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

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Another reason I prefer the ambush is that it could very well make the battle go faster with less danger and less collateral damage. It's a roll of the proverbial dice, relies on factors we can't predict and on Li Suyin/the Piper creating a "moment" for us, but when you consider that our battlefield defence art that we'd normally use to limit allied damage is a yin art and off-limits for this clash? It's the best avenue open to us to limit damage taken- leaning on Li Suyin's preserved reserves in order to strike a decisive blow.

Taking out the liminal-controller speedster should also simplify our final advance on, and sealing of, the breach. I don't like the idea of leaving an enemy in play that is potentially capable of retreating into impurity territory on the other side of the breach and "recruiting" aid to harass us while we're actually closing the hole. Heck, we're already seeing that behaviour in its current assault. And we have no guarantee that all of its reserves are limited to this side of the breach.

Neutralizing an enemy commander is almost always a sound priority. I don't think the trade-offs we need to treat it like one substantially threaten our interests.
 
[X] Suyin has grown capable, all on her own. Between her and Piper they can hold this place. The liminal lies open. If you were to conceal yourself there, you might strike the creatures true vulnerabilities when a moment presents itself.
 
[X] Suyin has grown capable, all on her own. Between her and Piper they can hold this place. The liminal lies open. If you were to conceal yourself there, you might strike the creatures true vulnerabilities when a moment presents itself.
 
[X] Suyin has grown capable, all on her own. Between her and Piper they can hold this place. The liminal lies open. If you were to conceal yourself there, you might strike the creatures true vulnerabilities when a moment presents itself.
 
AbeoLogos said:
Another reason I prefer the ambush is that it could very well make the battle go faster with less danger and less collateral damage. It's a roll of the proverbial dice, relies on factors we can't predict and on Li Suyin/the Piper creating a "moment" for us, but when you consider that our battlefield defence art that we'd normally use to limit allied damage is a yin art and off-limits for this clash? It's the best avenue open to us to limit damage taken- leaning on Li Suyin's preserved reserves in order to strike a decisive blow.
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Ling Qi's BKSD construct horde piling out of the liminal to drop on the controller like a ton of bricks.
 
I don't like the sneak attack option in large part because it has no appropriate verb. Sneak attack with what? Sure, Abeo's post gestures at "maybe the new Beast Kings tech will be exactly what's needed," but the fact is that the tech is a machine of many interlocking parts. Her realization during this very trip was related to that, and that she was viewing it as separate instruments rather than a symphony. Any new tech is going to be along those same lines, or else require rewriting earlier sections. "Excuse me, mysterious parasite of the darkness, but I need to assemble my musical Rube Goldberg device" is not a good plan for a sneak attack.

Not to mention that when she's lying in wait, she's losing the set-up time Beast Kings wants. She can start layering immediately if she's preparing a defense, so she can play to the strength of the art. She'll be using it as it's intended to be used, and as she realized it should be used in this arc, rather than trying to fit this square peg into a round hole.

And it's pretty unlikely that the most effective position for the sneak attack is going to be directly behind the others, in relative safety. If she ends up out of position, what's the escape route? Tank it directly on the face without dodging (Wind Thief, Yin) or defensive arts (Myriad, Yin)? Sable Grace is explicitly pulling from the same ground as Wind Thief, so how safe do you think that really is when she can't use her Yin arts safely?

And this is a parasite. It is explicitly something that preys on things stronger than itself, which will generally have the senses and defenses to match. Ling Qi is stealthy, but this is also a stealthy hunter, and one that will die in a direct confrontation. There is every reason to think that when it isn't being blindsided for the very first time, it's better at stealth and detection than her. It's kind of the job description, while "stealth" is no longer Ling Qi's. That first blindside has already been expended; the enemy knows now. The situation is different.

I'm sorry, but the sneak attack is just a really bad plan.
 
That's a really bad misunderstanding of what Ling Qi was getting at when she noted the nature of a parasite's Way. Its strengths are focused specifically on the thing it has made its host. Ling Qi does not qualify. Further, it's a specialization in being inside of another being; when it's outside of one is when it's at its overall weakest.

The whole plan of the ambush revolves around striking at it directly during a moment where it's exposed.

As for BKSD, nothing Ling Qi has been saying about it points at the art taking a long time to setup. If anything, it's the opposite, with her emphasizing the new approach as flexible, adapting it to the stage at hand and using the "instruments" more freeform and less hidebound to the disparate chapters of the tale told. Ling Qi having to spend effort after effort layering the whole art's techs together was already the status quo; that's the kind of unwieldiness I would expect her to be discarding with her new perspective on the art, and a quick deployment ambush scenario is a solid
circumstance to demonstrate it.

Though, and there's no conflict between the two, I'm moreso expecting her using the art's variety of tools to exploit and widen gaps to further exploit.

Edit: it'd also worth noting that Ling Qi's style of perception is particularly good at spotting a parasite in, or partially in, its host even just using passive perception. It's based around identity which naturally differs between host and parasite. It's why she was able to instantly identify that the merman's ego was dead and gone.

Spotting a higher core or locus of manipulation should be completely doable, with Ling Qi keeping an eye out for it specifically.
 
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[X] Hold here, a hard wall together with Suyin and Piper, break the parasites offensive thrust, and strike back when it is reeling from the deflection.

Backstab!
 
[X] Hold here, a hard wall together with Suyin and Piper, break the parasites offensive thrust, and strike back when it is reeling from the deflection.
 
Adhoc vote count started by EternalObserver on Jul 12, 2024 at 11:50 AM, finished with 188 posts and 135 votes.
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[X] Suyin has grown capable, all on her own. Between her and Piper they can hold this place. The liminal lies open. If you were to conceal yourself there, you might strike the creatures true vulnerabilities when a moment presents itself.

I don't like holding ground since theres no clear win condition if the enemy just retreats into the underdark
 
wingstrike96 said:
[X] Suyin has grown capable, all on her own. Between her and Piper they can hold this place. The liminal lies open. If you were to conceal yourself there, you might strike the creatures true vulnerabilities when a moment presents itself.

I don't like holding ground since theres no clear win condition if the enemy just retreats into the underdark
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The win condition is protecting the Spirit long enough for it to assist us in driving out the infection. The same win condition as the other, but in the other we take a more offensive stance.
 
It was established that the parasite must damage the Piper now or risk losing its foothold forever as the Piper starts to recover fully. The main win condition remains the same: protect the Piper. Stealth would allow us to potentially deal more damage to the parasite, but for that we risk putting both Suyin and the Piper in danger, while our main offensive tool is currently turned off due to Yin imbalance.

Risk reward aside, I would personally like to see Ling Qi fight side by side with Li Suyin some more, LQ as an independent operative acting on her own is something we've already seen quite a lot, and will continue to see more of besides. And, currently most of the legwork will have to be done by PLR and BKSD. What better time to work on our construct mastery than while side by side with a prodigy in the field of construct usage and design?
 
[X] Hold here, a hard wall together with Suyin and Piper, break the parasites offensive thrust, and strike back when it is reeling from the deflection.
 
[X] Suyin has grown capable, all on her own. Between her and Piper they can hold this place. The liminal lies open. If you were to conceal yourself there, you might strike the creatures true vulnerabilities when a moment presents itself.
 
Why not

[X] Suyin has grown capable, all on her own. Between her and Piper they can hold this place. The liminal lies open. If you were to conceal yourself there, you might strike the creatures true vulnerabilities when a moment presents itself.
 
[X] Hold here, a hard wall together with Suyin and Piper, break the parasites offensive thrust, and strike back when it is reeling from the deflection.
 
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