>>4531257

Ling's eyes dart over your meager accommodations, falling on the aged form of your adoptive father, Wenyan, who sits plucking a fowl by the cooking fire in the center of the main room of your shared abode.
He acts like a frightened field mouse, now that he sees how truly disposable he was to his master for all these years.

"This humble tax collector, thanks you, Lieren" He says, hiding his expression behind his ornate fan decorated with depictions of cliff jumpers, his dust covered robes of Pink and Maroon shifting as he moves to sit before you offer, a social faux paus

"You may sit Ling, and remember your manners, what word Gao say if he were in our presence today?" You ask, as you set yourself down across Ling from the fire, stretching your legs and lounging to relax your body. The short man's form tenses, no doubt as visions of his long, drawn out death flash through his mind's eye.

"Yes yes, what was I thinking, forgive this one's rudeness, my work is a stressful labor after all" Ling mutters, his adam's apple bobbing in his bird like neck as he takes his seat, kneeling ironically like a man who is soon to lose his head

"I can only imagine" You say pityingly, pulling at the stubble on your chin as Ling removes his symbol of office, his flat topped and wide brimmed hat, colored the same colors of his robes, first maroon and then accented with pink "keeping track and account for all of the wealth of Gao's land, every season, and to even miss a single bushel of rice would mean..."

Ling swallows again, eyes nearly bursting from his skull. Seems the "guilt" of all of his thievery comes home to roost in his heart when it will lead to his own demise.

"But it is important work" Ling says, with a nervous chuckle escaping his lips, as your father Wenyan glares at the despicable worm of a man, who has brought sorrow and hardship to his kin and yours for years as much if not even more than the cruel sadist Gao. All for his own greed

"So I must endure, as it is my duty to Gao, no the people to collect what is rightfully owed to the master of these lands" Ling continues, searching around the room, no doubt looking for servants and only finding the brothers Liang and Jiang, who are only barely restraining their own immense hatred for the man and what he stands for.

"Could one of you fetch us some drinks, my throat is dry and this conversation with your master will be as well if I do not wet it with something strong" He says as Jiang's hands shift slightly, and his brother turns to him with a serious expression in his gaze. Jiang wants to claim the tax collector's head.

"Ah yes, otherwise Gao would take your head, wouldn't he" Wenyan says with a smile as he grabs a crude bone splitting cleave and remove's the fowls head from his body. Ling's eyes flash with a rage but he remembers Wenyan is your father and silences his protests in his throat.
cont

>>4531259

"Father, do not speak of such things around our honored guest" You say glancing at Jiang and lowering one of your hands as Ling is looking away, ordering your companion to stay his hand


"Even if Gao no longer favors Ling as he once did, he surely would not betray a loyal servant, who has for decades labored and worked for him and"

"The people" Jiang says through his teeth as you smile proudly at the young man, being able to restrain his temper and hatred for the man sitting before him.

"The people, yes exactly" you say, nodding as you move to stand "And I shall fetch some fruit and drink for Tax collector Ling, Honored Zian, in my personal larder, do we still have any of that bitter, strong tasting liqour"

"From Dragon's end village? the fisherman's brew made from fermented fish guts?" Zian asks as Ling visibly pales "I believe we have the jar of it you were gifted last time you past through there, and I would not be so certain in our friend's safety, Gao has always been a whimsical man, and quick too anger"

Ling choked, glancing between Zian, recognizing his uncovered scar and to you, no doubt wondering if you had heard of an order Gao had given that had been kept from his ears.

"Zian! did I not just say not to speak of such dreadful things, Ling is here as our guest, to share with us a meal before continuing his hard, stressful work" You say, swinging your arm towards the man, a smirk on his ruin of a face as you admonish him, raising your open hand into the air "And Gao is a wise man, he would not do away with a servant who is still useful to him, simply because he no longer favors him"

"Do away with" Ling mutters under his breath as you leave the room to fetch Ling his drink and something to subdue its strength and bitter flavor.

You decide on a platter of ripe peaches, dried plums and sour berries to accompany his drink. For even if he is a heartless villain, a man deserves an enjoyable "last meal" if it can be given. It is merely the virtuous thing to do, you'd even give Gao a sip of his prized liquor before you tear his head from his blubbery neck. Guozhi the wise monk, discussed such matters with you once, in his words it is said to put the soul at rest before it is reborn, remove lingering grudges and attachments. To your eyes, it is merely polite to do so, a way to know that you have not become as Heartless as men like Ling and Gao.

"Tax Collector Ling is Loyal, Tax collector Ling is wise" You say, resisting the urge to laugh and spit on the floor at the lies flying from your mouth like a flock of birds "He has done nothing to arose Gao's wrath, he has nothing to fear, after all Tax collector Ling is a friend of the people, Gao is a benevolent ruler"

You set the tray of fruits, an unglazed pitcher of fish gut liquor in front of Ling as his skin continues to pale and whiten to a color even lighter than freshly fallen snow.
Cont

>>4531260

He must be reflecting on all he has done and taken that would very much draw Gao's ire and cruelty.


"Of course, of course wise as ever, Lieren" He says barely able to speak as you pour him a hearty glass of the liquor, crushing a few berries and the peach in a bowl before pouring it in the glass and mixing it with a dried piece of straw "He has no reason to do away with me, I have done nothing to him! My work is...is necessary"


"I can't imagine how many men desire a position as high as yours, Ling" You say as you raise the glass to his hands, crouched over him, casting him entirely in your own shadow "But who could ever replace one as skilled, as talented as yourself"

"Exactly, exactly" He nearly whined, drinking the offered drink is a single gulp and raising the glass for another, eyes haunted "I am irreplaceable, none may fufill my duties as I do"

"Unless you have angered Gao, some way" You laugh, as if in jest as you fill Ling's glass once again, setting the platter of dried plums closer to him "and even then, your replacement would not do your duties as well as you do now"

Ling remains silent, not waiting for you to prepare his drink properly before he drains his cup, eyes staring ahead, empty of any emotion except a deep, crawling dread.

"You have nothing to fear, you're an honest man" You lie as easily as you breath, sitting back and lounging as your father skewers the fowl he was preparing in full view of Ling, blood still dripping from it as he suspends it over the crackling fire, held in place by a long metal needle. "Come, relax those unwarranted worries of yours, Wenyan, when the bird is done, please save its organs for Ling, as our honored guest"

"I am humbled" Ling says, his eyes still staring into nothing, only seeing the terrible future to come "by your generosity, the mind wanders on the road, you see, brings forth dreams most dreadful"

"We're lucky Gao is such a generous and forgiving lord" Wenyan says happily as fat begins to drip from the fowl in the fire, its skin crisping already "free of cruelties and so full of mercies"

your father laughed as you smiled.

"Yes, yes exactly, if he were a sadistic man, one who forced farmers back to their ruined homes in the midst of a famine, or asked for more each season, why Ling you'd be as good as dead" You say, as if you were joking and trying to turn the mood of the room merry "but we are ever fortunate, to live under Gao's"

You raise your hands to warm them, keeping them an inch from the flames even though they will not burn your skin.|

"Benevolent rule" You finish as Ling nods.

"Exactly, if he..if he were a" He says, covering his face with a fan, sounding as if he's about to cry "a cruel man, I would be dead if he ever found a reason to take my head! I have, merely fallen out of favour, that is not reason enough for him to have me executed, a man as loyal and honest as myself"
cont

>>4531261

"Yes, it is not like he has castrated his own sons or mutilated his own wives, after all" Zian says, eyes filled with spite as he turns to Ling again, showing him his ruined face as your father stares at the tax collector.

Ling laughs nervously as you turn to Zian and begin to scold him again for ruining the atmosphere, not seriously of course. But ling barely touches the food you offer him, and stops drinking after his third glass of hard liquor .


He tries to win your favor, and friendship during his short stay, but he misunderstand what kind of man you are, and every word from his mouth and story only servers to harden your resolve to see him dead. He stays the night and leaves in the morning, watched by your guards and the brothers of panthers for his entire stay. And when he sets off to leave with his force of guards, with this season's tithe, you send Zian, one of your most trusted guards after him.

With a chart of paths and splinters of your road to take to arrive at Gao's castle before Ling, and with a careful kept list of everything you sent to Gao since you become the head of Nothing and its people. and a letter written and signed by other lords, mentioning their fears of Ling taking more than he should be allowed from their lands. the words all coming from yourself, with you writing the bulk of the complaint. But Lady Qian let her aid, and contacted those who cared of their people enough to have their own suspicions of Ling but feared his position and power.

Gathered under your banner, and with Ling having fallen from favor, this changed, and now you sent proof of Ling's trickery and greed to Gao. Proof that he had stolen what was "rightfully" his for years, and allowed his men to do so as well.

To a man like Gao, it'd be like he found him stealing directly from his own treasury. and with that, you have sealed Ling's fate, without dirtying your hands with blood as foul as his.
-

When you next see Ling, it is when you travel to Gao's castle, accompanied by all your men, to ceremonially finish your great road at the gates of his palace. He is in six parts, outside of the city beneath Gao's castle. His limbs and head have been severed, and the only skin remaining upon him is on his hands and face. To show his greed led to his end, and so all may see the horror of his final moments. The parts that make him a man have been removed, his nails pulled out, and his tongue torn and nailed to his forehead to reflect his lies and deceit.

Brands and burns cover his skinless form, and his eyes have been removed, slowly put out with heated needles by Gao's own hands, you heard from Qian Xia. The theater playing the recently penned work "The fall of the snake Ling, his lies exposed by wise Lieren to benevolent lord gao" Leaves outs the specifics of his end.
cont

>>4531262

How he bled and spewed secrets spitefully as he was dragged away, how he soiled himself and exposed to true natures of all present in his final words, an act that only made his end all the more painful.

Gao kept him as a plaything for half a season, before finally allowing him to die, by having him torn by tying his limbs and heads to six horses, that were then branded at once.

And then what remained of Ling was nailed for all who travel your road to see. Disgusting.

"So, a greedy man meets and unwholesome end" Guozhi sighs, having some how snuck up on you


"Ah, wise grandfather, I am sorry such a sight had to meet your eyes" You say, clasping your hands together to greet the elderly monk with young eyes.

"My eyes have seen far worse than this, I only wish such a man will find peace in his next life" Guozhi says, falling to his knees to pray for the dead tax collector.

There's music in the air, and cheering and festivities even this far from the city's center and the palace itself. Gao is waiting for your arrival, to claim his part in the construction of the road that has united his lands and saved its people. When he only contributed to line his own pockets and increase his personal wealth and power.

Disgusting.

What do you do, Lieren?
> Join the common folk in their celebrations
> Go to Gao so he may parade you around to visiting nobles, and incite him to lose his face before them
> Openly decry Gao for his wrong doings and sinful ways, at the party he is throwing for you
> Speak with Guozhi, and pen a letter with him to secretly distribute among the masses and honest nobles, calling for Gao's head
>Write in

new thread cause the old one was getting laggy from the sheer quantity of posts. It's girth was harder than terminator armor. RIP

>>4531263
Honestly? Torture's not really something i reckon is necessary. It's pretty disgusting. I mean, i don't feel bad for him at all, but when it comes to these things you're better off just getting rid of the person quickly - making the death longer does nothing but satisfy sadism.

But eh, he won't be missed.
> Join the common folk in their celebrations
Let's celebrate with the common folk, because the nobles fucking suck. But, we should also follow the plan the other anon had in the thread
>Convince Gao to let us/someone we trust in charge of "reforming" the tax/economical system as to help "rooting out corruption that bleeds money which is rightfully his". With this, we will gain an even greater amount of control.

Inciting an rebellion would do nothing but show our face too early. We have to prepare.

>>4531281
+1

>>4531263
>> Go to Gao so he may parade you around to visiting nobles, and incite him to lose his face before them
>>Convince Gao to let us/someone we trust in charge of "reforming" the tax/economical system as to help "rooting out corruption that bleeds money which is rightfully his". With this, we will gain an even greater amount of control.
Supporting the write in. The nobility sucks, yes, but we should Wormtongue just a little bit more. Let's do this in preparation for overthrowing Gao.

>>4531281
supporting both points on this. once we're in charge of the money, we can rebuild the country really easily

>>4531292
This pretty much. I don't want to talk our way to the title of lord, we just need some more control to be able to develop an sufficient fighting force to pull off a coup.

If we manage to pull of a fast coup, we won't be bogged down. Lieren is strong, yes, but i'd rather not have to fight a thousand man all by ourselves.

Damn, this quest is fucking awesome, no wonder why it got so popular. I hope you get a job at Black Library QM.

>>4531281
This strikes me as a good way to save lives as well. In any prolonged war, the peasants suffer the most. All of the peasants united with the honest lords, equipped with our better gear, will make short, relatively clean work of things.
+1

>>4531300
My goal is equipping our soldiers with muskets at some point, they're easy to manufacture (you don't need machines because artisans can make the same type of ammo easily), they can be put in the hands of peasants without much training (It's easier to teach someone to reload and aim than it is to train them to be fit enough to fight with a spear) and it goes straight through armor while also giving a massive morale minus to the enemies (at least the first ones who won't know what the fuck is a gun)

>>4531263
> Go to Gao so he may parade you around to visiting nobles, and incite him to lose his face before them

>>4531281
Gao is shit

>>4531292
We can celebrate later with the men on the street. For now, we have undetectable social sabotage to do.

I wonder what the next great project we should embark on.

>>4531340
How about economic conquest?

>>4531281
support

we could for a military role too and reform his army

>>4531347
That's not a project like the roads which we can do publicly.

I was thinking stuff like the road. Maybe village renovations? Walls like nowhere

>>4531310
I think Muskets or guns will be when we are fighting against other lords or more likely other countries or empires on our march to unify the world.

>>4531354
>That's not a project like the roads which we can do publicly
You’d be surprised. China invented paper money and paper money is a powerful tool for economic conquest.

>>4531292
Supporting.

>>4531310
Personally I think outfitting an *entire* army with muskets is a no go - a mix of firearm soldiers and melee soldiers is the way to go. Muskets being single-shot firearms, they are best used for squads and firing lines. Well, to my limited knowledge, that is.
If the Pod contained knowledge on rifling, muskets could be outfitted to snipers as well but Shangrala's ever present fog makes long-range firing non-viable without advanced tech.

>>4531363
This is correct. GLORIOUS MELEE COMBAT will still be viable on this planet.

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>>4531363

>>4531293
also want to add to my own point that we should say a quick prayer with Guozhi before we do any of the other things.

Lieren condemned Ling to a very long and painful death, which is a pretty cruel action in and of itself.

>>4531373
I like this. Lets make muskets with bayonettes.

>>4531374
I support this too.

Honestly I just want Gao disowned of his role so we can kill him, but I'll honestly support anything if it will lead to his eventual death.

>>4531263
This >>4531281
Man, we're going to look like such bitches to our brothers, by this time angron already had all the slaves in revolt
Perhaps Bigge E killed lieren for not giving into his genetic predisposition for violence and being too much of a pacifist

>>4531382
Maybe, but this is nicer.

>>4531372
Oh don't get me wrong, I still want artillery and explosives in our army composition. Both will serve us extremely well in sieges and breaking/breaching enemy fortifications.

>>4531373
Okay, I grudgingly admit that I completely forgot about the existence of bayonets - but melee training should still be a part in the training program of our soldiers.


Hmm. Would we still need cavalry? Enemy cavalry will be completely nullified by a fortified position manned by gunmen, but we can't always have fortifications.

>>4531382
>by this time angron already had all the slaves in revolt
By then Angron also had the Butcher's Nails in his brain, which... didn't exactly help his rational thinking.
>>4531382
>Perhaps Bigge E killed lieren for not giving into his genetic predisposition for violence and being too much of a pacifist
Honestly? the way we're playing Lieren so far is more along the same line as Alpharius Omegon's style to war except, you know, more efficient to the point rather than pacifism imo

>>4531360
Make paper money then, to create an easier method of unified trade and easier economic oversight?.....yes, this can work

>>4531389
Melee training, bayonet training, war gear maintenance lessons. At most I think a soldier should have is a big k-bar that can be affixed as a bayonet, the rifle, a collapsible shovel (for back up melee), munitions, general supplies, armor, food.

Cavalry is a maybe if we can teach them to ride a horse and shoot a gun at the same time. They'll be good for lightning raids.
Now that I think about it, aren't bows & arrows faster than gun? Depending on the fortifications and tactics we implements, arrows might be more useful, but probably only for a couple of situations until we can develop a more semi-auto firearm.

>>4531281
+1

>>4531263
>>4531281

Support

>>4531374
Ph yeah, a prayer for Ling. He was a bastard but he deserved death not torture.

>>4531397
We already have the Bessemer process, we can set up the machinery we need to produce cartridges. No reason to use muskets now that we have a manufacturing base required for making more modern firearms

>>4531397
A dedicated melee weapon like an axe is better for melee than any multi-tool or fancy do it all shovel.

>>4531408
Swords might be better since they are easier to use with martial arts.

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>>4531397
>Now that I think about it, aren't bows & arrows faster than gun?
Bow&arrow is faster than a musket, yes. But requires longer training for good accuracy. Hence the need for firing lines of muskets. First line fires and crouches down to reload, second line fires while the first is reloading and so on.

Speaking of bow and arrow. Since we're in Not!Asia, I wonder if repeating crossbows already exist on Shangrala. pic related

>>4531281
support.
controlling money is always nice

>>4531412
Well that would be better for stealth too considering all the fog.

>>4531411
How about this, swords for officers and axes/something else for grunts.

*Maybe* non-folding combat shovels for combat engineers.

>>4531420
I feel like we should just have melee units and gun units like every other army, and position them accordingly

Officers do get swords, though

>>4531417
My understanding on what I'm about to say is shallow, but as far as I understand the repeater crossbow loses out on power compared to a standard one. So for stealth ambushes standard single shot crossbows may or may not be better.

Becomes somewhat of a moot point if the crossbow bolts are lathered with poison, but that's another can of worms entirely

>>4531412
Range and Accuracy hardly matter when you already have an maxed out vision because of the fog. If anything, guns are even better because they don't require as much aiming, just firing lines - and they trade the range we can't use for power

>>4531412
Repeating crossbows are only good against unarmored people, they don't have the power to pierce a gambeson, let alone plate

>>4531425
We can do large shields and SMGs at the front of the unit, then an even mix of dedicated spearmen and and bolt action rifles with bayonets. People are underestimating our new manufacturing capabilities. Muskets are a step backwards

>>4531263
>>4531281
Support

>>4531442
We're not THAT advanced, though. Rifled Muskets (breech-loaded, U.S civil war stuff).

Unless we have actual factories, making actual guns would be too difficult.

>>4531446
I meant to say that rifled muskets and other stuff are reasonable, but SMGs feel like too much

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>>4531446
I'd put us at late 1800s era. We have the bessemer process, mass production of steel, running water, and advanced chemistry. Standardized weapon designs from Leiren allows every weapon to be made to the same standards and interchangable parts, rather than the cottage industry of muskets. The town of Nothing can easily set up factories to make martini-henry style rifles.
>>4531448
Even if we can't produce enough SMGs to outfit everyone, we can use them as a supplement to our firepower. They'll be shorter range than our rifles, but could stop a charging army in its tracks. They can be our veterans, the frontline that doesn't waver when charged by heavy cavalry.

>>4531446
Lieren is much MUCH more advanced, he has innate knowledge+egg's DAoT knowledge, the problem is the world's tech level. But Lieren is a particularly intelligent and wise Primarch, he can just change yan in a year, and then next year conquer the rest of the world with super steel armours, shields, automatic guns and pikes, bayonets, swords, etc for melee.

>>4531469
Pretty much. In the 40k universe, guns don't make melee obsolete.

Really, what we need is a main force composed of riflemen and halberdiers (pikemen are good too), some cavalry and some veterans. Mix and match, and have regiments of each type complementing each other.

Not some sort of tercio thing, think of it as more like having gunners supported by melee.

Alright, calling the vote now

Join the common folk:10
Convince Gao to give you more power:13
Let Gao parade you around: 4

Alright so joining the common folk in celebration and then convincing Gao to give you more power by playing on greed/ paranoia wins

Writing the update

>>4531296
Thanks, glad you're enjoying it

>>4531340
Something key to understand about the lords of the feudal ages is that while their treasuries are notable, a *hell* of a lot of their wealth is tied up in land. These parties take a lot of money to go through with and they like them, so let's exploit their vice.

Make a bank, be generous with initial terms, but when they miss payments...

Bonus, if we build the back on Lord Gao's treasury, then we are able to leverage him to escalate to higher authorities, potentially the Emperor in order to expand his land and bring more and more transferred to his control that we can then improve. Land that would come to us with a simple coup, potentially backed by the Emperor via ties we establish during disputes.

>>4531476
A bit disappointing that we aren't more directly sabotaging Gao. But if we at least pay him his due respects before fucking off to join the commoners then we can at least avoid arousing his suspicion.

As for playing on his paranoia, we can try the angle of "Ling had served you loyally for decades, yet was a snake who stole? Let us, who has done nothing but give to you, produce a better way to avoid this occurring again"

>>4531476
We can probably throw in the promise of getting proper accounting and more taxes to him by simple fact of not stealing it, as Ling stole alot from him. I bet we can lower taxes for everyone AND get more to Gao just by not wetting our beak.

>>4531482
>Bonus, if we build the back on Lord Gao's treasury, then we are able to leverage him to escalate to higher authorities, potentially the Emperor in order to expand his land and bring more and more transferred to his control that we can then improve
No, that's not good. If anything, trying to do that will make Gao more suspicious of us. No one is that loyal.

We should use the power we'll get to more safely develop our forces, then pull off an quick coup. No "sucking up to the emperor" or "winning through diplomacy", any moment spent not shooting these degenerates is a moment people are unjustly killed under their rule

>>4531486
While I share your concerns, Economic conquest and pruning ala lady Qian [or perhaps a straight purge once we are in power] would be more effective with less peasant lives lost.

It's partly why I wanted Gao to lose face here. A noble without face means nobody cares when they turn up dead.

>>4531486
This

We want to get this province and do a coup. We can get the rest of the province administration and probably the army too just because we are that good at it.
Then Gao goes out.

>>4531494
It's not going to work. We'd only get so far until the nobles start getting worried and decide to put an end.

Don't try to play the noble's game. Crush them, and the planet is free.

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>>4531454
>I'd put us at late 1800s era
>martini-henry style rifles
If we're gonna give our boys some gats, let's give them something that would actually match that era of technology.
Like pic related.

>>4531500
Play the game until you are able to stand on your own two feet. This means holding the province and it's peoples, then gutting Gao.

Then we can try and move on with "peaceable" terms with the emperor. I highly doubt he is a virtuous soul, but if he is then great, it's a guy to work with.
Blood and ash isn't exactly our style

>>4531263
> Speak with Guozhi, and pen a letter with him to secretly distribute among the masses and honest nobles, calling for Gao's head
If he manages to find out it was us, then we may have to stop being sneaky about our subversion and just go straight to installing ourselves as the new ruler of this province.
I say it's well worth the risk.

>>4531504
>Play the game until you are able to stand on your own two feet.
Yes, which is why we need to get the power from gao so we can pull the rug, not make him distrustful of us.

>Then we can try and move on with "peaceable" terms with the emperor.
If he allows men like Gao to rule, he's not a good guy. We can try "diplomacy", but we shouldn't try to"ally" him or something, we should make it clear we're going to wipe out evil and that we will not be stopped

>Blood and ash isn't exactly our style
But neither is tongue and paper, we used our connection with gao only to have an excuse to better the peasant's lives.

We really should just take over the province (preferably near winter, because it's very unlikely that they'd launch an campaign in winter)

>>4531502
I went for something that had bayonets since they're a staple of 40k. I don't know of lever actions had bayonets

If we equip any cavalry, lever action rifles would be pretty sick.

>>4531509
>I went for something that had bayonets since they're a staple of 40k. I don't know of lever actions had bayonets
That's the best part anon. ANYTHING CAN HAVE A BAYONET ON IT!
It just needs a way of attaching it, and that's something we can take care of with slight design modifications.

>>4531508
Good call on winter.

That he apparently favours Gao is, indeed, not a very good sign. But the idea in my head, at the very least, is once we dispose of Gao we try the same trick twice, offering to modernise the lands of Yan and become admin of the realm and expand the prosperity of the former lands of Gao to all lands....and in doing so, gain their adoration and bettering all their lives. Then modernise the economy [as we plan to do with our new powers], and then dispose of Yan when we've rooted our self in the power structure of the land.
If he refuses to make us an admin.....Well, we did try and be nice. Have fun facing down our guns mother fucker.

Thinking about it...could we skip guns and make laslocks? I seem to recall a Napoleonic-like planet that could produce them and if we are at 1800s level...

>>4531514
If we'd gone with electricity we might've, probably not right now

>>4531514
I have to imagine if we had the time or the resources to make laslocks, they'd be very shitty laslocks that can't stand up to the conditions found in a warzone.

>>4531514
That's way, way too complicate and expensive. We're not vulkan.

Guns are better, easier and infinitely cheaper.

>>4531513
He's not going to accept such an offer after we deposed Gao, it'd be obvious we would try to do it again and he'd just use the time to prepare his forces.

No matter what happens, there's going to be a war. We can choose whether it happens now and we take everyone else on, or we can wait to take everyone on later, when they're better prepared.

>>4531508
Maybe the Emperor is a nice enough buy but Beauracracy(tm) is keeping the bad things going. It wouldn't be out of character for 40k.

>>4531516
We did go with electricity.

>>4531520
Looking over things, it looks like I wasn't thinking of Las-Lockes in particular, but I swear there was a regiment with bolt-action lasguns styled roughly after the 1800s.

>>4531524
We're in a medieval china, if there's any nation where an ruler could just depose an lord it would be medieval china...when it's unified, that is.

>>4531526
That's just warhammer fashion, i mean have you looked at imperial tanks?

>>4531526
>but I swear there was a regiment with bolt-action lasguns styled roughly after the 1800s
That's just their aesthetics in play. If they have reliable lasguns, they're lightyears ahead of us right now.

>>4531526

>Chemicals:13
>Gunpowder:8
>Forges:12
>Electricity: 4

no we didn't, the first thread is still up, anyone can look at it.

> A Las-Lock is an energy weapon that uses much of the same technology as a standard Lasgun or Laspistol, but more closely resembles a flintlock rifle. Las-Locks are, presumably, adaptations of present-day laser weapons technology that are used by less technologically advanced societies who have regressed from the modern day Imperial standard.
We might be able to make some.

>>4531527
I'm talking about the bureaucrats, not the lords. The bureaucracy keeps the emperor in the dark, safe and happy and a puppet in his castle, then get to do whatever the fuck they want because they just go "trust me, bro, this is a good idea" and he stamps off on it because he doesn't know any better.

>>4531543
I personally blame the Custodes for not acting in the Emperor's stead the past 10,000 years.
They have the authority to do so, but they're too chicken shit to do anything besides sit on all that administrative power.

>>4531543
Oh you meant Emperor Yan, not The Emperor. My mistake.

>>4531521
Even if it's obvious what we are doing......We are STILL providing miracles. Like this is the sort of bait that is just too good to pass up, even if the Fog panther is leering at you

>>4531551
No, it makes them even more distrustful because they think we're going to take over like some sort of messianic cult.

>>4531567
Even if they don't trust you, they need to get those improvements.

Anyway war is not the desired outcome due to the collateral damage in lives of the common folk drafted into the army wasted. So contain your warmongering to preparing and help come up with other options that we can try.
"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst" should be the motto here.

Hmm, if we did Coup in winter or just before the start of it, then news would travel far slower. Perhaps with our new titles and clout, we could try and cultivate allies of virtue in our surrounding lands then extend our road and dominion through them before Yan or any of the other bastards who are predisposed against us usurping Gao can move against us.
And the start of this plan can begin with a few words to lady Qian, to point out the lands around us which need tending to.

>>4531547
The emperor didn't make them to rule like he did the primarchs
Their purpose is to protect the emperor and slay roudy subjects
It's likely that their genetically inclined to just sit on their ass instead of taking charge
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the only time the custodes ever acted as a high lord was when they got tired of all the bullshit and started a purge

>>4531580
>Even if they don't trust you, they need to get those improvements.
Ha! You are underestimating how greedy nobles can be. Have you ever heard about that one time an roman emperor executed an guy who had invented flexible fucking glass, just because he feared it'd damage the value of gold and silver? He destroyed that technology, and no one has been able to make it to this day. All because of greed. Do you expect them to be better?


If we couped in the winter, then we'd have a whole season to develop...we could get an army with guns and cannons, like it had been said.

After that, we basically make it clear that anyone who tries to take back the province will be blown to smithereens.

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>>4531583
I believe the Emperor had a grander purpose for the Custodes as opposed to just guarding the Imperial Palace.
To quote the Emperor himself on the subject of the Custodes
>"Each one of the Ten Thousand represents genetic lore acquired over many lifetimes. Each one of you is unique, a work of art never to be repeated. I am miserly with your lives, where I would spend so many others without a thought."
Now, if they were solely intended to be bodyguards, why treat them as such?
It's also to be noted that the Emperor approved the policies giving the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes "Magisterium Maxima", meaning they have complete authority over everything in the Imperium. That includes the Primarchs themselves.
The Custodes Codex mentions that the Captain-General still retains these powers as far as M42. So it'd be safe to assume, should the need arise, that the Captain-General would be able to take supreme control of the Imperium. I think the Emperor and Malcador being dead or otherwise unable to rule are reason enough to use these powers more than a handful of times in over 10 millennia.
I get being afraid of having absolute control of the Imperium, but sitting on all that power only lets all kind of rot set in while the enemies of mankind bolster their numbers and ravage worlds by the thousands.

>>4531590
That isn't their duty. Their duty is to be utterly loyal to him and protect his mortal body. The rest of the imperium can burn, but the emperor must be protected.

>>4531593
Kinda. They are also his closest companions.

>>4531593
Despite being charged with protection of the Emperor, I maintain that they were given those administrative powers for a much better reason than being bodyguards.
One of those reasons being "Protect the Imperium in case I somehow fucking can't."

>>4531584
No, I haven't. But still you are being paranoid, which is good, but keep your war boner in your pants until someone else tries shit.

So with a season to develop, We'd better have the technology already basically done [Ie have muskets or whatever the fuck gun] so we can begin moving them to mass production immediately after the coup.
Then after that, Open friendly ventures with the men and women of virtue in the surrounding courts, while the lesser corrupt and decadent nobles of Gao's land will be slain in the uprising.

>>4531601
The reason they were given Magistratirium Lex Ultima [complete authority, speaking with the emperors word] is because they were also agents of the emperor, sent out to do shit for him and he wasn't going to have any of his household defied. So he enshrined it in law that his custodes spoke with his authority, and he made sure that their loyalty was completely beyond any shadow of a doubt so that it wouldn't be abused.

And this doesn't translate to "protect the imperium", it is "protect the Emperor" which they have done with a frankly disturbing engineered obsession.

>>4531614
No, anon. You don't understand. Do you really think they'll just let us be after we coup gao? No, they'll send armies after us. Which is why we need to prepare on winter, arm our soldiers and forge our cannons so when they come, the only ones who has to die is the enemy.

>>4531614
TO ADD ONTO THIS!
The Emperor is explicitly and repeatedly says that he is a Human supremesist, Post humans like astartes, primarchs and custodes and himself are not fit to rule humanity. His intent was to reunify the imperium then vanish after taking the astartes and primarchs out back and putting a bullet between their eyes, save magnus who was going to control the imperial webway.

Why would the Emperor, man who was going to have his sons decommissioned or executed once their war use was expended due to being post human, give the other post humans control over the empire with the purpose of ruling it, if the emperor dies?

>>4531620
>Do you really think they will let us be?
Yes. Gao loses favour, he is slain and we take over, life goes on and nobody gives a shit. Welcome to ancient china.

>>4531624
>Welcome to ancient china.
Or, more accurately, Gao is slain, the nobles go 'oh shit' when they realize that an charismatic genius giant just took down an lord and move to take him down before they become his next meal.

"I wish the same, I knew his end would be a painful one, but such savagery I could not possibly imagine" You say quietly as the monk remains on his knees, and you remain staring at the dead man's eyeless gaze. You expected cruelty, sadism from Gao, but to such a degree, even you yourself could not have foretold the depths that that man would go to in fulfilling his sadistic pleasures. Ling deserved death, pain, but to what extent. Seeing his mutilated corpse unnerves you, even if you despised the Tax Collector from the day you first met him. You realize, that the minds of other men do not function as yours does, you've known this since you first watched the farmers of Nothing as they starved.

They take illogical courses of action, and do things inefficiently. You knew this, that your mind followed different paths than that of the common man. You simply couldn't see the point in extending an execution for days, for weeks, for months simply to torment the accused. It was pointless effort, just a way to exert power and inflict fear. Inefficient, terribly inefficient and needlessly cruel. Seeing Ling butchered reminds you of exactly what you're fighting against, with subtleties and benevolence. The true depravity of Gao, and his fellows. Disgusting beasts carousing in the skins of men, predating all beneath them, using lives as fuel for their sick sadistic vices.

"With a stroke of a brush, fate is decided, with a single pebble tossed into the sea, a wave is born" Guozhi says, breaking his silence but keeping his head down and eyes shut as he continues to prey for the sinful corpse before him "Young Lieren, your mind has no place for cruelty, like an untainted pond. I have seen your fury Lieren, and it is cold but not cruel. This is the monstrosity the Dai removed themselves from, look upon the work of souls twisted and corrupted, and know they would do the same for far less"

"I know, I've spoken with Gao and the truth of him was revealed to me, even before I looked upon him, I simply underestimated his sheer brutality" You whisper, even though you and Guozhi stand alone, off the path where Ling has been hung like a hunting trophy, broken and torn "Though I saw it for my own eyes and heard tales spoken of it, I could not fathom on expending so much effort on such a pointless thing, making another man suffer in such a terrible way"

"You would have done better to have plucked his head from his shoulders yourself, even if it would've dirtied your hands, instead of feeding him to a beast" Guozhi whispers back to you as he stands "But what is done, is done. I cannot fault you for seeking to remove the corruption Ling was an incarnate of, but I can mourn the man who suffered such a fate"

"As can I, even though my heart holds no sorrow for his death" You reply stoically, hardening your resolve as you turn and leave the corpse where it stands, nailed to wooden pillars to be made a mockery of long after his flesh rots away to nothing
Cont

>>4531629

"The tragedy in his end, is that a cruel man was slain by another far crueler than himself, a man who yet remains amongst the living" You continue on, ruefully spitting upon the path as Guozhi nods.

"The man you yet serve" Guozhi mutters quietly, under his breath as you nod "and bring much wealth and bounty, for a good cause of course, but, even acts of kindness can bring suffering from the ripples they create"

"I will deal with the beast that devoured Ling, but not yet, it is too early, grandfather" You whisper as you walk the path to the city "Let us stop speaking of such things, lest we be heard"

"I do not fear death, Lieren, it is not the end" The old monk says, eyes still closed as he presses his palms together "Whatever actions you take, are your own and preformed with good intentions, if you were to act upon your impulses today, I would not reprimand you, for a man is only in control of his own fate"

"You do not know how tempted I am, oh wise one" You say through gritted teeth as you rap your wide knuckles on the gate into the city and raise your voice to a shout "Yah, Lieren of Nothing, Administrator of Gao approaches!"

"And now you once again place on your mask" Guozhi cackles quietly, as he turns to leave you, vanishing into the fog that surrounds the city, singing hymns and mantras to himself as he leaves "Good fortune, youth with the golden eyes, may your spirit ever find its way home"

"And to you as well, Grandfather" You call out to him, as the gates slowly creak open, unleashing a wave of sound and scents. Spiced food, alcohol, smoke from cooking meat, burning oil and wax and paper.

"Greetings, honored administrator, Gao awaits you at his palace" One of Gao's men, wearing his pink armor and jeering, laughing mask says. Your own men have been stationed further down the road, to protect them in case Gao has a mind to attempt to rid himself of you as well. A precaution that hopefully is not necessary

"Please" another man, with his face also hidden beneath a grinning mask says, clasping his hands together and bowing "Follow us to him, he is awaiting your arrival to start the festivites"

You look over the two men's heads and at the people celebrating and dancing, wearing white masks with golden circles painted around their eyes, and manes of feathers and wool died grey with ash. Cheering and laughing, young and old, men and women in a fevered festival. Sparks fly from piles of burning powder, and you can see entertainers snaking through the streets and plazas already. Balancing plates, making streams of brightly colored cloth of azure and plum dance in the air.

And past all of it, you can see a broad shouldered man, almost tall enough to reach your chest with his eyes dressed in ornate armor made of painted wood and leather, dancing around a great toad faced dragon colored black and grey made of fabric, puppeteered by a wooden framework held up by stakes held by ten men
cont

>>4531633

"It seems to my eyes that the festival has already started" You say with a deep resonating laugh, originating from your stomach and loud enough to cause nearby metal to shake "Or have my eyes for the first time in my life upon Shangrala, deceive me?"

"The peasants festival is separate from the official celebration" The second guard replies as if by some mechanization worked into where his brain should be "You are the honored guest and as such it shall not begin without your presence"

You ignore the man as he tries to urge you to follow him.

"Tell great lord Gao I shall be with him shortly, I wish to partake in the local celebration before joining him and his other guests" You say, stepping past them, the younger of the two almost moving his spear to block your path before the older of the two snarls.

"You think to stop Lord Lieren? He slew a beast that devoured hundreds, he would break you as easily as a twig beneath his foot!" He yells before turning to you, eyes filled with panic as you slowly meander past the two of them, smiling a gentle and kindly smile as you do so "Do enjoy yourself as much as you please, oh honorable administrator of the lands of Gao"

"I thank you for your hospitality, may your journey find you well" You say as you join the throng of common men and women, smiling joyously as you see the ripest fruit of your most arduous of labors. People from all corners of Gao's lands, joined together in celebration, no longer terrified, no longer hungry. Hope and joy returned to their lives along with the food in their bellies, comfort introduced to even the most hard worked of laborers

Its a thing of beauty, and something truly rare happens as you soak in all the sights and sounds, all the laughter and joy. Tears well up in your eyes, and a sense of pride and accomplishment fills your chest and heart. You allow yourself to feel pride for what your hands have wrought, instead of merely imagining the next course of action to take, or what next to make with the result of your work. You have done it, in the lands of Gao, not one child goes hungry, not one man fears the fog or what winter will bring. You can see it! you can see it! The end result of a lifetime, however short, of toil and struggle. Of blood split and blisters made.

Against all that would see you stopped, and your labor made for naught, you had done it. Prosperity had come, plenty had come, to all men and women and children, to all souls that lived in Gao's lands. And then, these bright, happy thoughts were dashed away by a single thought.

'And Gao would ruin it all to satiate his own ego' you think, smile twisting into a snarl in an instant as a feral urge to protect those you had raised so high burns in your thoughts. How easily it'd be to remove Gao, to keep him from threatening this peace, this prosperity. From abusing all of your work and creations to wreck havoc and terror upon the common man, to feed his sadism! to feed his greed!
cont

>>4531635

"Momma, momma, its the giant! the giant!" A small voice calls out, freeing you from the grasp of your own murderous rage as you see the world clearly again, and see a little girl, so thin and skinny, yet alive and healthy still "The giant has come, the giant has come!"

And suddenly, all the wrath, the fury at deeds yet uncommitted fades, as you see this small child, excitedly pointing at you, pulling on her mother's simple dress of spun cloth, both their eyes filled child like wonder at catching a glimpse of you. at merely spotting you, Lieren who came from nothing. Lieren who built the road, who brought the food, who slew the brigands, who connected the lands and made miracle. Lieren, a hero in there eyes. It astounded you.

After seeing the lengths would go to find pleasure, to find enjoyment, to please themselves, the fact that merely being among them would bring such pure, wholesome joy to someone was almost enough to make you cry again. Such purity, spending as long as you have among serpents and beasts, it was like a summer rain. Cleansing and purifying.

Slowly, awkwardly you raise you hand to greet the little girl, and next thing you know, men of all creeds and birth come up to you, wearing masks made in your own likeness, excitedly shouting your name and the titles that have been given to you by the common folk. Some are bold enough to touch you, others scream thanks and praises as you walk by them, other still throw flowers and alcohol at your feet. A musician begins to pluck his Guqin, another glides a bow across the Huqin, a Bawu's song joins in the chorus, followed by a veritable army of Guban pounded and tapped in unison.

The song "Kind Golden Eyes" Written by some of your own guards in your travels, Rong and Chen to be precise, is sung, by young women with heavenly voices, by the crowd, by the children. And, despite your great self control, you begin to laugh and even sing along with them, becoming to center of the festival as you travel the streets, simply enjoying the fact that such a celebration could exist outside of a castle walls, and remain untainted by excess and depravity.

It is a humbling experience, an enjoyable experience. And you are so entertained, for the first time in your short life, you've lost track of time, surrounded by such pure untainted joy and revelry. It is a very different sort than what Gao enjoys, what most of the nobles enjoy. It reminds you of your home, so distant from where you stand.

But unfortunately, all things must come to an end, and eventually, for the good of the people and those who serve Gao, you leave the adoring crowds and loving people, to join their cruel master in his own celebrations. They are so bold, the mob follows you up to the hill leading to Gao's dreadful palace of deprived decadence.
cont

>>4531628
Anon, Are you under the illusion that I said "Don't make guns, train forces or prepare for a coutner attack" when I said "Move our guns to mass production, then after that move to trying to make friendly ties with our nabours" which I said in the hopes to avoid as much conflict with those nearest to us as possible?

Because you're acting like I'm saying we should do nothing after the coup and hope it works for the best.
And as for "welcome to ancient china" half of them will seek to inudate themselves with us, because we are a charismatic genius giant magic man with obvious potential to reach emperorship or other high status, while the other half tries to crush us while we are relatively small.

>>4531590
>To quote the Emperor himself on the subject of the Custodes
This is getting into controversial nulore, but the emperor fakes love and affection for his creations. Quotes like that should really be taken with a grain of salt
>It's also to be noted that the Emperor approved the policies giving the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes "Magisterium Maxima", meaning they have complete authority over everything in the Imperium. That includes the Primarchs themselves.
In effect this just means the custodes can fufil his orders and do what needs be done without having to worry about red tape. Even when he was alive they did very little ruling
>I get being afraid of having absolute control of the Imperium,
I wouldn't call it being afraid, I'd call it being absolutely disintrested. The custodes are consistently characterized as being gigantic dicks who can at times make inquisitors look like salamanders, they care very little about anyone but the emperor and other custodes and they carry our purges without care.

>>4531638

There are fresher bodies than Ling strung up along the road up to his castle, but behind you, you hear the fading cheers and cries of all the lives you've bettered and saved, and the fading notes of another song "Benevolence in azure and plum". You yourself, whistle a hunting tune, marching up past the dead, each body further cementing your ambitions to cut Gao's head from his disgusting neck the very moment and opportunity presents itself.

The guards outside of the gate stand at attention, as they spot you approaching, hands pressed together as if in prayer, flowers and beads strung around your arms and neck. A truly bright and stunning grin on your face, a joyful expression greeting the world with kindness and warmth.

They bring their spears to the wooden maroon and pink lacquered gate, announcing your arrival.

And not a breath after, the gates swing open, and you see tired, and exhausted noble men, with untouched tables of delicacies and drinks, barely clothed girls and women lounging alongside with musicians resting by their instruments.

There's a loud, hollow sounding cheer as you enter and spot Gao smoldering in anger in his high backed chair, either forged entirely of gold, or covered in gold leaf, shaped in the symbol of his family, the entwining twin dragons.

You clasp you hands together and bow as Gao glares at you and then smiles.

"At long last, the guest of honor has decided to bless us with his presences, now the feast may begin" Gao says, clapping his hands together as you calmly stride to his side, the other nobles ignoring you the second they're allowed to dig into their cold plates of food and pour themselves deep glasses of plum wine and peach brandy. Though you smell the scent of the liquor brewed from fish guts somewhere among the accompaniments.

"Enjoy to your hearts desires, these delicacies have only reach my kitchens thanks to Lieren's work and labor of my lands, at my behest" Gao says, turning a spiteful stare to you as you sit in the smaller chair beside him, smiling still. You don't touch the food in front of you, covered in cooled fat and thickened sauces.

"I see you've been furthering your reputation" Gao whispers to you, despite the two you sitting on a platform high above the rest of the guests, even visiting Lord Huang Tengfei and Lady Luó Biya "Oh how the common folk adore you, my giant"

"One must never miss and opportunity for advancement" You say, meaning something entirely different than what Gao imagines, no doubt, for you speak of advancement for others rather than yourself alone "And I am shocked that such a loyal servant as Ling would betray you in such a manner, I couldn't believe it myself, Lord Gao"

Gao clicks his tongue and downs his drink, looking over his guests with wild eyes.
cont

>>4531641

"He was a worm who thought he was a dragon, bolder than the rest of these rats, but vermin still" Gao hisses, slamming his cup down as he glance to you with a relaxed smile "But not you, you know your place in this world, and seek only the favor of the masses, far wiser than any of these imbecile"

Imbeciles who include Lady Qian and the third son of Yin, who either could have Gao's head served to the King of Yan and be praised for it.

"That is why I favor you Lieren, you know the hand that feeds you and not to bite it" Gao continues, somehow still not noticing how much you despise him and his kind "And you make me a far richer man than I would be without your genius at my command"

"Oh that is far too great a compliment for a humble administrator" You laugh as Gao cackles, black grease coating his autumn red beard, reminding you off the Toad dragon. How easy it'd be to crush his skull, right now, with just your two hands. Outwardly, you continue to smile blissfully

"Oh stop with the act, would you have me believe you played with the peasants as their humble hero merely for their enjoyment as well? HAR~!" He says, sounding on the edge of hysterics "None of the dogs can hear us from here, they are not deserving to hear my voice, not even the lord of Huang, not even the mother of young lord Luó, they are all beneath us, Lieren, all of them, suckling at my teats like starving infants"

You keep smiling, calculating how far you could throw this bloated bastard if you really put your back into the effort.

"Of course, of course" You say, to keep from saying more and losing your self control, and ending this worm's life with a twist of your wrist. it'd be as easy as snapping the neck of a fowl.

"Still not drinking eh? they can see you I suppose, and you must keep up that virtuous monk like facade you so cultivate" Gao says with a swine like snort "So, the road is finished, and already I am as rich as Yan himself, if not more so, I have heard of miracles created by your hand"

"Oh I was keeping that a surprise for you" You chuckle as Gao cackles, snorting and wheezing as he does so "A gift to alongside the bounty of the road'

"HAR!" He bellows, slapping his knee "Soon Gao will be an even brighter gem in the crown of Yan, brighter than noble Yan himself, but enough boasting, I want more, Lieren, more jade in my lands, more wealth in my hands. Tell me, what is your next endeavor for the prosperity of the "people"

Gao twists a strand of his beard, licking his lips hungrily

"Well, Ling's betrayal has alerted me to a problem, a cancer in the lands of Gao" You say with a gentle and soft tone, closing your eyes as you spoke "A choking corruption with in your system of taxation and economy, who knows much wealth greedy men have taken from the people, from you, my most benevolent lord"

"Oh, do you intend to slaughter my tax men?" He asks, as if amused by the idea, eyes twinkling with joy at the thought
cont

>>4531642

"I'd love to see all those worms strung up high, and sent to join that bastard Ling in hell!

He slams his fist into the table between the two of you, shaking the plates and alcohol upon it

"I suggest, that I be allowed to reform the organization, to root out the corrupt who would bleed wealth from your coffers, to utterly remake the economy of Gao" You say, placing a hand between your twin hearts "I have set the groundwork, for true prosperity in your lands, Let me build upon it, and construct an idol of jade from all the pieces I have lain"

Gao waves his hand dismissively.

"As always you have my full support, and backing" Gao says bluntly, still waving his hand in the air as he takes a long drink from his chalice "Whatever you need, I shall pay and give freely, so long as I see results, I expect my tithes to be heavier and more bountiful than ever, in exchange for letting you run rampant"

And like that, you have permission to remove any "Weeds" you wish from the Lands of Gao. The fool didn't realize what you were having him order you to do.

Tax collectors, scribes, soldiers, generals, and noble men. All have rotten foundations, and impact the flow of wealth and prosperity. And can be removed upon your command, with this decree

"As you command" You say barely able to hide your glee and excitement at the reforms and changes you shall bring to the lands of Gao "My most benevolent lord".

"Tch, how stifling" Gao complains under his breath "Bring me Jade and gold, and I shall allow anything, give you whatever you desire"

His eyes glint with greed

"And speaking of desire, my daughters have been blossoming wonderfully in the last years" He says in a most vulgar manner. How easy it'd be to end his disgusting life

What do you do, Lieren?
> Accept the invitation to be introduced to his daughters, to save them from this monster
> With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power
> Mention to Gao you have plans beyond brining prosperity, and could bring a yet unseen miracle to his court if he were to pay you more (Pay which would go to the people and your efforts to benefit all of them)
> Ask if Gao would like to hear the story of how you slew a dragon, and use the chance to vent your hatred of the man to him openly
>Write in

>>4531644
>> With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power

>>4531644
> Accept the invitation to be introduced to his daughters, to save them from this monster
> With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power

>>4531644
Does someone have an excuse as to why not see his daughters? Trying to save them as of now would not work, it'd just pop up questions. We will deal that once gao is hanging from the gallows.
>Ask if Gao would like to hear the story of how you slew a dragon, and use the chance to vent your hatred of the man to him openly
This works as an way to redirect the talk and allows lieren to let off some steam without the fool discovering any of it.

Other than that,
> With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power
They're corrupt. We just need to make gao think that this corruption is hurting him.

>>4531644
>Remove his supporters

>>4531660
Still not a noble, I think, so we still don't "deserve" the daughters. And lets be frank, we aren't served by meeting them, except perhaps finding some savant among their number.
Yeah, I guess if we wanted to look for useful people amongst his daughters, then that'd be a reason to go with this course of action. If we find none, then we at least know who is cruel and who is not for when the purge comes.

>>4531660
More specifically, i'm trying to say, is why we're going full friendly with the daughters but not actually doing anything. Because we're not going to do anything.

Maybe something about being a commoner or keeping the appearance of being an good pure monk?

>>4531664
>Still not a noble, I think, so we still don't "deserve" the daughters.
Gao still thinks we're just like him but happen to be keeping the appearance of someone who is humble. It'd be wiser to make it less "Oh, i'm not worthy" and more of an "At a later date" (because there will be no later, so there's nothing to worry about)

>>4531644
> Politely decline the invitation to be introduce to his daughters. Cite the sheer size difference between yourself and most women as the most prevalent incompatibility
At the very least, Gao would interpret it as a dick joke and almost die laughing.
> With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power
IT BEGINS

>>4531644
>With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power
Daughters will help us little, the only power they could give us is to denounce gao in public, and that would be shameful of them to do in not-chinaland

>>4531665
Oh right, you wanted one for Gao personally.

>"I must maintain my image as a relentless task master, devoid of pleasures. A wife would break this mask."
Pun in that it would reveal just how much I hate you to her, no longer appearing as the sycophant of Gao
>"Your daughters are not mathmaticians or scribes, they are of no use to my efforts to bring you wealth good lord"
More blunt but gets the point across
>"I would hate to kill them on the marriage bed, I'm sure you yourself can relate to the problems of being to "large" for your partner"
A joke which is framed as a dick joke, with a gesture to the lower regions, while actully being a jab at him being a fat and ugly bastard whore.

>>4531668
Actually, that's an fair excuse. I mean, they're chinese noblewomen, have you read about the kind of shit they did to keep them 'good looking'? They literally stunted their development, they're probably thin as fuck too. If we tried to do something they'd actually die, no joke.

>>4531674
I think an mix of
>Dude, i'm way too large, i'd probably kill your duaghters (end it at that, the simplest the better) and then
>Also, an wife would most likely make me seem like less of an pure, completely serious peasant figure

>>4531675
>have you read about the kind of shit they did to keep them 'good looking'?
The most I know of it lead based makeup, starving them constantly, and smashing their feet to keep them small.

>>4531677
That'd probably work well.

>>4531644
> With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power

>>4531678
That's a big part of it, but there's also other stuff like their teeth treatment.

Regardless, i'm fairly certain that only some kind of amazon would even be able to handle a primarch. I don't know how tall we are compared to our brothers, but we're without a doubt taller than 3 meters.

We would actually kill if we tried to get in bed with an normal woman.

>>4531644
>> Ask if Gao would like to hear the story of how you slew a dragon, and use the chance to vent your hatred of the man to him openly
>> With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power
time for coup

>>4531689
How can Chaste kisses on the cheeks and gentle cuddling under the covers Kill someone?

>>4531689
>That's a big part of it, but there's also other stuff like their teeth treatment.
Elaborate.
>Regardless, i'm fairly certain that only some kind of amazon would even be able to handle a primarch
These terms are acceptable.

>>4531695
We're a primarch anon, we don't have an romantical drive.Most likely because the emperor doesn't them to spawn an stable race of superhumans.

I mean, can you imagine if fucking fulgrim could have kids like normal people?

>>4531699
I remember the han chinese had a bunch of stuff about teeth blackening or something. Real fucking weird.
>These terms are acceptable.
Too bad emps removed our ability to appreciate amazons, huh?

>>4531701
It was a joke that Lieren was too pure to consider sex, similar to the monks others purport him to be. I know the lore well enough.

>>4531703
>Too bad emps removed our ability to appreciate amazons, huh?
DAMN YOU EMPEROR!

>>4531705
>The emperor made us in the image of the perfect human form, to fight against that which would defile it.
>He also removed our ability to appreciate the perfect human form, leaving us to defend things we have no concept of the value it holds.

Like pottery

>>4531707
Man when you put it that way, no wonder half of them fell to chaos.

>>4531703
I thought that was the japanese? Apparently it helps prevent tooth decay

Though it seems like Gao uses something like betel nut, with black juice rather than red. Shit's disgusting, every street in the solomon islands is strained with the spit from it

>>4531709
Who wants to fight for an empire which denies you cuddles with the cute/muscly girls?

>>4531707
Honestly, i don't know whether that's the emperor having literally zero foresight while trying to make it so we don't spawn a whole race of our own or if it was tzeentch playing him in 900th dimensional chess (because the emperor had to deal with chaos to get the primarchs, if i remember correctly)

>>4531714
To be fair, the normals still have that opportunity, it's just primarchs and marines which don't have it because the emperors sees them as replaceable tools made for an specific purpose.

Too bad the average normal doesn't have the strength or wealth required to go to an deathworld and find himself a bonafide amazon waifu, though.

>>4531714
Truly none can escape the grim darkness of the far future.

>>4531709
I think about it like this:
The emperor delibreatly created multiple unbalanced, min-maxed, children, knowingly programed their personality flaws and other such things into their genetics. It should come as no suprise that the primarch project produced absolute manchildren like perturabo and mortarion and that his sons were constantly at each others throats. He's only really blameless for angron and lorgar being fucked up

>>4531722
Presumably the character flaws would've been dealt with by being raised among the custodes and tutors. Growing up as a slave, watched over by the eye of terror or implanted with butcher's nails really messes with a growing boy's mental state

>>4531728
Not sure if a tutor could help someone like Konrad, tbf.

>>4531746
If not the Tutors, then the Emperor himself.
I'm sure he'd have been able to help with Konrad's constant visions.

>>4531746
he'd probably need a psychologist from birth, but I think a lot of his problems were environmental. If he'd known that his other brothers were plagued with visions of the future and could change them, he wouldn't have become so insane. Probably still a sociopath, but that's a lot better than being psycho batman

>>4531722
There’s also the fact he was negligent. Like seriously half of the problems could have been avoided if he bothered to be a father.

>>4531644
>With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power

>>4531754
He had 30,000 years to learn how to be one, never did.
Some things just aren't meant to be.

>>4531754
This is assuming that when malcador said primarch war was a feature, not a bug, he was lying.

Which fair, he lies a lot, but it isnt out of the question that the emperor deliberately intended for a chaos less heresy to occur and decimate the primarch ranks.

>>4531644
>Accept the invitation to be introduced to his daughters, to save them from this monster
>With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power

Both of these

>>4531796
I don't know about that, he got rid of second and eleventh real quick, and he sure as hell didn't intend for magnus to fuck up and destroy the webway project.

If anything, i feel like this was a multi-faceted problem: the emperor was a shitty father, the planet where the primarchs grew up were (mostly) shitty, the chaos gods played them for a trick because emps had to deal with the devil to get the primarchs in the first place and the primarchs themselves were also asshats of their own volition.

>>4531802
>he got rid of second and eleventh real quick
That does bring up another thing.
What might Lieren do that causes him to be all but erased from existence?

>>4531829
To be fair, the second primarch wasn't lieren.

Lieren is the effect of the second primarch being flung into a different planet by malal, the wannabe chaos god.

As for what he did, i'm going to guess there's probably a big chance he might have sided with xenos or tried to betray the empire cold turkey, as opposed to lorgar's slower chaos heresy.

>>4531835
Lieren seems predisposed to diplomacy and compassionate enough to attempt to negotiate with non-hostile xenos. That might be a bit of repeated history, if the 2nd canon primarch allied with xenos as well.

>>4531839
Not really, from what we got the IInd primarch was some kind of cold, joyless bitter hypocrite.

>>4531846
So mortarion?

>>4531846
What does that have to do with whether or not Lieren will use diplomacy with xenos or break with the Imperium?

Calling the vote now

Begin the downfall of Gao:10
Help his daughters: 3
Tell the story of how you killed the TD:2

Alright, so Lieren will begin to set in motion Gao's downfall.

Writing the update

>>4531644
>> With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power
>> Mention to Gao you have plans beyond brining prosperity, and could bring a yet unseen miracle to his court if he were to pay you more (Pay which would go to the people and your efforts to benefit all of them)
Start strangling his powerbase and his treasury.

"Unfortunately, my most generous lord" You say, setting your hands on top of your knees as you glance over to Gao, his bloated stomach rising and falling as as he practically inhales his liquor through his nose as he samples its aroma instead of merely guzzling it down like a man dying from sun stroke given water "I will once again have to decline the offer to meet with your children, after all, what would the people think if their hero met with the lords daughters"

Gao growls, taking a extended moment to sip his plum wine as holding up a hand, commanding you to remain silent so he may fully enjoy. He takes a breath, vapors visibly rising from his lips as his eyes roll back.

"Speak" he barks as you resist the ever present urge to end this monster of a man's life, there's a fruit cutting knife on the table between the two of you, clean of grim and juice. It'd slide easily past his skin, cutting fat and meat a like to open his throat. With your reflexes, Gao would be choking on his fading life within to span of two short breaths. Smiling despite the foulness sitting next to you, you calmly continue explaining your refusal to pointless meet the spawn of Lord Gao's tainted loins.

"And, how few have been given the delight of knowing even one of your daughters" you say casually as Gao grins and swirls his drink in his hands, clearly drawing his own conclusions about you once again "Rats grow jealous when they see a loyal hound fed, after all"

"Speaking like a monk again. But you have a point, if word spread of the "meeting" I'm sure we'd both be troubled by no end of banal bickering and complaints" Gao sighed, pouring a peach liquor into the glass of his plum wine, despite it still being half way filled "I have many hidden rooms in my estates, it could remain a secret till the end of time itself"

"And, I do not wish to harm any member of your family, consider the stallion, a mighty beast worthy of respect. Consider the fragile flower, a beauty for all to enjoy" You explain, trying your best to politely avoid the very topic of meeting any members of Gao's abused and perhaps terribly twisted family "But when they meet, the flower is irrevocably damaged, destroyed"

Gao shook his head.

"Bah, I have many daughters, find one who can endure it" Gao says, igniting your smoldering fury once more with his casual disregard for his own kin, it takes all of you will to to not take the heavy set bottle resting between you and using it to crack his skull, dashing the corroded grey matter within over the feast below. How many of the guests would cease their gluttony? How many below would truly care outside of their own safety.

"The rest are useless to me anyways, their spawn will not be of my line, so they have no value outside of what others place in them" Gao explains, with a soft, almost gentle expression in his face like he was an old woman talking about her flower garden "What's one or two daughters less, hah! what is one or two sons less"
cont

>>4532000

The fat slug smiles despite the poison that just left his lips.

"It would" You say, staring straight ahead, trying to picture a serene lake upon a mountain, with only a light blanket of fog. Bird song, the feeling of the wind, cool winter air, the scent of cooking meat the result of a successful hunt, the company of friends. Casual laughter. Nothing else, bliss, calm bliss.

"Ah some hesitation" Gao cackles, raising one his red eyebrows as he raises his silk covered arm towards you laughing "Could it be your act is finally breaking down, that I have found the one temptation you will allow yourself to devour"

Don't kill Gao, don't kill Gao, don't kill Gao. it will only lead to chaos and further bloodshed, do not kill Gao. you'd rather have dinner with that damnable Toad Dragon! at least that abomination did not speak its disgusting thoughts, nor revel in its degeneracy. Every time you meet with Gao you leave furious on the edge of having ended the dog's miserable life. You can't stand men like Gao, at least Ling didn't create a false Lieren in his mind to the degree Gao does. He thinks your soul and virtue is as corroded as his has become.

"It would ruin the image I have so carefully cultivated, of a humble and wise farmer risen to a position at which he can help his fellow man, throughout your lands, throughout Yan, throughout all of Shangrala" You explain, pressing your hands together as Gao gives you a disbelieving look but you can see in his eyes he "understands" your reasoning "If I mingled with the daughters of my employer and master, it would simply ruin my image as pure and serious laborer"

"Perhaps I should snip one of the buds growing in my realm, I'm certain there's a family we could be rid of" Gao muttered looking over "Then you wouldn't have to worry about that image of yours, and could freely indulge like a normal man, with your own land beyond a remote village"

Normal man? how different a world did Gao must live in. And you'd be pruning his "Garden" of many "buds" soon enough. And Remote? More trade passed through Nothing than Gao's own city! How blind was this greedy swine? You had thought he had at least some sense to be aware of the world around him. He only saw the profit, not the function of trade and its routes. What a fool, what a hopeless fool.

"Face is more important than any land or title, Lord Gao" You say with a smile, resting your head against your knuckles as Gao shrugs

"Won't buy armies, food or drink, money is worth more than face, how's that for sagely wisdom" Gao snorts shaking his head "There, no we both talk like those fools at Dai, happy now?"

You laugh at what Gao considers a joke, turning your thoughts from your desires to be rid of Gao and what method would be the quickest and cleanest to cut his life short with, to thoughts on where to strike first, in terms of which "Weeds" to pull, who to remove.
cont

>>4532001

The best method, would be to remove Gao's foremost supporters, and then spread out from their, purging the nobility under Gao of its rotten elements, either destroying their lines if all of them are lost to the corruption that has consumed so many or allowing them to be replaced by a more virtuous heir, more loyal to you, Qian Xia, and Yin Lei than Gao.

To accomplish this, you'll have Lady Qian use her wiles and connections to reveal or forge crimes against Gao, from among his most loyal of supporters. This will drive Gao further into paranoia, trusting you as his loyal hunting hound as you remove the pillars that keep his extravagant lifestyle a float. Unfortunately, Qian will ask of her own favors and use you as an instrument towards her own designs. But, that should be simple enough and will align with your task in the end anyways. The removal of corrupt elements from Gao's court. it will be a thorough cleansing.

and for it to work, you'll need the black general, the Unbroken Thunder's howl, Yin lei and his tactical genius on your side. Nobility will not lie down and die like a wounded cliff jumper, they'll fight tooth and nail and call every ally and favor they have to survive. Qian may be able to isolate most lords beneath Gao, but she cannot take command of their armies away. And should they see their coming death fast approaching, by your hands, Yin's or Gao's, they will huddle behind their walls and armies.

A careful, delicate hand will be required to pluck these weeds from the garden. You'll need to know which men to remove first, to weaken the foundations of Gao's rule. And for that, you will need to speak with Qian. Which may take some time, especially since Gao may grow envious of your closeness with her or become insulted that you prefer her company to his daughters. A letter would suffice.

But while you wait, there is work to be done else where. It would be a much easier work than making the road, surely
-

"Please, please my lord have mercy, I..I merely lost the shipments, I swear this upon the courts, all eight courts! have meeercy" A liar screams as your men prepare to kick the chair holding him up and keeping his neck intact from under his feet. He was one of Late Ling's kin, a tax collector who grew fat on "extra tithes" He took for himself, you had caught him trying to enforce his own demands on a village you had personally saved.

And out of tax season, and his men had admitted to his actions when you and your personal guard came upon them. His sentence was decided, all that was left was to carry it out. Rong stood next to the man, trying not the breath lest the stench of the Tax collector's soiled silk garments and the filth within overcame his heightened since of smell.

The man might have gotten a less public death, if he had only not threatened a child with in this lonely village as you approached. That action condemned him to a public, and humiliating death under the eyes of those he abused.
cont

>>4532003

"By Lord Gao's decree, any who are found embezzling Lord Gao's wealth, or pilfering tithes destined for his coffers, shall be executed as his administrator decides" You read from a scroll giving you this power to decide if a man lives or die, with the twin gold dragons of the Gao family woven into its scarlet back "As well as any who plot against Lord Gao, harbor traitorous thoughts or disrupt trade through his lands among other crimes, by the title and power bestowed upon me, I declare Tax Collector Yunru guilty of the"

"PLEASE PLEASE I HAVE MONEY! I HAVE A LOT OF MONEY! I'LL PAY YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT, I'LL PAY ANYTHING ANY OF YOU WAAAANT, JUST LET ME LIVE, PLEAAAAASE" The Tax collector screams, thrashing and kicking around as yet more urine drips down his legs, soiling his robes

"Crimes of stealing from the master of these lands, terrorizing the populace, and disrupting the flow of trade and prosperity, it is my sentence that you be condemned to death by hanging" You proclaim, closing the scroll as the gathered crowd cheers and you raise your hand to command Rong to end the man's pleading.

And the moment before you do, the fool falls off the chair himself and begins to dance at the end of the rope, kicking his legs and choking, his face turning the color of a ripe plum.

"End his suffering quickly, Rong, the fool has hung himself' You sigh sadly, as the crowd boos and hisses at the man enduring the agony of a slow strangulation, and at the man ending his pain. All you do is hang your head in shame, trying to ignore the chokes and gasps for air.

"Tough luck" Rong says before spearing the tax collector through his throat, leaving his corpse to hand and drift in the winds. It is better this way, to execute them yourself rather than let them enjoy Gao's tender mercies.

You turn away as the mob of furious villagers throw stones and refuse at the corpse hanging by the flowering tree, and see a man dressed in the bright, vivid reds that house Qian favors to color themselves and servants in. He is accompanied by Zian, dressed in the azure and plum of those loyal to you. Colors of hope in the eyes of the common man, nowadays.

"Lieren, message from Qian Xia" Zian says, clasping his hands together and bowing as the breathless messenger kneels before you and holds out a scroll pressed between two lengths of laquered wood.

"Thank you, rest in this village and continue on your journey" You say as the man nods, breathing heavily, but pausing before he rushes off to find hospitality, no doubt awed that he actually came face to face with "Gao's Giant", the only title you've been given that you despise utterly.

Pulling the scroll open, you read its contents. it is written very formally, but cut straights to the point. It seems that Qian is very excited to deal with Gao's favorite toadies once and for all, and has included within the message all necessary information to remove them from power and take their heads.
cont

>>4532005

Their habits, what they give Gao, what is each man's personality, their allies, the allies that will aid them, the allies that will betray them, their personal guards number and discipline, lords who pay them homage, natural defenses , their wealth and how they maintain their power both in society and the region they govern.

Four men, each one a key pillar to the castle of Gao, each one a rapid supporter of the man, each one with a heart as black as their master. When you pull one out, the others will rush to knock it down, when you remove one, they shall begin to work to prove their loyalty to Gao before they end up at the executioner's block.

Even Gao will be suspicious if you remove all four of them at once, even if the others didn't close rank and tighten their defenses. Two, is the most you could do away with, before the remaining two wise up and Gao starts getting suspicious. After that, you'll have to remove smaller snakes from the pond, and burn away more obvious weeds from Gao's garden, to keep him content and sure of your "loyalty" above all others.

You have traveled through all of these lords' lands, and know them well. Your road travels through all of them, and men loyal to you and what the road represents are stationed within them.

Which crony of Gao does Lieren set about destroying first?
> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership
> Tao Song, the lord in the mountains, his land, nestled in the mountains of the center of Gao's lands, provide bountiful Minerals, stone and iron to Gao, without him, Gao's forces would be forced to wear damaged armor and wield weakened spears
>Zhou Wenyan, Whose lands sit on the border of Gao's lands and the center of Yan itself, and deals with the taxes going to Yan and the trade coming into Gao. Without him, Gao will be reliant on your road and reforms for the Panther's share of his growing wealth
> Shen Bohai, Owner of Gao's most fertile lands, and supplier of most of his armies rations and his own larder, Without him, Gao's army will march on food supplied by you, and thus at your command, his army shall starve
> Write in?

> Accept the invitation to be introduced to his daughters, to save them from this monster
Second time this has been mentioned...I wonder if there's a hint of something being there...
> With the aid of Xia and Lei, begin Gao's downfall, by removing his long time supporters from power

>>4532010
Eh, nevermind, too late.

Let's go with:
>Zhou Wenyan, Whose lands sit on the border of Gao's lands and the center of Yan itself, and deals with the taxes going to Yan and the trade coming into Gao. Without him, Gao will be reliant on your road and reforms for the Panther's share of his growing wealth

That way, we can take the existing trade routes and redirect them to our road under the guise of improving the infrastructure.

>>4532008
> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership

All of the options are really good but they can have decent gear but if they don't have any real leadership they'll break once they see the giant charge.

>>4532008
>> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership

>>4532008
> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership

>>4532008
>>Zhou Wenyan, Whose lands sit on the border of Gao's lands and the center of Yan itself, and deals with the taxes going to Yan and the trade coming into Gao. Without him, Gao will be reliant on your road and reforms for the Panther's share of his growing wealth
I think this is the best option. we can consolidate our hold on the wealth flow and really get those forges going

>>4532008
>> Tao Song, the lord in the mountains, his land, nestled in the mountains of the center of Gao's lands, provide bountiful Minerals, stone and iron to Gao, without him, Gao's forces would be forced to wear damaged armor and wield weakened spears

> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership
Gao isn't the brightest but will definitely notice if he loses tax revenue or misses a meal. He won't notice the sorry state of his army, as he only sees his honorguard who will be kept in good supply via nepotism

>>4531754
Well... Depending on how you interpret the lore, he was such a father to Horus, being pretty damn close to him from the beginning. There's even a few theories that he was always on Terra, so I don't think that you can really blame emps too much for not being a father to the kids.

>>4531829
We don't know, but there's a few very scant facts people have dug up. The biggest one to me is that the og IInd visited some Necron monolith, prior to his destruction. Might have been that we got too close to the whole void dragon thing, or it could be something else entirely. Would work well into how much we're getting into the whole wise purity aspect, maybe some fundamental disagreement with the nature of the Imperium and the Emperor and warp in general.

>>4532008
>Zhou Wenyan, Whose lands sit on the border of Gao's lands and the center of Yan itself, and deals with the taxes going to Yan and the trade coming into Gao. Without him, Gao will be reliant on your road and reforms for the Panther's share of his growing wealth

Consolidating our position seems like a good idea. After that I think we should go after the food, the others two are mostly incidental though I would like to nab a mountain area as a base.

>>4532074
The only thing that is clear about II and XI are that they were involved in some way with something that would have shaken the foundation of the Crusade itself, presumed to be related to the Rangdan given the purges that had.

>>4532083
*And it is something even the traitor primarchs won't talk about despite being traitors and the decree shouldn't really apply to them anymore.

>>4532008
>> Shen Bohai, Owner of Gao's most fertile lands, and supplier of most of his armies rations and his own larder, Without him, Gao's army will march on food supplied by you, and thus at your command, his army shall starve
An army marches on its stomach after all. They can't put up a fight if they're starving.
Fitting that Gao's ilk would have to go hungry for once.

>>4532086
>*And it is something even the traitor primarchs won't talk about despite being traitors and the decree shouldn't really apply to them anymore.
As far as I know, most of the Primarchs actually can't remember the missing ones as a result of some psychic fuckery. Supposedly approved by Rogal Dorn himself.

>>4532008
>Shen Bohai, Owner of Gao's most fertile lands, and supplier of most of his armies rations and his own larder, Without him, Gao's army will march on food supplied by you, and thus at your command, his army shall starve

The number of men don’t matter if the are starving

>>4532008
> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership

And the second one we will destroy should be Tao Song. Bad equipment, no training and no leadership will make destroying his army easy for us.

File: E95DCD79-2DF5-4FA0-8C72-5(...).jpg (378 KB, 1878x1187)

378 KB JPG

>>4532120
Remember the last time a Chinese army ran out of food?

>>4532207
That's terrible! Knowing them they'd probably start eating the civilians.

>>4532207
All the better if they act like the beasts they are. It only makes us look better when we burn them.

>>4532212
but think about all the innocent civilians that would be sacrificed.

Wait fuck was the last thread archieved yet?

Lieren is such a good man. I wonder what his reaction will be when he finds out that the only reason for his existence is to conquer the galaxy

>>4532226
Can't be all bad. Some people are probably Gao tier's of shitty and needs a good waffle stomping.

>>4532226
Well at least he would be able to bring prosperity, virtue and knowledge to the systems him and his legion take or move in. And uniting humanity can be considered a noble goal (at least it would be better than leaving it in the current state of the galaxy. Besides some exceptions most of humanity is in a sorry state right now)

>>4532008
>Zhou Wenyan, Whose lands sit on the border of Gao's lands and the center of Yan itself, and deals with the taxes going to Yan and the trade coming into Gao. Without him, Gao will be reliant on your road and reforms for the Panther's share of his growing wealth
Mobility and the flows of resources and people.

>>4532225
Nah, it's still on page 5 or so.

>>4532226
Well, he did get purged for some reason or other, though maybe not with the malal interference. Hell, we might end up rebelling either way if we disagree too much with emps.

>>4532271
>Hell, we might end up rebelling either way if we disagree too much with emps.
I can imagine as soon as we see the living conditions most of the Imperium are stuck with, Lieren's gonna make Angron's tantrums look like model behavior.
Though I imagine we might also have some of the same misgivings as Jaghatai Khan as we observe the leadership structure of the Imperium itself.

>>4532008
>> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership

>>4532008
>Zhou and Cui

We can be rid of half before we turn our inquisition eyes on the rest of the nobility, but if we never get a chance again, removing his trained army will be essential since we have a master general on our side, and having us provide most of his wealth will further solidify our position.

If new canon has a from supposed to be the empathic understanding primarch (before his butchers nails) are we going to be the on purpose angry boy?

>>4532285
Jesus phone posting sucks.

Is meant to say If new canon has angron as the empathic primarch, are we supposed to be the angry boy?

>>4532286
big if true

>>4532008
> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership
> Tao Song, the lord in the mountains, his land, nestled in the mountains of the center of Gao's lands, provide bountiful Minerals, stone and iron to Gao, without him, Gao's forces would be forced to wear damaged armor and wield weakened spears
Let's hit him where it will hurt, this way he won't notice what's happening until later.

>>4532304
Yeah, the other anons should also be picking a second option, since there isn't any large benefit to restraining ourselves to 1 rather than 2.

>>4532271
I thought we were rescued from being Censured

>>4532277
> Shen Bohai, Owner of Gao's most fertile lands, and supplier of most of his armies rations and his own larder, Without him, Gao's army will march on food supplied by you, and thus at your command, his army shall starve

Adding this to my vote

>>4532312
Good point

>>4532312
We have the option of going for another, QM is just asking for which one we want to get rid of first.

>>4532324
On one hand, I probably misread something, for which I apologise.
On the other, giving both votes now makes it more expedient.

And another question. How the fuck is Gao one of the premier Nobles of Yan? He's a moron without a trace of awareness of his realm, he spends all his time throwing lavish parties and can't tell a monk from a pretender.

How in the 8 heavenly courts did this motherfucker rise to power? That he has maintained it at all is a miracle

>>4532008
>Zhou Wenyan, Whose lands sit on the border of Gao's lands and the center of Yan itself, and deals with the taxes going to Yan and the trade coming into Gao. Without him, Gao will be reliant on your road and reforms for the Panther's share of his growing wealth
> Shen Bohai, Owner of Gao's most fertile lands, and supplier of most of his armies rations and his own larder, Without him, Gao's army will march on food supplied by you, and thus at your command, his army shall starve
Just FUCK my logistics up bro
>>4532286
Would be rather ironic and would make Emps keeping angron around make sense. We ended up fufilling each others functions despite our natural inclinations being polar opposites. I also imagine angron would fucking hate us for being a high rider bitch

>>4532338
Simple. Gao's an easily manipulated and appeased fool of a tool. Now, we can't really make any judgement of character on the emperor of Yan, but I would guess that he'd keep a simplistic fool in a high position of power rather than an ambitious man of vision.

That and Gao more than likely inherited his position early after his father had an... unfortunate accident.

>>4532338
Even in feudal china, nepotism can get one far
Just look at dong zhuo, fat fuck antagonized everyone in his service but he still had a fuck ton of power, he only died after his own personal giant(lu bu) got tired of his shit and killed him
Hell, gao was tame compared to him

>>4532344
Nepotism makes sense. I just don't get how he could have been anything other than son of the previous noble.
Keeping power with parties was easier than starting it up.

>>4532338
Well consider how greedy he is, it s probably for the amount of coin he has. Not to mention that recently we have turn the province he rules from the devasted and miserable place it was, to an increasingly productive, innovative, prosperous and populated one.

>>4532349
>Nepotism
I was actually suggesting that Gao may have had his father assassinated one way or another. He's already proven that he doesn't care about his wives or children, why would Gao care about his parents?

>>4532358
It was more to my point that he cannot have built himself up to his station here, because he lacks any skills in that [or any] department.
So being the son of a priory important noble, who got offed makes sense.

>>4532357
He was the favoured of Yan before we got here.

>>4532008
> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership

>>4532008
Forgot a second one so choices are:
>Zhou Wenyan, Whose lands sit on the border of Gao's lands and the center of Yan itself, and deals with the taxes going to Yan and the trade coming into Gao. Without him, Gao will be reliant on your road and reforms for the Panther's share of his growing wealth
> Cui Fu, whose lands are bountiful in only men and provides Gao with most of his levies and generals, without him, Gao's forces will be untrained and without leadership

>>4532362
In a world like this, maintaining the status quo might be enough to remain a major noble. Gao pays his due on time and in full, no matter the damage it does to his people

Alright, calling the vote NOW!

Zhou:6
Cui:10
Tao:2
Shen:4

So Cui is the first on the chopping block, writing the update now

Have we considered not killing everyone?

Maybe we can have them sent to exile or educate them to be better persons (e.g. ~ 5-9 years of forced manual labor, stripping them of their power, titles and property...)

>>4532506
In a word NO.
This people are near-cultists, some without tue near. This quest follows the rules of the W40K universe (the important ones), and the first of said laws is "once you go Chaos willingly, you don't go back"

>>4532506
We don't plan to kill those of virtue. But otherwise....Dead.

>>4532506
>letting borderline Chaos cultists live instead of removing them out by the roots
Why though?

>>4532506
>1ID post

>>4532506
You don't offer mercy to Chaos. You burn it out, root and stem.

>>4532506
Most of these people are so corrupt that such an attempt would be wasted. Were Slaanesh and the other Chaos gods not so weak right now, Gao would if not a high ranking champion of Silver prince, be on his way to be one. Most of the nobles are bad but to a lesser degree from the looks of it. If this was later in the timeline this world would probably have fallen to chaos already. So no, it needs to be culled, lest it spread.

>>4532547
I wouldn’t be surprised if Chaos actually controlled the planet during the AoS.

File: 904.png (1.13 MB, 847x454)

1.13 MB PNG

>>4532285
>>4532286
>>4532341
Imagine the Emperor scanning his son's minds every time he finds a new Primarch, and contrasting their thoughts, acts and original role:
>Name: Angron
>Role: Primarch psicologist and psychic comfort blanket of calm and good vives.
>Notable thoughts and memories: ̸̾ͅŔ̵͓R̸̝̄Ṟ̶̀À̷̩A̶̛̳A̴̦͂Å̵̞A̷͋Ą̶̈́Å̶A̵̧̔A̷̔A̵̮̍Ǎ̴Ả̶̼Á̷̮A̸͚̋A̴̞͂A̵̖̍A̴͍̋Ä̵͙́Ġ̴̤H̶̻̚!̸̬͛!̴̧̇!̴̗͝
>Acts: [Exists] ̸̾ͅŔ̵͓R̸̝̄Ṟ̶̀À̷̩A̶̛̳A̴̦͂Å̵̞A̷͋Ą̶̈́Å̶A̵̧̔A̷̔A̵̮̍Ǎ̴Ả̶̼Á̷̮A̸͚̋A̴̞͂A̵̖̍A̴͍̋Ä̵͙́Ġ̴̤H̶̻̚!̸̬͛!̴̧̇!̴̗͝ [proceeds to murder something/
someone/someone's world and civilization]

>Name: Lieren
>Role": The Emperor's murderblender Primarch
>Notable thoughts and memories:
>>4531638
Acts: Helping all humans grow into the best they can be, using benevolence and exchanging wisdom when possible, while trying to keep both casualties and interference with their development to a minimum.

>>4532555
"Well I guess everything worked out alright!"

Among the four men, members of the corrupted and decadent nobility each, Cui Fu is the pillar that holds most of Gao's power. His family's lands, poorer than the rest of Gao's domain, are only wealthy in hardy men, who eek out and existence in plains of infertile soil and rocky cliffs. Historically most of the levies that make up The Gao's armies have come from the harsh lands Cui rules, and the best local generals both past and present have come from the stubborn stock of men that the Cui family has cultivated. By forcing generations to live in a land so scares of life the cliffjumpers there have became carnivorous, and no fields are grown.

Cui is also a man you wish to see removed from power, even if you could convince the Toady to turn against his master and aid you. For he hampered your efforts in improving his land, and only relented when Gao threatened him with castration for stopping your efforts of spreading prosperity and bounty throughout the land. And the reason for this lesser lord's foolish actions? He didn't want the peasantry under his control to grow "Weak", he didn't want the comforts and ease of living you brought where ever you walked to come to his home. So his people would starve, and only the strong and worthy would be able to live.

All so he could pretend his people were of an elite pedigree and the pride of Gao's army and lands, at the cost of starving children and culling the weak in times of famine. He disgusts you more than Gao himself, if such a thing is possible. Gao merely doesn't care about his people and how they live so long as taxes and wealth flow into his vaults one way or another. Cui on the other hand, actively worsens the lot of his common folks' living conditions and lives, so they can be "Strong". He battled with you, to keep you from bringing food into his lands, from bringing fertilizers and minerals to improve the soil his farmers worked, even from building forts and fire towers to keep the road safe in his lands.

The man was worse than a fool, he was a fool who thought himself a genius. He hid behind traditions and used them as an excuse to bring suffering to his people, and you do not doubt he is already working to remove the innovations you brought to his lands solely so they do not "weaken his flock". He even saw fit to scold you for "overstepping" your authority by removing a bandit clan from his lands, claiming it was his duty to do so.

When they had festered there for generations, draining what little wealth the common man could hold from them, and bleeding them in brutal conflict. No doubt with Cui's permission and perhaps even full endorsement. He is a brute, who imagines himself a scholar, who lives and breathes of philosophy of suffering and hardship. If there could be a man whose beliefs were more opposed to your own than Cui, you have not met him nor heard tale of his foulness.

cont

>>4532568

Cui would meet his end for the crimes he and his line have committed for generations, of cruelly oppressing the people in their lands. Though his actual sentence would be a charge of treason for attempting to overthrow Gao, and stealing wealth from him, that mattered not. You had judge him guilty of the crime of pointless cruelty and halting the spread of your prosperity for half a season. And for that you would have him dead and buried, by your own hand.

Closing the scroll Qian had written for you, you whistle sharply, raising your hand to command your men to follow closely as you move on from this lonely village near a spring, among blossoming trees.


"Leave the thief hanging" You command, whistling again as you begin to march down the road that leads, eventually, to the struggling lands of Cui "We ride for the lands of Cui, I have been alerted of corruption festering in the court of its lord, we shall bring the traitors of Gao to justice"

Your men raise there spears, as the crowd of villagers continue assaulting Yunru's corpse with stones and rotten fruit. at least his death was quick, if not painless
-

The Lands under the Cui family, dust covered and empty, the sun beats through the fog here, burning the land that has been so long abused and untended. By your hand it could flourish and become as a greed slab of jade in the lands of Gao, the increased sunlight making it more bountiful than the lands of the Shen family. Grey and rust colored earth, dust mingling with fog, bones and signs of forgotten battles littering the land. You have done what you can to help the people under Cui's rule, but there's only so much you could force upon the man, and no doubt he has already began taking away the gifts and tools you've given to the poor souls who live beneath him.

But, he was not bold enough to touch your road, or the garrisons upon it. The people no longer starved, but they needed a better steward, to truly prosper.

"What a depressing sight lays before us Lieren" Jinhai asks as you give Zian and Rong their written orders to scout ahead with five men each "Dust, ash and bones, and men living among them like scavengers. What can be salvaged from the lords of such a tortured land?"

"We shall see, the roots of Cui run deep and rotten" You say as you sit down to rest with your men "We shall turn this starving land green, this I swear to you, to the people, and to the very earth itself"
cont

>>4532570

How do you remove the Cuis from power, Lieren?
> Using the nobles Qian wishes you to deal with as bait, draw him into a conspiracy that can be twisted into a charge of treason
> Incite his peasantry into a revolt, a great show of weakness for the cultivator of Gao's military, Gao will remove him from power without any lies from your mouth
>Merely march into his court and accuse him of treason and thievery, for impeding the spread of prosperity and wealth through his lands
>Bring Jiang and Liang from Nothing, and issue a challenge for any man of the Cuis to best them in a test of strength, thus exposing his incompetent rule, and crushing his idiotic ideology.
>Write in?

>>4532511
We do not yet have that much knowledge of the wider scope of supposed 40k rules. Also, remember that penitents are a common theme. The guilt can never be reversed completely, but some guilty persons DO go back.

>>4532539
>1ID post
> Low quality
> No verb
Some people have different influences than image boards in their lifes. Occasionally, this forces them to switch devices. Maybe, you prefer the non-anonymous variety?

>>4532572
>> Using the nobles Qian wishes you to deal with as bait, draw him into a conspiracy that can be twisted into a charge of treason

>>4532572
> Using the nobles Qian wishes you to deal with as bait, draw him into a conspiracy that can be twisted into a charge of treason

>>4532575
Whatever you say anon.

>>4532572
>>Merely march into his court and accuse him of treason and thievery, for impeding the spread of prosperity and wealth through his lands
as much as i'd like to incite the peasantry i don't want to hand over another prisoner to Gao. We should just make accusation, have trial, and execute today.

>>4532572
>Merely march into his court and accuse him of treason and thievery, for impeding the spread of prosperity and wealth through his lands

This is personal. Armor and Guandao ready.

>>4532572
>> Using the nobles Qian wishes you to deal with as bait, draw him into a conspiracy that can be twisted into a charge of treason

>>4532566
Yeah, until the marines start to get acclimated to shangralan culture and he has to hear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH2uGJyXHiA nonstop for ten thousand years

>>4532568
>He didn't want the peasantry under his control to grow "Weak", he didn't want the comforts and ease of living you brought where ever you walked to come to his home. So his people would starve, and only the strong and worthy would be able to live.
Hmmmm.
>>4532572
>Bring Jiang and Liang from Nothing, and issue a challenge for any man of the Cuis to best them in a test of strength, thus exposing his incompetent rule, and crushing his idiotic ideology.
If he wants to talk about strength, then we will show him strength then execute for being an idiot.

>>4532572
> Using the nobles Qian wishes you to deal with as bait, draw him into a conspiracy that can be twisted into a charge of treason
We'd be able to get rid of multiple corrupt noblemen, as well as ease gao's fear of a rebellion by our part.

>>4532572
>Use the Nobles.
Just make sure we are not Having it traced back to us.

>>4532596
You always deserve what you sow.

>>4532572
>Using the nobles

>>4532572
> Using the nobles Qian wishes you to deal with as bait, draw him into a conspiracy that can be twisted into a charge of treason

>>4532568
Lieren is not going to like how the some of the other primarchs leave their worlds as death worlds
>>4532572
>Merely march into his court and accuse him of treason and thievery, for impeding the spread of prosperity and wealth through his lands

>>4532596
no this is how it is going to be:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJMt3pJwIhY
ten thousand years of asian balnakn war propaganda knockoffs

heh. it would be funny if our prosperity drive and the fog like nature of the world will turn it all into a balkan wars neverending edition that we just gave up upon and will continue with that particular sport even throughout the imperium.

>>4532572
>Using the nobles Qian wishes you to deal with as bait, draw him into a conspiracy that can be twisted into a charge of treason

>>4532572
>>Merely march into his court and accuse him of treason and thievery, for impeding the spread of prosperity and wealth through his lands

>>4532572
>Merely march into his court and accuse him of treason and thievery, for impeding the spread of prosperity and wealth through his lands

should i draw fanart of Lieren?

>>4532752
If you want man.

>>4532572
>Bring Jiang and Liang from Nothing, and issue a challenge for any man of the Cuis to best them in a test of strength, thus exposing his incompetent rule, and crushing his idiotic ideology.
Showing that his way of making strong men is a lie.

>>4532598
>>Bring Jiang and Liang from Nothing, and issue a challenge for any man of the Cuis to best them in a test of strength, thus exposing his incompetent rule, and crushing his idiotic ideology.

Hmm...sounds interesting, though given the way the tides are shifting, I'll go with:

>> Using the nobles Qian wishes you to deal with as bait, draw him into a conspiracy that can be twisted into a charge of treason

We can accuse him and stab him for his treachery after we've cleaned the coop out with the other bad eggs.

Why shouldn't we use the conspiracy to make our jobs that much more effecient.

>>4532752
That would be cool, my dude

>>4532752
I was considering doing the same thing but unfortunately I can't come up with a hairstyle I'm happy with.

What are some of your anticipated / most wanted primarch interactions with lieren?

I'm hoping we can be with the emperor when he finds angron and help with that whole mess.

>>4532820
Pert, Lorgar and Khan.

We were asked about this last thread, but I think we have a lot in common and a lot of ground to make with Perty boy. And come on man, we're probably the only one's who would appreciate and not abuse his creations.

Alright, calling the vote now.

Use the nobles and kill two birds with one stone: 9
Just march to his court and accuse Cui: 5
Bring the brothers in:2

So, Lieren will construct a conspiracy, so he has just cause to remove Cui from power, so as not to arose suspicion.

Writing the update

>>4532752
Rad.

>>4532820
Kinda wanna see XI and if we come across Nuceria first, Angron. Perhaps Leman because of the whole norse culture (which includes Finns to a degree) meeting with Leiran's asiatic (which includes Korea), as well as how close the names are.

>>4532827
vile traitors and one cool dude for a horse barbarian.
Perturabo is major grade autistic, beyond even most other primarchs* and a spiteful introvert who was never satisfied with what he could get. He had a nice family and he fucked it up all on his very own.
Perturabo is not a nice dude, and he is way to asocial to open up to his new 'family'.
Lorgar is just trash who grew up on a stealth chaos world and had some serious gay dad issues, but chanced by luck on having his lectitio divinatus be the groundwork for the imperial creed that fights of chaos gods by turning the emperor into a warp god.

I am interested in the Lion, and the Rangdan Xenocides. Would be nice if we can make the Dark Angels have fewer losses.

Also interested in the Custodes. Getting a Custodes and Silent Sisters squads as honourguard for all the primarchs would be very nice in solidifying the links of the imperial household and getting blanks around primarchs via the sisters and better personal security from the custodes.

>>4532863
I mean, that's not true.

Pert is ungrateful, envious and brooding but he is also very happy when getting to design things. But the reason I think we should be trying to forge links with him is A] the contrast between his petulance and our Zen in regards to how glory is split could have a stabilizing effect perhaps and B] our policy of "the most qualified man does the job" can see us talking to Pert about designs to better the prosperity of the worlds we must rebuild which gives us some common ground to talk to.

Lorgar, himself, is not that bad. Call me an apologist, but he isn't. His worst traits are his mercurial nature and childish Naivity, while his best is his Loyalty and Faith. Because believe it or not Lorgar is supremely loyal to those he gives it to, to the point it takes point blank rejection and betrayal to turn him away [See Monarchia, Magnus' astropathic conversations]. He didn't give his loyalty to Horus, and mistakenly believed horus was as zealious as he was, which resulted in his attempted betrayal.
But the interactions here are on talks of faith and philosophy, which is always interesting to talk about IC.

Khan is space Mongol to our space China. nuff said.

But don't expect many custodes. If daddies favorites are with us, it usually isn't good.

>>4532890
Pert did decimate his legion upon first meeting them and the only reason they weren't the largest was due to how many casualties they expended. Emps tried to moderate him a bit by giving a balance of tasks, but it got real bad with Horus in charge where Pert got all siege all the time.

>>4532911
His treatment of his legion was retarded and actively harmful [no shit sherlock], And he should have been censored for the act.

But that doesn't change that we can be a good influence. If we're not, so be it.

>>4532913
*censured

>>4532935
No, Pert must have black bars put all over him so that others cannot look upon his form or face.

Thank you for that.

I’m starting to wonder if Lieren ever be introduced to Taoism.

>>4532957
Technically speaking we kinda have? But there's no Tao here, so they probably just call it by some other name. Kinda like how we talk with the buddhist monk guy.

I personally want to follow the Imperial Thruth but giving it some philosophical wisdom twists, so we can add love (pure), generosity, empathy (with humans, but also not to kill useful, nonharmful xenos like the jockaeiro) and a sense of brotherhood/general patriotism (so all worlds integrate properly and contribute all they can to the Imperium despite differences in culture) as two pillars that benefit the Imperium without reinforcing the Chaos gods

>>4532985
*As the pillars of society that benefit the Imperium

If Lieren does fall, I fear it will be to Khorne for (initially) altruistic reasons twisted to an industrial warmachine. We need to maintain inner peace and foresightedness for the plight of the unaugmented man.

>>4532964
>Technically speaking we kinda have?
Not really. Taoism (when described) sounds more like some kind of psyker shit.

>>4532940
But of course

You're welcome

>>4532992
Honestly with the way we’re currently going, it’ll be Tzeentch. Like seriously have you been paying attention? We’ve been favoring underhanded schemes than outright violence.

>>4533005
He's constantly boiling with rage and his goals are to end the impoverishment of the commoners by getting rid of the nobility, not uplifting himself for his own ambitions. I could see him sliding to Khorne very easily but Tzeentch is also a possibility because he's been trying to spread knowledge, bring hope to the masses, and has already slain what was either a Nurglite Chaos Spawn or Minor Daemon Prince.

>>4533005
Lieren's pretty angry too, though.

I mean, it's like i said it at the middle of the previous thread, there should be a counter for how many times Lieren's thought about how easy it would be to kill someone.

I mean, how many times has he had to visibly hold back himself as to not go in a giant rage fit and kill everyone? It's been a lot of times.

Personally, i think an mix between tzeentch and khorne would be the most likely, IF he were to fall.

>>4533008
What makes me think he's most likely to fall to Khorne is that most of his rage has been directed toward the wastefulness of the nobility, which is the textbook anti-Slaaneshi impulse that causes a great deal of Khornate corruption in the 41st millennia. I think we should be appropriately paranoid of and extremely violent towards any signs of heresy.

Of course, Cui may be an ignorant fool like the rest of his kind, but that does not mean he is harmless. His personal guard contains more members than Gao's own, and from it a pedigree of fighting generals has sprung forth, who will remain loyal to Cui unless he is dealt with. While you have no doubt you could easily best a man as foolish as Cui Fu in battle, either massed or personal, he wouldn't attack with just the soldiers sworn to his service. He'd press every man in his lands into an army with which he would use like a hammer, and break it against your superior intellect and Yin's tactical genius.

A cornered animal, after all, is the most dangerous. And to remove Cui and the support he gives to Gao at the cost of thousands of innocent lives, would leave a most bitter taste in your mouth. You could not forgive yourself if innocent blood was shed at your command or even by your own arms. Which means, to defeat Cui and end his small tyranny, you must employ a gentler method to orchestrate his demise. Much like plucking a flower with a thorns along its stem, care must be taken when removing a man from his seat of power, when he commands most of the armies in the land.

Staring into the embers of the growing fire your guards have started to tend and feed in your makeshift camp along the side of your road, you begin to weave a plan, with which to pull the Cui family from Yan, root and stem and all. Qian, as expected has asked for your assistant in dealing with spendthrifts and sadists alike, men who desire her but are too tightly tangle in her web for her to cut down herself.

Men who do so despise the golden eyed giant who speaks so freely with their beloved scarlet blossom, not knowing the poison the jade beauty hides beneath her smiles and gentle manner. Cui would align himself with anyone if they promised him the privilege of taking your head, such is the hatred he holds for you for interfering and trying to fix the ruin he and his ancestors have made of a land filled with such potential. The men Qian wants to see dead or other wise dealt with, are ambitious, and will reach far beyond your death if they are confident in their combined power and the secrecy of their conspiracy.

Sparks fly as one of the moister logs in the fresh fire snaps and cracks open, as the path you shall take forward takes shape in the depths of your mind. Qian can set the pawns into place, maneuvering her targets into the proper positions for them to meet, and give them all reasons to join together and ally with one another for your demise. Then, it would only take a few manipulations on your end and hers to grow the fools' combined confidence enough to bring one as powerful as Cui into their fold. Qian will supply the evidence of their activities over the coming days, weeks even, and then all it will take is for you to present it to Gao.
cont

>>4533057

If the threat of losing his Jade conjuring giant is not enough for the fat slug to do away with Cui and his new compatriots, all you must do is "reveal" to him the hidden treason within whatever form of evidence Lady Qian gathers, or mention that Cui's lands are being wasted upon a man of such low intellect and cunning. And then he shall all but hand you the axe to remove their heads himself, if he does not order their prolonged torture and drawn out deaths but, it is hard to apprehend criminals alive after all and even a fool like Gao can understand that.

An accident in the journey to bring them back to his cruel hands, all traitors slain in an escape attempt. Their bodies will feed the Mist Jackals. An easy death, a clean death, a merciful death. You will not consign another man to Ling's fate. and your conscious will be clear as an untouched spring, for Fu has taken no wife, as none have matched the standards he demands according Qian Xia, and his siblings died young. As the Cui bloodline, for all their cruelty and foulness, at least practices the same culling they force upon the land among their own ranks.

No innocent victims, no children murdered to appease Gao's fury, pride and sadism. A historied line snuffed out, because it wore itself thin and stood in the way of the path of progress and prosperity. A simple act, a purifying act. Cleansing the land and courts. Simple and easy.
-
There were few things Cui fu feared in this world, for few things could truly threaten a man of his size and stature. Since birth he was raised as a warrior, among warriors, following a tradition of warlords and fighters of legend. The scares that traced across his face and chest told a story, of hardship and struggle. It was the only way a man of his family could be considered proper, like all those who served beneath them. Blood was their trade, Iron their wealth. But, in recent years, the young lord had met a creature that could illicit fear eve into a heart as cold and hardened as his own.

A Giant with eyes like the setting sun, and hair like fresh iron. A man who did not fear death nor bowed to the proper order of the world. A simple farmer, who had wormed his way into the good graces of Gao, despite giving him nothing but promises and fat, weak workers. A man who would soften the people of Gao's lands into mere farm animals, content and happy despite their birth and station. Unused to hardship, weak. A slow, insidious poison that would doubt bring ruin to all who lived under the benevolent arms of the Gao line.

The twin dragons of Gao would endure, Cui fu would do all in his power to ensure it. The Gao's had earned their position generations ago, and brought his ancestors their first defeat. The carp of Cui would forever support the dragons of Gao, even over the Yan kings themselves. And no mere farmer, with pretty little babbles and grand ambitions, would fell the combined might of Gao and Cui.
cont

>>4533059

And yet wise Lord Gao, could not see the traitor in his court, wasting his wealth, wasting his man power and weakening his people! No, Gao could not see, he did not understand! The foul sorcerer Lieren, with his alchemy and witchcraft, must have enchanted his mind somehow, for why else would Gao allow him to trod over and build through lands that have for centuries belonged to the same line?! Why else would he give that thrice damned giant whatever he asked for or desired! The line of Gao was in danger, its branches twisted by an iron scaled snake.

And for seasons, for years, Cui Fu has wracked his mind, trying to find anyway to remove this parasite from his Lord's side. If he did not act with haste, Lieren would pollute his own lands with his corruptive sorcery, and seductive comforts he offered with open hands. Poison, poison, poison! it was all poison. The land would sour from the mixtures he fed it, devils and spirits would come at his call to feast upon the fattened herd of men he had created with bountiful food and empty lives and he would rule a land empty of men. Cui Fu knew this, for his line warned of such methods, the stories that lulled him to sleep spoke of men such as Lieren, and he would not let his land, nor any Land of beneath the Gaos fall to such foul manipulations.

But, an army to slay one man? Foolishness. And to ask Gao, to plead with the benevolent patriarch of that most noble of lines, would be impossible, for Lieren had twisted his mind, weakened it. Cui could do nothing but watch, for two years, as the people outside of his lands grew fat on prosperity, like swine for the slaughter, as the Giant strode across the lands of family's as bright as his own, plucking all danger and struggle from them like he was taking flowers from a garden.

Weak, weak weak! they were all so weak and foolish! nothing could be done! unless the giant was slain, ruin and decay would come upon great wings! devour them all, slay them all! The Giant would destroy generations of tradition and ruin the stock of all men of Gao for his own ambition.

But there was nothing a warrior as mighty as Cui Fu could do, he knew he could not slay Lieren in personal combat, he doubted even all his men combined could drag the Giant to hell together! and Gao did not see the farmer for the trickster he was! If Fu was not a Cui, he may have given into despair, and found a battle to die in before he had to see the degeneration of his people with his own eyes, to spare his family the shame of being weakened like the rest.

But Cuis did not give up, they did not retreat, and in autumn, as the winds cooled and the trees turned shades of blood and rust, after months, years of waiting, listening and hoping to find another soul in power that was no caught in the Giant's spell, Cui Fu found them. Men like him, men with strong minds and wills of iron, who had escaped the enchantment that fallen over the rest of the land.
cont

>>4533061

Men who saw Lieren for what he was, knew the poison and corruption he spread with every step, and had come together to orchestrate his end. And free the people from his tricks and manipulations. For weeks now, Cui Fu has met with these men, nobles who hid their faces with blank masks when he met, but he knew them. They were seven noble men, powerful men, and with the might of the Cui and the generals fu and his father before him had nurtured, even a monster like the golden eyed giant could not escape death.

With their combined might and minds, Lieren would fall, and Gao would be free of his influence, and things would return to how they rightfully should be.

The lord of blood and Iron had received word, that they would soon move to claim the head of a giant and that he would be allowed to know the identities of his fellow conspirators, now that he had fully committed to the cause. They would meet at a small inn, built by the giant's own hands along the edge of the lands of the Cui, and there, they would set in motion events that would consign their names to legends, as heroes.

As always, Cui fu was dressed in his armor, all hues of red and grey, covered by a grey cloak of wool, roughly spun, accompanied by only two of his most trusted guards. Leaving his strong, war bred horse to his servants, he entered the small, lonely building alone. The scent of roasting meat and drying alcohol assaulted his senses, the mystical flames the giant set upon the road that would burn for hours before they turned to ask lighting every corner of the building.

Tables were set out, travelers and merchants filled every inch of the building, eating and growing fatter, no doubt spreading the Giant's poison further. Cui fu for a moment, wondered if he had came to the wrong location, before he spotted a blank wooden mask along a long table. Grinning wickedly, Gao's hound strode over to the table and took a seat without announcing himself.

His comrades turned to face them, draped in robes of simple wool, the same as he was. He recognized the faces of only one. He Tao, a man he had always thought of as soft, yet he sat at a place of honor at the table. A trader of wine and spirits, he did not think he would have escape the Giant's wiles.

"Ah, brother fu, you've joined us at last, the day of our glory is soon at hand" He spoke, glancing around, no doubt searching for any listeners or spies "And the giant will be brought low once more, before his end"

"At our hands, tell me, when will we mobilize, my armies are ready" Cui fu said as he took clasped his hands together, glancing at the faces of the other lords sat alongside him "To strike as soon as the order is given"
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cont

>>4533064

"So, you'll spare us then? and let our families eat well for once?" Cui fu's man asks, with a tired look in his eyes as you easily stride down the hill from your hiding place along the ridge, where your men still lie in wait. Joined by a few of your hunting companions from Nothing, and backed up by guards gathered along the road's of Cui fu's lands.

"All men, women and children of these lands shall eat well, and your loyalty will be remembered, both of you" You say, clasping your hands together "The end of the traitor Cui is at hand, and I shall protect you from those who would call you betrayer"

"Lord Lieren's benevolence is as bountiful as the stories say" The man sighs, shoulders slumping as he sits down into the dust "though I would have welcomed death, if only my wife would be able to have a nice meal"

"I would have if I could only live long enough to see that madman butchered as he has done to so many others" The other says, removing his mask and spitting into the dust as he sat by his brother in arms "Make it hurt, giant"

The sun hung in the sky, crimson among a sea of golds, pinks and plum. Dust filled the air, and the fog was heavy this night. A dramatic setting, for a dramatic end.

How you end the conspiracy you've spun, Lieren
> Announce your presence and list the crimes of the accused, proclaiming the sentence Gao has passed already
> Blow the whistle you've trained the men stationed in the inn, ordering them to strike the gathered group of traitors
> Ring the bell outside of the Inn, alerting the men inside the leave and bar the exists as they do. Then set the building alight with only the eight traitors inside
> "CUI FU! though in my heart there naught but hatred for you, I shall allow you one final honor, one final battle! Draw your sword and face me so I may deliver you to hell myself!"
> Write in