[LP CYOA] 傳

[Akkudakku]

Actually, we were offered a chance to stop by the BDS if we went with C. Jing have promised to himself to look for a way to expose them and to free the slaves they keep, and it bothered me greatly that we let them run amok for two years without lifting a finger. Perhaps a loud deed like that could sway the opinion about us for certain people. Still, since all of the choices invole the hunt for the manual, I expect that people would try and milk them for information and opportunities rather than outright destroy them, and I don't know if the latter is even possible for a single person.

And we still don't know if there are contacts in Yangzhou that would be willing to work with us on different terms than the ones Du Yao offered.

Lets kill us some slavers then!

 

[Esquilax]

I just want to get right on clearing our name with the Beggar Sect, and then hopefully having their information network spread the good word about us after the beating our reputation took because we weren't there to explain our actions/motives.

Talk is cheap, the only way that we'll be able to turn things around is through deeds. When it comes to words, we will never be able to compete with the spin doctoring that Bai Jiutian is capable of. Really, only something stupidly heroic might get them thinking otherwise. That, and of course exposing Zhang Manxing as the piece of shit that he is. The Beggars' Sect reputation isn't really a big problem, as we only took a -5 rep hit with them.

Actually, we were promised a chance to stop by the BDS if we went with C. Jing have promised to himself to look for a way to expose them and to free the slaves they keep, and it bothered me greatly that we let them run amok for two years without lifting a finger. Perhaps a loud deed like that could sway the opinion about us for certain people. Still, since all of the choices invole the hunt for the manual, I expect that people would try and milk them for information and opportunities rather than outright destroy them, and I don't know if the latter is even possible for a single person.

Taking on the Black Dragon Society, just Xu Jing, Song Lingshu and Yifang? I like it, but it's completely fucking nuts and is probably certain death. That seems like Youxia City II, and I wasn't really a fan of the original.

But let's entertain this insane idea without necessarily accepting it:

Tier Four
Gao Ying, Yifang, Hei Brothers
Murong Yandi, Liu Chanfeng
Xu Jing, Yunzi, Guo Fu
Su Liaojing, Yiling, Song Lingshu
Wu Brothers, Shaolin Xu Monks

Old list, but Yifang should be on par with the Hei brothers assuming they haven't gotten better. She's out of practice, so she's probably at the same level she was before. For our part, we are leagues better than we were two years ago due to Maniac Training II and our experience at the Fire Temple. That being said, I'm not sure if this would be a fight that we can win because of the sort of unorthodox techniques and poisons that BDS mercs would likely have. We had our throat slashed by a fucking bun salesman in Youxia City, after all, so if we rolled up, I doubt it would be a straight fight. And I'm getting the impression that your average BDS fighter is a bit tougher than your Eight Sects pugilist, so you'd have to deal with numbers as well.

All in all, this would probably be the most insane bit of YOLOTIGERing that we have done so far. Odds are bad.

And we still don't know if there are contacts in Yangzhou that would be willing to work with us on different terms than the ones Du Yao offered.

Well, we had a lot of options at Youxia City, it's just that out of all of them, we decided to visit the Godfather. That being said, yeah, we'd likely have to do some favours for shady people to get intel. On the other hand, at least these ruthless criminals would be willing to deal with us at the moment - the same cannot be said for the orthodox sects. Though to be fair, maybe some Beggars might still deal with us.

 

[Tigranes]

Ugh. Alright, I've thought about this, and by failing to kill Zhang we have pretty much come out the worst possible arse-end. Nothing to be done about it now, but we have to be aware that we cannot expect support from anybody orthodox for a while, and we will indeed have to prove ourselves again. I.e. Emei will not immediately write us off as terrible human beings, but we'll have to do something to show we are, on the whole, still trollish Robin Hood Jing. (Ironically, the greatest fallout may be with Bai Jiutian; he was for the most part holding up his end of the bargain, and we might have hoped for a relationship where if our interests coincide we can temporarily work together. That is probably all gone now, though the fact that he's the one that sent Zhang means he's not clean, either.)

Anyway, that means two things. We cannot risk Song Lingshu dying in our care, because just imagine. I think 1C has a pretty good chance of succeeding, sure, but if it does fail, then basically we've killed several men, corrupted Song and lured / kidnappe dher, and then we actually killed her or at least allowed her to die. The fallout would be unimaginable. Either people will think we are basically Worst Thing Ever, or that even if we meant well, we screwed things up royally and Song might have been much better off marrying Mao Sanjiao. Throughout this entire sidequest, our primary aim was to ensure Song can take over the sect. That should still be our goal.

As for where to go, Emei is clearly out, and while I don't like Yuhua Hall very much, the question is whether Chang'an will get us embroiled in another mess where we risk alienating our orthodox quasi-friends even further. I'm not prepared for Jing to go full evil and side with the BDS or anything like that. Jing is still loyal to Shun and his behaviour across the entire epic has been 'in the end, a decent guy' - and that is what Cao'er and Qilin and Yunzi, etc. believe too. Zhang Manxing was an error but in the future we will have a chance to explain ourselves (he tried to rape my friends/wives) or at least make up for it. Chang'an is a possibility either of getting into another altercation with the orthodox world and making things worse, or having an opportunity to help the orthodox world or at least restore our Good Troll pattern.

BB > BC for now. Definitely don't want to be Rapist Jing or Jing Let Song Die Jing.

 

[Akkudakku]

Then again first time that Jing went to BDS was when he was completly fucked over physicaly and he couldnt fight at all.

 

[Absinthe]

My vote seems to be getting miscounted. For the first choice I am voting A or B, whichever is higher, so it should be interpreted as B for now (considering that B is higher).

Lambchop19, GreyViper, Azira, ERYFKRAD

Any of the A voters want to flop or make conditional votes for B? I agree that risking Song Lingshu's death just because you're not comfortable with sex is a bad way to solve the situation. I just figure we're going to get mired in more shit trying to look for an antidote. I don't know how high Song Lingshu's endurance is but if I had to say, not that high.

 

[Akkudakku]

floppity flop AC>BC>CC

 

[Azira]

Nah. I appreciate the thought, but I'm voting for the Rance option. If that doesn't win, I'm OK with either B and C both.

 

[Kipeci]

How does it risk her life when sex can be applied any minute, though? Cao'er has 10 herbalism, she can tell us that sex is mandatory before it reaches that point.

 

[Akkudakku]

How does it risk her life when sex can be applied any minute, though? Cao'er has 10 herbalism, she can tell us that sex is mandatory before it reaches that point.

Herbalism governs antidotes and herbs, not monitoring health, but whatever.

 

[Esquilax]

Then again first time that Jing went to BDS was when he was completly fucked over physicaly and he couldnt fight at all.

Exactly. Which is why we pretended and went through the place on pure bravado and reputation.

But I wouldn't underestimate these guys. They managed to destroy the Wunan Sect two years ago, and given how Mao Sanjiao has gotten stronger over the past two years and his close ties to the group, I wouldn't be surprised if the Black Dragon Society's fortunes have risen with them. If we were to somehow reveal Mao Sanjiao's ties to the underworld and the Imperial Court, then maybe that's a way to improve our rep slightly.

Any of the A voters want to flop or make conditional votes for B? I agree that risking Song Lingshu's death just because you're not comfortable with sex is a bad way to solve the situation. I just figure we're going to get mired in more shit trying to look for an antidote. I don't know how high Song Lingshu's endurance is but if I had to say, not that high.

This isn't about sex being icky, this is about people not being robots that don't act in such "rational", easily predictable ways. A would involve Jing having sex Song Lingshu while she's high on aphrodisiac and without her consent, after she witnessed us brutally slaughtering four men. B would involve coaxing Yifang into breaking her vows so that she could fix a situation that really isn't her responsibility in the first place. Why should she have to break her vows because we fucked up? In light of that, I am willing to risk a trip to the drug store.

Herbalism governs antidotes and herbs, not monitoring health, but whatever.

Cao'er is the best physician in China, short of the Killing Physician, and even then it's close. Safe to say that she's pretty fucking good at monitoring someone's health.

Also, Yifang will be with Cao'er and Qilin regardless with C. If they are desperate and need to apply the cure before we get there, I'm sure they'll do it and Yifang will do what needs to be done. But we have to try to do things cleanly at least.

 

[Akkudakku]

Any of the A voters want to flop or make conditional votes for B? I agree that risking Song Lingshu's death just because you're not comfortable with sex is a bad way to solve the situation. I just figure we're going to get mired in more shit trying to look for an antidote. I don't know how high Song Lingshu's endurance is but if I had to say, not that high.

This isn't about sex being icky, this is about people not being robots that don't act in such "rational", easily predictable ways. A would involve Jing having sex Song Lingshu while she's high on aphrodisiac and without her consent, after she witnessed us brutally slaughtering four men. B would involve coaxing Yifang into breaking her vows so that she could fix a situation that really isn't her responsibility in the first place. Why should she have to break her vows because we fucked up? In light of that, I am willing to risk a trip to the drug store.

Herbalism governs antidotes and herbs, not monitoring health, but whatever.

Cao'er is the best physician in China, short of the Killing Physician, and even then it's close. Safe to say that she's pretty fucking good at monitoring someone's health.

1. But it's Wuxia, people think differently about these things! Also it's for doublestandards Justice!
2. I was being nitpicking towards his misguided statement ;p

 

[Absinthe]

This isn't about sex being icky, this is about people not being robots that don't act in such "rational", easily predictable ways.

That doesn't make any sense.

A would involve Jing having sex Song Lingshu while she's high on aphrodisiac and without her consent, after she witnessed us brutally slaughtering four men.

Fair enough, so vote B.

B would involve coaxing Yifang into breaking her vows so that she could fix a situation that really isn't her responsibility in the first place. Why should she have to break her vows because we fucked up?

Yifang already ended her vows. She's not a nun anymore, remember? She's free to do whatever she decides.

In light of that, I am willing to risk a trip to the drug store.

No, you are willing to risk Song Lingshu getting killed. She doesn't seem to be the high endurance type. Her condition will deteriorate and we don't have that solid of a guarantee that we'll freely find the meds. I can't help but suspect that C is the kind of option that results in Song Lingshu turning into a corpse as the situation goes from bad to way the fuck worse.

I'd rather not put it up to chance.

 

[Kipeci]

Yifang already ended her vows. She's not a nun anymore, remember?

Oh, so that makes it right to manipulate her into having not really consensual sex with her best friend due to our goof. Alright, then.

2. I was being nitpicking towards his misguided statement ;p

Fair enough, I'll still say that her vast knowledge of various ailments combined with her mega perception and strange eye stuff will allow her to know what's going on.

 

[Absinthe]

Oh, so that makes it right to manipulate her into having not really consensual sex with her best friend due to our goof. Alright, then.

The alternative is risking Song Lingshu's death. This isn't manipulation. There are valid reasons for deciding "...apparently you need to fuck" here.

 

[Kipeci]

Oh, so that makes it right to manipulate her into having not really consensual sex with her best friend due to our goof. Alright, then.

The alternative is risking Song Lingshu's death. This isn't manipulation. There are valid reasons for deciding "...apparently you need to fuck" here.

Risking her death. When Cao'er is right next to her and can say at any time that sex is a medical necessity to avoid death and designate whoever's present with the task, or do it herself. Right.

 

[Esquilax]

Yifang already ended her vows. She's not a nun anymore, remember?

Yifang may no longer be at Emei, but she never stopped being a nun, not in her heart, at least:

“So, why did you stop being a nun anyway?” asks Qilin. The four of you are sitting in a Chengdu restaurant, having spent some time gathering information about the Qingcheng Sect before making your approach.

“Grandfather and Grandmother needed someone to take care of them, and my sister was… well…” Yifang casts an awkward look at Cao’er, who only gazes back blankly. “What?” says Cao’er brusquely. It seems like there is a bit of friction between the two sisters – Cao’er had spent the better part of the last two years with you on the island, and that had left only Yifang to take care of Yao and Miecao in their old age.

She only left Emei because she had to take care of her grandparents. She might not be at the convent anymore, but she's definitely still a nun. I don't know how her monastic vows of celibacy work, but it's quite possible that she could have left Emei without ending her vows. I don't see why it'd be mutually exclusive.

No, you are willing to risk Song Lingshu getting killed. Her condition will deteriorate and we don't have that solid of a guarantee that we'll freely find the meds.

I'd rather not put it up to chance.

Well, from the way I understood the choice, we'd be picking up the antidote while our party stayed at the hut:

You would rather hold out for the antidote. You will purchase the ingredients and have Song Lingshu hold out for a few more days so that Cao’er can prepare it properly. You are not very sure if Miss Song would appreciate the traditional curing method all that much.

I could be wrong in my understanding, but it seems to be that if things get desperate, then someone can still administer 'the cure', but I'd rather we exhaust alternatives before that happens. Yeah, her dying is a distinct possibility if this progresses for more than a few days, but this is a trip to the pharmacy we're talking about. I'm not saying that showing our face at Chengdu won't cause difficulties for us - there are lots of people at Qingcheng that are looking for us, probably - but I really dislike the alternatives that much.

 

[Tigranes]

Don't get me wrong, Yifang's vows are important, but I think even she would agree that Song Lingshu's life is far more important and that her doing it is better than Jing boning her.

As to "we can bone her if she's really about to die", I don't know. Something tells me that we wouldn't have such a choice here if there was such an easy way out. Watch Song go critical while we're in town and then someone walks in on us doing it, or Song experiences some unexpected permanent aftereffects as she was not cured quickly enough, or we get caught by someone before we buy the herbs and then word gets out we're carrying an apparently incapacitated Song together with the apprentice of the man who tried to murder her + someone from the poison sect...

 

[Absinthe]

You're assuming Song Lingshu's condition will stay stable. I'm assuming the condition will deteriorate because otherwise her body shouldn't give out from the strain if left unpurged. I'm not in the mood for unnecessary risks right now, so I say lets just fuck and be done with it.

Besides, "you are not very sure if Miss Song would appreciate the traditional curing method all that much." We don't really seem to be scoring any points by taking this kind of unnecessary risk here.

I'm basically anticipating that C will screw us over somehow.

 

[Kipeci]

She won't be in town. Jing's getting the supplies, as I understand it everyone else is staying there.

Besides, "you are not very sure if Miss Song would appreciate the traditional curing method all that much." We don't really seem to be scoring any points by taking this kind of unnecessary risk here.

The traditional cure is the sex.

 

[Absinthe]

I figure the traditional cure would mean traditional medicine, but now that you mention it, I suppose I could be misreading it. Well, we can forget about this line for now since it can go either way.

or we get caught by someone before we buy the herbs and then word gets out we're carrying an apparently incapacitated Song together with the apprentice of the man who tried to murder her + someone from the poison sect...

Oh fuck. I think Tigranes has a very plausible situation right here. We get caught with Song on date rape drugs after taking her away from the wedding. This is going to be a disaster. We're basically going to develop a reputation as a kidnapper and rapist thanks to Zhang Manxing.

 

[profreshinal]

It doesn't really make any sense for treave to have multiple choices that have the same outcome he avoids that shit as the plague. So C is gonna go different then A or B.

The moral dilemma of sex/no sex can't really be solved by todays moral standards. We have to look at moral standards of the Wuxia setting. We've already seen 2 case of sex-healing/curing, songfeng was not real but the lady believed in it and fulfilled her duty. And the healing of Ying right after the clash with Ahura. I see signs that this is practiced in this setting so unless there's some great taboo I don't around this in the Wuxia setting it should work out fine.

 

[Akkudakku]

I could be wrong in my understanding, but it seems to be that if things get desperate, then someone can still administer 'the cure', but I'd rather we exhaust alternatives before that happens. Yeah, her dying is a distinct possibility if this progresses for more than a few days, but this is a trip to the pharmacy we're talking about. I'm not saying that showing our face at Chengdu won't cause difficulties for us - there are lots of people at Qingcheng that are looking for us, probably - but I really dislike the alternatives that much.

So if we go antidote hunting with Cao'er and we are the only person that can make Yifang do 'the right thing' - Song dies.

 

[Akkudakku]

It doesn't really make any sense for treave to have multiple choices that have the same outcome he avoids that shit as the plague. So C is gonna go different then A or B.

The moral dilemma of sex/no sex can't really be solved by todays moral standards. We have to look at moral standards of the Wuxia setting. We've already seen 2 case of sex-healing/curing, songfeng was not real but the lady believed in it and fulfilled her duty. And the healing of Ying right after the clash with Ahura. I see signs that this is practiced in this setting so unless there's some great taboo I don't around this in the Wuxia setting it should work out fine.

Exactly this is Wuxia setting while you guys are thinking with todays standards.

 

[Kipeci]

Yeah, we're going to develop a reputation as a rapist! We better avoid that by actually raping a girl, goodness knows we need to keep that immaculate reputation we have.

Sex-healing can be a thing, but we need to think about how the person recieving it would feel about it. We pretty much know that Song would not like it, so we should cut this crap about how people have different standards when we pretty much know that she specifically wouldn't like it.

So if we go antidote hunting and we are the only person that can make Yifang do 'the right thing' - Song dies.

Yifang isn't the only option, you know? It's just that she's Song's best friend, so we figured it'd be better if it was her than Cao'er or something. If they can't convince Yifang they can do something on their own, and this is all assuming that we can't actually buy any medicine.

Ah, this has agitated me enough that I can't remain neutral any longer. Cx.

 

[Tigranes]

Yeah. We don't have any certain idea that a specific bad thing will happen with C, of course not, but these things are incontrovertible:

If Song dies, we are well and truly fucked. We become a true criminal, we lose the entire purpose of the sidequest, we lose all political / personal connections, and we let Zhang do it to us.
C is the only option where there is any real possibility Song can die.

That is enough - barring nothing else, taking out anything that is speculative - to go against C.