[LP CYOA] 傳

[Tribute]

If you absolutely need to, you can drop out, or help another man win.

The problem is getting the Codex to actually commit to doing so.

 

[Baltika9]

It's one thing to gamble with our life, it's another to gamble with a huge political incident that can cost either side a war. No, this is a sensitive political situation, ergo we must be careful.

Master Zhang is disappointed with you. Both because you run away from a fight with their best combatants and because you are afraid of some 'incident'.

You insult and dishonor LORD ZHANG, but now dare to invoke His holy name for your own selfish ends? May karma strike you down, deceitful heathen.

 

[Anabanana]

Oh, I didn't discuss the angle about "hell yeah let's test out our techniques" mostly because I have no interest in it whatsoever and it's not a very compelling justification for coming in and showing off all our best techniques and potentially getting injured. Now, if we're talking about ensuring continuing peace with Tufan and figuring out the prince's intentions, that's something worth putting ourselves out there for, but if it's just "lololol I want to see how strong I am" then well. That's what the Huashan summit is for, and we can still dabble in technique-testing at the exhibition match.

And look, if we can talk/convince a gullible participant into giving us his invitation for the exhibition match, it's not too farfetched to think that we can do the same with the tournament itself. We fucked our way into Luoying Manor, remember? Where there's a will, there's a way.

Still, I probably wouldn't take that opportunity even if it presented itself. Depends on the information we gain, of course.

And yeah, we've already triggered civil war in Nippon already. We should be extra careful when it comes to things that might affect relationships between nations.

 

[ScubaV]

BA3

 

[Baltika9]

What's the tally?

 

[Nevill]

You insult and dishonor LORD ZHANG, but now dare to invoke His holy name for your own selfish ends? May karma strike you down, deceitful heathen.

You have no answer to that, do you? So disappointed.

The problem is getting the Codex to actually commit to doing so.

Well, the last time we didn't because there was absolutely no incentive to do so, but there was much to gain by winning the tournament.
If this time it turns out to be different, I can't see why we couldn't. Nobody here wants something bad for Jing.

And look, if we can talk/convince a gullible participant into giving us his invitation for the exhibition match, it's not too farfetched to think that we can do the same with the tournament itself. We fucked our way into Luoying Manor, remember? Where there's a will, there's a way.

Well, if you are going to be the only one with the mask and use your techs, I don't think you will remain unnoticed for long. Once your false identity comes up, then you'll have an incident on your hands. I don't think they will stand for this skullduggery when it affects the princess.

Tally:

Spoiler

Esquilax BA3
Kipeci A3C > AxC > AxBx
XenomorphII A3B
Nevill AxC>AxA2
Kashmir Slippers A2B
Rex Feral A1A1
Elfberserker BD>BC
profreshinal A2Bx
Fangshi BC>BB3
asxetos BA1>BAx
Baltika9 BA3
TOME A2A2>AxAx
Tigranes Bx
Anabanana BA2 > BC
ScubaV BA3

Ax - 1
A1 - 1
A2 - 3
A3 - 2
B - 8

A1 - 2
A2 -2
A3 - 3
C - 3
B - 3
D -1

 

[Baltika9]

Flopping to BA3.

 

[Anabanana]

I'm fine with forgoing the mask or flopping to C, actually. Since we're not actually going after the princess in the exhibition match, not sure if others would care too much.

...oh, pffft. I misread the choices. Let me edit my post. All right, I am now also at BA3.

EDIT: Oh, you were talking about the actual tournament. Well, we've learned rare Minamoto techniques, time to disguise Jing as a wandering swordsman from Nippon!

 

[Nevill]

If anyone going BA3 would be so kind as to answer this post.

It's one thing to gamble with our life, it's another to gamble with a huge political incident that can cost either side a war. No, this is a sensitive political situation, ergo we must be careful.

I find it hilarious how we refuse the tournament to not cause a diplomatic incident, but instead shove one of the contestants in a closet, take his identity, and then ditch it to waltz in without a mask. Obviously, we will totally not be recognized by the Eight Sects, the fact that we got in under the false identity will not come to light, and no one will ever ask what we did with the actual participant to get there.

It will certainly not turn into an incident. Definitely not.

...I'll flop to AxC > AxA2 > BA3

Now, if we're talking about ensuring continuing peace with Tufan and figuring out the prince's intentions, that's something worth putting ourselves out there for, but if it's just "lololol I want to see how strong I am" then well. That's what the Huashan summit is for, and we can still dabble in technique-testing at the exhibition match.

The Huashan summi is not where you see how strong you are - it would be kind of late for that, it is where you show how strong you are. Here, we can fool around, see if there are any weaknesses in our build and fix them. There, not so much.

The exhibition match is for show. The real challenge will be where the throne is on the line, and that is the tournament.

 

[Anabanana]

*shrugs* The diplomatic incident that's most likely to happen at this point is if we enter the tournament, win, and then not marry the princess. And really, would the Tufans be interested in a participant who could be so easily knocked out? Would they really care that much? They want the strongest martial artist for their princess after all. As for the Eight Sects, our reputation with them is already down the drain, I really don't think that doing this is going to affect our standing with them much.

But drawing less attention is nice too, so flopping to BA2 > BC then. : D

And yes, in theory testing out our skills would be nice, but I'm sure there'll be more opportunities for us to do that down the line (that do not involve marrying the princess) if it's just the fighting you're interested in. This IS an wuxia LP after all.

 

[Nevill]

The diplomatic incident that's most likely to happen at this point is if we enter the tournament, win, and then not marry the princess.

Absolutely. Which is why I suggest not doing it. And?

You are confusing the show with the tournament. The ones showing off are not the ones vying for the princess' hand.

Tufans would be very interested in finding out who let Xu Jing enter without an invitation. If you have friendly intentions, you probably shouldn't incapacitate the official participants left and right, else someone might misunderstand.

Where does it say the choice would concern our reputation with the Eight Sects, or that I care about it at all? What?
Really, are we reading the same text? All I have said is that they are going to recognize you if you go in without a mask, and if you are trying to take someone's name - which the choice specifically mentions you would be doing - then it is probably not the best of ideas.

And yes, in theory testing out our skills would be nice, but I'm sure there'll be more opportunities for us to do that down the line (that do not involve marrying the princess) if it's just the fighting you're interested in. This IS an wuxia LP after all.

Ah, yes. 'We can always do it later', huh.
When else will you come upon a chance to see the best of Tufan fighters in action, and test yourself against them? In battle, if the war breaks out? Wouldn't it be a bit too late for that?

No, this chance is unique.

 

[Anabanana]

Right, thought it was some kind of mixed affair.

But yeah, I flopped so. *shrugs* This is an exhibition match, we're not actually trying to win the princess's hand here, so I don't think it's going to cause the Tufans to throw a fit or anything, and if they do throw a fit, it has nothing to do with international relationships, just with Jing as an individual. Jing routinely pisses people off, this is nothing new.

I'm fine with a BC choice, myself; getting to fight the prince and surprise Yunzi is just a nice bonus that I can do without.

Well, it really depends on what kind of information you want to get, right? We can spend time trying to learn more about their fighting techniques, OR the current political situation in Tufan. It's not necessarily an exclusive choice that way, just a matter of what we choose to focus on.

Honestly, what this boils down to is your own personal priorities, so hey.

 

[Baltika9]

treave, how do these invitations for the banquet work: are they by name, or are they just tokens like the ones at the Young Tigers Tournament? This will influence my vote for the second choice, so I must know. Also, are both votes counted together or separately?

And yes, in theory testing out our skills would be nice, but I'm sure there'll be more opportunities for us to do that down the line (that do not involve marrying the princess) if it's just the fighting you're interested in. This IS an wuxia LP after all.

Ah, yes. 'We can always do it later', huh.
When you will come upon a chance to see the best of Tufan fighters in action, and test yourself against them? In battle, if the war breaks out? Wouldn't it be a bit too late for that?

We can just as easily observe the Turfags from the bleachers. With Cao'er's 10 PER (speaking of which, did she learn Reikan? Because that would be overkill.), our stealth and Qilin's poisons, we will have a lot of covert avenues open to us.
If it's a real challenge we want, then at our level it will only come from people on Yunzi's level (speaking of which, she still owes us a rematch). Rob Halford is always up for a fight as well, so there will be plenty of opportunities to test ourselves.
Hell, challenging the Turfag prince to a friendly match is the whole purpose of us going to the show, there's your test right there.

 

[Elfberserker]

After thinking about while I am really torn about entering the competition.

Possible gains from competition:
- Getting experience. Keeping low profile is great, but gaining actual fighting experience against different opponents makes Jing better fighter due seeing all kind of fighting styles
- Possible updating our information about orthodox world. We have been closed off from world for 2 years, this could be good way to at least get a common knowledge about current happening in the world.
- Possible to gain more experience how different 8 sects fight. We still don't have first hand experience how Shaolin or Wudang guys fight and fighting more Hueshan guys prepare our showdown with Nie wuxian or Bai Jiutian.
- Chance to test out our skills.


Possible bad things from competition:
-(?) Marrying princess. It seems that Codex isn't that eager to marry princess
- Word gets out that Man-tiger-pig has come out of training and has been dicking around here. OF course whatever this is bad or neutral is up to invidual Codexian.

 

[Nevill]

We can just as easily observe the Turfags from the bleachers. With Cao'er's 10 PER (speaking of which, did she learn Reikan? Because that would be overkill.), our stealth and Qilin's poisons, we will have a lot of covert avenues open to us.

Yes, because Jing is getting so much better experience when he is watching someone, not when he is sparring with them. He is all about theory.

If it's a real challenge we want, then at our level it will only come from people on Yunzi's level (speaking of which, she still owes us a rematch).

In this tournament, there may very well be people above Yunzi's level. This is a major event, after all. Like Huashan Summit major. Not every day they marry the princesses off.

Hell, challenging the Turfag prince to a friendly match is the whole purpose of us going to the show, there's your test right there.

How good is, say, Shun in a fight? If he is the prince, it does not mean that he is their best fighter.

-(?) Marrying princess. It seems that Codex isn't that eager to marry princess

If we don't want to marry her, how about we drop out in the last fight? Or if she has her eyes set upon someone, how about helping them win?

- Word gets out that Man-tiger-pig has come out of training and has been dicking around here. OF course whatever this is bad or neutral is up to invidual Codexian.

I can't possibly imagine how is that a bad or even a neutral thing. It's how it is. Whereever we go, we make a name for ourselves. This is good. We are not going into hiding once we get back in China, are we?

I just look at the list of the benefits, and the list of the drawbacks (the main one is marriage, and that can be avoided), and can't justify not participating.

 

[Elfberserker]

If we don't want to marry her, how about we drop out in the last fight? Or if she has her eyes set upon someone, how about helping them win?

We can do that, but Lot of people worry about that we won't drop out like in the last tournement. We also acknowledge that our opponent is stronger than we are in very public tournament and that doesn't do good to our badass reputation. Then again getting married to unknown woman might just be scary enough for codex to actual drop out.

I can't possibly imagine how is that a bad or even a neutral thing. It's how it is. Whereever we go, we make a name for ourselves. This is good. We are not going into hiding once we get back in China, are we?

Very true.

Flopping to A2A3>A2C>BD

 

[Jester]

BA2

 

[Baltika9]

If we don't want to marry her, how about we drop out in the last fight? Or if she has her eyes set upon someone, how about helping them win?

We can do that, but Lot of people worry about that we won't drop out like in the last tournement. We also acknowledge that our opponent is stronger than we are in very public tournament and that doesn't do good to our badass reputation. Then again getting married to unknown woman might just be scary enough for codex to actual drop out.

There are two true facts here:
We will not be dropping out of the competition if we enter. Jing doesn't forfeit his competitions once he enters them, and we don't forfeit our competitions once we enter them. It's not good or bad, I'm just saying that if we enter the tournament then we're pretty much committed to winning.
The Princess situation is very precarious: we do not really want to marry her, we don't even know her, and yet we are entering the tournament that is for her hand in marriage. And if we win the tournament and refuse the prize, that will be a major insult.

I dunno man, I just don't see this tournament as "worth it:" big names aren't taking part in it, Jing didn't recognize a single one when he was in town, and against guys like that, well, Jing won't get much experience with Unarmed 8 and Swords 7. After two years of Zhang Jue time, we need people that will really push us, like Yunzi. Same for testing our skills, we are just at that level where a merely good opponent won't do much for us.

And then there's the fact that every moment we spend preparing for and participating in the tournament, is every moment we can be gathering direct information about the Turfags and spending time with Yunzi/thawing her tsundere heart. If we commit ourselves to a three-way between Yunzi-intelligence gathering-FIGHTAN! then we will either have to forego one in favor of the others, or go for all and make mediocre gains at best.

As for getting a feel for the Eight Sects: we still have a year to adventure and visit their monasteries (Qi Liuwu is a must, so is Miecao; Fanghzhang and Big Wang are also guys that all of us want to pay our respects to). Let's focus on the two most important things here: Yunzi and the Turfag kingdom proper.

 

[Kipeci]

If this many people are not interested at all in marriage, then we will probably have no difficulty getting them to drum something up to set up the last match so that we lose... which may not even be necessary, depending on how badass the fighters here are. If Tibet has raised a number of fighters approaching the stronger guys of the Fire Cult, we may be up against some very stiff competition... we won't be limited to facing the youngest of trainees this time, after all.

That said, if we decide in the course of undergoing the tournament that it would be advantageous to win the tournament as we did at the Young Tigers one, why not have the option to go through with it?

 

[Baltika9]

That said, if we decide in the course of undergoing the tournament that it would be advantageous to win the tournament as we did at the Young Tigers one, why not have the option to go through with it?

Too much trouble for a questionable benefit. If we win, we really gotta marry the girl and that just gives us a whole new set of problems to deal with immediately and later down the line. Just not worth it.

 

[Kipeci]

We will not be dropping out of the competition if we enter. Jing doesn't forfeit his competitions once he enters them, and we don't forfeit our competitions once we enter them. It's not good or bad, I'm just saying that if we enter the tournament then we're pretty much committed to winning.

Thus far, Jing hasn't walked out of a chance to participate in a tournament, either. Jing will do what we want him to do when the choices pop up. If you guys are still so committed to the marriage not being a thing, then we can easily find some sort of way to bow out.

The Princess situation is very precarious: we do not really want to marry her, we don't even know her, and yet we are entering the tournament that is for her hand in marriage. And if we win the tournament and refuse the prize, that will be a major insult.

Sure we do, I'm all for marrying all the princesses we come across! It's not as if the situation with Yunzi was any different, yet you still want to marry her when she isn't a princess anymore

I dunno man, I just don't see this tournament as "worth it:" big names aren't taking part in it, Jing didn't recognize a single one when he was in town, and against guys like that, well, Jing won't get much experience with Unarmed 8 and Swords 7. After two years of Zhang Jue time, we need people that will really push us, like Yunzi. Same for testing our skills, we are just at that level where a merely good opponent won't do much for us.

Big names are taking in part in it, but they're the ones of the Tibetan Empire, not that of the Tang. Do you really think that no decent martial artist is going to compete when it's in a tournament this large for such a great prize? That there are even any fighters from the Central Plains taking part in this is a testament to what a big deal this is. Assuming that all these guys from an expansive empire across some of the harshest terrain on Earth are going to be pushovers who will simply roll over and die seems a little premature. The Fire Cult guys all train in this area, and that one temple was able to take on the orthodox sects and nearly win.

And then there's the fact that every moment we spend preparing for and participating in the tournament, is every moment we can be gathering direct information about the Turfags and spending time with Yunzi/thawing her tsundere heart. If we commit ourselves to a three-way between Yunzi-intelligence gathering-FIGHTAN! then we will either have to forego one in favor of the others, or go for all and make mediocre gains at best.

Treave specifically said that chances to gain information on these guys very well might open up more if we're a fighter of consequence in the tournament (not even one who goes all the way!) and I can certainly see the logic behind it. Intelligence-gathering is hard when Jing doesn't even speak the language of the area and they speak his poorly, yet if he makes himself an important figure in the matches then information and favor will naturally begin to flow towards him from certain circles. How do you plan on snooping around expertly to figure out what the highest authorities here have planned if there's not even a slight connection between the two? Anyway, we can still attend the tournament and meet up with Yunzi. Since she's one of those presiding over it, it in fact gives us more legitimate chances to meet up with her than just being some hobo hanging around.

As for getting a feel for the Eight Sects: we still have a year to adventure and visit their monasteries (Qi Liuwu is a must, so is Miecao; Fanghzhang and Big Wang are also guys that all of us want to pay our respects to). Let's focus on the two most important things here: Yunzi and the Turfag kingdom proper.

Yes, so that's why this tournament is an opportunity to work our way in with both. Wandering around and trying to be a super-sleuth when Jing is a Han Chinese with an eyepatch is doomed to failure. Even if Jing were to get married, he would surely be able to go for the Huashan Summit and meet his people along the way.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

A1A1>A2A2>Any A combo where we fight in the tournament

Anyone who does not want to fight as Man Tiger Pig is being a gigantic faggot. We just trained for 2 years and this LP is almost over. Let's kick some ass and take some names already.

And who is saying we have to marry? We're already a scoundrel. Let's just ditch if we don't want to marry her.

 

[Elfberserker]

If we don't want to marry her, how about we drop out in the last fight? Or if she has her eyes set upon someone, how about helping them win?

We can do that, but Lot of people worry about that we won't drop out like in the last tournement. We also acknowledge that our opponent is stronger than we are in very public tournament and that doesn't do good to our badass reputation. Then again getting married to unknown woman might just be scary enough for codex to actual drop out.

There are two true facts here:
We will not be dropping out of the competition if we enter. Jing doesn't forfeit his competitions once he enters them, and we don't forfeit our competitions once we enter them. It's not good or bad, I'm just saying that if we enter the tournament then we're pretty much committed to winning.
The Princess situation is very precarious: we do not really want to marry her, we don't even know her, and yet we are entering the tournament that is for her hand in marriage. And if we win the tournament and refuse the prize, that will be a major insult.

I dunno man, I just don't see this tournament as "worth it:" big names aren't taking part in it, Jing didn't recognize a single one when he was in town, and against guys like that, well, Jing won't get much experience with Unarmed 8 and Swords 7. After two years of Zhang Jue time, we need people that will really push us, like Yunzi. Same for testing our skills, we are just at that level where a merely good opponent won't do much for us.

And then there's the fact that every moment we spend preparing for and participating in the tournament, is every moment we can be gathering direct information about the Turfags and spending time with Yunzi/thawing her tsundere heart. If we commit ourselves to a three-way between Yunzi-intelligence gathering-FIGHTAN! then we will either have to forego one in favor of the others, or go for all and make mediocre gains at best.

As for getting a feel for the Eight Sects: we still have a year to adventure and visit their monasteries (Qi Liuwu is a must, so is Miecao; Fanghzhang and Big Wang are also guys that all of us want to pay our respects to). Let's focus on the two most important things here: Yunzi and the Turfag kingdom proper.

Last time we entered a tournament, We didn't have to worry about getting married and I think that can be pretty big determent for winning the tournament. Even if we refuse the hand then we are insulting the Turfaqs, not the imperial court. We are pretty much very strong independent fighter with unorthodox reputation.

As for no-names participating.

Jing has been cut off from rest of the world for 2 years. Who knows what kind of strong fighters have only started to make names for themselves, besides we were pretty unknown before we won the Young tiger competition. Even if there wasn't big name from eight sect I still think that fighting and getting firsthand experience from their styles serves us well in the long run. Besides who knows what amazing fighters Turfaqs them self have.

There is also chance to gather information from fighters themselves. After all not only eight sect guys are participating and it's not only limited to young guys like Jing.

I think that we are not that critical guy in finding out what Turfaqs are planning about near future. I bet that Shu has already taken countermeasures against these guys and has actually send spies to investigate. Shu had already heard about possible invasion from us about 2 years ago? I don't remember it very well, but I do know that he has much better guys spying than us.

 

[Sunnmøring]

A2 A2

I really like the idea of going as Shameless with a wolf mask...

 

[Baltika9]

Elfberserker, you make good points. I will wait for treave to answer my question and decide from there.