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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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JowKeen said:
Having a Mortal Kombat Fatality is tactically relevant. It frees us up to do other things, reducing the time and energy we're spending controlling someone into oblivion. In addition, we used it during 3 Village Defense against a Green at Village 3 and it pushed them towards the retreat because of just how hard we hit them. The time we used it on Hui Peng is functionally the same use case, freeing up our time and energy by Ending the fight we would have won slowly otherwise.
this is especially useful for an attrition build in the wild, because Finishers aren't only useful for duels. We have a build that eviscerates chaff, and attritions peers. If an enemy target falls below a certain threshold or an opportunity opens, we hit them with extremely high Pen and Damage and greatly accelerate the clock they'd otherwise be on. We used it against Ji Rong to this effect, where CtE burned out the Qi reserves and reduced him to only having his physical cultivation to fall back on. The duel was over, even if it hadn't killed him outright (we weren't trying to kill him and the Sect was watching to make sure we didn't). The Qi-less Ji Rong would've been able to have been handled by subordinates at that point, still dangerous but not taking up our personal time/attention.
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Against Hui Peng he had no allies or reinforcements and we had plenty of qi and health left over. Thus the finisher was completely irrelevant. Meanwhile scaring off the Green would have been substantially easier if we had better long lasting DoTs, as that would have made it clear that they were going to be captured if they didn't retreat in time.

Qi-less Ji Rong would be unconscious courtesy of Spring's End. Had we focused more on debuffs we could have left him behind substantially earlier in the process while leaving Hoarfrost Refrain to eat away at his meager Qi.

So, given the examples you've presented, our finisher was either completely irrelevant or to the detriment of our build.

I get it, a finisher is flashy and impressive. However, given how LQ fights, that doesn't actually help us at all. Breaking our themes in order to be better at something that's pointless is a poor use of very limited project slots and a perfect target for streamlining.

Edit: If you want to see an example of a tactically important finisher, Ji Rong's from our last duel is a good example: he takes several pointless or even counterproductive actions (injuring himself) so as to charge it faster because he knows that his only chance of success was to get it to go off.

Of course we then countered it with Black Mirror but he still built his entire strategy for the fight around it.
 
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Ok, I'm going to be occupied when the moratorium is over, so I'm going to post the 4 plans I have come up with. Though they are more like 4 variations of the same core plan.

The common elements are Weaver of Tails for the Personal Action (though I'm sure this one is going to win by a landslide), and Hou Zhuang's Gift for one of the Proffesional Actions. The common Cultivation Projects are the The Dreaming Gala and The Opened Vault.
I will say now that achieving double successes in the Cultivation Projects is not my priority. We are good in Concepts for now, and we can advance them through narrative choices. I selected the Cultivation Projects based in the Personal and Proffesional Actions, choosing those that fit thematically or grant useful skills, regardless of if they are immediately useful or on the longer term.

So, the first plan focuses entirely in the auction, in getting all the bonuses form the Proffesional Actions and the thematically appropriate Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1. It would look loke this:

[] Plan: Grand Tree Heist
- [] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala - Silent Stones, Argent Domain (10/5)
- [] [Cultivation] The Opened Vault (7/5)
- [] [Cultivation] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 - Argent Vent (?/5)
- [] [Professional] Root Inroads
- [] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

The second plan foregoes the minor bonus from Root Inroads and includes the Yu Nuan adoption storyline, which we really should do either this turn or the next at the latest. I will put my single Omake Point into assuring the best chance of getting the maximum reward from the Thunder Palace. If we are doinf it, we have to do it right. So the plan would be:

[] Plan: Duty and Family
- [] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala - Silent Stones, Argent Domain (10/5)
- [] [Cultivation] The Opened Vault (7/5)
- [] [Cultivation] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 - Argent Vent (?/5)
- [] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

The next 2 plans are like the previous ones, but changing Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 out for Raising the Bastion. This is due to this part of the update:
yrsillar said:
Here I will add a brief explanation of Exploration Actions as they exist in the new system. Firstly exploration actions are always connected to some narrative beat and thus are never 'empty' secondly rather than isolated rolls for results. Exploring locations will now advance you toward reward thresholds based on your roll on the d100 with modifiers. When you reach the maximum reward threshold the site is fully explored. It is still possible to eanr special rewards or miss them during the narrative section, but Exploration will no longer have a chance of turning up nothing. Some Explorations will only be available for a single instance though so you may not reach the full threshold for those.
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Yrs uses the word "reward" but I'm sure that "opportunity" is more adequate. Just because we find a resource doesn't mean we will be able to take advantage of it. So I'm sure that Raising the Bastion would be a great help for succeeding in these explorations. Including the mandatory Wall exploration and the Thunder Palce when we do it.
So the 2 new plans would be:

[] Plan: North and South
- [] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala - Silent Stones, Argent Domain (10/5)
- [] [Cultivation] The Opened Vault (7/5)
- [] [Cultivation] Raising the Bastion - Argent Vent (?/5)
- [] [Professional] Root Inroads
- [] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

[] Plan: Duty, Home and Family
- [] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala - Silent Stones, Argent Domain (10/5)
- [] [Cultivation] The Opened Vault (7/5)
- [] [Cultivation] Raising the Bastion - Argent Vent (?/5)
- [] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

Finally, for the people that only want the general outline instead of reading the whole thing, the distinctions would be:
  • Adoption: Duty and Family (Auction Focus) ; Duty, Home and Family (Auction and Wall) +1 Omake Point
  • No Adoption: Grand Tree Heist (Auction Focus) ; North and South (Auction and Wall)
By the way, I will be voting for the 2 No Adoption plans, but definitely doing the adoption in the next turn.
Edit: I'm pretty sure that Raising the Bastion reaches 5/5? Not sure about the math of my plans. If not, then it's fine to change it for the Spirit Seeker VI, Dreaming Muse Rapport VII or Hidden Smile V projects.
 
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It's probably about time I speak out about which plan I support in general now that the moratorium deadline is approaching
flazeo25 said:
[] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
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I think this plan represents best which projects should be taken priority this turn. I personally think that taking SSC projects in conjunction to events should be taken into consideration, and Dreaming best represents it due to the upcoming auction in Xiangmen.
yrsillar said:
The Dreaming Gala: Only once have you tasted the wine of Dream, and reveled in her halls. Those memories are blurry. Those memories are slippery. You have grown, and you know in your heart that you always have an invitation. Seek again that cacophonous hall, that phantasmal concert, and find the lessons you may have yet missed: Fuses the Ephemeral Dreamlit Dancer technique in to the Dreamwalker Trait. Advances the Dreamwalker Trait by 1 level, and the Creation Concepts by 1 step. (0/5)
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yrsillar said:
Weaver of Tails: You've spoken with Su Ling about her troubles, and though you can't give her answers, you can give her a method of better exploring her own thoughts. Take her with you through the labyrinth gate and see where the foxfire leads. (+1 to Dream and Motion Projects. +1 to Dreamwalker Trait on completion. Characters Sixiang, Su Ling)
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Meanwhile Dreaming Gala is a huge must this turn since not only would it support Su Ling's adventure in the liminal, imo it's also the best time to take it as other cultivation projects have high priority as well. That's not to mention that fusing one of PLR's tech into one of our traits helps immensely later on. It's also just best imo to level-up our Dreamwalker trait as much as the opportunity presents itself with how many Dream target locations we have in the liminal.

While taking two Dreaming projects might be too much for some people who wants to get as much projects as they could, I'd argue however that one of the biggest reasons to take two Dreaming projects, aside from SSC supporting the Gala, is Sixiang. @Erebeal and @AbeoLogos would argue that Sixiang needs some proper development arcs badly, and after seeing some of their posts, I'm inclined to agree. You could argue that they've had that already at the beginning of last turn, Fantasia, but that arc was taken over by Uncle Skellington at the end there. Not to mention, we were also at the point where we were still fiddling with narrative mechanics we're not completely familiar with yet. By the end of it, Sixiang's arc didn't become as developed as we hoped it would've, instead it focused on Dreamwalking mechanics and Uncle skellington.

yrsillar said:
The Opened Vault: Ten thousand Locks and not one to stop you. Learn the lessons of the first thief, whom no vault or security could stop. Acquire the Thief of Winds technique, which allows you to interact with and steal from dimensional storage and bypass many forms of security. Advances Vanishing by 1. Advances Want project by one. (0/5)
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Next, I wanna talk about Opened Vaults. Frankly I love Wind Thief and want to invest points in the project as much as I could, so I have a bias in this. I will however acknowledge that some projects could be argued to be better for this turn, or that they'd be able to fill the same role as Wind Thief (like for example, Raising the Bastion, Garden of Mists, Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu part 1, etc). However, allow me argue back why Opened Vaults is good for this turn.

I'd argue that Opened Vaults would be useful for several of the projects written in @flazeo25 's plan, as well as the Wall-scouting project. Since the project boosts Ling Qi's Vanishing, which is her main stealth skill, this would help her in her scouting mission. The same is going to be true in some of her other projects that include exploration in it. You could argue that Raising the Bastion could tackle those projects in a diplomatic kind of way, but that projects mainly just puts a defence buffer around Ling Qi, which I'd argue Opened Vaults could tackle those roles in a similar way (through stealth) and do more than just that. The ability to steal stuff from "dimensional storage and bypassing security" is just such a good skillset for Ling Qi to have, and would allow Yrs to expand her repertoire. Narratively, that could be best represented in the auction project/Hou Zhuang project due to Opened Vaults subterfuge nature in general.

Now I'm not saying Raising the Bastion isn't good or useful in general, it's good for what it does especially since Ling Qi's kind of a spirit-talker and a diplomat, not to mention Yu Nuan's arc fits that project well. However, personally speaking, I see the Thunder Palace as Yu Nuan's ballpark and don't want to meddle too much in that area. Speaking of
yrsillar said:
Adoption Vetting: The request made of you is a very serious one. You need to give it the consideration it deserves. Take some time to speak with Yu Nuan, introduce her to your family, and perhaps make a little trip to see how she holds up in your presence. [Single Instance Exploration 1d100+20 Base. Gain Location Thunder Palace. Reward thresholds at 40, 60, 80, 100. Characters: Yu Nuan, Ling family)
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I should also state why Adoption Vetting cannot be put off this turn to people who are reluctant to take, or those who prioritise other projects. Let me ask you: when was the last time we saw Yu Nuan onscreen? In Forge time, that would be a month ago, but for us? Might as well be a freaking year. While it may have been okay before for Yu Nuan to have minor appearances then disappearing for months, those conditions are no longer true since we've voted to accept Yu Nuan as part of our family, and we know narratively how important family is for Ling Qi. Yu Nuan now desperately needs narrative attention, and can no longer be "put off till the next turn".
 
There is also some delicious irony in visiting the Thunder Palace while training an art that is based on the mythological events which freed the winds.
 
[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

And off we go. It's MOON time.
 
[X] Plan Workaholic Dreams
-Cultivation Projects
--[X] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 (6/5)
--[X] The Opened Vault (7/5)
--[X] Garden of Mists (7/5)
-Professional Actions
--[X] Adoption Vetting
--[X] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
-Personal Action
--[X] Weaver of Tails

Why vote for this plan? Well, since the auction is happening in Xiangman, it's the perfect time for the fortress of Tsu as @Neshuakadal said... And narratively it fits very well! On the other hand, Garden of Mists Advances Liminal Carver by 1 and that seems very useful and important to establish our fiefdom. Open vault ... for the auction hehehe

@Kirr "Maths" updated with the Erebeal's table ... I hope I am not mistaken

Another great option...

[X] Dreaming of Family V3
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (10/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] Garden of Mists (7/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (8/5)

Reasons for Dreaming of Family V3 (AKA Community and Creation ties it all together)...

- [Cultivation] Dreaming (10/3) with bonuses from Weaver of Tails, Hou Zhuang (should get us 2 Community, Truth, and Creation projects steps)
- [Cultivation] Garden of Mists (7/5) with bonuses from Hou Zhuang (Advances Community and Cycles Project by 1. Advances Liminal Carver by 1 which will probably be important later imo)
- [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (8/5) with bonuses from Weaver of Tails (Advances the Dreamwalker Trait by 1 level, and the Creation Concepts by 1 step.)

By @ApeofLight

Edit: Approval vote

[X] Plan: Duty and Family
 
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[X] Plan: Grand Tree Heist
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala - Silent Stones, Argent Domain (10/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Opened Vault (7/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 - Argent Vent (?/5)
- [X] [Professional] Root Inroads
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

[X] Plan: Duty and Family
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala - Silent Stones, Argent Domain (10/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Opened Vault (7/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 - Argent Vent (?/5)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
 
MORATORIUM OVER, VOTING TIME

[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
 
[X] Plan: Gathering Darkness, with 100% less paper
- [X] [Cultivation] It's Depths Without End - Mirror Basin (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] Raising the Bastion - Argent Vent(Greater) (5/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Opened Vault (7/5) (8/5 with argent domain)
- [X] [Social] Root Inroads
- [X] [Social] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Serpent Whisperer

It feels like the rare calm turn, nothing urgent or really important, perfect time to get some prep work out from our list of things-to-do.

Edit: changed so the tally don't use the old one with adoption vetting.
 
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don't really care about Hou Zhuang's Gift, but Adoption Vetting and Su ling is something i want

[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
 
[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
 
With all arguments up to now, I still like the Actions taken in my Plan.

[X] Plan Workaholic Dreams
-Cultivation Projects
--[X] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 (6/5)
--[X] The Opened Vault (7/5)
--[X] Garden of Mists (7/5)
-Professional Actions
--[X] Adoption Vetting
--[X] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
-Personal Action
--[X] Weaver of Tails

Same Actions in this Plan and since I'm really unsure with the Arts I chose... this is cool to

[X] Dreaming of Family V3
- [X][Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X][Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X][Personal] Weaver of Tails
- [X][Cultivation] Dreaming (10/3)
- [X][Cultivation] Garden of Mists (7/5)
- [X][Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (8/5)

It`s Missing Tree ... that's Sad, but maybe we can get some narrative hooks in Xiangmen for the Art itself to have a good starting point for the next turn.
 
[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

[X] Plan Workaholic Dreams
-Cultivation Projects
--[X] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 (6/5)
--[X] The Opened Vault (7/5)
--[X] Garden of Mists (7/5)
-Professional Actions
--[X] Adoption Vetting
--[X] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
-Personal Action
--[X] Weaver of Tails

[X] Dreaming of Family V3
- [X][Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X][Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X][Personal] Weaver of Tails
- [X][Cultivation] Dreaming (10/3)
- [X][Cultivation] Garden of Mists (7/5)
- [X][Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (8/5)
 
[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
 
[X] Plan: Duty and Family

[X] Plan: Duty and Family and MOON
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala - Silent Stones, Argent Domain (10/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 - Argent Vent (?/5)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

Swapped out opened vault for dreaming because I also wanna work on SSC stuff.
 
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I like everything about Plan Duty and Family except part of the cultivation plan...I've decided that I want us to do Garden of Mists. Its gonna be useful for our fief and in general, its really cool and we should do it sooner rather than later.

[X] Plan: Duty and Family, Mists Version
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala - Silent Stones, Argent Domain (10/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] Garden of Mists
- [X] [Cultivation] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 - Argent Vent (?/5)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

I also am partial to Root Inroads. Thus I will edit another version of another plan to include this as well as Garden of Mists.

[X] Plan: Grand Tree among the Mists
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala - Silent Stones, Argent Domain (10/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] Garden of Mists
- [X] [Cultivation] Xiangmen, Fortress of Tsu Pt. 1 - Argent Vent (?/5)
- [X] [Professional] Root Inroads
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
 
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So, due to talk on discord, i got moree of a liking to Root inroads, because Xia Lin will be at the auction too, most likely, so changing the plan!

[X] Plan: Gathering Darkness, with 100% less paper
- [X] [Cultivation] It's Depths Without End - Mirror Basin (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] Raising the Bastion - Argent Vent(Greater) (5/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Opened Vault (7/5) (8/5 with argent domain)
- [X] [Social] Root Inroads
- [X] [Social] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Serpent Whisperer
 
[X] Dreaming of Family V4
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (10/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] Raising the Bastion, Argent Vent (5/5)
- [X] [Cultivation] Phantasmal Mastery, Argent Domain, Silent Stones (10/5)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
 
After seeing the different arguments for and against I'm going to throw my vote this way

[X] Dreaming of Family V3
- [X][Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X][Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X][Personal] Weaver of Tails
- [X][Cultivation] Dreaming (10/3)
- [X][Cultivation] Garden of Mists (7/5)
- [X][Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (8/5)

However I have heard very good reasons why we should drop Garden of Mists this turn and pick up Opened Vault instead so >.>

[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails

We do loose out on getting Community to Concept level 4 but I'm sure we can get it next turn.
 
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