I apologize that my response to this is kind of wordy!! I'm not trying to be contrary but I think maybe I misunderstood some things or conveyed some info incorrectly.
The intent of the human cultists is not really to serve the fog itself as much as it is to serve monsters who are aligned with the fog. They bring in human sacrifices to keep the monsters fed, the monsters feed and rejoice in the fog. It is the monster side of the equation that aims to win more monsters to the side of the Fog, not through creating a safe space for the monsters in generally but for Fog Followers. The intent of Maya's act for the fog is to draw more monsters to her side by teaching monsters to accept the violence as a necessary step, not to minimize damage done to humans themselves. Simultaneously Maya would try and facilitate conversion of newbies to allyship with the fog, with one or more fog conversions planned to happen at the time of the feast, in imitation of her having already converted Adrian and assisted in Komaeda's conversion. That's where the service to the fog comes in, though I understand if The Fog still wouldn't recognize the conversions as being radical enough.
Before getting into the next bit, I'd like to link Madoka Kaname's previous tier ups, as they are what I have mostly been referencing since Madoka and Maya are similar in personality. In Madoka's tier 3, she specifically becomes a zealot by offering Fiddleford (I believe at the time he was a fourthie) as a sacrifice. My assumption in referencing it was that multiple human sacrifices would be as useful as a single monster sacrifice.
Maya was intended be working as the direct facilitator of those sacrifices especially in instances by which other monsters would need to feed off a living body, either through causing the injury they need to feed on or by using her voice to prevent them from escaping their monster attacker; I apologize that it was apparently unclear that this was the intent. The only thing she wouldn't have been an active participant in was the initial attack against the Vandaran fishermen. The idea of sacrificing the captured men in the Fog's name and the actual act of committing the sacrifice was meant to come from her. I assumed that active human sacrifice and use of the Merain cultists as an avenue to facilitate human sacrifice and other service to monsters would count as living at the expense of humans.
I'm not sure I understand the idea that it is too close established norms regardless of whether it counts as a tier up or not. As far as I previously understood, there was not a plot or service by which monsters would be capturing live sacrifices for others or for the Fog despite the existence of the soup kitchen, and from speaking with others I was under the impression many characters would indeed see the sacrificial feast as a radical move and judge Maya according to their own senses of justice. Similarly, Vandare was not chosen because of their hatred of monsters but because they are the only known population of fishermen, and thus the only humans causing direct rivalry to something that Maya herself benefits from. I would gladly choose other fishermen if that's another option, but again, I'm not sure that current IC sentiment reflects the idea that it is an easy target, as the newer crowd is much more sympathetic to humans due to a lack of recent acts of violence from humans against monsters. Even as far back as Atem's broadcast, the human targets were even scammers, and it still caused a ripple in the opinions of monsters. I chose the avenue of using the fishermen as an opportunity because it makes narrative sense rather than forcing a human sacrifice out of nowhere.
I hesitate to submit a revision even with the clarifications given because I am not certain that I understand the clarifications. And while I do have an idea for a priest tier up (a self-sacrificing move committed with the help of another Foggie in attempts to restore power to the fog or perhaps even to disable something of Elias's), this and previous answers suggest to me that it would not be a suitable replacement act for tier 3;
This answer, along with the Fog's IC answers to Maya when asking what she can do for the Fog, make me completely uncertain as to whether or not you are saying that direct involvement against Elias and his followers is required for tier 3, as even the answer you have given me here suggests that there is the alternative of human sacrifice available. The tier description itself states Tier three rewards are for truly devout followers, and it takes a great act to appease the gods enough to get here. Such acts might include a mass sacrifice of people...
While I am eager to accept that the standards may have changed since that excerpt was written, the only problem I have with Maya confronting Elias is that Maya is no where near as skilled or as powerful as anyone she could contend with on the side of the fourth, even with the boons given her by the Fog— and as demonstrated by this and previous tier up requests, if Maya collaborates with others she may be seen as not contributing enough. For instance, despite Maya dealing with significant, months-long fallout from the broadcast she recorded on Atem's behalf, it was deemed that her involvement was not considered strong enough initiative. With these considerations, I'm left uncertain of how to draft a tier up revision that works, as I was under the impression that my plans already met the stated standards.
To be clear, I am in no way rejecting the idea of revising this same plot to again clarify Maya's active participation, what I am trying to say is that your answer combined with the tier descriptions leaves me uncertain as to whether or not that would do anything to change the ruling, or if Elias absolutely must be a target in a tier 3 move-up, no exceptions. If that is the case as a result of the newest developments in Ryslig, I totally accept that, but I've been constructing these ideas as though that is not the case. Without such a clarification I have to be honest that this just kind of discourages me from trying at a third-ish-fourth-ish attempt at a tier 3 upgrade.
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The intent of the human cultists is not really to serve the fog itself as much as it is to serve monsters who are aligned with the fog. They bring in human sacrifices to keep the monsters fed, the monsters feed and rejoice in the fog. It is the monster side of the equation that aims to win more monsters to the side of the Fog, not through creating a safe space for the monsters in generally but for Fog Followers. The intent of Maya's act for the fog is to draw more monsters to her side by teaching monsters to accept the violence as a necessary step, not to minimize damage done to humans themselves. Simultaneously Maya would try and facilitate conversion of newbies to allyship with the fog, with one or more fog conversions planned to happen at the time of the feast, in imitation of her having already converted Adrian and assisted in Komaeda's conversion. That's where the service to the fog comes in, though I understand if The Fog still wouldn't recognize the conversions as being radical enough.
Before getting into the next bit, I'd like to link Madoka Kaname's previous tier ups, as they are what I have mostly been referencing since Madoka and Maya are similar in personality. In Madoka's tier 3, she specifically becomes a zealot by offering Fiddleford (I believe at the time he was a fourthie) as a sacrifice. My assumption in referencing it was that multiple human sacrifices would be as useful as a single monster sacrifice.
Maya was intended be working as the direct facilitator of those sacrifices especially in instances by which other monsters would need to feed off a living body, either through causing the injury they need to feed on or by using her voice to prevent them from escaping their monster attacker; I apologize that it was apparently unclear that this was the intent. The only thing she wouldn't have been an active participant in was the initial attack against the Vandaran fishermen. The idea of sacrificing the captured men in the Fog's name and the actual act of committing the sacrifice was meant to come from her. I assumed that active human sacrifice and use of the Merain cultists as an avenue to facilitate human sacrifice and other service to monsters would count as living at the expense of humans.
I'm not sure I understand the idea that it is too close established norms regardless of whether it counts as a tier up or not. As far as I previously understood, there was not a plot or service by which monsters would be capturing live sacrifices for others or for the Fog despite the existence of the soup kitchen, and from speaking with others I was under the impression many characters would indeed see the sacrificial feast as a radical move and judge Maya according to their own senses of justice. Similarly, Vandare was not chosen because of their hatred of monsters but because they are the only known population of fishermen, and thus the only humans causing direct rivalry to something that Maya herself benefits from. I would gladly choose other fishermen if that's another option, but again, I'm not sure that current IC sentiment reflects the idea that it is an easy target, as the newer crowd is much more sympathetic to humans due to a lack of recent acts of violence from humans against monsters. Even as far back as Atem's broadcast, the human targets were even scammers, and it still caused a ripple in the opinions of monsters. I chose the avenue of using the fishermen as an opportunity because it makes narrative sense rather than forcing a human sacrifice out of nowhere.
I hesitate to submit a revision even with the clarifications given because I am not certain that I understand the clarifications. And while I do have an idea for a priest tier up (a self-sacrificing move committed with the help of another Foggie in attempts to restore power to the fog or perhaps even to disable something of Elias's), this and previous answers suggest to me that it would not be a suitable replacement act for tier 3;
This answer, along with the Fog's IC answers to Maya when asking what she can do for the Fog, make me completely uncertain as to whether or not you are saying that direct involvement against Elias and his followers is required for tier 3, as even the answer you have given me here suggests that there is the alternative of human sacrifice available. The tier description itself states Tier three rewards are for truly devout followers, and it takes a great act to appease the gods enough to get here. Such acts might include a mass sacrifice of people...
While I am eager to accept that the standards may have changed since that excerpt was written, the only problem I have with Maya confronting Elias is that Maya is no where near as skilled or as powerful as anyone she could contend with on the side of the fourth, even with the boons given her by the Fog— and as demonstrated by this and previous tier up requests, if Maya collaborates with others she may be seen as not contributing enough. For instance, despite Maya dealing with significant, months-long fallout from the broadcast she recorded on Atem's behalf, it was deemed that her involvement was not considered strong enough initiative. With these considerations, I'm left uncertain of how to draft a tier up revision that works, as I was under the impression that my plans already met the stated standards.
To be clear, I am in no way rejecting the idea of revising this same plot to again clarify Maya's active participation, what I am trying to say is that your answer combined with the tier descriptions leaves me uncertain as to whether or not that would do anything to change the ruling, or if Elias absolutely must be a target in a tier 3 move-up, no exceptions. If that is the case as a result of the newest developments in Ryslig, I totally accept that, but I've been constructing these ideas as though that is not the case. Without such a clarification I have to be honest that this just kind of discourages me from trying at a third-ish-fourth-ish attempt at a tier 3 upgrade.