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.
[X] For the adulation lost, offer a sliver of your own power, once and done. (-100 XP from cultivation XP earned this turn, before multipliers)
I think that yrs refusing to give us vote options that are longer and include more basic information is the biggest problem with this quest.
I know they arent to everyones taste but look at the vote options of the Diplomacy or Intigue sections in any CK2 quest that deals with a lot of politics and then compare to the vote options in Threads...
See the differences, our vote options would be a title above a paragraph in a lot of quests, you cant have the playerbase voting on wich complicated political problem to prioritise if you dont give at least some info on the political situation, we keep having to choose between factions before we know anything about them it makes LQ's political decisionmaking look insane.
The current vote has a similar problem of us lacking information for two of the options :
[] Offer the Hui Painter's Brush
LQ never got this thing appraised, she could have just asked Bao Qian for a ballpark during the last two months but as it is we know about as much about the brush as we do about that poisoned knife LQ looted from the Shishigui assasin years ago IRL.
[] Offer one service, which must be within your current power, to be completed within a year and a day (Locks in a Quest from the Spirit.)
Can LQ come back to do this without pissing off the local nobles or the clergy even more ? We have no clue, so this option could lead to further rep losses we cant afford.
I hope that detailing my problems will lead to yrs giving us more details when it comes to complicated votes, the current way votes are presented works fine for adventures like the Dream exploration last arc but for us to engage with the politics of the empire I feel the need for some form of infodump on the current situation, so I can make choices without feeling 90% blind.
I think that yrs refusing to give us vote options that are longer and include more basic information is the biggest problem with this quest.
I know they arent to everyones taste but look at the vote options of the Diplomacy or Intigue sections in any CK2 quest that deals with a lot of politics and then compare to the vote options in Threads...
See the differences, our vote options would be a title above a paragraph in a lot of quests, you cant have the playerbase voting on wich complicated political problem to prioritise if you dont give at least some info on the political situation, we keep having to choose between factions before we know anything about them it makes LQ's political decisionmaking look insane.
The current vote has a similar problem of us lacking information for two of the options :
[] Offer the Hui Painter's Brush
LQ never got this thing appraised, she could have just asked Bao Qian for a ballpark during the last two months but as it is we know about as much about the brush as we do about that poisoned knife LQ looted from the Shishigui assasin years ago IRL.
[] Offer one service, which must be within your current power, to be completed within a year and a day (Locks in a Quest from the Spirit.)
Can LQ come back to do this without pissing off the local nobles or the clergy even more ? We have no clue, so this option could lead to further rep losses we cant afford.
I hope that detailing my problems will lead to yrs giving us more details when it comes to complicated votes, the current way votes are presented works fine for adventures like the Dream exploration last arc but for us to engage with the politics of the empire I feel the need for some form of infodump on the current situation, so I can make choices without feeling 90% blind.
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- Pronouns
- He
[X] For the adulation lost, offer a sliver of your own power, once and done. (-100 XP from cultivation XP earned this turn, before multipliers)
The way I read it the reason the road has been neglected isn't because of the political snarl or that it's beyond people's ability, everyone just have better things to do than invest in clearing it especially with the ownership uncertainty that we'll learn more about later. It's too early to judge but I think this is like what Bao Qian has talked about, how ES nobility look out for themselves even when a trade route would benefit both parties because they don't trust each other not to sweep in and take what the other has invested in exorcising. That's why we as a Cai mediator can do it.
This is mainly a public service, our fief can do without it but will get better benefit with it and we might get some cachet with both the Wang and Diao since this isn't a zero sum game. And with trade coming in from the White Sky we're interested in greasing the wheels with improved trade routes to transport goods far and wide, because again trade is not about ability but the path of least resistance. So yes it isn't some critical piece of infrastructure for us personally (yet) but it'd probably be our second most significant political achievement for the coming year, a chance to make a name for ourselves as a diplomat and trade organizer (or even more of one), impress a lot of potential allies, open up our connection to the larger province, get more and easier trade for our fief, and if we want to set ourselves up smack dab in the middle of the White Sky trade route both physically and politically this is going to be a huge benefit.
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- Location
- Finland
On the other hand, lot of crafter voters were in it for trade as well.
So no telling what would have happened with more information on both options.
And we don't actually know what the potential outcomes are, maybe there is a compromise to be found, maybe we end up pissing of everyone, maybe nobody cares about the outcome except for having an open road going through their lands bringing trade.
So no telling what would have happened with more information on both options.
And we don't actually know what the potential outcomes are, maybe there is a compromise to be found, maybe we end up pissing of everyone, maybe nobody cares about the outcome except for having an open road going through their lands bringing trade.
- Location
- United States of America
So, I have a couple of thoughts on the road quest myself, but they are mostly positive.
First thought
First off, I really like that the road quest has a pretty direct link to the Bleeding Mountain Liminal destination. At first, it seemed that the Bleeding Mountain didn't really have any connection to the larger things that Ling Qi was doing. It had some relation to understanding the past to better know the present in that it was the Li clan's fortress and their destruction in Ogedi's invasion shaped a lot of what the Southern Emerald Sea's look like, but it didn't seem to have any real connection to things we could do to meaningfully improve the present. And understanding the past to have no effect on the present doesn't seem particularly appealing to Ling Qi.
Now, though, we could have a very specific focus when exploring the Bleeding Mountain, and that is gathering information that strengthens or weakens claims by the Daio and the Wang to the old road. With a specific goal in mind for the exploration, the trip becomes much more meaningful in the grand scheme of things and demonstrates more the usefulness of Ling Qi's ability to traverse the dream not just for personal power but for the betterment of the province. Which, in my opinion, is pretty cool in and of itself.
Second thought
Secondly, such work in untangling the snarl of competing claims gives Ling Qi a major feather in her cap in terms of diplomatic achievements. It gives even further credibility to Cai Renxiang's chosen retinue. Feeding into that, it allows Ling Qi to get further contacts with the Wang and the Diao, but also feeds into a previous instruction by Cai Renxiang to get the Wang closer to the Cai. This neatly ties the political ambitions of Cai Renxiang to a concrete goal instead of using parties, albeit important, orchestrated by a young scion of the Wang to bring them closer to the Cai.
So, politically and diplomatically, working on untangling the road quest leads to more connections with the Wang, opening up connections with the Diao, and gives us the potential for more diplomatic feathers in our cap. This is important since we are bringing Count clans into the diplomatic efforts with the Polar Nations. So, on the political and diplomatic spectrum, I feel that this is an important opportunity for us.
Third thought
On a related note, I feel that this is important for Cai Renxiang. With how important the Southern border of the Emerald Seas is becoming, given the war against the Cloud Nomads and diplomatic efforts with the Polar Nations, resolving conflicts on that border become ever more important. Of similar importance is one of Cai Renxiang's larger goals, as I understand it, and that is to start actively healing the divisions and fractures that make the Emerald Sea's a weaker province. Draining the hatred and animosity that color so much of the interactions between the various Count clans. This is a fairly substantial friction point between two powerful Count clans, and so it would stand to reason that working on resolving it is a good start.
This certainly isn't a silver bullet, but starting somewhere is better than twiddling thumbs on this goal.
Fourth thought
This may actually be a perfect time to work on resolving snarls with the old road, better than there ever has been before. The Cai are trading with the Bai for tools and materials to improve the larger infrastructure situation in the Emerald Seas. A major part of the infrastructure is the road network, which this old road is a part of. This creates an incentive for the Cai, Wang, and Diao that was not previously there to resolve this issue so that the tools and resources can be used to make the old road working and producing wealth.
In addition, infrastructure resources are excellent tools for a state to create incentives and leverage to achieve results. I can't imagine that the Emerald Seas is any different in that regard. So I think now, with the trade deals going through between the Bai and Cai, is the best time possible to begin unraveling this particularly nasty snarl.
First thought
First off, I really like that the road quest has a pretty direct link to the Bleeding Mountain Liminal destination. At first, it seemed that the Bleeding Mountain didn't really have any connection to the larger things that Ling Qi was doing. It had some relation to understanding the past to better know the present in that it was the Li clan's fortress and their destruction in Ogedi's invasion shaped a lot of what the Southern Emerald Sea's look like, but it didn't seem to have any real connection to things we could do to meaningfully improve the present. And understanding the past to have no effect on the present doesn't seem particularly appealing to Ling Qi.
Now, though, we could have a very specific focus when exploring the Bleeding Mountain, and that is gathering information that strengthens or weakens claims by the Daio and the Wang to the old road. With a specific goal in mind for the exploration, the trip becomes much more meaningful in the grand scheme of things and demonstrates more the usefulness of Ling Qi's ability to traverse the dream not just for personal power but for the betterment of the province. Which, in my opinion, is pretty cool in and of itself.
Second thought
Secondly, such work in untangling the snarl of competing claims gives Ling Qi a major feather in her cap in terms of diplomatic achievements. It gives even further credibility to Cai Renxiang's chosen retinue. Feeding into that, it allows Ling Qi to get further contacts with the Wang and the Diao, but also feeds into a previous instruction by Cai Renxiang to get the Wang closer to the Cai. This neatly ties the political ambitions of Cai Renxiang to a concrete goal instead of using parties, albeit important, orchestrated by a young scion of the Wang to bring them closer to the Cai.
So, politically and diplomatically, working on untangling the road quest leads to more connections with the Wang, opening up connections with the Diao, and gives us the potential for more diplomatic feathers in our cap. This is important since we are bringing Count clans into the diplomatic efforts with the Polar Nations. So, on the political and diplomatic spectrum, I feel that this is an important opportunity for us.
Third thought
On a related note, I feel that this is important for Cai Renxiang. With how important the Southern border of the Emerald Seas is becoming, given the war against the Cloud Nomads and diplomatic efforts with the Polar Nations, resolving conflicts on that border become ever more important. Of similar importance is one of Cai Renxiang's larger goals, as I understand it, and that is to start actively healing the divisions and fractures that make the Emerald Sea's a weaker province. Draining the hatred and animosity that color so much of the interactions between the various Count clans. This is a fairly substantial friction point between two powerful Count clans, and so it would stand to reason that working on resolving it is a good start.
This certainly isn't a silver bullet, but starting somewhere is better than twiddling thumbs on this goal.
Fourth thought
This may actually be a perfect time to work on resolving snarls with the old road, better than there ever has been before. The Cai are trading with the Bai for tools and materials to improve the larger infrastructure situation in the Emerald Seas. A major part of the infrastructure is the road network, which this old road is a part of. This creates an incentive for the Cai, Wang, and Diao that was not previously there to resolve this issue so that the tools and resources can be used to make the old road working and producing wealth.
In addition, infrastructure resources are excellent tools for a state to create incentives and leverage to achieve results. I can't imagine that the Emerald Seas is any different in that regard. So I think now, with the trade deals going through between the Bai and Cai, is the best time possible to begin unraveling this particularly nasty snarl.
So since there were people mentioning they don't know how the clergy works in the Empire, i thought i could just link the chapter about that here:
www.royalroad.com
i think this was RR exclusive, so those who do not read the story there might have missed it, when it was posted
Bonus Chapter: Temples and Festivals - Forge of Destiny
Matters of religion with the Empire are highly localized affairs. To understand the reasons behind the highly independent and disconnected nature of such (...)
www.royalroad.com
i think this was RR exclusive, so those who do not read the story there might have missed it, when it was posted
speaking about the dream idol I hope we get a chance to give a report about idol and our liminal exploration to Renxiang. this might get ugly otherwise.
[X] For the adulation lost, offer a sliver of your own power, once and done. (-100 XP from cultivation XP earned this turn, before multipliers)
[X] For the adulation lost, offer a sliver of your own power, once and done. (-100 XP from cultivation XP earned this turn, before multipliers)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I can't even begin to say how strong I disagree with this. Ultimately, this is some form of RPG, the choices we make should be made on the basis of the Information we have in game and not the QM telling us what would or could happen. If we don't have information about something in character, we should not have that information in vote. I know I have seen it happen some time, and it always completely breaks my immersion ....
Yea, sometimes we are missing basic information like the Road Vote, but I rather have less information than too much.
- Location
- NY
[X] For the adulation lost, offer a sliver of your own power, once and done. (-100 XP from cultivation XP earned this turn, before multipliers)
[X] Offer one service, which must be within your current power, to be completed within a year and a day (Locks in a Quest from the Spirit.)
[X] Offer one service, which must be within your current power, to be completed within a year and a day (Locks in a Quest from the Spirit.)
- Location
- The Space Between
It's funny that people see the clergy as a natural ally to Ling Qi, when we routinely are shown to act with disregard towards the smallfolk and minor cultivators of any given place. The only time we invest in learning such things is when we're doing an active project which clearly involves them. Elsewise, such as in this minor social event we didn't expect to include enemy action, we'll guarantee our own objectives first and maybe help clean up later. I think we'll probably end up with a 0 rep eventually but I wouldn't call us natural allies. We do our own thing with our own power and own skill at spiritual communication. This isn't working within the bureaucratic confines or trusting the bureaucracy to do its job while we do ours. It's basically doing their job for them.
I think there's a misconception about the scale and scope of the road mess as well as the location. The road is from the old Li lands, the lands which border The Wall. The old trade goods were medicinal products from the Li because the Li didn't trade with anyone south of The Wall. This does have the ability to connect to White Sky, but would need to be a new road past The Wall which then connects to this old road. That's why the quest is named as it is, I speculate.
I think there's a misconception about the scale and scope of the road mess as well as the location. The road is from the old Li lands, the lands which border The Wall. The old trade goods were medicinal products from the Li because the Li didn't trade with anyone south of The Wall. This does have the ability to connect to White Sky, but would need to be a new road past The Wall which then connects to this old road. That's why the quest is named as it is, I speculate.
In the first tutorial we found the Bleeding Mountain site which is very directly tied to the blockages of the old road. The follow up on that in this section is not a new plothook in my opinion, but a contextualizing of the prior plot hook.
There's a political snarl over ownership of the Black Lotus Mountains, a large amount of exorcism to be done, and a new road from White Sky to Black Lotus Mountains to manage should the first two issues be cleared. I consider this an optimal administrative region to assign to Cai Renxiang, with our fief being further south along the new road. High challenge, high reward, cleans a political snarl, benefits three major clans (Diao, Wang and Meng), and is in a prime position for the political project her heir has embarked on. I see this not as a side-quest, but as a tutorial run of main quest consequences before we actually embark on the major quests involving a fief.
There are complaints about partial failure vs total failure, lack of information, and impossibility. In my opinion, getting caught totally flat-footed information-wise makes the total success/failure options make sense. Without the knowledge of how to mitigate political damage, the guaranteed damage mitigation option involves mitigating the damage done by the spirit since that's something we do have knowledge on how to do. Getting caught flat-footed in a tutorial section is normal, and this is showing the consequences of acting without full awareness. I can understand being frustrated at a lack of option to increase that awareness to avert this crisis, however I'd saddle that on LQ only just this turn joining this new system rather than an indication that the system will do this sort of ambush regularly going forward. I also understand a frustration in the vote options having little elaboration on consequences. Or, to phrase another way, a low amount of information on the causal effects our actions will have. I would point this to two things, on the one hand LQ has very little foreknowledge of the region as she was expecting a friendly social event and thus didn't prepare for intrigue/politick and on the other our understanding of causality is only now developing literally this turn.
Finally we address the impossibility, which is directly addressed by the kindly man we talk to in the update. From our mouth to Duchess Cai's ears. I do think this is above our paygrade, but I also think this is actually laying out the main quest given that it's a tutorial. I believe that, in the course of setting up the diplomatic project with the White Sky, we'll eventually come to a deal and get down to the logistics and roads. At that point, we'll need to be involved in the maintaining of the deal as well as the establishing of the roads and I think it extremely likely the Black Lotus Mountains become Renxiang's holdings while our fief is south of her. This is above our paygrade, but that doesn't make it above the paygrade of the ducal heiress nor does it push it out of reach of Shenhua's ambitions. Especially given how totally the Li were destroyed during the opening phase of Ogodei's invasion, establishing your heir in the location that Ogodei broke first is just such a freaking power flex I can just see the smirk as Shenhua announces that plan. Goodness gracious.
I also think the region makes sense in regards to the supporting cast we currently know. I'll list them here:
For Yu Nuan, she'll be directly participating in the kind of clearing that wrecked her original clan but this time she'll be seeing the positive side as well as the rebuilding.
The relative distance to Argent Sect is low, and contracts/projects involving their cultivators seem quite reasonable to make. This would allow Li Suyin to investigate and salvage some of her ancestor's Arts, and continue her theme of reclamation of spooky/corrupt/impure for the better. Bao Qingling would also make a natural inclusion for this work, both as a Bao scion and for her personal talents relating to the task.
Su Ling's mom resides in the westsouthwest of Emerald Seas which will be reasonably close to here, and the constant exorcism of spirits and delivering of justice and peace (the Li seemed a particularly nasty flesh-crafting Hui empowered group) seems entirely on brand.
Xuan Shi getting a contract to manage/build the formation defenses for the ducal heir's new province sounds prestigious enough to be worthy of a ducal scion while also continuing his exploration of nightmare, fiction and dream (the Li having been quite involved with spinning dreams/nightmares from flesh).
Meng Dan will have firsthand access to some extremely juicy secrets, for Blue Mountain Sect or the Meng or both. Further exploration of the ties of family for him, as he interacts with so many individuals that have strange ties to their family histories.
Cai Renxiang will be confronted firsthand with the entrenched Hui-era corruption that her mother destroyed indiscriminately, and will have to choose how to deal with it.
Miezhen will have the prestige of not only being stationed at a ducal heir's new holding, not only is that holding a massive political power play specifically for it's danger and history, not only is it being worked on by prestigious Argent Sect contractors but also a Xuan scion, but it's also specifically about clearing out old metastasized corruption and salvaging what can be salvaged. Which is the purpose of the Bai reformer faction. It's direct practice for dealing with extraordinarily deadly tradition through collaboration and power expression.
Zhengui will have a region of supreme importance to truly stretch his Divinity over. Not only embracing the destruction but also the renewal of the area. It's perfect and it's powerful, especially as our fief being next to The Wall will give him range to destroy in in-perpetuity.
Hanyi will not only have our colder, more mountainous southern fief to play with but also will regularly be able to tour lands north of us to announce winter (and perhaps later, spring) to many more peoples than only our province.
Sixiang will continue assisting us in the Dream, and get to see Dreams being pulled into reality in a way that they haven't yet. Both the nightmares of Li and the Dreams of Cai Governance.
GG and Xia Lin both have arcs which seem to be able to work anywhere that will have access to White Sky culture, so while there's nothing seemingly unique about this site for them on the surface it does technically fulfill that requirement.
I see GG further exploring the solar traditions of the White Sky, as both a border guard and a personal guard.
I see Xia Lin being exposed to her liege (and her liege's retainers) interacting with non-imperial traditions in a non-dominance non-destructive manner as having an impact on her. Perhaps the salvaging of pieces of Li will also be impactful.
I also think, given the prestige and number of high-importance cultivators working on this project, the possibility of Xiulan, Yanmei and/or Gu Tai showing up isn't out of the question. The province of Golden Fields is like a Black Lotus Mountain turned up to 11,000 in terms of dangerous lingering corruptions of bygone eras. Having their inheritors work on this high profile reclamation and reinforcement project might be seen as good practice for reclamation of regions of Golden Fields. Especially if some of the connections made can be convinced to work a project in Gu lands afterwards.
All in all, while the road project isn't immediately of relevance I think it's both indicative of one of the longstanding stagnation points of Emerald Seas (old snarls can't be cleared due to friction over the division of spoils, rather than actual inability) as well as a teaser for the kind of massive undertaking that will be had after the Diplomatic Deal project. These three tutorials are the beginning of a new phase of Threads, and while some feel that there are a hundred sidequest plotlines being dropped here I would argue that these seem more like main-quest teasers rather than side-quests? Any major project will require multiple smaller steps (unless you cheat and teleport I guess lol) so this is more like showing main-quest stepping stones, threads to weave the main-line tapestry from.
There's a political snarl over ownership of the Black Lotus Mountains, a large amount of exorcism to be done, and a new road from White Sky to Black Lotus Mountains to manage should the first two issues be cleared. I consider this an optimal administrative region to assign to Cai Renxiang, with our fief being further south along the new road. High challenge, high reward, cleans a political snarl, benefits three major clans (Diao, Wang and Meng), and is in a prime position for the political project her heir has embarked on. I see this not as a side-quest, but as a tutorial run of main quest consequences before we actually embark on the major quests involving a fief.
There are complaints about partial failure vs total failure, lack of information, and impossibility. In my opinion, getting caught totally flat-footed information-wise makes the total success/failure options make sense. Without the knowledge of how to mitigate political damage, the guaranteed damage mitigation option involves mitigating the damage done by the spirit since that's something we do have knowledge on how to do. Getting caught flat-footed in a tutorial section is normal, and this is showing the consequences of acting without full awareness. I can understand being frustrated at a lack of option to increase that awareness to avert this crisis, however I'd saddle that on LQ only just this turn joining this new system rather than an indication that the system will do this sort of ambush regularly going forward. I also understand a frustration in the vote options having little elaboration on consequences. Or, to phrase another way, a low amount of information on the causal effects our actions will have. I would point this to two things, on the one hand LQ has very little foreknowledge of the region as she was expecting a friendly social event and thus didn't prepare for intrigue/politick and on the other our understanding of causality is only now developing literally this turn.
Finally we address the impossibility, which is directly addressed by the kindly man we talk to in the update. From our mouth to Duchess Cai's ears. I do think this is above our paygrade, but I also think this is actually laying out the main quest given that it's a tutorial. I believe that, in the course of setting up the diplomatic project with the White Sky, we'll eventually come to a deal and get down to the logistics and roads. At that point, we'll need to be involved in the maintaining of the deal as well as the establishing of the roads and I think it extremely likely the Black Lotus Mountains become Renxiang's holdings while our fief is south of her. This is above our paygrade, but that doesn't make it above the paygrade of the ducal heiress nor does it push it out of reach of Shenhua's ambitions. Especially given how totally the Li were destroyed during the opening phase of Ogodei's invasion, establishing your heir in the location that Ogodei broke first is just such a freaking power flex I can just see the smirk as Shenhua announces that plan. Goodness gracious.
I also think the region makes sense in regards to the supporting cast we currently know. I'll list them here:
For Yu Nuan, she'll be directly participating in the kind of clearing that wrecked her original clan but this time she'll be seeing the positive side as well as the rebuilding.
The relative distance to Argent Sect is low, and contracts/projects involving their cultivators seem quite reasonable to make. This would allow Li Suyin to investigate and salvage some of her ancestor's Arts, and continue her theme of reclamation of spooky/corrupt/impure for the better. Bao Qingling would also make a natural inclusion for this work, both as a Bao scion and for her personal talents relating to the task.
Su Ling's mom resides in the westsouthwest of Emerald Seas which will be reasonably close to here, and the constant exorcism of spirits and delivering of justice and peace (the Li seemed a particularly nasty flesh-crafting Hui empowered group) seems entirely on brand.
Xuan Shi getting a contract to manage/build the formation defenses for the ducal heir's new province sounds prestigious enough to be worthy of a ducal scion while also continuing his exploration of nightmare, fiction and dream (the Li having been quite involved with spinning dreams/nightmares from flesh).
Meng Dan will have firsthand access to some extremely juicy secrets, for Blue Mountain Sect or the Meng or both. Further exploration of the ties of family for him, as he interacts with so many individuals that have strange ties to their family histories.
Cai Renxiang will be confronted firsthand with the entrenched Hui-era corruption that her mother destroyed indiscriminately, and will have to choose how to deal with it.
Miezhen will have the prestige of not only being stationed at a ducal heir's new holding, not only is that holding a massive political power play specifically for it's danger and history, not only is it being worked on by prestigious Argent Sect contractors but also a Xuan scion, but it's also specifically about clearing out old metastasized corruption and salvaging what can be salvaged. Which is the purpose of the Bai reformer faction. It's direct practice for dealing with extraordinarily deadly tradition through collaboration and power expression.
Zhengui will have a region of supreme importance to truly stretch his Divinity over. Not only embracing the destruction but also the renewal of the area. It's perfect and it's powerful, especially as our fief being next to The Wall will give him range to destroy in in-perpetuity.
Hanyi will not only have our colder, more mountainous southern fief to play with but also will regularly be able to tour lands north of us to announce winter (and perhaps later, spring) to many more peoples than only our province.
Sixiang will continue assisting us in the Dream, and get to see Dreams being pulled into reality in a way that they haven't yet. Both the nightmares of Li and the Dreams of Cai Governance.
GG and Xia Lin both have arcs which seem to be able to work anywhere that will have access to White Sky culture, so while there's nothing seemingly unique about this site for them on the surface it does technically fulfill that requirement.
I see GG further exploring the solar traditions of the White Sky, as both a border guard and a personal guard.
I see Xia Lin being exposed to her liege (and her liege's retainers) interacting with non-imperial traditions in a non-dominance non-destructive manner as having an impact on her. Perhaps the salvaging of pieces of Li will also be impactful.
I also think, given the prestige and number of high-importance cultivators working on this project, the possibility of Xiulan, Yanmei and/or Gu Tai showing up isn't out of the question. The province of Golden Fields is like a Black Lotus Mountain turned up to 11,000 in terms of dangerous lingering corruptions of bygone eras. Having their inheritors work on this high profile reclamation and reinforcement project might be seen as good practice for reclamation of regions of Golden Fields. Especially if some of the connections made can be convinced to work a project in Gu lands afterwards.
All in all, while the road project isn't immediately of relevance I think it's both indicative of one of the longstanding stagnation points of Emerald Seas (old snarls can't be cleared due to friction over the division of spoils, rather than actual inability) as well as a teaser for the kind of massive undertaking that will be had after the Diplomatic Deal project. These three tutorials are the beginning of a new phase of Threads, and while some feel that there are a hundred sidequest plotlines being dropped here I would argue that these seem more like main-quest teasers rather than side-quests? Any major project will require multiple smaller steps (unless you cheat and teleport I guess lol) so this is more like showing main-quest stepping stones, threads to weave the main-line tapestry from.
glyph
completely and utterly fine
Regarding the bribe, the priestess told us the river likes "trinkets crafted from its spoils", and also that it's "the patron of prospectors". It seems to me that the idol, being crafted of gold, fits this pretty perfectly.
[X] Offer an item of value to a spirit who values mortal craft.
-[X] Offer the Dream Idol
[X] Offer an item of value to a spirit who values mortal craft.
-[X] Offer the Dream Idol
[X] For the adulation lost, offer a sliver of your own power, once and done. (-100 XP from cultivation XP earned this turn, before multipliers)
- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Uuuuggg!!! 😔 Go for the 100% they said, it is the best option they said... -2 reputation to South Emerald Seas Clergy and also that choice ... I'm disappointed...
It was a 60% or 80% chance of success!!
Why you don't trust the mythical luck of Ling Qi!?
It was a 60% or 80% chance of success!!
Why you don't trust the mythical luck of Ling Qi!?
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
In defense of this option (and I say this as someone who voted to yolo it with the 60%), yrsillar clarified on Discord:
So it was only a -1 hit from this option.
The main thing that people were talking about with regard to this option wasn't the rep, though, it was the fact that fucking up the very first performance, Ling Qi's very first engagement with the broader Emerald Seas, would cast an immense shadow over the whole Hanyi project and probably doom it. If this wasn't the first performance but, like, the third in Hanyi's string of them, I think the voting would have been very different and people would have been less risk-averse, but as it is I suspect that most of the people who voted for this option would have been perfectly happy if the trade of "-1 Clergy Rep and 100 base cultivation XP to make it go well" had been made clear from the start.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
It could have been a lot worse, I did a meme roll in the aftermath--both other options would have failed.
I even did another one right here, and the 60% would have failed.
Suffice to say, the winds of fate weren't in our favor here. We just need to compensate, adapt, and ensure it takes actual effort for a repeat to drop on us.
Alectai your rolls are known to be just the worst. They cant be taken as indication of anything.
- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh!! Thanks for the info @picklepikkl !! That -2 and the clergy woman reaction really hurt/bother me ...
Btw, I also voted to yolo it with the 60%... ahahaha
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Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
No, my rolls create Drama, this can be very bad and very good, rarely mediocre though.
- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] For the adulation lost, offer a sliver of your own power, once and done. (-100 XP from cultivation XP earned this turn, before multipliers)