[LP CYOA] 傳

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

About Theseus and Naim: Bear in mind both acted anti-bro not out of malice but ignorance.

It was out of LOVE.

 

[Baltika9]

About Theseus and Naim: Bear in mind both acted anti-bro not out of malice but ignorance.

Theseus didn't know Ean was a immortal that needed the statue to regenerate, he mercy-killed Ean because, as far as he knew, Ean was just another dude who was fatally wounded and would spend a lot of time dying slowly in the labyrinth.

Naim shot Senya because he had no idea of what was really happening, namely, Shulgi manipulating Senya through Kyrie. As far as he knew, it was just too dangerous to let Senya near her, as we almost led to her death last time we were together.

Pretty much how it went. So, why vote to keep Yunzi in the dark?

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

About Theseus and Naim: Bear in mind both acted anti-bro not out of malice but ignorance.

Theseus didn't know Ean was a immortal that needed the statue to regenerate, he mercy-killed Ean because, as far as he knew, Ean was just another dude who was fatally wounded and would spend a lot of time dying slowly in the labyrinth.

Naim shot Senya because he had no idea of what was really happening, namely, Shulgi manipulating Senya through Kyrie. As far as he knew, it was just too dangerous to let Senya near her, as we almost led to her death last time we were together.

Pretty much how it went. So, why vote to keep Yunzi in the dark?

Because she might tell on us to Vahista or somehow acidentally spill it, and next thing we know Vahista kills us in one hit, or the Fire Cult starts to work against us.

Yu's main problem is that we might have to kill Liu. If it turns out to be necessary, at least he will know why and it will be easier for us to use his debt to us as leverage. If not, he will be the perfect intermediary between Jing and Liu. Once we get rid of the Liu problem, Yu has nobody else whose agenda disagrees with ours.

I don't think the Fire Cult is on the same side as Liu's bosses, but they don't seem exactly friendly to Imperials, and we're the Prince's agent, essentially.

 

[Baltika9]

Dude, that whole meeting with Vahista showed how much she doesn't trust/like the guy abnd his boss, her 'fiance', and the Cult considers her their Beloved Leader. She knows we're Shun's bro, and as far as she knows right now, we may still be under the goveenment since we hadn't told hee of our exile.
If she wabted to rat us out to Vahista, the dude who is on par with Zhang, why didn't she do so right now? Besides which, she's not as naive as Yifeng, this is a poor reason to keep her in the dark.

 

[Kipeci]

Where have you seen evidence of the fire cult moving against the Imperial guys? Their beef has been stated all along to be with the sects.

Now, obviously at least one of the Grand Eunuchs has a problem with them as we discovered from the guy we killed, but we too his seal so that they don't know about that.

 

[Nevill]

And what does telling her about our mission from the prince have to do with that? Couldn't we tell her not to interfere in B as well?

How can she not interfere with your mission if she doesn't know what it is? You do not discuss the issue at hand in B, so you can't warn her beforehand. The second she recognizes Changfeng, those two will be at odds - I doubt that she would let the fact that the same woman is connected to both attempts at her life and/or freedom slide. Explaining to her why she needs to back down at this point might raise questions that you wouldn't want to answer with Yu around - whom you'll be keeping in the dark, as well.

Too much secrecy is not always good. You need to make the goal clear from the start so you wouldn't be working at cross-purposes later.

 

[TOME]

C3. We should tell them the "truth". That we want to track down the men responsible for the attack on prince and the ashina tribe because we want revenge (we were exiled because of it), not because we are some secret agent working for the prince. We don't care about grunts so Yu's friend is safe from us as long she isn't trying to harm us.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

And what does telling her about our mission from the prince have to do with that? Couldn't we tell her not to interfere in B as well?

How can she not interfere with your mission if she doesn't know what it is?

That's stupid. We're going there to talk with this girl. Telling her not to interfere with our speaking with this girl covers the entire mission.

The second she recognizes Changfeng, those two will be at odds - I doubt that she would let the fact that the same woman is connected to both attempts at her life and/or freedom slide.

Make up your mind, Nevill. Either she owes us and will not interfere if we ask her like you said before, or she'll be too willful and interfere regardless - in which case there is no point to telling her a thing. Telling her it's Changfeng before will make no difference and she'll probably recognize her from the description alone even in B.

 

[Smashing Axe]

So when this inevitably goes all pear-shaped. We can still all blame Azira, right?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

That's what I'm going to do.

 

[Baltika9]

Hopefully we get an update with fresh blaming materials soon.

 

[Nevill]

And what does telling her about our mission from the prince have to do with that? Couldn't we tell her not to interfere in B as well?

How can she not interfere with your mission if she doesn't know what it is?

That's stupid. We're going there to talk with this girl. Telling her not to interfere with our speaking with this girl covers the entire mission.

In B, we are going there to talk with Yu's girl, not with the girl who attacked us and Yunzi three years ago. Mind you, Yunzi does not know yet that they are the same person.

Make up your mind, Nevill. Either she owes us and will not interfere if we ask her like you said before, or she'll be too willful and interfere regardless - in which case there is no point to telling her a thing. Telling her it's Changfeng before will make no difference and she'll probably recognize her from the description alone even in B.

I've made up my mind long ago. I expect her not to interfere if she knows there is a reason behind our restraint. Obviously, if she finds out that Changfeng is there, confronts her, and then we ask Yunzi to leave her be, she will demand an explanation. I doubt that 'stand aside, just because' is going to cut it, and I want to give a proper one beforehand.

It isn't a matter of being too willful - it is a matter of being forewarned. If we tell her how things are - tell both of them - then, hopefully, the confrontation could be avoided in the first place.

 

[treave]

Enter the Black Dragon

“This Liu Chanfeng,” says Yunzi, “She’s the one that attacked us a few years back, right?” There is a slight gleam in her eyes; one more of excitement than vengeance – you know that feeling. Having been beaten rather soundly by the woman before, you would be pleased to test your skills against her one more time… though you might not be in the best condition to do so. She likely feels the same, though you cannot rule out that she would also be curious about the woman's role in the assault on the Ashina tribe. You nod. “That’s right. I just need her to clarify a few things about that raid.” Xiahou Yu sighs, resting his chin on his palms. “I suppose it was too good to be true, that you would free me and accompany me on my quest with no strings attached.”

“I’m sorry for not being upfront,” you say. He shakes his head thoughtfully. “That’s alright. I would probably have done the same had I been in your position, out of duty to my benefactor. I am glad that you told me now, though I would never have guessed that you hailed from such a prestigious background. Besides… we have more pressing issues to worry about.”

The scholar is right. Upon reaching Xiangyang, you had soon discovered that the situation had changed rather drastically from what you had expected to find. The streets were abuzz with rumours that the Black Dragon Society had wiped out the Wunan Sect in a surprise attack just a day ago. Many reasons were bandied about; some said that the Black Dragon Society had kidnapped the women to sell into slavery to the western regions, while others said that the leader of the Wunan Sect had a bounty put on her head, and that the Black Dragon Society had been encouraged to collect in excessive fashion. There were also those that whispered of an Imperial decree involved in this assault, that the Wunan Sect had somehow offended the palace.

You are not sure whether any of those rumours have any truth to them, but there is one thing that you can be certain about: the Black Dragon Society currently has Liu Chanfeng captive. It took some digging on your part, but it seems that a few Black Dragon mercenaries have been bragging about how they took down that ‘frigid scarred nutso bitch’ in the taverns. From their description it could not be anyone else. She was currently imprisoned in their headquarters, a small fortress about an hour’s travel from the city that had been granted to them by the prefect of Xiangyang in return for their assistance with keeping order in the countryside.

For now, you would have to decide what to do next:

***

A. Investigate Shennong Forest and the Wunan Sect – if truly an attack occurred, you might still be able to find clues in the aftermath, and perhaps survivors, to give you a clearer picture of what has happened. It will probably take you more than three days to find the place, however.

B. Attempt to sneak into the Black Dragon Society headquarters. You will go in under the cover of darkness and make your way to the prison. This is the quickest way for you to get in touch with your target.

C. Approach the Black Dragon Society as potential recruits. After some discussion, all three of you are fairly certain that they will not recognize Yunzi as long as she keeps a simple disguise, if they are even looking out for her in the first place.
1. Approach with your true identity.
2. Approach with a false identity.

D. Walk in brazenly and request to see the prisoner. If it boils down to a trade of favours you are willing to negotiate, but you do not see the need to hide what you came for; Yu has a good enough excuse to meet her without needing to delve into your own motives.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

C. Damn it, I meant B. Sneaking in.
I'm not sure how well it'd work, but eh.

 

[Nevill]

That was brief. Not nearly enough DRAMA.

Tempted to go C1, after all, we do have quite a reputation. B looks promising, too, but in our current state it is unclear how we could pull it off, and Changfeng might not cooperate.

 

[Kipeci]

D

 

[treave]

Scholar's not been drinking and is in level-headed mode. Given that he's smarter than you, even if he feels betrayed he knows better than to cause drama which will not do any good at the moment. Besides, you didn't really think he truly believed from the start that you so kindly spent all your money on him just to have him tag around as a scribe, did you?



Anyway, wasn't much I could do with this particular update, it's more of a transition stage to bridge into the subsequent part. Next one will be meatier.

 

[Nevill]

Then again, we just killed a man to hide our identity from the Imperial police, and there are rumors about their involvement. Going there with our real name might not be all that desirable.

Given that he's smarter than you, even if he feels betrayed he knows better than to cause drama which will not do any good at the moment. Besides, you didn't really think he truly believed that you so kindly spent all your money on him just to have him tag around as a scribe, did you?

That jab wasn't aimed at you, treave.

And we kind of did just that - I know I bailed him out because I missed a company of our friends.

 

[treave]

Nah, just clarifying for those who were expecting a few hundred more words involving finger pointing and accusations of betrayal before eventually making up in a bro way. He might not express it that much when sober, but the scholar is something of a bitter cynic.

 

[Baltika9]

It took some digging on your part, but it seems that a few Black Dragon mercenaries have been bragging about how they took down that ‘frigid scarred nutso bitch’ in the taverns.

Sounds about right. What was that about not trusting our friends?

D, we revealed ourselves to Yu, so let's take advantage of that.
Edit: although you could have given us a scene of Jing breaking the news, treave, just to see their faces.

 

[Baltika9]

By the way guys, B is a horrible, horrible idea: sneaking into a den of master assassins/fighters with a DEX of 5 (6 boosted), Sneak skill of 5 and LUC 1 can't end well at all. Especially not while we're horribly injured.
D is the best option, we have decent speech and good CHA, and an actually good excuse as to why we would want to see the woman in the first place (they'll definitely be in awe of Yu's cojones, falling in love with such a psycho and coming to visit her). Favors aren't a problem for us and we have enough BAMF rep to pull it off.

 

[Nevill]

Does AGI affect Sneak at all? Does it make a difference if we have Sneak 5 with AGI 10 or with AGI 5? We would need it if we wanted to leg it, but I doubt it would help us remain unnoticed.

D is the best option, we have decent speech and good CHA, and an actually good excuse as to why we would want to see the woman in the first place (they'll definitely be in awe of Yu's cojones, falling in love with such a psycho and coming to visit her).

I am sure they will all go "D'aaaaw".

But then again, D is also fine with me, since I don't want to cross BDS just yet, which we will eventually be doing in C.

 

[Baltika9]

More like "Wow dude, you're fucking crazy."

 

[Nevill]

The word 'brazenly' did it. Are we not Man Tiger Pig?

Voting D.

 

[Absinthe]

Voting A.

Rationale on each vote:
A - We have 8 PER, so this is sure to succeed.
B - If we had Kagemi I'd just vote B, but we don't. These guys know their stuff and Jing is injured. If we get caught (which seems likely), the results wont be pretty.
C - If Yunzi doesn't get recognized (target), and Jing doesn't get recognized (Imperial Agents), and Xiahou Yu doesn't get recognized (Agents were trying to off him in Luoying Manor, remember?) we'd still be suspicious since Yu can't fight, Jing is too weak at the moment, and Yunzi shouldn't be showing off her skills (which can get her recognized). There are too many ways to fuck this up, but if it works it can pay off well.
D - Not only does it run into the same problems as C (along with the fact that Yu is even more likely to get caught when telling his story), but they just locked Changfeng up and we're basically announcing we're on her side. We have nothing to bargain with except favors and there is a high chance they are being paid well or otherwise ordered by the palace to imprison her. This is bargaining from an extremely weak position along with giving them very good reason to keep a close eye on us.

Treave, what's Yunzi's stealth skill? She knows the Yinglang Step, at least.