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[Devastator]

It might not be able to fail, but it would take an extra action to ask him for a reference first instead of just finding someone on your own.

Plus it would raise the odds of finding an excellent, but expensive person, which might lead to it costing more silver than you could otherwise get away with.

Lastly, it is possible for Zhang to not know anyone directly.  Magic isn't his area of specialization.

[ZBridges]

In my opinion, using an extra action to ensure success is worthwhile, especially since failure can be very costly in this game.  Even if it would cost a bit extra, I would rather retain the services of an excellent practitioner rather than a charlatan or mediocre magician.

There's very little harm in at least asking, besides that it would require a single action.

[syvarris]

Spending two actions to get the option of a randomized third action which may not be worthwhile (if it costs a lot of silver) does not seem wise.  Five actions are available per week, four of which must be spent on maintaining our job.  I support spending the fifth on dojo training.  I'm currently trying to argue in favor of spending a sixth action, which we gained by luck, on something that could have a one-turn payoff.

If we instead spend the action on getting a reference from Zhang, then we will not get any payoff from it before spending an additional two actions on it, even in a best case scenario.  Excepting random bonus actions, if we keep our job, this either means it will take an additional two weeks if we ignore the dojo, or an additional six weeks if we prioritize the dojo.

Getting a reference is far more reasonable if we quit the job.  I do not know whether we should quit the job.  I don't think we should quit the job before even working for a week, considering we did pull strings to get it--immediately resigning after we got advance pay is a dickish thing to do, and will poison our relationship with a contact, and that relationship is our strongest asset right now.

[ZBridges]

We can actually get the reference, ask the professional for a quote which we can accept or reject on the spot (and possibly get an immediate or quick answer), and train at the dojo this week, as we have three actions available to us.  The next week, we could get the results, if necessary. 

It would not take an additional two or six weeks.

[Devastator]

Three?

<checks>

I did say three.  No, normally your job uses 4/5 actions, and you have +1 this week due to luck.  So it should be two.

But you can have three this week, sure.

[Egan_BW]

Train, study book (spirit rituals), HOT DRINKS
Oh, and pay the debt. It has 1 silver/week interest, we have 2 silver/week income, and we don't have much to spend it on right now.

[syvarris]

(syv) Is ZBridges right, in that we have three actions to spend on anything this week?
(Devastator) Yeah, I meant to write two but wrote three for some reason.
(Devastator) you can have three.

I had assumed the three was because we had to manually spend actions on going to work.  Apparently we do get three to spend on anything.  Huh.

This means it takes an additional week, assuming we prioritize it over dojo training (and it'll still be five additional weeks, if we don't, which I still support) and has luck-based payoff; there's still the issue that it may not be worth paying an expert.  We might not even get a guaranteed payoff even if we do pay an expert, too.  We're not paying for magical instruction, we're paying to be told what these symbols mean.

How about this--we spend one action looking at just the book, one action asking Zhang for a reference to a spirits magician, and one action on the dojo?  We should look at the book at some point regardless, and having more knowledge about magic before speaking with a magician is probably helpful.  We'll also be able to evaluate whether the contact sounds good enough to prioritize, after hearing Zhang's recommendation.

[ZBridges]

May I ask why a spirits magician specifically?

[syvarris]

Because we're infested with spirits?

[ZBridges]

I see.  I was specifically interested in deciphering the magic symbols rather than investigating the spirits contacting us.  I see you did that in the previous game.

[Egan_BW]

The symbols we saw will only help us know what's going on at the place we dreamed of, which is pretty niche knowledge to be spending weeks of actions and money on.

[ZBridges]

I feel like gaining a better understanding of the threat we are facing would help us better prepare for it.  When we saw the symbols, the update indicated that they were "important."  I would not agree that identifying the evil would be niche knowledge.

However, I don't want to clutter the thread with arguing about it for pages at a time.  I'll think it over and see what others have to add.

[Devastator]

Do I have agreement on dojo-ing for one action at least?

[ZBridges]

I would support that.

[Devastator]

You head to the dojo, to begin some training for this week.  (-1 silver) Your bruises have mostly healed, after all, time to raise some new ones!

Your new friend isn't present today, although you hear from someone else that he's still attending.  The instructor is bald-headed with long mustachios, a fairly intimidating look, but that's for people who don't have your destiny.  You're put through some of the paces for some breathing exercises, and to your joy, get to be the thrower and not the throwee for some of the exercises.  There are also some exchanges of blows, and lots of correction on how to stand and how to throw, and block, punches.  Kicks are for another day, apparently.

You're taking to it pretty well and feel somewhat more competent, even if not dramatically so.  Making good progress.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Week 4

Assets and Abilities:
Prestige = 0
15 silver.
Concealable fighting dagger
Adventurer's diary (partially studied)
->Information on southern jungle nations
->Secret locations in southern jungle.
->Information on spiritual beings, spiritual being society, spiritual being outlook.
->Information on animal life of the southern jungle
->Information on magical beings of the southern jungle
->Instruction on spirit-related magical rituals.
->Instruction on an unknown magical field.
->Instruction on wilderness survival methods
->Instruction on what seems to be the language of the southern jungle nations.
->Instruction on an unknown language.
Plan for trading in cloves.  Buy at a very cheap price, wait an uncertain amount of time for the price to rise, sell at a profit.  Costs 4 silver a bag, can yield 2-3 silver a bag, barring additional events.
Miscellaneous magical diagrams, captured from one of your dreams.  Uncertain accuracy.

Skills:
Charming, +1

Allies:
Employed by Li Yue, merchant, 1 prestige, 0 favors.  Paid 2 silver/week, acting as a servant and guard, takes four actions.
Huan Zhang, diplomat, 2 prestige, 0 favors.  Owe 11 silver, 1/week interest.
Li Song, martial arts student, 0 prestige, 0 favors.
Upscale Weapon Shop.