This feels like those video games where you're just going along, about to do another banal task and suddenly the game asks you if you want to save. And you're just like ??? but why? What's about to happen?
That's what this vote feels like to me.
[x] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[X] There was no need for it. The character for Ling meant 'Zero' and that is what she had started as. If there were any lineage she would claim, it was her teachers, claimed through her own effort.
I believe the thing could easily be set to have... Undesirable effects on any non-Weilu descendant that would dare try to use it...
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
'Oh wow, look a shiny', 'lets make xin proud' and other stuff like that feels like it only focuses on the first part of this option. But despite this, the second part about claiming and using weilu ancestry is still part of the vote. this vote explicitly says that LQ would go out and claim whatever ancient ancestry she can find. This will make blood relationship an important aspect of our clan, because this option chooses to derive part of our legitimacy as a clan through it.
I dont think I like this definition of family/clan through blood since up to now, ling qi regarded her mentors, spirits and close friends as equal parts of her family and i really like that part of her. Actually claiming Zeqing's lineage or that of the grinning/hidden/dreaming moon for example would be really interesting too, so I vote for:
[X] There was no need for it. The character for Ling meant 'Zero' and that is what she had started as. If there were any lineage she would claim, it was her teachers, claimed through her own effort.
[X] There was no need for it. The character for Ling meant 'Zero' and that is what she had started as. If there were any lineage she would claim, it was her teachers, claimed through her own effort.
I don't want blood to be part of what defines the Ling clan.
[X] There was no need for it. The character for Ling meant 'Zero' and that is what she had started as. If there were any lineage she would claim, it was her teachers, claimed through her own effort.
I believe the thing could easily be set to have... Undesirable effects on any non-Weilu descendant that would dare try to use it...
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The name "Ling" means "zero", but just because you're starting from zero doesn't mean it won't be fun to find out what the negative numbers were! Also, it's literally inconceivable to look at a "poke me and find out a thing" talisman and NOT poke it, damn it.
These vote options feel very different... it can't hurt to try feels like taking the lottery ticket. While the other option sounds like an insight. A determination that whatever ancestry we have is not important.
But then again, nothing suggests this to be a critical vote... but I will still vote for self sufficiency.
[X] There was no need for it. The character for Ling meant 'Zero' and that is what she had started as. If there were any lineage she would claim, it was her teachers, claimed through her own effort.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
Weren't we descended from the servant family of some random low level cultivators? I don't have the time to go and look for the exact passage, but we already know about a connection to our ancestors and could probably carry it from there if we really tried. It's not like we have no clue of where we came from after we learned that. Might as well get the full picture.
I kiqnda want to go see them at one point, just to see what they will think of us. Possibly at Cyan.
It's a hidden moon quest, and we are partially a hidden moon cultivator. Let's do the yhidden moon thing
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
'Oh wow, look a shiny', 'lets make xin proud' and other stuff like that feels like it only focuses on the first part of this option. But despite this, the second part about claiming and using weilu ancestry is still part of the vote. this vote explicitly says that LQ would go out and claim whatever ancient ancestry she can find. This will make blood relationship an important aspect of our clan, because this option chooses to derive part of our legitimacy as a clan through it.
For all the 'let's make Xin' proud meme, the vote actually... doesn't speak about that at all.
It seems to be about some Bloodline as legitimacy, as you mentioned, but it's also wink wink one. Given "everyone had some drops of Weilu blood in them" part, it would be less about Ling Qi changing her belief toward blood legitimacy, and more "She will use any tools she can to get that legitimacy". Mind you, I don't like it either. I like legitimacy to, well, be legitimate and have some self-belief rather than hypocritical, but it also fits scrapper Ling Qi well.
But yeah, the whole "it's a hidden moon quest" whatever confuses the hell out of me. It's like "it's a X quest" change the X with every single vote nowadays.
For just a second, she saw behind his self assured composure, and saw there the excitement of a child whose parent had just given them free run of a sweet shop.
"I believe I see some very valuable books along the right wall," Ling Qi said faintly.
"How valuable?" Meng Dan asked, raising an eyebrow as he considered the shelves already before them with a hungry gleam in his eyes.
"How valuable would you rate a completed genealogy of the Weilu?" Ling Qi asked.
Beside her Meng Dan stilled. He didn't blink, or adjust his glasses, or even draw another breath for a long moment. Then the moment broke, and the perpetually smiling young man licked his lips nervously. "We should hurry, I think."
"We should," Ling Qi agreed.
"On it," Sixiang chuckled, their physical form dispersed into a cloud of glittering mist, and the chamber groaned as stone settled, solidified, and became more real.
Ling Qi sprang off, following the curve of the left wall. Even with her mobility limited, she could still move quickly, her feet barely touching stone as she scanned the floor for weak points. Behind her, Meng Dan followed, Yinhui clinging to the back of his robe. His movement technique was… interesting. She saw characters and numbers in the shadows and wind around him, flickering with silver, and then he would take a step and simply move, crossing meters of distance in a blur.
He followed after her in a zig zagging path that wove through the weakened parts of the floor, never seeming to do more than take individual small steps. Yet she could feel the wind parting around him as he moved, so it wasn't like her own quick shadow stepping.
It only took a matter of moments to circle the room to where she had seen the books and the oversized tapestry, and all the while her wisps were zooming over the room, noting things that looked of special value.
"Miss Ling," Meng Dan said as she alit beside the shelf. "Do I have your permission to access your divinatory constructs?"
"Is that something you can do?" Ling Qi asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Naturally," he chuckled. "It is much easier if you do not resist."
"That sounds very suspicious," Yinhui sighed.
It did, Ling Qi agreed, but they were in a hurry. "I will try not to throw off your technique, so go ahead, but why?"
If he tried anything untoward, they were literally sitting beside Cai Renxiang, who she did not doubt would notice.
"It will enable me to catalogue all of this, and calculate the most optimal gathering…" Meng Dan began cheerfully, only to trail off. It took her a moment to realize that he had come into sight of the books and their titles.
For just a second, she saw behind his self assured composure, and saw there the excitement of a child whose parent had just given them free run of a sweets shop.
"Sir Meng?" she said politely. It would be rude to comment.
He shook himself. "Yes, of course. Please allow me a moment, Miss Ling."
Meng Dan brought his hands together in front of his face, traceries of silver light gleaming on his fingernails and from beneath his half closed eyelids. Ling Qi felt an odd sort of tingling through the meridians which powered her Diviner techniques, it felt a bit like when Sixiang would actively peer through her eyes.
The technique was insidious though, if she hadn't been prepared and waiting for it, she felt like she could have easily missed it. That was a dangerous skill, but one that made sense for the Hidden Moon.
Ling Qi reached down to pluck the book which had caught her eye from the shelf. It was a massive thing, as thick as one of Renxiang's unabridged legal codes and bound in supple green leather, with it's title inked in shimmering characters that flowed from silver to gold and back. Ling Qi moved to open it and take a peek at the pages inside… only for the cover to resist her. She frowned, and tried to simply flip it open to the middle, but the pages stayed as they were as if she was only holding a stone sculpture of a book.
In her arms, the tremendous tome let out something like a whispery growl, like a cat who had just had its fur rubbed the wrong way.
"Do be careful, Miss Ling," Meng Dan said. She was a little startled when he snatched the book right out of her hands, even taking a full step back. Meng Dan on the other hand wasn't looking at her at all, instead running his fingers soothingly up the books spine. "Tomes like this require a tender touch."
Ling Qi stared blankly at him for a second, only to glance down as she felt a tug at her sleeve. Yinhui looked up at Ling Qi, and very slowly shook her head. "Please excuse him, Scholar Ling. He is right though, it is best to be careful with old books. They are often very picky."
"I will keep that in mind," Ling Qi huffed. It wasn't like they had time to study or read right now anyway. She turned her eyes to the massive tapestry, noting the powerful flows of qi in the fabric. She brushed her hand along it's side and felt a thrum of awareness.
…She really should have expected this.
***
The chamber's existence, bolstered by Sixiang, lasted for nearly half an hour. Unable to put things into storage while in the space they were forced to physically carry things out. However, even with their abilities limited within the ring, they were able to save most of the materials that had not already fallen into the void. It was thanks to both Ling Qi's speed and Meng Dan's ability to swiftly organize their loads for maximum efficiency that they managed to save most of the materials that had not already fallen into the void.
It still hurt to see so many talismans, books and works of art go. She had earned these, damn it all. LIng Qi huffed as she sat the last pile of items down, watching a handful of hairpins and jewels go rolling across the floor. They had knocked over and shoved aside several stacks of Hui Peng's scribbling in moving the contents up here, and the floor was now practically carpeted in loose leaf and sketches.
Well, where it wasn't covered in actual carpets. They had found quite a few of those.
"Good work, Miss Ling," Meng Dan's voice called to her from over piles. "Do come over here, you have to see this."
Ling Qi let out a huff, he was still sounding so energetic, even though he'd carried just as much as she had. Beside her Sixiang reformed with a small laugh, jabbing her in the side with their elbow. "C'mon, it's not like you aren't excited by all this loot."
Ling Qi turned up her nose as she wound around the transported shelves. That wasn't the point. While most of what they had brought up weren't particularly potent, they were all clearly cultivator work. Paintings which moved with inner animation, and sculptures which felt almost real to the touch. She had lost count of the number of second and third grade talisman accessories mixed in among items whose power was fully in the sheer quality of their craftsmanship.
"What did you…" Ling Qi began as she rounded a shelf, only to stop and blink. Meng Dan stood before the great tapestry unrolled haphazardly over piles of parchment and paper. The sight took her breath away. Before her eyes the eaves of Xiangmen moved and the stars twinkled amongst its canopy. Among the leaves, along the branches, twining down the trunk were hundreds of names picked out in gold and silver stitching.
Meng Dan stood before it, the book which he had taken from her still cradled in his hands, but now, the cover was open, revealing a beautiful watercolor illustration of a wise looking sage, garbed in resplendent robes which were vibrant with flowers and plant life. A crown of stars shone about his head, in the shape of great antlers. She knew without doubt that it was intended to be a depiction of Tsu the Diviner, the artist's intent was utterly without doubt.
"It seems that the tapestry is a companion piece," Meng Dan said, staring intently at the cloth. "And look at this."
He reached out, pressing his finger against the the tapestry and before her eyes, the names changed seeming to zoom like startled birds across the tapestry until a whole new set of names became clear. Directly under his thin finger was the name 'Duzhi'.
"A bloodline tracking device, obviously made to reinforce Hui legitimacy, but still," He said, finally looking up as she stepped up to his side. "Meng Duzhi was the third son of Duke Angguo, who took an imperial wife and received the right to settle the western fens from his father. The reasons for the split are unclear, but I've posited that it was a move to remove some bloat from the council of kings and avoid succession crisis…" Meng Dan spoke quickly. "Ah, I know so little of the founding period, only the direct descendants of the patriarch typically have access to our inner archives…"
Ling Qi nodded faintly, listening to him speak, but her eyes were on the tapestry. She felt a little thrill of curiosity. What would happen if she laid a finger on it?
[] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[] There was no need for it. The character for Ling meant 'Zero' and that is what she had started as. If there were any lineage she would claim, it was her teachers, claimed through her own effort.
Oof, that vote. Curiosity and independence are tearing me apart :Ü™
Edit: Edit: I hope is going "how can they overthink this so much!" instead of laughing menacingly at us tearing our hair out :Ü™ [X] There was no need for it. The character for Ling meant 'Zero' and that is what she had started as. If there were any lineage she would claim, it was her teachers, claimed through her own effort.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The name "Ling" means "zero", but just because you're starting from zero doesn't mean it won't be fun to find out what the negative numbers were! Also, it's literally inconceivable to look at a "poke me and find out a thing" talisman and NOT poke it, damn it.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
For all the 'let's make Xin' proud meme, the vote actually... doesn't speak about that at all.
It seems to be about some Bloodline as legitimacy, as you mentioned, but it's also wink wink one. Given "everyone had some drops of Weilu blood in them" part, it would be less about Ling Qi changing her belief toward blood legitimacy, and more "She will use any tools she can to get that legitimacy". Mind you, I don't like it either. I like legitimacy to, well, be legitimate and have some self-belief rather than hypocritical, but it also fits scrapper Ling Qi well.
But yeah, the whole "it's a hidden moon quest" whatever confuses the hell out of me. It's like "it's a X quest" change the X with every single vote nowadays.
The thing about bloodline legitimacy is that you have to go public with it, as in you have to tell other people that you descend from X and that this gives you legitimacy. This is fine for us and it will probably work too. However i can think of 2ish issues that come as a package deal with it.
1) people adopted into the clan or otherwise not directly related to Ling Qi dont share this ancestry and therefore cannot be equal clan members to those who do.
2) what about the He and Liu clans? If the ancestry we end up with comes from qingges side of the family, then suddenly the He clan becomes an acknowledged part of our family tree. Would those two clans see it as an opportunity for influence over us? Id say probably yes
Personally i'm hoping that, instead of going of and announcing our super special bloodline heritage and stuff, we will just go "huh" and move on, and use it if/when someone starts talking about their super special bloodlines.
And not in a "i have a super special bloodline as well" sense, but in a "dude, random street rats have Weilu heritage, stfu."
edit-
Assuming there is any connection ofcourse.
I still think finding out we have none would be more interesting in a "that's statistically improbable" sense.
Personally i'm hoping that, instead of going of and announcing our super special bloodline heritage and stuff, we will just go "huh" and move on, and use it if/when someone starts talking about their super special bloodlines.
And not in a "i have a super special bloodline as well" sense, but in a "dude, random street rats have Weilu heritage, stfu."
edit-
Assuming there is any connection ofcourse.
I still think finding out we have none would be more interesting in a "that's statistically improbable" sense.
I mean, the vote says the opposite. You might hope the vote is lying, but Ling Qi explicitely wants to use that connection for political gain.
[] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
[X] There was no need for it. The character for Ling meant 'Zero' and that is what she had started as. If there were any lineage she would claim, it was her teachers, claimed through her own effort.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
I mean, the vote says the opposite. You might hope the vote is lying, but Ling Qi explicitely wants to use that connection for political gain.
[] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
Says it would be useful, not that she will immediately go and use it.
I doubt the vote will lock us into a longterm action plan, and future will depend on the thread.
edit-
Also, vague on how specifically it would be useful.
Might help with the negotiations, might help with gaining legitimacy in the empire, might help with just shutting someone up.
That's kinda what bothers me, since the flavor text suggest she wants to utilize it, which is what I don't want. If it really is just curiosity on her part, then sure why not, but I'm not assured on that.
[X] It can't hurt to try. The Weilu are ancient after all, surely most everyone had a drop or two of their blood in them. Imagine how useful it would be, to claim some ancient connection.
