- Location
- Third planet from the star named Sol
- Pronouns
- He/They
Biyu's like two or three iirc.
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.
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
currently 4 according to yrs
- Location
- Canada
Haha 🤣 I did wonder if anyone would catch that.
Turn 12: Arc 4-3
Ling Qi raised her hand in a sharp gesture before Sixiang could respond. She never took her narrowed gaze away from Kongyou. "The Esteemed Elder already chided us once for whispering. It would be very rude to force him to do so again."
She heard Sixiang shift behind her, and she could nearly feel the glare still being sent over her shoulder. "Later then," Sixiang ground out.
Kongyou's sharp toothed smirk didn't waver, though their glittering black eyes did narrow a fraction. It passed in barely a moment, and then the nightmare shrugged, brushing a hand through their hair as they turned to Xuan Shi."Aw, well if you're gonna be boring that's fine. Pretty sure he just meant interrupting my Shi though."
Ling Qi's eyebrow twitch and her scowl deepened. Every word that emerged from the nightmare's filled her with a deep irritation. There was nothing in them that she could point to as wrong. No deception that she could articulate. There wasn't even any particular mockery in their tone, but to Ling Qi their insincerity dripped and oozed, rankling her as much as if spittle were dripping down her face.
She clenched her teeth and turned her yes back toward Xuan Shi, ignoring the sideling smirk the moth-like spirit gave her.
"Honored Elder," Xuan Shi began. "This one is a fool in many ways, it is true. Deride as you like, and this one shall accept thy words as true. But please, thy companions' work has been most important, and only thine memory holds answers."
"You are a bold and demanding child. I will ignore your idiocy with that creature, since it is no business of mine. But, I have answered your question. You dare say that you are unsatisfied with that?" The swords grinding voice made Ling Qi wince, feeling a sharp pain in her inner ear, under her breath she began to hum, channeling qi through the methods of the Spirit Seekers art to lighten the painful pressure of the spirits presence.
Xuan Shi's grip on his staff tightened, the wood groaning under his grip. "Yes. This matter is of too much import to accept such an answer, even from thee."
"Do you fancy yourself a writer child?" the sword harrumphed. "Less foolish than the road of a swordsman, but a hopeless path all the same. This Empire cares not for such things, but perhaps your clan means that you can afford to be idle, child of the Scholar Kings."
"This one does not yet know his path," Xuan Shi said. "Where the current flows, these eyes cannot see, where the wind blows, these ears cannot hear. All the same, thy companions' work has been dear to this ones heart for many of the few years this one has had. I beg you treat this seriously."
There was silence for a time, with only the soft and eerie sound of wind passing between the tightly packed trees that ringed the grave.
"I was not lying, or dismissing you child," the sword finally said. The anger was gone from its voice, replaced with a sort of weary exhaustion. "Lang Keung sailed the northern sea under the flag of Jin for most of his life. Exploration is no romantic thing. You meet new people, you kill them and take their things, or arrange to exploit them. If they are too strong, you watch your captain seek weakness with which to divide and ruin them until you can. That is the soul of the explorer. In the centuries a young soldier who sought the horizon became a bloody sword, wielded by captains and then admirals. How many isles and small peoples litter the ocean far from any greater shore? I do not know, but there are less now than there were before."
She could see Xuan Shi's shoulders sinking, but he didn't look away from the sword.
"It is not merely the Jin either," the sword spoke morosely."I have seen your kin devour entire isles in the north sea, and I have seen them devoured in turn when the sea folk can manage vengeance. The three peoples of the Sea Dragon God's court are not so different as they like to pretend. You wish to know the genesis of Lang Keung's childish scribblings? They are the dreams of a man whose Sovereignty had crumbled, because he chose to shatter his own edge rather than take one more life."
Xuan Shi's staff scraped against the dirt, as he looked down. "Good dreams they were and are. There is no shame in that."
"I will not chide you for that. They were good dreams. But they were nothing more, in the end, we still died as killers and were slain as killers. Swords can only be swords. Not one thing has changed."
Ling Qi felt a shiver down the back of her spine as the atmosphere of the grave grew heavier still, mist and wind leaving Xuan Shi as only a dim silhouette although he stood only a few meters away. She felt cold and tired, was this how others felt in her mist? Ling Qi felt Sixiang grasp her hand, and squeezed it in turn.
Beside them, Kongyou swayed from foot to foot, looking pensive.
As the air grew colder still, the whisper of the wind resolved into something more, the echo of a memory, imprinted on the world.
"It was a fine thing, while it lasted. Wasn't it my friend?" a wistful voice, scratchy with age and sorrow whispered. In the mist there was a shadow of a long beard and a heavily lined face, dripping wet from the downpour that turned the garden they had worked so hard for under their feet to mush and mud. "I'm sorry to take your peace from you."
The simple bent walking stick in his hand trembled and a more familiar voice spoke on the wind. "The dream has been good. I would have liked to die peacefully by your bedside, but we both know that such could never be."
"You've always been a pessimist [------]," the old man chuckled, running his thumb along a knot in the wood.
"You've always been a fool Keung," whispered the sword. "It has been good to pretend, but the time is over. Look to the sky where foes gather. Look behind where your children and disciples flee. Only violence remains."
"Do you think I have made any difference at all with those youngsters?" the old man said, gazing up into the sky.
"...To tell, they must live," whispered the sword. Worn and gnarled wood unraveled, reveal a lacquered scabbard and a plain hilt, bound shut by a ribbon of white.
The snap of cloth echoed in the ruined garden and drowned under the hiss of a drawn blade.
"No, nothing has changed at all," ground out the voice of the broken sword, scattering the mist. "Does that satisfy your curiosity child?"
Xuan Shi didn't answer at first, but after a long moment he bent his back in a low bow. "This disciple thanks the honored Elder for taking his childish question seriously. But…"
"But? You vexing child, what more do you want?" the sword asked warily.
"While this one cannot answer the question of whether thy companion made a difference to his disciples. He made a difference to this one. Dreams and stories may be childish, but 'Should' is greater than 'Is'. To seek the horizon is not foolish," Xuan Shi paused "I think, even if one should never reach it."
Ling Qi toyed with the end of her sleeves. In the end it was the same dilemma that kept her from fully believing in Cai Renxiang's vision. The sword was right. Violence would never stop being needed, the world was violent, struggle was built into its bones.
But there was more to it than that. Xuan Shi was right, flowery as his speech was. It wasn't wrong to seek something better. She caught movement to her left then, and with a glare blew a gust of air into Kongyou's mouth, causing them to cough and sputter instead of speak.
"Hmph, you are at least half as much a fool as he then," the sword said.
"This one shall take Elder's praise with pride," Xuan Shi said quietly. "There is one more matter, if Elder will indulge this one."
"You are a vexatious child," grumbled the sword. "One more question, then begone. I wish to continue dying in peace."
"Is this something Elder recognizes?" Xuan Shi said, dismissing the book clutched in his hand to be replaced with a second object. It was an odd little charm carved from a light wood which Ling Qi didn't recognize. Under her spiritual senses it seemed drenched in the qi of the sea. Wrapped around the wooden idol was a lock of dark hair, bound by twine. "A keepsake of mine father, but the carvings seemed familiar to some of the descriptions in Elder's work."
"Sea folk work," grunted the sword. "Northeastern region. Done by the Storm folk, their surface colonists going by the material. "Those people are real, if that's your true question. They're safe from the Empire's fleets."
There was a certain grimness to the swords tone that said there was more too that, but Ling Qi was hardly going to inquire after the details.
Xuan Shi let out a breath, it seemed like there was a small weight off of his shoulders. "Elder has been too kind. This disciple offers his deepest thanks."
Ling Qi bowed silently as he turned around to leave, following him out and giving Sixiang's hand a tug. Their attention still laid on Kongyou, who followed after them with their arms behind their back. As they passed through the fog separating the grave from the labyrinth, there was a violent shift in the world around them and Lin Qi felt her stomach briefly churn as they emerged, blinking, into the fading sunlight outside of the Labyrinth.
"This one thanks you for your patience, Miss Ling. Apologies are to be made for leaving you in such an awkward state," Xuan Shi said. They were alone in the physical world again, their respective muses back in the realm of dream.
"That is nothing to apologize for," Ling Qi said. "I intended this trip as a favor to you. However, there is the matter of your spirit."
Xuan Shi grimaced behind his collar. "That is…"
"Do you really believe they didn't understand what they were doing when we were trapped?" Ling Qi asked sharply.
"That is not what this one said," Xuan Shi replied. "Kongyou does not understand the wrong done. Muse's do not live as we do. They are creatures of narrative."
Ling Qi grimaced he wasn't wrong. Sixiang had been very… difficult to talk too at first, because of the strange way they saw things.
"Not sorry," Sixiang huffed. "But there's narratives and narratives you know."
Xuan Shi frowned, clearly listening to something in his head. "It is true that this one was deceived for a time. However, the nature of Kongyou's narrative, the tragic drama is known. ON this matter I believe they may change somewhat."
Ling Qi's frown remained. He seemed very certain, and she understood his resolve, but still…
[] Interrogate why he feels the need to do this with a dangerous and deceptive spirit
[] Interrogate what his plan is, and how he intends to change the nightmare.
She heard Sixiang shift behind her, and she could nearly feel the glare still being sent over her shoulder. "Later then," Sixiang ground out.
Kongyou's sharp toothed smirk didn't waver, though their glittering black eyes did narrow a fraction. It passed in barely a moment, and then the nightmare shrugged, brushing a hand through their hair as they turned to Xuan Shi."Aw, well if you're gonna be boring that's fine. Pretty sure he just meant interrupting my Shi though."
Ling Qi's eyebrow twitch and her scowl deepened. Every word that emerged from the nightmare's filled her with a deep irritation. There was nothing in them that she could point to as wrong. No deception that she could articulate. There wasn't even any particular mockery in their tone, but to Ling Qi their insincerity dripped and oozed, rankling her as much as if spittle were dripping down her face.
She clenched her teeth and turned her yes back toward Xuan Shi, ignoring the sideling smirk the moth-like spirit gave her.
"Honored Elder," Xuan Shi began. "This one is a fool in many ways, it is true. Deride as you like, and this one shall accept thy words as true. But please, thy companions' work has been most important, and only thine memory holds answers."
"You are a bold and demanding child. I will ignore your idiocy with that creature, since it is no business of mine. But, I have answered your question. You dare say that you are unsatisfied with that?" The swords grinding voice made Ling Qi wince, feeling a sharp pain in her inner ear, under her breath she began to hum, channeling qi through the methods of the Spirit Seekers art to lighten the painful pressure of the spirits presence.
Xuan Shi's grip on his staff tightened, the wood groaning under his grip. "Yes. This matter is of too much import to accept such an answer, even from thee."
"Do you fancy yourself a writer child?" the sword harrumphed. "Less foolish than the road of a swordsman, but a hopeless path all the same. This Empire cares not for such things, but perhaps your clan means that you can afford to be idle, child of the Scholar Kings."
"This one does not yet know his path," Xuan Shi said. "Where the current flows, these eyes cannot see, where the wind blows, these ears cannot hear. All the same, thy companions' work has been dear to this ones heart for many of the few years this one has had. I beg you treat this seriously."
There was silence for a time, with only the soft and eerie sound of wind passing between the tightly packed trees that ringed the grave.
"I was not lying, or dismissing you child," the sword finally said. The anger was gone from its voice, replaced with a sort of weary exhaustion. "Lang Keung sailed the northern sea under the flag of Jin for most of his life. Exploration is no romantic thing. You meet new people, you kill them and take their things, or arrange to exploit them. If they are too strong, you watch your captain seek weakness with which to divide and ruin them until you can. That is the soul of the explorer. In the centuries a young soldier who sought the horizon became a bloody sword, wielded by captains and then admirals. How many isles and small peoples litter the ocean far from any greater shore? I do not know, but there are less now than there were before."
She could see Xuan Shi's shoulders sinking, but he didn't look away from the sword.
"It is not merely the Jin either," the sword spoke morosely."I have seen your kin devour entire isles in the north sea, and I have seen them devoured in turn when the sea folk can manage vengeance. The three peoples of the Sea Dragon God's court are not so different as they like to pretend. You wish to know the genesis of Lang Keung's childish scribblings? They are the dreams of a man whose Sovereignty had crumbled, because he chose to shatter his own edge rather than take one more life."
Xuan Shi's staff scraped against the dirt, as he looked down. "Good dreams they were and are. There is no shame in that."
"I will not chide you for that. They were good dreams. But they were nothing more, in the end, we still died as killers and were slain as killers. Swords can only be swords. Not one thing has changed."
Ling Qi felt a shiver down the back of her spine as the atmosphere of the grave grew heavier still, mist and wind leaving Xuan Shi as only a dim silhouette although he stood only a few meters away. She felt cold and tired, was this how others felt in her mist? Ling Qi felt Sixiang grasp her hand, and squeezed it in turn.
Beside them, Kongyou swayed from foot to foot, looking pensive.
As the air grew colder still, the whisper of the wind resolved into something more, the echo of a memory, imprinted on the world.
"It was a fine thing, while it lasted. Wasn't it my friend?" a wistful voice, scratchy with age and sorrow whispered. In the mist there was a shadow of a long beard and a heavily lined face, dripping wet from the downpour that turned the garden they had worked so hard for under their feet to mush and mud. "I'm sorry to take your peace from you."
The simple bent walking stick in his hand trembled and a more familiar voice spoke on the wind. "The dream has been good. I would have liked to die peacefully by your bedside, but we both know that such could never be."
"You've always been a pessimist [------]," the old man chuckled, running his thumb along a knot in the wood.
"You've always been a fool Keung," whispered the sword. "It has been good to pretend, but the time is over. Look to the sky where foes gather. Look behind where your children and disciples flee. Only violence remains."
"Do you think I have made any difference at all with those youngsters?" the old man said, gazing up into the sky.
"...To tell, they must live," whispered the sword. Worn and gnarled wood unraveled, reveal a lacquered scabbard and a plain hilt, bound shut by a ribbon of white.
The snap of cloth echoed in the ruined garden and drowned under the hiss of a drawn blade.
"No, nothing has changed at all," ground out the voice of the broken sword, scattering the mist. "Does that satisfy your curiosity child?"
Xuan Shi didn't answer at first, but after a long moment he bent his back in a low bow. "This disciple thanks the honored Elder for taking his childish question seriously. But…"
"But? You vexing child, what more do you want?" the sword asked warily.
"While this one cannot answer the question of whether thy companion made a difference to his disciples. He made a difference to this one. Dreams and stories may be childish, but 'Should' is greater than 'Is'. To seek the horizon is not foolish," Xuan Shi paused "I think, even if one should never reach it."
Ling Qi toyed with the end of her sleeves. In the end it was the same dilemma that kept her from fully believing in Cai Renxiang's vision. The sword was right. Violence would never stop being needed, the world was violent, struggle was built into its bones.
But there was more to it than that. Xuan Shi was right, flowery as his speech was. It wasn't wrong to seek something better. She caught movement to her left then, and with a glare blew a gust of air into Kongyou's mouth, causing them to cough and sputter instead of speak.
"Hmph, you are at least half as much a fool as he then," the sword said.
"This one shall take Elder's praise with pride," Xuan Shi said quietly. "There is one more matter, if Elder will indulge this one."
"You are a vexatious child," grumbled the sword. "One more question, then begone. I wish to continue dying in peace."
"Is this something Elder recognizes?" Xuan Shi said, dismissing the book clutched in his hand to be replaced with a second object. It was an odd little charm carved from a light wood which Ling Qi didn't recognize. Under her spiritual senses it seemed drenched in the qi of the sea. Wrapped around the wooden idol was a lock of dark hair, bound by twine. "A keepsake of mine father, but the carvings seemed familiar to some of the descriptions in Elder's work."
"Sea folk work," grunted the sword. "Northeastern region. Done by the Storm folk, their surface colonists going by the material. "Those people are real, if that's your true question. They're safe from the Empire's fleets."
There was a certain grimness to the swords tone that said there was more too that, but Ling Qi was hardly going to inquire after the details.
Xuan Shi let out a breath, it seemed like there was a small weight off of his shoulders. "Elder has been too kind. This disciple offers his deepest thanks."
Ling Qi bowed silently as he turned around to leave, following him out and giving Sixiang's hand a tug. Their attention still laid on Kongyou, who followed after them with their arms behind their back. As they passed through the fog separating the grave from the labyrinth, there was a violent shift in the world around them and Lin Qi felt her stomach briefly churn as they emerged, blinking, into the fading sunlight outside of the Labyrinth.
"This one thanks you for your patience, Miss Ling. Apologies are to be made for leaving you in such an awkward state," Xuan Shi said. They were alone in the physical world again, their respective muses back in the realm of dream.
"That is nothing to apologize for," Ling Qi said. "I intended this trip as a favor to you. However, there is the matter of your spirit."
Xuan Shi grimaced behind his collar. "That is…"
"Do you really believe they didn't understand what they were doing when we were trapped?" Ling Qi asked sharply.
"That is not what this one said," Xuan Shi replied. "Kongyou does not understand the wrong done. Muse's do not live as we do. They are creatures of narrative."
Ling Qi grimaced he wasn't wrong. Sixiang had been very… difficult to talk too at first, because of the strange way they saw things.
"Not sorry," Sixiang huffed. "But there's narratives and narratives you know."
Xuan Shi frowned, clearly listening to something in his head. "It is true that this one was deceived for a time. However, the nature of Kongyou's narrative, the tragic drama is known. ON this matter I believe they may change somewhat."
Ling Qi's frown remained. He seemed very certain, and she understood his resolve, but still…
[] Interrogate why he feels the need to do this with a dangerous and deceptive spirit
[] Interrogate what his plan is, and how he intends to change the nightmare.
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NoxOfUmbra
Shadow of the night
- Location
- Colombia, South América
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Interrogate why he feels the need to do this with a dangerous and deceptive spirit
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Kongyou: "Talking is a free action."
Qi: "As a reaction, I cast the cantrip 'Shut the Fuck Up'."
[] Interrogate why he feels the need to do this with a dangerous and deceptive spirit
This one helps us understand his motivations and why he plans to do this, might get to know him as a person better. But it might also be very private and maybe now is not the time for that?
[] Interrogate what his plan is, and how he intends to change the nightmare.
This one might help us fend off potential fuckery and back him up if he needs it, maybe let us offer insight via our understandings of spirits to assist? That might be good for bonding and simultaneously ensuring things go well.
Leaning towards the 2nd option.
This one helps us understand his motivations and why he plans to do this, might get to know him as a person better. But it might also be very private and maybe now is not the time for that?
[] Interrogate what his plan is, and how he intends to change the nightmare.
This one might help us fend off potential fuckery and back him up if he needs it, maybe let us offer insight via our understandings of spirits to assist? That might be good for bonding and simultaneously ensuring things go well.
Leaning towards the 2nd option.
Guh, turtle boy.... Precious lad..- Pronouns
- He
Hmm, i worry that Xuan Shi sharing with us how he plans to change Kongyou will lead to her being aware of the plan and actively work to hinder it / make it less effective.
I think it's much more likely that Xuan Shi had not kept anything hidden from them, so they probably already know all he intends to do about them.
Kinda feel like going through the mechanical minutiae of how he intends to change his spirit and workshopping his plan with him is just a lot more dry and impersonal than going into his motivations and willingness to risk this endeavour.
Though I guess insight into his chosen methods also gives insight into ideals and principles, so it could still be interesting.
Though I guess insight into his chosen methods also gives insight into ideals and principles, so it could still be interesting.
That said, Kongyou lives in his head and any plan to change the deceptive nightmare spirit for the better through underhanded deception doesn't seem particularly liable to work anyways, so I sure hope he has a different plan.
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
The why is his to share as he pleases, and while querying, to ask, to seek to understand are fine thing things; interrogate' has connotations.
To look to his methodology is less intrusive, and rather than exploring "should you do this?" it looks to the "how" It carries implications of aid and support.
As much as I despise insincerity, and wish to like. Break that connection and ask him to seek out companions who I do not feel such antipathy for, I think we should look to the how.
To look to his methodology is less intrusive, and rather than exploring "should you do this?" it looks to the "how" It carries implications of aid and support.
As much as I despise insincerity, and wish to like. Break that connection and ask him to seek out companions who I do not feel such antipathy for, I think we should look to the how.
And here we see the tragedy muse getting ready to sow the seeds of sorrow. Stfu bitch!
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Option A makes it look like LQ is essentially going to talk down to him, call him foolish, etc. I personally don't like that from the perspective of LQ's growth. Shi is allowed to make his own decisions for his own reasons and LQ trying to change that goes against her trying to learn to trust her friends and let them make their own decisions.
Option B essentially agrees to letting Shi make the decision, but allows LQ input on HOW he's planning on going about it. I think that's the better option narratively and from a character standpoint.
Tl;dr Option A is an attack on Shi's ideals and Option B is probing his methods.
Therefore:
[] Interrogate what his plan is, and how he intends to change the nightmare.
Option B essentially agrees to letting Shi make the decision, but allows LQ input on HOW he's planning on going about it. I think that's the better option narratively and from a character standpoint.
Tl;dr Option A is an attack on Shi's ideals and Option B is probing his methods.
Therefore:
[] Interrogate what his plan is, and how he intends to change the nightmare.
- Pronouns
- He
The empire really gotta work on their foreign diplomacy department.
Yeah, that's my major qualm about actually asking the Why question.
I think it's a lot more interesting and important, but it's also more intrusive and less accepting of his decision.
I took the How in this choice as less "what process are you gonna use to change them" and more "what do you want to change them into?" Which itself may lead to some understanding of his motivations if not all of it, and imply that we are willing to support him.
So:
[X] Interrogate what his plan is, and how he intends to change the nightmare.
So:
[X] Interrogate what his plan is, and how he intends to change the nightmare.
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Diomedea
A piece of the continent
- Location
- The interblag
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I think this is a very uncharitable framing of the two choices.
From my perspective, Xuan Shi is doing something that straight up doesn't make sense to Ling Qi, so the first option is her trying to understand him and where he is coming from. She's seeking to understand his motivations and their underlying values, which demonstrate that understanding that about him is important to Ling Qi.
The second option is her deciding that understanding him is unimportant as long as he seems to be successful. The kind of distant support that he's received from his clan his whole life, but not what he really wants.
ContemplateLife
Philosopher Thesaurus
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah...
In fantasy worlds or in general I'm always a conservationist.
Keeping as many unique perspectives and things alive and well as is possible as long as they are not actively harmful.
The kind of destructive flattening, looting and pillaging of cool and interesting cultures/monsters/things described as the Empire's standard operating procedure always makes me sad to imagine.
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Please remember that there is progress being made. The Xuan are starting up trade with a bunch of civilizations, there is that nice Zheng explorer that met with the people from Khusan going around, and now we are at the forefront of diplomatic efforts with the Nation of the Polar Gates, this generation in particular seems to be challenging the empire's xenophobic tendency to believe that they are the only civilization and all the rest are barbarians. If we manage to make a good relationship with the white sky, that can only help.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
If my framing was uncharitable then I believe yours is at least equally so. Option B doesn't say that understanding him is unimportant, just that we don't have to understand something to be supportive of our friends and wouldn't even be "distant support" at all, we're directly trying to help him achieve his goal by potentially pointing out flaws in his method.
Diomedea
A piece of the continent
- Location
- The interblag
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I think an equably uncharitable framing would be closer to claiming option B is just trying to learn his "how" so as to better argue him out of it.
I'm saying both options support him, but one might be closer to the type of support he actually wants. Your framing is that one option is secretly an attack on what he's doing.
I wanna hear more about the 'why.' True, we sort of got that "To seek the horizon, even if it might not be achievable, because the attempt itself has value" as Ryumancer said, but...
I want to hear more about that!
Especially because that is, apparently, something near and dear to his heart.
Talking about something so personal and important, could be the key to understanding or sympathy or... something. And if we understand him more, we might become closer friends. Or at least have a better idea how we could help him out. (Though admittedly, we also can help him out if we know what his plan is, but... I kinda want to know the 'why's' of this. To know why we should help. Also, I think he might appreciate somebody trying to know and figure him out, and then still help. Maybe anyway.)