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The Path Unending (A Cultivation Quest)

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A couple of thing's I noted:
Vesvius said:
The noble either doesn't hear the joke in my voice, or doesn't care for it. "It is never a mistake to strive," he answers, taking me completely seriously. "Only cowards avoid battles they may lose. To succeed at anything, one must challenge themselves, even if it's against foes so overwhelming that it seems defeat is inevitable. Only by fighting in those battles can one win those battles."
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This thing seems beatable. Let's not cut and run at the first opportunity.

Vesvius said:
"You play boldly," the noble says after a short eternity. My Broken Emissary, that figure of broken glass that so captured my attention in the Foemaster's halls, has drawn his attention as I move it into the middle of a river. "Too boldly. If you do not disguise your movements, your intentions become clear."

I pause, hand still on the Broken Emissary. "True," I answer. "But you can discern my motives just as easily if I hide them or not, and a veil would only complicate matters. Best to go forward and deal with the consequences as they come."

Zhuan Kun's answer isn't words. Instead, it comes with a simple move. A tangle of dark serpents emerges from the forest and makes its way to the river several inches from my Emissary. Once they're in position, Zhuan Kun presses a rune on the snake's base. The all too familiar venomous green light shines from his Storm Serpents before it travels down the river, reaching my Emissary.

"If your actions are not properly disguised," the nobles breathes. "Then the consequences will find you sooner rather than later."
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Vesvius said:
I let out a low sigh, but Zhuan Kun isn't done yet. "What's more," he states. "Your lack of obfuscation has made things more difficult for you in future games. Even after the end of this round, I know that you know the import of the Shivering Rapids. I will be able to prepare for your assault, and I will be wary of any future moves you make in their direction. The Rapids are lost to you not just in this game, but in the next as well."
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We need to be more subtle with our actions. Assumed everything is being watched. Probably best to try to utilize our teammates more. Maybe that will divide it's attention.

Vesvius said:
Zhuan Kun considers things before continuing. "The garden requires many things if you wish to prevail," he says. "It requires dedication, commitment, and creativity. But above all else, it requires sacrifice. It requires a knowledge of how to use your pieces to their fullest extent and when to move on when they become more of a cost than a benefit.'

"It does not matter the piece. It does not matter the Wonder. Eventually, everything on the board reaches a point where it costs more to maintain, more to keep than it does to let slip."
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I think that it is possible that whatever causes trouble isn't destroyed, just removed from the loop. So that they might still be alive, just unable to interact with it afterwards.

Regarding the techniques, probably best to just vote for what you want to see changed. There is no guarantee this is Time Anam. Sure it seems like it is, but it could also be something else.
 
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[X] A bull charging across an open field.

Assuming that this mysterious red anam attack is pure Time and that we are going to evolve a technique with it seems like a lot of assumptions being made. Kumi might bust through a wall with her finger ready...

The events going on here are that events are being repeated. Time is still moving forward, but people are forced to repeat what they did each time. But what Zhi's has seen with Time anam, is that Time is possibilities and change. Things here aren't changing and no choice exists.

However, maybe that is a Time attack being used, but the trap is made of Fate.
 
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Something I noticed which might be relevant to the vote.

When Zhi first started channeling this mysterious power he focused on the Broken Emissary, right? But unlike the following images (the hunter, the ferryman,) which all shattered, the wording used was different:

Vesvius said:
One springs to mind immediately- the Broken Emissary, all fractured planes and broken glass. Picturing the model bends the anam into a familiar pattern, and as the power shifts so does the image.
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The model bent the anam and the power shifted with the image. It did not shatter like the others and it seems like it had some effect on the anam itself.

So either the image of Broken Emissary has some special weight (which might be true given it's similar aesthetic to Zhi's only time-tech, maybe the piece was based on some ancient time artist?) or the tech-alteration might end up Broken Emissary flavored, being influenced by its image somehow.
 
FalloutCow said:
We're assuming it's time anam because, from what I can gather from our previous cycling of time, it seems to represent change. How people, places, and everything change given enough time. The reason time seems so opposed to fate is because of how ridged fate is. Time provides us with different, often contradicting views/feelings when cycling it. Also, the phrase "weight of the ages" brings time to mind.
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1. What part of a spirit crush attack screams time anam?
2. I dont really get how your interpretation of time and fate anam and their interactions has any bearing at all on the type of anam were evolving this tech with.
3. The weight of the ages could just as easily be gravity, or dream or fate, something unkown or just flavor text. The description of zhaun using one of his rare techs on us during our duel with him on this trip i believe had something akin to that description with some weight of the world shenanigans, but the tech was mainly royalty aspected. And zhaun himself is a mainly growth aspected cultivator.

Like theorizing is all well and good and good fun. But its leaves a bad taste in my mouth when everyone is discounting warhounds cry on the basis that this anam is time as if that was a fact. Theres a lot of room for interpretation here and we have, again, been explicitly told that zho doesnt know the nature of this anam.

Like for real, pick the tech that you wanna see evolve. Go for cool factor, go for what might make an interesting story.

I really like the warhounds cry because of its connection with nokai and its status as a tech that doesnt originate in our empire at all. It marks us as someone close to nokai and we havent really used it much since we got our siani and time techs. I'd like for it to have reason to come to the forefront again mechanically. Id like to show nokai how we've evolved one of her peoples techs in a weird way.

if worldstream was a part of this selection cus i like keeping use of techs that have interesting narrative weight and implication rather than just mechanics.

Aurochs has weight cus it is the only tech that is really ours. We "birthed" it and we have taken it all this way.

Cry i already talked about, but the fire tech i personally find the least interesting cus its the tech thats really just us experimenting with the mechanics system. Taking it here will likely give it narrative weight in the future as itll prob help us with this situation, but its definitely the least interesting pick to me.
 
That's our Zhi! Dense as a rock, but a very hungy boy.

[X] A fire burning through the forest.

The only difference between a fire and an explosion is time.
 
Horium said:
[X] A fire burning through the forest.

I am very interested what Fire + Time would look like
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I think it looks like a candle burning at both ends. How appropriate, considering the tavern.

[X] A fire burning through the forest.

Fantastic update, and I can see lots of people are already taking messages from the lessons this strange figure is giving us. Hoping we can put it to use intelligently.
 
If Zhi remembers this dream/vision? of The Garden, he should tell it to Zhuan Kun. Get his insight on the opponent he played against.
 
[X] A fire burning through the forest.

Because our other techniques are fine but this one needs some spice.

Vesvius said:
<Mu->
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Chui Dao chirped in at the start of this. We should really check in with them.

Vesvius said:
It is the passing moments, the weight of the ages
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If this isn't a description of time anam I don't know what is.

Vesvius said:
One springs to mind immediately- the Broken Emissary, all fractured planes and broken glass. Picturing the model bends the anam into a familiar pattern, and as the power shifts so does the image.

The model vanishes beneath the crimson light- but I grab it and twist it until it is no longer shining power but smooth skin. My Autumn Hunter takes form in my mind's eyes- before it fractures into a thousand broken shards. The Ivory Ferryman rushes to take its place before it too breaks. Then the twisted, hunched form grafted to me by Tiaoyue-
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I'm pretty sure we're Shattering the Mirror right now.

Vesvius said:
"Now, excuse me." Zhuan Kun says, his voice steady. "There are people in need of aid within this village, and I stand shield over any who require it." Then he is gone, eye forward as he marches down the path.
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Vesvius said:
"It does not matter how useful a piece was in the past. In the name of victory, everything can be sacrificed."
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Are the villagers caught in a game of tug-of-war between two entities?

The kukuni dialogue seemed actively hostile. Was the impostor fleeing from them?

Vesvius said:
"It does not matter the piece. It does not matter the Wonder. Eventually, everything on the board reaches a point where it costs more to maintain, more to keep than it does to let slip."
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It seems like the fake ZK was abandoning us here.

Vesvius said:
I stare at the Natural Wonder in question. Like the other pieces of terrain, it shines with restrained power, its anam a ruddy red against the wood. Yet as I watch, the glow seems to get brighter, casting the rest of the table in crimson.
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This appears to be the attack that hit us. Probably the same light the children were talking about that could stop the Heretic-in-Silver "but could not tell friend from foe".

Note the mention of a "restrained power" in the Sand Nest".

Vesvius said:
"From the start," Zhuan Kun continues. "I was prepared to lose the Sand Nest."
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Vesvius said:
The Sand Nest shines again- and so does the Lurker Within. And the Windcrown. And the Sunvenom Tribe. The crimson light spreads across the table, staining everything the color of dried blood. It reaches the edge of the table- and then spreads further.
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Is the Sand Nest the village?
Is fake ZK restraining a powerful Kukuni inside of the village?
 
DangerKitty said:
Like theorizing is all well and good and good fun. But its leaves a bad taste in my mouth when everyone is discounting warhounds cry on the basis that this anam is time as if that was a fact. Theres a lot of room for interpretation here and we have, again, been explicitly told that zho doesnt know the nature of this anam.
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As I mention above, if it's not Time Anam, and indeed plausibly something sinister, that seems to me to be an even stronger reason not to shunt it into a technique we have strong emotional connections to. There's a non-zero chance we need to somehow purge whatever technique we're inserting this into from our soul at a later point, to effectively amputate it. I'd rather do that with the Fire technique than Warhound's Cry by a lot.

So picking the bland fire technique seems like a win/win to me here. Either it gets a new Anam type and becomes cool and interesting in its own right, or alternately we shunt something awful into the technique we currently care the least about. That seems like it's the right choice either way.
 
Vesvius said:
-and then that image is gone as well, buried beneath the tide. Blindly, I reach out, grasping for another focus as the power strains against my will.
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Kong Zhi: The key to developing powerful and unique techniques suited to you is to find some horrible thing and then ingest it in some manner. Like a malignant spirit, or vestige poison.
Shouxi: ... You drink vestige poison and evil ghosts, and yet you won't try my experiments?
 
w4terghost said:
Counterpoint, if this is recycling time it might feel bad in a 'stagnant' sense.
Like drinking month old milk.
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Also because different sources of the same type of Anam feel different, and this whole situation feels very bad. There was a reason why I phrased it as 'this is why I don't think this is Time' and not 'this is a slam dunk argument, checkmate temporaries!'.

BagFullOfLizards said:
Or getting a new form from our puzzle, it's mentioning all the previous ones.
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That seems unlikely given that Zhi also returned to his regular human form, something he is incapable of with or without the Fractal View.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if whatever we pick gets upgraded into a Sage technique.
 
[X] A bull charging across an open field.

We need an attack to beat the Kukuni that this presumably is taking ZK's Form.

We've already mastered the Auroch's Spear, which makes me think that channeling this Annam into it will evolve it into a new technique.
 
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