Keychain #336-340

Hmm...Terrestrial Exalted who have taken to collecting tolls.


Lost Eggs or just Dynasts who have fallen on their luck?
 
Who called it? It is a shakedown!


Now, here's the important question: Do they pay up, does Ten Winds go Immaculate Master to shame them into leaving, or do they go Glorious Solar/Lunar/Abyssal Anathema on these mugs.


And I still say that it's a shakedown for fun followed by a roll in the grass in the woods after robbing the 'peasants'...
 
mmmh...Robin Wood and his merry men? (come on, a green guy with a bow and a huge guy with a Staff on bridge collecting tolls...he's bound to be called Little John)
 
There's a Secret in the upper right corner of the last panel! :D


And I still think it's ridiculous that the Dynasts are robbing people. They can't even USE jade scrip in their everyday lives (and that's all they should expect a non-Dynast to have), and if they need anything else from a peasant, they just have to walk up to them and demand it. And if they wanted to beat up people for fun, they could just go find some random road travelers and kill them, as long as said travelers didn't look too rich. Banditry like this is...well, totally nonsensical.
 
ShadowDragon8685 said:
Who called it? It is a shakedown!
Now, here's the important question: Do they pay up, does Ten Winds go Immaculate Master to shame them into leaving, or do they go Glorious Solar/Lunar/Abyssal Anathema on these mugs.
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I'll take Ten Winds, Karen and possibly Secret go Immaculate on them.


Karen certainly knows enough immaculate martial arts to pass as one and Secret may do, so long as they are careful to keep their essence expenditure down to personal essence.
 
Brickwall said:
There's a Secret in the upper right corner of the last panel! :D
And I still think it's ridiculous that the Dynasts are robbing people. They can't even USE jade scrip in their everyday lives (and that's all they should expect a non-Dynast to have), and if they need anything else from a peasant, they just have to walk up to them and demand it. And if they wanted to beat up people for fun, they could just go find some random road travelers and kill them, as long as said travelers didn't look too rich. Banditry like this is...well, totally nonsensical.
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Like I said: they're roleplaying as bandits.

Dahak said:
I'll take Ten Winds, Karen and possibly Secret go Immaculate on them.
Karen certainly knows enough immaculate martial arts to pass as one and Secret may do, so long as they are careful to keep their essence expenditure down to personal essence.
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Ten Winds and Karen, maybe. If Secret tries to use Water Dragon Style on them, she'll wind up invoking Blood Geyser Form by accident, and then nobody will believe it was caused by anything but an Anathema.
 
Is it just me, or has Marena's boobs gotten bigger lately?
Edit: Could this be a product of improving her Appearance? :P
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I think it's a product of her increasing Essence...


by the way,the horse looks at them in the first panel of the last row =D


oh,and I think Jukashi forgot Marena's bracelet


Edit:damm typos
 
Hey Jukashi, does the fan-art have to come up during a Monday or Friday? Can't you add it bit by bit every day?
 
Is it just me, or has Marena's boobs gotten bigger lately?
Edit: Could this be a product of improving her Appearance? :P
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Maybe they just look larger relative to her when she doesn't have a tail.
Also, that Earth Aspect guy in white Jade armour looks like Brock from Pokemon. Appropriate.


*does something Sidereal* I was never wrong!
 
Is it just me, or has Marena's boobs gotten bigger lately?
Edit: Could this be a product of improving her Appearance? :P
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Maybe they just look larger relative to her when she doesn't have a tail.
Also, that Earth Aspect looks like Brock from Pokemon. Appropriate.
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Wait, but that would mean that we (er, she) have to choose between glorious Lunar bosoms and the adorable fox-tail! That's a horrible choice to have to make.


And I'm glad I wasn't the only one who saw the Brock resemblance. I think it's the eyebrows.


(Jukashi: don't freak out, we're all just happy to see the new comic! Keep yourself in good shape, it's more important.)
 
Huh. Do two Terrestrials really have nothing better to do than shake down commoners? I mean, the Jade in their weapons alone is probably enough to buy a small kingdom in the Threshold.
 
Thanqol said:
Huh. Do two Terrestrials really have nothing better to do than shake down commoners? I mean, the Jade in their weapons alone is probably enough to buy a small kingdom in the Threshold.
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Well, it is civil war, after all. I'm guessing some houses have been blown down.


In the meantime, I would like to place an order for one justice, please.
 
Thanqol said:
Huh. Do two Terrestrials really have nothing better to do than shake down commoners? I mean' date=' the Jade in their weapons alone is probably enough to buy a small kingdom in the Threshold.[/quote']
Well, it is civil war, after all. I'm guessing some houses have been blown down.


In the meantime, I would like to place an order for one justice, please.
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Yeah, because in the event of civil war you send your valuable elemental super soldiers to shake down commoners on bridges? Don't they have, I don't know, soldiers?


If they're bandits this comes back to the whole "Members of a society where they are Gods amongst men" thing. That, and commoners don't have enough money to impact on the average Dynast's spending.


On the other hand, they could be spoiled nobles playing bandit. The Japanese have a phrase, "Blade Testing", where a samurai getting a new sword would go down to a crossroads and hack down some random peasant to make sure the blade was sharp enough. So it could not be about the money; they could just be jerkasses.
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I suspect the point was more that, as there's a near-civil-war going on, it's fairly likely at least a few Terrestrials are from houses that have been so weakened or disgraced by the schemes of their neighbors, they have been reduces to banditry.
 
I suspect Thanqol's point was more that' date=' as there's a near-civil-war going on, it's fairly likely at least a few Terrestrials are from houses that have been so weakened or disgraced by the schemes of their neighbors, they have been reduces to banditry.[/quote']
And yet they're both wearing the equivilant of several million dollars of Jade?


This is like a pair of guys wearing clothing made out of solid gold bend over to pick a penny out of the gutter. Even if he doesn't want to sell his golden clothing, the fact that he has it and is able to stop people stealing it from him implies that he could be doing better elsewhere.


The oppertunity cost of gaining a wagon and a handful of Jade Scrip is that he could be using performance excellencies to make tonnes of money busking, could storm some undefended Patrician's house and take everything, could marry some rich Partrician girl and get a bathtub of money, act as a mercenary (demigod for hire), or as a terrorist (twelve talents of Jade or I set this random village on fire). Or even just using that favoured Craft to make a kickass sculpture or build a giant fortress for some petty warlord!


To whit, idle banditry of the average Realm peasant which might net you a single obol of Jade if they're super rich, is the least productive thing they could be doing.
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Well I do see your point, but all those things imply that Green DB is in a position to do so, and they all carry significant risks.


Performance to earn tons of money? If it's that easy, some other DB is already doing performance in that position, and may decide to cut down on competition. Marry a rich patrician girl? She'll find the even more rich DB next to you a better catch, and her dad has hired DB guards from your family's ancestral enemies, who'd do it for free just to spite your family, and they'd love the political capital of catching you in a robbery. Mercenary or Terrorist will work. . . but anybody who can afford Dragonblood Mercenaries will expect them to take on the most dangerous of enemies, fitting their Exalted nature, and thus there's tremendous risk there, and a terrorist who ransacks entire villages is stealing from the lands, lands that pay taxes to stern-faced immaculates or imperial magistrates, who will not only shame and dishonor your family, but also take it out of their holdings if you're caught. Risky.


Robbing some peasants on a bridge, by contrast, doesn't carry any risk (Aside from the miniscule possibility that the Wagon happens to be full of Anathema + an extraordinarily skilled Immaculate Master), and it should be fairly easy to keep from getting caught as long as you know when to move around a bit, and net enough for a night's worth of beer and wenches with nobody to use the purse strings to control you. If you happen to be easygoing, aren't greedy, and have simple tastes it's the way to go.
 
Good heavens, some of these responses are so contrived they are outright impossible because this narrative would be lessened by their inclusion even if they were theoretically possible.

Performance to earn tons of money? If it's that easy, some other DB is already doing performance in that position, and may decide to cut down on competition.
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Are you kidding? I believe there's something like a 10,000:1 mortal: DB ratio on the isle. They can pretty much pick their market. Not to mention the hilarious risk/reward ratio involved in assassinating an armed and armoured Terrestrial in order to corner the busking market.

Marry a rich patrician girl? She'll find the even more rich DB next to you a better catch, and her dad has hired DB guards from your family's ancestral enemies, who'd do it for free just to spite your family, and they'd love the political capital of catching you in a robbery.
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Okay, you don't know what a patrician is, do you? A patrician is a mortal distantly related to a Dragon Blooded who desperately want access to the Dynastic aristocracy as it's their only possible avenue for advancement in the social structure. Breeding with a Patrician is an enormous step down for any Dragon Blooded, and an enormous step up for any patrician. As usual, the greatest moneymaker of the Terrestrials is in their junk.


As for the "Dragon Blooded guards" thing that's so hilariously bad it doesn't need addressing.

Mercenary or Terrorist will work. . . but anybody who can afford Dragonblood Mercenaries will expect them to take on the most dangerous of enemies, fitting their Exalted nature, and thus there's tremendous risk there, and a terrorist who ransacks entire villages is stealing from the lands, lands that pay taxes to stern-faced immaculates or imperial magistrates, who will not only shame and dishonor your family, but also take it out of their holdings if you're caught. Risky.
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They are performing banditry. Right now.
 
Thanqol said:
Good heavens, some of these responses are so contrived they are outright impossible because this narrative would be lessened by their inclusion even if they were theoretically possible.
Performance to earn tons of money? If it's that easy, some other DB is already doing performance in that position, and may decide to cut down on competition.
Click to expand...
Are you kidding? I believe there's something like a 10,000:1 mortal: DB ratio on the isle. They can pretty much pick their market. Not to mention the hilarious risk/reward ratio involved in assassinating an armed and armoured Terrestrial in order to corner the busking market.

Marry a rich patrician girl? She'll find the even more rich DB next to you a better catch, and her dad has hired DB guards from your family's ancestral enemies, who'd do it for free just to spite your family, and they'd love the political capital of catching you in a robbery.
Click to expand...
Okay, you don't know what a patrician is, do you? A patrician is a mortal distantly related to a Dragon Blooded who desperately want access to the Dynastic aristocracy as it's their only possible avenue for advancement in the social structure. Breeding with a Patrician is an enormous step down for any Dragon Blooded, and an enormous step up for any patrician. As usual, the greatest moneymaker of the Terrestrials is in their junk.


As for the "Dragon Blooded guards" thing that's so hilariously bad it doesn't need addressing.

Mercenary or Terrorist will work. . . but anybody who can afford Dragonblood Mercenaries will expect them to take on the most dangerous of enemies, fitting their Exalted nature, and thus there's tremendous risk there, and a terrorist who ransacks entire villages is stealing from the lands, lands that pay taxes to stern-faced immaculates or imperial magistrates, who will not only shame and dishonor your family, but also take it out of their holdings if you're caught. Risky.
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They are performing banditry. Right now.
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It's not banditry, it's...unauthorized toll-collecting! Really! :lol:
 
merle said:
It's not banditry, it's...unauthorized toll-collecting! Really! :lol:
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It's not even unauthorized! As Dragon Blooded, they have every right to do this!

Mercenary or Terrorist will work. . . but anybody who can afford Dragonblood Mercenaries will expect them to take on the most dangerous of enemies, fitting their Exalted nature, and thus there's tremendous risk there, and a terrorist who ransacks entire villages is stealing from the lands, lands that pay taxes to stern-faced immaculates or imperial magistrates, who will not only shame and dishonor your family, but also take it out of their holdings if you're caught. Risky. .
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Oh yeah, coming back to this.


The Immaculate Order? If they were to show up right now, they'd be infuriated - by the fact that Dragon Blooded, the pinnacles of enlightenment and living buddhas - are poor enough to consider banditry. You forget that this religion is basically Dragon Blooded are the best people in the world. Mortals are not holy enough to look directly at a Dragon Blooded. In the epic Immaculate bardic tale of this encounter, a pair of wise, enlightened sacred Terrestrial Exalts taught some peasants a valuable lesson about humility and understanding of the Order of Heaven, and guided their souls to a higher reincarnation blessed by the Dragons.


The point that I'm maintaining here is that this is the least heroic, least cost-effective thing that any two Dragon Blooded could do with their time. The exact same money could be extracted from this bridge by FacelessRealmSoldier #46 and #57. Instead, two super-powered elemental demigods, who are religious and cultural icons, who are wearing arms and armor suitable for fighting demons and Anathema are doing this toll collection. This is like the United States of America using two Apache attack helicopters to ensure some passing motorists pay their $5 road toll.


Now, these Apache attack helicopters cost billions of dollars, and going on loan to Saudi Arabia or whatever would earn them vastly more money than the pifling pocket change they make from the bridge.


Dragon Blooded are viable PCs. Would any PC Terrestrial ever consider doing this for money?


EDIT:


Now, thus far I'm holding out the hope that these Terrestrials are not doing this for money. That they're bored, that they're evil, that they're looking for girls to take their toll in 'trade' from - whatever. But there's no way I can accept that they're trying to make money off this, and I'll lose a major respect point for this comic if the first non-PC interaction with the Terrestrial Exalted is as a group of random encounter bandits.


Remember: Every Exalt is a potential final boss.
 
Who knows, maybe there here on official duty? In such a state of civil unrest, why not throw a couple DB on a bridge to watch for enemy troops/spies. It would be the equivalent of a platoon of mortals, but slightly less noticeable.


The toll collecting could both be a way to entertain themselves, as well as skimming a little of the top (if only enough for a night's liquor). Or the toll could be equally official, but they try to have some fun with such a monotonous task.
 
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