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Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)

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Kian said:
As do I but there is that whole action economy thing and a thread full of minmaxer to appease. Dragons are cool though. I wanted to become one when i grew up.
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Are you saying that you don't want to be a dragon anymore? Because that squirt dangerously close to heresy. :V

More seriously, beyond the simple bonus of the vale, one thing that would be great would be the possibility to convince the dragon to be bound, even if only for the tournament.
 
CircleTheSkies said:
Heh... so, amusingly, it might've been better to hold off one more week on the big breakthrough attempt - if it boosted the chances well enough, that'd have made (with the drugs) Ling Qi doing a 6-action double breakthrough actually quite possible :p
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There's still a good 40% chance we won't make Green this week, and even if we do, we'll get plenty of use out of that thing by cultivating EPC and attempting Physical breakthrough.
 
To be completely fair, indulging in SV's "raging vengeance boner" as it was called would probably do a lot to establish Ling Qi as someone who shouldn't be trifled with. And since it's a personality trait both IC and of the voterbase, going along with the inevitable seems to be a fine method of accepting that. Low-level conflict or fighting at a less personal distance = Ling Q is mellow about this / personal stuff = you've come to the wrong neighborhood.

It's about where to draw her personal line, I suppose.
 
You know, for all the arguments and outrage over the Yan Renshu thing and mercy and yadda yadda, I notice that some people are conveniently forgetting one of the main reasonings that caused me to vote for mercy, and will continue to do so regardless of this revelation about Zhengui: the Sect Rules.

For me it was never about whether YR "deserved" Meizhen kneecapping him. It was because I didn't think it was worth the Elders getting off their asses to breathe down her neck for blatantly breaking one of the few rules they can't afford to let slide. Meizhen may have had her paper thin "plausible deniability" plan, and may have been willing to face the consequences of "killing" Renshu if it didn't work regardless, but I wouldn't want her to face that on our account when she doesn't have to, and I still don't.

We should treat this like she's treating Kang Zihao, and thoroughly prepare his gruesome murder when the time is right and we won't get slapped down for it. Not at the first opportunity for VENGEANCE RARRR!
 
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NaanContributor said:
You know, for all the arguments and outrage over the Yan Renshu thing and mercy and yadda yadda, I notice that some people are conveniently forgetting one of the main reasonings that caused me to vote for mercy, and will continue to do so regardless of this revelation about Zhengui: the Sect Rules.

For me it was never about whether YR "deserved" Meizhen kneecapping him. It was because I didn't think it was worth the Elders getting off their asses to breathe down her neck for blatantly breaking one of the few rules they can't afford to let slide. Meizhen may have had her paper thin "plausible deniability" plan, and may have been willing to face the consequences of "killing" Renshu if it didn't work regardless, but I wouldn't want her to face that on our account when she doesn't have to, and I still don't.

We should treat this like she's treating Kang Zihao, and thoroughly prepare his gruesome murder when the time is right and we won't get slapped down for it. Not at the first opportunity for VENGEANCE RARRR!
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This is why I want to become inner sect student before murdering the shit out of him. But if he volunteer before, I have no issue with that.
 
I'm gonna reread everything in preparation to submitting my omake tax for this great story. Will probably go for an alternate Ling Qi of some sort.

Do you guys/gals have a preference between a "convict Ling Qi" and the obligatory "Peggy Sue Ling Qi"?
 
NaanContributor said:
For me it was never about whether YR "deserved" Meizhen kneecapping him. It was because I didn't think it was worth the Elders getting off their asses to breathe down her neck for blatantly breaking one of the few rules they can't afford to let slide. Meizhen may have had her paper thin "plausible deniability" plan, and may have been willing to face the consequences of "killing" Renshu if it didn't work regardless, but I wouldn't want her to face that on our account when she doesn't have to, and I still don't.
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Well, another thing to note there is that just because Meizhen is protected from the consequences of her actions doesn't mean that we are. Heck, punishing her accomplice would be a good way of sending a message to her without actually annoying the Bai.
 
Erebeal said:
Well, another thing to note there is that just because Meizhen is protected from the consequences of her actions doesn't mean that we are. Heck, punishing her accomplice would be a good way of sending a message to her without actually annoying the Bai.
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Which kinda was what we assume Kang Zihao tried to do when he tried to spear us back in Thunderdom.
 
"PeggySue Ling Qi" sounds good to me.

But if you want to talk Omake we have a dedicated channel on Discord, would be easier there I think
 
Oh, and revelations about Meizhen's mother! Meizhen described her as "one of their best", and she was framed for assassinating an Imperial Prince. How much do you want to bet that at least part of the reasoning for the conspiracy targeting her was because she was one of the Bai's hopes of getting a White Cultivator again, and their enemies were all "Nope, can't have that!" Meizhen's favorite aunt must be watching her back now that she's in that position.

And more explanation for why Meizhen's so antagonistic with her cousins: she's the offspring of a publicly denounced "traitor". Meizhen isn't just low on the totem pole, she's probably a political pariah to her generation of the family.
 
NaanContributor said:
Oh, and revelations about Meizhen's mother! Meizhen described her as "one of their best", and she was framed for assassinating an Imperial Prince. How much do you want to bet that at least part of the reasoning for the conspiracy targeting her was because she was one of the Bai's hopes of getting a White Cultivator again, and their enemies were all "Nope, can't have that!" Meizhen's favorite aunt must be watching her back now that she's in that position.

And more explanation for why Meizhen's so antagonistic with her cousins: she's the offspring of a publicly denounced "traitor". Meizhen isn't just low on the totem pole, she's probably a political pariah to her generation of the family.
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It also explains why older people in the Bai sometimes favor her though. Grandpa is probably guilty as heck for being forced to sacrifice one of his daughters, and while he's harsh I always got the impression that he did favor Meizhen slightly. Suzhen likely knew Meizhen's mother personally.


e: And given that Meizhen is our age, and even that she has some memories of her mother, her mom must have died fairly recently, in cultivator-time. Like, ~10 years ago or so. This is recent past, not ancient history.
 
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SynchronizedWritersBlock said:
It also explains why older people in the Bai sometimes favor her though. Grandpa is probably guilty as heck for being forced to sacrifice one of his daughters, and while he's harsh I always got the impression that he did favor Meizhen slightly. Suzhen likely knew Meizhen's mother personally.
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We were told her granfather never addressed her directly, and she never got personal lessons before.

She was basically put aside after this.
 
Arkeus said:
We were told her granfather never addressed her directly, and she never got personal lessons before.

She was basically put aside after this.
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Not exactly.
yrsillar said:
She felt her lips curling in disdain and Cui's coils tightening, responding to her emotions, and calmed herself. It was beneath her to react so. She would simply perform the task as instructed. Closing her eyes, she considered where to begin. Family was of course the single most important connection a cultivator had. So, who among her clan did she feel connection and 'affection' for as the Elder had put it. Her thoughts turned first to her grandfather, and his cold and pitiless eyes flashed through her thoughts, disapproving as they always were. No, grandfather had trained her certainly, as he had the rest of the youngest generation of the Bai, in the hopes of teasing out outstanding talent.

No, that was simply the bond of familial duty, she felt instinctively that it wasn't what Elder Ying was looking for. Grandfather had hardly ever even spoken to her directly, save an occasional correction or word of grudging praise at success.
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You have to read between the lines, because Meizhen doesn't have an objective POV. Grudging praise is a big deal considering everything we know about that family. And I doubt Meizhen is correctly interpreting her grandfather's looks or even his training attentions. If she was set aside, then so was every other Bai child. But it's evident from those very quotes that she wasn't.
 
Yeah, the first solid piece of evidence that enlightenment and superhuman intellect doesn't help you make good decisions. It's one thing to rebuke a powerful clan once in a while. It's another thing entirely to frame one of their top up and comers to get them executed unless you intend to walk that line forever. Because the Bai have long memories, and they're not likely to forget those who tried to gutstab them while they were down.

Well, that, or having a solution to them waking Grandmother Serpent when they realize that their enemies will never allow them to rise again.
 
Alectai said:
Yeah, the first solid piece of evidence that enlightenment and superhuman intellect doesn't help you make good decisions. It's one thing to rebuke a powerful clan once in a while. It's another thing entirely to frame one of their top up and comers to get them executed unless you intend to walk that line forever. Because the Bai have long memories, and they're not likely to forget those who tried to gutstab them while they were down.

Well, that, or having a solution to them waking Grandmother Serpent when they realize that their enemies will never allow them to rise again.
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Its entirely possible that anyone going for a gutstab right now is either convinced that the Bai aren't desperate enough to wake Grandmother Serpent or are confident that GS would be killed before she could actually get around to exacting terrible bloody vengeance. After all once the Bai wake up GS they either win or are utterly destroyed in the aftermath, because waking a Sublime Ancestor is basically the equivalent of launching your nuke in a MAD scenario.

Of course if they believe the latter they're basically willing to cause the apocalypse so they can get ahead politically.
 
Alectai said:
Yeah, the first solid piece of evidence that enlightenment and superhuman intellect doesn't help you make good decisions. It's one thing to rebuke a powerful clan once in a while. It's another thing entirely to frame one of their top up and comers to get them executed unless you intend to walk that line forever. Because the Bai have long memories, and they're not likely to forget those who tried to gutstab them while they were down.

Well, that, or having a solution to them waking Grandmother Serpent when they realize that their enemies will never allow them to rise again.
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Well, we know that the new empress is if a more totalitarian persuasion and would like to go all roi soleil if she could. Forming the ministries and especially her inquisition in order to weaken clan bonds was step one.

Permanently keeping an ancient clan on the back foot as a show of her power, kind of like what shenhua did to the song clan.

The bai cant be extinguished like the song but keeping them without a white and forcibg them below the other great clans is a powerplay and a threat nonetheless. Step three was what?

Whip up an external threat via the barbarian tribes to unite the people under your banner while you get the house in order?

Ploy some dukes with special treatment in some kind of carrot and stick move?

Normally you would try to gain control over vital ressources and then starve the opposition until they have to submit to survive.

The Mu cla has mt. Tai and its spirit stones but thete are other accessible sides. Not sure where the want to start levering for power.
 
Hey, @yrsillar, how exactly did Ling Qi catch the eye of the Sect in the first place? What was the process for selecting new students?
I don't remember if we ever found, since the story starts with Ling in the carriage.
 
Alectai said:
Yeah, the first solid piece of evidence that enlightenment and superhuman intellect doesn't help you make good decisions. It's one thing to rebuke a powerful clan once in a while. It's another thing entirely to frame one of their top up and comers to get them executed unless you intend to walk that line forever. Because the Bai have long memories, and they're not likely to forget those who tried to gutstab them while they were down.

Well, that, or having a solution to them waking Grandmother Serpent when they realize that their enemies will never allow them to rise again.
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Well given the long memories Clans have in the genre it is possible this was simply payback for what the Bai have done over the years.

Alternatively Meilin mother was framed by Suzhen as the latter wanted to be Clan Head, and/or only the Clan head is permitted to be in the white realm less there we multiple whites vying for control over the scant resources usable for cultivation in the white realm.
 
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Dieb said:
But she didn't know what she was doing. If we had followed Meizhen's plan we would have thought Yan Renshu was dead when, in reality, he wasn't.
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We would have noticed when we went to loot the puppet factory. And we absolutely would have gone to loot it. Do you think Ling Qi would turn down that much loot? And Meizhen would have helped, because, as she said, she is doing this for us.
Mr.rodent said:
Yupppp, right before breakthrough without knowledge of what he'd actually done , the guilt of killing someone that ling qi didn't really consider that big a deal would have definitely effected her mindset and may have severely damaged her relationship with Bai because then this peaceful conversation would never have happened.
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If we had voted for it Ling Qi wouldn't be bothered at all, because she would agree with the decision.

CircleTheSkies said:
To be honest, I'd be hesitant on Ling Qi going hunting for him... from the present state, at least. It'd be just too much of a time-sink, and it'd still leave the danger of him setting things up so she runs afoul of the sect rules as a final "fuck you" - sending a recording of the 'final encounter' to someone he's paid to take it to an elder or something.
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Our best odds of finding him are probably doing Fu Xiang's favor and then asking him. Well, I was planning on doing the favor next turn anyway, so that isn't exactly a hardship.

Ayashi said:
No.
The puppet factory was too big for YR to have evacueded it in the handful of minutes (half an hour tops depending how far they were) between the start of the attack and when we reached it.
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Unless he had an army of puppets to help him fetch and carry. They are as strong as cultivators, so they can carry tremendous amounts of weight.
 
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SynchronizedWritersBlock said:
To be completely fair, indulging in SV's "raging vengeance boner" as it was called would probably do a lot to establish Ling Qi as someone who shouldn't be trifled with. And since it's a personality trait both IC and of the voterbase, going along with the inevitable seems to be a fine method of accepting that. Low-level conflict or fighting at a less personal distance = Ling Q is mellow about this / personal stuff = you've come to the wrong neighborhood.

It's about where to draw her personal line, I suppose.
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Personally I'm glad to establish a precedent that Meizhen has to justify it to Ling Qi before she murders/maims somebody on Qi's behalf. It'll be interesting to see if she adjusts her approach in the future now that she realizes "he tried to hurt Zhengui" is a more effective argument than "you need to be feared."
 
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