Hmmph... this junior is a good seed [Cultivation Management Quest]

[occipitallobe]

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There are four fields you need to fill out.

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[Alectai]

Hmm. Think Old Cannibal -- or any of our other enemies or our Jingshen competitor -- might be out to target our Core Formation numbers then, since/if they know it's our current weakspot... albeit one which we just barely overcame real fast? And so, if we are hit in it again, our stability will be wobbly again. We'll be focused internally again, for some time, if we are hit in our Core Formation Elder numbers again.

Best make sure to take care of these Elders of ours, then. As that's a relative weakpoint for somebody to target, if they wanted to put us into "concerned with internal matters and recovery and build-up again" mode for another several turns again.

Click to shrink...

Easier said than done, popping a Core Formation behind all of their Legions without tipping off Manuel in advance is a tall order. Just because we'll be out of Crisis Mode doesn't mean we plan on projecting power anytime soon.

 

[Kaboomatic]

Ninth Prince




The Ninth Prince's Comprehensive Compendium of Serpents (Part one)​

Species Name: Windflute Serpent

Cultivation Stage: Adults normally stabilize around the Third Heavenstage of Qi Gathering, but specimens have been recorded to go all the way up to the Ninth.

Abilities: The Windflute Serpent uses small holes in its body connected to a specialized network of organs to expel jets of air in a melodic fashion, which have a hypnotizing effect and also allow it to fly with no small agility.

Behavior: Typical for a flying hypnosis-based predator, the Windflute Serpent hovers out of sight and out of reach of ground based animals, focusing its melodic jets of air in just the right way so that the area directly under the snake is bombarded by a continuous wave of hypnotic force, until eventually the Windflute Serpent's prey walks underneath and is immediately bombarded with enough hypnotic force to fall unconscious, after which the Windflute Serpent swoops down for an easy meal.

My Thoughts: A very powerful support type spirit beast, able to both act as a flying scout as well as a single target weakener, with its ability to focus its hypnotic powers on a single target instead of in an area of effect. It does have a minor weakness in the demonic tunist area though, what with it being unable to do much more than a brute force hypnotic command, meaning that the Windflute Serpent is 'only' able to use its prowess in soul arts to suppress opponents through sheer hypnotic force. If one has contracted a Windflute Serpent, there are two main paths one can take such a creature. The first path is by far the simpler of the two, focusing on the Windflute Serpent's hypnotic powers by feeding it a series of crystal chimestones, preferably clear chimestones, though any color would do in a pinch. This allows the Windflute Serpent to fire off multiple beams of hypnotic force at once, or a single, incredibly powerful beam. The second path focuses on the Serpent's control over wind and its naturally durable body to turn the Windflute Serpent into a wind-propelled projectile by feeding it White Flying Mice as well as submerging the Windflute Serpent in a man sized vat of molten Auric Silver, Harmonic Springwater, and powdered Galestone in a three to five to seven ratio twice a day, for ten minutes each, until the vat has been fully emptied and the Windflute Serpent has completely absorbed the solution.


Species Name: Desert Shade Adder

Cultivation Stage: Anywhere from the First to the Third Heavenstage of Qi Gathering.

Abilities: The Desert Shade Adder has only one ability of any note, the power to create illusionary copies of itself made out of shadow. These copies have no true capabilities beyond looking nice, as, unlike the original Desert Shade Adder, which is most noticeably a snake, the clones look more like shadowy outlines of a snake than an actual creature.

Behavior: The Desert Shade Adder hunts in groups dozens strong, where each adder is able to utilize its clones to give the impression that the hunting groups are five to six times larger than they actually are, allowing the snakes to 'encircle' their prey,who by this point normally just give up and wait to die, because they 'realize' that fighting is only going to make them suffer more, as there's no way a single Qi Gathering spirit beast can stand against dozens, even with such a disparity in Heavenstages.

My Thoughts: Almost useless for a cultivator aside from as a pet, the Desert Shade Adder would not even be in this compendium if it were not for the fact that I have personally seen exactly one Cultivator turn a Desert Shade Adder into a force to be reckoned with, easily able to take on opponents a full three Heavenstages above her own. At the time that this compendium is being written, this is the only possible path that I know of that would make a Desert Shade Adder viable in combat, which said path does by giving the Desert Shade Adder's clones physicality, allowing them to fight alongside the original. This is done by first finding a large patch of Night's Blood Orchid, one containing at least twenty of the flowers, and then wringing every last possible drop of nectar out of said orchids. This nectar must then be mixed with exactly 432.79 grams of a powder comprised of three parts of crushed Moonstone, two parts of the ground rib bones of a Black-Furred Ape King, and six parts of Godsblood Crystal. Once the mixture is complete, it must be placed in a dodecahedron-shaped Blasphemous Cauldron of the False Gods (which can be purchased at any clan alchemical shop for twelve contribution points), and then both the Adder and the mixture must be sealed in a lightless pit for six days and nights. Once the adder is released, it will be pich-black in color, and will have gained the ability to create physical copies of itself. The interesting thing about the Desert Shade Adder is that, while it is unable to progress past the Third Heavenstage, the only limitation on the number of clones it can produce is practice and time, meaning that it scales with its bonded partner, given sufficient training.


Species Name: Devilish Pogo Snake

Cultivation Stage: Ranges from the Fifth Heavenstage of Qi Gathering all the way up to the Ninth.

Abilities: The Devilish Pogo Snake is able to curl its body up into a sort of spring, and then, with the aid sufficient amounts of Qi, is able to bounce incredibly high distances up into the air, or bounce over a very short distance hundreds of times incredibly fast. In addition to its jumping abilities, the Devilish Pogo Snake is able to reinforce its body with Qi, allowing it to suffer no adverse effects from the impact of its immense jumps or the friction generated from the speed of its lesser hops, though this does have the side effect of making it shimmer and shine incredibly obviously.

Behavior: The Devilish Pogo Snake is, like most other snakes of its size, an ambush predator, with two main methods of hunting prey. The first method is by far the simpler one, and the one it uses for most of its food. When the Devilish Pogo Snake 'sees' the heat signature of a large beast coming close enough, it erupts out of the thin layer of sand it was hiding under in an enormous jump, propelling the snake half a li into the air, after which it lands on its prey's skull with enough force to turn bone into powder. Normally, after that, the beast is dead. If the Devilish Pogo Snake is unlucky enough to run into a beast that can survive its initial attack however, it moves onto its second method of hunting. The Pogo Snake begins to rapidly hop around its prey, distracting and disorienting it with its shimmering scales, getting in any hit it can, using the 'death by a thousand cuts' strategy until it wears out its prey. If neither strategy works, and whatever beast the Pogo Snake was fighting proves too much for it, well, the Devilish Pogo Snake's hops and jumps are well suited for running away.

My Thoughts: A powerful offensive addition to a cultivator's arsenal, the Devilish Pogo snake is a reasonably popular and well known choice for a contracted beast, and this of course means that there are three main ways to raise it, each focused around a different aspect of its quite varied skill set. The first path is the most common, one that takes advantage of the Pogo Snake's powerful jumping impacts by training it to compress all of its force into the tip of its tail. This path requires naught but hard training and a few dozen medicinal herbs that can be bought for a single contribution point all together, but that doesn't mean it's weak. On the contrary, it turns the Devilish Pogo Snake into a potent one-hit-kill unit, able to take down most enemies at its Heavenstage down with a single blow. The second path is focused around increasing the Devilish Pogo Snake's speed and endurance, allowing it to let loose a flurry of attacks. This path requires the eggshell of a Fiend Lizardtoad, Thousand-Year Wind Crystal, and the arm fur of a Fighting Panda, the total cost of which is Seven Contribution points. The final path focuses on turning the Devilish Pogo Snake into a 'tank', albeit one that focuses on evading attacks rather than enduring them. This path requires two sets of materials, one for speed, one to increase the shimmering effect of the Pogo Snake's Qi. The speed set requires a Thousand-Year Wind Crystal, a Dustbird Plume, twelve units of Haste-Increasing Ginseng, and the heart of a Supersonic Hedgehog, all of which must be mixed together with ten units of springwater and then fed to the snake. The shimmering set requires a Mesmermaid heart scale, the horn of a Shining Qilin, five units of Glinting Mud, and the eggshell of a Jewel Eagle, all of which must be mixed into a paste and then smeared over the Devilish Pogo Snake's scales.

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A/N: Another Compendium entry, because why not?

 

[Mochinator]

I'm a little surprised at how little attention she was paying to Jin "I am now a tree and eating you isn't blood path anymore" Muyi though.

Click to shrink...

Please don't jinx it, he has a daughter to look after!

 

[Quest]

Might edit this later or give another part. It feels slightly incomplete at the moment. This takes place mid-turn 7 as opposed to turn 6 where Antonius is.

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 26
[NPC Interlude: Seneca 1]​

"This seed is a Good Seed."

Seneca remembered those words so long ago. It was Archigetes who uttered those words to him - not Manuel Konstantinos but Alexios before him. It had driven him in those early days, pushed him to reach Foundation Establishment at one-forty years of age. It was a time when he was so confident in his actions, a time when he thought that he might change the world. He wondered what the Seneca of then would say if he were to look upon the Seneca of now?

Then, he had faced his tribulation fearlessly with his dao so clear in his heart. Restoration - more than restoration of the body, but the restoration of the clan itself to its once lofty heights. Now, as his life creeps closer to its end and he reaches the last of his thousand years, Seneca faces a fear that chills him to the bone.

He remembers the lightning as it burns through his mind and electrifies his body. The killing intent of heaven was not like the hate of his human enemies but the inhuman will of an automaton, crushing an insect to carry out the distant judgement of Heaven Above. He survived that trial… that tribulation… but his mind was left shattered and his will was left broken.

It was Old Viggo - his Legate who sat beside him every night for decades to ward his dreams and push away his nightmares. Seneca didn't know why he would spend so long with a broken Centurion, but it was only his constant presence and encouragement that allowed Seneca to return to a semblance of his former self.

But the Seneca that returned was different. There was no fire in his heart and though his mind was as sharp as ever, he was not a man who could claim to restore the clan itself. He still performed his duties and he still lived his life, but his demeanor was akin to clockwork. Ironically, not very different from the will that so terrified him.

His cultivation was slow. Not due to a lack of talent but because he was simply because he tried to spend the most time he could for each of his pillars. He claimed that he needed to prepare to the best of his ability, but in his heart he knew that he truly feared heaven's judgement. To go through that once more was… not within his power.

Old Viggo passed in his own tribulations, failing to incorporate the lightning of heaven into his own dao. Instead it tore apart his body and left their legion leaderless. Perhaps in another world, Seneca could have gathered the courage to attempt the tribulation but it was not to be. Though the will of heaven surged in the back of his mind, waiting to be summoned forth he could not bring himself to take the risk.

It was Albus who ascended. He lacked the talent that Viggo possessed, but enough time had passed for his old friend to reach him. He wasn't a healer - not truly. He had studied the art to understand his condition - despite having the blood of bronze, his body was pale and silver. His eyes were blue and his skin seemed bleached. It turned out to only be a visual quirk, yielding no major benefits or weaknesses besides a minor sensitivity to the desert sun. Upon that discovery, Allbus' interest in healing waned and he drifted to alchemy. When he began to build his legion, he formed it with that in mind. Many of those who shared his sensibilities joined him in his legion and those that were left behind leaderless were assigned to other legions where their specialities might be useful.

Seneca should have been part of the second group despite his friendship with the new Legate but in his state, he was more attached to a close friend than pursuing his dao. There he studied alchemy and found the many useful creations that it allowed him. As he reached the end of his natural life, he learnt to create a Draught of Life that could extend it. As the trials and wars threatened his life, he forged life-saving treasures and Talismans of battle.

The thing he most dearly sought was Tribulation Treasures that would shield him from the wrath of Heaven and perhaps even allow him to ascend without facing that judgement. Alas, they were hard to find. Along the way, his friend died in the Trials and this time, Seneca chose to remain legionless.

To some he was simply Physician Seneca, Elder Seneca or perhaps even Seneca of Nowhere. To others, he was an Old Monster. He supplied many of the clan's legionnaires with his Draught of Life provided they were able to pay him or acquire the reagents. He was older than even most legates and was prepared enough that even those dreaded trials were only a chance to acquire more exotic reagents.

Seneca had changed once more. He wasn't a Good Seed. He wasn't the Broken Centurion. He had accepted his new life of extending his life. He had reforged his Dao - no longer the restorer but the preserver instead. He was skilled and old and he was content with his life. He could happily exist as he was for even a further thousand years.

Yet still he could escape the gaze of heaven. Though he had avoided it's lightning, it placed a limit on how far he could run.Even his extended life was reaching its end. He could feel that old fear once more, but it was different now. It wasn't the cold chill that shook his bones but a welling heat that stole his ability to think and made his heart beat so fast that it could have shattered. Heaven bound him now with a noose around his neck, that tightened with every passing moment.

Fifty years, that was all he had until he had to face down heaven's thunder. He didn't know if he could do it. He didn't know whether to search for tribulation treasures or prepare his will to allow everything that he had learnt to properly pass on. A part of him wished for him to do the latter. He did it, because it was only sensible in case he failed in the former but he knew that it came from a place of fear. It was just another excuse to avoid his fate. Another way to step away from the pain and fear that still made him instinctively flinch.

But a part of him rejected it. Perhaps it was a part of him that resonated with his new dao, that called for him to Preserve his life. Perhaps it was a remnant of that same young man who had sought to challenge the heavens or had the audacity to want to Restore the clan to its full former glory. He didn't have the same ambition, but this part of him rebelled against simply waiting to die.

When he saw the message on the Contribution Board by that youngster Destacia, he knew he had to accept it. A chance to become Core and though she mentioned a great chance of death, he knew from her inclinations that if she was performing the experiment, she likely thought that it was a valuable avenue.

To ascend with the full backing of the clan's resources and to a far greater chance than he would have on his own. He wasn't a fool. Destacia was after all never gentle in her manner. He knew that it would be painful and difficult and may well break him once more. But it would be over. He could recover if that happened. He had some time till the trials and he could stay back and recover if he needed to.

No, perhaps he didn't have to accept it. Perhaps he didn't want to accept it. He looked over the board and considered once more whether to accept it. Once he was a Good Seed, but he lacked the heart and ambition. Many called him an Old Monster but he was simply old now. So much was lost, but he still Preserved himself. Perhaps… he willed the board to give his acceptance.

It wasn't out of ambition or will or even fear.

He simply did not care for the consequence.

 

[occipitallobe]

The mound of sand in the horizon throbbed, veins of black running through it, crisscrossing it like the sand were flesh and the veins some vile alchemical sorcery.

Manuel suspected that might be the case, in truth.

He flew rapidly towards it, feeling that intangible point where the border was. Neither he nor Sun Diaxiang could cross it for now, and so they were forced to meet here. Far away from any amenities or comfort, and also far away from any strategems Old Cannibal might employ to suborn his people.

A massive tower of sand rose up from the desert, seemingly mortared with blood and with spikes of bone jutting out. A few oddly-placed organs were here and there on the tower, and a few parts seemed to be entirely wrapped in living skin, constantly weeping from sores tens of metres in width. He would've called it tacky, but that honestly didn't do the tower justice. It was one thing to be a Blood Path criminal, and naming yourself a Cannibal, but it was honestly another to build a giant tower from sand and human corpses instead of perhaps serving some tea.

As he flew down, a man was standing in front of the tower. Old Cannibal, or Sun Diaxiang.

A simple line in the sand separated the two, Manuel on one, Old Cannibal on the other. The other man was wreathed in a black cloak, a cowl covering his face almost entirely. Manuel could feel some sort of peculiar Qi emanation coming from the man's lips, but there would be time to think on that later.

"Elder Konstantinos."

"Elder Sun."

The two inclined their heads briefly. While they had wanted one another dead for centuries, impoliteness was a tool best employed at the right time, and for the right ends.

Darkness. Why darkness? Manuel considered turning his Dao on the other man to discover his secrets, but Diaxiang had almost certainly expected that and planned for it. Better to skirt around the traps one couldn't see, dancing across your enemy's traps to lure them into your own.

"You've called me here to threaten me?"

Old Cannibal laughed, and it seemed to come from every angle. A crude trick, but annoying.

"I would prefer to describe it as bargaining."

Manuel smiled warmly.

"I'm sure you would. Please, tell me what threats you've come to deliver."

Old Cannibal frowned, or at least Manuel thought he did. It was so hard to tell with the man completely covered up. The frustrating part was that this was clearly designed for him to exert his Dao, a place in which he'd easily win. It was an obvious trap... but on what level? A simple trap to ensnare him? A second-level trap that did nothing but made him overly wary? A third-level trap that did in fact trap him but was designed to instil wariness later? He couldn't know, but finding out secrets here would only offer him so much.

"My territories. I want them back."

Manuel raised an eyebrow.

"I believe I bargained those from you fairly. What are you offering on par with the death of a Nascent Soul for them, Diaxiang?"

Old Cannibal growled.

"You know this as well as I. In ten years we will be coming across your borders, and there will be an end to you and your Clan. Your pathetic armies are weaker than they ever were, and need another century to recover. True, we are not as strong as we once were, but you must be strong everywhere. We must only be strong in a few places. Once we crack open a few cities and feast on the mortals within there will be no stopping us, not until we sweep across the entirety of your lands, driving you into a desert where even Nascent Souls die."

Manuel smiled even more warmly.

"And so? What do you propose."

"Give me my lands back, Konstantinos. It's that, or war to the knife. I know the Jingshen are playing fisherman to my snipe and your clam, but I have no choice in the matter if I want to survive in the long-term. If I can't have the lands I need, I'll be coming to get them back one way or another. Give me my lands back, and I'll give you peace for a century. Two, even! Give me my lands back, and you'll have peace and plenty. Don't, and even if you win I'll shatter you."

Manuel hummed quietly. He had, of course, seen this request coming. The war and the threats were inevitable ever since the Cannibals began their downward slide, and this particular confrontation had been the culmination of the last hundred years of events. It being so obvious, of course, he had prepared a response...

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[ ] Give back the Burnished Crags and Uncast Molds

These regions are undeveloped and underpopulated. Two centuries of peace for land only recently won? The Clan will have plentiful time to turn their attention to Jingshen and the Devil Bees, potentially winning new territories or new wealth elsewhere. A sad thing for the mortals who live there, of course, but it is better to protect most than to try and protect all and fail.

[ ] War to the Knife

As Old Cannibal said. If it it war he wants, it is war he will get. Let him come. If the Cannibals wish to end the Clan, why can not the Clan end the Cannibals? Prepare yourself well.

[ ] Negotiate (Write-in)

Maybe you can find a compromise of sorts that suits both parties? Write in a different deal. Bear in mind some deals will not be accepted ("give me all your lands and I give you an old coconut") under any circumstances, and the more favorable a deal is to the Devils the higher Diplomacy roll will be required for Manuel to succeed. Write it in as a plan, and put a failure option (Either give back regions or war) to occur if the roll fails.

 

[occipitallobe]

Again, I forget to open voting T_T.

 

[Bloodalchemy]

I could be tempted by a plan for extending the cease fire but im leaning hard on war. I dont want to give the lands back at all.

[X] War to the Knife

 

[BungieONI]

Well, I know that I want a war with him since I'm confident we can stand up to whatever he has planned. Negotiation with a failure mode of War to the Knife would be doable, but I'm not really sure I want to give him anything.

 

[Kaboomatic]

Well fuck
I got no clue what the right thing here is, so I'm just gonna wait for the actual plan makers to debate this out

 

[Falconis]

He would've called it tacky, but that honestly didn't do the tower justice. It was one thing to be a Blood Path criminal, and naming yourself a Cannibal, but it was honestly another to build a giant tower from sand and human corpses instead of perhaps serving some tea.

Click to shrink...

Jeez now there's a guy that has embraced his role in life.

Aw geez, this is gonna be a real stinker of a situation. I'll need to think about possible negotiation points.

 

[BungieONI]

Well fuck
I got no clue what the right thing here is, so I'm just gonna wait for the actual plan makers to debate this out

Click to shrink...

At the moment if we hang onto our territory we'll reduce our overall difficulty and basically put ourselves on an upward track and benefit from the pay out of our gamble. If we don't we go into this next trial far worse than we did at the start of the game.

Basically, giving up the land, is hella stupid. Especially since we'd be giving him fortified land.

 

[Liliet]

Pretty sure we've been preparing for War to the Knife with the last few votes...

 

[BungieONI]

Pretty sure we've been preparing for War to the Knife with the last few votes...

Click to shrink...

Pretty much.

 

[TheDuke]

Tsk. Warring with him is honestly tempting, and we have been preparing for it as much as we can, but well...CAN we win? Blood Path fluctuates a lot in terms of overall strength, but it's undeniable that they probably recover quicker then we do, and they've had longer besides. It's going to be a rough war, and even if we do win there's going to be the Trials again, a number of hungry foes waiting for us to get even weaker from across our borders, and probably a bunch of other annoying events waiting in the wings. Can we really shoulder the cost of this? I get the logic of holding on to the territories, since it'd help with long-term recovery, but we might not even have the ability to recover, if we burn out or cripple ourselves fighting for them. Not to mention tossing our people into another war over mortals, however generally virtuous we are, might sour opinion of Manuel further.

 

[dreamdweller]

Giving the territory back seems like a terrible choice. A write-in that doesn't give up too much with war as a failure option seems like it would be good, but just going for war doesn't seem too bad either.

 

[BungieONI]

Tsk. Warring with him is honestly tempting, and we have been preparing for it as much as we can, but well...CAN we win? Blood Path fluctuates a lot in terms of overall strength, but it's undeniable that they probably recover quicker then we do, and they've had longer besides. It's going to be a rough war, and even if we do win there's going to be the Trials again, a number of hungry foes waiting for us to get even weaker from across our borders, and probably a bunch of other annoying events waiting in the wings. Can we really shoulder the cost of this? I get the logic of holding on to the territories, since it'd help with long-term recovery, but we might not even have the ability to recover, if we burn out or cripple ourselves fighting for them. Not to mention tossing our people into another war over mortals, however generally virtuous we are, might sour opinion of Manuel further.

Click to shrink...

Opinion overall didn't really change after the last trials and war so there really isn't a further.

And I'm basically of the position that if we give up the territories, we're going to die. One, we'd be giving him territories to grow on that are fortified and in our weakened state we won't be able to take them back. Two, once that peace time is up he'll have recovered even more and will come right back with war to the knife with a hardened blockade to attack from. He wants to kill Manuel very dead, so anything he gains from this is going to be bent towards that objective.

Therefore if its an option between dying slowly and maybe not dying I'm more interested in the maybe not dying option. Especially when we've put so much effort into making it a giant pain for him here and have nearly our full compliment of Core's kicking around, between Destasia and the mercs for the next turn.

 

[Bloodalchemy]

I'm not worried about the clan getting mad for us going to war to keep the territories. We have built ourselves as working for the benefit for more then just ourselves.

Also, we have actively been fortifying the territories expecting a war to break out. I'd be more worried about opinion if we did hand over the territory we spent so much money building up.

I won't complain if someone finds a way to negotiate extending the cease fire. But since we won't be willing to offer the territory in trade I expect the DC for the roll to be very high.

 

[BungieONI]

Overall we've also gotten indications in previous turns that Old Cannibal's population isn't doing so well, and other indications that he's not doing so hot so I'm decently confident we can stand him off as his blood path followers starve.

 

[Kingmally]

Let's ask Old Cannibal if he wants to raid Jingshen together.

 

[Katana1515]

Let's ask Old Cannibal if he wants to raid Jingshen together.

Click to shrink...

Something along those lines might work, he clearly knows the Jingshen have a good shot at becoming the regional hegemon if the two Demonic Path powers keep butting heads.

And its not like he cares about exactly which lands he turns into a blood farm, he could probably get more benefit carving off a Jingshen vassal state or two.

On the other hand allying with Blood Path even in a limited fashion is likely to have far reaching consequences and burn some of our rickety bridges with the likes of the Plains Righteous Powers.

 

[BungieONI]

Something along those lines might work, he clearly knows the Jingshen have a good shot at becoming the regional hegemon if the two Demonic Path powers keep butting heads.

On the other hand allying with Blood Path even in a limited fashion is likely to have far reaching consequences and burn some of our rickety bridges with the likes of the Plains Righteous Powers.

Click to shrink...

And he'd also use it as a chance to backstab us. Which isn't a deal breaker, but does significantly increase the risk to Manuel since Jingshen has two Nascents and having Old Cannibal turn on Manuel during a heated combat could make it a three on one which would likely kill him.

 

[Rakuhn]

What we can get from the Cannibals
-Wealth/treasures
-Lands
-Raid/War Jingshen
-One-sided/mutual peace

What we can offer the Cannibals
-Wealth/treasures
-Conquered lands
-Other lands (i.e. one of our vassals)
-Raid/War Jingshen
-One-time right to depopulate an area without repurcussions
-Population transfer
-One-sided/mutual peace
-Arrays
-Use of a nascent soul for X years (with veto)

Are there any options that I'm missing?


edit:

And he'd also use it as a chance to backstab us. Which isn't a deal breaker, but does significantly increase the risk to Manuel since Jingshen has two Nascents and having Old Cannibal turn on Manuel during a heated combat could make it a three on one which would likely kill him.

Click to shrink...

We should keep in mind that we are able to form agreements where one party automagically dies if they violate them.

 

[BungieONI]

-Other lands (i.e. one of our vassals)

Click to shrink...

We can't sacrifice any land whatsoever, it is that fine an edge and sacrificing vassal land would likely piss off all our other vassals.

 

[Zaealix]

Well. The Catch here as I see it is we tried to shove back our foes to build-up into flattening Old Cannibal.
Now, personally? Nasty as it's likely to be I think we should take his war. He's explicitly counting on Blood Path Ramping to get himself out of the fire, and thinks he NEEDS to in order to survive, and is threatening us with taking us down with him.

 

[Rakuhn]

We can't sacrifice any land whatsoever, it is that fine an edge and sacrificing vassal land would likely piss off all our other vassals.

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Agreed. But the goal of my list is to list everything that we could possibly offer that the Cannibals want and everything that we might want from the Cannibals, not a list of everything that we are willing to give. The latter is more easily established after the former is completed.