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Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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[X] Return
Not interesting in going full protagonist and hunting them down, and while waiting is the best 'looking at the overall situation and going to the most important weak spot' strategy wise, it's also taking on an overall main responder responsibility I don't want Ling Qi to have here.

That, and I really want to fight with Xiulan and Zhengui.
 
DeAnno said:
[X] Hunt them down

Trying to play defense on three fronts at once causes a lot of issues. If we can break this enemy force that does something to keep all the villages safer.
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Depends on if this is the full force. Maybe there's several tribes working together and this was one tribe's force. Or maybe the beast tide hitting Xiulan is absolutely massive. In those cases there are much bigger priorities than hunting these people.
 
AbeoLogos said:
Very high risk of overextension and injury.
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TehChron said:
Going dark is attractive.

By any measure this was abnormal, and seeing what the force does as they attempt to regroup will give valuable context to this whole affair.

Moon senpai is busy, after all.
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TehChron said:
No matter what, this is a nontrivial investment for any Cloud Tribe.

Its worth digging just a bit deeper.

[X] Hunt them down
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Yrs explicitly said very high risk of overextension and injury. Why risk that, especially when we've left friends and Precious behind to protect our assigned village?
 
Lena27 said:
Yrs explicitly said very high risk of overextension and injury. Why risk that, especially when we've left friends and Precious behind to protect our assigned village?
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Because its very clearly stated to have a consumerate payoff?

Kind of like the stated payoff of hitting the third village is nipping their own problems in the bud. The stated payoff of waiting is to be ready in case that warband takes another shot at the village.

And the stated payoff of returning is minimizing risk to Zhengui and Xiulan.

In turn, the risks of not taking the various options are

  1. Not preventing the warband from getting up to other shenanigans now or in the future.
  2. The third village getting BTFOd
  3. Shen Hu and other scout guy being overwhelmed by another attack in Ling Qis absence
  4. A bad grade due to Ling Qi not being at her assigned village when there was no immediate impetus for her not to be.
I simply think an ounce of death delivered now is worth a pound of it being delivered later.
 
[X] ...Wait

I actually believe this is the most interesting option for Ling Qi to choose here. It would be the most frustrating choice for Ling Qi, as stated by this option's description, since simply waiting is something Ling Qi has rarely done. It provides an opportunity for character growth as she would have chosen this option in spite of her own desires, presumably with the bigger picture in mind. This is especially compelling when juxtaposed with the influence the Forest King arc continues to have on Ling Qi, as shown in the prior update. Unlike the Forest King arc, in which Ling Qi gave in to her innermost desires, she would be resisting them here.

I also agree with Abeo in that deciding to wait here does not contradict SCS's insight either.
yrsillar said:
There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
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"..Wait" provides an opportunity for Ling Qi to think and may provide an impetus for her to change and grow, even if it's only in minor ways. With this option, she is not ignoring her problems but facing them in novel ways.

Looking at the other options:

[] Help the other village

This is the most boring option for me. Ling Qi has no personal connection to this village and I'm concerned about the content of this option overlapping with this update. I'm not sure how interesting this option would be character-wise. Strategically, "...Wait" may be just as good if not better as well.

[] Return

This option fits with Ling Qi's feelings toward Zhengui and Xiulan. This involves Ling Qi giving in to her own desires, prioritizing them over her own mission. It's an interesting path for Ling Qi to go down on, and would probably be my second choice. With that being said, it's not a positive path of development for her.

[] Hunt them down

Ling Qi gives in to her own desires in this option as well. In this case, however, those desires are entirely selfish. From a character perspective, this is an inferior version of Return in my opinion. I'd rather Ling Qi give in to her worries about Zhengui and Xiulan than to her desire to continue the chase.

There are strategic reasons Ling Qi would consider for choosing each of these options, but she would be influenced by her emotions regardless of the option we choose, so it's important to take them into account.

Edit: I'm now convinced there's enough justification behind Return even without involving Zhengui or Xiulan for it to be considered.
 
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[X] ...Wait

I agree that it's a good idea to see the big picture, and avoid firing from the hip. This would let us better coordinate with the defenders now that we've driven the main body off, and means we can respond in a fashion beyond the individual.
 
Lena27 said:
She's be going back to protecting the village she assigned in the first place. Her reasons for choosing it may be more personal but she's not...not doing her mission either. Her concern for GX and ZG just coincide with what the mission requires of her.
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I'm not sure if there's a solid strategic justification for returning to the village instead of waiting or heading to the third village without taking Zhengui or Xiulan into account. If returning can't be justified without them, she's prioritizing them over the mission.
 
I agree that the "rewrite" gives a much better picture of what happened. The end result is effectively exactly the same, a few extra victims (particularly the horses... it seems Ling Qi really doesn't like those buggers... :rofl:) and Ling Qi suffering for rather minor wounds, but it now it makes much more sense how we ended up like that.
So, thank you for that @yrsillar . 👍

I'd say the only part missing would be Ling Qi's rough self-estimation of her own Qi reserves. She's been flying for a bit and she used quite a few techs, so it would be nice to know where she stands.


Both villages requested reinforcements. Now that this village's situation is (mostly) taken care of and since Ling Qi is not significantly wounded or exhausted, nor in possession of any information that contradicts what her reinforcement orders were based on, the right course of action should be to go chance the other village.

[X] Help the other village
[This village is as secure as it can get, all things given, but the other will have had no reinforcements. While she had to hope that this had been the main force… she couldn't be certain. Approach less obviously this time though. She would not give the barbarians the benefit of seeing her coming again. Stealth approach to the final village, unknown enemy composition. Aids defense, but leaves first and second village to their own devices]
 
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[X] ...Wait

When surrounded the best bet is to try and break through aggressively through one side. But we don't know wether we are surrounded or not, we should wait for the info.
 
Hah much better choices.
[X] Hunt them down
This seems like the most fun option and we might learn some real interesting information, but seeing as it probably won't win and it's tactically questionable...
[X] Help the other village
If we are going to have to spend time I would rather do it traveling toward a known problem then waiting. Plus this gives LQ a sort of "do over" as well as some satisfaction.

Assuming the villages are fairly equal distance from each other.
 
TehChron said:
No matter what, this is a nontrivial investment for any Cloud Tribe.

Its worth digging just a bit deeper.

[X] Hunt them down
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True, but I'll point out that it's not our job.
Even beyond simple self-preservation consideration, Ling Qi's job/mission/overall goal is to follow her military orders which are, depending on how you what to look at it, defend the original village and/or support the other two villages.
 
Varder said:
[X] ...Wait

When surrounded the best bet is to try and break through aggressively through one side. But we don't know wether we are surrounded or not, we should wait for the info.
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I would agree, but these are not armies. These raiding parties are going to be doing mostly smash and grab and we have no reason to believe otherwise. While waiting to know where to go in order to reduce travel time is solid, I think in this particular instance with how fast they are going to be hitting we need to take a shot and eat the potential risk of missing. If we are worried about them coming back we should really go hunt them since they definitely won't while we are sitting here.
 
Ayashi said:
True, but I'll point out that it's not our job.
Even beyond simple self-preservation consideration, Ling Qi's job/mission/overall goal is to follow her military orders which are, depending on how you what to look at it, defend the original village and/or support the other two villages.
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Yes. Thank you. People may also see us as hungry for glory and/or overconfident.. We were warned that the barbs often bait cultivators out by retreating. We were given that explicit warning multiple times actually.
 
[X] Hunt them down

I want to test our mettle on attempts to assassinate our enemies in this way to try to grow and test our skills.
We aren't going to meet our goals by being cautious, so I want to either learn enough humility that our goals change, or work to do what's necessary to reach our goals.
 
Ayashi said:
True, but I'll point out that it's not our job.
Even beyond simple self-preservation consideration, Ling Qi's job/mission/overall goal is to follow her military orders which are, depending on how you what to look at it, defend the original village and/or support the other two villages.
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And thats perfectly fair.

But Ling Qis role as a scout is also to obtain actionable intel or pre-empt potential threats to the main force. As seen during the previous such arcs.

Going after the barbs may not be her orders, but it is in fact, her job. Its why she was able to leave Xiulan and Zhengui behind in the first place.

Her role as a scout is inherently flexible, and one that is supposed to be proactive as well.
 
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[x] Help the other village

The first duty of a cultivator is supposed to be helping protect the mortals. The other villiage reported incoming nomads, our assigned villiage didn't.
 
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