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.
ImperatorV
The Laughing One
- Location
- The Voyaging Realm
Hm. I want Xuan Shi, so Boulders. That synergizes with Wang Clan Solutions, so that.
That leaves two professional and one personal. Diao and Meng are the stand-outs - both of those we have negative reputation with, and it would be a really good idea to avoid having enemies. The Diao may be the more concerning of the two - the Meng we have had at least a little positive contact with, the Diao dislike us and we are completely lacking connections to them.
That leaves two professional and one personal. Diao and Meng are the stand-outs - both of those we have negative reputation with, and it would be a really good idea to avoid having enemies. The Diao may be the more concerning of the two - the Meng we have had at least a little positive contact with, the Diao dislike us and we are completely lacking connections to them.
- Location
- Staring into the void
[] Roads Rocks and Diamonds
-[] Wang Clan Solutions
-[] Meng Clan Inroads
-[] Bao Clan Welcome
-[] Boulders and Bluster
-[] Diamonds and the Rough
-[] Wang Clan Solutions
-[] Meng Clan Inroads
-[] Bao Clan Welcome
-[] Boulders and Bluster
-[] Diamonds and the Rough
Moon senpai!
My two largest priorities politically is Diao and Wang. I am fine if the Diao dislike us but we really need to make sure that that dislike doesn't turn into hate. We've already asked our Wang buddy to introduce us to some people and it progresses a quest. Plus the Wang are cool and are gonna be around our Fief. I am undecided on the next action, would probably avoid Jia though. They don't seem to be a priority.
As for personal actions, synergy with both of those wouldn't be amiss but I also want some more Yu Nuan time before she becomes our sister so it's a tough decision for me.
So for now:
[X] Plan Rock & Stone
[X] Jeweler's Turn
[X] Plan Misty Connections
[X] Swamp Rocks
[X] Sorry Suyin
As for personal actions, synergy with both of those wouldn't be amiss but I also want some more Yu Nuan time before she becomes our sister so it's a tough decision for me.
So for now:
[X] Plan Rock & Stone
[X] Jeweler's Turn
[X] Plan Misty Connections
[X] Swamp Rocks
[X] Sorry Suyin
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- Location
- Canada
[] Jeweler's Turn
- [] Wang Clan Solutions
- [] Diao Clan conciliation
- [] Bao Clan Welcome
- [] The Craftsmen's Tourney
- [] Diamonds and the Rough
- [] Wang Clan Solutions
- [] Diao Clan conciliation
- [] Bao Clan Welcome
- [] The Craftsmen's Tourney
- [] Diamonds and the Rough
I kind of want to approach the Luo, they're the Weilu Conservatives we didn't really interact with but their themes are reminiscent of Ling Qi's own. We need to actually begin a relationship with them. Though I think I would rather Luo Zhong get some character development, both width and depth, and see his ambitions raise him until he is our contact rather than replace him like Meng Dan did Meng De. Choosing Boulders and Bluster might even let us squeeze a little more narrative if we go both Wang and Luo.
- Pronouns
- He
[] Plan Past and Future
-[] Wang Clan Solutions
-[] Diao Clan conciliation
-[] Meng Clan Inroads
-[] The Craftsmen's Tourney
-[] Travelers Corner
Making up with the Diao is important, Meng can also be a very neat ally, especially with their Moon connection, and we'll want them to come around in regards to the Bai stuff, by backing a faction favorable to them.
Also, it's been a long time since we've seen Liao Zhu.
-[] Wang Clan Solutions
-[] Diao Clan conciliation
-[] Meng Clan Inroads
-[] The Craftsmen's Tourney
-[] Travelers Corner
Making up with the Diao is important, Meng can also be a very neat ally, especially with their Moon connection, and we'll want them to come around in regards to the Bai stuff, by backing a faction favorable to them.
Also, it's been a long time since we've seen Liao Zhu.
NoxOfUmbra
Shadow of the night
- Location
- Colombia, South América
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
- Location
- The Space Between
the issue with picking the Luo is which of "Wang, Bao, Diao" do we swap out for them?
Wang and Bao we actually have positive connections to, and Diao needs to be shored up
Meng are a group the Cai don't have a different good inroad to
then there's Jia and Luo who are stable
Wang and Bao we actually have positive connections to, and Diao needs to be shored up
Meng are a group the Cai don't have a different good inroad to
then there's Jia and Luo who are stable
I am incredibly lukewarm on the Diao clan conciliation* but I am absolutely voting to see Suyin and Su Ling again so I'm probably going to have to take it for the synergy.
*On the one hand, it might be useful. On the other, the things they dislike us for are talking to foreigners and people who are out of power, which a) are literally our job description b)good things both morally and for maintaining the Cai's power, and finally because c)I'm pretty sure Minister Linquin dislikes Renxiang and deliberately makes things difficult for her. It's understandable to not like that your partner has to sleep with someone else for politics, it's not ok to take that out on the child.
*On the one hand, it might be useful. On the other, the things they dislike us for are talking to foreigners and people who are out of power, which a) are literally our job description b)good things both morally and for maintaining the Cai's power, and finally because c)I'm pretty sure Minister Linquin dislikes Renxiang and deliberately makes things difficult for her. It's understandable to not like that your partner has to sleep with someone else for politics, it's not ok to take that out on the child.
The DIao aren't opposed to talking to foreigners, we could have had their approval for the mission:
[] To appeal to profit. If there is another force out there civilizing the southernmost tribes, perhaps there is gain to be had? (+Bao, +Diao approval, -Wang approval)
They dislike us because they are trying to be assimilated into Imperial culture and we brought up their cultural history.
- Location
- latvia
For all that said them posibly going even lower in relation if we ignore them would be biger pain in the bottom in the future. Stabilising or relations probaly is well worth it.
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Ah. I didn't quite remember and the summary from the vote does not make the distinction clear (emphasis mine).
I'm currently leaning towards @EternalObserver's Mist Connections plan.
Wang: They're going to be our closest Count neighbours, and we'll be relying on them for a lot. They seem friendly and dependable enough, even if we don't see eye-to-eye on cultural issues. Maximizing our relationship with them seems very wise to me. This is also a relationship we've put work into prepping, it would be silly to not now capitalize on it and reap the benefits of our labour. In short-medium terms, this is probably the most directly relevant relationship out of all of them.
Meng: The Meng are complicated. They're isolationist and have beef with the Bai. One of the things we bring to Renxiang's team is a very strong Bai tie, complementing her own friendship with Meizhen. We've also stumbled into something of an "in" to possibly getting the Meng to open up to us, which is a uniquely valuable thing in Renxiang's circle. There's tension between these two things, but that's not automatically a problem. It's interesting, and I think we need to take the shot at following up on the opportunities we have.
The Craftsmen's Tourney: It boosting the Diao action is interesting, because we almost don't have the context to understand how. We do know they have economic interests, which does make sense with a crafting tournament. But besides that we don't really have a... character for the clan. So that's neat. This option also has a bunch of favourite friends we get to hang out with. Nice.
Boulders and Bluster: The Wang are really really important. Boosting our chance of rep gains is huge. In character narrative terms, this also plays well into the transition we're making into our focus on the coming year and projects. We get to touch base with Xuan Shi a bit, which plays well to our future poking around on whether we can/should recruit him into Renxiang's diplo corps. We get a solidly post-garden-arc Zhengui appearance, which is a good palette cleanser for future narratives. And Yrs can put down some groundwork on the dynamics with the Wang group that are going to come up, since Meizhen previously joined up around the time Luo Zhong did and some kind of interaction there is upcoming; this will probably concern the Luo Zhong/Bao Qingling plot thread.
I just really like how friendly this one is to tying up dangling plot threads and paving the way for resolutions and/or new beginnings, depending on the character.
Diao: We've been ignorant of them for too long as it is, considering their importance as the central pillar of Cai support and our personal Liege's strained relationship with their de facto leader. They also occupy the central territories, which makes them relevant to a lot of trade and travel: see the Old/New Road quest, which involves contesting territorial claims between the Diao and the Wang. Even if we don't end up improving our relationship with them, we desperately need to know what their deal is so we can work around them effectively.
Wang: They're going to be our closest Count neighbours, and we'll be relying on them for a lot. They seem friendly and dependable enough, even if we don't see eye-to-eye on cultural issues. Maximizing our relationship with them seems very wise to me. This is also a relationship we've put work into prepping, it would be silly to not now capitalize on it and reap the benefits of our labour. In short-medium terms, this is probably the most directly relevant relationship out of all of them.
Meng: The Meng are complicated. They're isolationist and have beef with the Bai. One of the things we bring to Renxiang's team is a very strong Bai tie, complementing her own friendship with Meizhen. We've also stumbled into something of an "in" to possibly getting the Meng to open up to us, which is a uniquely valuable thing in Renxiang's circle. There's tension between these two things, but that's not automatically a problem. It's interesting, and I think we need to take the shot at following up on the opportunities we have.
The Craftsmen's Tourney: It boosting the Diao action is interesting, because we almost don't have the context to understand how. We do know they have economic interests, which does make sense with a crafting tournament. But besides that we don't really have a... character for the clan. So that's neat. This option also has a bunch of favourite friends we get to hang out with. Nice.
Boulders and Bluster: The Wang are really really important. Boosting our chance of rep gains is huge. In character narrative terms, this also plays well into the transition we're making into our focus on the coming year and projects. We get to touch base with Xuan Shi a bit, which plays well to our future poking around on whether we can/should recruit him into Renxiang's diplo corps. We get a solidly post-garden-arc Zhengui appearance, which is a good palette cleanser for future narratives. And Yrs can put down some groundwork on the dynamics with the Wang group that are going to come up, since Meizhen previously joined up around the time Luo Zhong did and some kind of interaction there is upcoming; this will probably concern the Luo Zhong/Bao Qingling plot thread.
I just really like how friendly this one is to tying up dangling plot threads and paving the way for resolutions and/or new beginnings, depending on the character.
- Location
- Finland
While i am not against Diao action, i would like to remind people that we were brought onboard to make inroads to the clans who were not peaks aligned.
Like Lou and Meng.
Wang have become important to our current efforts, and the in we have right now is too good to ignore, but i think Diao (and Bao) could wait.
Getting closer to the Meng would be useful, as well as getting a better grasp on the Luo who have been about 50/50 on great and crap interactions so far.
Like Lou and Meng.
Wang have become important to our current efforts, and the in we have right now is too good to ignore, but i think Diao (and Bao) could wait.
Getting closer to the Meng would be useful, as well as getting a better grasp on the Luo who have been about 50/50 on great and crap interactions so far.
- Location
- foraging for beans
Yeah, I don't see much value in the Diao clan conciliation option. Sure, it would be useful if we planned to stop publicly pursuing our connections to "foreigners and the older peoples of the Emerald seas", but we're not. And so we're just going to continue pissing the Diao off. Why waste the effort on them in that case, it's not like we're particularly well suited to being CRX's ambassador to the Diao in any anyway. Let GG go do some manly muscles diplomacy at them, or whatever he does.
On a meta level, stories aren't particularly fun without antagonists, so I have no issue with one of the Count clans of ES not liking LQ. Now, more than one Count clans might be a problem, but one just makes things fun. I'm sure that the Count clans themselves are a spinning wheel of intergenerational rivalries in any case, so what's one more?
So yeah, heck with the Diao. They're boring and probably peakaboos anyway.
[] Roads Rocks and Diamonds
-[] Wang Clan Solutions
-[] Meng Clan Inroads
-[] Bao Clan Welcome
-[] Boulders and Bluster
-[] Diamonds and the Rough
On a meta level, stories aren't particularly fun without antagonists, so I have no issue with one of the Count clans of ES not liking LQ. Now, more than one Count clans might be a problem, but one just makes things fun. I'm sure that the Count clans themselves are a spinning wheel of intergenerational rivalries in any case, so what's one more?
So yeah, heck with the Diao. They're boring and probably peakaboos anyway.
[] Roads Rocks and Diamonds
-[] Wang Clan Solutions
-[] Meng Clan Inroads
-[] Bao Clan Welcome
-[] Boulders and Bluster
-[] Diamonds and the Rough
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
Here for moon senpai.
Also of the opinion that we aren't going to be able to ever get positive reputation with everyone at the same time, because this is about their clan interests rather than grinding abstract reputation. It's zero-sum to a degree. So I'd prefer to make and keep strong allies rather than try to patch holes.
Also of the opinion that we aren't going to be able to ever get positive reputation with everyone at the same time, because this is about their clan interests rather than grinding abstract reputation. It's zero-sum to a degree. So I'd prefer to make and keep strong allies rather than try to patch holes.
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EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
This is a continuation of the quest line that started in Hanyi arc. It's probably good to get it over with and look for the next questline. Not to mention Wang is gonna be our main neighbours geographically, therefore it's best if we take the opportunity and optimise our trade routes
Ever since that amazing court session way back at turn 10, we've since taken a route that favours the Meng. Now geographically there is benefits into investing into this as better relations may give us better chances to see more of the tension between the Meng and the Bai so that's already an interesting plot hook. The ??? Meng faction I'd say is probably Meng Diu's faction, the more friendly one, which is perfect for us to take as well as getting more info from them about the internal workings of the other Meng factions.
ngl I really really really want to take this one. I really do. They're also neighbours with Golden Fields, which is a possible route connection to Xiulan, so it hurts for me to not take this now. It's just.....not as important as some of there others at the moment. So as much as it pains to not have the possible opportunity to meet Luo uncle again, or get the chance to get another contact other than Luo Zhong, I may have to pass on this for now T_T
Diao clan is arguably the most powerful Count clan in all of ES. Aside from the relation damage we got from the Ice Diplomacy arc, we also had that recent incident with one of their Viscounts. While that incident affected the clergy more, there's no doubt that noble factions within the Diao would be acting more snooty towards us 'cause of this. So it's probably best that we mend the wounds before it festers more. We also get the chance to see more of their different factions so that's always a plus.
Also Kara no Kyoukai reference
Jia is irrelevant, let's move on
I'll be honest, while it's always cool to have more resources, I'm not super into their quest lines. For now, imo Bao relations can be maintained through Bao Qian and Qingling. Not to mention our recent actions have already gotten their approval, so I think that's enough for now
Locked vote, so no need to vote for this one. Can't wait to see all these characters in the same room as well as who the Bai delegate will be.
Synergizes with our Diao meet-up. Not to mention we get to have more SuSu scenes. Qingling is also always a plus in my books.
I should also add that we can check with Xiao Fen's friend Liu Xin here. As well as the Jin scion who's probably here as well (maybe).
This to me feels like something I have to vote to for the extra pluses on shoring up Diao reputation.
It has Wang Chao and Xuan Shi in it. Nuff said.
This follows up the plot threads of our last meeting with both Wang Chao and Xuan Shi, which is always a good thing. Synergizes with Wang relation, who are gonna be our neighbours.
Luo Zhong is in there? Doesn't matter. Xuan Shi is my precious boi who needs friends to be there for him (his nightmare doesn't count), and what better friends than our rolling boulder Wang Chao and his goat.
Aside from Bao synergy, this helps Hanyi with her business as well as get to know Bao Qian more for the shippers who are interested. This also follows up with Yu Nuan's adoption and it seems relevant to making connections together with her.
So in my opinion, Yu Nuan isn't immediately relevant and can be put off on another time. I'm also not prioritising Bao relations atm so this is low in my priority list.
ngl this one is juicy as well. Aside from Meng synergy, not only do we get to meet with Meng Dan and Xia Lin who may or may not be our future fellow retainers, we get the chance to meet Liao Zhu again in the aftermath of his coma. Overall cool character meet-up.
So pretty much plan-wise, I'm gonna have to vote for my plan
[] Plan Misty Connections
- [] Wang Clan Solutions
- [] Diao Clan conciliation
- [] Meng Clan Inroads
- [] The Craftsmen's Tourney
- [] Boulders and Bluster
Professional actions: I think Diao and Wang are the most relevant professional actions we should pick out. For the third option, it's between the Meng and the Bao who we have good relations with, but as I explained earlier, I think Bao can be put off at the moment so Meng it is for me.
Personal actions: We have 2 personal actions, which is unfortunately limited so it's best to synergise it with our professional action. For me, I like Li Suyin and Bao Qingling, both characters who we haven't met in a while so I'm obligating myself to choose it for the sake fo Diao relation. As for the last one, as much as I want to meet with our future potential fellow retainers and our Moon senior, I want my boi Xuan Shi to have friends and care too much to not pick him so that's getting in there.
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