowingly engage in new versions of their old rituals, and come to accept their comrades in arms in a way that they can communicate to their clans should they retire (or visit, or socialize).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The method by which Shenhua's crafts feed on their user seems to be part of the uniqueness of her Item Spirit Cheat. By feeding on the user explicitly, they can accelerate their growth magnitudes higher than having to actualize from ambient qi or fully-forming-from-the-crafting-itself. These things are supposed to take anywhere from many decades to millennia and Dress-Chan will probably wake up in under 5 years. That's nuts.
Her method of bonding object-spirit to user could be similar to the mechanics the Old Tribe use with their Spirit Beasts. It would explain where she got the inspiration, and it's probably a different cheat from the White Rooms and Power-Leveling.
So that's my cactus-theory on Xia Ren's Old Tribes, Shenhua's Object-Spirit-Cheat, and the White Plumes ability to personalize (through their weapon) while remaining cohesive (through their armors). Not only do they get equipped with top quality modern object-spirits, but one of them (armor) increases cohesion and provides social screens while the other (weapon) allows the individual to grow and specialize without disrupting the unit. An elegant solution to regimented combat in a setting of individuality-empowered fighters
Xia Lin is a normal human. The Cai Arms and Armor are what creates the incredibly potent Social Shell around Xia Lin. Excellent. Her Halberd is an item spirit attuned to Xia Lin? Cool!
it seems pretty clear that she had a bad time with a fit of mad spirits. This is good to know about, because the Ice Ladies are particularly terrifying spirits and we might need to mmm. Smooth things out. Seems like she has a good affinity/like for Spirit Beasts though, and was interested in the wild places.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So you know how Old Tribe culture like Alingge has some pretty serious Bonds with their Spirit Beast companion? She mentioned that the White Plumes do not Bond with their mounts. Her Halberd is Bonded with her.
Think about this idea:
Old Tribe bonding techniques, used on Item Spirits instead of Spirit Beasts. We know that the Barbs Souls are fused and mixed with their partner to the degree they are the same, but beasts are wildly varied and life of their own. Item Spirits? Item Spirits are made of Tools. Often Metal. Sometimes Wood.
Imperials purge cultures. That's what they do.
If Xia Ren took the initiative and shifted their culture from a very frowned upon practice seen as "too close to barbarism, we should really bring them into the fold" to a "wow look at those good
The White Plumes and support for the Rushing Cloud Sect allows the Old Tribes to have political clout in the Emerald Seas, especially among the Imperial factions that might want to dominate them. This is better than the Weilu, who have definitely sought to dominate them more than once. With armor crafted to provide social-screens, they can avoid seeming anything but professional and effective at their job. Since the Old Tribes primary desire is to be left alone, but they are aware that "alone" is a dangerous place to be, now they have a consistent political inroad that allows them to dictate terms of engagement while not bothering any overmuch with their professionalism and competence combined with the fact that not every White Plume will be Old Tribe. Other groups will have their children join with them, unknowingly engage in new versions of their old rituals, and come to accept their comrades in arms in a way that they can communicate to their clans should they retire (or visit, or socialize).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The method by which Shenhua's crafts feed on their user seems to be part of the uniqueness of her Item Spirit Cheat. By feeding on the user explicitly, they can accelerate their growth magnitudes higher than having to actualize from ambient qi or fully-forming-from-the-crafting-itself. These things are supposed to take anywhere from many decades to millennia and Dress-Chan will probably wake up in under 5 years. That's nuts.
Her method of bonding object-spirit to user could be similar to the mechanics the Old Tribe use with their Spirit Beasts. It would explain where she got the inspiration, and it's probably a different cheat from the White Rooms and Power-Leveling.
So that's my cactus-theory on Xia Ren's Old Tribes, Shenhua's Object-Spirit-Cheat, and the White Plumes ability to personalize (through their weapon) while remaining cohesive (through their armors). Not only do they get equipped with top quality modern object-spirits, but one of them (armor) increases cohesion and provides social screens while the other (weapon) allows the individual to grow and specialize without disrupting the unit. An elegant solution to regimented combat in a setting of individuality-empowered fighters
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Since rolls will be about the journey, and the mission will be pure narrative:
[] Zhengui who shared some of her combat roles. (Increase group combat synergy)
[] Zhengui who shared some of her combat roles. (Increase group combat synergy)
- Location
- CA
[] Zhengui who shared some of her combat roles. (Increase group combat synergy)
I think that this is where gains will likely have the most effect. When it comes to social cohesion, I see two primary dividends:
1) improved cooperation during the trip, when discussing within the group how to proceed, and
2) decreased odds of allies "breaking ranks" and reacting individually if any aspect of the talks goes south.
And it feels like both of those potential problems can be socially bludgeoned into compliance with CRX's status and CRX's Duchess-given role on this expedition. Sure, that means that the social gains will be lower, but that's only in isolation, where we do equally well in both possibility buckets and higher social cohesion gives a social exp bonus. Others aren't going to be leading during the actual talks; the closest they'll come is the Meng member of the party, but I expect 99% of his assistance will be in prepping. It doesn't look good if you pause mid-conversation to confer with your historical advisor.
Increased combat synergy, meanwhile, means that we're in better shape at the end of the journey, which lets us project more strength and lets us act with greater composure during the actual meeting. It means that if there's any sort of trial-by-combat, or if some element in their camp goes rogue, or if some other barbarian faction crashes the party, then we're able to better succeed. It has more material effect on the outcome, and better outcomes will yield greater social dividends, especially in light of the possible consequences for failure.
This isn't do-or-die for Ling Qi's social ambitions, but failing here means failing on a large scale and failing in public. It's a good time to be careful.
I think that this is where gains will likely have the most effect. When it comes to social cohesion, I see two primary dividends:
1) improved cooperation during the trip, when discussing within the group how to proceed, and
2) decreased odds of allies "breaking ranks" and reacting individually if any aspect of the talks goes south.
And it feels like both of those potential problems can be socially bludgeoned into compliance with CRX's status and CRX's Duchess-given role on this expedition. Sure, that means that the social gains will be lower, but that's only in isolation, where we do equally well in both possibility buckets and higher social cohesion gives a social exp bonus. Others aren't going to be leading during the actual talks; the closest they'll come is the Meng member of the party, but I expect 99% of his assistance will be in prepping. It doesn't look good if you pause mid-conversation to confer with your historical advisor.
Increased combat synergy, meanwhile, means that we're in better shape at the end of the journey, which lets us project more strength and lets us act with greater composure during the actual meeting. It means that if there's any sort of trial-by-combat, or if some element in their camp goes rogue, or if some other barbarian faction crashes the party, then we're able to better succeed. It has more material effect on the outcome, and better outcomes will yield greater social dividends, especially in light of the possible consequences for failure.
This isn't do-or-die for Ling Qi's social ambitions, but failing here means failing on a large scale and failing in public. It's a good time to be careful.