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

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picklepikkl said:
By modding HDW, we turn an art with only one useful tech into an art with up to four useful techs. If we get the keyword we're hoping for, it plugs a hole in our tactical capabilities that makes us way more useful for any war events coming up. We get all of this for one AP, because the art is already mastered and we do not need to re-master it. That's the tradeoff of art modding: instead of spending a bunch of actions to cultivate a new art that has the capability you want, you take a risk and hope that you can mod one of your existing arts to do that, much more efficiently. You listed "new arts" as a potential payout for exploration: this is essentially a new art that we don't need to cultivate to benefit from.

Now, obviously that's just the best-case scenario, but you brought up the best-case scenario for exploration, so I think it's fair. Plus, in this particular case, there is a good reason to believe HDW will be able to gain two-way communication, because it already allows one-way listening and broadcasting effects, so I think the best-case scenario is more likely for art modding than it is for exploration. And in contrast to low rolls on exploration, which get us nothing, not getting the thing we want from art modding gets us experience doing it, which will help us make more informed decisions down the line when we might want to mod arts that we do really care about.
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But that still doesn't make Art modding a "less frivolous" use of our time than exploration which is the argument thebiggerfish brought up against exploring
 
picklepikkl said:
...RME doesn't have two-way communications, I have no idea what you're on about.

Perception tech, scout summons tech, combat perception tech, scrying.

And, like I said, the point of modding an art that currently sucks is "maybe it will turn into something we like better, and if it doesn't we have lost nothing of value but gained experience that we can use for future art-modification later in Green."
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Wisp can move and can be seen. So we have certain movements mean certain things.
 
Yah, while I am a fan of exploring right now saying we already have a ranged communication tech is wrong. If people want that this is the earliest chance we have to get it.

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JohnnieBoy123 said:
Wisp can move and can be seen. So we have certain movements mean certain things.
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That is an unbelievably large stretch. How would we communicate with people who don't know what the random dancing orb means? Plus the orb moves and can be seen in a 3d space. How are we going to ensure that every who needs to see it sees it from the right angle to get the proper message?
 
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As a quick example of potential wisp based communication:
*impact*: "Pay attention to me"
*arrow shape*: "Go this way"
*X shape*: "No"
*O shape*: "Yes"

We could also have them literally write messages, they are really fast.
 
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picklepikkl said:
By modding HDW, we turn an art with only one useful tech into an art with up to four useful techs. If we get the keyword we're hoping for, it plugs a hole in our tactical capabilities that makes us way more useful for any war events coming up. We get all of this for one AP, because the art is already mastered and we do not need to re-master it. That's the tradeoff of art modding: instead of spending a bunch of actions to cultivate a new art that has the capability you want, you take a risk and hope that you can mod one of your existing arts to do that, much more efficiently. You listed "new arts" as a potential payout for exploration: this is essentially a new art that we don't need to cultivate to benefit from.
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Given that we can already be understood, at least a short distance away, despite distractions and noise from just using simple music qi, as demonstrated here,
yrsillar said:
She stared at his back for a moment, before following him as he leapt up to a higher trail a few meters above the cliffside they had stopped on. They swiftly left it behind, splitting from the other recruits as they and their tutors took different paths into the mountain vales. "Could you explain what exactly a skirmisher does, Senior Brother," she asked, voice carrying on threads of music despite the wind whipping by as the ground blurred away below them.
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I remain wholly unconvinced that should we get a communication aspect it would plug a hole in our capabilities. Unless the argument is that it will be able to grant us longer-range communication, which, given the examples we have been given of such communication, seems much less likely. And that above example was when we were green... two, I think. Our capabilities of manipulating music qi have most assuredly grown since then. Additionally, we communicated with our spirits perfectly fine with pre-arranged signals of qi flexing. I remain unconvinced that such practices wouldn't already be implemented into the Sect's military with well understood basic instructions.

So I disagree that such a modification would actually make us way more useful during the war effort, and simply make it slightly easier to communicate at the relatively short distances that I think is more reasonable to believe the art will work at. Assuming best case scenario that it works out the way we want it to work out.
 
Mmm, one thing that's worth noting is how politically controversial this move is for the Sun and their followers. Because remember - they hate the fucking jungle. They invaded because they wanted it dead more than they feared disobeying the Bai.

Meizhen might call them barbarians, but their position as we saw from Liling is that they took the Garden's secrets and power and turned it against their foes. They conquered it. They didn't sell out.

That position becomes very difficult to hold if Sun Shao marries the goddess to make a new spirit blooded dynasty.
 
"She has discovered degradation within her lower dantian," he said sorrowfully as they came to the doors of his apartments. "It is unlikely that she will last the decade."

"I'm sorry Grandpa," Sun Liling whispered. It made her feel cold. She had never known her Great Aunt well, but it was impossible not to remember the day Father's guard had come home from the coast with a covered palanquin, to present Grandfather with his broken spear.

Sun Shao paused before the doors. "Death is the way of this world. It comforts me that she at least lived a full life."
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Huh so within the decade the willingness to support the suppression of the Bai is going to not only be decreasing, but be at terminal velocity, which is an issue as there is no way for Liling to hit White within that period of time.

Actually Is the concern by Sun Shao not merely that the Bai will get a White cultivator, but that they'll unleash a sublime ancestor upon the Western Jungle? Because if that is the case he'll strike before then, and ~50 years is enough time for Meizhen/Liling/CRX/LQ to hit indiago, which makes them actually somewhat relevant in a war.
They slid open, and she followed grandfather into his rooms. She did wonder where they were going. His personal archive maybe? Grandfather's rooms were incredibly spartan, and why not? She knew that they were largely a formality. The oly spot of color was a masterfully painted map of the Western Territories, showing each of the ten settlements that had been founded over the centuries since the conquests… and the four failed ones, including the black mark in the north.
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The black mark in the north is I suspect where the Sun, and Bai fought it out, which turned it into a highly lethal area for anyone not White, and a member of the Sun clan.
"Family is everything," Sun Shao said as he approached the map. "It is unfortunate that my nieces and nephews, and their children in turn, scorn this. The Sun clan is troubled, Liling."

Sun Liling held back a grimace. She knew that Kang Zihao was something like a third cousin or something, but that wasn't really family. She took grandfather's meaning though. Their support in the capital was only going to weaken, without Great Aunt Lin.

"I don't understand, do they think the Bai are just going to forgive them?" Sun Liling said quietly. "They were weak, they've never been weaker, stopping now…"
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So I'm kinda getting the impression that Sun Shao is going to do what he did with hell jungle to the Bai.
"The Empress Xiang prefers to play with her building projects," Sun Shao said bitterly. "She leaves the greater works of her father to rot while building her walls ever higher, lavishing attention on mortals and artisans. Some days I suspect that woman is sick of the empire in its entirety."
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So I get the impression Shenhua gave advice to the Empress, and focused the Throne away from continuing the suppression of the Bai in preparation of who knows what.
The map in front of him rippled, and both it and the wall it hung on dissolved, revealing a a small space big enough for only two or three people, on the stone floor, a transport formation burned with dull crimson light.

Grandfather turned to face her, with a face lined by sorrow.

"Come Liling. There is a family matter we must attend to."
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Hm. So enough room for Sun, and his two sons? They perhaps died here, and the reason he is so sad is he truly wanted the Emperor An's reforms to work out as they're vastly preferable to what he otherwise must do for the sake of family.
They emerged among ruin.

All around them was the stink and sizzle of acid and rot. For as far as she could see in every direction was death. The soil was toxic muck, a mixture of brown and purple that spoke of a festering wound and the air itself burned and sizzled with toxicity. New growth struggled through the muck, saplings and shoots and vines emerging writhing from the morass, growing and burgeoning only to sicken, wither, die and burn in quick succession.

Liling could feel the toxic qi against her skin, feel it in the air, and knew the only reason her skin wasn't melting, her every organ failing and rotting, was because Grandfather stood beside her.
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This is the side effects from their fight with the Bai, and specifically that Bai poison is so potent at Prism/White level that it can splat 3rd realms in essentially an instant.

"You accepted my proposal," Sun Shao, King of the Western Territories ground out, and the earth trembled. "I am yours, but my granddaughter is your granddaughter. The bargain was struck."
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Alright so the proposal was recently accepted, and the reason Sun Shao grudgingly doing it is that kicking the can down the road via the Imperial Throne cooperating with the Sun in suppressing the Bai is far less perilous than waging war against the Empire, or at least a large chunk of it.

Because if he wants to maximize his odds of successfully waging war against the Bai fast enough that their ducal allies are unable to respond he has to make a deal to free up his army from having to constantly push back hell jungle from their cities i.e garrison duty, and well the only reason for Sunflower Goddess to stop the local spread of hell jungle is if Sun Shao does so elsewhere, which has the side benefit of giving him the ability to use his abilities to maximum potential as they're taken from natives used to fighting in hell jungle.
 
... does this mean that the Sun are their own faction in the assumed civil war? A 3-way civil war?
 
Erebeal said:
Mmm, one thing that's worth noting is how politically controversial this move is for the Sun and their followers. Because remember - they hate the fucking jungle. They invaded because they wanted it dead more than they feared disobeying the Bai.

Meizhen might call them barbarians, but their position as we saw from Liling is that they took the Garden's secrets and power and turned it against their foes. They conquered it. They didn't sell out.

That position becomes very difficult to hold if Sun Shao marries the goddess to make a new spirit blooded dynasty.
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Let me help you out with some newspeak
*ahem

"Shock and horror from the western jungles today, where the beloved grand-daughter and one time Heir to Sun Shao's legacy, Sun Lilling, has suffered a dire catastrophe during a tribulation of some kind! It would appear that Sun Shao was attempting to have her square up against some fairly fierce Red Garden buggery when she was struck and forced to stop!

If you're not familiar with Sun Lilling: She's not one to be a damsel in distress no sir. The martial skill and prowess displayed by her in last years Argent Sect tournament was only surpassed by the clever wiles of her Bai opponent in the most heart pounding final in a decade! It was truly a sight to behold!

Any tribulation able to put down a combatant of her caliber most have been brutal, but it takes a brutal peoples to tame such a brutal land! For our youngest readers, the Western Territories were the land that claimed the Sage Emperor's life after all! It is a great Imperial pride that we can say that Sun Shao was able to finish the truly gargantuan task of bringing the dreaded flower to heel!
Our hearts go out to the Sun of course, but reader do not despair!

Through hard work and martial discipline, the Sun's healers have quickly gained a reputation as some of the best in the Empire! Many capable Sun have come to study at our own Celestial Distillery Sect, regularly passing the cloud-breaking-mountainous rigor of the entry exams with flying colors! Older citizens may remember the union of the illustrious line of the Medicine Saint Kang with Sun [name], and it is a marriage fruitful with both martial and medicinal excellence. We have full confidence in the mending powers of Sun, and the Princess is expected to make a full recovery!

Some of the more gossip-oriented citizens will remember the murmurings that occurred when the Sun Princess lost her title as Heiress after losing to the Bai Maiden, and some of the discourteous were so bold as to suggest it was a punishment! It would seem to this reporter, though, that Sun Shao was relieving of her duties as Heiress only temporarily. The plan seems to be a bit of a bootcamp with Sun Shao himself!

Imagine! Being able to have such direct tutelage under even a fraction of Sun Shao's intellect and cunning! Not to suggest that it will be a small fraction for Princess Sun though, since as we all know! Family Is Everything with Sun Shao!

With such excellent healers and with the burden of Heiress put aside for now, the Princess will definitely be better than okay! Before you know it citizens, she'll be back to cultivating like mad! If there's one thing to say about Sun, readers, it's that you should never count them out of a fight!

We wish the Princess the best in her recovery, and salute her as a fellow Imperial Noble!

And in closing, always remember citizens: Though we are the crown, each province is part of our Glory! Glory to the Western Territories! Glory to the Empire! And I'll be back tomorrow with your daily dose of Provincial News!
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Thank you so much for listening to our provincial news segment for today, and now back to our regular schedule.
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Our top story today:
Are your children following a dangerous new cultivation trend? Watch those skies parents, more is rumbling in these skies than just thunder! And we're not talking dragons! Stay tuned everyone, we'll be back after a quick informational from our partners"


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uh
TL;DR pretty sure they can reasonably spread gossip that this is a Tribulation accident until her clan is really getting established
 
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Familial conflict has become a theme of Forge. Ling's estrangement from her mother, Xiulan's estrangement with her family's betrothal. Shenhua and her daughter's moulding. Abuse of the young for the needs of the old is at the center of *so much* in Forge
 
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Faceless said:
I was thinking the sun used Life qi but is death qi.
i am curios. Does anyone has the Life qi and death qi descripition ?
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I dont really know what you are asking here. Sun Liliing is thought to use some life and blood Qi but I don't know if that has every been confirmed in story. I don't think anyone else is dealing with those Qi types and Meizhen seemed pretty leery about them when asked.
 
Neshuakadal said:
I dont really know what you are asking here. Sun Liliing is thought to use some life and blood Qi but I don't know if that has every been confirmed in story. I don't think anyone else is dealing with those Qi types and Meizhen seemed pretty leery about them when asked.
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I was thinking she was using Life qi in some form but i now doubt it
Only asking because for the death and life qi's descripitions or if someone knows if was posted by @yrsillar

Edit: english is not my language using Google translator sorry if its vague or spelled wrong
 
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Faceless said:
I was thinking she was using Life qi in some form but i now doubt it
Only asking because for the death and life qi's descripitions or if someone knows if was posted by @yrsillar

Edit: english is not my lenguage using Google translator sorte if its vague or speled wrong
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Explicit WoG from Yrs about some of Liling's Elements

she does use life qi and blood qi which is a sub element the same way cold is a sub element of darkness

Yes, she does use Life Qi
 
Faceless said:
I was thinking she was using Life qi in some form but i now doubt it
Only asking because for the death and life qi's descripitions or if someone knows if was posted by @yrsillar

Edit: english is not my language using Google translator sorry if its vague or spelled wrong
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Google translate can make things difficult, but I can work through that.

As for Qi descriptions there are two types. Emotional, like mountain is steadfast or dark is greedy, and physical, what the Qi actually does. We don't have an emotional description of life or death Qi like we do for the imperial eight or dark Qi, and for the physical description all we have is the names. Death Qi is about things dying, life Qi seems to be about the drive to live and such. Hope that helps. We really don't know a lot about those types of qi though.
 
I'm just amused Liling didn't see this coming. What an idiot. I saw the horror coming from the first thread when her spirit's nature became more apparent.

That's also when her hypocrisy first shined brightest. Using something more poisonous, in a sense, than anything the Bai have ever spat at their enemies.

I'm looking forward to the pain and internal conflict she'll have to go through.
 
Bob Saget said:
I'm just amused Liling didn't see this coming. What an idiot. I saw the horror coming from the first thread when her spirit's nature became more apparent.

That's also when her hypocrisy first shined brightest. Using something more poisonous, in a sense, than anything the Bai have ever spat at their enemies.

I'm looking forward to the pain and internal conflict she'll have to go through.
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Come on now. Sun Lilling is a fifteen year old girl. Nobody deserves what she is likely going through.
 
Bob Saget said:
I'm just amused Liling didn't see this coming. What an idiot. I saw the horror coming from the first thread when her spirit's nature became more apparent.

That's also when her hypocrisy first shined brightest. Using something more poisonous, in a sense, than anything the Bai have ever spat at their enemies.

I'm looking forward to the pain and internal conflict she'll have to go through.
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How about we don't wish suffering on children, even when they have been complete jerks to us and people we love?
 
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