[Exalted] The Dragon's Spite
- Thread starter EarthScorpion
- Start date
- Mature Fantasy
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hmm. Yeah, okay, I've thought about it, and while it's valid in-character for Rena to go for short-term loss minimisation, it's also the coward's way out and the strategy that will lose us more in the long run - are we always going to immediately lie down for the first bidder to give us a hard time whenever we have any money, casting previous plans aside? Being in Debt is far from the end of the world, and these assholes are trying to muscle in on our turf.
So yeah, you know what? I'm going to go for the haughty noble approach and rely on dear Blue and our soldiers to get us out pronto if they whisper in the ulinke's ear and turn him against us. That's why we have Blue and our soldiers. Don't be fooled into letting a cut-throat water mafia rifle through everything valuable in our hoard, buy it for good-but-not-exceptional prices, and then lay claim to any caches of treasure we discovered the clues to. At the very least we need to make copies of where future digs might be profitable before selling anything that might contain clues. This is a shakedown. Don't be a mark, and don't let Quester Caution rob us of most of our score.
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
So yeah, you know what? I'm going to go for the haughty noble approach and rely on dear Blue and our soldiers to get us out pronto if they whisper in the ulinke's ear and turn him against us. That's why we have Blue and our soldiers. Don't be fooled into letting a cut-throat water mafia rifle through everything valuable in our hoard, buy it for good-but-not-exceptional prices, and then lay claim to any caches of treasure we discovered the clues to. At the very least we need to make copies of where future digs might be profitable before selling anything that might contain clues. This is a shakedown. Don't be a mark, and don't let Quester Caution rob us of most of our score.
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
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I am willing to see Rena fight for the greater reward.
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
- Location
- A nondescript grave
Ehhh, keeping to the play stupid games win stupid prizes premise of the quest:
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
- Location
- Spain
Ehhh
I would be more inclined for this if we had chosen to be extra generous with our soldiers last update.
As it is i don't know if we can trust them in a serious fight.
And we have already made plenty of enemies this expedition, we don't need to add more.
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[X] [Dealing] Deal. Yes. You need money, and you don't want to make enemies of the water-priests. Maybe you'll lose clues to treasure and even possibly lose some sorcerous lore, but the cash is very good. (Reduce Debt by a minimum of 3, possibly up to 10+ if they find something very valuable they want.)
[X] [Donations] Donate. The Cult of Ma is shaking you down. You don't know exactly how they know you're cheating on your taxes, and maybe they're bluffing, but you're not going to risk it. So you're going to pay them off. (Gain 3 Debt if Deal taken, gain 8 Debt otherwise)
[X] [Donations] Donate. The Cult of Ma is shaking you down. You don't know exactly how they know you're cheating on your taxes, and maybe they're bluffing, but you're not going to risk it. So you're going to pay them off. (Gain 3 Debt if Deal taken, gain 8 Debt otherwise)
mothematics
How wide is the concept of "you"?
- Location
- the bottom of a coffee cup
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Pick your enemies, and all that, I suppose.
[X] [Decline] Decline.
[X] [Donations] Deny.
[X] [Decline] Decline.
[X] [Donations] Deny.
- Location
- Israel
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
Can't decide on the other option tbh
Edit:
[X] [Donations] Donate. The Cult of Ma is shaking you down. You don't know exactly how they know you're cheating on your taxes, and maybe they're bluffing, but you're not going to risk it. So you're going to pay them off. (Gain 3 Debt if Deal taken, gain 8 Debt otherwise)
Can't decide on the other option tbh
Edit:
[X] [Donations] Donate. The Cult of Ma is shaking you down. You don't know exactly how they know you're cheating on your taxes, and maybe they're bluffing, but you're not going to risk it. So you're going to pay them off. (Gain 3 Debt if Deal taken, gain 8 Debt otherwise)
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Even if we can fight our way to freedom, pissing off the cult that controls the water sounds like it would make future expeditions in this area incredibly hard.
A scrap of a treasure map won't do us any good if all our workers die of thirst when nobody sells us water or wells dry up when we try to use them.
[X] [Dealing] Deal. Yes. You need money, and you don't want to make enemies of the water-priests. Maybe you'll lose clues to treasure and even possibly lose some sorcerous lore, but the cash is very good. (Reduce Debt by a minimum of 3, possibly up to 10+ if they find something very valuable they want.)
[X] [Donations] Donate. The Cult of Ma is shaking you down. You don't know exactly how they know you're cheating on your taxes, and maybe they're bluffing, but you're not going to risk it. So you're going to pay them off. (Gain 3 Debt if Deal taken, gain 8 Debt otherwise)
A scrap of a treasure map won't do us any good if all our workers die of thirst when nobody sells us water or wells dry up when we try to use them.
[X] [Dealing] Deal. Yes. You need money, and you don't want to make enemies of the water-priests. Maybe you'll lose clues to treasure and even possibly lose some sorcerous lore, but the cash is very good. (Reduce Debt by a minimum of 3, possibly up to 10+ if they find something very valuable they want.)
[X] [Donations] Donate. The Cult of Ma is shaking you down. You don't know exactly how they know you're cheating on your taxes, and maybe they're bluffing, but you're not going to risk it. So you're going to pay them off. (Gain 3 Debt if Deal taken, gain 8 Debt otherwise)
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
If that's what you're worried about, Donate but don't Deal. We can take another bit of Debt - Debt is not the end of the world - but the entire point of this venture was not profit but rather an "initial investment" to secure information she can compare to her scroll to get routes to much more treasure. Deal throws that away by letting the water cult take any information that looks valuable before we can copy it down so that they can go after it alone and leave us hanging high and dry. That "something very valuable they want" that they might pay us 10 Debt for will be clues to another cache of 40 Debt worth of treasure and lore and divine allies and so on. If we sell it now, without even knowing what it is, we are the gormless idiot getting ripped off by a pawn broker nabbing all the gold from her haul and telling her it's painted brass.
If we break even on this mission and leave the water cult thinking of us as a convenient source of loot who'll fold at the slightest threat, with no more leads to base the next mission on, we'll have about a month of being fine and out of Debt and then we'll be screwed.
Don't vote Deal. It is the option of Rena's short term greed overwhelming her long-term strategy and leaving her with fewer available options once she burns through the money from this expedition. Do not let Quester Caution and the desire for everyone to like us drive us into taking the very first offer before we've even taken full inventory with no haggling or auctioning whatsoever.
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I'm not intervening in the general argument because both sides have a case that that they're presenting, but I will clarify that yes, Aleph is correct here.
The very Debt mechanic is set up with the expectation that Rena will always wind up in debt in some way or another. It's for that reason that there's no such thing as "negative debt". The problems start when you start showing signs of being unable to service your debt, or if the overall size of the debt gets too big and the creditors start knocking at the door.
The dynamic here is more akin to early modern monarchs or nation states or big businesses rather than a household's finances. Yes, you should keep track of your finances and work to avoid your debt inflating too much, but being out of debt entirely for extended periods is both very hard to achieve and maybe not even a good idea because of the oppurtunity cost you're paying in avoiding that debt.
Now, of course, one has to always consider whether this particular instance is a case of "taking on more debt" that you're okay with, or that you'd rather reduce it - but that's the choice one has to make.
- Location
- Singapore
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Donate. The Cult of Ma is shaking you down. You don't know exactly how they know you're cheating on your taxes, and maybe they're bluffing, but you're not going to risk it. So you're going to pay them off. (Gain 3 Debt if Deal taken, gain 8 Debt otherwise)
[X] [Donations] Donate. The Cult of Ma is shaking you down. You don't know exactly how they know you're cheating on your taxes, and maybe they're bluffing, but you're not going to risk it. So you're going to pay them off. (Gain 3 Debt if Deal taken, gain 8 Debt otherwise)
- Location
- Britain
[X] [Dealing] Deal. Yes. You need money, and you don't want to make enemies of the water-priests. Maybe you'll lose clues to treasure and even possibly lose some sorcerous lore, but the cash is very good. (Reduce Debt by a minimum of 3, possibly up to 10+ if they find something very valuable they want.)
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
We can do business without being shaken down. Also, no one was voting for this combination and I am a natural-born contrarian.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
We can do business without being shaken down. Also, no one was voting for this combination and I am a natural-born contrarian.
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
- Location
- Portugal
Some good points discussed on the cost of folding every time we're met with difficulties, and I'm feeling like it's been a bit since Rena really flexed the haughty villainess muscles... Hmm.
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
Definitely don't give them the first pick of the loot, and while also refusing to donate may be unwise, if it derails then it is sure to be entertaining.
[X] [Decline] Decline. No, you will be taking your treasures back to Zorpondam, and if they want to bid for them there, why, you will of course entreat with them. But you won't give them right of first refusal or let them sort through the papers until you've had a chance to make sure you know exactly what is there and make copies of anything you intend to sell.
[X] [Donations] Deny. There's no proof you're cheating on your taxes. Unless they know something that you don't think they should be able to know. Well, that's a risk you'll take, and you have your own soldiers if they try to make trouble.
Definitely don't give them the first pick of the loot, and while also refusing to donate may be unwise, if it derails then it is sure to be entertaining.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] [Decline] Decline.
[X] [Donations] Deny.
What kind of evil sorceress just caves in to random priests trying to shake her down. Have some dignity. We feed people's souls to fae, for god's sake!
[X] [Donations] Deny.
What kind of evil sorceress just caves in to random priests trying to shake her down. Have some dignity. We feed people's souls to fae, for god's sake!
Well, so I can try to hammer out as much of the next update possible over the weekend, I think I'll close the vote here because the votes are fairly clear.
Rena's going to girlboss her way, not bowing to exortion and turn down certain money now to try to get her plunder back to Zorpondam. As a wise man once said, after all, "Hubris is a coward's word".
Rena's going to girlboss her way, not bowing to exortion and turn down certain money now to try to get her plunder back to Zorpondam. As a wise man once said, after all, "Hubris is a coward's word".
- Location
- NYC
For the voting options from the update before the latest one, has anyone done the math on what the expected value of our haul will be once we get it back to [city name].
As in, tax avoidance was pay 20, tax evasion was pay 10 and cash out jade was get 10.
One read is that the jade we could have sold at well below what it's worth would have itself gone for 30 debt.
Does this give us an estimate on how much this will be worth at [city name]?
I am assuming that the tax isn't like an export tax that applies only if we want to take the treasure out as opposed to selling it there.
As in, tax avoidance was pay 20, tax evasion was pay 10 and cash out jade was get 10.
One read is that the jade we could have sold at well below what it's worth would have itself gone for 30 debt.
Does this give us an estimate on how much this will be worth at [city name]?
I am assuming that the tax isn't like an export tax that applies only if we want to take the treasure out as opposed to selling it there.
- Location
- Spain
Not really, aside of "should be more than 30"