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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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FixerUpper said:
Oof. I'm pretty sure the way the wind is blowing is more interesting and would make for a better narrative, HOWEVER, I don't think that voters necessarily get why yet and I want to later down the line say: this was all foreseeable.

So. Look, if we were just kicking this up the chain of command then the assumption is we trust our superiors to make the right decision.

If we are trying to hop the chain of command then that means we trust our own judgement more than we trust that of our superiors'.
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i don't know about you but I don't trust our superiors right now.
Between the Elder with a rageboner and the one that is racist and casually condescending, I don't feel either could actually deal with the issue in anything approaching an appropriate way.

To say nothing of the major fuck up that basically covers the whole latest mission... or the TWO missions before that. Or apparently the one deep underground we didn't join. Actually, when was the lastest mission that didn't end up in some kind of fucked up way?
There's very little that makes me want to give any amount of trust in our Sect Elders skill OR judgment...
 
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter

It was pretty clear that this would win from the moment we were presented with those two elders, who seemed to have Blood Feud burned into their way. Meeting them right after a solid plan got shot to hell and presumably, one of their friends put into a coma by the enemy certainly didn't help. I think ... it's a little unfair to them to focus too much on their hate. After all, if you can't show some honest emotion with your subordinates who just shared - peripherally - the same harrowing experience, when can you?

Still, I'm for approaching Cai Shenhua with this tidbit first. She's our ultimate overlord after all. Let's just hope Ling Qi has a solid motivation. Shenhua's scrutiny isn't something to take on lightly.

As for the aftermath ... My heart goes out to Liao Zhu. He's really the whipping boy of this arc, isn't he? Losing an arm, in toxic coma... And more to the point for all that his ambition is to turn Vengeance Moon into Justice Moon, this seems like one of her 'Butcher Plays' writ large. That must be depressing for him to witness. :(

JowKeen said:
Seriously. So many of our friends and allies need a nice relaxation and recuperation moment. I think it will be nice to have a Downtime Arc that just. chillll
think about the past, the present and future.
hug our son <3 hug our adopted sis <3 hug our cousin <3 hug mom and biyu <3 good times
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Oh, man so much this! Honestly, anime fight fatigue is setting in for me @_@

And I'm thinking we should do something nice for CRX as well... With Liming acting up almost twice, the general chaos and corruption hitting her hard and yet another 'meeting' with her mom - yeah she'll need it! Maybe we could arrange a meeting with Gan Guangli for her?
 
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter

My own arguments have been stated in this convo before and need not be added. Let´s hope Ling qi properly emphasizes potential non-aggression from the White sky Ice ladies.
 
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter

I'm not particularly enthused about Ling Qi diplomancing the Ice Ladies, in part because I think there's not much reason why she should succeed where others have presumably failed. But, Shenhua is our Liege Lord and if she can't rely on us giving her information first what's the point of paying for our cultivation?
 
FixerUpper said:
Oof. I'm pretty sure the way the wind is blowing is more interesting and would make for a better narrative, HOWEVER, I don't think that voters necessarily get why yet and I want to later down the line say: this was all foreseeable.

So. Look, if we were just kicking this up the chain of command then the assumption is we trust our superiors to make the right decision.

If we are trying to hop the chain of command then that means we trust our own judgement more than we trust that of our superiors'.

That being the case, what is our game plan here? Have momma Cai fix everything? Recall our Liege is CRX, she who loves the Law - in both word and spirit. Recall too that Momma Cai was forged in the fires of Ogodei's attack and that her enmity for the barbarian tribes is probably only eclipsed by her enmity towards those who would frivolously spend the lives of their soldiers in countering that invasion. I find it, hm, likely that either a) she will not be the bastion of rationality about this OR b) she will understand (in a way she understands little else) how much her people hate the barbarian tribes.

Either way it will mean that she will not personally move to fix this. The political cost of seeming to be a light touch on the matter of barbarians will be too high.

So. Who is she going to delegate to help take care of this genius idea?

Chances are high that if she is open to the idea at all, it'll be us. If we trust our judgment so much, put your money where your mouth is.

Now, this might not be how things end up playing, but in the broad strokes, I think it's a plausible assessment.
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Key points to note:
-Shenhua has prior agreements with the Underempire. She is at least theoretically open to foreign diplomacy.
-Several of the most peaceful and diplomatic Elders are incapacitated. The rest are shades of Angry and Vengeful.

-Ling Qi isn't skipping the chain of command. The Sect does not answer to Shenhua, it'd answer to the Imperial Seat. Members of the Sect who have a feudal liege are expected to put said liege first.

The crux here on the strategic layer is that whoever acts first will set the tone. Solidarity compels that the rest of the Empire follow that tone where possible.

The crux on a personal layer is that the Sect knows...but the Elder who knows the details is out cold and this may put us in a difficult position if Shenhua's directions puts us at odds with what the Elders want.
 
qwolfs said:
[X] Remain silent, wait until your debrief with the Duchess to discuss the matter

I'm not particularly enthused about Ling Qi diplomancing the Ice Ladies, in part because I think there's not much reason why she should succeed where others have presumably failed. But, Shenhua is our Liege Lord and if she can't rely on us giving her information first what's the point of paying for our cultivation?
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Ling Qi was specifically approached by the Ice Lady on the Peak of our mission this turn with the offer of sanctuary and got an iron sliver as a token of safe passage. We literally can´t get a more open invitation than that. Remember, The Ice lady recognized Hanyis and our Ice arts.
 
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Adhoc vote count started by EternalObserver on Aug 12, 2020 at 6:53 AM, finished with 200 posts and 110 votes.
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I see going to Shenhua or the Sect ultimately as less our efforts to promote diplomacy, but which avenue due we go down to figure out what this means personally for Ling Qi. This wasn't some grand diplomatic gesture between government officials, it was a strange foreign noble acknowledging some kind of kinship with Ling Qi.

The sect might brush it off or shrug- Ling Qi's development now that she's not a potential sect recruit isn't a major concern for them. If she does something special with it, they probably would be pleased, but compare that to Shenhua who's invested in Renxiang having a phenomenal retainer? Shenhua is going to encourage Ling Qi to develop any unique advantage she can, and may offer some support if she thinks fully pursuing this opportunity is beyond her. Considering Shenhua probably knows more about Starstone than anyone else in the Empire- I wouldn't be surprised if she's surprisingly familiar with nations beyond the wall.

There's no shame in revealing personal details to the authority figure most invested in your success.
 
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