I think it was more that we had to choose between Sect/Xin an Clothes Girl/Cai, and Renxiang was sufficiently woobie that she won out.
Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
You can deny it all you want, but it's clear that the actual deciding factor was the menacing foreshadowing of oppression mom and our attraction to it.
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- Location
- Required Location
VIRGIN powerful Moonspirit in a stable, loving relationship VS CHAD abuse victim with a monster trapped in her head
He was talking about Ling Qi's Domain Weapon I'm pretty sure. It's literally made out of a piece of blood clot from the lake of Darkness blood flowing from his wounds. Ling Qi made the weapon into a part of her Domain which is her new core self. That makes him something to her. Organ Donor? Domain Daddy? The minuscule trace of Weilu blood in her family tree is unimportant. There are literally hundreds, thousands of Emerald Seas nobles and even commoner with more of it than her.
He woke up when Ling Qi learned the Wind Thief Art. As a fellow thief it's near certainty that Art is part of him too which is like some sort of spiritually family connection of some kind like the modern day Sect Brothers.
I wonder what those Seed Pods are? Loot he's stolen in life or maybe seeds of the petal plant growing on him which will give yet another connection between him and Ling Qi.
DeusExBritannia
Red-White-Black-White
- Location
- Texas
Yeah, she might start slicking her hair back and using a katana.
"Why do you refuse to gain power?"
"Sis-y, it's almost bedtime."
"Foolishness, Biyu. Foolishness..."
"Momma, Sis-y's acting weird again!"
Also, I really want to tell our friends about our dream adventures and bring them along.
You can't tell me the choice wouldn't have changed, had Xia cackled menacingly when she met us.
All this, when - as Xia said - she was remade the perfect wife for her husband, Mr. 'his clothes makes your eyes bleed'. All the cultivators end up kind of messed up (happens when you basically build yourself from Lego blocks of concepts).
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- Location
- Europe
Not calling her Ita-Qi, for shame Biyu, it's almost like you've never read Naruto before.
I got the impression that he could hold Qi if he wanted and LQ couldn't really do anything about it. I don't think he even seriously attempted to hold us.
That was a Devil May Cry reference as neither Itachi or Sasuke slicked back their hair when turning evil.
- Location
- UK
Wait, isn't Ita-Qi pronounced the same as Itachi? That's pretty good lmao.
We even also use dreams and illusions. Shame we only have boring human eyes, maybe Skellygramps will share the flower petal eyes? They're kinda wheel-like.
Run Biyu, run!
We even also use dreams and illusions. Shame we only have boring human eyes, maybe Skellygramps will share the flower petal eyes? They're kinda wheel-like.
Run Biyu, run!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
First up i really liked the update even if i am a bit sad we did not get no know him a bit better outside the mechanics involving him.
I would like to expand on our Truth Concept and slap it in his face. Really ... calling LQ a Liar ...
On another Note i wanted to check if i understand our new Cultivation advancement calculation correct. Because quite frankly i am not sure if i read that all correctly.
We have
-100 Base from our Art. (I assume that is 100 for Spirit and Body)
-30 Bonus for Arc completion
-80 Bonus for Arc actions
-30 Spirit from our Plan
-30 Spirit from the Hidden Project
If the Bonus is split 50/50 we got 215 XP for Spirit and 155 XP for Body.
With our Talent that is 1290 Spirit and 930 Body
If we assume we get 2 more arc completion Bonuses with 30 XP for the 2 other Arcs in the Plan (Gardening and Concert),
that would add up to 1470 Spirit and 1110 Body. If my Math is not completely Wrong ...
Does that not sound like quite a lot for what is a mini Arc that does not even represent a full Month of time?
-Edit: oh i think the Hidden Project was the Plan Project for the Hidden Moon and not a "hidden Project" we lucked out on because we found it ... Subtract 180 from Spirit ... Still a bit much so i am still confused.
I would like to expand on our Truth Concept and slap it in his face. Really ... calling LQ a Liar ...
On another Note i wanted to check if i understand our new Cultivation advancement calculation correct. Because quite frankly i am not sure if i read that all correctly.
We have
-100 Base from our Art. (I assume that is 100 for Spirit and Body)
-30 Bonus for Arc completion
-80 Bonus for Arc actions
-30 Spirit from our Plan
-30 Spirit from the Hidden Project
If the Bonus is split 50/50 we got 215 XP for Spirit and 155 XP for Body.
With our Talent that is 1290 Spirit and 930 Body
If we assume we get 2 more arc completion Bonuses with 30 XP for the 2 other Arcs in the Plan (Gardening and Concert),
that would add up to 1470 Spirit and 1110 Body. If my Math is not completely Wrong ...
Does that not sound like quite a lot for what is a mini Arc that does not even represent a full Month of time?
-Edit: oh i think the Hidden Project was the Plan Project for the Hidden Moon and not a "hidden Project" we lucked out on because we found it ... Subtract 180 from Spirit ... Still a bit much so i am still confused.
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Think Zeqing kind of 'let'
If poked in the right/wrong Way
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
It does, but as this is a new system I am sure the numbers will be tweaked at some point.
- Location
- United States of America
Well, that was a fun update!
I particularly enjoyed having Ling Qi meet a spirit.... thing imprisoned for who knows how long by shattered time and space. Just remember, no matter how convincing he might be, he was placed within this shattered gaol for a reason and so we shouldn't work to let him out. Trading stories and tales is probably fine, but he should stay there.
In other news, I love having the mystery concept boosted up a bit! It seemed that we got some nice level-ups that also relate to the Hidden Moon Project we are working on cultivating, which is neat. Casualty, Mystery, and Power. I think there are some really cool ideas behind those concepts and I am interested in seeing how those can be developed and improved upon with better understanding.
While the Horned Skeleton is pretty neat, I don't want to solely focus on him. There is also that invitation to the Thunder Palace in the area which I think would be cool to visit. Possibly get a location/mentor/quest that deals with motion and freedom rather than the concepts personified by the Shattered Gaol and the Horned Skeleton which it imprisons.
I'm really liking the system so far and how it encourages us to get out there and find cool stuff to interact with!
I particularly enjoyed having Ling Qi meet a spirit.... thing imprisoned for who knows how long by shattered time and space. Just remember, no matter how convincing he might be, he was placed within this shattered gaol for a reason and so we shouldn't work to let him out. Trading stories and tales is probably fine, but he should stay there.
In other news, I love having the mystery concept boosted up a bit! It seemed that we got some nice level-ups that also relate to the Hidden Moon Project we are working on cultivating, which is neat. Casualty, Mystery, and Power. I think there are some really cool ideas behind those concepts and I am interested in seeing how those can be developed and improved upon with better understanding.
While the Horned Skeleton is pretty neat, I don't want to solely focus on him. There is also that invitation to the Thunder Palace in the area which I think would be cool to visit. Possibly get a location/mentor/quest that deals with motion and freedom rather than the concepts personified by the Shattered Gaol and the Horned Skeleton which it imprisons.
I'm really liking the system so far and how it encourages us to get out there and find cool stuff to interact with!
I suspect that the "woobie" may not have won if more people had perceived the other choice as Sect/Xin instead of Sect/Jiao. Curmudgeonly and at times petty, Jiao seemed largely indifferent to us. Xin is wonderful and took it upon herself to be our advocate with Jiao, but we needed no such advocate with CRX. Our presence wasn't an imposition to her. She made us feel significant and wanted, and she offered both a worthy goal and a great opportunity.
Okay, that update was definitely very cool. But some of the pitfalls I was concerned with came home to roost after all.
Biggest one is we didn't reduce our backlog, and we even threw a new thing (a questline!) on top of the pile. Picking up new commitments instead of dealing with the ones we have isn't the end of the world, but we don't want it to be a habit... and it already is one. It's not clear when or how we'll get around to these things in between all our other obligations, and now the stress in managing it is knocked up one notch. Not horrible, not great.
Second major one is the encounter was so abbreviated it didn't give a lot to work with on a character level. It moved so quickly at the end, and with such limited agency on Ling Qi's part, that the encounter lacked very much characterization. The encounter was cool, but not meaningful. Not yet, anyway, obviously. That's what the questline's for. Part of me wants Ling Qi reflecting on this some, but in terms of pacing it's probably best for her to just move on to Hanyi's concert time.
After that, issues are a bit more like quibbles.
There's just this persistently jarring edge of discomfort with them working on things together but only one having agency 97% of the time.
What things was she trying to learn the reason for? Were they particular to those circumstance or more general? Did she have a particular line of suspicion she was following up on, or was she just dissatisfied with the immediate offering and looking for More? We dunno, Ling Qi didn't say or think anything more about it.
Biggest one is we didn't reduce our backlog, and we even threw a new thing (a questline!) on top of the pile. Picking up new commitments instead of dealing with the ones we have isn't the end of the world, but we don't want it to be a habit... and it already is one. It's not clear when or how we'll get around to these things in between all our other obligations, and now the stress in managing it is knocked up one notch. Not horrible, not great.
Second major one is the encounter was so abbreviated it didn't give a lot to work with on a character level. It moved so quickly at the end, and with such limited agency on Ling Qi's part, that the encounter lacked very much characterization. The encounter was cool, but not meaningful. Not yet, anyway, obviously. That's what the questline's for. Part of me wants Ling Qi reflecting on this some, but in terms of pacing it's probably best for her to just move on to Hanyi's concert time.
After that, issues are a bit more like quibbles.
I like how Ling Qi and Sixiang tease each other and have different preferences. It adds a lot to their dynamic and the way their respective natures low-key challenge the other to grow. Buuut we're seeing a real pattern of Ling Qi running roughshod over Sixiang's preferences and even objections. It's just awkward at this point. Especially during joint projects.
There's just this persistently jarring edge of discomfort with them working on things together but only one having agency 97% of the time.
This line of reasoning didn't make a huge amount of sense, and could use developing as the underlying idea is carried forwards. There could have been "why"s available that matched her previous thoughts on the matter while poking around in the spirit-LARP of bygone Weilu culture too. But the bigger sticking point is Ling Qi didn't find any "why" on her chosen course; she didn't even articulate which why she was looking to ask.
What things was she trying to learn the reason for? Were they particular to those circumstance or more general? Did she have a particular line of suspicion she was following up on, or was she just dissatisfied with the immediate offering and looking for More? We dunno, Ling Qi didn't say or think anything more about it.
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I'm kind of excited to explore what it means to be a Thief again. We haven't really worked much with that whole facet of Ling Qi's cultivation. Even in the political climate of the Inner Sect our stealth has almost exclusively been used militarily, and philosophically even with Wind Thief Ling Qi mostly focused on her love for freedom. But Ling Qi is very much a thief at heart, her whole worldview is one where people have to take from others thus the need for Power, her bottomless greed is the basis of her Want, and these are things sharing her stories with an old thief and hearing theirs in return really work well with.
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Wind Thief's The Opened Vault project does seem like it would pair well with him. He's got the chops to assist in a number of ways, and I bet we'd even get to walk away with some loot from practice. The Laughing Wind... probably a lot less appropriate, what with the whole imprisonment thing. 
I think it works better holding off for a bit, getting our ducks in a row, maintaining tighter continuity between some of our other projects. Heck, he even gave us leave to do so. And with Sixiang's reaction and Ling Qi's (temporary) helplessness, it'd feel odd to dive back in right away.
I want storage item theft online a month or so before the diplo meeting, but before that there's not really any call for having it. Specifically, I want it online for snooping through the things of our fellow Imperials. But not our honorable sect brothers and sisters.
I think it works better holding off for a bit, getting our ducks in a row, maintaining tighter continuity between some of our other projects. Heck, he even gave us leave to do so. And with Sixiang's reaction and Ling Qi's (temporary) helplessness, it'd feel odd to dive back in right away.
I want storage item theft online a month or so before the diplo meeting, but before that there's not really any call for having it. Specifically, I want it online for snooping through the things of our fellow Imperials. But not our honorable sect brothers and sisters.
kfrar
Aspiring Encyclopedia
Yeah, Sixiang really isn't keen on Bonedaddy and we're obviously going to talk to him again anyway, so I do think we should do a more fun Dream project with them next.
And while it's no Weilu party, we do know a good revel site and have an excuse to go there through both Xuan Shi and the PLR project The Dreaming Gala. Given that said project also gives +1 Dreamwalking, I feel like going to the party before returning to the hungry skeleton dream prison is a good call.
We could even double down and do the Dreaming project to rank up Truth before going back, but that can probably wait a bit? We've got plenty of other stuff to do, after all, and we haven't even seen what else this turn has in store for us.
Also, mechanics-wise, unless I'm misreading things, the talent multiplier isn't the only thing to take note of if we're talking XP multipliers. Based on this text right here -
we earn XP faster once we have the non-XP prereqs for a given level done, and from the table:
we can see that we finished getting the 5 insights, 1 advanced insight, and 8 concept levels necessary for Framing a while ago.
So really, we get a *6 (Talent) * 1.5 (Prereqs done) = *9 multiplier for all base XP gains.
This turn, we've so far earned ourselves:
100 Untyped XP from our base cultivation,
30 Spiritual XP from our Hidden Moon project,
50 Grinning XP from our Arc Feat, and
30 Untyped XP from Arc Completion.
Now, the Grinning Project gives Physical XP, so the 50 Grinning XP could either be untyped or physical depending on how feat XP actually works. As for the untyped XP, that could either apply to both cultivation types, or it could be split between them - we don't have enough information to say. Assuming for a moment that Grinning is physical and untyped is split, our total gains so far look like this:
95*9=855 Spiritual XP, 115*9=1035 Physical XP.
If Grinning is untyped and untyped fully applies to both Spiritual and Physical, that looks more like this:
1890 Spiritual XP, 1620 Physical XP.
The precise number we get could, of course, vary depending on exactly how things get broken out; we'll have to wait and see. But as long as we can maintain our 9x multiplier, we should be able to accrue XP quickly, and given how many Concept Levels we already have and that FSS+ is near the top of our todo list, we probably will be staying ahead of our prereqs for the foreseeable future.
(Any corrections to the above analysis are welcome.)
- Pronouns
- They
I really, really like how the time-trap was described. Yrs had me going for a second before I caught what was going on.
Grandpa Flowerbones is intriguing. I wonder what sort of insights sharing stories with him we could get.
Overall, I really liked the dream-venture, and the new quest format. The gains seems more tangible. But I got this feeling that we could, in theory, game it extremely hard to skyrocket our insights and min-max our Domain with it. Granted, I'm no expert and some gains will probably be "hidden" at vote time, but I'm hyped for the next Dream now.
Grandpa Flowerbones is intriguing. I wonder what sort of insights sharing stories with him we could get.
Overall, I really liked the dream-venture, and the new quest format. The gains seems more tangible. But I got this feeling that we could, in theory, game it extremely hard to skyrocket our insights and min-max our Domain with it. Granted, I'm no expert and some gains will probably be "hidden" at vote time, but I'm hyped for the next Dream now.
Varder
Tired Cultist
- Location
- Hell
Look, we already have a bunch of skeletons in our house's basement, courtesy of Li Suyin; noone complained, what's one more? And, honestly, our house has no defensive measures on the Liminal front, so taking this bone grandpa home is a sensible, strategic choice regardless
- Location
- United States of America
A couple of thoughts about the priority of future projects and exploration avenues of the Liminal Realm!
High
The Dreaming Gala - I increasingly want to explore the Liminal realm, and I had high expectations from the start, and going back to the Dreaming Gala seems to be one of the most consistent ways to increase our dream walking skill. Also, given that we have advanced to a point where we can suddenly see things differently, I want to explore that bit of the liminal realm with more skill and insight. Will also show up Sixiang and demonstrate that we can have fun!
Medium
The Shattered Gaol and the Tales from the Crypts - I have a strong feeling that the Horned Skeleton has a lot of insight to share about various concepts I'm interested in having Ling Qi pursuing. Power and Want certainly, but I think the biggest will be Isolation. If there is anything we can discuss with the Horned Skeleton it is the nature and effect of Isolation. That being said, it would do poorly not to be prepared for talking with it and we should employ caution not to cleave too closely to how it perceives the world. However, this thing has been around since before the formation of the Empire (probably, maybe. It's certainly hinted to have been around during the Mason's War) and so he can certainly wait a few more months while we wrap up important matters.
Medium-Low
The Burrowing Behemoth - Possibly some sort of connection to Zhengui's history? Not really much to go on with this one, but it certainly seems to warp the liminal realm around it, given just how much burrowing through dream and memories it does. Certainly, an interesting way of traveling around the liminal realm and possibly some interesting finds from interacting with it.
The Bleeding Mountain - A liminal representation of the mountain that the Li had their stronghold at, and certainly seems to whisper a lot about who the Li were and what they wanted. Secrets are certain to abound within the Bleeding Mountain, but I'm not too sure how much interest they will hold. I would like to explore it at some point, but there are other options that I think we should do first, like interacting with the choices above this option.
Low
Nightmares of the Long Knives - We need to get the Dreamwalking skill all the way up to 10 from where it is currently (1) before it is recommended to attempt this place. This means that for exploring the liminal realm, this place is as low as it gets for me before we reach that recommended prerequisites.
Distant Opportunities
Xiangmen - The capital of the Emerald Seas, the seat of power for the Cai clan, it is both father and mother to the vast forests that engulf the Emerald Seas. A storied history of having the Hui occupy its boroughs who worked the liminal realm extensively. What secrets still lay hidden within the roots of Xiangmen, what gleaming glories lay shrouded by its leaves? I think exploring the liminal realm around Xiangmen would be extremely interesting if a fair bit out from where we are currently.
Thunder Palace - Yu Nuan has an invitation to visit the Thunder Palace once the King of the Skies no longer expresses themselves above the world. We should visit as well! Both the physical and liminal aspects of the Thunder Palace would be an exciting prospect, especially for a practitioner of the Thief of Winds art.
Sky Palace Koliada - A seemingly mega-project being built by our prospective allies that always requires more hands for its construction. What is it, what purpose does it hold, how is it being built, and why? Things to ponder if we can ever get over there. But another thing to do is explore the liminal realm around the project and see if we can't glean any insights about the people constructing this massive project.
High
The Dreaming Gala - I increasingly want to explore the Liminal realm, and I had high expectations from the start, and going back to the Dreaming Gala seems to be one of the most consistent ways to increase our dream walking skill. Also, given that we have advanced to a point where we can suddenly see things differently, I want to explore that bit of the liminal realm with more skill and insight. Will also show up Sixiang and demonstrate that we can have fun!
Medium
The Shattered Gaol and the Tales from the Crypts - I have a strong feeling that the Horned Skeleton has a lot of insight to share about various concepts I'm interested in having Ling Qi pursuing. Power and Want certainly, but I think the biggest will be Isolation. If there is anything we can discuss with the Horned Skeleton it is the nature and effect of Isolation. That being said, it would do poorly not to be prepared for talking with it and we should employ caution not to cleave too closely to how it perceives the world. However, this thing has been around since before the formation of the Empire (probably, maybe. It's certainly hinted to have been around during the Mason's War) and so he can certainly wait a few more months while we wrap up important matters.
Medium-Low
The Burrowing Behemoth - Possibly some sort of connection to Zhengui's history? Not really much to go on with this one, but it certainly seems to warp the liminal realm around it, given just how much burrowing through dream and memories it does. Certainly, an interesting way of traveling around the liminal realm and possibly some interesting finds from interacting with it.
The Bleeding Mountain - A liminal representation of the mountain that the Li had their stronghold at, and certainly seems to whisper a lot about who the Li were and what they wanted. Secrets are certain to abound within the Bleeding Mountain, but I'm not too sure how much interest they will hold. I would like to explore it at some point, but there are other options that I think we should do first, like interacting with the choices above this option.
Low
Nightmares of the Long Knives - We need to get the Dreamwalking skill all the way up to 10 from where it is currently (1) before it is recommended to attempt this place. This means that for exploring the liminal realm, this place is as low as it gets for me before we reach that recommended prerequisites.
Distant Opportunities
Xiangmen - The capital of the Emerald Seas, the seat of power for the Cai clan, it is both father and mother to the vast forests that engulf the Emerald Seas. A storied history of having the Hui occupy its boroughs who worked the liminal realm extensively. What secrets still lay hidden within the roots of Xiangmen, what gleaming glories lay shrouded by its leaves? I think exploring the liminal realm around Xiangmen would be extremely interesting if a fair bit out from where we are currently.
Thunder Palace - Yu Nuan has an invitation to visit the Thunder Palace once the King of the Skies no longer expresses themselves above the world. We should visit as well! Both the physical and liminal aspects of the Thunder Palace would be an exciting prospect, especially for a practitioner of the Thief of Winds art.
Sky Palace Koliada - A seemingly mega-project being built by our prospective allies that always requires more hands for its construction. What is it, what purpose does it hold, how is it being built, and why? Things to ponder if we can ever get over there. But another thing to do is explore the liminal realm around the project and see if we can't glean any insights about the people constructing this massive project.
Do you think either of them know anything about the great hurican/twister/storm to the west?