[LP CYOA] 傳

[treave]

To clarify, it's not personal arrogance that you'll be exhibiting in your day-to-day dealings, it's just playing up a self-assured confidence where despite being the disciple of the Southern Maniac, a rather hated and feared figure in the pugilistic world, you walk around boldly in broad daylight as if no one will be able - or dare - to touch you. The man does has enemies, relatives of people he killed, after all.

You will still be your usual charming self when talking to people.

 

[Esquilax]

“A fish hiding in water is closer than it looks,” asking you to reflect upon that and the final move you executed that had almost hit her. That is something you plan to analyse and practice when you have time.

Oh, so it's like this then?

As for the skills, it really depends on what we want to do. If we present ourselves as Zhang's apprentice, then some Traps are in order. If not, I guess Artistic Skill and Sleight-of-Hand make the most sense here.

As for how we present ourselves, I'm tempted to go full pro-wrestling heel mode by pretending to be an even worse version of the Southern Maniac. When your opponent fights angry, he fights carelessly, exposes himself to counters, and generally isn't paying attention to what you're doing. We have the CHA to really piss people off here, and our boost in PER might have given us some better trash-talk ability. Remember the rules of the competition:

There will be no fighting outside the tournament allowed in the city for the duration of the competition, as decreed by the Eight Major Sects. This is to prevent butthurt losers from getting their sect buddies and starting a street fight, which has happened before to their eternal shame. The Eight police this rule rather strictly, and any orthodox member caught in a fight will be severely punished, if not expelled.

treave, if we manage to piss someone off enough that they come after us illegally, are we well within our rights to kill them if we can prove they started it and they wanted to off us? For example, if a bunch of Shaolin disciples corner Jing in a dark alley, and Jing kills them in self-defense, is he still able to compete? In conditions such as this, an honorable, orthodox sect would have no choice but to accept.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

II, IV

Undecided on the second part.

 

[XenomorphII]

II, III, A

 

[Zero Credibility]

II, III, I - because it goes well with what we are good at and I do like the idea of a warrior poet.
B - because staying anonymous is the best. If somebody is out to get us, why present him with a clear target? Besides, B will make it simpler to stay anonymous during the tournament as well - no point in drawing attention that the Shadow Wolf is in town.

 

[Nevill]

This seems to be best and optimal solution and I'm happy with how it went.

Cao'er in not only da best, she is da smartest!

“…that is fine.” Cao’er makes a satisfied sigh. “…if you don’t appear, I’ll come find you…” A slight chill runs down your back, but you do not know why.

Oh, you lovely, lovely stalker.

You have heard troubling rumours when you reached the capital; apparently the army has been sent out to pacify the northwest border. You were sure that your visit to the Ashina was to prevent anything like this from happening.

If we missed on our khandom because of some stupid tournament, I will never forgive you!
Our time is running short. It would be nice to resume working on the mission ASAP.

How come presenting our persona in the city bears no impact on registration? If we attract attention by calling ourselves by our real name, how can we maintain our incognito at the tournament? Wouldn't they recognize us?

I was under the impression we were not going to register under our real name. Right?

 

[TOME]

no point in drawing attention that the Shadow Wolf is in town.

Jing is not the Shadow Wolf. Or did I miss something?

 

[Zero Credibility]

He isn't? Then who the hell is?

 

[Smashing Axe]

Shadow Wolf is most likely our betrothed Ashina girl.

Because reasons.

 

[treave]

treave, if we manage to piss someone off enough that they come after us illegally, are we well within our rights to kill them if we can prove they started it and they wanted to off us? For example, if a bunch of Shaolin disciples corner Jing in a dark alley, and Jing kills them in self-defense, is he still able to compete? In conditions such as this, an honorable, orthodox sect would have no choice but to accept.

Shaolin has a lot more discipline than that. Though in a dark alley without witnesses no one will buy your story. You don't have a good enough reputation. The best you can do is to subtly provoke them till they attack you in public, then don't retaliate, only dodging to demonstrate your skill. That'll get them in trouble.

If you just want to kill disciples, you can do so quietly without provoking them. That's what sneaking is for.

How come presenting our persona in the city bears no impact on registration? If we attract attention by calling ourselves by our real name, how can we maintain our incognito at the tournament? Wouldn't they recognize us?

I was under the impression we were not going to register under our real name. Right?

You'll have to disguise yourself. Or blatantly use a fake name anyway. Or register an insulting name. They can't not accept you since you have the crest, and there's no guarantee what you call yourself outside is who you really are.

Basically, how much are you going to screw with them by not appearing to take the tournament seriously? The approach has its pros and cons.

 

[Nevill]

treave, can we get a hint on what any of these do?

Three Poisons Powder
Three Poisons Antidote
Blood-Stemming Poultice
Herbal Remedy
Yao's Lucky Laxatives

We've got a glimpse of what Three Poisons Powder is capable of back at the tournament in the previous chapter. Is it deadly? If not, what are the effects? Is it noticeable when added in food?
The antidote is probably self-explanatory.
How Yao's Lucky Laxatives differ from the regular Laxatives we used up earlier to get to Yao?
Does Blood-Stemming Poultice help coagulation?
No idea what the Herbal Remedy is for.

Shadow Wolf is most likely our betrothed Ashina girl.

Huluzi I can buy, but sending off their princess like that... Naah.

 

[TOME]

He isn't? Then who the hell is?

We don't know. This is all we know from the disciples gossiping.

“Did you guys see anything? I thought there was something ahead of us,” says one of the disciples. You move slowly towards the other side of the building.

“Must’ve been some cat or monkey.”

“Looked kinda big, though, like a human.”

“Maybe it’s the Shadow Wolf. I hear he’s been spotted in the region.”

“All the way out west, here? I heard he was last seen in Yangzhou.”

I don't think we have been in Yangzhou.

 

[treave]

treave, can we get an hint on what any of these do?

We've got a glimpse of what Three Poisons Powder is capable of back at the tournament in the previous chapter. Is it deadly? If not, what are the effects? Is it noticeable when added in food?
The antidote is probably self-explanatory.
How Yao's Lucky Laxatives differ from the regular Laxatives we used up earlier to get to Yao?
Does Blood-Stemming Poultice help coagulation?
No idea what the Herbal Remedy is for.

Three Poisons can be deadly in sufficient doses, which is enough to be carried in a small packet. It loses efficacy if added during cooking due to heat. Afterwards yes, but the powder might be noticeable.

Lucky Laxatives are in the form of a small, easily dissolved pill instead of powder.

Yes, the poultice is for stopping bleeding.

Herbal remedies are for colds and other general ailments. Basically you can be a practicing herbalist and survive off those proceeds now.

 

[Tigranes]

There's no guarantee that the 'Shadow Wolf' was in Yangzhou, but given we haven't really done any sneaky things yet I highly doubt that is us.

I think we should come up with some way to maximise the subterfuge in our public persona vs. tournament persona. The obvious one is to claim to be Zhang Jue's disciple and boast to people that they should bet on us or something, register as some humble nobody name and get beaten up on; ensuring that in our future challenges our true identity and skill both remain confusing for some time yet. But I think we can do better, let me think about it..

 

[Nevill]

I think we should come up with some way to maximise the subterfuge in our public persona vs. tournament persona. The obvious one is to claim to be Zhang Jue's disciple and boast to people that they should bet on us or something, register as some humble nobody name and get beaten up on; ensuring that in our future challenges our true identity and skill both remain confusing for some time yet.

So, basically, you propose not to use the tournament itself to gauge the skills of our opposition, leaving them in the dark as to what our abilities are, while instead relying on other methods of information retrieval? I can see it working.

But I am not a great schemer, so I find it easier to go in as nobody and fight defensively through the first two preliminary stages, then back down at the final contest.

 

[Tigranes]

If we say we are Zhang Jue's disciple straight up then lose on purpose, some will be fooled, but others will remain suspicious - many heads will know Zhang personally and refuse to believe that the disciple is so useless. Whereas if we did what I suggested above, they will either think we are crap and it is because we are an imposter, or we are crap and we are indeed Zhang Jue's apprentice, etc - it adds an extra layer that will make just about everyone think we are a pushover. Again, I do think we can think of something better, perhaps dovetailing with our other resources like laxatives, but I think that's the direction we should be thinking in.

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

I, IV B

I kind of dig the idea of being an unknown fighter coming out of nowhere. We know that we are Zhang's apprentice and can prove our worth to ourselves even if no one knows who we are, so it might be fun to try to pose as a wandering ronin-type character.

 

[Baltika9]

I, IV B but I could be swayed to 2A.
Our original plan was to come here and join the tournament incognito so that our opponents wouldn't pay too much attention to us. Going openly will just make everyone pay close attention to us and expose our techniques in the future, we mustn't lose sight of the big picture here. Announcing ourselves to be Zhang's student will attract attention either way and we're not the only one with sneaking talents among the disciples, that I'm sure of, so we may just find ourselves the target of their investigations. I think it's just better to keep ourselves low and datamine the opposition for all it's worth without giving our presence away, I don't really see a reason to over complicate things with playing two personas at once, what purpose does it serve? But I could be swayed.

Huluzi I can buy, but sending off their princess like that... Naah.

Pfft, with her rebellious attitude, she ran away from home and incited a lot of nasty rumors of kidnapping in the Ashina tribe, hence the troubles up North. Seriously, though, I get the nasty feeling we've been neglecting our duties for way too long and we really ought to stop by that region and find out more. Something tells me Shun's life may be in danger and while I want Jing to stop fellating him, he is still our bro.

I kind of dig the idea of being an unknown fighter coming out of nowhere. We know that we are Zhang's apprentice and can prove our worth to ourselves even if no one knows who we are, so it might be fun to try to pose as a wandering ronin-type character.

We are a wandering Ronin-type character. By the way, our alias must be The White Wolf for maximum Twitching.

 

[TOME]

Why are people voting for drinking? I fail to see it usefulness compared to the other three. It even has a cap of 5 so we can't become very good at it.

 

[Azira]

I, IV, B

 

[Baltika9]

It's a good social skill, booze is ever-present, let's us hold our liquor better so we don't get caught flat-footed when we do drink and, finally, it will help us when it comes time to get with the Ashina.

 

[TOME]

So far no one has us forced to drink. And I don't think we will be forced to drink. Let's just stay alive and worry about drinking with the Ashina later. It's not like we don't have enough on our plate already.

I see drinking only as a way to loosen tongues, but we could achieve same with sleight of hand + herbalism, i.e spiking drinks.

 

[Baltika9]

Fuck that, I'm against poisons and spiking drinks. Boozing is manlier, for one. Two, with our natural charisma, we can really get ourselves some friends through boozing.
Also, you are underestimating the dumb shit drunk people do: if we can challenge our opponent to drink and we can hold our booze better than him, we'll have the advantage in temper and skill. In fact, we can provoke them to attack us, or attack someone else. Don't try this on someone better than you or someone who knows the Drunken Fist, though.

 

[Zero Credibility]

I'm not opposed to drinking skill, but yes - the sleight of hand skill is the most useful by far of the choices presented.

Also, I agree that there is no reason to complicate things by announcing our presence here. Why draw attention to ourself like that? Suddenly every sneaky bastard in the city will be watching us to see what we are up to.

 

[Baltika9]

You mean the skill that we lost all our points in? And that takes us too close to the thi4f vibe, we're skirting the edges as it is.