Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

Cariyaga · Jun 12, 2016

Jello_Raptor said:
This is too precise. We should just ask if he's trying to force one or more other families into an unfavorable position.

I want him to have to lie to get around the question. (Lying is usually harder than telling the truth, also it may take him making both deception and diplomacy rolls rather than just a diplomacy roll.)

He's expressed distaste for politicking, although he's clearly adept in it nonetheless. He may appreciate our forthrightness.

Jello_Raptor · Jun 12, 2016

faflec said:
Fuck it. Fine. I'll add some social stuff to the plan and hope it'll be enough for you madmen.

Mind, I'm waiting for something somewhat less "play all our cards face-up and in public" than @Dictator4Hire's plan, but yeah. Some social would be good.

Dictator4Hire · Jun 12, 2016

faflec said:
ohmygodyou guYS IF WE TELL THEM WE CAME HERE FOR THE SCROLL IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT WE CHANGED OUR MIND AFTERWARDS WE WILL BE ATTACKED IMMEDIATELY YOU ALL HAVE TO BE INSANE TO NOT REALIZE THAT AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NO I AM NOT MIMING KAGOME RIGHT HERE I AM ABSOLUTELY SERIOUS THIS PLAN IS THE PART WHERE WE DIE IN FLAMESSSSSS

faflec said:
So you're saying that...deliberately antagonizing a group of religious, isolationist, conservative elders by claiming that we originally came here to steal their priceless religious artifact...is less of a mistake than attempting to avoid antagonizing or pacifying them?

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'll add in a line saying that we thought the scroll had been lost, as in, no one had possession of it so it was free for the taking and, now that we know how important it is to the village, we don't want to offend them anymore by looking like thieves. To be clear to them, we had simply thought it would be a waste to let something as powerful as a summoning scroll go to waste, but now that we see it is not a ninja tool but an item of significant cultural status we respect their hesitation in treating with us.

Cariyaga · Jun 12, 2016

Jello_Raptor said:
Mind, I'm waiting for something somewhat less "play all our cards face-up and in public" than @Dictator4Hire's plan, but yeah. Some social would be good.

Yeah, something slightly less Akane and more Mari would be good.

Dictator4Hire · Jun 12, 2016

Jello_Raptor said:
Honestly, I don't like this plan in general. Going in cards face-up seems too risky. We'd have to diplomance our way further through an entrenched town. A more incremental approach, focusing on the leaders we have good relations with first seems much more reasonable.

Jello_Raptor said:
Mind, I'm waiting for something somewhat less "play all our cards face-up and in public" than @Dictator4Hire's plan, but yeah. Some social would be good.

Cariyaga said:
Yeah, something slightly less Akane and more Mari would be good.

I'm always open to suggestions. What would more "Mari"-like be, in each of your opinions?

Cariyaga · Jun 12, 2016

Dictator4Hire said:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'll add in a line saying that we thought the scroll had been lost, as in, no one had possession of it so it was free for the taking and, now that we know how important it is to the village, we don't want to offend them anymore by looking like thieves. To be clear to them, we had simply thought it would be a waste to let something as powerful as a summoning scroll go to waste, but now that we see it is not a ninja tool but an item of significant cultural status we respect their hesitation in treating with us.

I still think revealing to the village at large (and make no mistake, that's what we'd be doing) what we were coming here for is not a decision to be made lightly or without Takahashi's backing. From what I can tell of his plan, it's to use his political clout to ensure Keiko gets a chance at the scroll. At that point, the other elders may suspect that that is what we came here for, but coming out and telling them gives them the easy out of telling us to get the fuck out now instead of having Takahashi's apprentice attempt the trial, all above board-like.

Dictator4Hire · Jun 12, 2016

Round 3 of additions:

Dictator4Hire said:
[X] Action Plan: Proper Politics Prevent Problems

Goals:

Survive

Explain to Takahashi why the village needs us

Convince other isolationist people at least to not attack us

Fortify the cave first and the old base in the village second as a fallback option

Begin helping out Yuno with her no friends problem

Learn about what exactly the upcoming summoner trial involves and as many of its important nuances as possible

Spend as little amount of time as possible in doing steps 2-6 above (preferably at least 1 week before the vote for Keiko's trial-thing)

Don't needlessly antagonize the isolationists without at least trying to talk things out like adults

How:

Maintain safety protocols when traveling in the village; use the buddy system just like last time.

Kagome has free reign to fortify the cave and old village base we used to live in as he sees fit and can use team members to help him when those members have nothing more important to do.

Arrange for a talk with Takahashi ASAP

Politely ask if his plan is really just to force the Aida or the Inoue into an unfavorable position for his own political gains. We would rather not have to resort to violence if at all possible; too many people have died already and we do not want any more blood on our hands than is absolutely necessary. Is there nothing we can do to convince the isolationists to attempt something new?

Using this analogy as inspiration/baseline (with a more in depth explanation of its intentions here (Inoue can use her discretion whether or not she thinks the analogy is a good idea)), explain to him how his village will never be truly safe from the outside world if they continue their current policy of absolute isolationism.

Takahashi, if your village does not work with us eventually someone stronger than us will show up and conquer all of you; even without the scroll you are a bunch of valuable chakra-using human resources (that's just how it is, sorry).

If you choose to cooperate symbbiotically with us, we can help improve your defenses, strengthen your secrecy, and smuggle in cool stuff/knowledge from the outside.

You give us a sound foundation to build on and it will be the best decision you ever made.

After that speech, politely yet firmly ask for an audience with every elder we have not had an official meeting with yet (the Aida, both of the Azai cousins, and the Inoue). Inform him that we want to have a supermajority of elders in favor of giving us the scroll rather than only a majority for safety's sake

With every elder we have a meeting with (or for the sake of sanity/brevity, all of the elders can gather for one meeting or divided as you see fit), politely highlight the following:

We originally learned of this village due to a rumor of a long lost summoning scroll

We had no idea of the significance of the scroll in your people's culture. We were under the impression that the summoning scroll had been lost to the ages after its owner had vanished and it would be lying forgotten in some ruins or abandoned library. We just wanted to sign the scroll so that we would have a better chance to survive in the cruel outside world. We are impressed that the village has treated it so well and with the respect that it deserves for so many years.

Surprisingly, when we were attacked by a patrol of ninja who had no known affiliation we were intrigued and decided ~~to let the patrol live rather than kill all of them like they were trying to do to us.~~ we were tired of mindless killing and wanted. We wanted to understand who these people were and if these tapirs were the sapient summon animals we had heard about and wanted to sign a contract with.

If we were not missing-nin, a number of us would have been sent back to our home village to gather an invasion force to conquer and forcibly recruit any survivors in this village.

~~Luckily for all of you,~~ We became missing-nin because one of our superiors decided to force us to secede from our our home by lying to us. Consequently, we will not be hypocrites and force you to do something against your core beliefs: even if the majority of the village wants to give us access to the scroll as per Takahashi's instruction, we will not accept until ~~every elder had consented to allowing us to access the scroll.~~ there is a supermajority in favor of allowing us to access the scroll.

We would also appreciate any insight into your culture and lore that you want to give us; Takahashi mentioned something about Ui's heir that sounds important. We do not claim to be his heir, but we would like to know about him and what makes/made him so special.

Mention that we are open to mutually beneficial arrangements with any clan so long as we retain our autonomy; just as we would not expect the village to concede all of their independence to us, so too do we ask politely to retain our freedom.

Given time enough, we would like to temporarily leave the village. When the elders are willing to let that happen we are willing to discuss reasonable conditions to maintain an acceptable level of secrecy for the village.

If they ask if anyone would notice if we never left the village, mention that we know a seal-master summoner who originally pointed us in the direction of Hidden Mountain. If we never return, he may send stronger people here to see what caused our disappearance.

Alternatively, suggest that said summoner might be able to ascertain if anything is wrong with the village's summoning scroll so long as they consent to him examining their most sacred possession.

Conclude each speech with a modest list of our abilities (if pressed, ask them if they would seriously be willing to list all of their most powerful techniques, weapons, bloodlines, etc.) and allow the elders to ask any questions they want while we answer truthfully.

It's time to open up to the village to begin building real trust; the best way to do that is to truthfully explain our backstory in a empathetic way. Cooperation benefits all of us; attempting to snatch the scroll has only a chance of working. I consider having 50+ ninja allied with us better than a chance at a nonfunctional summoning scroll when we can have them hand it over to us of their own free will at a later time when Keiko is more prepared to take whatever it is the trial is supposed to be.

When Noburi next goes on a date with Yuno, prep him with the following advice (actually, has he even told the team about Yuno's confession? If not have him tell us about it so there are no misunderstandings):

Before Noburi implements the following, have Hazou stress to him that Hazou is only being so insistent because he doesn't want something bad to happen to Noburi if Yuno really is irredeemably crazy.

Yuno has been isolated in a closed society for years; it's not her fault she was forced to become a loner. Our whole team has been cut off from our own friends and family back home ever since we were betrayed by one of our leaders, Shikigami, and we want to help Yuno out in her own home; you can't replace ~~home~~ the past, but you can make a better future. Anyone on our team can sympathize with Yuno's plight and a few of us have more open hearts than others.

Stress that, while we want to help her, we have to keep our team safe so there can be no psychotic outbursts against anyone even if something goes wrong. We want to help her, but only if we can stay safe while doing so.

Don't prove all of her naysayers right by lashing out; rise above their pettiness and make them wish they had befriended you before.

Have Noburi ask Yuno if she wants to be introduced in a relatively public setting to his completely platonic friend Akane to see if the two girls could become friends.

Sell the idea to Yuno that Akane has no family obligations or orders to be her friend and that she will do so because that's just the kind of person Akane is (if anyone on our team can befriend a lonely yandere, it's Akane).

Noburi should also tell Yuno that, even if the engagement doesn't work out due to meddling elders' decisions, he will still be at least her friend "no matter what."

Have Keiko come up with possible escape routes and contingencies in the event we need to leave the village in a hurry, with a new found emphasis based on what Takahashi said might happen shortly before or during the summoner trial.

Akane and Hazou look into what Akane's Mechanical Aptitude can do currently as she shows it off to him... in a completely chaste, innocent way (looking at you, Mari-sensei)

(It gives Akane something to do at night and I really really want to see what she can do with it besides make caltrops).

Hazou creates and infuses as many storage seals as he can in his spare time.

The time frame for this plan should not exceed one week at the longest, but can be as short as per the QM's discretion. If actions would take longer than one week, please suspend them or cancel them as necessary until we, the players, can reassess the situation.

Edits will be in italics, unless I'm on mobile in which case... I'll see what I can do.

first major edits credit to @Jello_Raptor and @Cariyaga

second edit courtesy of @Cariyaga regarding telling Takahashi about wanting a supermajority

third edit based on @faflec 's and others concerns that we were not being respectful enough to the village elders when we were talking about how we first heard about the scroll.

faflec · Jun 12, 2016

You guys are crazy. I added some stuff:

Try to set up talks between Inoue and members of the other elder clans:

We can discuss with Takahashi the merit to doing these things.

Speak with the Inoue/Aida as students wanting to learn from the master (i.e., we want to learn your ways).

We speak under our terms (i.e., we don't go to their house to get poisoned).

Try to placate them and make assurances we're decent people who are gladdened to have the chance to settle with the village (hah).

We would also appreciate any insight into your culture and lore that you want to give us since we're uncultured but willing to learn.

Speak with the Kannagi about Yuno.

Point out that Yuno's behavior and history suggests that she will not respond well to the marriage being cut off.

Emphasize that if you (the Kannagi head) end the marriage she may respond violently to you, which would cast doubt on you if you can't control your own family.

Suggest that if Noburi ends the marriage Yuno's anger will be directed at us, instead; it casts less doubt on your position since all the fault lies on us.

Also suggest that if there is a cultural reason for you to break the marriage that even Yuno can't contest (e.g., Noburi has blood on his hands) the marriage can be ended with risk of violence.

Jello_Raptor · Jun 12, 2016

Dictator4Hire said:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'll add in a line saying that we thought the scroll had been lost, as in, no one had possession of it so it was free for the taking and, now that we know how important it is to the village, we don't want to offend them anymore by looking like thieves. To be clear to them, we had simply thought it would be a waste to let something as powerful as a summoning scroll go to waste, but now that we see it is not a ninja tool but an item of significant cultural status we respect their hesitation in treating with us.

First, oh gods yes. Please make this more clear. I'd suggest phrasing it a bit closer to "We thought the scroll was lost, and were hoping we could find more information here to guide us to it. We didn't realize it was still owned and revered by people, and will not steal it or access it without the agreement of the council."

The stuff about "significant cultural status" seems a bit patronizing.

We might also want to add a note about "We'll simply leave if a supermajority tell us that they'd like us to leave." There's a dozen implied threats if they take that option which we should not make explicit.

I'd also change the plan to be a bit more incremental/shorter term:

Ask Takahashi for support in meeting with the elders whom we already have good relationships with.
- If he doesn't give the support, end update.
- If he does, meet with them and lay out the stuff about goals, pelicans, supermajorities, etc..
  - Treat the current plan as "what we currently want to do with the village at large" and explain it to the relatively friendly elders.
Limit the update to 2-3 days rather than a week. Also ask for an explicit countdown till the sealing trial from the QMs. (e.g. "You have 12 days till the sealing trial")

Edit: oh, any such votes will only count if they happen in our presence.

Dictator4Hire · Jun 12, 2016

Cariyaga said:
I still think revealing to the village at large (and make no mistake, that's what we'd be doing) what we were coming here for is not a decision to be made lightly or without Takahashi's backing. From what I can tell of his plan, it's to use his political clout to ensure Keiko gets a chance at the scroll. At that point, the other elders may suspect that that is what we came here for, but coming out and telling them gives them the easy out of telling us to get the fuck out now instead of having Takahashi's apprentice attempt the trial, all above board-like.

Us leaving isn't an option; if we leave, all hope of their village staying a secret is gone. I'd rather spend a bit more time winning over the isolationists so that they don't want to regulate us to second class citizenship as they wanted to do back during the election. Tensions will definitely reach a boiling point if we follow Takahashi's plan to the letter; he even said so when he was partially explaining his plan to Mari.

If his plan is to betray us by claiming half-way through the trial that "The outsiders are attempting to steal the scroll, we must stop them!" we will be boned. Delaying approaching the most sacred religious item and/or religious trial-by-fire until most people don't want to murder/enslave us seems like the best course of action to me.

faflec · Jun 12, 2016

Added stuff on the Yoshida, see full plan:

*sighs*

[X] Action Plan: Becoming Aristobulus
We have 2 weeks before the shitstorm that is actually getting the summoning scroll. So let's make sure we don't start the shitstorm early, and prepare ourselves fully for the shitstorm and ~~possible~~inevitable betrayals.

Ideally this update should end right after the meeting/vote (or during it, like last time).

Goals:

Survive.

Avoid serious village interaction.

Prepare Keiko for the trial.

Figure out how to deal with Yuno.

Try to set up talks with members of the other elder clans.

Prepare contingencies for if Takahashi/Kannagi/others betray us and/or start shit.

Train/research.

Pray to Jashin-sama.

Methods:

Minimize interaction with the village outside of required communications and meetings.

Sustain ourselves fully on hunted meatstuffs, Condense Water + streamwater, and heat from Elemental Mastery + furs + fire.

We should have a metric shitton of this stuff, but if we're low we should stock up.

Whenever Keiko goes to train, she goes with Inoue and Hazou.

Noburi can set time to heal the villagers OR go on a date with Yuno ONLY when Keiko's not doing training. Make sure we have minimum separation of individuals.

Inoue has to (read: pretty please sensei?) tail Noburi with the expectation of a sneak attack from pissed off Gasai or other religious fanatics.

During healing sessions, comment on how nice it is for Keiko to finally have a Wind Release tutor and/or someone else who shares her interests in ninjutsu theory.

If asked, cite paranoia from angry Gasai revenge + desire to avoid another Kouta situation.

Prepare Keiko for the trial.

EVERYONE should brainstorm ways that the trial can play out and how they ought to be solved.

We should take cues from the social and cultural dynamics of Hillbilly Mountain: It's completely possible that Akio passed on his values since they would be tested by the summon, and subsequently integrated into the trial.

Hazou should prepare seals:

Storage scrolls with food, water, medicines, wood, blood, straw decoys, and any other essentials Keiko deems possibly useful. One scroll should be empty in case Keiko needs to store something quickly.

Explosive scrolls (as many as Hazou can plausibly make while maintaining some for himself/the rest of the team) for Keiko to put down and/or throw with weapons.

Noburi should build a second 0.5L barrel for Keiko:

The barrel should contain some 25% CP in the water (details to be discussed).

Noburi should hold this barrel with him at all times to ensure no chakra is lost before the trial.

Noburi should give the barrel to Keiko right before she goes to the trial to minimize the loss of chakra in the water.

Noburi should also give medical checkups on Keiko. Make sure she's healthy, not been poisoned or injured...

Akane should prepare traps and other tools for Keiko, to be held in storage scrolls:

Some type of lock picking kit.

Some manner of caltrops or other method of battlefield denial. These can be explosive if desired (work with Hazou)

Easy-to-set-up tripwires.

Chimes (or equivalent) that rattle (and sound differently) when moved and make noise ONLY after being set up.

An entrenching tool or equivalent (if we don't have that as standard equipment).

Kagome should be encouraged to give Keiko some seals for her use:

Implosion seals to break down tough walls standard explosive tags cannot take out.

Barrier Method Formation (lesser) to be used with explosives.

Emergency Force Wall seals in case Keiko needs a defense or durability-bypassing ability (cut enemy on edge).

Inoue-sensei should instruct Keiko on creative applications of her Zephyr's Reach and weapons skill.

Keiko needs to not break a leg, sprain an ankle, or any other bullshit that can weaken her.

Minimize use of her bloodline unless under Takahashi's training.

Take most of the fortnight to relax but make sure to keep her muscles/brain limber.

Suggest setting up obstacle courses for her to train on with her physical skills + Zephyr's Reach.

Commune with Takahashi on the trial, Yuno, angered Gasai/Inoue/Aida, and other events that may affect these things.

Ask Takahashi more on the trial to help with planning stages.

Ask Takahashi more on the prophecy he hinted at in the last update.

Discuss options on Yuno and angered villagers as seen in other stages of the plan.

Ask Takahashi if Inoue-sensei can sit in on the vote like last time.

Figure out how to deal with Yuno.

Discuss ALL Yuno-based plans with Takahashi and the rest of our team before coming to a concensus. We want minimum bloodshed (as required by Takahashi's agreement).

Discuss the viability of Noburi needing to do something before being allowed to marry:

Kill an enemy combatant (read: ninja) in actual combat (not an execution).

Discuss heavily: Noburi still has to learn the final bits of medical ninjutsu before being officially called a master.

Discuss the viability of Noburi not meeting the requirements of Hillbilly Mountain's culture:

Noburi has shed blood and been stained by blood before. Hillbilly Mountain has a serious hemophobia issue and this may be grounds to cancel the marriage, if Yuno's pariah status is any indication.

Discuss the viability of getting the Kannagi disgraced and forcing them to cancel the marriage.

Discuss the viability of other ways of convincing Kannagi to cancel the marriage himself.

Try to set up talks between Inoue and members of the other elder clans:

We can discuss with Takahashi the merit to doing these things.

Speak with the Inoue/Aida as students wanting to learn from the master (i.e., we want to learn your ways).

We speak under our terms (i.e., we don't go to their house to get poisoned).

Try to placate them and make assurances we're decent people who are gladdened to have the chance to settle with the village (hah).

We would also appreciate any insight into your culture and lore that you want to give us since we're uncultured but willing to learn.

Speak with the Kannagi about Yuno.

Point out that Yuno's behavior and history suggests that she will not respond well to the marriage being cut off.

Emphasize that if you (the Kannagi head) end the marriage she may respond violently to you, which would cast doubt on you if you can't control your own family.

Suggest that if Noburi ends the marriage Yuno's anger will be directed at us, instead; it casts less doubt on your position since all the fault lies on us.

Also suggest that if there is a cultural reason for you to break the marriage that even Yuno can't contest (e.g., Noburi has blood on his hands) the marriage can be ended with risk of violence.

Speak with the Yoshida to apologize.

When we first arrived, Hazou inadvertently insulted the Yoshida by insinuating they didn't know anything about seals. Hazou formally apologizes to the Yoshida clan head for the slight. As apologies Hazou offers to share his knowledge of his storage and explosive seals to the Yoshida, without reservation.

This allows us to keep the Yoshida from hating us (for ignoring/insulting her), offering her seals (but she already knew we have these), and keeping her pacified.

Prepare contingencies for betrayal and attempted murder:

Test general competence of our ninja guard:

Check their rotation across time, any changes between day/night, hours of shift, cave vs. while we hunt...

See if Inoue can manipulate them.

If angry villagers try to attack us in our base:

We should have two genin (not Keiko!!) or Inoue-sensei on guard. At a minimum.

Run. We should have traps everywhere but if they're confident enough to know this it's likely a village-wide assault. We can weather the initial storm but further attacks are gonna be bad.

If angry villagers try to attack us during training/dates/healing/travel:

We run and stall. MEW, scare-you-away explosives...basically any AOE that scares enemies/keeps them from advancing but does not necessarily kill them.

If they escalate so do we. If the whole village seems to be involved (read: >50% of the people) we go all out.

Send up signals (prepared) to alert our team if we're separated.

Get ready to bugger out of the village.

If people try to force us to marry early, attempt to delay/stall using above plans. Run if failure.

If Takahashi does not announce the vote to let Keiko take the trial, prepare to evac and/or steal the scroll.

Scout the temple, asking Takahashi/Yuno for broad ceremony details (time taken, focus needed, general expectations, etc.).

Train/research.

This is a reminder.

Pray to Jashin-sama.

Orisha91 · Jun 12, 2016

Think I have 2 possible solutions for those on the receiving end of the vampiric due "poke" communication.

We can try testing to see if Noburi can sense us using chakra adhesion and repulsion from our feet through mist.

If not, we use our brand new storage sealing abilities to store chakra water and release it on the ground so that we can use water walking taps on the surface of our chakra puddles. Noburi should be able to sense the chakra, I think.

Thoughts?

Cariyaga · Jun 12, 2016

Dictator4Hire said:
Us leaving isn't an option; if we leave, all hope of their village staying a secret is gone. I'd rather spend a bit more time winning over the isolationists so that they don't want to regulate us to second class citizenship as they wanted to do back during the election. Tensions will definitely reach a boiling point if we follow Takahashi's plan to the letter; he even said so when he was partially explaining his plan to Mari.

If his plan is to betray us by claiming half-way through the trial that "The outsiders are attempting to steal the scroll, we must stop them!" we will be boned. Delaying approaching the most sacred religious item and/or religious trial-by-fire until most people don't want to murder/enslave us seems like the best course of action to me.

I just think that straight up informing them of our original intent is something that would be best revealed to them in private after Takahashi talks to them; and certainly we cannot talk to all of them at once for the reason mentioned: they would be obliged to show disgust and despondence for the sake of appearances. However, if you're willing to run this by Mari (and assumedly, we'll be running this by Keiko, as always), I would be a little less reticent. I still think that if we're going to go directly against the deal we made with Takahashi by involving ourselves in village politics, we NEED his approval, otherwise he can just blow us off and call of his apprenticeship altogether.

faflec · Jun 12, 2016

Dictator4Hire said:
If his plan is to betray us by claiming half-way through the trial that "The outsiders are attempting to steal the scroll, we must stop them!" we will be boned. Delaying approaching the most sacred religious item and/or religious trial-by-fire until most people don't want to murder/enslave us seems like the best course of action to me.

Takahashi can't possibly be stupid enough to try this. He's boned by extension because he was the one who proposed they do it, the loss of face would fuck his reputation. And if he wanted to betray us there are way better ways to do it than this. Like, say, keeping us from entering the meeting, proposing random crap that is not relevant to the trial...then having Keiko go in at night to the shrine to be judged. At that point he could claim that we tried to steal the scroll in secret and have the place up in arms. Like what Mizuki did with Akane.

faflec · Jun 12, 2016

I'm going to sleep. Vote ends in 10 hours and ~40 minutes. I'll be awake before then and add any reasonable suggestions to my plan.

Please for the love of god don't vote to tell the religious, isolationist, conservative elders we originally came here for their priceless religious artifact......

Cariyaga · Jun 12, 2016

faflec said:
Takahashi can't possibly be stupid enough to try this. He's boned by extension because he was the one who proposed they do it, the loss of face would fuck his reputation. And if he wanted to betray us there are way better ways to do it than this. Like, say, keeping us from entering the meeting, proposing random crap that is not relevant to the trial...then having Keiko go in at night to the shrine to be judged. At that point he could claim that we tried to steal the scroll in secret and have the place up in arms. Like what Mizuki did with Akane.

...as an aside, strongly suggest to Mari and Keiko to use Zephyr's Reach to listen in on it. I do agree with faflec though. If you insist on it as an idea, please take it out of PPPP and make note to ask Takahashi, Mari, and Keiko about it.

Dictator4Hire · Jun 12, 2016

Jello_Raptor said:
First, oh gods yes. Please make this more clear. I'd suggest phrasing it a bit closer to "We thought the scroll was lost, and were hoping we could find more information here to guide us to it. We didn't realize it was still owned and revered by people, and will not steal it or access it without the agreement of the council."

The stuff about "significant cultural status" seems a bit patronizing.

We might also want to add a note about "We'll simply leave if a supermajority tell us that they'd like us to leave." There's a dozen implied threats if they take that option which we should not make explicit.

I'd also change the plan to be a bit more incremental/shorter term:

Ask Takahashi for support in meeting with the elders whom we already have good relationships with.

If he doesn't give the support, end update.

If he does, meet with them and lay out the stuff about goals, pelicans, supermajorities, etc..

Treat the current plan as "what we currently want to do with the village at large" and explain it to the relatively friendly elders.

Limit the update to 2-3 days rather than a week. Also ask for an explicit countdown till the sealing trial from the QMs. (e.g. "You have 12 days till the sealing trial")

Edit: oh, any such votes will only count if they happen in our presence.

I trust @eaglejarl to have this next update take place in the necessary amount of time as he sees fit; if we limit the update to 2-3 days we might not be able to meet with all of the elders or do much of anything included in the plan. The same applies to the exact wording: if he thinks it is too patronizing he can omit it. I would assume Mari would know what would and would not be too patronizing, but in my wording I wanted to be as appeasing as possible as a show of good will.

The vote idea is solid, I'll add it in soon-ish.

faflec · Jun 12, 2016

Cariyaga said:
...as an aside, strongly suggest to Mari and Keiko to use Zephyr's Reach to listen in on it. I do agree with faflec though. If you insist on it as an idea, please take it out of PPPP and make note to ask Takahashi, Mari, and Keiko about it.

You're thinking of Whisper on the Breeze Technique and that won't work because it's a one-way street: the user has to be the one to talk, not vis versa.

Jello_Raptor · Jun 12, 2016

@faflec:

I'd like to see both a time limit on your plan ("Please don't let this take more than X days") and asking for an explicit countdown from the QMs as to when the council of elders takes place.

[X] Action Plan: Becoming Aristobulus

@Dictator4Hire:

For me to vote for your plan, I'd have to see the suggestions I made earlier and most of sections 2 and 5 from @faflec's plan (prepare keiko, and prepare for betrayal) incorporated into your plan.

Orisha91 · Jun 12, 2016

[X] Research Noburi: Vampiric Dew
[X] Training Keiko: Whatever Takahashi Says

Dictator4Hire · Jun 12, 2016

faflec said:
Takahashi can't possibly be stupid enough to try this. He's boned by extension because he was the one who proposed they do it, the loss of face would fuck his reputation. And if he wanted to betray us there are way better ways to do it than this. Like, say, keeping us from entering the meeting, proposing random crap that is not relevant to the trial...then having Keiko go in at night to the shrine to be judged. At that point he could claim that we tried to steal the scroll in secret and have the place up in arms. Like what Mizuki did with Akane.

He has already made backroom dealings with other elders we were not aware of; Aida Rin even entered to discuss in private with him and forced us to cut our meeting short. All he has to do is tell Keiko "Now is the time for you to complete the trial" and not tell the other council members about his plan to get us the scroll; he could have lied about securing enough votes to pass the motion. He could have told the elders that he has been trying to control our over eager appetite for power by giving us harmless techniques, but he fears that we will soon attempt to steal the scroll in our impatience as barbarians.

We get caught with our hands in the cookie jar, the whole village sees us do it, and we are in a bad position to defend ourselves outside of our cave. It would be the best possible position for them to attack us from.

Dictator4Hire · Jun 12, 2016

Jello_Raptor said:
@Dictator4Hire:

For me to vote for your plan, I'd have to see the suggestions I made earlier and most of sections 2 and 5 from @faflec's plan (prepare keiko, and prepare for betrayal) incorporated into your plan.

Fair enough; I'll add in the preparations bit. What other additions do you have in mind in particular? I think I implemented most of them, I just want to be thorough.

Cariyaga · Jun 12, 2016

Oh, before I fall asleep (I'll be up in time to check the progress here and such, same as faflec): In PPPP, make note that we devote some time to increasing the defenses on our cavebase so that we can, later, decide what they are retroactively. This way we won't lose the best parts of faflec's plan.

Dictator4Hire · Jun 12, 2016

Cariyaga said:
Oh, before I fall asleep (I'll be up in time to check the progress here and such, same as faflec): In PPPP, make note that we devote some time to increasing the defenses on our cavebase so that we can, later, decide what they are retroactively. This way we won't lose the best parts of faflec's plan.

Fusion Dance started: edit number 4 is a go:

Dictator4Hire said:
[X] Action Plan: Proper Politics Prevent Problems

Goals:

Survive

Explain to Takahashi why the village needs us

Convince other isolationist people at least to not attack us

Fortify the cave first and the old base in the village second as a fallback option

Begin helping out Yuno with her no friends problem

Learn about what exactly the upcoming summoner trial involves and as many of its important nuances as possible

Spend as little amount of time as possible in doing steps 2-6 above (preferably at least 1 week before the vote for Keiko's trial-thing)

Don't needlessly antagonize the isolationists without at least trying to talk things out like adults

How:

Maintain safety protocols when traveling in the village; use the buddy system just like last time.

Kagome has free reign to fortify the cave and old village base we used to live in as he sees fit and can use team members to help him when those members have nothing more important to do.

Arrange for a talk with Takahashi ASAP

Politely ask if his plan is really just to force the Aida or the Inoue into an unfavorable position for his own political gains. We would rather not have to resort to violence if at all possible; too many people have died already and we do not want any more blood on our hands than is absolutely necessary. Is there nothing we can do to convince the isolationists to attempt something new?

Using this analogy as inspiration/baseline (with a more in depth explanation of its intentions here (Inoue can use her discretion whether or not she thinks the analogy is a good idea)), explain to him how his village will never be truly safe from the outside world if they continue their current policy of absolute isolationism.

Takahashi, if your village does not work with us eventually someone stronger than us will show up and conquer all of you; even without the scroll you are a bunch of valuable chakra-using human resources (that's just how it is, sorry).

If you choose to cooperate symbbiotically with us, we can help improve your defenses, strengthen your secrecy, and smuggle in cool stuff/knowledge from the outside.

You give us a sound foundation to build on and it will be the best decision you ever made.

After that speech, politely yet firmly ask for an audience with every elder we have not had an official meeting with yet (the Aida, both of the Azai cousins, and the Inoue). Inform him that we want to have a supermajority of elders in favor of giving us the scroll rather than only a majority for safety's sake and that we want to be present when the vote for allowing Keiko to take the trial is made.

With every elder we have a meeting with (or for the sake of sanity/brevity, all of the elders can gather for one meeting or divided as you see fit), politely highlight the following:

We originally learned of this village due to a rumor of a long lost summoning scroll

We had no idea of the significance of the scroll in your people's culture. We were under the impression that the summoning scroll had been lost to the ages after its owner had vanished and it would be lying forgotten in some ruins or abandoned library. We just wanted to sign the scroll so that we would have a better chance to survive in the cruel outside world. We are impressed that the village has treated it so well and with the respect that it deserves for so many years.

Surprisingly, when we were attacked by a patrol of ninja who had no known affiliation we were intrigued and decided ~~to let the patrol live rather than kill all of them like they were trying to do to us.~~ we were tired of mindless killing and wanted. We wanted to understand who these people were and if these tapirs were the sapient summon animals we had heard about and wanted to sign a contract with.

If we were not missing-nin, a number of us would have been sent back to our home village to gather an invasion force to conquer and forcibly recruit any survivors in this village.

~~Luckily for all of you,~~ We became missing-nin because one of our superiors decided to force us to secede from our our home by lying to us. Consequently, we will not be hypocrites and force you to do something against your core beliefs: even if the majority of the village wants to give us access to the scroll as per Takahashi's instruction, we will not accept until ~~every elder had consented to allowing us to access the scroll.~~ there is a supermajority in favor of allowing us to access the scroll.

We would also appreciate any insight into your culture and lore that you want to give us; Takahashi mentioned something about Ui's heir that sounds important. We do not claim to be his heir, but we would like to know about him and what makes/made him so special.

Mention that we are open to mutually beneficial arrangements with any clan so long as we retain our autonomy; just as we would not expect the village to concede all of their independence to us, so too do we ask politely to retain our freedom.

Given time enough, we would like to temporarily leave the village. When the elders are willing to let that happen we are willing to discuss reasonable conditions to maintain an acceptable level of secrecy for the village.

If they ask if anyone would notice if we never left the village, mention that we know a seal-master summoner who originally pointed us in the direction of Hidden Mountain. If we never return, he may send stronger people here to see what caused our disappearance.

Alternatively, suggest that said summoner might be able to ascertain if anything is wrong with the village's summoning scroll so long as they consent to him examining their most sacred possession.

Conclude each speech with a modest list of our abilities (if pressed, ask them if they would seriously be willing to list all of their most powerful techniques, weapons, bloodlines, etc.) and allow the elders to ask any questions they want while we answer truthfully.

It's time to open up to the village to begin building real trust; the best way to do that is to truthfully explain our backstory in a empathetic way. Cooperation benefits all of us; attempting to snatch the scroll has only a chance of working. I consider having 50+ ninja allied with us better than a chance at a nonfunctional summoning scroll when we can have them hand it over to us of their own free will at a later time when Keiko is more prepared to take whatever it is the trial is supposed to be.

When Noburi next goes on a date with Yuno, prep him with the following advice (actually, has he even told the team about Yuno's confession? If not have him tell us about it so there are no misunderstandings):

Before Noburi implements the following, have Hazou stress to him that Hazou is only being so insistent because he doesn't want something bad to happen to Noburi if Yuno really is irredeemably crazy.

Yuno has been isolated in a closed society for years; it's not her fault she was forced to become a loner. Our whole team has been cut off from our own friends and family back home ever since we were betrayed by one of our leaders, Shikigami, and we want to help Yuno out in her own home; you can't replace ~~home~~ the past, but you can make a better future. Anyone on our team can sympathize with Yuno's plight and a few of us have more open hearts than others.

Stress that, while we want to help her, we have to keep our team safe so there can be no psychotic outbursts against anyone even if something goes wrong. We want to help her, but only if we can stay safe while doing so.

Don't prove all of her naysayers right by lashing out; rise above their pettiness and make them wish they had befriended you before.

Have Noburi ask Yuno if she wants to be introduced in a relatively public setting to his completely platonic friend Akane to see if the two girls could become friends.

Sell the idea to Yuno that Akane has no family obligations or orders to be her friend and that she will do so because that's just the kind of person Akane is (if anyone on our team can befriend a lonely yandere, it's Akane).

Noburi should also tell Yuno that, even if the engagement doesn't work out due to meddling elders' decisions, he will still be at least her friend "no matter what."

Have Keiko come up with possible escape routes and contingencies in the event we need to leave the village in a hurry, with a new found emphasis based on what Takahashi said might happen shortly before or during the summoner trial.

Akane and Hazou look into what Akane's Mechanical Aptitude can do currently as she shows it off to him... in a completely chaste, innocent way (looking at you, Mari-sensei)

(It gives Akane something to do at night and I really really want to see what she can do with it besides make caltrops).

Hazou creates and infuses as many storage seals as he can in his spare time.

The time frame for this plan should not exceed one week at the longest, but can be as short as per the QM's discretion. If actions would take longer than one week, please suspend them or cancel them as necessary until we, the players, can reassess the situation.

Prepare Keiko for the trial. (copied and pasted from @faflec 's plan)

EVERYONE should brainstorm ways that the trial can play out and how they ought to be solved.

We should take cues from the social and cultural dynamics of Hillbilly Mountain: It's completely possible that Akio passed on his values since they would be tested by the summon, and subsequently integrated into the trial.

Hazou should prepare seals:

Storage scrolls with food, water, medicines, wood, blood, straw decoys, and any other essentials Keiko deems possibly useful. One scroll should be empty in case Keiko needs to store something quickly.

Explosive scrolls (as many as Hazou can plausibly make while maintaining some for himself/the rest of the team) for Keiko to put down and/or throw with weapons.

Noburi should build a second 0.5L barrel for Keiko:

The barrel should contain some 25% CP in the water (details to be discussed).

Noburi should hold this barrel with him at all times to ensure no chakra is lost before the trial.

Noburi should give the barrel to Keiko right before she goes to the trial to minimize the loss of chakra in the water.

Noburi should also give medical checkups on Keiko. Make sure she's healthy, not been poisoned or injured...

Akane should prepare traps and other tools for Keiko, to be held in storage scrolls:

Some type of lock picking kit.

Some manner of caltrops or other method of battlefield denial. These can be explosive if desired (work with Hazou)

Easy-to-set-up tripwires.

Chimes (or equivalent) that rattle (and sound differently) when moved and make noise ONLY after being set up.

An entrenching tool or equivalent (if we don't have that as standard equipment).

Kagome should be encouraged to give Keiko some seals for her use:

Implosion seals to break down tough walls standard explosive tags cannot take out.

Barrier Method Formation (lesser) to be used with explosives.

Emergency Force Wall seals in case Keiko needs a defense or durability-bypassing ability (cut enemy on edge).

Inoue-sensei should instruct Keiko on creative applications of her Zephyr's Reach and weapons skill.

Keiko needs to not break a leg, sprain an ankle, or any other bullshit that can weaken her.

Minimize use of her bloodline unless under Takahashi's training.

Take most of the fortnight to relax but make sure to keep her muscles/brain limber.

Suggest setting up obstacle courses for her to train on with her physical skills + Zephyr's Reach.

Commune with Takahashi on the trial, Yuno, angered Gasai/Inoue/Aida, and other events that may affect these things.

Ask Takahashi more on the trial to help with planning stages.

Ask Takahashi more on the prophecy he hinted at in the last update.

Discuss options on Yuno and angered villagers as seen in other stages of the plan.

Ask Takahashi if Inoue-sensei can sit in on the vote like last time.

Prepare contingencies for betrayal and attempted murder: (also from @faflec )

Test general competence of our ninja guard:

Check their rotation across time, any changes between day/night, hours of shift, cave vs. while we hunt...

See if Inoue can manipulate them.

If angry villagers try to attack us in our base:

We should have two genin (not Keiko!!) or Inoue-sensei on guard. At a minimum.

Run. We should have traps everywhere but if they're confident enough to know this it's likely a village-wide assault. We can weather the initial storm but further attacks are gonna be bad.

If angry villagers try to attack us during training/dates/healing/travel:

We run and stall. MEW, scare-you-away explosives...basically any AOE that scares enemies/keeps them from advancing but does not necessarily kill them.

If they escalate so do we. If the whole village seems to be involved (read: >50% of the people) we go all out.

Send up signals (prepared) to alert our team if we're separated.

Get ready to bugger out of the village.

If people try to force us to marry early, attempt to delay/stall using above plans. Run if failure.

If Takahashi does not announce the vote to let Keiko take the trial, prepare to evac and/or steal the scroll.

Scout the temple, asking Takahashi/Yuno for broad ceremony details (time taken, focus needed, general expectations, etc.).

Edits will be in italics, unless I'm on mobile in which case... I'll see what I can do.

first major edits credit to @Jello_Raptor and @Cariyaga

second edit courtesy of @Cariyaga regarding telling Takahashi about wanting a supermajority

third edit based on @faflec 's and others concerns that we were not being respectful enough to the village elders when we were talking about how we first heard about the scroll.

fourth edit mostly cannibalizing parts of Becoming Aristobulus by @faflec because he is better at betrayal prep than me and I am not afraid to admit that. Also, added in a line about insisting to be present to hear the vote for whether Keiko's trial will be officially sanctioned

Jello_Raptor · Jun 12, 2016

Dictator4Hire said:
I trust @eaglejarl to have this next update take place in the necessary amount of time as he sees fit; if we limit the update to 2-3 days we might not be able to meet with all of the elders or do much of anything included in the plan. The same applies to the exact wording: if he thinks it is too patronizing he can omit it. I would assume Mari would know what would and would not be too patronizing, but in my wording I wanted to be as appeasing as possible as a show of good will.

The vote idea is solid, I'll add it in soon-ish.

The reason I want the time limit is so that we have time for further preparations or politicing. I'm fine with the update ending without everything done, as long as we can recalculate on that timescale.

We've had entire updates which occur in the span of a minute, and updates which took weeks. If there's not much happening before the time-limit hits, the update might have a shorter word count, which is fine. I also think it's hugely unlikely given the sheer size of the plan.

I figure we're much more likely to have the update end with things not done because @eaglejarl doesn't have time to write another 5000 words. Likely this will end much faster than the time limit you ask for.

Your plan is risky, and will not work unless we can take it step by step and recalculate with each error that pops up. As it stands there is no way it can get us to successfully navigating the council meeting because of murphy's law. I much prefer the outcome of a stable independent VHitM that we can use as a resource, but it's difficult to get to in one fell swoop.

Remember, chaotic systems usually come with exponential growth in error. In order to accurately predict how the system will evolve an additional unit of time in the future, you need to multiply the total number of possible paths and outcomes you consider by some constant factor.

Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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