- Location
- Greece
I have never seen shen before in any xianxia. Also, xianxia lack a unifying power system, even stuff that are relatively commonly used (dantian, qi, some of the stages such as core formation, etc.) are by no means universal.
-
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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.
I have never seen shen before in any xianxia. Also, xianxia lack a unifying power system, even stuff that are relatively commonly used (dantian, qi, some of the stages such as core formation, etc.) are by no means universal.
DeusExBritannia
Red-White-Black-White
- Location
- Texas
I wonder what holidays exist in the Empire. Are there any Empire-wide holidays, or are all holidays local affairs, where each village or region has their own unique celebrations based on local history, folklore, and spirits?
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Notably, the Patreon poll that generated this interlude offered Cold (Ling Qi, Prequel) and Alone (???, Prequel), and ended in an exact tie. Most of us assumed we'd see a tiebreaker of some kind, and were pretty delighted when yrs chose to weave the two together so beautifully.
- Location
- The Space Between
A king needs no crown. A king needs no domination. Their will is the will of the world. Their power is the power of their subjects, and their subjects are the will of the king.
I believe that Sovereignty is likely going to be the Noble's Obligation sort of sovereignty that is just as much chains as freedoms. Free to act, within the bounds of the chains. Given near limitless powers, in a narrow corridor. I believe that the misunderstanding that a domain is yours to dominate is probably one of the obstacles to higher realms. For example, Shenhua is subservient to her Domain and cultivation way now. She can't be anything but herself, but she isn't just herself anymore she has assumed her responsibilities and will be subservient to them just as much as she draws power from them.
p sure at least :0
I believe that Sovereignty is likely going to be the Noble's Obligation sort of sovereignty that is just as much chains as freedoms. Free to act, within the bounds of the chains. Given near limitless powers, in a narrow corridor. I believe that the misunderstanding that a domain is yours to dominate is probably one of the obstacles to higher realms. For example, Shenhua is subservient to her Domain and cultivation way now. She can't be anything but herself, but she isn't just herself anymore she has assumed her responsibilities and will be subservient to them just as much as she draws power from them.
p sure at least :0
- Location
- Somewhere.
So are all the bonus stories posted in thread, or...?
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Royal Road bonus chapters get linked here from Royal Road once they're posted there. Special patron interludes or commissioned works get posted here when yrsillar decides to break Patreon exclusivity, which is usually about two weeks.
If you follow the thread, you will not miss anything.
No, they are not.
- once per month, a fresh interlude gets voted on patreon and after the early patreon release goes up on RR.
- commision chapters get a patreon early release and go up here in the thread (unless the person who comissions the chapter decides otherwise)
- Tales chapters get released on patreon and a lot later when the sidestory is finished, it grts released as Tales of Destiny on RR
- Location
- Somewhere.
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
It occurs to me to mention: the first three books of the Cradle series are free for the next five days. It's an English-language-original xianxia (cultivation story) which may interest people who like Forge/Threads of Destiny. The metaphysics are pretty different from standard cultivation stories, but it was my first on-ramp to the genre and got me interested, so clearly it did something right.
Turn 7: Arc 3-6
In the distant part of her that still sat outside atop an old and worn stone amid, Ling Qi stared down at the stick of jade in her hands, eyes glassy in her faintly dozing state. Within the jade lay the Playful Muses Rapport Art, not a Bai clan loan, but a remaining piece of Emerald Seas own storied archives, ravaged by millenia of civil war, decadence and spite. In the state she was in now, she could almost taste the strife that still clung to the art, a tinge of copper and wood smoke.
It felt familiar, the scent of burning knowledge. Had she not spent a night in such a repository once?
Ling Qi brushed it aside with a thought, as one would wave away the smoke from ones campfire, and peered at the art within the jade. She had hope that the art, patterned off Sixiang's siblings could help her understand her friend better.
"Spacing out, even now?" Sixiang asked with a small smile, drawing her back to the snowy mourner's path.
"Something like that," Ling Qi replied, ignoring the muses knowing look. "I think we've both had enough of this atmosphere, don't you think?"
Ling Qi breathed out and released the handles of the bier she bore, flicking her wrists and sending her sleeves billowing as she shook them out. The snowy path, and the mourners song shattered like so much glass, and dissolved into smoke.
They fell.
"Well someone has gotten brave," Sixiang complained as she tumbled head over heels beside Ling Qi. They plunged like falling arrows through the open azure sky. Below there was no ground nor clouds, only the endless sky, stretching on forever, above and below. Only the faintest outline of a nearly full moon marred the blue. The wind whistled past Ling Qi's ears and tugged at her gown, but the wind was an old friend.
Ling Qi righted herself, and still the grasping tugs of the wind that pulled at the hems of her gown, she grinned. "Quit messing around Sixiang."
The muse huffed, and their haphazard tumble ceased, her form flowed, smokelike until she once again faced Ling Qi, but her form had changed again. The Sixiang that looked back at her in irritation was wholly androgynous, their features a mix of sharp and soft, their multihued hair streaming above in the wind like a colorful scarf. "I appreciate the thought you know, but isn't what your doing a little high handed?" Sixiang said crossly.
"Maybe so, but I'll grasp at whatever straws I might need to help you," Ling Qi replied, crossing her arms. Her gown billowed around her as she fell, but never to the point of impropriety. "I… want to understand, Sixiang."
"I know you do, Ling Qi," the muse replied, smiling. "I'm glad you do, but I'm not sure that art can do it. It's not about being a muse, it's about applying some of our perspective to yourself. Honestly. I think you might have trouble cultivating it, with how closed off you are."
"Then show me," Ling Qi pleaded, spreading her arms. "You brought me to your memories before, you can do it again, can't you?"
Sixiang met her eyes, their eyebrows drawing together.
"I won't ask you to change your mind. I know how stubborn you are," Sixiang chuckled. "But if you really want to understand, it'll have to be a lot deeper than last time."
"I'm pretty tough," Ling Qi replied, putting on a cocky smile. "But you know that."
"I do," Sixiang laughed. Then they were in front of her, hands resting on her temples. Their smile turned a little sad. "Change places."
Ling Qi's vision went white.
It was different this time. Perhaps Sixiang had simply grown better at manipulating this place of dreams, or perhaps they were simply holding back less of the experience from her. In either case, Ling Qi felt her mind itch as she was immersed in wholly alien senses. She felt herself drowning in the sheer sensory input that flowed through Sixiang's/her senses, and it was a struggle just to remember where the line between them lay.
She lay on the table in a once neat dining room, painted in the hues of determination, loneliness, awkward longing and stinging hurt. The Human/Ling Qi lay on top of her new body, and they saw the bundle of muted, chemical soaked emotion emanating from them even in sleep. Possessiveness, black and cloying holding everything else together, coiled around a stubborn spine of flowing water, all contained in a cage of awkwardness and fear even now reasserting itself.
She saw the other one, armored in anger, girded with loss. She drifted along as they both ran off, blazing with signals of hurt and desperate clinginess. Attraction warred with loneliness in the white one, the serpent daughter. This was only the latest hurt, every moment spent with Sixiang's human was a stinging wound and balm all in one.
Ling Qi clung to the other girl with the desperation reminiscent of the fading dreams of a shipwreck survivor, yet a thread of fear ran through it all, a sharp white line cutting through the clinging dark.
They needed each other, they hurt each other. It was beautiful in it's contrast, but something about it niggled at her, She didn't like it much at all.
…
She didn't understand these humans and their world. Everything was so stiff. Fear touched everything here. No joy was unstained by by it, no determination did not keep a seed of fear at its heart. Despite that, it lent a certain something to the colors these silly, hurrying, desperate and self important creatures displayed. There was a brightness to them, a sharpness of tone and hue not present in Dream.
In other ways they were frustrating and dull, their revels seemed more like some kind of twisted game, where each human constructed their very best mask, and did their level best to talk past and through each other without an ounce of understanding. Like a dark nightmare revel, it was all sharp and hungry eyes and hidden fangs, ready to pounce on the weakest and tear them apart.
She felt a touch of something like guilt when she learned later that her actions and cajoling had gotten Ling Qi in trouble with that puppet thing that she answered too. She was not a nightmare in this incarnation, and few parts of her had been, so it was still interesting to learn these new shades of fear and regret.
Still, it seemed so odd to her, Ling Qi had tried to explain, but she just didn't understand these humans, one dream was as good as the next, why worry about the ending? They spent so much time hiding from each other instead of expressing themselves properly.
…
Stripped of their body and bond to their human, Sixiang struggled, bodiless against the cold weight of a world pressing down upon them.
[Cease] The other surrounded them, engulfed them.
For just a moment, Ling Qi became herself, and her head aching as it tried to process completely alien sensation. She felt Sixiang stir in her mind, adjusting the flow of their power.
Raw meaning pounded mercilessly against their being as a fragment of a fragment of the greater entities attention turned in on them, the command was like a thousand, thousand hooks digging into their core, restraining them. Their response was feeble but strident. [Negation. Cease.]
Their expressed will broke upon their superior like a light breeze upon a fortress wall. [Denial. Trial.] Sixiang's whole being shuddered with the power pressed down upon them. Trial. That word encompassed uncounted years of meaning. Their greater selves were as gate and wall to those humans who chose to throw away the gifts of the [Two] and join their number as spirits. It was a kindness to break their mad ambition before they could destroy their humanity, or failing that, to prepare them for its loss. As the Second Born of [She Who Was] that duty overrode all other concerns. The weight of it crushed Sixiang, stilling even their feeble struggle. They saw their humans pain and fear, but the colour was sour and unpleasant, like excrement smeared across a finely painted canvas. The growing horror and disgust for herself growing in the fragment of Ling Qi's mind was worse.
Sixiang could only watch and scream.
[Contamination. Return?] The fragment of the cold will that held them down seemed almost kind, in the understanding that filtered through its will, like soft silk wrapping a clenched iron fist.
They felt the trial fading, felt Ling Qi lapsing into oblivion. [Negation. Aid… Mine] This dream was not over, it could not be.
…
They observed the gathering dully. Scores of humans all packed into a small space, talking and laughing, enjoying music and poetry, it should have been a joy to soak in, a balm for their growing fatigue, it was not. They were better versed in humanity now, though they still waved their masks about, she could see the expression in the undercurrents now. The ones taking genuine pleasure in each others presence, the joy some of the humans found in their verbal sparring, and the connections that formed despite their masks.
If only she could say the same for Ling Qi. Whatever arts she was cultivating now, whatever she composed, Ling Qi had no intention of connecting to the people around her even a little bit. they watched their human put on a mask of frost and venom, deflecting those who tried to come near. In some they saw only anger and pricked pride, in others they saw genuine hurt as their effort to reach out was rebuffed, and gradually the colors around them curdled. They saw pride sharpen into sneers and hope fade into dull disinterest and raised guards.
They tried to offer hints and nudges, but too often they were ignored. Perhaps they could have been more forceful, but with the Nightmare still heavy on both of them, they could not find the will to do it.
Fear had taken root in Sixiang. The last thing they wanted to do was make an annoyance of themselves.
…
It hurt, to watch them fade. Each human was a riot of color and life, dreams and hopes, fears and desires. When they died, it all went out, gone like a snuffed candle. If there was a new dream waiting for them, Sixiang was no longer sure. It felt like a knife in their nonexistent flesh, twisting each time she saw it happen.
...Ling Qi was in fine form today, her enemies, these bandits did not stand a chance against her. Perhaps with more organization, and better leadership, perhaps if they had stilled their chaos and formed up from the moment of engagement, it would have been different.
They did not, and so they died. The pain of the poison coursing through their being was a pale thing compared to that.
…
They had never liked this Cai Renxiang. She was the child spawn of the greater Cai, the one who had reduced the Court of Dreams to ash, and replaced Grandmothers shrines in the [First Tree] with new and foreign spirits. Of all the peers her Ling Qi interacted with, only Cai Renxiang was wholly opaque to her gaze. She was a statuette of reflective glass, dancing on strings. Whatever her thoughts were Sixiang could not say, whatever her hopes were, lay beyond sight.
However, in that carriage, they were thankful for her. Sixiang was too weak to speak up, but conscious. Watching Ling Qi process the pain that they had felt all through the battle hurt as if they were being wounded all over again.
It was good then, that the girl was able to offer Ling Qi something, a thread to hold onto and pull herself back up. That most precious of things for humans who cultivated. Purpose.
And if, in that moment, they spied a crack in the glass, and peered at the ------- beneath, they would not say a word. Not because of the glower of the abomination the girl wore, or the threatening hiss of steel from the one at her side, but because it would be poor form to repay the one helping her Ling Qi by spilling secrets.
Ling Qi sat up with a start, her breathing quick and disordered for the moment it took her to re-center herself. She cradled her head as memories continued to sift through her thoughts, a torrential flow of which she could only recall a few scraps, and yet… When she looked up and saw Sixiang sitting upon the shore of the color sea, she understood.
Slowly, she turned her head away from the construct on the shore, the thing created by Sixiang for her benefit, and addressed her friend directly. "I'm sorry Sixiang," she said, bowing her head to the sea.
She saw the illusion on the shore dissolve into mist out of the corner of her eye. "Nothing to apologize for," Sixiang said, the water rippling around her bare feet. The voice echoed strangely, emanating from the whole of the sea. "I have to say… how do you manage, being so blind?"
"I don't know. How do you manage seeing so much?" Ling Qi shot back with a small smile. Even with the memories fading, and the lessons of a new art internalized, Sixiang's perspective still left her with an aching head.
Sixiang laughed, and they sat in silence for a time, the sound of Sixiang's waters lapping on the shore and the quiet sound of the wind their only company aside from each other. They did not need words as they processed each others perspectives.
"Sixiang. I'll try as hard as I can, but I can't say whether the end of my path will be worth it for you. Things are going to be hard. I'm going to hurt others and others are going to hurt me," she said quietly. "But I'd like you to share it with me. I'll need you to stop me putting my foot in my mouth too much," though she ended on a weak joke, she knew Sixiang could feel her sincerity. In the end, having understood each other, there was no point in argument. She could only say the words that were in her heart all along. She didn't want her friend to leave, but… she had to accept it if it was their choice.
Her words echoed in the sea and the waters receded, leaving her feet bare on the sand
"...How do you deal with being so afraid all the time?" Sixiang asked quietly.
"You already know the answer to that," Ling Qi said quietly.
Sixiang huffed, and Ling Qi sputtered as a wave came in soaking her front. "Smartass," she grumbled. "But I guess I do."
Ling Qi huffed as a burst of wind blew the water soaking her away. She refused to let Sixiang escape into comedy. "You work to make the world one where you don't have to be afraid any more."
"Even if there's no end to that path?" Sixiang asked quietly.
"Ends are inevitable," Ling Qi replied with conviction. "The journey to get there is what gives them value."
Sixiang let out a sigh and chuckled. "Wow, when I'm the gloomy one you know something has gone wrong."
"You're right," Ling Qi said with a chuckle. "What do you say? Will you stay with me, Sixiang?"
"Yes I will," the muse said, and Ling Qi felt their qi pulse and flex experimentally. "I think I understand better now, what it means to be human and not. I'm not, and I never was. You're taking your own steps away from that…. If you don't like the world, then change it huh? I guess I forgot Grandmothers power in the waking world, huh?"
"Dreams aren't just for sleeping," Ling Qi said softly. It was funny, though it seemed childish to consider, at the core of every cultivator was a dream. She might have been approaching some things wrongly. Slowly, she stood. "Sixiang, will you dance with me again?"
"Of course," her friends voice said, and a hand rose from the waters to grasp her own. "Did you have something in mind?"
Ling Qi considered as she stepped out onto the sea, feeling the qi in her legs and lungs rippling with the anticipation for… something.
Congratulations, you have succeeded in keeping Sixiang, now we move to more mechanical matters, as some of you have no doubt guessed, it is time for Phantasmagoria to gain its complete form.
[] Something fast paced and dramatic. [Empowers Ephemeral Dreamlit Dancer, shifts technique focus to movement and personal buffs]
[] Something slow and contemplative [Empowers Illustrious Phantasmal Festival. Shifts technique focus to Area of effect, group buffs and terrain control]
It felt familiar, the scent of burning knowledge. Had she not spent a night in such a repository once?
Ling Qi brushed it aside with a thought, as one would wave away the smoke from ones campfire, and peered at the art within the jade. She had hope that the art, patterned off Sixiang's siblings could help her understand her friend better.
"Spacing out, even now?" Sixiang asked with a small smile, drawing her back to the snowy mourner's path.
"Something like that," Ling Qi replied, ignoring the muses knowing look. "I think we've both had enough of this atmosphere, don't you think?"
Ling Qi breathed out and released the handles of the bier she bore, flicking her wrists and sending her sleeves billowing as she shook them out. The snowy path, and the mourners song shattered like so much glass, and dissolved into smoke.
They fell.
"Well someone has gotten brave," Sixiang complained as she tumbled head over heels beside Ling Qi. They plunged like falling arrows through the open azure sky. Below there was no ground nor clouds, only the endless sky, stretching on forever, above and below. Only the faintest outline of a nearly full moon marred the blue. The wind whistled past Ling Qi's ears and tugged at her gown, but the wind was an old friend.
Ling Qi righted herself, and still the grasping tugs of the wind that pulled at the hems of her gown, she grinned. "Quit messing around Sixiang."
The muse huffed, and their haphazard tumble ceased, her form flowed, smokelike until she once again faced Ling Qi, but her form had changed again. The Sixiang that looked back at her in irritation was wholly androgynous, their features a mix of sharp and soft, their multihued hair streaming above in the wind like a colorful scarf. "I appreciate the thought you know, but isn't what your doing a little high handed?" Sixiang said crossly.
"Maybe so, but I'll grasp at whatever straws I might need to help you," Ling Qi replied, crossing her arms. Her gown billowed around her as she fell, but never to the point of impropriety. "I… want to understand, Sixiang."
"I know you do, Ling Qi," the muse replied, smiling. "I'm glad you do, but I'm not sure that art can do it. It's not about being a muse, it's about applying some of our perspective to yourself. Honestly. I think you might have trouble cultivating it, with how closed off you are."
"Then show me," Ling Qi pleaded, spreading her arms. "You brought me to your memories before, you can do it again, can't you?"
Sixiang met her eyes, their eyebrows drawing together.
Target Number 40
]
6 degrees success
]6 degrees success
"I won't ask you to change your mind. I know how stubborn you are," Sixiang chuckled. "But if you really want to understand, it'll have to be a lot deeper than last time."
"I'm pretty tough," Ling Qi replied, putting on a cocky smile. "But you know that."
"I do," Sixiang laughed. Then they were in front of her, hands resting on her temples. Their smile turned a little sad. "Change places."
Ling Qi's vision went white.
***
It was different this time. Perhaps Sixiang had simply grown better at manipulating this place of dreams, or perhaps they were simply holding back less of the experience from her. In either case, Ling Qi felt her mind itch as she was immersed in wholly alien senses. She felt herself drowning in the sheer sensory input that flowed through Sixiang's/her senses, and it was a struggle just to remember where the line between them lay.
She lay on the table in a once neat dining room, painted in the hues of determination, loneliness, awkward longing and stinging hurt. The Human/Ling Qi lay on top of her new body, and they saw the bundle of muted, chemical soaked emotion emanating from them even in sleep. Possessiveness, black and cloying holding everything else together, coiled around a stubborn spine of flowing water, all contained in a cage of awkwardness and fear even now reasserting itself.
She saw the other one, armored in anger, girded with loss. She drifted along as they both ran off, blazing with signals of hurt and desperate clinginess. Attraction warred with loneliness in the white one, the serpent daughter. This was only the latest hurt, every moment spent with Sixiang's human was a stinging wound and balm all in one.
Ling Qi clung to the other girl with the desperation reminiscent of the fading dreams of a shipwreck survivor, yet a thread of fear ran through it all, a sharp white line cutting through the clinging dark.
They needed each other, they hurt each other. It was beautiful in it's contrast, but something about it niggled at her, She didn't like it much at all.
…
She didn't understand these humans and their world. Everything was so stiff. Fear touched everything here. No joy was unstained by by it, no determination did not keep a seed of fear at its heart. Despite that, it lent a certain something to the colors these silly, hurrying, desperate and self important creatures displayed. There was a brightness to them, a sharpness of tone and hue not present in Dream.
In other ways they were frustrating and dull, their revels seemed more like some kind of twisted game, where each human constructed their very best mask, and did their level best to talk past and through each other without an ounce of understanding. Like a dark nightmare revel, it was all sharp and hungry eyes and hidden fangs, ready to pounce on the weakest and tear them apart.
She felt a touch of something like guilt when she learned later that her actions and cajoling had gotten Ling Qi in trouble with that puppet thing that she answered too. She was not a nightmare in this incarnation, and few parts of her had been, so it was still interesting to learn these new shades of fear and regret.
Still, it seemed so odd to her, Ling Qi had tried to explain, but she just didn't understand these humans, one dream was as good as the next, why worry about the ending? They spent so much time hiding from each other instead of expressing themselves properly.
…
Stripped of their body and bond to their human, Sixiang struggled, bodiless against the cold weight of a world pressing down upon them.
[Cease] The other surrounded them, engulfed them.
For just a moment, Ling Qi became herself, and her head aching as it tried to process completely alien sensation. She felt Sixiang stir in her mind, adjusting the flow of their power.
Raw meaning pounded mercilessly against their being as a fragment of a fragment of the greater entities attention turned in on them, the command was like a thousand, thousand hooks digging into their core, restraining them. Their response was feeble but strident. [Negation. Cease.]
Their expressed will broke upon their superior like a light breeze upon a fortress wall. [Denial. Trial.] Sixiang's whole being shuddered with the power pressed down upon them. Trial. That word encompassed uncounted years of meaning. Their greater selves were as gate and wall to those humans who chose to throw away the gifts of the [Two] and join their number as spirits. It was a kindness to break their mad ambition before they could destroy their humanity, or failing that, to prepare them for its loss. As the Second Born of [She Who Was] that duty overrode all other concerns. The weight of it crushed Sixiang, stilling even their feeble struggle. They saw their humans pain and fear, but the colour was sour and unpleasant, like excrement smeared across a finely painted canvas. The growing horror and disgust for herself growing in the fragment of Ling Qi's mind was worse.
Sixiang could only watch and scream.
[Contamination. Return?] The fragment of the cold will that held them down seemed almost kind, in the understanding that filtered through its will, like soft silk wrapping a clenched iron fist.
They felt the trial fading, felt Ling Qi lapsing into oblivion. [Negation. Aid… Mine] This dream was not over, it could not be.
…
They observed the gathering dully. Scores of humans all packed into a small space, talking and laughing, enjoying music and poetry, it should have been a joy to soak in, a balm for their growing fatigue, it was not. They were better versed in humanity now, though they still waved their masks about, she could see the expression in the undercurrents now. The ones taking genuine pleasure in each others presence, the joy some of the humans found in their verbal sparring, and the connections that formed despite their masks.
If only she could say the same for Ling Qi. Whatever arts she was cultivating now, whatever she composed, Ling Qi had no intention of connecting to the people around her even a little bit. they watched their human put on a mask of frost and venom, deflecting those who tried to come near. In some they saw only anger and pricked pride, in others they saw genuine hurt as their effort to reach out was rebuffed, and gradually the colors around them curdled. They saw pride sharpen into sneers and hope fade into dull disinterest and raised guards.
They tried to offer hints and nudges, but too often they were ignored. Perhaps they could have been more forceful, but with the Nightmare still heavy on both of them, they could not find the will to do it.
Fear had taken root in Sixiang. The last thing they wanted to do was make an annoyance of themselves.
…
It hurt, to watch them fade. Each human was a riot of color and life, dreams and hopes, fears and desires. When they died, it all went out, gone like a snuffed candle. If there was a new dream waiting for them, Sixiang was no longer sure. It felt like a knife in their nonexistent flesh, twisting each time she saw it happen.
...Ling Qi was in fine form today, her enemies, these bandits did not stand a chance against her. Perhaps with more organization, and better leadership, perhaps if they had stilled their chaos and formed up from the moment of engagement, it would have been different.
They did not, and so they died. The pain of the poison coursing through their being was a pale thing compared to that.
…
They had never liked this Cai Renxiang. She was the child spawn of the greater Cai, the one who had reduced the Court of Dreams to ash, and replaced Grandmothers shrines in the [First Tree] with new and foreign spirits. Of all the peers her Ling Qi interacted with, only Cai Renxiang was wholly opaque to her gaze. She was a statuette of reflective glass, dancing on strings. Whatever her thoughts were Sixiang could not say, whatever her hopes were, lay beyond sight.
However, in that carriage, they were thankful for her. Sixiang was too weak to speak up, but conscious. Watching Ling Qi process the pain that they had felt all through the battle hurt as if they were being wounded all over again.
It was good then, that the girl was able to offer Ling Qi something, a thread to hold onto and pull herself back up. That most precious of things for humans who cultivated. Purpose.
And if, in that moment, they spied a crack in the glass, and peered at the ------- beneath, they would not say a word. Not because of the glower of the abomination the girl wore, or the threatening hiss of steel from the one at her side, but because it would be poor form to repay the one helping her Ling Qi by spilling secrets.
***
Ling Qi sat up with a start, her breathing quick and disordered for the moment it took her to re-center herself. She cradled her head as memories continued to sift through her thoughts, a torrential flow of which she could only recall a few scraps, and yet… When she looked up and saw Sixiang sitting upon the shore of the color sea, she understood.
Playful Muses Rapport
6 8 6 1 3 10 10 7 10 8 9 10 10 6 3 8 5 1 8 6 5 2 2 5 4 2 8 2 3 10 4 1 7 9 3 10 8 2 6 10 1 6 1 3 2 3 10 8 6 7 4 10 10 7 6 5 9 6 6 3 5 10 3 2 8 5 1 8 9 8 7 9 4 7 1 5 1 2 2 6 10 7 5 1 4 3 5 2 8 1 6 2 2 9 3 9 3 5 8 3 3 4 2 6 2 4 2 3 8 5 8 7 4 5 8 9 9 4 10 6 4 7 9 5 5 4 6 10 8 3 2 10 9 5 7 10 1 10 2 8 5 2 4 10 8 3 8 6 7 9 3 2 5 1 9 10 4 4 1 2 8 2 3 6 9 2 8 9 1 1 6 7 4 1 6 1 6 5 8 2 3 2 5 8 3 3 9 8 8 9 1 8 2 6 3 10 7 2 10 9 3 7 6 6 8 3 9 5 8 6 8 10 8 2 9 2 7 7 1 4 7 2 1 9 7 6 10 5 7 2 3 1 8 10 7 7 5 5 1 4 2 10 3 1 2 4 2 10 2 5 3 9 6 6 9 4 3 10 10 9 1 4 2 1 6 8 7 10 4 10 3 5 9 3 6 7 2 4.
138 Successes
Rerolling 25
9 2 9 7 5 5 7 1 2 6 10 2 10 1 7 6 3 5 2 9 8 4 8 9 6.
11x2=22 Successes
160x2.2=352
352/200 First Fantasy Achieved
152/300
6 8 6 1 3 10 10 7 10 8 9 10 10 6 3 8 5 1 8 6 5 2 2 5 4 2 8 2 3 10 4 1 7 9 3 10 8 2 6 10 1 6 1 3 2 3 10 8 6 7 4 10 10 7 6 5 9 6 6 3 5 10 3 2 8 5 1 8 9 8 7 9 4 7 1 5 1 2 2 6 10 7 5 1 4 3 5 2 8 1 6 2 2 9 3 9 3 5 8 3 3 4 2 6 2 4 2 3 8 5 8 7 4 5 8 9 9 4 10 6 4 7 9 5 5 4 6 10 8 3 2 10 9 5 7 10 1 10 2 8 5 2 4 10 8 3 8 6 7 9 3 2 5 1 9 10 4 4 1 2 8 2 3 6 9 2 8 9 1 1 6 7 4 1 6 1 6 5 8 2 3 2 5 8 3 3 9 8 8 9 1 8 2 6 3 10 7 2 10 9 3 7 6 6 8 3 9 5 8 6 8 10 8 2 9 2 7 7 1 4 7 2 1 9 7 6 10 5 7 2 3 1 8 10 7 7 5 5 1 4 2 10 3 1 2 4 2 10 2 5 3 9 6 6 9 4 3 10 10 9 1 4 2 1 6 8 7 10 4 10 3 5 9 3 6 7 2 4.
138 Successes
Rerolling 25
9 2 9 7 5 5 7 1 2 6 10 2 10 1 7 6 3 5 2 9 8 4 8 9 6.
11x2=22 Successes
160x2.2=352
352/200 First Fantasy Achieved
152/300
Slowly, she turned her head away from the construct on the shore, the thing created by Sixiang for her benefit, and addressed her friend directly. "I'm sorry Sixiang," she said, bowing her head to the sea.
She saw the illusion on the shore dissolve into mist out of the corner of her eye. "Nothing to apologize for," Sixiang said, the water rippling around her bare feet. The voice echoed strangely, emanating from the whole of the sea. "I have to say… how do you manage, being so blind?"
"I don't know. How do you manage seeing so much?" Ling Qi shot back with a small smile. Even with the memories fading, and the lessons of a new art internalized, Sixiang's perspective still left her with an aching head.
Sixiang laughed, and they sat in silence for a time, the sound of Sixiang's waters lapping on the shore and the quiet sound of the wind their only company aside from each other. They did not need words as they processed each others perspectives.
"Sixiang. I'll try as hard as I can, but I can't say whether the end of my path will be worth it for you. Things are going to be hard. I'm going to hurt others and others are going to hurt me," she said quietly. "But I'd like you to share it with me. I'll need you to stop me putting my foot in my mouth too much," though she ended on a weak joke, she knew Sixiang could feel her sincerity. In the end, having understood each other, there was no point in argument. She could only say the words that were in her heart all along. She didn't want her friend to leave, but… she had to accept it if it was their choice.
Her words echoed in the sea and the waters receded, leaving her feet bare on the sand
Target Number 30 (reduced from 50 by previous roll)
"...How do you deal with being so afraid all the time?" Sixiang asked quietly.
"You already know the answer to that," Ling Qi said quietly.
Sixiang huffed, and Ling Qi sputtered as a wave came in soaking her front. "Smartass," she grumbled. "But I guess I do."
Ling Qi huffed as a burst of wind blew the water soaking her away. She refused to let Sixiang escape into comedy. "You work to make the world one where you don't have to be afraid any more."
"Even if there's no end to that path?" Sixiang asked quietly.
"Ends are inevitable," Ling Qi replied with conviction. "The journey to get there is what gives them value."
Sixiang let out a sigh and chuckled. "Wow, when I'm the gloomy one you know something has gone wrong."
"You're right," Ling Qi said with a chuckle. "What do you say? Will you stay with me, Sixiang?"
"Yes I will," the muse said, and Ling Qi felt their qi pulse and flex experimentally. "I think I understand better now, what it means to be human and not. I'm not, and I never was. You're taking your own steps away from that…. If you don't like the world, then change it huh? I guess I forgot Grandmothers power in the waking world, huh?"
"Dreams aren't just for sleeping," Ling Qi said softly. It was funny, though it seemed childish to consider, at the core of every cultivator was a dream. She might have been approaching some things wrongly. Slowly, she stood. "Sixiang, will you dance with me again?"
"Of course," her friends voice said, and a hand rose from the waters to grasp her own. "Did you have something in mind?"
Ling Qi considered as she stepped out onto the sea, feeling the qi in her legs and lungs rippling with the anticipation for… something.
Congratulations, you have succeeded in keeping Sixiang, now we move to more mechanical matters, as some of you have no doubt guessed, it is time for Phantasmagoria to gain its complete form.
[] Something fast paced and dramatic. [Empowers Ephemeral Dreamlit Dancer, shifts technique focus to movement and personal buffs]
[] Something slow and contemplative [Empowers Illustrious Phantasmal Festival. Shifts technique focus to Area of effect, group buffs and terrain control]
Potency: Green 3
Potency growth: Green 4(3), Green 5(5)
Max Level: 5
Keywords: Composure, Empathy, Manipulation, Presence, Speech, Wits
-Curiosity, Expression, Mischief, Moon, Sincerity, Wind, Yang
Needed Meridians: Head x4(1), Head (3), Head (5)
XP: 200, 400, 700, 1000, 1300
Passives
+10 to Initiative
+10 to Social Perception
+10 to Speech
+10 to Empathy
Carefree Mantle: C
Duration: Long
It is not enough to merely follow the basic exercises of this art, to learn tricks of speaking and the use of humor as a smoothing and contrasting element in their rhetoric. To truly emulate the muse, one must defy certain ingrained social behaviors and learn to wear their emotion, their intent, their very self as a cloak. Though such openness can seem frightening to the neophyte, few methods are superior in conveying the sincerity of your intent. While active, the user receives a large bonus to speech tests when speaking honestly or attempting to convince others of their sincerity, and a smaller bonus to poise.
Deceiver's Foil: C
Duration: Short
The muse is a creature of pure expression, and many tales speak of the humorous humiliations which they sometimes heap on the dishonest and insincere. Though this art does not teach such excessive methods, through this technique, one may indeed suss out those who lie to the users face and find the inspiration to trip up and foil those with dishonest intent. The user receives a bonus to Social Perception when attempting to detect lies and a bonus to speech when attempting to counter lies and misinformation
Potency growth: Green 4(3), Green 5(5)
Max Level: 5
Keywords: Composure, Empathy, Manipulation, Presence, Speech, Wits
-Curiosity, Expression, Mischief, Moon, Sincerity, Wind, Yang
Needed Meridians: Head x4(1), Head (3), Head (5)
XP: 200, 400, 700, 1000, 1300
Passives
+10 to Initiative
+10 to Social Perception
+10 to Speech
+10 to Empathy
Carefree Mantle: C
Duration: Long
It is not enough to merely follow the basic exercises of this art, to learn tricks of speaking and the use of humor as a smoothing and contrasting element in their rhetoric. To truly emulate the muse, one must defy certain ingrained social behaviors and learn to wear their emotion, their intent, their very self as a cloak. Though such openness can seem frightening to the neophyte, few methods are superior in conveying the sincerity of your intent. While active, the user receives a large bonus to speech tests when speaking honestly or attempting to convince others of their sincerity, and a smaller bonus to poise.
Deceiver's Foil: C
Duration: Short
The muse is a creature of pure expression, and many tales speak of the humorous humiliations which they sometimes heap on the dishonest and insincere. Though this art does not teach such excessive methods, through this technique, one may indeed suss out those who lie to the users face and find the inspiration to trip up and foil those with dishonest intent. The user receives a bonus to Social Perception when attempting to detect lies and a bonus to speech when attempting to counter lies and misinformation
Passives
+10 to Initiative
+15 to Social Perception
+10 to Speech
+15 to Empathy
Carefree Mantle: C
Duration: Long
It is not enough to merely follow the basic exercises of this art, to learn tricks of speaking and the use of humor as a smoothing and contrasting element in their rhetoric. To truly emulate the muse, one must defy certain ingrained social behaviors and learn to wear their emotion, their intent, their very self as a cloak. Though such openness can seem frightening to the neophyte, few methods are superior in conveying the sincerity of your intent. While active, the user receives a large bonus to speech tests when speaking honestly or attempting to convince others of their sincerity, and a similar bonus to poise and empathy tests
Deceiver's Foil: C
Duration: Short
The muse is a creature of pure expression, and many tales speak of the humorous humiliations which they sometimes heap on the dishonest and insincere. Though this art does not teach such excessive methods, through this technique, one may indeed suss out those who lie to the users face and find the inspiration to trip up and foil those with dishonest intent. The user receives a bonus to large Social Perception when attempting to detect lies and a bonus to speech when attempting to counter lies and misinformation. When used in conjunction with Carefree Mantle, this technique functions as if it were B rank for one test.
+10 to Initiative
+15 to Social Perception
+10 to Speech
+15 to Empathy
Carefree Mantle: C
Duration: Long
It is not enough to merely follow the basic exercises of this art, to learn tricks of speaking and the use of humor as a smoothing and contrasting element in their rhetoric. To truly emulate the muse, one must defy certain ingrained social behaviors and learn to wear their emotion, their intent, their very self as a cloak. Though such openness can seem frightening to the neophyte, few methods are superior in conveying the sincerity of your intent. While active, the user receives a large bonus to speech tests when speaking honestly or attempting to convince others of their sincerity, and a similar bonus to poise and empathy tests
Deceiver's Foil: C
Duration: Short
The muse is a creature of pure expression, and many tales speak of the humorous humiliations which they sometimes heap on the dishonest and insincere. Though this art does not teach such excessive methods, through this technique, one may indeed suss out those who lie to the users face and find the inspiration to trip up and foil those with dishonest intent. The user receives a bonus to large Social Perception when attempting to detect lies and a bonus to speech when attempting to counter lies and misinformation. When used in conjunction with Carefree Mantle, this technique functions as if it were B rank for one test.
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- Location
- Earth
This seems like a change in approach for Ling Qi
- Location
- Staring into the void
I'm torn. On one hand I want all the speed; on the other hand, area effects will be better with Zhengui.
- Location
- Earth
I am tending towards the group effects, considering our commitment to not split the party unless necessary.
Mmm, yeah. Like, I'd like to work EDD into our movement, and be more dancing moon maiden....
But also AoE, support, and CC is what we're all about dammit, and with our recent Zhengui stuff pushing us to try to move back to being more support-y and teamwork-y slow feels like it would just work better.
But also AoE, support, and CC is what we're all about dammit, and with our recent Zhengui stuff pushing us to try to move back to being more support-y and teamwork-y slow feels like it would just work better.
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
I am leaning towards group buffs. Our upcoming shadow mantle art will likely be self focused so getting a group buff upgrade here makes sense to me. (It's a bai art after all) Since we committed more time to fighting with our spirits I also think it makes sense to commit to more group buffs.
- Location
- scrabbling
An excellent way to get an interlude w/o the weird awkwardness of the peek we got into Senior Brother's head.
An excellent choice of interlude that etches the start of another perspective.
And an excellent pair of rolls, lol, made things much simpler
An excellent choice of interlude that etches the start of another perspective.
And an excellent pair of rolls, lol, made things much simpler
Humanity is something worth keeping, to them.
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- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I interpreted it the other way around:
Greater spirits like humans fine. They don't like cultivators who are trying to ascend.
Yeah, this.
Anyway, fucking lol, Lucky Ling Qi cannot be stopped. With regard to our art evolution, I think that our determination to work more with our spirits means that we need the group buff version.
[X] Something slow and contemplative [Empowers Illustrious Phantasmal Festival. Shifts technique focus to Area of effect, group buffs and terrain control]
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- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
Well it has been drawn to my attention that our shadow mantle art actually helps friends, which is so unlike the Bai. So now I am back to conflicted again. I still think going slower and being a massive bastion of area control and cc would be really fun. We could use our speed aspect to get to position and then deploy our slow arts that control everything around us.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
[] Something slow and contemplative [Empowers Illustrious Phantasmal Festival. Shifts technique focus to Area of effect, group buffs and terrain control]
Given how we want Zhengui to be around more in fights I really think PLR being more buff-based for allies make much more sense here, from a narrative point of view. From a mechanic point of view, personal buffs + movement compete with LFTW, while the closest to group buffs + terrain control she has is FVM/BKSD, but both of those are much more enemy debuff than group buff. I guess HDW also is group buff, but I don't think it should count for this purpose.
Given how we want Zhengui to be around more in fights I really think PLR being more buff-based for allies make much more sense here, from a narrative point of view. From a mechanic point of view, personal buffs + movement compete with LFTW, while the closest to group buffs + terrain control she has is FVM/BKSD, but both of those are much more enemy debuff than group buff. I guess HDW also is group buff, but I don't think it should count for this purpose.