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

The fluctuation of pressure as their little ship slid out from the depths of the lake and the pressure that had laid over them left made her shake slightly an uncomfortable 'pop' going off in her ears. For her first realm companions, their shaking hands nearly dropped their now guttering torches. She caught their eyes over her shoulder and gave a small nod. They had done well in their small part. She hoped they were ready for a larger one, going forward.

The two of them straightened up under her gaze, and she returned to facing forward. They did have to hold their dignity for awhile longer. After all, they still had to be received upon the shore. There were many, many more lights there, even now. The sun was gone from the horizon, leaving only the moon overhead, several hours having passed while they sailed in the hazy half realm of water and mist out in the center of the lake.

There was a line of lights, stolid torcherbears waiting for them upon the docks. But far, far more belonged to the semi-impromptu festival which had sprouted up here. Their people were few still, but there was enough. Men smoked and grilled fish on impromptu woodstoves, farmers and their families mingled with fishermen, hawked or swapped sweets and specialties in the streets, small parades and dances took place in the streets, but everywhere were lanterns, held and carried hung from eaves, perched atop half built foundations.

And it all shimmered through the mist, half a dream itself. Ling Qi pulled her eyes away from the town, toward the manor, where she spied a twinkling star, standing on a high balcony. Cai Renxiang was not the type to mingle with such a street festival, and Ling Qi had been forced to agree that she would probably only make their people uncomfortable by trying. Gan Guangli was her face now, standing in the paved square now, belting out courageous tales with a half dozen children dangling off his arms as he flexed and posed.

But that didn't mean she couldn't participate, in her own way. Light bloomed, cut through the mist. Clear and bright, a single ray scattering the darkness to fall upon her and the ship. It caught on the carvings on the ice, limned them in a halo of radiance that lit their little ship like a pale bonfire on the surface of the lake.

It drew everyone's attention, drew them to the shore as they slid silently toward the dock.

Chaos became order, without losing much of its cheer, people lining up, raising their lanterns to receive them. The beam of light followed their ship, thinning and dimming as they approached the shore.

Ling Qi considered it, the flows of the lakes qi still trailing and clinging to them, her own slowly dissipating which had diluted it, stopping it from becoming a crushing prison or unintentional poison.

She understood the purpose of the Spirit Seekers. That art which she had so slowly practiced. She understood why it had not been a popular art. There was very little concrete technique in it. Very little direct power or lessons to be found.
It was as much a method of thinking as cultivation. And the questions it asked were simple ones. What is the worth of your neighbors? Was it what you could take from them? What they could do for you? What you could accomplish together? Was it the safety of numbers? Was it in the danger they could ward off with their strength. What did it cost to be a good neighbor? How much could one ask before becoming a bad one?

But simple questions were not easy ones.

Spirits were not often kind. They thought in ways sideways to mortals, with foibles that seemed to defy all sense sometimes. It was not always right to give a spirit what it wanted. Humans could not live without taking. No, that wasn't quite right. Nothing lived without taking. Beasts preyed, on each other or plants, trees drank greedily from the soil, and strangled their rivals for light and water, rivers carved and carried away the land, wind stole the stone of the mountains, one fleck of gravel at a time.

Sacrifice.

A human who could not hunt or fish or gather or farm would die. Was it good then, to allow that if it meant not imposing on the spirits of the land? Of course not. The goal then was not to avoid taking or changing at all, but to do so in a way that left both parties intact and prospering wherever possible.

This, she thought, was the path Tsu had taken. And it was one worth emulating, she thought, even if she didn't pretend things could always go her way, or that others would always deal honestly with her.

[ ] A good neighbor listens without spying, speaks without demanding, takes without dominating, gives without submitting. Respect is the foundation of community.

[ ] Do not take insight from MoSS

Spoiler: Mechanics

Spirit Speaker Trait Increases to 8: You understand the alien ways of spirits with ease, and they in turn may understand humanity through you. When you speak, all but the most murderous and hostile spirits listen long enough to hear you out. When speaking to other humans your experience makes you more able to wield honesty and spot deception, and understand the deeper motives of those you communicate with.

+2 XP to Protection

But if speaking failed, she would fight for what was hers without hesitation. Looking upon the town on the shore and the people and their lights waiting there. Soon her own mother and sister and household would be among them, and this feeling would only grow.

"People of Shenglu, the goddess of the lake, our Lady Snowblossom is pleased with your gifts and your devotion," Ling Qi announced projecting her voice out as her helper priests took up the ropes thrown to them to begin pulling their ship into the prepared dock for the temple ship. Their current one was quite small, fit into the channel for its eventual replacement, the earth beat down and packed around the wood and stone docks. Ropes stretched between posts driven into the ground marking out where the temple structure would rise in the future. But for now, there was only the slosh of water and the creak and thump of the boat being dragged to dock under her voice and the whispers and sounds of the crowd.

"Today she blesses us, and takes the mantle of guardian of Shenglu alongside my brother, Zhengui!"

Happiness, cheers, the relief of people knowing that something was settled and safe. It was the lifting of the pressure that came from uncertainty. There was much to worry oneself over, living on the frontier, but for now, they could content themselves in knowing they had some small control through their devotions to the lake they lived beside.

"And now, let all be merry for the night is yet young. There shall be a day of rest tomorrow, as these gentlemen and I spread to you the proper rites for our Lady Snowblossom, so be free with yourselves, and enjoy the fruits of your works!"

She smiled to herself as the crowd roared and began to break up, going along back to the festivities. Her eyes turned to the junior priests. "You as well, once the altar is set back on the shore. Your composure held well. I will continue to instruct you going forward."

She would forgive the slight dread in their eyes at her promise.

She could be a difficult teacher after all.


It was a several days later when Ling Qi found herself crouched by the garden pool in the manor, scrutinizing what she had found, crawling out of the water to sun itself on a rock. Two blank black eyes swiveled up to observe her, but the animal showed no signs of alarm. Wide and flat, its soft shell shone with moisture slowly curling away into little streamers of steam, and finlike feet splayed across slippery wet stone.

She narrowed her eyes, and reptilian eyes blinked. All of the softshell tortoise's limbs slowly retracted into its shell.

"Hah, be more kind to your nephew's Madam Ling, you will make yourself that frightening Auntie!" Gan Guangli boomed. He chortled as she wrinkled her nose, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"I am no Aunt at all," she scoffed, even if there did seem to be a small explosion of turtles and tortoises despite the cold weather. None of the breeds were spirit beasts precisely yet, but they all held a wisp of fire qi, the same way that their sheep held a wisp of wind.

"No. I think, by your own definition, you are," Xia Lin said, betraying her most grievously, sitting at the marble topped table set by the pondside. "Spirits are not like humans, but that does not change the facts."

"It was most joyous, smile Auntie Ling!" Gan Guangli guffawed. "Look upon your nephew's adorable face!"

While she was distracted the tortoise escaped her gaze and slid quickly back into the pond.

"I think Su Ling might be right to question your taste," Ling Qi grumbled. The little ones trundling about through the dying leaves and burrowing among the undergrowth were quite cute, but these slimy things… "...Lady Cai, should we not call the meeting to order?"

"No. You have some minutes remaining before its scheduled start," Cai Renxiang replied blithely, over the rim of her teacup.

Even Renxiang. Truly she was a member of a court of daggers. Her enemies would pay for these slights.

"Please, may we begin," Ling Qi said, definitely not whining.

"For the sake of our young elder's meditation schedule, I will support this," Xia Lin agreed.

Ling Qi narrowed her eyes, meeting hers, ensuring she knew vengeance was coming. Xia Lin's gaze was steel, welcoming the challenge.

"Haha, I suppose one should be eager to begin their work," Gan Guangli laughed, seating himself on the steel framed chair made for him in these meetings.

"Very well," Cai Renxiang replied, straightening infintesmally as she set her cup down. Ling Qi took her seat as well. "Let us begin the discussion on the boons granted to us by SNowblossom Lake."

Ling Qi nodded primly as she sat down, drawing a small glass bottle from her storage ring. It was only a fingerlength long, but filled with foggy mist, with a small amount of clear and sparkling water at the bottom. "As you suggested we looked into the cultivation materials first in case they represented any unintentional danger toward the citizens. Together with Meng Duyi, I discovered this. We are calling it Clearwater Mist, and it is generated from the mist created when the main falls strike the surface of the lake. But the mist only gains special properties at the exact hour surrounding daybreak and sunset."

"Hoh, interesting!" Gan Guangli said, peering at the bottle held in her hands. "It has a bit of the same scent about it as your Muse, no?"

"It has some small properties of Dreaming Qi. Meng Duyi said it would be quite potent as a reagent in crafting cultivator grade alcohols, in addition to being useful for alchemy in general, as a base for separating and distilling the essence of mixed reagents," Ling Qi said.

Xia Lin narrowed her eyes. "The reason you used expensive glass cleansed of all residual fire qi instead of ceramic is that, isn't it?"

Ling Qi lowered her head in acknowledgement. "It is very difficult to bottle. If the container has more than a single qi alignment, the mist will break it down over time. In addition it does not like to stay in liquid form and very easily becomes mist at the slightest disturbance, requiring firm sealing methods."

"Noted," Cai Renxiang said. The brush and paper that had appeared before her already being put to use. "Any danger to our construction?"

"We will need to make a small adjustment to the maintenance wards, but the breakdown effect is most potent when the mist is contained like this. Meng Duyi has already drawn us up some notes for the adjustment," Ling Qi replied.

"Excellent. I will have them copied and distributed to the work crews by evening," Cai Renxiang said. "We will consider plans for how to gather the mist at an effective cost. Is it toxic to mortals?"

"...it would be if they remained immersed in it for some time, for the single hour in which it naturally exists? No."

"Good, Xia Lin?"

"My investigation took me near the initial lumbering area, where the workers reported a strange fog in the middle of the day," Xia Lin said crisply, fully professional now. "The source was a patch of dull gray clay which appears to have overtaken the mundane deposit in the area. It is very cold to the touch, painfully so for a mortal, but is as soft and pliable as clay at normal temperatures. It retains these properties even when removed from the deposit."

Ling Qi hummed. "Is it even possible to fire it then?"

"Testing is underway. It is difficult requiring two or three times the length of a normal firing, which is labor intensive," Xia Lin replied. "And several batches were ruined, losing their properties."

"I will see about acquiring expertise, for now, see what can be harvested. Is there only one deposit?"

"No, there are several, arrayed around the lake shore, most are much further from Shenglu," Xia Lin said.

"I could see many benefits for cold storage if we can find the proper uses," Gan Guangli said thoughtfully. That would have great benefits for the mortals foodstores and many other things beside."

"A high priority," Cai Renxiang agreed. "Gan Guangli?"

"Ah! Of course!" he boomed, rising from his chair. He spread his arms out, as if to embrace them all, and then…

There was a faint pop of displaced air. Ling Qi stared.

"...Do I need to rally the guards?" Xia Lin asked blankly.

In Gan Guangli's arms was a massive fat fish. It must have been over two meters from head to tail, closing in on three. Its scales were a dull muddy brown shading into a bright verdant green in irregular spots… and around its head, which was thick with bony jade green plating, which extended to the rubbery whiskers which dangled from its jaw.

"Catfish! The men are calling them 'Jadehelms!" Gan Guangli said brightly. "They are quite meaty fellows!"

"I have no reports of anyone being hurt," Cai Renxiang said calmly. "Docile?""

"Not quite, but the ones in our fishing zone are mostly a meter or less. I did have to go out quite deep to find this fellow, who was actually a red realm spirit beast," Gan Guangli chuckled, making the fish disappear back into his storage. "Most interestingly beyond the bounty of meat, the bones of their skulls, which are quite thick, have proven to take to bone carving quite well. The bone also has some wood qi properties, but the full extent is unclear. The beast's mucous also has some minor medicinal properties as well but we will need a proper alchemist to find more than that."

"We do have a handful of junior alchemists amongst our hires from Xiangmen. With all of this it may be best to give them a space to work soon," Cai Renxiang said thoughtfully.

"Well we do still have that pill furnace of mine," Ling Qi said, thinking fondly back to robbing Yan Renshu for all he was worth and then some.

"We do, one will likely be enough at this stage," Cai Renxiang agreed. "These are everyone's findings?"

They all gave their assent.

"Then I will bring these matters to the advisor Baroness Ling as seconded to Shenglu, and begin producing plans. Baroness Ling, you are dismissed. I know you spoke of a matter of personal cultivation."

Ling Qi nodded and stood, glancing at the pond and the little tortoise swimming there. All joking aside, there was a conversation she needed to have with Zhengui.