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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
[X] Zhengui would be awakening soon. You doubt that he will be able to control his size fully right away. Arrange to bring him to an open area near town after his awakening, for a family visit.
 
[X] Zhengui would be awakening soon. Arrange for transportation, so that you can take your family out to see his awakening. Your arts will be more than enough to ensure their safety for a short trip.
 
Nope. It happened at the same times as a plan vote, but it was separated like all minors since the start of the thread.
Sure, but the big argument was we were exploring, so do the explore social to get bonuses. So you can't disentangle them in the way you're suggesting - it was effectively part of a plan.

Also the prior Zeqing / family vote arguably was similar in nature
 
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[X] Zhengui would be awakening soon. Arrange for transportation, so that you can take your family out to see his awakening. Your arts will be more than enough to ensure their safety for a short trip.

OOh I just realised.

Zhengui has spent 3-4 months asleep trying to breakthrough to green 1. Hanyi managed it in a couple of hours (despite the tragic circumstances).

Hanyi did in hours what it took Zhengui months to do. And she is never going to let him forget it. Even if he emerges stronger than her (probable), she's going to hold this over him for years.
This is what childhood friends are for!
 
For a long moment silence reigned in the bedroom, with her Mother looking down. Ling Qi could feel the turmoil in her thoughts. There was fear for Ling Qi, a helpless and directionless anger, and many other conflicting emotions. What emerged from that emotional morass however, was resolve.

"...Was there something in that storm worth risking your life for?" Her mother asked, drawing her attention back.

"Absolutely," Ling QI replied immediately, meeting her eyes. "The spirit of the mountain was my teacher. More than anything else. I was there to save her daughter."

In her dantian, Hanyi's qi seemed to both curl up and reach out to grasp hers. "In fact, I actually wanted to introduce you to her, if you don't mind."

Her Mother leaned back, releasing the squirming Biyu to slide down onto the floor from her lap. "Is that safe?" She asked faintly. "The spirits are-" Ling Qingge shook herself. "No, you would not suggest it if it were unsafe, but… why?"

Ling Qi smiled wanly. "Didn't I say? She's the daughter of my master. That makes her my junior sister, and my responsibility… you deserve to know the ones who are in our family."
Worth elaborating for those not as familiar with the Faux-China of Xianxia and Wuxia.
-Your teacher is considered the same as your parent socially speaking. This is usually limited to an apprenticeship or other forms of extended personal mentoring.
-Your teacher's disciples are considered your siblings. They are not considered siblings to your blood siblings, nor of any relation to your blood parents.
-Your teacher's blood children don't actually relate to you at all. However, in many cases their blood children are ALSO their disciples, so that falls under the above case.
-Your disciples would consider your teacher to be their grandparent, and your fellow disciples to be aunts and uncles.

Basically instead of kinship passed by blood connection, its a bond held together by the Arts you share.
"I see," her Mother replied, fidgeting with her gown. There was an old and ingrained fear embedded there. Ling Qi knew that to most spirits were distant and unapproachable things, much more so than spirit beasts, with their simpler motives and behaviors. "You are right, as… family it is only right."
Well, treating a spirit beast as a more powerful version of the base animal gives you a rough approximation.
Doesn't work at all with spirits, which appear human enough to pull out human responses, but aren't human at all in their reactions.

Makes things deadly.
'Well, you're up, please be careful Hanyi,' she thought, giving the young spirit a gentle nudge with her qi. In front of her, the air glittered, and frost spread across the carpet as Hanyi expressed herself, fading into view. Ling Qi flet the flicker of alarm and revulsion that passed through her mother as the spirit solidified. It hurt a little, but she expected it. She knew that to mortal eyes, Hanyi's appearance was distressing. A young girl with skin and lips that looked like a corpse, a victim of the cold sleep, and blank white eyes without iris or pupil, of course that would be alarming.

She saw Hanyi's growing pout, and gave her a silent nudge with her qi. "Hiya," she greeted, with a mildly disrespectful bob of her head. "My name is Hanyi, I guess your Big Sis' family huh?"

There was silence for a moment, until the silence was broken by Biyu, who had backed whose eyes were wide with alarm and fear. "Ghost?" she asked, looking to Ling Qi for support.
Sort of ghost.
She's the living ghost of a neverborn child, from before the dawn of the empire
Hanyi beat her to the response though. "No, don't be a dummy, you'll make your sister look bad. I'm a real spirit, not some whiny echo," she boasted, Ling Qi noticed with some wariness a certain threat of jealousy and vindictiveness in Hanyi's thoughts as they regarded to her sister. She would have to talk to her about that later.
Well, her species is famously possessive. Easier to work on it now than later though. Once she hits the later Green stages I don't think she's going to change much.
"It's fine Biyu, Hanyi isn't a scary ghost. Would I let her in here if she was?" Ling Qi answered patiently, ignoring Hanyi's words for now, the young spirit shot her a pouting look. "She's my friend, like Zhengui is, do you understand?"

"Oh," the little girl said, still eyeing Hanyi warily. "Where is lil' turtle?"
lil turtle becoming hueg turtle
"You'll get to see him again soon," Ling Qi said with a smile.

"That dummy better be up soon," Hanyi grumbled.
Gui: "Five more minutes"
More importantly, Ling Qi thought, giving her Mother a surreptitious glance the little aside had given Ling Qingge a moment to compose herself and stand. "Welcome to my home… Hanyi," she said, offering a polite bow. She hesitated on using the spirits name, which was understandable, generally mortals would use an epithet. "As my daughters junior sister, you are welcome here."

Hanyi blinked, turning back to the older woman, and Ling Qi felt a complicated snarl of emotions in Hanyi's heart as she regarded Ling Qingge. "...Yeah, um- thank you for your welcome," she replied with awkward formality. She suspected that Hanyi wasn't sure what to make of Qingge. Hanyi had a certain disregard for those weaker than her, and had little social experience, but the role of 'mother' was one she understood very well.
Does Hanyi even HAVE a title yet? Also do spirits get Title Cards? :D

Mothering is universal enough I suppose.
There was a moment of awkward silence as Hanyi scuffed her foot against the frosted carpet and Ling Qingge seemed to struggle with her own ingrained manners, but then…

"And I'm Sixiang!" the empty air next to Ling Qi's head announced brightly. "I can't say I'm family, but I do live in Ling Qi's head, so I'm afraid I'll be intruding on the regular."
Six: "This conversation is getting awkward. REROLLS AWAY!"
Her Mother's expression was one of blank confusion, and Biyu was once again looking around, searching futility for someone who was not there.

"You've done some good stuff with the house you know," Sixiang continued unabated. "Between shifting the furniture around and switching around the decor, it feels way more welcoming. I have no idea how Ling Qi manages to be so dull about that kinda thing."

"I...thank you, I think?" Her mother replied haltingly, looking to Ling Qi for explanation.

"...Sixiang is another spirit of mine. They're a dream muse, the kind that inspires artists," Ling Qi sighed.
LQ: "Look theres no point decorating if I'm going to be moving to a new place every other month"
Six: "And the dress?"
LQ: "It has the best stats"
"And look at this one, cute as a button. I'd pinch your lil cheeks if I had hands," Sixiang rambled on, and Biyu let out a surprised little yelp as a brush of wind ruffled her hair. "Never woulda guessed you were Ling Qi's sister."

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?" Ling Qi asked irately.

"Hey, Big Sis is totally cute," Hanyi said at the same time, stomping her foot.

"Pfft, yeah yeah, you two have that 'scary chic' thing going on," Sixiang announced, and Ling Qi felt in her thoughts the equivalent of the dream spirit giving her an exaggerated wink. "Not at all like the little cutie here."

Biyu pouted up at the empty air. "Don't be mean! Sis-y is pretty!"

"Hmph, it's better if she's more like me and Momma anyway," Hanyi huffed under her breath.
Six is a pro. She got the little sisters to agree on something by simple bad copping.
...while giving Biyu headpats.
Ling Qi looked back to her bewildered looking Mother and gave her a sheepish smile. "So...yeah, this is how things are. I know it's not exactly normal, especially for you, but… I want to include you in more of my life."

Her Mother looked faintly bemused as Hanyi argued with empty air and Biyu squealed in delight trying to catch tickling fingers that weren't there. "I… cannot say I understand entirely, but… thank you all the same Ling Qi."
Qingge...wants to help but is getting the sense that even the Cultivators don't really know what to do about Ling Qi's Ling Qi-ness.
 
Inserted tally
Adhoc vote count started by naths on Mar 30, 2019 at 2:47 PM, finished with 145 posts and 89 votes.
 
"No, don't be a dummy, you'll make your sister look bad. I'm a real spirit, not some whiny echo," she boasted, Ling Qi noticed with some wariness a certain threat of jealousy and vindictiveness in Hanyi's thoughts as they regarded to her sister.

Is that supposed to be threat or thread?

Hanyi had a certain disregard for those weaker than her, and had little social experience

Hi pot, meet kettle. Those poor sods who were in Ling Qi's preliminary fight still have nightmares, I bet.
 
Do we have a plan for Ling Qi's future build? Right now she seems like a fairly balanced and versatile character with strong options for attacking, debuffing, and defending. With the current mechanics, a balanced character might actually be optimal due to the continuously increasing costs of advancing attribute levels. A versatile character also gives us more options, which SV is well suited to take advantage of. I'm not sure if this is what people here want to aim for though.
 
Do we have a plan for Ling Qi's future build? Right now she seems like a fairly balanced and versatile character with strong options for attacking, debuffing, and defending. With the current mechanics, a balanced character might actually be optimal due to the continuously increasing costs of advancing attribute levels. A versatile character also gives us more options, which SV is well suited to take advantage of. I'm not sure if this is what people here want to aim for though.
I am aiming for a Bard build. Someone that can run away when alone, buff allies when in a group and is social and sneaky enough to get what she wants without fighting.
 
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Do we have a plan for Ling Qi's future build? Right now she seems like a fairly balanced and versatile character with strong options for attacking, debuffing, and defending. With the current mechanics, a balanced character might actually be optimal due to the continuously increasing costs of advancing attribute levels. A versatile character also gives us more options, which SV is well suited to take advantage of. I'm not sure if this is what people here want to aim for though.
I have a couple of thoughts regarding Ling Qi's future build. I really like the idea of setting up zone controls where we trap people in areas that we manipulate to be heavily in our favor and then whittle them down while they can't do anything. To do this, I would prefer focusing on AoE techniques (like FVM and PLR), defensive techniques, and support techniques to allow our allies to make the most out of the situations we create. Additionally, advancing our stealth should be valuable by forcing the opponent to focus on the more obvious threats such as Zhengui and Hanyi which leaves us free to support and debuff.

I have been an advocate of getting a summoning art to really crank up the allies we can assist with support arts, but with the combination of Zhengui and Hanyi I don't think we will need summons and that summons will water down other areas of our focus. Additionally, we have plenty of potential multi-attacker effects already (Zhengui x2, Hanyi, us, FVM, domain weapon, and PLR) that adding more to the multi-attacker effects will not be as beneficial as setting up our current effects. And while I acknowledge the possibility of having to switch FVM out for another art, I would rather that art be a direct successor or filling substantially the same role.

Defensively, I see us focusing on dodge primarily, and I would like us to start moving into the areas of regeneration and healing. TRF has served us well, but Ling Qi has noted that it's themes of crazy armor and tanking the shots does not fit with well with her mindset of movement. However, dodging and regeneration work well together because the small amounts of damage that actually land can be recovered from and it doesn't conflict with the mindset of movement. Stealth also works for this as it takes longer for the opponent to find us which gives us more time to regenerate any damage they did.

Moving on to social aspects of Ling Qi's job, I see us as more of an asset in diplomatic ventures than for spy and thieving. Ideally, we will be able to use stealth so that only the people we are talking to know that we are in the area and we can use our music ability to properly and effectively communicate themes and ideas and goals succinctly. And while I see us more of a diplomatic tool, our stealth will still be valuable in uncovering information that people are trying to hide and then using that information for leverage in our own negotiations and diplomatic ventures.

So I see us as a music/stealth character who uses their music to set up zones upon which they can dominate the battlefield while remaining hidden and letting our wonderful spirit beasts get all of the attention while also using said music and stealth to more effectively convince are diplomatic ties to back certain agendas that Cai Renxiang has.
 
I have a couple of thoughts regarding Ling Qi's future build. I really like the idea of setting up zone controls where we trap people in areas that we manipulate to be heavily in our favor and then whittle them down while they can't do anything. To do this, I would prefer focusing on AoE techniques (like FVM and PLR), defensive techniques, and support techniques to allow our allies to make the most out of the situations we create. Additionally, advancing our stealth should be valuable by forcing the opponent to focus on the more obvious threats such as Zhengui and Hanyi which leaves us free to support and debuff.

I have been an advocate of getting a summoning art to really crank up the allies we can assist with support arts, but with the combination of Zhengui and Hanyi I don't think we will need summons and that summons will water down other areas of our focus. Additionally, we have plenty of potential multi-attacker effects already (Zhengui x2, Hanyi, us, FVM, domain weapon, and PLR) that adding more to the multi-attacker effects will not be as beneficial as setting up our current effects. And while I acknowledge the possibility of having to switch FVM out for another art, I would rather that art be a direct successor or filling substantially the same role.

Defensively, I see us focusing on dodge primarily, and I would like us to start moving into the areas of regeneration and healing. TRF has served us well, but Ling Qi has noted that it's themes of crazy armor and tanking the shots does not fit with well with her mindset of movement. However, dodging and regeneration work well together because the small amounts of damage that actually land can be recovered from and it doesn't conflict with the mindset of movement. Stealth also works for this as it takes longer for the opponent to find us which gives us more time to regenerate any damage they did.

Moving on to social aspects of Ling Qi's job, I see us as more of an asset in diplomatic ventures than for spy and thieving. Ideally, we will be able to use stealth so that only the people we are talking to know that we are in the area and we can use our music ability to properly and effectively communicate themes and ideas and goals succinctly. And while I see us more of a diplomatic tool, our stealth will still be valuable in uncovering information that people are trying to hide and then using that information for leverage in our own negotiations and diplomatic ventures.

So I see us as a music/stealth character who uses their music to set up zones upon which they can dominate the battlefield while remaining hidden and letting our wonderful spirit beasts get all of the attention while also using said music and stealth to more effectively convince are diplomatic ties to back certain agendas that Cai Renxiang has.

I like this plan but I'm not sure if it would be the most effective. I think Ling Qi would like a dodging and regeneration focused defense more than our current style of defense. However, is focusing solely on dodging for defense really more effective than mixing dodging and TRF-style defense, even if both end up slightly weaker? Also, would we really still be as effective as a combatant if we focused primarily on debuffs instead of mixing debuffs and direct attacks (CtE, Domain Weapon increasing penetration, etc.)? Narrowing our skillset down might make intuitive sense from a min-maxing perspective, but I'm not sure if it actually make sense with the current mechanics.

I agree that stealth is theoretically very useful regardless, and we should look into training stealth arts when we can.
 
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Honestly it's hard to come up with any changes that are drastically different from the current build due to how the arts are drip fed but we really could use more single target offensive skills.

As for the social aspect the continual push of SV towards morality is unsurprising, but with even Cai pushing Qi towards being a diplomancer/entertainment against the character's own traits is nearly unpalatable. Really hoping for a push back from our little thief towards being more of a spook/wraith.
 
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She already has great area skills and room to grow there, but she's eventually going to get caught alone with the princess , or a Khan or something , and then we're going to be wishing for better face breaking skills.


[X] Zhengui would be awakening soon. Arrange for transportation, so that you can take your family out to see his awakening. Your arts will be more than enough to ensure their safety for a short trip.

Dawww, her first family vacation.
 
[X] Zhengui would be awakening soon. Arrange for transportation, so that you can take your family out to see his awakening. Your arts will be more than enough to ensure their safety for a short trip.
 
She already has great area skills and room to grow there, but she's eventually going to get caught alone with the princess , or a Khan or something , and then we're going to be wishing for better face breaking skills.

HR and CtE are pretty good face breaking skills. Spiritual Hit and Spiritual Penetration (for FSS at least) are also among our strongest attributes.
 
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Hrmm, can our Call to Ending use Hanyi's Hoarfrost Caress instead of our Hoarfrost Refrain to get damage out faster? It's clear that the arts have the same root after all, but are they named differently specifically so that we can't do this?
 
Defensively, I see us focusing on dodge primarily, and I would like us to start moving into the areas of regeneration and healing. TRF has served us well, but Ling Qi has noted that it's themes of crazy armor and tanking the shots does not fit with well with her mindset of movement. However, dodging and regeneration work well together because the small amounts of damage that actually land can be recovered from and it doesn't conflict with the mindset of movement. Stealth also works for this as it takes longer for the opponent to find us which gives us more time to regenerate any damage they did.
Right, yes, I had thoughts about this.

Our theoretical use of stealth is not something we can get for free. The question then becomes "what does stealth allow us to replace?". The answer, I would argue, is a) it can be a form of offensive buff and b) it can serve as defense.

More specifically, it can replace physical defense, and even more specifically, dodge.

The basic point here is that with our fields (which are necessary to the whole playstyle) we still need good spiritual defense in order to handle people counterattacking into them as well as assholes like us. In terms of physical damage, well, if we're in stealth then the main threat is AoE and high-perception high-accuracy sniper builds. Armor then should be our next priority. Dodge then becomes our lowest priority defensive investment.

This is not to say that we should ignore dodge. Obviously we need it to reach a certain minimum level. Merely that if we're trying to use stealth like that then we shouldn't really be going for more than SCS + a passable level of dodge. Other areas are more important to invest in.

... that being said, there is a degree of thematic incongruity in going high stealth + armor rather than dodge...
 
Must stealth serve a vital role in the build? Can't we just grab and cultivate some stealth arts because stealth is cool?
 
Must stealth serve a vital role in the build? Can't we just grab and cultivate some stealth arts because stealth is cool?

Our primary goals right now are to get as strong as possible for the tournament and to maximize our ranking by the end of our time in the sect. Picking up stealth without carefully weighing choices for our build is a bad idea if we don't want to end up like Gan Guangli or worse.
 
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Must stealth serve a vital role in the build? Can't we just grab and cultivate some stealth arts because stealth is cool?
No?

We have to sacrifice *something* for stealth. The more we integrate stealth into our build then the more we can get from our investment into it, and the more our sacrifice is paid back. To say nothing of creating a more coherent build that makes full use of all of our tools.
 
Right, yes, I had thoughts about this.

Our theoretical use of stealth is not something we can get for free. The question then becomes "what does stealth allow us to replace?". The answer, I would argue, is a) it can be a form of offensive buff and b) it can serve as defense.

More specifically, it can replace physical defense, and even more specifically, dodge.

The basic point here is that with our fields (which are necessary to the whole playstyle) we still need good spiritual defense in order to handle people counterattacking into them as well as assholes like us. In terms of physical damage, well, if we're in stealth then the main threat is AoE and high-perception high-accuracy sniper builds. Armor then should be our next priority. Dodge then becomes our lowest priority defensive investment.

This is not to say that we should ignore dodge. Obviously we need it to reach a certain minimum level. Merely that if we're trying to use stealth like that then we shouldn't really be going for more than SCS + a passable level of dodge. Other areas are more important to invest in.

... that being said, there is a degree of thematic incongruity in going high stealth + armor rather than dodge...

Can't we still rely on dodging instead of armor even with stealth? We would just be relying on not getting hit instead of mitigating damage if our stealth fails and we're attacked.

Are you saying that the few attacks that can reach us even while we're in stealth can be more easily defended against with armor rather than dodging?
 
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Can't we still rely on dodging instead of armor even with stealth? We would just be relying on not getting hit instead of mitigating damage if our stealth fails and we're attacked.
Yes and no. It depends on what kinds of attacks are most likely to be a problem for us through stealth. For example, wide area AoE's that are hard to dodge but have work penetration are an obvious way to address us being hard to target, and would be best countered by armor.

That being said, the counterargument is potentially that our fields (FVM and PLR) thematically should work better with dodge than armor.

Spiritual does need to be a higher priority for us though.
 
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