Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)

As any cultivator knows, foundation is the most important key to success in one's way. A weak foundation will crumble under pressure, while a powerful one will endure all but the greatest of shocks. As in many things, this is not true solely of cultivation. Clans, provinces, even the empire itself depend greatly upon the foundations laid down by our esteemed ancestors, without which our great land would be far the lesser. To be an Immortal of the great Empire is to build upon greatness long established, and to to in turn build an future even more grand for our descendants, forever granting our people supremacy over the squabbling barbarous scum which hounds our borders, jealously seeking to steal scraps of our greatness.

A core component of our collective foundation is threefold. The institutions and laws which keep order among us is the first pillar, refined by millennia, and improved by each true emperor or empress in turn. The second are the many great spirits ascended from our ranks over the years, who watch over us even to this day. The third is, of course, the Sublime Ancestors, the mighty entities which carry the greatest clans upon their backs, and which ensure that the empire will never truly fall.

It is of them that this treatise will speak. This humble scholar has spent much time traveling the breadth of the empire, compiling history and legend in order to create this definitive text on the often mysterious ancestors. In this opening chapter, this treatise will provide brief summary of the known Ancestors of the empire. Later chapters will discuss more in depth each entities history and known traits.

Without further ado, we will begin with the greatest of the ancestors. The Celestial Dragon, the mighty companion of the Sage Emperor himself, who challenged the proud scions of pre imperial tribes and emerged victorious in every battle, falling only to basest treachery. The Celestial Dragon is the most visible of the Ancestors. On a clear day, he can occasionally be seen in his eternal circling above the Imperial Capital, far, far above the clouds.

The Dragon is however somewhat unusual, in that he is not tied to a clan, but rather the imperial seat itself, as the corrupt dynasts which oversaw the fall of the First and Second Dynasties saw to their horror. The great Mu, greatest of the imperial dynasties have learned well from the lessons of their predecessors, and continue to enjoy the Dragons eternal favor.

In the time since the Celestial Dragons righteous fury was spent upon the western jungles, and the vile demon its inhabitants worship, the Dragon has only acted twice, and each time has seen the fall of a dynasty. The corrupt and decadent false emperors reduced to dust by divine lightning for their sins, paving the way for more virtuous rulers.

Though it may be the greatest of their kind, the Celestial Dragon is not the eldest, that honor belongs to the Grandmother Serpent, who sleeps in the deepest depths of the Thousand Lakes province. There is some dispute over the matter, the Bai and the Zheng both claim their histories the longer one, but most Imperial historians agree that the Bai's claim is the more credible one. Grandmother Serpent is an Ancestor in truth, the mother of the Eight half spirit daughters from which all branches of the extensive Bai clan descend. Since descending into slumber at the ascension of the youngest of the Eight, Grandmother Serpent has only awoken once. When the Sage Emperor came to the Thousand Lakes and courted the favor and hand of the White Serpent Queen, he proved his worth he was forced to contend with his prospective wife's ancestor is a rather more direct fashion than most suitors, in order to prove his worth.

The bay formed by their contest remains the most prominent port in Thousand Lakes to this day.

The Zheng clans Ancestor, which I have previously mentioned, is the Reveler. The most active of the Ancestors, as well as the smallest physically. He takes the form of a great black furred monkey twice the height of a man. Though his physical form remains in silent meditation under the hollowed mountain where the Zheng make their clan home, he is known to be active in a way other Ancestors are not, projecting fragments of his might across the province to do as he wills. It is from this that the Ebon Rivers province gained its rich brewing tradition and strict rules of hospitality.

One never knows if the traveler at the door might be the Reveler after all, best to have a drink and a good tale on hand. The Reveler is a benign entity, unless driven to rage by ill-manners. It is said that the Sage Emperor's rapid and bloodless conquest of the Ebon Rivers was due to a week long drinking contest in which the Reveler declared him a brother and honorary Zheng.

We come then to the youngest of the active Ancestors. The Living Isle, home of the Xuan. A mighty Serpent Tortoise upon which the rulers of the Savage Seas make their home. Unlike the others, it was a step below what we know as the white stage during the time of the emperor, a mighty best indeed, but still below the level of an Ancestor. It is however the only one of the two Ancestors to engage in true lethal battle during imperial history.

In the days of the second dynasty, the barbarians of the far northern isles arose in force against the noble men and women of the savage seas, even going so far as to awaken the great demon of the depths which they worship. A monstrous and hideous creature best left undescribed. The Xuan had no choice but to awaken their ancestor to combat it.

The resulting storm tsunamis and earthquakes reduced much of the province to rubble and even shattered ports further inland on the Alabaster Coast, but in the end, the Sea Folks demon was driven back, and the Empire was victorious.

The last of the active ancestors belongs, of course, to the illustrious and virtuous Mu Clan, of the Third and greatest dynasty. The Herald of Endings takes the form of a vast, white owl, whose wings cover the sky, and whose shadow lays bare the sins of the wicked. Her perch lies at the mist shrouded peak of mount Tai. In the wake the terrible invasion of the southern barbarians, then Prince An sought wisdom from his Ancestor in bolstering those parts of the realm which had begun to fail.

The Ministry of Integrity was established shortly thereafter, reinforcing our great empire and ensuring further millenia of prosperity.

Sadly, as their clans declined or events lead to their downfall, other Ancestors have left our world. The Horned Lord vanished into the depths of Emerald Sea, disgusted with his craven descendants, the Purifying Sun expended herself annihilating the greatest threat the Empire has seen, and the Grandfather of Tides fell into such a deep torpor that his body dissolved into the seas.

Yet, even these have laid the foundations for others to rise stronger than before. The Guo of Golden Fields have their Father Fortress, the titanic scorpion upon which they cross the wastes of their province, and in the south The Duchess Cai has gone further than any before in the creation and enhancement of object spirits. Even in loss, even in hardship, we prevail, growing stronger with every decade.

Each of the entities mentioned could of course be a book unto itself, the following chapters will attempt to expand on each as much as space allows...

-Excerpt from 'Ancestors Sublime'