[LP CYOA] 傳

[Absinthe]

Time for a voting tally, I see.

Tally

Baltika9 A
Kipeci B>A
Jester D
Azira B
Absinthe B
Lambchop19 D>A
Ifeex B>A
Akkudakku B
ERYFKRAD B
Grimgravy A
Tribute A
Rex Feral D
tropic B
ScubaV A
GreyViper D
asxetos A
Kz3r0 E (interpreting this as a B vote as treave says it's the same as B)
Nevill D>A
Tigranes D>B
Esquilax D
Fangshi B>C

A - 5
B - 9
D - 7

Post-flop:

A - 5
B - 9
D - 7

 

[Absinthe]

Nevill, you're just trying to split hairs in ways that don't even make sense. Taiji Sword is not something that exists in a vacuum. It's a countering technique. Our ability to use Taiji is directly affected by our understanding of our opponent's techniques. Sure, improving our Taiji skill would improve our counters, but learning our opponent's moves will also do the trick. "Underestimating" still means you didn't understand it. If you're trying to suggest Jing was still not taking him seriously at that stage, then remember this line: "You are not going to play around with this man – you realize just how dangerous he is." Jing was taking Jian Yixiao seriously from the beginning.

 

[tropic]

We did use it to counter BJ

You give chase; leaping after Bai Jiutian, you take the fight skywards. Your feet cut through the air as you unleash a powerful sequence of kicks at blinding speed – the Shadowless Thunder Breaker. This will end it.

He dodges every single kick effortlessly.

“Wha-“ Before you can complete your exclamation of surprise, he brings his sword down upon you with a powerful two-handed slash while you are vulnerable. You realize, with a sinking feeling, that the sheer force from this attack will easily cut past your guard even if you block it.

There is no helping it. You drop the scabbard, letting it hang from your waist, as you quickly mimic his grip.

His blade swoops downwards, yours rises up.

The swords clash, edge meeting edge with a high-pitched clang that echoes throughout the gorge.

When the two of you land, further apart than when you jumped into the air, there is an expression of barely restrained triumph on Bai Jiutian’s face. “Is that it? Is that what you have been hiding?”

You shrug lazily, smiling, and beckon at him with one wagging finger. “Why don’t you find out more, to be certain?” You can feel your qi already dissolving back into chaos; it will take a short while before you can fully employ Wuxiang Qiankun again.

 

[Tribute]

The roar generates a pressure blast. None of your qi actually travels out and enters his body. It is useless for that purpose.

Sending a pressure blast directly into his lungs wouldn't fuck him up?

treave How about roaring with our chaotic qi and see the reaction before deciding for a kiss or a sword?

Context is a very vital thing to have.

Oh, okay, I thought you were responding to me from earlier.

 

[Nevill]

And of course you can only underestimate your opponent if you do not take him seriously. I guess Qingfeng and Lanhai were just frolicking with us when they said they underestimated us. Pfff, who needs kids when you can play around with real swordsmen!

I am not interested in doing mental gymnastics about some minor nuances of techniques that more often than not have fuck-all to do with the situation we are in. It nearly got us killed in Shaolin (and it did kill us in Huashan because no one took it seriously anymore). Dragging the discussion in that direction only serves to obscure things.

 

[Absinthe]

I said "if." Aside from that, I have no idea what you're trying to say anymore.

 

[Nevill]

I am trying to say that it is only a good idea to push for the choice when you know what you are doing, and it appears that this time things are murkier than usual.

 

[Absinthe]

Well, I'm sure Jing knows how to use Wuxiang Qiankun and while you apparently have your own interpretation, I see those two quotes I provided last page as a solid indicator that Wuxiang Qiankun would grant sufficient understanding of our opponent's techniques to let Jing use Taiji Sword effectively.

 

[Esquilax]

“I am an impatient, impatient man at times,” he laughs in return, “and you are only saying that because you think you do not have the advantage at the moment.”

treave, was this a typo? Did he say “and you are only saying that because [you think] you do not have the advantage at the moment.” or “and you are only saying that because you do not have the advantage at the moment.” Given the context of the situation, the latter statement seems to make more sense. This guy seems to know he's got us in a bad position, and he's going to press us until we're dead.

Anyways, since I don't know what the fuck I'm doing or what to make of these choices, I think I'll go with D for now. Might flop if I hear a good argument that hasn't been said yet.

 

[treave]

It's not a typo.

 

[Nevill]

He thinks that we do not have the advantage and that we know it.

When you put it in these terms, WQS indeed provides us with an actual advantage in terms of tactics, being a move that he does not know we have.

Of course, we have no way of knowing if it will be enough or if it is even going to be useful.

 

[Absinthe]

It's our trump card. Of course it's going to be useful. The text for choice B indicates that Jing even thinks he might beat him 1v1 with Wuxiang Qiankun, except it's still a 2v1.

B. You can still use Wuxiang Qiankun on him. Though you can sense a strong, dark undercurrent of qi running through his body, it is not impossible to mimic him. You may be able to dispatch the Sword Demon one on one at the moment should you use your trump card. After all, your claws are just as lethal as your sword, if it comes down to it.

 

[Esquilax]

A few more questions as I'm digging for clues, treave:

You pause. There is a low, quiet laughter. You turn around. The Sword Demon’s body is shuddering, as if holding back a flood of mirth.

Did Jing sense anything unusual or different about the Sword Demon's qi after this "flood of mirth"? I can't help but think that a seasoned martial artist like Jing would notice a distinct change in his opponent's inner strength if he managed to absorb +1 SWORDS just like that. Did he feel even more powerful afterwards, or just as dangerous? From the update, it seems that Jing can't tell if the Sword Demon is weakened at all, but maybe he could sense some sort of difference in the qi between these two events that might give us some cluse.

You may be able to dispatch the Sword Demon one on one at the moment should you use your trump card. After all, your claws are just as lethal as your sword, if it comes down to it.

Having read the text for B, how would our claws come into play in B? It just seems somewhat unusual; here we have a guy who seems to use swords exclusively, so if we mimic his moves, they're going to be sword techniques, aren't they? I don't quite understand how the claw techniques would fit in if this is the case.

 

[Absinthe]

I think the point is that if we can match him evenly in swordsmanship, our claw techs would give us the edge.

 

[treave]

There's no change in inner strength before and after, it remains stable. That may not have any bearing on whether his physical condition has been weakened, however.

Claws are just representative for whatever unarmed attacks you have, it's not literal. Just a way of saying you're as deadly without a sword as with one. Copying his moves gives you greater insight into how they work, but you'll also be copying the underlying neigong and the nature of his qi at the same time, which may help you.

 

[Nevill]

I don't know if it was mentioned, but here are additional facts to think about.

- If we are talking about copying moves, then the guy has just shown us that he can take some nasty hits and live. If we mirror his actions, that might not be the case with us. We can both get stabbed, but only one of us will walk away from this.

- However, it must be noted that Minyue is terrified of him, so maybe we'll have to rely primarily on ourselves to beat him, which is what B seems to be about.

- People have expressed concerns about turning our back to the enemy and citing the fight with Bai Jiutian as an examle. I'd like to note that this wasn't what did kill us in that fight, and that running away was a viable choice (useless, but viable). We got killed because we didn't concentrate on the combat without disengaging from the fight, which seems to be an argument against A. On the other hand, it is questionable if TDS could be dispatched through purely combat means at our current level.

- TDS promised to kill everyone in the manor if Minyue does not come forward with the sword. If we escape, he might just realize this threat. On the other hand, he might have said it because it was the fastest way to find her, and he might also be likely to give chase after the actual sword wielders.

 

[Absinthe]

I'm pretty sure that if we don't want anyone to get killed, we have to defeat him right now.

Also, if we defeat him right now, we can collect his swords. This would mean we can return Wudang's sword and boost our rep with them by a ton.

Besides, if we don't defeat him now, we'll have to fight him again later. And he'll be the one ambushing us.

 

[Nevill]

I am pretty sure that if we want a good outcome, we have to vote for the best choice. If we don't want a bad outcome, we should avoid bad choices. And it goes without saying that to avoid an average outcome we must never choose average choices.

Good choices are good, because good things come out of them. Vote <INSERT YOUR CHOICE HERE>, because it can give you <INSERT REWARDS HERE> if you succeed.

And here I was thinking that the point of voting for an average choice with no particular benefits was that we don't know what would work best in the first place.

 

[Absinthe]

When we do cost-benefit analysis, Nevill, believe it or not, it is common to go over costs and benefits.

As for what would work best, we've been over this many times. A is most likely to fail (Girl scared out of mind, don't know her well enough for team strat, don't know his defenses well enough to strategize past it on short notice), and C is a terrible choice (assuming they'd even listen to us, they're just cannon fodder who would die, so that's also fail). That leaves B, which incidentally comes with a power boost in the form of our trump card.

Yes, you can take D and run, but right now B is the best pick.

 

[Akkudakku]

Wqs to get in close and personal thanks to defensive insight and claws to rip him apart. This is what B is about.

 

[Nevill]

treave, will Minyue flee with us if we tell her to? She looks frightened, yet she might decide to stay and protect the manor and the family of her friend when she might serve them better by abandoning the place. You'll never know with these upright heroic types, she might find just enough courage to make her stand and get slaughtered.

 

[Fangshi]

C>B,

I have no clue if it will work or not but it is the only thing we have not tried yet and I am not convinced that he is an actual demon given that the supernatural elements of the setting have been fairly minor up to this point. A provides no real plan, D minimizes the risk to us but removes any chance to gain something here... C though I actually don't mind. Working off the assumptions that he is human and does not have some sort of sword devouring regen tech then throwing a bunch of fighters at him while he is weakened might actually bring him down but it does not seem sporting somehow.

B gives us a proper fight and hopefully plays to our advantage in numbers and condition. Jing and zhang held their own against the guy before he became a pincushion and without the WQS. They should be able to beat him in B unless he also has some sort of ultimate technique he is saving; in which case who knows if any of the options can save us.

Edit:
Talked myself into C...

 

[Nevill]

C wasn't really discussed much around here, because it is just throwing cannon fodder at an adversary who can eat them for breakfast. If you sic 500 commoners at Master Zhang, he won't even break a sweat, though they might keep him busy for a while.

It might grant us victory, but the cost might be that someone from Zhou family will get killed. Given that the point of our intervention was establishing the ties with Minyue and currently Zixia is the only person that links us and can work as a mediator between us, I would not want to jeopardize that.

In fact, it is an open question what loses us more, a defeat where we tried to save lives, or a victory where we threw them away freely.

 

[Akkudakku]

C is bad because we give him more swords to work with. A and B dont strike me as either being a losing option. Its just that one seems more retarded then the other.

 

[Absinthe]

There's also the possibility they will just tell Jing to go fuck himself if he asks them to charge into certain death.