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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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Four Winds Messengers: C
Duration: Short
The wind knows itself even when blowing at cross-purposes, and so the herald of one of the great winds might recognize the task of an opposing peer. The user observes a target within Close range and attempts to determine roughly the direction and distance of others the target is acting as a scout or messenger for. Attempt is contested by Poise and Stealth. Information gained is limited to the target's understanding. The target must be observed without interruption for the full duration of the technique.

Additionally, the user may detect the presence of active communication effects affecting the target, unless obscured by an effect of greater potency.

(This is kind of esoteric, but with the art's connections, empathy, and communications keywords, I think it's plausible. Basic idea is backtracing enemy scouts, sentries, or at a stretch temporary enemy camps up the chain of command. And I made it limited in a bunch of ways! Totally valid.)
 
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I am not prepared to come up with a technique, but I want to bring up this matter:

So far the canto would have a "Everyone in our influence can trade short messages with one another"

and, a more direct, more powerful "LQ can transmit a better communicated message to one target"

That is what I've read suggested so far, or at least, I think that's what I have read. I am more concerned with this situation:

If someone discovers an enemy and wants to communicate "Enemy sighted to the east", and assumming the group has 15 people, would the person have to send the message 15 times to each party member to ensure everyone got it? Would he have to send it once and hope everyone keeps the information chain going without skipping anyone?

I don't know if what we have has a direct way to do an @everyone kind of message. Perhaps LQ being the user of the art/ admin should have a technique that allows her to forward the same message of "Enemy sighted to the east" instantly to everyone.

Either that, or grant that privilege to anyone and let the groaning of the entire begin when foolish team mates spam the @everyone function and gets people reply with images of upset displeasure at being pinged for no reason.
 
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Wouldn't any technique that makes translations like is being suggested be kinda provocative? To understand what another person even tried to say we would have to interact with them with our qi. And qi is a weapon. Imagine if someone suddenly and without permission pushes qi into Ling Qi's system? She'd freak out instantly.
 
Distant Wind's Convergence: C
Duration: Long
All winds eventually converge, just as surely as they will part. No matter how distantly they have traveled, or how long they have been apart, the winds readily unite like old friends. The user learns to channel their intentions into a message writ upon the wind, inviting another to do the same in the hope that understanding may be achieved. The user selects one target within range of Spring's Breeze Canto, and sends forth a wind laden with notes bearing a message of invitation and understanding. Upon receiving the message, the target may choose to reciprocate, generating a two-way channel of wind that both the user and the target may freely communicate across so long as the target remains in range. This effect bypasses the limits of language, and instead sends forth pure intention and expression. This does not allow for the full range of communication that language offers, but does convey both the intent and the tone of the sender to the recipient. However, attempting to lie or deceive over this channel results in a penalty to Speech or the relevant skill, as the sender's message becomes muddled in the wind due to conflicting intents.

Welp, decided to throw my hat in the ring. Translation tech for ya.
 
The more I think about it the more I like the sense-share aspect of my comms-channel tech proposal; Cultivators have such different ways of looking at the world. Now imagine: other than the conventional vision/hearing etc. there's a sharing of heatsense (Meizhen prob), linksight (CRX), body proprioception from a wraith with a foot inside Dream (LQ)...

Would be interesting to base a translation effect off of that wouldn't it. Mutual understanding in a fairly literal sense.
 
sergit said:
I am not prepared to come up with a technique, but I want to bring up this matter:

So far the canto would have a "Everyone in our influence can trade short messages with one another"

and, a more direct, more powerful "LQ can transmit a better communicated message to one target"

That is what I've read suggested so far, or at least, I think that's what I have read. I am more concerned with this situation:

If someone discovers an enemy and wants to communicate "Enemy sighted to the east", and assumming the group has 15 people, would the person have to send the message 15 times to each party member to ensure everyone got it? Would he have to send it once and hope everyone keeps the information chain going without skipping anyone?

I don't know if what we have has a direct way to do an @everyone kind of message. Perhaps LQ being the user of the art/ admin should have a technique that allows her to forward the same message of "Enemy sighted to the east" instantly to everyone.

Either that, or grant that privilege to anyone and let the groaning of the entire begin when foolish team mates spam the @everyone function and gets people reply with images of upset displeasure at being pinged for no reason.
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From my undestanding the canto example by yrs is "a single shared channel everyone can talk to and receive from", basically like a giant conference call except people are forcibly limited to short messages only.
 
what is Cai gonna use to translate?

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id just imagine Cai words as machine translated absolute words with ling qi translation intermingling with desperate purple prose.
 
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Talking about permission...

I can kinda imagine LQ saving the day with her modified art and rumors of her improved [Harmony of the Dancing Wind] spread, only to have one day someone come to LQ's door and be like.

"Hello, I am the original creator of the HDW art/ a descendant of the creator of HDW. I am letting you know that you're being sued due to copyright infringement. You did not have the legal license required to modify our art, and we expect compensation. It was a 4 stations themed art, and you've gone and removed one of the stations. You've defaced it and now people prefer your weird spin on it than the original one. How would you feel if someone were to grab the very first original art you create and do the same thing you just did to mine? Removing the Music keyword it will likely have and replacing it with, I don't know. 'Stagnation' or 'Silence'? It'd suck , right? That's you.That's what you did to me and my family. " >:U

What does a cultivator have do if they don't want their own arts to be open sources to be modded by the community, I wonder?
 
EDIT: I realized I misread the instructions, that its only one tech submitted per person so I'm withdrawing this submission since there are already so many translation techs...but i worked really hard on it so I'm not deleting the post lol.
The Song within the Words: C
Duration: Long
A musician can perceive and understand the world through sound. Their understanding of expression and sound is very versatile. Be it the wind through the trees, a spirit beast's moan or a stranger's sigh, there is expression and meaning hidden within the sound. Using this art, a music cultivator may see the meaning of words and sounds carried on the wind. Emotion and intention can be revealed in intonation, not only language. The user may surpass communication barriers to understand the basic meaning of another's words. For words and speech are also an art form and the music of language is universal. Gives large bonus to Perception.
 
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sergit said:
"Hello, I am the original creator of the HDW art/ a descendant of the creator of HDW. I am letting you know that you're being sued due to copyright infringement. You did not have the legal license required to modify our art, and we expect compensation. It was a 4 stations themed art, and you've gone and removed one of the stations. You've defaced it and now people prefer your weird spin on it than the original one. How would you feel if someone were to grab the very first original art you create and do the same thing you just did to mine? Removing the Music keyword it will likely have and replacing it with, I don't know. 'Stagnation' or 'Silence'? It'd suck , right? That's you.That's what you did to me and my family. "
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And then we parry his slanderous and frivolous accusations with the knowledge of the law that we gained by working with Cai Renxiang. Like the fact that Copyright law doesn't actually exist! And even if it did exist what we have done is fair use! Further, there are no damages to be sought because we so radically changed the art that it's spread is now in an entirely different group of people than the original art!
 
South Wind Blows Unerringly: C

Duration: Long

Just as crisp southern winds bring clarity and clear skies, this technique allows the user and any number of willing participants to communicate clearly through concepts, impressions and intent, bypassing the need for words and language.* Any participants attempting to lie or deceive whilst communicating in this manner suffer a full rank penalty to their Speech, as the winds of intent and concept blow crossways.

*Creator's note: This technique does not eliminate confusion due to usage of cultural metaphors and associated concepts, or loss of nuance or subtlety. The creator of the technique bears no responsibility for mishaps incurred through usage of the technique. Use at your own discretion.
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The intent behind this tech is that it's a codification and refinement of a skill that Ling Qi has already demonstrated through her raw understanding of music, communicating on a deeper level through the concepts, impressions and thoughts that underpin all languages. It still allows for cultural misunderstandings, and incompatible metaphors, whilst being primarily aimed for cooperative endeavours - it wouldn't work for trying to calm down a hostile spirit, for example.
 
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Mmm, what I find interesting here is how I feel there are kinda differences in what we want short term, vs. what we want long term here.

Short term the translation tech ideas make a lot of sense, and are a good way for LQ in character to be shown really taking the whole diplomacy thing seriously and working for it. Long term I wouldn't want that tech wasting space in our perception art, and would want to move that over to our social arts (if indeed they didn't pick up such capabilities on their own).

Long term Alectai's sonar is exactly the kind of thing I'd really want in a merged HDW/RME successor, where perception would obviously be super important especially if we try to use my idea to use our wisps as relays to extend our range significantly. Short term though, as BN notes, it's not necessarily that important as we do already have the perception boost from canto and rme sitting there, and it could easily be left until we're working on successors then.

In terms of immediate utility, BN's point about wanting a focused longer range stealthy comm channel for when we're scouting is I think very important for utility in terms of not making us completely reliant on having a comms expert. Longer term, well my ideas for using RME would make that tech redundant.

The fun thing ofc is that with the flexibility we're seeing in art modification now, we can totally go for short term things now, and then rearrange them later on when we're working on our successors (though obviously we should be careful not to lock ourselves down particular pathways which might make some developments harder later on).
 
Day of Celebration: C
Short
Heads of golden grain sway with music carried by fall breezes. A call has gone out. The time for festivals has arrived once more. Can only be active when Spring Breeze Canto is active. For the duration that Day of Celebration is active allies touched by Spring Breeze Canto may also silently share short messages and images with each other instead of just the user of the art. With festival music swelling allies under its affects find increased energy in their steps giving them an additional small boost to physical avoid.

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Here is an art idea thrown into the ring. The idea of this is that playing radio woman may be distracting in the heat of combat. This would allow allies that may need to warn each other, but not Ling Qi, to do so. This saves time in relaying messages. I tried to stick to close to the original theme of seasons while also changing it to an appropriate seasonal activity with keyword changes.
 
(Revised) Winds of Winter Yearning: C
Duration: Long
This piece is not played aloud for mortal ears, carried on the flows of the users qi, this solemn melody is the music of the winter blizzard, entered but never left, and a song of exclusion to those outside. While active, no sound made within the Range of the User's Music techniques may exit that Range and a technique of B rank or higher is required to communicate outside. Enemies outside have significantly reduced Combat Perception against anything within.

Stealth. Music. A social screen for combat. We can play this with Mist and Elegy to trap enemies inside of the Mist and as long as we can keep them inside they can't alert anyone outside. Enemies can still see the Music techniques' effects, they just can't hear them and have difficulty using their Qi Sense to notice anything amiss. Imagine a silent mist that swallows people whole and then... nothing. Entire regiments disappeared without a whisper from their comms specialist. A guard by the door is surrounded by mist and blizzard, pulled into the Dream without the occupants in the room noticing. We don't have to be a knife assassin like Liao Zhu but a chokehold sneak, the non lethal route of any stealth game. We have time to drain them of their warmth and Qi without alerting others and can now actually attack people on scout missions.

Edit: Possible addition: User considered Combat Stealth to enemies outside, making enemies have to fight us through an extra layer of defense or in our effects.
 
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Hey guys question, is the example Yrs gave what he's actually using for Spring Breeze Canto while we're coming up with the 2 other techs? Or are we also coming up with another version of Spring Breeze Canto?
 
Erebeal said:
It's what he's using.
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Ahh, in that case I'm going to throw in a perception technique. Because while that tech is nice for communicating with others, it doesn't seem great at perceiving the world around us better.


Summer's Cheerful Laughter: C
Duration: Long

If a musician listens closely, they can hear the summer winds' cheerful laughter as they play with that which interests them. And there are many, many things which can entertain the young fickle spirits of the summer wind.

Can only be active when Spring Breeze Canto is active. For the duration of the technique, the musician can cast their sense of hearing up to Very Far distance to better perceive that which is around them. Doing so grants one a bonus to Combat Perception and Social Perception.



The purpose of this technique is very simple, give us a technique that we can use our hearing to perceive the world around us better.
 
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Winter's Last Breath: C
Immediate
The end of Winter blends into the beginning of spring, the frost on the winds merge with the warmer Spring breeze. Add the power of the last Winter wind to your Spring Breeze Canto to spread the wind outward. May only be played while Spring Breeze Canto is active. With its last breath, the Winter wind spreads your perception outward, up to Very Far range while sharing it with your allies. In that short moment, you and your allies may sense your entire surroundings with Winter's cold, discerning sight.

Basically I think this covers or at least partially covers what we want for perception. For that moment, MC and allies have a flash of awareness of everything up to Very Far. This would reveal anyone with at least the Dancers' level of stealth who is sneaking around. Idk what is considered a huge boost in perception...maybe +30 or something? Anyway its not super OP perception bc its duration is Immediate.
 
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Fall is the time for harvest and HDW for its piece is about preparedness for winter.. might have something with radar when I get a moment
 
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Thor's Twin said:
Ahh, in that case I'm going to throw in a perception technique. Because while that tech is nice for communicating with others, it doesn't seem great at perceiving the world around us better.


Summer's Cheerful Laughter: C
Duration: Long

If a musician listens closely, they can hear the summer winds' cheerful laughter as they play with that which interests them. And there are many, many things which can entertain the young fickle spirits of the summer wind.

Can only be active when Spring Breeze Canto is active. For the duration of the technique, the musician can cast their sense of hearing up to Far distance to better perceive that which is around them. Doing so grants one a bonus to Combat Perception and Social Perception.



The purpose of this technique is very simple, give us a technique that we can use our hearing to perceive the world around us better.
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I'd bump that range up to Very Far.

Far just isn't that... far. It's 200m, and it's more or less the range we engage things at. Having a perception technique that only reaches that distance is kind of silly.

Pretty sure we can have a normal conversation at 100m+ by default, just by being a mid-Green cultivator, honestly.
 
Thor's Twin said:
Ahh, in that case I'm going to throw in a perception technique. Because while that tech is nice for communicating with others, it doesn't seem great at perceiving the world around us better.
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Mmm, that was my immediate thought too. The more I think about it though, the more I come around to BN's argument that it isn't an immediate priority. It comes back to the short term vs long term issues. In the immediate term we have RME for perception, Canto still provides an awareness boost, and we have our new talisman for anti-ninja. HDW being super strong perception isn't really needed. Longer term, if we move to merge hdw and rme in a successor then something like that wold absolutely be wanted - but should be easy enough to do then.

It's still not a bad option though. I'm just kinda leaning about more towards the communication options...
 
Black Noise said:
Putting some fluff around the single-channel comms tech (name subject to change):


Not attached to tech refresh or channel limit. Effect priorities are:
1. range
2. stealth-secure channel
3. channel throughput, perception stat share.
4. max simultaneous open channels
5. action econ (channel refresh+cost)

(tech tentatively ok'd by yrs)
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Mmm, ok I really like this and think it should be a priority - but very far range is still pretty short. It's only 400m, which isn't much given the likely use cases of such a tech.

I'd suggest maybe leaning on #PowerOfFriendship to get longer range. Maybe something like range = 500 + 500*SL.

If we have to drop something like the multiple channels for that then I'd be cool with it. Multiple channels are really more a comms specialist thing anyway, and the main purpose of such a tech should be enabling us to do our scouty thing well even if such a person isn't available. Range is the key thing there.
 
What about a reverse scry? Something like: "Beam information to someone you marked ahead of time at Distant range. You have no particular way to receive a response"
 
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