Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
[X] The warm western wind, herald of spring (enhances Avoid effects of art)
Sirrocco
Pedantic
[X] the gentle eastern wind, unnoticed by all (enhances stealth effects of art)
People have been saying that stealth really isn't Ling Qi's "thing" anymore, but that's simply not true. Stealth was a significant part of her role on her last deployment. CRX hasn't really used her for stealth lately, but she's absolutely the stealth expert for her liege. Really, her presence is mostly very swingy. She's a nonexistent whisper so far down your priority queue that it's not even worth the mental resources to be aware of and then suddenly she's a whirlwind of frozen despair and an enormous turtle came out of nowhere and everything's on fire and a horde of savage beasts is eating your face while you get attacked by topiary.
Like, she isn't purely about stealth anymore, but stealth is absolutely part of her being - right before she ricochets back over to overwhelming force on everyone within a fairly large radius.
People have been saying that stealth really isn't Ling Qi's "thing" anymore, but that's simply not true. Stealth was a significant part of her role on her last deployment. CRX hasn't really used her for stealth lately, but she's absolutely the stealth expert for her liege. Really, her presence is mostly very swingy. She's a nonexistent whisper so far down your priority queue that it's not even worth the mental resources to be aware of and then suddenly she's a whirlwind of frozen despair and an enormous turtle came out of nowhere and everything's on fire and a horde of savage beasts is eating your face while you get attacked by topiary.
Like, she isn't purely about stealth anymore, but stealth is absolutely part of her being - right before she ricochets back over to overwhelming force on everyone within a fairly large radius.
Black Noise
Curious
- Location
- About 1AU from Sol
I'd like to point out that the grinning moon is very much a spirit of action, and the stealth prowess to be unnoticed by all is meant for literally god defying heists.
Sure it doesn't play to our strength with music as much as the other choices, but of all of them this is the one that supports our connection to the hidden moon, as a tool to get into the most treasured vaults and secret halls and observe history unfold (and sometimes cause it by liberating what's there).
Strategically speaking, speed and stealth are the stronger picks compared to avoid which is "merely" a first among equals in our defensive layers in combat.
Sure it doesn't play to our strength with music as much as the other choices, but of all of them this is the one that supports our connection to the hidden moon, as a tool to get into the most treasured vaults and secret halls and observe history unfold (and sometimes cause it by liberating what's there).
Strategically speaking, speed and stealth are the stronger picks compared to avoid which is "merely" a first among equals in our defensive layers in combat.
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[X] The tempestuous northern wind, bringer of storms (Enhances speed and initiative effects of art)
Going fast is cool.
[X] the gentle eastern wind, unnoticed by all (enhances stealth effects of art)
Ling Qi being unnoticed by literally everyone seems in character in a way that the more recent fussing over connections and family constantly hasn't been. It's important to respect your roots, and opening up some thematic distance from the cloying bonds of kinship should help Ling Qi grow into a healthier place in the end. Plus, other characters can't keep hitting us with all this drama if they can't find Ling Qi in the first place. In that sense, this is the most elegant pick, blending the effects across multiple strata of game system and narrative engagement.
...
That's not true; none of that is right! The Grinning Moon made me type it.
Now that I've freed myself of such lunacy, the reason I'm voting for eastern wind is simply because stealth is cool, and the stealth portions of the art are less obviously super-duper charged than others I also like. Everything's nice, and I'd like to make this in particular nicer!
I also really like Avoid, but when I look at the Avoid in Zephyr's Mocking Escape and Sable Crescent Step, and I feel skeptical there's a lot that can be added without making the art actually broken for our level. The other two options I'm voting for feel as if they have more room for the vote to have more impact, assuming either wins. There's also the fact that movement and stealth are more prominently primarily the province of Wind Thief than Avoid, which more strongly shares its role with PLR, though movement also shares significant coverage albeit in more clearly distinct forms.
Going fast is cool.
[X] the gentle eastern wind, unnoticed by all (enhances stealth effects of art)
Ling Qi being unnoticed by literally everyone seems in character in a way that the more recent fussing over connections and family constantly hasn't been. It's important to respect your roots, and opening up some thematic distance from the cloying bonds of kinship should help Ling Qi grow into a healthier place in the end. Plus, other characters can't keep hitting us with all this drama if they can't find Ling Qi in the first place. In that sense, this is the most elegant pick, blending the effects across multiple strata of game system and narrative engagement.
...
That's not true; none of that is right! The Grinning Moon made me type it.
Now that I've freed myself of such lunacy, the reason I'm voting for eastern wind is simply because stealth is cool, and the stealth portions of the art are less obviously super-duper charged than others I also like. Everything's nice, and I'd like to make this in particular nicer!
I also really like Avoid, but when I look at the Avoid in Zephyr's Mocking Escape and Sable Crescent Step, and I feel skeptical there's a lot that can be added without making the art actually broken for our level. The other two options I'm voting for feel as if they have more room for the vote to have more impact, assuming either wins. There's also the fact that movement and stealth are more prominently primarily the province of Wind Thief than Avoid, which more strongly shares its role with PLR, though movement also shares significant coverage albeit in more clearly distinct forms.
Then we dodge Cyans yeeting Zhengui at us
- Location
- Staring into the void
Inserted tally
[X] the gentle eastern wind, unnoticed by all (enhances stealth effects of art)
I think this is a great point, honestly. The distinction between what Ling Qi is, and what she values is often lost when discussion starts to fly back and forth. It does well to remember just how much she's grown and developed as a person since starting on the road of cultivation.
In particular, the thematic resonance of the West with the insights from FSS and FVM:
The good times are worth fighting for, even through struggles and tribulation. She wants to make the world a better place for those that she loves. That's not an ignoble ideal, I think, nor one that the Grinning Moon would disapprove of. Is Wind Thief not the story of a girl who dared to challenge the order of the world for her own ideals?
There are several particularly poignant and relevant lines from her contest with Yu Nuan worth considering:
That last passage, 'live for the moment in which you are happy', reflects this most of all, I think.
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- Location
- Florida
Imagine what combat stealth in her mist would be for her opponent, one minute he's attacking the musical girl the next nightmare world and he's getting bombarded by all these ghost's and such with no way out and no Qi in sight while she's giggling like a loon right behind em!
I like the western wind, not only because of the spring connection but also because it's described as a warm wind. It gives a positive bend to beginnings, which I think is important because no other Insight defined what Ling Qi thinks about beginnings.
Are things going to get better? Worse? How does she feel about what comes after small endings?
Admittedly, this isn't an Insight vote but...
The mist comes over you and you're bombarded with sensations. Music surrounding you to drown out all other sounds while a blizzard quickly starts to drain the heat from your body. Shadows and moonlight dances beyond the impenetrable curtain setting your senses on edge. You see a figure approach and swing but the dark fairie only smiles playfully and flies away as you feel fangs bite into you from behind. Figures harass you, savage beastmen rake you, teasing fairies trick and shove, leaving you stumbling, flailing as you try to escape but you find not a moments pause and the mist is endless. The shadows are never-ending, movement everywhere and the song, the song of harsh and savage winters suffocates your mind with terror even as your body fights for its life. You struggle in panic, wild strikes against the corners of your eyes in a mad dance whose steps are for the amusement of others but your own. Minutes, hours, until you fall to your knees and the phantoms relent, the cold becoming less sharp. It is peaceful and you get a moments rest, to listen. Listen to the sound of silence and you realize now that it is not hateful or cruel. The mist cradles you, holds you, as the cold turns to warmth. From the primal serenade of darkness and hungry things emerges new meaning. You are grateful, grateful to the songstress that sings of a rest away from pain and suffering. That sings of inevitability and you don't remember what you ever had to fear. Your last hot breath you give freely feeling a warm shade's hand on your cheek, listening to music.
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- Location
- CA
Well, you all heard the man. We need to fight for the next two hours.
Who wants to discuss joining up with the Cai again?
[X] the gentle eastern wind, unnoticed by all (enhances stealth effects of art)