Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
[X] Suggest alternating road outposts along the unclaimed length. But allow basing for patrols at each other's outposts, for rest and recuperation. (Minimal contact, no favorability cost, due to successes thus far.)
 
Genuinely surprised the 'more cultural sharing' vote lost. That's Ling Qi's whole thing. Got more points to spend later at least.
 
Genuinely surprised the 'more cultural sharing' vote lost. That's Ling Qi's whole thing. Got more points to spend later at least.
The points are the result of hard work, and people are reluctant to spend them easily. My concern (other than the safety of the soldiers), is the "culture" negotiations being expensive, but not good value. Extra security and cultural understanding for 1.5 points was a steal. But I doubt the next round of negotiations will be.
 
The points are the result of hard work, and people are reluctant to spend them easily. My concern (other than the safety of the soldiers), is the "culture" negotiations being expensive, but not good value. Extra security and cultural understanding for 1.5 points was a steal. But I doubt the next round of negotiations will be.

Let's hope that the closeness of the vote makes Ling Qi put an emphasis in the "basing for patrols" of the alternating option.
And also make it clear that they bases will be shared eventually as long as relations keep improving.

After all, it's much harder to remodel the bases to accomodate both groups than to directly build them for that purpose.
 
The points are the result of hard work, and people are reluctant to spend them easily. My concern (other than the safety of the soldiers), is the "culture" negotiations being expensive, but not good value. Extra security and cultural understanding for 1.5 points was a steal. But I doubt the next round of negotiations will be.
I should note it's a soldiers-only cultural sharing. The calculation we 'alternating base' voters have, is that we'll be able to achieve a broader and deeper cultural sharing impact in the next section ahead. And thus, we save our points for that.
 
Genuinely surprised the 'more cultural sharing' vote lost. That's Ling Qi's whole thing. Got more points to spend later at least.
I can't speak for everyone, but I genuinely believe that jumping straight into shared barracks will result in enough incidents and tension to hurt our pro-interaction stance in the long run, and I do not believe the marginal cost in security is large enough to justify the short-term and long-term costs in influence. I'd much rather give everyone more time to get used to each other, and for a few ambushed and wounded patrols to take shelter under the roofs of these mysterious yet stalwart foreigners, before pushing for additional security integration.

And, more speculatively... y'know how we currently have the Heron General's Patience, and it's both really cool and absolutely clutch for these negotiations? We got that partly through good rolls, but partly through not constantly pushing for the maximum integration option every time in our talks with her. We took relatively progressive but still measured stances in our talks with her, and have lastingly won respect and good will for our competence and prudence even if she doesn't and will never agree with our methods. This vote feels like that to me, where Jaromila's and our success have allowed us to push for more, and choosing to only push for some more rather than for as much as possible will make conservative factions like the Theocracy see us as someone they might disagree with but can still work with in the long run. I expect us to make enough of a nuisance of ourselves in back half of the Summit as is, so demonstrating a capacity for restraint where we can seems to me like it'll pay dividends.
 
I still believe that the shared option was better, but i guess the benefits were too obtuse.

Will soldiers get hurt more or even die at some point because we didn't choose the safer option? Who knows, we are talking about raids that will happen over the course of a century. We won't have a comparative graph of injuries and casualities.

The option also states "further mingling and cultural contact", but it's more unsupervised contact. Would it have been benefitial, closing the distance between both sides's soldiers, or would it have causes incidents as the aggresion in the construction site? Who knows.

We'll just have to get the best use out of that PT point.
I'm going to be pretty salty if we actually gain PT favor after the cultural section, though.
 
I fundamentally disagree with the idea that we need to spend every favorability point during the summit.

My read is that the favorability indicates how much a faction would like it if the current version of the treaty ended up happening.

Having a faction at 0 means they dont care. They wont put any active effort into making it work, beyond the stuff they explicitly agreed to. But they also wont put any effort into torpedoing it

A faction that ends in the positive is imo much more likely to put in active effort to make this stuff work out in reality

A faction ending negative will put effort into making the project fail.

So for example, a negative White plume score might might make them a lot less cooperative to any shared military outpost ideas.

A negative theocracy score might mean their crows are suddenly intentionally difficult to work with during that shared law enforcement project.

Therefore we ideally have every faction at least slightly positive by the end of the summit and ES nobility and White Sky should be really big to ensure that we have enough buy-in that everyone wants to see this project succeed.
 
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[X] Suggest in the interest of authority and further warding against tribal violence that outposts in the unclaimed section be fully shared structures, staffed by personnel from both nations. (-1 WP favorability, -1 PT Favorability. Improved road defenses and further mingling and cultural contact. Better response time to incursions against the road.)
 
I fundamentally disagree with the idea that we need to spend every favorability point during the summit.

My read is that the favorability indicates how much a faction would like it if the current version of the treaty ended up happening.

Having a faction at 0 means they dont care. They wont put any active effort into making it work, beyond the stuff they explicitly agreed to. But they also wont put any effort into torpedoing it

A faction that ends in the positive is imo much more likely to put in active effort to make this stuff work out in reality

A faction ending negative will put effort into making the project fail.

So for example, a negative White plume score might might make them a lot less cooperative to any shared military outpost ideas.

A negative theocracy score might mean their crows are suddenly intentionally difficult to work with during that shared law enforcement project.

Therefore we ideally have every faction at least slightly positive by the end of the summit and ES nobility and White Sky should be really big to ensure that we have enough buy-in that everyone wants to see this project succeed.

Nobody ever said that we have to spend all the favor during the Summit?
Everyone agrees that the higher the favor for the different factions at the end of the Summit, the better, as that means they are more satisfied with the result and more willing to continue pursuing this diplomatic relations.
But there are objectives that are worth spending some of those favor over. Improving soldiers's safety and having more secure roads were very much some of them, imo.

[X] Suggest in the interest of authority and further warding against tribal violence that outposts in the unclaimed section be fully shared structures, staffed by personnel from both nations. (-1 WP favorability, -1 PT Favorability. Improved road defenses and further mingling and cultural contact. Better response time to incursions against the road.)

A bit too late mate. The vote is already over and that option lost by a single vote.
 
...now I'm feeling bad about having voted at all when I'm feeling conflicted. I wasn't expecting this to be one of the rare occasions where a single vote actually matters.
 
The points are the result of hard work, and people are reluctant to spend them easily. My concern (other than the safety of the soldiers), is the "culture" negotiations being expensive, but not good value. Extra security and cultural understanding for 1.5 points was a steal. But I doubt the next round of negotiations will be.
There's a backdrop of it being an open question of whether we'd have "enough" juice in the tank to nail core, mandatory culture issues satisfactorily.

Value's also sorta subjective, because there's positive and negative values, and sometimes diverting the latter is a lot more urgent than the former. It's possible for the upcoming negotiations to be both fantastically inefficient point-wise in terms of the gains, well, gained... and more important. In that case, spending more for less isn't just acceptable, it can by necessary to achieve success.

Politics is a jerk.
 
What if during the culture vote we got people to accept the idea of LQ training spirit seekers from the old tribes to "patrol" the newly annexed territories with defensive networks of spirit allies instead of invading the mountains with WP and peekaboo soldiers, it sounds like a stretch but the cloud tribes in the region would probably find it less objectionable if we could pull it off
 
What if during the Culture section, one of the big points of conflict is the MoI don't want big naked statues accessible to the public in the embassy town, but the Polar Theocracy is fiercely protective of their religious nude MILF dom statues?

What a conundrum that would be. More importantly: how miserable would it make Ling Qi.
 
Yes I figured that out once the initial panic moment passed. Just a general error thankfully

I quarantined my desktop machine from the network, did a full antivirus scan of the machine, reviewed the system event logs and monitored my network traffic for anomalies with a sniffing tool before I realized it was just a config problem on discord's end that everyone was having :facepalm:

Also discord claims the issue has been fixed now and you should restart your desktop app if you want to log in
 
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Turn 19: Arc 6-3
No, this was not the point to press on. They had succeeded wildly here this week, best to retain the goodwill for the penultimate week of negotiation. The unclaimed stretch of road was itself far, far from an immediate concern and would not be heavily used for some time even after it was built. And… there was potential for conflict there too, cultural conflict. The White Sky's troops were all women, and Imperial troops were majority male, putting them in the same place was probably asking for… indiscretions and the conflict that came with that.

"I propose that we place alternating road forts along the length, spaced out but capable of calling for aid from their neighbors. Such forts should have construction allowing each other's patrols to base and recover," Ling Qi said, when a moment to speak came.

"I agree," Xia Lin said, speaking up. "It would be best to avoid entanglements and confusion around command. Let us allow guest right to inform our action so far from any high authority."

"That does leave the matter of the embassy," Cao Chun said. "I assume the White Sky will maintain an overall commander of forces, as we will."

"I believe the young lady is correct," Jaromila said. "It may be somewhat inefficient but in emergency situations, command should remain internal?"

"Mixed patrol units require adjudication," Xia Ren said.

"Could that be left to the two force commanders to discuss and decide?" Ling Qi asked cautiously. "Overmanaging may reduce effectiveness."

Xia Ren was silent for a long beat, but eventually nodded. "Acceptable."

"I support devolving some authority to local command. IAnother option would be some degree of subordination of military command to the panel of magistrates administering the site as well," Dzintara said.

Ling Qi took a step back as courtiers and representatives began to speak more. Renxiang began to speak as well. Technical details, arguing the exact minutiae of authority and jurisdiction, the exact dimensions of the embassy space… Those things were not hers to argue Rnexiang was better at it. Getting them here, to where her liege's talents could be put to best use, that was her task.

She shared a look with Gan Guangli, and returned his nod. This was all looking remarkably well. More than simple agreement, Ling Qi thought she was truly beginning to see investment here. People were honestly thinking of what this was all going to look like, what it would be like.

They were seeking advantage for themselves of course, but that meant they seriously saw this as something which could grant advantage.

They were really doing this, this impossible thing.

***​
"To success!" Gan Guangli boomed, raising his cup.

"To success," Ling Qi said, smiling wryly, holding up her own.

"It is early, for celebration, yet… for your efforts, I will allow it," Cai Renxiang said. At the table where they sat, she alone did not yet have her drink, because naturally their liege had insisted on hand brewing her own tea. The pot was bubbling away, but not yet ready.

"We aren't completely done," Ling Qi agreed. "...I'll need Hanyi for this next part, she had better behave."

"I am certain your junior understands the gravity… or at least your investment in it!" Gan Guangli said brightly.

"...The latter maybe," Ling Qi said wryly. She took a sip from her cup. It was something new, a bottle which Bai Meizhen had given her. It burned all the way down like cold fire, threatening to freeze her blood and organs. It had more kick than rimefruit extract, more like spiced wine. She'd have to ask Meizhen for the name.

"I am certain it will be fine. Sir Xuan will be advising for this next section too, no?"

"Yes, though it's as much for legitimacy to the Ministry and the nobles," Ling Qi replied. "No slight to his knowledge of course, he's given me some idea for what can work."

"If we succeed on the informational and cultural exchanges, we will be well placed to negotiate the foreign quarter notion properly… both as an expansion to the embassy and for future settlements in the Wall," Cai Renxiang said quietly, steam hissed, and she carefully poured her tea, dark, nearly black liquid arcing delicately into her cup.

And that was the crux, after everything else being able to convince all parties that a permanent mixed settlement, even a segregated one, here at the embassy was desirable. They were part way there, with the staff of the magistrates. Getting shared use of the observatory was another piece of that puzzle.

Humans came with webs of need and connection, if they could just set the foundations to make it possible, then they would build this place themselves, never needing to be pushed into place like go pieces.

Ling Qi thought that this might be just a little taste of what Xin's plots were like. She was right to say that life was a game without any clear players. That destiny only existed in hindsight. Choice and Mystery, and the secret that those who thought themselves masterminds and seers hid even from themselves. You could not control everything, could not plan for every factor.

Past a certain point the future was unknowable, much like the black depths of lake Hei. Ling Qi considered her drink, the venomous icy wine within hissing and bubbling faintly, slowly freezing through the lining of the cup.

The Starless Shroud was not one she could wear, in the long term, she thought. There were pieces of it, pieces she could use. The contemplation of Mystery, in the unseen depths. The notion of supreme wholeness, the ability to take any harm but remain herself and whole. But… she was not certain she had much more to gain from the art itself, beyond its value as a building block for something of her own.

Well, she did have an idea, an idea going all the way back, to the Thousand Ring Fortress and its source. Of a mystery she had left in the Dream. She remembered seeing the shadow of a reptilian behemoth in the dream and an ever regenerating corpse. Of her little brother and what was likely his 'real' mother.

…No, she thought frowning deeply, she didn't like the sound of that.

"Is the Bai wine so sour?" Gan Guangli asked, and she startled, in her seat, the drink in her cup sloshing..

"Oh no, it's more of a uh… fizzy taste,," Ling Qi said, taking another long drink. Best to drain it before it shattered the cup. She made a note to use a sturdier one next time. Maybe a metal lining?

"Please do not refer to a high quality Bai wine as 'fizzy' in good company, Ling Qi," Cai Renxiang sighed.

"Hey, I'm not that bad, I'm just relaxed with you," Ling Qi said. And a little tipsy now maybe, she shouldn't have drunk that so quickly. She furrowed her brow and circulated her qi, kicking her toxin processing organs into quicker and more efficient function.

…What are we going to do, after the summit, anyway?" Ling Qi wondered. She'd been focused on this for so long, she might have lost track.

"Spend time resolving some of the many issues about our land I suppose," Gan Guangli wondered. It would be good to solve at least one of the troubles."

"It may be possible. But, the campaign below the earth is likely to begin soon barring any sudden move from the Twelve Star Confederation. The ith-ia simply represent too alien a threat and the province demands that they be brought to heel," Cai Renxiang said. "Expect it to begin within the year."

"How will we even advance a proper campaign?" Ling Qi wondered about the caves and the corruption. "What, is your Mother going to burn a borehole big enough for a division and its supply lines down into the earth?"

She chuckled, as did Gan Guangli. Cai Renxiang did not.

Their smiles faded. Ling Qi remembered the echo of Ji Rong's memory, of the shattered stump of a mountain and a kilometers wide bleeding pit in the earth.

"...Really? The spiritual disruption alone…" Gan Guangli said, looking mildly horrified.

"Hence why she intends to use the site of Elder Zhou's death, I think. It will be symbolically pleasing and the area is already devastated. It is also far enough into the mountains to avoid too much harm. I believe that is the secondary reason there are so many geomancers in the south now," Cai Renxiang said. "I would expect operations to begin within the year."

"Well I suppose we'll have to use our time well," Ling Qi said. "...and maybe it will be good to not be the ones in command of everything for a bit."

"We will see how long that attitude lasts," Cai Renxiang said, shaking her head. She took a deep drink from her tea and set the cup down with a clack, reaching up to massage her own temples.

"It is tomorrow's challenge, why not keep our minds on todays. Especially with our successes!" Gan Guangli exclaimed. "It does not do to never stop and contemplate your victories, else you will no longer see them."

"I agree. The horizon should remain in your mind but there's nothing wrong with celebrating the end of a day's journey," Ling Qi said. "Hm, do we start inviting Xia Lin and Meng Dan to these things soon, do you think?"

"When the summit concludes I intend to apply for Xia Lin's permanent assignment," Cai Renxiang replied. "Meng Dan… much depends on the outcome of your spycraft."

Ling Qi's cheer faded. "Shu Yue does not believe Meng Deming is the ultimate culprit but… what will happen if it is found to be someone among the Meng, an Elder even?"

Gan Guangli's expression grew troubled. "...It depends on too many details."

Her liege shook her head, expression pinched. "I cannot believe the clan as a whole would approve of this. The Meng's very conservatism precludes it."

"Whether they did or not may not matter, if the issue becomes loud enough," Gan Guangli said. "Using tools of such provenance…"

"...Best is that the matter be blamed on an individual, lost in studying the leftover weapons on the enemy. Foolish, a black mark on the clan, but… will have minimal collateral, if all goes well," Cai Renxiang said. "But… it cannot be a lie either."

Because lies could not exist under Cai Shenhua's direct vision, and it would certainly fall on this when all was said and done.

"A rogue, an awakened elder gone mad and unable to cope with the world of the present… perhaps even with a touch of soul rot," Gan Guangli offered. "It has happened on occasion, no?"

"Rarely," Cai Renxiang. "Let us hope it is something that can be placed on only a few shoulders. Or… all the stability of a secure southern border may be for naught."

And wasn't that a sour thought, Ling Qi wanted to sigh. Even if they succeeded perfectly, if the Meng clan as a whole was implicated… She thought of Meng Dan, and her stomach turned. No, the Meng were too old and established and they might be isolationist but not to such a virulent self destructive level. No, if anything… someone this extreme… they would want to drag everyone down with them, it would be a way of succeeding even in failure.

Yes, that was a thought she saw occurring, from her glimpses into the mind of Still Waters Deeping. If so… then she just had to utterly unravel them, together with Shu Yue, Cao Chun and the others.

She refused any other outcome.

AN: Alright end of section, moving into the next week. Starless Night's final project will be getting modified and connected to a nice dreamquest for post summit as implied here, details to be revealed there. So here are the options for cultivation in the Culture Dialogue and knowledge sharing section.

[ ] Boundaries Untrodden

[ ] Winter's Crown
 
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Just two options this time? Interesting.

Edit: Also, are we getting XP for our decisions for this section?
 
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Some reminders about what these projects mean:
Laughing Flight of the Wind Thief:
Boundaries Untrodden: To slip between, through and around, through the tiniest keyhole or the open window. Round the mountains or through even the veil of death. So walks the thief, who must bypass boundaries in the same way that a bird must fly. But to step across or through, one must understand that which they will violate. Alters and advances the Breeze in the Vault technique. +1 XP to Want and Mystery. Unlocks a new project.
Final Frost's Serenade:
Winter's Crown:
What ends and what does not. You have grappled with power and what it means to hold it, what it means for it to be held over you. What does it mean to choose to end, what does it mean to stay your hand. Winter cares not, feels not, but though you wield it, you both care and feel. You're ice is both beauty and horror, deathly cold and the promise of a new day beyond it. But without understanding power and why you wield it, there can only be brittleness and self deception. Seek the Want, the black lightless darkness from which all else emanates, and understand yourself. Advances Winter's Heart by 1. +1 XP to Want and Power. +30 Physical Cultivation XP. Unlocks 1 project. (0/5)
 
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I do wish we took boundaries last time but I think winter's crown is probably better here. It's the tie to our lineage trait after all, and that will be very prominent in the culture section with Hanyi who shares it.

[X] Winter's Crown
 
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