[LP CYOA] 傳

[Baltika9]

Sure, go ahead and vote to pray. If you're keen on it, make a running tally of people who want to pray as we go along. Once we hit, say, 20 people, the prayer will proceed.

It doesn't matter when you pray, all that matters is that you do.

PRAY tally

Baltika9
Anabanana
Elfberserker
Smashing Axe

Total- 4

Calling all bros, let's pray to the heavens and have a chat with Nuwa.
Nevill, Esquilax, Anabanana, Tribute, Absinthe, ScubaV, Smashing Axe, The Brazilian Slaughter, Akkudakku, Kashmir Slippers, profreshinal, Elfberserker, XenomorphII, Lambchop19, Kipeci, Azira, GreyViper, Jester, archaen, Kz3r0, Fangshi, RealDDc.

 

[Anabanana]

Oh, why the hell not.

Let's pray.

(Jing is going to die horribly from this, isn't he.)

 

[Grimgravy]

AC

 

[Kipeci]

We can't hora hora unless we pray, yes?

 

[Baltika9]

We can't hora hora unless we pray, yes?

Pretty much, yeah. How can we horahorahora if Nuwa can't find us, her love or whatever it is Chi You was to her.
Grimgravy, care to weigh in on the PRAY vote?

 

[Tigranes]

Sorry, I skipped all your posts because you were into random speculation mode again.

 

[kazgar]

3 part choice isn't difficult enough you want to make it 4 part? There isn't enough going on in the world and our adventure at the moment?

Redonkulous.

and y'know, lets delay whatever update we could get by adding more choices and discuss to it, I mean the 500 posts I just caught up on for only 1 actual update wasn't enough.

 

[Baltika9]

Sorry, I skipped all your posts because you were into random speculation mode again.

I tend to do that, nothing wrong with it. Voting on the PRAY thing now, all we need is twenty votes for a chat with Nuwa.

3 part choice isn't difficult enough you want to make it 4 part? There isn't enough going on in the world and our adventure at the moment?

Redonkulous.

and y'know, lets delay whatever update we could get by adding more choices and discuss to it, I mean the 500 posts I just caught up on for only 1 actual update wasn't enough.

This vote is separate from the main vote, bro, and is running to 20 votes. Once we hit that, prayer happens automatically. The update isn't being delayed for this.

 

[Grimgravy]

I will abstain from a pray vote. There have been bad vibes associated with the random wishful thinking requests. If praying naturally comes up in an update, I'll consider it.

 

[Baltika9]

I will abstain from a pray vote. There have been bad vibes associated with the random wishful thinking requests. If praying naturally comes up in an update, I'll consider it.

It doesn't matter when you pray, all that matters is that you do.

Apparently it doesn't really matter.

 

[Esquilax]

Apparently it doesn't really matter.

B-but... I'm scawed!

Infiltrating the Fire Temple to sabotage Ahura's apotheosis is one thing, but this frightens me.

 

[Baltika9]

I know what you mean, facing gods and stealing Emperors is one thing. But a pissed off ex is a completely different ballpark.

 

[Kipeci]

If we prayer means that we can hora hora and not praying means that we can't, I'm going to take a break from my previous voting pattern and absolutely not pray under any circumstances. That was some awful shit.

 

[Esquilax]

“Under the leadership of Mao Sanjiao, they have also gone from strength to strength in the past two years by pursuing the policies Song Jiangke laid down,” you say, laying out what you have found. “In fact, they have absorbed many smaller schools, and turned them into branches of Qingcheng all over the country. They might not have the numbers of the Beggars, or the clout of Huashan, but as far as wealth and influence amongst the commonfolk go, Qingcheng Sect would rank very highly.”

treave, here you offer a rundown of a Qingcheng sect and what its various strengths are as an organization. How would the Fire Cult compare to any of the Eight Sects in terms of number of faction members, overall quality of fighters, other unique strengths* etc.? I'm aware that our organization has a lot of children, families, old people and refugees - this would constitute the majority of the people in the Fire Cult, correct? Based on the strength of our Amesha Spenta, especially Vairya and Vahista, I'm estimating that the Fire Cult is probably significantly stronger than any individual major orthodox sect, though of course we'd get smashed by an alliance of them.

* For example, the Beggars unique strength is information-gathering because they have so many people out in the streets, Huashan has political power, Qingcheng has wealth. From what I gathered, the Fire Cult's strength would possibly be strong unity and faith in their religion.

 

[treave]

Well, this is going to come into play sooner or later, obviously, but I guess I’ll talk about it now.

The battle power of the Fire Cult is very, very highly concentrated in the Amesha Spenta and a small circle of potential candidates for that rank. These do not number more than twenty at any given time, usually, and you can expect anyone who hasn't made it into the current batch of Amesha Spenta to be at or lower than Jing's level pre-timeskip. The majority of the top members of the orthodox sects may not be able to match the six Spenta, but the average Eight Sects pugilist will be better trained and possess higher combat ability than the average Fire Cultist, though actual quality differs depending on the particular Sect. This was reflected in the rout of the cultists at Heihu Valley when their leadership was temporarily removed - it was not just their morale that broke, but they did not actually have the skill to have taken the orthodox pugilists in a straight fight without all of the Fire Temple's leaders present.

With proper leadership and guidance, however, the Fire Cult are more receptive to the concept of taking orders and tactics. In the right circumstances, with the right orders, their faith will bolster their morale greatly, perhaps to suicidal levels.

Next, in terms of numbers, if every single cultist, including non-combatants, are mobilized from both the Temple and surrounding lands, they would outnumber an alliance of the Eight Sects, but not overwhelmingly, especially if the Eight Sects draw upon the numerous smaller orthodox schools like Songfeng for manpower and go for an all-out campaign to remove the Temple from premises. In terms of combatants that are actually somewhat proficient, they would have numbers on par with a single medium-sized sect like Wudang and Huashan. However, the average quality of the fighters would be markedly less in comparison to those particular sects.

Again, the quality of the Fire Cult is highly concentrated in the elite fighters. You can see why Ahura’s crippling and the failure of his revival would hit them hard.

 

[Baltika9]

Again, the quality of the Fire Cult is highly concentrated in the elite fighters. You can see why Ahura’s crippling and the failure of his revival would hit them hard.

And why is that? Is it simply because the Fire Cult is so new to these lands that they hadn't had enough time to train up the new fighters, or is it just their policy of a lot of cannon fodder with elite commanders?
Also, what kinds of martial arts do they specialize in? Unarmed, swords, sabers, bows?

 

[Elfberserker]

Pray.

I am curious whar kind of disaster it brings.

 

[treave]

And why is that? Is it simply because the Fire Cult is so new to these lands that they hadn't had enough time to train up the new fighters, or is it just their policy of a lot of cannon fodder with elite commanders?
Also, what kinds of martial arts do they specialize in? Unarmed, swords, sabers, bows?

Martial arts is secondary to their religion for most adherents. It's not a real priority for them, plus whatever techniques they do have are not easy to learn. They don't have the strict training and drills that the orthodox schools do as the majority of the cultists are people who are busy enough eking a living off the land in between the religious observances, and have no time for all this other stuff.

Most of their martial arts are unarmed, but the rank-and-file fighters get basic weapons training so they know how to hold a weapon at least.

 

[Baltika9]

Well shit, I guess it's time to re-institute the Immortals. Our situation is dire enough to call in a general draft of the able-bodied. You already said that Shun cannot send us any public help, but can he discreetly send us some "retired" officers and drill sergeants from his Army to help get our lower-level guys into fighting shape?

 

[treave]

They are in good enough fighting shape to be an average soldier in that time period, they just can't achieve the level of skill an average pugilist can. Sending more military trainers would not make a difference. You'd need to reform the martial arts training from the ground up to achieve the effect you desire, but that would take years to bear fruit.

Don't forget, the reputation of the Eight Sects and the structure of their organization means that they do attract a majority of the people most suitable for learning martial arts in China, out of a population of nearly a hundred million strong, while the Fire Cultists make do with whoever wants to join regardless of their age or aptitude for battle.

 

[Baltika9]

I see. So if we want to get them trained up, we either need to invent a completely new training scheme for the new guys to get them stronger quickly, or find some really advanced trainers in the unorthodox world. How could we improve the combat strength of an average cultist, then? Are there any badass mercenary companies out there that would accept a contract to teach them, for instance?

 

[treave]

Are there any badass mercenary companies out there that would accept a contract to teach them, for instance?

Black Dragon Society is actually pretty hardcore. They have earned their reputation, you might want to ask them.

Anyway, if you want them to get stronger quickly as a combat force, it is cooperation and tactics you need to look at, not individual strength. In comparison to the disciples of the Eight Sects, the cultists aren't the cream of the crop when it comes to personal martial ability and all the training in the world isn't going to help them with that. Study more military treatises and hope that Xiahou Yu doesn't sign up as a tactician for the Eight Sects in the inevitable showdown.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Are there any badass mercenary companies out there that would accept a contract to teach them, for instance?

Black Dragon Society is actually pretty hardcore. They have earned their reputation, you might want to ask them.

Anyway, if you want them to get stronger quickly as a combat force, it is cooperation and tactics you need to look at, not individual strength. In comparison to the disciples of the Eight Sects, the cultists aren't the cream of the crop when it comes to personal martial ability and all the training in the world isn't going to help them with that. Study more military treatises and hope that Xiahou Yu doesn't sign up as a tactician for the Eight Sects in the inevitable showdown.

Simple plan, hire Scholarbro as our tacticologist.

 

[Baltika9]

Are there any badass mercenary companies out there that would accept a contract to teach them, for instance?

Black Dragon Society is actually pretty hardcore. They have earned their reputation, you might want to ask them.

This is the part where the misdeeds of our youth come to bite us in our ass, isn't it?

Anyway, if you want them to get stronger quickly as a combat force, it is cooperation and tactics you need to look at, not individual strength.

Right, so we need to get them organized in a better way. This will have to wait until we get to the cult and get a look at their actual organization and see where we can use our Scholarly Knowledge to improve things. I guess that means we should ask our friend Shun for military treatises and a copy of the Art of War, instead of officers and trainers. At what point in SK can we be considered a good strategist and be able to actually improve the Cult's fighting force?

 

[treave]

You're actually capable of being a good tactician right now. You might not have the foresight for grand strategy, but in terms of tactics you have good aptitude for it, and have studied plenty of military treatises. The bulk of your scholarly knowledge lies in military stuff that you are interested in, and less in boring (to you) crap like canals and agriculture, just like how your intelligence is geared towards fighting and less towards common sense. You just haven't really had the chance to demonstrate it yet.