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.
Okay, arguing about the vote aside since basically all the arguments are repeats now.
Some examination of the update proper.
And Shenyi was instructed to lay a trail blaming someone for events, while also being bait.
Its some good leverage, since Shenyi is on the hook for a hell of a lot if he gets caught.
Shenyi seems to have expected to be able to evacuate, since once he felt he was made, he fled here, probably expecting to use the formation to bug out.
Now, we remember from the previous update that this room is integrated into the city's formations, and the transport formation is tainted black.
Simply put, this room is built by the city's founder.
Perhaps with the original purpose of a panic room and last ditch escape route for dependents. Now, how does Renshu find it?
He doesn't. He doesn't have the connections.
The Lith must have known about it, which explains much about what it was used for.
The underground trade.
Lith surface agents are no more than third realm, and this shielded room is an ideal place to make trade arrangements, while a sewer outlet wouldn't bother impurity cultivators.
We can presume the formation has been hijacked and modified, since its integrated with the city's formations, a suitable formation master can use it to propagate signals through the city formations.
Or chain it to another formation, though I don't think a hackjob would last long.
-Gift - As we suspected, the ruptured lung meridian is a Lith symbiote, which he likely believed to be beneficial. Possibly a patch for a preexisting problem? The self destruct function was likely part of the parcel, given that Lith cultivators have shortened lifespans, their communal ideals would make such a thing a feature rather than a flaw.
-The Yans, as we learned last update, hails from the peaks, and have that predictable dismissal of foreign diplomacy.
-Destabilization leverages on the Diao being on the hook. A viscount's seat of power being smashed would provoke intense blameslinging, because someone's going to eat a lot of shit regardless. Even if it was stopped, if the Viscount/Count isn't seen to have taken appropriate measures, there'd be a big shitnado.
--Bonus points, based on how Qi acted back when Renshu framed her, a reasonable expectation would be that she'd privately investigate and follow the trail to the source. If so, it'd set her up for responsibility for killing a city in Diao lands, and pitting Renxiang against the Diao would be easy.
-Hooking it to the a cult of the Twilight King means the ES is going to be open to serious MoI investigation, since its no longer State but Federal. Worse, without direct evidence, the Shoggoths aren't really distinguishable from other kinds of undead abominations, especially given what it'd take to stop them. Given that the symbiote would be the core of what comes out, it would look like he tried an undeath ritual.
All told, whoever planned this out seems to have a keen insight into Imperial strata politics, but seem to be working with very narrow understandings of ES politics. So probably Yan Renshu's detailings on the plan, the Lith's comprehension should end at the point of "destroyed a city".
-She watched an implantation ritual from start to end. Without that, she wouldn't even have had any option other than killing Shenyi to try to stop it. And killing him would just activate it anyway.
-She had Opened Vault. There are a number of other methods, but of the Green options, most of them would destroy and activate the Symbiote regardless. You'd have needed a Medicine, Fleshcrafting or some kind of realm defying means that wasn't lethal...like Stealing.
-The symbiote would have died after removal from the host due to the environment, activating it. It had to be dealt with in a way that didn't kill it. A Green realm escape talisman wouldn't get it out of range. Liminal stuff is Cyan stuff(and Renshu wouldn't know about it yet before he went rogue). A Purification technique could work, but it'd have a very tiny window to work in.
It would be a foolproof plan normally against anyone within Green Realm other than a seriously Purification oriented cultivator. And even a Cyan would have trouble without a well aligned Way.
Because the secret room had to be built by someone tied into the official powers.
And it'd be a good place to season intrigue and investigation focused cultivators before they go into more hardcore places.
But the situation enabled institutional decay, so there wasn't enough oversight or the inmates had taken over the asylum.
An impossible theft, after a contest of wits.
As for the 'masterpiece', sounds like his worm pit method evolved to include lith techniques. Suyin remains his dark mirror it seems.
Welcome, MoL, to the Ling Qi Adventure.
Enjoy the ride!
Pretty big punch needed.
He had every reason to believe she could backtrace it.
Rather than shelve formations for a year.
-Seeds in the sewers. Biological weapons, dumb. Likely can be triggered by symbiote, Lith agents or proximity/disturbance trigger.
-Lith agents needed guidance, and his travels topside acted as a homing beacon for them, as well as smuggling them maps from the Ministry to identify targets. They'd act once they receive word that the mission is busted, but that requires that Renshu value the mission over his own fear. Otherwise they'd remain armed, but would likely not deploy for a day yet, waiting for a signal that hadn't come. Will go aggro once any intruder finds them.
-Cisterns had another biological weapon that needed regular tending. Delayed dead man switch I bet. Once he stopped tending them they'd go off and likely set off the sewer seeds, which makes sense as a secondary trigger since the sewers are inherently downstream of the cisterns.
This is a massive op. And it reminds me of the disease spirits attack.
Blown apart by Renshu's inability to let a grudge go.
The Lith are NOT going to be happy about this.
Some examination of the update proper.
Renshu is holding Shenyi hostage with something.
And Shenyi was instructed to lay a trail blaming someone for events, while also being bait.
Its some good leverage, since Shenyi is on the hook for a hell of a lot if he gets caught.
Shenyi seems to have expected to be able to evacuate, since once he felt he was made, he fled here, probably expecting to use the formation to bug out.
Now, we remember from the previous update that this room is integrated into the city's formations, and the transport formation is tainted black.
Simply put, this room is built by the city's founder.
Perhaps with the original purpose of a panic room and last ditch escape route for dependents. Now, how does Renshu find it?
He doesn't. He doesn't have the connections.
The Lith must have known about it, which explains much about what it was used for.
The underground trade.
Lith surface agents are no more than third realm, and this shielded room is an ideal place to make trade arrangements, while a sewer outlet wouldn't bother impurity cultivators.
We can presume the formation has been hijacked and modified, since its integrated with the city's formations, a suitable formation master can use it to propagate signals through the city formations.
Or chain it to another formation, though I don't think a hackjob would last long.
Quite a lot packed into very few words here, since Renshu felt the need to monologue to the guy he's betraying:
-Gift - As we suspected, the ruptured lung meridian is a Lith symbiote, which he likely believed to be beneficial. Possibly a patch for a preexisting problem? The self destruct function was likely part of the parcel, given that Lith cultivators have shortened lifespans, their communal ideals would make such a thing a feature rather than a flaw.
-The Yans, as we learned last update, hails from the peaks, and have that predictable dismissal of foreign diplomacy.
-Destabilization leverages on the Diao being on the hook. A viscount's seat of power being smashed would provoke intense blameslinging, because someone's going to eat a lot of shit regardless. Even if it was stopped, if the Viscount/Count isn't seen to have taken appropriate measures, there'd be a big shitnado.
--Bonus points, based on how Qi acted back when Renshu framed her, a reasonable expectation would be that she'd privately investigate and follow the trail to the source. If so, it'd set her up for responsibility for killing a city in Diao lands, and pitting Renxiang against the Diao would be easy.
-Hooking it to the a cult of the Twilight King means the ES is going to be open to serious MoI investigation, since its no longer State but Federal. Worse, without direct evidence, the Shoggoths aren't really distinguishable from other kinds of undead abominations, especially given what it'd take to stop them. Given that the symbiote would be the core of what comes out, it would look like he tried an undeath ritual.
All told, whoever planned this out seems to have a keen insight into Imperial strata politics, but seem to be working with very narrow understandings of ES politics. So probably Yan Renshu's detailings on the plan, the Lith's comprehension should end at the point of "destroyed a city".
This portion sounds more like a Finger operation, they certainly have the stealth for it, and you wouldn't need formations, his presence leaking Impure qi is all the signal they need to arm the caches.
Hey, Renshu, shouldn't be surprised, this was hardly the first time Ling Qi was Already There in your base, nevermind expressedly seeking to lure her there and THEN being surprised that she's there.
This meanwhile is a combination of several things she's been learning applying simultaneously:
-She watched an implantation ritual from start to end. Without that, she wouldn't even have had any option other than killing Shenyi to try to stop it. And killing him would just activate it anyway.
-She had Opened Vault. There are a number of other methods, but of the Green options, most of them would destroy and activate the Symbiote regardless. You'd have needed a Medicine, Fleshcrafting or some kind of realm defying means that wasn't lethal...like Stealing.
-The symbiote would have died after removal from the host due to the environment, activating it. It had to be dealt with in a way that didn't kill it. A Green realm escape talisman wouldn't get it out of range. Liminal stuff is Cyan stuff(and Renshu wouldn't know about it yet before he went rogue). A Purification technique could work, but it'd have a very tiny window to work in.
It would be a foolproof plan normally against anyone within Green Realm other than a seriously Purification oriented cultivator. And even a Cyan would have trouble without a well aligned Way.
Wonder if its a deliberate setup, a city setup to be a large scale game of cops and robbers.
Because the secret room had to be built by someone tied into the official powers.
And it'd be a good place to season intrigue and investigation focused cultivators before they go into more hardcore places.
But the situation enabled institutional decay, so there wasn't enough oversight or the inmates had taken over the asylum.
Its a fitting sacrifice.
An impossible theft, after a contest of wits.
I mean...the weak point was the guy using it. Just follow him in lol.
As for the 'masterpiece', sounds like his worm pit method evolved to include lith techniques. Suyin remains his dark mirror it seems.
Without the details that would be alarming and confusing as hell.
Welcome, MoL, to the Ling Qi Adventure.
Enjoy the ride!
We did make a Fourth Realm work for it. And we stalled Su Ling's mom for like 2 exchanges.
Pretty big punch needed.
...reminder that as far as Renshu knows, Ling Qi hadn't stopped improving in Formations since she walked through his base and dismantled all but his best formations.
He had every reason to believe she could backtrace it.
Rather than shelve formations for a year.
So this is a multivector attack:
-Seeds in the sewers. Biological weapons, dumb. Likely can be triggered by symbiote, Lith agents or proximity/disturbance trigger.
-Lith agents needed guidance, and his travels topside acted as a homing beacon for them, as well as smuggling them maps from the Ministry to identify targets. They'd act once they receive word that the mission is busted, but that requires that Renshu value the mission over his own fear. Otherwise they'd remain armed, but would likely not deploy for a day yet, waiting for a signal that hadn't come. Will go aggro once any intruder finds them.
-Cisterns had another biological weapon that needed regular tending. Delayed dead man switch I bet. Once he stopped tending them they'd go off and likely set off the sewer seeds, which makes sense as a secondary trigger since the sewers are inherently downstream of the cisterns.
This is a massive op. And it reminds me of the disease spirits attack.
Blown apart by Renshu's inability to let a grudge go.
The Lith are NOT going to be happy about this.
- Location
- Canada
[X] Withdraw, seek cooperation with the Ministry and the ruling family, go down as a group.
[X] Withdraw, seek cooperation with the Ministry and the ruling family, go down as a group.
The only thing I'm worried about with asking others for help is the bit about how inspectors and criminals don't think there is anything to worry about. Shows a complenancy that could be a problem, but hopefully the threat of death gets people moving and caring.
The only thing I'm worried about with asking others for help is the bit about how inspectors and criminals don't think there is anything to worry about. Shows a complenancy that could be a problem, but hopefully the threat of death gets people moving and caring.
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- Location
- United Kingdom
I'm pretty sure calling it a gift was him being facetious?
I agree with you that his masterpiece likely involves interfacing with Ith'ia techniques, which is legitimately impressive in it's own right. Though I'm certainly not going to praise him for it.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Withdraw, seek cooperation with the Ministry and the ruling family, go down as a group.
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
Really cool analysis, the only issue I had with it was the assertation that this smugglers rooms was built by the city founder. Just because something is integrated with the city's formation does not mean it was there from the start. While I do think that someone with very close access and understanding of the formations could have built the room, I don't think the room is as old as the city.
LQ is the linchpin for a potential White Sky and Imperial alliance. It makes sense for us to be a target for assassination.
However introducing trying to assassinate Miss Chaos into a complicated bomb plot is biting off more than you can chew. There are just so many moving parts that could go wrong.
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
[X] Withdraw, seek cooperation with the Ministry and the ruling family, go down as a group.
DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
[X] Withdraw, seek cooperation with the Ministry and the ruling family, go down as a group.
minimap_op
plsnerf
- Location
- Lower Lefthand Corner
[X] Withdraw, seek cooperation with the Ministry and the ruling family, go down as a group.
WhoTheHeckity
But no one ever asks HowTheHeckity
- Location
- Murica 🦅
The arguments for returning to the ministry (which I won't quote all of because it's a long conversation) are really good but I think it was these counter-arguments (which I also won't quote all of) that convinced me to switch. If only out of spite.
[X] Withdraw, seek cooperation with the Ministry and the ruling family, go down as a group.
[X] Withdraw, seek cooperation with the Ministry and the ruling family, go down as a group.
The reason for my conclusion was:
-Up till Renshu told him that he was going to die as the final part of the plan, he was wheedling and supplicative.
-Implanting a symbiote is not a casual operation, we've seen the ceremony for doing it properly.
As a result, I believe he had a legitimate cultivation botch or bottleneck of some form, and was desperate enough to accept when Renshu showed up with a secret method to bypass his difficulties.
Based on what we've seen of the design, its likely a symbiote version of Suyin's meridian cleanser - except instead of slowly expelling impurities through the skin surface, the symbiote absorbs impurities directly through his meridians, storing the impurities within itself.
This means that initially he's going to do amazing, because he has a meridian cleanser plugged into his meridians. He's going to be cultivating like he's in a White Room 24/7 at the low cost of his Lung meridian being nonfunctional and the physical difficulty of breathing when you have a bug mounted around your lung cavity.
...until the symbiote is FULL, and now its sucking up impurities from across his body, and spewing concentrated Impurity out via his lungs with every qi cycle. As we know, Impurity is corrosive to imperial cultivation, which fucks up his lungs, every breath would hurt like unfiltered underground air.
He thinks its just a product defect, so he's begging Renshu to fix the issue, not realizing that this is the intended outcome, from the outset Renshu intended to sacrifice him.
So, how does it work?
For one, the Shoggoth Seeds should only work at all in impurity rich environments. For two, the reaction requires death to catalyze.
So this is Renshu's masterpiece.
1) Gather Impurities, and function as a cultivation aid. If you make the impurity storage removable its even safe.
2) Once charged, Impurity signaling. He's breathing out Impurity laden air, which is easily detected on the surface if you look. This alerts the Ith'ia teams that he's ready.
3) Activation would sacrifice his life(as we know, there is real power in sacrifice, and Renshu sacrificing a blood relative is pretty strong) and disperse the Impurity payload through the air propagating through the city using the city's own defensive formations, creating an environment which is dangerous for Imperial cultivators to function in, and extends the lifespan of Ith'ia creations.
4) Killing him would do the same, unless you destroyed the symbiote before he dies. Which nobody knows to do except Ling Qi and Jiao(from the spyders)
5) Destroying the symbiote without killing him would disperse the impurities, also creating the impurity enriched environment, if less primed.
I'd hazard a guess that the cisterns contain similar setups, accumulating impurity over time from the environment to go off as a backup plan(if he gets arrested, the cisterns will trigger when they wilt), or to chain-reaction off his trigger since one guy isn't going to produce enough to flood a city within a few months.
Its either the city founder or someone in their confidence. An undetectable room with a transport formation at the very center of the city would make sense if it used to be an old panic room.
But constructing one from scratch would be rather noticable.
I suspect she's too low priority to hit to actually get the resources allocated to take her out specifically. He took a plan that would have gone off unopposed and compromised its secrecy to try to work her in.
Its just sloppy.
Petty criminals like in this town would want to avoid the fuck out of things like interfering with state mail and high treason.
They'd help even.
- Pronouns
- He
[X] Withdraw, seek cooperation with the Ministry and the ruling family, go down as a group.