[LP CYOA] 傳

[Nevill]

We want him to get in contact with the Minamoto, right? Then we can leave a message for Yorimitsu/Shun via a magical homing pigeon.

 

[Baltika9]

Not the most reasonable argument.

 

[Nevill]

What is?

We have sent him a message and we expect him to contact the pirates either himself, or via a representative.

Why can't we ask him to call an agent off us then?

 

[treave]

treave, it was never mentioned, but did Jing pass along that message to the prince about the Minamoto?

Yes.

 

[Esquilax]

What is?

We have sent him a message and we expect him to contact the pirates either himself, or via a representative.

Why can't we ask him to call an agent off us then?

Because he isn't a fucking wizard. You would have to (1) send him a message hoping it gets to Shun, and (2) hope that Shun is able to contact his Gao Ying before he tracks us down. There's no guarantee that either of these things will happen. We can only hope for the best and that we managed to pick his allegiance correctly.

 

[Baltika9]

Do we know when and how he will contact said pirates? Will he even come in person? We don't.

All in the meanwhile, Gao will be chasing us down and we will be dealing with ambush after ambush if we thinks we're an enemy. If he is one, then both A and B are the same. If he isn't, B is superior. Greater risk, greater reward.

 

[Nevill]

(1) send him a message hoping it gets to Shun, and (2) hope that Shun is able to contact his Gao Ying before he tracks us down.

That's a pretty good bet if you ask me.

I do not expect immediate results, and I bet we can evade Gao Ying for a while.

If he is one, then both A and B are the same.

No. In A, he would not know who we are, and can not take measures for our reports not to reach Shun. He also can not prepare for Shun knowing everything we do.

 

[Baltika9]

(1) send him a message hoping it gets to Shun, and (2) hope that Shun is able to contact his Gao Ying before he tracks us down.

That's a pretty good bet if you ask me.

I do not expect immediate results, and I bet we can evade Gao Ying for a while.

In our condition, with our reputation and with the company we keep? Dude, half the country is out for our blood, this will be too easy for him to track us down while we're below our peak.

 

[Nevill]

They have not invented the internet and air travel yet. If you won't stay in one place for a while, you can evade him.

And you'll heal in half a year.

 

[Anabanana]

I'm flopping from B to A too.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Eh, let's just ask Gao Ying to give Princebro the message.

 

[treave]

Baltika9 - B
Jester - B
Kipeci - B
ERYFKRAD - B
Anabanana - A
Tigranes - B
Nevill - A
Ifeex - B
Azira - C
Stygian Lurker - B
Grimgravy - A
asxetos - A
GreyViper - A
RealDDc - C
Lambchop19 - C > A
Kipeci - B > A
ScubaV - B > A
Absinthe - B > C
TOME - A
The Brazilian Slaughter - A
Esquilax - A
a bear named spigot - A
Ganymede - A

***

Current tally:

A - 10
B - 10
C - 3

Post-flop:

A - 11
B - 10
C - 2

***

You have to wonder... what if you spared the guy back at the mansion?

 

[Baltika9]

Was that the final tally or do we still have a while to go before the update?

 

[treave]

No. I bold the winner when I do the final count.

As for the update, let's see if this won't end in some form of tie for today.

 

[Nevill]

Eh, let's just ask Gao Ying to give Princebro the message.

Absolutely. And let's report to him that the BDS are enslaving the populace while we are at it.

 

[Baltika9]

They have not invented the internet and air travel yet. If you won't stay in one place for a while, you can evade him.

And you'll heal in half a year.

Except that manhunting is one of the functions of the secret police, any secret police. An organization with their resources and capabilities will find it extremely easy to find us, Jing is a rising celebrity now that is hated by the orthodox sects. Fame is a double-edged sword, we're a notorious and high-profile target travelling with: an eccentric scholar, a psychopath and her handmaiden, and a weird Mongolian chick. Finding us will be too easy for them.
Some things, like intercepting an anonymous message from thousands floating through the Beggar's Sect will be difficult for them, but like I said, manhunting is a part of their job.

We don't know Bao's motivations or allegiances by any means or what is going on with the secret police and the Conspiracy, which is why this choice is a risk, but considering this:

“That is an apt description,” he says, still calm and smiling despite your crude provocation, “but that is not my name. I am Gao Ying.” You have never heard of him before, though his age means that he is your peer. You have no doubt that he was trained to kill just as you were, though. Gao Ying shakes his head gently. “Anyway, that does not matter. I have made my conclusion. You are a dangerous man, Xu Jing. Your prowess and cunning combined with your knowledge of the court’s internal apparatus makes you a threat to the security of the empire.”

“That is a pretty big conclusion to jump to, my friend without balls,” you say.

“For someone of your caliber, there are only two paths you can take,” replies the eunuch. “Friend or foe of the empire. Tonight I will decide which you are-“
...
“Wait! A man of your talents is wasted wandering the land like this! The times are changing. With your strength and smarts you could play a vital role in renewing this country! I said that I wanted to determine whether you are friend or foe – now I am asking you this: my prince has great need for talent like you. Will you join us?”

You pause in your steps. You know you should be fleeing through the window right now, but you cannot help but ask. “Which prince?”

Through the smoke you can faintly see the silhouette of Gao Ying, but you have the feeling that he is staring right at you, seeing you clearly.
“So, you know enough of the Imperial family that you would take an interest in which prince I serve. Another reason that I must decide your allegiance here,” he says amusedly. “Of course, I serve the only prince that matters, the only person that is worthy. The Crown Prince Li Shun.”

Could he be lying? You do not know. You have been away from the palace for far too long, but when you left this Gao Ying had never been part of Shun’s entourage. Of course, many things can change in three years…
...
You reject his offer and flee, but mention that you also serve the Crown Prince; you get the feeling that if this man regards you a foe, you will have made a terrible enemy.

I'm confident that this is a risk we should take. From the sounds of it, this guy admires a competent and strong ruler, not to mention he would benefit greatly from one, and wants to serve only the worthy. Shun is definitely a worthy liege to serve, so I buy that Bao here sympathizes with him. He stands a lot to gain by seeing Shun securely to power and becoming the genius-Emperor's trusted spymaster, so he has a believable motive.

Besides, if Jing's danger-senses went haywire by just standing near the dude and talking to him, I definitely don't want this bloodhound chasing after us through China.

Edit:

As for the update, let's see if this won't end in some form of tie for today.

Goddammit, anything but that.

 

[Nevill]

You have to wonder... what if you spared the guy back at the mansion?

We wouldn't look like schizophrenics right now, that's the only thing I know for sure. To kill an agent presumably to be safe, then reveal ourselves to the next one that we happened to pass by - this is a farce.

From the sounds of it, this guy admires a competent and strong ruler, not to mention he would benefit greatly from one, and wants to serve only the worthy. Shun is definitely a worthy liege to serve, so I buy that Bao here sympathizes with him. He stands a lot to gain by seeing Shun securely to power and becoming the genius-Emperor's trusted spymaster, so he has a believable motive.

From the sound of it, the guy is a fanatic and already serves someone. And if that is a prince other than Shun, then he would benefit from installing him on the throne.

This is pure speculation, and not a smart one, at that. "Shun is a great man and everyone would stand to gain by cooperating with him". How come the conspiracy exists at all, then?

 

[Baltika9]

To be fair, everything we said here is speculation, which is what makes it so frustrating. Say what you want, but Bao knows his job very well.

And please don't bring moralfaggotry into this, like I said before, the circumstances are completely different. Then we killed with total secrecy and eliminated an enemy on the spot. Here, we are either making a horrible enemy (this guy is our kryptonite, the Batman to our Superman) or getting him off our ass. Neither A or B remove him for good with impunity. The only safe option is C, and even that's debatable.

 

[Nevill]

Fuck C.

It is because Gao does his job well that I am incredibly wary of him. We have no idea what his job really is. I'd rather take the risk myself than endanger our mission, which is meaningless anyway if he is our ally. We were meant to infiltrate the pugilistic world - and here it is, the infiltration network, the kind of which we could never dream of. What are we doing here, if he is, allegedly, Shun's ally? He has Changfeng under control, he has everything under control, we should just up, gather our things, and leave quietly.

And yet, we are breaking Changfeng out, apparently. Why are we doing that? Isn't that counter-productive to Shun's goals, if Guo Ying is on his side?

This isn't a moralfaggotry, this is a plea for consistency.

The only argument here for revealing ourselves is a fear of retribution. As for that, well, this is a valid concern. But we are long due to meet a worthy adversary. BJ may be a cool fighter and all, but he isn't one. The Lord of the Light sounds like someone a bit out of our league just now.

I'd say Gao Ying is just the right challenge for us.

 

[Azira]

eliminated an enemy

Dude. You don't know that. You know he seemed to recognise Jing, but we never found out if this guy was friend or foe. He was just offed in cold blood.

Don't try to twist that to your own ends. Own up to what was done.

 

[Baltika9]

I was against killing him, though, and was just commenting on the "consistency!" angle, "killing the threat" was the given reason why most voted to take him out. Still am against it, even if it worked to our benefit.

Who's Fuo Ying? And now that we have the orthodox sects baying for our blood, the absolute last thing we need is the secret police chasing us down with Gao in the lead.

 

[Nevill]

I was against killing him, though, and was just commenting on the "consistency!" angle, "killing the threat" was the given reason why most voted to take him out. Still am against it, even if it worked to our benefit.

Why would revealing our allegiance be any different in this case?

Who's Fuo Ying? And now that we have the orthodox sects baying for our blood, the absolute last thing we need is the secret police chasing us down with Gao in the lead.

The orthodoxes aren't baying for our blood. Look at the rep sheet, we haven't made mortal enemies yet, we have kept our relationships with most of the Eight Sects neutral, and the only ones we suspect to hate us enough to hire a mercenary to hunt us are Zhou Clan.

And Fuo Ying is Gao Ying, because Fuck him, and because I constantly confuse his name with Guo Fu's.

 

[Baltika9]

Why would revealing our allegiance be any different in this case?

As stated numerous times before, if B works then we will have retreived Changfeng the fastest way possible, bluffed the BDS and avoided pissing them off and gotten away scot-free. That's why it's a risk, wether or not Gao really is affiliated with Shun. In other words, B is the way to neutraluze the threat instead of killing it, like we did at the Mansion.

Friend or foe, A makes Gao an enemy regardless. I don't share your optimism that we can get in contact with Shun easy-peasy without compromises and placing ourselves in uncomfortable situations, since we don't even know when and how he will receive the message and contact the Minamoto.

 

[a bear named spigot]

A.

C is a non option as far as I'm concerned. And I'm not down with handing out free info about ourselves like that. I'd rather we not hurl insults on our way out, but since that's who we are...

 

[Nevill]

As stated numerous times before, if B works then we will have retreived Changfeng the fastest way possible, bluffed the BDS and avoided pissing them off and gotten away scot-free.

Sorry. Remind me, why do we need to retrieve Changfeng from under Shun's nose?
Pissing the BDS is just a matter of time, really. We'll be driving them into the ground anyway.

What do you mean - 'if B works'? What outcome do you consider as 'B working'? If Gao Ying is a foe of Shun, and he allows us to go (and since he is big on intrigue, he'll probably do so, now that he knows our hand and what to expect of us), would you consider it working as intended? Because I certainly wouldn't.