meianmaru
The Devourer of Fiction
Please also include "Raw Power" to your vote, even if you have voted for it earlier. The vote counter won't count for it otherwise.
[Exalted, ?] Most High
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
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- Tags
- exalted (white wolf)
... Well, I'll take what I can get.
If we want to keep Ulyssian's friends - and I'd argue that that's a good idea, long-term - we're going to need to talk to them at some point, so we can either do it now or later.
Talking to them later means we get a +xp action now, but potentially at the cost of a +xp action later, so I'm not willing to call that either way. There is accelerated training time, which is important if we're about to be thrown into a fight but which we've actually got a surplus of otherwise, and guaranteed presence when Moon wakes up. Also, several hours of recovered memories from Odyssial, which might be the biggest point; that'll open up paths to recovering bits of legacy, and some of those are going to be more than just personal power.
On the other hand, Wild Revelry means we answer questions with Nilul present for cover, and with her help putting together a story, whereas if we put it off we're more likely to be stuck depending on Ulyssian's own social abilities whenever we're finally cornered. That's an advantage right there, which we might want to leverage if we're not planning on severing friendships. Also, we might get better relations with House Sesus as a bonus, and that could be useful; long-term in stabilizing/rebuilding the Realm, short-term in the form of fewer honor duels or other problems from their direction.
It also means risking public intoxication, but I don't think that's likely to actually end in disaster, given Ulyssian's stamina and resistance.
... Lastly, if we're not going to have the option to be around and openly supportive of Moon in the upcoming months, we might want to make quiet arrangements for some of our friends to be doing that for us. Having Nilul arrange that might be a more useful use of her abilities than just buying time and putting off questions a little bit longer. That said, we might be able to get that from either vote.
I suppose bringing friends along on ventures to recover legacy artifacts or whatever pulled from our memories from Raw Power would be the best result (though it still dumps our relationship with House Sesus), but I wouldn't want to assume that's going to be available.
Rihaku
The Internet
Field Commander did that as well, though it wasn't his main thing. Their direct combat power was equivalent, after all!
Which half would you like?
Better Listener seems like an incredible tool to me. A lot of the danger to us is from surprises. If we can perceive anything that happens in the academy, we are much more secure. And in battle, it has it's advantages as well, Odyssial can probably give a long list of them.
It's also subtle. There is nothing flashy about being very perceptive. But Ulyssian training in the garden while idly listening to Elder DBs scheme? Ulyssian hearing Anys Syn coming from leagues away? Knowing every movement of an enemy via tracking his heartbeat?
That has non-stop applications. The other two are just about ripping faces off. But for those, I'd prefer War Saint. Our sword can be away from us, but our Charms not. And some of the Charms are not Obvious, I think. Mote regen is powerful, but not obvious to anyone watching that it is Solar.
It's also subtle. There is nothing flashy about being very perceptive. But Ulyssian training in the garden while idly listening to Elder DBs scheme? Ulyssian hearing Anys Syn coming from leagues away? Knowing every movement of an enemy via tracking his heartbeat?
That has non-stop applications. The other two are just about ripping faces off. But for those, I'd prefer War Saint. Our sword can be away from us, but our Charms not. And some of the Charms are not Obvious, I think. Mote regen is powerful, but not obvious to anyone watching that it is Solar.
[x] Raw Power
[x] Flash of Steel
[x] Better Listener (half)
[x] Flash of Steel
[x] Better Listener (half)
Rihaku
The Internet
You can still meet Moon privately, so that's not a huge deal. The updates to follow will focus mostly on time management, though you may have adventures interspersed. However, adventure will mostly be coming to you, rather than the other way around.
Your friends are cool, but are they the coolest in Creation? You won't know unless you go exploring!
Rihaku
The Internet
Yes, it's very close! I'm still not sure which revelry subset is winning though, of the revelries. Moderate revelry or Wild revelry or Maximum revelry?
If you do get into honor duels, you are likely to win against all but the strongest of DBs, but I will actually run it if you run into a powerful enemy, so you could get unlucky and lose, with possible consequences including loss of your Artifact! Of course, you can always re summon it, but everyone will know it's not supposed to be yours...
If you do get into honor duels, you are likely to win against all but the strongest of DBs, but I will actually run it if you run into a powerful enemy, so you could get unlucky and lose, with possible consequences including loss of your Artifact! Of course, you can always re summon it, but everyone will know it's not supposed to be yours...
SirLagginton
Shadow Cabal Caerbannog Bun-Bun
- Location
- Arrrghhh
While the benefits of Raw Power can be theoretically earned any time, it will be incredibly inefficient, as we are only earning so much XP because our Exaltation has not fully settled in yet, thus allowing us the opportunity help "shape" or however the settling in process works, before the Exaltatation finally settles in. We are not going to have the opportunity to gain so much XP in so little time again from mere training, and our XP options in the future are always going to have an opportunity cost of some stripe or another. 80'000 XP in three days is an incredibly high gain for the relatively little time we would have to invest in it. And frankly, if Sesus is going to be unreasonable about this, then I don't consider them reliable enough potential allies to go out of our way to appease and sacrifice valuable XP in the process. We are not likely to form that many social bonds with our poor social skills anyway with them in the little time we have, especially after all the bad blood between us.
And I wouldn't say "negatively affecting our friends" to be a major concern in this instance. Yes, they're worried, but they're not the ones in the hospital, about to hear that their dearest friend is an Anathema and the fact that Anathema don't even exist in the first place!
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Van Ropen
Angry, angry about elves.
Wild with 14 to MAXIMUM's 12.
Though a question did occur to me - if we currently only have XP for two nonstop months out of our six month grind, and we spend 240k (really 160k after the gain for picking raw power) we have on titles, how much will we have left? A month and a half's worth?
DarkLight140
Credit to Team
- Location
- Lost in my thoughts
So if we get into an honor duel with our Artifact N/A (probably passed off as 5) as the stakes on our side, what are they going to be betting that's equivalent on their side? Resources 5? A private airship? Artifact 5 armor? Control of a Legion?
[X] Maximum Revelry
Ulyssian is going to be ignoring almost everything social for months to come. We need to mitigate the downsides of that now, by making it clear that we are fully capable of reveling with the best of them AND being friendly with our family when the situation calls for it. As with all things Ulyssian except Heartlessness, the ferocity with which we attack this task should be turned up to 11.
But when we do get to training...
[X] Better Listener
I can't say no to following Lea's advice. Also, there are tons of people who can kill things really well, but there are not tons of people who have that kind of ridiculous situational awareness. Better to have less force and superior information guiding us in its use than more force and less available intelligence.
Vote tally:
##### 3.21
[X] Raw Power
No. of votes: 23
Orm Embar, Cavalier, Tonaris, Savonarola, Ghost, Destrark, useofstrike32, meianmaru, Diller, drasky, Bomrek, Ronall, Emerald Oracle, LordOfMurder, The Nomad, CrossyCross, Usernames, Aloysius, me.me.here, aja318, BSRK Aditya, Delwgun, Dark Lord Bob
[X] Wild Revelry - Nilul has a point. Maybe this won't be so bad. His other friends must be concerned, and there is a bridge to mend with his family, before the Sesus burn it. Hero's loyalty, Saery's genuine worry - he shouldn't forget about them, as well. He is better at this than he used to be, and maybe he can get some honor-duels out of the thing. It won't be as productive as training, but he'll take what he can get. And... it might be a little bit fun, as well. Though not as fun as training. However, the rampage of riotous celebration that is a full-on Dynastic Calibration Feast with Dragon-Blooded constitutions means he will almost inevitably miss Moon's awakening, as well as several hours of memories. Hopefully Zao will be there to explain things to her.[Chance to earn Background Merits, including potentially Artifacts, Deepen friendships]
No. of votes: 3
Robotninja, Serous, Fumbles
[X] Wild Revelry
No. of votes: 11
Indrik, Anasurimbor, Elero, sithmor, Guile, Xsi, Vanathor, Khaos, Pinf, Daniel14541, Ridiculously Average Guy
[X] No More Than Moderate Revelry
No. of votes: 1
Felius
[X] MAXIMUM Revelry
No. of votes: 13
Gaudy Guise, kinglugia, Shura12305, CharlBaal, afterthought53, Vanguard_D, TMIoverload, veekie, 1986ctcel, Da Boyz, inventive alias, Van Ropen, DarkLight140
[X] With the help of Nilul
No. of votes: 9
Shura12305, CharlBaal, afterthought53, Vanguard_D, TMIoverload, veekie, 1986ctcel, Da Boyz, inventive alias
##### 3.21
[X] Raw Power
No. of votes: 23
Orm Embar, Cavalier, Tonaris, Savonarola, Ghost, Destrark, useofstrike32, meianmaru, Diller, drasky, Bomrek, Ronall, Emerald Oracle, LordOfMurder, The Nomad, CrossyCross, Usernames, Aloysius, me.me.here, aja318, BSRK Aditya, Delwgun, Dark Lord Bob
[X] Wild Revelry - Nilul has a point. Maybe this won't be so bad. His other friends must be concerned, and there is a bridge to mend with his family, before the Sesus burn it. Hero's loyalty, Saery's genuine worry - he shouldn't forget about them, as well. He is better at this than he used to be, and maybe he can get some honor-duels out of the thing. It won't be as productive as training, but he'll take what he can get. And... it might be a little bit fun, as well. Though not as fun as training. However, the rampage of riotous celebration that is a full-on Dynastic Calibration Feast with Dragon-Blooded constitutions means he will almost inevitably miss Moon's awakening, as well as several hours of memories. Hopefully Zao will be there to explain things to her.[Chance to earn Background Merits, including potentially Artifacts, Deepen friendships]
No. of votes: 3
Robotninja, Serous, Fumbles
[X] Wild Revelry
No. of votes: 11
Indrik, Anasurimbor, Elero, sithmor, Guile, Xsi, Vanathor, Khaos, Pinf, Daniel14541, Ridiculously Average Guy
[X] No More Than Moderate Revelry
No. of votes: 1
Felius
[X] MAXIMUM Revelry
No. of votes: 13
Gaudy Guise, kinglugia, Shura12305, CharlBaal, afterthought53, Vanguard_D, TMIoverload, veekie, 1986ctcel, Da Boyz, inventive alias, Van Ropen, DarkLight140
[X] With the help of Nilul
No. of votes: 9
Shura12305, CharlBaal, afterthought53, Vanguard_D, TMIoverload, veekie, 1986ctcel, Da Boyz, inventive alias
Fanwork##
Ulyssian sighed.
Nilul pouted in response, somehow managing to look bedraggled even while her hair maintained its artfully tousled appearance.
"Uly... That's not the face of someone about to accede to my - perfectly reasonable! - demands."
"First, do not call me that. Second, I understand that you are looking out for my best interests, and I thank you for that. But the window of opportunity before my essence stabilizes must be fully exploited if I am to attain maximal yields."
As he spoke, he did not stop moving. Stances flowed into forms and back into stances, each infinitesimally more precise than the last. Mudras darted through Ulyssian's mind like sunbeams. He gathered up bits of martial knowledge plucked from the furthest reaches of his memories, recollections that were even now coming back into focus, and wove them into insights more beautiful and elegant than any mathematical proof. The shining epiphanies hung like constellations inside his mind's eye, and the prospect of more to come drove him onward. Moment by moment, he grew stronger.
"With sufficient time to train, my growth will be quick enough that I will soon attain enough power that House Sesus will be forced to treat with me, no matter their displeasure at perceived slights. Influence can be cultivated or seized through power; the former is not an arena where I excel, unlike you. In cultivating strength, I am playing to my strengths."
Ambition sang with power as his essence saturated the blade, attempting to draw out its potential. The blade flashed with sunlight, despite the Daystar's absence.
"My previous incarnation arranged for his memories to be distributed to the next recipient of his Exaltation in a manner designed to optimize his growth. He was relatively efficient, capable of slaying a Daeva of the Third given time to prepare and plan weeks after his Second Breath, but he spent much of that time deriving basic insights and first principles that I am already aware of. I can do better."
Something that might have been awed disbelief flitted across Nilul's face, before it was whisked away by her superb emotional control. Ulyssian would likely not have noticed, mere hours ago. The things he could do now beggared belief, and he knew he had barely scratched the surface of his powers. How swiftly he had changed, how his position in the world had changed...
"I will do better," he continued. "But I cannot do so if I'm bogged down fighting honor duels against jealous cousins. Between the revelation of my being Zao's heir and attending a party with you, I'd barely have a second to spare. They would fall on me like a pack of rabid wolves, as you well know, and I'd be forced to humiliate them all. Hardly an action conducive to mending fences."
Ulyssian settled into a form, holding his position for a long moment as he forced essence through his body along paths designed to draw out martial prowess before he resumed speaking.
"And, even if it's silly and unrealistic and unnecessary, I want to be there for Moon, if it will make her happy. As you said, she would do no less for me, and she has done so much already that I can't find it in myself to deny her this."
Now it was Nilul's turn to sigh. "Some things never change. You really are still hopeless, you know?"
What did she mean by that? No. He wouldn't allow himself to become overly distracted. Even if he been Exalted, moments like these served as a stark reminder that in the arena of social acumen, she remained his superior. Still, if she possessed both the desire to help him and the skill-set to do so, perhaps the fallout could be mitigated. As Odyssial, he had exploited all resources available to him. As Ulyssian, he could do no less.
"If you would like to help, you can simply take a few moments to spread the rumor that I have been occupied making plans for the future with Zao, to take the sting off the slight, and have been banned from the festivities until I demonstrate sufficient grasp of the importance of my position. It is even true, from a certain highly nuanced perspective. The first part, anyway."
For the briefest of moments, as he whirled through the final steps of a kata with Ambition flashing in his hand, he allowed his disguise to slip away, letting his Caste Mark shine free to burn away the gathering shadows.
"I would consider it a favor, from one fellow Anathema to another."
---
764 words. This is intended to enhance training and mitigate possible fallout.
Ulyssian sighed.
Nilul pouted in response, somehow managing to look bedraggled even while her hair maintained its artfully tousled appearance.
"Uly... That's not the face of someone about to accede to my - perfectly reasonable! - demands."
"First, do not call me that. Second, I understand that you are looking out for my best interests, and I thank you for that. But the window of opportunity before my essence stabilizes must be fully exploited if I am to attain maximal yields."
As he spoke, he did not stop moving. Stances flowed into forms and back into stances, each infinitesimally more precise than the last. Mudras darted through Ulyssian's mind like sunbeams. He gathered up bits of martial knowledge plucked from the furthest reaches of his memories, recollections that were even now coming back into focus, and wove them into insights more beautiful and elegant than any mathematical proof. The shining epiphanies hung like constellations inside his mind's eye, and the prospect of more to come drove him onward. Moment by moment, he grew stronger.
"With sufficient time to train, my growth will be quick enough that I will soon attain enough power that House Sesus will be forced to treat with me, no matter their displeasure at perceived slights. Influence can be cultivated or seized through power; the former is not an arena where I excel, unlike you. In cultivating strength, I am playing to my strengths."
Ambition sang with power as his essence saturated the blade, attempting to draw out its potential. The blade flashed with sunlight, despite the Daystar's absence.
"My previous incarnation arranged for his memories to be distributed to the next recipient of his Exaltation in a manner designed to optimize his growth. He was relatively efficient, capable of slaying a Daeva of the Third given time to prepare and plan weeks after his Second Breath, but he spent much of that time deriving basic insights and first principles that I am already aware of. I can do better."
Something that might have been awed disbelief flitted across Nilul's face, before it was whisked away by her superb emotional control. Ulyssian would likely not have noticed, mere hours ago. The things he could do now beggared belief, and he knew he had barely scratched the surface of his powers. How swiftly he had changed, how his position in the world had changed...
"I will do better," he continued. "But I cannot do so if I'm bogged down fighting honor duels against jealous cousins. Between the revelation of my being Zao's heir and attending a party with you, I'd barely have a second to spare. They would fall on me like a pack of rabid wolves, as you well know, and I'd be forced to humiliate them all. Hardly an action conducive to mending fences."
Ulyssian settled into a form, holding his position for a long moment as he forced essence through his body along paths designed to draw out martial prowess before he resumed speaking.
"And, even if it's silly and unrealistic and unnecessary, I want to be there for Moon, if it will make her happy. As you said, she would do no less for me, and she has done so much already that I can't find it in myself to deny her this."
Now it was Nilul's turn to sigh. "Some things never change. You really are still hopeless, you know?"
What did she mean by that? No. He wouldn't allow himself to become overly distracted. Even if he been Exalted, moments like these served as a stark reminder that in the arena of social acumen, she remained his superior. Still, if she possessed both the desire to help him and the skill-set to do so, perhaps the fallout could be mitigated. As Odyssial, he had exploited all resources available to him. As Ulyssian, he could do no less.
"If you would like to help, you can simply take a few moments to spread the rumor that I have been occupied making plans for the future with Zao, to take the sting off the slight, and have been banned from the festivities until I demonstrate sufficient grasp of the importance of my position. It is even true, from a certain highly nuanced perspective. The first part, anyway."
For the briefest of moments, as he whirled through the final steps of a kata with Ambition flashing in his hand, he allowed his disguise to slip away, letting his Caste Mark shine free to burn away the gathering shadows.
"I would consider it a favor, from one fellow Anathema to another."
---
764 words. This is intended to enhance training and mitigate possible fallout.
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Rihaku
The Internet
Well, higher essence stuff takes longer to train, especially Evocations, so if you work your way up there, you could consume quite a bit of time. But yeah, you would still only have about enough for two months if you take the 80k, since you have gained a substantial amount of XP since the last XP update. You'd be stronger, though.
It depends on who is initiating the duel. On the assumption that you are, you will probably have to offer extremely favorable stakes to get them to accept. But an Artifact 4 armor, or 4 Resources' worth of jade, isn't out of the question.
Looking at the votes again, I'm not actually sure either Wild Revelry or Maximum Revelry voters are advocating to spend a lot of time on honour duels.
Maximum revelry seems like a write-in trying to somehow squeeze its way into a training effect by reveling as hard as Uly possibly can.
Wild revelry is just the standard option that rarely has comments attached to it, but even those aren't actually focused on honour duels.
The non-stop honour duel thing seems just like an idea that was brought up once and quickly forgotten about.
Maximum revelry seems like a write-in trying to somehow squeeze its way into a training effect by reveling as hard as Uly possibly can.
Wild revelry is just the standard option that rarely has comments attached to it, but even those aren't actually focused on honour duels.
The non-stop honour duel thing seems just like an idea that was brought up once and quickly forgotten about.
Van Ropen
Angry, angry about elves.
Well I mean, the standard Wild option talks about duels anyways - I assumed we'd figure out how exactly time at the party was spent in a subsequent vote if it wins, given how many things there are to split our attention.
Rihaku
The Internet
Hmm, I don't think Odyssial soloed a Daeva of the Third for a while, though he could probably hold one off weeks in, and or beat it with a group or with foreknowledge and prep time. Soloing a martially favored Daeva of the third was definitely possible within the first year, likely less, but you do need a lot of Charms or prep for that level of feat. After all, he can't focus his build purely on 1v1s, he has to handle both armies and groups of significantly weaker but relevant foes as well.
I'm actually starting to wonder whether encouraging Moon's romantic fantasy's any further is really a good idea.
I mean, nothing against Moon shippers and stuff, but with us having decided not to give Moon the blade and having given Zao such a serious promise to go along with our plans, the simple fact of the matter is that actually marrying Moon and stuff is... honestly not going to happen unless we have to run for the Threshold again.
It's admittedly more than a bit of a dick move to adress this issue by acting more like a regular DB hedonist now but strengthening Uly and Moon's feelings for each other and making them long even more for a serious relationship only for Uly to get engaged to some Great House heir or something in a couple of months is not looking particularly good either.
I mean, nothing against Moon shippers and stuff, but with us having decided not to give Moon the blade and having given Zao such a serious promise to go along with our plans, the simple fact of the matter is that actually marrying Moon and stuff is... honestly not going to happen unless we have to run for the Threshold again.
It's admittedly more than a bit of a dick move to adress this issue by acting more like a regular DB hedonist now but strengthening Uly and Moon's feelings for each other and making them long even more for a serious relationship only for Uly to get engaged to some Great House heir or something in a couple of months is not looking particularly good either.
Fair enough, added a couple of caveats.
Guile
Having a really great time right now
Look, there's going to be some people at this celebration that will need a good stabbing. Assassins, random jackasses, possibly family members, whatever. We might as well get that out of the way up front.Pipeman said:
In particular, I'm hoping to use Saery's prodigious Medicine score to keep ourselves from going FULL Hangover, in exchange for beating up/Accursed assassinating some dudes that will almost inevitably picking on Seacrown mortals/Saery's pals/Nellens folk. We might as well reap the fruits of our work via honour duels. They reap the whirlwind.
Oh Pipeman, you silly goose. We merely need the power to stalemate a 3CD like Ligier (he's a 3CD, right?), which will hopefully be accomplished in a year or so. Then we can marry whoever we want, and laugh at any nay-sayers.Pipeman said:
Rihaku
The Internet
It's mostly a measure for you to avoid Social Combat, since it's rude for them to do so extensively if they're not participating, and whoever you're beating the shit out of will probably be too distracted to do much but whimper.
Maybe, maybe not... Though there are a few entertaining random encounters I have in mind, if it wins.
Hm, yeah, I don't really know how to describe the combat options in a way that makes them seem much more compelling compared to new capabilities, unless you know at least something about the system itself. However, suffice to say that combat ability is a tremendous force multiplier, allowing you to meet interesting new people, and kill them! As well as protecting your existing connections and giving you massive leverage in any negotiation. You can just think of it as boosting your raw power if you like, though combat Titles often work synergistically to produce exponentially stronger results.
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We don't know for sure what the future will hold. Cruel reality often crushes beautiful dreams, but even that reality must yield before the power and unbreakable will of the Exalted. All we can do is act in accordance with Ulyssian's character. Dynastic revelry might yield benefits, but it's hardly the option that comes most naturally to Ulyssian, and I'd argue that it's much less beneficial than training. Avoiding the worst aspects of Realm culture in favor of building on highly productive habits is hardly a bad thing. We defied Zao for the right to associate with Moon, so we've already decided not to let external factors stand between us.
Anyway, establishing a precedent of holding ourselves separate from and above the frivolities of Dynastic society could work out in our favor, if we were to carefully develop our reputation. Recall Nathor and the option we had to leverage a standoffish nature into inspirational magnetism.
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