Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

Audacious said:

The parable about the frog and the scorpion comes to mind. Don't hate the thing for acting in its nature. I think Shi has a good head on his shoulders so if he's accepted the risks of harboring a nightmare spirit then I say we trust him to know what he's doing.

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Also, I need to add a reminder that one of the reason scorpion spirits see forming cultivation bonds in the empire is because they want not to drown because their nature tells them the kill their ride.

Like, the fact that cultivation bonds is the number one most common reason spirits change in nature, and one of the reasons some want to form them, is a major part of the setting.

It does make Kongyou much more culpable for potential future mischief , it should be noted.

[] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

We can figure out another way to interrogate Kongyou later, but if we screw up Xuan Shi's conversation he won't get a do over.

yrsillar said:

Xuan Shi squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, following a step behind. "How frivolous, some thoughts seem here. Yet, queries remain. I wish to know the Elder Lang's purpose in authorship. I wish to know how much of his tales have basis in the world of flesh and earth."

Ling Qi cocked her head to the side. Xuan Shi had cut himself off at the end, a thought unfinished. "If there is a personal matter, I can leave," she offered.

"No!" Xuan Shi said. "We said that never happened..."

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FTFY

It's interesting that Kongyou, a spirit of nightmares, reacts poorly to an area of negative emotions.

Orkus Majorkus said:

It's interesting that Kongyou, a spirit of nightmares, reacts poorly to an area of negative emotions.

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It could just be more that they're much more sensitive to it, so suffer a bit of sensory overload or something?

2 hours passed, moratorium is over.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

If he wants to have a nightmare spirit, who can say otherwise?

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

yrsillar said:

[] Interrogate the spirit. Quietly so as not to interrupt Xuan Shi's conversation. Kongyou is obviously up to no good, you need to figure out what they're up to.

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Can we use an anti eves dropping art if we do this? Just to make sure we don't disturb Xuan Shi's conversation.

Audacious said:

The parable about the frog and the scorpion comes to mind. Don't hate the thing for acting in its nature. I think Shi has a good head on his shoulders so if he's accepted the risks of harboring a nightmare spirit then I say we trust him to know what he's doing.

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I've always seen the moral of that story interpreted as "things cannot act against their nature, and to expect them to invites ruin", which would seem to be an argument against giving them the benefit of the doubt. However, I do think that no matter Kong's intent, they will end up finding themselves changing along the way. That change could make them even more vicious and nasty, or it could be something that helps them and Xuan Shi both. Either way, he knows the danger they represent and still chose to bind them. How things go from here is up to the two of them, at this point.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.
I agree with the analysis that 1) Kongyou has had a lot more time to prepare for a confrontation than we have 2) if they are in fact a bad actor, Kongyou would be well-positioned to use the fact that a confrontation happened at all to damage our relationship with Xuan Shi. Just give them nothing to work with; our relationship is with Xuan Shi, not with them.

I'm worried that Xuan Shi is letting the Xianxia One Piece nightmare spirit he's read about shape the way he relates to Kongyou in an unrealistic fashion, but even if so, the best remedy would be for the spirit to be like "no, the stories are made up and the stuff in them is fake, don't be an idiot." You know, if that's actually the case.

yrsillar said:

"Perhaps as a sword, thou does not respect accomplishments off the sea of battle, but all the same they are not to be dismissed. The venerable Elder created something great," Xuan Shi said firmly.It was only from close attention and experience that Ling Qi heard the tremor of frustration and fear in his voice. "It is perhaps nothing to you, but this disciple would know what was in his mind in the writing."

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If you want Xuan Shi to lapse into archaic speech here:

• thou does -> thou dost
• nothing to you -> nothing to thee

[] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

I rather think considering Xuan Shi told us he knows, we should trust him to know what he's doing instead of bickering. Having a nightmare spirit seems pretty metal tbh if anything we should try something like that.

[] Interrogate the spirit. Quietly so as not to interrupt Xuan Shi's conversation. Kongyou is obviously up to no good, you need to figure out what they're up to.

This seems like the sort of thing Kongyou aims to do as the sword kicking them out would cause a rift between Xuan Shi, and Ling Qi.

[] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

Now I'd expect this to poke Ling Qi's heart demon as it involves her shushing a member of her family over something they feel strongly about, and this ties back to Xuan Shi being correct that dreams can change, which is what has happened with Sixiang. Because Sixiang has previously commented they have some nightmare cousins, but despite doing so they have a "intense dislike" i.e hatred for Kongyou, and some of Ling Qi contemplation on family appears to have bled over to Sixiang as they do not consider Kongyou as a relative, which would be the notion of family being something you choose.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

Because Xuan Shi has chosen to bind Kongyou despite being aware of the risks, and this likely has to due with the nature of his parentage specifically his mother, which probably means it is part of his Truth, or at least what he wishes it to be.

Also this isn't the appropriate time for bringing up concerns given the sword told everyone to stop bickering, and I doubt Xuan Shi will listen regardless for the reasons pointed out above.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

Fair point to our own (moderately to extremely) unwise associations with spirits lmao. I think the ducal scion can handle himself around his manic nightmare goblin partner.

Now, as to what we should do about it, after we're done here we should have a claim to some kind of reparations for the spirits actions during our mission. Ideally this would be a way to more deeply figure out the relationship and goals of the two of them, as this nightmare spirit might not even be planned to be a permanent partner.

FallenPears said:

Huh, the sword spirit considers its own path unwise. I wonder if this is something common or if it is having a crisis similar to Zeqing. The melancholy field would imply crisis but we can see similar levels of self awareness from the Bloody Moon, a Great Spirit, back in the dream, so who knows.

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Soldiers tend to get depressed after the fighting's done and there's nothing left. Or in the middle of battle when nothing's left. Or at the beginning of battle when everything's going to shit. Not sure if that's a reference to meti ksbd's instructions on mastering the sword: "To train with the sword, first... Once your house is built, you have no further need for a sword, since it is an ugly piece of metal and its adherents idiots."

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

[x] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

Audacious said:

The parable about the frog and the scorpion comes to mind. Don't hate the thing for acting in its nature. I think Shi has a good head on his shoulders so if he's accepted the risks of harboring a nightmare spirit then I say we trust him to know what he's doing.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Note: Scorpions are great swimmers.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.

[X] Don't let the nightmare bait you into conversation. Shush both Sixiang and Kongyou, and refuse to engage. Xuan Shi needs to focus on his conversation.