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The Centipede's Dilemma [Exalted Kung Fu Quest]

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Well this is absolutely awesome.

Dang, I gotta go for [X] The Ninety-Nine More

Let's get Imai Cosmo up in here!
 
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.
 
[X] The Ninety-Nine More, a vicious grappling move capable of crippling an enemy's limb forever, allowing the user to specifically deny the use of however many of the victim's techniques they feel like taking from them.

Omicron said:
"And you think the strength of the Exalted," she says dramatically, opening her arms as if to invite you to strike her down, "will stand up to my gifts? A life of dedication and self-perfection! The blessings of my master, may he die on the road and reincarnate into a cockroach! These sacred swords! And above all, these Golden Hounds, divine boots! I have defeated a goddess without a single scratch, Magistrate Road, but you think yourself better?!"
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I kept going back and forth on whether Nashai was a Lunar herself or if it was just her master, but I guess this is pretty definitively the latter, now. Lunars can do a lot to empower a particularly favoured mortal, and it tracks both with his treatment of her and the way she felt she needed magic Oricalcum shoes to be ready to fight him when he came back.
 
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.

Techniques can be relearned, pain can be mitigated, but you can't escape mental trauma without changing your mind by accepting it or losing your mind by fighting it. Seems feating to me.
 
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Of course the unassuming merchant is a secret kung-fu badass.

[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.

This easily my favorite. First one merely physically cripples them, the second one is pure torture for the rest of their lives, but this one burns down the road of violence forever. Condemns them to a life of nonviolent penance, instead of just hurting them for your own sense of revenge.
 
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.

Pain can be overcome, crippling can cultivate a never-ending grudge.
To stop someone from even thinking of doing harm to others?
That is enough to change the very path they walk.
 
[X] The Ninety-Nine More, a vicious grappling move capable of crippling an enemy's limb forever, allowing the user to specifically deny the use of however many of the victim's techniques they feel like taking from them.
 
[x] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.

When it comes to horrifying crippling secret techniques, you can't raise the stakes much further than "I can't even conceive of facing that again".
 
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.
 
[X] The Ninety-Nine More, a vicious grappling move capable of crippling an enemy's limb forever, allowing the user to specifically deny the use of however many of the victim's techniques they feel like taking from them.

If Marrow knows a Martial Art, I bet it is Black Claw style. He is a soft boi, so it is probably one of the social styles, I haven't seen much mention of him having absurdly overwrought robes, so it is probably not Dreaming Pearl Courtesan Style, and White Veil Style doesn't exist, so Marrow couldn't possibly know it.
 
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.

This seems like the most 'Merciful' choice.

It really isn't

It's the most cruel thing you can do to someone who's built their life and pride around violence--to strip the of the capacity to feel pride in the might they've built in life--strength enough to crush gods.

To merely cripple an arm is something the dedicated can attempt to correct. To infuse them with agony whenever they exert themselves can be controlled. These are not correct--not for an art of this potency as used by a Solar turned to war, but one can imagine it, and still carry on.

This is the only one that permits no such luxuries. "That which you dedicated your life to is as ash in your mouth, go home and sin no more."

But people like this? Those who actually deserve this technique be used on them?

If they could be satisfied living a peaceful life, they wouldn't deserve to have this used on them.

Kill the ambition and the dream, no less can suffice.
 
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.
 
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[X] The Agony-Of-One-Hundred-Hells, a magical poison which permanently taints the nervous system of its victim, leaving them with a seemingly intact body which undergoes excruciating pain whenever they exert significant effort.

The nice thing about this option is that if Nashai decides later that she needs to fight, she can. If it's worth the terrible excruciating pain.

Which means she can either spend years contemplating where she went wrong, and then have a dramatic change of heart when the village is attacked by a gang of vicious demon-tainted outlaws and stage a tragic last stand, literally fighting through the pain...

Or, she can become obsessed with vengeance and start abusing painkillers and euphoric drugs to ignore the symptoms while she hunts for a cure or an edge against Golden Road, and show up later on as a twisted wreck, charging forward on the strength of spite and opium, learning obscure martial arts techniques to weaponize her pain and turn it against the world and cutting deals with unsavory beings.

Either one is kung-fu movie appropriate.
 
[X] The Agony-Of-One-Hundred-Hells, a magical poison which permanently taints the nervous system of its victim, leaving them with a seemingly intact body which undergoes excruciating pain whenever they exert significant effort.

Kind of what the Exalted did to the Primordals, turning them into Yozis.
 
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.

Nashai was given every chance to repent. Now, she shall have no choice but to repent.
 
[X]"The Art-Defiling Venom Style."

By what is says it the hands down best finisher move I ever read, not picking this is a crime to the sweet ,sweet lore and plot. I mean it says it's one of four moves and we master one of them.
 
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.
 
[X] The Agony-Of-One-Hundred-Hells, a magical poison which permanently taints the nervous system of its victim, leaving them with a seemingly intact body which undergoes excruciating pain whenever they exert significant effort.

Here me out. This gives wound penalties which are too great for someone to fight with.

Malfeas lets you ignore wound penalties.


Nashai could return for the climax as an Infernal
 
[x] The Ninety-Nine More, a vicious grappling move capable of crippling an enemy's limb forever, allowing the user to specifically deny the use of however many of the victim's techniques they feel like taking from them.

Justice is not excessive. It is not cruel. It is, by definition, just - exactly what it needs to be. Golden Road has a purpose in life, and that is not to cripple, nor is it to maim. It is to redress: it is to make right. If an evildoer's hands can work nothing but evil, then their hands must be taken. If their feet walk only a path of horror, then their feet must be taken. And if their use of the art is unjust... their art will be taken too.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.
 
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That moment when you can't decide which move you want a character to learn because they are all very good and interesting. Only to realize all of these moves that you are thrilled by are perhaps the worst forms of torture for the person they would be used on.
 
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.

This is definitely the nastiest of the three options. Not a power a Lawgiver ought to use, and therefore Interesting.
 
Redshirt Army said:
Hmmmmm.

And Road has had her legs removed, in a way apparently resistant to Exalted healing.

Hmmmmmmm.
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Not... Exactly. Exalts can heal having their legs broken in a dozen places, but they can't heal injuries where the limb is entirely missing without alternative solutions like Charms or Sorcery or Artifacts. And as Road noted she didn't really have a purpose or drive after losing them and so she didn't seek out or find these alternatives except for a story about an artifact.

These are basically a set of Crippling effects which create injuries Exalts cannot heal easily, in game terms.
 
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Alectai said:
[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.

This seems like the most 'Merciful' choice.

It really isn't

It's the most cruel thing you can do to someone who's built their life and pride around violence--to strip the of the capacity to feel pride in the might they've built in life--strength enough to crush gods.

To merely cripple an arm is something the dedicated can attempt to correct. To infuse them with agony whenever they exert themselves can be controlled. These are not correct--not for an art of this potency as used by a Solar turned to war, but one can imagine it, and still carry on.

This is the only one that permits no such luxuries. "That which you dedicated your life to is as ash in your mouth, go home and sin no more."

But people like this? Those who actually deserve this technique be used on them?

If they could be satisfied living a peaceful life, they wouldn't deserve to have this used on them.

Kill the ambition and the dream, no less can suffice.
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yeah, this is 100% the most horrific of the three choices. That it leaves them capable of living a normal peaceful life if anything just makes it worse, they could move on, and some will be able to see that much at least. Very very few will be able to actually make a new life for themselves, so the possibility will just be more salt in the wounds. Its also probly the most on theme for this art being the turbo fucked up why would you do that! creation it is.


[X] The Soul-Scarring Embrace, a spiritual venom which creates a traumatic vision and sears it into its victim's psyche, forever associating thoughts of violence and the martial arts with overwhelming dread and horror in their mind.
 
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[X] The Ninety-Nine More, a vicious grappling move capable of crippling an enemy's limb forever, allowing the user to specifically deny the use of however many of the victim's techniques they feel like taking from them.
 
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