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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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1337Procrast said:
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.

We've got Spirit Ken and Empathy capped and waiting upgrading and no combat skills the same so I'd rather do this.
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...

So you want to take the option that completely goes against our style of spirit ken and empathy in hopes of advancing them?

Instead of the choice that leans most heavily into it?

We just had a character arc pointing out that "Ling Qi doesn't do the imperious overlord thing very well, she does much better in social interactions when she has a chance to be mischievous and indirect."

The risk of them pulling some Uno Reversi shit seems to me to be very low--we have a U-ranked immunity to immobility/helplessness, and a similarly stacked resistance against illusions that turn us against each other. We have a turtle that can fill the room with the bane of Ahui Spiders (Fire that is).

I want to see what kind of bait they'd try to attract us with to try and trick us in somewhere, so we can take it from them and run off laughing. If we present too much strength, they're liable to simply hide their valuables until we go away. We decided to put Ling Qi in charge. So let's make this a heist. Let's follow through on the foreshadowing and make some bloody profit.

And the first rule of a heist? You want the target to think they're in control--ideally until you've made off with the goods, but when the goods are in reach is good enough.
 
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[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
Raising Kittens said:
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.

My issue with the other vote is simple. It starts with the assumption that the ambush will happen no matter what we do and seeks to gain advantage by turning that ambush back on the ambushers - an excellent strategy in its own right, to be sure.

I would prefer to resolve this without violence, and as such an voting for the choice that attempts to do so.
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Yeah.

[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
 
Adhoc vote count started by Blademaster on Nov 19, 2020 at 9:01 AM, finished with 199 posts and 113 votes.
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Raising Kittens said:
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.

My issue with the other vote is simple. It starts with the assumption that the ambush will happen no matter what we do and seeks to gain advantage by turning that ambush back on the ambushers - an excellent strategy in its own right, to be sure.

I would prefer to resolve this without violence, and as such an voting for the choice that attempts to do so.
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The other vote is literally about doing diplomacy in our signature style while pretending there's no ambush issue?
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
 
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
 
I just don't think the spiders would have information that would that useful. Not useful enough to warrant this sort of effort. These spiders have been isolating themselves since the Hui fell. Its not like they're one of the Cloud Tribe factions or the White Sky people or anyone we explicitly need info on. They've seemed to retain the Hui's attitude over the years since they immediately started to organize an ambush when we reached out in good faith. So I think it's likely that they've kept some of the Hui's other qualities like isolationist attitudes.
Also I highly doubt Xia Lin will be able to keep up a polite mask when she knows we're about to be attacked. She can try but the spiders are probably practiced enough at deception to see through her efforts. She's a straight forward, martially inclined cultivator who's used to showing her prowess in fights and displays of power. I doubt she's as practiced at subtlety as LQ.
 
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
Lena27 said:
Also I highly doubt Xia Lin will be able to keep up a polite mask when she knows we're about to be attacked. She can try but the spiders are probably practiced enough at deception to see through her efforts. She's a straight forward, martially inclined cultivator who's used to showing her prowess in fights and displays of power. I doubt she's as practiced at subtlety as LQ.
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Sixiang, our spirit who mainly helps us out in our social, as well as ourselves can't get a read on her till they figured out how her screen works, and even then I'm pretty sure they still don't have a complete read. Xia Lin may not be socially inclined, but I wouldn't underestimate her as well.

Besides, it's Ling Qi who they'll have to focus on in talking, not Xia Lin.
 
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acidified said:
first post and first vote!

[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.

also, I've spent the past few days picking away at this piece, hope y'guys like it!
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Holy wowzers, this is not merely good, this is amazing.

Alectai said:
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.

So.

"Most spirit beasts who were Hui aligned went feral when they weren't being minded"

"The defenses here are not being actively maintained"

"Ling Qi cannot be contained by anything less than a Green 8 who specializes in that field, or a Cyan."

"Hui based spiders have a fundamental vulnerability to fire--which we can provide in spades thanks to Zhengui--who also cannot be contained because of Ling Qi's domain effect"

"If they've gone feral, they're not thinking long term"

"This is absolutely the most Hidden/Grinning/Dreaming thing we can do right now"

"Ambush predators need to provide worthwhile bait to lure their prey into their web--a web that cannot work on Ling Qi and Zhengui, the latter of who can burn their webs very quickly with his napalm venom."

The idea of 'They'll get their buffstacks up" is sound... But it's also limited because they can't obviously be preparing for battle or the prey would scarper. They're feral, not retarded or they'd have starved to death. And only an idiot walks into a gallery of spiders who are actively pumping up buffchains. Which suggests that they're not going to just buff up and smugly expect us to walk in. Which means that they're counting on their traps to buy time to do so.

Traps which cannot work against two key players of our group because we cannot have our mobility removed by anything less than a Cyan, and anything that tries to hamper us is pushing very far uphill for dubious results. If they try to cloud our mind it straight up bounces off of everyone but Xia Lin as a Domain Effect.

Simply put, the advantage is very much in our court, and I want to see what tasty bait they try to put out to entice us to walk into a trap that can't actually work on us unless we're dealing with a Fourth Realm in here. In which case they are not going to be impressed by an imperious demeanour.

Remember, we win by Being Ling Qi, not by being Cai Renxiang or Bai Meizhen. And not by cowering at the corner. If we can't walk into a bunch of feral spiders and trick them out of their secrets and valuables, then what have we been doing all this time?
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Allright, you convinced me (not that I felt that stong about either option, but previous arguments had made me vote for the other choice)

[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.

Still needed to switch my vote, since it was pointed out that Ling Qi WILL communicate the plan in advance.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.

Even if Qi will communicate her plans in advanced I doubt Xia will be comfortable or good at playing this role.
 
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
Lena27 said:
I just don't think the spiders would have information that would that useful. Not useful enough to warrant this sort of effort. These spiders have been isolating themselves since the Hui fell. Its not like they're one of the Cloud Tribe factions or the White Sky people or anyone we explicitly need info on. They've seemed to retain the Hui's attitude over the years since they immediately started to organize an ambush when we reached out in good faith. So I think it's likely that they've kept some of the Hui's other qualities like isolationist attitudes.
Also I highly doubt Xia Lin will be able to keep up a polite mask when she knows we're about to be attacked. She can try but the spiders are probably practiced enough at deception to see through her efforts. She's a straight forward, martially inclined cultivator who's used to showing her prowess in fights and displays of power. I doubt she's as practiced at subtlety as LQ.
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I doubt it'll be relevant to the mission but they might have information of potential Hui remnants. Enemies of the Cai surviving in the shadows could be pretty pertinent information for us, giving insight into potential antagonists in Leaves of Destiny if there's something like a grand conspiracy to overthrow the Cai, pitting us against characters like Chu Song and the Hui who fled to this very safehouse. The forest hasn't been scouted for >500 years so if it was last inhabited 150 years ago (and thus after the Hui's fall) being curious might be better. Though if we intimidate them we might still get similar information if slightly less insight.
 
[X] Enter and engage, but be prepared. Use the trappings of Cai authority and your own power to intimidate them into backing down. If they attack anyway, this is a grouping you can handle.
 
[X] Pretend that you have not noticed their duplicity and play polite for as long as possible to draw out information. Subtly set yourself up to counterattack their ambush.
 
Look, the fact of the matter is "Enter and Engage" is no more "We're walking in expecting trouble" than "Play along and get ready to counter-ambush the ambush".

The fact is that Ling Qi is not good at playing the imperious overlady, and she does it sloppily when she does. The thing is that option two just hopes that the spiders are smart enough to be intimidated by a shiny emissary.

Also, I straight up want us to lean into our choice to retain command. Xia Lin will play along as best as she can, the idea that she'll flip out and ruin it when her characterization so far has been "A follower to a fault" seems a stretch to me. This is the option we got by keeping Ling Qi in play, and her style is all about being mischievious and misdirecting--if not necessarily a bald faced liar.
 
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