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Esquilax

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Dec 7, 2010
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You shake your head. “No, I guess not. Well, if these very important people are interested in anyone with anything to do with her, she must have been rather traitorous. What did she do?”

“She killed some agents of the court,” shrugs Youlong. “That’s a death sentence, usually, but this time they have other plans for her.”

I wonder what the shadowy interests behind this had in mind with Chanfeng. The fact that they haven't killed her yet means that she's probably too useful right now. As fucked up as our current predicament is, getting to her from some Imperial stronghold that she was no doubt heading to would have been even more difficult.

However, the main thing I notice about our precarious situation right now is that while there are lots of ways in which A could go horribly wrong, there are no ways that I can see in which B would end well. Our only choice here is to use the medallion and hope that our combination of brazenness and quick thinking is enough to save the day. This conversation is steadily going downhill, and the only way to gain some sort of leverage in this den of vipers is to pull rank on the Hei brothers. If this works out, we can hopefully learn more about the factions within the Imperial Court and who the Black Dragon Society really takes orders from.

A
 

Nevill

Arcane
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Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Come now, if Jing worked/studied with the Gestapo then he would definitely know about this, he's not that retadred.
He had never worked with them. He may have been trained by some of them, but we do not even know if it were them who took care of our training. We have only seen such a crest a few times - and if there was a way to identify them, it would have been a closely guarded secret that isn't for the kid to know.

But then again, this is only a conjecture. I wasn't trying to make Shulgi out of that one, the situation here is scary as it is.
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
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Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Right now, I'm not really worried about being backtracked. If these agents of the Emprah are any good, they'd value secrecy. If they do value secrecy, trying to backtrack/verify us cannot be easy.
 

Baltika9

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Messages
9,611
Come now, if Jing worked/studied with the Gestapo then he would definitely know about this, he's not that retadred.
He had never worked with them. He may have been trained by some of them, but we do not even know if it were them who took care of our training. We have only seen such a crest a few times - and if there was a way to identify them, it would have been a closely guarded secret that isn't for the kid to know.

But then again, this is only a conjecture. I wasn't trying to make Shulgi out of that one, the situation here is scary as it is.
treave, has Jing ever noticed something like this about the medallions of the secret police? Or are they all one and the same? It seems to me that in such a big organization like the Secret Police with many middling officers (that's what the "silver" stands for, i assume, a middle-to-high officer. Like a lieutenant) it would be way too tedious and expensive to create a unique medallion for every single one of them.

Inb4 the brothers are former/undercover agents of the Secret Police. :lol:
 

Esquilax

Arcane
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Messages
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Yep, it does indicate rank:

Yu bends down, picking up the bronze crest that the man had dropped. “Perhaps this will give me a clue. Do you recognize this, Master Xu?”

Your breath catches in your throat as the emblem on the crest comes into view. You recognize that symbol – it is the seal of the Emperor’s secret police, which you have seen but a few times. You doubt that the man you fought was one of them – they would be far more skilled, and wouldn’t leave such incriminating evidence behind – but he could be an auxiliary or a hired sword with connections.
...
With some disappointment, you turn your attention to the man on the ground. He is breathing, but barely. A glint of metal catches your attention; reaching into his robes, you pull out a silver crest with the Imperial symbol. A high-ranking palace operative?

The guys that came after Yu were complete pushovers and they had bronze crests, while the agent that we killed led the assault on the Fire Cult at Wufushan and he had a silver one.
 

Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
A
I don't see any better alternatives in this situation. Drinking is not simply our greatest strength, but I believe that Jing can bullshit these brothers with surprise silver crest.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
However, the main thing I notice about our precarious situation right now is that while there are lots of ways in which A could go horribly wrong, there are no ways that I can see in which B would end well. Our only choice here is to use the medallion and hope that our combination of brazenness and quick thinking is enough to save the day. This conversation is steadily going downhill, and the only way to gain some sort of leverage in this den of vipers is to pull rank on the Hei brothers. If this works out, we can hopefully learn more about the factions within the Imperial Court and who the Black Dragon Society really takes orders from.

A
Yeah, I have to say you're right here. Even though Dio Jr is giving me the creeps, I still don't like the whole "maybe we'll get lucky" approach of B.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Uh... I'm not sure where this impression that he's participating in a drinking competition in B is coming from? Just because you continue drinking doesn't mean you have to change tack and start guzzling instead of, y'know, taking measured sips like he has been doing so far. Also, drinking skill 1 doesn't mean he's some sort of fairy that gets drunk with a single drop. He just isn't going to be drinking other people under the table. Of course, how long he can last at this rate... maybe half an hour? :lol:

This isn't a situation where he can refuse to drink at all anyway.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
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Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Thirty minutes should be enough for Yu to finish his conversation with Changfeng (unless Yunzi went EXTREME). The big question is, now that we stoked the BDS' interest and greed, will they just let us go? It was pretty obvious that Yuolong wasn't a hundred percent with favor for a favor arrangement.
 

Absinthe

Arcane
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4,062
Either way, these guys are looking to press as much advantage as possible, which is very dangerous for us. We need to play a strong hand.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
ERYFKRAD - A
Azira - A
Jester - A
Kipeci - A
Stygian Lurker - B
Lambchop19 - B
Zero Credibility - A
Baltika9 - A
XenomorphII - B
Nevill - A
asxetos - A
Esquilax - A
Elfberserker - B
Absinthe - A
a bear named spigot - A
Anabanana - A
Tigranes - B

***

Current tally:

A - 12
B - 5

Well, getting even more lop-sided. Hmm...
 
Last edited:

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
We came here for the Changfeng Chat and the Undercover Umbrella, we should try and make a graceful exit if we can. treave's clarification suggests this may be possible with B - though of course, I assume that the twins (who I'm currently picturing as the IWD2 main villains) won't let us go unless we somehow satisfy their questions.

I feel like with A we will get a situation where they call our bluff, and we just get away with it, but we only do so by having to agree to some convoluted deal, digging ourselves into a bigger mess.

Main deal for me is just how realistic is an exit with B. If not very, we'll have to risk A, but half an hour is a long time...

B for now
 

Esquilax

Arcane
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Messages
4,833
Either way, these guys are looking to press as much advantage as possible, which is very dangerous for us. We need to play a strong hand.

I don't know, do we really? I could see some serious downsides to pretending to be an Imperial agent:

You look at the wine in the cup, your mind working to figure out your next step. It is confirmed now that they are in cahoots with at least one faction in the Imperial Court. Further attempts at enquiry would be difficult, however, and you still don’t know if there is a trap waiting to be sprung.

Okay, so we show that we're an Imperial agent, and they buy it. That doesn't necessarily mean that the Hei brothers are working at the behest of Grand Eunuch Li - they could be serving a different faction within the Imperial Court altogether. treave, when we found the silver crest on the agent's body, did it look like he was trying to keep it hidden within his robes, or was it a bit more obvious? The reason I ask is because I want to know if Li had this guy undercover in the BDS as a double agent to keep tabs on a rival who was controlling the mercenaries. If this agent was trying to be secretive, then pretending that we're an Imperial agent is extremely deadly, because our inquiries so far have shown that we're outside of their particular "faction" since we're not in the know about Chanfeng.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
treave, when we found the silver crest on the agent's body, did it look like he was trying to keep it hidden within his robes, or was it a bit more obvious?

Hard to say, either he or the ghost had already loosened his clothes when you barged in. You might not have spotted it otherwise, but on the other hand it's probably good protocol to hide that crest as well as you can at all times anyway. Though it's a bit too unwieldy to put up the ass.

As for the crests themselves, they aren't stamped with any unique identification as far as you know.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
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I don't know, do we really?
Okay, what's the plan in B? These guys have the complete advantage right now and we have no counter-claim. Saying that Yu is here to visit his love will get Yuoling's curiosity/greed fired up even more.
On the other hand, it's obvious that the only people whose authority the Brothers respect is that of the Empire. Our silver badge isn't a unique insignia tailored to a specific eunuch, it's a badge of a lieutenant of the Gestapo. If nothing else, they will respect the implied authority.
 

Nevill

Arcane
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Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Baltika9 said:
Okay, what's the plan in B?
The plan is to continue playing dumb. These guys are unsure of who you are and whom you serve. They don't want to risk the wrath of Zhang Jue for nothing, so they would rather not kill you on a mere suspicion. We do not have to have a counter-claim to leave this place alive. Though, of course, that does not translate to our friends. They would want to keep them as an insurance that we would not do something drastic.

After treave's clarification I am no longer sure what to do. Pulling the rank on them seems a bit premature, when you don't know what's what. Still going with A, though. At this point I am hoping to grab Liu and get out before the whole thing blows up in our face.
 

Esquilax

Arcane
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Messages
4,833
These guys have the complete advantage right now and we have no counter-claim. Saying that Yu is here to visit his love will get Yuoling's curiosity/greed fired up even more.
On the other hand, it's obvious that the only people whose authority the Brothers respect is that of the Empire. Our silver badge isn't a unique insignia tailored to a specific eunuch, it's a badge of a lieutenant of the Gestapo. If nothing else, they will respect the implied authority.

We're in a very precarious position with the elder Hei trying to sniff out our motives in coming here. I'm not sure that he'll respect the implied authority that the insignia will bring - the fact of the matter is that it's only our fearsome reputation that's keeping us alive right now, and if we give these guys reason to believe that we're an agent who might be running counter to their interests, they just might try to take us out anyways. It would be fairly simple to cover up; after all, we managed to kill an Imperial agent ourselves under similar circumstances in a secretive fashion.

Being unsure of our motives just might give us the advantage in B:

“You do not exactly have a reputation for being… reliable,” says Hei Zuolong with relish. “You are a free spirit – you do what suits you at any given time. Any favour I trade with you will be only on your terms; you would break your oath with no qualms if you ever disliked the way I call in your debt. I think that is hardly fair. It would be rather difficult to deal with you.”

We have the reputation of being a dangerous fighter, but also an unpredictable guy who just follows his whims easily. Considering that we're the disciple of the Maniac, I'm inclined to believe that it just might be plausible that we would talk to Chanfeng purely for shits and giggles. Of course, Zuolong is awesome at sniffing out someone's true intentions, but Jing has shown to be rather different in terms of motivation than your typical unorthodox type.
 

Nevill

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Messages
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
That we could last half an hour without falling under the table, yes. It is somewhat reassuring.

But since they can delay the return of our friends, if they so desire, it does not change all that much.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
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Messages
9,611
It's just the jitters about the very dangerous situation we're in, that's all. Seriously, very well written, the anticipation really gets me nervous. Will we pick the right choice, or the wrong choice? Can't wait for an answer. :bounce:
Oh, and I think that the "thirty minutes" thing is anything but reassuring. The longer we play their game, the more time they have to infer things and back us into a corner.
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
Patron
Joined
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Messages
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Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
It's just the jitters about the very dangerous situation we're in, that's all. Seriously, very well written, the anticipation really gets me nervous. Will we pick the wrong choice, or the wrong choice? Can't wait for an answer. :bounce:
 

Tigranes

Arcane
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Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Yeah, treave good job for impressing the dangerous and mercurial nature of these fellows. They do the double-team very well, too. And the binary nature of the choices is a good done for this moment.

I think with B we will have to do more, Esquilax, than insist that we are here for the lulz. They themselves are highly pragmatic and scheming types, and it will be all too easy to simply believe we have something to hide. After all, Zhang Jue's disciple, looking rather undangerous, turns up with a waifu of all things, and a random friend who wants to see Changfeng? Not to mention they can simply then turn to inquiring after Yu's intentions. We will have to come up with some other sort of bullshit in B, I'd wager. Perhaps insinuate that despite ZJ's own flightiness, BDS is one organisation that ZJ Junior would not mind cavorting with.
 

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