[Exalted] The Dragon's Spite

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[X] Sacrifice Inaan… Only Not Really. If Rena is willing to accept his deal and swear alliance, he'll let down his guard and bare his throat to you. He's fae. They can't break their word. You're human. You can, even if it means paying a price that'll hurt badly
 
[X] Sacrifice Inaan… Only Not Really. If Rena is willing to accept his deal and swear alliance, he'll let down his guard and bare his throat to you. He's fae. They can't break their word. You're human. You can, even if it means paying a price that'll hurt badly.
 
Hmmm, i wonder how it would have gone if Rena had just go full kill mode last vote.

Fighting the trickster in his terrain wasn't the best move it seems.

But anyway.

[X] Sacrifice Inaan.

Great power, cheap price.
 
[X] Sacrifice Inaan. In the end, the dragon was too full of spite to live in an imperfect world. She will take Silk-and-Eye as her new consort and leaves Cahzor behind. [Will end the story.]

I don't want the quest to end, but - this is the victory condition, assuming the options and text presented are honest (and Rena is supposed to be good versus Fae, so I assume it is).

Hot boytoy? Check.
Ticket out of this shithole? Check.
Path to power? Check.
Protection from demon lord? Check, and this is a hard box to check.

This is everything Rena has wanted since the quest started, in one handsome, well-endowed package. And the cost is a few mortals. She has spent lives for less, not just in her backstory but in the actions the voters chose for her.
Hell, considering what the demon lord might do after he kills Rena, this might even be the altruistic choice.

C'mon. What did Time and Causality ever do for us?
 
Glau said:
So, what is the price we will be paying, do you think? The way the options are phrased this sounds like taking the hit instead of our apprentice, but I'm not sure what to expect regards consequences.
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The cost of breaking an oath of alliance with such callous premeditation, when it was sworn to such powers, will not be cheap.

Fume Serpent Style means it won't latch onto Rena as strongly as was intended. There will be a certain leeway that was not intended. But the price will not be trivial for such a betrayal.

Humans can break oaths when fae can't, but perhaps they should consider whether it is worth it first.

qazcdewsx said:
How badly is [ ] Sacrifice Inaan… Only Not Really going to hurt? Does Rena know the consequences what the consequences of breaking a bargain with like this are or is it something she's never had to think about before. She seems like the kind of person who'd been willing to take the risk if it got her something she really wanted but she probably knows enough to know how dangerous it is so she'd have had to really want it and also have no other way of getting it.
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Rena does not know the exact price of breaking an oath sworn upon Dharma, but at least among the fae, an accidental breach of an oath of this magnitude would turn their tales towards inevitable tragedy.

She's not truly a creature of chaos; it will not have that kind of hold on her very being. But she knows well that this kind of oathbreaking always comes with a price. A steep one. But she is still a selfish creature; she believes she'll survive it, at least immediately. Though it will hurt.
 
Remember when Rena thought "I can take my time and enjoy the baths for a while, those Fae won't take anything that will be missed"? Good times.
 
I'm going to be honest.
[]Hunt him down is tempting.
Inaan has…Ultimately not endeared me to herself very well, and in my Rena head-space if she gets her dreams nibbled on it should suit Zia juuust fine.
But.
…Not really? Is kind of tugging. It's valuing Inaan over ourself. It's foolish because it's doing the whole 'mentor dies for student' thing, but for real, instead of playing a bit in the story. And it's a sign Rena is turning around and becoming someone better.
It's also scary, because I'm remembering that fire-panda mercenary guy, and the Necromancer in charge of Cahzori. And I'm not convinced they won't become PROBLEMS if Rena takes the hit here…
 
Elero said:
Remember when Rena thought "I can take my time and enjoy the baths for a while, those Fae won't take anything that will be missed"? Good times.
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Now now let's be fair.

Silk-and-Eye was always a megalomaniacal JRPG villain who was also a fox femboy. The way to get out of this was to play along and not make yourself interesting, not get tangled up in coups and conspiracies and drama which makes all fae mash the "escalate the stakes" buttons.
 
Folks, let me make the case for [ ] Sacrifice Inaan.

You see, our earnest quest runner here is has many a dead quest, often ones that have intriguing premises but just can't get off the ground. This is a longest running one they've ever done and a rollicking good ride. Doesn't EarthScorpion deserve to have a finished quest to put on their wall after all these years? I say yes, let's let Rena wrap it up and call it a job well done.

EarthScorpion said:
Now now let's be fair.

Silk-and-Eye was always a megalomaniacal JRPG villain who was also a fox femboy. The way to get out of this was to play along and not make yourself interesting, not get tangled up in coups and conspiracies and drama which makes all fae mash the "escalate the stakes" buttons.
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Would it really be Rena if she didn't dramatically escalate things though
 
[X] Hunt Him Down. He tried to screw you over. You want him dead above all else. Inaan can just wait a little longer while you try to find him in this web of illusions. If Inaan comes out of all this in a state that will take time to heal - if she ever does - at least she's alive.
 
[X] Hunt Him Down. He tried to screw you over. You want him dead above all else. Inaan can just wait a little longer while you try to find him in this web of illusions. If Inaan comes out of all this in a state that will take time to heal - if she ever does - at least she's alive.
 
[X] Sacrifice Inaan… Only Not Really

This is a hard choice for me, though Aleph did make a good point. And I am prepared for the pain that will come from this (hopefully).
 
[X] Sacrifice Inaan… Only Not Really. If Rena is willing to accept his deal and swear alliance, he'll let down his guard and bare his throat to you. He's fae. They can't break their word. You're human. You can, even if it means paying a price that'll hurt badly.

Initially, I thought that the price would be an easy fight in exchange for Inaans life, but if it's on our head, I'm closer to okay with that.
 
I basically feel that if Rena thinks about this choice rationally, she will take the deal. She'll only refuse it if she's so furious that she gets him to come out so she can prove she's not like he thinks she is by flaunting her deal-breaking in front of his face and then stabbing him a bunch.

I don't feel it's fitting to, at least, the read I have on her character for her to turn down the deal but also be rational and clear-headed enough to then calculate her way through doing so safely. If she's thinking in terms of safety and self-preservation at all, instead of being recklessly furious, she'll just go with him as the best option she's seen since arriving in this dusty hellhole.
 
[x] Sacrifice Inaan. In the end, the dragon was too full of spite to live in an imperfect world. She will take Silk-and-Eye as her new consort and leaves Cahzor behind. [Will end the story.]

I want to see what happens.
 
Fuuuuuuuck...

I'm not interested in running off with this shitbird, so that's out.

The "hunt him down" option doesn't seem great either - we're still going up against the something on par with a demon lord, there's still every chance we get fucked up in the process. And our success is less guaranteed.

Which leaves only one option - fuckor-fueled murder

[X] Sacrifice Inaan… Only Not Real
 
[ ] Sacrifice Inaan. In the end, the dragon was too full of spite to live in an imperfect world. She will take Silk-and-Eye as her new consort and leaves Cahzor behind. [Will end the story.]
Silk-and-Eye's style is too confrontational compared to Rena's. His sight is set on the foundation of Creation itself, and such ambition is more apt to get him killed than anything, really. Besides, Silk-and-Eye would be the one setting the terms of the relationship in this case.

[ ] Sacrifice Inaan… Only Not Really. If Rena is willing to accept his deal and swear alliance, he'll let down his guard and bare his throat to you. He's fae. They can't break their word. You're human. You can, even if it means paying a price that'll hurt badly.
Rena doesn't strike me as someone who would accept personal diminishment when there's a chance to avoid it.

[X] Hunt Him Down. He tried to screw you over. You want him dead above all else. Inaan can just wait a little longer while you try to find him in this web of illusions. If Inaan comes out of all this in a state that will take time to heal - if she ever does - at least she's alive.
Risky, but Rena's hardly averse to putting things to a cast of the die.
 
[X] Sacrifice Inaan… Only Not Really. If Rena is willing to accept his deal and swear alliance, he'll let down his guard and bare his throat to you. He's fae. They can't break their word. You're human. You can, even if it means paying a price that'll hurt badly.

Aleph has some interesting perspective as usual on how this idea could fit, but... as usual, not quite my reasoning to favor it.

I'll persistently stay in the camp of "Competent Villain Redemption-Arc" I suppose and favor Rena both looking out for the useful minions to cultivate as well as maybe a little penance of being willing to take a hit keeping Inaan intact after... ya know... her original plans of "I'll just delay, its fiiine. I can beat him on his own turf at his own game" chosen twice over (arrival, then after fake-zia and deciding to act) led us to still being stuck in an illusion with the trickster making an offer thats basically Rena's own personal idea of an Isekai Dream.

Playing by his rules has been a stalemate at best and diminished our allies at worst, it feels, but since swapping over to "now i'll fight directly" (once hes warned) feels a bit late when we're halfway stuck in his trap, its time to break the rules of his game for the quick and hopefully finishing surprise.
 
[X] Hunt Him Down. He tried to screw you over. You want him dead above all else. Inaan can just wait a little longer while you try to find him in this web of illusions. If Inaan comes out of all this in a state that will take time to heal - if she ever does - at least she's alive.

Inaan already has a chip on her shoulder about everyone around her controlling her and treating her like she's fragile porcelain.

Not to mention pretend-betraying Inaan is probably not going to do anything good for her opinion of Rena, even with the excuse of "But it was a trick to kill a dangerous Fae, see? Honest."

I think that these options are written entirely from Rena's perspective, and that means they come with the assumption of everyone here is suicidally incompetent except for me. Which is only sometimes true.

Inaan already seemed to think the "adventure" world was a bit weird. I'm willing to put a bit of faith in her figuring things out enough to survive intact, particularly since Silk-and-Eye won't be able to guide the illusion as effectively if he has to focus on Rena gunning for him. And if Inaan does come out of it with scars, mental or physical, at least she earned them honestly. Zia would probably not forgive Rena, but I find Inaan more interesting.
 
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    • Scheduled vote count started by EarthScorpion on Sep 28, 2022 at 1:00 PM, finished with 40 posts and 27 votes.
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