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

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[] Annata (non-self)
[] Depths
[] Definition

Just throwing some words out there, the first because of that update about other cultures styles of cultivation. Note the last is definition as in the degree of distinctness of an object, image, or sound.

In retrospect seeing what others are putting out perhaps also

[] Resonance
 
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So, as @AbeoLogos well pointed out, Tides does not actually fit renewal, or Zhengui, well at all. They're cycles, yes, but not renewal.

Now, if one was wanting something Water renewal based (though not moon), then something based on seasonal Rains could work well, as they have the same new life agricultural renewal and growth themes of Zhengui. That being said, while that could work great for sustain, I'm not sure it would fit Resist as well, and it feels like it would tend towards more field effects, which we don't really need.

An alternative could perhaps be something based on seasonal flooding such as the Nile in much the same way, though that might tend to much towards offense.

Though hmm, maybe something based around the idea of reservoirs and storing the water from the rains or something could work for resist? Maybe involving stored charges that can be released to sustain things?
 
picklepikkl said:
My knee-jerk reaction:

[][Role] Resist
The math nerds say we need a resist art, and I believe them.

Thematically, I've been pushing for some sort of tide-based thing for a while. People (especially @AbeoLogos) have been talking about wanting some sort of cyclical recurrence theme in our next art, so that we can connect to Zhengui on a thematic level even if we don't have an elemental one. I really like the tides for this: they're a natural cycle, but not one that is on a static schedule. Specifically, it's influenced by the Moon, which means it ties into us and our themes in a useful way, and also allows for bullshittery (spring tides are hella bullshit) instead of a boring obvious cycle of Tech 1 -> Tech 2 -> Tech 3 -> Tech 1 -> etc. I'm imagining techs based on deliberately withdrawing effects in order to surge back more strongly later (low/high tide), for example. Also, a Water art would be convenient for our upcoming Water turn, to make use of the Trench Swimmer's Pill.

(I don't want to get too specific, like I'm asking yrs to make an art to order, but I want to lay out the sort of themes I'm thinking about and how they might translate mechanically.)

[] Tides
[] Renewal
[] Cycles
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Nuh-uh. I've been pushing hard for some thematic tie-in to Zhengui, but I haven't been advocating "cycles". I don't think the kid is actually very cyclical in his nature. His counterparting concepts are [Growth] and [Renewal]; while he's previously been described as creation/destruction, the two actual concepts sink that down to the level of window-dressing. [Renewal] alone encapsulates creation and destruction. When paired with [Growth], I basically don't feel that his overall nature is one of cyclical anything, and if it is it's a very aggressive upwards spiral at most.

Tides don't fit with that. They also don't really renew anything? Rains and river floods and such have aspects of renewing, but tides don't have the same kind of associations except for seasonal fishing yields which aren't strictly tied to tidal actions themselves rather than a more general ocean-y thing. Also icky fish which- huh. Actually, Zhengui is on the record as bearing animosity towards at least Xuan Shi on the basis of oceanic association for reasons we don't understand at all. An ocean-themed art doesn't seem great for tying into Zhengui's themes. It's also not very Emerald Seas, being landlocked and all.

Also, curse ninjas and such @Erebeal.
 
Erebeal said:
So, as @AbeoLogos well pointed out, Tides does not actually fit renewal, or Zhengui, well at all. They're cycles, yes, but not renewal.
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Tides do not renew the world around them, but they themselves are renewed. The tide recedes to its lowest points, and then comes back; it never goes all the way away. This even ties in to our existing insights:
yrsillar said:
  1. There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
  2. Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more.
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Hence my thinking of how it would tie into a resist art: by "leaning in" to a dispel and then coming back stronger, at high tide.
zxzx24 said:
[X] Friendship
[X] Family
[X] caring
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It's not time to vote.
AbeoLogos said:
Nuh-uh. I've been pushing hard for some thematic tie-in to Zhengui, but I haven't been advocating "cycles". I don't think the kid is actually very cyclical in his nature. His counterparting concepts are [Growth] and [Renewal]; while he's previously been described as creation/destruction, the two actual concepts sink that down to the level of window-dressing. [Renewal] alone encapsulates creation and destruction. When paired with [Growth], I basically don't feel that his overall nature is one of cyclical anything, and if it is it's a very aggressive upwards spiral at most.
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We know Zhengui is cyclical, though.
yrsillar said:
"Partially," Ling Qi replied, feeling a little more on balance. "Zhengui is fire and wood," she paused thinking. "I… suspect, he is aligned with the concepts of cyclic growth and destruction," her reading had introduced her to the fact that stronger beasts aligned with certain ways, as Xin had hinted cultivators must.
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And then the tech he developed as a result of that conversation ended up being:
yrsillar said:
Rebirth Inferno:
Special
Damage: A
When reduced to F rank health. Zhengui may instantly discharge all of his remaining qi into a roaring inferno that consumes all save Ling Qi within Very Close range. This massive explosion tears through defenses and moves with incredible speed. In the aftermath Zhengui falls unconscious, and cannot act, but receives a temporary Health Attribute of B Rank.
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You try to kill our guy and he just activates a second health bar. That's the thing I was going for. But I will withdraw the implicit endorsement from my OP.
 
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Has Linq Qi ever seen a tide? Wouldn't it be a very strange concept to her. Personally, I'd rather see something more familar to her, like wood. But I will admit I am very biased in this regard.
 
olamide said:
Has Linq Qi ever seen a tide? Wouldn't it be a very strange concept to her. Personally, I'd rather see something more familar to her, like wood. But I will admit I am very biased in this regard.
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I mean, this isn't an art she's developing herself, it's the sect library. They've got all sorts of stuff.
 
olamide said:
Has Linq Qi ever seen a tide? Wouldn't it be a very strange concept to her. Personally, I'd rather see something more familar to her, like wood. But I will admit I am very biased in this regard.
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The other thing to think about is what makes sense to be in the Argent Sect's archives. We're a looooonnngg way from the sea. That kind of thing is more a Alabaster Sands art.

I'm also not entirely sure about my ideas for flood agriculture or rain and reservoirs I posted above. Depends what ES's agriculture is like. That kind of thing might be more Thousand Lakes and old Golden Fields?

Anyone want to speculate on Emerald Sea's agriculture and climate? Hmm, I'd have placed it as temperate given its location, but we also know they do a lot of tea which apparently works best in warm humid climates with high rainfall...
 
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Erebeal said:
The other thing to think about is what makes sense to be in the Argent Sect's archives. We're a looooonnngg way from the sea. That kind of thing is more a Alabaster Sands art.


I'm also not entirely sure about my ideas for flood agriculture or rain and reservoirs I posted above. Depends what ES's agriculture is like. That kind of thing might be more Thousand Lakes and old Golden Fields?
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OK, but the Sect archives had Ashen Shadow Art, which we know is from the Golden Fields, so we know that arts from other provinces are in fact available here. There's been a long time for them to accumulate all sorts of things; yrsillar did not say that we should filter for Emerald-Seas-ness, so I don't think we should worry about that aspect. Go ahead and propose the flood-rains art.
 
picklepikkl said:
OK, but the Sect archives had Ashen Shadow Art, which we know is from the Golden Fields, so we know that arts from other provinces are in fact available here. There's been a long time for them to accumulate all sorts of things; yrsillar did not say that we should filter for Emerald-Seas-ness, so I don't think we should worry about that aspect. Go ahead and propose the flood-rains art.
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yrsillar said:
Gong Guo let out a long breath, sending his graying mustache swaying as memories faded away, and he was left once again in the dim light of his study. The Jade Tablet he held in his hands shook slightly as he remembered the ventures of a much younger and more reckless man. Within were all of the arts he had developed based on those insights, from the humble Ashen Shadow, to his own Eternal Ashen Yearning Art.

"Father, the Lord Marshal is here," his youngest son, Gong Da, said deferentially from the door of his study.

"And I shall not keep him waiting," Gong Guo, Patriarch of the Gong clan said as he turned. He had achieved the fourth realm, and even reached the cusp of the fifth, but he had balked at the sacrifice his Way demanded to go further. He could only hope that one of his descendants would refine the family's path to something less harsh. Perhaps his granddaughter, she was such a bright young girl. "Son, I shall be giving this over to you." He said gravely, holding out the tablet.

Gong Da's eyes widened as he gazed down at the slab of jade, it's surface a spiderweb of formations characters. "Father… The family archive? Why would you remove it from the vault? With so many of our soldiers away…"

"It's precisely for that reason that I want you to take it away," Gong Guo said, pressing the tablet into the boys hand. "I've no doubt that lord Chu will lead us to victory, but…" he shook his head, not able to maintain his normal smile. "Black Jade Mountain is gone."

"This will not be a battle without damage," the boy murmured, gingerly accepting the tablet.

He clapped his son on the shoulder. "Indeed, but homes and fields can be rebuilt, a family is a bit harder. You will go north, and shelter with the Luo son, Take as much of the household as you can manage."

"I will not betray your trust Father," his son replied, fervently bowing his head.

"I know," Gong Guo said with a touch of affection, striding past his bowing son. "Now, I'll need be off. I doubt Lord Chu will be late to his own war council after all!"
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ASA was Golden Fields-inspired, but belonged to an Emerald Seas clan.
 
Alright, here's an idea for a resist art: "Moonlit Flower Garden"

Moon, Wood, and Renewal as some keywords for the art.

The basic premise of the art is based upon plants that flower at night under the moon. With the scorching heat of the day the flowers curl up and refuse to open, but every cooling night, they unfurl stronger than the night before because of the energy the flowers absorbed during the day. This ties into the concept of renewal by using a negative and turning it into something productive. In this case, dispells being the sun and our techniques that we want to keep active the petals of the flower.

Mechanically I'm seeing an art like this letting the dispel happen, but returning the technique back for free after the dispel has ended.
 
[] Dream
We should have a dream. Let Dream be it.

[] Reflections
Reflections has such large potential as a keyword that I'd like to see it used more.

[] Poetry
Art needs to be given more love.
 
I'm trying to think about how different themes would play out in practice, and rains seem awkward. When we pull out our Cold arts, atmospheric moisture tends to be affected. Anything along the lines of Spring or Renewal rains would have trouble maintaining coherent aesthetics with their themes with that going on. It also doesn't seem very Resist-y, unless it's as a Lung-based qi construct, which we kind of have too many of already. Finally, at least at the moment, rains doesn't hook in with Zhengui's themes obviously, or with things Ling Qi already has at her disposal. Don't think the impact of mists is quite the same or similar in the right trajectory to naturally build into rains. It's messy if we want to clearly mirror some of Zhengui's themes.

Moon stuff has more establishment in Ling Qi to build off of, but maybe too strong? It's also kind of wishy-washy; it's difficult to juxtapose other things with Moon, because it's a naturally mutable element. You're not setting up the same kind of friction between the two elements as Zhengui has, unless we went with Sun or something, which lol no.

Wood, I think, provides a clear connecting thread to Zhengui, while pairing decently well with a variety of different combinations which can explore parallel themes to Zhengui's own. Cold/Wood is the most obvious, and leans into some of Ling Qi's insights, but there's Water, Wind, and maybe Darkness combos that could work too. Depending on the imagery used, each element could provide it's own challenges for life to overcome, or act as a vector for its spread.
 
I kind of like cold, wood and wind. I can see some sort of winter storm in a forest. But that doesn't lead to growth and renewel to me. Maybe something with plants that only grown in snow?
 
yrsillar said:
That's weird, you gonna let other people talk you into what arts you're gonna use?
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4th wall, heh. Yes, yes she is!
yrsillar said:
affected confidence
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S̶o̶r̶r̶y̶,̶ ̶a̶f̶f̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶?̶ ̶P̶e̶r̶h̶a̶p̶s̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶"̶a̶f̶f̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶t̶e̶"̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶t̶e̶a̶d̶?̶ Nevermind, got it.

On the art, I suggest to try and find something that can reduce allied casualties. Our redshirts will be receiving damage in battles no matter what we do, but it would be good if they can pull it afterwards. Tags are something like this:
[Hybernation/Stasis]
[Winter/Cold]
[Prevention]
The idea is that the art will, upon an ally receiving mortal damage, try to freeze the would and put this ally in death-like hybernation, until help may arrive.
 
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