Firstly, if you have questions about Good Seeds and the like please read here. If that doesn't answer your question please ping me in thread, or on Discord.
If you write a new Good Seed, or write an omake, please update the spreadsheet if you have access.
If you do not have access, please ping a collaborator (Swordomatic, Alectai, Quest, TehChron, Insane-Not-Crazy, Humbaba, ReaderOfFate, Kaboomatic, no., BungieONI) letting them know what you want and they will update the spreadsheet here. To gain access, you will need a gmail account of some kind. Throwaway emails are fine (I'm using one for the spreadsheet), but to gain access it's as simple as sending me either your email via PM, via DM in Discord, or just in Discord's #spreadsheet-requests channel.
This is mandatory. If a Good Seed does not record their omake by pinging collabs (or just requesting access and editing things themselves - this is the preferred option), I won't give out awards. If a new Good Seed is not recorded here, they won't advance. By doing this it makes the whole thing manageable for me - it's gotten pretty unwieldy!
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Omake Writer Instructions:
There are four fields you need to fill out.
Omake Link, which is just a link to your first omake for the turn. This makes it easier for me to read them as I do the update - without this it's tough to know off the bat which omake were written this turn, and to properly
Requested Bonus, which is your requested bonus for your omake. You can leave it up to me if you like. You can see more info in the Good Seed infopost here.
Cultivation Aims. For those following unorthodox paths - higher than 9th Heavenstage or later than 7th Dao Pillar paths. Please put in what you are aiming for before you break through. I have left it as 'default'. If you do not edit it, I'll go with that.
Turn Notes - Do you want to do something specific? Enter a Secret Realm? Help the Clan out in some way? If you have something specific you want to accomplish on this turn, put it in turn notes so I can adjust your Fate around it.
All other fields are for QM use to record character information to properly run the flow of the game.
Question. The Biggie Turtle universe is inside his aperture, right? What stage would the (now dead) 99 outer seas have been, seeing as they had their own 'continent(s)?' of people fueling them and their dad? What stage are the 9 Inner Seas at RN (at least the live ones)? They have their own Dao Guardians in the form of World Fusion beasts so are they stronger, weaker, or are they just naturally so massive as be continents from birth?
Edit: sorry for the double post.
Each of those is a Threefold Revival Cultivator in the Death Step, same as the nine younger Seas we currently reside on and now survive. The various Turtle Young were born as Threefold Revival Cultivators, just without Life Springs of their own - hence why they resided within the Turtle Emperor's world, so he could impart Qi onto them.
Flavius Eirenikos
Nemesis Interrupt - The Wounded Hunter II
Autocannibalism, regular cannibalism
Man Eater ran, the world spinning around him. The black pine forest shifted and wavered around him as he ran. He knew every inch of this forest, yet every step seemed to take him into a foreign world.
Man Eater didn't know where he was, and he didn't know where he was going. He just knew he had to run. He had lost, and a bleeding and broken predator was no different from prey. These trees could hide anything. Spirit beasts, Butchering Chef disciples looking for revenge, maybe even another Golden Devil. He didn't know, so he ran.
Eventually, Man Eater breached the forest. Light stabbed into his eyes as he fled out into the open, and that more than anything cut through the worst of his shock. As dangerous as the forest felt, being out in the open would be worse. In his current state, it would be impossible to hide. Anything would be able to find him, and then he would probably die.
Man Eater refused to die.
At the thought, the Golden Devil's voice echoed in his head, "It's not about not dying. That path leads nowhere."
Man Eater shook his head, the sharp pain clearing his thoughts. Now wasn't the time for distractions.
He knew what was wrong with him, at least. It was a combination of severe concussion and blood loss. He'd been winning the fight handily, up until the end, so he didn't have to worry about any minor injuries. That didn't mean much when he'd just barely escaped having his head smashed open like a ripe melon though.
Even that, he could heal. The missing arm was a bigger problem. Man Eater could speed up his natural healing by consuming flesh and blood, but that wouldn't return his missing arm. Maybe if he still had it with him, or if his head was less fuzzy, but as was the best he could manage would be to seal the wound.
Not that he could do that at the moment either.
Man Eater stumbled back into the black pine forest, slumping against a tree. He needed to eat in order to heal, but he could barely even walk. There was no way to catch food.
Maybe he would survive anyways? The constitution of a cultivator was nothing to scoff at, after all. But no, Man Eater was no Golden Devil, able to survive even after decapitation. If the head wound didn't kill him, the blood loss would. These wounds needed to be healed before he next slept, or Man Eater would never wake up.
But there was nothing to eat.
Man Eater allowed his legs to give up, sliding down the bark of the tree. His own blood, soaked through his shirt, stuck uncomfortably to his skin. And yet the smell made his stomach rumble.
Yes, that was right. There was one thing made of flesh and blood around for him to consume.
He tore off his shirt, sucking the blood from its cloth. Already, he could feel the stirring of his qi, ready to put this new fuel to work. But it wasn't enough, not nearly enough.
Man Eater spun, and began to lick the tree. His nose tracked down every drop of blood he'd spilt on its bark, and he drank down each one like they were the last drops of water in a dried up oasis. Even as he did, Man Eater knew he needed more. Blood alone could not replenish his loss, could not even make up for the blood missing from his veins.
His eyes fell to his bleeding stump. Man Eater had been careful even in his desperation, cutting away as little as possible to escape the Golden Devil. He had most of his upper arm and shoulder still attached.
But what use would half an arm be to a dead man? It was already soaked in blood, and leaking more. Man Eater had never realized how good his own blood tasted.
He licked his lips. The flesh to heal needed to come from somewhere, right?
Man Eater open his fanged maw and began to eat.
———
Man Eater came back to awareness some time later, though he didn't know exactly when. At some point he'd lost consciousness, but based on the fact he was waking up he'd clearly managed to heal himself enough first.
His stomach rumbled.
It was the middle of the night, based on the complete lack of visibility within the black pine forest. Whatever light was filtering in from the moon and stars couldn't penetrate the dark canopy.
It was strange, Man Eater could still feel both limbs, even if he knew one was gone. It ached, from his shoulder to the tips of his fingers, a dull pounding from nerves that weren't even there.
When he reached up with his remaining arm, Man Eater found the skin of his shoulder tender but healed over. It was better than dying, but deeply inconvenient for the future. He had no idea where to begin when it came to regrowing an arm, and finding an effective prosthetic would be difficult to say the least.
He might never recover. Infuriating.
Man Eater climbed to his feet. The movement sent his stomach into protest, but he refused to let it stop him. He had used his own flesh to kickstart his healing, but consuming the self was just death by inches.
Wind rustled through an empty forest. Man Eater hadn't bothered to hunt sustainably, and now the forest was practically empty of prey. The only thing Man Eater could smell in the forest was the Golden Devil.
That man was not someone Man Eater could face right now, not while missing an arm. The Golden Devil had beaten him, not once but twice. The first time he could call a fluke, but the second Man Eater had simply been overpowered. If he tried to fight the Golden Devil again, starving and missing an arm, Man Eater would not escape with his life.
Which meant there was only one choice: Man Eater needed to hunt down some Butchering Chef Disciples, and quickly. It would be incredibly dangerous. He'd have to hunt them outside of a carefully prepared ambush sight, and he'd have to do so while missing an arm.
But the alternative was starvation, and Man Eater had sworn to himself he would never let himself starve to death.
There was no point in waiting. Man Eater broke into a run. He wasn't deep in the forest and emerged quickly, stepping into the cool mountain air. Even at night, the light of the heavens lit the earth below, casting the dirt in a silver glow. He didn't care for it.
Running while missing an arm was deeply uncomfortable. His balance felt slightly off, and his body wanted to lean the other direction to compensate. Combined with his hunger, the simple run became a struggle, with Man Eater forced to walk after only traveling a short distance.
After his initial battle with the Golden Devil, Man Eater had trained to ensure he was never so easily embarrassed again. He'd learned myriad techniques: demonic illusions, instantaneous movement, mental protection, and more. But he had also trained his basic physique, so as to never falter so easily from simple exertion.
Now it felt like all that effort had wasted away. That burned, maybe even more than his defeat.
The scent of blood drove Man Eater onwards. After deciding to prey on the Butchering Chefs Sect, he had hunted one down and tasted her blood. She thought she'd managed to escape from him, but it had been a simple operation of catch and release. The scent of blood would always lead him to her, if he wished, and through her the rest of the sect.
He was able to track the Golden Devil the same way, for all the good it had done.
Eventually his stumbling bursts of speed smoothed out into a slow but consistent jog. He would not wallow in his weakness. A weak blood path cultivator could not survive.
One step at a time, Man Eater forced himself towards his prey. The shrubland he was traveling through grew steadily colder as he climbed higher, until he found himself jogging atop a deep layer of snow.
The icy flakes glittered as far as the eye could see, but even this high up Man Eater couldn't even make out the peaks. Rare flowers bloomed here, infused with so much icy qi that even drawing near them began to freeze his qi-protected skin. The head of the Butchering Chefs Sect, Bloody Lotus, would surely delight in such flowers. He doubted she could grow the many other plants she used in her cultivation in such a frigid environment, however. Besides, no mortals could live here, and she would need some nearby to feed her sect.
Climbing higher still, Man Eater discovered something incredible. Snow did not stretch on to the mountain peeks, so far away, but faded into dark, fertile soil. The air itself was warmer, and the ground was covered in a great variety of squat shrubs. It seemed unnatural, though in truth Man Eater could not say whether it was the loamy soil or frozen snowfield that was out of place. Perhaps it was the icy flowers that had caused the temperature to drop, or perhaps some great beast kept the land beyond warm and bounteous.
Man Eater did not know the mountains well enough to say, but he did know his prey. It was here he would find the Butchering Chefs Sect.
———
Man Eater had been hunting the Butchering Chefs Sect for months, but he had never sought to find where they made their home before. He had first found them while they were fleeing from a harsh defeat, picking a few off as they'd gone past. Even after they'd made their way past, he'd never tracked them further than the black pine forest. There was no need to. Bloody Lotus clearly made heavy use of the black pine needles, and so had sent a steady supply of prey right to him.
But there was another reason Man Eater had never hunted down the Butchering Chefs Sect's main settlement. He was confident in defeating any of their qi condensation cultivators, but Bloody Lotus was in Foundation Establishment. Man Eater was no fool, he had avoided meeting her at all costs.
It was not just that she was in Foundation Establishment that kept him away, however. Man Eater knew the Butchering Chefs were unorthodox for blood path cultivators, having focused on crafting arts rather than combat ones. Their leader would surely be no exception.
All this was to say, Man Eater wasn't surprised to find a towering walls of fleshy vines jutting straight up into the sky. They stretched out across the landscape as far as Man Eater could see, cutting through the verdant land like burning pillars. He thought maybe he could jump over them, but these were defenses made by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
It was a good thing his nose wasn't leading him in that direction. Man Eater was hungry enough he might have tried to get past if they were keeping him from his prey.
Instead, Man Eater traced around the side. He'd lowered himself to the ground, using every trick he knew to hide amongst the layer of foliage. A mortal trying to hide in the dirt would have been easy to find, but Man Eater was no mortal. He doubted many in qi cultivation could find him even if they tread atop his back.
Eventually he managed to circle the walls, crawling past the blood-red stalks. He had traveled through the night, and the sun was starting to rise as he advanced.
His stomach was twisting in on itself. He needed to eat soon.
He crawled onwards, further and further until the scent of blood was overpowering. It had a fragrant, floral tinge to it. How long had it been since he'd eaten anything but meat? Man Eater couldn't remember. His time before the blood path felt like another lifetime.
It was funny, he'd initially learned to track blood hoping it would help him find wounded comrades to heal on the battlefield.
He kept crawling. The sun marched across the sky, but the earth never gave away to snow once more. But eventually the ground began to dip, and Man Eater found himself looking upon another forest. The trees did not hold black pine needles but verdant green, and the branches did not twist oddly but stretched out straight in every direction.
Right at the edge of that forest stood his prey. She was speaking to a man, another qi condensation cultivator. Fifth Heavenstage, based on his smell. She was seventh. Easy target
Man Eater licked his lips.
He could make snippets of conversation as he skulked closer.
"—never allow it! You know how she is about traitors!" That was the man, looking around anxiously even as he spoke. Not that it would help.
The woman's eyes were locked on the man's face. She would never notice the hunter in their midst.
"She's betraying us first! She swore to protect us, but after the assault she's been different! We're being picked off one by one, and she doesn't even care!"
Oh, were they talking about him?
"And you think we'd be better off if we ran? You know what happens to lone blood path cultivators. We'd never survive."
Well, no matter. Whatever drama they had going on, Man Eater didn't care. Not when it meant delaying his meal. He prepared to lunge forward and kill them both in one strike, but as he tried to place a steadying hand on the earth to steady a pounce, he stumbled. Right, he only had one hand. That would make things difficult. He'd aim to kill the woman first then, she was stronger. Then he could turn on the man.
Adjusting his stance as best he could, Man Eater lunged.
"Fine then! If you want to get turned into a Bloody Gu Pill, go ahead, but I'm going to survive!"
Man Eater's claws cleaved through her neck, and the woman's head went flying. The man stumbled backwards, but for all his nervousness he hadn't truly expected such an attack. Man Eater swiped to tear out his throat, but no claws split the air. He was missing that arm.
The man steadied himself, pulling out a dagger of bone.
"I'll kill you!" He cried out, stabbing forwards.
But even missing an arm, Man Eater would never lose to a fifth heavenstage cultivator again. And he was hungry.
Man Eater dodged around the strike with ease, and then he buried his teeth in the man's neck. It tasted like sweat and bone and blood, salty and metallic, the second greatest thing he had ever tasted. Nothing would ever surpass the first time Man Eater sank his teeth into flesh, but this was a close second.
Man Eater did not stop eating until there was nothing left. He sucked down marrow and crunched up bones, used hair and clothing to soak up the blood and ate them too. Only after he was finally satisfied, when the hunger pangs in his stomach were once more but a memory, did he consider his prey's words.
[X] Plan -ned Suppression
-[X] Set Prices High - Hold onto the supplies for now in case the Pass cannot be reopened for half a century or more. This will cause more casualties now, but less in the long-term.
-[X] Wait, and see what else might arise.
-[X] Fortifying (The Yuan Clan) - Spend Clan manpower and soldiers to build new fortifications against outside enemies. New Arrays, help train new cultivators in lesser Formations to defend their lands, and so on. Will also strengthen a vassal or ally if chosen, and increase relations with them. Increases defenses in the chosen territory, ally, or vassal.
--[X] "It's a difficult thing to say, but the Archegetes may have invested overmuch in the gambits taking place in the Yuan clan. The Clan has often made due with less wealth, when the sweat of our Optimatoi has served well enough to create great works and fortifications. We have enough forces deployed along the breadth of the Yuan, and enough resources invested in it. Let those who are already present dig in, and reshape our newest vassals land into a bulwark to rat out the temporary problem. And make a permanent reminder to the Region just who owns that land now. A declaration the Yuans invaders are unable to ignore, a perfect bait for their Nascent souls. A Monstrous Root Threshing Domain."
-[X] Manuel - Hunt An Enemy (Yuan Clan Invasion Nascents) - Why not? Hunt down enemies, see if you can kill someone. Usually used against an opposing Nascent Soul. Potentially very dangerous.
--[X] "The Archegetes remains our most powerful combatant by a wide margin, and even in a territory lacking in his typical preparations and schemes seeded throughout it, the Yuan Clan territories have their own defenses that they can inform us of, our own assets freshly deployed there to account for, and our own Legions to frustrate and inevitably bait out enemy Nascent Souls. Kill one, it may be insufficient. Kill many, it will definitely be enough. Catch them between a thousand anvils, and a singular hammer in the Archegetes and we can bring and end to this miserable affair, and not a moment too soon."
-[X] Kleisthenes - Open Diplomatic Relations (Blood Oak Sect)
--[X] "For too long have our new neighbors to the North gone ignored. I will be having Casia assist me in opening up formal relations with the Blood Oaks to the North. Regardless of what the ongoing situation is for the rest of the Region, they're direct neighbors with the Qiguai Clan, who we know are the direct target of the Gao Clan and Shattered Time Sect. If they intend to make moves there, I would rather we not act at cross purposes there.
-[X] Xinya - Accompany and Assist Manuel in Hunting Yuan Clan Invasion Nascent Souls.
--[X] "The Archegetes can not be expected to perform his flawless preparations for combat as he normally could. However, our Third Elder possesses the necessary expertise to make up for it, as well as feed new sources of intelligence to the Archegetes in order to better prepare and execute the necessary ambushes in order to truly end this final desperate gambit by the Ma Clan, once and for all.'
-[X] Casia - Offer Peace (Blood Oak Sect) - Casia's personal ability allows her to bring harmony between people and among them. Within the Clan she can calm vassals, outside of it she can calm relations, between the Clan and her target or between any two targets. If she were permitted to use this for twenty turns unobstructed she might end the current War, so it is more useful in repairing failing relations than trying to rebuild failed ones.
--[X] "With Casia's assistance I might be able to negotiate for terms and concessions that otherwise would be utterly unthinkable, especially in the absence of the Archegetes peerless intelligence gathering capabilities to provide advantages for us to make use of. We will project Absolute Goodwill to them, and in doing so hopefully win the Blood Oaks over to our side, abandoning the Blood Path in its entirety. After that...there will only be two powers left in the Mountains, of which only one is capable of being harmful to us anymore."
-[X] Forge a Wedding Ring (Major Purchase - 2 Purchases)
-[X] Use 3 Shadow Key Points to Purchase the Earl's Insignia
-[X] Use 2 Shadow Key Points to Purchase the Fortress-Mounts
[X] Plan risk preventetion.
-[X] Set Prices Low - Letting the Legions have their supplies now will make the Yuan War easier. However, if the Pass cannot be reopened effectively the Clan will start to suffer more casualties in battle.
-[X] Enhance the Beast Tide Trap more. Put all your eggs in the scariest basket and hope the thread uses it at the right moment.
-[X] Fortifying (Yuan) - Spend Clan manpower and soldiers to build new fortifications against outside enemies. New Arrays, help train new cultivators in lesser Formations to defend their lands, and so on. Will also strengthen a vassal or ally if chosen, and increase relations with them. Increases defenses in the chosen territory, ally, or vassal.
-[X] Manuel - Hunt An Enemy (Yuan Clan Invasion Nascents) - Why not? Hunt down enemies, see if you can kill someone. Usually used against an opposing Nascent Soul. Potentially very dangerous.
-[X] Kleisthenes - Hunt An Enemy (Yuan Clan Invasion Nascents) - Why not? Hunt down enemies, see if you can kill someone. Usually used against an opposing Nascent Soul. Potentially very dangerous.
-[X] Xinya - Hunt An Enemy (Yuan Clan Invasion Nascents) - Why not? Hunt down enemies, see if you can kill someone. Usually used against an opposing Nascent Soul. Potentially very dangerous.
-[X] Casia - Hunt An Enemy (Yuan Clan Invasion Nascents) - Why not? Hunt down enemies, see if you can kill someone. Usually used against an opposing Nascent Soul. Potentially very dangerous.
-[X] The Pill Forges (Minor Purchase - 1 Purchase)
-[X] Forge a Wedding Ring (Major Purchase - 2 Purchases)
-[X] Use 3 Shadow Key Points to Purchase the Earl's Insignia
-[X] Use 2 Shadow Key Points to Purchase the The Brazen Bull
Any reason why we are pursuing Earl's Insignia and Fortress Mounts/Brazen Bull and not grabbing either of these two?
Sealed away in the Sevenvault, an ancient vault with seven sealed chambers (two still closed), the Chrysocolla Paints were long used by the Clan to empower their Legions. Paint upon a banner, and upon the Legionnaires who served it, and they could imbue it with power and then draw upon it at need, distance be damned. This great well of power meant each formation was self-reinforcing, and that a Legion could hold out against superior enemies even against the most impossible odds. When the Mountain-Shattering Spears stood against the Three Spirit Lords twenty-six thousand years ago, it is recorded that thirteen Nascent Souls and twenty-four thousand Core Formation Elders held off three Spirit Severing elders for days, allowing the Clan to come to their rescue and throwing the Third Sea barbarians back. There is enough paint here to equip ten Legions. Unless a Legion is wiped out entirely while using the Chrysocolla Paints, its casualties will be minimal to nil.
The Panoply is a suit of armor forged from Golden Devil bones - the bones of dead Spirit Severing elders. Close to invincible and full of power, it contains enough power to allow even an Early Nascent Soul to trade blows against a Mid Nascent with few enough worries. Macabre in looks and with a giant skull to serve as a helm, it nonetheless will preserve most Nascent Souls against any but the most serious wounds - provided they are able to retreat before running out of Qi.
Chrysocolla Paints sound like a perfect fit for the Yuan, we could send legions + Manuel and Xinya and expect no casualties and its just 2 Keys so we could still grab The Earl's Insignia on top.
Gravebone Panoply is expensive but it would protect Manuel from any further injuries - now and in the future. Its a rather massive power up.
For the record. The reason to not take the pill upgrades is simple:
It's a purchase to stretch out a turn of supplies to keep from having to spend an extra purchase on basic upkeep later, in the event that the Pass remains closed for 3 turns or so
One which goes utterly to waste in the event that it doesnt.
Which we can more or less manage. For free. By taking the option of raising internal supplies for the moment, which isnt even really an issue anyway, as the primary risk of attrition this turn comes from enemy Nascent Soul attention...
Which no amount of pill waste would do anything about in the first place.
Insistence to the contrary is unfounded completely and utterly, demonstrably so by the fact we have the wherewithal to deploy 11/18 offensive Legions elsewhere without it meaningfully being projected to impact our operations in the Yuan Clan territories.
Moreover, many times we've seen throughout the Quest that Clan Focuses are on par with a Nascent Soul action. Don't see the situation under Plan-ned Suppression as just two Nascent Soul actions.
Combined with the Nascent Soul equivalent actions of the Lightbeast and Beast Tide Traps (all Nascent Soul-level traps), we have Manuel and Xinya coordinating to set up an ambush (two more distinct Nascent Soul actions) combined with Fortifications to bait out and eliminate the Ma Clan Invasions own Nascent Souls.
That can be reasonably considered as Five Nascent Soul Actions - ignoring the war focus last turn - bent towards eliminating enemy Nascent Souls.
Weeping Anvil got ganked flawlessly by the combination of a single Mission and two Nascent Soul actions from ambush
Assertions of recklessness are wholly unfounded, and I'm phone posting right now or else I'd be spilling quotes all over this page right now
Fortress Mounts are important because we want to fish for better ways to use Weeping Anvils corpse, and the Fortress Mounts present an opportunity to integrate both of them into a wunderwaffen mobile fortification of some kind. The paints aren't necessary because we are winning very drastically in the Yuan Clan territories, and the Earl's Insignia can be bent towards tactical advice as well as a general buff to the Clan at large, meaning that the sooner its purchased the more the provided advantages can accumulate.
My personal hope is that the wide reaching description of those benefits translates into a saved Purchase in terms of overall upkeep, meaning that if we successfully break the Yuan invasion our income leaps to 5 Purchases per turn.
Combined with one Purchase left over, and the possibility of looting a Nascent Soul corpse or two from an ambush this turn, that means we'd be within reach of repairing the Technique Palace or opening the Heart Realm at last.
The armor is less important now for the same reason it was less important last turn when we hoped that Kleisthenes would hold this line entirely on her own last turn. Against the sole opponent that would pose a reasonable threat - the Ma Emperor - he is the one who absolutely will be forced to take the field to try and overcome a fortification in order to prop up the invasion itself
And as a Blood Path Nascent, this environment is the very worst possible for him to replenish himself for a prolonged fight. Thus...we have the luxury of choice in terms of engagement and ambush, because any fight the Ma Emperor picks is one where he has to replenish himself off the humans readily available:
I agree with that, but couldn't we use the Gravebone Panoply to pretty much guarantee his safety? We can still afford the Earl's Insignia even if we buy it and as I see it, its not that we expect a strategic defeat and further injury or worse, its that the mere possibility is rather unacceptable.
The armor's description makes it sound like if we bought it and sent just Manuel and Xinya, that could well be safer than sending all four without, meaning the other two would be free to negotiate with the Blood Oak, which is the best of both worlds really. The Bull / Fortress-Mounts on the other hand don't sound like they would help nearly as much but maybe I just don't understand the mechanics. Isn't the overaching goal to avoid worsening Manuel's injuries?
I agree with that, but couldn't we use the Gravebone Panoply to pretty much guarantee his safety? We can still afford the Earl's Insignia even if we buy it
We have six points, not seven, and the Armor is redundant with Manuel having the Stone Spear. Its just as ludicrous defensively as it is offensively, which can be seen from Jiaos attempted ambush of him during the Jingshen invasion. Maybe if the intent was to have Kleisthenes take point youd have...a point, but Manuel with the stone spear demonstrably does not need it.
We have six points, not seven, and the Armor is redundant with Manuel having the Stone Spear. Its just as ludicrous defensively as it is offensively, which can be seen from Jiaos attempted ambush of him during the Jingshen invasion. Maybe if the intent was to have Kleisthenes take point youd have...a point, but Manuel with the stone spear demonstrably does not need it.
Right, my bad on the point count.
... I fail to see why Manuel doesn't need it just because he has the Stone Spear, though. Don't they stack in terms of Impact? The man is Wounded and untalented besides, he needs the Spear just to punch at an above average level for his Mid Nascent cultivation and there could be multiple Mid Nascents coming in or maybe even a Late in the worst case scenario, if one broke through which we cannot discount.
We know nothing about the attackers so sending half of our Nascents to do diplomacy that is not guaranteed to produce a good deal, while our strongest fights Wounded and with the help of a single Early... sounds like a recipe for disaster. If something - anything - happens to Manuel, then the Blood Oak deal will fail anyway and we will be left to pick up the pieces.
On the other hand, if we make a powerful showing of force in Yuan, that increases our power projection massively (not to mention gives us another Mid Nascent). At which point it should be simplicity itself to make the Blood Oak Sect bend to our whims.
The points carry over, do they not? Barring disaster, we would end up with two Mid Nascents and four Early Nascents next turn on top of allies in the Blood Oak. Between that and the Stone Spear and the Armor, this is an extremely strong position, meaning saving the points up for a larger purchase later on should be more or less trivial.
If we wanted to, we could even get Gravebone Panoply + Chrysocolla Paints which should all but guarantee that we sweep the opposition with little no danger. The latter item mentions how it allowed a dozen Nascents and two dozen thousand Cores to hold off several Spirit Severing cultivators for days, so imagine what a Manuel with the Stone Spear + Gravebone Panoply could do with it, with the help of Xinya and a Hoplite formation of 100 Cores to equal another Early Nascent.
No, they don't. The Spear makes him unbeatable within his small realm before other modifiers, and the Armor just mitigates potential damage. Part of being "unbeatable" is resisting damage in the first place.
Crunbum, were sending our intrigue focused Nascent Souls to arrange an ambush, part of which is gathering Intel. Which is the exact same position we were in with Weeping Anvil before our first interaction with them. Even if Manuel cant perform the same trick, Xinya can perform a close approximation as our resident spymaster.
With the remit to use the Clan Focus to create an entire fortification as bait and trap both towards that purpose, boosted by the Nascent Soul level Beast Tide traps. This stuff about sending them in "unprepared" is a deliberate misframing on your part, and I'm going to have to ask you to stop it.
If a heavily invested in trap can let Jiao - notoriously diplomacy specialized Early Nascent Soul - jump small realms against Manuel (only mitigated by the nonsense of the Stone Spear), the same holds true for our own Nascents attacking the Ma Emperor.
No, they don't. The Spear makes him unbeatable within his small realm before other modifiers, and the Armor just mitigates potential damage. Part of being "unbeatable" is resisting damage in the first place.
Crunbum, were sending our intrigue focused Nascent Souls to arrange an ambush, part of which is gathering Intel. Which is the exact same position we were in with Weeping Anvil before our first interaction with them. Even if Manuel cant perform the same trick, Xinya can perform a close approximation as our resident spymaster.
With the remit to use the Clan Focus to create an entire fortification as bait and trap both towards that purpose, boosted by the Nascent Soul level Beast Tide traps. This stuff about sending them in "unprepared" is a deliberate misframing on your part, and I'm going to have to ask you to stop it.
If a heavily invested in trap can let Jiao - notoriously diplomacy specialized Early Nascent Soul - jump small realms against Manuel (only mitigated by the nonsense of the Stone Spear), the same holds true for our own Nascents attacking the Ma Emperor.
A Wounded Manuel will die if we get extremely unlucky and one of the invading Mid Nascents had a secret breakthrough - which while very unlikely, is not impossible. It sounds more likely than us getting a Fourth Nascent this turn, for example, and we did get one. The armor doesn't guarantee winning the battle - but it does guarantee survival - its a permanent Spirit Severing defensive artifact that can also be used forevermore.
Also - Manuel's Wounded status explicitly stems from his confusion. He was outright mentioned to be incapable of any devious schemes at the moment. This is not a good condition to be in, if the plan is for him to set up a successful trap. Xinya can do it, sure, but she is not as good at it.
To clarify - I don't think the preparations are inadequate to our estimates of enemy forces - however, we really don't know anything much about the incoming Nascents, to the point we lack basic information like how many of them are even coming - so its better to be overprepared.
The Blood Oaks will NOT, besides any but the most pressing circumstances will give up the their version of the blood path.
We have an informational on them. We know it's entirely tied to their Blood Oak trees and that it is entirely voluntary.
Not to mention it their "fuck it, we ball" option.
It is also connected to the memory records they have, somehow.
So.... Can the quoted part be struck from the plan? Because if we push on that, it most likely break down any diplomatic outreach. They take great care and value in their trees, after all.
And, just a reminder, Casia's Pace effect might be regarded as a soul attack, just as What's her name, the early NS Jingshen princess's ability was considered that by Manuel, early in the quest.
And the Blood Oak are no slouches in regards to soul techniques.
A Wounded Manuel is likely to die if we get extremely unlucky and one of the presumed Mid Nascents had a secret breakthrough - which while very unlikely, is not impossible. With the armor, on the other hand, it should be simplicity itself to escape - its a Spirit Severing artifact.
...You cant use hypothetical fanfiction as an argument in a serious discussion, man.
Theres caution and then theres trying to provoke paranoia to scare people into accepting your stance, and so and unless you're able to show any indication that a relatively freshly blooded Blood Path Mid Nascent has the capability for a breakthrough to Late, when being denied food, and being forced to abandon his holdings...
And then successfully keeping that a secret from the entire region, and thus intensely vulnerable to Manuel's secret obtaining Dao that let us discover the details of this offensive so flawlessly along with Weeping Anvils own weakness right down to its manufacturing method and ingredient list...
Then this entire line of argument is groundless on your part. Deliberately so.
...You cant use hypothetical fanfiction as an argument in a serious discussion, man.
Theres caution and then theres trying to provoke paranoia to scare people into accepting your stance, and so and unless you're able to show any indication that a relatively freshly blooded Blood Path Mid Nascent has the capability for a breakthrough to Late, when being denied food, and being forced to abandon his holdings...
And then successfully keeping that a secret from the entire region, and thus intensely vulnerable to Manuel's secret obtaining Dao that let us discover the details of this offensive so flawlessly along with Weeping Anvils own weakness right down to its manufacturing method and ingredient list...
Then this entire line of argument is groundless on your part. Deliberately so.
The Ma Emperor is Blood Path and Blood Path cultivators are notorious for their ability to advance overnight as long as they eat others at their cultivation level. But sure, unless he uses the Yuan invasion as a convenient opportunity to devour his allies of convenience, I don't see him advancing to Late. That being said, we have no guarantee that the Ma Emperor is the only Mid Nascent we will have to fight.
Which is my entire point. We do not know who is coming. The benefits of diplomancy with the Blood Oak aren't going anywhere and in fact will probably be even better if attempted next turn when we collect the spoils of war and our Clan has Two Mid Nascents and Three Low Nascents and is more prosperous than ever (in the quest's timeline). On the other hand, if we fail here, we lose the Blood Oak deal instantly and our position worsens massively.
Its like playing a hypothetical lottery where you invest $100 000 for a 99% chance of winning an extra $20 000 and a 1% chance of losing everything. It is a mathematically sound decision to make. Its not a necessary one, though, when we are already winning. We can get the diplomacy done this turn just fine without that tiny but horrible risk, if we go with a different set of purchases. Or we can postpone it to the next turn and commit all our Nascents. But we can't avoid that risk if we both buy Legacies that only pay-off in the long term and send half our Nascents to lighthouse at Blood Oak, while our only Mid Nascent, who is Wounded, fights off an invasion with the help of Xinya alone.
Ah, stretch goal makes more sense, but the wording was a bit ambitious. If it's just about convincing them to ride with us and not the NDA (or any other bloodpath polity), I am more than fine with that.
The Ma Emperor is Blood Path and Blood Path cultivators are notorious for their ability to advance overnight as long as they eat others at their cultivation level.
The only Nascent Souls we've seen eaten by Blood Path lately are Eagle Lord and Gem Lord, which caused Old Fish and the Ma Emperor to fall to blood path respectively.
Old Fish didnt break through. Therefore, neither did the Ma Emperor. And if the latter had that kind of strength as leverage he wouldnt have been driven from his lands in a gamble this desperate to begin with.
The only Nascent Souls we've seen eaten by Blood Path lately are Eagle Lord and Gem Lord, which caused Old Fish and the Ma Emperor to fall to blood path respectively.
Old Fish didnt break through. Therefore, neither did the Ma Emperor. And if the latter had that kind of strength as leverage he wouldnt have been driven from his lands in a gamble this desperate to begin with.
Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.
Old Cannibal did break through to Late in precisely this way, if I recall correctly - and he did it out of nowhere, surprising everyone. He set up a trap so that they would attack him, thinking he is a Mid Nascent - and turning the ambush into a feast.
Old Fish didnt break through. Therefore, neither did the Ma Emperor. And if the latter had that kind of strength as leverage he wouldnt have been driven from his lands in a gamble this desperate to begin with.
While I agree that him advancing to late isn't likely and that him already have advanced to late is impossible.
I must say that just one mid nascent soul ate another nascent soul and didn't advance doesn't mean that it must be true that a different mid nascent woe ate a fourth nascent didn't.
Other then that the chance of us seeing a late nascent soul in this invasion is very, very low, and its only there because we might see a surprise alter lord visit and not because someone advanced.
This doesn't mean that aren't other dangers that our lack of information present.
Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.
Old Cannibal did break through to Late in precisely this way, if I recall correctly - and he did it out of nowhere, surprising everyone. He set up a trap so that they would attack him, thinking he is a Mid Nascent - and turning the ambush into a feast.
He was a mid Nascent. Old Cannibal engaged a massive gambit pileup to bait out the Elder of Day to fuel his jump to Late Nascent Soul, after having been at that stage since an unknown amount of time before the start of the Quest.
You do not recall correctly. What we saw of the event is explained from his own perspective, including how and why he did things in the fashion he did. The only reason everyone was surprised was because no one took him seriously as Manuel's desert foil.
