[]Four Element Pill of Steel Heart: Using the base of a burning plum that is deliberately imperfectly refined to transfer both its strong stimulant qualities along with improvements in qi density and refining it to the golden core level will make a mighty pill. The stimulant qualities on their own will significantly improve the sales value as many a golden core enjoy the sensation coming from such pills. From there it can be refined through divine moss and razor wheat to further strengthen its properties in hardening with a finalization through the strong properties of orange rime slime spores. The pill will likely kill anyone lesser than a golden core but it will provide a massive boost in determination and durability like no other. (Makes 5)
I think this Pill for the best. Save experimentation for when we have a better idea of how things work and can afford some inefficiencies and/or fuckups, we need Pills that build up our war chest right now.
We're liable to need to go on another raid either against the Pearl Ferrets next turn, or because someone is grumpy about our land having a Gold Rush that's bringing in a lot of mortals (and so more Spirit Stones), so going with a pill that directly bolsters combat capabilities seems best for now, and any surplus can still be sold.
Making the Void Winds poison I think would still be useful to have done before the next auction, just so we can sell them and show off that yeah, we can make stuff like that.
I am leaning more towards the void winds pills as it is a pretty clear declaration that we are not an easy target and unless the enemy has a formation stage expert then they would suffer massive losses by even attacking us
The thing is, I'm pretty sure the only point when people would be aware that we have the Void Wind Pills would be during the once-in-a-decade auction when we actually advertise what pills we made, and that doesn't happen until the end of Turn 5 (each turn being 2 years.)
That or we use one of them, but using one and outright killing another Sect's Golden Core member would be a way bigger escalation than the counter-raids we've been doing (temporary physical maiming is another story. According to Blackstar, that guy just lost an arm and will be fine in 3-4 years.)
I definitely want us to get a set of Void Wind Pills before the auction so we can advertise that yeah, we can make them, but I think for right now the Steel Heart is better for allowing us to give them to our Golden Cores to provide an immediate combat boost while our position is still being established and we occasionally need to launch a raid to politely explain that we belong.
To repeat my prior arguments, going for the Steel Heart because it is something that can provide us with immediate combat boosts if we need to get into a serious fight to establish our presence, without being the escalation that the Golden Core killing poison would be. We still probably want to do one round of making Pills to make the poison before the Auction in a future turn though, so we can sell/advertise them. But for now, best to go for immediate combat buffs.
I'm curious who would end up buying a poison pill. Like obviously someone who wanted to poison someone else, but is it hard to determine what a pill does from the outside? Do you just have to trust whoever gave it to you? Not as familiar with the Xianxia setting.
A/N: Just something I thought up for an omake.
---- Exsanguination Hash
With plentiful access to herbs as materials for pill creation, it is inevitable that the Jade Seed Sect will have various disciples attempting to experiment with different combinations in hopes of either the prestige of a new type of pill, or another method of personal empowerment. Once in a while, something truly revolutionary is created.
Other times, what is created are things like the so-called "Exsanguination Hash." While the combination of Heavenly Razor Wheat and Frost Hemp has long been a staple for the production of Qi Recovery pills within the Jade Seed Sect, it is perhaps inevitable that this combination would instead be used for recreational substances. The usual hash created from Frost Hemp - distilled and pressed to maximize its effects, is enhanced with crushed Razor Wheat, with the resulting mixture then heated, bubbled, and pressed with Qi. Additional sessions of refinement can create ever-more potent results, but the overall process is doable even by Outer Disciples.
The resulting hash can be utilized as a Qi replenishment similar to a pill, albeit one that renders the user insensate and has a high risk of stomach lacerations should any part of the distillation process be done incorrectly. Given the need for the two ingredients of Exsanguination Hash for many basic pills and even sustenance for the Sect at large, preventing Disciples from making and using it has proven impossible despite the best attempts of generations of elders. Among the most experienced makers of the hash, it has been a subject of black humor that the internal injuries inflicted by poorly made hash merely accentuates the high the drug provides.
Once in a while, a Disciple takes these jokes too literally, and attempts to make deliberately flawed hash to utilize as a cultivation aid, believing that the internal wounds to the stomach and intestines help cleanse the Meridians, or bring the user further away from the mortal realm and closer to the Heavens, enhancing the possibility of a Breakthrough. The end result is generally enough to dissuade anyone else from trying something similar for the next couple decades.
Yeah we need a combat power boost on tap for getting established, the poison is a nuclear option that would be very out of pocket to actually use right now and the auction to show it off isn't for a while yet so it doesn't have to be our first product.
Vote Called for: [X]Four Element Pill of Steel Heart
Turn 2: Damnable Juniors
AA542 Dong Liang
Spirit Stone Vault: Approximately 50 thousand
Internal News:
In the largest reversal of fortune after the last two bloody years, the sect has been blessed through the successful breakthrough of Wei Xiang to the golden core in a prodigious fifty years since starting cultivation. Her joining of the council of elders was through a grand ceremony, reminiscent of the old standard and in front of the great jade pill furnace. After successfully concocting a golden core-level pill through the furnace in the prescribed three-month period she has achieved the rights of an elder and the calling to instruct inner disciples. As the youngest elder on the council her role is inherently junior baring a further breakthrough but if the heavens continue to smile on the sect a route may be discovered towards domain foundation.
The situation with training has not gotten much better as the sect is still raising hundreds of outer disciples who do not know basic techniques and are practically incompetent. The lack of technique would be one thing but they are incapable of even doing the most basic of mathematics for the concoction of pills leading to accidents and a continuous loss of crucibles. Restrictions on their use would only limit their advancement but something needs to be done before a truly unsustainable number of disciples are lost to their own idiocy or chronic over-estimation of capability. The increased number of mortals coming in is certain to cause a rapid increase in the prosperity of the province, but it is sure to raise the spirit beast population.
The sect itself has finally passed the period of raids with the cultivators left transformed cut down by the Towering Horizon Sect with rumors spread of the example made. The Great Pearl Ferret Sect has quieted their raids to the burning of a few border outposts and the usual series of thefts that bordering sects engage in. Some of the youths convinced of their clear immortality after breaking through have as typical in these times perished for attempting to stop the incursions or even by crossing the border for their treasures but this has been poor for all involved. As long as examples can be made and remembered something of peace can be maintained but the largest problem remains the massive Jewel Blossom Sect which has disrespectfully insulted two elders.
Personal Actions(Choose Five):
[]Cultivate: A strong sect deserves a strong leader and while the further stages of the Open Lotus Art are undiscovered, that simply means more and harsher cultivation must be done. The golden core stage is not the end of the art and dozens have attempted to break through, with some historically accomplishing it. The methodology is unknown but it is certainly possible. Starting work from seeping the Qi into a general domain from the core to nourish the core is the current safe theory of cultivation and it must be attempted vigorously to achieve a great breakthrough. (30 Thousand Spirit Stones(to attempt/not per action)) (Bonus from closed-door cultivation if taken 4 times)
[]Determine Appropriate Inner Disciple Rewards: Instead of cultivating at the highest peak and gathering and refining Qi, time can be spent on talking to inner disciples and gleaming the truth from their proclamations. Few would ask for less, but every one of them wishes to be paid in many spirit stones for doing nothing but cultivating all day. Local boards for rare ingredients focused on the refinement of pills can be organized along with partial shares instead of traditional rewards to ensure that they benefit directly rather than abstractly from the hardest work.
[]Determine Appropriate Outer Disciple Rewards: Those given a chance at immortality by inclusion into the sect are expected to long be grateful for the honor, but the gratitude never lasts long as each attempt to stumble higher. Training can be given favorably and pill furnaces are limited for the refinement of pills. By rewarding the outer disciples for achievements in hunting down beasts and providing spirit herbs by reduced price pills the sect can make a tidy profit while improving its ranks. Those most capable of hunting will of course be the strongest and most capable of advancing, ensuring that the right cultivators receive the best resources.
[]Pill Refining: The refinement of a new pill using the jade furnace is arduous work involving time spent away from cultivation for something as base as a few tens of thousands of spirit stones. The ingredients are there to make pills for golden core cultivators in a decent supply and spending time to make a few dozen can secure enough combat power and cultivation materials to further fund the sect. Local sourcing of ingredients and the poor financial accounts of the sect limit what can be done now but those will be fixed by the next auction. (Can Take Multiple Times)
[]Make Formal Contact with a Sect: A proper diplomatic party is a gaudy and worthless affair compared to more important cultivation, but it is a formality that must be done. Gathering two elders and a gaggle of inner disciples along with some basic gifts before setting off to a sect can ensure a favorable impression and intimidate some of their inner disciples to avoid the border, at least for a few years. Being a known quantity further has the advantage as the most bloody-minded will not take offense to the sudden appearance of a new sect in the area. (5 Thousand Spirit Stones) (Choose Great Pearl Ferret/Jewel Blossom Sect)
[]Observe Mortal Hunters: Recent improvements in technique and equipment have already led to hundreds of stories of mere mortals downing spirit beasts. Suppressing one's cultivation and following around a dozen mortals as they attempt to hunt spirit beasts to death can prove enlightening and give a basis for working with the simplest outer disciples. The rumors may just be that, but saving a few dozen mortal hunters from spirit beasts can create an image of benevolence. If their techniques are applicable, reducing the loss of outer disciples to the wilderness can be revolutionary in keeping up numbers.
[]Observe Inner Disciples: The inner disciples have clearly been neglected, poorly trained, and ignored for too long. Taking some time away from important management work to follow inner disciples and see how they are being lazy in their cultivation and training. Some of the elders have called the youths of today lazy and indolent but they are youths that have been raised by the sect, making it the direct fault of the elders. If it's a question of more intensive training alone, it can be solved in a fortnight without issue but if it is truly a generational problem then more extreme means will have to be considered.
[]Improve Outer Disciple Quality: The traditional way of training thousands of disciples for the recruitment of a few dozen gems works and works well, but there is something wrong with the process. Illiterate up-jumped peasants have somehow made it into the sect and worse have managed the basics of cultivation through some strange deviation of improvisation. Personally visiting the four training centers that have been set up and ensured that the outer disciples running them are at least minimally competent. Some punishments will of course have to be dolled out for sloth but that can be rapidly fixed with a minimum of personal attention.
[]Lead A War Party: Constant low-level raids from the Towering Horizon and Pearl Ferret sect have sapped through the lowest cultivators with their raids, stealing treasures and injuring our very weakest cultivators. Instead of allowing the insult to stand, a war party can be organized with the elders and inner disciples, crossing the border for a glorious slaughter of any that stand in our way. By the point that the enemy sects can respond we will have gained a massive amount of plunder, resources, and possibly even manuals and seeds. As long as the sect has a plentiful supply of pills at the golden core level any insult can be avenged and diplomatically reversed. (Loot) (Can combine with Pill Refining) (Choose Great Pearl Ferret or Towering Horizon Sect)
[]Test New Pills: Using the jade furnace to work on the finest pills in the empire remains an option and poorer ingredients can be substituted for the first stages of experimentation. The refinement of a true five-element breakthrough pill is beyond the herbs available and too risky, but lower-level ones can be pioneered. Even successfully refining a pill capable of reliably breaking through otherwise stagnant outer disciples to inner ones would massively improve the capabilities of the sect and ensure it can overcome any obstacle. The work itself is going to be beneath an elder, but needs must be at the current loss rates. (Can be taken up to 3 times)
[]Teach Disciples: The previously capable inner disciples are a mess that is literate in a tangential sense, half have not seen a manual in a decade and the other half have misunderstood more than half of it. Rectifying the situation will take intensive and complete efforts to get them productive and capable of so much as managing to breathe much less improve their cultivation. Personal attention would be a step too far, but a series of provided hints, access to a manual, and a few of the excerpts of old elders can ensure some competency. (Can be taken up to 3 times)
Inner Disciple Actions(Costs Two Personal To Focus on Three) (Several Will Passively Proceed depending on Reward Allocation):
[]Establish a Herb Garden: Getting more seeds sown for supplying critical pill-making ingredients will ensure a steady supply for lower disciples and ensure that the very finest harvests can be made available for proper refinement. The inner disciples would of course prefer to be cultivating rather than weeding gardens and dealing with complicated spirit herbs but it's not like illiterate outer disciples could be trusted with the task. (Choose a Herb) (Can be taken up to 3 times)
[]Prepare Pills for War: Spreading the rumor that wide-scale conflict is coming and encouraging the most precocious to start the production of pills of their level takes a good amount of convincing to ensure surprise is not lost. It can however still be done as with the right hints and management of core disciples even the most stubborn and focused on their cultivation will favor their survival.
[]Prepare Pills for Breakthrough: The youths generally do not need to be told or encouraged to make their pills to attempt to break through to further stages, but they do need to be managed to provide pills to anyone else. Ensuring that rewards are provided and encouragement for training is made to those who can supply masses of lower-ranked pills for the advancement of outer disciples can build up sect numbers. These pills are typically available and traded for, but a glut now can be valuable for improving combat power.
[]Hunt Spirit Beasts: The wily spirit beasts in the rivers and mountains are a threat to outer disciples, are a nuisance to the mortals, and contain valuable reagents. Leading inner disciples into mortal danger would be frowned upon but by popularizing certain recipes requiring the parts of beasts and offering the correct rewards for their hunting many can be enticed to take their chances. Some may never return but a few hundred carcasses can help sect funds and spirit stone reserves.
[]Train in Combat: Combat training for juniors is seemingly all they tend to do as they practice, but it stays a key part of cultivation. A sound body hosts a sound mind and being able to at least match any other cultivator in the sect helps to keep up morale and ensure that other sects think twice before invading the sect territory. Taking some time to personally manage them and organize a few lower bracket tournaments can help the sect martially and build up some prestige by committing a few cheap cultivation resources.
[]Build Treasures: Finer arrays, swords, alembics, and furnaces typically work for inner disciples looking to advance their own cultivation by making the tools. By enticing them to make far more than for personal use and for lower level cultivators much of the risk of those making their own first furnaces can be reduced. Much of the work will happen due to spending a few handfuls of spirit stones on internal commissions, but the cost should be minimal.
[]Train Juniors: Training illiterate juniors in the basics of cultivation and the techniques of the Open Lotus Art is a time-consuming but necessary measure. Ensuring that those who want access to training improve juniors can encourage a virtuous cycle of constant promotions for those willing and able to instruct. Quality of instruction is never going to be the best, but those that are capable will rise no matter the quality of instruction. (Can be Taken Twice)
Ingredient
Availability
Element
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Celestial Dewberries
Seeds
Fire
Qi Reserves
Elemental Shift
Spirit Poison
Burning Plums
Herb Gardens
Fire
Stimulant
Qi Reserves
Qi Density
Star Grass
Seeds
Fire
Meridian Flow
Physical Poison
Qi Recovery
Stone Seed Flower
Seeds
Earth
Qi Hardening
Spiritual Poison
Qi Density
Divine Moss
Seeds
Earth
Mental Poison
Qi Density
Qi Hardening
Heavenly Razor Wheat
Herb Gardens
Metal
Sustenance
Qi Recovery
Qi Density
Black Rotherb
Seeds
Metal
Physical Poison
Mental Poison
Breakthrough Aid
Spiritual Reed
Herb Gardens
Water
Qi Hardening
Qi Recovery
Mental Poison
Frost Hemp
Small Cultivation
Water
Qi Recovery
Mental Poison
Elemental Shift
Rose Tallow
Herb Gardens
Water
Elemental Shift
Mental Poison
Qi Recovery
Orange Rime Slime
Spores
Water
Qi Density
Qi Recovery
Spirit Poison
Relentless Growth Vine
Herb Gardens
Wood
Root Growth
Physical Poison
Spirit Poison
White Bark Trees
Seeds
Wood
Spirit Poison
Meridian Growth
Root Growth
The Growing Shrub
Herb Gardens
Wood
Meridian Growth
Elemental Shift
Physical Poison
Spotted Shrub
Herb Gardens
Wood
Spirit Poison
Mental Poison
Breakthrough Aid
Cultivation Base
Total
Stagnant
Advancement
Deaths
Domain Foundation
0
0
0
0
Golden Core
7
4
1
0
Core Formation
15
9
0
0
Qi Condensation
39
28
2
2
Body Refinement
135
N/A
28
31
Qi Formation
154
N/A
126
54
Province Population: Approximately thirty thousand
Passive Spirit Stone Income: Approximately a thousand
This is a lie BTW. Last turn we had "approximately 40 thousand", but we only had a net gain of 5 thousand. Our guy is, shall we say, less than capable of math.
[ ] Plan Continued Contact
-[ ] Make Formal Contact With a Sect (Great Pearl Ferret)
-[ ] Observe Mortal Hunters
-[ ] Lead A War Party (Great Pearl Ferret)
-[ ] Inner Disciple Actions
--[ ] Establish a Herb Garden (Divine Moss)
--[ ] Hunt Spirit Beasts
--[ ] Train Juniors
Okay, so this was an old plan I wrote up after the Turn 1 results but before the Turn 2 planning. It was basically doing the same thing with the Pearl Ferrets that we did with the Towering Horizon with the mixed War Party - Formal Contact combination.
The other notable thing is that we are currently in the middle of a gold rush, which means more mortals and mortal settlements, which is already attracting Spirit Beasts. We also have a number of mortal Spirit Beast Hunters. As such, the 2nd priority of this turn's plan is going to be dealing with the Spirit Beast issue. So 1 Inner Disciple Action on Hunt Spirit Beasts, and a 2nd on Train Juniors to replace casualties. While Juniors is more Outer Disciples than Inner, it will give us a surplus of Outer Disciples that we can then train into Inner Disciples next turn after we're properly established.
Final thing is a Herb Garden. We want an Earth element Herb Garden since we don't have one yet. Divine Moss was used in both of the two pills we had the option of making last turn, so it seems best to work on it.
The one question is if we want to raid the Great Pearl Ferrets or not. The level of attacks has died down to more normal levels, so we could replace that action with another. Maybe contacting the Jade Blossoms, though we may want to wait until we can send a War Party to them, seeing how they insulted our Elders. Probably something to do with improving our Disciples if not that.
EDIT:
[ ] Plan Continued Contact
-[ ] Make Formal Contact With a Sect (Great Pearl Ferret)
-[ ] Observe Mortal Hunters
-[ ] Observe Inner Disciples
-[ ] Inner Disciple Actions
--[ ] Establish a Herb Garden (Divine Moss)
--[ ] Hunt Spirit Beasts
--[ ] Train Juniors
Decided to go with Observe Inner Disciples, so we can figure out what they're doing "wrong" and teach the Outer Disciples to not do that.
The one question is if we want to raid the Great Pearl Ferrets or not. The level of attacks has died down to more normal levels, so we could replace that action with another. Maybe contacting the Jade Blossoms, though we may want to wait until we can send a War Party to them, seeing how they insulted our Elders.
Given the current issues with our Outer Disciples, I think we should spend an action trying to fix their issues ourselves rather than leaving it to the Inner Disciples, who are also undertrained albeit less so.
Given the current issues with our Outer Disciples, I think we should spend an action trying to fix their issues ourselves rather than leaving it to the Inner Disciples, who are also undertrained albeit less so.
Eh, the thing with Train Juniors is that even if the Outer Disciples we get from it aren't of optimal quality, it kinda doesn't matter at the moment? Looking at the Sect Resources tab, about a quarter to a third of the two ranks of Outer Disciples get burnt through each turn, and that's just regular cost of doing business as far as Xianxia is concerned.
We definitely want to improve Outer Disciple Quality, but not at the moment. Also, our guy doesn't even know what the Outer Disciples issues are and what issues have been carried over to the Inner Disciples.
Examining the Inner Disciples first would help us work through what bad habits actually get carried over as the Disciples Breakthrough, which we can work to address in our Outer Disciples next turn.
While that won't help the Outer Disciples we train now, the attrition rate is high enough that it really won't matter in the long run. The Outer Disciples we train now are really just meatshields to absorb casualties with and labor force for our growing Herb gardens.
This is a lie BTW. Last turn we had "approximately 40 thousand", but we only had a net gain of 5 thousand. Our guy is, shall we say, less than capable of math.
The lack of technique would be one thing but they are incapable of even doing the most basic of mathematics for the concoction of pills leading to accidents and a continuous loss of crucibles.
This tidbit leads me to think []Build Treasures could be useful in helping our outer disciples take less attrition and succeed more. Might want to do it this turn.
