Remove ads

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

Voting is open
Reader mode
Remove ads
New Good Seed and Omake Rule Updates
  • Threadmarks
    • Good Seed and Omake Spreadsheet Rules:

    Firstly, if you have questions about Good Seeds and the like please read here. If that doesn't answer your question please ping me in thread, or on Discord.

    If you write a new Good Seed, or write an omake, please update the spreadsheet if you have access.

    If you do not have access, please ping a collaborator (Swordomatic, Alectai, Quest, TehChron, Insane-Not-Crazy, Humbaba, ReaderOfFate, Kaboomatic, no., BungieONI) letting them know what you want and they will update the spreadsheet here. To gain access, you will need a gmail account of some kind. Throwaway emails are fine (I'm using one for the spreadsheet), but to gain access it's as simple as sending me either your email via PM, via DM in Discord, or just in Discord's #spreadsheet-requests channel.

    This is mandatory. If a Good Seed does not record their omake by pinging collabs (or just requesting access and editing things themselves - this is the preferred option), I won't give out awards. If a new Good Seed is not recorded here, they won't advance. By doing this it makes the whole thing manageable for me - it's gotten pretty unwieldy!

    -----------------------

    Omake Writer Instructions:

    There are four fields you need to fill out.

    Omake Link, which is just a link to your first omake for the turn. This makes it easier for me to read them as I do the update - without this it's tough to know off the bat which omake were written this turn, and to properly

    Requested Bonus, which is your requested bonus for your omake. You can leave it up to me if you like. You can see more info in the Good Seed infopost here.

    Cultivation Aims. For those following unorthodox paths - higher than 9th Heavenstage or later than 7th Dao Pillar paths. Please put in what you are aiming for before you break through. I have left it as 'default'. If you do not edit it, I'll go with that.

    Turn Notes - Do you want to do something specific? Enter a Secret Realm? Help the Clan out in some way? If you have something specific you want to accomplish on this turn, put it in turn notes so I can adjust your Fate around it.

    All other fields are for QM use to record character information to properly run the flow of the game.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Sirrocco said:
    Did we get absurdly lucky or something?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I think this is called 'Being willing to use diplomacy as something other than grandstanding, a weapon against your foes and a way to crush all beneath you'. I mean, yes, it's all of those as well, but you can use it for more as well. Combine that with being known as possessing one of the Plotters of the Region, especially one of the Plotters that is more defensive in outlook rather than offensive. Mix in the fact that the Golden Devils also have a reputation for generosity, kindness and being steadfast...

    Well, it opens up options that would cost another a lot more.

    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance
     
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance pros and cons for the Yuan to accept

    This is basically skipping directly to the end goal of the current plan! Doing it this way probably means we have to make a great deal more concessions, our offer has to be more generous than a theoretical Purity Pact one, but getting to play the noble benefactor is much more fun and has its own advantages.
     
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance pros and cons for the Yuan to accept

    Haggling time!
    I imagine that he will want to keep the Man-As-Mountain Aray under Yuan supervision, even if the clan is vassalized, which is expected. Understandable even....
    Im kind of warry to them jumping to the RP after we balled them out from the shit show though.... but have no idea what could be a good method to stop it, or if we even should do it if we can.
    Sure, it would be nice to do, but then, heaven might grow some chosen in the Yuan too.... not to mention the ones already in the RP just trying killing the Yuans and putting in a puppet in charge later on.
     
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance
     
    I'm holding my breath on any promises for how this will play out until we hash out the details, but this opens up a LOT of things for us in the short to mid term, especially in terms of logistics
     
    TheCount said:
    hm... what are the chances he could contact the RP or Qiguai in 3 days?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Even if he does, there's nothing they can do. Contacting the RP means that he's basically fucked and the Yuan aren't a power anymore because of the tolls extracted. Contacting Qigai means nothing because they're not strong enough.

    He's not an idiot. The best blend of survival and autonomy is working with us.
     
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance
     
    Sirrocco said:
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance

    Heck - just the increased control over the Man-as-Moutnain array would be worth it. Like, part of the point has been trying to keep those keyholders from glutting themselves too ferociously on secret realms, right?

    Did we get absurdly lucky or something?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I personally blame the new rolls bot - a Discord update broke the old one.

    The poisoning of the Yuan Grand Elder was essentially the core Demonic plot here - invade, and because the Grand Elder is poisoned and doesn't know you're invading he hides and tries to dispense with the poison which isn't a bad plan. After all, getting someone to help him and deal with this is ruinous to the Yuan Clan. The sort of thing you normally come back from, but if it's in an era with Chosen and a (presumably) temporary rain of Qi, whoever ends up getting the lion's share of the resources right now is going to dominate amongst the Righteous Path for a very long time, possibly enough to tip the table permanently.

    Kleisthenes uncovered it via five opposed rolls, each offering a little more diplomatically.
     
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance

    Namely because if it succeeds, we'll have set a precedent. Be it showing that voluntarily leaving the Righteous Path is possible to that we're content to be a more generous "First Among Equals" compared to the current Righteous Structure of dirty undercurrents
     
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance

    Diplomacy (kind of) + Intrigue NS is a bullshit combination as usual :D
     
    Remove ads
    Flavius Eirenikos 3 - V2
  • Sidestory
    • Flavius Eirenikos Turn 15
    V2    ​
    It took time for Flavius to grow acclimated to living amongst the Golden Devils. Of course, he was one as well, but he had been raised a farm boy. The sheer number of people had felt claustrophobic at first, and he couldn't help but gawk at the many great buildings. But he had grown tired of feeling defeated by these cities, and found a way to cope. The great buildings of the Dawn Fortress were just as, no, easier to climb than the mountain had been. If he climbed high enough, the people began to look more like the ants he had enjoyed watching as a child.

    All of that is to explain why he was currently standing atop the barracks, fully armed and armored, running through drills. It was the dead of night, and the cold air soothed his aching muscles. He had already begun to advance as a cultivator, of course, but even so a week of heavy training all day and all night was enough to leave him physically exhausted. Even so, Flavius was determined not to let his form

    "So you're the one that's making such a ruckus at this time of night. Why am I not surprised, Eirenikos?"

    Flavius felt all his muscles tense as he fought the effort to jump in surprise. He recognized the voice, of course. Captain Narses was in charge of training a number of new legionnaires in the basics required of every Golden Devil, including Flavius. Unfortunately, that did nothing to ease the sudden tension he felt.

    "Don't look so afraid, Eirenikos, I'm not going to tell you to stop training. As long as you can perform during drills, I don't care what you do with the rest of your time. But you do know there are training fields, right?"

    Flavius finished his last thrust before lowering the sword and spear and turning fully towards Captain Narses. The man was tall, and had a voice like a bronze bell. It made him a good commander on the battlefield, or so Flavius assumed. Yet in this case it held a gentler tone, and one the young cultivator couldn't read. There was something more to this conversation, but he didn't know what. In lieu of true understanding, Flavius responded with the truth, "I like training in high places. It reminds me of back home."

    The Captain gave him a look, "And I'm sure the fact that you may run into other people on the training grounds has nothing to do with it. Look, Flavius, you're a talented cultivator, that much is impossible to deny, but the success of the legions comes as much from the ability to work together as from individual strength. You should be the best in your class, you have real talent and you train constantly, but when you try to work in formation it all falls apart."

    "It's not the others, it just doesn't feel right."

    Here, the Captain paused, clearly not having expected such a response, "What do you mean?"

    In response, Flavius took up the spear in his hands, looking down at the weapon of shining bronze, "When I practice alone I can just run through the motions in rote, and if I do that enough times then when I do them in spars it looks like I know what I'm doing. Maybe I do. But it feels wrong, and it's hard to adapt. When I have to change and shift to accommodate those on my left and right, it falls apart. I don't know, it all feels somewhat unwieldy, is all."

    He felt somewhat stupid even for voicing his concerns. Even in his head, it sounded silly. He had come all this way to join the Golden Devils, and now he was saying their weapons didn't feel right in his hands? That was no reason to fall behind.

    Yet, the Captain seemed to make a connection Flavius had not, because he simply gave an understanding nod, "I suppose that does make sense in retrospect. I've always felt you lack creativity with your weapons, but that's not uncommon for students of your level. Your technical skills were high enough that I assumed the creativity would come in time. Still, maybe… show me your hands."

    It was a strange request, but spoken in a way that allowed no argument. At once, Flavius stowed his spear and held out his hands for the Captain to examine.

    "Yes, as I thought. Sometimes calluses tell a story better than any words. For all the time you spend training with sword and shield and spear, you spend more of it climbing, yes?"

    Flavius nodded. His was a strange obsession, and it grew every day. Even if it didn't get him away from the crowds, he knew he would still climb as often as he could.

    "Of course you should continue training with the weapons of the legion, but I suspect there is something else you will find more comfortable. Come find me tomorrow, after you have eaten, and I will begin teaching you the art of Pankration. It is an empty-handed fighting School that I believe will suit you well."

    Flavius could do nothing but not and mumble his agreement. He had expected to be yelled at for training atop the barracks, and instead he was getting offered private training?

    "But if I do this, swear to me you will try to spend more time with your peers. If it's true that they do not bother you, than that's even more of a reason not to avoid them. The Golden Devils are a Clan, and that means we're a family. Do not ignore your brothers."

    This was something of a harder ask. It would require him to cut out time training, or to find someone who would be able to keep up with his own endurance. Still, he knew the Captain had a point, "I will, Captain."

    "Good," Captain Narses turned to leave, but paused at the edge of the barrack's roof, "and do get some sleep, Flavius, just because you can manage without doesn't mean you should."

    With those final words, Captain Narses dropped off the roof and was gone. Flavius just let out a tired sigh. He supposed one night of sleep wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. He would need to be in top form to start learning Pankration tomorrow, after all.
    —————————————————
    Can I get another LST? I'm told having two is a good idea.
     
    Last edited:
  • Sidestory
    • [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance pros and cons for the Yuan to accept
     
    TheCount said:
    Haggling time!
    I imagine that he will want to keep the Man-As-Mountain Aray under Yuan supervision, even if the clan is vassalized, which is expected. Understandable even....
    Im kind of warry to them jumping to the RP after we balled them out from the shit show though.... but have no idea what could be a good method to stop it, or if we even should do it if we can.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    There is one simple answer here, fi we can pull it off properly. It is the same as the thing we did with the storks. We give them something that is "demonic" enough that they are no longer a "righteous path" but useful enough that they won't want to turn it down.

    The other simple answer is that we can make it more agreeable to be part of us than part of them. After all, there's a reason they're not jumping to RP now... because RP's new plan is "we're totally in charge of everything, and you have to do what we say", and that very quickly results in Yuan being gutted of everything that gives them advantages. The Golden Devils are really good at being the kinder, gentler overlord.
     
    If we manage to make them into our vassals, and close off the Man As Mountain Array to the RP, then we win since our build is all about our vassals being treated well. We get that, we get Tribute, we use the Trial Lord as ablative armor along with the Bandits to hold the fort, and we can engage in more friendly adventurism as soon as we hit four Optimatoi Nascent souls
     
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance pros and cons for the Yuan to accept
     
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance pros and cons for the Yuan to accept
     
    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to balance pros and cons for the Yuan to accept

    Go Kleistehnes go! Also welcome back @occipitallobe !
     
    TehChron said:
    If we manage to make them into our vassals, and close off the Man As Mountain Array to the RP, then we win since our build is all about our vassals being treated well. We get that, we get Tribute, we use the Trial Lord as ablative armor along with the Bandits to hold the fort, and we can engage in more friendly adventurism as soon as we hit four Optimatoi Nascent souls
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I'm pretty sure they won't accept closing off the Man as Mountain Array to the RP entirely, it's too big a source of income to them. What I suspect we will be able to do is restrict it or make it much more expensive for the RP to use.

    On another note, I have to admit that personally my dream from this would be [] get another secret realm attempt per good seed per cultivation realm. I doubt it will though.
     
    Humbaba said:
    I'm pretty sure they won't accept closing off the Man as Mountain Array to the RP entirely, it's too big a source of income to them.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    We control the desert Humbaba.

    In the absence of the Gemstone Justice we are, on paper, one of the peak economic powers in the entire region purely by our lonesome.

    We'd hardly shortchange them for it, since its more a political thing anyway as those slots would get reinvested into their own clan members as well
     
    TehChron said:
    We control the desert Humbaba.

    In the absence of the Gemstone Justice we are, on paper, one of the peak economic powers in the entire region purely by our lonesome.

    We'd hardly shortchange them for it, since its more a political thing anyway as those slots would get reinvested into their own clan members as well
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I was about to disagree since I doubt they want to be fully reliant on us as their only customers but actually the point is probably moot in a few in game years. If Old Cannibal cuts off the main pass (temporarily) the amount of RP members who could even get here will sharply fall. At that point it isn't really something they'll fight too hard on since their income from the RP will crater anyway.

    So yeah, fair enough.
     
    I had an idea a while back about setting up a block to counterbalance the other Megablocks, taking advantage of our economic dominance and access to important details to make everyone else accept it. A... League of Unaligned Powers if you will.

    With Yuan's help, we can possibly rope Qiguai in too (Especially since we don't have to do anything fancy with Yuan due to their support, so we might be able to stretch goal in Qiguai), and that means we control the Spirit Stone Trade and both of the public Secret Realms, as well as having enough Nascent Power that any of the other Super Blocks cant afford to attack us without getting murderfucked by one of the others.

    And we use that as a fig leaf to secure the Pass under the auspices of the League of Unaligned Powers, as well as rope in the surviving Sorrowful Blacksmiths, and we're golden.
     
    Can't believe I didn't discover this before! Done reading, more or less.

    [X] Begin negotiations to ally and vassalize the Yuan Clan. This will be a mini-vote with Kleisthenes's superb diplomatic rolls giving a small number of free points, but you'll need to pros and cons for the Yuan to accept

    As Sun Tzu would say, we have just gotten the chance to demonstrate the acme of skill.
     
    Last edited:
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Voting is open
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top