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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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Meh. Nothing against you, faflec, I just want to present a more focused plan and one that doesn't take so long, because Tea Time is kind of really mediocre, spreading attention out over too long of a period and over too many things.

[X] Keiko's Turn
  1. Remind ourselves of our goals. We might want to start making this a habit. (what do I want?)
    1. Long Term Priorities: We aimed for the destruction of the scorch squads - we're still aiming for that now. We think this might be best accomplished by a supra village organization, but we don't know how that might come to be right now.
    2. Medium Term Priorities: Our priorities are to complete the mission, both stated and unstated, to make our Hokage as happy as possible. We'd also like to get momma out of Mist if possible, but if Mama is Mizukage that's obviously not happening.
    3. Short Term Priorities: We've got a hell of a lot of broken bridges to fix. Good thing we're Mr. MEW. Talk with Keiko, Kagome, and Minami to continue to try and repair the bridges that we've burnt. Be careful not to dig ourselves in deeper.
  2. Have a talk with Keiko. We're looking specifically into how can we turn Keiko into the scariest kunoichi this side of Tsunade.
    1. Discuss a few ideas for a ranged weapon style. We're looking for something that plays well with a whole bunch of massive friendly melee combatants(her summons to be).
      1. This might require integrating the Frozen Skein into her combat techniques. Ask her what her opinion is on it.
        1. Much as we'd like extra firepower, Keiko w/o Frozen Skein style is worth infinitely more to us that Vegetable!Keiko that had a Frozen Skein style.
        2. If it sounds like a self esteem issue, gently remind her that she almost hasn't made a mistake since the moment we were on a team.
      2. If Keiko shuts down the Frozen Skein idea, keep considering what might work.
        1. Maybe Misterator distribution could be her thing, with all sorts of nasties in them.
        2. Or maybe crowd control, with her shutting down flanking maneuvers so that her summons and us can utterly dominate the taijutsu ranges without us worrying about flanking attacks.
    2. While we're at it, discuss with her what her next summon contract should be. Much fun as Pandaa is, we need heavier firepower.
      1. (niggling suggestion for Hazou: wonder what would happen if we asked Akane to be the local Naraka Rollers branch head)
      2. Primarily though, we're looking for a lot of firepower. Losing Mari hurt in more ways than one, especially since she was the Jonin CQC champ.
    3. If we contact anybody, ask for any rumors out of Water Country and Mist. Say you had friends in the area, or something else that's plausible.
  3. Open up our inventory and double check everything. We've been waiting to do this for a while, and we are not getting caught off guard by dead chakra skunks that we left at the bottom of our scrolls.
Double Edit: Not constraining the QMs with time.
 
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@faflec

Why are we asking specifically about Water Country and Mist? Our concern is going to be the general situation in the surrounding countries, given a continental wide threat.
 
Kiba said:
@faflec

Why are we asking specifically about Water Country and Mist? Our concern is going to be the general situation in the surrounding countries, given a continental wide threat.
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Because Mist just got wrecked and we want to make sure Momma's ok?

Which actually reminds me. @eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail Minami was talking about Akatsuki in the last update, was she ordered to do so in Jiraiya's instruction packet? I don't see any other way she'd know about Akatsuki given the Jiraiya/clan head meeting was private, so...?
 
faflec said:
[X] Action Plan: Tea Time

  • General thoughts:
    • Make sure we discuss everything with our fellow ex missing-nin first, then with Minami as appropriate.
      • No seriously, don't just spontaneously (for example) go up to a random person and say you're selling ice, without first talking with the team.
    • When talking about mission-related plans we let Minami take the lead. We offer suggestions listed below.
      • MAKE SURE WE FOLLOW OPSEC RULES
      • Maybe talk with Keiko about our plan if we have a private moment.
    • Don't forget that we're sending regular message to Jiraiya via pangolins.
      • Update him on our progress.
      • Give him intel (esp. on Akatsuki sightings).
  • Make contact with Jiraiya's agents in Tea.
    • Use Skywalkers to move from place to place.
      • Make sure that when ascending or descending we aren't spotted.
      • We should be using chakra water to speed our movements, and refill as needed.
    • Whenever resting, do so using Skytower technology.
      • Keep a standard watch out for flying chakra monsters.
    • Make contact.
      • Everyone going to the contact together is too conspicuous (esp. with Kagome and Noburi's barrel).
        • Minami will need time to trust us again, let her decide who to make contact and who to watch from a distance.
      • Use Henge to turn into the appropriate cover, based on our knowledge of the contact.
        • Discuss this beforehand; between Hazou, Keiko, and Minami this should be easy.
      • Make sure we're prepared.
        • Everyone has the appropriate number of seals: Explosive tags, PMYF, Skywalkers, etc..
        • Everyone's topped off with Noburi's chakra beforehand.
      • Keep a watch out for potential enemy ninjas.
        • We don't want to compromise Jiraiya's contacts, and do want to catch anyone observing them.
        • If we catch one, report to Minami and discuss what to do from there.
          • Don't actually engage unless we're forced to, we don't want to get into a ninja fight.
      • Deliver the message, and ask if they have more messages to send or need "short-term muscle".
        • Ask about happenings in Water Country & Mist.
        • Don't commit to giving muscle to the contact; discuss with the team first.
  • Discuss the Mist Drain Situation.
    • Ask Noburi/Keiko if we should still do this, given recent events (i.e., Kagome pledging fealty).
    • Do this before we arrive at Tea: given the distances we should be spending several nights on Skytowers.
    • Have Noburi and Keiko lead the conversation; their higher Diplomacy skill should give us better deals.
    • We discussed things with the team earlier, this is just us discussing things with her.
      • @eaglejarl Please don't hate us for not having details :)
  • Misc. things.
    • See if merchants/local establishments are buying ice/are willing to buy ice for discount.
      • Ask Minami if we can stop at a (not mission-relevant) trade town in Tea.
        • This prevents us from potentially compromising Jiraiya's agents in Degarashi Port.
      • Noburi/Keiko can lead this due to having higher Diplomacy.
      • Try to lead them into thinking Leaf will have more ice to sell at these good prices.
    • Talk with Noburi and Keiko regarding Kagome swearing fealty (?) to Minami Nikko.
      • What is this going to do regarding our clan's position with the Hyuga (who apparently hate the Minami)?
        • How much trouble will the exchange of Kagome's goods and services bring?
        • What should we do to alleviate this tension (or should we even bother)?
      • As necessary ask Minami questions for more information.
    • Ask Jiraiya if we should do anything regarding Hidden Mountain.
      • Send a Pangolin message using the messenger Keiko has prepared.
      • When discussing with Minami, phrase it as being our (Hazou and co.'s) contacts in the area (Tea).
        • If she's confused, say it's classified.
    • Ask to gather trade information.
      • Make sure Keiko/Noburi say it's a good idea, then ask Minami if we can.
    • If we have time, do quick study on the Hidden Mountain seals.
      • Only do this with Kagome's approval.
      • This does not mean we try to reverse-engineer the seals. This means we try to figure out what the seals do.
  • Other misc. things (that may be done already).
    • Discuss learning a medium-ranged weapon specialty when we return to Konoha.
      • Also suggest a possible bloodline-based combat style for her. This discussion may occur in the background.
        • Use CCnJ.
        • Note: We don't really know that much about its effectiveness in combat, but it's something that could be considered.
        • Reassure her that her current combat effectiveness and general worth as team member is not in question -- we're talking to Noburi about developing his own, too. We just want her to be even better.
        • If she questions her qualifications for this, remind her of the colossal growth she went through during our travels.
        • Make note of how impressive he found her back in Rice, and, more recently, with Kagome.
        • If Kei doesn't think a bloodline-based combat style is workable, Hazou has a few ideas for seals that could be integrated.
          • Before he gets into his ideas, does she have any to share?
          • She could work at using macerators to extend her range in interesting ways, or apply utility effects.
          • She could throw Banshee seals -- that wouldn't require any additional training.
          • Hazou had had the idea -- and he hasn't spoken to Kagome about this yet, so no promises -- of making force barrier seals that extend outward from shuriken.
          • Depending on how dev goes back at Konoha, maybe an impulse seal would be workable?
    • Discuss the method we used to escape the Mountain-nin cave (specifically, using Force Walls to direct an explosion). Ask if it's possible for us to develop combat weapons around this.
      • Obviously, do not do actual testing right now. This is theoretical discussion only.
      • Maybe stuff an implosion seal down a 5SB'd airtight tube? It could probably propel something pretty fast, though it'd need to be against a stationary target.
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Why are we even still thinking about implosion seals and tubes? We've been directly told by a QM that we have a better solution to the gun problem. Eaglejarl directly stated that macerators serve as an already extant solution to the problem of how to shoot things at other things. This is a solved problem, we don't need to experiment with 5SB'd airtight tubes and implosion seals, we already know macerators already sort of work, and macerators with higher matter expulsion velocities will work in full, and also be something we can actually aim at moving targets.
 
Enjou said:
@eaglejarl, @Velorien, @OliWhail - relevant question to an idea I have for a scene, but is the one contact in Tea that is a brothel worker an actual prostitute, or does she just work there in some other capacity? I ask because I have an idea for a scene that could result in many lulz at the expense of Hazou or Noburi, or potentially both.
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1 - working person A
2 - working person B
3 - madam
4 - bartender
5 - accountant
6 - bouncer
7 - other
eaglejarl threw 1 7-faced dice. Reason: Employee type Total: 6
6 6
 
Ah, the bouncer then. That's far less prone to humiliating comedy... unless the method of contact involves getting them to throw you out. :p
 
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
Meh. Nothing against you, faflec, I just want to present a more focused plan and one that doesn't take so long, because Tea Time is kind of really mediocre, spreading attention out over too long of a period and over too many things.

[X] Keiko's Turn
  1. Remind ourselves of our goals. We might want to start making this a habit. (what do I want?)
    1. Long Term Priorities: We aimed for the destruction of the scorch squads - we're still aiming for that now. We think this might be best accomplished by a supra village organization, but we don't know how that might come to be right now.
    2. Medium Term Priorities: Our priorities are to complete the mission, both stated and unstated, to make our Hokage as happy as possible. We'd also like to get momma out of Mist if possible, but if Mama is Mizukage that's obviously not happening.
    3. Short Term Priorities: We've got a hell of a lot of broken bridges to fix. Good thing we're Mr. MEW. Talk with Keiko, Kagome, and Minami to continue to try and repair the bridges that we've burnt. Be careful not to dig ourselves in deeper.
  2. Have a talk with Keiko. We're looking specifically into how can we turn Keiko into the scariest kunoichi this side of Tsunade.
    1. Discuss a few ideas for a ranged weapon style. We're looking for something that plays well with a whole bunch of massive friendly melee combatants(her summons to be).
      1. This might require integrating the Frozen Skein into her combat techniques. Ask her what her opinion is on it.
        1. Much as we'd like extra firepower, Keiko w/o Frozen Skein style is worth infinitely more to us that Vegetable!Keiko that had a Frozen Skein style.
        2. If it sounds like a self esteem issue, gently remind her that she almost hasn't made a mistake since the moment we were on a team.
      2. If Keiko shuts down the Frozen Skein idea, keep considering what might work.
        1. Maybe Misterator distribution could be her thing, with all sorts of nasties in them.
        2. Or maybe crowd control, with her shutting down flanking maneuvers so that her summons and us can utterly dominate the taijutsu ranges without us worrying about flanking attacks.
    2. While we're at it, offer ourselves for discussion of what (to phrase it to give her intiative) her next summon contract should be. Much fun as Pandaa is, we need heavier firepower.
      1. (niggling suggestion for Hazou: wonder what would happen if we asked Akane to be the local Naraka Rollers branch head)
      2. Primarily though, we're looking for a lot of firepower. Losing Mari hurt in more ways than one, especially since she was the Jonin CQC champ.
    3. If we contact anybody, ask for any rumors out of Water Country and Mist. Say you had friends in the area, or something else that's plausible.
  3. Open up our inventory and double check everything. We've been waiting to do this for a while, and we are not getting caught off guard by dead chakra skunks that we left at the bottom of our scrolls.
    1. This can be expanded to a whole scene; it'd be pretty amusing to see Minami's reaction to everything we're carrying
Edit: This plan covers only the events of one day.
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This is only one scene, two at most, and does not offer any forward progression.

e: That said, changes I'd make in Orange
 
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Right, so Keiko's Turn is inadequate. Must earn more XP!

[-] Keiko's Turn

[X] Action Plan: Iced Tea​
  1. In general: Follow protocol and do things by the book. If we're about to tell Minami person A something about literally anybody else person B, clear it with person B!​
    1. Offer suggestions to Minami, and nothing else if not asked. She's team captain, not us.
      1. Let Minami decide team composition and how to approach contacts. Rapport is going to take a while to build back up again.
      2. Send regular messages about our progress to Jiraiya via the pangolins. If Akatsuki has been spotted, send word immediately.
      3. Keep watch for enemy action. Report all enemy action to Minami unless a clear and compelling reason is given. (the QMs will at least give us a cliffhanger right? Right?)
    2. Trust our instincts. Especially if they scream "insert both feet in your mouth now!"
    3. On the side, ask for rumors coming from Water Country, especially about Mist. Be subtle about asking.
  2. Talk with Keiko. Gotta go round the circle.​
    1. Discuss a few ideas for a ranged weapon style. We're looking for something that plays well with a whole bunch of massive friendly melee combatants(her summons to be).
      1. This might require integrating the Frozen Skein into her combat techniques. Ask her what her opinion is on it.
        1. Much as we'd like extra firepower, Keiko w/o Frozen Skein style is worth infinitely more to us that Vegetable!Keiko that had a Frozen Skein style.
        2. If it sounds like a self esteem issue, gently remind her that she almost hasn't made a mistake since the moment we were on a team.
      2. If Keiko shuts down the Frozen Skein idea, keep considering what might work.
        1. Maybe Misterator distribution could be her thing, with all sorts of nasties in them.
        2. Or maybe crowd control, with her shutting down flanking maneuvers so that her summons and us can utterly dominate the taijutsu ranges without us worrying about flanking attacks.
      3. Ask Keiko what kind of seals she wants to augment her style. Possible ideas include:
        1. Force Barrier Shuriken
        2. Improved Macerator
        3. Different Payload Macerator
        4. etc.
    2. While we're at it, offer ourselves for discussion of what her next summon contract should be. Much fun as Pandaa is, we need heavier firepower.
      1. (niggling suggestion for Hazou: wonder what would happen if we asked Akane to be the local Naraka Rollers branch head)
      2. Primarily though, we're looking for a lot of firepower. Losing Mari hurt in more ways than one, especially since she was the Jonin CQC champ.
      3. Genjutsu Pangolins are also good ideas, especially because their number one weakness is mitigated by being a summon
      4. Also, what's gonna happen about that mission the Pangolins gave us? Is it still available, or is it called off due to the Condor Clan being in a state of complete vassalization?
    3. Ask her what she thinks we should do about Kagome, since he's basically offered Minami's clan millions of ryo's worth of labor.
      1. If she suggests that we need to discuss this with Noburi and Kagome, discuss it with Noburi and Kagome.
    4. Ask what she thinks of trying to expatriate mom. If she shoots it down, we forget about it, but if she's okay with the idea we ask Jiraiya.
  3. As a comedic scene, have Hazou rifle through his stuff. A lot of random stuff has accumulated in a nigh infinite well of storage seals, better check out everything we have.​
  4. Talk with Kagome.
    1. Research topics
      1. Can we analyze the Mountain seals that we've had so long? What was their purpose?​
      2. Can we create a seal to remotely activate another seal?​
      3. Could we weaponize force seals? Put them on Fuma Shuriken to start, or maybe miniaturize them to put on regular shuriken. Either way, we're looking to replicate Wind Release: Vacuum Blade with force seals.​
      4. The implosion seal detonates when the seal is ripped. Can we make other seals activate when they're ripped in half?​
    2. Ask Kagome how he'd infiltrate Jiraiya's network as an exercise to try and see how to catch any infiltrators.
      1. Tell him that lupchanz is not a viable tool for the purposes of this exercise.
  5. Ask Akane whether she'd be comfortable making ice commercially, and whether she's okay with telling Minami about it.
    1. Make it clear that Akane's our girlfriend; chain of command just demands that we ask Minami to clear stuff all the time, and interclan secrecy demands we ask Akane for her permission.
 
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faflec said:
Because Mist just got wrecked and we want to make sure Momma's ok?

Which actually reminds me. @eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail Minami was talking about Akatsuki in the last update, was she ordered to do so in Jiraiya's instruction packet? I don't see any other way she'd know about Akatsuki given the Jiraiya/clan head meeting was private, so...?
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Something discomfort me asking suspiciously specifically about Water country and Mist. It makes us look like we still have attachment to Hidden Mist, thus divided loyalty.

Edit: We probably want to discuss the idea with the team. There's probably no problem, but my social danger intuition sense is screaming "DANGER!"
 
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Kiba said:
Something discomfort me asking suspiciously specifically about Water country and Mist. It makes us look like we still have attachment to Hidden Mist, thus divided loyalty.
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Um, this sounds a lot like the "someone hundreds of miles away is going to recognize granite here, nobody sleeps in a granite shelter tonight!" argument earlier. By the way, what do you think of my plan? Is there anything I should change?
 
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
Um, this sounds a lot like the "someone hundreds of miles away is going to recognize granite here, nobody sleeps in a granite shelter tonight!" argument earlier.
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It might be important, it might not be, but there is a level of unease I felt with that bullet point.

We could have Hazo discuss it with his team, and compare it to the granite shelter thing that made Hazō unnecessarily worried.
 
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
While we're at it, offer ourselves for discussion of what her next summon contract should be. Much fun as Pandaa is, we need heavier firepower.
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A pangolin genjutsu user would be incredible useful, since we lost access to Mari and a summon removes genjutsus biggest drawback (the can't really move around and you are an easy target part) because they can't really die.

huhYeahGoodPoint said:
  • (niggling suggestion for Hazou: wonder what would happen if we asked Akane to be the local Naraka Rollers branch head)
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*snort*

huhYeahGoodPoint said:
and interclan secrecy demands we ask Akane for her permission.
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Akane isn't part of our clan ?


Also maybe add my Hyuga/Minami questions?

ContextBot said:
I think we should talk with Minami about her clans relation with the Hyuga. We already have a strained relationship with them after all:

-) Three sealmaster with anti-Hyuga seals
-) We are filthy foreigners
-) Jiraiya insulted Hiashi

Suddenly budding with the Minami is going to piss them off, especially when we give them all sorts of stuff for free.

Something like:

- Talk with Minami and Team
- How is the situation between Minami/Hyuga
- How much trouble can the sudden exchange of goods/services between our clans cause?
- Which Hyuga could we make friends with to make the situation better?
- Anything else?

Also somewhat semi-serious: The Minami clan just got a pretty good deal.
Let's recap:

How much does stuff cost? Examples:

Chapter 18: One pound of chocolate 10k Ryo
Chapter 95: 13 Books, 60k Ryo
Chapter 127: Hairpin, 55k Ryo

How much money can he make (estimated):

200(+100 free for new subscriber) Implosion Seals, 50k Ryo + three books (~14k), Two pounds of chocolate (min 20k) + 10k sheets of paper and ten inkstones = min 84k Ryo

Now what did Kagome offer? Literally everything forever.

Seals
Service to install said seals (SaaS)
Teaching children
Crypto stuff
Free geopolitical information
Being Minami's sex slave

= a multi million Ryo deal over the next few years.

Now I do think that Minami understands this, but we should probably make sure she is really aware and keeps her end of the bargain (shut your mouth and smile).


Kagome failed the third rule of Acquisition: 'Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to'.

In conclusion: Kagome is shit Ferengi
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[X] Action Plan: Tea Time
[X] Action Plan: Iced Tea
 
@ContextBot That's a really good idea about the Minami and we should definitely have it, but I'm kinda saving it for the next update, after we've talked to everyone else on the team first. It is pretty much the most important thing we need to go over with Minami though, but I just don't have the space to give the talk with Minami the attention it deserves this plan.
ContextBot said:
Akane isn't part of our clan ?
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You say that like it's not super obvious that Akane's going to end up in our clan by marriage.

Cariyaga has suggested some ideas in Discord, and ContextBot has made good points, so the changes are in ORANGE.
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
[X] Action Plan: Iced Tea​
  1. In general: Follow protocol and do things by the book. If we're about to tell Minami person A something about literally anybody else person B, clear it with person B!​
    1. Offer suggestions to Minami, and nothing else if not asked. She's team captain, not us.
      1. Let Minami decide team composition and how to approach contacts. Rapport is going to take a while to build back up again.
      2. Send regular messages about our progress to Jiraiya via the pangolins. If Akatsuki has been spotted, send word immediately.
      3. Keep watch for enemy action. Report all enemy action to Minami unless a clear and compelling reason is given. (the QMs will at least give us a cliffhanger right? Right?)
    2. Trust our instincts. Especially if they scream "insert both feet in your mouth now!"
    3. On the side, ask for rumors coming from Water Country, especially about Mist. Be subtle about asking.
  2. Talk with Keiko. Gotta go round the circle.​
    1. Discuss a few ideas for a ranged weapon style. We're looking for something that plays well with a whole bunch of massive friendly melee combatants(her summons to be).
      1. This might require integrating the Frozen Skein into her combat techniques. Ask her what her opinion is on it.
        1. Much as we'd like extra firepower, Keiko w/o Frozen Skein style is worth infinitely more to us that Vegetable!Keiko that had a Frozen Skein style.
        2. If it sounds like a self esteem issue, gently remind her that she almost hasn't made a mistake since the moment we were on a team.
      2. If Keiko shuts down the Frozen Skein idea, keep considering what might work.
        1. Maybe Misterator distribution could be her thing, with all sorts of nasties in them.
        2. Or maybe crowd control, with her shutting down flanking maneuvers so that her summons and us can utterly dominate the taijutsu ranges without us worrying about flanking attacks.
      3. Ask Keiko what kind of seals she wants to augment her style. Possible ideas include:
        1. Force Barrier Shuriken
        2. Improved Macerator
        3. Different Payload Macerator
        4. etc.
    2. While we're at it, offer ourselves for discussion of what her next summon contract should be. Much fun as Pandaa is, we need heavier firepower.
      1. (niggling suggestion for Hazou: wonder what would happen if we asked Akane to be the local Naraka Rollers branch head)
      2. Primarily though, we're looking for a lot of firepower. Losing Mari hurt in more ways than one, especially since she was the Jonin CQC champ.
      3. Genjutsu Pangolins are also good ideas, especially because their number one weakness is mitigated by being a summon
    3. Ask her what she thinks we should do about Kagome, since he's basically offered Minami's clan millions of ryo's worth of labor.
      1. If she suggests that we need to discuss this with Noburi and Kagome, discuss it with Noburi and Kagome.
    4. Ask what she thinks of trying to expatriate mom. If she shoots it down, we forget about it, but if she's okay with the idea we ask Jiraiya.
  3. As a comedic scene, have Hazou rifle through his stuff. A lot of random stuff has accumulated in a nigh infinite well of storage seals, better check out everything we have.​
  4. Talk with Kagome.
    1. Research topics
      1. Can we analyze the Mountain seals that we've had so long? What was their purpose?​
      2. Can we create a seal to remotely activate another seal?​
      3. Could we weaponize force seals? Put them on Fuma Shuriken to start, or maybe miniaturize them to put on regular shuriken. Either way, we're looking to replicate Wind Release: Vacuum Blade with force seals.​
      4. The implosion seal detonates when the seal is ripped. Can we make other seals activate when they're ripped in half?​
    2. Ask Kagome how he'd infiltrate Jiraiya's network as an exercise to try and see how to catch any infiltrators.
      1. Tell him that lupchanz is not a viable tool for the purposes of this exercise.
  5. Ask Akane whether she'd be comfortable making ice commercially, and whether she's okay with telling Minami about it.
    1. Make it clear that Akane's our girlfriend; chain of command just demands that we ask Minami to clear stuff all the time, and interclan secrecy demands we ask Akane for her permission.
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Added in a section asking Keiko whether the Capybara Scroll Mission was still available.
 
Dissonance said:
Does music help?

I regularly use preset music playlists in different activity-sets to moderate my mental state. (bouncy/upbeat to get me through work, DnB/drumstep for driving, ambient/ethereal for sleep, etc.)

I like to recommend music to people based on their tastes, and try to continually increase the accuracy of how well-received song choices are by the recipient given their input. If you want(and don't already have a copious amount of music(I've had one person tell me "thanks, but I've already got a few thousand songs on my phone already tagged and playlisted")), I can spend some time looking for songs that you might like.

Edit: Actually, this offer is open to all QMs.
@eaglejarl @OliWhail
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That actually sounds interesting. I have no music whatsoever except a bunch of stuff (mainly anime soundtracks) that I happened to download/copy over a decade ago, and have barely listened to since. On the other hand, I have zero taste in music (like, really zero), and I don't want to waste your time with dubious experiments.
 
Finally, finally, caught up again. Great progress! Dat kill room tho.

@huhYeahGoodPoint
Regarding the 'Talk with Kagome' part of the plan: I feel like some sort of emotional response or support should be there before, during or after the shop talk. Acting as if his fealty swearing is business as usual feels very wrong to me. Even if both OOC and IC we don't yet know what exactly to do about it in person (definitely try to message Mari and Jiraya about it though) we should still show him that his love is reciprocated but also that we're, well, shocked. or something.
Honestly, I'm not at all sure how this should look and what it should entail, but it seems like no one here is currently discussing the emotional/social aspect at all right now. And I know that my first instinct was to at least give Kagome a hug.
 
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Rafin said:
Finally, finally, caught up again. Great progress! Dat kill room tho.

@huhYeahGoodPoint
Regarding the 'Talk with Kagome' part of the plan: I feel like some sort of emotional response or support should be there before, during or after the shop talk. Acting as if his fealty swearing is business as usual feels very wrong to me. Even if both OOC and IC we don't yet know what exactly to do about it in person (definitely try to message Mari and Jiraya about it though) we should still show him that his love is reciprocated but also that we're, well, shocked. or something.
Honestly, I'm not at all sure how this should look and what it should entail, but it seems like no one here is currently discussing the emotional/social aspect at all right now. And I know that my first instinct was to at least give Kagome a hug.
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I kind of agree. I'm having trouble wording it, though.

Something to the effect of:
  • Tell Kagome he's important
    • Not for practical reasons, though he's very grateful Kagome's been there to keep them safe.
    • But because Hazou likes the person he sees when Kagome lets down his guard, in those quiet moments when they work together.
    • And, well... Kagome believes in him, too, in spite of how idealistic and naive he is. It means a lot that someone who's seen the worst of the world can still believe things can be better; it's inspiring.
Maybe?
 
Maybe also some acknowledgement of how big a sacrifice he just made and how we feel about said sacrifice on a gut level? Tactical discussion about the sacrifice and its repercussions can be left for after we discussed that with the rest of the team though.

Also, do you think we should tell Mari about this through the Pangolin-Toad line? Jiraya would definitely intercept it but right now I can't think of a serious reason why him knowing should be prevented. And we really could use her advice here.
 
Also! Welcome back to the hivemind, @Rafin. Don't forget, you're here forever.

e: While working on my latest addition to the Technique Proposal List, it occured to me that Hazou's tendency to name techniques and seals... strangely, is similar to someone Jiraiya knew...
 
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@huhYeahGoodPoint I would vote for your plan, but it's kinda missing the part where we actually proceed with the mission. Another note:
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
While we're at it, offer ourselves for discussion of what her next summon contract should be. Much fun as Pandaa is, we need heavier firepower.
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I'm not clear what the bolded even means, when I first read your plan I thought it meant Hazou was offering himself to get the next summoning scroll. Clearly this is false based on what happens after, but I'm still confused what "offering ourselves for discussion" means.
 
faflec said:
@huhYeahGoodPoint I would vote for your plan, but it's kinda missing the part where we actually proceed with the mission. Another note:

I'm not clear what the bolded even means, when I first read your plan I thought it meant Hazou was offering himself to get the next summoning scroll. Clearly this is false based on what happens after, but I'm still confused what "offering ourselves for discussion" means.
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I made that suggestion -- it's intended to be in the context of "Hazou offers himself as a discussion partner" as opposed to "Hazou takes agency from Keiko in suggesting Pangolin".

@huhYeahGoodPoint Faflec does make a good point about the actually proceeding with the mission part, though :p

My latest technique!:

Doton: Shifting Earth

Attribute Costs: Control * 5 (4?), Stamina * 3, Dexterity (?) * 3

Chakra Cost: 15 chakra per minute. The technique is not big or flashy, and affects little change. I'd have said 10, but that seems too low for a technique that's actually effective.

Description: This technique was developed to be used in close combat by someone with an affinity for misdirection. It doesn't take long to use, and has no immediate effect, but it allows the user to slightly shift the ground beneath them a short distance in any direction from them to exploit superior footing. A savvy user of this technique may throw in extra handseals to make the opponent think they're under the effect of a genjutsu, so subtle is the movement. It does, however, require increasing levels of skill to use effectively against more competent opponents -- the forces high level ninja combat use make footing slightly less impactful.

Mechanics: This technique subtly adjusts the earth's position at a distance of up to ½ Shifting Earth's level in meters, to a limit of Medium Range. It provides a bonus of (2/5 Shifting Earth level - [Highest involved combatant's Combat Dice (Multicombatant, etc. not included) / 10]) to a limit of 5.

This technique may provide additional benefit to those with fighting styles that have a bent toward deception. If this is desired, give the creator a nudge to work on it.

XP Efficiency: To get a +5 bonus against an enemy combatant with 50 combat dice would be 528 XP according to this, not accounting for already-spent XP toward attributes. If you were to do so for Hazō, it would instead take 367 XP

If that is too effective, consider reducing the shifting earth level multiplier to ⅓ -- that would increase the XP required to 720. For Hazō, this would be 559.

If that is too ineffective, consider either increasing the shifting earth level modifier to ½ -- for 185, or 126 for Hazō. Alternately, you could consider increasing the limit from 5 to 8, or 10. The latter would not particularly affect the XP cost, however.

This technique is likely, for a Taijutsu specialist, to require additional Chakra Control investment, and possibly a small amount of stamina investment.

For a ninjutsu specialist, it is likely to require stamina and dexterity investment.

For a throwing weapons specialist at medium range, it is likely to require additional stamina investment and a small amount of dexterity investment.

Notes: This may not exactly be a technique commonly available if at all, though it's possible. It's quite clearly intended for Hazō's use, so it may turn out to be something he needs to Technique Hack -- to that end, it is, I hope, relatively simple. I also leave it to QM discretion (read: I'm not sure -- it makes sense, but kind of throws off the balance) -- though this should be determined ahead of time -- whether chakra boost affects what is subtracted from the adjusted Shifting Earth level

Example: If Hazō had a Shifting Earth level of 25 and was fighting an opponent with level 60 Combat stat, he would get--

(⅖ of Shifting Earth (10) - Highest involved Combat stat / 10 (6) = 4)

A total of 4 bonus dice from this technique. If he were instead fighting someone with combat level 30, he would still be limited to 5 dice bonus -- if he were fighting someone with 80 (Jashin forbid), he'd instead get a bonus of 2.
 
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