[LP CYOA] 傳

[Fangshi]

Though if the madman goes after them and the emperor, she would still be in danger.

Well on the bright side the prisoner fell into the hole so if he tries to follow them we just have to follow him to get back out.

If Ying would take her hostage as a leverage against us (though I doubt it) she would be in danger.

He could but I am having trouble coming up with a motivation for that. I mean from his perspective we may well be dead and even if we are not he can't keep her forever. I think if we phrase it properly, like a "last request", then he will honour our wishes. He does seem to have a code of some sort.

If she jumps after us and gets hurt in the process

A definite possibility but she does have amazing PER, she could probably find a safer path down the hole then she will be forced to take clinging to us. As a general rule if you have to fall then it should be a planned fall not what will happen if the two of them drop together.

 

[Elfberserker]

If she jumps back in after us it will still give us time to properly land instead of shielding her with our body and she will have more time to prepare her landing and we may be able to catch her.

But really if both choices led to Cao'er following us then the choices would probably be presented differently. We just have to tell her that we need her to look after the Emperor and get help for us, she will listen and that way someone will know we are in the tunnels. I mean if we drag her down too then Gao could just leave us all down there, and if we can not find a way out we are screwed.

That is only, if she lands near us. lifting her up means she has to follow us in blind darkness and leaves her landing up to chance, while taking with us means she is surely next to us. Furthermore, if I understood correctly that right now the collapsing is happening and leaving her with Gao ther migh be chance that collapsing floor seals us and Cao'er to different place.

Yes we will be hurt and monster has all the advantages over us, but we don't have to fight the damn thing and it has pressure points. There is also strength in number and perhaps Jing, Cao'er and Qilin can come up better plan than Jing and Qilin alone. Honestly I am not sure which one is correct path, lifting Cao'er up is more Jing like in its suicidal heroic way towards his comrades and we trust Gao, while keeping her with us implies that we don't want to be apart from her and we don't trust Gap

 

[Rex Feral]

Meh, you all make fair points. So fair, I find myself torn between choices.

Thing is we're going completely blind here. We don't know what will be down there. We don't know where and how Qilin is. We don't know if Cao'er will jump after us. We don't know what Ying's intentions are. We don't know what this monster is capable off or what it's intentions are. We don't know how hard it will be to navigate through the maze of tunnels and if Cao'er would be really helpful or someone to worry about. We don't know a lot and there are advantages and disadvantages to every choice. It looks like a choice we would make mostly on instinct rather than logic.

 

[Baltika9]

Not necessarily on instinct rather than logic. I see no reason, emotional or rational, why we should place Cao'er in such a shitty situation in B: completely blind in the tunnels (making her Immortal Eyes rather useless), a likely injured Jing whom she can't heal and a mercurial and nervous Qilin; all against a psychotic maniac that just slaughtered half of their escort and has perfect knowledge of the tunnels. Thing is, I think that two talented fighters at full health, like Jing and Qilin, stand a much better chance down there by themselves. They are good fighters, they are quick and well conditioned. Jing's hearing is pretty good to go by, so a third inexperienced person who has never been in life-or-death situations like these would be a liability. Which is why I consider A to be the best move: we're acrobatic enough to make the jump without injuring ourselves too badly, good enough to link up with Qilin and proceed from there.

 

[Fangshi]

You sum it up nicely Rex Feral and perhaps the choice really is that simple. When faced with the unknown and his own potential death, what would Jing do?

Will he try and save Cao'er by letting her go or will he drag her down with him.

Maybe the answer is as simple as that.

 

[Tribute]

He'd be willing to risk himself, he wouldn't want to drag Cao'er down with him.

For that matter, bringing Cao'er down with us more or less amounts to abandoning the mission to save our own hide, which is... not very Jing.

 

[Kipeci]

I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that this crazy guy is slow.

Gao Ying attacks immediately, striking with his fingers almost faster than you can see, but the madman blocks all of his attacks effortlessly, deflecting his blows as if he were toying with a slow child.

 

[Elfberserker]

Aah, fuck it, flopping to A

 

[Rex Feral]

It seems like it's gonna be an A victory anyway, without my flop:

ERYFKRAD - A
MystiKnight- A
Nevill - B
asxetos - A
Anabanana - B
Smashing Axe - B
Azira - B
Baltika9 - A
XenomorphII - A
Fangshi - A
Tribute - A
RealDDc - A
ScubaV - A
Jester - A
Grimgravy - B
Elfberserker - A
SirArvedeth - B
Lambchop19 - B
Esquilax - A
The Brazilian Slaughter - A
LWC1996 - B
TOME -A

I'll check again to see if I haven't forgot anybody.

A - 13

B - 8

 

[SirArvedeth]

Voting for B.

 

[Rex Feral]

I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that this crazy guy is slow.

Gao Ying attacks immediately, striking with his fingers almost faster than you can see, but the madman blocks all of his attacks effortlessly, deflecting his blows as if he were toying with a slow child.

Then, without warning, the screams begin. “Cao’er! Qilin!” You shout out to the girls, trying to get to them in the darkness. You find Cao’er’s hand first and grab onto it, pulling her close to your side. She clings onto your arm immediately. You can barely make out a dreadful silhouette, blacker than the dark of the caves, tearing apart men with its long, lanky limbs. The stench of blood thickens in the air. “Li… Ming!” it howls, striding for the Emperor. Suddenly, a burst of light fills the tunnels. The thing moans in pain, staggering back.

“Ha, I still had one of the light-making satchels left!” exclaims Qilin exuberantly. “Get the torches!” shouts Gao Ying. The secret police retreat and begin lighting up the torches as they go. As the darkness recedes, you see the assailant shivering, panting in front of you. It is a man after all… his hair is long and tangled, and his beard matted. A large, iron vest is clasped over his chest – dozens of thick needles have pierced it through. His limbs appear to have been broken and set back together wrongly multiple times, healing in such a way that it must pain him even to move an inch. Heavy iron manacles shackle his wrists and ankles, and the rusty chains appear to lead down a side tunnel. Are they still attached to something?

You had no more time to ponder, however, as he lets out a scream of fury. Gao Ying attacks immediately, striking with his fingers almost faster than you can see, but the madman blocks all of his attacks effortlessly, deflecting his blows as if he were toying with a slow child. “Take the Emperor and go!” he shouts to his men. If he ever had wanted to kill the Emperor, he certainly does not have that inclination now – it would be easy to leave the stretcher and let this strange person do the dirty work. As the secret police grab the Emperor and make a run for it, the madman screams the Emperor’s name again, distracted.

I was mostly referring to his movement speed.

The fact that he didn't get sooner to the emperor, preferably when he was still just with Cao'er.

The fact that he began striding toward the emperor, instead of reaching him in an instant.

The fact that he seems shackled, still attached to something through chains.

Other than that he'd be very fast.

Also I think he might have some kind of extrasensory perception, because he sensed the emperor somehow, and because all his senses seem to have been removed. His eyes sewed, his ears waxed, his nose cut.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

B - We need Cao'er's per 10 (per is more than just sight and who knows, maybe the dark isn't complete darkness to her) and she may be able to help heal us and Qilin should we need it...

 

[Esquilax]

Goddamn, what the fuck did the Emperor do to this guy?

Then, without warning, the screams begin. “Cao’er! Qilin!” You shout out to the girls, trying to get to them in the darkness. You find Cao’er’s hand first and grab onto it, pulling her close to your side. She clings onto your arm immediately. You can barely make out a dreadful silhouette, blacker than the dark of the caves, tearing apart men with its long, lanky limbs. The stench of blood thickens in the air. “Li… Ming!” it howls, striding for the Emperor. Suddenly, a burst of light fills the tunnels. The thing moans in pain, staggering back.

“Ha, I still had one of the light-making satchels left!” exclaims Qilin exuberantly. “Get the torches!” shouts Gao Ying. The secret police retreat and begin lighting up the torches as they go. As the darkness recedes, you see the assailant shivering, panting in front of you. It is a man after all… his hair is long and tangled, and his beard matted. A large, iron vest is clasped over his chest – dozens of thick needles have pierced it through. His limbs appear to have been broken and set back together wrongly multiple times, healing in such a way that it must pain him even to move an inch. Heavy iron manacles shackle his wrists and ankles, and the rusty chains appear to lead down a side tunnel. Are they still attached to something?

He's afraid of light and fire. That seems to be the only weakness that we can detect on him right now. Too bad Qilin just used up the last of her satchels...

I could potentially see someone like Cao'er (or even ourselves, Jing isn't too shabby as a doc now) managing to calm the madman down and perhaps even heal him under the right circumstances, but given the situation as it is, reasoning with him will be very tough. Still, Rat Sphere Lunatic Diplomacy might actually be possible... if this man isn't too far gone.

Cao'er would only follow us or Qilin, if we let her go. She has no reason to be loyal to current emperor or shu, but she has plenty of loyalty towards us and Qilin. Furthermore I think that splitting party is always a bad idea, even more when said splitting isn't planned. Cao'er seems to be decent fighter and great healer, which we need to survive without support and we don't exactly know what kind of condition Qilin is.

A lot of what Cao'er does relies upon her seeing someone's meridians with her Immortal's Eyes. In the pitch darkness below, a lot of her effectiveness will be diminished. As treave mentioned before, thanks to Reikan, Jing's hearing should be on par with Cao'er, which should allow him to navigate this place to a certain extent. PER 10 is great, but I'm still not sure if Cao'er would be able to see any more than we would in such an environment. treave, how does Cao'er perceive pressure points? Is it sort of a glow-in-the-dark thing or an x-ray vision? For example, would she be able to detect meridians in complete darkness or through obstacles like walls? I'm interested in how she actually sees the world around her.

Anyways, I'm confident with A that we can reach the ground uninjured. We'd slingshot Cao'er to safety with our high strength, and I think we'd be able to soften our landing by Spider-Manning our way to the ground, rappelling our way down with the spider silk. I'm not confident that we'd be able to have a steady landing for both ourselves and Cao'er with B. And I'm also not confident that she'd be able to heal us in that sort of pitch-black environment, with our neigong issues.

Also I think he might have some kind of extrasensory perception, because he sensed the emperor somehow, and because all his senses seem to have been removed. His eyes sewed, his ears waxed, his nose cut.

Bingo. I think that it has to do with his immense qi.

Anyways, voting A for now, could flop to B if I hear some compelling arguments. This is going to be a series of very tough choices for us.

 

[treave]

treave, how does Cao'er perceive pressure points? Is it sort of a glow-in-the-dark thing or an x-ray vision? For example, would she be able to detect meridians in complete darkness or through obstacles like walls? I'm interested in how she actually sees the world around her.

It's not reliant on light, but she does need some line of sight, and she can also see the flow of qi in the body. It works on any living thing.

 

[Jester]

Dmn hard.
I have possible explanation why each choice could be only possible way. Worst possibility masked save Quinlin or Cao choice.
hard?
We can as well go with instinct, take your picks. Hope Treave is in good humour today.

 

[Baltika9]

So, uh... with the large time break between 'em, any chance for an early update?

 

[Tribute]

We've gotten something like 3 updates in the last day or so.

 

[LWC1996]

B.

I want Cao'er with me, selfish as it may be. I see what treave is trying to do. If Cao'er is with me then Qilin won't be and vice-versa.

At this point, it's who I'm willing to spend time with. She's quiet, sensible and knowledgeable in medical stuff. And I don't want to be apart from her.

With Qilin, I'd have to be on constant vigilance against her constant needling towards me and her flirting. I don't have the time or energy to deal with Qilin's antics.

 

[Baltika9]

What? I don't even... this isn't a waifu choice, bro, down there it's pure survival.

 

[treave]

Every choice is a waifu choice, if you are working towards the harem end.

 

[RealDDc]

With a shit ton of luck, Jing makes it to the games finish with just his head on torso. I'd say we sacrifice the women to the gods to increase the odds.

 

[Baltika9]

Not enough. We need to sacrifice newborn children.

 

[Kipeci]

treave If we had gone with animal taming, would we have had a choice about what sort of creepy-crawlie we would have behind the eye patch?

 

[treave]

I'd roll the dice.

 

[TOME]

A. Too many unknown. Going with instinct.