The winning option is [X] A Political Marriage without Lover's Oath. This was extremely close, only sheer weight of arguments pushed this compromise option over the edge. Now that you will be spending a good deal of time in the West (if not always on the Isle) and have the option to progress through Stage V, Stage VI, and Stage VII nigh-immediately, it would be wise to do some planning for the future.
In the interests of avoiding 3-5+ consecutive build votes, I have summarized the likely most popular options into a series of Cultivation paths Nameless can follow. There are many other interesting paths that will sadly go underexplored, but ultimately you can only pick one. This does not necessarily preclude Nameless from changing his mind later. As this will determine Nameless' strategy and disposition for the entire timeskip, it's fairly important to decide on his general goals now.
The Forward Path
[ ] Path of the Immortal - A Titan seeks to become a fixture of the universe, as indelible as the laws of physics, an attribute of the world itself. But the Immortal disdains the refuge of mere conceptual embodiment. His is the pride - or the hubris - to impose his unaltered self upon eternity, as an agent and not a mere rule of the game.
"I don't need to embody the unbroken world or the endless sky. I am that I am, and that is a force greater still."
True Immortality carries all the risks of eternity. Mere force of arms cannot lay them low, merely delay them for a time; to sunder an Immortal from reality is an endeavor worthy of a cycle of Ages. Though they cannot develop the versatile and potent Reality Effects of Titanic Cultivators, Immortals are able to channel the Energy of All and Nothingness in discrete and specialized Techniques. They may possess other benefits as well.
Stages V-VII - Stageless (+6 Combat Strength)
Intended Stage VIII - Immortal Awakening (+? Combat Strength)
Truespells: Vault (Further Beyond - 2 BP expended), Prodigious Might, Greater Refining
*Full Truth Exploitation: Hidden Synergy with True Incarnation. Techniques and Diagram spells can be merged under the auspices of the Truth; an Immortal's Techniques and a Lich's Diagrams fused into two heads of the same coin. Truth and Might in a seamless marriage yields power welded perfectly to its proper application.
*Raw Power: 14.4 Stages worth of Bodily Power, pretty much immediately. Power enough to rupture suns with one's idle passing, and with strength rend superclusters asunder.
*You will have to break through to Immortal Awakening yourself
*Will probably cause some form of Tribulation as you grow more powerful than the Fates are comfortable supporting
*Commits fully to a Vault-based paradigm of Cultivation; you will have to design your Further Beyond, Truespelled, Artifact-boosted Vault.
*Saves 4 Mastermind Points and 1 BP for later use
*Incredible combat strength, essentially unrivaled under Heaven, but no immediate utility benefits from this Cultivation Path except for Truespell Refining.
*Vault-based Cultivation is likely faster than Reactor-based, especially in the long run, but requires actual effort and consumes Nameless' time, leaving less energy leftover for other matters like Truth research. However, adventuring in the Vault may generate insights applicable to getting the other Truth Diagrams.
[ ] Path of the King - Once, a boy scion of the Yong clan dreamed of the Philosopher-King. He met a magus who taught him of magecraft and a sage who taught him of rulership. Last champions of the Age of Truth, they passed their glories onto him, and he resolved to be a king worthy of their legacy.
The boy saw other paths, and understood that, grand as kinghood was, it was still finite. But that a path may come to an end is no reason not to walk it for a time. The world drowns in chaos and oppression. The wonders of this stagnant Age fade day by day. When an Emperor loses the mandate of Heaven, it is inevitable that those beneath him rise up in rebellion. So too with Heaven itself. The Titans and Fates alike must be cast down, if the people of this world are to experience a new flowering.
Stage V - Reality Masking (1 BP, +1.75 Combat Strength)
-Mask of the Philosopher-King; Reality effects relate to rulership, empowering one's subordinate institutions and being empowered thereby.
Stage VI - Grand Dispellation (1 BP, +1.5 Combat Strength)
-To advance a Reality is to conceive of its opposite. Provides a generalized means whereby one's Reality Effects can be utilized to suppress Reality Effects - and, with lessened effectiveness, magical effects of any kind - possessed by one's adversaries.
Stage VII - Titanic Nucleation (1 BP, +1.25 Combat Strength)
-The mantle of a Titan is drawn around the character like armor, like fortress-walls. It is apparatus and mien, methodology and means, an exoskeleton of purpose and might that the character wields from its core.
Intended Stage VIII - Not necessary to complete build
Truespells: Amplification, Palimpsest (Form of Balance, 1 BP), Deliberation
*Minimal Truth Synergy: No Hidden Synergies with Truth
*Philosopher-King: Gain the benefits of [Philosopher's Stone] and [Philosopher-King]. While you do not know the specifics at this time, you believe them to be power-type Further Beyond and Even Further Beyond effects. You are uncertain whether they will give stage-boosting effects, but the benefits are sure to be substantial nonetheless.
*Loses 1.5 stages of Combat Strength relative to Immortal Awakening. Only retains ~1 BP, the fewest of any option.
*Reliant on a subordinate nation or empire to benefit from Reality Effects, but the benefits are both versatile and potent, with effects ranging from improved bureaucratic efficacy to increased Cultivation speed to construction of Pharaonic super-projects that blend all the disciplines of the Thrice-Great, generating empire-wide effects. A series of monuments built in your image might amplify your power by a half-stage!
*It is the prerogative of a king to be spoiled. But it is the duty of a king to overcome such flaws. It is time to put away childish things. A scion is a seed that an empire plants. Time for that seed to flower. Time for those who raised you up to shelter now in your shade. Removes Heroic Passion - Spoiled.
*As the Vault may need to be used as a mobile arcology to store one's empire, the idea of a monster vault is right out.
*By adopting the Dao of the Philosopher-King, you remove the need to forge Perfecting Artifacts or spend research time on novel Cultivation Stages, and unlock the ability to Go Beyond each stage. You could even use All Paths to remove your empire-linked weakness and unite the Labyrinth and Elven empires into one!
*It is a proper Overlord who reigns, who wields force and treachery in equal measure, who is beloved and feared. Does not lose the favor of the Fates, for now.
[ ] Path of the Sage - Power is important, but not your most pressing concern. Short of absolute incompetence, it is not by power that the Fates will beguile you, deter you, defer you until you are Doomed. Zang Kong arises in might, but even he can be negotiated with, and so long as he slumbers you have time. Your immediate concern is not power, but wisdom and cleverness. The Elves with their millennia-long experience outmaneuvered you. Were you a typical Cultivator you wouldn't have the disposition to create Reality Effects that could overwhelm them in this arena as your brethren already do in the physical. But you are not a typical Cultivator. To you, all paths are open.
Stage V - Reality Masking (+1.5 Combat Strength)
-Mien of Grace - To elves are given their beauty, an excellence ineffable in harmony with the nature world. But the line of Men has a nobility all its own. Swift as a coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon! The character exudes a radiance of such awe and terror as to strike dead those of weak constitution; to raise hand or will against him would be to stare heedless into the unblinking sun!
-While this Mien is active, gain Heroic Passion: Virtuous
-A Dao that focuses all its power into raw charisma.
Stage VI - Reality Masking (+1.5 Combat Strength)
-Mien of Truth - The power of truth is that is cannot be denied. Reality itself unmakes the enemies of truth, in time. The character's intelligence for purpose of researching and casting Diagram spells is elevated to unimaginable heights. This is not the gap between a simpleton and a genius, but between a genius and an amoeba. As high above mortal magi as the stars are above the earth - and, as the Truth would tell you, that is a distanced measured not in miles but in light-years.
-While this Mien is active, gain Heroic Passion: Honest
-A Dao that focuses all its power into acquiring and maximizing True Diagrams and other spells. Guarantees the acquisition of at least one more Truth Diagram and at least two more Truespells during the timeskip.
-Easily add new Diagrams except those of Fate and Time, which have extraneous requirements.
Stage VII - Reality Masking (+1.5/+2.5 Combat Strength)
-Mien of Might - The first and final recourse is power.
-While this Mien is active, amplify Heroic Passions: Spoiled and Vengeful
-A Dao that condenses all your power into your body, infusing it with all-cancelling force. The Supreme Counter is as far above the Heavy Counter as the Heavy Counter is above the Fist Counter.
-The sheer density of Energy afforded by the Supreme Counter grants it all the offensive anti-utility effects of the Heavy, while also allowing it to repel and destroy enemies up to one full stage above that of the practitioner.
Intended Stage VIII - Thrice-Great (?) - You'll have to do Dao research to figure out what your optimal next stage should be. Can be very time-consuming.
Truespells: Vault, Amplification, Quickening, (Cerebration, Open the Way). Latter two are active only when Mien of Truth is.
*Saves all 5+ BP (all MPs converted) for your next undiscounted Even Further Beyond, maintaining maximum efficiency.
*Loses .5 to 1.5 stages of Combat Power relative to Immortal Awakening
*Highly specialized Reality Masks grant dominating performance in social, mental, and physical arenas.
*Still not as powerful as the Immortal, but much more versatile
*True Quickening + Mien of Might grants a superb and efficient, if relatively simplistic, combat style.
*Mien of Grace elevates your charisma, if not your scheming, to the equal or superior of any elf. Fear nothing in pure social combat!
*The task of a sage is knowledge, of one's self and of others. Further advancement will be complicated and difficult, should you wish to go beyond mere Reality Masks.
*Can Open the Way to distant realms in search of knowledge and power; the Supreme Counter offers a fairly generalized solution for the dangers one might encounter there.
*Flexible and powerful, the Sage is not bound by any single path, but this is both blessing and curse, for he is a man still, and though a man may walk many paths throughout his life, he cannot walk two paths at once.
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Since your access to Reality Effects may determine the outcome of your interactions with your bride-to-be and other characters, it's important to nail this down before Nameless meets the Seventh Crown Princess. However, it is important also to recognize that the Princess is less than a century old and does not have the experience of the characters on the Praxis Council. Nameless does not anticipate that he would be blown away in social combat even without access to something like the Mien of Grace (which is total overkill for most conversations).
