Those Blessed with Talent

[Darkened]

Darkened: Is Piper of Hamelin part of that "relies on instruments" category? One of the draws behind it (for me at least) was that it had only one key attribute.

Click to shrink...

Most skills require primarily charisma. However, its primary vehicle for using skills is going to be music, particularly from wind instruments. It's not really dependent on affinity in that you won't have a lot of skills that key off affinity, however that doesn't mean affinity won't have strong benefits.

It relies on instruments in the same way a conventional swordsman relies on a sword. Which is to say, you'll do a lot better when you have a really good one, but you're mostly going to be using active skills that rely on charisma rather than affinity.

Of course, you can see the fact that 'sufficient money and affinity=more power" as a bonus rather than a drawback.

Darkened, would you mind talking about the advantages and disadvantages of Azure Mountain Path Sage?

Also. if we choose to investigate adoption opportunities, could we then change it to Indentiture or Army service?

Click to shrink...

Possibly, but if you do so, your may or may not end up earning some enmity.


Azure Mountain Path Sage has the best level of anti-illusion ability as well as incredible analytical skills, allowing you to learn enemy weaknesses and strengths before anyone notices. Ultimately it's best used as a defense focused class who predicts and adapts for enemy abilities, use a variety of low key buffs in concert to change the flow of the battle before the fight even starts. It also possesses many very short term counter skills, like (element) negation which is a buff of a duration of only a few seconds that can completely negate one element's damage for a small group.

On the other hand, it has no direct offensive skills and its ability to help allies succeed against foes with no particular tricks or special skills isn't as high. Likewise, properly judging the enemy is important.

 

[rcnr]

MHLord, Pipeman: Based on this new information, I would like to remove a point from Perception and Agility and put it into Affinity, leaving us with

-[X] Agility 3
-[X] Luck 6
-[X] Affinity 5
-[X] Perception 3
-[X] Stamina 5

Do either of you object to this modification? I won't push too hard for it since we're winning on the virtue of backing the exact same vote, but I think it's an improvement.

 

[Bloodshifter]

[X] You have 21 points to divide between your 5 remaining attributes. No attribute may be below 2. Raising an attribute from 5 to 6 costs 2 points. No attribute may be raised above 6.
-[X] Agility 3
-[X] Luck 5
-[X] Affinity 5
-[X] Perception 4
-[X] Stamina 4

[X] Wild Hearted Temptress

[X] Actually you have a second personal skill.
-[X] That gives you a new mode of perception

[X] Nope. Money-bags never have anything good in mind for street trash like you. Start running now and never look back..

 

[Pipeman]

MHLord, Pipeman: Based on this new information, I would like to remove a point from Perception and Agility and put it into Affinity, leaving us with

-[X] Agility 3
-[X] Luck 6
-[X] Affinity 5
-[X] Perception 3
-[X] Stamina 5

Do either of you object to this modification? I won't push too hard for it since we're winning on the virtue of backing the exact same vote, but I think it's an improvement.

Click to shrink...

I'm fine with it.
Mind reposting the entire new plan so I can copy/paste it completely for the sake of the tally?
Would do it myself but being on the tablet makes this kind of thing annoying as fuck.

 

[redaeth]

I'm fine with it.
Mind reposting the entirenew plan so I can copy/paste it completely for the sake of the tally?
Would do it myself but being on the tablet makes this kind of thing annoying as fuck.

Click to shrink...

I'd appreciate that.

 

[rcnr]

Okay. Changing vote to:
[X]Piper of Hamelin

[X] Actually, your stats are a little higher than he read the first time.
-[X] Assign 2 more stat points.

-[X] Agility 3
-[X] Luck 6
-[X] Affinity 5
-[X] Perception 3
-[X] Stamina 5

[X] Indentured Servitude is only a few years of your life in exchange for status, connections and a small fortune.

 

[Pipeman]

[X]Piper of Hamelin
[X] Actually, your stats are a little higher than he read the first time.
-[X] Assign 2 more stat points.
-[X] Agility 3
-[X] Luck 6
-[X] Affinity 5
-[X] Perception 3
-[X] Stamina 5
[X] Indentured Servitude is only a few years of your life in exchange for status, connections and a small fortune.

 

[BFldyq]

Personally, I don't understand why people are gravitating toward Indentured Servitude. As far as I can tell, it's an inferior version of adoption: we have to do anything the one we're Indentured to tells us to do, we don't have any of the status adoption brings, nor are we granted as many resources.

Plus, there's this:

And of course you know that an Imperial Prince, chosen by heaven, probably has to have something somewhere around A. But no one real, no actual person starts out higher than B.

Click to shrink...

There's a very real chance that one the Imperial clans, the ones right below the Emperor, could adopt our character. Which would make us one of the highest ranking characters in the country.

Why are people passing that opportunity by?

 

[rcnr]

Clan choice is a difficult and many faceted decision we are not prepared to make after spending our entire short life an orphan. It requires our first action to be "look for someone to do this shady business for you", unless we want to jump at this dude's offer.

There aren't any official channels, so even if we had perfect information, our relative lack of power and influence will conspire to screw us over on this, and that screwing over will follow us forever because family is family.

Indentured Servitude, meanwhile, is a contract. We create the terms, someone agrees to the terms, everything is nice and transparent. Even if we get ripped off, all we lose is money gained/time spent, and we aren't stuck with our employer past the time we agree.

 

[Alexander]

[X]Piper of Hamelin
[X] Actually, your stats are a little higher than he read the first time.
-[X] Assign 2 more stat points.
-[X] Agility 3
-[X] Luck 6
-[X] Affinity 5
-[X] Perception 3
-[X] Stamina 5
[X] Indentured Servitude is only a few years of your life in exchange for status, connections and a small fortune.

 

[BFldyq]

Indentured Servitude, meanwhile, is a contract. We create the terms, someone agrees to the terms, everything is nice and transparent. Even if we get ripped off, all we lose is money gained/time spent, and we aren't stuck with our employer past the time we agree.

Click to shrink...

Someone's optimistic.

Assassination. Suicide missions. Brainwashing. Kidnapping. Blackmail. Outright murder.

I fully expect us to never be let go.

 

[Pipeman]

Basically what rcnr said.
Even if we completely screw up, Indentured Servitude just ties us up until we're an adult who knows what the fuck she's doing.
Suboptimal if we end up in a shitty position until we're 24 years old, but ultimately still something we can deal with.

On the other hand, we have no way to contact anyone else for adoption, no way to know who we need to contact to get adopted into a family we want into in the first place and no idea which family we'd want to be adopted into and which we don't want to touch with a ten-foot pole.
Add that this is a lifelong commitment sealing our familial allegiance and you're looking at pretty goddamn huge investment here.

Ultimately, while a third class citizenship is incomparable to what we had so far, it's far beneath what we could accomplish since there are only a few dozen A ranks in the entire empire and only a tenth of those are natural.
We'd be forever beholden to the head of our clan and presumably even anyone between us and our clanhead that managed to snatch us up because we have no way in hell to approach the clan heads directly with our current resources, even if Han just lets us go, and ,while advancement would still certainly be possible, we'd have drag everyone between us and the top of our clan with us, because they are unlikely to let us just walk past them.

And it should be obvious that advancing further in such a manner is not only going to be met with resitance from other clans that don't want to see their rivals surpass them, but also by rivals within our clan that don't want whoever managed to place us under their wing or even ourselves to surpass them either.
All in all, adoption ties us irrevocably to a complex political system that is as restrictive as it is dangerous and we have no undestanding of whatsoever because we know jack shit about anything.

Meanwhile Indentured Servitude may take our freedom away for 7 to 14 years, but right now we know too little to act on our own anyways, so I don't mind only getting control over our destiny back when we know what's what and are powerful enough that people don't dare to fuck with us by trying to drive a freaking natural A-Rank towards adoption by a branch family of one of the Eight Great Noble Clans that already has three adult sons.
After the Indentured Servitude is over we can still look into adoption or marriage into a really high position only this time we'll have much more than a snowball's chance in hell of getting past all the mid-tiers that are seeing us as their ticket to ever greater heights or we can decide we don't want anything more to do with nobles because life at court m,ay turn out to be annoying as fuck and go do something different, which would not be much of an option after adoption.

Edit:

Someone's optimistic.


Assassination. Suicide missions. Brainwashing. Kidnapping. Blackmail. Outright murder.


I fully expect us to never be let go.

Click to shrink...

At a certain point trying to tie the A-Rank down becomes more and more suicidal and since anyone with half a brain will see this coming they will very likely instead try to hone lasting loyalty by not being a total asshole and hoping we stick with them or are at least positively inclined towards them after we are free again, which would still be so goddamn much more profitable than killing us a few years in out of fear of retaliation.

 

[rcnr]

Assassination. Outright murder.

Click to shrink...

I suspect we'll always have to deal with these. But the person who buys us has an interest in us not getting murdered.

Brainwashing.

Click to shrink...

That's a bit risky, as a Charisma Leader. Any brainwashing will probably be mutual. It's almost like a real relationship!

Kidnapping. Blackmail.

Click to shrink...

Kidnapping us out of servitude? Kind of weird. Also, our employer threatening to tell everyone about the awful things we did while we were owned by them seems kind of ridiculous.

Suicide Missions

Click to shrink...

Come on, if you could avoid paying out for years of service by ordering your servant to kill themselves nobody would even bother putting themselves out there.

 

[redaeth]

I think BFldyq means those are the type of missions we might be sent on with indentured servitude.

 

[rcnr]

Which makes me wonder why they bothered paying for us if they're just going to send us into a meatgrinder. That's just a bad financial decision.

 

[BFldyq]

Which makes me wonder why they bothered paying for us if they're just going to send us into a meatgrinder. That's just a bad financial decision.

Click to shrink...

We win, they get stronger. We lose, a potential threat is eliminated.

Either way, they win.

More so, if they're obligated to pay us at the end, which I think they are, from what has been mentioned. I suspect, from what I know of such systems, they don't actually spend anything to acquire us. The fact that we apparently earn anything, suggests the money comes at the end.

Also, even if we reach the end, our deeds would be a blackmark against us if made public. The Great Nobles could probably survive that: we probably couldn't.

 

[UrsaTempest]

We win, they get stronger. We lose, a potential threat is eliminated.

Either way, they win. More so, if they're obligated to pay us at the end.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, if we go Indentured Servant route, I find it more likely we'll get brainwashed/more-than-brainwashed rather than simply killed - rank A is fairly rare, after all.

 

[BFldyq]

Honestly, if we go Indentured Servant route, I find it more likely we'll get brainwashed/more-than-brainwashed rather than simply killed - rank A is fairly rare, after all.

Click to shrink...

Yes, that's also a possibility.

Basically, I don't see Indentured Service as giving up freedom for 7-14 years, then going free. It's 7-14 years of being a slave, then a lifetime of being bound to our former owners at tightly as being adopted would be.

Note: I don't think this is guaranteed. I just think the chances of this going wrong, and being adopted, to be about equal. Being adopted also has severe potential risks.

I just looked at it, saw all options had horrible outcomes, and decided to go for broke by picking the one with the best possible outcome: becoming a 2nd rank noble.

 

[Pipeman]

Even if they manage to screw us over with the initial contract, they'll very likely invest a lot into our training and education because we are going to be so very worth all of it and sending us on suicide missions doesn't really seem like a good way to get that money back or to profit on us greatly, since you only get to send people on one of those.

There's a valid concern that they'll send us on very risky stuff towards the end of our time with them, but by that point we'll both be powerful enough to still have a good chance of still surivving and they're going to weigh the benefits of sending us on a few last high-risk, high-reward missions against the benefits of having someone you've known for 7 to 14 years practically guaranteed to rise to a very high place.

Actually messing with us or our mind, especially towards the end of our time with them, is going to be unbelievably risky for them.
We're going to be a freaking A-Rank with 7-14 years of experience behind us.
Even if we don't respond by killing them all, damn the consequences, we'd have enough power to still get away and ruin them forever through much more legal means.

 

[BFldyq]

Even if we don't respond by killing them all, damn the consequences, we'd have enough power to still get away and ruin them forever through much more legal means.

Click to shrink...

...I think your underestimating the amount of authority and power Clans likely have, both legal and temporal.

 

[redaeth]

Have an omake, to convince those voting for Bestial Adept to consolidate the vote and for more to vote for it! Cause it looks like we might be going the necromancer path otherwise.

Old Friends

Little Bee knew the value of having companions. They watched your back, made sure those bigger then you couldn't crush you beneath their heel and gave you someone to huddle against in the cold nights. She even liked several of them. Little Crow and the way he snickered at another's misfortune, Uncrushable Wild Flower and her sheer refusal to give up and her wicked gift with a knife. Even Gentle Bear, who was not gentle at all, with his roars of defiance against the larger gangs often scared them away before he attracted the guard.

But sometimes you wanted to be alone with your thoughts, to be quiet. So Little Bee would retreat to the dark corners and simply sit there with her eyes closed and ignored the world around her. It was during those times when she met the first thing she could truly call a friend. She had brought her small meal of the day with her and was slowly eating it when she felt the tug on her hand. A ragged eared stray, tail straight, and bristling and feral golden eyes stood before her. Hunger had driven it to attempt to steal her meal.

Overcome with an impulse Little Bee shared her meal with the cat. The skeletal ribs, the matted fur, the glazed and glittering eyes. The snarl of its teeth. All spoke of something on the edge of death. If she didn't share her food this little cat would die.

There was enough death in the Lower District.

So she shared her meal, and her next meal and her next. And though her stomach grew leaner and her hands shook, she did not begrudge the loss. The cat began to fill out, only slightly but it took running her hands on its length to feel its ribs. It's fur became less matted, and shined in the sunlight. She named it Hungry Shadow and she and it hunted together for rats in the rafters and alleys.

Then they would retire to their quite corner and share their meal. Hungry Shadow purring in her lap.

Little Bee was not big nor strong. She had a glib enough tongue to get food from the sometimes generous merchants that plied their wares here. Or fast enough to grab something and run when they were not. But above all else she was perceptive. She could smell trouble approaching their gang before any of the others, and she often could spot guards a full block away and inform the rest in hurried whispers. It was said by those around her she shared the eyes and ears of her cat who shadowed her every moment.

She saw them before they entered, and it was only that that saved them from a beating. They gathered up their meager belongings, and scurried through the small cracks the larger guards would not be able to follow. They would scatter and meet up in another such hovel. Only in this case Little Bee was unlucky, the guard had taken the time to station sentries around the back exits of the ruined building and she ran straight into him. White Owl was a scourge to the children of the gangs, he beat them badly enough to break bones and open flesh. He delighted in the power he had over them and spared no time in showing them how worthless they were.

Laughing he picked her up by her knotted hair and Little Bee yowled in pain. White Owl slapped her once to shut her up then clenched his fist to deliver a proper blow when she screamed higher. "I will see your filth gone from this glorious city." He promised with a baring of his teeth. "Die."

It happened in a flash, a snarling Hungry Shadow jumped from the low overhang and landed on White Owl's face, who let out a scream as sharp claws tore at his throat and eyes. Little Bee was dropped and running away as fast as her feet could carry her.

The last thing she saw as she turned the corner was Hungry Shadow hitting the wall and falling limp, as Little Owl cursed and clutched his wounds.

Later Little Bee sat in a dark corner and slowly ate her meal of the day, tears dripping from her eyes.

 

[rcnr]

We win, they get stronger. We lose, a potential threat is eliminated.

Either way, they win.

Click to shrink...

What? How are we a threat to them when we're paid for and have to do what they say? We're an asset that constantly grows in value, getting us killed for no reason only serves to waste our potential usefulness. Bad business.

Brainwashing is more likely, but I'm fine with that because we'll have plenty of opportunities to do the same, and their brainwashing won't end up mattering until the end of our contract anyway.

 

[BFldyq]

What? How are we a threat to them when we're paid for and have to do what they say? We're an asset that constantly grows in value, getting us killed for no reason only serves to waste our potential usefulness. Bad business.

Brainwashing is more likely, but I'm fine with that because we'll have plenty of opportunities to do the same, and their brainwashing won't end up mattering until the end of our contract anyway.

Click to shrink...

We're also a potential future threat, and an asset with time limit, making us rather expendable.

And unconcern about brainwashing contradicts one of the points you made to support the Indentured Servitude: leaving after our service time is done.

 

[rcnr]

Being brainwashed doesn't even negate half the benefits of being bound to our employer by contract and not by blood.

Even if we are irrevocably tied to our employer through brainwashing, the fact that we aren't permanently on-the-record allied with them makes finding other allies and avoiding our employer's enemies easier.

We won't be a known quantity, and we can open avenues for each other without being explicit about our continued connection.

 

[Unyouthful Steve]

We won't be a known quantity, and we can open avenues for each other without being explicit about our continued connection.

Click to shrink...

Why won't we be a known quantity? we're a very rare and valuable commodity, of course our employer will brag about us.

 

[redaeth]

I prefer the army because it will help us learn how to fight. Not just physically, but tactics, strategy, and most importantly how the Empire itself fights. If we go the Rebel route we will know how to counter the Empire's troops and even if we don't its still a valuable skillset to have. It also comes with the benefit of knowing exactly what we will be learning.

Going as an indentured servant will teach us whatever skills our owner wants, and going with a family will do the same thing for longer. Going on our own has more freedom, but as there was recently a rebellion it isn't the wisest choice.

 

[rcnr]

Why won't we be a known quantity? we're a very rare and valuable commodity, of course our employer will brag about us.

Click to shrink...

They'd certainly brag about beating competitors, increased productivity, their growing wealth and power, but they wouldn't necessarily advertise how they're doing it, and our feelings on the matter aren't codified even if we are found to be the cause.

It's much easier to buy that we don't want anything to do with the person who bought our contract than our own adopted family. Even if we do stay in touch, we have much more plausible deniability and room to charm our way into competing groups.

 

[Darkened]

Politically in the empire, citizens are divided into twelve ranks. Of course the Emperor and his children are exempted entirely from the system.

1st rank: Those with the emperor's bloodline. Reserved solely for the four imperial clans bearing royal blood.
2nd rank: Nobility, the influential members of of great clans and the heads of their branches, the most significant generals and the head of the imperial academy. Sitting foreign monarchs that acknowledge the Empire are accorded this status when visiting.
3rd rank: The nobility in general, as well as the highest ranking military officers and some of the senior instructors in the royal academy. High ranking officials, while acting in the capacity of their office, are accorded this rank in the rare cases that they don't possess it normally.
4th-6th rank: The elite and wealthy. Genius artists, elite soldiers, talented citizens and mid to high ranking officials as well as those who have done great service to the empire are accorded this status.
7th-9th rank: The average soldier or ordinarily skilled artisan. The 'backbone' of the empire.
10th, 11 rank: Peasants. Rural village leaders, apprentices and poor students.
12th rank: Children whose parents have not purchased higher status for them, classless people as well as some E ranked peasants.

In general, it's possible to buy status up to the fifth rank if you care to spend progressively vast amounts of wealth, however the first three hold incredibly more authority and status than any of the lesser ranks. For those not employed by the empire (such as soldiers or bureaucrats) taxes are assessed based on citizen ranking. Those who cannot pay can easily lose their status.

As a child of unknown heritage, rising into the fourth rank should be doable for you within several years, simply because enough money can manage this.

Achieving the third rank or higher, if you aren't adopted or married into one of the great clans, would be all but impossible without fortuitous circumstances. You can do it, but you'd be dependent on some event threatening enough to prove your merit since you're probably not going to be a general or other wielder of such political power at any time in the immediate future.

In practice, most A ranked people either: don't care, had high status before doing something that allowed their B+ to become A- (and in fact can attribute much of that change to the benefits of class) or were already veterans before achieving this rank.

Pragmatically, at any time throughout history, the number of living people that reach A rank automatically could usually be counted on both hands with room to spare. There's very little given treatment for them, especially since while you have a lot of potential, actualizing that means a good deal of risk.

That said, the clans are ALSO the most powerful factions within the government. In general most high level officials will owe their allegiance to the clans and it would be all but unheard of to see anyone like a city's governor that's not attached to one. The 4 imperial clans tend to lead factions, consisting of them and 1-2 other clans.

Aside from the Zen clan which mostly clings to status due to it's the mindnumbingly powerful and famous hero of the empire who happens to be the current head of the family, the other 7 are all networked together into 3 or 4 nebulous big factions. But Little Bee doesn't know much about that.

You could consider being invited into any of the twelve clans' main family as basically being invited to join the ruling family of a not terribly small and fairly wealthy country.

Ultimately, the clans are both the most dangerous and the most beneficial option. Choosing the wrong clan could get you the worst possible situation, while choosing the best could net you more power and authority more quickly than any other path.

Indentured servant is likewise, access to the most powerful people in this part of the world. However, with a step removal, you'll reap less benefit and face somewhat less risk even if you choose badly. It's still dangerous, but dangerous in a different way.

It's not precisely slavery as a contract. You'll sign a contract requiring your service for a set period of time which will also place limitations on your employer. They'll have certain obligations to provide for your education and instruction, negotiable limits on what kinds of task you might be assigned, and notionally legal recourse would be available if they break the terms of the contract. In practice, you'd almost certainly be going with some group or person far more important than you, and your ability to set the terms or hold the other party to those terms may be more limited than it legally should be.

The army and the wild are paths somewhat removed from the social aspect. If you want to go out of the city or avoid politics entirely, these are your best choice. Both carry various risks. The army can have you executed if you run away or ignore your duty, but they'll also provide you with income, allies and resources. Going alone means relying entirely on yourself. You'll have maximum freedom, but also face the most risk. There may be other consequences as well of course.

Snip

Click to shrink...

Those feels. Okay, this is canon.

(err... dead kittens are going to convince people to go with you?)


redaeth may choose one of the following:
[ ] A devoted companion: Regardless of class choice, find a somewhat special lost kitten in the near future.
[ ] With Catlike Grace: Complete studying of 3 useful agility based skills.
[ ] Sneaky Sneaky: Learn presence concealment level 1.

 

[BFldyq]

(err... dead kittens are going to convince people to go with you?)

Click to shrink...

Apparently so!

redaeth, I'm changing my vote:
[X] Stat growth
-[X] Agility 3
-[X] Luck 4
-[X] Affinity 4
-[X] Perception 3
-[X] Stamina 6

[X] Bestial Adept

[X] Actually you have a second personal skill.
-[X] That provides a passive boost to your abilities

[X] Adoption is a big commitment, but you could be noble, practically a queen in your own domain, one step removed from the godlike emperor!
-[X] But is the Han clan really your best option?

 

[MHLord]

MHLord, Pipeman: Based on this new information, I would like to remove a point from Perception and Agility and put it into Affinity, leaving us with

Click to shrink...

Sure, I just wanted Piper.
[X]Piper of Hamelin
[X] Actually, your stats are a little higher than he read the first time.
-[X] Assign 2 more stat points.
-[X] Agility 3
-[X] Luck 6
-[X] Affinity 5
-[X] Perception 3
-[X] Stamina 5
[X] Indentured Servitude is only a few years of your life in exchange for status, connections and a small fortune.