I have been following the discussion on LQ's first succesor art (well mostly following), and I would like some clarification. Assuming we choose FSS+, does it need to build off the insight that LQ slotted from FSS?
It doesn't make sense to me for a cultivator to build a successor art that doesn't extend the insight they took from the original. Not, like, "it would be a stupid thing to do," but like "I don't see how it could metaphysically be possible." Ling Qi sees FSS in a certain way and has a soul-deep belief about the truth that lies at its heart. That's what slotting an insight means. How on earth could she possibly make a sequel that doesn't respond to that truth somehow?
Ok, I had art ideas and so I tried to put together my idea for FSS+ into an art.
No promises that it's balanced
The ideas here really revolve around exploring the ideas of how the endings expressed in FSS can open up opportunities for new beginnings. In terms of the art, this is encapsulated by the new tech Frozen Soul's Heart which takes in the qi harvested by the other techniques, and then when full allows it to be expended to empower them further, or activate a new big recovery tech.
Winterspring Sonata
An attempt by Ling Qi to develop Frozen Soul Serenade further based on her insights and experiences with Zeqing. There are endings and Endings, only the very last one is final. Just as winter ends in spring, small endings are new beginnings.
Passive Effects: +25 to Penetration of Cold effects D damage reduction vs. cold-Permanent +15 bonus to Penetration of Music arts +25 to Spiritual Armor +20 to Health
New techniques the art revolves around: Frozen Soul's Heart: A (note: no actual qi cost)
Duration: Long/Instant
A crystallisation of the possibilities that may arise from endings. Activated automatically upon the use of any of Winterspring Sonata's techniques, this meditation technique gathers and condenses the qi drained by the other techniques. Once the pool is full, it may be expended to activate the following special techniques:
Echoes of Absolute Winter (if Springs End Aria is active): Briefly empowering Springs End Aria even further, the very qi in the air around a chosen foe is frozen, stopping their movement and silencing their defences. The next cold or dark technique used by the singer may bypass the target's dodge or armor, as chosen by the user.
Winter's End Credenza: Empowering Hoarfrost Refrain, all foes within close range are struck by its full power
Empowered Call to Ending: Empowering Call to Ending, the silence of the End cuts across the air, and absence that cannot be ignored. When used, Call to Ending no longer requires the target to be suffering from Hoarfrost Refrain, and strikes at full power up to Far range. A free dispel attempt may be made on any defensive technique used against the attack, including responses, that is resolved before damage is calculated.
Winter's End Aria: may be activated
Winter's End Aria: A (uses Frozen Soul's Heart to cast)
Duration: Immediate
The qi gathered and crystallised in Frozen Soul's Heart opens up new possibilities. By expending the full pool, the user may recover A qi, and E health. The restoration cleanses the body, and Ends ailments afflicting the user, providing a free dispel attempt against up to three debuffs.
If Springs End Aria is active as well, it may also be consumed to revitalise all allies within its area of effect, at a penalty of two ranks to the qi and health recovery, and attempting to dispel a single debuff on each ally.
Old techniques:
Springs End Aria: B (merged Aria and Echoes)
Duration: Long
The first notes of the users song herald the end of warmth, draining the heat from the area and around them and crystalizing the moisture in the air into snow and ice. Enemies Close to the user find their qi growing sluggish, sapping their spiritual defenses and bolstering the singers own. Attacks targeting the user, or which have an area of effect overlapping with Aria's have their penetration reduced by one rank as the cold devours the energy of the technique or attack. Qi expended in assaults of the singer are thus drained away, flowing into the singularity of cold created by the singers voice, and feeding Frozen Soul's Heart, at a rate equal to the technique's rank reduced twice for successful attacks, or simply the technique's rank if they fail.Hostile dispel attempts are similarly weakened. Those whose dantians have been fully drained find their flesh frosting over and their blood running cold as they are lulled into the final sleep.
In addition, Cold or Dark techniques used by the singer against those in range of Aria have their Hit or Penetration enhanced by one rank, as chosen by the user (may be empowered by Frozen Soul's Heart).
Hoarfrost Refrain: B
Duration: Immediate
Damage: B
The user's song rises into the howl of of a blizzard in the depths of winter as they focus the expression of their will upon a single enemy. Mastery of the art shows that the second and third techniques of the Serenade are one whole. The song tears and freezes the flesh of the singers enemy, and spreads through their blood and meridians, carrying the chill deeper still, like a frigid poison seeking the heart of its victims warmth, inflicting B rank qi drain on the initial hit, and C rank thereafter. The chill clings long after the technique ends, the insidious cold crawling ever closer to the victim's heart until at last it stills or the technique is dispelled. The drain will continue to fill Frozen Soul's Heart as long as the victim is within Very Far range.
The mere echoes of the Refrain lash all foes within Close range of the target, though the damage and qi drain is reduced by one rank and slowing flesh and spirit alike, though the echoes lack the persistent damage/drain of the which the main target suffers.
Call to Ending: A
Duration: Immediate
Damage: A(Special)
The final verse of the Serenade is a quiet, sad thing, lacking the furor of earlier verses. Upon Singing it, a single target which suffers from Hoarfrost Refrain's cold feels a terrible pain as the chill infecting them grows to a terrible potency, and every last shred of heat flees their body. This effect ignores armor, and the damage dealt changes based on the distance between the singer and the target. At Close distance it deals the baseline damage, with each range increment out to very Far reducing it, and each increment closer increasing it. However, should the singer lay hands upon the target when activating the technique, damage is increased by a full letter rank. If the technique slays the target, Frozen Soul's Heart is filled to a degree dependent on cultivation level. If the target is of equal or higher cultivation than the user, then Frozen Soul's heart is completely filled. For each stage of cultivation below the user, the qi gain is reduced by one rank.
Woww. I really like this idea. It plays into the endings/new beginnings concept in a way that makes sense and is believable, whereas a lot of other ideas I've seen play out really awkwardly in their attempt to tie in the whole beginnings/spring thing.
Winter's End: A
May only be used with <Echoes> active as well as 2 full turns during which the user must pay the full technique cost and may be interrupted. Upon activation all active effects of FSS+ end and may not be reactivated for the rest of the scene.
Calling upon the Final End which is the inevitable fate of all things, the singer unleashes the concept on her chosen foe. The technique bypasses armor and damage resistance and is treated as if it were a rank higher for the purpose of contesting attempts to Avoid or Negate it.
On activation, target an opponent within <Echoes> range. Target with health below SS rank is immediately extinguished, otherwise the target suffers SS rank health damage which may not be recovered from without use of Shen.
Touched by the echoes of the effect, all other opponents within <Echoes> area of effect that were previously damaged by FSS+ effects suffer the equivalent of <Call to Ending>, and all others are afflicted by <Hoarfrost's Refrain>.
Even with all the costs for this "just die" tech, I feel like "extinguishing target with below SS health rank" is a bit OP. Maybe instead it Ends targets with A rank health...or B rank...and if the target has health above that, it'll do that much rank damage instead? In addition it also would be treated higher rank for the purpose of contesting attempts to negate or avoid it. Also, maybe it can meet a condition that allows it to go up to SS rank damage. Like if the target is attempting to hurt an ally then the damage will go up one rank for each SL Rank LQ has with the ally. Imagine how badass that would be if it were someone like Meihzen or Zhengui. It would be very in theme with LQ's protectiveness of her loved ones.
It doesn't make sense to me for a cultivator to build a successor art that doesn't extend the insight they took from the original. Not, like, "it would be a stupid thing to do," but like "I don't see how it could metaphysically be possible." Ling Qi sees FSS in a certain way and has a soul-deep belief about the truth that lies at its heart. That's what slotting an insight means. How on earth could she possibly make a sequel that doesn't respond to that truth somehow?
Hmm, could be wrong, but I am seeing slotting an insight as LQ incorporating a philosophical truth that resonates with how she sees the reality of the world. LQ takes an insight from the Art, but I don't think that necessarily means that insight now encapsulates everything about what the Art is to LQ. An art can contain multitudes.
It would probably be suboptimal to build FSS+ that way (especially as the first successor art), but I think it should still be possible.
One thing that occurs to me is that people are considering only the FSS insight. That's obviously the most important one, since it's always related, but we could make a successor for something we didn't take an insight from, so it can't just be dependent on its own insight - the rest of the domain must have some influence as well.
One thing that occurs to me is that people are considering only the FSS insight. That's obviously the most important one, since it's always related, but we could make a successor for something we didn't take an insight from, so it can't just be dependent on its own insight - the rest of the domain must have some influence as well.
I agree that an art you develop must, of necessity, be congruent with your domain as a whole. My point is just that I don't think you can make a successor that doesn't incorporate the domain insight you gained from the predecessor, if you gained one. Like, metaphysically can't.
An old art developed by the clans of southern emerald seas, during the age of civil strife. A meditation on the nature of home and family created during the long winters which once plagued the hills of the province. This art offers few stand alone techniques, and instead focuses on effects which bolster other arts.
Potency: Green 3
Potency Growth: Green 4(3), Green 5(6)
Keywords:
- Boundaries, Hearth, Security, Cold, Fire, Resist, Balanced.
- Composure, Music.
Meridians: Spine x3, Heart x1; music 2 cold 1 fire 1
- Growth: Spine(5), Heart(3)
Experience Needed: 400, 500, 700, 900, 1100
Max level: 6
Passive Effects:
+15 to Resist
+10 to Spiritual Armor
+10 to Health
+5 to Music
Burning Hearth, Winter Wind: C
Upkeep 5
Through the reverberations of this technique, cultivators' Music arts are altered subtly. Manifesting as a faint background support to a song, melody or composition(or enhancing such an effect if already present) the cultivators' art effects are enhanced. Firstly, arts which do not distinguish between ally and enemy gain this feature. Secondly, arts enhanced by this technique are more difficult to dispel. All activated music arts gain one 'shield' charge, when a technique would be dispelled, this shield charge is removed instead. A technique must be reactivated to regain the shield charge. Dispels of A rank or higher adjusted for potency may ignore this effect.
Allies within the effect of the users Lung or Heart arts also receive a small bonus to Resist and Resolve.
Frozen Walls, Homely Keep: C
Duration: Long
Focusing their conception of hearth and home upon a single location or themselves, the cultivator calls forth a potent warmth that enwraps allies and a frozen chill that assaults invaders. Effects radiate from the point of origin out to Far range. Allies receive D rank qi regeneration and bonuses to spiritual Avoid and Armor. Enemies suffer D rank qi drain and penalties to Spiritual Hit and Penetration. If the user is the designated point of origin, they receive D rank qi regeneration and a significant increase to Spiritual Armor and Resist.
On the roof of mothers home in the town, Ling Qi meditated. She allowed her senses to fly far and wide on wisps of silver. There was little activity, the sun was still an hour or more from peaking over the horizon. Seated there, observing the quite rousing of the many households of the town, Ling Qi cultivated the Winter Hearth Resounding Art.
The choice she had ultimately made from her recent trip to the archive, it was an interesting little art. Rather than being a melody of its own, the art taught subtle ways of reinforcing the structure of other arts. It was also a philosophical meditation on the nature of home and family. It spoke of warmth in winter, and the need to keep family close.
But in the echo of the lessons was history. A long winter where treachery, lies and greed were the primary virtue, when structures taken for granted had begun to buckle under the weight of myopic self interest.
It was an unpleasantly familiar beat, without even the excuse of desperation to soften it. Here in the town at the entrance of the Sect, Ling Qi could feel the thousand small flames that the arts musing spoke of, each one a hearth in the dark, a small circle of warmth against the cold that lay ever outside. Some were bright, some were dim, some were subtly broken in ways that she could not begin to put into words with only this distant observation.
They were each real, they were each important to those within their light. They were still not hers. Her hearth was below her, in the slow stirring of the morning staff, and her mother rising, preparing to cultivate in the garden. It lay on the distant mountains of the inner sect, in scattered embers, and far, far away in a desert she had never seen.
Even knowing, feeling the reality of those other lights, they did not warm her as this one did. She suspected that they never would. She had come to believe in Cai Renxiang, but it was still a selfish thing. She wanted her family to live in a province that was like what the heiress envisioned.
However, she did not think that this was wrong. The circles were not separate. She saw her mother quietly greet a woman of similar age, trading quiet words in the pre dawn light. In turn, she could feel a strand of connection from the other woman to the houses in the outer village. Her mother's circle of warmth was not hers, and her mother's friend in turn had her own, but there was intersection there.
That, Ling Qi thought, was probably what Cai Renxiang meant when she spoke of patterns and structures, the intersection of a thousand, thousand lights, all suspended in the cold. That was where comfort and companionship and society arose. Shatter those connections, let them degrade and rot as they did in the streets of Tonghou, and the cold came in, as surely as it would through a broken window or an ill sealed roof.
Even if she couldn't care about hearths other than her own, she could see the value in them, the value in not forgetting them, and even in letting them share her hearth for a time, however brief. It was only to everyone's ill that fires were allowed to go out in the cold after all.
"For what it's worth, I think you're on the right track," Sixiang murmured. "The Dream wouldn't be what it is, we muses wouldn't be what we are, without the confluence of mortal thought."
That was comforting, Ling Qi thought, she had worried that she was wandering too far afield. "Do you think I'm making a mistake, with Zhengui? That I'm trying to force a connection that isn't there?"
Sixiang was silent for a time, and Ling Qi meditated.
"I think the two of you are more alike than you think, even if you come at it from different angles. It's just the ways that you're similar are ways that bring conflict," Sixiang finally said.
Ling Qi didn't question what they meant, the answer was obvious enough. They both had a strong protective instinct toward the other, but for so long, Zhengui had been unable to act on it. "You're also both stubborn as rocks, sometimes," Sixiang grumbled.
"Neither of us cultivate earth," Ling Qi said with a wry smile.
"Fine, stubborn as an old oak and glacier then," Sixiang shot back.
"That's probably fair," Ling Qi said softly, raising her head and opening her eyes to look at the strands of dawn light beginning to filter upward. "But you didn't answer my question."
"...I don't think the idea is a mistake. But whether it gives the result you want will depend on what you do with it."
"Unhelpful," Ling Qi huffed, rising to her feet on the dew slick roof tiles. There was no use fretting more over it until they began. "Do you think I'll be ready to practice my Dreamwalking soon?"
"Give it till the end of the week," Sixiang said, voice drifting on the breeze. "I'd rather be sure, and you still have a little time before that duel."
"Fair enough," Ling Qi said, walking towards the roof's edge. She would start on the Wind Thief Art tomorrow then.
"Now quit worrying for a bit, the party's today remember?" Sixiang said.
Ling Qi smiled at the reminder. It was Biyu's fourth birthday today. There was nothing extravagant planned, but she was glad to spend the day with her family. "Right, I suppose I should go down and help Mother with her cultivation then."
Ling Qi stepped off the roof.
***
It was nothing extravagant, this celebration. Biyu awoke to her nanny's smile, and the the fond expressions of the household. For breakfast, the cook made jianbing, one of Biyu's favorites, and they ate together as a family. The wheat flour crepes and their simple fillings were certainly not made of any special ingredients, but Ling Qi found herself enjoying the flavor more than she had far more extravagant foods.
After, they had gone out to the garden, where Zhengui had been waiting and there they had played. Shaping tiny expressions of her Mist, Ling Qi gave her little sister phantom animals to chase and play with, while sitting and chatting with her Mother and Zhengui, who had shrunk down to the size of a small dog.
When Biyu had tired, Ling Qi and Ling Qingge had taken turns reading to her from a storybook until she fell asleep in Mothers lap.
The day passed like that, in quiet enjoyment of one another's company, culminating in the evening when they sat together in the hearth room, while Ling QIngge played a new composition.
Ling Qi sat at one one end of the long couch which filled the far side of the room, and at her feet on the carpeted floor where Zhengui and Biyu were. Part way through the day, her little sister had plead with him to let her ride on his shell, and Zhengui had eventually allowed it. Ling Qi had made sure it would be safe, and so throughout the day the little girl would happily hop on and let Zhengui carry her through the halls.
She was just leaning against his shell now, blinking drowsily while their mother played.
Ling Qi couldn't help a small smile as she leaned against the arm of the couch. Her mother really was good. Ling Qi had surpassed her through cultivation, but her mother was genuinely talented, and now with the rust of disuse gone from her skill, that was showing again.
The gentle sound of her mothers flute drifted through the warm room, it was a song of comfort and warm summer days, and a faint hope that was slowly growing, but growing all the same.
When the song finished, Ling Qi offered polite applause. "That was lovely Mother," she said warmly.
"Happy songs are nice!" Biyu added her own exuberant praise, clapping her own hands.
Sixiang laughed silently. Ling Qi smiled wryly.
"It is nothing so worthy of praise," Ling Qingge said. "But I am glad that my daughters found it enjoyable."
"It was a nice song," Gui said quietly. He had not been at the most talkative today, but she thought that he had still enjoyed himself.
"See, even Zhengui agrees that it does deserve praise," Ling Qi said.
"Precious is a good turtle," Biyu agreed, patting his shell.
Zhen looked conflicted at the praise.
Ling Qingge smiled, and for once there was no strain in it, she nodded her head in acknowledgement of Zhengui. At least in his smaller form, she had grown comfortable around him.
Biyu yawned them, only to blink and hastily raise her hands to cover her mouth. "...Not tired," the little girl said reflexively.
"Of course not," Ling Qingge said gently.
"But just in case you get sleepy, later, would you like a present from your Big Sister now?" Ling Qi asked. She had been trying to find a good time for it all day and… it was now or never at this point.
Biyu's expression brightened as she turned her head to look at Ling Qi. "Present?"
"That's right," Ling Qi said, earning a curious look from her mother. In her hands, a carved wooden box appeared. "The present has two parts, and this is the first one. Go ahead and open it," she said, lowering the container to the floor.
Biyu turned herself around, looking curiously at the lacquered wooden box. She took the lid in both of her hands and lifted it up. Inside, padded by soft cushion was a pair of pale blue silk shoes. They weren't really proper talismans but Ling Qi had invested a little in them, stain resistant durable and just adjustable enough that they would last a couple years rather than a couple months on a growing girl.
"Pretty shoes?" Biyu asked curiously, picking one up and turning it over in her hands. She peered inside. She didn't seem too excited yet, but that was fine.
"Like I said, the shoes are only the first part," Ling Qi said lightly, leaning down to poke Biyu in the nose. The little girl snorted in laughter and swatted her hand away. "They're dancing shoes.. Do you want to be able to move like Big Sis?"
Now Biyu's eyes brightened. "Oh! Yes, I wanna be a pretty fairy!"
"Well, with these we can get started," Ling Qi chuckled. She was too young to learn anything complicated, but it would be good enough to start working on a sense of rhythm and balance. She raised her eyes too her mother. "But you can't use my lessons to get away from Mother or Nanny, alright?"
Her Mother gave her an unimpressed look, but smiled nonetheless, and gave Biyu a nod of approval.
"I'll be good," Biyu chirped eagerly, setting the shoe back in the box.
"I am sure you will," Ling Qingge said with a touch of doubt. "In any case, I believe dinner should be prepared, let us go to the garden."
Ling Qi smiled as she stood up, and scooped the box back up. She would put it in Biyu's room later. She was looking forward to being abe to teach her little sister, at least a little.
That would come later though, she had already had quite a full day after all.
And tonight, Ling Qi was going to begin learning to really move. She brushed her hand over her dress as she followed everyone out. It had saved her many times, and its abilities were invaluable, but she had to wonder, would wearing it while training the art of the Wind Thief be a crutch?
[] Train Wind Thief while wearing your Cai Dress (-0.2 multiplier. Dress Reaction)
[] Train Wind Thief without your Cai Dress ( +0.2 multiplier, Art Bonus)
Second Circle
Passive Effects:
+20 to Resist
+10 to Spiritual Armor
+15 to Health
+5 to Music
Burning Hearth, Winter Wind: C
Upkeep 3
Through the reverberations of this technique, cultivators' Music arts are altered subtly. Manifesting as a faint background support to a song, melody or composition(or enhancing such an effect if already present) the cultivators' art effects are enhanced. Firstly, arts which do not distinguish between ally and enemy gain this feature. Secondly, arts enhanced by this technique are more difficult to dispel. All activated music arts gain one 'shield' charge, when a technique would be dispelled, this shield charge is removed instead. A technique must be reactivated to regain the shield charge. Dispels of A rank or higher adjusted for potency may ignore this effect.
Allies within the effect of the users Lung or Heart arts also receive a bonus to Resist and Resolve.
Frozen Walls, Homely Keep: C
Duration: Long
Focusing their conception of hearth and home upon a single location or themselves, the cultivator calls forth a potent warmth that enwraps allies and a frozen chill that assaults invaders. Effects radiate from the point of origin out to Far range. Allies receive D rank qi regeneration and significant bonuses to Spiritual Avoid and Armor. Enemies suffer D rank qi drain and penalties to Spiritual Hit and Penetration. If the user is the designated point of origin, they receive D rank qi regeneration and a significant increase to Spiritual Armor and Resist.
Very cute scene with Biyu. And Zhengui is being so sweet to play with our family like that. I really really wanna know what the dress reaction is. I think a slightly slower cultivation speed is worth it? Not sure.
[] Train Wind Thief while wearing your Cai Dress (-0.2 multiplier. Dress Reaction)
[] Train Wind Thief without your Cai Dress ( +0.2 multiplier, Art Bonus)
Very cute scene with Biyu. And Zhengui is being so sweet to play with our family like that. I really really wanna know what the dress reaction is. I think a slightly slower cultivation speed is worth it? Not sure.
It is +0.2 vs -0.2, so a difference of 40%, let alone a lost art bonus, so quite a lot, actually.
On the other hand, the dress is probably capable of becoming a full fledged spirit and we will need to build our relationship with it, so...
"Like I said, the shoes are only the first part," Ling Qi said lightly, leaning down to poke Biyu in the nose. The little girl snorted in laughter and swatted her hand away. "They're dancing shoes.. Do you want to be able to move like Big Sis?"
The meditations on hearth and home, segueing into the discussion with Sixiang, was a really good scene. I like Ling Qi asserting that her home is not in a place, it's in her special people. That is very relatable to me, since I've needed for the sake of my career to move far away from many of the people I love. I really enjoy reading Ling Qi being philosophical and reflecting on both the patterns of her life at the large scale and the issues of her life on the small scale. It ties the narrative together and makes her concerns feel real.
Biyu is absurdly cute, I was multiquoting out choice bits to squee over but then realize I'd snipped basically the entire section. What a sweet kid. I hope she enjoys dance.
She was just leaning against his shell now, blinking drowsily while their mother played.
Ling Qi couldn't help a small smile as she leaned against the arm of the couch. Her mother really was good. Ling Qi had surpassed her through cultivation, but her mother was genuinely talented, and now with the rust of disuse gone from her skill, that was showing again.
The gentle sound of her mothers flute drifted through the warm room, it was a song of comfort and warm summer days, and a faint hope that was slowly growing, but growing all the same.
When the song finished, Ling Qi offered polite applause. "That was lovely Mother," she said warmly.
"Happy songs are nice!" Biyu added her own exuberant praise, clapping her own hands.
Let's be real here, we have been wanting to see the Dress in more detail since it ate the hand of a Cyan spirit in the woods. Unfortunately it comes at the cost of a -.2 Multiplier to our 3 AP invested in Laughing Wind Thief.
I'm willing to pay that, because knowing more about what the dress does and how it will likely function and react to various arts going forward is pretty damn important, and paying that price now is going to be far more relevant to our plans going forward one we start needing to decide on stuff like Late vs. Early Water.
Hmm. I feel like Dress Reaction is going to win because it has more of a shiny, mystery-box feel to it. What the reaction actually entails is obviously unknown, but I think the chance of an awakening (i.e. a new spirit buddy) will be too hard for most people to ignore.
That being said, I kind of want the multiplier and Art Bonus. I doubt the dress will remain dormant forever if we pass this option over (assuming the reaction is even an awakening). On the other hand, this is a singular and fleeting opportunity to boost what will be (arguably) the single most important/powerful Art in our repertoire.
It is +0.2 vs -0.2, so a difference of 40%, let alone a lost art bonus, so quite a lot, actually.
On the other hand, the dress is probably capable of becoming a full fledged spirit and we will need to build our relationship with it, so...
The circles were not separate. She saw her mother quietly greet a woman of similar age, trading quiet words in the pre dawn light. In turn, she could feel a strand of connection from the other woman to the houses in the outer village. Her mother's circle of warmth was not hers, and her mother's friend in turn had her own, but there was intersection there.
Hmm. I feel like Dress Reaction is going to win because it has more of a shiny, mystery-box feel to it. What the reaction actually entails is obviously unknown, but I think the chance of an awakening (i.e. a new spirit buddy) will be too hard for most people to ignore.
That being said, I kind of want the multiplier and Art Bonus. I doubt the dress will remain dormant forever if we pass this option over (assuming the reaction is even an awakening). On the other hand, this is a singular and fleeting opportunity to boost what will be (arguably) the single most important/powerful Art in our repertoire.
The bonus is something we don't have yet, which is why I'm willing to not take it. We're already planned out pretty far in advance and we have options to make up the lost AP along the way purely from playing with our Training Order of Operations not counting what drugs we can potentially get our hands on between now and then.
You're right about the "Shiny" aspect likely swaying a number of votes, and that the dress won't remain dormant forever but it might remain dormant for a long long time considering we've had it since the previous quest and it hasn't reacted beyond a single surge of violence.
On top of that, if there is a chance we can influence the Dress either in function or deed I'd prefer it to be with Wind Thief.
And should this just be something that isn't good for us, we'll have learned something very valuable for our plans going forward to account for with regards to discussing something with CRX about our dress and the problems we've encountered.
Won't be mad at either option winning, raw bonuses are great and I love 'em to pieces but the chance to learn something about this critically integral talisman that has a lot of "Blackboxed" vibes to it is something I want to see.
At a guess we are picking if the dress either eats part of wind thief, weakening the art over the dress getting more stuff later. We are still ways of from having it awaken if i remeber that chapter correctly. Or if we want the art to stay good going forward.
Mmm, I think it's also worth looking at this vote in the context of LQ's current heart demon and character arc.
Yes, you can say "want LQ to be the strongest she personally can be, and not be reliant on others" but that's exactly what the current issues are about. Should we not be trying to work with our partners, and considering their feelings?
The bonus is something we don't have yet, which is why I'm willing to not take it. We're already planned out pretty far in advance and we have options to make up the lost AP along the way purely from playing with our Training Order of Operations not counting what drugs we can potentially get our hands on between now and then.
You're right about the "Shiny" aspect likely swaying a number of votes, and that the dress won't remain dormant forever but it might remain dormant for a long long time considering we've had it since the previous quest and it hasn't reacted beyond a single surge of violence.
On top of that, if there is a chance we can influence the Dress either in function or deed I'd prefer it to be with Wind Thief.
And should this just be something that isn't good for us, we'll have learned something very valuable for our plans going forward to account for with regards to discussing something with CRX about our dress and the problems we've encountered.
Won't be mad at either option winning, raw bonuses are great and I love 'em to pieces but the chance to learn something about this critically integral talisman that has a lot of "Blackboxed" vibes to it is something I want to see.
