(NB: There are a few perspectives on the battle at the Pass we're going to see post-Council meeting, in part because you won't know precisely what's happened there to make a decision. For those who have forgotten, the Demonic Path was aiming to destroy the exit of the Colossus Footsteps Path to prevent the Clan moving Spirit Stones through to the Righteous Path and thus reduce the staying power of Righteous cultivators to prolong the war - we assassinated Weeping Anvil, the last Righteous Nascent in the area which makes this more likely but as always there are no guarantees)
It had been a worrisome year. Kleisthenes had brought the Council together for what would ordinarily be its meeting-time, but for a meeting that would be anything but ordinarily. The old man had been absent for months, and Kleisthenes believed the others had been brought in sufficiently to be able to properly plan.
Destasia had been there first of all, looking over Manuel. She hadn't been able to diagnose what had happened to his memory precisely, but believed he had been possessed. By a Will, of some sort. Apparently - and Kleisthenes had not even known! - she had been building some manner of trap for the thing before it had decided to leave Manuel's body.
That alone was a terrifying thought, as any Will capable of puppeting a Nascent Soul body must've been at least in Spirit Severing. Why it had targeted Manuel and left so suddenly... well, the peculiar variation on the Hundred-Year Trials made a lot of sense now. The Will had manipulated them into opening a way to travel between Seas and had likely seized some cultivator of the Fifth Sea that it could possess, hoping no doubt to hide beneath the notice of the true Spirit Severing masters of that Sea. For what purpose, they didn't know.
So it fell to Kleisthenes to run the meeting, while Manuel recuperated. He'd regained most of his memories fairly quickly, of who he was and what he did, but unfortunately many more memories were... not missing, but difficult to properly reintegrate. For a man who had a fighting style revolving around a series of gambits amidst which he scattered ten times as many traps, a few missing memory links were disastrous for his combat prowess. Destasia had figured out how he could regain his memories in a chosen order, and they'd agreed to focus on his combat-related ones first as to be able to address any emergencies that might arise.
Unfortunately, that meant his administrative abilities were... lacking. Very lacking. She'd tried to quiz him on a few basics in Spirit Stone accounting and how to spot corrupt subordinates but he hadn't even remembered how to check for false-faceting on a drained stone. A basic that any cultivating accountant could learn in a few months, and it would be years before he properly remembered it.
(Manuel is Wounded this turn and will recover next turn to full combat capacity. He can still fight, but will do so with a malus in combat.)
Consequently she'd shut him away and sworn Destasia to secrecy. That the Grand Elder had been wounded and was in closed-door cultivation to regain his health was hardly a lie, even if the specifics weren't true. More importantly, anything the Council didn't know they couldn't accidentally leak. Core Formation Elders were difficult to spy upon, but it could be done.
"Welcome, all of you."
Kleisthenes stood before her Council, spear in hand. A simple bronze spear, forged from so many bodies of Sarantapechos ancestors who had fallen on the battlefield. The Gravebronze was not the most powerful material she could've had, but it suited her for ceremonial situations like these. The Clan was not merely power, it was tradition. Millennia of heritage that dictated who they were and how they acted. The old man didn't quite understand that, she thought. He'd always been iconoclastic before ascending to Nascent Soul, willing to work from the shadows when the Clan was at its best standing proudly in formation. The spies of the Clan saw themselves in a different light to the warriors and diplomats, though that was no doubt true everywhere.
The Stone Spear sat with Manuel. They'd unlocked the memories related to it first. An absurdly frightening artifact, something that Kleisthenes had never seen the like of. There were more powerful things she'd
heard of, but one in the old man's possession? That might one day fall to her? A true heirloom of the Clan if it could be kept that might secure their position for millennia to come.
Around his neck had sat a small black key, and this she had not been able to comprehend at all. Manuel had refused to explain it, only saying that he would use it at the appropriate time. An absolute certainty from his lips when all else had been confusion.
However... things had gone spectacularly. The old man loved his gambits and gambles alike, but who could deny him when they had
worked? The Imperial
Optimatoi were once again rising, once again more powerful than their opponents. On Manuel's ascent they had trembled, had felt their death approaching. One old spy in Nascent Soul against cultivators who all but universally loathed them. Against absurd hunts from enemies with ten times their strength, winnowing out the best of them every century. She had, truth been told, not just been grieved by the death of her sister so long ago, but by the quiet certainty she had thought the death was useless.
The Sarantapechos were used to dying, to being spent like currency. They had risen to the position of one of the great families of the Clan through unrelenting service. Of course, they had been rewarded for it, but every single member of her family was raised knowing that if they became a cultivator, their lives might one day be spent for the family and the Clan.
Euphrosyne's death had not been in vain, though. For over a century, now, they had been in possession of all of the desert. The Clan's population swelled, and the natural growth of cultivators over the last twenty years had been tremendous, untouched by the miserable Trials that so often brought them low. The Clan was not pre-eminent but it stood tall among its rivals. Only the greatest powers of Righteous and Demonic alike would dare face the Golden Devils, with endless wealth flowing into the Clan's coffers, being paid out to so many cultivators to grow ever-further.
More wealth and more tariffs were transformed by some peculiar alchemy into more cultivators, more and ever-more. This last twenty years had seen a tremendous burst of cultivators flying into Core Formation, more than ever before. Twenty-two new Elders rose up, merely by virtue of the immense wealth being ferried out of Jingshen lands. It was not because the Clan had become better at ascension, but merely that more Experts sought to form their Core in light of having sufficient resources to try. The death rate had been stupendous, with nearly four hundred Experts dying, but what was that to twenty-two new Core Formation Elders?
The Council were all busy as could be imagined. Paperwork was ferried in and out by Foundation Experts, each one a trained bureaucrat, half of them wearing simple hats, half with shaven mohawks. Mohawk headdreses and hats had somehow both become symbols of philosophy, of how a bureaucract believed the Contribution Board should be run. The mohawk represented excess in letting Elders run their Legions practically without oversight provided they delivered the demanded goods, allowing competitive pressure to form the greatest Legions and greatest Elders, and the simpler hats represented a philosophy of oversight, of consistent watching.
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. This turn, however, Manuel is Wounded and will perform about as well as Kleisthenes does in general.
(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 48 hour voting moriatorum! I'll post a threadmark when the vote opens!
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Lastly, there is a NEW MECHANIC as of two turns ago.
Shadow Key Points. Each is equivalent to 1 Purchase, and you gain one per turn (or more with an Action). These represent the power accumulated in the Key Manuel can safely use to unlock Legacies and the like. It can occasionally be used on other options as well. Of course, saving it up might let you unlock some spectacular and interesting legacies you haven't even seen yet later on...
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Kleisthenes had spoken to Rina Callista once she had returned from the space between the Seas, and had found her a mortal. A mortal capable of striking down cultivators with ease, well beyond your average Core Formation cultivator but nonetheless a mortal. No Qi running in her veins or suffusing her bones. She'd spent a few days trying to figure out what happened, and then gave up. After which she quietly asked the woman to speak to Destasia and decided to let Manuel deal with the matter when he was fully cognizant again.
The remainder of things, though, were much easier to understand. The Ninth Prince had the blood of the Fifth Sea within him, a nobleman of sorts from that Sea. He had some power over the Iron Pillar, which was apparently the tool that the Fifth Sea cultivators used to reach the Clan. With the aid of a few others they'd redirected the Trials to a different functionality, allowing a few of the Clan's most worthy to fight instead of the majority of the Clan. It wouldn't work twice, apparently, much like striking an enemy's weak spot only tended to work once. Still, she understood. They had been bought desperately needed room to maneuver. She hoped she'd be able to use it correctly.
She'd always hated this room. She was surrounded by thousand-year old arrays in a room with more paperwork than space, the new Jingshen tables showing more and more secrets as the years went on. When they'd brought new tables in as prizes from the Jingshen conquest, Manuel had thought of them as mere trophies of conquest. Instead, they served as thought-stealers, taking thoughts and memories from less-guarded minds to be looked through at the leisure of the owner. Something the old man loved, but she herself would've preferred not to use. Of course he'd made her use it, staving off his own duties to her. She shook her head quietly.
She looked at the beautiful tables and wished she had the authority to remove them all. She did, no doubt, but... why cause needless concern? With her standing at the head of the meeting, she'd cause alarm enough. Better to leave the rest as it is. Now.. how did the old man always do it?
"Listen."
Who would've thought that dead Euphrosyne's twin sister would have such a voice? Since she wore her male body she had always sounded more dull, more brutish, more... out of tune with
herself. Ascending to Nascent Soul had been painful, and only an idiot would choose to cultivate in such a way merely for an extended lifespan, but she was aligned, now. Her face was sharp, and her eyebrows thick, but while none would've described her as beautiful, few would not have called her striking. Perhaps another woman would've returned to the beauty she had apparently been, but she had chosen the broad shoulders and large muscles that had served her so well in Core Formation, and had refused to give up a single inch of height as well. Her hips sat as they should again, but why be shorter? The Heavens had so peculiarly made women shorter than men, but there was no reason she had to give up such a useful diplomatic advantage.
Her voice was like water running down a stream, like chimes in the wind, light and fair and free. A voice that clamoured for attention yet sung in harmony with the bones of the world, bringing all things to their natural place - attending to her and her words. It had been difficult to perfect, but so very worth it in negotiations. Every word felt like a wondrous thing gifted to the world one could only defile by hearing it. Three years of research and six more of implementation but the voice was the very heart of diplomacy.
Almost as if by magic, ears and heads turned one by one towards her, each enthralled for a moment as they desired nothing more than to hear her.
"The
Archegetes is wounded. I will not say more for risk of information being carried to unworthy ears, but it will be resolved in a short enough time. The power of rulership lies in my hands for now. Let me know what you desire and I shall decide."
"Firstly, as we all know, the desire of the Demonic Path to strike into Yuan and Qiguai lands. That hammer-blow has already begun, but it has in many places been turned back and Legions have poured into Yuan lands, well-prepared for the strikes to follow. We know of a blow to come at the Colossus Footsteps Pass, but we do not know if it has been delivered, or if it has been delivered effectively. We have foiled the Trials, and we go from strength to strength. I will play my part as the reserve of the Clan while the
Archegetes recovered, though it is wiser if we do not fight Nascent battles we do not have to until he is fully recovered.
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First was
Casia Zimisce, an
Early Nascent Soul 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.
"
Hetaireiarches. In terms of wealth things have gone reasonably well. We have no savings
stavraton saved from our regular incomes, but have come into an array of treasures from the trove of a conquered Nascent Soul we did not fully ancitipate worth roughly thirty million. We are hardly rich at this point in time, and our wealth is likely to... well, not decline, but our ability to purchase things is likely to reduce in the short-term as battles rage around the Colossus Footsteps Path. We have many demands and our income is unlikely to meet them for some time."
She smiled up at him, though it looked more like a grimace. Casia was a wonderful woman, but her facial expressions only ever spoke of anger and frustration, no matter how happy she was.
"We are going to struggle for medicines, useful metals, captured beasts, various useful pills... any sort of manufactured good we normally import will be drastically more expensive for the time being. I estimate between ten and twenty times over the next twenty years for a huge array of goods, especially as Clan demands spike with the Yuan war while our stockpiled supplies are spent down. In the short term we... well, this must be your decision. We do have large stockpiles of medicine and useful imported runic arrays - ones we don't manufacture - as well as beasts, artifacts we cannot replicate, and so on that are all useful in warmaking. We need to set effective prices for the war ahead so that Legions may purchase and use them, but we do not know what our future supplies look like. Thankfully with the aid of a number of varied juniors we have managed to arrange for some small-scale production of key components in some of the core healing pills, but if we run our supplies down now we are likely to suffer later if we cannot effectively resupply."
[ ] Set Prices Low - Letting the Legions have their supplies now will make the Yuan War easier. However, if the Pass cannot be reopened effectively the Clan will start to suffer more casualties in battle.
[ ] Set Prices High - Hold onto the supplies for now in case the Pass cannot be reopened for half a century or more. This will cause more casualties now, but less in the long-term.
Either way, things will settle (either low if the Pass can be reopened or high prices if not) in the medium term, Casia is only asking about the short term.
"I will speak to you on my own ascension later,
Hetaireiarches. There are some useful things I can do that others might not be able to."
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Second was been
Xie Xinya, an Early Nascent Soul 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. She had risen into Nascent Soul, and ever since even Kleisthenes had found her beyond alluring. For a woman who did not appreciate the charms of other women that was unnerving. No doubt she'd be making a play for some sort of Nascent marriage. She was supernaturally beautiful to those around her, to the point where anyone she wanted to impress, wanted to show off for found her to be the most beautiful thing in existence.
For anyone who spent extended periods of time around her, and who were not in her family. Notably, after investigating the effect further it only worked on those Xinya was trying to impress or looked up to. Other councillors were
less effected than the two Nascent Souls, which was useful to know in and of itself.
"
Hetaireiarches. I have, with considerable effort, rebuilt many networks in the Plains. There has been a massive invasion into the lands of the Seven Divine Saber Palace by the Grand Abyssal Invasion, though perhaps more a raid-in-force. The aim has been by the looks of things to draw the eyes and ears of the Righteous Path to one of the few untouched lands within the Palace remaining, hoping to draw their forces south. The response has been anemic, by the looks of things. The Poison Maze is growing massively throughout the Ma Empire, and the Demonic Altar Sect even seems to be ceding lands to them, aiming to make impassable what they cannot defend."
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Third came
Destasia Duca, a
Late Core Formation Elder. S
he 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.
She spoke.
"Well. I spent all that time and effort and for what? Honestly, the old man owes me a lot. A
lot.
She laughed.
"Look, the disciples mainly take care of themselves at this point. After I brewed the Master Teacher Poison-"
"I'm sorry, the what?", Kleisthenes interjected.
"-so now all my teachers are properly motivated to teach well, or they'll die! I pay them to take it and it wears off after twenty years or so, but anyone not willing to put in the maximum effort to transmit knowledge shouldn't be vying for those teaching positions
anyway. It's a boring solution to a boring problem, but until I figure out how to fix the Study Hard or Die Poison without killing people from overwork it'll have to do."
Kleisthenes shook her head. As always, as long as the people were genuine volunteers - or paid to be - there was no real crime. She had never favored Destasia's methods, but nonetheless she tolerated them. Barely, sometimes.
'I also have a...
lot of high-grade metal, and some interesting ideas."
Kleisthenes stared at her, but nothing was forthcoming. No doubt she wanted one of them to hint at the reality of the Nascent corpse they held for her own amusement, perhaps forgetting that they would be bound to pass on this information to their new vassals in future Council meetings.
"What. Are. They?"
Destasia squealed in delight.
"Okay, so the metal was ruined by rust. Rust! What this means is that the metal is ruined in so many ways but
useful in so many others. The first thing we can do is just grind it up and use it as a superlative poison. Along with just a few pinches of Poison-aspected Metal Qi it'll allow the curse of destruction within it to burrow into other bodies, killing almost anyone it properly hits. As a poison for Core weapons it'd be delightful. Of course, we'd only get perhaps five thousand doses - they'd need mixing together and would only last a few minutes, but they'd be deadly."
She looked around the Council and saw mild approval. No doubt it bothered her, so she spoke again.
"Well, that was the boring idea. Now for the good one - an entire orchestra of puppets capable of attacking our enemies with Demonic Tunes, forged with hearts of high-grademetal. We'd need to reforge the metal so it'd take some time, maybe two decades, but they'd be a weapon capable of putting entire enemy armies to flight. The instruments would need to be strung with this Nascent-grade alloy as well or lined it with for some, so it'd use the entire cache but they'd also be able to play music for us when we were relaxing!"
She pouted at the displays of disapproval, and continued.
"Lastly, we enhance the Beast Tide Trap with the metal. We can put it wherever we like and probably call down three or four Nascent Beasts from Turtlebone Mountain if it's any of the powers bordering it. If we smuggle it into a city of any sort that city is gone, and if we want to kill an enemy Nascent... well, we can wound them pretty easily with the beasts, force them to flee and then assassinate them on the way out. Uninspired, but I've been focused on something
important recently so my best ideas aren't here."
[ ] Turn Weeping Anvil into a Core Poison - Legates will get a small combat boost when fighting other Core Formation elders.
[ ] Turn Weeping Anvil into an Demonic Puppet Orchestra - a useful asset capable of scrambling armies. Make your battlefield superiority even more complete when it comes to massed battles.
[ ] Enhance the Beast Tide Trap more. Put all your eggs in the scariest basket and hope the thread uses it at the right moment.
[ ] Wait, and see what else might arise.
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Lastly was
Sheng Yu a
Late Core Formation Elder. He is
Protostrator, leader of your armies. The Golden Victory Captain, the Sorrow of the Jingshen, the Conquerer of the East. Many names he earned in the last few decades, and while his command of the Legions is still somewhat lacking defensively, offensively they are second to none.
He speaks, a high-pitched voice with a peculiar waver to it. Almost like a tea kettle - the sort of man that was no doubt mocked by other mortals before he became a cultivator.
"
Hetaireiarches. We have been moving forces into the Yuan, prepared for the hammer-blow. Eight of our sixteen offensive Legions are there and prepared to fight, though finding all the holes and passes the Demonic Path are using to enter is proving nearly impossible. I have largely focused my efforts on this war, but have not abandoned my Legion reforms for the last few decades. My ability to conduct a defensive war is moderate, and has still largely been left to individual Legates, though I am building up my competency there and could conduct one at need.
"This war will be a proving ground, no doubt. I have nineteen Legions prepared for a proper offensive at almost any time, totalling one hundred and seventy-two thousand Qi Condensation cultivators, sixteen hundred and one Foundation experts, and sixteen Legates. Eight are deploying to the Yuan War - I am moving our offensive Legions first, due to their superior mobility."
"We could deploy eleven more into the Pass if you so desired. 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. I estimate now the war is over and I can focus on this transition, three Legions will be made offensively operational every two decades. The persistent growth within the Clan makes it difficult to project when our offensive capabilities will be complete."
He smiles, and it seems somewhat worried, somewhat weak.
"I have some thoughts on spending as well.
Kleisthenes nodded, and thanked him.
There was much to be done.
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The Clan currently has 3
Purchases worth of wealth. Manuel also has 5
Shadow Key Points. They can be spent on anything
here, and anything from this page can be included as a Purchase. You can spend both Shadow Key Points and Purchases to unlock a Legacy.
The Clan gains
1 Shadow Key Point per turn.
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). As always, write-ins are more than acceptable.
[ ] 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 four!
Please format votes like so:
[x] Training Soldiers
[x] Manuel - Hunt an Enemy (Altar Lord)
[x] Kleisthenes - Economic Activity
[x] Xinya - Assist Her Family
[x] Casia -
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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 - especially dangerous if both Nascents leave Clan territory.
[ ] 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.
[ ] Meditate on Heaven's Shadow - Try to understand the Shadow through the Key it has granted you. Gain
Two Shadow Key Points.
[ ] Write-in
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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
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What will Xinya 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.
[ ] Grow her Family (Write-in Faction) - Xinya will find her family members and empower them with fragments of her own delightfulness, causing them to gain husbands and wives who find themselves easily falling in love with people who might be usually be considered... ordinary choices for spouses. The reverse is true of course, and these new Clan cultivators will happily take on the Blood of Bronze This will allow Xinya's own family to steal important members of other factions, gaining useful intel, resources, and snippets of other Faction lore. It will also annoy them, so best done to someone who's opinion doesn't matter to the Clan that much.
[ ] Write-in
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What will Casia 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. Note that Casia is the weakest of all the Nascent Souls in battle and will suffer a malus here.
[ ] 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. Note that Casia is not well-suited to destruction and sabotage and will suffer a malus here.
[ ] Assist A Faction (Write-in Faction) - Use your personal strength to assist an ally of some kind. Potentially dangerous.
[ ] Offer Peace (Write-in Faction, Clan included) - Casia's personal ability allows her to bring harmony between people and among them. Within the Clan she can calm vassals, outside of it she can calm relations, between the Clan and her target or between any two targets. If she were permitted to use this for twenty turns unobstructed she might end the current War, so it is more useful in repairing failing relations than trying to rebuild failed ones.
[ ] 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.
[ ] A Harmony of Administration - With the power Casia wields in terms of harmony and peace, as well as her Nascent Soul cultivation, she is by far the most talented and useful administrator in the Clan. Allowing her to dedicate all of her time to that allows her to massively increase the wealth the Clan can extract as she optimises, earning
two Purchases. Unlike a normal Nascent action, however, this drains her considerably and causes her to be effectively
Wounded on the next turn as she recovers from the strain she has put on both her Dao and soul. It can only be used when she is at full health. So if used in Turn 16, she would be Wounded in Turn 17, and recover in Turn 18, capable of using her ability again.
[ ] Write-in
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Purchases:
We have 3 Purchases available. Any Economic actions can be spent this turn, and unspent Purchases carry over to new turns.
Casia Zimisce wants to...
[ ] The Pill Forges (Minor Purchase - 1 Purchase)
"Hetaireiarches, our gardens are in excellent shape. However our pill-forging is somewhat remiss, as we lack the capacity to properly integrate the Qi falling from the sky. This is easily remedied, and new designs can be built at the Dawn Fortress. It would allow us to stretch out our supplies of critical herbs another twenty years in the event the Pass is not reopened."
Kleisthenes Sarantapechos is in charge, and it would be inappropriate for her to make suggestions.
Xie Xinya wants to...
[ ] Begin Killing Favored (Major Purchase 2 Purchases)
"
Hetaireiarches, the evidence is still clear. The Favored loathe us, and with their rise will come our end. Let us start assassinating them ourselves. Not those from our Strength Purity allies, but there are many Righteous Powers who we can offend with impunity. I could slow their rise by a few decades, perhaps, buying them a longer period of weakness by targeting those growing the fastest. Without Blood Path catspaws it will be more difficult, but less expensive. We might offend many, but who cares? We are no longer so weak as to care about what most of the Righteous Path thinks of us. Let us gain time, for who can put a value on time?"
Destasia Duca wants to...
[ ] Forge a Wedding Ring (Major Purchase - 2 Purchases)
"It'll be a surprise for the old man. He always talked about having to marry Xinya if she became powerful enough, so why not present him with a fait accompli
when it happens? Harmonizing their Dao together so his secrets don't tear apart her family is something they'll do in time, but I think I can make an artifact to speed it along, so they're effective in battle together from the very start."
Sheng Yu wants to...
[ ] Raise Three to Six Offensive Legions (1-2 Purchases)
"Archegetes, with the additional funds available, I would like to transform three Legions more quickly. We are attacking now, and more Legions is more power."
