Except we do not get to pick the quest. The spirit does, and it may well be 'go fuck up this person/spirit who I can't, never you mind that it is inconvenient to you, you said you owed me'.
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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.
TimEd
Meteor maker
Xp, I guess.
It would give LQ a chance to recall that line said about helping our spirits also meaning we help ourself advance, rather than slow down like LQ currently thinks.
And this is definitely something that helps Hanyi, though I do still think the risk of failure (or heck, even the certainty of it) would have been worth it to have Hanyi encounter a minor trial.
It would give LQ a chance to recall that line said about helping our spirits also meaning we help ourself advance, rather than slow down like LQ currently thinks.
And this is definitely something that helps Hanyi, though I do still think the risk of failure (or heck, even the certainty of it) would have been worth it to have Hanyi encounter a minor trial.
I think I am ok with all the options except the quest. We already have enough narrative baggage, this sidequest isn't important enough to add more from it.
- Location
- Charlton, NY
Fair enough. So then how about...
[] Offer one service, which must be within your current power, to be completed within a year and a day (Locks in a Quest from the Spirit.)
-[] Give the spirit a private performance of the complete song.
--[] If this is unacceptable, offer a sliver of your own power, once and done.
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
I don't think we can do a write in vote for this.
i wonder if "For the adulation lost, offer a sliver of your own power, once and done. "
Will result in the spirit going up a cultivators level.
It would be amusing if it did.
Will result in the spirit going up a cultivators level.
It would be amusing if it did.
I disagree. I figure the 1st thing the ministry does when hearing about this is to look into what what we did during this incident. That'll mean going to see the spirit. Assuming the Ministry of Spiritual Affairs isn't incompetent at dealing with spirits I think it would be as simple as them asking what we gave it and the spirit telling them because if they were polite why wouldn't it?
I'm inclined to give up some xp. We can always get more just by playing. The items I'd rather not give up so soon, and I don't want to get embroiled in another quest while we just got a bunch of breadcrumbs for others
Hahaha, I love it that we are thinking narratively.
I would point out that we should be wary of offering power: sure, the cost to us personally might not be huge, but as the priestess said, we are a disruptive influence on a normally predictable relationship. It's entirely possible that, small as our gift might seem to us, it'd upset what ever spiritual ecosystem balance is in play right now.
I'm not saying not to do it, Ling Qi has seen her smol son do it too so it's reasonable for her to ICly go: I'll share some inspiration with you, just that the obvious consequence of sharing power is seeing that power get used. So, like, don't be super surprised if this backfires in some way.
I would point out that we should be wary of offering power: sure, the cost to us personally might not be huge, but as the priestess said, we are a disruptive influence on a normally predictable relationship. It's entirely possible that, small as our gift might seem to us, it'd upset what ever spiritual ecosystem balance is in play right now.
I'm not saying not to do it, Ling Qi has seen her smol son do it too so it's reasonable for her to ICly go: I'll share some inspiration with you, just that the obvious consequence of sharing power is seeing that power get used. So, like, don't be super surprised if this backfires in some way.
I dont want to sound like an ass but I really dont like that giving away the brush is an option when yrs skipped LQ having it appraised last turn, the idol makes more sense since it would damage our standing to show it to a buyer but even then LQ could have asked Bao Qian for a ballpark value for each item at any time in the last almost 2 months.
Yeah, we should definitely be thinking about how each of these options might play out long term as well.
The Dream Idol too is something I'd be worried about offering - it a) would likely be noticed, and b) could look like we're trying to mess with the spirit is some kind of complicated and ProblematicTM way. And indeed *could* very well influence the spirit.
I guess the problem with the brush though, is that if we're worried about us offering power to the spirit making it stronger and disrupting the ecosystem, then the brush could be even worse? It is a 4th realm talisman after all. I'd assume that the spirits can get power from offerings like that as well, though we don't know much about the mechanics there. @yrsillar is there anything you could add about what LQ would know about how offerings of power and items etc. could affect spirits?
I have to assume that spirits are less flexible than humans: if it's not something that Ling Qi can immediately make use of, neither will the spirit (unless it does truly appreciate art which isn't impossible, ink comes from an inkstone and water after all).
Otoh, the spirit has a bazillion years to learn how to use it, so it could become the game changer in a few decades/centuries.
But the main thing against the brush for me is that if Ling Qi were given the option between performing with Hanyi and giving up the hard-won calligraphy brush... like... I cannot see her giving up the brush. It seems a little OOC? Idk, our love for loot has degraded, it must be admitted.
...still feels weird though!
Mmm, that's fair, yeah. My read though is that the energies of something like that are still potent, and that should matter? Like, if it was only third realm I wouldn't give a shit about it, but 4th is a non-trivial step up.
And yeah, there is our love for loot. Otoh, there's also our love of our personal power, so us giving up xp is also a bit weird
edit: and ninja'd by yrs. Hmmm, interesting. Not sure what to think now...
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Alright so the important thing here is that the dislike of disorder means whatever we do here will make the spirit want it to be repeated next time especially if it is an item too big for him to eat like 4th realm.
While this isn't much for Ling Qi for most cultivators
For the dream idol we want it so I wouldn't be inclined to give it up.
...wait a minute if the spirit loves things mortals make from his spoils can we give the spirit the brush, and follow up on Hanyi being sorta interested in painting by getting somebody to teach her? Because it would be a Grinning Moon play to give it to him with the intention of using his dislike of disorder to make it part of the next yearly ritual, and have Hanyi read to roll with it.
Given we have the attention of the ministry coming back to do something for a spirit does not seem like the best idea tbh.
Honestly - and I know this will annoy brush fans - I kinda want to just get rid of the brush because we don't have a use case for it, and otherwise it's just going to hang around being annoying and going nowhere, like the comb. It's irritating
It is a pity we haven't gotten more info on it though.
It is a pity we haven't gotten more info on it though.
LucidProp
Pocky Eating MafiaDoka
Giving the brush away accomplishes two things! It gets rid of a plot hook we've no interest in, and makes it so that we won't have to go back here for another plot hook when we're already dealing with so much.
Granted, infecting the spirit with a little of that Ling Qi-ness also sounds hilarious.
Granted, infecting the spirit with a little of that Ling Qi-ness also sounds hilarious.
- Location
- the internet
Why can't we sell the brush though? Doesn't it have obvious high value as a talisman?? I don't understand why we're just giving something like that away. Is it a not a Cyan-level talisman? We can just sell it at the auction! You know, the one we have coming up???
I feel like if you want to do that, the brush makes a worthy offering to the not-Norsemen: a powerful cultural talisman made mostly of wood, expertly crafted and etc, it'd be highly prized and give us tons of brownie points.
Like, I get it, but this is a weird juncture to give it up, pretty sure it's worth more than Hanyi's profits + Bao's profits for this entire tour combined.
Like, I get it, but this is a weird juncture to give it up, pretty sure it's worth more than Hanyi's profits + Bao's profits for this entire tour combined.
I am very against giving up the brush until we know how much it is actually worth. We can just give up some power, and I don't think it will be too disruptive, since apparently spirits are cautious about digesting stuff.
We could probably find a buyer when we auction off the Weilu tapestry if we wanted.