Manuel stood before his Council, spear in hand. A terrible price, but the power was immense. The Stone Spear was imbued with some sort of Law, the sort the Shadow of Heaven had shown him. It could not be dodged - when he struck at an enemy they were hit, though it could be blocked. Likewise it blocked anything he aimed to block, though he had to be conscious of the attack. The power was obscene, and he suspected he was more than the equal of anyone in the region now, excluding those two Late Nascent cultivators. Jin Muyi had died, and he as ever was still alive. Twisting himself into a horror and almost dying... Manuel knew he could not blame himself, but still. If their situation had not always been so desperate, would Muyi have needed to do what he did?
He snorted. He couldn't blame himself for powerlessness. Failure to act, sometimes, but if he could have somehow chosen to have more power he would have.
They were in possession of much of the desert. Their population swelled, and the natural growth of cultivators over the last twenty years had been obscene! The Clan had done well. More wealth, more tariffs, more cultivators. More power, more Nascent power. Two Nascent Souls, and a Stone Spear. Where he once feared the Jingshen he now considered hunting them down.
The Council were all confident,. Paperwork was ferried in and out by Foundation Experts, each one a trained bureaucrat, all of them wearing peculiar headdresses with pink mohawks atop them. Some sort of bizarre fashion that had come in the last few decades, apparently. Sheng Yu was new, but he would soon find his place with the others.
There are basically four main Mechanics in this quest.
(1) Choices. Your Clan Council will ask you to make a call on something. Mostly they won't do this - they're competent enough to handle things on their own, but sometimes they will. You'll see 0-2 of these per turn, on average. They're usually pretty straight-up binary choices.
(2) Focuses. You choose in general what the Clan should focus on for the next 20 years. Building up for war? Training new disciples? Carving more arrays? More trade? Focuses don't prevent you from doing everything else, it's more 'here's the one thing we should really get done'. Focuses are mainly mediated by the Clan's various skill levels and specialities.
(3) Actions. What the two Nascent Souls of the Clan do. Usually mediated by skills, but often by Cultivation level - especially when it comes to combat. You can always Write In Actions. In fact, writing in more complex and well-thought out Actions will positively increase your chances of success. There are two of these - bear in mind Manuel is going to better than Kleisthenes at almost everything, so these two actions are not of equal worth.
(4) Purchases. What wealth the Clan has, and what your Council want you to spend it on. They'll usually come to you with the thing they want most. No micromanagement, just 'here is the big-ticket item I want'. These will often (but not always) persist between turns. Purchases is expressed in terms of Number of Purchases available. You can save them for future turns, or spend them all now. Bear in mind loans are usually impossible - the Clan cannot run deficit spending!
All voting is Plan Voting. Make a Plan if you want, or just vote on someone else's! You can vote on as many Plans as you like! Approval Voting, baby!
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There is a 36 hour voting moriatorum! I'll post a threadmark when the vote opens!
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Manuel had returned to the Dawn Fortress. Yao Zhihao was sleeping outside, farting repeatedly. He had asked her to move, but she had been lying down with a mirror trying to peer up under his robes for almost a week now, an activity she seemed to be enthusiastic about. She refused to say why. She had no desire to return to the Great Battlefield, after all. He was surrounded by thousand-year old arrays in a room with more paperwork than space, the hundred-year old tables they'd brought back to the main Council chambers starting to fade in power, new arrays carved in them over time. Somehow Destasia's erotic fiction had been the basis of powerful arrays, arrays that communicated said fiction to anyone who tried to spy on the room. He had wanted to removed them all at first, but then realised it was an effective method of counterintelligence. He'd left it, which she had taken as tacit approval of her... works. Though thankfully she'd left him, and had moved onto the dramatic romance between Minervina and Magnus, a love story she had been discussing with Zhihao for some time now. Zhihao had demanded to be written in as the steamy lover of both of the poison cultivators. The Yao Zhihao of the stories was a beautiful, cold, tall woman, a true jade beauty.
He had no idea where her self-image came from.
It was of course paramount that he hid the scenes containing him using his Dao from the eyes of those not on the Council. After all, the dignity of the Grand Elder was important for the Clan's morale! As for Minervina and Magnus, well, they could surely use the popularity.
"Report."
Manuel's voice was quiet, heard only by his Council. As it left his lips, a billowing shape of shadows rose and surrounded them, spinning and expanding as it painted itself onto the walls, seeping into the floor and the ceiling. The same trick as decades before, only now it obscured them from a number of useful tricks, including the ability to peer into the past at their council session. He needed to renew it now - hiding those erotic pieces written between him and Heraclius would shame the dead man's family, and so keeping that information barrier up was crucial. Crucial!
First was Casia Zimisce, a Great Circle Core Formation cultivator. Rail-thin and severe-faced, she looked as though she had perpetually swallowed a lemon. Her intimidating posture and expression aside, once she spoke one wouldn't pay attention to them, as she set everyone around her at ease. Casia was Stratopedarches, or in more common terms, the Elder of Administration. To her fell the duties of managing mines, herbs, cities, camps - all manner of resources flowed through her hands. In the last twenty years she had largely organised the construction of new cities and the like in the new lands, raising new mines, new gardens, and all sorts of things.
"Archegetes. In terms of wealth things have gone reasonably well. We have fifteen million Spirit stavraton saved, though I could easily spend every single one of them. The amount of construction work, road construction, array expenditure, fortifications and so on..."
Her voice trailed off.
"I must raise the matter of Jin Muyi. I am not his friend, nor did I know him, but there must be a reckoning. You have told us the tale of the Stone Spear, and the creature that consumed him."
She tapped her fingers on her knees anxiously.
"To present him as a hero would cause others to follow in his footsteps cultivation-wise. To cover over his heroics and present him as a flawed fool who became a monster due to his own willingness to seek power would be unfair, but would also assist in keeping the Clan's standard cultivation methods pre-eminent, as well as promulgating more loyalty. Stepping as close to Blood Path as he did... lionizing him will have negative consequences. There are other cultivators we can present as heroes and role models that would serve us better."
[ ] Jin Muyi was a hero of the Clan to the very last
[ ] Jin Muyi was a fallen hero of the Clan, a victim of his own techniques
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Second was Kleisthenes Sarantapechos, an Early Nascent Soul Elder. Dead Euphrosyne's twin sister, though less talented in cultivation. She cultivated a rare Yang attribute technique, and went by a male name, and had previously worn a male body to aid in her cultivation. For her, if she had not cultivated her Yang technique - she never would have risen into Core Formation. Such a thing was uncommon among your Clan, but not unknown. With the gift of Heaven's Shadow she rose into Nascent Soul, become ever-more severe in looks. Her face was sharp, now, and her eyebrows had grown curiously thicker over the last few decades. Perhaps another woman would've returned to the beauty she had apparently been, but Kleisthenes maintained broad shoulders and large muscles, and had refused to give up a single inch of height, though her lips had become less pursed and strained.
She is the Hetaireiarches, or in common terms, the Elder of Diplomacy. To her fell the duties of managing external powers and other Nascent Souls. She often complained about her lack of talent, and she and Manuel were reasonable friends. She had come to terms with her sister's death, and the two were closer, closer than ever. Close as perhaps only equals could be.
"Archegetes. The Noble Devil Alliance is in full retreat. The Wei Princess stirred herself into action once more, facing the Altar Lord in open battle. He was beaten soundly and the Song Empire has been entirely recovered. The Great Battlefield was struck with a victory on the part of Strength Purity. Gemstone Justice, Mountain Bell, and the Ma Clan now have a corridor leading to them, forming a sort of triangular-shaped safe territory with a safe 'road' south. The Devil Twins and the Demon Grandfather were joined by the Corpse-Devouring Fairy in the south, however."
Her voice was like water running down a stream, like chimes in the wind, light and fair and free. He wondered if it had been her original voice before she began to cultivate. Since she had reached Nascent Soul it pulsed, demanding attention, each word one seemingly given up to the world to despoil.
"The Noble Knowledge Sect has subsumed almost all of the Broken Arrow Bandit territory. The forces sent north are now forced to reinstate the Poison-Crushing Siege, and the armies that were to be diverted to destroy the Demonic Altar are holding the ruined lands around Ma Clan and Gemstone Justice to stymie the growth of the Maze. What was meant to be a quick victory has become a grinding siege once more, though the Altar armies are mostly shattered and ruined at this point. The Altar forces were stretched to their breaking point and then broke - they consumed themselves in part, and were slain in other parts. While their Nascent and Core strengths remain intact, I do not foresee any major offensives coming out of the north any time soon."
She shook her head ruefully.
"In the south, Eagle Lord of the Yu Clan has been laid low by some deadly poison. Not dead, but either badly wounded or crippled. The Great Drunkards have been savaged, and the entire Verdant South seems to lie open to the depredations of the Three Devil Sisters and the Demon Grandfather. Tallies from Strength Purity spies estimate that perhaps one hundred million mortals have been killed over the last forty or so years, perhaps more. As many as have died in the entire war in the Great Battlefield so far, in truth. The Verdant South is verdant, but ill-protected."
She sighed.
"Strength Purity are once again offering diplomatic concessions, though this time to send our array masters south to the Joyful Blacksmith Sect. They are offering us an observer seat on the Council of Righteous Elders, an ancient council that was once a mere formality. Currently it serves as a tool for the Righteous Path to debate and vote on their war strategies that are brought to their Nascent Souls for approval, but even a seat as an observer will grant us considerable legitimacy."
[ ] Send the Clan's best Array-Engineers as well as several Legions south from the Great Battlefield to the Verdant South.
Gain a seat on the Council of Righteous Elders, increasing your legitimacy among the Righteous Path. Several of your best Legions who have recently fought in large-scale war will be unavailable for any war you wish to personally prosecute for the next twenty years.
[ ] Don't
Strength Purity will have to do without you. Bringing your strength together matters more than the war in the Plains.
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Third was Xie Xinya, a Great Circle Core Formation Elder. She is beautiful, long black hair framing an oval face. Her lips glossy and eyes rouged, she was certainly the cultivator on the Council who cared most about her appearance. Since her ascension into the Great Circle she had grown more alluring, and had offered to marry Manuel no less than six times, and two of those offers had come after he had obtained the Spear. She grew more beautiful with each passing year, somehow, an effect Manuel found peculiar. He had raised it with Kleisthenes - despite being unattracted to women, she reported the same thing. Spiritual Jades proven she looked exactly the same physically, so some Dao-effect was causing her to become ever-more alluring and enticing. She is the Parakoimomenos, or in common terms, the Elder of Intrigue. Previously Manuel held her position. To her falls the duties of espionage, sabotage, and assassination.
"Archegetes. I have gained some information of use. The Poison Maze is growing, at immense pace. Some sort of tremendous secret was uncovered in the far west, something sufficient to make it grow and grow beyond all reasonable measure. I do not know what the secret is - my personal suspicion is that is something to do with their founder, or perhaps Soup Chef - but with the maze's growth they are preventing the Righteous Powers bringing their forces to the Demonic Altar to end the current War. With the massive slaughter in the south, many of my spies were killed. It seems your old friend hunts them down personally - sending in spies directly from the Clan in any of the Chuan or Yu territories has become an impossibility."
Fourth came Destasia Duca, an Early Core Formation Elder. She is Chartoularios Tou Kanikleiou, or in simpler terms, the Master of Disciples. She picks out good seeds, gives training and assistance, and manages the core of the Clan Contribution Board for Qi Condensation and Foundation Building disciples in times of peace. She is flighty, friendly, and happy, and is well-known for her eyes she can use to befuddle or poison her enemies with, as well as her... unique approach to both life and cultivation.
"Archegetes.", she spoke.
"New legionnaires are doing well! Aspirants, doing well! I threw one of them down a well."
She chuckled.
"A joke, a joke. I threw twenty or so down a well."
Manuel frowned at her.
"For training purposes?"
She shook her head.
"I needed someone to clean my well."
"And what purpose was this all for? What project did you have ongoing?"
She cocked her head, and looked at him as though he were stupid.
"I do still need to drink water, Archegetes."
"And your projects? Anything of interest?"
"Not especially. Oh, I have an idea, but it needs funding!"
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Lastly was Sheng Yu a Mid Core Formation Elder. He is Protostrator, leader of your armies. Young and untested in his role, Sheng Yu is nonetheless ready for action.
He speaks, a high-pitched voice with a peculiar waver to it.
"Archegetes. I have largely focused my efforts on organising those Legions that can perform offensively. My ability to conduct a defensive war is low, and has largely been left to individual Legates. I hope to slowly build my competency up there, but I have seven Legions prepared for a proper offensive at almost any time, totalling seventy-three thousand Qi Condensation cultivators, eight hundred and ninety-two Foundation experts, and of course seven Legates. Bringing new Legions into this arrangement is taking time, and we should expect a large loss of capability in the Legions, mainly due to cohesion loss while this organisational change takes place."
He smiles wanly.
"I have managed to rework various invasion plans. It is my belief that we could nonetheless fight the Jingshen in an invasion if you wished, but it would need to be a specific one. We would take specific hardpoints, invest them, and move our offensive Legions onwards, but this would be a grinding set of sieges lasting decades on decades if conducted conventionally. Such a war would ultimately rest on the Nascent superiority I understand we have recently obtained."
Manuel frowns thoughtfully...
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The Clan currently has 4 Purchases worth of wealth.
The Clan will gain 3 Purchases next turn.
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What should the Clan focus on? (Outside of the war, which is of course your primary focus)
[ ] Building Bridges (Write-in target) - You should make more allies. Choose a target on the map and aim to have their relations with you increased. Give gifts, exchange assistance, aim for strategic marriages.
[ ] Intrigue (Write-in target) - You should learn about another clan entirely. Spend Spirit Stones like water in the plains and find out everything you can. Strengths. Weaknesses, places to strike, rebels, and so on and so forth.
[ ] Raiding (Write-in target) - Better to weaken an enemy. Send teams of cultivators to go raid an enemy for resources and to kill them where possible. Minor conflicts, with minor rewards. At best, you can seize minor territorial gains. This will worsen your relations, of course. Gains between 0-3 Purchases. May seize territory in extreme cases. Loses Cultivators - around 5,000 Qi Condensation cultivators, 50 Foundation Establishment cultivators, and potentially 1 Core Formation Elder.
[ ] War (Write-in target) - Simply invade. Strike with all your might and seize territory. Kill cultivators. Requires your personal attention to prevent Nascent Souls simply obliterating your forces. Uses your personal Action for the turn. War will open a set of new sub-turns.
[ ] Increasing Wealth - More trade, more mines, more growth. Aim to find more Spirit Stones, tax more from traders, whatever works to increase your Clan Wealth. This earns you one purchase.
[ ] Training Soldiers - Raising Disciples to higher Realms is all well and good, but training them to be perfect members of Formations is better. Ensure your Clan is trained and ready for war. Your readiness to go to war will increase significantly, though this fades over time.
[ ] Fortifying (Write-in territory, ally or vassal) - Spend Clan manpower and soldiers to build new fortifications against outside enemies. New Arrays, help train new cultivators in lesser Formations to defend their lands, and so on. Will also strengthen a vassal or ally if chosen, and increase relations with them. Increases defenses in the chosen territory, ally, or vassal.
[ ] Write-in
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Nascent Soul actions have been upped to two!
Please format votes like so:
[x] Training Soldiers
[x] Manuel - Hunt an Enemy (Altar Lord)
[x] Kleisthenes - Economic Activity
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What will Manuel do?
[ ] Hunt An Enemy (Write-In) - Why not? Hunt down enemies, see if you can kill someone. Usually used against an opposing Nascent Soul. Potentially very dangerous.
[ ] Weaken An Enemy (Write-In Faction) - Choose a faction, and use your Nascent Soul strength to simply sneak in and do damage. A little underhanded and shameful, but what do you care for the views of the Righteous Path? Potentially dangerous.
[ ] Assist A Faction (Write-in Faction) - Use your personal strength to assist an ally of some kind. Potentially dangerous.
[ ] Economic Activity - Carve arrays, scribe useful cultivation techniques onto scrolls, hunt down useful opportunities that might be dangerous to a Core Formation Elder. Make some money for the Clan. This earns you one purchase.
[ ] Lecturing - You can simply lecture your many juniors on cultivation. Spend your time helping them grow, using less resources and ensuring better growth for the Clan.
[ ] Write-in
What will Kleisthenes do?
[ ] Hunt An Enemy (Write-In) - Why not? Hunt down enemies, see if you can kill someone. Usually used against an opposing Nascent Soul. Potentially very dangerous.
[ ] Weaken An Enemy (Write-In Faction) - Choose a faction, and use your Nascent Soul strength to simply sneak in and do damage. A little underhanded and shameful, but what do you care for the views of the Righteous Path? Potentially dangerous.
[ ] Assist A Faction (Write-in Faction) - Use your personal strength to assist an ally of some kind. Potentially dangerous.
[ ] Economic Activity - Carve arrays, scribe useful cultivation techniques onto scrolls, hunt down useful opportunities that might be dangerous to a Core Formation Elder. Make some money for the Clan. This earns you one purchase.
[ ] Tend to Diplomacy - Kleisthenes will spend all her spare time working on her general diplomatic outreaches. This will apply a considerable bonus to any diplomatic actions this turn, as well as any diplomatic rolls that crop up naturally.
[ ] Write-in
Purchases:
We have 4 Purchases available. Any Economic actions can be spent this turn, and unspent Purchases carry over to new turns.
Casia Zimisce wants to...
[ ] The Hong Xuan Division (1 Purchase)
"Archegetes, our current discord with the Hong Xuan Clan is costly. With some wealth, I believe I can raise a division of Hong Xuan cultivators to be sent to the Great Battlefield, to fight alongside our Legions there. Giving their Foundation experts friendships with our own Legionnaires will buy us loyalty, and spending our money in this way will buy us more gratitude from the Righteous Sects."
Kleisthenes Sarantapechos wants to...
[ ] Purchase a Nascent Treasure - The Hateful Mirror (Major Purchase - costs 2 Purchases)
"Archegetes, I know it is a great deal of money, but my life has become tremendously more useful to the Clan. I am in negotiations with the Strength Purity Sect to potentially purchase their Hateful Mirror. It twists time and fate momentarily, allowing the user to choose from a slightly better set of outcomes, though it makes them permanently repugnant to the eye as a cost when used. While it can only be used once, I am compatible with it, and it would serve as an excellent backup to preserve my life."
Xie Xinya wants to...
[ ] A Thousand Spies, Ten Thousand Eyes on the Blood Oak (1 Purchase)
"Archegetes, the Jingshen are the only true traders with the Blood Oak Sect. I would know more about their stance and any possible support. Infiltrating them is incredibly difficult and expensive, and largely has been left to what minor scraps of information we can raise from our own travellers, traders, and occasional spies. To properly understand them in the short-term would require an immense expenditure."
Destasia Duca wants to...
[ ] Grow a Shambler Legion (Major Purchase - costs 2 Purchases)
"So, when Jin Muyi died, I started thinking. Why not grow plants that can eat and inhabit corpses? Sensible. I managed to breed a strain that consume the Blood of Bronze and take it into themselves. They're not very smart, and their formation-skills are weak, but they don't tire and they can consume the enemy as well! They're pretty slow, to be fair, but they can even replicate themselves by seeding dying enemies and subsuming their cultivation! Since they're plants they're not technically blood path, and once they got going they could wipe out endless numbers of enemies! I mean, there might be some problems and to be honest I don't see the Righteous Path loving them, but I for one feel like striking fear into our enemies is better than striking love into them. Plus it'd be nice, we could send them over to visit his family and friends to help them get over the loss."
Sheng Yu wants to...
[ ] Raise Two Scorpion Legions (1 Purchase)
"Archegetes, we have a tremendous number of scorpion cavalry, and Legions that are difficult to transport. Mounted infantry are expensive but to properly operate offensively I need something more than what I have. Currently any war-plans are essentially a few mobile legions deep-striking into enemy hardpoints, seizing them, and ferrying Legions in to hold those points so this pattern of raiding and holding can continue. Any proper broad-front offensive is incredibly difficult, and mobility is hard to come by. The Scorpion Cavalry are not so incredible in combat, but in terms of strategic mobility they offer much, especially when travelling through hostile territory."
