[LP CYOA] 傳

[Stygian Lurker]

B > D

 

[Baltika9]

Huh, I love the Idea of working closer with her to get in her pants befriend her for the future, since we'll need all the friends we can get, for which B is best, but at the same time, we're playing around with Yao's and Cao'er's lives.

 

[Esquilax]

Nevill, that sounds ridiculous. Everybody here knows that Yifang is Shulgi. Get it together, bro.

And if we get in trouble, she can't even fight properly because she's afraid of hurting people. She's a useless sack of baggage - she'll be much more useful if we do C, where her earnesty will work in our favour, but not here.

I'd like to point out that Yifang's honesty won't give us much of an olive branch with the Emei:

“Words are wasted on his ears, Yifang. This boy is as bad as his master. Don’t let his sweet tongue fool you,” scolds Sister Miaofang as she scowls at you.

What I am banking on with C is that the Emei know more about the situation and that they're desperate. The signs seem to indicate that this is the case. Another option I would favour is A, but that would require some degree of going in blind, though it does play to our strengths.

How much subtlety or deception does it take to say, "This man has come to negotiate the release of Master Yao and his apprentice. I beg you to hear his words as he recently saved my life."?

Things aren't as simple as that; if we want information, we are going to have to lie at some point, and Yifang will end up revealing our true intent here. There is more to it than that. For instance, look again at the cover story we'll be using:

Someone who was saved by Yao before, owes him his life, and would like to see if he can do something here so everyone is satisfied.

Now, this is obviously bullshit, because nobody owes the Killing Physician their lives. Nobody is happy or grateful when Yao comes to town, because that means that someone else has to die for balance to be restored. In fact, you could say that when the Killing Physician extracts his toll, the patient doesn't owe him anything. So if I was in that situation, hearing that cover story, I would sense something wrong immediately. We'll get exposed like this.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Now, this is obviously bullshit, because nobody owes the Killing Physician their lives. Nobody is happy or grateful when Yao comes to town, because that means that someone has to die for balance to be restored. In fact, you could say that when the Killing Physician extracts his toll, the patient doesn't owe him anything. So if I was in that situation, hearing that cover story, I would sense something wrong immediately. We'll get exposed like this.

Uh, but it is true. We'll simply tell them the truth - that there was no one around for him to exact his toll, so instead of killing his apprentice he made us indebted to him instead. They will probably ask Yao if this is true and he will confirm it. Maybe it will blow our cover, maybe not - but it's beter than just walking up and saying "Hey, there! I'm the guy you've been trying to kill and I have your most treasured sword and I'm not gonna give it to you. Will you please release my friends?"

 

[treave]

All right, let me say this straight from the beginning - I don't trust Yifang. She is young, apparently of Jing's age - what is she doing in the midst of old crones? She is obviously not a part of the team of grizzled veterans, the nuns themselves mentioned that she was the newest addition - why she is participating in a mission that Emei deem critical, not just a training exercise? What was she doing in a forest, away from the others and why was she so conveniently close to you when the bandits attacked?

You don't really know how the Emei organize their team. Perhaps there's another implication about their average high age, where they should be past their physical peak but still sent out on dangerous duties?

The forest is on the way to Chengdu, where the nuns and you were headed.

She was separated from the others when the bandits attacked at the forest.

Conveniently close because you haven't wandered far off the trail.

The timing may be a very lucky coincidence for her though. Perhaps she just has high luck. Like a drabbit.

Not saying that you should absolutely trust the nun though, just pointing out that most of these details were already in the update itself.

Now, this is obviously bullshit, because nobody owes the Killing Physician their lives. Nobody is happy or grateful when Yao comes to town, because that means that someone has to die for balance to be restored. In fact, you could say that when the Killing Physician extracts his toll, the patient doesn't owe him anything. So if I was in that situation, hearing that cover story, I would sense something wrong immediately. We'll get exposed like this.

Not that simple. Let's say Yao takes your aged, dying, terminally ill grandfather's life peacefully instead of your still healthy mother. Would you not be the least bit grateful for the price he picked, when he could have done worse and you knew the risks when you called him? Yao may not feel that the patient owes him anything, but that doesn't mean the patient has to feel the same way. Of course, it's rare for anyone to actually act like this. But not inconceivable.

Edit: There will still be flaws with B, but none of the choices here have flaws that are so glaringly obvious and rely on the character absolutely bungling his own plan from the get go. You guys don't have an INT 4 character after all.

 

[Nevill]

All right, I see that the majority is going with B. Negotiating while trying to keep your identity a secret. Okay, let's roll with that.

First things first, what would you be negotiating here? The daughter of the former head holds prisoner the murderer who killed her father. She has the moral high ground here. It is a matter of honor, pride and justice. What do you have to say that could possibly sway her? What do you know of the situation that could make her see things your way? What do you intend to achieve by going there blindly? How do you intend to negotiate freedom for a murderer? Some of you are already preparing for a failure and consider D as an option to fall back upon.

Esquilax made a good argument about the need to know what the hell is going on here, and indeed, Emei sisters might know something of what have transpired, seeing as the team following you was called back in a hurry. But consider where you stand in relation to them. You are a thief to them, an apprentice of a brute, and the one who mocked and insulted them 5 times in a row already. They already shun you, and you would come to them asking for a favor, not the other way around. They might ask for a price that you are not comfortable with paying. They might decide to restrain you and resolve the case themselves, as they consider themselves an ally to Qingcheng, and the conclusion might turn out not to your liking. Finally, it might turn out to be a ploy of Yifang to lure you into their hands - that turn of events would be the funniest of all, as not only they would receive a thief of their sacred treasure, but the former apprentice of Yao the Murderer, and the current apprentice of the Southern Maniac, who did humiliate them for the last two years. Walking there just for the information seems unreasonable and reckless where there is another source readily available.

Yao.

Of all the three sources - Emei, Qingcheng, and Yao - I trust him the most. We already know the Qingcheng part of the story, we are not going to learn more about the situation by speaking with them, and, hell no, I am not genuflecting before Emei. I know the man well, I know he had his reasons to do what he had done, and who is better to ask about them than the man himself? There is no better choice to actually understand what happened and if it can still be salvaged by peaceful means, or are we better off just grabbing our pals and running away.

If we go with B and let Yifang handle the talking, I see two outcomes. First, if she is indeed what she seems, an honest amateur, she would have let our identity slip. Why would she even try to hide it, that would be low and unseemly and unfair and underhanded! I doubt that it would help matters much if Song Lingshu would know that she is dealing with the murderer's former apprentice - and the one who is guilty of a murder of Rong Jr himself back in the day, no less. There is no reason to hope that, even if we somehow manage to keep our name secret, she will allow us to see Master Yao or let him tell us his piece. We would be no closer to solving the case, and we have absolutely nothing to offer Lingshu for this to be even considered a negotiation.

If Yifang is more than she seems, as I suspect, she might surprise us, but I am even more reluctant to go with her plan in this case.

I see D working, too, and negotiating Yao's freedom as a winning condition would provide an excellent cover for our master's mission. No one would suspect another reason behind challenging the head of the sect. But the disadvantages of this choice were already covered - it would make us so much more visible at the tournament, and most of us didn't want to attract unnecessary attention there. Besides, we might just kill her by accident. That would be... unfortunate, for everyone involved.

If you want to know what is going on, speak with Yao. A.

Then, if you still want to, and there is a reason to, you can negotiate to your heart's content.

 

[Tigranes]

A>C.

There's been a lot of good arguments made, I hope we don't get a B bandwagon for... I'm not even sure what the argument is for B. We don't even have to do a lot of imagining or projecting; just common sense, if you've trained to infiltrate, why put your eggs in a basket that's been telling you all update YOU CANT TRUST ME TO BE SUBTLE OR TO BE ON YOUR SIDE?

 

[Nevill]

You don't really know how the Emei organize their team. Perhaps there's another implication about their average high age, where they should be past their physical peak but still sent out on dangerous duties?

The forest is on the way to Chengdu, where the nuns and you were headed.

She was separated from the others when the bandits attacked at the forest.

Conveniently close because you haven't wandered far off the trail.

The timing may be a very lucky coincidence for her though. Perhaps she just has high luck. Like a drabbit.

Not saying that you should absolutely trust the nun though, just pointing out that most of these details were already in the update itself.

A conveniently young nun among decrepit hags (with whom we would be able to sympathize), conveniently present because one of the veterans is out of service, conveniently separated from the others and lost in a forest only to be found by us (it isn't a park, it takes a really unlikely coincidence to meet with someone in a forest), conveniently helpless (so we can't just abandon her) and naive (we think she would be prone to our charms), conveniently offers her help. Sorry, I'll pass.

 

[treave]

Uh, ok.

 

[Jester]

Now, this is obviously bullshit, because nobody owes the Killing Physician their lives. Nobody is happy or grateful when Yao comes to town, because that means that someone else has to die for balance to be restored. In fact, you could say that when the Killing Physician extracts his toll, the patient doesn't owe him anything. So if I was in that situation, hearing that cover story, I would sense something wrong immediately. We'll get exposed like this.

If he heals them. Cant we say that he saved tiger from bandits before or smt?

 

[Baltika9]

Obviously sent to seduce us and take Jing's legendary sword. Duh.

 

[Nevill]

I'm not even sure what the argument is for B.

People seem to consider A as "burn all bridges and break our friends free". They don't think of it as probing the grounds as to not go into the negootiations completely blind, rather, they instead see B as a way to scout before trying a daring rescue:

I'm leaning more to B because it gives us the opportunity case the joint before we break in, that way we're not going in completely blind. They won't discover our identity unless the nun slips up, which I don't think she will (she's naive, not stupid), so the anonymity works for us here.

Problem is, it would be harder to make a daring rescue when we make our presence - and our desire to free their prisoners - known.

I don't think anyone is banking on the diplomacy itself.

Obviously sent to seduce us and take Jing's legendary sword. Duh.

I never said that. But you don't know this isn't the case, either. It would be a perfect troll if we think we are seducing her, while in fact it is the complete opposite.

 

[Jester]

Conveniently close because you haven't wandered far off the trail.

The timing may be a very lucky coincidence for her though. Perhaps she just has high luck. Like a drabbit.

Edit: There will still be flaws with B, but none of the choices here have flaws that are so glaringly obvious and rely on the character absolutely bungling his own plan from the get go. You guys don't have an INT 4 character after all.

Would we have int 9-10 or charm 9-10 would there be other options?

Her luck or our bad luck?

 

[treave]

Would we have int 9-10 or charm 9-10 would there be other options?

Her luck or our bad luck?

You might not be as good as what you are now with another build, so the options will change around a bit.

As for the second question, that's really up to perspective isn't it?

 

[Azira]

She's the rogue we could've played from the start. She's made a deal with the Emei to get the sword. She's not actually one of them. It's all just a ploy. Her speech and charisma outstrips Jings, that's how she's got us fooled so far. Would also explain why she doesn't use the Emei technique properly.

 

[Nevill]

Excellent! You seem to get the hang of it!

Edit: it was better without a trollface.

 

[Azira]

Background:

The Rogue

You are a wandering child, an orphan; not so rare in these times of chaos. You grew up with the beggars; you were practically adopted by them, following the more adventurous ones from city to city. You learnt sleight-of-hand and also the art of play-acting. You soon found out how to make every drop of your tears earn a penny in return, how to steal, how to trick, and how to cheat. It helps that you are a happy-go-lucky scoundrel. A poor diet in childhood has left you rather fragile, however.

Agility +1, Charisma +2, Strength -1, Endurance -2

Sleight-of-Hand - +2
Speech - +2
Sneak - +1

Yes?

 

[treave]

She wasn't lying about being an orphan though.

 

[Azira]

No, it was kind of her to drop that hint.

 

[Baltika9]

Color me crazy, but I think you're onto something, Azira. B would be a good test of that.

 

[treave]

The most convincing lies are the ones with a hint of truth, after all.

 

[Nevill]

How come I am a raving paranoiac, but Azira is onto something? Is there no justice in the world? :D

 

[Esquilax]

Guys, you have it all wrong. This particular version of China, being ahistorical, is just one of the Master's test worlds. They've seeded the human population with small amounts of nanites, allowing for small spurts of superhuman martial arts skills, but not enough power to rival a true immortal like Shulgi or Ean. Shulgi found a portal leading to this test world, and is now disguising himself as the nun known as Yifeng. His evil plot is to manipulate Jing into getting knowledge of Qingcheng for him so that he can slay the immortal disguised as Master Song's heir. Who is actually Naram.

I think we can put all this silliness to rest, now that I've cracked the case. You're welcome.

You don't really know how the Emei organize their team. Perhaps there's another implication about their average high age, where they should be past their physical peak but still sent out on dangerous duties?

I always figured that they took the older nuns on the dangerous duties because of their skill and experience. The fact that they aren't in their physical prime anymore isn't really that much of an issue if they have a lot of techniques, neigong, and qinggong. Or at least, that's why I thought they were so old. I mean, Master Yao isn't exactly a young guy either, but he's clearly not to be fucked with.

Uh, but it is true. We'll simply tell them the truth - that there was no one around for him to exact his toll, so instead of killing his apprentice he made us indebted to him instead. They will probably ask Yao if this is true and he will confirm it.

That's fair, but then they would wonder what the nature of that debt is. I just think that bringing someone with no talent for subterfuge, Nevill's baseless theories aside, is going to work against us in an operation requiring a bit of fast-talking to get our way. There is just no way we can get through the whole situation here without lying.

But good point about the Emei. I'll flop to A now that I've thought about it further.

 

[Nevill]

I just think that bringing someone with no talent for subterfuge, Nevill's baseless theories aside, is going to work against us in an operation requiring a bit of fast-talking to get our way.

Now I am positively hurt, good sir. For a moment there, I honestly considered Yifeng being what she appears to be, and that did not help the B case one bit.

Honestly, what are you trying to learn by going to Emei that you can't learn from a more trustful and much more benevolent source?

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Convinced by good arguments in this here thread.

Flipping to A

We need to hear it straight for Yao. Who knows what the nuns are planning here? Better to do it ourselves. We are stealthy, we're are the TIGERWOLF!