[ ] All that is necessary for evil to succeed...
"Is for you to do nothing as I flee to the Devil Bees."
Old Cannibal had met Manuel weeks beforehand, ensuring their isolation from all others.
"You've won, I'll grant you that much. I'm not fool enough to fight you to the death unless I really have to. So, send me to the Devil Bees. Three favours from you to help me seize power there. In return, I'll try and kill that little whore from the Jingshen Clan, really rile her father up. He's not much a fighter, and that weakness will let you seize my old territories. Then, you let me and my disciples cross your land - take a fake wound or something - I even take out your other enemies. Win-win, really. Oh, you know I loathe you and I'll try and kill you again a few centuries, but you'll be twice as strong."
++ Gain a considerable portion of former Cannibal lands - if Old Cannibal can kill Lady Jiao you could expect to get 70-80% of the lands, if he fails probably 50-60%.
+ Could potentially weaken your new largest rival massively.
- If the Jingshen find out a difference in interests is likely to become a feud. The chances are small immediately, but in the long-term the risk is higher.
- Empowering an enemy who hates you to take over another power is dangerous in the long run.
- Will end the Devil Bee Civil War in favour of Old Cannibal.
I would characterise this as the high short term gain in exchange for long term problems option. A lot of people seem to be dismissing this out of hand, but if it works it could really, really strengthen the clan. Allowing it to leverage those massive short term gains into long term power.
Turning this into a feud with the Jingshen in the medium to long term isn't really a concern to me. As it currently stands we're going to be competing with them for control heavily enough that I basically see that as inevitable anyway.
The major concern is that it puts Old Cannibal in charge of the Devil bees. This is a significant problem, as the Devil bee's already hate us and this gives them better intel and leadership familiar with fighting us. However, there are also mitigating factors. Firstly, they already hate us. That might sound strange, but it means that we aren't making a
new enemy. Imagine if Old Cannibal managed to seize a different power and we still had to deal with the devil bees?
Secondly, Old Cannibal is a nascent soul, and so his Dao is set. That means that he can't adapt to using the devil bee techniques. It also means that he may not be inclined to fully integrating Blood cannibal and Devil bee techniques in his subordinates, fearing another Child Corpse gulper situation.
Don't misunderstand that this is a significant risk. But it offers potentially huge payoffs. Especially if Old Cannibal can kill Lady Jiao, who is the Jinghsen Diplo nuke.
Obvious synergy with the [] Blind the thief option. To the point where I'd be reluctant to vote for anything else in combination.
[ ] The New Sect
Old Jingshen spoke.
"We cannot of course let one power seize all this land. Let the Golden Devils have their due, and perhaps a quarter or a third of the Cannibal land. In return, the remainder of the land shall be granted to a new Righteous Sect, the Spirit Oasis Sect. We shall set up a new Sect in the desert, one under the auspice of the Strength Purity Sect."
+ Changes the balance of power moderately towards you
+ The new Sect will be appointed and built by the Strength Purity Sect, who are favourable towards you
- The new Sect is likely to oppose any seizure of Jingshen lands
- The best parts of Cannibal land remain with the new Sect
- Old Cannibal is permitted to go to the Devil Bees.
I'll be honest, I am surprised that so many people are voting for this because I think it's a trap in the medium to long term. Especially if taken alongside anything but [] blind the thief.
The strength purity sect are not our friends, even if they're currently somewhat favourable towards us. They're pretty cool dudes (as Xianxia sects go) but they aren't our friends. Whilst they've helped us out with loans, they've also been heavily negotiating with the Jingshen for the use of their healing spring. The strength purity sect benefits immensely from the current balance of power in the desert.
The desert supplies huge amounts of spirit stones for the Virtuous flipper region. It is also occupied entirely by demonic sects. At present, all sides are occupied with trying to outcompete the others. They're too small to be a threat, and outside powers can offer considerable support to swing the balance as needed. Strength purity particularly benefits, as it lets them keep their attention pointed elsewhere.
Let's talk about the downsides:
1. Likely to oppose any seizure of Jingshen lands. That is really bad for us. With our wealth curse, conquest is the known way to ameliorate this. But with this, attempting to conquer the Jingshen gives the righteous sects an immediate casus belli against us. Given Saber palace already hates us they would likley be all too happy to pile in. This means that our only real direction for expansion is over the mountains into devil bee territory, which is apparently absolute hell. The mountains had extreme defensibility bonuses as well as increased combat strength in chargen. Plus the Devil bee territories are famous for their wild Devil bee nests.
2. Old Cannibal still gets away to the devil bees. Now due to having less forces he isn't guaranteed to take it over like in the previous option. But he is a much more experienced Nascent soul than either of the current competitors. It might extend the civil war, but I'd say there are still good odds that we end up with Old Cannibal in charge of the devil bees.
Ultimately I'd say this is the option that, in the short term gets the clan the most with least risk, but sets us up for significant issues in the medium term.
[ ] The Negotiated End
Manuel spoke.
"Perhaps a simpler solution. Old Cannibal is permitted to flee, provided he does not enter the Desert again for two hundred years. The Jingshen Clan and I shall negotiate over the territory remaining, some going to them, other parts to us. "
+ Gain a portion of the former Cannibal lands
- Gain only a portion of the former Cannibal lands, depends on negotiations with the Jingshen
+/- Opens a second round of negotiations to determine who gets what.
Not a great result, but I'd favour this if we're going for decreasing the severity of the trials or tribulations. Its likely to guarantee us a period of peace where we can build up for the next trials, and either decreased trial severity or decreased tribulation severity will allow us to build up (and maintain) faster than they are likely to expect.
Not sure what happens to Old cannibal in this though. Maybe that's part of the negotiations?
[ ] War to the Knife
Old Cannibal started up, and Manuel spoke over him, ruthlessly.
"Of course, we could continue fighting. I killed one Nascent Soul from the Cannibal Sect, what is another?"
+ Winning rids you of an enemy.
+ Cool as hell
- Winning still inflicts massive harm on the Clan
- You're unlikely to be in any shape to seize any land, even if you win.
Only if we take boosting Manuel's combat and probably not even then.
[ ] What are the qualities of a righteous man? (Can only be taken with "Walk in the Light, Cloaked by Shadow" option from the following post)
Elder Glorious Strike spoke, her voice as perfect and inhuman as the rest of her.
"Why should we fight? Perhaps it is time that the Golden Devils shake loose their devilish bonds. They have proven to be allies of the Righteous Path more often than not lately, and it is well known that their allegiance to the darker ways comes from desperation rather than from true Demonic nature. I come bearing an offer. We shall rehabilitate the Golden Devils, integrate them into the Righteous Path, and win a victory for all the Region. Let the Devils gain what they have won, and in return we shall enforce reasonable tariffs on the Scorpion Road between the new Righteous Powers.
+++ Gain the entirety of Cannibal Territory
++ Old Cannibal is hunted down like an animal by you, the Jingshen, and Strength Purity Sect. Very likely to wipe out an enemy entirely.
+/- The Golden Devils are integrated into the Righteous Path, and this means considerably less latitude on what the Clan can do. It does mean more protection, however - less upside risk but also considerably less downside risk.
- A moderate reduction in combat strength as many formerly available techniques will be restricted. Still much more powerful than a Righteous Clan would be in your situation, however.
- Integration into the Righteous Path means assisting other Righteous Powers, meaning the Clan will be expected to deploy considerable numbers of troops to the war in the Great Battlefield.
- A major reduction in tariffs on the Scorpion Road.
- Costs the incredible bonus you got from writing a million omake words collectively - without Fate itself assisting you this could never be possible.
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Very powerful, but I'm not sure it's where I want to take the game. Still hugely mitigates our problems with Saber palace (one of our chief enemies).
Overall I'd favour:
[] All that it takes for evil to succeed... & [ ] Blind the Thief
Or
[] The negotiated end & either [ ] Cloak the Ways Between or [ ] Even Lightning comes from a Cloud
Righteous path is cool, just not necessarily what I want.
