[LP CYOA] 傳

[Zero Credibility]

Either way, I think no choice here is clearly superior to the other. They will play out differently, and I am interested in A enough to try it.

Eh, fair enough.

 

[Stygian Lurker]

voting B

 

[Baltika9]

A, it prevents the bullshit Nevill was speaking of, everyone piling on us; we have good control of our techniques and our arm is fully healed; and it reinforces our rep for Master Zhang's challenge.

And hopefully impresses the rebellious daughter.

 

[Elfberserker]

Flipping to A.
I am fairly certain that we are good enough to beat them without killing them or breaking their bones, besides as some have said this is probably only time for us to beat these guys in fair match. I am pretty sure it pisses the organizer guy off, especially since we just brushed off perfect way to save our face. But a chance for once and for all to end this think, without it becoming bigger danger in future is good price to pay for a chance that we will be kicked out.

Edit: And as Nevill has stated, accepting challenge reduces the amount of bullshit hapening during actual raid is very good point

 

[Esquilax]

A, it prevents the bullshit Nevill was speaking of, everyone piling on us; we have good control of our techniques and our arm is fully healed; and it reinforces our rep for Master Zhang's challenge.

You're right, we absolutely cannot puss out with C. We always have to keep in mind that as Zhang's apprentice, we don't have an entire sect to watch our backs. We're on our own. The one thing we have in our favour is that people are so fucking scared of us that they won't try anything. It's a hell of a deterrent, as we can see here:

All of the pugilists seem to be on guard, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. “What is this? Are all of you going to pile on me? Who will make the first move? I do not think this is a good start to your anti-pirate alliance if you start losing people even before you set foot on the island.” They back away nervously as your gaze meets theirs; no matter what, your reputation does precede you, and these are merely a bunch of fodder schools compared to the Eight Sects. Of course, being a major sect doesn’t seem to stop the Kunlun representatives from looking worried as you grin at them.

It's like bullying; if you back down, that only encourages a bully to keep doing what he's doing. After all, if you've shown that you can be fucked with, that only motivates people to try and pick at your perceived weakness even further because you've shown that you're willing to accept that sort of behaviour. C isn't going to stop a few of the Songfeng disciples from attacking us - on the contrary, it's only going to embolden them. So really, it's a choice between accepting the challenge, or a powerful show of force right now in a controlled setting to let these guys know that if they fuck with us during the course of this mission, they're going to die.

With B, I know exactly what these guys intend to do; they'll allow us to charge in to kill the leader of the Wo pirates. Even in a best case scenario, we're probably going to be exhausted and/or wounded in a battle against the leader of these pirates in a straight-up fight. At that point, the Songfeng disciples can simply kill us and Scholarbro, then claim credit for taking out the leader. However, I believe that we have two aces up our sleeve that we can utilize: Yu's keen, strategic mind to keep us one step ahead of our Songfeng "allies", and the Five Poisons Special Powder that Qilin provided us with.

This should provide us with a way to complete the challenge and come out in one piece. I do understand though that using up the powerful poison provided to us might be a waste if we intend to go to the Black Dragon Society HQ after this, where it might be useful to have something like that handy. However, I'm concerned that winning the challenge in A (particularly if we hurt somebody badly) might cause the Songfeng disciples to leave. We can't trust them, but at the same time, we do need people that will help us clear out some of the pirates for us too.

Voting A

 

[Azira]

I like Esquilax' ideas, but why not simply use laxatives instead?

 

[Jester]

Vote B

B sounds best IMO, possible drawback would be if Japan pirates had something we could capitalize or their leader being a bro material. Hope that we will not loose much time on this.

Hope that it will be interesting, after this choice. Didn't expect young miss financing the campaign. Looks like money we used for getting scholar will be put to good use. It would be hilarious if this whole thing was financed by Jing actually.

Edit. Can Jing tell that fighting them would be counterproductive to fight them right before battle and disrespectful to people who called them for help?

 

[Nevill]

You're right, we absolutely cannot puss out with C. [...] C isn't going to stop a few of the Songfeng disciples from attacking us - on the contrary, it's only going to embolden them.

Oh, we can absolutely go with C. It is just more prone to result in casualties if they try something funny. Remember that we outclass pretty much everyone here.

The atmosphere in B is counter-productive to tactical thinking. If we turn it into a pursuit of glory, mistakes will be made that might cost everyone involved. It isn't only Songfeng that would not wish to accept our superiority, should we kill the pirate leader. I'd rather not have a competition at all.

If Songfeng left right now, actually, we would be better off than with them. There won't be nearly as much tension, and we would be much more effective if we wouldn't have to watch our back constantly.

What is stopping you from settling it here and now?

It would be hilarious if this whole thing was financed by Jing actually.

Don't forget our Scholarbro. It wouldn't happen if it wasn't for his whoring.
There is no better cause to have an international incident and a potential war on our hands.

 

[Tigranes]

Still denmark.

A is a waste. Songfeng will hate us forever so why cater tp their wishes above the Zhou who seem least prejudiced? Why fight when we cant advance our mission or any of our major purposes? Will beatimg them defuse the Songfemg? Doubt it.

C is obviously out for aforementioned reasons.

Has tp be B. We earn some respect from non-somgfeng, the pirate mission isnt sabotaged (dont want rumours about xu jing fucking up righteous pugilist missions with his foghting, want rumours of him taking out pirate leader), and we have enough up our sleeve to counter somgfeng tricks.

 

[Baltika9]

Still denmark.

A is a waste. Songfeng will hate us forever so why cater tp their wishes above the Zhou who seem least prejudiced? Why fight when we cant advance our mission or any of our major purposes? Will beatimg them defuse the Songfemg? Doubt it.

Yes, it will. B will be insulting their honor, which is so precious to the orthodoxes, and it will settle the issue here and right now: there will be no way they can double-cross or bitch at us after we defeat their disciples in honorable combat on pre-set terms and agreements. Anyone who tries that shit will bear a severe loss of face.
The guy that challenged us for Zhang's deeds could go fuck off, has he seen our Master's shit list? BJ could go tge same direction, we had a shattered arm. Muben and Songfeng are our mess and our story to handle, dodging them with B will make us look both weak and dishonorable (we dodged BJ on account of tge arm and the Zoros. What's our excuse this time?)

I like how Master Rong finally found his balls, though. Awesome update.

 

[Zero Credibility]

What's our excuse this time?

The only people that want to see a fight here with us are the Songfeng disciples, nobody else. The host sure as hell doesn't want one. The other masters don't want one - that's why Gong proposed the B solution. The crowd doesn't want one either. So why should we disrupt this campaign before it starts even more than we already have? Why piss off the guy that organised this whole thing? We aren't going to lose any face over telling them to save it for the pirates. By jumping at a challenge we acknowledge to the crowd that our pride is more important to us than this campaign - something that we just called out Master Rong for.

 

[treave]

Ah, old Rong definitely won't be fighting you, it's going to be left to his disciples. There's about six of them, but you think they'll pose no trouble.

 

[ScubaV]

B

I don't care if we take a rep hit from Songfeng. It's not like they'll ever be best buds with us anyway, although we do have to watch out for backstabbing on the island. I agree that there may be elements of the posioner conspiracy still hanging around.

 

[Rex Feral]

B

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

We eventually need to stand up for ourselves though. I think it is best for our future if we beat them back right now and end the shenanigans. Agreeing to the competition puts an unnecessary burden on us. We (almost) know that we can beat the disciples without much of a problem. It is foolish for us to turn down an offer that we are almost positive that we can win just to settle for a wager that is much further out of our hands. It is painting a target on our backs when we don't have to.

We can't keep putting these challenges off in this world, either. there is a lot at stake in defending your honor from challengers. We can blow off the two at the tournament because we were hurt and were based on our master's actions, but this is our problem. It looks really bad upon us if we don't own p to our actions, and I think that A is the easiest and most straightforward. In option B we are neglecting the possibility that we lose the wager to our foes. It would reflect very poorly on us if they beat us to the wager. I see little good in gambling like that when we really don't have to.

I don't know who these Zhou people are, but I don't think that upsetting them is such an awful idea. It wouldn't even be like it was our fault. We would only be accepting a perfectly legitimate duel to which we were challenged. If something bad happens, we can always blame the Songfeng people for being hotheaded and rude.

 

[Nevill]

The only people that want to see a fight here with us are the Songfeng disciples, nobody else. The host sure as hell doesn't want one. The other masters don't want one - that's why Gong proposed the B solution. The crowd doesn't want one either.

ORLY?

You only laugh, looking around you casually. All of the pugilists seem to be on guard, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. “What is this? Are all of you going to pile on me? Who will make the first move? I do not think this is a good start to your anti-pirate alliance if you start losing people even before you set foot on the island.” They back away nervously as your gaze meets theirs; no matter what, your reputation does precede you, and these are merely a bunch of fodder schools compared to the Eight Sects.
[...]
The hall seems to like Master Gong’s idea – Songfeng aside, none of them seem overly keen to fight you.

They do not want to fight you themselves, yes - they value their lives more, - but they sure as hell want to see your ass kicked. Nobody is against the fight but Zhou Dingqiu.

By jumping at a challenge we acknowledge to the crowd that our pride is more important to us than this campaign - something that we just called out Master Rong for.

We called him out for throwing a hissy fit and trying to bail on us with his whole school in tow. Something that nobody can accuse us of. One way or the other, we will still be participating.

I want to tie that loose end before it weaves itself into something more sinister.

 

[Baltika9]

Exactly, the last thing we need is a "friendly fire" incident at the worst possible time. Besides, Songfeng has the public's sympathy with B: we're perceived as a Loki-type figure studying under their Satan, of course they will take Rong's word over ours in whatever he says.

A lets us turn it around and actually earn public respect, if not love. "Hurr, I'm unorthodox abd DGAF" isn't the right answer in every situation, sure as hell not this one.

 

[Esquilax]

Okay Nevill, I'm convinced. Let's take a look at who the various factions represented here:

Miss Xia (Yuhua Hall)
Zhou Dingqui (Zhou Clan Manor)
Kunlun
Master Rong Muben and six Songfeng disciples

The only person who would be angered by us accepting the challenge would be Zhou. While pissing off the guy that organized this is hardly ideal, taking on the Songfeng school and establishing that we're top dog will ensure that things go far smoother in the actual mission. If we turn things into a competition to see who can kill the pirate leader first, that really compromises how we'll approach things. How are we going to accomplish the mission properly if everybody is turning a serious problem like stopping these pirates into a silly fucking dick-measuring contest? B might help us in the short-term, but it will hurt us badly when it's time to fight because we won't have a cohesive group.

A is a waste. Songfeng will hate us forever so why cater tp their wishes above the Zhou who seem least prejudiced? Why fight when we cant advance our mission or any of our major purposes? Will beatimg them defuse the Songfemg? Doubt it.

I don't care if we take a rep hit from Songfeng. It's not like they'll ever be best buds with us anyway, although we do have to watch out for backstabbing on the island. I agree that there may be elements of the posioner conspiracy still hanging around.

A isn't about trying to patch things up with Songfeng. It's about beating their disciples so that they're far less likely to try something once the mission is underway. If we stomp them here and now, then that will probably deter them from attacking us in the future. If we turn this into a contest to take out the leader, there are a lot of things that an unscrupulous Songfeng disciple could do to attempt to take us out over the course of the competition. We knew that Rong Zhiyu had several co-conspirators:

“I have arranged for an inn’s room at Tuzhonglin, just ten minutes away. I will have four of our school’s disciples escort you there,” he says, staring at you. It looks like his mind is set and he will not be swayed. You are not wanted here.

Nipping this problem in the bud now will pay dividends later. It's easy for these guys to try and come after Jing if they think he's distracted, but if he's already beaten them handily and they know that we can kill them, I doubt they'll try anything. We'll take a short-term hit with Zhou Dingqui, but I think that in the long-run A is just a much smarter move.

 

[Baltika9]

Hey, maybe we should instead dismantle this pugilist coalition, forcing the government to act and restoring public faith in the Empire?
Seriously, this is the perfect example of pugilistic sec

 

[Random Word]

A

 

[Baltika9]

Hey, maybe we should instead dismantle this pugilist coalition, forcing the government to act and restoring public faith in the Empire?
Seriously, this is the perfect example of pugilistic sec

Unfinished sentence, I meant that this is exactly the reason why tge State is losing power and the pugilists sre gaining it. We could sabotage them and force the local authorities to handle it, for Shun's future benefit.

 

[Nevill]

Has tp be B. We earn some respect from non-somgfeng, the pirate mission isnt sabotaged (dont want rumours about xu jing fucking up righteous pugilist missions with his foghting, want rumours of him taking out pirate leader), and we have enough up our sleeve to counter somgfeng tricks.

But that's the thing. If you start countering tricks - which probably means taking actions against Songeng members out to get you - how are you going to explain it to the others? 'They started it first' isn't going to fly if there will be no neutral witnesses available. If your hand is forced and you beat some of the disciples in self-defense, this is the kind of rumors you are going to get.

B is exactly the thing that leads to the in-fighting - introducing a goal and making people who clearly have no love for each other compete to accomplish it, rather than work together.

Hey, maybe we should instead dismantle this pugilist coalition, forcing the government to act and restoring public faith in the Empire?

The government does not give a fuck. They were inactive for years when there was no coalition, and they are going to remain that way. How do you force them to do anything? Shame them?

 

[Esquilax]

Hey, maybe we should instead dismantle this pugilist coalition, forcing the government to act and restoring public faith in the Empire?
Seriously, this is the perfect example of pugilistic sec

Unfinished sentence, I meant that this is exactly the reason why tge State is losing power and the pugilists sre gaining it. We could sabotage them and force the local authorities to handle it, for Shun's future benefit.

Really bad idea. The reason that the pugilistic sects are such a huge part of maintaining law and order nowadays is because the State can't do it. Really, they're filling a void because of the corruption and ineptitude caused by the policies after the Civil War. Sabotaging this mission is not only pointless (we're here to gain fame by doing something awesome), it will probably make things worse for everybody who wants order to be maintained. Also, remember what Yu told us:

“You know the Wo are the people of Nippon, right?”

“Even I know that. What is so interesting about them being pirates?”

“A treaty was signed sixty years ago to prevent this very thing from happening. It is a matter of foreign policy if the Wo are pirating on our shores.”

There's something more to all of this than a simple matter of pirate raids. Maybe there's a WiB connection in all of this?

I am (somewhat) coming around to B again. While I see the benefits in A, the whole point of coming here was to really make a name for ourselves. While B is obviously much riskier, taking out the bandit leader will go a long way towards establishing our fame, and it'll allow us to make inroads with the Zhou Clan and Yuhua Hall further should we be successful. Our goal in B would be to take the Wo Pirate leader's head, which doesn't necessarily mean that we kill him fair-and-square in single combat; it could mean that we poison him, then finish him off, for example. But still, I'm gonna stick with A for now because it seems like B will cause more trouble down the road.

 

[Nevill]

Why can't you take the head of the pirate leader regardless, but, you know, without turning it into the main 'here is what we came here to do' goal in itself?

It is plain as a day that the one who takes the head of the enemy leader is going to be the star and probably the only participant whose name people will remember. No need to attach an extra meaning to it by making it into 'my ways of life are superior to yours' type of competition.

 

[Absinthe]

I vote B>C. Getting the captain head is quite doable. Don't forget the goal is to "sneak in under cover of darkness" and Jing can run in with Stealth 5. Sorry but I want to put his ninja skills to the test.

Voting A is no good. We're not settling problems but creating them. Out of the factions present, it's only the Songfeng school that's out for Jing's blood, and its leader Rong Muben is very adamant that "the Songfeng Sword School would not take vengeance for Zhiyu’s untimely demise" so if we fight 'em that flies out of the window. If we kill Songfeng students, then we successfully piss off everyone and hurt the anti-pirate campaign. If we don't kill them, we've still caused trouble by starting these fights and injuring people. There's also a decent chance Jing will come out of this injured, possibly even poisoned, or otherwise worn which will damage our performance against the pirates, who we are trying to make money off of. So lets not do that, shall we? On the other hand, if we don't rise to petty provocations and just prove ourselves in the campaign, then more people will cut us respect for our conduct and we actually earn some money.