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Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

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[] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.

This would be my choice. Leaving just gives them time to prepare, while attempting to decieve 6 Green Hui Spiders known for being crafty while we have Xia Lin with us seems unwise. Best we just catch them off-guard.
 
Mephi said:
Breaking out of web is a good way to earn respect
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I get we have been leaning into the spirit whisperer archetype, but there is a limit to that. They invited us in with the express purpose of ambushing us, even if fighting wins their respect, we can't just ignore that. Not to mention we would probably look really bad to Xia Lin if we did that.

My thoughts on this have little to do with the likely outcomes of each option, but instead what the action says about us.

1 seems the safe play which makes me both dislike it and like it, still overall likely not my choice.

2 is better imo, but I've never really got the feeling that Ling Qi's diplomatic style skewed towards intimidating/shock and awe, even if it fits this particular moment.

3 is my choice right now, I think it plays to Ling Qi's strengths better and I've always been a fan of sneak attack the sneak attack in fiction
 
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yrsillar said:
Xia Lin paused in her study of the webs. "Scattered and disjointed, some followed the Hui unto death, some retreated to the woods and reverted to feral behavior, others merely requested a renewal of contracts with the Duchess."
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As for the second, these spiders didn't follow the Hui who lived here but are instead the kind who became feral after a fashion yet are probably still be cunning enough to parley. They're untrustworthy and likely paranoid but not idiots, so I imagine calling on Cai authority and the threat that we are just the vanguard of a much larger force will tell them that they have no choice but to flee their nests or treat with us.

All these options are interesting, I'm unsure which would be most Ling Qi-like. The first is Sincere in that we won't play these games as enemies, we'll either both get what we want or neither of us will. While the third is a more hostile competition which might play better with spiders who don't even trust their own, but countering scheming and breaches in hospitality is good. The second is a middle ground in my eyes, we don't just assume this must be hostile yet don't rely on them to decide the same about us without prompting.

Edit: I feel like Xia Lin wouldn't have opted for diplomacy at all, so successful diplomacy might get the benefit of the previous vote.
 
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I'm also a fan of violence. Realistically, there are three reasons to not indulge in violence here. The spiders are acting in bad faith, which removes one of them (treating well those that treat you well) entirely. The other two are if we think we can't take them, or if we think that we'll get better payoff from nonviolent diplomacy. This location is too far out of the way for us to try to claim as territory, and they've already demonstrated that they can't be trusted. That makes trying to squeeze significant payoff from nonviolent diplomacy pretty seriously unlikely. On the other hand, cores always have value, and once we've killed a few of them for their treachery, we'll be in a much better place to extract concessions from whoever's left alive. As far as whether or not we can take them... we're a lot more powerful (and numerous) than we have any real right to be... and we're be counter-ambushing. I'm pretty sure we have the advantage here.
 
angelofwhim said:
Webbings burn ...right? heheheh


good thing zhengui can start fires i think
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Neshuakadal said:
I don't think they do. At least not well. Don't webs and silk melt more than burn?
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Webs often burn in video games and films, but in reality they shrink and melt rather than combusting. Cobwebs, like you'd find in corners in your house, burn well, but that's because of dust accumulation. Dust burns like anything. But webs being actively maintained by intelligent spiders seem unlikely to accumulate dust.
 
Sirrocco said:
I'm also a fan of violence. Realistically, there are three reasons to not indulge in violence here. The spiders are acting in bad faith, which removes one of them (treating well those that treat you well) entirely. The other two are if we think we can't take them, or if we think that we'll get better payoff from nonviolent diplomacy. This location is too far out of the way for us to try to claim as territory, and they've already demonstrated that they can't be trusted. That makes trying to squeeze significant payoff from nonviolent diplomacy pretty seriously unlikely. On the other hand, cores always have value, and once we've killed a few of them for their treachery, we'll be in a much better place to extract concessions from whoever's left alive. As far as whether or not we can take them... we're a lot more powerful (and numerous) than we have any real right to be... and we're be counter-ambushing. I'm pretty sure we have the advantage here.
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I am confident that we have the advantage here as well. However this is the spiders home ground and giving them more time to prepare an ambush seems foolish. If we press them we accelerate the timeline of the possible fight which I think favors us more than waiting to counter ambush. Getting the spiders off tempo right away feels better than waiting for the fight to happen.
 
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I'm inclined to option 2 as well. Ling Qi is adaptable enough to pull it off imo and Xia Lin is probably extremely effective at being [Loomingly Intimidating].
 
[] Refuse to enter, demand that they speak with you out here. You will not be trapped. If they refuse, have Zhengui seal the tunnel before you leave.

They're probably going to refuse. This signals fear and weakness, especially if they think their preparations are hidden and we're already afraid.

[] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.

Enter with full buffstacks.
Ambush predators tend towards cowardice, because they aren't well suited to a hard beatdown.

[] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.

The highest risk play - the spiders are likely more willing to talk to distract us and they'd be more willing to talk about secrets if they think we're never getting out of here alive. However this likely commits us to fighting them with their full buffs and prep bonus while we don't have ours.

So the basic vote effects are:
1) Personal safety
-Success means they come out of hiding and talk. Seems unlikely.
-Failure means we brick them in and take the risks on the formations being activated

2) Mission success
-Success means they back down. Note Ling Qi isn't exactly very good at intimidation unless she can use Manipulation for it, but she does have experience with Meizhen-ness.
-Failure means they attack into full buffstacks and I'm 100% sure we can win that one.

3) Acquire intel
-Success means they talk before ambushing. Possibly slowly filling the room with poison gas thinking we won't notice.
-Failure means they just go straight to a jumpscare. Somewhat unlikely, its not very Hui-brand.
-In both cases we have to fight them without full buffstacks, relying on our counterattack art and defensive domain powers to negate their alpha strike(remember we got one of those?)
 
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Sirrocco said:
The way they parted the spiderwebs was absolutely them inviting us in... and we didn't demand anything. We just expressed a desire to parley.
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I did forget the part were they opened the webs for us, so that is a good point. However this feels much more like a Matthew Perry situation to me. If they didn't open the webs I think we would have blasted our way in. We were being polite, but I don't think we were giving them an option.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.

None of these options are perfect for Ling Qi imo, but option 2 seems to reflect our overall mission the best.
 
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[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.

These spider spirits need to scared into submission.
 
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.

I wanna talk to them.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
 
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