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One Ant Versus the Heavens (Ant Cultivation Quest)

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Double checking math:
  • +6 meter progress to the previous 12 meters but the Frontline stabilized at 15 meters?
  • We made 169/20 total progress on Frontline actions based on the rolls, that should be +8 meters progress since there was no days off from fighting.
  • We made 22 cultivation progress, so it would be 13/90 towards Peak 2nd Stage, i think.
  • The Nat 20 that landed on the 9th roll was for Day 104 (Fighting on Frontline) so I assume that triggered the Rival's offer.

After all this fighting, I'm kind of inclined to Accept Parley to fulfill the Eternal Rival trope, together we'll push each other to greater heights :V

But a Final Duel is fine too, we should be 2-3 stages above the Rival. She broke through to 2nd Stage Qi Gathering on Day 85 and it's currently 20 days later.

Stages are: Initial > Early > Mid > Late > Peak.
we are currently Late, rival should be Early/Mid at most.
 
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Arcanestomper said:
Early 2nd Stage Qi Gathering
HP 70
Heal 7/Day
Combat Roll: 2d20+6
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Arcanestomper said:
Mid 2nd Stage Qi Gathering
HP 80
Heal 8/Day
Combat Roll: 2d20+7
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Arcanestomper said:
Late 2nd Stage Qi Gathering
HP 90/90
Heal 9/Day
Combat Roll: 2d20+8
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Here are the stats for comparison if we pick Final Duel. Enemy Rival is a Strategist-type cultivator whereas we are a Champion-type so narratively a direct battle is in our favor, but mechanically these stats are what inform the battle rolls I think.

Enemy Rival reached Initial 2nd Stage on Day 85, she is definitely at Early 2nd Stage by now (20 days later). She might have reached Mid 2nd Stage, even though it's unlikely, because she spent less time fighting the war - as a Strategist-type, she could delegate fighting and focus on herself more.

As an aside, can I just say how crazy it is that the entire enemy Colony turned into Myrmidons? That basically means thousands of Ant larva were infused with Qi. I'm inclined to think the Rival managed to figure out how to make their Queen Ant a cultivator so that all larva are infused with Qi upon their birth. I think we have a better chance of learning the trick by making a deal, rather than investigating the method while simultaneously genociding the enemy Hive.
 
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Resonant said:
As an aside, can I just say how crazy it is that the entire enemy Colony turned into Myrmidons? That basically means thousands of Ant larva were infused with Qi. I'm inclined to think the Rival managed to figure out how to make their Queen Ant a cultivator so that all larva are infused with Qi upon their birth.
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I think you might be wrong here. It is more they only needed Myrmidons due to the nature of the hard point we made.

[X] Accept Parley
 
[X] Accept Parley

I think they just made as many Myrmidons as possible and probably weakened or killed a lor of their colony and thus they have to parley
 
[X] Fight Rival

After some thinking, I've changed my mind and voting for Fighting. We spent so much effort and bloodshed on this war, now that the end is in sight, let's claim our reward instead of passing it up out of misguided feelings.

Killing the Rival nets us a bunch of boons like Qi boosts for the colony (maybe the Queen will become a cultivator), and we can finally raid the enemy Hive for loot and larva. Accepting Parley means we leave the enemy Hive intact and we'll inevitably compete with them, which sounds fun, but unsatisfying after all we've been through.

gale said:
I think you might be wrong here. It is more they only needed Myrmidons due to the nature of the hard point we made.
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spiderhellian said:
I don't think they did -- it's just that because of the nature of the strategy we chose last turn, well only be fighting myrmidons in war now.
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We fought thousands of Myrmidons and the description was "Enemy Colony: All Myrmidons" so I don't think it gets any clearer than that. The enemy colony is now made up of ALL myrmidons. Either their Queen became a cultivator which is unlikely, or more likely they sacrificed the rest of their population to make a bunch of Myrmidons (all the regular ants are gone). That's horrific.

... Yeah I'm not inclined to parley with the Rival if so. She butchered a majority of her sisters in cold blood to extract that Silk qi. There's no way she gathered enough Cultivation energy herself to infuse thousands of Myrmidons - it had to be a mass sacrifice.
 
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[X] Fight Rival

let's not forget this is a Strategist...so definitely expect a trap people, so either she is using the peace to try and rebuild to strike at us again, or to ambush us in the parley...unless she has done enough horrific shit that she realizes it wasnt even worth it since we went all in on "FUCK YOU" moment...we might have to figure out how to make the queen a cultivator to ensure the colonies survival. Unless our rival wishes to unite the colonies (which would be nice for once in a Xianxia where you dont have to end up genociding your enemy for several damn generations).
 
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[X] Accept Parley

In true Xianxia fashion, we can only grow stronger at a faster rate if we have a frenemy to keep us driven and motivated.

Where would Goku (beam cultivator) be without Vegeta, or Naruto (ninja cultivator) without Sasuke, or Ichigo (sword-ghost cultivator) without Byakuya, or Luffy (pirate cultivator) without Buggy?
 
Xianxia Wisdom 101: Never leave things half-finished, or regret it later. Root and stem, onwards! Rival is untrustworthy schemer, just as likely to backstab in the future.

[x] Fight Rival
 
[X] Accept Parley

Let's try that. We had inquired how to achieve something besides a war to the knife, so let's give it a shot.
 
First, we
[ ] Accept Parley
and forge an uneasy truce filled with passive-aggressive verbal sniping and increasingly steamy (a)sexual tension.

Then, we challenge the opposing Young Mistress to
[ ] Fight Rival
in a friendly duel to exchange pointers. After all, it is not said that "不打不相识" / "Only Through Trading Fisticuffs Feeticuffs Do Comrades Truly Come to Know Each Other"?

Finally, after the duel, as both ourselves and our rival lie exhausted on the ground in a tangled heap of sweaty segments, we shall
[ ] Accept Rival
into our hearts dorsal vessels, and form the First Union of Sects in the History of Antivators.
 
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Catpetter1981 said:
First, we
[ ] Accept Parley
and forge an uneasy truce filled with passive-aggressive verbal sniping and increasingly steamy (a)sexual tension.

Then, we challenge the opposing Young Mistress to
[ ] Fight Rival
in a friendly duel to exchange pointers. After all, it is not said that "不打不相识" / "Only Through Trading Fisticuffs Feeticuffs Do Comrades Truly Come to Know Each Other"?

Finally, after the duel, as both ourselves and our rival lie exhausted on the ground in a tangled heap of sweaty segments, we shall
[ ] Accept Rival
into our hearts dorsal vessels, and form the First Union of Sects in the History of Antivators.
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Okay you win, this absolute gold :V

[X] Accept Parley
 
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