I took a look back through our (surprisingly short looking back on it) decision tree for this adventure, and I think I discovered something worth noting. Because it looks a lot like there's a bit of bonus plot/discovery unique to the path we've taken.
Choice 1:
[ ] Activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
[ ] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
For our first decision, we chose not to activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array. There were two main consequences to this choice. First, it left the liminal/spatial warps in play for both our side and our opposition. Second, it reduced the qi drain on Suyin, primarily showing its effect in extending the safe duration of our delve since she's operating the mobile anti-impurity wards.
We've only seen liminal shenanigans and managed to speak to the Piper mid-mission because of this choice.
Choice 2:
[ ] Clear a node, see if the Piper can be reached.
[ ] Go unto the breach, into the belly of the beast.
For our second choice, we decided to capitalize on the flexibility afforded to us by the first vote's outcome and clear a node, taking our time to investigate the situation some more. This had a few effects.
The first one was this discovery, which I think is pretty interesting:
And here, on the other side, she sang a song of frigid death and shattering cold without worry. Pallid and putrid flesh recoiled, blackened, broken apart into drifting chunks that swiftly dissolved into the churning chaos of unformed dream, and something tiny and black shot off, too fast for even her to catch. Disappearing into the liminal deep.
A hint at the true nature of the impurity entity, and new intel on the nature of Underground ecology.
Clearing and restoring the node also drastically lowered the impurity concentration in the waters of the tunnels. Ling Qi was strained in the process, but what's notable is that the reduced impurity effectively doubles down on our first choice in benefitting Li Suyin's endurance.
If you take a step back and look at the overall decision space, we picked the path that leaves Li Suyin at as close to the peak of her combat performance as I think we could have, while taking a hit to Ling Qi's capacity for frontline combat performance.
But we also specifically preserved Ling Qi's ability to operate in the liminal, while exposing a unique characteristic/vulnerability of the enemy in the process.
Every choice adds up to the second option being a unique opportunity (for loot) which aligns with the costs and advantages we've picked during the adventure so far. Li Suyin is as fresh as it was possible to have her, and the need for her endurance for the rest of the delve has been minimized thanks to the Piper's water node effectively taking over purification duty. Ling Qi is a little bit ragged, but she's free to act in the liminal
and has gleaned some specific knowledge about what the enemy's point of vulnerability looks like, and all three of those points combined lend themselves to the sneak attack strategy perfectly.
Every choice, when looked at summed up instead of individual parts, builds up to give us a unique and unrepeatable opportunity to a) do something cool and b) get bonus value out of the adventure. We occasionally get these bonus/side objectives/benefits unlocked by taking specific routes during adventures. If we do a drag-out fight, we're simply not going to be able to catch any of the tiny zippy liminal cores, so this definitely looks like one such case.
But more importantly I have seen them, and in my heart they are already loot. Heck, pilfering weird liminal or impurity parasites is basically a tradition now, and this thing is
both. I want it I want it Iwantit!
Also, in terms of doing something cool, I think if we go for the ambush, we might be able to stunt our new BKSD fish tech into swallowing the enemy puppetry core thingy? There's something there about the fish being used to carry/shield other techniques and the enemy parasite's nature of implanting itself in and taking over foreign systems which feels like it could be used to twist things around in a fun and cool and clever way. Taking advantage of the natures of both to subvert the expected relationship, or something. Yrs is way better at this stuff than I am, but my brain is just
itching that this is the way the scene/capture goes.
While Dreamwalking may have yang components, the liminal space will still be brimming with yin energies from the Moon.
So immersing ourselves in it in our current state is a genuine health concern.
I can't find anything in the text to support this. It looks like all the lunar qi went into the Piper; there's no mention of spillage. The quote earlier in my post, where we spotted the tiny parasite, suggests that the Piper being charged with undigested yin qi shouldn't impact the liminal either, since the liminal was isolated enough from the Piper to allow safe usage of FFS. We were also only warned about yin aspected qi in reference to our dantian, so environmental qi shouldn't be a serious concern even if there was spillage. Ling Qi's already limiting her qi respiration down here because of the ick.
I firmly believe the "no yin arts" issue isn't something Ling Qi's going to breach in either case. She's also going to win with either choice.
[X] Suyin has grown capable, all on her own. Between her and Piper they can hold this place. The liminal lies open. If you were to conceal yourself there, you might strike the creatures true vulnerabilities when a moment presents itself.
