[LP CYOA] 傳

[Nevill]

Perhaps it was used to clean out the pit every now and then but over time was forgotten. Perhaps when the secret police took over the upper tunnels the lower ones fell into disuse or something.

Or perhaps it once served the same purpose as BDS tunnels did, and were meant as a way to escape the palace. And they were repurposed to a prison/body dump pile just recently (well, in terms of Chinese history lenght). It could happen.

The question is, would you stake your and Qilin's life on a chance that is slim to begin with?

It seems like the pit has not been used all that often since Yang was tossed in and there are no other boulders in the pit which suggests that no one of Yang's ability has been thrown in within recent memory.

The chamber might have been solitary since the beginning.

Again I just do not like the idea of spending a month or two with Yang, what if he gets bored or hungry or forgets that he was supposed to be tormenting us and decides to attack again, we can't actually stop him after all.

I don't know. We have proof that he can be quite lucid when the situation does not concern the former Emperor. He is not outright malicious towards us.

Even if it washes out into another huge underground cavern, it would be a huge improvement over this.

Why? Nobody would ever find us there, and we can end up trapped for real. Assuming we even will be washed up to a cavern, and not drown because the stream does not resurface anywhere near.

Because treave took our overwhelming "spreading ourselves too thin!" sentiment very seriously and we won't be getting a choice, Jing will be grinding away at that kicking technique of his (admittedly, it sounds absolutely awesome).

That is fine as well, isn't is?

Oh, there definitely is an ordinary way out of here. Thing is, he's guarding it.

Is he? I don't see him making any attempts to stop us from leaving.

 

[Absinthe]

Nevill, I just can't imagine Yang Xue didn't already try this route and fail. If we wait here, I expect Cao'er will bring people to rescue us (between her amazing memory and perception, she should be able to point out the way). Shun's a bro and he wouldn't abandon us, and if we focus more on improving our rat-catching skill we should be able to survive.

 

[Baltika9]

Why? Nobody would ever find us there, and we can end up trapped for real. Assuming we even will be washed up to a cavern.

Which I doubt will happen in the first place, but if it does then we can just continue spelunking downstream until we find our way out. There will be an abundance of cave fish and a deficit of insane Nosferatu.

Is he? I don't see him making any attempts to stop us from leaving.

Of course, where else can we go but past him? I'm sure he'd love to see us try, for his own lulz. It's pretty obvious that, if he got out of here, there is a way out. If it's not in the areas we explored, then it's in the areas we haven't explored, and those are the areas past him. Unless he can fly.
...
...
...

He can fly, can't he?

 

[Fangshi]

The question is, would you stake your and Qilin's life on a chance that is slim to begin with?

Well yeah, I am voting for B2 for that reason. I mean he is completely insane, all it would take is one psychotic episode and he would kill both Jing and Quilin. If we did not amuse him as much as we do we would already both be dead and if he gets bored he really has no reason not to attack us.

As a secondary concern if we spend a lot of time down here our friends may come looking for us. None of them are a match for this guy and if he catches them alone in the dark, well... I would rather take the risk now then have Cao'er try to sneak back in with a "rescue" party.

The chamber might have been solitary since the beginning.

Definitely a possibility, we just do not know enough about the place to do anything but guess.

 

[Nevill]

Yang Xue can always leave through the upper tunnels. He does not want to leave. His mind is forever stuck in this place - he can not conceive the Emperor could no longer care about him.

Which I doubt will happen in the first place, but if it does then we can just continue spelunking downstream until we find our way out.

I don't even... All it would take is for one such trip to last longer than 2 or 3 minutes, and you are done.

If it's not in the areas we explored, then it's in the areas we haven't explored, and those are the areas past him. Unless he can fly.

We did not explore the tunnels further for the fear of getting lost, not because of Xue's interference. There is nothing that would indicate that he would try and stop us.

He is perpetually hungry, but he can control his hunger, else he would have eaten us long ago. Maybe defying the odds until we find our own way is the thing that would amuse him. He is pretty defiant himself.

As a secondary concern if we spend a lot of time down here our friends may come looking for us. None of them are a match for this guy and if he catches them alone in the dark, well...

There were 2 or 3 known cases of him attacking people over 30 years. The data is so miniscule, you didn't believe he was there in the first place! Come on! He does not usually do that.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Hm, I'd like to contest this notion. It seemed to me the reason A won was because folks wanted Jing to branch out a bit more instead of being overspecialized in hand techniques, which he did. Those of us who voted B obviously had no compunctions against learning more techniques either. If you've no preference on this, it may be better to put this matter to a vote in the next update, assuming B1 wins.

Yeah, if we already got a level 5 in the kicking technique what is the reason why we couldn't pick up something else as well if we are staying here? Like say, a unique claw technique that we will have no opportunity to learn anywhere else? I don't think the writings were set to self-destruct after reading, so maybe the madman will evict us if we try to learn more? Or maybe staying in the chamber would interfere with our attempts to find a way out?

Oh, there definitely is an ordinary way out of here. Thing is, he's guarding it.

Wait, how do you know he's guarding the exit? He hasn't opposed us searching for the exit so far. If anything, him guarding a certain passage would be a dead giveaway on where to look, and he would have to go catch some rats at some point, giving us a chance to slip by. But I don't think so - the exit is in one of those endless passages, but it's just a bitch to find.

Of course, the surest way out of here that we know of is through the hole we fell into. Let's see, we got super abilities (light body?), lots of strength and agility, and even some equipment - torches, two high quality swords, a dagger (possibly more if Qilin or those dead agents had some), a long next-to-unbreakable thread to use as a safety line... And we even know we can probably survive the fall. Still risky, but compared to a complete gamble that is jumping in the unknown cave stream...

 

[Baltika9]

Oh, there definitely is an ordinary way out of here. Thing is, he's guarding it.

Wait, how do you know he's guarding the exit? He hasn't opposed us searching for the exit so far. If anything, him guarding a certain passage would be a dead giveaway on where to look, and he would have to go catch some rats at some point, giving us a chance to slip by. But I don't think so - the exit is in one of those endless passages, but it's just a bitch to find.

Is he? I don't see him making any attempts to stop us from leaving.

Of course, where else can we go but past him? I'm sure he'd love to see us try, for his own lulz. It's pretty obvious that, if he got out of here, there is a way out. If it's not in the areas we explored, then it's in the areas we haven't explored, and those are the areas past him. Unless he can fly.
...
...
...

He can fly, can't he?

Also, he wants us around, for food and socialization before that. If there is an exit in our part, he won;t let us leave so easily. After thirty years in the caves, I'm sure he knows the layout by memory.

 

[treave]

Hm, I'd like to contest this notion. It seemed to me the reason A won was because folks wanted Jing to branch out a bit more instead of being overspecialized in hand techniques, which he did. Those of us who voted B obviously had no compunctions against learning more techniques either. If you've no preference on this, it may be better to put this matter to a vote in the next update, assuming B1 wins.

Fair enough, and I'd also be interested in seeing whether people would suddenly flop on their previous stand and give up certain mastery of a technique over the possibility of adding a new attack to their repertoire.

But I can't confirm anything because you don't know how long you'll be staying in B1, or if anything else might happen in the meantime. You might not have enough time to learn anything if you focus your activity primarily on finding a way out, for example. And I'd assume that's the main thing you want to do.
Though you could always ask to stay down here with Qilin till you've learnt all you could from the walls. I'm fine with that.

 

[Nevill]

If it's not in the areas we explored, then it's in the areas we haven't explored, and those are the areas past him.

And? He is in no way stopping you from exploring them.

Also, he wants us around, for food and socialization before that.

He got his socialization. As for food... if he isn't murdering us because we are stealing his rats, his motivations are not that simple.

Though you could always ask to stay down here with Qilin till you've learnt all you could from the walls. I'm fine with that.

 

[RealDDc]

We could give another freeform attempt a try...

Hows about we get some investigation going before before we jump into the stream?

I mean we could possibly try one or another thing, like we stood infront of an abyss into the ground we could just jump in or drop a stone in first and messure the depth by the time it takes to hear the thudding sound.

So we have a water stream and not the slightest idea how far it'll carry us until we reach a more open water cavern, another waterfall or a sea. We have a nearly limitless lenghty wire with the spider silk, if we attach that wire to some air filled floater we could set it down the water and let the stream carry it away, the streams drag would carry it so far until it reaches stagnant water then it would float to the surface and we would know the distance. As floater we could use inner parts of a rat, or that condom we carry with us and never use.

Safety first!

 

[Fangshi]

There were 2 or 3 known cases of him attacking people over 30 years. The data is so minuscule, you didn't believe he was there in the first place! Come on! He does not usually do that.

Well technically I was right; I did not believe a monster was there and I was right. I even said a prisoner may be trapped down there and I was right. So yeah, called it I guess and I am quite happy with the outcome.

The Emperor got away, mission accomplished, now we just have to escape.

Now he does not just attack random people, for the most part, that is true. But the secret police do not go down into his part of the tunnels, our friends will. The secret police do not try to steal his playthings (Jing and Quilin), our friends will. And so he may just try and attack them, if they try to take us with them he may well attack them, if they try to leave once they have caught his interest he may just attack them. He is insane and we can not reasonably say what will set him off.

The way I think of him is like a very mean dog that has a new bone or a cat playing with a mouse. He is toying with us, he wants to see if one of us will break and eat the other and once we do there is no way to know what will happen. He may let the survivor go or he may kill them, just no was to tell really. And if someone tries to ruin his game it seems likely that he will attack. Alternatively he may let our friends pass, reach us and then trap us all down there with not enough food and no way past him. If he holds the tunnels he prevents us from using numbers against him and he is more than a match for anyone but Zhang or the Great Taoist. If he does not want us to leave he could pick our party apart in the tunnels, we would not reach the surface unless he decides to let us.

 

[Baltika9]

Though you could always ask to stay down here with Qilin till you've learnt all you could from the walls. I'm fine with that.

Hahaha, I would like that very, very much. Let's see how much interest there is in that before I possibly flop. If we spend our time down here training from these writings, well, I'm down with staying here for a while and get better at snatching rats from the Nosferatu primogen.

 

[Nevill]

Hahaha, I would like that very, very much. Let's see how much interest there is in that before I possibly flop. If we spend our time down here training from these writings, well, I'm down with staying here for a while and get better at snatching rats from the Nosferatu primogen.

Only if we would be simultanously working on that Qilin romance as well.
Actually, let's not leave until Chi Tianxie has his grandkids. The cavern looks like a comfortable place to settle in.
Nevermind, let's not leave at all. The surfaccce is a very grim, dangerous place, yesss, my precious...

 

[Baltika9]

Only if we would be simultanously working on that Qilin romance as well.

Now why didn't we think of this sooner. treave, can Jing and Qilin train together and work to snatch more rats from Absimiliard Yang Xue? That way they can get better and closer, if you catch my drift, and less likely to die when the old fogey flips his shit.

 

[Nevill]

But I can't confirm anything because you don't know how long you'll be staying in B1, or if anything else might happen in the meantime.

treave, how far away is the Fire Cult's challenge? A month away? A month and a half?
We met Cao'er early, then we spent about a month recovering, then some time travelling to Guzhou, and then about a month in preparations for the plan. By my account, we should have about a month left, though I may have missed something.

 

[Zero Credibility]

We could give another freeform attempt a try...

Hows about we get some investigation going before before we jump into the stream?

I mean we could possibly try one or another thing, like we stood infront of an abyss into the ground we could just jump in or drop a stone in first and messure the depth by the time it takes to hear the thudding sound.

So we have a water stream and not the slightest idea how far it'll carry us until we reach a more open water cavern, another waterfall or a sea. We have a nearly limitless lenghty wire with the spider silk, if we attach that wire to some air filled floater we could set it down the water and let the stream carry it away, the streams drag would carry it so far until it reaches stagnant water then it would float to the surface and we would know the distance. As floater we could use inner parts of a rat, or that condom we carry with us and never use.

Safety first!

Hmm, snakes can survive for a long time without air, can't they? And Qilin is an expert in Wudu Fushun so she can use her animals as scouts, right?

Let's go snake fishin'.

 

[treave]

Now why didn't we think of this sooner. treave, can Jing and Qilin train together and work to snatch more rats from Absimiliard Yang Xue?

That's part of B1.

treave, how far away is the Fire Cult's challenge? A month away? A month and a half?

A bit more than a month, yes.

 

[Zero Credibility]

But I can't confirm anything because you don't know how long you'll be staying in B1, or if anything else might happen in the meantime. You might not have enough time to learn anything if you focus your activity primarily on finding a way out, for example. And I'd assume that's the main thing you want to do.

Hey, that's just fine with me. If we find an exist soon, perfect! But if not and we are stuck in this chamber anyway, why the hell not learn something new?

Is he? I don't see him making any attempts to stop us from leaving.

Of course, where else can we go but past him? I'm sure he'd love to see us try, for his own lulz. It's pretty obvious that, if he got out of here, there is a way out. If it's not in the areas we explored, then it's in the areas we haven't explored, and those are the areas past him. Unless he can fly.
...
...
...

He can fly, can't he?

Also, he wants us around, for food and socialization before that. If there is an exit in our part, he won;t let us leave so easily. After thirty years in the caves, I'm sure he knows the layout by memory.

Nothing so far indicated he is guarding anything, including those passages. We know they seem endless, so he hasn't prevent us from entering them. We haven't proceeded further not because of him, but because we were afraid of getting lost.

 

[Baltika9]

But I can't confirm anything because you don't know how long you'll be staying in B1, or if anything else might happen in the meantime. You might not have enough time to learn anything if you focus your activity primarily on finding a way out, for example. And I'd assume that's the main thing you want to do.

Hey, that's just fine with me. If we find an exist soon, perfect! But if not and we are stuck in this chamber anyway, why the hell not learn something new?

What he;s trying to say is, we can choose to dedicate all of our efforts to finding an exit. We may or may not succeed, we don't know, but if we fail, then we have wasted our time looking for an exit that's not there. Which is why I'd rather we devote our whole time in B1 to mastering the techniques on the wall. Since Qilin and Jing will be training together, that bodes well for their alone time. I'll see how much interest there is in this plan of dedicating ourselves to studying the manuals before I flop.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Well, I'm kind of for the opposite - make finding a way out a priority and the technique an afterthought. But even if we concentrate on finding a way out we are still likely to spend significant amount of time in this chamber (our for the lack of a better word camp is here and the food is here) so we might as well use what little time we can for some reading.

 

[Baltika9]

But even if we concentrate on finding a way out we are still likely to spend significant amount of time in this chamber (our for the lack of a better word camp is here and the food is here) so we might as well use what little time we can for some reading.

Unless we get lost. Bottom line, unless we get really lucky and escape in less than a month, B1 means missing out on the Fire Cult's challenge. And if we do, then what's our rush? Better to get out of here stronger and more skilled than ever thanks to Yang Xue's manuals so that we actually have the means to win Zhang Jue's challenge.

Otherwise, we'll be screwing ourselves over: we miss the tournament and our chance at prestige and we miss out on learning these sweet-ass techniques for who knows how long? Why screw ourselves like that? Better to risk the quick way with B2, then.

Plus, alone time with Qilin, about time Jing got over his issues, maybe reverting to the natural order of man-provider, woman-nourisher will be enough for him. /WCDS /Lyric Suite

 

[MystiKnight]

B1 for the implied relation points with Qilin.

 

[Ganymede]

A2

Face up to the inevitable codex, the arm has to go. Witness your destiny.

Spoiler

 

[Anabanana]

Look, B2 is a gamble along the same lines as "show YX the wolf fang". We could surface, yes, but really, in any gamble you should be looking at the worst case scenario and in B2's worst case scenario we end up dead.

B1, in contrast, worst case scenario we miss the Fire Cult challenge. Big deal. And also miss out on spear and bat claw techniques.

A1's worst case scenario is not worth talking about.

A2's worst case scenario, we lose an arm and gain a permanent stat loss.

I'm still voting for A2 because I think it's worth it, but I much prefer B1 over B2.

 

[profreshinal]

A1>B2