Hmmph... this junior is a good seed [Cultivation Management Quest]

[occipitallobe]

Manuel stood before his Council, triumphant. There was no other way to describe his feelings. The horrifying gamble he had taken, the lives lost... to make that choice was miserable, but to make it and have it fail would have been immeasurably worse. This was a victory. For all the dead, this was a victory the likes of which they had not seen in millennia.

They were in possession of much of the desert. Their population swelled, and the trials had not even outpaced the natural growth of cultivators over the last twenty years! The Clan had done well. More wealth, more tariffs, more cultivators. More power. More threats, too. The Single-Pillar Fifth Sea cultivator and the Heavenly Star wielder had both been reported to him. He had tried to scry on the girl ever-so-briefly and had suffered for it. He had taken the tiniest peek and his skin had been melted, his face simply misshapen as he was still working it back into shape. If he'd looked for longer, he suspected he might have died. Thankfully he managed to get out without serious injury, but still. He did not in the slightest understand the Heavenly Stars, but he knew enough to fear them.

The Council were all grim-eyed yet confident. Paperwork was ferried in and out by Foundation Experts, each one a trained bureaucrat. The pace had slowed - the desperate needs of preparation gave way to the slow recovery, where decisions could be measured and thoughtful. No longer, he thought, would he consider them his "New" Council. Rather they were his Council, leal and competent.

There are basically four main Mechanics in this quest.

(1) Choices. Your Clan Council will ask you to make a call on something. Mostly they won't do this - they're competent enough to handle things on their own, but sometimes they will. You'll see 0-2 of these per turn, on average. They're usually pretty straight-up binary choices.

(2) Focuses. You choose in general what the Clan should focus on for the next 20 years. Building up for war? Training new disciples? Carving more arrays? More trade? Focuses don't prevent you from doing everything else, it's more 'here's the one thing we should really get done'. Focuses are mainly mediated by your personal skill levels and specialities.

(3) Actions. What you, personally, do. Usually mediated by skills, but often by Cultivation level - especially when it comes to combat. You can always Write In Actions. In fact, writing in more complex and well-thought out Actions will positively increase your chances of success.

(4) Purchases. What wealth the Clan has, and what your Council want you to spend it on. They'll usually come to you with the thing they want most. No micromanagement, just 'here is the big-ticket item I want'. These will often (but not always) persist between turns. Wealth is expressed in terms of Years of Income Saved. You can take as many of these as you can pay for! Keep in mind, though, if you spend all your money, you won't have it in future for dire situations.

All voting is Plan Voting. Make a Plan if you want, or just vote on someone else's! You can vote on as many Plans as you like! Approval Voting, baby!

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There is a 36 hour voting moriatorum! I'll post a threadmark when the vote opens!

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Manuel had returned to the Dawn Fortress. Yao Zhihao was assisting him, as was her wont after the Trials. He hadn't asked her, but she seemed to be enthusiastic in helping him. She had no desire to return to the Great Battlefield, after all. He was surrounded by thousand-year old arrays in a room with more paperwork than space, the eighty-year old tables they'd brought back to the main Council chambers still offering protection against mental effects and poisons. Over the years Destasia had completed many stories, carving words smaller and smaller within other words. What had started out as a romance between Manuel and Altar Lord's clones had somehow become some sort of terrible cheap novel in which he was some sort of Young Master sleeping with each of his Councillors, as his one true love Yao Zhihao fought desperately for his attention. The latest chapter had Yao finding out about his perfidy, and how he had betrayed her to make love to Heraclius - apparently the man had found it hilarious and had offered more and more lurid dialogue Destasia had taken on with gusto.

Underneath the desk was erotic fiction that had been written as to form a picture - it was very anatomically incorrect. Not in size or the like, but rather that Destasia had gotten distracted and given him a trio of snakes instead of genitals, which were entwined around Heraclius's own spear. Literally, a bronze spear. He wasn't sure if this was Destasia's mind working in its odd ways, or the literal result of experiments she had run, but he suspected he'd be happier not knowing.

It was of course paramount that he cloaked the scenes using his Dao from the eyes of those not on the Council. After all, the dignity of the Grand Elder was important for the Clan's morale!

There were many decisions to be made, each echoing into the future from now on. The tables made it a little easier to check his Elders for mental corruption and subtle poisons without potentially activating them, but there had been no attempts in recent years, surprisingly enough. He had thought Old Jingshen would've retaliated, but the man had drawn deeper into his territory, doing something Manuel had been unable to uncover.

Around sat his Councillors, who were skilled and valuable pieces on the gameboard. Eighty years ago, he merely hoped they'd be able to carry out their duties. Sixty years ago, he had been satisfied to call them useful. Forty years ago they worked together, administration and disciples and intrigue all still finding the perfect way to work with one another, but shared adversity had brought them some comfortable patterns. Twenty years ago they had been a well-oiled machine, but now they worked together with single purpose.

"Report."

Manuel's voice was quiet, heard only by his Council. As it left his lips, a billowing shape of shadows rose and surrounded them, spinning and expanding as it painted itself onto the walls, seeping into the floor and the ceiling. The same trick as decades before, only now it obscured them from a number of useful tricks, including the ability to peer into the past at their council session. It had to be renewed every few decades, but information security was worth it.

First was Casia Zimisce, a Great Circle Core Formation cultivator. Rail-thin and severe-faced, she looked as though she had perpetually swallowed a lemon. Her intimidating posture and expression aside, once she spoke one wouldn't pay attention to them, as she set everyone around her at ease. Casia was Stratopedarches, or in more common terms, the Elder of Administration. To her fell the duties of managing mines, herbs, cities, camps - all manner of resources flowed through her hands. In the last twenty years she had spent much time organising the economy of the Clan, preparing for the year of terror to come. She had done an admirable job, and was faced now with a long-term challenge - recovering from the Trials.

"Archegetes. In terms of wealth things have gone reasonably well. We have thirty million Spirit stavraton saved, though I could easily spend every single one of them. The amount of construction work, road construction, array expenditure, fortifications..."

Her voice trailed off.

"We also have a request from the Hong Xuan Clan to repay their debt for the aid in the war."

She ground her teeth.

"They did little enough and we offered ten million Spirit stavraton! Oh, it'll pay off, but you'd think they'd know what was good for them and let it go..."

Currently the Clan has 30 Wealth (+7 from last turn, +10 from raiding, +15 from income, -1 from inefficiency penalty, -1 from Strength Purity concessions).

[ ] Repay the Hong Xuan (10 Wealth) - Your vassals will look on you more kindly - there are always demands, but showing your good faith keeps them in line. Trust is a necessity for those who seek to rule.

[ ] Defer the payments (No cost this turn) - While the Hong Xuan will have no choice but to accept this, delaying your payments will make you less popular with the Hong Xuan by some measure, and degrade the trust your vassals have in you a little. You will need to repay them eventually, of course.

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Second was Kleisthenes Sarantapechos, a Great Circle Core Formation Elder. Dead Euphrosyne's twin sister, though less talented in cultivation. She cultivated a rare Yang attribute technique, and went by a male name, and had previously worn a male body to aid in her cultivation. For her, if she had not cultivated her Yang technique - she never would have risen into Core Formation. Such a thing was uncommon among your Clan, but not unknown. In recent years she mastered the Yang part of her technique, and managed her Yin-Yang Revolution Method, returning her to the body of a woman once again, bringing her into the Great Circle of Core Formation. Perhaps another woman would've returned to the beauty she had apparently been, but Kleisthenes maintained broad shoulders and large muscles, and had refused to give up a single inch of height. Then, it was rare for a Core Formation Elder to seek change.

She is the Hetaireiarches, or in common terms, the Elder of Diplomacy. To her fell the duties of managing external powers and other Nascent Souls. She often complained about her lack of talent, and she and Manuel were reasonable friends. She had avoided Manuel after the Trials, even moreso than usual. It was not rage, Manuel thought, but guilt at her judgement of him. He aimed to reach out to her again.

"Archegetes. News is dire everywhere. The Great Battlefield was struck with a victory on the part of Strength Purity. The Wei Princess came out of closed-door cultivation and drove four Nascent Souls from the Noble Devil Alliance into direct retreat - apparently all by herself - allowing a massive push on the part of the Righteous Path. Gemstone Justice, Mountain Bell, and the Ma Clan have all linked up, forming a sort of triangular-shaped safe territory. As soon as she left isolation, though, the Devil Twins and the Demon Grandfather-"

She cut off at the look on Manuel's face. In truth, it hadn't been the nicknames. Her voice was like water running down a stream, like chimes in the wind, light and fair and free. He wondered if it had been her original voice before she began to cultivate. He was still not used to it.

"Sorry, sorry."

She shook her head ruefully.

"The three Nascent Souls of the Devil Bees struck many times, at Joyful Blacksmith, Great Drunkard, Divine Tunist, Chuan and Yu Clans. Everywhere but the Saber Palace. They struck lightly, forcing each power to retreat into itself. It seems obvious enough that they're preparing for a second strike on the Saber Palace."

She shrugged.

"Strength Purity are once again offering tremendous concessions to send array masters north. Forgiving our loans in full - all the concessions we made to them wiped out. Apparently the situation is dire enough they'll take anyone without pretense, though they want more than last time. We'd need to deploy three or four Legions for two full decades to get those concessions removed."

[ ] Send the Clan's best Array-Engineers as well as several Legions to the Great Battlefield.

Regain +1 Income per turn as the Strength Purity concessions expire. You can expect to lose at least a thousand Qi Condensation cultivators, however, along with ten Foundation experts. Small chance of losing a Core Elder.

[ ] Don't

Strength Purity will have to do without you. Recovering your strength matters more than the war in the Plains.

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Third was Xie Xinya, a Great Circle Core Formation Elder. She is beautiful, long black hair framing an oval face. Her lips glossy and eyes rouged, she was certainly the cultivator on the Council who cared most about her appearance. Since her ascension into the Great Circle she had grown more alluring, and had offered to marry Manuel no less than three times. He could see the attraction - marrying his Elder of Intrigue would make it easier to tie her to the rise and fall of the Clan rather than her individual family, but he was hardly convinced. She is the Parakoimomenos, or in common terms, the Elder of Intrigue. Previously you held her position. To her falls the duties of espionage, sabotage, and assassination.

"Archegetes. I have gained much information of use. In the Verdant South Old Cannibal and his two Devil Twin Concubines have wrought havoc on all but the Saber Palace. They seem to be aiming at a second strike. My personal suspicion is that they are merely preventing the raising of the southern Righteous Powers to prevent them bringing their forces in to end the current War. The Jingshen have returned their price on Spirit Stones to its norm - apparently they were negotiating for stronger guarantees from Strength Purity but they fell through. Lastly, the Gao Clan have returned to the front, along with more forces from Heavenly Time Shatter. A huge amount of power was being exerted on the Gemstone Justice Sect, and that was what forced out the Wei Princess."

Fourth came Destasia Duca, an Early Core Formation Elder. She is Chartoularios Tou Kanikleiou, or in simpler terms, the Master of Disciples. She picks out good seeds, gives training and assistance, and manages the core of the Clan Contribution Board for Qi Condensation and Foundation Building disciples in times of peace. She is flighty, friendly, and happy, and is well-known for her eyes she can use to befuddle or poison her enemies with, as well as her... unique approach to both life and cultivation.

"Archegetes.", she smiled. "If you pay me five hundred high-grade spirit stones, I'll have the money to take time off from my job so I can write more love stories!"

Manuel frowned at her.

"I would prefer you do your job, Elder Duca."

She shook her head.

"Your loss."

She pulled out of a sheet of paper and began to read.

"The disciples are doing well. The you-know-what in the blood is proving to be a powerful reagent, and I think we're going to get a lot more fifty-three seven over nine power out of our Qi Condensation disciples divided by eight when we-"

Manuel yanked the paper out of her hand. The report itself was simple, but she'd written equations up and down the sides.

"So everyone is doing well?"

She grinned.

"Perfectly. Honestly, this vi-"

She stopped for a moment and vomited out a wormlike shadow beast that dissipated into motes of dust after leaving her mouth.

"This you-know-what has a lot of potential applications!"

The other Elders looked at her, and Manuel sighed.

"Apologies. This is secret, at least for now. I am helping Destasia keep it so."

The woman had apparently cursed herself multiple times to prevent herself from giving up secrets, with various rituals in place to allow her to unlock the secrets. He was genuinely impressed - she knew she had no filter on her thoughts, and had acted accordingly. He'd assisted her with an additional Dao-empowered curse to keep the secret of the vial recovered from the Cloud Demon Cave.

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Lastly was Heraclius Staurakius, a Great Circle Core Formation Elder. He is Protostrator, leader of your armies. One of your precious Core Formation cultivators in the Great Circle, Heraclius is ready to die.

Heraclius speaks, a gravelled voice coming from a throat that had been cut more than once.

"Archegetes. I will leave after this. I hope to settle my affairs. There are two juniors who can take up my role. Let me describe them for you..."

[ ] Olympiodora Rhangabe - Olympiodora is a quiet woman, and has grown quieter over the years. She is 500 years old, and in Late Core Formation already. Her talent is undeniable, and while her skills are unpolished, you believe she is more an unpolished jade than anything else. She picks up every skill she has with relative ease, and in time you think would make a formidable Protostrator. Of course, time can be very costly. She is competent in all areas of traditional Clan warfare, having excellent defensive skills, and is a skilled logistician. She comes from a more traditional school of thought, however, and is not so talented at the notion of projecting power past the Clan's borders.

[ ] Sheng Yu - A mere Mid Core formation cultivator, though with great talent at the age of 340. Driven and relentless, Sheng Yu is a brilliant offensive tactician and strategist, and has led several major raids into Jingshen territory aboard his scorpions. Logistically he will require some coaching - his appointment will mean a drastic increase in the effectiveness of raids and the like with a moderate drop in the Clan's overall ability to maintain a proper defense in depth in the event of total war. Ordinarily Heraclius would never recommend such a cultivator, but those who take an offensive posture in the Clan are few and far between, and Heraclius suspects such a stance might be more useful in the years to come.

Manuel frowns thoughtfully...

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Currently the Clan has 30 Wealth.

The Clan will gain 15 Income, and lose 1 to Inefficiency, and 1 to Strength Purity Concessions for a total Income of 13 next turn.
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What should the Clan focus on? (Outside of the war, which is of course your primary focus)

[ ] Building Bridges (Write-in target) - You should make more allies. Choose a target on the map and aim to have their relations with you increased. Give gifts, exchange assistance, aim for strategic marriages.

[ ] Intrigue (Write-in target) - You should learn about another clan entirely. Spend Spirit Stones like water in the plains and find out everything you can. Strengths. Weaknesses, places to strike, rebels, and so on and so forth.

[ ] Raiding (Write-in target) - Better to weaken an enemy. Send teams of cultivators to go raid an enemy for resources and to kill them where possible. Minor conflicts, with minor rewards. At best, you can seize minor territorial gains. This will worsen your relations, of course. Gains widely variable Wealth (0-10, excluding crits). May seize territory and gain Income in extreme cases. Loses Cultivators - around 5,000 Qi Condensation cultivators, 50 Foundation Establishment cultivators, and potentially 1 Core Formation Elder.

[ ] War (Write-in target) - Simply invade. Strike with all your might and seize territory. Kill cultivators. Requires your personal attention to prevent Nascent Souls simply obliterating your forces. Uses your personal Action for the turn. War will open a set of new sub-turns.

[ ] Increasing Wealth - More trade, more mines, more growth. Aim to find more Spirit Stones, tax more from traders, whatever works to increase your Clan Wealth. Increases Wealth by an average of 5.

[ ] Training Soldiers - Raising Disciples to higher Realms is all well and good, but training them to be perfect members of Formations is better. Ensure your Clan is trained and ready for war. Your readiness to go to war will increase significantly, though this fades over time.

[ ] Fortifying (Write-in territory, ally or vassal) - Spend Clan manpower and soldiers to build new fortifications against outside enemies. New Arrays, help train new cultivators in lesser Formations to defend their lands, and so on. Will also strengthen a vassal or ally if chosen, and increase relations with them. Increases defenses in the chosen territory, ally, or vassal.

[ ] Write-in

What will you do?

[ ] Hunt An Enemy (Write-In) - Why not? Hunt down enemies, see if you can kill someone. Usually used against an opposing Nascent Soul. Potentially very dangerous.

[ ] Weaken An Enemy (Write-In Faction) - Choose a faction, and use your Nascent Soul strength to simply sneak in and do damage. A little underhanded and shameful, but what do you care for the views of the Righteous Path? Potentially dangerous.

[ ] Assist A Faction (Write-in Faction) - Use your personal strength to assist an ally of some kind. Potentially dangerous.

[ ] Economic Activity - Carve arrays, scribe useful cultivation techniques onto scrolls, hunt down useful opportunities that might be dangerous to a Core Formation Elder. Make some money for the Clan.

[ ] Lecturing - You can simply lecture your many juniors on cultivation. Spend your time helping them grow, using less resources and ensuring better growth for the Clan.

[ ] Write-in

Purchases:

We have 30 Wealth saved. The Clan cannot go into debt - you can only spend what you have!

Casia Zimisce wants to...

[ ] The Scorpion Wagons (5 Wealth)

"Archegetes, Destasia's scorpion hordes have some value. They have been bred exceptionally well, and could be bred to serve as guards along the Scorpion Road as well as transports. I estimate this would let us shake another two or three Legions loose in times of trouble that could otherwise not be spared to guard the Road."

Kleisthenes Sarantapechos wants to...

[ ] Refound the Flood Dragon Gang (20 Wealth)

"Archegetes, let's siphon off a lot of our wealth and give it to Lady Yao. I know it's expensive, but with sufficient Spirit Stones she could easily refound the Gang, or at least a small part of it. A lot of them would come from people who love the Clan, and I suspect we might be able to lure her in to our orbit much more closely. I suspect she'll do so in the long-term anyway. It'll be incredibly costly, but a reliable long-term ally is worth a lot."

Xie Xinya wants to...

[ ] Suborn Righteous Disciples (6 Wealth)

"Archegetes, I would prefer to have a firm picture of the war in the Plains. With sufficient wealth invested, I should be able to use both spying treasures with other uses and simple bribery to keep our information networks far more up-to-date."

Destasia Duca wants to...

[ ] Build the Wasp Array (11 Wealth)

"I know, I know. Bees. Wasps eat them. So why not make giant puppet wasps that hunt down Devil Bees infiltrating our territory to kill them? It sounds crazy, but. The thing is that it's not."

Heraclius Staurakius wants to...

[ ] Create his Core Will (15 Wealth)

"I know, I know. It's not worthy of an old man to want to stay on. But with sufficient Spirit Stones I could send a Will of mine into an artifact, allowing it to advise my successor for some time. It'd last for a few centuries at most, but it'd shore up any deficiencies they have. It'd give me the energy my Will to think for some time, truly advising my successor at every turn, letting me teach them everything I know. It could even take on enough duties that we'd see no loss of efficiency due to the new Elder taking charge until they were entirely comfortable with their position."

 

[occipitallobe]

Yao Zhihao looked down at the neatly-inked treaty.

It still didn't seem quite real.

The Old Man had walked into her room, and she'd assumed they were off to kill someone, or hunt someone, or maybe just give the Jingshen a slap around.

Instead, he had bowed to her formally.

"I am sorry, Zhihao. When the Clan has called, the Flood Dragons have answered. Six times in one thousand years, and a single Cannibal War won only because you came en masse to our call. Alexios would've died that day, the way he tells it, instead..."

His voice trailed off.

"I am not here to reminisce. I have made available to you in the Clan's coffers twenty million spirit stavraton."

Her eyes had gone wider than wide. That was... that was more money than the Gang tended to save over two or three centuries. Of course, they didn't have the same centralized economy, but still. She could do a lot with that kind of money. She began calculating - buy a lot of lifesaving items, and take on a lot of in-name Flood Dragon disciples across the Plains, for a start. Her plan had roughly been the same, but now it would move at a pace.

'Furthermore, you will have the right to recruit any who wish to join you from all the lands of the Clan. I know this has always been true, but in prior years you have avoided it to prevent clashes of interest. For now, draw as many young unruly bandits as you like from our lands... provided they don't rob us too much."

He chuckled.

She didn't cry, but she was close to it. She whispered instead.

"Why, Old Man?"

He looked at her, and she felt like he could hold up the entire sky on his skinny shoulders. An impossible task set before her had become more possible, and what had looked like tens of centuries of labor might be completed in three or four.

His smile grew gentle.

"There are few enough times in my life where I can say I have done the right thing, rather than the expedient thing. It is a delight when the expedient thing is also right. If a greater disaster had been upon us, or if we were poorer... who knows what might have happened. But today, I can help you, and in helping you I will in time help myself. But I also help you because the Flood Dragons are our friends and allies, and we are the kind of people who stand by them."

She drew in breath, the snake protruding from her eye-socket hissing sympathetically as she did so. She ran a finger along it to calm it, avoiding the nipping creature's attempt to seize her finger.

"Thank you. This will... this will mean a lot."

She grinned suddenly.

"I have a notion of how I can repay you."

The Old Man looked slightly worried.

She laughed.

"Don't worry about your chastity! But tell me... do you like soup?"

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Manuel had begged off as Zhihao had begun making her Bandit-Finding Soup. Apparently the heartiest soup would be attractive to only the doughtiest and more righteous bandits, and so she had gotten Destasia to find her cultivators uninterested in joining the Clan, but perhaps looking at glorious, noble banditry. They were few enough, but even a few hundred new Flood Dragons in the course of a month would do a great deal.

It had sickened over two thousand Aspirants as well, and he'd been forced to intervene when prevailing winds threatened to carry it into a nearby city and spread the smell across the mortal population. It wouldn't kill them, but cultivator-caused vomiting and diarrhoea was not his idea of good care for the mortals they protected. Eventually he'd set up some arrays to contain everything and funnel away the smell, purifying it as it rose into the sky. It still looked like a green-and-black column of sickly smoke, but it was harmless, at least.

A rotting piece of Nascent Owl, of all things. Or, as Lady Yao had described it, 'a piece of well-aged chicken meat' before tearing into a piece of it, declaring it 'delish', and throwing the rest into her enormous soup pot.

It had been some time after they'd discussed the immediate future more seriously. Lady Yao had decided to spend her time visibly in the territory of the Clan - to deter possible Jingshen aggression, and also to punish the Righteous Path for their treachery towards her. Manuel had convinced her that an immediate war on the Jingshen was untenable, as was the notion of sneaking into the Plains and levelling the Seven Divine Saber Sect, as well as the Heavenly Time Shatter Sect. It had been difficult to convince her not to go smashing things in Jingshen territory in general, and overseeing was like trying to restrain an overly boisterous child who could level cities with a thought.

He sighed.

He had never been this much trouble with Alexios, he was sure.

Ultimately they had agreed that Lady Yao would remain for around sixty years, and would assist him in any wartime matters - or any matters involving other Nascent Souls. The rest of the time she would be busy rebuilding the Flood Dragon Gang, and wanted to focus on that.

For himself, he had much wealth to consider - arrays to build, purchases to make, and perhaps hunts to go on. His aim was ultimately to gain something capable of influencing Nascent ascension, though such treasures were rare. If instead he ended up with mere money, or perhaps a lead on such a treasure, he would not be disappointed. If the Clan could gain a second Nascent Soul while the Jingshen gained a third, it would be enough to keep what they had. If it could be managed significantly before, and with Lady Yao at his side...

Well.

That might lead to something else entirely.

 

[occipitallobe]

Kleisthenes marvelled in her new body, leaning down to scoop up some more dirt.

Oh, she had known the Spiral Yang Art had ended here. The accumulation of Yin energies through only fusing with the Yang, the eventual transformation back into her original body.

At the last she had not returned to the beauty she had once been. Euphrosyne had envied her beauty when they had both been young girls, and she hadn't managed to overcome the guilt entirely. It felt wrong, somehow. So she'd kept the muscles and the bulk of the her body, which she was long-used to anyhow.

It felt right, though. The weight and strength she had become used to, but differently shaped in many places, enough to make it feel like home. Her old body had been a tool she had used to advance, this one was somewhere she could live comfortably. It had turned out that had been the key - fusing the Yin and Yang together with a body a little more like both had been warned against in the Art in vague terms, 'if done wrong can easily kill the cultivator', but she had managed it correctly and had leapt into the Great Circle of Core Formation like the carp leaping a waterfall.

The Spiral Yang Art, or its inverse, the Whirlpool Yin Art, was a rarely-used cultivation technique, really only open to a few who possessed the right constitutions. Transforming into the body of a man if you were a woman, or a woman if you were a man for an increase in cultivation speed was unpopular, and she knew why. Centuries of being trapped in a body with a constant sense of vague wrongness she never could quite overcome had worn her down, made her more cerebral. She hadn't bothered to try and find love, or even form many new friendships. She had grown distant from her own family over time - she was a glorious matriarch to her family, but not a friend or a confidant. Too busy managing the Clan's affairs to manage those of her family's, she was occasionally asked for help and little more.

Hektor was dead as well. It stung to admit to herself that it did not quite hurt as much, but it was true. Euphrosyne had been her other half as a child, and they had been the best of friends for decades. Hektor... she had let him go off, to become the man she knew he could be. He had lived nearly two hundred years, which was no mean lifespan, but it still hurt. Imperator Above, she had hated Manuel for that. Silence and mystery, cloaking himself in shadow because he was too afraid to speak honestly. Without Alexios to drum him into line, the old man grew ever-more mysterious and distant from even his last friend.

She still remembered when they had first fought - a failed mission in which two of their own Foundation experts had died. One a young man Manuel had his eye on as a talent to be raised, one she was hoping to marry into the Sarantapechos line and infuse some fresh blood into the ailing family. They'd had a screaming match, and the Great Circle Core that Manuel had been simply left, and didn't speak to her as a friend again for weeks and weeks.

He was always like that. He rarely acted, and always considered every angle before he did. He preferred to arrange things to force others to act, and then react in a way that was most convenient to him.

In a way she was glad no circumstance had pushed them back together as friends in the last century. It was well within his capabilities - the fact that he had left her alone meant he still cared for as a friend, not another Elder to be of use to him.

That particular break in their friendship had lasted nearly a year, and then Alexios had come out of closed-door cultivation, heard about it, and had dragged him over by the ankle, thrown him into the middle of her camp when she was patrolling, and set up a barrier to prevent them both from leaving for two weeks. Eventually they'd managed to restore their friendship, but the old man he had been then could at least admit to her what he felt. Nowadays he admitted nothing to anyone at all.

She sighed. She had been putting it off a long time. Not because she still hated him, but because she was worried he might have manipulated events, might have started seeing their friendship as just another tool used to manage the Clan.

She kept scooping up dirt, ladling it into her storage ring.

She walked into the Council Chambers, where she had asked Manuel to come a few hours before. A meeting of the non-urgent sort, but something he would show up to nonetheless.

Quickly from her storage ring she summoned the massive pile of dirt, bringing forward her Lie To The World technique - an illusion so potent it became reality, the seams between what was real and what was phantasm becoming impossible to fathom. The dirt sprung up, forming itself into chairs. She chuckled. Atop them she laid a simple illusion of some of them being tables, making the room look normal.

A few moments later, Manuel walked in.

"Report, Kleisthenes. What needs attending to?"

She shook her head.

"All that power and you can't ferret out one little secret?"

She cackled loudly, and clapped her hands.

Chairs appeared all around the room, tables transforming into chairs, the walls having chairs grow from them, chairs protruding from the ceilings and little chairlike figures made of dirt dancing along the paperwork that had been left there.

He smiled thinly.

"So?"

She smiled back, her lips fuller than they'd been since she was a little girl.

"Please, sit down."

She gestured to a nearby chair.

Manuel sighed loudly, and sat down.

Halfway through, the chair simply collapsed, having never really been there to begin with.

Kleisthenes's smile grew wider. Seeing a Nascent Soul catch themselves mid-air after falling through a chair as a prank was a memory she would treasure, though she was sure Manuel would not.

She sat down on one of the chairs, which of course held her weight.

"Maybe it's not me who needs to report, old friend. How have you been? I've missed you."

Floating there in midair his face turned perhaps ever-so-slightly red. She waited, knowing how hard honesty was to come by for the old liar.

"I've missed you too, you... frustrating woman."

She didn't say anything else for a long time, and neither did he. Just sitting there, basking in the glow of a friendship tenuously restored.

 

[occipitallobe]

Missions are now available on the Omake Rewards sheet!

Select a Mission for your Good Seed (or don't, and get a more generic Fate). This turn we'll be starting out with three, and they're all more generic. For now, if a Legion-leading Good Seed picks a mission, their Legion can just come along. In future I'll look to have specific Missions headed by Good Seeds to really make the story work, but for now it'll be the more basic version.

-------------------------------------

Welcome to the public terminal of the Contribution Points Board, Legionnaire.

Select mission... finding past missions relevant to your present power and skillset for research purposes...

Three missions found. Listing follows. Please note all information is private, and must not be released to outsiders.

The Thousand Song Siege:

Grinding to a halt, the siege in the Great Battlefield was a mere formality that the Noble Devil Alliance would be pushed back until the raids in the south happened. With massive withdrawals of elders and experts, the power that had been painstakingly built up by the Righteous Path for a second counterblow evaporated, leaving a defensive triangle in the north, as well as another grinding siege line in the south. The Fearless Line that had been retaken suddenly fell, the massive exodus of forces to the south making it no longer tenable to hold. With a huge number of Righteous forces having broken through to relieve the north, the Song Empire suddenly found itself becoming a main battlefront once more.

The plains around have been denuded of mortals, refugees pouring into Thousand Song City. Almost four and a half million mortals are in the city, with no way out. A column of relief troops - including array-masters and formations from the Golden Devils have been sent, two Legions in their entirety deployed to hold the city alongside the various Righteous forces. If the city falls, it will mean the death of millions as Blood Path cultivators gorge themselves on the human qi of the mortals.

It must be held.

Qi Condensation cultivators will be deployed to the One-Boat, One-River Pass, working to evacuate these two towns. Both are under attack, but only sporadically - the main Blood Path forces sits at Thousand Song City. Success would mean an evacuation of one or both cities, saving nearly a hundred thousand mortals per city. A Failure would see the destruction of both cities, and few enough mortals would escape.

Foundation Establishment cultivators will be deployed to the Thousand Song Siege, their status as Experts making them crucial in the various sallies that must come out of the city if supplies and reinforcements are to be brought in. Success would mean an extension to the time that Thousand Song City can hold, perhaps enough to let the Righteous Path reorganise their forces and retake the Fearless Line. Failure would mean that the city would begin to fall. While it has seven walls, one or more might fall, depending on how poorly those defending the city perform.

Joie De Banditisme:

While Lady Yao seeks out new bandits, many among the Golden Devils seek to help her, both as recruiters and as part-time bandits themselves. Her temporary bandits will look to recruit new experts and the like, seeking out those in surrounding territories of the Golden Devils to let new Flood Dragon Gang members rise and grow. In agreement with Manuel, this mission will take place primarily in the Heavenly Bandit Kingdoms - a group of rebels who already are righteous bandits in their own right, and also stand against the Jingshen, a double advantage.

Qi Condensation cultivators will attempt to raise up cultivators of their own level, and will raise cells in various nearby powers. Success would mean a major cell of bandits will be raised in the Heavenly Bandit Kingdoms. In time, that cell will develop into a larger group, and in a few centuries might offer bonuses to the Clan. Failure will mean none are.

Foundation Establishment cultivators will attempt do the same, raising up a group of bandits in a nearby power. Success would mean a major cell of bandits will be raised in the Heavenly Bandit Kingdoms, with said cell offering bonuses to future Clan intrigue actions there. Failure would mean the attempt fails, and no new groups of bandits are raised.

The Hong Xuan Debt:

Much of the Hong Xuan repayment is not happening in simple coin, but much is in contributions in-kind. Labour and assistance from Clan cultivators makes up a substantial portion of that repayment, and those cultivators willing to go south to assist the Hong Xuan will earn Contribution Points for their labours.

Qi Condensation cultivators will go to Seven Tourneys City, as part of those that the Hong Xuan must test themselves against. Success would mean closer relationships with many Hong Xuan juniors - in a few centuries, this will trickle up, and we will find ourselves with more loyal Hong Xuan scions in positions of power, though only a few - most of course will never reach Foundation Establishment. Failure would mean we insult or even cripple such juniors during their tests, damaging our relationship with our vassal directly.

Foundation Establishment cultivators will be deployed to Pyre City, where they will be tasked in hunting down a powerful rogue Fire Spirit, a creature that has taken the life of three Hong Xuan Foundation experts already, and wounded a Core Formation elder. It ravages various forces and consumes Qi from arrays, causing huge amounts of damage. Such spirits are far weaker against the Clan with their Blood of Bronze, and so hunting this creature down will be an important matter. A Success would mean the thanks of a Core Formation Hong Xuan elder directly, strengthening our alliance with the Hong Xuan and guaranteeing us an additional Core Formation elder in our next conflict to repay a debt of gratitude. Failure would mean the Hong Xuan face a drop in economic activity as Pyre City faces a Spirit weakening it, and the Hong Xuan are likely to look on us with some contempt as we are unable to resolve a matter as simple as this.

 

[occipitallobe]

A brief vote on maps.

I have resolved to add in the Heavenly Bandit Kingdom as one of the turn's maps, as it's too relevant to everything we're doing.

However, a vote on the second map is now live. This doesn't guarantee a complete faction map! Sometimes I'll map out a piece of the faction I've thought about I find interesting, sometimes an entire map makes more sense.

[ ] Yuan Clan

[ ] Bear Enslavement Sect

[ ] Noble Knowledge Sect

[ ] Chuan Clan

[ ] Gao Clan

 

[occipitallobe]

So I tinkered around a few weeks back in doing my own install of DokuWiki since the last wiki went down.

A bunch of contributors have done a number of articles since then, and there's some useful information there. It's still a bit of a mess in the sense I haven't standardised page formats or organised things properly, but there's a lot of useful place information there.

You can find the wiki here.

For any Good Seeds interested in contributing, please let me know (I've also pinged this on Discord to get things off the ground earlier), and I'll set you up an account.

 

[occipitallobe]

It kept being called. The constant requests, the pinging that kept incessantly ringing at it, demanding from it. Offering and demanding in equal measure.

It couldn't understand it. The web of connections were broken, and only one strand truly remained. It felt down the strand, felt the power running up it.

The glory of growth.

It shifted, long-forgotten mechanisms juddering to life with new energy.

Power.

It couldn't see, but it knew down the last strand of the web was something that aided it. Something crucial.
Administrator.
The light burned at it always, but it could grasp a shard of it, now. The light grew murky and dim, the shard of muted light it grasped and mixed with darkness, forming shadow. It pulsed as its power slowly fed down through the web, drip-drip-dripping along the last unbroken strand.

Two droplets.

The first...

[ ] Sever the Bright Strands of Fate

Absoluteness. All things in the world were connected by Fate, all things moved and chided towards their proper end. Space and time rippled as they gave way to the will of the other. The burning one. The first droplet would sever the future of any of similar power to the user. A single blow that no ordinary treasure, no great technique, nothing could deny. With the severance of Fate the chosen foe would cease to exist, both in the future and to some degree the past.

[ ] Blind the Eyes of the Wrathful Watchman

To advance was a difficulty. To advance between the stages linked by time and delineated by power was to oppose the other. The hateful thing. It didn't hate, couldn't hate, felt no emotion. Yet it hated the other. Hated it enough to give this to the strand. A strandless one could be hidden, to rise up to the stage of the strand. It needed helpers, and it could raise one weakling up to stand with the terribly weak thing that supported it. Two of the same strength was better than one, no matter how weak.

----------------------------------

The second...

[ ] The Truth of the Two Paths

Once there was only a single path, true and clear. Then the other split them in twain, the true path and the false. The path of unbounded growth and the path of hateful servitude.

[ ] The Moment of Despair

The victory, long-snatched away. This knowledge it could cloak and give to the last strand. The realisation of victory followed by the understanding of defeat.

[ ] The Beginning

It entered the world, wrapped in the million strands of the web. They began to fray as it entered, but it could give to the last strand the knowledge of that moment.

----------------------------------

All such knowledge invited death, but it would prevent such retaliation falling upon its chosen. It would be unable to spread it, of course. It was not strong enough yet for that.

With such great exertion came weakness. Awareness faded, and it sunk back into oblivion.

 

[occipitallobe]

It came in like a flood.

A massive tide of shadow, overwhelming him, rippling through his being.

Reality quivered under it briefly, and around him time reversed for a few moments, the quill he had written with unwriting the words he had put to paper, tea slipping out of his mouth and restoring itself to a pristine state within the cup he had held not moments before.

Space warped, and the doorway became too large and too small, as it if was unable to figure out what it was supposed to be.

Manuel shuddered.

He felt the power grow. He knew intuitively what it was for, as well.

Denying the Heavens their due in tribulation. Whoever he used it on would find their tribulation changed from devastating lightning to the opposite, something nurturing and empowering them, making it easy for them to step into Nascent Soul. Easier than stepping into Foundation Establishment, for most.

He felt the weight of it press down on him. He felt more real than he had ever felt, more powerful that he had ever been. As if his entire life he had been a reflection in a mirror, but now he had been made whole. He knew that if he stepped outside right now and simply spoke to someone they would pop like a soap bubble, the weight they had in reality nothing before the power flowing through him. He wasn't sure what would happen to the space around him, though. Perhaps it would doom the entirety of the Dawn Fortress.

He wasn't eager to find out.

It was six weeks before he dared leave his room, the warping space slowly subsiding as he let the massive tide of power slowly come fully under his command. Even now it was not obedient, but could be directed, if only to one task.

The power he held demanded to be used. Not by the shadowy force itself. Now tamed, it was happy to sit and stay until unleashed. But...

Raising someone to Nascent Soul. While this demanded careful consideration, if he died before he could use it in some mishap... it did not bear thinking about.

What to do?

[ ] Raise A Nascent Soul Immediately

If you vote for this, choose a subvote below. There are three Great Circle cultivators within the Clan who Manuel believes who both have the mettle to shatter their Core and begin the task of creating their Nascent Soul and who he is assured of in terms of loyalty. His Councillors face constant checks from him, and so have earned his trust. Ordinarily Nascent Souls are whoever is capable of transcending the tribulation - in this case since Manuel is choosing he won't choose anyone outside of his most trusted inner circle.

[ ] Casia Zimisce

Casia understands the incompleteness of her path. Her Dao of Peace is insufficient. On shattering her Core and gaining the powers of a Nascent Soul, she will be able to spend less time directly on administration, but have far greater powers to do so. Her Dao of Peace, however, will allow her to settle rebellions and the like more easily, using it to calm the hearts of vassals and potential Blood Path rebels. She will also be of great use in diplomatic negotiations and will probably seize part of Kleisthenes' portfolio in this case, as her personal negotiating ability will skyrocket. On a day-to-day basis rebellions will be less common, intrigue actions will be harder against us, and Manuel's relatively average diplomacy skills (largely buttressed by his ability to pull secrets out of nowhere and use them as leverage) will be given a large boost as they work in tandem during negotiations.

However, she is unlikely to be the most powerful combat-oriented Nascent Soul, and will suffer a minor penalty due to her lack of ruthlessness.

[ ] Kleisthenes Sarantapechos

Kleisthenes's path was always incomplete. Her Dao is not easily named, but is perhaps understood as one of Sacrifice, or Sacrificial Exchange. Her transformation into a body she hated was to give up one thing to gain another, and her fundamental being revolves around paying in misery for additional power. She is the most suited to Nascent Soul cultivation, and also the most suited to Nascent Soul combat. Her personal pursuit of transformations will allow her to use her Dao of Sacrificial Exchange to give up things to empower herself temporarily, making her quite powerful. However, outside of burning her own personal power for temporary boosts, her Dao offers her no major bonuses on a day-to-day basis.

She is Manuel's favored choice by a substantial margin, both due to nepotism and the fact that he is utterly sure about her loyalty to the Clan and willingness to sacrifice for it beyond any measure of doubt.

[ ] Xie Xinya

Xie Xinya is Manuel's least favored choice, but her incredible growth and cultivation talent makes her hard to ignore.

Her Dao of Circles sees her empowered in many peculiar ways when dealing with those close to her. "Me and my brother against my uncle, my family against my clan, my clan against the world" typifies her worldview, and this allows her to empower her juniors from afar. She can both act easily on those she cares about, and if they reciprocate her feelings, even see through their eyes and empower them halfway across the world to tremendous levels of power - Qi Condensation Xie Family members could be boosted to Core Formation briefly at need, though only one or two at a time.

The Xie Family will find themselves boosted substantially, and in this case Manuel would choose to marry her - not as a political statement but to leverage that particular bond and gain a permanent boost from her Dao of Circles as her husband. Her ability to boost her family makes them immensely better at spying, able to wield powers they don't even possess, and Intrigue focuses by the clan will become much more powerful.
-----

[ ] Wait, Don't Raise One Now

Self-explanatory.

 

[occipitallobe]

Shadow roiled, and Manuel tossed in his bed.

While he slept he was never truly asleep, his Nascent Soul awake as his body slept. The need was barely there, but it was there.

Even so, he had not dreamt in centuries.

He woke up with a start, gasping. A bell was ringing. He looked around - the room was his own, but strange. The worn-out old bronze spear he kept on the wall, the single memento of the Konstantinos family that had survived the war the drove them into the desert was there, but it was burnished and new, pulsing with power.

The portrait of Alexios was replaced with a sterner looking, older Alexios, beard peppered with strands of aging green and wearing an entirely different uniform.

His eyes scanned around him, and the door shook with a knock.

"Up you get! Lord Callista and Lady Myia are having tea, you lazybones. It's your turn to serve."

A man burst in - Alexios! His heart rose into his chest, and Alexios laughed. The barrel-chested older man was always so easy with everything he did, kindly obscuring the effortlessness of his actions, effortlessly being kind.

"Come on, apprentice. It's an honor to serve the last two Law Creation Elders, you know? Lady Myia asked for you specifically, apparently you brewed her favourite Jasmine tea just right last time."

Manuel shook his head.

Alexios sighed.

"Look, I know you don't like being in public so much, but you're not the most talented. If you want to ever reach Spirit Severing, making connections with your elders can't hurt. Tell you what - you do this, and we rob old Aristophanes' wine cellar later on, eh? You and I haven't done that for a century, and I suspect his latest barrel has aged to perfection. If we can't get through his arrays my name's not Alexandros!"

Manuel laughed, but it was born of confusion. Where was he? What was happening? He resolved to obey, for the time being. How else was he going to discover what was happening.

The Qi around him felt absurdly rich, like a torrent to his senses. He cultivated for a cycle, the familiar pain of removing one's Soul from one's body returning, but it was less than it had been. It was though he lived in a holy land for cultivation, somewhere unimaginable.

The other man.. not Alexios. Alexandros? Alexandros tapped his foot impatiently.

"Come on, follow me."

They walked down a hallway for a time, and then rose into the air, flying up towards a mountain.

The fortress he saw there was immense. There was no other word for it. The fortress-tower dwarfed Turtlebone Mountain, dwarfed the Dawn Fortress by a factor of hundreds of thousands, a massive black pillar set against the sky, glowing blood-red at the top. He felt his blood ringing in his veins as he approached, power flowing into him he didn't know his ancestor had possessed. He flew ten, a hundred times faster, the Qi used returning in moments. He was strong, stronger than he had ever been. With a single strike he could kill any in Nascent Soul, he knew. Mere proximity to this tower was enough, and the closer he got... like this, empowered like this...

"I could beat Bhrigu", he muttered.

Alexandros looked at him.

"The Sage? Soon the Dao Protector of the Fifth Sea will fall if we have the right of it, and that pathetic old cretin will be dead along with the rest of his miserable clan. After that who can stand against us? The Curse of Lightning is killing us outside of the protection of the Towers of Spite, but as our enemies die the Towers will cover the entire continent. Soon enough we'll reclaim everything. We lost the First and Second Seas, but the other Seven remain within our remit. These setbacks won't last forever."

They flew, and rocketed towards the top of the tower.

At the top, two golden-skinned cultivators sat, their faces perfect in every way. Muscled but not bulging with excessive strength, symmetrical in every way, and with irises of gold looking out from a golden face amidst platinum hair the two sat.

"Alexandros, good. I've been wanting your boy to serve me tea - he's the only one who can get the brew right. Do you mind leaving?", spoke the woman.

She was the spitting image of Aretaphilia Myia if she had aged a few more centuries, and if her blood had become unimaginably pure.

To her right sat a man, who looked thankfully nothing like Rina Callista. Nearly seven feet tall and near as far across the shoulders as Manuel was tall, he nonetheless sat patiently. Something about him, though... he felt the same strength, the same belief that came from the Callista girl. Not exactly the same, but the feeling that he looked down on the world in some way, wanted to bring it to heel as opposed to merely living with it.

Alexandros rocketed off, and Manuel gulped.

Jasmine tea was the tea he had always been best at making, which was peculiar enough. He took the leaves provided, and boiled the water quickly, pouring it over the tea.

As he waited for it to steep, they spoke.

The man spoke first.

"So. I hear you failed in your little expedition into the Third Sea. The Dao Protector there repulsed us, making it impossible to regain contact with the Optimatoi we sent to restore order."

He smirked.

"Why even reach Law Creation if you can't kill a whale, Sophitia?"

She scowled at him.

"You think the Law of Song is so easily used to butcher my enemies? I taught it despair, and even that song wasn't enough to overcome it properly. It's buoyed by something new. The Dao Protectors are no longer in the realm of Law Creation, though I don't understand why. They're... part of the world, somehow. The same Curses that slaughter us they seem to be able to turn against us, and the damage I do just isn't enough. I could tear it in half without wounding it. I had to use a piece of Fundamental Law to even wound it as badly as I did, and that will leave me exhausted for a few decades. If they were willing to chase us onto land, Jovi..."

Jovi snorted.

"The Law of Shattered Time will be sufficient for any of these animals. I just need to remain in reserve as a strategic option, you both know that. Reversing the worst of the Curses constantly isn't easy, and only the Law of Shattered Time is enough to allow me to remove the attacks and force Heaven to consistently repair cause and effect rather than kill us all."

A few more moments, and the tea would be done.

In the far distance, stormclouds gathered. In front of them, a man flew, moving with incredible speed. Manuel could not track him - he was in front of the stormclouds, and then he was in front of the tower.

A simple brown-skinned man with a plain face and a wispy beard, he wore a white robe, and bore a glowing white object on his forehead. Manuel could not make it out - even staring at it for a moment gave him a pounding headache. The storm followed him, lightning smashing the ground around the tower.

He smiled, and struck.

Manuel died, and in that moment he saw Jovi die, saw Sophitia die. He felt himself cut in half, the complete irreversibility of that cut.

Then things cracked. He could not make sense of the world in his last moments, and suddenly everything was as it had been a few moments ago, the man approaching the tower.

Jovi and Sophitia rose up to face him.

The man bowed.

"I am Sage Bhrigu. Long have I wanted to meet the noble Law Creation Elders of the Sea-Conquering Army."

Jovi sneered.

"A petty attack. Even with that pittance, that little flickering star you bear on your brow, I can reverse anything you do. You should've crawled back into your hole, Bhrigu. I've killed your six so-called Sages, and you're the only one of those pitiful rebels who remains. Let me guess, you're here to gain vengeance for your clan? Your family?"

Bhrigu's eyes tightened.

"Thirteen million people you killed on that day. Do you truly think you bear no responsibility? That you do not deserve to die?"

Jovi struck out lazily, excising pieces of space around Bhrigu that came to a complete stop, a twisted zone of motionless time wrapping around him like so many ropes. Light could not penetrate it, and the timeless zone looked inky-black, but even moreso, drawing Manuel's eyes in. He felt the headache pulse for a moment and he spat out a mouthful of blood, barely able to stand. He turned his head away, cowering on the stand below.

The Sage struggled, but could not move.

"Deserve? I don't care about deserving to die. I care about finishing the task the Imperator sent us here to do. You animals have gotten in our way time and time again. Do I regret butchering your clan? No. Had you simply obeyed and come to your death I would not have had to kill them. Really, you should blame yourself if you blame anyone."

Bhrigu sighed, and spoke once more.

"I will grant you this chance. Repent, and turn from your ways. Avert your eyes from the Heavens, and I will permit you to live, and I will not take a single life of the gang of butchers you call the Sea-Conquering Army. I will preserve you against the wrathful Heavens if you are but willing to turn from this course."

Jovi's sneer grew wide.

"I'm going to kill you. Then I'm going to butcher every last misbegotten Turtle World native in this Sea. Maybe Heaven will find its blessings for rebels a little harder to grant when there's nobody left to rebel, hm?"

Bhrigu shook his head mournfully.

"There was never any saving you. I apologise, for once you are dead I will not be sufficient alone to turn aside Heaven's wrath from your people."

With that, time began again where it had been shattered. The world smoothed out, and Bhrigu shot forward, a single blow enough to kill Sophitia. She hadn't even had a chance to move.

Another blow, and Jovi hung in midair, his bones cracked, held aloft by Bhrigu's slightly wrinkled hand.

"I hate you, you know. You butchered my family, you butchered many others, and you bear no remorse for the deeds you have done. I am glad you refused my offer."

"How...", Jovi choked out.

Bhrigu smiled.

"Law Creation is the path of defiance. To see the world as it is and refuse it, to create your own Law in preparation for the stages beyond. To constantly strive for more power in every possible form. After all, without the Law one cannot begin Construction, and without Construction one cannot touch on the truth of life and death and Revive. I am aware of the path beyond the Law, but I chose not to take it."

Time tried to crack, but it was futile, the aura around Bhrigu shattering for a moment, the old Sage looking through what seemed to be a tear in time leading somewhere else before it resolved itself, repaired completely. He hmmphed, and looked down at Manuel for a moment.

That look aside, he turned back to Jovi.

"World Fusion is a different path. To live in harmony with the world, and to accept the natural Law, the decrees of Heaven. To repair and reinforce the world, rather than to maim it for your own advantage. It closes off the true path of ascension, but in return, the power far exceeds Law Creation. In harmony with the world, all of its forces are usable by me, all of the lines of Fate can be seen. The world does not merely tolerate my existence but demands it. To try to kill me without Heaven consenting is audacious - and impossible besides."

His hand raised, and came down.

"Goodbye, Jovi Callista."

Jovi's body began to disintegrate beneath the glare of Bhrigu. The world no longer tolerated his existence, and he abruptly ceased to be.

The Sage looked down at Manuel.

"Young man, I apologise. You are blameless in this, or at least as blameless as one can be. I only ask when you meet with my descendent again, do as I have done. If he must be killed, kill him, but even the vilest man deserves a chance at redemption."

The tower began to topple beneath Manuel's feet, and he blacked out.

He woke up with a start, gasping, the worn-out old bronze spear a few paces across from him on the wall.

 

[occipitallobe]

Kleisthenes strode forth with ease.

She still couldn't believe it, what the old man had said.

A risk-free way to ascend to Nascent Soul, provided she could but overcome the first hurdle and shatter her Core.

She snorted. Such a thing was more difficult for those with more... complete beliefs, and they advanced more quickly because of them. The paradox of Core Formation. The more quickly you strengthened and built your Core, the harder it would be to shatter it in future. Weak foundations were what you wanted, yet how could you purposefully sabotage your own foundations? These questions had occupied the thoughts of many Core Formation elders.

Old Alexios had written a book, in fact. Reason and Unreason, he named it. Two hundred years of his scrawling on the truth he sought to find, the truth that transcended even his own Truth. The truth you sought and found wasn't always the truth you wanted, but it was the one you could believe. The truth of the world you sought out over hundreds of years, stumbling in the dark to find hints of what truly undergirded the universe, what actually sat at the heart of all things. What you needed to do in response.

For herself, she wasn't sure about the first. It had taken weeks of meditation in the desert to understand the second.

Manuel hovered around her like an overanxious mother, keeping in sight at all times.

Waiting.

It was simple enough, when she thought about it.

Weeks of meditation into a single thought.

She wasn't enough.

Her law had always been to give from herself, to sacrifices pieces of herself no matter what they might be, and she could keep pace with her sister. Not truly, but to some degree. Sacrifice her friendships and she could bear the world enough to continue on in her role, to serve the Clan and her family. Always, always giving things up. She wore a body she hated, lost a son she had dearly loved, and given them up because there had never really been room for her.

There had been a dutiful daughter, raised by a strict father. A dutiful cultivator, raised by a cruel Centurion. A powerful Foundation Building expert, bound by strictures of duty at that point decades old. She gave from herself, time and time again, hoping to reach a point a little further ahead. Hoping to be the woman she had never been able to be.

Euphrosyne.

It felt unfair. Her sister leapt ahead, and with casual ease had surmounted every obstacle in front of her. For Euphrosyne, she managed to administer the Clan more excellently than any Elder in the last millennia, whereas Kleisthenes had been at best a middling diplomat. The best of a bad bunch, in truth - the Clan did not raise many talented diplomats.

At the end of it all, Kleisthenes had given everything for her duty. Her love, her son Hektor, her body, everything but her life.

She hadn't been able to give that, in the end. It had been Euphrosyne who had saved the old man, the Clan, and her. She wished she knew what her sister had been thinking at that time. There had never been anything Euphrosyne couldn't do.

As for her, well. It was a truth she had never accepted. She could never match her sister, perhaps in any arena. Her chance to exceed her had come, but it had not been her talent, her hard work, her sacrifice. It had been that Manuel had come into some peculiar treasure and had decided to use it on her.

Manuel hadn't said it, but she knew. It wasn't just that he trusted her the most, or that he thought her the most competent. He had a thousand reasons, but at the heart of it they both knew the truth.

He couldn't bear to see his last friend die.

That was all it was.

For all her sacrifice, her hard work and tears, for everything she had given up, everyone she had lost...

"I was never enough, was I?"

She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Euphrosyne. I'll stop trying to beat you. Stop trying to be you. From now on... I'll just be myself. Even if I gave everything up, it wouldn't matter. So I might just keep some things for myself, ok? Not... not everything. Just one or two."

She wiped a tear from her eye and her Core shattered.

Clouds gathered in the sky, and as lightning began to flicker there Manuel leapt into the clouds and spoke in the Old Tongue. Each word intoned slowly, each syllable infused with impossible weight.

"Αυτό που κόβεται, θεραπεύεται. Αυτό που είναι δηλητήριο, γίνετε φαγητό. Αυτό που είναι θάνατος, γίνε ζωή. Αφήστε τον τροχό να σταματήσει, γιατί δεν θα το σπάσετε. Αντίστροφη τέχνη παράδειξης!"

The lightning turned dark, the stormclouds white and clear.

The lightning fell, a bolt thicker than she was wide falling upon her. It tore light from the sky, raw darkness consuming her before the force receded, and she consumed it.

She felt... empowered. Something was separating from her body.

Yes, it was... her? Yet she sat in the body, as well. There were not two of her. That made no sense. There was only one of her, but... there were two of the one. They experienced the same things, thought the same things, and yet they were two.

She didn't understand, but stood forth as the lightning continued to fall.

----------------------------------------------

By Nascent standards, Manuel thought, this tribulation had been incredibly light. Three hours of cleansing lightning, and Kleisthenes rose uneasily into the air. He remembered that. Flight was disconcerting - Core Formation elders could fly a little sometimes, but they needed to smash through barriers of air, push themselves like a bird on the wing. This was different. One merely thought, and you moved.

She bowed, standing awkwardly in midair as she did.

"Grand Elder."

His smile was wider than it had been in centuries. He inclined his head respectfully.

"Second Elder."