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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] Aid the spirit, something about the prince set her on edge

I'd say that the prince legitimately considers the ents mad due to their willingness to pursue vengeance/justice to the extent that the Weilu were forced to burn down their forest to stop the ents, and their lust for retribution in the face of death was sufficient to give birth to this dream/nightmare that will continue to exist until a Sect disciple finally helps them achieve it. So the reason Ling Qi is instinctively siding with the ents is it probably being the route that allows the dream/nightmare to finally end, and bring peace to the long dead spirits.

Furthermore one thing to keep in mind is that if this is anything like the formation Elder Jiao uses nothing can be taken from the dream/nightmare, but there are a lot of possible rewards from it regardless. Like off the top of my head favor from Bloody, or Dreaming Moon for finally bringing peace to the long dead spirits, favor from the Argent Sect for clearing out a piece of prime real estate, an art made by the spirit, and/or a cultivation site.

Although the best reward imo for ending the dream/nightmare would be a sapling from the long dead forest that has been safeguarded by the dream/nightmare.
 
It's been ... over two hours from the update (already? :o) I believe it's time for a Tally.
Adhoc vote count started by Ayashi on Dec 19, 2018 at 4:31 PM, finished with 4402 posts and 44 votes.
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Lol Shen Hu, Ling Qi's got the beginnings really bad. I wonder when we'll meet his second spirit? I also find his style interesting, given how closely it works with his spirits. Shen Hu himself has a specific set of things he does, Lanhua has another, and then this ? has their own thing and they all tie together. Also looking at his stat block he's getting some nifty boosts from techniques.

What it sounds like to me is that Shen Hu is working on some finesse issues, which makes a hell of a lot of sense really considering his outlook on life and the way he approached fighting in the prelims. It's also nice to get a more proper look at his elements.


Ooooooo! A Wicker Man! What a curious spirit. Most people have hit the points about Bloody Moon and Oathbreakers on the head I think and something to remember is that the Horned Lord, the sublime ancestor of the Weilu left them in disgust(mentioned in Ancestors Sublime Excerpt in the first thread) along with the idea that Meizhen raised about the Weilu's hedonism.

There is a bigger battle going on here for reasons we have zero dip diddly context on. Someone set a lot of things on fire that's for sure and from the sounds one can presume that there are other spirits doing battle with other humans.

Something to remember right now is that because the Horned Lord left the Weilu, they were decreed as somehow unworthy and from the context of Meizhen's story they are not well regarded in the modern imperial environment. This is important because Ling Qi and Shen Hu and their attendant spirits have obligation to that modern imperial environment, in the figure of Cai Shenhua and Cai Renxiang. Their obligation doesn't spring whole from the past, and comes from the context of the now as well.

Based on that imperial environment, I would think the obligation tilts into favor of the spirit which could well be attempting to punish a criminal. Of course this is somewhat complicated by "being" in the past.

Either way I don't think this singular instance is all there is to the dream so I say skip it and go deeper. It's the more cautious and judging outlook, and you can't have proper vengeance without knowing who to avenge yourself on.


[X] Aid neither, leave them too it and go elsewhere, to try and figure out what is going on in this dream.
 
yrsillar said:
He accepted that so easily, she mused, as great torrents of mud rose to engulf him until Lanhua's lumpy, marsh reed covered head rose to her level. The spirit looked at Ling Qi with her pit like eyes and let out a bubbling rumble.

"I'll cover you both, I promise," LIng Qi replied. Really the mud spirit was the more sensible out of the two of them.
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Why doesn't Ling Qi understand what Lanhua says as words that are translated for us readers, rather than doing it Chewbacca style where she seems to understand it but we don't get to see a translation?
 
As far as that Wood site is concerned, our applicable Arts are: SCS, TRF, PLR, AE, AS, ENM and AFL, which largely train Dexterity or Stamina.

Discounting Arts I don't want to cultivate, that's SCS, TRF, PLR and one of ENM or AFL.

SCS and ENM both have Zeqing's home site bonus, so they can't make use of this one unless we want to sacrifice the multiplier (IIRC).

That leaves TRF, PLR and AFL, which is between 155 and 241 extra exp to Physical... until we find a Moon or Wind location, in which case it drops to 65. A pleasant little bonus; right around 1/3 of an AP.

It's a great site for a Wood primary or secondary cultivator; not so good for anyone else. Great for Zhengui, good for Shen Hu, and it drops TRF's time to mastery by one AP (presuming Medium drugs and max GSS); we'd need twenty-two additional resource dice for good odds of reaching Mastery in 4 AP.
 
[X] Aid the spirit, something about the prince set her on edge

Spirits have always treated us well, in their own way. The same cannot be said of humans
 
Raising Kittens said:
As far as that Wood site is concerned, our applicable Arts are: SCS, TRF, PLR, AE, AS, ENM and AFL, which largely train Dexterity or Stamina.

Discounting Arts I don't want to cultivate, that's SCS, TRF, PLR and one of ENM or AFL.

SCS and ENM both have Zeqing's home site bonus, so they can't make use of this one unless we want to sacrifice the multiplier (IIRC).

That leaves TRF, PLR and AFL, which is between 155 and 241 extra exp to Physical... until we find a Moon or Wind location, in which case it drops to 65. A pleasant little bonus; right around 1/3 of an AP.

It's a great site for a Wood primary or secondary cultivator; not so good for anyone else. Great for Zhengui, good for Shen Hu, and it drops TRF's time to mastery by one AP (presuming Medium drugs and max GSS); we'd need twenty-two additional resource dice for good odds of reaching Mastery in 4 AP.
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I wonder if Zhengui will fit in the Grove of Thirty Three when he wakes up.
 
Speaking of the Grove of Thirty Three, it's official confirmation that qi gathering formations exist, so personally I'd like to research them in the Archive to see if it's possible to set up one for Moon element arts.
 
The spirit's only asking that we not involve ourselves and as the seemingly more trustworthy party, I'm willing to listen. Getting involved might lead to shinies but I'm not sold on that being what we need to focus on, I'd rather a general investigation into the situation than rushing to join a side that doesn't want us or an apparent Oathbreaker who sets Ling Qi on edge.

[X] Aid neither, leave them too it and go elsewhere, to try and figure out what is going on in this dream.
 
Something I thought of here which in hindsight is obvious to me. The King of the Forest isn't talking about the Weilu Prince or the Burning Tree, it's talking about that gigantic fourth realm stag we ran into which gave us the moon map in the first place. It dropped the box that gave us the map, said map leading to the Rave Tower.

What with the Moon Stag image marking this I would argue that Stag is probably watching us. And thus this is the return of that particular storyline.
Adhoc vote count started by BungieONI on Dec 19, 2018 at 5:18 PM, finished with 4417 posts and 49 votes.
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For all that people want to side with the tree, it may be worth noting that it has not asked for our help, only that we do not interfere. It seems possible, if not probable that it would be upset at us killing the Prince, especially if the Oathbreaker comment referred to something personal between them.
 
[X] Aid neither, leave them too it and go elsewhere, to try and figure out what is going on in this dream.
 
BungieONI said:
Something I thought of here which in hindsight is obvious to me. The King of the Forest isn't talking about the Weilu Prince or the Burning Tree, it's talking about that gigantic fourth realm stag we ran into which gave us the moon map in the first place. In the box that gave us the map, said map leading to the Rave Tower.

What with the Moon Stag image marking this I would argue that Stag is probably watching us. And thus this is the return of that particular storyline.
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I'm not too sure about that. This memory is probably older than 8500 years, as that is when the Weilu disappeared. While I'm sure that spirits living that long are possible, given the ancestor spirits and all that, an 8,500-year-old+ Stag who is at the time of the memory powerful enough to be considered King of the Forest seems like a bit much.

I think the stag on the map more likely referred to the Weilu, as they were the Horned Lords and their ancestral spirit is a Stag. I think that whatever the Weilu prince's father is fighting is going to be the King of the Forest. Possibly related to the Cyan Stag that gave us the puzzle box, but probably not the same one.
 
[X] Aid neither, leave them too it and go elsewhere, to try and figure out what is going on in this dream.
 
Thor's Twin said:
I'm not too sure about that. This memory is probably older than 8500 years, as that is when the Weilu disappeared. While I'm sure that spirits living that long are possible, given the ancestor spirits and all that, an 8,500-year-old+ Stag who is at the time of the memory powerful enough to be considered King of the Forest seems like a bit much.

I think the stag on the map more likely referred to the Weilu, as they were the Horned Lords and their ancestral spirit is a Stag. I think that whatever the Weilu prince's father is fighting is going to be the King of the Forest. Possibly related to the Cyan Stag that gave us the puzzle box, but probably not the same one.
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The point I was making was that this is the continuation of the Moon Stag plot line and that this title has less to do with the dream and more to do with the Moon Stag.
 
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Rayous said:
the treant refers to us as "children of river and hill".
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If by 'us' you mean Shen Hu and Ling Qi, you'd be wrong. River is Lanhua, hill is Shen Hu. Neither combatant has noticed Ling Qi yet.

[X] Aid the spirit, something about the prince set her on edge
I'm not all that inclined to follow the orders of a Weilu prince, even in a dream. He has no authority over Ling Qi; Cai Shenhua is her duchess.
 
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