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<Mu->
-a cool spring breeze cuts through the comfortable heat, rousing me from my stupor. I shake my head, clearing it of the fuzzy feeling of near-sleep and sit up straighter. It takes an effort of will to cudgel my mind back to something akin to awareness instead of letting it lapse into slumber, but I manage to get myself to rights before anyone notices.
Then again, that isn't hard. I glance around the darkened common room of the Ivory Candle to find it just as empty as it was before my attempted nap. The normally bustling inn is deserted at this late hour. The hearthfire crackles merrily as it fills the empty seats and barren tables with flickering shadow. Even the night time attendant has long since abandoned the common room, pausing only to make sure the fire is properly tended before vanishing into a back room.
The only person who could've noticed my lapse is the one who caused it, and he's far too consumed in the game to notice. Zhuan Kun does not sit on the surprisingly comfortable wooden bench. Instead, he stands, hands braced against the table as he studies it with sharp eyes.
He has a great many things to study, for in front of him the table has been transformed into a warzone in miniature. Dozens of models of beautifully crafted scenery decorate it, each exuding just the slightest bit of anam from the runes carved in their bases. The aspects war with each other for dominance, each exerting its power and subtly warping the wood beneath them into a world of chaos. Dotted through it all are nearly a hundred sculpted figures that move through the miniature forests and rolling hills conjured by the scenery. Some are towering, titanic beasts as large as my hand. Others are small, knuckle bone sized serpents that surround the greater creatures like fleas closing in on a dog.
It is the latter that Zhuan Kun pays the most attention to. With the same utter focus he displays in the heat of battle, he moves a group of the small snakes away from the model of a shifting cloud towards a larger titan. He studies the final result for a long moment before nodding sharply and squeezing the base of one of his snakes. The group shines with a venomous green light- one that is echoed by the towering pig they target.
The noble lets out a grunt of satisfaction. He glances towards me and says, "The Eternal Famine was worth one hundred and twenty-five points. When combined with my held wonders and the points from your Reaper Apes, that-"
I shake the last bit of haziness from my mind and sigh. "Yes, I know," I murmur. "I was tracking the score as well." I reach out and grab the Famine. The acidic light from the Storm Serpents attack is uncomfortable against my crimson skin, and I hurry to press one of the runes in its base to turn the light off. The Famine joins my other defeated models and I stand, reaching out to reclaim the others still in play.
Zhuan Kun makes no move to gather his own forces, though. "Better," he allows after a moment. "Your performance in that game was acceptable for one of your experience level. Do you know what your biggest mistake was?"
"Challenging your might in the Garden?" I answer, a wry smile on my face.
The noble either doesn't hear the joke in my voice, or doesn't care for it. "It is never a mistake to strive," he answers, taking me completely seriously. "Only cowards avoid battles they may lose. To succeed at anything, one must challenge themselves, even if it's against foes so overwhelming that it seems defeat is inevitable. Only by fighting in those battles can one win those battles."
I sit quietly for a moment as Zhuan Kun's words wash over me. How… how am I supposed to answer something like that said so sincerely? It would seem insulting to simply ignore them, but acknowledging them seems like it would be an invitation to 'strive' against Zhuan Kun in other battlefields.
"To truly answer your question," I say after a moment, resolving to simply move on. After all, it is not as if Zhuan Kun truly cares for social convention. He has certainly brushed by things I've said without even comment dozens of times before. "My mistake during the fourth turn. I wanted to claim the ship model-"
"The Wavecrown."
"-yes, the Wavecrown. I wanted to claim it quickly, so I overcommitted."
"Indeed you did," Zhuan Kun agrees. He glances at the model in question and then at the small armies of fallen figures surrounding it. "The Wavecrown is an important Natural Wonder, true. It is a credit to you that you moved so decisively to claim it. But its positioning on the board left it in easy striking distance for both your Reaper Apes and the Dweller Above. Using both of them depleted your forces and cost you flexibility."
The noble straightens up and gestures to my collection. "The Colossal have a limited number of units available to them. It is their weakness as a Sect, trading maneuverability and numbers for raw power. Sacrificing more of that limited flexibility weakened your lines considerably and proved a critical error."
"Instead," Zhuan Kun continues, gesturing at another piece of the landscape. "You should have sent only the Dweller Above, leaving the Reaper Apes to establish a front here. Spiraling Forest's special ability enhances the strength of any Denizen of Buru, and the Reaper Apes could have held it easily against my skirmishers. I would have been forced to react, diverting forces from Jadewater Fortress, and-"
Over the next minute, Zhuan Kun sketches out an elaborate series of moves and countermoves that would have completely reshaped the game. Each new tactic spawns more and more permutations, and I struggle to comprehend even half of them as I fight off the drowsiness still lurking in my mind. As he finishes, I'm able to refocus just in time for him to say, "-though that is how I would have played. Perhaps you have another idea?"
I stare blankly at the board for a long moment before turning back to Zhuan Kun. "...the Natural Wonders have special abilities?" I ask.
Zhuan Kun's head cocks to the side like a confused hound. "Yes, they do," comes his blunt answer. "Did I not mention that?"
All I can do is shake my head. "No," I sigh, annoyance warring with amusement in my heart. That would have been useful information to have before the game- before the last six games!- but it's hard to be upset at Zhuan Kun. There was no malice behind his silence; he's just been so excited to play that he forgets I don't have an encyclopedic memory of the Garden. "No you did not."
"Oh." Zhuan Kun stares at the board for a moment and shakes his head. "Then you will have a new factor to consider during the next game."
His hands are already at work rearranging the table. Natural Wonders are shifted around the wood, their conflicting auras joining and battling to create new effects, as our Sects are regathered. I take my Colossal from him automatically and put them down on my side of the table. "Do we really have time for another game?" I ask.
The noble glances out of the window before looking back at me. "Why would we not?"
I follow his gaze. For a moment, dawn seems to be breaking over the horizon, casting a web of shadows over the Honeydrenched Hills. But the light flickers and vanishes as quickly as it had seemed to appear, leaving only the dark night sky.
…strange. I must have been imagining it.
"Very well," I answer, turning black to the table. "You have the first move, I presume?"
Zhuan Kun nods in answer. Once the board is set, we deploy our forces, lining them up as we want on our sides of the table. Only when my models are placed where I think is best- and once Zhuan Kun's are lined up with exacting precision- does the game begin anew. Words fall away as our focus turns towards the table, the crackling fire the only noise.
In the dimly lit common room, Zhuan Kun's every move takes on an almost ethereal, dreamlike quality. His face, a mask of concentration, is turned to the table as if nothing else even exists. I try and match his focus, try to see these moves and permutations he speaks of so readily, but they slip away like sand through my fingers. Whenever I see a move of quality, I grab for it- and am punished each and every time.
"You play boldly," the noble says after a short eternity. My Broken Emissary, that figure of broken glass that so captured my attention in the Foemaster's halls, has drawn his attention as I move it into the middle of a river. "Too boldly. If you do not disguise your movements, your intentions become clear."
I pause, hand still on the Broken Emissary. "True," I answer. "But you can discern my motives just as easily if I hide them or not, and a veil would only complicate matters. Best to go forward and deal with the consequences as they come."
Zhuan Kun's answer isn't words. Instead, it comes with a simple move. A tangle of dark serpents emerges from the forest and makes its way to the river several inches from my Emissary. Once they're in position, Zhuan Kun presses a rune on the snake's base. The all too familiar venomous green light shines from his Storm Serpents before it travels down the river, reaching my Emissary.
"If your actions are not properly disguised," the nobles breathes. "Then the consequences will find you sooner rather than later."
I nod slowly as I take my turn. The Broken Emissary is moved from the now toxic river and I replace it with another of my forces. The Scourged Earth pushes its way across the terrain before reaching the river upstream of the snakes, safe from their venom- until another knot of black-painted scales makes its presence known.
"And now that I know your intentions," Zhuan Kun continues. "I can react accordingly every time. Your desire to take the Shivering Rapids is a wise one, but thanks to your forewarning, I was able to place the Sunvenom Tribe appropriately. Now, you've no hope of taking the Rapids without massive losses. Even if you spend your forces to take it, you will weaken yourself beyond salvation."
I let out a low sigh, but Zhuan Kun isn't done yet. "What's more," he states. "Your lack of obfuscation has made things more difficult for you in future games. Even after the end of this round, I know that you know the import of the Shivering Rapids. I will be able to prepare for your assault, and I will be wary of any future moves you make in their direction. The Rapids are lost to you not just in this game, but in the next as well."
I bite my lip in frustration and shake my head. Instead of responding, I refocus on my play. The river may be lost to me, but there are other tempting targets ready to be assaulted. Like… there! Towards Zhuan Kun's starting position sits a small hill dotted with dozens of tunnels. He captured it on his first turn, but has since been content to leave a token force guarding it while he expands.
But being behind his lines is no protection, and the Natural Wonder is nowhere near as safe as he believes it to be. I move the Night Lurker from where it had been hiding nearby and charge forward. This time, it is my turn to press a rune, and the Night Lurker shines with amethyst power. The weak snakes guarding the hill are no match for my Colossal, and soon it stands alone on my new conquest.
Yet the noble doesn't seem dismayed by my victory. Instead, he simply continues playing, his snakes moving around the table in a never-ending tide of scale and venom. Natural Wonder after Natural Wonder fall to his onslaught as he displays his mastery.
Only when the Wavecrown is buried beneath his serpents does he speak again. "Your play was strategic and logical," he intones. "But it was shortsighted."
"Oh?" I ask after a moment, dragging my eyes from the board. He gestures at where the Night Lurker still stands alone atop the Hill. "I thought that was a good play. It kept you from scoring any more points and deprived you of a reserve force."
"It did," he allows. "Yet you used your Night Lurker to slay a few of my Hatchlings. It was like sending a Warlord to crush a group of Seated. It was effective, certainly, but it could have been achieved without going to such lengths."
"From the start," Zhuan Kun continues. "I was prepared to lose the Sand Nest."
I stare at the Natural Wonder in question. Like the other pieces of terrain, it shines with restrained power, its anam a ruddy red against the wood. Yet as I watch, the glow seems to get brighter, casting the rest of the table in crimson. "You were?" I echo through a suddenly dry mouth.
"I was," the noble states. "It allowed me to gain in power early in the game, certainly. It was… useful. But it could not grow to match my needs. I kept it for as long as I did because moving those Hatchlings would have taken time that was better spent elsewhere. Losing them and the Nest is not ideal, but it is hardly a great loss."
Zhuan Kun considers things before continuing. "The garden requires many things if you wish to prevail," he says. "It requires dedication, commitment, and creativity. But above all else, it requires sacrifice. It requires a knowledge of how to use your pieces to their fullest extent and when to move on when they become more of a cost than a benefit.'
"It does not matter the piece. It does not matter the Wonder. Eventually, everything on the board reaches a point where it costs more to maintain, more to keep than it does to let slip."
Sense Motive Check: 5d10s9(1.2) (7 + 2 (The Cool Heat of the Flame). Dice Rolled: 8, 6, 5, 1, 1. 0 Successes!
"Now, excuse me." Zhuan Kun says, his voice steady. "There are people in need of aid within this village, and I stand shield over any who require it." Then he is gone, eye forward as he marches down the path.
I stare after him- before hurrying to catch up. By the time we are side by side once more, the sound of our footsteps cannot be heard over a steadily growing hum.
It takes me a moment to moisten my lips. There is a pressure coming from the table- no, from Zhuan Kun, one I've never felt from the noble before. "Still, it was a victory for me," I say, words sounding feeble even as I muster them. "And though I may lose the game, I at least took the Sand Nest."
"You did," he replies. His hands are braced on the table, his eyes still trained on the terrain. "And though it is inconsequential, it was still unpleasant. So yes, you were able to attain a measure of success- one I was prepared to grant you, but still a measure of success."
I let out a low breath as the pressure grows, pushing at my shoulders. "It… was there a move I should have done instead?" I ask.
"Perhaps," he answers. Still, he does not look at me. "But all that matters are the moves you made."
Zhuan Kun finally looks up. His eyes lock on mine- and I freeze.
Zhuan Kun's eyes are the most expressive part of his face. They are small, jade chips that show a window into his soul. Where the rest of his face may not move an inch, where his body might as well belong to a statue, his eyes show his feelings, his thoughts, his spirit.
Now, his eyes show none of that. They are but empty voids that bore into me with a blank, dispassionate pressure.
I move to step back, but find myself frozen.
This is… this is not Zhuan Kun.
"Our game has been enjoyable in its own way," the figure masquerading as my friend states. "I have enjoyed our time. But every piece reaches the end of its usefulness- and some must be cast aside before they can truly be used."
He does not speak with mere words. Each one is accompanied by foreign, almost inhuman emotion that presses against me like a physical force.
<Boredom. Hunger. Anger.>
"It does not matter how useful a piece was in the past. In the name of victory, everything can be sacrificed."
The Sand Nest shines again- and so does the Lurker Within. And the Windcrown. And the Sunvenom Tribe. The crimson light spreads across the table, staining everything the color of dried blood. It reaches the edge of the table- and then spreads further.
It encompasses Zhuan Kun in a tide of all-consuming light. The Ivory Candle, the Honeydrenched Hills, it all vanishes beneath the crimson- and then it reaches me.
I've no chance to think. I can only act.
My breathing technique falls over me- and I
cycle.
Cycling Check: 10d10s6(1.2) (Kong Zhi's Cycling Technique). Dice Rolled: 10, 10, 10, 10, 8, 8, 6, 5, 5, 4, 7, 6, 4, 1. 10.8, rounded up to 11 Success!
Pure power pushes against my skin and against my eyes. It is the passing moments, the weight of the ages seeking to invade my body and crush my spirit. My own anam rushes to meet it, tangling together with the invading power and pulling it into my natural rhythm. Anam seethes beneath my skin, threatening to boil me with more power than I've ever held within my body before.
My skin splits. Steam rises from me as my body threatens to boil beneath the attack. My core screams in agony, and my teeth ache as they press against each other.
The power- it must be channeled. If nothing is done with it, I-
<Shock. Surprise. Fury.>
-that is a useless thought and I push it aside. It matters not what will happen if the power isn't channeled. It
will be cycled. I let out a scream of agony and will- and I force an image into my mind, a focus for my will as I channel this never-ending tide.
One springs to mind immediately- the Broken Emissary, all fractured planes and broken glass. Picturing the model bends the anam into a familiar pattern, and as the power shifts so does the image.
The model vanishes beneath the crimson light- but I grab it and twist it until it is no longer shining power but smooth skin. My Autumn Hunter takes form in my mind's eyes- before it fractures into a thousand broken shards. The Ivory Ferryman rushes to take its place before it too breaks. Then the twisted, hunched form grafted to me by Tiaoyue-
-until that vanishes as well. The only figure left is a man with tan skin and a short mop of brown hair, a man that seems far too small for what he faces-
-and then that image is gone as well, buried beneath the tide. Blindly, I reach out, grasping for another focus as the power strains against my will.
What image does Kong Zhi focus on as he channels this power?
[] A bull charging across an open field.
[] A hound bellowing out a warcry.
[] A fire burning through the forest.
