Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- Staring into the void
Not only are they both NB, but they are asexual and androgynous too.
Oh, she's making an artificial fairy ring!
Though yeah, Zhengui isn't going to much enjoy a grotto where things slowly pickle in the salt.
The Moon spirits will gossip about how scandalously organized Sixiang is for a Dream Muse.
Bodes well for further evolution though, since expanding their concept space does not come easily to spirits.
Everyone wants the Galarian Frostlass.
We can gather Hanyi's approachability should be rare amongst Winter type spirits even in the Empire. Makes sense.
In fact, its usually those with the shakiest ancestries that like to double down on their exclusive elitism. Just see the Diao.
It is a courtesy certainly.
When you're sneaky like that, making a sound while still at some apparent distance.
Though not all have a choice if they lose the option on their Way.
Advanced Isolation - the secret is that everyone is alone at all times. Nobody else knows how you feel, how you think or exist.
Not unless you let the right one in.
It adds another angle to be attacked through, if someone can subvert your spirit you can be attacked through that channel, but at the same time, this sharing allows you to check and validate for each other if there is a discrepancy.
And encompassing the differences in perceptions between a Dream Muse and a human cultivator and being consistent in both is tricky even if you know they're there.
Isolation as a defense versus Isolation as a state of existence.
Challenge Rating has been assessed.
So, challenging but not impossible task, but delays or enemy action will make it bad.
Slow strategies aren't advised then.
Community as an extension of the Self.
And therefore the senses of the community are the senses of the self.
The boundaries of community are fuzzy, because communities can exist within or overlapping other communities.
And Shu Yue makes a good point - expanding your spy network with another's assets opens a channel for poisoned information to be fed to you. It allows you to reach further, but not without risk when you extend trust.
Already working on multipresence!
The scope of the problem grows with your responsibilities, which grows with the scope of your power.
There is always a bigger fish, but thats no point just lying down to be eaten by them.
Ling Qi intends to ascend as the Great Spirit of Social Media, sub-aspect of the Dreaming Moon!
Probably should be looking into Reflecting and Guiding Moons at some point. They seem significant to this course.
Give voice to the Forsaken.
Let neglect be deliberate, for malice, for lack of resources, or for lack of care.
Let it not be from nobody even knowing to care.
If help does not come from the rightful authorities, then authority will proceed into the hands of whoever would help. The Hui taught this.
Sixiang: "Next thing you know she will pun to the Duchess and I will die right there"
I can see a few elements here:
-Shu Yue will teach one lesson, then assess if we should learn more. Because Shu Yue does not want to recreate themselves. To earn more lessons then, she must not only learn the lesson, but to make it our own, rather than being consumed by it.
-Silent Arts - This cultivates the social invisibility of the street urchin, the beggar and the menial. The ones nobody notice, even in plain sight, because society does not wish to notice. It is countered not by keeness of eye but by empathy. It is strongest against those with their eyes upturned to the heavens, blind to those beneath their feet.
-Separation - This is more physical. Of how distance and motion are relative, how a breeze only exists while it is in motion, and how a shadow can move without moving.
-Eye of Grudges - This relates back to Shu Yue's not-entirely-metaphor:
Your spies and informants are your eyes and ears.
There is very little that SOME part of society did not see and care about.
The rabbit that stole the farmer's crops, the broken fence rattling in the night.
A Grudge is a strong Connection. You can track by it, the more offensive one can be, the more grudges tie them to the masses.
...Qi probably would have seen a spectacular sight when she rolled the masses in the Sect promotion mass combat round if she had this then.
Heh.
She has a schedule! With a to do list! She's practically a solar! Outrageous!
- Location
- Staring into the void
Can someone please explain the pun? I missed it.
- Location
- FR
- Pronouns
- He/Him
the Foundation is also the name of the geographical region, it's the hills and mountains that form the... well, foundations of the Wall mountain chain.
You can find the geographical regions of the Emeral Seas in spoilers there: Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny) Original - Users' Choice!
Last edited:
- Location
- The Space Between
I have howled at the moon and returned with lunacy!
What is the Palace of One?
A palace where only one may rule, in control of everything that is governed?
The Mind. The Mind is the Palace of One. The Hui aren't evil, they're all about The Mind. Which is why their Control Arm led to such evils.
This is also probably their biggest draw, Cultivator Psychologists. They'd be excellent at helping iron out various heart demons and the only cost would be loyalty (and perhaps some meddling). The only issue being that such a system requires trust, and eventually the Hui burned all that trust in exchange for more Control. They explored as many corners of The Mind as they could, and found the primordial Nightmares that still linger. This is why a Prism-amalgam with an epithet of Nightmares wasn't seen as a strictly evil tyrant, if they had the power to web and pull out nightmares from individuals that would be seen as a good thing right? Even if they were stockpiled as weapons against dissenters?
This is also why we'd be a compelling individual to inherit some of the strengths of the Hui. We loathe stagnation, and are Freedom-centric. In fact, we emphasize the freedom of our family and those we interact with. We also are willing to destroy things, Ending things like Nightmares rather than stockpiling them as terrible weapons. We identify what is hidden in dreams, and blow it away so that individuals can be free. Our charges will find safety in shadow, in rest, and in their own minds.
Are you ready for Lunacy?
We're becoming Xianxia Luna, and Renxiang will be Celestia
ahahahahahahaha
What is the Palace of One?
A palace where only one may rule, in control of everything that is governed?
The Mind. The Mind is the Palace of One. The Hui aren't evil, they're all about The Mind. Which is why their Control Arm led to such evils.
This is also probably their biggest draw, Cultivator Psychologists. They'd be excellent at helping iron out various heart demons and the only cost would be loyalty (and perhaps some meddling). The only issue being that such a system requires trust, and eventually the Hui burned all that trust in exchange for more Control. They explored as many corners of The Mind as they could, and found the primordial Nightmares that still linger. This is why a Prism-amalgam with an epithet of Nightmares wasn't seen as a strictly evil tyrant, if they had the power to web and pull out nightmares from individuals that would be seen as a good thing right? Even if they were stockpiled as weapons against dissenters?
This is also why we'd be a compelling individual to inherit some of the strengths of the Hui. We loathe stagnation, and are Freedom-centric. In fact, we emphasize the freedom of our family and those we interact with. We also are willing to destroy things, Ending things like Nightmares rather than stockpiling them as terrible weapons. We identify what is hidden in dreams, and blow it away so that individuals can be free. Our charges will find safety in shadow, in rest, and in their own minds.
Are you ready for Lunacy?
We're becoming Xianxia Luna, and Renxiang will be Celestia
ahahahahahahaha
Thebigpieman
I've got this, I think.
- Location
- United States
From what we've managed to gather, the idea was actually to create a unified southern seas identity or at least get everyone working together but then the person who was actually working on it ascended and then the rest of the Hui fucked it up as the years went on.
The Palace of One seems to be about living in your own mind. Because the Emerald Seas was a shitty place under the Xi Dukes who were very culturally repressive and controlling, continuing the legacy of the Mason War which echoes even today in the Imperial/Weilu political argument. The Palace of One seems to have done similar to what Cai Shenhua did, using Dream Cults to free people from the repressive society the Xi had set up and lead a grassroot uprising against the Lords of Blades that cut any grass that grew too tall. Weilu culture seems to have been into leaving the physical world behind and living in ones own mind and in Dream, a philosophy that came east from the Not!Indians, and similarly the Hui Matriach seems to have promoted ignoring the Xi reality in favor of dreaming of better things. And she made herself into a palace forged out of all of the dreams and ideas that had been restrained by the Xi, where everyone is free.
- Pronouns
- He
[X] Mysteries of Separation (Opens Personal action to raise the Sable Grace Trait, and gain Motion and Freedom XP)
[X] The Eye of Grudges (Opens personal action to raise Inquisitive Eyes, and gain Persistence and Endings XP)
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Interesting
Whelp. That's totally not ominous.
PowerLeca
Rapidly aging
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I see an 8 on each option: good fortune all around!
Less fucked it up and more got overcome by the temptation.
I can see it going like so.
Gen 0 Hui:
-ES - Is in a terrible state, where tribalism led to Unity Through Conformity, enforced by the sword. The Xi, by their efforts, did a lot of damage trying to slay undesirable ideas and driving them underground.
-Hui Founder - Created a united vision of the Emerald Seas after the Xi collapsed responding to the Birdsplosion. To imagine a brighter future and strive towards it, then ascended into it.
Gen 1 Hui:
-ES - Recovering, as the Dream of Nation proved to be an easy way to get people to do what needed doing, unforced.
-Hui - In trying to unite everyone behind a single dream...they didn't have a single strong dream. Everyone has their own vision of how things should be, resulting in an internal media war.
Gen 2 Hui
-ES - Recovered and strengthening. The increasingly incoherent provincial vision reduces its effectiveness as a tool for direction and control.
-Hui - Weakening, as they slowly realize they don't HAVE their next White. Stats crossing the line between creating How Things Should Be and leaking into How Things Are.
Gen 3 Hui
-ES - Healthy(ish). Control fraying as reality diverges from delusion.
-Hui - Newer Hui generations are increasingly raised out of touch with reality, as the previous generation increasingly deals with all their problems by lying about it. Begins serious efforts to instill division amongst their vassals
Gen 4 Hui
-ES - Sliding downhill as it turns against itself. Unity of Blades turns against itself.
-Hui - Their position of weakness in reality and strength in delusion combines to breed a generation free of consequences. You can see Hui Peng's philosophy of art as being ideally free from reality as one of the side effects.
Gen 5 Hui
-ES - Everyone has been constantly gaslit and nothing can be trusted. This has resulted in Tribulation Unending...and a growing portion of the population having Ways that allowed defense or bypassing deception.
-Hui - Having already turned everyone against everyone else, the Hui begin to turn against each other as their external methods are applied internally.
Gen 6 - Enter The Protagonist with Heaven Defying Talent
TLDR - Each generation is ultimately a reaction to the previous.
The Hui's trap was that they wound up in a soliphistic loop of reacting to the world that they pretended was real, which kept them from adapting to real world scenarios except those which would leak into their simulation.
Turn 15:Arc 3-2
"It's been some time since I've had a chance to cultivate the eyes I was born with,' Ling Qi said blithely, referring to her early words. "If the elder has lessons to teach on eyes and ears I would like to hear them."
Eye of Grudges, an art, a technique? Ling Qi wasn't sure, but it sounded a little ominous. Nonetheless she was confident that she could make any lessons her own.
"A good choice for you," Shu Yue said thoughtfully. "It is ever the curse of those who align with Yin energies to instinctively become reactive, and despite showing impulse in the field, you suffer this in your social life. Other people are still ciphers to you are they not, child of the street?"
"I am not ignorant of etiquette and grace," Ling Qi said defensively.
"You are not," Shu Yue agreed. "But, you do not peer behind the face. Most you meet are still the phantoms in your mist, insubstantial and fleeting. Even those who truly exist in your mind, you do not quite understand their drives, do you? Hence your misstep with the Young Miss, or further back the escalation of the conflict with the disciple Yan Renshu. Their thinking is opaque to you who has not the luxury of grudges."
Ling Qi swallowed her retort, and frowned. "I suppose."
"That will be the lesson, humans are petty creatures, that we are. We are dolls constructed from pride and grudges and fears. Understand those, and you will be one step closer to peering into the cipher behind another being's eyes. That is the first step of glimpsing worlds not your own," Shu Yue said.
"There's more to people than that," Sixiang said, breaking their silence. "I'm not gonna let you make her go back to thinking like that."
She glanced her muses way in concern, but Shu Yue merely gave another one of those rasping wheezes, laughter from a throat not built for any such thing.
"If she comes to see the world as I do, the lesson has failed," they replied. "I may only teach how to look, not how to see."
"I will take wisdom where I see it," Ling Qi replied. "Elder, is there anything else?"
"What were you contemplating here, in this place of dryness and preservation?" Shu Yue asked curiously, tracing a lengthy finger along a shelf of fungus growing from the faintly damp wall. It glittered with salt crystals.
She knew the cultivator wasn't referring to her letters, Ling Qi wasn't surprised. "Do you know of the play, Last March of the Beast Kings?"
"Ah, that Art, you still find it suitable?"
"It is good practice, even if I will need to make it my own. I have begun to contemplate the second half, the ode of the Great Tree. It's…"
"Where the dirge begins with the march to war, the ode begins in their deaths," Shu Yue said. "Alone, for Kings and Gods cannot have equals, nor friends…"
"And so they are broken one by one," Ling Qi said. "Upon the roots of Xiangmen."
Shu Yue's eyes drifted shut and they seemed contemplative. "Aesthetic, faces, shapes, these things are easy to change. It seems you understand."
"I've started too," Ling Qi replied.
"Then let me leave you too it. I shall enjoy arranging lessons, I think," they mused.
And then Shu Yue was gone.
"One after another huh, you really like your spooky teachers, don't you," Sixiang said dryly.
"Says the one who is going to lead me into the heart of nightmare soon," Ling Qi said dryly, reaching up to wipe a bead of sweat from her brow.
Sixiang grimaced. "Ling Qi…"
"Not a complaint," Ling Qi said. "I don't have the option of taking it easy."
"You do," said Sixiang softly.
Ling Qi considered this, thought of what she had seen of the world. She thought of Cai Shenhua and Xia Ren and the Sect Elders and all that had come before. She thought of a terrible hunter, and a little rat whose first thought was to save her own skin.
"Even if the option is there, I don't want it," Ling Qi said firmly. "How many more letters?"
"Nah that was the last one, probably why tall and spooky decided to arrive then," Sixiang shrugged. "Which means…"
"Time to get back to preparing for the party," Ling Qi said.
"You usually sigh a bit when you say that," Sixiang said, drifting away from her to lounge on empty air.
"Well, it's not like I want to leave Wang Chao out to dry," Ling Qi said. "He's not bad, when he isn't choking on his own foot. I want to make sure he can hold things together when I leave."
"Gonna ask some of Gan's folk for support?"
"It will be good for them too, without Gan Guangli there they'd have less support in the Inner Sect, making our support clear and material helps Wang Chao's position," Ling Qi replied. "What's worrying is…"
"The other bigwigs," Sixiang finished for her.
"Meizhen will be fine, she's just paying a visit once after all. She's giving him face. Will probably ask him to take care of Xiao Fen's commoner friend," Ling Qi considered. "Luo Zhong though…"
Ling Qi frowned. Well she had her ideas for that. Shu Yue was right that she could do with being more proactive on some things. "And really he's just the example. I'm sure there will be others looking to drive in wedges or make the Wang lose face."
"Which is why we want to set up to leave with a bang. What kind of main event did you have in mind? I know you want to do a performance based around your art, but what about the rest?" Sixiang asked. "Whatever you go with is probably gonna characterize how he does big shindigs in the future."
Ling Qi cupped her chin, thinking hard.
[ ] A series of games, not just combat but other skill challenges and contests. (Moderately suited to Wang Chao's abilities, considered a little rough and low class, politically leans Weilu Moderatel, low chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation either way)
[ ] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
AN: Sorry its a short one today guys
Eye of Grudges, an art, a technique? Ling Qi wasn't sure, but it sounded a little ominous. Nonetheless she was confident that she could make any lessons her own.
"A good choice for you," Shu Yue said thoughtfully. "It is ever the curse of those who align with Yin energies to instinctively become reactive, and despite showing impulse in the field, you suffer this in your social life. Other people are still ciphers to you are they not, child of the street?"
"I am not ignorant of etiquette and grace," Ling Qi said defensively.
"You are not," Shu Yue agreed. "But, you do not peer behind the face. Most you meet are still the phantoms in your mist, insubstantial and fleeting. Even those who truly exist in your mind, you do not quite understand their drives, do you? Hence your misstep with the Young Miss, or further back the escalation of the conflict with the disciple Yan Renshu. Their thinking is opaque to you who has not the luxury of grudges."
Ling Qi swallowed her retort, and frowned. "I suppose."
"That will be the lesson, humans are petty creatures, that we are. We are dolls constructed from pride and grudges and fears. Understand those, and you will be one step closer to peering into the cipher behind another being's eyes. That is the first step of glimpsing worlds not your own," Shu Yue said.
"There's more to people than that," Sixiang said, breaking their silence. "I'm not gonna let you make her go back to thinking like that."
She glanced her muses way in concern, but Shu Yue merely gave another one of those rasping wheezes, laughter from a throat not built for any such thing.
"If she comes to see the world as I do, the lesson has failed," they replied. "I may only teach how to look, not how to see."
"I will take wisdom where I see it," Ling Qi replied. "Elder, is there anything else?"
"What were you contemplating here, in this place of dryness and preservation?" Shu Yue asked curiously, tracing a lengthy finger along a shelf of fungus growing from the faintly damp wall. It glittered with salt crystals.
She knew the cultivator wasn't referring to her letters, Ling Qi wasn't surprised. "Do you know of the play, Last March of the Beast Kings?"
"Ah, that Art, you still find it suitable?"
"It is good practice, even if I will need to make it my own. I have begun to contemplate the second half, the ode of the Great Tree. It's…"
"Where the dirge begins with the march to war, the ode begins in their deaths," Shu Yue said. "Alone, for Kings and Gods cannot have equals, nor friends…"
"And so they are broken one by one," Ling Qi said. "Upon the roots of Xiangmen."
Shu Yue's eyes drifted shut and they seemed contemplative. "Aesthetic, faces, shapes, these things are easy to change. It seems you understand."
"I've started too," Ling Qi replied.
"Then let me leave you too it. I shall enjoy arranging lessons, I think," they mused.
And then Shu Yue was gone.
"One after another huh, you really like your spooky teachers, don't you," Sixiang said dryly.
"Says the one who is going to lead me into the heart of nightmare soon," Ling Qi said dryly, reaching up to wipe a bead of sweat from her brow.
Sixiang grimaced. "Ling Qi…"
"Not a complaint," Ling Qi said. "I don't have the option of taking it easy."
"You do," said Sixiang softly.
Ling Qi considered this, thought of what she had seen of the world. She thought of Cai Shenhua and Xia Ren and the Sect Elders and all that had come before. She thought of a terrible hunter, and a little rat whose first thought was to save her own skin.
"Even if the option is there, I don't want it," Ling Qi said firmly. "How many more letters?"
"Nah that was the last one, probably why tall and spooky decided to arrive then," Sixiang shrugged. "Which means…"
"Time to get back to preparing for the party," Ling Qi said.
"You usually sigh a bit when you say that," Sixiang said, drifting away from her to lounge on empty air.
"Well, it's not like I want to leave Wang Chao out to dry," Ling Qi said. "He's not bad, when he isn't choking on his own foot. I want to make sure he can hold things together when I leave."
"Gonna ask some of Gan's folk for support?"
"It will be good for them too, without Gan Guangli there they'd have less support in the Inner Sect, making our support clear and material helps Wang Chao's position," Ling Qi replied. "What's worrying is…"
"The other bigwigs," Sixiang finished for her.
"Meizhen will be fine, she's just paying a visit once after all. She's giving him face. Will probably ask him to take care of Xiao Fen's commoner friend," Ling Qi considered. "Luo Zhong though…"
Ling Qi frowned. Well she had her ideas for that. Shu Yue was right that she could do with being more proactive on some things. "And really he's just the example. I'm sure there will be others looking to drive in wedges or make the Wang lose face."
"Which is why we want to set up to leave with a bang. What kind of main event did you have in mind? I know you want to do a performance based around your art, but what about the rest?" Sixiang asked. "Whatever you go with is probably gonna characterize how he does big shindigs in the future."
Ling Qi cupped her chin, thinking hard.
[ ] A series of games, not just combat but other skill challenges and contests. (Moderately suited to Wang Chao's abilities, considered a little rough and low class, politically leans Weilu Moderatel, low chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation either way)
[ ] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
AN: Sorry its a short one today guys
NoxOfUmbra
Shadow of the night
- Location
- Colombia, South América
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
Like we have voted any other way before
Like we have voted any other way before
Last edited:
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
Sure let's go with this opition, plus it will be useful to engage the leanings of different members of the group.
Sure let's go with this opition, plus it will be useful to engage the leanings of different members of the group.
Last edited:
This one seems more fun and a baring someone being very convincing is what I expect I'll be voting for
[ ] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
[ ] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
I assume this means that if mysterious travelers of vague sociospiritual standing in cloaks show up, we
- Location
- the internet
I thought we were gonna actually uncover stuff about Xiangmen? From the BKSD art? Its why so many of us (me at least) voted for this turn plan. Are we gonna see it next update or...