Oh, I think she can be scary as fuck if she wants to be.
Using that fear to get specific reactions out of the people you're scaring is a step past that, though. And the entire point here is to get the spiders to act in certain ways when Ling Qi isn't immediately in front of them being terrifying. We don't want these spiders harassing our baggage train; as well spec'd as Ling Qi is at fighting them, many of the people we're leading aren't.
If Ling Qi, alone, is capable of forcing an issue if she enters this negotiation with clear and open strength of her position than the current situation once explained will be pretty clear to them that it is not an "Obey or else I'll make you." threat. Ling Qi would be going in with Cai Authority backing us up, this is "Cooperate and be rewarded or risk both present and future threats." The fact that we would be going in with our Cai Authority present puts the fact that, "This problem doesn't go away after we leave." in the open. If they are concerned about being hurt or attacked than it would be obscene amounts of foolishness to attempt to strike an armed and guarded baggage train that
also has the people who scared you into submission protecting it and more of them. This social encounter is going to end here and now one way or the other because our position only gets stronger whereas theirs only gets weaker after we leave this bunker.
a) a risky, and very dangerous option in choosing to fight, and probably die or suffer catastrophic losses.
We do not need to fear monger on this we almost certainly can win this fight either way, but I want to try for actual cooperation with the Spiders by coming off as both someone who can be negotiated with but also too big to chew rather than trick them into revealing a secret and potentially needing to wipe them out because they think they can kill us.
Option three doesn't commit to backstabbing them, just poking them in good faith while lining things up for a counter-ambush if things get shady. Option 2 makes a big threat display but that doesn't actually work if the other side thinks they can take us, but it does make sure that any valuables they might have here will be hidden or destroyed if they are hostile.
The idea that Option three is just 'Cedes the entire initiative to them' just... Doesn't ring true to me? We are incredibly well suited to neutralize a sudden ambush between our new talisman, our good social skills, and our Domain Effects being excellent at just "Lol nope" any binds or other such traps a spider based ambush predator might employ.
Like, it's not like they're just going to immediately throw a big buffchain out on option three and us do nothing in kind, or rather, that's a risk in either approach because if they're already planning to fuck us, the last thing they want to do is not be ready for us. Whether we come on strong or not.
And Ling Qi is not well suited for a big intimidation play either. It doesn't fall in any of her skillsets at all--so it comes off to me as the option most likely to provoke a fight unless they're complete cravens.
Because who cares if we're theoretically working on behalf of someone very far away, we're lunch now.
Option three is an attempt at using what should theoretically be an opening discussion leading into a negotiation as a form of probative questioning while not broadcasting Ling Qi's actual level of preparedness or ability to fight making her appear less threatening than she actually is. This actually would make the spiders more likely to believe they can take her should they realize she has taken valuable information from them. Option Two by comparison makes it clear that Ling Qi is both an actual threat
now and a threat
later if not mollified and worked with because she is both present in the
now and the Cai are
everywhere later and if she vanishes there is nothing these spiders can do to hide or survive what would fall onto their heads.
Neither option cedes
Combat initiative. simply knowing about the ambush prevents us from being taken by surprise in any option. Ling Qi has the capacity in either option to win whatever fight comes that is something both sides of this vote should be agreed on. However Option Three does cede the
Social initiative and leaves the Spiders as the ones feeling like they are in control of the situation and so the conversation is a matter of working to get the person who feels they have the better poker hand to keep making bets until their opponent can take them for all they are worth. Option Two however makes it clear Ling Qi is at least an
equal in the here and now, and that attempting to act in Bad Faith has far more costs associated with it than the Spiders likely realized.
With Option Three Ling Qi has the potential to obtain some kernel of some big information but at the cost that she accepting that the spiders might not survive the meeting or that talks will break down once the spiders realize she is fishing for information. Option Two allows the chance to get something more long-term in the form of actual, if not enthusiastic, cooperation out of the Spiders while accepting that if they clam up immediately than this becomes a fight on her terms immediately.
Also, as far as valuables which was not a reason that I voted for coming here at all? The spiders have already invited Ling Qi inside which means they have already given any orders that relate to moving anything valuable or dangerous into better positions the moment she choose to let them know that Xia Lin and her were here, as Xia Lin commented when Ling Qi choose to forgo further stealth options.
With that invitation though, they are pushing the social initiative back to Ling Qi to come back with a stronger counter to their perceived secret action, and that means that they have accepted that their buffchain is as good as it will get. They can't really respond without it coming off as further posturing from someone uncomfortable or unsure of the actual strength of their position.
Option Two opens strong, pushes Ling Qi as at least an equal in strength and not something that they will want to attempt to see how badly they'll be injured taking it down and once talks begin it will be clear that yeah she works for someone very far away but there is a small army marching along just up the road that will come looking for her if she goes missing.
