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Money and Power: A Xianxia Merchant Quest

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Trains would have definitely been less of a thing in modern civilization, if we had had access to airplanes.

As for Tet, folks, remember that we got various hints about there being at least some (and more likely a lot of) people loyal to him in the clan. Purging them is in our best interest, right? Problem is, we don't know who they are, and consequently who we can trust.

If we agree to a deal, who's to say he's not gonna backstab us, have his people plant damning evidence against us and turn us in? That would have likely been his plan if we agreed to his offer without the benefit of Oversight's insights.

And if we imprison him, we're going to alert his people that we're onto them, and they'll have enough time and notice to take action, whether that's fleeing, destroying evidence or making trouble of some other kind. We really don't have the resources to stop that from happening.

The Empire does.
 
I, for one, think the plan as it stands is kinda sketchy. The lady we're partnering with knows it's a scam, and will wonder why we're profiting when she isn't. However, if we were to double down on the sketchiness, we might make even more profit at somewhat equivalent risk!

Instead of following through on the scam as it stands, we instead approach the Lady from a position of strength: Say we have some kind of 'secret weapon' to use against Abyssal raids, and demand that some of the gardens we buy into are to be defended by our troops. We're a crafting specialist, I'm sure we can pull off some kind of fake story if we need to. Say that it requires a limited resource, or that we need to maintain it/send parts personally as a cover for why we don't just sell the weapons. Clan secrets.

As part of our deal with the Abyssals, they stop breaking the gardens we defend. We claim that the trade goods we get from them are 'spoils of war,' and stage some assaults once in a while.

This way, we double dip: We get benefits from the Abyssal trade, and from the Garden shares. Additionally, the Lady will also benefit from the gardens not getting destroyed, so our trade relationship doesn't impact the balance of power and the Abyssals getting our goods won't let them conquer the territory. Sure, the conflict may escalate, but it'll still be basically the same status quo.
 
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The Froggy Ninja said:
"Chaos is a ladder" is a quote from a guy who manipulated everything to be even worse on the off chance he could benefit from it because he was a literal sociopath.
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Ohhhhh Petyr! Hilarious guy (I haven't seen GoT lot of what I know is from fanfic and osmosis). Tet isn't Petyr so it's a bit unfair to see the quote and figure Tet holds nothing is important as profit. He cared enough about his dad's lack of acknowledgement to end up hating the guy. And he probably has something keeping him to the clan instead of jumping ship when his little sister has taken over.


The Froggy Ninja said:
Similarly, Tet just suggested selling resources to a group of cultists who we are actively at war with.
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We're not at war with anyone. The Empire is. The Emperor is. The Atlahau clan is out to not implode on itself which would be easier to do with cash or goods that'd come from trade.


The Froggy Ninja said:
He does have bigger concerns and you're suggesting we sell to them. Literally ever getting caught by someone who wouldn't be implicated would lead to an instant game over in exchange for valuable resources that come from a cult that loves the taste of human blood and, again, we are actively at war with.
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From what I've gotten the Empire is fighting on multiple fronts. The sea with Abyssals, the mountains with Mountain People. All the Empire needs is some sky people, Outsiders, and internal troubles to get a bingo. Anyhow I believe we'd be noise lost within a sea of noise. I'm hoping for it at least.

Abyssals love the taste of human blood and we love the taste of their blood.


Mr. Prokosch said:
In some strange mockery of symbiosis, Imperial cultivators could benefit greatly from Abyssal products, even their bodily fluids were excellent elixir ingredients, and Abyssals reacted similarly to Imperial resources. They could buy each other's garbage and both profit enormously.
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Abyssal blood, tears and sweat make the best seasoning for Cultivation Max 400 elixirs.


The Froggy Ninja said:
We picked the cinnamon bun character, and this behavior is as un-bun as it is stupid.
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I picked Oku, poison and books. Not cinnamon bun.

Stupid is a bit unfair, more like trusting Tet to know what he's doing (He's head of sales), being enticed by the promise of strength (Abyssal products), and getting some experience in what will probably be the Black Market scene of the Empire. A risk with benefits that to me outweigh the risks.


The Froggy Ninja said:
We can't let him run around but we also need to finish our internal audit so we can turn in everyone shady at once instead of getting blindsided by something we didn't know about.
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We need shady people. Just not working against us but with us.

Locking Tet up is basically starting to set things up so he turns against us which may blindside us to him, Tet's loyalty will be so low if we lock him up.

If we turn him in than any Sales things he delt with, and or any dirt Tet kept on his old man will be gone with the wind.
 
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Look, the guy may be kinda sketchy but at least he's trying. We can forgive him for not being devious enough.

We can make this work, just check out my post near the top of the page for a much more profitable villainous scheme.
 
Also worth considering: imagine how many people will need to be in the know for the deal with the Abyssals to work. Dozens or more likely hundreds, especially if you include employees who might be involved while still not being told. Those are all security risks, on many levels. Next, imagine the trails all those people leave, not to mention those left by our activities themselves. Finally, think about the people on the other side, the Abyssals. How many of them will know? How many trails will they leave? How many other people on the Empire or the Lady's side will find it troubling that they're getting human blood from somewhere and how many investigations will follow?
 
Epic Bygones said:
As for Tet, folks, remember that we got various hints about there being at least some (and more likely a lot of) people loyal to him in the clan.
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Epic Bygones said:
imagine how many people will need to be in the know for the deal with the Abyssals to work. Dozens or more likely hundreds, especially if you include employees who might be involved while still not being told. Those are all security risks, on many levels. Next, imagine the trails all those people leave, not to mention those left by our activities themselves.
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So Tet has a bunch of people working for him that'd betray him and the Empire would believe the Abyssal's accusations about us being traitors? And then the Lady and Empire will wonder/worry how raiders are getting resources?

Purging people working for Tet is in our best interest if we're working against him. If Tet is our people then his people are our people... to an extent but they can slowly be converted into our people.
 
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J.I.M.S said:
So Tet has a bunch of people working for him that'd betray him and the Empire would believe the Abyssal's accusations about us being traitors? And then the Lady and Empire will wonder/worry how raiders are getting resources?

Purging people working for Tet is in our best interest if we're working against him. If Tet is our people then his people are our people... to an extent but they can slowly be converted into our people.
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Thinking they can be converted is naive. People don't change their nature that easily, and Tet is someone with a deep feeling of inferiority because of the way he was raised. Honestly, I am all in ot just killing him right now, and throwing the body in the gutter without anyone knowing '-' Unfortunately, that is not one of the choices...
 
J.I.M.S said:
So Tet has a bunch of people working for him that'd betray him
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Not necessarily that would betray him. Be stupid, on the other hand? Yep.
J.I.M.S said:
and the Empire would believe the Abyssal's accusations about us being traitors? And then the Lady and Empire will wonder how raiders are getting resources?
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Yes and yes, since proof is really not that hard to get, honestly. See, the security risks and trails I'm talking about.

J.I.M.S said:
Purging people working for Tet is in our best interest if we're working against him. If Tet is our people then his people are our people... to an extent but they can slowly be converted into our people.
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Theoretically, sure. But they're unreliable people to start with, if they were willing to work against the Patriarch in the first place. Purging is more efficient, quicker and healthier.

I can come up with hundreds of ways for the deal to go wrong. I struggle to imagine the miraculous alignment of stars it would take for things to go even somewhat right.
 
@Mr. Prokosch, I noticed that there's no write in option here, but in this post I wrote my own interpretation on a way to alter Tet's shady dealings. Would you be willing to weigh in with what Chalchi would think of this, or allow it as an option?


[X] Walking Fortresses

While smaller craft may be easy to hide, it might be more advantageous to conceal our smuggling in massive shipments of legal goods rather than hoping it goes entirely unnoticed. Also, these sound cool.
 
SpaceOwl said:
Thinking they can be converted is naive. People don't change their nature that easily, and Tet is someone with a deep feeling of inferiority because of the way he was raised. Honestly, I am all in ot just killing him right now, and throwing the body in the gutter without anyone knowing '-' Unfortunately, that is not one of the choices...
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Ummmmm that's extreme. Care to elaborate why?

Converting isn't all that hard, religion does it all the time :V

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For those concerned about the viability of the the deal

Mr. Prokosch said:
[] Take the deal on your own terms
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Meaning the ball will be in our court to minimize risks and what exactly will happen. It'd be on our terms.

Besides, few things can bring family together than commiting high treason together~ :D

Mom on PR, Teo in administration, Oku as security, Tet as our spy master. Happy fun family time.
 
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@Evilness42 I'm worried that the Lady has already cut us out as hypothetical middle man and is implementing something like this plan for herself directly. If we then approach her with our villainous scheme... I'm not sure what she will do, but it won't go well for us.

Tet's scheme sounds incredibly dangerous, so many people on both sides have to be involved with this deal and the empire has divination, I can't even imagine how trying to get cut in would go well for us. On top of that, we would be pitting our complete lack of espionage skills against Tet's no doubt highly developed skills when this goes sideways.

I think we should rope Teo and Mom in, make sure we don't have any other secret scandals and then turn Tet in if we are safe.
 
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J.I.M.S said:
Ohhhhh Petyr! Hilarious guy (I haven't seen GoT lot of what I know is from fanfic and osmosis). Tet isn't Petyr so it's a bit unfair to see the quote and figure Tet holds nothing is important as profit. He cared enough about his dad's lack of acknowledgement to end up hating the guy. And he probably has something keeping him to the clan instead of jumping ship when his little sister has taken over.
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The quote was there as an indicator of his personality. Chaos is a ladder means "fuck safety and stability make everyone fall so you can land on their corpses"
J.I.M.S said:
We're not at war with anyone. The Empire is. The Emperor is. The Atlahau clan is out to not implode on itself which would be easier to do with cash or goods that'd come from trade.
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The empire and the emperor are the only things protecting us from the horrible gribblies outside our boarders. Standard treatment for enemy traitors is to milk them for all they're worth and then kill them because they clearly can't be trusted.
J.I.M.S said:
Anyhow I believe we'd be noise lost within a sea of noise. I'm hoping for it at least.
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You think that no one will notice us somehow profiting off a well known scam that involves heavy trade with an area rife with the enemies of the Empire, and you believe in that so strongly that you're willing to risk the god-emperor killing us and our entire clan in exchange for the chance to get a bunch of resources that can only be sourced from said enemies of the empire?
J.I.M.S said:
Locking Tet up is basically starting to set things up so he turns against us which may blindside us to him, Tet's loyalty will be so low if we lock him up.
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We're locking him up until we either determine we can turn him over to the Emperor for a boon or that the corruption runs too deep and we need to quietly dispose of him as damage control. In neither of those situations does he remain a threat to us.
 
If you want to alter the specifics but in principal you're in favor of trading with the Abyssals then vote for "on your own terms."

You do not know his complete plan in full detail or his collaborators. You don't even have completely damning evidence, just enough to be convinced yourself.

Chachi would not consider a quiet kinslaying and would have no idea how to go about it without being caught. She would have no idea how to read his soul. Mom might be able to do something if he was alive. An Imperial agent might be able to speak with the dead but it's not a common technique at all.
 
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Mr. Prokosch said:
Garcino
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Who is this again? Is this the recently deceased Dad?



[x] Turn him in

Here's my reasoning for this. We already know that many of our close family are greedy assholes who already have entrenched interests in the Clan. Forcing the entire Clan to have an Audit will hopefully level the playing field and make it so the worst of their offenses will be culled off and curbed, along with showing how we are perfectly fine with throwing stupid family members to the wolves if they act stupidly and greedily.

Hoping for a boon is basically just delicious cherry really.

[x] Walking Fortresses

For this. We alredy know we are gonna get raided. The vultures cannot resist anything else. Flying ships have less natural hazards, but I could just see sky raiders coming, and we cannot afford the expense.

This though, will make it so that it would deter those looking for easy scores, and hopefully do enough damage to those who would still attack.

Edit: Also as an aside, being crushed into purity and being a tough nut has some wonderful theming with our Diamond way, so there is that as well.
 
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TimEd said:
Here's my reasoning for this. We already know that many of our close family are greedy assholes who already have entrenched interests in the Clan. Forcing the entire Clan to have an Audit will hopefully level the playing field and make it so the worst of their offenses will be culled off and curbed, along with showing how we are perfectly fine with throwing stupid family members to the wolves if they act stupidly and greedily.
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We're already doing an internal audit. If they find something bad enough they'll still kill the whole clan unless we also tattle about that. That's why I think we should just imprison him until we have a better handle on what's going on.
 
[X] Fire him
[X] Walking Fortresses
 
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The Froggy Ninja said:
We're already doing an internal audit. If they find something bad enough they'll still kill the whole clan unless we also tattle about that. That's why I think we should just imprison him until we have a better handle on what's going on.
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Doing an internal audit using possibly compromised clan members.

The Empire has greater resources, and will most probably not find anything worse than treason, which we already informed them of. I doubt they'd purge the Clan for any lesser offence, and if so, then better it be purged now than let it fester where stupid family members can hide this from us.

Also of note to those who want to takeover the dealings, this dude did not tell us about the Abyssal deal at all. He lied to our face. Do you for a second believe that someone like that wont begrudge us stealing his plan and either blackmail us for something later (he still controlls the details of this stuff, since doing anything else is too risky), or just acts the innocent and blame everything on us in exchange for a Boon.
 
Well we can start on one personally. it think it is at least worth a try. but, we likely will need others to help to have enough power to get much done. Although, on of our bothers is currently doing an audit it might be valuable to get more personally involved. But, I would be fine with calling the imperials winning too.
 
Sigil said:
@Evilness42 I'm worried that the Lady has already cut us out as hypothetical middle man and is implementing something like this plan for herself directly. If we then approach her with our villainous scheme... I'm not sure what she will do, but it won't go well for us.
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As far as we know, the Lady has been in a stalemate with the Abyssals for years. She's heavily incentivized to kill them all because her power grows in direct proportion with her claim over the territory, but she doesn't have the resources to beat them. Her current plan is to scam people from other parts of the Empire into giving her money that she spends on her war effort, because she can't actually build the Gardens when the Abyssals attack them.

Tet's plan, as I understand it, is to pretend to fall for the Lady's scam, but once he has a legal foothold in the province, he starts selling weapons to the Abyssals, who are attempting to overthrow the Lady. He then launders the profits through the Sales department. As far as I know, this is risky because with our weaponry the Abyssals might actually succeed at overthrowing the Lady, or at least force her to call in Daddy the Duke and nuke the whole province.

The main risk at getting caught under Tet's plan is for the Lady to get confused about why we're still in the province after we got scammed, investigate and discover we dealt with her bitter enemies, and then we all get executed for treason.


Neither my plan nor Tet's plan involves telling the Lady we're selling to her enemies. Her #1 goal, as a cultivator bound to her territory, is to expand that territory into areas currently occupied by Abyssals, and us selling to her enemies will make her want to kill us.

My alteration is that we talk to the Lady, and pretend that as a crafting cultivator we developed a new wunderwaffen to protect her literal cash crops, but we can't sell it to her directly because [insert excuses here]. Then we deal with the Abyssals, and have them stop attacking the farms we're protecting as part of our deal with the Lady. This way the Lady doesn't have a reason to investigate us for not pulling out of her scam (though people may try to steal our 'secret weapon'), we get money from the Abyssals and the cash crops at the same time, and the Lady gets a military advantage from selling her pearls to counterbalance the weapons we'd be selling her enemies.

The main risk with this version of the plan is that someone figures out we don't actually have a secret weapon, or a higher imperial authority tries to take the secrets for the state. I think this is a lower risk for a variety of reasons:

1. No one will question why we have Abyssal body parts if they know we've been 'fighting' Abyssals
2. Clans and sects have secret weapons or techniques all the time, and as a high level crafter we can make excuses for how it's not feasible for mass production.
3. We will have an excuse to stay in the province long term, people will be less suspicious.


Also, I need to update my vote.

[X] Take the deal on your own terms
[X] Walking Fortresses
 
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I also want to ask for advice. Personally however im more for either putting a stop to it or taking the deal on our own terms. Turning him in looses too much face. Personally i want to put a stop to it tho.

[X] ask the mountain king if he has a way for us to avoid getting assassinated ourselves.
[X] Stop it now
[X] Airships
[X] Fire him
 
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