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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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Cariyaga said:
We could work on Lake-in-a-seal seals.
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We should do this but I worry that it would take a significant amount of time to perfect.

Lake-in-a-seal V1 might just be 100-1000 kg of water. If we can figure out to make an array of them or a way to set multiple off at once without a sealing failure, thats ideal.
KaGoGoGadgetMe said:
Give Noburi the Seal Contract, so that he can claim to be the greatest Gōketsu Seal-Master.
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Yes!
 
faflec said:
We should ask the Pangolins about the status of their war/expansionism at some point.
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I'd imagine they'd stop after taking over multiple neighbours; they only have so many pangolin to go around, even if 5SB platform gives an advantage they'll need some time to centralize their expansions.
 
Cariyaga said:
I'd imagine they'd stop after taking over multiple neighbours; they only have so many pangolin to go around, even if 5SB platform gives an advantage they'll need some time to centralize their expansions.
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Which is why they want to use the Clans they conquered as additional fodder. Which means making them additional guarantees and etc.. Like giving them another Summoner who they trust (us).
 
First we supplied Pangolin Pizarro with weapons. Then we took his literal gold in payment. And now we want slaves from pacified territories?
 
faflec said:
Which is why they want to use the Clans they conquered as additional fodder. Which means making them additional guarantees and etc.. Like giving them another Summoner who they trust (us).
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That... could work, actually. The problem is that the condor leader got away, unfortunately.
e:
Roomba said:
First we supplied Pangolin Pizarro with weapons. Then we took his literal gold in payment. And now we want slaves from pacified territories?
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They're good slaves!
 
faflec said:
Which is why they want to use the Clans they conquered as additional fodder. Which means making them additional guarantees and etc.. Like giving them another Summoner who they trust (us).
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Proper integration would take decades though. Plus they still need to deal with rebel factions, like with the Condors who haven't submitted.

Roomba said:
First we supplied Pangolin Pizarro with weapons. Then we took his literal gold in payment. And now we want slaves from pacified territories?
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Not slaves, just oddly shaped Pangolins who happen to have different summon scrolls. ;)
 
@faflec (also @eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail)

I'm working on a diplomacy chart (bubbles representing nations, connected with lines indicating relations) for the elemental nations: I would appreciate it if you could provide me with the following:

Who is allied, who has favorable trade (such that war would be disadvantageous), Who has diplomatic tensions with whom, etc.

Particularly Leaf, Sand, and Mist, but the more information I can get, the better we can plan our diplomatic activities.
 
Cariyaga said:
@faflec (also @eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail)

I'm working on a diplomacy chart (bubbles representing nations, connected with lines indicating relations) for the elemental nations: I would appreciate it if you could provide me with the following:

Who is allied, who has favorable trade (such that war would be disadvantageous), Who has diplomatic tensions with whom, etc.

Particularly Leaf, Sand, and Mist, but the more information I can get, the better we can plan our diplomatic activities.
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Jackercracks said:
List of questions then, I'll try to keep it simple. Out of Iron, Waterfall, Snow, Tea, Sea, Fire, and Mist what are their current general political climates,


  • Iron: Isolationist, and mostly left alone because of its unimportance and low value.

  • Waterfall: Allied with Earth country, produces a lot of food.

  • Snow: No one on your team knows. Snow is North Nowhere to most of the world.

  • Tea: None of the genin remember and Inoue has never had a mission there.

  • Sea: A de facto neutral ground with little by way of natural resources, and much by way of unsavoury dealings between ninja villages and civilians alike. Ruled by elusive ninja pirate lords.

  • Fire: Hiruzen is known as a calm and peaceful man and a great leader, but there are stories from a few decades ago about what happens when you push him too far; there's a crater on the spot where one of those stories happened, and it's big enough to put a small hamlet in. Add to that the Sharingan, Byakugan, Inuzaka, Aburame, etc etc etc and everyone walks soft around Fire. Inoue has gone on infiltration missions there; she knows that there is some internal strife -- clan leaders who would like more freedom, differences of opinion on how things should be done, etc -- but none of it is strong enough to be exploitable. See comments about Hiruzen above.

  • Mist: Generally stable. Yagura is respected for both his power and his intelligence. The Bloody Mist thing was a long time ago and long since gone. (Although not forgotten by people like Shikigami.) Recently attempted to annex part of Noodle. You're not sure how the attempt fared without your group there to join in the fighting.
...

estimated strength of their ninja villages, stance towards civilians, and connections with rest of the world?
  • Iron: No organized ninja village that you're aware of, although they do have ninja. Bit of a second-rate place -- not much in the way of natural resources or anything to attract outside attention.
  • Waterfall: Allied with Earth.
  • Snow: No one on the team really knows. They trade a bit, but not much.
  • Tea: One strong clan and some non-clan ninja.
  • Fire: 1200 - 1400; supportive; allied with Noodle, Tea, and Sand; generally open to trade
  • Mist: Mist: ~1300; civilians are producers and second-class citizens; suspicious, allies with Nagi and Honey, although definitely as senior partners and not equals.
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Velorien said:
"My one concern is Rain, because no one knows what the hell is going on with Rain. Ever since Hanzō of the Salamander sealed off the borders, not even a Transformed mouse has been able to get in or out. Infiltration teams sent that way stop reporting the second they get close.
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Velorien said:
Rice is a very bountiful land which provides a notable proportion of the continent's food, and as a consequence has a comparatively high standard of living. The reason that its resource wealth and lack of hidden village has not led to its rapid conquest is that the Rice ninja have publically expressed their will to burn the entire country to ashes before they'll let a single farm be taken by their enemies. Their reputation for ruthlessness is sufficient that no one has tried to call their bluff.

Ordinarily, you'd expect that sort of announcement to lead to rebellion from a civilian population which does not wish to be burned to ashes in the event of war, or at least civil unrest which would be very bad for business. However, the Rice commoners are fiercely loyal, seeing their ninja as the only ones who remained among the people instead of sequestering themselves in hidden fortresses and keeping all the benefits of civilisation for themselves. In addition, those commoners had front row seats for the pillaging of Iron next door, and many would themselves put their fields to the torch rather than become slaves to a permanent foreign occupation (or so they declare).

As a consequence of all this, village ninja are unwelcome in Rice, with only a couple of towns (the one you're in, and one more in southeast Rice) established as safe spaces where representatives of hidden villages can come (with permission) to negotiate, communicate and be fleeced for all they're worth by opportunistic merchants. On the other hand, while missing-nin aren't exactly welcome as such (and any seen as competing with the clans for missions tend to find themselves eviscerated and hung in a public square), one clan or another will often find itself in a situation where it does not wish to get its own hands dirty – and deniable assets never go out of style.
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Velorien said:
Inoue-sensei gave you the following briefing on River back in Iron:

"Quick history lesson. Way back when, after a particularly bad drought, Sand decided to go annex some good arable land. Its northern neighbours aren't exactly poster children for agriculture either, and Rain and Grass managed to throw some kind of pact together with Claw at the last minute, so Sand decided to take a chunk out of River instead.

"Big mistake. River is a labyrinth, kids, a labyrinth that Hidden Valley ninja know like the back of their hand and nobody else does. Guerrilla warfare nearly bled Sand dry – oh, you know what I mean – and if they'd stayed any longer, odds are they'd have had Leaf buying free passage from River and going for a full-on invasion.

"Anyway, lesson learned, stay the hell out of River. Ever since, it's been a stable buffer state between Wind and Fire, and that's one reason why the two are such close allies. Meanwhile, River makes a mint facilitating trade between Wind and most of the rest of the continent. So the border between River and Fire isn't as patrolled as you might expect. Leaf would be crazy to invade, for both military and economic reasons, and anybody else would be crazy to invade through Leaf."

She is reluctant to talk to you more than she has to, but you've been able to glean the following about Waterfall:

- Waterfall is rumoured to possess a trove of overpowered secret ninjutsu, and to be the only non-EN village in possession of a Tailed Beast. At Inoue-sensei's Mist clearance, she has no way of knowing how true this is.
- Waterfall neigbours Iron, and used to neighbour Whirling Tides. It had front-row seats for what the Elemental Nations did to both, and this informs its foreign policy.
- Waterfall is allied with Grass, and its passive support is a significant factor in Grass's de facto leadership of the minor villages. It's also yet another reason for common neighbours Earth and Fire to stay well away.
- Waterfall does not involve itself in interactions with the wider world (as far as anyone knows), and does most of its commerce through Grass. Only a few extremely trusted outsiders ever get to see the village itself, which is said to be the most beautiful of all.

The Merchant's Gazetteer you picked up in Leaf has the following to say:

"Merchants seeking to trade with Waterfall are best off going to the Grass border towns of Mamura, Shigan or Ottori. Grass raised its tariffs on luxury goods last year, so don't get caught out, and avoid competing with locals on common agricultural produce. The political situation has been stable since the resolution of the Kanshin Affair, so you're unlikely to get caught in ninja crossfire, but rumours say that yakuza are developing a stronger presence in the area.

"River's exports of chakra beast body parts soared this spring, so get 'em while they're cheap. The Fire-River-Wind route is particularly profitable while the boom lasts, but be sure to hire River ninja guides or you might never be seen again!

"Tensions between Fang and Claw have risen again this year after an unusually high number of border incidents, so extreme caution is advised when crossing. Droughts in Fang are opening up possibilities for food trade, while the ascension of the new Claw daimyo after his predecessor's untimely demise presents an opportunity to build rich new business relationships.

"Reports from Mountain have been limited since none of the Merchant's Gazetteer contributors venture that far afield. Adventurous traders, please write in for the next edition!

"As for Bear, we reiterate our annual recommendation. Do not go to Bear."
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Velorien said:
  • Mari doesn't know much about northern Earth. Lightning is sparsely populated in general - it's said to mainly be composed of inhospitable mountains - and she has no comment on the north in particular.
  • Bear is a hole in Mari's knowledge. If it has a ninja village, then Mist certainly doesn't know about it, nor any civilian community with a bearing (sorry) on Mist's interests. With nothing to infiltrate and no famous notable features, Mari has never cared enough to try to learn about it. Nor does the common knowledge she's been exposed to have anything to say except Do Not Go to Bear. Kagome is reasonably confident it is home to an advanced chakra beast civilisation that kidnaps travellers to serve as slaves and experimental subjects - though, then again, that might be just what their human collaborators want us to think.
  • Keiko thinks that Waterfall can't really allow all their trade to be bottlenecked in three Grass towns, for both logistical and political reasons, but she lacks the data to guess what criteria Waterfall might use for allowing in foreigners, or what procedures they might use to do so securely.
  • Grass's top three missing-nin are a Wind and Water ninjutsu expert, a taijutsu master with a deadly Bloodline Limit-boosted syncretic martial arts style, and a tool user specialising in reach melee weapons. You already know the specialisations of a number of Rice clans. Frost's top three missing-nin are an Earth and Lightning user, a swordmaster with unknown mobility-enhancing powers, and a Water Clone adept. Waterfall's current top three missing-nin are two ranged Bloodline Limit users (Geyser and Corruption Elements) and an immortal taijutsu master. There is no section for Bear.
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Velorien said:
Frost is formally neutral. It is the major trade hub for goods travelling in and out of the Lightning Country, and uses its strong commercial ties to Rice and Hot Springs as leverage to prevent Lightning from annexing it (a permanent and not unreasonable source of fear given Lightning's desire for arable land). As of the 26th of June, Hazō doesn't know that anything important's happened in Hot Springs since you left, or what impact it might have on Frost's geopolitics.
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Everything i could care to remember off the top of my head. tl;dr Leaf is allied with Noodle, Tea, and Sand, Claw and Fang are assholes to each other, Rock is allied with Waterfalls (who is also allied with Grass), Mist are 'allied' with Nagi and Honey (though given that they just got suckerpunched this might change). Rice is isolationist and nobody cares about Iron. Oh yeah, Frost is the hub between Rice, Hot Springs, and Cloud. Hot Springs...I dunno, maybe they're still in bed with Mist?

Edit: Forgot to add that Ame is also isolationist. At least, as far as Hazou knows.
 
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Cariyaga said:
@faflec (also @eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail)

I'm working on a diplomacy chart (bubbles representing nations, connected with lines indicating relations) for the elemental nations: I would appreciate it if you could provide me with the following:

Who is allied, who has favorable trade (such that war would be disadvantageous), Who has diplomatic tensions with whom, etc.

Particularly Leaf, Sand, and Mist, but the more information I can get, the better we can plan our diplomatic activities.
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faflec said:
Everything i could care to remember off the top of my head. tl;dr Leaf is allied with Noodle, Tea, and Sand, Claw and Fang are assholes to each other, Rock is allied with Waterfalls (who is also allied with Grass), Mist are 'allied' with Nagi and Honey (though given that they just got suckerpunched this might change). Rice is isolationist and nobody cares about Iron. Oh yeah, Frost is the hub between Rice, Hot Springs, and Cloud. Hot Springs...I dunno, maybe they're still in bed with Mist?
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Just wanted to point out that @faflec posted less than 10 minutes after @Cariyaga here. In case anyone was wondering why the QMs want to take him away from us.
 
Cariyaga said:
Oh right, romance is helpful for most folks' mental health. Damn, that's gonna throw off my schedule.
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It is? I mean, I guess successful romance is, but isn't that vastly in the minority?

MadScientist said:
That you like writing interpersonal conflict, while Vel likes writing intrapersonal conflict.

Personally, based on my favourite character to write (in my original fiction), I have to side with Vel.
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What is this original fiction, and where can I find it?

Waffle said:
Is @Velorien going to write the punching scenes or should we expect another interlude?
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Probably the latter. Ideas welcome; no munchkining please.
 
ALRIGHT. Let me know if I missed anything, but here's the work in progress, as we know at the moment (and working under the assumption that there's an alliance made between Mist and Leaf soon):
 
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Velorien said:
Probably the latter. Ideas welcome; no munchkining please.
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[X] Kagome reacts to the Grue
[X] Shikaku reacts to the Grue
Of course, if you've already got plans for how to show us in person, that's fine, but one way or another lurkers need to hear the truth!

[X] Mist's Warhawks
Strays close to 'no munchkining please' if showing them off would reveal too much OOC information, but it might be nice to see them directly for how much they've shaped the negotiations so far.

[X] What Team Bloodrage has been up to
A little easier on the OOC information because they're presumably being spied on a lot nowadays so Leaf will already know most of what we'd see here, and a followup to that thread could be fun.
 
Cariyaga said:
ALRIGHT. Let me know if I missed anything, but here's the work in progress, as we know at the moment (and working under the assumption that there's an alliance made between Mist and Leaf soon):
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A couple pieces of feedback:

1) If colored lines are indicative of different information, something other than "various shades of red" might make it easier to read (with cooler colors typically being used to indicate more positive relations)
2) Colorblind-friendliness is a thing
3) If possible, it might be a good idea to try and overlay this on an EN map, so that the nation-proximity relationship is visible as well; Mist-Noodle "Diplomatic Tension" means a very different thing if they are direct neighbors, than if both Leaf and Rock are between them
4) For funsies, make it a pokemon type-chart-style spreadsheet?
 
Icehawk78 said:
A couple pieces of feedback:

1) If colored lines are indicative of different information, something other than "various shades of red" might make it easier to read (with cooler colors typically being used to indicate more positive relations)
2) Colorblind-friendliness is a thing
3) If possible, it might be a good idea to try and overlay this on an EN map, so that the nation-proximity relationship is visible as well; Mist-Noodle "Diplomatic Tension" means a very different thing if they are direct neighbors, than if both Leaf and Rock are between them
4) For funsies, make it a pokemon type-chart-style spreadsheet?
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1: Noted.
2: Was first draft, do you have any recommendation for colors? I was just using MSPaint base colors. :p
3: Think it's a bit out of my field of expertise (that is, none) to do so.
4: Ehhh, that's more work than this is.
 
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