Okay, so, I'm thematically on board with Protect The Weak, but I think it's picking the wrong people slightly.
[X] Plan People We Can't Leave Behind
-[X] [JOIN] Your Third Sect-Brother Tian Jing.
-[X] [JOIN] Your Tenth Sect-Sister Ouyang Peishan.
-[X] [JOIN] Your Twelfth Sect-Sister Li Meimei
-[X] [JOIN] One of your Sect's retainers, Chang Tingting.
Basically Protect The Weak, but frankly I think the canny 60 year old is more likely to make it on his own than our 15 year old best friend. Also, let's not traumatize our protagonist by making her leave her best friend to die, folks.
Basically Protect The Weak, but frankly I think the canny 60 year old is more likely to make it on his own than our 15 year old best friend. Also, let's not traumatize our protagonist by making her leave her best friend to die, folks
I mean they should all run rather than try to fight. It's pretty clear that fighting is a death sentence. But more than likely they'll have to fight off some kind of attack while they are running. Also if he loses to a ten year old he's probably slower than a ten year old. Admittedly I did waver about including the best friend, but I decided that she's probably better at escaping than everyone else on my list.
Bear in mind the MC isn't leaving everyone behind to certain death. She knows they're all going to be told to run away as fast they can while the Elders make a last stand. So it's not quite a pick who lives situation. Just pick who lives for certain.
Okay, so, I'm thematically on board with Protect The Weak, but I think it's picking the wrong people slightly.
[X] Plan People We Can't Leave Behind
-[X] [JOIN] Your Third Sect-Brother Tian Jing.
-[X] [JOIN] Your Tenth Sect-Sister Ouyang Peishan.
-[X] [JOIN] Your Twelfth Sect-Sister Li Meimei
-[X] [JOIN] One of your Sect's retainers, Chang Tingting.
Basically Protect The Weak, but frankly I think the canny 60 year old is more likely to make it on his own than our 15 year old best friend. Also, let's not traumatize our protagonist by making her leave her best friend to die, folks.
The old guy sounds like a "quite a bit of a liability and martially useless but very useful once the sect is more secure" character to me so I'm not sure if he would survive without us.
To clarify / repeat, the Disciples and retainers you do not pick here will all try to escape on foot once the Sect Head / Elders launch their attack and hold the attention of the surrounding enemies. None of the Disciples/ retainers will stay and fight.
In the meantime, have a preview of the next update.
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Old Chang bows deeply towards you and passes you two scrolls sealed with the personal signet of your mother and (former) Sect Head Xue. "Lady Xue requested that you open and read both scrolls now, Sect Head."
The first scroll is a collection of the arts and techniques of the Crimson Essence Sect which your mother had scribed for you in her neat, fastidiousness handwriting.
Traditionally, the arts of the Sect had been orally taught by Sect Head and Elders to Disciples, and had not previously been written down before. Your mother must have anticipated an emergency like this where she and the Elders will no longer be able to pass on their teachings to you, and recorded as much of her knowledge as she could in writing. She remarked in a foreword that the exigencies of time compelled her to put into writing only the most critical points of each art, and she trusts that you will be able to fill in the gaps through your own intelligence and experience.
The second scroll is a short letter to you:
Old Chang is a villain among villains, soaked in more blood than the entire Sect is capable of drinking in a year. In his past life, he was the vile Greyhand Bandit Chang Mieque. For many years he escaped justice for his deeds, until one day seven members of the Orthodox Sects took him off-guard and had him surrounded.
Though he did not deserve any mercy, I took offence to the Orthodox Sects' underhanded methods, and I drove them off and captured Chang myself. I took his famed Greyhand at the wrist, and bound him to an oath of servitude and an oath never to use martial arts again.
I have transferred his oaths from myself to you. Keep Old Chang with you until you reach your destination. He will be able to bring you to a place of safety, wherever that may be. After that, if you wish him to serve, he will serve till the end of his days. If you wish him to die, say the word and he will end his own life for you."
While you are reading this letter, Old Chang has gotten down on his knees, slowly drawn out a knife, and placed the edge of the knife against his own neck.
"Everything that Lady Xue writes in her letter about this lowly one is true, Sect Head," he says solemnly. "This lowly one's life is at your disposal. This lowly one begs only to be allowed to lead Sect Head and her companions to safety, and thereafter Sect Head may deal with this lowly one as she seems fit."
If I might make a suggestion, we should take the little ones and Old chang's granddaughter and the cook with us. The rest are more likely to survive and escape with their power and knowledge, but the ones younger than us and the cook wont. And I wanted to take Old Chang's granddaughter so that he can remain unworried and also to curb off any resentment he might accrue towards us.
If I might make a suggestion, we should take the little ones and Old chang's granddaughter and the cook with us. The rest are more likely to survive and escape with their power and knowledge, but the ones younger than us and the cook wont. And I wanted to take Old Chang's granddaughter so that he can remain unworried and also to curb off any resentment he might accrue towards us.
The guy with a busted leg isn't gonna make it without us, period...they have to flee on foot and he can't walk. The cook has better odds than he does. Replace the cook with him and this is Plan People We Can't Leave Behind.
[X] Plan People We Can't Leave Behind
-[X] [JOIN] Your Third Sect-Brother Tian Jing.
-[X] [JOIN] Your Tenth Sect-Sister Ouyang Peishan.
-[X] [JOIN] Your Twelfth Sect-Sister Li Meimei
-[X] [JOIN] One of your Sect's retainers, Chang Tingting.
So you will be bringing the following persons with you:
Third Sect-Brother Tian Jing
He is 28 years old this year and has been in the Sect for 17 years. He is roughly tied with you as the second-strongest fighter amongst the Disciples, and is able to defeat you in spars around 5 times out of 10. He is fiercely competitive and goes into a sulk any time he loses to you, though the sulks never last for longer than a day. Unfortunately, during the spars last week you had kicked his leg just a little too hard and fractured his shinbone. Although he should be capable of riding a horse, it will take at least another week before he is able to walk on his own two feet.
Your Tenth Sect-Sister Ouyang Peishan
She is 15 years old this year and has been with the Sect for 5 years. She is sweet and kind by nature, and is well-liked by the Sect Head, the Elders and all the Disciples. She is your best friend in the Sect.
Your Twelfth Sect-Sister Li Meimei
She is 10 years old this year and has been with the Sect for 2 years. She works very hard during practice and has been making good progress with both the Crimson Essence Arts as well as the Graceful Sanguine Dance. She is in awe of you.
One of your Sect's retainers, Chang Tingting
She is 17 years old this year and is Old Chang's grand-daughter. She is extremely proficient in all manner of house-keeping, save that her cooking remains mediocre at best. She also has a marked physical resemblance to you, other than being half an inch shorter in height and her hair being a few shades lighter in colouring than yours. Old Chang suggests that she could serve as a body double for you, if the need arises.
Old Chang (locked-in)
From Lady Xue's letter to you: Old Chang is a villain among villains, soaked in more blood than the entire Sect is capable of drinking in a year. In his past life, he was the vile Greyhand Bandit Chang Mieque. For many years he escaped justice for his deeds, until one day seven members of the Orthodox Sects took him off-guard and had him surrounded.
Though he did not deserve any mercy, I took offence to the Orthodox Sects' underhanded methods, and I drove them off and captured Chang myself. I took his famed Greyhand at the wrist, and bound him to an oath of servitude and an oath never to use martial arts again.
I have transferred his oaths from myself to you. Keep Old Chang with you until you reach your destination. He will be able to bring you to a place of safety, wherever that may be. After that, if you wish him to serve, he will serve till the end of his days. If you wish him to die, say the word and he will end his own life for you.
[X] Plan People We Can't Leave Behind
-[X] [JOIN] Your Third Sect-Brother Tian Jing.
-[X] [JOIN] Your Tenth Sect-Sister Ouyang Peishan.
-[X] [JOIN] Your Twelfth Sect-Sister Li Meimei
-[X] [JOIN] One of your Sect's retainers, Chang Tingting.
If only you were stronger, you could fight alongside Mother and the Elders and drive the attackers away.
If only you were smarter, so that you could come up with the brilliant secret solution to save everyone.
If only the Sect had more horses, then everyone could mount up and ride to safety together.
If only…
No, you have neither room nor time for "If onlys". You can only be as strong as you are, if there was a brilliant secret solution Mother would have thought of it already, and the Sect has only six horses because horses are expensive to keep and you only ever needed that many horses to bring your goods to Hei Mao Cheng. The Sect has been placed into your hands not because you are Mother's daughter but because Mother trusts you with the responsibility, and you will live up to her trust.
The Disciples and retainers who don't ride with you will still get a chance to escape thanks to Mother and the Elders, so you should bring those that are least able to make it out on their own. No doubt Eldest Sect-Sister Lijiao, Fourth Sect-Sister Qiushui and the Six & Seven Chens will carry Third Sect-Brother Jing, Tenth Sect-Sister Peishan and Little Sis Meimei on their backs if need be, but certainly it will weigh on their flight. You will give them all a better fighting chance if you take the younger and slower Disciples with you.
Not to mention, you kinda owe Third Sect-Brother Tian for breaking his shin the other day. Not fully your fault, since he's so strong that you needed to go all out in order to stay even with him during the spar and couldn't fully control how much force you use. You also suspect that he'd be absolutely ecstatic if you didn't bring him with you and he ended up being caught and killed by the Orthodox Sect attackers, since he'd be able to gloat in the Netherworld that he has a debt over you that you'd never be able to repay.
That leaves one more person that you can bring with you, and you weigh both Ninth Sect-Brother Feilong and Tingting in your mind. (Mother had ordered you to bring Old Chang with you, so you don't even consider the possibility of leaving him behind to free up another horse). You finally decide that though Ninth Sect-Brother isn't the strongest or fastest amongst the Disciples, he's certainly the smartest and most knowledgeable, so even if he can't save the Sect he should be able to come up with a ploy to save himself, or talk his way out if the Orthodox Sect bastards catch up to him.
So that's the four decided - Third Sect-Brother Jing, Tenth Sect-Sister Peishan, Little Sis Meimei, and Old Chang's grand-daughter Tingting. Everyone else is fit, strong and/or smart; retainers who can blend right in once they reach a village or Hei Mao Cheng; or outside of the Sect grounds, like Second Sect-Brother Gongjian and his hunting group, who are also fit, strong and smart. Everyone will make it out of here fine, and you will see them again. You will. You will.
Old Chang seems to sense that you have reached a decision, for he now bows deeply towards you and takes out from his tunic two scrolls sealed with the personal signet of your mother. "Lady Xue requested that you open these scrolls now before you leave this room to gather your group, Sect Head."
You break the seals and peruse them quickly. The first scroll is a collection of the arts and techniques of the Crimson Essence Sect which your mother had scribed for you in her neat, fastidiousness handwriting.
Traditionally, the arts of the Crimson Essence Sect had been orally taught by Sect Head and Elders to Disciples, and had not previously been written down before. Your mother must have anticipated an emergency like this where she and the Elders will no longer be able to pass on their teachings to you, and recorded as much of her knowledge as she could in writing.
She remarks in a foreword that the exigencies of time compelled her to put into writing only the most critical points of each art, and she trusts that you will be able to fill in the gaps through your own intelligence and experience. Though you would love to pore over this scroll in detail, the present circumstances does not permit you the leisure to do so, and you place this scroll into your own tunic for a future time.
The second scroll is a short letter to you:
"Old Chang is a villain among villains, soaked in more blood than the entire Sect is capable of drinking in a year. In his past life, he was the vile Greyhand Bandit Chang Mieque. For many years he escaped justice for his deeds, until one day seven members of the Orthodox Sects took him off-guard and had him surrounded.
Though he did not deserve any mercy, I took offence to the Orthodox Sects' underhanded methods, and I drove them off and captured Chang myself. I took his famed Greyhand at the wrist, and bound him to an oath of servitude and an oath never to use martial arts again.
I have transferred his oaths from myself to you, my dear little Tiger girl. Keep Old Chang with you until you reach your destination. He will be able to bring you to a place of safety, wherever that may be. After that, if you wish him to serve, he will serve till the end of his days. If you wish him to die, say the word and he will end his own life for you."
By the time you finish reading this second letter, Old Chang has gotten down on his knees, drawn out a knife in his left hand, and placed the edge of the knife against his deeply lined neck.
"Everything that Lady Xue writes in her letter about this lowly one is true, Sect Head," he says solemnly. He lifts his right arm and lets the sleeve slide down, revealing a wooden prosthetic hand. "This lowly one's life is at your disposal. This lowly one begs only to be allowed to lead Sect Head and her companions to safety, and thereafter Sect Head may deal with this lowly one as she seems fit."
You stare into Old Chang's rheumy eyes, taken aback by this revelation. You've only ever known Old Chang as a silent attendant standing or kneeling behind Mother, and as doting grandfather to Tingting during their free-time. He even looks the very part of the stereotypical doting grandfather, what with his sparse grey hair, wispy beard and crinkled lips. Old Chang the vicious bandit and blood-soaked killer? Impossible! Yet that is what Mother has declared him to be, so it must be true, and you have no time to waste on being surprised.
"Then attend me, Old Chang. Lady Xue commanded this Seated One (本座) to consult you for advice regarding places of safety for myself and my companions. Perform your duty, and advise."
"As this lowly one would not presume to know the mind of Sect Head, this lowly one's advice shall depend on what Sect Head wishes to do during this period of exile."
[ ] Solitude. "Find yourselves a secluded valley or a hidden dale, live off the land through hunting and foraging, and train and prepare in secret for the day when you are strong enough to proclaim to the world that the Crimson Essence Sect yet lives.
Beholden to no master's or employer's agenda, yet equally without any master's or employer's protection should secrecy not suffice against discovery by those who hate you."
- Will lead to sub-vote on various secluded or hidden locations known to Old Chang within the Gudai federations as well as the Augustan Republic and the Passanic Protectorates.
[ ] Swarm. "The best place to hide a tree is in a forest. Blend into the teeming crowds of a large city, sustain yourselves through your civilian skills, and recruit new members under an assumed identity until the time is right to reveal your true name and unfurl the Sect banner.
Of course, teeming crowds to blend into are also teeming crowds who can see what you do and share what they see with other people."
- Will lead to sub-vote on various distant and large cities within the Gudai federations as well as the Augustan Republic, the Gebi Steppe, and the Passanic Protectorates.
[ ] Soldiering. "The only thing better than polishing your martial skills is to get paid while doing so. There is no shortage of demand for individuals willing to fight and (ideally, not) die for the profit of powerful men and women, and the smaller and weaker ones in our band can still participate as valets and attendants for the fighters.
You may not always have the privilege of deciding who your arms are turned against, and sometimes the ones on the other end of your knives may even be your fellow Gudai. Yet how much fealty do you owe them, given what they allowed to be done to the Sect?"
- Will lead to sub-vote on various military forces and mercenary units in the Augustan Republic, the Gebi Steppe, and the Passanic Protectorates.
[ ] Stealing. "This lowly one is rightfully damned for his deeds, yet there is a nobler course you could take should you so choose to follow the path of banditry. Steal from the unjustly rich, the cheating merchants, the tax farmers who take without surcease, give to the poor, and win adherents and followers from those to whom you give. Spare the lives of the drovers, the servants and those who are unarmed, only battle the guards and only until they surrender.
Of course, this path will gain you the most unwanted attention out of all the paths you can follow. Yet though it shames this lowly one to say so, this lowly one's previous life makes him the most well-placed to advise on when to take, from whom to take, and how much to take, so that the attention garnered is as low as possible."
- Will lead to sub-vote on various locations in Gudai, the Augustan Republic and the Passanic Protectorates from which you can set up a base and raid caravans and/or villages.
[ ] Sanctuary.
"There is a place known as the Valley of the Accursed, a veritable hive of scum and villainy. This lowly one would know, being one such scum and villain who was on his way to the Valley when he was surrounded by the seven from the Orthodox Sect and then captured and justly bound by Lady Xue.
Anyone, no matter how despicable and vile, no matter that they are hated and hounded by all of the River and Lakes, anyone who makes it into the Valley is sacrosanct and inviolate from those outside the Valley. This is the unspoken yet unbroken rule of the River and Lakes. Many therefore is the bandit, poisoner, murderer and worse who have, at their wits' end, entered and sought refuge in the Valley of the Accursed. There shall Sect Head and her companions be completely safe from those who seek the final destruction of the Crimson Essence Sect.
Sect Head shall, however, have to contend with those self-same scum and villains inside the Valley. And furthermore, should Sect Head seek to leave the Valley, perchance to execute her revenge on those who destroyed the Sect, the whole of the River and Lakes as well as all inside the Valley shall be her enemy. That too, is an ironclad law of the River and Lakes."
Either of these seem fine to me. Swarm isn't secure enough, IMO, while Stealing draws too much attention and Sanctuary is both insecure and precludes taking revenge later, which is unacceptable.
Solitude makes the most sense for the traditional regrow and get revenge story. But Swarm has its advantages in hiding in plain sight. I don't know how well the blood drinking will work there though. If the other sects didn't like it the civilians probably aren't going to be any better. But Soldiering now that's something I haven't seen before. We could probably end up establishing our own mercenary unit and it would likely take us the farthest out of the reach of our immediate enemies. At the cost of many temporary enemies. I'm just not sure if the other survivors would be able to catch up to us. But then that's probably an issue with all of them.
Stealing and Sanctuary are just noes. It'll just prove our enemies right, and make it much harder for us to get revenge in the long run.
I think I'll go with Soldiering just because it's sounds interesting.
