Distant Stars. (a WH40K/Xianxia civ Quest).

Far from the city, deep in the forest there is a house built on a large tree.

It is not the only house built there but it is the biggest.

For this house, houses the council of elders and is located precisely in the middle of the place of power so that those old and powerful Keku would gain the most out of the place and be able to reach heights beyond.

It is here that the council of elders gathers to greet someone that is even older than them.

Here they greet their teacher, Shikatu, it is here that they report their progress on this or that project asking for guidance from their master.

And it is here that they share whatever nugget of wisdom they acquire from their mediations and searching.

And it is here that the three new second steps are weaker than they should be.

And the reason for it.

Techniques.

The first step is a journey of the body, where every small step corresponds to greater strength.

But the second step is a path of the mind for the energy that now sits around the heart of the cultivator is nothing without the will and skill to wield it.

A difficult task for a youngling who can't rely on the wisdom of age and the knowledge of time.

And that is what the new second steps are.

Younglings barely past their fourth decade.

It is here that techniques could help the new second steps.

Regimented ways to make Qi flow in ever more esoteric patterns.

A technique gives in power what it loses in versatility.

And it is power that you need.

Such techniques would also increase the power of the older second steps as they are forced to spend less will and Qi to achieve the same effects with freeform manipulation.

The council of elders have already started to rectify the issue but as they are busy with many other responsibilities it would take time to create a comprehensive technique library.

---

Once more sitting on your thorn, you listen as your advisers and experts -what few you could scrounge up- list the various projects judged worthy to receive investment and effort by the government. (Order in property level from high to bottom).

[1] education for the masses. (Locked as priority number 1).

Your biggest problem in acquiring the necessary workforce of administrator's bureaucrats, governors, tax collectors and law Keku is the lack of an educated populace, while the academy was a good first step it problem became apparent soon enough.

There just aren't enough Keku with the necessary education and knowledge to be able to reasonably apply and if you wish to solve your shortage of bureaucrats it is this problem you must solve.

And it is no small problem.

After considerable discussions and debates it was decided that the best course of action was to start creating an education system for young Keku, to teach the necessary knowledge to later in life apply for the job you need them for.

This will not be easy.

Evan if you give it your maximum focus you would not even completely finish in the biggest centers of population.

As the nature of this project means that you will not see immediate returns from it, and the vital nature of it, it must be your top priority.

[] research bounties.

In this world there are very few motivators stronger than money and wealth. And of those few none are as easy to direct as it.

And if there is anything the empire isn't lacking is money.

So, use it.

The creation of bunties for useful inventions would spur people to create them at the chance of getting the prize.

Although the more you pay, the more charlatans would try to deceive you.

Investing as much as you can (OCC: this refers to putting the option as number 2 as priority number 1 is locked in) would see you make great strides in technological advancements, how much exactly is difficult to estimate and you can be sure that at this level many would try to deceive your testers to get the prize.

Reduced investment would of course see less progress, with the minimum investment even having the chance of showing none.

But whatever money you spend will likely be spent more efficiently as the number of charlatans would lower.

[] Competent ruling.

Focusing on the day-to-day decision of the empire and dispatching enough funds to take care of the small problems would ensure -or at least increase the chance- that no new problems or crises arise.

A maximum investment is unnecessary as that amount of resources cannot be efficiently spent on this endeavor and would go to waste.

But a minimal investment is likewise not recommended as it would allow for small problems to grow under your beak and turn into bigger ones in an already unstable time.

[] expending the academy (diversity).

The academy you have built in the last decade has been a start, a good start but a start non the least for replenishing the bureaucrats' numbers to a point where you can efficiently rule the empire.

But it isn't enough to do more than tread water as both the expansion of the empire and retiring Keku means that no real progress is made.

The easiest solution is to expand the academy and hopefully with the basic education you are pushing forward you'll have a base deep enough to draw from.

But there is also an opportunity here, while you expand the academy you can also spend funds to diversify its teaching subject and make it into a true university of higher learning and start building a pool of experts in different -and important- fields.

A maximum investment will see you cramming any and all subject's that may be important either now or in the future for the improving of the empire, of course such a wide expansion which draws from the same pool of educated Keku will see less Keku learning to be administrator's but that is a price you can pay.

A lowered investment will see less subjects make the final cut and as such would also lessen the draw of educated Keku to other fields.

And a minimal investment would see little more than medicine -by your personal request- add to the curriculum.

[] Rebel hunting.

In the last decade, many plots of rebel's cells were foiled and stopped.

Unfortunately, not all were stopped in time and many acts of sabotage and assassination were successfully carried out, the biggest one being the assassination of an imperial governor.

With the lowered support the rebel's recruitment is down and so now is the time to root them out stem and branch, of course your agents would still work to foil any nefarious plan they may be up to but this time they will be more focused on actually rooting the rebels out.

As the nature of this operation requires contact with the enemy, it's hard to say how much progress would be made aside from the fact that the more funding and resources directed to it the better.

[] taming the land.

If you wish to truly succeed in staving off the end, you will need resources and a lot of them.

The easiest to acquire and -arguably- the most useful is food.

In your empire there are vast stretches of wilderness, it would take time and resources to tame them but the land is valuable for farming and extra food isn't the only thing you'll get as cotton and other money crops would do well to drive up your tax income.

And the only thing you need to do is pay and ensure enough Keku have the tools and expertise to settle and tend the land.

A maximum investment would see a vast amount of land coming under cultivation which would see a corresponding growth in tax income but isn't recommended for the toll it would take on your empire as thousands of working Keku leave the cities for the attractive opportunity you offer.

A minimal investment is likewise unadvised but more because you're not likely to see any meaningful progress out of it than any inherent danger.

And as such you must strike a balance between investing so much that you may hurt the overall economy while trying to bolster it to investing so little that you make no real progress.


[] An egg nests.

A decade is a long time and many unexpected costs could rack up.

From simple delays and obstacles for projects to exciting opportunities to sudden crises.

Having an egg nest to draw resources from so you won't need to compromise in other more costly way's is a good idea.

And if it isn't used it's quite easy (if fairly inefficient) to assign it to struggling projects.

Maximum investment is unnecessary and would even be harmful as too much funds and influence are saved rather than spent to further your goals.

A minimal investment while not ideal isn't the worst thing (especially with all the other pressing concerns) but it would mean that should delays occur or opportunities arise your ability to capitalize or resolve them without compromising other concerns is minimal.

---

The last decade saw both the fast expansion of the number of cultivators and also the expansion of their reasonability's (1 AP).

Teachers: it is expected that around 200 new 1st step cultivators would be recruited and trained this decade.


[] Recruiting- if you wish to have a hope of survival the current number of disciples is pitiful, your disciples would focus on going out and training potential cultivators in order to find new talents and increase their number. With a crude but passable way to determine talent you can now weed out the untalented. Increasing the power and quality of your new disciples.

[] Documenting places of power- places of power are an anomaly, you have spent very little time actually researching them and so know very little about them aside that the affluent Qi presence can speed your cultivation efforts, sending your disciples to document all the places of power in the world would be a first step toward understanding them. And as a benefit it would allow for outposts for cultivators in high Qi places allowing for faster growth even when they are out on missions.

[] Hunting- the rebels who oppose you and nip at your talons are hidden in one of two ways. They are either hidden within the population or set up in places which are hard to reach and remote which make it hard to find them. your disciples are no better at finding the first then mortals but places that are inconvenient and remote for mortals are rarely that for cultivators. Sending a few to hunt and dispose of the rebels would greatly reduce their strength allowing your government to focus on other things.

[] Research (mutually exclusive with sharing wisdom)- those who sought you out and became your disciples were of a certain type of Keku, those who had curiosity in their hearts and a thirst for knowledge. They are now old Keku and have in their time acquired much experience and knowledge, put them to use with advancing the knowledge base of your empire either teaching their wisdom to others or creating some useful innovation. (OOC: this basically gives you an additional advancement dice)

[] Looking for enlightenment cultivation as a concept is relatively unknown, with all of your knowledge coming from either your or your older disciples' experiments. But your knowledge is lacking and there are many unknowns. Have your disciples try to invite new concepts that either help or push your knowledge of cultivation further. (OOC: you get a cultivation advancement dice which can give you many tasteful things)

[] Push forward- your disciples have their own cultivation to pursue and they will do so regardless but giving them more time to do so would allow them to make more progress)

[] Sharing wisdom (mutually exclusive with research)- those who sought you out and became your disciples were of a certain type of Keku, those who had curiosity in their hearts and a thirst for knowledge. They are now old Keku and have in their time acquired much experience and knowledge, having them share their wisdom and help with the burdens of administration would go a long way to help the empire run more smoothly for a time.

[] Wandering sages- in the good times, before you foresaw the apocalypse that is to come, the students who sought you out, were scholars at heart and although each had a different purpose for doing so almost all of them had a great thirst for knowledge. It was this knowledge that they passed down to their new students and it was this knowledge that could be used to speed up some of your plans. Sending your cultivators to roam the countryside and teach the populace would at the very least ensure a minimal level of education would be passed down outside major population centers and make the eventual excision of the proposed education system to the countryside easier.

[] The sharp edge of knowledge- after much deliberation and meditation, your older disciples have come to the conclusion that the relative lack of combat techniques is the largest factor in holding back their combat potential. Giving them leave to focus on developing an arsenal of techniques would ensure that they are ready to face whatever may come. Unfortunately, in this case your innate understanding is working against you as you skip whole parts when casting your own techniques making them unsuitable for your general students.

---

A long decade is awaiting you, there is much to do and not enough time to do it all (3 personal AP).

[] Push higher- your power alone would not save you or your kind, but more power would certainly be useful so push ahead on this path that you've created oh so long ago.

-[] Ascend- you can feel it, you've reached a point where you can once more reach higher. Push ahead, face the wrath of heaven once more and pray you're ready.

-[] Mediation on the self (may be taken more than once)- the wrath of heaven is powerful and cunning, it will strike at any weakness you show, take a time to know your falling and put your mind at peace to help with the tribulation you will face. (This action will give a big bonus if you take it on the turn, you attempt the tribulation otherwise it would give a small but stackable bonus).

-[] A sixth pillar (1/2 AP to complete)- your instincts tell you that you may still push further in your current step, so take the time to gather the Qi needed to construct a new pillar in your soul. Giving you a new and powerful tool.

-[] study (artifice)- a new path opens itself before you, travels down its length and attempts to pry whatever secrets it holds.

-[] Seek insight from the world (choose pillar)(may be taken more than once)- five pillars you've erected in your soul, but they are not just constructs of Qi in each of them there is a Truth of the world. Meditation can draw those truths out but to look within you must look without and seek the inspiration that would advance your understanding and give a new insight for one of your pillars.

[] Glimpse the future- you have a gift, a gift that no other has. It has set you on this path and you must both hone and use it, to see the end of this path. Cast your eyes into the future and the apocalypse to come and attempt to draw any piece of information that might give you an advantage.

-[] Pin down the date- currently you know that the apocalypse will start anywhere between a century to three from now, attempt to pin down when it would actually start so you may better prepare.

-[] The nature of the beast- you know almost nothing about what's to come besides an unending tide of beast's, attempting to understand the coming apocalypse.

-[] The tide- in your vision you saw many types of beast's, small and big, deformed and consisting of perfect form. Attempt to more correctly ascertain what it is that you'll be fighting.

[] The burdens of an emperor- a farmer son of a farmer turned into a sage, you never thought, nor wanted the burden of rule but here you are with a crown upon your head.

-[] To rule well- taking the time to listen to your subordinates and subjects as well as taking care of the small problems that arise would free your subordinates from the need to do it. (OOC: basically, the competent ruling action -from the government actions- is considered completed and doesn't need to be taken.)

[] The burdens of a teacher- you have come to enjoy teaching, but the very act gives you a certain obligation to those you teach.

-[] To teach the next generations- you're going to need many more cultivators to face the end that comes, and you have taught many, do so again and help train the defenders of the future.

-[] The next step- you have many students pushing for the next step in their journey, take the time to share your wisdom and guide them in surviving the tribulation.

---

Right, here is turn 2, the vote is in plan format and as always, I'm available for questions.

Plan format example:

[] plan name.

-[] empire action with highest priority.

-[] empire action with lower priority.

-[] empire action with lowest priority.

-[] cultivators actions.

-[] personal action.

You were quite lucky, you suppose.

Lucky that it hasn't happened before.

And lucky that you caught it so soon after it happened.

From what you managed to gather it all started when a young Keku -barley in his second decade- by the name of Tark tried to gather a basketful of fruits from a wild grove he knew was on the other side of the valley his village was located at, to mitigate some of the consequences of a bad harvest.

An innocent action born only from the wish to provide for one, loved one's.

The only problem was that in time past the village was part of the Keknktia kingdom while the grove was in the Tatke kingdom, two rival nations which saw common conflict between themselves.

Needless to say, there was little love lost between the two sides.

After a few uneventful trips he encountered a group from a different village.

Who upon seeing him became angered.

For you see the grove wasn't as wild as it seems and the village the group belonged to would occasionally care for it and pluck its offering.

When they learned he was from across the -now defunct- border they beat him half to death.

Going so far as to break his legs.

When this youth managed to return to his home and tell his family what has happened.

His father gathered a few of his friend's, found and killed the one who beat his son so badly -and a few others who defended them-.

In response his village was raided by relatives and friends of those who were killed.

The result of that was a few deaths on both sides, a lot more injuries and a few burnt fields.

In response to the raid, the keku of the village called upon friends and acquaintances in other villages for help in counter raiding the second village.

Thankfully, this is where you intervened and stopped the fighting, at least for now.

A single letter, a single report from the governor about increased tensions that would have otherwise gone unnoticed has brought you here.

Yet even as you caught it early before the situation could escalate any further.

You can see in the faces of the villagers and citizens of the town's you visited.

The harm is already done.

And you could only hope the fire doesn't grow.

Unrest increases, progress is made toward "cultural tensions" problem, effect reduced by personal attention.

---

As a teacher you are closely aware of how much a good education can change a person.

Knowledge is power after all.

Which is why it is such a shame that education is out of the reach of so many.

Not that you are surprised that this is the status quo.

After all, education and learning are one of the way's the nobles used to keep power over their subjects.

Well, no more.

your agents are already working on plans to change this matter and although it would only be a start, a start is what you need.

But before such plans can start a few matters must be decided.

The first is a matter of funding or more correctly a question of who'll provide said funding.

Early on in this project you've decided to only charge a token sum off those who wish to learn as doing otherwise would be counter to your ambition to bring education to the masses.

But such a policy has a downside, the token payments, while enough to defray some of the costs of maintaining the school and paying the teachers, aren't enough to cover most of the cost.

And that means that someone else must pay.

In this you have two options.

The first and easiest one is to pay yourself.

Your empire can bear the cost fairly easily… for now, the current plans only cover the largest cities and even then, do not plan for full cover, expansions for the proposed system would also come from your pocket and in such a case the burden may prove heavier than what your treasury can bear.

The second one is to make local authorities pay for it.

While they are less affluent than the empire as a whole, the fact each one would only bear a fraction of the total cost combined with the advantage of their local knowledge and connections would make the cost easy to bear even in the face of massive expansion.

Of course, making local authorities pay for it wouldn't endear you to them and might even make a few enemies.

There is a third option.

But you aren't sure of its viability.

You could split the cost between your treasury and local authorities.

Yet such a course of action may have the downsides of both options without any of the upsides.

[] pay out of pocket.

[] ensure local authorities pay for it.

[] split the cost two ways.

The next matter is a matter of culture.

Or more specifically the matter of cultural teaching.

The lands of the empire are vast and filled with many cultures.

Allowing the school to teach about local history and culture would lower unrest as the fear of teaching foreign ways will subside.

But it will also slow the creation of a singular cultural identity for your empire and ensure old grievances are still remembered.

[] allow the teaching of local culture, reducing unrest.

[] disallow the teaching of local culture making progress toward resolving the "cultural tensions" problem and slowly reduce the chance of it firing.

---

Alright, this is out later then I wanted too but last week was quite busy so I didn't have the time to write. But its out now so on with the show!

We don't need plan voting for this vote as its only two options that don't affect each other too much. As always I'm open to question's so don't be afraid to ask if you have something.

6 months huh? That's a lot of time. I won't bore you with the details of why I didn't update for such a long time but I'm back and hopefully this time I won't stop for half a year.

---

Vik would be the first to admit he wasn't much of a cultivator.

Only getting to the refined body stage in his late fifties after more than thirty years of cultivation wasn't a great achievement.

Especially not when some of the new students have achieved this stage in less of a decade.

Not that he minded it much normally.

No, Vik knew exactly what his purpose in life was.

It was this exact purpose which got him to meet Shikatu oh so long ago.

The road called out for Vik's soul and he could do nothing but follow it.

Even now he was doing what he loved most, traveling this wild world and seeing many new and exciting things.

The last three years has seen Vik travel from the far north to the far south and anywhere in-between.

All in the search of wondrous sights and -perhaps more importantly- the presence of places of power.

So far Vik has found six.

Each one stranger and more wonderful than the last.

From caves filled with shining gems to swamps filed with deadly wildlife.

Each place of power he encountered was documented in his journal, its properties studied and its location noted for later pursual

Truly, Vik has seen many strange things in the last couple of years.

And yet this may be the strangest of them all.

Far to the south amidst the endless shifting sand of the desert a small oasis could be found.

This oasis was different from its brothers, its water was clearer and more refreshing, the vegetation was healthier and the sun scorching heat seemed to pass over it leaving a refreshing and cool atmosphere.

It was obvious this place was a place of power.

But it wasn't that much different than the dozen or so Vik documented himself.

No, the difference this time was the natives.

It wasn't too weird to see a population center around a place of power, most of the time the benefits of such a place drew ancient tribes to settle around it.

No, the weirdness was in their hostility.

Not too long after he showed up, twenty armed Keku surrounded him.

Even now they glanced at his bound form with caution and restrained hostility.

Now, Vik may not be the best cultivator around, he may not even be an average one but he is still one, and should have had no problem dispatching -or at least escaping- a few mortals.

Except… they weren't mortals.

They were cultivators.

Vik never heard of cultivators not under the leadership of the great teacher.

And yet… here they are.

Small in number they may be but they are cultivators and they represent a threat Vik must report… if he could escape his current predicament that is.

While Vik was lost in his own thought he was escorted through the oasis to a small hut near the small lake of the oasis.

When Vik and his escorts reached the hut Vik was pushed toward the door and told to enter.

As he did so he noticed that none of his escorts moved to follow him as if they worried he could escape.

And when he felt the old Keku seated in the hut he could tell why.

The old Keku sitting next to a freshly heated pot of tea emanated the same pressure as the elders back in the main compound of Vik's order.

The aura of a second step cultivator.

With a motion of his wing the old Keku beaconed Vik to sit next to him.

"Come, we have much to talk about".

---

You contemplate the latter you've just read.

You've been in the middle of lunch when a courier dashed into your chambers carrying a high priority letter.

In your decade and a half or so of rule you've only received perhaps two letters of high priority, one informing you on the possibility of a minor famine due to mismanagement and the other about the assassination of a governor about a decade back, so you were a tad worried.

But nothing prepared you for this.

To think that there are independent cultivators out there.

Well, no it isn't that surprising, not all whom you taught in the century before becoming the emperor stayed with you so it isn't surprising that they exist.

What is surprising though is that they menged to internalize enough of your teaching to teach it to others.

And to reach such numbers.

The scout reports attached to the latter implies that there are at least two second step cultivators in the oasis they found and close to seventy first steps.

And if you were to trust the words of their leader there were at least four more locations with equal organization's -or sects as they call themselves.

Regardless of the truth of the matter you must decide what to do with this new information, you cannot leave such a force alone.

But there is something to be gained here.

With the latter comes an offer from the sects.

They offer to bend the knee and be sworn into your empire peacefully, paying a token amount of taxes as tribute and be available to call as Keku at wings when the needs arise.

For this they require recognition, rights, certain freedoms and ownership of the lands surrounding their compounds.

Signing this agreement would make them vessels to your empire, owned by it but not part of it.

From a monetary point you won't gain much if anything but from a military perspective you'll gain a third again your cultivator numbers which is a respectable number even if they are undoubtedly weaker on a one-to-one basis.

They would also continue recruiting and expending hastening the total numbers of new cultivators that arise every decade.

Of course, they will also represent a new power block you must listen to and keep happy, as they have enough power to resist in some meaningful manner.

Alternatively, you can not only grant them their request but also grant them rule over the province in which they live.

Doing so will help blunt the lack of clerks and administrators in the empire as well as lower the sects rate of advance, you would lose a small amount of tax but would effectively see more resources as the administrative burden on the empire lowers.

Of course, doing so will grant the sect economic power and influence beyond their small compounds which will increase the power they can bring to bear.

Another option is to simply absorb them, former students of you that they are you are frilly certain that you could convince most of them to rejoin the fold.

Doing so will increase you own cultivators' numbers (although a few will probably disappear) and ensure that any new ones are of the highest quality.

Of course, there is strength in diversity and different organizations could come with different ideas which would otherwise not be found.

[] grant the sect's request. (gain the five sects as a vassal faction)

[] grant the sects request but also appoint them as strewed of the lands around them. (Gain the five sects as a vassal faction. Improve the "lack of administers" problem but lower economic power)

[] absorbed them. (the five sects' faction is dissolved and most of their numbers join you).

---

Day by day.

Week by week.

Year by year.

You have slowly gathered more and more Qi and shaped it into a pillar.

And now two decade since you've begun your sixth pillar is almost complete.

Steeped with the meaning of teaching.

Of passing down your knowledge to the new generation.

There is only one last thing you must do.

And that is to inscribe your own personal understanding of what teaching is and complete the pillar.

Pick your insight.

[] "a teacher's duty is to defend his student's and ensure they can learn in peace" when attempting to defend a student (IE: someone you've taught) reality itself will conspire to see your efforts successful.

[] "teacher to student, there is a heavy bond in this relationship, a bond that passes through generations for what is a teacher student's but students to that teacher, teacher? Gain a connection to all of your students and their students and their students and so forth to the ninth generation, this connection allows you to ascertain their status at time (general level of health and general location) and may allow more with further experimentation.

[] "teaching is nothing but the conveying of concept to another person the pinnacle of teaching is to convey the most with the least amount of word's" your students are better able to comprehending your teachings, gaining a small bonus to their learning and allowing the teaching of advanced concept's without certain requirements.