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On the Road to Elspar [Book 1] (Dryad Mercenary Schoolgirl Quest)

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[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.

[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.

That's...quite an update.
Hrm.
Yeah, we should talk about it.

Also, poor Neienne. So much pressure.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.

Kei said:
An interlude is going to happen before the next proper update that I think you'll find interesting. After that, it's Inter-Academy Tournament go.
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Any reason you decided to rail the tournament in, by the way? Because with this kind of squad cohesion failure, well, anything that need teamwork is gonna... sink. I know I would have voted no if the vote came up again.
 
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[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
 
You are aware that you're tiny, your voice is squeaky, you're stuttering, and you're otherwise not being a very convincing offerer of surrender. Yet somehow, at least a fourth of these bandits take one look at you and suddenly start screaming and running in the opposite direction.

Why does this always happen? you wonder helplessly as you wave your buster sword around.
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And now, a bit of a comedy routine.

Elizabeth: Never, ever grow up, Neianne. This wouldn't be as funny to watch otherwise.

Neianne: But I don't just want to send people running! How do I know if I'm strong enough if no one try to fight me seriously?!

Sieglinde: You sent someone flying with a swing of your weapon.

Elizabeth: Wait, I missed that?! Damn. Do that again in the tournament!

Neianne: Auuuuuuuu...
 
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[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
Megaolix said:
And now, a bit of a comedy routine.

Elizabeth: Never, ever grow up, Neianne. This wouldn't be as funny to watch otherwise.

Neianne: But I don't just want to send people running! How do I know if I'm strong enough if no one try to fight me seriously?!

Sieglinde: You sent someone flying with a swing of your weapon.

Elizabeth: Wait, I missed that?! Damn. Do that again in the tournament!

Neianne: Auuuuuuuu...
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We may not kill many but blunt force isn't the only type of trauma we inflict.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
 
So, any ideas on what we could have done better? I can think of only overrulling over Steph's suggestion once she proposed splitting, but I can't find many compelling arguments. She kinda did screw us by suggesting it first, otherwise we could have suggested that.
 
Varder said:
So, any ideas on what we could have done better? I can think of only overrulling over Steph's suggestion once she proposed splitting, but I can't find many compelling arguments. She kinda did screw us by suggesting it first, otherwise we could have suggested that.
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It wasn't just on us as the voters, but on Neianne as a character
 
[X] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[X] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.

So. Here's what I think. Is this going to be problematic? Probably. But the issue is likely more political then anything else. The Knights, I think, believe in this idea that if they're neutral, the Tennies won't bug them. The problem I think is that with the rest of Caldrea fighting as hard as they are, the Tennies are going to be in no mood to sit down with the survivors to negotiate them, or at least it's far too easy to see that sort of outcome being the case. So Step showing up in the tournament...Will it be bad? Arguably, no I'd say. As I see it, the Knights can simply disown Stephanie or do something to have her be returned to them in some fashion, and frankly unless the Knights have a line to the Tennies they probably don't want to return to Teneria either, the difference being that Teneria is not likely to let the Knights walk if they can help it. (Yes, we know out here that Teneria will settle for negotiations, likely on the notion that they've gotten SOMETHING and now Caldrea can lick it's wounds, and the other nations won't suddenly surge forth to beat the Tennies into the ground.)

...Personally, I'm of the opion that we HAVE strengths, but...
It's like we're shizo about it. Neianne COULD have goen full-dryad and been great at Woodcrafts, and we might want to consider that. I also think we should consider shoving her leadership duties onto someone else, Neianne...Has kind of consistantly seemed like she needs more training, like the freeholder is maximum 'soft' in terms of how skilled she is, upbringing-wise. Without the pressure of becoming nobility or the desperation of poverty to harden her...
IDK.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
Varder said:
So you're saying that there was absolutely nothing we could have done? I mean, that's an opinion as well.
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We could've voted to not go earlier on. By this point, I think it's a combination of the constant pressure of the decision hanging in the back of her head combined with her (in her mind) poor performance in this assignment that tipped her over the edge into making this choice. If something had gone outright wrong during the assignment, like Neianne making an objectively wrong call or one of her team getting hurt it could likely have swung the other way into her thinking it's not worth it.

That said, IMO she did alright here. Whilst she was indecisive in places, she did make a half decent attempt, which is at least a start? And this was her first actual experience as squad leader, so a mediocre to decent showing seems good enough.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
-[x] Point out that the rest of the squad can help her stay unobtrusive, if she lets them. We even figured it out because she's trying to hide it all by herself.

I wonder if the fact that other knights will be guests at the Tournament factors into why she doesn't want to attend? Probably another reason to talk about it if it does, so we can work with her on rather than have have her be silent and uncomfortable while we're there and have it affect her performance.
 
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I think the decision got forced less via GM Fiat and more...Narratively, saying 'no' just does too much damage, unless say, shenanigans happen and Squad 4 is brought in at the last second to act as a ringer or something.
Like.
Zabanya is FEARED, Ravenhill is FEARSOME, and thanks to that Wyvern incident, Neianne is FEARLESS, or at least perceived as such. For the FEARFUL Stephanie to keep all three of them away from the tournament?
Nope, that'd not go over well.
It kills what hype Neianne was starting to build. It reflects poorly on Zabanya, it's the straw that breaks the patience of Ravenhill's mother. And hten the Squad collapses. And then Stephanie's name is as good as mud, bringing deep shame not only to herself but to the already disliked Knight Monastaries. Or on Neianne for saying no, for whatever reason.
It'd be naught but a missed oppertunity, naught but a 'what if?' that everyone would be dissapointed by. And no amount of 'additional training time' would make up for that, so to speak.
Especially since there are other ways to go about this question: It's become quintesstially THE Stephanie issue, her moment in the spolight, let's treat it as such.
...Or at least that's my opinion on it.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.

Probably a bad idea to basically blackmail her into the tournament, with both the strain on relations there, as well as the mentioned possible presence of the knights in question at the tournament.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.

Tbh, I'm kinda weirded out by the idea that "blackmail Stephanie" is even an option for Neianne. Is that what the subvote is meant to be about? Or are we misreading it?
 
For Neianne's decision, there's also her realization that they weren't challenged as individuals or as a squad, which means they didn't get much growth or motivation to become a more cohesive unit. So part of her reason to attend the Tournament would be to get such a challenge.
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Don't use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.

Kei said:
"I take it you're a freeholder?" You nod again; your dress or your speech or your species tipped her off, it would seem. "It's no small decision, then, to have you as squad leader to both a Ravenhill and a Zabanya."
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I feel somewhat guilty that my vote for Neianne was based on what would be funniest (and Elizabeth was out of contention...) :D
 
[x] Press Stephanie about her connection with the Caldran knight orders.
-[x] Use this knowledge to press Stephanie into falling in line with your decision to participate in the Inter-Academy Tournament.

If she refuses, then I fully believe that we should pressure her on her reasons, and let her know that we are aware of her connection to the Knights. I think it's something we should only do if necessary, but I absolutely believe it's something we should do.
 
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