I don't think starstones represent impurity.
It's a different, more hostile purity than CRX represents, but I think it's still purity.
Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
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Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
It's a different, more hostile purity than CRX represents, but I think it's still purity.
If they were that important while simultaneously being this weak they wouldn't be here, they'd be back home like Xiulan. It is far more likely that these are either talented-but-not-that-talented types promoted up from the army or lesser noble scions whose families expect nothing from them, since those are the two groups with the most incentive to volunteer to join deadly missions.
So don't get too excited, the most we'll get is less people being willing to repeat rumors about us.
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- Location
- the internet
Well it was volunteer-only. But yeah u have a point.
Well, to put things another way: unless we're missing something the group is comprised of, like, 20% of the G1/2s in the Inner Sect, and then 1% of the G3+s.
Which is odd, especially when you consider that the top 500 disciples are there because they do most of the Sect work and so get favored. And also that going on the offensive against the Cloud Nomads is really hard because you need some way of actually hitting fliers, which means that for serious offensive missions like this you want the right sort of people with reach - which will also favor higher level people significantly.
- Location
- Canada
I'm not as dialed in to the discussion as I'd like, but wasn't this a bait mission, the whole point was to draw the Big Bad out. With that context doesn't this force composition make more sense?
And its because it was volunteer only that the mission force doesn't match overall Inner Sect demographics: its a collection of everyone crazy or desperate enough to volunteer. The ones who were already lagging behind due to a lack of resources, and this means their rank is low which meant they get less resources. The only way for them to progress is to do these missions.
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Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
Xiulan is back home because she is from Golden Field, and Yanmei is staying at the sect.
The politics of someone going back home when you are from Golden Fields are very different than someone doing so when they are from Emerald Sea.
Something to keep in mind is that basically anyone that gets in the inner sect are the talented one, especially so the lower ranking you are. It's hard to get in, and you get a lot of advantages if you do. In baronnial clans, anyone that has a chance of getting to cyan is someone that is a potential heir, and anyone in the inner sect has that potential. For viscount clans getting to cyan still means being an elder of the clan at least. It's a big deal.
That, huh, doesn't work when CRX/Ruan Shen are participating. Ruan Shen in particular is the opposite of, well, either desperate or crazy. No, people who participated probably did so because they are from Emerald Sea, and it's a good look to do that when you are from Emerald Sea.
Something to keep in mind is that CRX had to get 'places' in the mission through connections. It wasn't 'anyone who wants can get in'.
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You're wrong though, because people who were valuable and got resources from home would have no reason to join these missions.
The reason the people we're fighting alongside are all so weak is because they are the castoffs who barely made it into the Inner Sect and now can't progress without risking their lives because they can't normally rise in rank and aren't getting much in the way of outside resources.
If one of these people was going to inherit anything, they wouldn't be in this fight to begin with. Politics may have caused them to stay in the sect, but not volunteer for missions.
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Mission designed to bait out enemy leader
Mission has minimum actually valuable higher green level people.
low level Green-level pushed to disregard own safety and do MAXIMUM COMBAT against multiple opponents above their level.
Green levels not given evacuation methods, nor shifted away once higher level combat starts.
... did we accidentally sign up to a suicide mission?
... did we accidentally sign Cai Renxiang up to a suicide mission?
Mission has minimum actually valuable higher green level people.
low level Green-level pushed to disregard own safety and do MAXIMUM COMBAT against multiple opponents above their level.
Green levels not given evacuation methods, nor shifted away once higher level combat starts.
... did we accidentally sign up to a suicide mission?
... did we accidentally sign Cai Renxiang up to a suicide mission?
Tbf, the demographics of the Inner Sect have always been weird. I think we've commented before, but they don't really align with the intake either. Like, just to populate the lower half you're looking at like 20 years of intake from the Outer Sect - and that's assuming that a decent chunk of the lowest ranks are people cycling in from the army.
DeusExBritannia
Red-White-Black-White
- Location
- Texas
Math Cabal, decipher this shit!
Our next spirit.
Jensaarai
Sing Victory Everlasting
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Unless the starstone rolled to attack.
- Location
- the internet
Its probably gonna end up being an almost-but-actually-not-suicide mission b/c of CRX, LQ and the other higher Greens on the force.
Ahh yes the Elder. Even though LQ and CRX have saved the group multiple times now, I may have been overstating their importance a tad.
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- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
Thankfully it only got a 10 which was lower than Cai's AC so nothing happened.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Hmm.
The attack had to be threatening but not unwinnable, huh? To discourage them from calling for backup until we'd already done damage?
If the Sect just dropped a bunch of G5s down, they'd have just booked it instead. A small handful who punch out of their apparent weight class though looks defeatable until you see them perform for a while.
Jensaarai
Sing Victory Everlasting
- Pronouns
- They/Them
It actually looked like a charisma or wisdom save on CRX part, given that mental attack.
They called for backup anyways though. It was a pointless risk if you assume the Sect cares whether we lived or died. Which they may not have, I wouldn't be surprised if Shenhua told them to deliberately sign up CRX for all the suicide missions.
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notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
I think the first is the River Eel's mom and her cultivator, while the second... the Elder that did spiritual Cultivation lessons back in Threads and her Blood Ape companion.
- Location
- At the end of the world
In her office room Shenhua receives papers, including hidden goals, on a suicide mission her daughter signs up to. After finishing reading she smiles.
Shenhua: Oh, this could be a good warm up training, I approve.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
They only called for backup when they were actually losing, not right out the gate like they would have if our force looked anywhere approaching a fair fight.
More importantly, we had enough of a quality advantage that their numbers and cultivation edge didn't save it. Only a small handful of people in that meeting walked away--and it was the ones who were important enough to have bug out in a hurry options. I note the Cyan for instance lost his mask in the fight. While 100% of the Argent Sect's vanguard survived and were capable of evacuating on their own power.
Cecylene
Eternal Idea Engine
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Pronouns
- He/They
Various tracks pull 16 people per year on pure Outer Sect Tournament Track. Then you have the "uncommon" let's say 4 persons pulled in due to Elder Recommendations and exceptional performance to make a round twenty. It takes approximately fifty years to fill the entire inner sect portion, with some lower ranked individuals being cycled out and in based on alternative Sect duty performance, in as long lived a structure as this with such low expectations of fatalities in your officers corps due to Greens getting access to semi-perfect defenses it makes sense to keep your focus on only the most talented and youngest of said talents in the inner sect rather than sweeping a wider net. We know that a war like this isn't normal and that even entire provinces of Emerald Seas haven't recovered from Ogodei so a Total War footing is not the Empire's natural state. Also makes sense the kind of dread that Sun Shao's losses represented and his returning with all Greens.
We also know that individuals that were in the outer sect and made green but didn't do so in the first few years aren't inducted into the inner sect, so we are likely seeing a number of them volunteer for this mission in hopes of being given additional resources or rank in their respective roles.
Except we had a perimeter force to prevent them from escaping, and an elder overhead and 2 others in reserve. If we'd had a Green level force actually worth fielding in this fight and used it all from the start we may even have finished without the Titan showing up. Just kill 12 Stars guy immediately and stop him from using the horn.
And our vanguard only walked away intact because of pure serendipity IC. They were literally one thread vote away from dying.
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Hm For the demographics I'd speculate it comes down to the fact that those who aren't stuck at g1/g2 due to resources won't be particularly inclined to go on a suicide mission, and the equally important mission happening underground is occurring at the same time, which while dangerous likely lacks "The Sect will remember your contributions" that is codeword for "Prepare for being collateral damage" for this with history in the Argent Sect. Also the fort mission is a delaying mission with a clear endgame alongside lines of retreat that while dangerous don't involve being harassed by a superior mobility opponent.
Essentially while there are absolutely exceptions for those who signed up for the mission a majority of those who signed up are in need of given a stand out contribution to the Sect, and to put it bluntly with a few exceptions are inner sect members the Argent Sect considers acceptable to take as a lose in exchange for regaining Face by avenging Elder Zhou before the inter sect tournament, which didn't stop the Sect from throwing a defensive* focused Elder to guard them as the exchange was a worst** case scenario from their pov imo.
*Why Ling Qi, and everyone aren't collateral damage from whatever that attack was whereas the Starstone is noticeably damaged.
**Considering the rate of new inner sect members losing that many disciples would take years to replace, and even before factoring in the issue of clans might not wanting to risk promising scions in such a situation.
Essentially while there are absolutely exceptions for those who signed up for the mission a majority of those who signed up are in need of given a stand out contribution to the Sect, and to put it bluntly with a few exceptions are inner sect members the Argent Sect considers acceptable to take as a lose in exchange for regaining Face by avenging Elder Zhou before the inter sect tournament, which didn't stop the Sect from throwing a defensive* focused Elder to guard them as the exchange was a worst** case scenario from their pov imo.
*Why Ling Qi, and everyone aren't collateral damage from whatever that attack was whereas the Starstone is noticeably damaged.
**Considering the rate of new inner sect members losing that many disciples would take years to replace, and even before factoring in the issue of clans might not wanting to risk promising scions in such a situation.
Did he lose his mask, or did he unequip it in order to use the horn because his unusual resistance to starstone still has limits?