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Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

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Makes me wonder if there is a Buddhist system with a radically different take on how this all works and how to go about it.
 
Aule said:
Some very nice worldbuilding in this post. So nice to see the world isn't only China and barbarians. Though it does raise a question: what can stop a fitfh or higher realm cultivator from simply flying up very high to see the planet in its entirety? Or even traveling by making an orbit.
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Glad that you've enjoyed the story so far!

How physics works in this world on the scale of planets and orbits seems to be radically different than how people normally conceptualize the world. I don't think there is evidence that the world is round, and there are some really weird things to do with stars and other celestial objects. As such, I think that if you flew high enough to see the world in its entirety you would start getting hit by Stellar qi, which seems to be violently dangerous to any level of cultivation.
 
Aule said:
Though it does raise a question: what can stop a fitfh or higher realm cultivator from simply flying up very high to see the planet in its entirety? Or even traveling by making an orbit
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The 'atmosphere' of the world mostly protects everything on it from Stellar Qi, which is quite harmful and possibly hateful.
 
Aule said:
Hi! Caught up on this amazing story. Thank you very much for writing it!

Some very nice worldbuilding in this post. So nice to see the world isn't only China and barbarians. Though it does raise a question: what can stop a fitfh or higher realm cultivator from simply flying up very high to see the planet in its entirety? Or even traveling by making an orbit.
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Besides Stellar Qi being rather toxic, actively so apparently since there are intelligences behind it, do keep in mind the Empire is roughly the size of Asia. Given how fast travel is that implies the world they are in must be massively bigger than Earth.
 
Aule said:
Some very nice worldbuilding in this post. So nice to see the world isn't only China and barbarians. Though it does raise a question: what can stop a fitfh or higher realm cultivator from simply flying up very high to see the planet in its entirety? Or even traveling by making an orbit.
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We allready knew there were other systems from the egyptian interlude, vack in the first thread.

And I imagine its a combination of physics working differently (no guarantee its even a planet) and stellar qi.
 
Aule said:
I see. Missed this tidbit while reading. Cultivators can't into space, eh? At least until anti-radiation suits are invented XD
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It's not explicitly spelled out in story but there are a lot of references about how the moon purifies steller qi. How the night sky used to be poisonous. Etc.
 
Isnt it implied that the reason that the stars aren't visible in the morning in this world is that the sun actively fights the stars?
 
Aule said:
I see. Missed this tidbit while reading. Cultivators can't into space, eh? At least until anti-radiation suits are invented XD
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If you want a good idea of how dangerous and hateful the stars are, check out the side story Yrs did called Imperturbable Stars. It has some good insight into just how dangerous the stars are.


yrsillar said:
AN: Here's another patron commission. Hope you can enjoy and let it tide you over until the new next turn
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JowKeen said:
Keep in mind that Austerity Measures are an intellectually bankrupt idea that are universally unsustainable and highly destructive. Tightening the belt is a way that you can manage individual finance but is crippling and self destructive when you attempt to run an economy/government that way. Mark Blyth is the best economist to walk through why the idea is both bankrupt and yet persistent if you're interested.

It is the wrong decision to tighten the belts around the institutions of governance and learning. It's a good thing that the Argent Sect cannot tighten their belts.
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You seem to be taking this out of context in order to start talking about realworld economics . I never said anything about the cut to funding of this completely imaginary organisation being a good thing. All I was saying that the Argent sect is less able to cope with the reduction in their usual funding than other sects due to their very large number of high level cultivators.

Edit: Heck, even in universe this doesn't seem to be anything to do with austerity measures as opposed to the empire thinking the mongol expies are a lesser threat choosing to spend money elsewhere instead. I could be wrong though.
 
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Aule said:
Some very nice worldbuilding in this post. So nice to see the world isn't only China and barbarians. Though it does raise a question: what can stop a fitfh or higher realm cultivator from simply flying up very high to see the planet in its entirety? Or even traveling by making an orbit.
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This world's equivalent of the ozone layer is far closer to the ground, occurring roughly at the altitude where the oxygen content drops below what's necessary for people to breathe. Also, radiation/ cosmic rays are no joke here - made worse by the fact that nobody really understands what they are or how they work.
 
Mannan said:
Isnt it implied that the reason that the stars aren't visible in the morning in this world is that the sun actively fights the stars?
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It would be interesting if the stars followed along with their real world counterparts and were themselves suns. With the most recent interlude's indication of how flexible reality may be in the setting, they might be radiating more than just life-giving warmth and light; they may also be emitting rival laws of physics and reality, which would explain why they're so universally deadly and seem to be a bit eldritch.
 
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picklepikkl said:
Faux-India, as the Empire is faux-China

Faux-Egypt

Faux-Greece, maybe?

Faux-Ireland?
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fixed. for consistency sake if nothing else :V


Zfglx said:
Makes me wonder if there is a Buddhist system with a radically different take on how this all works and how to go about it.
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i'm no expert on the subject but Buddhism seems relatively easy to fit in the setting. Besides the already post makes direct mention of a whole cultivation system centered around Chakras...
If you really want something completely alien and eldritch to the setting try the religions of the book (christianity/judaism/islam).
 
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adaer said:
It would be interesting if the stars followed along with their real world counterparts and were themselves suns. With the most recent interlude's indication of how flexible reality may be in the setting, they might be radiating more than just life-giving warmth and light; they may also be emitting rival laws of physics and reality, which would explain why they're so universally deadly and seem to be a bit eldritch.
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So, basically, Fallen London's Judgements with no real Correspondence to mitigate conflict.
 
>Faux-Egypt

Might be faux-Persia too, perhaps.

Buddhism has a goal of reaching Nirvana, release from the cycle of rebirth, which might be fitted with the concept of becoming a pure spirit.
 
Ayashi said:
i'm no expert on the subject but Buddhism seems relatively easy to fit in the setting. Besides the already post makes direct mention of a whole cultivation system centered around Chakras...
If you really want something completely alien and eldritch to the setting try the religions of the book (christianity/judaism/islam).
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I bet you could come up with something based on gnosticism, but I haven't had time to put much thought into it yet.
 
flacyosh said:
I bet you could come up with something based on gnosticism, but I haven't had time to put much thought into it yet.
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Perhaps if you really blend it into something unrecognizable. Again, i'm not an expert and only know the bare bones of that particular brand of heresy... but i was talking about the mainstream versions of these religions.

Because in the end whereas Buddhism is based on self-improvement and eventually freedom from this world, Shamanism has it's "talk with the spirits for their wisdom and power" thing and Animism is basically "places have power and souls", which all fits nicely with cultivation, and this setting in particular, these Religions of the Book are based on something entirely different: the acceptance of your place under one supreme overlord "Super!Dad".
Heck, even the pantheon based religions like the Egyptian, Greek, or Nordic religions, or even those more centered about natural phenomenons like the Mayans (iirc) seem more likely to fit in the setting with the gods being Great Spirits and mortals being able to become Heroes and "moving up" so to say.
 
Ayashi said:
Perhaps if you really blend it into something unrecognizable. Again, i'm not an expert and only know the bare bones of that particular brand of heresy... but i was talking about the mainstream versions of these religions.

Because in the end whereas Buddhism is based on self-improvement and eventually freedom from this world, Shamanism has it's "talk with the spirits for their wisdom and power" thing and Animism is basically "places have power and souls", which all fits nicely with cultivation, and this setting in particular, these Religions of the Book are based on something entirely different: the acceptance of your place under one supreme overlord "Super!Dad".
Heck, even the pantheon based religions like the Egyptian, Greek, or Nordic religions, or even those more centered about natural phenomenons like the Mayans (iirc) seem more likely to fit in the setting with the gods being Great Spirits and mortals being able to become Heroes and "moving up" so to say.
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Well, the main goal of Christianity is to reach Heaven and therefore immortality, overcoming sin and death in the process. I imagine a Christianity-based cultivation would involve a lot of leaving sinful or "sinful" parts of oneself behind on the road of cultivation, and seeking to ascend to become a saint/angel/whatever. How you factor the Omnipotent God into this setting is the tricky part. I could think of a few ways to handle it, but none of them are really a perfect fit.
 
One of the things I'm excited about regarding shen is what Zhengui will be able to do with it. Already he can create 100m long, 10m high ramparts from roots and vines, as well as create explosions that destroy hills, as a Green appraisal. I'm wondering what he'll be able to do when he breaches the Cyan realm and can use shen.
 
Thor's Twin said:
One of the things I'm excited about regarding shen is what Zhengui will be able to do with it. Already he can create 100m long, 10m high ramparts from roots and vines, as well as create explosions that destroy hills, as a Green appraisal. I'm wondering what he'll be able to do when he breaches the Cyan realm and can use shen.
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Create wood forts or castles that are reinforced with his qi to basically be indestructible?
 
Thor's Twin said:
One of the things I'm excited about regarding shen is what Zhengui will be able to do with it. Already he can create 100m long, 10m high ramparts from roots and vines, as well as create explosions that destroy hills, as a Green appraisal. I'm wondering what he'll be able to do when he breaches the Cyan realm and can use shen.
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Free housing for the impoverished parts of LQ's Barony?
 
Thor's Twin said:
One of the things I'm excited about regarding shen is what Zhengui will be able to do with it. Already he can create 100m long, 10m high ramparts from roots and vines, as well as create explosions that destroy hills, as a Green appraisal. I'm wondering what he'll be able to do when he breaches the Cyan realm and can use shen.
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considering what we just learned, I suspect it will let him improve the fertility of our fief just by hanging around the area.
 
yrsillar said:
Shen is an energy wholly derived from potent cultivators and spirit beasts, through which their will is imprinted upon the world, which is composed of lesser energy, qi. This is why those conflict between those of the fourth realm and above so easily alter or scar their surroundings, Shen is a semi divine energy, existing above the base mortal world, the first step toward wielding the power of the great spirits. This is why it allows us to escape the shackles of the world and fly, or alter the workings of the systems around is in ways beyond the brute force of the third realm.

This is wrong. Shen exists in the world around us, not merely as a side effect of potent spirits, but as another fundamental aspect of the material world. All forms of material and energy are qi, when broken down to their fundamental state, but my time under Guru Abhinavagupta, a man of great renown in the west, I have come to understand this. Men, beasts and spirits change the world by exerting their will, their shen upon it, this is true, but the world changes itself. We are not not as separate from material cycles as many would like to think. Shen is the energy of laws and reactions. When you strike flint to make fire, this is a miniscule application of shen. The patterns of winds which derive the weather is an application of shen. Not the winds and rains themselves of course, but the fundamental logic which drives them.

This is the source of it's potency and power when used in mortal hands. It overrides qi because qi operates as it does thanks to the laws and reactions imposed upon it by Shen. Now you may argue, is what I just described not the provenance of the third dantian? Sovereignty, Law, Truth; whatever you wish to call it?

I would answer that it is, and that imagining those things to be a third source of energy rather than a refinement of Shen is the greatest failing of Imperial Qi Theory. Of course, the truth is that it is really just a difference of power at that point. If it is said that a fourth realm wields Law as a mortal would a sharp rock, then it may be said that an Eight Realm wields it as a shaped cudgel. It is only ascension that allows true mastery. It is only our pride and insistence on supremacy which deludes us otherwise.
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So...Shen intervenes directly upon cause and effect? Which is why its so irresistable, and probably what determines your ability to create entìrely new things to existence than reskin things
 
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