[LP CYOA] 傳

[Azira]

I smell an update incoming.

 

[treave]

Yuhua in Yangzhou

Despite popular belief, some people insist that General Yang Xue betrayed his country not because of lust for power, or greed for wealth, but for the love of a woman. No matter his reason, however, his name will go down in history as the traitor that allowed the Tujue to invade. By the time the Imperial Court finally realized the treachery of their greatest general, the horses of Guruldai Khagan had already swept past the mountains of Xiliang and were riding on Chang’an.

The invasion of the Tujue was swift, effective and brutal. Unlike his predecessors, Guruldai of the Ashina had ambitions to establish a permanent seat of power and crown himself Emperor of a new dynasty. Instead of sacking and looting cities, he conquered them. Emperor Gaosheng retreated from Chang’an, fleeing south as the Tujue continued their onslaught. Though the Tang had a million men at arms, they were also focused on threats to the northeast and the south. It took time to redirect their armies at the nomadic horsemen – horsemen that should have been kept in check by Yang Xue’s forces.

The bulk of the resistance in the early years of the war fell to the populace. It was during this time that the sects’ prominence began to wax. The skilled martial artists served as both leaders and spies, traversing the battlefront and risking their lives to defend the victims of war. Soon they had banded together under the leadership of the Taoist Wang Zhengchong, a disciple of Wudang, forming an irregular force that operated mainly behind enemy lines. They distracted and slowed down the Khagan’s advance enough for the main Tang armies to launch a successful counter-offensive, recapturing city after city.

It was then that General Yang Xue returned to the forefront of the war, his whereabouts prior to this unknown since the early days of the invasion. Taking command of the Tujue tribes, he directed a series of smashing victories against the Tang forces, before almost breaking them for good at Moyue Pass. Thanks to Yang Xue’s abilities, it seems that Guruldai Khagan’s ambitions would come to fruition. The Tang still had one card up their sleeves, however.

Finally heeding the Emperor Gaosheng’s desperate request, Wang Zhengchong and the monk Fangzhang embarked upon a suicidal mission, penetrating deep into the heart of the enemy camp by themselves. They reappeared the next morning with the heads of the enemy Khagan and the traitor Yang Xue, bloodied and battered by their ordeal.

This was more than enough to demoralize the Tujue. Under pressure from the regrouping Tang armies, they scattered, fleeing the Central Plains.

The five year war had severe and long-lasting effects on the country. In the aftermath, the freed northern regions had relied heavily on the relatively untouched south to rebuild. Emperor Gaosheng raised taxes drastically to fund the reconstruction, creating even greater unease amongst the populace. Still, the vast riches and well-established bureaucracy of the government meant that this would not deal a fatal blow to the dynasty. Meanwhile, his sons, the royal princes that had played a part during the war, began to squabble amongst themselves, each seeing opportunity in the dynasty’s weakness to gain more influence over the Imperial Court.

As the country began the uneasy process of recovery, tensions seethed underneath the surface.

This boiled over a mere three years after the Tujue had been driven off, when Emperor Gaosheng died suddenly of a mysterious illness. His designated heir, Crown Prince Li Xiude, did not survive to take the throne as he passed from a dagger in his back mere hours after receiving news of his father’s death. From Gaosheng’s twenty six surviving sons, three major factions emerged.

The Second Prince Li Wang led the largest faction, with eight brothers at his back. After the Crown Prince, he was said to be the most excellent of the princes, with both strength and smarts.

The Eleventh Prince Li Suguang, had influence over six other brothers. He was an ambitious and powerful man who had made his name in the Tujue war.

The Sixth Prince Li Zhou, led five of his brothers in vying for the throne. Though his group was the smallest, he was said to be a charismatic speaker and kind leader.

The various generals, military prefects, and martial arts sects threw their support behind each of the factions thanks to the work the various princes had done behind the scenes. This resulted in open war.

As the conflict progressed, the Imperial princes began dying from blades that they saw coming, those that they did not see coming, and those that they should have seen coming. Surprisingly, the Eleventh Prince was one of the first, dying in an ambush with two of his brothers.

In the end, however, the winner was an unexpected contender. The Twenty-Seventh Prince, Li Ming. In the midst of the conflict, he had managed to secure support from his siblings in all three factions. The rival princes had their feet swept out from under them. Li Ming was ruthless and quick in his actions. Cornering his siblings within a month from the time he made his move, he finally ended the civil war by capturing and beheading fifteen princes, including the Second and the Sixth, when they approached him to negotiate peace.

The next day, he crowned himself Emperor Taisheng.

The continuous battles taking place across the country had exacted a serious toll on the treasury. As a response, the government of the new Emperor began enacting policies to decentralize the bureaucracy, giving the prefects leeway to do what they will as long as taxes to the Imperial Court were paid on time.

This, coupled with the concentration of military power in the Imperial Court’s hands and the summary execution of the entire families of prefects that did not heed Emperor Taisheng’s instructions upon the pretext of corruption, had the effect of galvanizing the prefectures to ensure the taxes were submitted duly in order to avoid the capital’s gaze from falling upon them.

Of course, this only meant that corruption began to take place in other ways…

***

The sleep-inducing history lesson you received at Luoying Manor was half-forgotten by the time you made your way to Yangzhou. The scholars had droned on for hours with plenty of details, but you only managed to remember part of it. It was definitely not something you could memorize that easily – you are not some sort of brilliant scholar that could absorb in an hour the knowledge that took them decades to collect. What they said was insightful in its own way, but in the end you learnt nothing that would help you with your goals.

As for the misfortune of your birth, the only thing they could determine was that the Taisha star shone upon you. You would bring about the downfall of the order of Heaven, sharing your misfortune with the entire country, but the scholars did not know enough to go into specifics. They said that they could be easily wrong about their readings; they were scholars after all, and not astrologers.

Lady Ji had appeared to you shortly before you left and recommended in her mysterious manner that you seek out the All-Seeing Astrologer, Hua Jin, if you desired to know your destiny. She does not know where he is now; according to her, it would be fate if you found him, and fate if you didn’t.

No matter.

You put all thoughts of fate and destiny away from your mind. After days of travel, during which you studied the manual Master Yao gave you, you have reached your destination. You are in Yangzhou now, the most prosperous city in the entire empire. It may not be as populous as Chang’an, but the bustling, thriving activity in Yangzhou cannot be matched even by Xuzhou. More than anywhere else, Yangzhou was the economic center of the Tang Dynasty, where the largest merchant houses were located… and also where the most renowned brothel operated.

You find yourself outside Yuhua Hall soon enough; it was not hard to find. Now that you are finally here, the only thing you need to do is to enter and begin searching for information.

From the looks of it, however, it would be rather hard – or rather, expensive – to gain entry. An elegantly written flyer near the brothel stated that entrance alone would require a deposit of easily a quarter of your finances. You have no idea how much more you would be expected to spend within. It is a good thing that you had your share of earnings from betting at the tournament.

No matter what, you would probably have to make yourself more respectable – that meant spending on clothes to replace your tattered and dirty ones.

***

A. You enter Yuhua Hall as a client, spending your winnings in order to obtain information.

B. You attempt to enter Yuhua Hall as a servant, finding a way to sell yourself into servitude.

C. You attempt to enter Yuhua Hall as a merchant, peddling Yao’s Protective Sheath.

D. You attempt to sneak into Yuhua Hall like a thief, attempting to obtain information without revealing yourself.

 

[Smashing Axe]

C - A good preliminary, it makes sense, and it gives us cash. Would we be able to replace it, treave? I thought Yao taught us how.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

D>B, assuming B being menial labour.

 

[Esquilax]

I don't see Jing as being charismatic enough to sell this:

“Master,” you say calmly, looking at the dripping sheath. “This will never take off.”

“What, why not?” He looks genuinely surprised.

“It stinks,” you say.

“Hmph,” snorts Master Yao. “They all stink by the end anyway. That is merely a minor detail. Its performance is unparalleled.”

“Not like this,” you shake your head ruefully. “Why are you showing me this anyway?”

Jing is charming, sure, but it takes a really slick, Glenngarry Glen Ross type to sell something that is this unmarketable. This thing fucking reeks, how is Jing supposed to convince people to buy this stuff with only CHA 7? I just don't see it happening, I think you need a really charismatic type to pull this off.

Entering the place as a servant has some potential, but I could see us also being denied access to certain places as well. Going in as a thief can work as well (and it might very well be lucrative) but it also means a ton of risk to sneak into a place in which we're not sure what exactly we're looking for. We can sneak in, but assuming that we're successful, what do we do after that? treave, what sort of information would Jing seek to obtain in D?

Guys, we made all that money in the tournament, and we can't hoard it like a bunch of Jews. Spending a chunk of our winnings gets us in the door and provides us access to most of the place at least. Going in openly and with everyone understanding that we've come in with our tournament winnings also gives us a really good pretext to initiate a private conversation with the madam of the brothel:

“The Madame of Yuhua Hall is a personal friend of ours. They do not get involved in matters of the pugilistic world, as a rule. I suspect if there is any connection, it is via a rogue courtesan, but of course we have not had much contact with her recently.”

If we just tell her why we're here and that we're good friends with Wang and Fangzhang, I think that she might be willing to accommodate us.

Money comes and goes. A

 

[Nevill]

Making money off the prostitutes sounds like something Jing would have done. Do we also get to do a live demonstration?

 

[treave]

Eavesdropping, ransacking drawers etc

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Guise, there might be some merit to joining as a servant in Yuhua Hall. I'm speculating that if our WiB is a rogue section of courtesans, there are good odds that someone had them made, which follows that IF someone is covertly recruiting from Yuhua, said person would be something of a frequent customer.
I'd say that we're better off observing Yuhua over a longer period than can be sustained by acting like a customer or merchant, or even a thief.

What do you guys think?

Also previous vote redacted[/b.]

 

[Ifeex]

C.

 

[Kipeci]

If we are able to make multilples, C.

Orherwise, A.

 

[Jester]

C
Sound like quite good pretext to meet the Madame directly that should be doable with his high charisma, doubt that he will be able to sell it though. All friends of masters sound like very interesting person.

 

[Nevill]

Jing is charming, sure, but it takes a really slick, Glenngarry Glen Ross type to sell something that is this unmarketable. This thing fucking reeks, how is Jing supposed to convince people to buy this stuff with only CHA 7? I just don't see it happening, I think you need a really charismatic type to pull this off.

First things first, "only CHA 7"? You were able to dance on top of a buckling horse with "only AGI 7", and I didn't hear anyone complaining about our performance. A value of 7 in a stat means that it is significantly higher than for the most of the populace. It does not make you exceptional, 1-in-a-million kind of a person, but that should not diminish your opinion about your capabilities.

Second, how did you come under the impression that we need to sell this thing? Selling it straight away is almost as bad as being chased out - "here is your gold, thank you for your business, come again and don't forget to close the door on your way out". We did not come here to make money, we came here to learn who's who and what's what around here. You have your ware, its advantages are obvious for a place that should place healthcare as one of its top priorities, its drawbacks are equally evident to the ones that need to keep the customers happy. This is where the haggling begins. It opens up an opportunity for communication without announcing your presence as you would do in A.

A, however, might be our best bet if we want to start asking questions. You buy these women, you can do as you please with their time - including them answering your inquiries. However, we do not yet know what we are searching for, and asking wrong questions to the wrong people may alert our enemies - assuming there are any around here, of course.

B would be great, and very in-character for Jing.

Jing's love life is one big disaster - first he was a sex toy for the chambermaids, then when he got his freedom, he whored himself out to a random hag. I am half-afraid he is going to Yuhua Hall to ask if they are hiring..

I would be very disappointed if it only means menial labor.

D is what NinJing was made for. However, since we are not breaking out any friends or stealing any valuables, I find it a bit counter-productive to our goals. We want information, and this is best achieved by talking to people, not avoiding them.

I want to go with C just to hear Jing's sales pitch. What are you afraid of in case of a failure - being arrested for a false advertisement? The most probable outcome is that we get to meet someone who will likely take the plot in an unexpected direction. Otherwise there wouldn't be anything that would prevent us from coming here again as a client - we pose as a merchant, and that identity means we are likely to have some money to spare.

But I don't have a strong preference for a single option, so I guess I'll wait.

 

[asxetos]

C. Even if they dont want to buy, the madame is friend with Yao and might recognise his work.
treave do we lose the seath if they want it or do we make copies?
I can see this LP turning into a Condom Tycoon :D

 

[Azira]

Note though, the sheath is great, but you need the protective ointment to make it really work, so they'll need someone to show them how to concoct that. Such as Jing. 5 in herbalism is good. Not near mastery, but still pretty good.

 

[Random Word]

This is Clearly the most amusing best choice.

 

[Esquilax]

First things first, "only CHA 7"? You were able to dance on top of a buckling horse with "only AGI 7", and I didn't hear anyone complaining about our performance. A value of 7 in a stat means that it is significantly higher than for the most of the populace. It does not make you exceptional, 1-in-a-million kind of a person, but that should not diminish your opinion about your capabilities.

Second, how did you come under the impression that we need to sell this thing? Selling it straight away is almost as bad as being chased out - "here is your gold, thank you for your business, come again and don't forget to close the door on your way out". We did not come here to make money, we came here to learn who's who and what's what around here. You have your ware, its advantages are obvious for a place that should place healthcare as one of its top priorities, its drawbacks are equally evident to the ones that need to keep the customers happy. This is where the haggling begins. It opens up an opportunity for communication without announcing your presence as you would do in A.

I don't think that dancing on top of a horse is quite as hard in wuxialand as it is in the real world. But really, the product is utter shit: how are we supposed to sell a foul-smelling condom to a brothel that prides itself on being a high-class experience for wealthy patrons? This is a classy place, so they aren't going to take anything that turns off customers like this. I guess I see the healthcare angle in all of this, but we're not a good enough herbalist to reduce the drawbacks of the product and probably not charismatic enough to sell them on the product as-is.

This place is known for high-quality service and it caters well to its customers. If we spend our money to get through the door, they are going to have to cater to us as well. That gives us the opportunity to talk to the madam in private, tell her that the Frathouse bros know us and vouch for us, and that we'd like to enlist her help here. Really, spending our money here is the best way and gives us the most options. Unless, of course, she's Shulgi part of the conspiracy too.

I want to go with C just to hear Jing's sales pitch. What are you afraid of in case of a failure - being arrested for a false advertisement? The most probable outcome is that we get to meet someone who will likely take the plot in an unexpected direction. Otherwise there wouldn't be anything that would prevent us from coming here again as a client - we pose as a merchant, and that identity means we are likely to have some money to spare.

I don't care about being arrested at all. The problems with the sales pitch not working are that it makes two much better options, A or B, impossible. You can't go for the sales pitch, fuck up, and say "Uh... well, can I at least have a handy? I got lotsa money!" Basically, once we go in with a particular identity in place, we can't return with another one, so we should go with whatever is successful.

Also, fuck the money. We are a good enough herbalist to survive off our profits there, and we have enough money at this point to support ourselves for a year. We should view our winnings as a resource to spend to gain information and accomplish our goals, not something to hoard. This is a perfect place to make our money useful.

Note though, the sheath is great, but you need the protective ointment to make it really work, so they'll need someone to show them how to concoct that. Such as Jing. 5 in herbalism is good. Not near mastery, but still pretty good.

Jing knows how to make the ointment, Yao taught us. The real problem is that we aren't at the skill level to improve upon the recipe.

 

[Stygian Lurker]

A

 

[Nevill]

But really, the product is utter shit: how are we supposed to sell a foul-smelling condom to a brothel that prides itself on being a high-class experience for wealthy patrons?

It just needs a bit of a perfume to work. Who would know better about it then women?

I guess I see the healthcare angle in all of this, but we're not a good enough herbalist to reduce the drawbacks of the product and probably not charismatic enough to sell them on the product as-is.

We are a better than average herbalist, and better than average speaker. And we are not here to sell the thing anyway, it is just a hook.

If we spend our money to get through the door, they are going to have to cater to us as well. That gives us the opportunity to talk to the madam in private[...]

Why can we speak with her in private as a customer, but not as a merchant? Either she cares for the fact that we bring news of her friends - in which case our identity is irrelevant - or she doesn't.

You can't go for the sales pitch, fuck up, and say "Uh... well, can I at least have a handy? I got lotsa money!" Basically, once we go in with a particular identity in place, we can't return with another one, so we should go with whatever is successful.

No, we come the next day and say that we sold our Protective Sheath and made a ton of cash which we want to promptly blow on the hookers. Why does it block our options? We are a merchant, for God's sake, we are their target audience!

 

[Tigranes]

Has to be A or B, we're not going to get far selling this shit. We aren't going to con all of them, we're not Qilin, and we lose our secrecy as well. What are you gonna do, try and apply as a servant after the merchant schtick fails? Bloody lulzwagons.

B>A for now.

 

[Nevill]

We aren't going to con all of them, we're not Qilin, and we lose our secrecy as well.

Enlighten me as to who we are conning, and with what?
What secrecy are you talking about? B I can understand, but how is A more secret than C?

What are you gonna do, try and apply as a servant after the merchant schtick fails?

Try and choose the most stupid option, then dismiss it. Instant winning argument!

Return here next day as a client, if C fails. Which it won't.

 

[Esquilax]

It just needs a bit of a perfume to work. Who would know better about it then women?
...
We are a better than average herbalist, and better than average speaker. And we are not here to sell the thing anyway, it is just a hook.

A hook for what? We're going to get much farther here by being in a position where Yuhua Hall has to cater to us, rather than the other way around. If we are willing to throw down good, hard-earned money for their services, they are going to have to accommodate our requests far more than they otherwise would.

We are a better than average herbalist, and a better than average speaker... trying to hawk a distinctly worse-than-average product. We aren't a good enough bullshit artist to make the product appear better, and we aren't a good enough herbalist to make it suck less. Jing has the social savvy to pretend to be a servant and he has a great knack for being polite to superiors and upper-class types, but I don't see C being effective.

Why can we speak with her in private as a customer, but not as a merchant? Either she cares for the fact that we bring news of her friends - in which case our identity is irrelevant - or she doesn't.

Because we're a peddler, and peddlers are always initially greeted with distrust. In C, we're trying to impress the madam, so we first have to show that we're worth her time before she grants us a private audience. In A, we've thrown down good money for her services, so we're entitled to a word with her because a madam of a high-class brothel is the type that would pride herself on being a good host.

Other benefits are that the madam in A could give us a rundown of all the girls and their personality, what they look like, how long they've been here, etc. It's way better in terms of information. The only drawback is the price, which I'm more than willing to spend thanks to our earnings at the tournament. We have enough cash to support ourselves for the entire year, there's plenty to burn.

Return here next day as a client, if C fails. Which it won't.

Why would we return as a client to have sex with some prostitutes and pay good money for it if they've refused the product that we were going to sell them? If we're peddling a product on the basis of safe sex and less diseases, why would we come back the next day to fuck a bunch of whores who could have crabs for all we know? I suppose that we could return, pay up, and require the use of Yao's sheath during our session, but then we'll look like an annoying cunt of a customer that way. I'd rather start things off on good terms with the madam by approaching her in a way where she'll be more accommodating to us. That requires throwing some cash around.

I really dislike these "well, we can do something else if we fuck up, anyways!" arguments because you aren't really basing things on the merits of the choice itself. Explain to me why you think C is better than A/B based on its own merits.

There is absolutely no way that C puts us in a better position for obtaining information about the brothel's prostitutes than A does. If you're voting based on lulz, okay, but that's a different thing altogether.

 

[Tigranes]

We aren't going to con all of them, we're not Qilin, and we lose our secrecy as well.

Enlighten me as to who we are conning, and with what?
What secrecy are you talking about? B I can understand, but how is A more secret than C?

What are you gonna do, try and apply as a servant after the merchant schtick fails?

Try and choose the most stupid option, then dismiss it. Instant winning argument!

Return here next day as a client, if C fails. Which it won't.

Seriously? Do I have to explain everything?

Yuhua Hall isn't expecting us. Our identity is what we make of it. If we come in with some floppy droopy shit everyone's going to remember us as that merchant. That pretty much foregoes chances of infiltrating as a servant. So C is only worth it if we don't value such low-radar options at all, and/or if we are convinced C will work.

C won't work because the Sheath is a ridiculous piece of cockwear that nobody in their right mind would use, and it would take a con job to sell it to a discerning and experienced prostitute, the best in the land. Anyone who is at the top of this kind of business is going to be savvy and cautious.

I value low-radar entry because in general, being an insider, having access to the backstage, give you better chances of doing stuff or learning stuff than being an outsider, with access to the frontstage. Unless we have so much fucking money we can be VIP. Which we don't.

 

[Random Word]

We need not ask for an audience - we're selling Yao's Protective Sheath. If her old friend's apprentice is selling his new invention, curiosity is all that's required for the audience to come to us. As of that moment we're in exactly the same position as an audience obtained as a customer, and only out the cost of a good set of clothes. We certainly can afford to walk in as a customer, but we have a unique asset in this amusingly appropriate lesson from our Master and no reason not to use it.

 

[Nevill]

We are a better than average herbalist, and a better than average speaker... trying to hawk a distinctly worse-than-average product.

That's what they need salesmen for.

Why would we return as a client to have sex with some prostitutes and pay good money for it if they've refused the product that we were going to sell them?

Because one is a job, the other is a vacation. They are in no way related to each other.

If we're peddling a product on the basis of safe sex and less diseases, why would we come back the next day to fuck a bunch of whores who could have crabs for all we know?

If these girls had crabs all the time, they wouldn't be the most renowned brothel. They probably fire the ones that have diseases. We pitch our product so it would happen less often, we are not telling them they are all a bunch of syphilitics. I don't see why we would avoid them - that's our business if we want to risk our health.

I really dislike these "well, we can do something else if we fuck up, anyways!" arguments because you aren't really basing things on the merits of the choice itself.

It isn't an argument in its favor, or against it. As I said, I predict that it either works, or some kind of event happens that will prevent us from using another choise. Said event would need to be plot critical anyway to distract us from our mission. Either way, we follow the plotline.

Explain to me why you think C is better than A/B based on its own merits.

It's lulzier. Satisfied?
I don't think any of the choises here will lead to "you fail, Yunzi dies, the Empire is ruined", so I'll go with what I think is coolest.

Yuhua Hall isn't expecting us. Our identity is what we make of it. If we come in with some floppy droopy shit everyone's going to remember us as that merchant. That pretty much foregoes chances of infiltrating as a servant.

No shit, Sherlock. This is why I referred to it as the most stupid option that isn't even worth discussing.
So, why does it forego our chances to return as a client? What, the merchant can't be their client anymore if he tried to become their business partner?

In fact, C.

 

[Esquilax]

We need not ask for an audience - we're selling Yao's Protective Sheath. If her old friend's apprentice is selling his new invention, curiosity is all that's required for the audience to come to us. As of that moment we're in exactly the same position as an audience obtained as a customer, and only out the cost of a good set of clothes. We certainly can afford to walk in as a customer, but we have a unique asset in this amusingly appropriate lesson from our Master and no reason not to use it.

That's an interesting angle that I hadn't thought of. Yao, Qi Liuwu, Abbot Fangzhang and Wang Zhengchong all knew each other from the war, so if the madam was good friends with the Shaolin and Wudang sect heads, she must know the Killer Physician as well. She might be willing to hear us out on the basis of "What's crazy old Yao up to this time?" In any case, this is the first actual argument I've seen presents C as an actual plan. She'll probably turn us down - I mean, the product is terrible and she is probably a very discerning businesswoman who knows what a bad idea looks like - but it could be enough to get a nice conversation with her.

However, I'm very cautious about all this frugality. Maybe you're right that in this instance it's better not to spend a chunk of our cash, but in general, if spending money allows us to reach our goals much faster and with less fuss, we should do it. All this money does us no good if we're not spending it. Being afraid of using a resource like money, which we have a lot of and could save us a lot of hassle, will not do us any favours in the long-run.

Edit: Nevill's argument made no sense, so I'm just going to call him a filthy racist and leave it at that.