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Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Location
- The Temple of the Winds
... and lose our debuff protection ? No.
Given that their basic nature is that of a bodiless spirit I feel that anything we did there would only be allowing them to temporarily take physical form to play around. And it wouldn't stop them from just hiding inside us anyway I don't think.
Why would Sixiang actually fight? They would still hide inside Ling Qi during fights.
Sixiang already mentioned (several times IIRC) that they would like to have a physical body, and besides, as a muse spirit that can't go and inspire people they are wasting their talent.
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Next three/two month are going to be a rush for appraisal and maybe getting a few new arts to remplace the one that are outdated (FSA and the wind support art we have come to mind here).
I would prefer not to search for successor for FVM and SCS before we need them (so maybe 4/5 months), if only because we will be stronger and thus have access to better stuff.
I would prefer not to search for successor for FVM and SCS before we need them (so maybe 4/5 months), if only because we will be stronger and thus have access to better stuff.
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
I'd rather get an art or Domain Effect that allows allied spirits to act physically near us then have Sixiang use time she could use to get better at her job to get better at ZG's.
UmbraofChaos
Freedom Lets Go
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Does anyone have the discord link? I went looking for it by they all seem to have expired.
- Location
- Staring into the void
Dong Fu technically didn't show up again, but we've already figured out that he's the Sect Head in disguise.Just read the first chapter again on RR, I totally forgot about the carriage guy.
Did we ever hear something of him again? With a name like Dong Fu he's bound to be special.
Definitely.
Yrs just refuses to admit it because he's embarrassed we spotted it so early, I'm sure.
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- They/Them
yrsillar said he's in the Inner Sect so we have a chance of finding him when the quest starts again!Just read the first chapter again on RR, I totally forgot about the carriage guy.
Did we ever hear something of him again? With a name like Dong Fu he's bound to be special.
Codex
Fantasy Addict
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yeah, yeah, Yrs was on the discord too. In case you're wondering what he said:
Moonbeams are a quantifiable form of energy emission. When we cultivate Lunar and Stellar qi (toxic qi that is purified and distilled with the energies of the moon), we calculate the energy we pick up by feel. But there are nerds like Suyin out there who actually measure how much moon units are being thrown around and stuff.
It's also been discussed that Cai has a high relative perception, which is why she's capable of picking up Ling Qi dozing off. Ling Qi dozing off in meetings is also something that was being exaggerated for comedic purposes as well as to save narrative space so Yrs didn't have to write up complicated meetings involving a dozen individuals playing off each other.
Ling Qingge will stay in the village instead of moving somewhere new. We'll still be able to visit her though.
Despite our point of view of Kang, he actually has a good reputation. Some of his subordinates still like him, and plenty of unrelated people think he's an upstanding guy stuck in a shitty situation.
Argent Genesis starts at Late Yellow, for the same reasons SCS starts at Red. It is definitely not a low quality cultivation art as it is the core continuation of Argent Soul. The first level of the cultivation art allows you to bind 3rd grade beasts, even if you're yellow, although you'd eat a hefty penalty (like Han Jian).
Yrs will start adding more stuff to the art info blurbs, including at what cultivation level/stage an art ends at.
There is a qualifying process to be able to participate in the Intersect Competition, however, the competition will not be a tournament. Yrs said it would be too boring to have 2 major arcs be tournaments one after the other.
The Zheng attended the tournament, sending a representative, mainly to see the Bai/Sun scuffle. We also learn that the Huang are pretty horrible in general, which is somewhat a result of the Zheng being friendly, jolly hands free overlords.
The Jin (Ducal family of Alabaster Sands) did not send a representative. Here's the reason: "They don't really have enough political engagement with the presumed happenings to send someone cross continent for a childrens scuffle they have no part in. course they'd have sent somebody if they knew it was going to blow up"
The Jin also weren't worried about any possible trade deals between the Xuan and Cai. All roads leading from Emerald Seas to Savage Seas move through Alabaster Sands, except for one "pesky Bai port". That particular port doesn't hold the infrastructure required to really hurt the Jin just yet though, and would need some work to do so.
Kang Zihao's dad wasn't there for the tournament, but one of his older brothers was. Han Jian's dad also wasn't there, instead, Han Jian's uncle: Han Jing came (yes it's confusing).
Yrs also says that the more potent the material, the harder it is to store it in subspace. Which grounds trade and prevents large bulk rare materials from being transported trivially.
The character of Jian in Han Jian's name is the same one for Jian the sword.
The reason Han Jian seems much less "beastly" than Meizhen is because the Han eugenics game is much weaker than the Bai's. It helps to note that the Bai are basically an ethnicity onto themselves, so intermarriages between Bai and Bai can be from people with such far relations that it would be hard to call it inbreeding.
Xiulan's sister Yanmei passed her examinations. She's a Core disciple now. Yrs compared Core disciples to Grad students to the professors (Elders).
Yrs describing Ai Xiaoli, Xiulan's mom: "She's a cruel manipulative uber-socialite, but she loves her daughters, and she's not fond of the idea of them setting their limbs on fire from the inside".
Yrs' description of the Ministry of Integrity: "They're basically the emperors secret police and also the irs, if the irs was its memetic self and not the crippled thing it is in reality. Like, they're the guys who, if some young master is trashing shit and disrupting the mortal economy, will go to his parents for a Pointed Conversation about Virtue. They're also the ones who will put a local administrators head on a pike over the city gate if they find that he's corrupting imperial law in some way. Their strength and presence varies by region, but they're pretty omnipresent in the captial province".
They also go after "technically legal" corruption and decadence, because Emperor An was always deeply unamused by those who abused the law. They work with the Ministry of Law for those things.
Yrs is considering Pateron benefits and additional perspectives for the RR version. AKA, we might get more interludes aside from the ones we have for the RR rewrite.
Yrs talks briefly about Huang Da and his creepiness. Essentially, he wants him to be creepy, but he's thinking of toning it down in the RR version. Yrs also states that the JR backstory implies the Huang clan's general unpleasantness, and he confirms that Ji Rong killed the Huang cultivator as direct revenge for the girl mentioned in his interlude. Yrs says "no comment" when asked how he did it, saying that it's social link data.
Yrs also confirmed that when Huang Da said "the elders won't care if you disappear", that Huang Da was partially bluffing. Using the fact that Ling Qi, Su Ling and Suyin were all commoners and were presumably ignorant to trick them.
Oh, and of course the most important part: Dong Fu was an inner sect student in disguise.
It's also been discussed that Cai has a high relative perception, which is why she's capable of picking up Ling Qi dozing off. Ling Qi dozing off in meetings is also something that was being exaggerated for comedic purposes as well as to save narrative space so Yrs didn't have to write up complicated meetings involving a dozen individuals playing off each other.
Ling Qingge will stay in the village instead of moving somewhere new. We'll still be able to visit her though.
Despite our point of view of Kang, he actually has a good reputation. Some of his subordinates still like him, and plenty of unrelated people think he's an upstanding guy stuck in a shitty situation.
Argent Genesis starts at Late Yellow, for the same reasons SCS starts at Red. It is definitely not a low quality cultivation art as it is the core continuation of Argent Soul. The first level of the cultivation art allows you to bind 3rd grade beasts, even if you're yellow, although you'd eat a hefty penalty (like Han Jian).
Yrs will start adding more stuff to the art info blurbs, including at what cultivation level/stage an art ends at.
There is a qualifying process to be able to participate in the Intersect Competition, however, the competition will not be a tournament. Yrs said it would be too boring to have 2 major arcs be tournaments one after the other.
The Zheng attended the tournament, sending a representative, mainly to see the Bai/Sun scuffle. We also learn that the Huang are pretty horrible in general, which is somewhat a result of the Zheng being friendly, jolly hands free overlords.
The Jin (Ducal family of Alabaster Sands) did not send a representative. Here's the reason: "They don't really have enough political engagement with the presumed happenings to send someone cross continent for a childrens scuffle they have no part in. course they'd have sent somebody if they knew it was going to blow up"
The Jin also weren't worried about any possible trade deals between the Xuan and Cai. All roads leading from Emerald Seas to Savage Seas move through Alabaster Sands, except for one "pesky Bai port". That particular port doesn't hold the infrastructure required to really hurt the Jin just yet though, and would need some work to do so.
Kang Zihao's dad wasn't there for the tournament, but one of his older brothers was. Han Jian's dad also wasn't there, instead, Han Jian's uncle: Han Jing came (yes it's confusing).
Yrs also says that the more potent the material, the harder it is to store it in subspace. Which grounds trade and prevents large bulk rare materials from being transported trivially.
The character of Jian in Han Jian's name is the same one for Jian the sword.
The reason Han Jian seems much less "beastly" than Meizhen is because the Han eugenics game is much weaker than the Bai's. It helps to note that the Bai are basically an ethnicity onto themselves, so intermarriages between Bai and Bai can be from people with such far relations that it would be hard to call it inbreeding.
Xiulan's sister Yanmei passed her examinations. She's a Core disciple now. Yrs compared Core disciples to Grad students to the professors (Elders).
Yrs describing Ai Xiaoli, Xiulan's mom: "She's a cruel manipulative uber-socialite, but she loves her daughters, and she's not fond of the idea of them setting their limbs on fire from the inside".
Yrs' description of the Ministry of Integrity: "They're basically the emperors secret police and also the irs, if the irs was its memetic self and not the crippled thing it is in reality. Like, they're the guys who, if some young master is trashing shit and disrupting the mortal economy, will go to his parents for a Pointed Conversation about Virtue. They're also the ones who will put a local administrators head on a pike over the city gate if they find that he's corrupting imperial law in some way. Their strength and presence varies by region, but they're pretty omnipresent in the captial province".
They also go after "technically legal" corruption and decadence, because Emperor An was always deeply unamused by those who abused the law. They work with the Ministry of Law for those things.
Yrs is considering Pateron benefits and additional perspectives for the RR version. AKA, we might get more interludes aside from the ones we have for the RR rewrite.
Yrs talks briefly about Huang Da and his creepiness. Essentially, he wants him to be creepy, but he's thinking of toning it down in the RR version. Yrs also states that the JR backstory implies the Huang clan's general unpleasantness, and he confirms that Ji Rong killed the Huang cultivator as direct revenge for the girl mentioned in his interlude. Yrs says "no comment" when asked how he did it, saying that it's social link data.
Yrs also confirmed that when Huang Da said "the elders won't care if you disappear", that Huang Da was partially bluffing. Using the fact that Ling Qi, Su Ling and Suyin were all commoners and were presumably ignorant to trick them.
Oh, and of course the most important part: Dong Fu was an inner sect student in disguise.
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Wait, was that even disguised? I thought the only time yrs mentioned Dong Fu secrets was when he admitted he's the secret #1 core disciple.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
I thought it was when he admitted that he was
The Twilight King's remnant
Now I'm sort of curious how the energy is measured and by what scale and measures. Talismans for sure, but I love my magic physics, so intensely curious
Thats actually good, I think? We(and basically all the tourney winners) can blitz through Argent Genesis rapidly while our main cultivation art is temporarily plateau'ed for Green 2 and/or taking lots of successes to progress.
But it'd probably be extra valuable for the Yellows and Part Yellows, who'd get to get its bonus to their Green Breakthrough.
Spare the rod, spoil the child is a proverb for a reason I guess.
Generally speaking states with high crown authority tend to be more just to the common folk by dint of a lot of scrutiny on the middle nobility, which we see the Huang here internalizing bad practices because who's gonna force them to play nice?
...I imagine the Bai are right now putting in the "some work".
And if they react like anyone else with trade monopolies do....
Hmm...nothing we've seen to date is impacted, but I suppose the gap from Red to Cyan(I think thats the biggest material we have ever seen?) is smaller than the gap between internal levels of Violet?
Which only reinforces isolationism even further...and thats a lot of snekpeople.
That does not sound at all popular with the noble families, does it?
And a broad remit as moral police is potentially pretty abusable too.
We must get him a gift basket
The one piece of advice he gave changed our destiny.
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
The Three Tests, Review
Review of Smelting
Review of Weeks 1-5
Well. That was a thing. It's funny how much Forge of Destiny can feel like a foundational work in its genre. I mean that in a good way; in that it plays with concepts that feel familiar, even to a new person arriving in Xianxia, and does so in a very capable way. One of the challenges for any english-language work of Xianxia is conveying the setting well. Without the visual cues of a work like Mulan, how do you make sure that it really feels like it is Chinese-influenced, that it lives and breathes Chinese fantasy and folklore? For something like Avatar: The Last Airbender, maintaining the atmosphere is a matter of visuals. It doesn't matter if Avatar makes jokes or sometimes throws out names that are familiar to a western audience because it is so evident in every aspect of the art design, the character design, the lore, the setting, that it is a kind of love letter to different cultures quite distinct from those of the west. Forge of Destiny manages this just as well, inundating you with this feeling of where you are that is hard to place but is obvious in the effort made to present every section in a way that doesn't break the atmosphere.
It should be harder for a written work, but Forge manages it anyways through a good deal of writing to make each section really feel authentic and fantastical in an appropriate way, and it does so by also serving as something of a culmination of the first weeks of Ling Qi's time in the Argent Sect. The Three Tests are an important turning point for Qi, in that they present her with the insecurities and anxieties that have been bubbling under the surface since Smelting, and force them forward. Qi has to literally confront a spirit of her own mistakes, a creature that reminds her of all the things she wanted to leave behind. It's an interesting story, because it's not something we usually dwell on for this kind of background, now is it? Of course there is always anxiety and insecurity for these characters in fiction, but rarely is their background addressed well. It can be addressed, but it usually doesn't feel "right". Like you're losing some of the mystique of the character. No one really cares about the backstory of Aladdin and the stuff he went up to as a street rat. And they shouldn't, because the story isn't about that. It's about him transforming into something more.
But ascension in the Argent Sect is not just about genies. What we've seen from the characters in prior chapters is that there is a lingering history hiding behind each and every one of them. Every character is their own puzzle waiting to be solved. Ling Qi's insistence on moving forward, of throwing herself into her work, cannot silence the shadows of her mind. She has to confront them before she really move forward, before she can break her insecurities, stab the spider of self-doubt, and throw it into the moonpool. Qi might be just a peasant, but that is no excuse for not being a person. She has a story, and it may be more mundane than her classmates, but it is a story nonetheless. She is no blank slate of power.
And the tests shows that Qi has really progressed. She uses her skillset as a thief to excel, her cultivation allowing her to do feats she never thought possible. Her thinking about how much money she had made from a few minutes of pickpocketing only now that she no longer needed it was great. The battle in the fortress was also great and showed that Gu "Do you want to build a bonfire" Xiulan is apparently literally just Azula with more social skills. It's just Azula. Pack it in, boys. We found her. Also, rest in peace well boy. You died as you lived; vaguely arrogant.
The Three Tests set up a lot of different stuff. Fan Yu fails the test, a funny result for someone who until this point can have his personality described by the word "peasant" said in a very angry voice. I wonder where they'll go with that. Ling Qi having an elder come over to her and say thatif she pays him fifty gacha coins if she wants to, she can pass the third test, is another clear setup. I can only hope that the answer is not something stupid, like Qi actually being a secret noble or something.
And of course, there are looming deadlines. Qi is always in a race against time to improve her cultivation, so she will likely barely have any time to savor this victory before being thrown right back into the thick of things. And of course, I can't wait for the lifting of protections on students. I am sure that it will be civilized. Li Suyin told me it would. Why wouldn't it be?
Guys? Guys, why do you all have knives-
Review of Smelting
Review of Weeks 1-5
Well. That was a thing. It's funny how much Forge of Destiny can feel like a foundational work in its genre. I mean that in a good way; in that it plays with concepts that feel familiar, even to a new person arriving in Xianxia, and does so in a very capable way. One of the challenges for any english-language work of Xianxia is conveying the setting well. Without the visual cues of a work like Mulan, how do you make sure that it really feels like it is Chinese-influenced, that it lives and breathes Chinese fantasy and folklore? For something like Avatar: The Last Airbender, maintaining the atmosphere is a matter of visuals. It doesn't matter if Avatar makes jokes or sometimes throws out names that are familiar to a western audience because it is so evident in every aspect of the art design, the character design, the lore, the setting, that it is a kind of love letter to different cultures quite distinct from those of the west. Forge of Destiny manages this just as well, inundating you with this feeling of where you are that is hard to place but is obvious in the effort made to present every section in a way that doesn't break the atmosphere.
It should be harder for a written work, but Forge manages it anyways through a good deal of writing to make each section really feel authentic and fantastical in an appropriate way, and it does so by also serving as something of a culmination of the first weeks of Ling Qi's time in the Argent Sect. The Three Tests are an important turning point for Qi, in that they present her with the insecurities and anxieties that have been bubbling under the surface since Smelting, and force them forward. Qi has to literally confront a spirit of her own mistakes, a creature that reminds her of all the things she wanted to leave behind. It's an interesting story, because it's not something we usually dwell on for this kind of background, now is it? Of course there is always anxiety and insecurity for these characters in fiction, but rarely is their background addressed well. It can be addressed, but it usually doesn't feel "right". Like you're losing some of the mystique of the character. No one really cares about the backstory of Aladdin and the stuff he went up to as a street rat. And they shouldn't, because the story isn't about that. It's about him transforming into something more.
But ascension in the Argent Sect is not just about genies. What we've seen from the characters in prior chapters is that there is a lingering history hiding behind each and every one of them. Every character is their own puzzle waiting to be solved. Ling Qi's insistence on moving forward, of throwing herself into her work, cannot silence the shadows of her mind. She has to confront them before she really move forward, before she can break her insecurities, stab the spider of self-doubt, and throw it into the moonpool. Qi might be just a peasant, but that is no excuse for not being a person. She has a story, and it may be more mundane than her classmates, but it is a story nonetheless. She is no blank slate of power.
And the tests shows that Qi has really progressed. She uses her skillset as a thief to excel, her cultivation allowing her to do feats she never thought possible. Her thinking about how much money she had made from a few minutes of pickpocketing only now that she no longer needed it was great. The battle in the fortress was also great and showed that Gu "Do you want to build a bonfire" Xiulan is apparently literally just Azula with more social skills. It's just Azula. Pack it in, boys. We found her. Also, rest in peace well boy. You died as you lived; vaguely arrogant.
The Three Tests set up a lot of different stuff. Fan Yu fails the test, a funny result for someone who until this point can have his personality described by the word "peasant" said in a very angry voice. I wonder where they'll go with that. Ling Qi having an elder come over to her and say that
And of course, there are looming deadlines. Qi is always in a race against time to improve her cultivation, so she will likely barely have any time to savor this victory before being thrown right back into the thick of things. And of course, I can't wait for the lifting of protections on students. I am sure that it will be civilized. Li Suyin told me it would. Why wouldn't it be?
Guys? Guys, why do you all have knives-
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Diomedea
A piece of the continent
- Location
- The interblag
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I kinda want his perspective on things. He's like "go make friends" and here Ling Qi is a year later, the personal retainer of the Cai heir and the very loudly secret close relationship with Meizhen, a friend of the Gu, and a friend of the commoner prodigy over in the production track that year (Suyin). Also she somehow befriended a Yuki Onna and still hasn't been eaten.
Love seeing your analysis @Cetashwayo Hopefully you don't find yourself disappointed by later chapters
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
Love seeing your analysis @Cetashwayo Hopefully you don't find yourself disappointed by later chapters
Nah, I doubt I will, given people praise the later chapters even more
I will be posting these reviews on RR as someone suggested when we get to the relevant section.
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- Location
- United Kingdom
IIRC her scales have lightened in colour since we first met her?
- Location
- United States of America
I thought it was more representative of her poison abilities seeing as her mom is the snek companion of aunty Su and an assasins blade. Rather then her being lower born
I'm pretty sure all the Bai snakes are venomous. It's sort of their thing.
No, I'm going to go with Meizhen is slumming it with her lowborn companion. Clearly we aren't the first time she's shown a proclivity for... commoners.
Well, I suppose it's very progressive of her anyway. No wonder Suzhen says she's kind-hearted.
