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

The journey south was much longer than she had grown used too. When you soared in the air you forgot things like the twists and turns roads followed to pass between the mountains, you forgot that when traveling with mortals and low cultivators you could not feel the wind scream past you. There was a plodding pace to it all that Ling Qi found herself fretting over as the snowcapped peaks out beyond the window of her carriage passed at what felt like a glacial pace.

At least it gave her time to focus on the slow and meticulous repair of her meridians, cleansing them of the last fires, reconnecting channels where they had been blocked and carefully nursing the spiritual health of the meridians where they had withered under the heat. Ice, Darkness, Wind, music, every shade of qi she used had to be carefully realigned with her emptied meridians.

But every time she felt her power flowing properly, felt a pattern come back into synch with her spirit, the rush was indescribable.

But it was amusing watching everyone step carefully and respectfully around Zhengui, the workers and the soldiers and the traders, Hanyi often stayed in the carriage with her, but Zhengui stayed steadfastly on the road, trundling along, clearing obstacles where they cropped up, speaking freely with the people of the caravan about what he sensed in the path around, Gui chattered freely with everyone who would speak and as the days passed that number grew.

The clear mountain air did feel good in her aching lungs.

Soon enough though, the train of wagons and carriages rounded the last of the bends in their path, brought up beside the north flowing river, bringing Snowblossom into view.

The lake was a clear blue mirror reflecting the sky, the mist and thunder of the falls visible even from so far away. But now at the base of the cliff small plumes of dust and smoke rose, from work, from habitation. Hugging the hills by the lake harvested fields lay clear and ready for the next years planting, and little homes dotted the space between, on those same hills a drifting splotch of white like a cloud on the ground, roamed in land closed off by barely visible fences.

The treeline had been trimmed back a good distance, and a wall rose, closing off a crescent of land by the lakeside behind wood and earth. And there, behind it, behind the distant swarming figures of workers laying foundations and digging into the earth, a small palace rose, flush against the stone of the cliff, with curved tiled blue roofs and clean white walls. It lay in shrouded in the mist at the base of the waterfall, glittering colors reflecting from damp tile, but the mist curled and flowed, circling outside the manor walls, and spilling from the roofs to flow down invisible barriers protecting the streets and inside of the space from the damp.

It had really come a long way in just a few months. They had already been moving quickly but this was what the funds of the Cai could do bent to Renxiang's purposes.

She remained there at the window of the carriage, head leaning out as the caravan made its way down the final stretch toward the burgeoning settlement.

"Welcome Miss Ling!"

Gam Guangli's booming voice carried across the open space outside the simple gates of the palisade. The gravel laid down in the preparations to pave a path from the tentative city gates out to the Wang built road crunched under his boots as he strode out

"Thank you, Sir Gan, it is good to see you've all been hard at work," Ling Qi replied. She was in her chair for now, she was not so far along that she wished to forgo its use entirely yet

"Yeah! There's so much stuff now," Hanyi said brightly, peering around. She was behind Ling Qi, ready to move her "Though everything feels kind of empty…"

"We have stretched the population a bit thinly arranging for all the infrastructure to be ready before the next stage," Gan Guangli agreed readily.

"It is fine, people will come to where the stuff is," Gui said with great certainty, stomping up from where he had been conversing with the caravaneers who were now being ushered toward the manor in the distance. Already wagons packed with building materials were splitting off moving toward the many building sites within the walls where the foundations for the first homes and buildings in their city center were being laid out along the gridlike lines of the streets being prepared on the newly flattened and cleared ground.

"I suppose so, still I'm impressed with the work," Ling Qi agreed.

"And you have not even seen it all yet!" Gan Guangli boomed, come, Miss Ling, let me show you around the Manor.

"Please, Ling Qi replied, bowing her head. Soon the wheels of her chair were turning with Hanyi trotting along pushing, the cushioning arrays prevented the ride along the gravel path from being too bumpy.

"While we have not yet received our honored guest from the Meng, the promised geomancer whose services you acquired, there has been some correspondence and self study. We are making some effort to incorporate the waters even now you can see," Gan Guangli said loudly, marching on ahead of them.

Indeed, alreadyLing Qi could see the wisps of mist crawling along the dome of air above the workspace, and the relative rivulets of water running down the cliffside this far from the main falls. Arranges through the planned streets, channels had been dug and were steadily being lined with clean stone, the stone of the cliffs carved and shaped that the waters would pour down and fill these channels, stretching off toward the lakeside. Though most of the dug canals were narrow here and there she saw places for pools and gardens.

"I am sure we will have adjustments to make, but I can picture this turning out beautifully Ling Qi agreed."

"It is pleasing. Designs for roof installed sluices are common in wetter portions of the empire. We will find uses here."

Xia Lin's crisp voice joined them as they passed the work crews and came to the outer wall of the central manor itself. True to her word, Ling Qi could see the places where some of the falling water was channeled to fall in pleasing patterns from the high roof, pouring into pools in the manors grounds which in turn flowed out toward the lake.

The constant pounding noise of the falls was reduced to distant comforting rumble, and light shone through the falling waters and curling mist in pleasing patterns.

"You've been here as well then?" Ling Qi asked. What have you been up too."

Xia Lin was fully armored, save for her helm, and her halberd swayed behind her back, blade flashing in the filtered light. "Imparting drill and organization as much as possible. Riding the periphery has also been necessary to keep the wilds at bay."

"And a fine job Captain Xia has done. Between the two of us, our small passel of guards is growing quite skilled for their level!" Gan Guangli said.

"...Yes," Xia Lin agreed reluctantly

"I, Zhen will have to test their mettle. It is no good if the ones who will protect home are too weak," her little brother hissed.

"Where are you getting guard guys anyway. Do you just like, buy them?" Hanyi said. "Could I buy one?"

"No," Ling Qi scolded. "They come with the other settler groups, though their lords must give permission. That is one of the things I have been writing to others for."

"Ooooooh," Hanyi said, nodding as if she had not just asked something absurd. "So its okay if I…"

"Leave staff hiring to myself or Bao Qian," Ling Qi sighed.

Gan Guangli and Xia Lin both concealed their amusement.It was Xia Lin who spoke up. "If we could continue, I have a report for you to look over. The results of the diviners and scholars performing a geomantic survey are in."

"Oh! Gui remembers this, he helped by tracking the earthveins!"

"It is good that my retinue has been working hard," Zhen agreed.

Chatting a little, they entered the manor grounds, there were already gardens growing, the bubbling pools at the base of the falling water streams were full of colorful fish. Here the mist warding was more complete, the cool vapor was left the gather and billow among the grass and flowerbeds, while merely rolling along the stone paths cut through the space and the building itself, inside mist lingered among the rafters without ever descending keeping the building cool and comfortable but still dry.

They soon came to an expansive meeting room, Zhengui shrinking his bulk down to fit into the chambers and halls, settled in around the table, where Xia Lin had a map of the fief spread and weighted down. Ling Qi's eyes roamed over it from the polished blue stone representing the settlement by the lakeside to the colored pins stuck in across the map.

Ling Qi helped lift the small dog sized Zhengui up so he could plant his front legs on the table from her lap and observe.

"It is fortunate timing that this was prepared for now," Gan Guangli said.

"It would only be sensible to give the report once, and you were out on patrol as well," Xia Lin replied. "What do either of you know the grading of metals?"

"Very little," Ling Qi admitted freely. "Its based on spiritual reactivity and suitability for talisman and array crafting?"

"That is correct, the imperial standard scales common metals on a grade from one to five. With one being suitable for mortal work, two for common cultivation use, three for high quality craftwork…"

"And four and five being capable of conducting Shen and Sovereign energies respectively," Xia Lin finished.

"Which I suppose I will need for the context of this," Ling Qi said, eyeing the pin struck map.

"Oh there must be many shinies," Gui chirped.

Even hanyi leaned over her arm to look, a little interested by the prospect of wealth.

"Just so," Xia Lin gestured over the map. "Firstly Grade one iron is highly abundant in the hills and southern plateaus, signs have indicated numerous instances, most anywhere in the northern area and lakeside could support a degree of mining. There are also lodes of grade two iron embedded within these larger veins in numerous places."

"Oh that is quite good then! Even with our new friends in the south, common iron is always needed in great abundance," Gan Guangli said. "But I suspect you are not done."

The girl nodded curtly. "There is a load of grade three vein to the west, likely to have some special property, but this will require active effort to discern, due to the deepness of the lode. In addition to that there are a smaller number of silver veins in the hills, some rising to grade two."

"Oh, fortunate," Silver was useful in a number of medical formations and purifying talismans, even if it was not the store of wealth mortals thought it was.

"The last metal divined lays up here, in the site which we have labeled the saline grotto. It is a form of lead which seems a heavy alignment to earth and water qi. We are tentatively labeling it as grade three."

"Hm, more an alchemical resource then," Gan Guangli said, stroking his chin. "Powdered leads do form the base for many third realm and higher pills. It has attractive properties helping differing reagents clump and fuse properly."

"There are many cosmetic uses too, though it's toxic to mortals. I think the Bai, the Jin and the Peaks use a fair amount of it?" Ling Qi wondered. She vaguely recalled that coming up in one of her letters, indicating that lead was fetching a good price on the new routes.

"I will note that down," Xia Lin said, making a mark on the paper of the report before her. "Other than that we have begun filling in the old quarry, there is much better places for building stone, more accessible and easier harvested. It should be much more efficient."

"And then men were pleased enough to be on lighter duties for a time," Gan Guangli chuckled.

"That does remind me, is Ling Nuan still here? I hope the arrival of the first herd went well."

"Your new kinswoman?" Gan Guangli questioned. "She is here though leaving soon. She took command of the pasture work admirably. The mortals are being instructed of the quirks of the breed we selected."

"I'm glad," Ling Qi said.

"Oh! What about the stuff in the boiling waters?" Gui chirped. "My friends were looking at it when I left!"

Xia Lin wrinkled her nose. "...Oh yes, the material is… pungent, it has been identified as a form of flamesand, which has its uses in alchemy particularly of the explosive sort. We do not have the equipment to harvest it safely yet."

"Ah I could probably get some, but Gui does not want to spend all day doing it," her little brother sighed.

"Our retainers may study what we deign to take," Zhen sniffed. "But anyway, enough of metal things! Is there a report on who I, Zhen need to inform of the coming vassalage?"

"I think we should be nicer about it," Gui said.

"The matter of the spirit courts I have left to your scholars," Xia Lin said. "As it is primarily Baroness Ling's and your business."

"That is fine, Gui wants to talk to everyone anyway!"

"I kinda want to see those sheep things new sis was talking about…" Hanyi muttered.

""This concludes my initial report, You may tour the fief as you wish," Xia Lin said.

Ling Qi hummed, she thought, the first thing to do was…

[ ] Visit Ling Nuan and the new pastures, it important to see how she was settling in
[ ] Go along with Zhengui to speak with his followers she was interested in seeing him work