Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
No, but we know what happened to the Chu.
- Location
- Third planet from the star named Sol
- Pronouns
- He/They
The Luo at least survived, so the Gong clan probably pulled through as one of their vassals maybe.
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I mean, I think we've had omake points overflow before. I thought the issue here is that we can't actually cultivate the next rank of SSC until we hit G4, so the omake points going there would be illegal.
- Location
- United States of America
Man, if this is the state of the Golden Fields, I wonder if it will ever heal, even after eons pass.
- Location
- the internet
The thing is, iicr, the GF's sublime ancestor was a phoenix. And phoenixes eventually rise from the ashes, do they not? I'm not saying that its definitely going to happen but I think the potential for it to happen eventually is there.
- Location
- United States of America
I would be highly concerned if the Golden Field's phoenix ancestor rose from the ashes because that would imply that not everything in the area of the explosion was totally killed, and given the Twilight Kings... reputation, I would rather not have any evidence whatsoever that he might have survived.
- Location
- PA
White to defeat White, really. As I see it, what was broken by power can be healed by power. Given time, or sufficient immortal effort, and it can be done.
- Location
- The Temple of the Winds
don't forget this is the point of view of a mere early third realm dude. I'm pretty sure if we had half a dozen whites working together we would be presented by a much different image...
The damage to Golden fields is beyond white.
If I understand events correctly the GF sublime ancestor nuked the twilight king but in doing so provoked mother earth [She Who Was] to strike it down.
Possibly the twilight king was so hard to kill that the Phoenix was forced to escalate to unsafe levels.
I wonder if the ash walkers are part of the twilight kings army that has been hijacked by mother earths power and hate. Not deliberately but as a side effect.
If I understand events correctly the GF sublime ancestor nuked the twilight king but in doing so provoked mother earth [She Who Was] to strike it down.
Possibly the twilight king was so hard to kill that the Phoenix was forced to escalate to unsafe levels.
I wonder if the ash walkers are part of the twilight kings army that has been hijacked by mother earths power and hate. Not deliberately but as a side effect.
- Location
- India
- Pronouns
- He/His
Who was the twilight king and why was he so troublesome?
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
There's a Royal Road interlude with the details, but basically he was a rejected Imperial heir that went dark side and became a cross between a zombie apocalypse, a vampire, and a lich, all at the same time. It was a crisis so bad that every ducal clan sent their armies to fight it. The thing that ultimately stopped him from conquering/destroying the Empire was "the phoenix Sublime Ancestor going supernova," which is also the reason why the nice parts of Han Jian/Gu Xiulan's home province are the parts that are mostly desert, as opposed to the parts that are "death-qi-ridden-hellscape," and "Golden Fields" is kind of a historical artifact of a name.
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
To give more details on what he's capable of aside from what @picklepikkl has mentioned, every cultivator he personally kills, he's capable of reviving them back as a zombie with all their powers and capabilities when they were alive. Those zombie cultivators are also capable of raising the dead of people they kill as well, though luckily not to the point where they get their powers back, they're just powerful zombies at that point.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
Iirc there is definitely power degradation in each step, it's just that those he personally kills are the ones with least power degradation.
*yearns in ashen tears*
... did we meet her? I don't remember.
Formationcraft Mastery
AN: And another commission, this one a worldbuilding piece
The art of formations is an often frustrating one. Even with the best and most talented of apprentices, the full support of the Empire and all of its wealth, so much is lost with the death of a master. With great care, his works might be maintained for a time, but in no more than a century or two, they will need replaced. Talisman craft is less prone to decay, but even then, only those talismans which acquire a life of their own will last in perpetuity, which brings its own problems.
The source of this decay, most posit is the same as that which prevents true material immortality. The same reason that even seemingly unaging spirits and beasts grow more prone to torpor with age, taking on the qualities of geographic features to stave off their end. Yet, in time even mountains are worn away and rivers wear new courses, ceasing to be themselves. Some scholars have even posited signs that the very earth on which the empire was founded has moved though imperceptibly, since the founding, driven by the eons long migration of the mighty spirits of the earth.
No matter how well the material form of an array is reinforced, it's spiritual element will always be open to change and erosion, just as our own spirits are, no matter how mighty. The universality of decay and the forward flow of time are the two principles which have proven unchanged and unchangeable since the beginning of the world. It is these principles which render so much of our gains in the arts of formation building to be ephemeral. So it is with formations arrays. Without it's maker to reinforce and adjust it, the constantly changing state of the world will reduce even the most finely preserved arrays effectiveness, until at last it ceases to work altogether.
Even the simplest formation, within the abilities of the meanest novice to craft has a spiritual shadow, an imprint in the spiritual realm carved and filled by the creators qi. What then, does this mean for the work of masters? A Master of formation craft naturally designs his works with an echo of his own spirit and Way imprinted upon them, entwined in their every function. Indeed, ones way is deeply important to the sort of masterworks which one wishes to create. While lesser items might be crafted with minimal use of the Masters domain, any array crafted at the limits of a masters ability will involve painstaking use of ones domain to shape and design the array and achieve its aims.
Thusly, powerful formations are indelibly the work of their makers, their effects might be copied or reproduced, but each array or talisman is a unique work, imprinted to it's foundation with it's makers qi. A True Master of the craft might be able to make designs which are 'neutral' able to be copied or emulated by his lessers and peers, but this is an exhaustive and often distressing process and produces effects so much less potent that many masters do not bother.
Those who do make such achievements, who advance knowledge of the craft such that any might benefit from it, rather than only kith and clan, we honor with the name Grandmaster. However, many, many effects simply lie beyond the abilities of any who do not have not formed their second dantian and refined their qi into shen. Qi alone is not enough to imprint coherently the intricate webs of energy which power and instruct the effects of the greatest of arrays. Of those masters who achieve the highest realms and attain Sovereignty, I will not even speak. Their works are beyond any price, and utterly irreplaceable. This humble scholar would not dare to intimate that he has knowledge of such things.
Instead, we will speak of those crafts folk who form the backbone of the Empire, third and fourth realms whose works maintain our walls, craft our tools, build our ships and enable communications and government across the empire. A Formation master of this quality is an important asset for any city or settlement and acquiring the use of one is among some circles what marks the transition between a mere town or village and a burgeoning city, and the loss of such expertise, the sign of decay. This scholar will not weigh in on such civic matters, but there is perhaps a seed of objective truth in this. Walls and wards designed by such a craftsmen will not simply deter spirits, but will totally bar their presence unless broken. A city with a barrier designed by such a master can withstand sustained assault, even from a cultivator of higher realm, at least for a time. Under their eyes, fields and mines can be more productive, streets more resistant to disease, or communications instantaneous. Of course, the efforts which any given master can put forth are informed by his specialities. It is a rare master indeed who can perform all of these things.
Any master of this skill level will swiftly find themselves accumulating apprentices and assistants, though the form this takes varies from region to region. The Bai and Zheng are both rather infamous for keeping such matters 'in house' as it were. The Xuan Clan, those fabled masters of sea and ship, practice similar secrecy, though they are known to adopt the occasional outsider of superlative skill, with the most esteemed example being the esteemed Grandmaster Wu. Many young craftsmen and women in the north look with starry eyes upon such a dream, which causes consternation in some corners. The Guo are similarly generous, but their environs render their offers rather less desirable.
It is the role of the apprentice to carry the masters work into the future. They cannot preserve a masters arrays together, but one who has studied well under their master will be well placed to replace, maintain, and perhaps even improve upon their masters works for future generations. It is thus a terrible blow to any city for a master to die without a fully trained apprentice, for it places them upon a strict time limit, after which much vital infrastructure will cease to function.
Indeed, it is the humble craftsman or woman who allows the warriors of the empire to fight, knowing that their homes lie secure and well tended at their back. As vital as any master swordsman or general, the master craftsman is an honorable role which brings wealth and security both to others and the craftsman themselves.
This is why it is so often frustrating to see our works and personages denigrated, treated as if we are less important than those who go out to shed blood. Young craftsmen, never allow yourselves to be taken in by this vainglorious lie, and know that your work is most vital indeed.
And in remembering this, recall the bonds with your comrades and teachers, and do not allow yourself to be pitted against one another by your patrons. We are siblings in knowledge and siblings in toil…
Remaining fragment of a manifesto of the outlawed, Brotherhood of the Bronze Hammer, an illegal sect founded in the Celestial Peaks
The art of formations is an often frustrating one. Even with the best and most talented of apprentices, the full support of the Empire and all of its wealth, so much is lost with the death of a master. With great care, his works might be maintained for a time, but in no more than a century or two, they will need replaced. Talisman craft is less prone to decay, but even then, only those talismans which acquire a life of their own will last in perpetuity, which brings its own problems.
The source of this decay, most posit is the same as that which prevents true material immortality. The same reason that even seemingly unaging spirits and beasts grow more prone to torpor with age, taking on the qualities of geographic features to stave off their end. Yet, in time even mountains are worn away and rivers wear new courses, ceasing to be themselves. Some scholars have even posited signs that the very earth on which the empire was founded has moved though imperceptibly, since the founding, driven by the eons long migration of the mighty spirits of the earth.
No matter how well the material form of an array is reinforced, it's spiritual element will always be open to change and erosion, just as our own spirits are, no matter how mighty. The universality of decay and the forward flow of time are the two principles which have proven unchanged and unchangeable since the beginning of the world. It is these principles which render so much of our gains in the arts of formation building to be ephemeral. So it is with formations arrays. Without it's maker to reinforce and adjust it, the constantly changing state of the world will reduce even the most finely preserved arrays effectiveness, until at last it ceases to work altogether.
Even the simplest formation, within the abilities of the meanest novice to craft has a spiritual shadow, an imprint in the spiritual realm carved and filled by the creators qi. What then, does this mean for the work of masters? A Master of formation craft naturally designs his works with an echo of his own spirit and Way imprinted upon them, entwined in their every function. Indeed, ones way is deeply important to the sort of masterworks which one wishes to create. While lesser items might be crafted with minimal use of the Masters domain, any array crafted at the limits of a masters ability will involve painstaking use of ones domain to shape and design the array and achieve its aims.
Thusly, powerful formations are indelibly the work of their makers, their effects might be copied or reproduced, but each array or talisman is a unique work, imprinted to it's foundation with it's makers qi. A True Master of the craft might be able to make designs which are 'neutral' able to be copied or emulated by his lessers and peers, but this is an exhaustive and often distressing process and produces effects so much less potent that many masters do not bother.
Those who do make such achievements, who advance knowledge of the craft such that any might benefit from it, rather than only kith and clan, we honor with the name Grandmaster. However, many, many effects simply lie beyond the abilities of any who do not have not formed their second dantian and refined their qi into shen. Qi alone is not enough to imprint coherently the intricate webs of energy which power and instruct the effects of the greatest of arrays. Of those masters who achieve the highest realms and attain Sovereignty, I will not even speak. Their works are beyond any price, and utterly irreplaceable. This humble scholar would not dare to intimate that he has knowledge of such things.
Instead, we will speak of those crafts folk who form the backbone of the Empire, third and fourth realms whose works maintain our walls, craft our tools, build our ships and enable communications and government across the empire. A Formation master of this quality is an important asset for any city or settlement and acquiring the use of one is among some circles what marks the transition between a mere town or village and a burgeoning city, and the loss of such expertise, the sign of decay. This scholar will not weigh in on such civic matters, but there is perhaps a seed of objective truth in this. Walls and wards designed by such a craftsmen will not simply deter spirits, but will totally bar their presence unless broken. A city with a barrier designed by such a master can withstand sustained assault, even from a cultivator of higher realm, at least for a time. Under their eyes, fields and mines can be more productive, streets more resistant to disease, or communications instantaneous. Of course, the efforts which any given master can put forth are informed by his specialities. It is a rare master indeed who can perform all of these things.
Any master of this skill level will swiftly find themselves accumulating apprentices and assistants, though the form this takes varies from region to region. The Bai and Zheng are both rather infamous for keeping such matters 'in house' as it were. The Xuan Clan, those fabled masters of sea and ship, practice similar secrecy, though they are known to adopt the occasional outsider of superlative skill, with the most esteemed example being the esteemed Grandmaster Wu. Many young craftsmen and women in the north look with starry eyes upon such a dream, which causes consternation in some corners. The Guo are similarly generous, but their environs render their offers rather less desirable.
It is the role of the apprentice to carry the masters work into the future. They cannot preserve a masters arrays together, but one who has studied well under their master will be well placed to replace, maintain, and perhaps even improve upon their masters works for future generations. It is thus a terrible blow to any city for a master to die without a fully trained apprentice, for it places them upon a strict time limit, after which much vital infrastructure will cease to function.
Indeed, it is the humble craftsman or woman who allows the warriors of the empire to fight, knowing that their homes lie secure and well tended at their back. As vital as any master swordsman or general, the master craftsman is an honorable role which brings wealth and security both to others and the craftsman themselves.
This is why it is so often frustrating to see our works and personages denigrated, treated as if we are less important than those who go out to shed blood. Young craftsmen, never allow yourselves to be taken in by this vainglorious lie, and know that your work is most vital indeed.
And in remembering this, recall the bonds with your comrades and teachers, and do not allow yourself to be pitted against one another by your patrons. We are siblings in knowledge and siblings in toil…
Remaining fragment of a manifesto of the outlawed, Brotherhood of the Bronze Hammer, an illegal sect founded in the Celestial Peaks
Last edited:
- Location
- Brazil
I do miss our dabblings in formations.
- Location
- Greece
The more I learn about what the Celestial Peaks deem illegal, the more I want revolution.
CRX just needs some character development, and she'll be much better. Hopefully, the guesses about her father having royal blood is correct.
CRX just needs some character development, and she'll be much better. Hopefully, the guesses about her father having royal blood is correct.
Tl; Dr closely, why outlawed/illegal?
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Because:
This seems to have essentially been a cross-fief production-track trade union.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Yep.
Setting mechanics are such that the real key towards modernizing and industrializing is effectively establishing a full out Cultivation System that supports the practice, which requires an awful lot of people trading notes and establishing a common baseline that future people build on, so that you can lead on that common foundation to drive development.
This was kind of the first step in that direction, and it got purged because the Empire has massive trauma regarding people finding this One Neat Trick that breaks the bellcurve.
(And also, entrenched interests probably also see where this could go and don't want to lose their monopolies, so they lean on the officials to outlaw it).
Setting mechanics are such that the real key towards modernizing and industrializing is effectively establishing a full out Cultivation System that supports the practice, which requires an awful lot of people trading notes and establishing a common baseline that future people build on, so that you can lead on that common foundation to drive development.
This was kind of the first step in that direction, and it got purged because the Empire has massive trauma regarding people finding this One Neat Trick that breaks the bellcurve.
(And also, entrenched interests probably also see where this could go and don't want to lose their monopolies, so they lean on the officials to outlaw it).