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The Path Unending (A Cultivation Quest)

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HousePet said:
[X] You will accept access to Natural Wonders normally reserved for members of the First Circle.
Two reasons.
1: Appropriate Techs might not be mono-Aspected. We may have a weak source of Smoke and might be able to buy Steel pills, but what if we need other things. Safely finding Wonders is going to need to wait two weeks and then still costs two actions for a guaranteed find (which still might not include safe access), and it likely won't have the right Aspects.
2: While I'm sure the Elder Siani has an outstanding collection of Techniques. We are still limited by Kong Zhi's stats here. We still need to start with simple Techniques. Siani could give us some rather random Techniques, meaning that we could still be running around without some basic abilities, until we fix that.

I am of course extremely interested in what Siani might be offering, and will be happy to find out. But I don't think it is the most sensible option.
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1. If we need other things I'm sure we can arrange for those pills or elixirs as well. We'll be very limited in getting money for techniques from sect jobs these two weeks as well. I suppose we'll be getting our allowance soon in either case.
2. That applies to both options and we don't have a reliable way to increase stats besides integrating techniques or starting on Farmer. Besides a basic grade 2 tech that boosts Con will do much for Zhi's anam threshold and health pool.
- on the other hand we have Dex and Empathy at 5. While Steel doesn't really scream Dexterity and Empathy, Smoke seems to be a good fit for a Dexterity based technique. I wouldn't be surpised with there's a Steel technique based on Resolve, though Con would still be my first priority.

The wonder's will be closed for access after integrating the techniques, one of each(?), and if we want more steel or smoke techniques we'll have to search for Wonders anyway. It'd be safer to search for those wonders after the technique integration though.

Another source of income could be to sell Vitrolic Retort, we'd have to grab an Archer tech to compensate but depending on the technique it'd outgrow the charm eventually.

Anyway whatever we choose we'll have to dedicate most of our time towards integrating the techs. It's like when Aunti Bi came, except worse. I doubt we want to see an impatient Siani. I suspect he'll just throw KZ into work even if he doesn't reach the "two step into the Farmer's domain" requirement:

Vesvius said:
"But Elder Siani… you would still learn the path of the charmcrafter, have no fear. But Siani would not allow you to solely walk that path. He would push you, Kong Zhi. You may break under his tutelage and expectations. But if you do not, you will bloom into a blossom worthy of regard."

You consider her words and bow low. "My thanks for your wisdom, Elder Sela. I am humbled to have received it."
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Vesvius said:
"Oh, no," Siani easily admits with a shrug. "But that isn't something I have to worry about. Either he will complete my task and earn my sigil or fail at it and leave me his Vestige to study. It will be a shame to lose him, certainly, but I have lost interesting disciples before.
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Vesvius said:
"That is concerning," Sela replies. "Though it seems your concern has another simple solution. If he seems reluctant to push himself out of his comfort zone, then you must simply do the pushing for him. Send him somewhere that he must use his wits and skills to succeed. Make him work for any dram of knowledge you can give him. I am certain you are familiar with the process."

"Indeed." As the word leaves his lips, Elder Siani, the second strongest Artist in all of the Delving Heart, smiles. It is not a nice smile.

Elder Sela can do nothing but spare a thought and a prayer for young Kong Zhi. Hopefully, the ancestors above will turn their own smile upon the young scion of Kong. They will need to; nothing less will be able to ward off the helpful intentions of Siani of the Delving Heart.
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Thing is, if we choose Wonders, we only get them for a little while and specifically to get our techs up faster. I don't think siani would outright stop us from using them for charms, but I do think he'd dissaprove that we're using them for that over getting our Techs up.

This means we'd basically be stuck with doing the first Steel and Smoke techs we find. I mean sure, we COULD waste time and go shopping, but even Sianis seemingly limiteless benevolence is not truly infinite. I don't wanna see what he'd do when actively trying to push us after he outright told us nicely.

Also, Techs basically last forever. We'd inevitably have to get new wonders anyway, and this also lets us do something that people have low key been complaining we never did with our Core, which is actually plan our build.

Edit: Heck, if one tech is an archer technique, we can basically toss VR and get even more cash for renting wonders if we need to.
 
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So, Elder Siani normally beings training new disciples by leading them through Farmer. But we can't do that because we lack the techniques that match our core. So before we can even begin working to be of use to Elder Siani, we need a couple of techniques relating to steel, smoke, and time. He further indicated that we are not ready to receive instruction from him regarding Time (which is fine because, as he did indicate, we have some ideas on how to proceed with that by ourselves) and so any technique or natural wonder he is likely to provide will deal with smoke and steel.

In light of that, I am certainly leaning more towards getting the techniques for a couple of reasons:

First, it is a more permanent reward than limited access to the Natural Wonders he would give us access to.

Second, if it is techniques that we need to become a proper soldier, it stands to reason that we would get those techniques. It saves us getting sect points to trade into the Archives, when we have much better uses for those sect points (assuming we have the option of getting techniques for free).

Third, curated techs by an Elder seems like it would be a really cool insight into the possible limits and strengths of the anam we have choose to have as our secondary aspects.

And fourth, but in my mind most important, I would rather go out into the Delving Heart looking for Natural Wonders than grinding for sect points to go to the archives and research techs. I love exploration, and needing to go out and seek out these natural wonders is, in my mind, a great impetus for finding natural wonders, other treasures, and more mats.

[X] You will accept techniques from Elder Siani's personal collection

Furthermore, we just made acquaintances with Kumi, who seems like the type of individual that would be willing to give us some pointers or general tips in finding Natural Wonders. Saving us time and energy that need to be spent on getting us up to Elder Siani's standards.
 
[X] You will accept access to Natural Wonders normally reserved for members of the First Circle.

first class wonders
 
Vesvius said:
"Of course!" Kumi answers. "It is my pleasure to educate my junior." She pauses and falls silent, falling into another breathing pattern. A moment later, her eyes open to reveal the golden gleam of her anam. It pours from her like a waterfall, racing down her cheeks and covering her body before expanding into the shining aurora you witnessed when you entered.

"This," she informs you, "is the Dream Dancing Lily." Her brow furrows, and for a moment the light congeals into the shape of a proud ship sailing an ocean of sparks. The image vanishes as quickly as it appeared, returning to Kumi's gentle aura. "It is a Scholar Technique born of Dream Anam. With it, I venture through the minds of those on the edge of slumber and see whispers of what dwells in their sleeping minds."
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So, let's talk about Kumi. Because I find her absolutely terrifying. The Dream Dancing Lily is a potent information-gathering technique, especially since it seems to work on all beings of the three-part realm, Human, Spirit Beast, and Kukuni. Furthermore, it is unclear how wide the line between sleep and wakefulness is which would trigger this technique's conditions.

But, additionally, it seems to have an incredible range as well as interacting with targets at one of their most vulnerable moments. While it likely is not as effective against more powerful beings who shed the need for sleep regularly, even Elder Siani admits that every so often even he needs to rest his head. More interestingly, though, is the possibility of using this technique to convey information to the target, for I can't imagine that the technique would only allow information to flow one way. And even if it did, I would think that another technique used in conjunction with the Dream Dancing Lily would allow for better communication.

There is also the possibility of attacking beings using the Dream Dancing Lily as the vector for a psychic attack. Which could be devastating.

Ultimately, Kumi seems like a powerhouse of information gathering, and it'll be interesting to see what other tricks she has stored with the use of Dream Anam.
 
[x] You will accept techniques from Elder Siani's personal collection.

Guys, we are also a crafter. That means we can make money if we actually try.

We can sell comissions for money/points to buy pills at a discount from Jouxi, or just from the market. Or we could rent one of the wonders the sect has for exactly that purpose.

A technique's quality matters a whole damn lot.
 
[X] You will accept techniques from Elder Siani's personal collection.

Yeah, I think this is the better path. The Elder's techs are probably better than what the Archives have, and we'd only get temporary access to those Wonders anyway. We can buy Steel and probably Smoke pills from Shouxi if we can't manage to find wonders ourself. We'll need to go on hunts and do sect jobs regularly to get money to fund this, of course, but that's not a terrible thing. To that end, we need to go to the goddamn hospital - we can't leave ourself unable to do strenuous work for two weeks straight.
 
Enjou said:
[X] You will accept techniques from Elder Siani's personal collection.

Yeah, I think this is the better path. The Elder's techs are probably better than what the Archives have, and we'd only get temporary access to those Wonders anyway. We can buy Steel and probably Smoke pills from Shouxi if we can't manage to find wonders ourself. We'll need to go on hunts and do sect jobs regularly to get money to fund this, of course, but that's not a terrible thing. To that end, we need to go to the goddamn hospital - we can't leave ourself unable to do strenuous work for two weeks straight.
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Why not? Spend the next two weeks on charmcrafting our ingredient stockpile - if we can make something on commission, that's pay points and up our skills then work on something for fixing our arm and leg. Will come out with sect pojnts to spend, the ability to keep up, and less horrifiic reminders of our mutilation.
 
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Now might be the time to sell Vitriolic Retort, since we've got access to the character now.

[x] You will accept techniques from Elder Siani's personal collection.
 
nothingtoseehere said:
Why not? Spend the next two weeks on charmcrafting our ingredient stockpile - if we can make something on commission, that's pay points and up our skills then work on something for fixing our arm and leg. Will come out with sect pojnts to spend, the ability to keep up, and less horrifiic reminders of our mutilation.
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I'm not sure we really have time for that. We need to spend time learning our Time tech, which will be taking all the anam from the Second so we won't have anything to infuse a new charm with. We need to figure out our new hammer, and then hopefully start on Jai Fa's axe that we've been delaying. We'll want to do a couple socials. Etc. And we don't have a paying commission to do this week, regardless.

If we make ourself hale and hearty this week, we can search out a new Wonder next week, and then do a hunt the week after to make some quick cash.
 
Yeah, we really don't have the time to be on restrictive actions. For Fa's charm we need tutoring, for tutoring we need money/points, and for money/points we need to either hunt or do sect jobs.

We should also probably get back to completing WC and training mutations.
 
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Horium said:
Yeah, we really don't have the time to be on restrictive actions. For Fa's charm we need tutoring, for tutoring we need money/points, and for money/points we need to either hunt or do sect jobs.

We should also probably get back to completing BSA and training mutations.
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For Fa's charm, I'm hoping the hammer might provide a bonus to weapon crafting.

Also, we've finished with BSA.
 
[x] You will accept techniques from Elder Siani's personal collection.
 
Enjou said:
For Fa's charm, I'm hoping the hammer might provide a bonus to weapon crafting.

Also, we've finished with BSA.
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Ugh, it's the second time already that I mixed up BSA and WC. These abbreviations are a pain in the behind.

For Fa's charm, I am expecting some kind of bonus from the Hammer, but not enough to actually substitute actual skill.
More something along "cherry on top" bonus to be honest.
 
[X] You will accept techniques from Elder Siani's personal collection.

As previously stated, our other source of techs comes from purchase with sect points. Our other source of natural wonders comes from exploring/adventuring. I prefer exploring to find ways to reach goals we have chosen, rather then grinding points to buy containers to fill up with our nice fancy new waterfalls.

Because I also really want to see their natural wonders. But staring at a super powerful wonder and not having anything super useful to pour its anam into outside charm? Torture man.

Edit: Since catching up with the thread and realizing that its implied to be both temporary/only for techs, I will say I am even more in favor of using this time to decide our character build capability wise.
 
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