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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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[X] Plan Snow Snake
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Diviner's Path
-[X] [Cultivation] We Are But Ripples (Greater Argent Vent + Argent Domain) (6/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] The Laughing Wind (Shattered Gaol) (7/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation

Alright, I'm going to throw out a plan variation here. I want a version of the plan that has Idols and Ancestors and Diviner's Path. Why? Because I love Hanyi and Zeqing and don't want to give that up, and I love Meizhen, Xiao Fen, and Suyin and I want them to figure more heavily in the story. If that means Xuan Shi takes a back seat in the story for a while, then so be it. I like him, but I don't like him well enough to push the characters I love out of the spotlight.
 
[X] Plan Wherein Lies Meaning
[X] Plan Snow Snake

Since Paying Respect option doesn't have "available this turn only" tag, I assume we can do it later?
 
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[X] Plan Best Snake
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Cathedral of Winds
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Diviner's Path
-[X] [Cultivation] We Are But Ripples (Greater Argent Vent + Argent Domain) (6/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] The Laughing Wind (Shattered Gaol) (7/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation

[X] Plan Snow Snake
[X] Plan Wherein Lies Meaning
 
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[x] Plan Dream Tribulation and Successor
[x] Plan Cold Wisdom

Grinding those SSC bonus XP and progressing our cultivation art which upped baseline XP from 100 to 110 last turn. That's a flat 10% upgrade to both phys. and spiritual base cultivation speed. If we keep picking SSC projects we will level again by Turn 18. Likely earning another ~10% increase and ofc bonus XP along the way.

Edit!
More approval voting:
[X] Plan Wherein Lies Meaning
[X] Plan Step by Step
 
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[X] Plan Wherein Lies Meaning
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Cultivation] We Are But Ripples (Greater Argent Vent + Argent Domain) (6/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] The Laughing Wind (Shattered Gaol) (7/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation

It looks like we're Paying Respects later, and this has everything else I could possibly want.
 
Feel like I could easily accept any of the professional actions. Like, with the exception of paying respects all that stuff is gonna be on our plate as we develop our barony.
I don't find paying respects that important because LQ puts value on personal relationships rather than institutional loyalty and it's not like she's gonna be disrespectful in her departure. But we might need that ??? contact in the future so whatever.

Definitely want:
-[] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[] [Personal] Diviners Path

Diviners path reveals potential dangers to our home and our FAMILY. Plus, Suyin and best snek are our FIRST FRIENDS.

Idols and Ancestors is important to our cultivation. Plus Zequing was our master and Hanyi is now FAMILY. Leaving and ostensibly losing access to our master's grave without a proper farewell seems to belie the value LQ puts on family.

No [Personal] Sea of Dreams
Using awkward turtle's family name to add legitimacy to CRX's project (and perhaps as a foil to the Jin scion who will accompany our prejudiced overseer) is a good political move. However, Xuan Shi sucks at dealing with people, making him useless for this ambassadorial mission. Relegating him to a lesser role than CRX, best snek or LQ is just as disrespectful as using him for advice like we did earlier.
Also, he still has a spirit that likes to fuck up our endeavors. Imagine the lil fox mouthing off before parties of higher cultivation / import like she did on the ancient swords front lawn. Awkward turtle can stay at the sect and learn to be social with Wang Chao and Liu Xin. Maybe earn some rep at the tri wizard cup.
 
Hmmm...

I'd be kind of tempted to do Bian Ya politics instead of Survey in order to better tie into the summit prep. In isolation survey could easily be delayed a turn or so.

At the same time though, we're already unlocking other fief adventures and it would be nice to get survey finished up before we start working on them. It's also our Lao Kueng social action which allows us to get to know him before we do any Meizhen adventuring, which she did kind of set up.

hmmm
 
[X] Plan Meaning Is Depth
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Cultivation] It's Depths Without End (Saline Grotto + Argent Domain) (6/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] The Laughing Wind (Shattered Gaol) (7/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation

[X] Plan Meaning Is Width
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Cultivation] Lake Hei is Wide (Saline Grotto + Argent Domain) (6/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] The Laughing Wind (Shattered Gaol) (7/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation

[] Plan Meaning Is Friendship!
-[] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[] [Cultivation] Raising the Bastion (Greater Argent Vent + Argent Domain) (6/3)
-[] [Cultivation] The Laughing Wind (Shattered Gaol) (7/3)
-[] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation

They are just shameless copies of Xep's plan, with ripples swapped for Depths, Wide Lake and Bastion, so we can finally know what the damn trait does or have AoE defenses both for our constructs and allies or make friends more easily.... or pad somewhat the Adventures!
I just dont like ripples, like, why the hell is it a separate project? (sure, there was a system change, still dont see why it isnt just tackled on to wide lake or depths.)

Edit: ....Forgot to check if there is already a bastion plan or not....
[X] Plan Chilly Winds of Change
[X] Plan Step by Step
 
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Ok, the general approach of survey + hou zhuang + FSS+ + XS + LFWT I'm in favor of... but I feel like Bastion would be a good pick here.

Could be a useful pickup in either our dream adventure or surveying, as well as being something it would be good to have up before we go to Labyrinth or Cathedral in case of any diplo opportunities there.

Moreover, we're actually really bad at MoSS - our base progress on it is 3. Those extra two points from the Argent Vent are pretty handy, so we should take advantage of them when we can - and bastion does unlock a follow-on project there too.

[x] Plan Chilly Winds of Change
 
TheCount said:
[X] Plan Meaning Is Friendship!
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Cultivation] Raising the Bastion (Greater Argent Vent + Argent Domain) (6/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] The Laughing Wind (Shattered Gaol) (7/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation
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That's just [] Plan Chilly Winds of Change
 
[X] Plan Chilly Winds of Change
-[X] Professional: Survey the Wall
-[X] Professional: Hou Zhuang's Gift 3
-[X] Personal: Idols and Ancestors
-[X] Personal: Sea of Dreams
-[X] Cultivation: Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation
-[X] Cultivation: The Laughing Wind (6/3, Shattered Gaol)
-[X] Cultivation: Raising the Bastion (6/5, Greater Argent Vent + Argent Domain)
 
[X] Plan Cold Wisdom
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Paying respect
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Cultivation] Hidden Scribe (Site Irrelevant)
-[X] [Cultivation] Soul of Ice (Palace of Falling Waters)
-[X] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation

[X]Plan: Roots Remain Strong During Winter
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Root Inroads
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Art] Frozen Soul Serenade
-[X] [Art] Soul of Ice (8/5, Argent Domain, Falling Waters Palace)
-[X] [Art] Bear God's Fury (6/3, sites irrelevant)

[X] Plan Finishing Touch and new Opportunities
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Cultivation] Soul of Ice (Site Irrelevant)
-[X] [Cultivation] The Laughing Wind (Shattered Gaol) (7/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation

[X]Plan: Cold Winds
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Professional] Root Inroads
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Art] Frozen Soul Serenade
-[X] [Art] Soul of Ice (8/5, Argent Domain, Falling Waters Palace)
-[X] [Art] The Laughing Wind (7/3, The Shattered Gaol)

[X]Plan: Strong Foundations
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Art] Frozen Soul Serenade
-[X] [Art] Soul of Ice (8/5, Argent Domain, Falling Waters Palace)
-[] [Art] Bear God's Fury (6/3, sites irrelevant)

I will die on the FSS + SoI hill, third cultivation option is flexible.
 
Lleda said:
No [Personal] Sea of Dreams
Using awkward turtle's family name to add legitimacy to CRX's project (and perhaps as a foil to the Jin scion who will accompany our prejudiced overseer) is a good political move. However, Xuan Shi sucks at dealing with people, making him useless for this ambassadorial mission. Relegating him to a lesser role than CRX, best snek or LQ is just as disrespectful as using him for advice like we did earlier.
Also, he still has a spirit that likes to fuck up our endeavors. Imagine the lil fox mouthing off before parties of higher cultivation / import like she did on the ancient swords front lawn. Awkward turtle can stay at the sect and learn to be social with Wang Chao and Liu Xin. Maybe earn some rep at the tri wizard cup.
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The whole point of the Xuan Shi action right now, apart from recruiting him, is to help him work with Kongyou, and the only reason why they had a physical body when we visited Grumpy Sword is that Grumpy Sword kicked them out of Shi's head, so I don't really see that happening.

And I agree he's awkward, buuuuut so far when he's been awkward it's when he's interacted with his crushes, ie CRX (at one point iirc) and LQ

And now, since it's still early, I would once again like to show why Bastion is the best choice for this turn, just in case my previous post was skipped.

Oliver_Twister said:
Sea of Dreams (a really fitting name for XS actually), does 3 things.
1. We're taking our friend on a Dream Adventure as we promised.
2. We're recruiting him for our diplomacy efforts
3. We're helping him solve his relationship with Kongyou. Remember, the whole vote for the Xuan Shi action wasn't whether we'll actually do it, but rather the action that works best with him and his Kongyou, his nightmare spirit. It was literally a vote about which action we should do depending on how much it affects their relationship.

And guess what? Bastion is an art about bringing understanding to harmful spirits so that they'll see that they're doing harm, even if they don't mean it. And Kongyou is a NIGHTMARE spirit who hurts people without knowing it's wrong because it's fun to them. Xuan Shi's plan is ALSO about trying to turn a NIGHTMARE into a DREAM and to change something, you need to understand it. Melody of the Spirit Seekers and Bastion is also about that since MoSS is fundamentally about understanding spirits.

Secondly, I really want to master MoSS in general. I'm not sure what the insights look like, but since our Way is focused on bringing people together and clear understanding, I think it'll be really good for us. I mean, at the end of Turn 15 LQ literally said misunderstanding leads to people not holding hands and connecting. It leads to Isolation. And this would be a really good opportunity to do it.

Thirdly, as a Family and Community Cultivator, Protection should be a really good concept for Ling Qi to unlock, especially in relation to Home. Actually, it's really weird that she doesn't have a concept for it, based on our thoughts on Zhengui and sacrificing ourselves for our friends. So yet again it works well with Xuan Shi. LQ can always kinda look down on Xuan Shi and treated him like a kid, and during this action and our new relationship with him, we can show him that we've learned it since like Su Ling, we're only really a guide here, Plus, the only other source of Protection is WHR and I doubt we'll ever complete those unless Garden of Mists changes them

Also, without Argent Vents, we'll need to spend omake points to actually complete Bastion in one turn, that's ignoring if we want to double it, so I'd like to do it now.

And lastly, though this is mostly flimsy compared to the rest, the description relates to thoughts on how Winter Spirits acted on the Wall, and since we're going to the grave of our Winter Spirit mentor with our winter spirit sister, it fits too.
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TLDR:
  • Though Sea of Dreams is primarily about recruiting Shi, it's also about him, Kongyou, and their relationship. Exhibit A:
yrsillar said:
[ ] Is there a dream you would like to walk? (Opens personal action/Dream Quest for Xuan Shi. More chance of affecting his relation with Kongyou, higher chance of negative results)

[ ] I can't promise a ship, but there are distant lands and wonders to see (opens personal action with Xuan Shi, adventure in the Labyrinth. Less effect on Kongyou relation, lower chance of negative results)
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And Bastion focuses on understanding, specifically, letting spirits see the negstive consequences of their actions. Exhibit B:
yrsillar said:
In the lessons of the Bastion's Melody, you find the lessons needed to mitigate their harm, and even bring understanding of their doings to spirits most inhuman.
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  • I assume most people want to finish our Survey. If not, they at least want to do the Meizhen/Suyin action, the Starlit Labyrinth, or the Cathedral of Winds. Guess what? Bastion also focuses on negating negative effects, and the fief sites from the survey have been getting more and more dangerous as we go on. So something focused on negating negative effects and negotiating with spirits still works for the Survey.

  • Ling Qi is literally a Family cultivator. We have an understanding of things related to Family: Community and Home. But if we're going to do that, why don't we have Protection? We've already seen that LQ wants to help CRX to create a better place for her family. We've seen that she's struggled with always doing everything and hurting herself to protect her loved ones, even if it means taking a knife to the neck. It's even tinged our relationship with Zhengui when she overprotects him. So why don't we have Protection as a concept? To crystallize these thoughts? Well, Bastion will give us Protection XP.

  • We're leaving the Sect in 2 turns (turn 18). After that, we'll lose the bonus from Argent Vents so we'll need to spend omake points just to complete Bastion. Not to double it, but just to complete it so that it won't carry over to the next turn. I think it's best to at least finish Bastion now in the Sect so that we don't have to spend omake points completing a project that only needs 5 XP, when some need 8 and higher.

  • Cultivating MoSS in general works really well with LQ's burgeoning Way because of its principles, and after the finale for last turn, I want to continue that. Exhibit C, D, and E:
yrsillar said:
Long out of fashion among the nobility of the empire, arts such as this nonetheless remain valuable for cultivators who must deal with matters of spirits in a less high handed fashion. Developed in the late days of the Xi from the collected practices and rituals of many clans. Conflict between man and spirit often stems from misunderstanding. To a spirit meaning is constant, but to human folk, the meaning in words is a fluid thing, changing from generation to generation. Thus, in seeking accord with wild spirits words are as often a hindrance as they are a help.

Potency Increase 0/3
Balanced, Music
Keywords: Bargaining, Sincerity, Understanding.
Antithesis: Deceit, Ignorance, Power
Art Type: Utility

Passive Effects:
You have learned how to quickly identify the nature of spirits you interact with, and understanding the fault lines between them and humanity, you may more easily prevent hostility, spirits of lesser potency will always begin with a neutral attitude unless compelled by other forces, and even greater spirits are inclined to at least listen and hear you out.
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yrsillar said:
A looming shadow of great weight fell over the woman and the child, suffusing the air with the stink of cheap wine. It only took one sharp blow to sunder them. A sound like shattering glass drifted through the Mist. The child fled a streak of darkness vanishing into the labyrinth. The woman collapsed in on herself with the sound of sobs.

Fear, miscommunication, anger, pain. Severing and sundering the fragile threads of their connection.
The girl took the lesson that there was no safety in others, in reaching out. Yet the wound was an aching hole, never healing.
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yrsillar said:
What the girl wanted simply couldn't be done alone. No power could change that. And so the girl learned to speak, to act, to express.

And when the time came, she reached out, with paper and ink, to salvage her first failure in those arts.

There in the Mist, a woman and girl, the latter so tall now, and the former so small. The shades embraced, and the Mist whipped up, whirling them away.

The girl was no saint, she could not love all. She did not even want to try. But she would see that people spoke, that they did not shatter over miscommunication, by silence.

People would speak, people would hear. Perhaps it would change nothing in the end, for one could hear without listening, and speak without expression.

And though she only had two hands, so did others. The threads of connection did not demand that one alone bear their burden.
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So vote for Bastion!!
Vote for Plan Chilly Winds of Change!!!

[] Plan Chilly Winds of Change
-[] Professional: Survey the Wall
-[] Professional: Hou Zhuang's Gift 3
-[] Personal: Idols and Ancestors
-[] Personal: Sea of Dreams
-[] Cultivation: Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation
-[] Cultivation: The Laughing Wind (6/3, Shattered Gaol)
-[] Cultivation: Raising the Bastion (6/5, Greater Argent Vent + Argent Domain)
 
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[X] Plan Best Snake
[X] Plan Snow Snake

[X] Plan Wherein Lies Meaning

In a vacuum I like Diviner's Path more than any of the other options, but I realise it comes with an impractically high opportunity cost and is therefore unlikely to make it in. Wherein Lies Meaning is the most interesting non-snake plan, so in it goes...
 
[X] Plan Chilly Winds of Change
[X] Plan Snow Snake

Not sure what's up with tally on this last one but this interpretation is the one I'm supporting.

[X] Plan: Strong Foundations
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Art] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation
-[X] [Art] Soul of Ice (8/5, Argent Domain, Falling Waters Palace)
-[X] [Art] Bear God's Fury (6/3, sites irrelevant)
 
Doramas said:
Why do people even want to do We Are But Ripples?
Why do they like the Void concept so much?
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Ita not just the Void concept. We Are But Ripples is one of the only Cultivation Projects (the only one? I thought there were 2 but not sure) that offers +1 for the Ending Concept. Considering that's one of the main, most important parts of FSS and will be one of the most important parts of FSS+...Pretty important.
Nevermind! I wasn't able to look up the Art's text on my phone to check earlier but its not the Ending concept!!! Its Isolation and Mystery! Gah
Furthering the Isolation concept is nice too and everything but I wish we could build up the Ending concept...
 
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[X] Plan Finishing Touch and new Opportunities
-[X] [Professional] Survey the Wall
-[X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 3 of 3
-[X] [Personal] Idols and Ancestors
-[X] [Personal] Sea of Dreams
-[X] [Cultivation] Soul of Ice (Site Irrelevant)
-[X] [Cultivation] The Laughing Wind (Shattered Gaol) (7/3)
-[X] [Cultivation] Frozen Soul Serenade Successor Creation


I understand that a lot of people seem to think that taking soul of ice would narratively dilute the FSS+ creation process, but I do hope that people will reconsider.
 
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