[LP CYOA] 傳

[Anabanana]

Flopping from B to C.

 

[Esquilax]

Precisely. Qilin is in mortal danger, and Yunzi is not. That's all there is to the choice, and I see no shame in it.

Hey, I like Qilin, I really do. She helped us out a bunch of times, but it's not our job to step in and save her life every time shit goes down. She's a big girl, she'll handle herself. Or maybe she'll die.

But yeah, I agree that B does seem to be more for Qilin than it does to be for Shun.

Well, you don't know how brilliant Tulu Huodu is.

I have an idea. If Qilin's own craftiness is any indication, the rest of the Wudu Cult operates through subtlety rather than Zhang-style not-giving-a-fuck. He strikes me as a fighter who rose to the top by relying on his brains and his wits.

Looks like the bandwagon is already rolling downhill, but I'll vote A. I think (hope) that Shun can handle himself well enough in this situation. Without our neigong, he probably even has more capable men than us at his disposal (perhaps Gao Ying?). However, he likely lacks good intel on the Fire Cult which we can provide while benefiting ourselves at the same time.

Yep, our mission is to be his agent in the pugilistic world, protecting him from assassination isn't one of the parameters of our mission:

You sigh. “Are you sure about this, Shun? You will be alone in the palace, and I don’t mean in terms of companionship. I could watch your back even with a clipped tongue and a sore posterior.”

“I know that, but… this has to be done. I need you to do this. I can find people to watch my back out of self-interest, but I cannot find another friend who I can trust to act for my best interests without supervision, out there in the world. Don’t worry. I know how to handle myself. I have provisioned for you some supplies and a map. Furthermore, there is an admission letter that will gain you entrance to the major orthodox sects that have a tentative understanding with the Imperial Court.” Shun pulls out the letter in question and a list of places where it would be applicable.

Not that there aren't legitimate reasons for B, but A and C both seem to be more in line with what we were set out to do. On the other hand, things do seem to be getting rather desperate if someone seems to be eager to frame the Wudu Cult and burn down Luoying Manor. And Tulu Huodu is the only Great Pugilist that we haven't met yet - I'd love to hear his take on Master Zhang, since we've only heard accounts of him from the orthodox side of the jianghu.

 

[treave]

The government didn't wipe out the Ashina. They didn't send an army after them, as far as I have understood, they just meddled until the neighbouring tribes did it.

Pretty much this, yes. Jing thinks it was done to weaken Shun's powerbase. Nothing much you can do about it now until someone sends out the call to get back together.

 

[Nevill]

I mean if we fail and the two sides come to blows, Jing can't just abandon Shun at that point, we may well wind up fighting the Wudu to serve our sovereign, would be a bit of a shame, though that is perhaps more of a concern to deal with if B wins.

If both sides come to blows, Shun has an army on his side, and the Wudu Cult does not.
Just grab Qilin and get the hell out of there.

She helped us out a bunch of times, but it's not our job to step in and save her life every time shit goes down. She's a big girl, she'll handle herself. Or maybe she'll die.

No, it's not our job. They don't pay us for it. What is your point?
Then again, it isn't our job to chase skirts in the Fire Cult, either, is it?

Yunzi is fine and all, but the rest of the Cult will be like "No looking at the Holy Maiden. No talking to the Holy Maiden. No kissing the Holy Maiden! Hey, what the hell do you think you are doing?!" Ruins the mood.

Not that there aren't legitimate reasons for B, but A and C both seem to be more in line with what we were set out to do.

Well, C is. Mao Sanjiao looks like the type of guy Shun wants us to investigate. The Fire Cult is not linked to the Court... I think.

 

[LWC1996]

C.

Me time for Jing comes first. 'Specially being one-eyed and all. Need more practice in martial arts to turn a liability into an asset in time for the Fire Cult throwdown.

 

[Kipeci]

I'll flop to A > C.
So long as we best B, or at least put in a good effort against it.

 

[Elfberserker]

Flopping to C>A

 

[treave]

Anabanana - C
Zero Credibility - B
XenomorphII - B
Nevill - B
Smashing Axe - C
Baltika9 - A
Elfberserker - C > A
Kipeci - A > C
asxetos - B
Rex Feral - B
Fangshi - A
Sir Arvedeth - C
Esquilax - A
Jester - B
Grimgravy - B > C
Mystiknight - B
Kashmir Slippers - B
ScubaV - A
The Brazilian Slaughter - A > B
ERYFKRAD - B
Azira - A
TOME - B

***

Current tally:

A - 7
B - 11
C - 4

 

[Kipeci]

If Shun gets killed WE'RE SCREWED

And why is that, exactly? If he dies, sure, we won't get that pardon that he was going to give us when he rose to the throne. But can you really envision Jing returning to palace life straight away at this point, anyway? It's great to have a powerful friend there, I'm not going to deny that, but Jing won't really be hurt in any way aside from probably holding himself somehow responsible for his death even if that were to occur. If anything, with him out of the picture, people have less of a reason to bother with trying to erase one of his agents in a power play against him, so we might even be safer.

 

[Nevill]

Okay, so apparently the spark that lit the fuse was that someone decided to burn down Luoying Manor, or rather, convinced the Emperor to do so.

Actually, I think we had our Sarajevo incident in this timeline as well, and Du Yao dun goofed by falling into the trap yet again. Or maybe it was Ladi Ji's plan all along.

I swear someone is deliberately hitting our allies.

No, it's just that our choice of allies is unfortunate. Naturally, now that Minamoto are allied to Shun, they may very well be next.

In Treave Trolling Tradition I bet the the Giant Flaming Faggot is a rather cool guy who is really a genuinely good person

There is a positive side to ignoring the Fire Cult, then. If we don't get to know him, we don't have to feel guilty about killing him.

(I can actually see Shun "scattering the Wudu away" but actually the Wudu still remain, if hidden, and allied to Shun)

That may hurt the business, but yes, this is one resolution. I want to do it for Qilin, as I genuinely think that Shun will be fine without our help.

As for the brownie points, Yu is the one we had done most for (more than for the crown prince, actually), to the point where he considers us family. We've spent a year and a half around Cao'er, and the poor girl is obsessed with us, especially since we have rescued her from Qingcheng, but we haven't really done much for her, except just... being there. Which is still not a small thing, we've been a major (and mostly positive) influence on her since she was a kid. We have a sort of partnership with Yunzi, where we have helped her out and she have helped us back (during our escape from BDS, or helping with Chanfeng). We definitely need to pay more attention to her for the relationship to blossom. Guo Fu just feels grateful because he thinks we helped him get into a major sect, and respects us as his equal, but we really didn't do much for him either.

Qilin is the one that have done most for us (well, except for Shun and Cao'er, may be), and we never really repaid her. Nor did she ask for it, of course, but I feel we owe her one. Besides, she is the only friend to Cao'er, so I'd rather not have her get labeled as a traitor and hunted down across the Empire for the sake of our lovely stalker as well.

 

[Zero Credibility]

The thing is, the events in B (the poisoning of the Emperor, the march of the Imperial army against the cult, the Prince being there personally) are pretty much the biggest things (in the whole setting, not to us personally) that have happened so far in this game. Going of with Yunzi in A so that we can do what, help the fire cult we would probably end up fighting at some point strikes me as much less important. Something big is happening and if we are not there we could very easily regret it, even if nothing comes to Shun. Compared to that the fire cult and their challenge just can't compete. Hell, I don't think we are even expected to fight against the fire cult in their challenge, are we? This is purely the orthodox sects show. There could be other things there, sure, maybe another connection to some kind of grand conspiracy and there is Yunzi to consider, but compared to what is happening in B I just can't bring myself to consider A.

C on the other hand seems like inaction. Yes, we are going to train and maybe heal, but for what purpose? Are we actually going to participate in the fire cult challenge and on whose side? Are we going to take the fire cult side - that could be a way to force the orthodox types to fight us I suppose, but I don't think that after everything we have done there would be any problems with getting them to do that anyway. It would be nice to follow up on our lead, but again, compared to what is happening in B it just doesn't seem even remotely as urgent. The guy was there for a long time, maybe he will still be there when we return. Maybe. And we can tell our scholar that is remaining behind to do some digging on the guy while we are away - we were planing to inform him about the lead anyway.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Calling B, for now.

 

[Nevill]

Hell, I don't think we are even expected to fight against the fire cult in their challenge, are we?

We have a certain challenge of our own to think about. So, no, even if we are not expected to, we will be participating, should the opportunity arise. The question is, whose side will we be on? Look at A and C from that perspective.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Hell, I don't think we are even expected to fight against the fire cult in their challenge, are we?

We have a certain challenge of our own to think about. So, no, even if we are not expected to, we will be participating, should the opportunity arise. The question is, whose side will we be on? Look at A and C from that perspective.

Well, we would have to take the fire cult side for that. That could give us the opportunity to take a couple of our targets down (after all, I doubt we would be fighting alone, certainly Yunzi will participate as well and probably steal us some opponents). But the price for that would high - our reputation would take an even worse beating as we will be painted with the liar and traitor brush again. And I really doubt we even want to have the fire cult win anyway. It also may be unnecessary if the goal is simply to get the orthodox sects to fight us. What with winning the tournament and our... colourful reputation at this point all we have to do is just show up at their door, I don't think they would ignore us.

 

[Nevill]

Well, we would have to take the fire cult side for that.

Not necessarily. We can help Miss Bai to emerge as a winner among the young pugilists, and then take her down with a challenge of our own. When besting a fighter, you are considered to be better than the ones they have bested, as well.

I am a bit vague about the rules, though. I have no idea how the fights will go, if there are categories or if it isn't a free-for-all. So there is no point in speculating about that. But it is a major event, and there will be ways to turn it to our advantage, so we will have to participate.

 

[Esquilax]

Well, we would have to take the fire cult side for that. That could give us the opportunity to take a couple of our targets down (after all, I doubt we would be fighting alone, certainly Yunzi will participate as well and probably steal us some opponents). But the price for that would high - our reputation would take an even worse beating as we will be painted with the liar and traitor brush again. And I really doubt we even want to have the fire cult win anyway. It also may be unnecessary if the goal is simply to get the orthodox sects to fight us. What with winning the tournament and our... colourful reputation at this point all we have to do is just show up at their door, I don't think they would ignore us.

Short of mass murder, I highly doubt our reputation could get much worse. We clearly don't give a fuck about our reputation, which isn't that bad in my estimation, because a big reputation counts for more in the jianghu than a good or bad reputation. As for the benefits of A, I could foresee a situation where we might come in temporarily to get an inside look at the Fire Cult, then maybe use it to our advantage by giving the Frathouse a few tips... in exchange for some help with techniques.

 

[Baltika9]

The thing is, the events in B (the poisoning of the Emperor, the march of the Imperial army against the cult, the Prince being there personally) are pretty much the biggest things (in the whole setting, not to us personally) that have happened so far in this game. Going of with Yunzi in A so that we can do what, help the fire cult we would probably end up fighting at some point strikes me as much less important. Something big is happening and if we are not there we could very easily regret it, even if nothing comes to Shun. Compared to that the fire cult and their challenge just can't compete. Hell, I don't think we are even expected to fight against the fire cult in their challenge, are we? This is purely the orthodox sects show. There could be other things there, sure, maybe another connection to some kind of grand conspiracy and there is Yunzi to consider, but compared to what is happening in B I just can't bring myself to consider A.

I disagree with this: besides the obvious plus that this give us more Yunzi time (something sorely lacking and with treave's "priority system," ignoring another chance to spend time with her will put her even further out of our sphere of interests), there are substantial benefits for going to the Fire Cult. Wall of text incoming:
For one, they are complete foreigners in this land, which means that their martial arts techniques haven't been studied and scrutinized yet. Since we have an open invitation from Vahista and their Holy Maiden is bringing us in, I'm absolutely sure that we will get a chance to pick up some tips and tricks from them. With Cao'er vigilant eyes watching our spars, not only will this give us the edge over their fighters when we meet in the Tournament, but it will also give us a completely unknown weapon against the sectarian participants. I doubt anyone of them have fought against Persian/Indian styles before in their lives. So yes, that will be a great help to us. In comparison, the Emei are a long-established sect and their styles are pretty well-known to all the other bigshot fighters in China, so anything we learn from them will be predictable, unless gam-gam Miecao shows us some cool bandit tricks from her past. That lady is stone-cold crazy. And Yunzi is also learned in the Yinglang Step, of which our Kuanglang Step is a derivation of, and the girl has been working on it. WE can help each other here.

Second, as The Brazilian Slaughter has mentioned, it lets us to assess them and make a decision: honestly, none of the orthodox sects are on Shun's side, not really. These guys are just seeking a new home from the Caliphate, so hooking them up with Shun, who is set to be Emperor, will let him recruit another powerful foreign group of exiles (honestly, Vahista is on Zhang's level. Yeah, fire may be for fags, but they are not bitches). Or we can just get the info on them and barter with it to our own advantage.

Lastly, for guys with esoteric neiggong techniques, I think we'll get an idea where to take our own by studying their techniques. Also, this may be a stretch, but Vahista mentioned something about our great power:

"Young man, you are not a member of the Eight Sects', are you?" he calls out to you as you recuperate behind Fangzhang.

"Do I look like one?"

He smiles thinly. "No, you do not. I am sorry for asking such a silly question. You have a great power, and are unbound to any of the orthodox sects; if you are interested in finding out how you can use it to serve a better cause, we would gladly educate you."

And I think he was talking about our neiggong. This part is pure speculation, but I think it is true.

As for Shun's safety: as many have stated, the guy is an extremely gifted and talented individual with good connections. However, he is playing the intrigue game against all of his brothers, some of the grand eunuchs and the concubines of his father for the throne. As gifted as he is, those people have decades upon decades of experience and resources on him, and it would be so easy to bribe or persuade one general, or one member of his personal guard, or to send one trusted agent (not saying it's Gao Ying, I think the guy is Shun's) as 'his' secret police escort, and then you have one dead heir in the chaos of battle. But then again, Shun should have our Minamoto bodyguards we've sent him (if he has Yorikawa, then even better, he's in the best of hands) and the samurai are notoriously die-hard loyal. This fills me with quite a bit of confidence in his survival, although I think some here are underestimating the impact Jing can have on the situation, even if it does come to war. This is a seventeen year old guy that took down one hundred trained and experienced pugilists all by himself. And lived. We may not have our neiggong (this being the Wudu cult, I'm sure we'll have an 'accident' courtesy of Quilin at a convenient time), but we're still one dangerous motherfucker that can kill people with his bare hands, especially cannon fodder rank-and-file infantry.

I am tentatively flopping to A for now, although I am quite open to going back to B should C not be in the lead. Bros, I ask you to reconsider option A, since it has quite a bit of benefits that were not addressed. And are we really going to let some dude from India take Yunzi because he 'saved her life' (like we didn't)? Fuck no!

 

[Zero Credibility]

Well, we would have to take the fire cult side for that.

Not necessarily. We can help Miss Bai to emerge as a winner among the young pugilists, and then take her down with a challenge of our own. When besting a fighter, you are considered to be better than the ones they have bested, as well.

I am a bit vague about the rules, though. I have no idea how the fights will go, if there are categories or if it isn't a free-for-all. So there is no point speculating about that. But it is a major event, and there will be ways to turn it to our advantage, so we will have to participate.

I don't think it works that way or we would already have credit for everyone that participated in the tournament. That kind of interpretation of rules is not going to work with Zhang - he wants us to take all of them down personally, to prove we are a better fighter then all of them.

 

[Baltika9]

Well, we would have to take the fire cult side for that.

Not necessarily. We can help Miss Bai to emerge as a winner among the young pugilists, and then take her down with a challenge of our own. When besting a fighter, you are considered to be better than the ones they have bested, as well.

I am a bit vague about the rules, though. I have no idea how the fights will go, if there are categories or if it isn't a free-for-all. So there is no point speculating about that. But it is a major event, and there will be ways to turn it to our advantage, so we will have to participate.

I don't think it works that way or we would already have credit for everyone that participated in the tournament. That kind of interpretation of rules is not going to work with Zhang - he wants us to take all of them down personally, to prove we are a better fighter then all of them.

Speaking of rules:

After getting no response from the Abbot, Vahista continues to address his audience. "We do not believe the Eight Sects are capable of protecting the people. If this is what their younger generation is capable of, there is no future for this country in ten years' time. The Eight Sects take and give little in return. They only maintain the status quo, never seeking improvement. How many villages have fallen because the inhabitants were unable to protect themselves in the absence of orthodox pugilists to defend them? On my way here I have seen dozens of small communities plundered by bandits in their moment of weakness. None of you can be everywhere at once despite all your good intentions. We aim to change the world for the better, that such tragedies will not happen again. The Fire of Gushnasp will show that it is a better protector for the people than the Eight Sects. We declare a challenge. Heed our words. Six months from now, the strongest fighters of Gushnasp, including our temple's lord, will be present at Heihu Valley. There, we will demonstrate our superiority over the pugilists of the Central Plains once and for all. We will do this after the manner of the Central Plains. I believe it is customary to arrange for a duel between disciples and masters of differing sects. That is how it will be done."

treave, does this mean Jing's participation automatically mean Zhang Jue is also expected to participate?

 

[Azira]

I'm all for investigating the fire cult. It'll also mean more chances for Cao'er to freak out Yunzi. Much hilarity to be had there.

A

 

[Nevill]

I don't think we will be interacting with their Holy Maiden much. Not on Vahista's watch.

 

[Baltika9]

Baltika9

Exactly! We don't know who these guys are. We know they were attacked by the Black Dragon Society (and aparently, Orthodox fighters/BDS members disguised as Orthodox fighters), they're foreigners, they're intruding on the status quo and think they are capable of doing better than the Orthodox sects (who the conspiracy is subverting).

They might be secretly pawns of another prince out to knock our enemy's orthodox and unorthodox allies. They might also be merely persians fleeing from the Religion of Peace, I bet they have l33t hashashin fighters who will steathly behead you for insulting islam.

I actually hadn't considered that. The Fire Cult were played by the secret police as well, so there's definitely something going on in there. May be worth looking into, or maybe they were just removing Worst Curry from premises.

Remember that in the old times the use of foreign mercenaries as bodyguards was a common practice, because unlike locals they weren't affected by the intrigues of the land due to their very foreignness. China has already accepted and assimilated a lot of foreign invaders, a bunch of monotheist persians who like fire are small change.

Ah, nevermind, the mystery is solved: they worked for the Basileus of Byzantium, and now that their contract is over and they're loaded with cash and jewelry, they want to find a place of refuge from the hordes of ITZ. Mystery solved.

 

[Baltika9]

I don't think we will be interacting with their Holy Maiden much. Not on Vahista's watch.

He doesn't have a say in the matter:

“Stop.” The order comes not from Fangzhang, but from Nameless. Surprisingly, the man acquiesces quickly, bending his knee. Two more behatted persons have emerged on the stage, the tournament officials and committee helpless to stop them. They offer a helping hand to Nameless, but she shrugs it off haughtily and stands straight up, staring at me. Then, she turns to one of her acquaintances and whispers something. The man nods. He removes his hat, and the rest follow suit. They don’t appear to be Persian, but neither are they Han; their looks are exotic and you cannot place their ethnicity. Turning to the Abbot and the audience, he introduces himself in perfect Han.

And besides, we defeated her, the only person to have defeated her, so sparring with us is in her best itnerests. Wether or not she wants to play the Ice Queen and give us the cold shoulder, well, that's up to her. Although I don't think she would drag us out all the way there just for that.

 

[treave]

They were only challenging the orthodox sects. If you join the fight it'll be as a freelancer of sorts. Your master's presence is not required.

Careful though, this isn't a tournament as much as it's a series of duels between two sides. Death isn't against the rules.

 

[Baltika9]

Oh, not a problem at all. Zhang Jue's techniques are made for killing, I'm sure he won't complain if we kill BJ.