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Money and Power: A Xianxia Merchant Quest

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[X] The Prodigy, young and talented
[X] Rare Books
[X] Raid
 
[X] The Prodigy, young and talented
[X] Elixirs
[X] Raid

On the path of a merchant with the power to control / manipulate gold!!
 
[x] The Heir, skilled and loyal

-We're better than any of our competition at the start, as "skilled" more than implies.
-We can easily get the support of the Prodigy, by telling her we will honor Father's wishes and make her the Matriarch if she indeed proves to become more powerful and wise in a few years.
-We can get the support of the Widow, by assuaging her fears of being booted out. We have the strongest of blood connections, after all, as she is our Mother.
-The Spare will continue to challenge us, and everyone will continue finding him wanting.
-The Exile is no threat to us, with likely no ally to speak of and no subtlety to navigate a social/political situation as delicate as that of a Clan.
 
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My vote is between the Prodigy or the Heir... but I find that it has more logic that it is the prodigy who has a great advance in cultivation...
In addition, the difference in votes is big
On the other hand, the Prodigy can also ally with the Heir...
 
I believe that an Heir played by the QM could very easily resent not becoming Patriarch. I doubt he would support us as the Prodigy, after we stole the position he would most likely see as rightfully his.

Heir for Patriarch
2020
 
Just based on the "Introduction to Cultivation: A Primer. Produced by the Floating Mountain Sect":
-Elixirs help for the 1st and 2nd steps of the 1st phase of the 1st journey. (1.1.1 and 1.1.2)
-Foundation Techniques help for the 3rd step of the 1st phase of the 1st journey. (1.1.3)
-Pillar Techniques help for all 3 steps of the 2nd phase of the 1st journey. (1.2.1, 1.2.2 and 1.2.3)
-Foreign/inhuman elements help for all 3 steps of the 1st phase of the 2nd journey (2.1.1, 2.1.2 and 2.1.3)
-Size and Quality of Land and its Dwellers help with the 1st and 2nd steps of the 1st phase of the 3rd journey, fork of Nobility. (3a.1.1 and 3a.1.2)

So:
-Spirit Beasts sound mainly related to foreign/inhuman elements (2.1.1, 2.1.2 and 2.1.3), but they might affect Elixirs in a positive way (ingredients) and Size/Quality of Land/Dwellers in a negative way.
-Elixirs are obvious. They are only mentioned as integral for steps 1.1.1 and 1.1.2, but they will likely have some use beyond that.
-Treasures are a wild card.
-Essence Crystals are unknown, though some guesswork can be done.
-Rare Books sound mainly related to Techniques, so 1.1.3, 1.2.1, 1.2.2 and 1.2.3, but can be relevant for pretty much anything that could be studied.
-Art and Entertainment might be tangentially related to Size/Quality of Land/Dwellers.
-Staples and Raw Resources sound mainly related to Size/Quality of Land/Dwellers, and might affect Elixirs in a positive way (ingredients).

The resource vote mentions both clan and personal use, while I'm not sure about the former, for what concerns the latter (personal cultivation), it can be inferred that the Prodigy is at least at 1.2.1, the Heir is likely higher than her, and the Spare is either in-between or higher than both. Not sure about the others. With that in mind and considering that whoever we pick will have an automatic cultivation breakthrough, Spirit Beasts and Rare Books sound like the most immediately useful options, from a selfish standpoint.

That said, even though it'll be its very first vote, I'm intrigued by the potential, unpredictability and versatility of:
[x] Treasures
 
Epic Bygones said:
[x] The Heir, skilled and loyal

-We're better than any of our competition at the start, as skilled more than implies.
-We can easily get the support of the Prodigy, by telling her we will honor Father's wishes and make her the Matriarch if she indeed proves to become more powerful and wise in a few years.
-We can get the support of the Widow, by assuaging her fears of being booted out. We have the strongest of blood connections, after all, as she is our Mother.
-The Spare will continue to challenge us, and everyone will continue finding him wanting.
-The Exile is no threat to us, with likely no ally to speak of and no subtlety to navigate a social/political situation as delicate as that of a Clan.
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Click to shrink...

The Widow only has a blood connection to the Prodigy. She was the Patriarch's second wife. The Heir and Spare were from his first wife, the Exile is a bastard child.

Not to say you can't get her on board, but she has every reason to worry that the Heir give her the boot.

Voting closes in 4 hours.
 
Ah, well. Then as the Heir, treat the daughter fairly as stated, and reassure the mother she is part of the family. The late Patriarch we love so much has made it so, after all, and he was the wisest of us all.
 
I hope we won't play yet another bright-eyed, young prodigy that becomes the standard stereotype. I'd really like to see how an anti-hero archetype character steers their Clan out of trouble.

[X] The Spare, cunning and ambitious
[X] The Exile, driven and aggressive

[X] Raid
Opportunity abounds.

[X] Elixirs
[X] Essence Crystals
Cultivation commodities.
 
Adhoc vote count started by Mr. Prokosch on Oct 23, 2020 at 2:23 PM, finished with 36 posts and 28 votes.
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One hour left!

I'm good with approval voting so long as it works with the auto-tally.
 
Hmmm... for a second, I thought it might be the x instead of X I used in between brackets, but double-checking proved the theory wrong. So, no, I have no idea.
 
Vote tally
Adhoc vote count started by Juli Freixi on Oct 23, 2020 at 4:18 PM, finished with 41 posts and 28 votes.
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Character Creation 2
  • Threadmarks
    • You are the Prodigy.

    Your clan business is diversified but you focus on elixirs.

    Your father died in battle outside the borders of the empire. At your clan estate a strange man wearing spirit beast leather is resting. He brought back your father's corpse and a signed trade agreement. You will provide a substantial amount of Heavenspan Water over twenty years in exchange for a viable herd of quality Dracoxen, whatever those are, and a yearly exchange of plant and beast products you've never heard of. Even you know that your clan gets Heavenspan Water for free (minus transportation logistics) so you think this is a deal to trade dirt for spirit ore. Thanks dad!

    1. What is your name? Please include both personal and clan name.
    [] Write in
    This vote will determine the naming conventions in general. If you are Mo Hanying we'll see a bunch of Chinese names. If you are Shining Lotus of the Flowing Silver Clan than your rival might be Black Thunder of the Dancing Winds Clan. If your name is Jane Smith, you might get in a duel with Skylar Sanderson.

    Your foundation is exceptional. When you were in the Seeking step your tutors introduced you to a dozen of the most powerful foundation techniques in the empire. Each resonated, yet another sign of your incredible talent, but none called to you. That night, you dreamed.

    2. What was your dream?

    [] The Supreme Panoply
    A twelve headed dragon descended from the void between the stars, breathing rainbow fire. It was nothing before your shield of MercyWood and armor of HonorSteel. You leapt into the sky with boots of ValorStone, then flew on wings of GraceLight. You struck the beast a single blow with your sword of JustFire and it burned to nothing. The endless masses beneath you gazed adoringly up as you unfurled your cloak of SkyGlory and donned your Crown of StarWisdom. You proclaimed the truth of the universe. They bowed. You were their Queen. You were their God. You were Supreme.

    [] The Legion of One
    You were one and many. You were growing. With a hundred eyes you saw the world. You raced forward on a thousand legs. You grasped with ten thousand arms. With a hundred thousand voices you sang in glorious harmony. With a million throats you drank rivers. With ten million jaws you ate cities. With a hundred million minds you planned. The world shattered and a billion seeds shot to the stars.

    [] The Infinitely Perfect
    You worked a cosmic forge. Planets were your crude matter, stars were your fuel. With each blow of your titanic hammer, your ultimate creation became more perfect. It was the work of eternity, the masterpiece of the ages. It was you. You were the smith and the creation. With each forging, you are were greater still. Perfection unbound, a singularity of infinite refinement.

    It felt so real and so glorious! You channeled the feeling of the dream and it resonated perfectly. A new Foundation Technique! Your father laughed with such pride when you showed him, and you basked in the familiar glow of his love and approval.

    You are at the end of the first journey. Your father was at the end of the second before he died. Your tutors spoke with terrible fear of the deadly leap between the first and the second journeys. You felt no fear. Failure was for other people. You had a perfect foundation. You forged seven pillars. Your master technique was incredible. Your family needed a Matriarch with the power of Transformation, and you trusted in your destiny.

    3. What did you merge with for your Transformation? Most choose an element, material, or supernatural creature. A few are able to merge with something more esoteric, like a concept. You can pick whatever you want and it will synergize well with your Foundation and Pillars.

    SPECIAL RAFFLE VOTE! I will pick this randomly, not by majority rules. I reserve the right to veto things I really don't like, such as a clear joke or meme. Otherwise just pick whatever sounds cool to you personally.

    This character creation post is focused almost exclusively on your cultivation build. As the prodigy, that's pretty much all you have. Other characters would have allies, connections, maybe a spy network or special mundane skills. The heir would have a bunch of that stuff. You are dreadfully inexperienced and unprepared when it comes to conventional assets, but your cultivation is super-charged. You have a protagonist-tier foundation and 7 pillars. A true "punch God at 20" protagonist would have 13, but people here don't even know that's a thing.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] The Legion of One
    [X] A Shining Silver Ant Queen, the minds and hearts of that most terrible species. Ordinarily quiescent and content to build their mountain holdfasts, when provoked they would lash out in a terrible stampede. It is said that a single Shining Silver Ant is nothing to fear, but few would be so bold as to face the living rivers of the hive directly.

    Not sure on a good name at the moment.
     
    [X] Qián Maylin
    [X] The Infinitely Perfect
    [X] Spiritual Gold

    The name Maylin means Beautiful Jade and is of Chinese origin. Surname Qián, as the chinese character for money.
    Spiritual Gold: Like normal gold but with magical properties...

    On the path to the Goddess of Gold!!!
     
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