- Location
- Space
Do you have a reason to think that they use a different process for the lower places than the champion spots?
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.
- Location
- scrabbling
All this talk just makes me want to go reread Forge's finale arcs. Maybe even the highlights, too, stuff like evading Sun in the mountains, dunking on Yan Renshu, or the various Elder trials.
And of course Han Jian scenes. And the two-three Gu Tai scenes...I've always been a great fan of the GF crew.
And of course Han Jian scenes. And the two-three Gu Tai scenes...I've always been a great fan of the GF crew.
Future Days: Tournament Day
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
Future Days: Tournament Day
In, out. In, out. Breathing shaped by Argent Soul was a pattern that Song Lan had memorized soon after arrival at the sect. Argent Soul was the foundation for everything that he had built and there was a meditative calmness with the action. Those foundations built by the art would be tested today, the greatest, and hopefully last, trial of the outer sect. Today was tournament day.
A horde covered the smooth stones of the tournament ground, their breaths and beating hearts metal gongs to his ears. It was almost painful to be near so many people, so much noise, so many distractions, but Song Lan endured and kept his eyes fixed to the sky above where Sect Head Guan Zhi had appeared. After a moment to allow everyone to shift their attention she spoke.
The speech almost brought tears to Song Lan's eyes. It spoke about effort and sacrifice, of the trails he had endured to reach the stage he was at. His soul ached as it remembered his efforts in breaking through to Bronze. Of long nights wracked by pain with only words of comfort from his friends. Of that feeling of freedom when he finally awoke remade. Then the speech changed to the trials still ahead of them and Song Lan's heart clenched, the void caused by a soul stretching to fill a body larger than it aching more acutely than ever before.
Eventually the speech ended. It was a short speech, all things considered. Song Lan had heard longer speeches from his village's elders, but that just meant that the meat of the event could start sooner, something he certainly agreed with. Names were called for the first round, and with them Song Lan heard his.
On the fourth platform Song Lan studied his fellow cultivators. He was taller than them, standing almost head and shoulders over them, and only one other was his peer in cultivation. Well, being a peer might be generous to himself. His eyes narrowed as he studied Ling Yahui, she noticed his gaze and waved cheekily back. Firmly in Green and Bronze Ling Yahui was perhaps the strongest cultivator in the outer sect. Certainly the strongest of the first years. Tall and willowy with straight black hair falling to her waist she was also the striking of the first year students. Something she clearly knew and wielded like a knife to keep dominance of her power bloc.
Whispers in busy tea houses told a story of a relentless drive to dominate, of smothering competition with layer after layer of slights and agreements until the entire female side of the outer sect was twisted around her finger or driven into the wilderness. Song Lan had tried to steer clear of competing power blocs, but still ran afoul of Ling Yahui's bloc more than once. He would have paid little mind to it, chalking it up to ill luck, of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Even when his friend started being a victim he wasn't inclined to work against her. But Ling Yahui had the most infuriating trait of any of the first year students. To her everything was a game.
When she won a stand off Ling Yahui would just smile like it was natural, whenever she lost she would smile and laugh it off like it didn't matter. It was infuriating. More than once Song Lan had ambushed a close follower of hers just to try and prove the point that actions had consequences, that the sect was more than a playground with nice and neat rules she could use to ruin people, but nothing ever seemed to get through her facade. Perhaps this would finally be the chance to break through.
Between one moment and the next the world changed. Gone were the stands, the platforms, the fellow disciples. Sunlight reflected off snow covered trees. The trees were gnarled obstinate things with roots crawling over each in a desperate race for a single clear creek that burbled at Song Lan's feet. Stretching off to his right was a mountain whose peak appeared flat, as if something had cut the tip off.
Song Lan breathed deeply, inhaling the sweet scent of clean mountain air. Then his eyes snapped open and he dashed through the snow sending prismatic crystals spinning in an expanding cloud behind him. Time to show his strength. Time to find Ling Yahui.
An arrow whizzing through the trees was the first signal Song Lan had that his search was bearing fruit. Spinning around a larger tree Song Lan pulsed qi to his eyes and knew they flashed burnished bronze, with his art pieces of metal flashed into existence as ethereal blue objects, visible even through trees and rocks. There. With two others. A group of three working together were likely part of a bloc, and the only large bloc he noticed in his group was Ling Yahui's. What a lucky break.
With steady breaths he watched them approach, their arrowheads and ornaments slowly growing larger with each moment. Then the instant they separated to move around the tree he was hiding in, Song Lan moved. Bull rushing through the tree sent splinters racing through the air and was met with shrieks of surprise. Grabbing the first girl's head and slamming his knee into it caused her to explode into a cloud of mist. One down. Spinning on one heel he brought the other into the girl rushing him with a spear of some sort. He felt bone give way, bending and fracturing under the blow before she too was whisked away. Two down. A thin spear of fire through the stomach of the last girl as tried to play notes on zither ended the encounter. Three down.
"That was quite brutish of you." An infuriating voice said from behind him.
Song Lan turned around and faced Ling Yahui. Her hair was braided in elaborate coils and a heavy medallion hung over robes colored midnight blue.
"I was hoping that they could take down someone their own size, really show off what they learned this year." Ling Yahui said and for the first time Song Lan could remember she was frowning. "They really needed the confidence a good showing here would give. A shame they found you first."
Saying nothing Song Lan set into his stance, eyes fixed on Ling Yahui for any opening. For now there wasn't any.
"Oh?" Ling Yahui said as she stepped forward. "Not running? Not ambushing the tired, the defenseless? Actually standing and fighting for once?"
"Of course, this is a tournament. Everyone here is willing to fight so you can't hide behind unwilling shields now." Song Lan said.
Ling Yahui blinked. "You know," she said, "I never quite understood why you hate me so much."
"Tan Xinyi." He said.
"That… That frustrating girl." Ling Yahui said, sighing. "I certainly mistepped with her, but did she react to any of the overtures I made for amends? No. Far too stubborn for her own good that girl."
Song Lan shrugged even as he brought more and more qi to his lungs. "I wouldn't know about that, but I do know that the outer sect isn't a game. You've ruined people for your fun."
"Fun? A game?" Ling Yahui said, confusion written clearly on her face. "Of course the outer sect isn't a game."
Even as Ling Yahui spoke Song Lan moved, finally crafting the qi in his lungs into an art. With a single exhale the world vanished, obscured by a cone of expanding metal slivers. Battle Breath of the Grey Lung was a powerful art, it ran his throat ragged and it's consumption of qi was immense, but it dealt more damage faster than any other art he had. Of course such an attack wouldn't be enough for the scion of the Ling.
As he snapped his right arm up to block the punch, Song Lan glanced sideways at Ling Yahui and saw something other than picturesque scion. Across her arms and face ten thousand cuts bled verdant light and in her eyes was a winter night, stars mixed with snow mixed with deep blackness.
"If you want to play rough, I'll play." Ling Yahui said, voice still upbeat and controlled. "Perhaps getting knocked out of the preliminaries will teach you to pick your fights."
Then came the cold, the cold of a winter night knowing the nearest hearth is too far away to make it, the cold of knowing your family would never know what happened. It came howling out of Ling Yahui and battled with his metal breath as Song Lan turned bringing it to bare.
Battling art to art was a losing fight Song Lan knew. Ling Yahui was fully green, he was not. He knew that his only chance of winning was pressuring her, forcing her to make a mistake, forcing her to get angry. Stepping forward he punched. He struck true and smiled inside as he saw Ling Yahui's eyes widen in surprise as his fist slammed into her face.
It felt like striking a pine tree. Even his new flesh was cut by the rough bark, but Ling Yahui's nose was broken, and she wasn't smiling anymore. The cold intensified bearing as Ling Yahui began to sing, her hands became encased in a shimmering aura of midnight blue and with a single lunge Ling Yahui tried to strike him. Song Lan knew this was her most dangerous art, showcased once but lingering in the whispers of teahouses. All he had to do was make sure that her hands never touched him.
Dropping into a spinning kick, Song Lan tried to force her into the air. As he was completing the kick a dull roar filled the air and shook the ground. All around him trees trembled. Leaping backwards he focused on Ling Yahui to see what tricks she was pulling out now. Instead of facing him though the girl stared at the distant mountain, brow furrowed and with a clear frown.
"Well shit." She said.
Song Lan blinked. What had she said? It had a foreign taste to the sound, something from far away.
"What?" He said, as he began to circle the girl who wasn't even paying attention to him anymore.
"Oh, there's some bastard over on the mountain. What a mess." Then she took off running, sprinting far faster than she had been moving before.
For his plan to work he needed to take her out, so Song Lan took off after her. She was the only competition he was likely to face, and if she was running away then he would need to chase after her. There wasn't even a flicker of thought towards him as he evened up with her. All the while a low rumble was growing louder and louder. He tried a few attacks at her, but when she let them splash over her, only turning her head to look behind her, before squeezing out even more speed. It was then that Song Lan decided to look behind him too.
It was a wall of snow, a massive overwhelming river roaring down the mountain. Trees were buried and boulders were carried along. The snow didn't want to just bury them, it also wanted to bludgeon them to death.
Song Lan turned to run faster but it was too late. Off to the side he could barely see Ling Yahui turn around and pour out qi to make a wedge of glittering ice for a shield, a shield that didn't reach him. There was a feeling of pressure, of losing control to a current, and the Song Lan was swept away and there was blackness and cold.
He didn't know how long he was imprisoned. For a moment Song Lan didn't even realize he had woken up. No sunlight reached his tomb and there was no sense of direction. With a breath Song Lan forced flickering flames to start melting away the snow surrounding him. There was no sense of direction, so he was content to work slowly, creating a sphere of clear space in the snow. Water from the melting snow flowed towards his right shoulder, and that was enough for him to reorient. If that was down, then up was…
Snow vanished and his feet touched stone flooring. The arena was back, along with the crowds. Blinking the spots out of his eye, Song Lan saw the Sect Head floating above their arena and Ling Yahui standing beside him. Holding back a scowl he turned to fully face the sect head.
"Congratulations." Guan Zhi said as she drifted back to a position in between all four arenas. "Through the trials of your peers you've proven yourself worthy of proceeding to the next stage. I look forward to all of your next steps. Now for the next round." With that the next round of names were called and the winners of the first round worked their way off the arenas.
Song Lan avoided even looking at Ling Yahui. His attempt to knock her out of the tournament had failed. Now he would need to tell Tan Xinyi that their plan failed. Still the inner sect was in reach, so it wasn't a complete failure. Hopefully Tan Xinyi would be just as fortunate in the crafting competition.
A.N
Omake for @yrsillar
A fun thought about future Argent Sect tournaments led to this piece. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!
In, out. In, out. Breathing shaped by Argent Soul was a pattern that Song Lan had memorized soon after arrival at the sect. Argent Soul was the foundation for everything that he had built and there was a meditative calmness with the action. Those foundations built by the art would be tested today, the greatest, and hopefully last, trial of the outer sect. Today was tournament day.
A horde covered the smooth stones of the tournament ground, their breaths and beating hearts metal gongs to his ears. It was almost painful to be near so many people, so much noise, so many distractions, but Song Lan endured and kept his eyes fixed to the sky above where Sect Head Guan Zhi had appeared. After a moment to allow everyone to shift their attention she spoke.
The speech almost brought tears to Song Lan's eyes. It spoke about effort and sacrifice, of the trails he had endured to reach the stage he was at. His soul ached as it remembered his efforts in breaking through to Bronze. Of long nights wracked by pain with only words of comfort from his friends. Of that feeling of freedom when he finally awoke remade. Then the speech changed to the trials still ahead of them and Song Lan's heart clenched, the void caused by a soul stretching to fill a body larger than it aching more acutely than ever before.
Eventually the speech ended. It was a short speech, all things considered. Song Lan had heard longer speeches from his village's elders, but that just meant that the meat of the event could start sooner, something he certainly agreed with. Names were called for the first round, and with them Song Lan heard his.
On the fourth platform Song Lan studied his fellow cultivators. He was taller than them, standing almost head and shoulders over them, and only one other was his peer in cultivation. Well, being a peer might be generous to himself. His eyes narrowed as he studied Ling Yahui, she noticed his gaze and waved cheekily back. Firmly in Green and Bronze Ling Yahui was perhaps the strongest cultivator in the outer sect. Certainly the strongest of the first years. Tall and willowy with straight black hair falling to her waist she was also the striking of the first year students. Something she clearly knew and wielded like a knife to keep dominance of her power bloc.
Whispers in busy tea houses told a story of a relentless drive to dominate, of smothering competition with layer after layer of slights and agreements until the entire female side of the outer sect was twisted around her finger or driven into the wilderness. Song Lan had tried to steer clear of competing power blocs, but still ran afoul of Ling Yahui's bloc more than once. He would have paid little mind to it, chalking it up to ill luck, of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Even when his friend started being a victim he wasn't inclined to work against her. But Ling Yahui had the most infuriating trait of any of the first year students. To her everything was a game.
When she won a stand off Ling Yahui would just smile like it was natural, whenever she lost she would smile and laugh it off like it didn't matter. It was infuriating. More than once Song Lan had ambushed a close follower of hers just to try and prove the point that actions had consequences, that the sect was more than a playground with nice and neat rules she could use to ruin people, but nothing ever seemed to get through her facade. Perhaps this would finally be the chance to break through.
Between one moment and the next the world changed. Gone were the stands, the platforms, the fellow disciples. Sunlight reflected off snow covered trees. The trees were gnarled obstinate things with roots crawling over each in a desperate race for a single clear creek that burbled at Song Lan's feet. Stretching off to his right was a mountain whose peak appeared flat, as if something had cut the tip off.
Song Lan breathed deeply, inhaling the sweet scent of clean mountain air. Then his eyes snapped open and he dashed through the snow sending prismatic crystals spinning in an expanding cloud behind him. Time to show his strength. Time to find Ling Yahui.
An arrow whizzing through the trees was the first signal Song Lan had that his search was bearing fruit. Spinning around a larger tree Song Lan pulsed qi to his eyes and knew they flashed burnished bronze, with his art pieces of metal flashed into existence as ethereal blue objects, visible even through trees and rocks. There. With two others. A group of three working together were likely part of a bloc, and the only large bloc he noticed in his group was Ling Yahui's. What a lucky break.
With steady breaths he watched them approach, their arrowheads and ornaments slowly growing larger with each moment. Then the instant they separated to move around the tree he was hiding in, Song Lan moved. Bull rushing through the tree sent splinters racing through the air and was met with shrieks of surprise. Grabbing the first girl's head and slamming his knee into it caused her to explode into a cloud of mist. One down. Spinning on one heel he brought the other into the girl rushing him with a spear of some sort. He felt bone give way, bending and fracturing under the blow before she too was whisked away. Two down. A thin spear of fire through the stomach of the last girl as tried to play notes on zither ended the encounter. Three down.
"That was quite brutish of you." An infuriating voice said from behind him.
Song Lan turned around and faced Ling Yahui. Her hair was braided in elaborate coils and a heavy medallion hung over robes colored midnight blue.
"I was hoping that they could take down someone their own size, really show off what they learned this year." Ling Yahui said and for the first time Song Lan could remember she was frowning. "They really needed the confidence a good showing here would give. A shame they found you first."
Saying nothing Song Lan set into his stance, eyes fixed on Ling Yahui for any opening. For now there wasn't any.
"Oh?" Ling Yahui said as she stepped forward. "Not running? Not ambushing the tired, the defenseless? Actually standing and fighting for once?"
"Of course, this is a tournament. Everyone here is willing to fight so you can't hide behind unwilling shields now." Song Lan said.
Ling Yahui blinked. "You know," she said, "I never quite understood why you hate me so much."
"Tan Xinyi." He said.
"That… That frustrating girl." Ling Yahui said, sighing. "I certainly mistepped with her, but did she react to any of the overtures I made for amends? No. Far too stubborn for her own good that girl."
Song Lan shrugged even as he brought more and more qi to his lungs. "I wouldn't know about that, but I do know that the outer sect isn't a game. You've ruined people for your fun."
"Fun? A game?" Ling Yahui said, confusion written clearly on her face. "Of course the outer sect isn't a game."
Even as Ling Yahui spoke Song Lan moved, finally crafting the qi in his lungs into an art. With a single exhale the world vanished, obscured by a cone of expanding metal slivers. Battle Breath of the Grey Lung was a powerful art, it ran his throat ragged and it's consumption of qi was immense, but it dealt more damage faster than any other art he had. Of course such an attack wouldn't be enough for the scion of the Ling.
As he snapped his right arm up to block the punch, Song Lan glanced sideways at Ling Yahui and saw something other than picturesque scion. Across her arms and face ten thousand cuts bled verdant light and in her eyes was a winter night, stars mixed with snow mixed with deep blackness.
"If you want to play rough, I'll play." Ling Yahui said, voice still upbeat and controlled. "Perhaps getting knocked out of the preliminaries will teach you to pick your fights."
Then came the cold, the cold of a winter night knowing the nearest hearth is too far away to make it, the cold of knowing your family would never know what happened. It came howling out of Ling Yahui and battled with his metal breath as Song Lan turned bringing it to bare.
Battling art to art was a losing fight Song Lan knew. Ling Yahui was fully green, he was not. He knew that his only chance of winning was pressuring her, forcing her to make a mistake, forcing her to get angry. Stepping forward he punched. He struck true and smiled inside as he saw Ling Yahui's eyes widen in surprise as his fist slammed into her face.
It felt like striking a pine tree. Even his new flesh was cut by the rough bark, but Ling Yahui's nose was broken, and she wasn't smiling anymore. The cold intensified bearing as Ling Yahui began to sing, her hands became encased in a shimmering aura of midnight blue and with a single lunge Ling Yahui tried to strike him. Song Lan knew this was her most dangerous art, showcased once but lingering in the whispers of teahouses. All he had to do was make sure that her hands never touched him.
Dropping into a spinning kick, Song Lan tried to force her into the air. As he was completing the kick a dull roar filled the air and shook the ground. All around him trees trembled. Leaping backwards he focused on Ling Yahui to see what tricks she was pulling out now. Instead of facing him though the girl stared at the distant mountain, brow furrowed and with a clear frown.
"Well shit." She said.
Song Lan blinked. What had she said? It had a foreign taste to the sound, something from far away.
"What?" He said, as he began to circle the girl who wasn't even paying attention to him anymore.
"Oh, there's some bastard over on the mountain. What a mess." Then she took off running, sprinting far faster than she had been moving before.
For his plan to work he needed to take her out, so Song Lan took off after her. She was the only competition he was likely to face, and if she was running away then he would need to chase after her. There wasn't even a flicker of thought towards him as he evened up with her. All the while a low rumble was growing louder and louder. He tried a few attacks at her, but when she let them splash over her, only turning her head to look behind her, before squeezing out even more speed. It was then that Song Lan decided to look behind him too.
It was a wall of snow, a massive overwhelming river roaring down the mountain. Trees were buried and boulders were carried along. The snow didn't want to just bury them, it also wanted to bludgeon them to death.
Song Lan turned to run faster but it was too late. Off to the side he could barely see Ling Yahui turn around and pour out qi to make a wedge of glittering ice for a shield, a shield that didn't reach him. There was a feeling of pressure, of losing control to a current, and the Song Lan was swept away and there was blackness and cold.
He didn't know how long he was imprisoned. For a moment Song Lan didn't even realize he had woken up. No sunlight reached his tomb and there was no sense of direction. With a breath Song Lan forced flickering flames to start melting away the snow surrounding him. There was no sense of direction, so he was content to work slowly, creating a sphere of clear space in the snow. Water from the melting snow flowed towards his right shoulder, and that was enough for him to reorient. If that was down, then up was…
Snow vanished and his feet touched stone flooring. The arena was back, along with the crowds. Blinking the spots out of his eye, Song Lan saw the Sect Head floating above their arena and Ling Yahui standing beside him. Holding back a scowl he turned to fully face the sect head.
"Congratulations." Guan Zhi said as she drifted back to a position in between all four arenas. "Through the trials of your peers you've proven yourself worthy of proceeding to the next stage. I look forward to all of your next steps. Now for the next round." With that the next round of names were called and the winners of the first round worked their way off the arenas.
Song Lan avoided even looking at Ling Yahui. His attempt to knock her out of the tournament had failed. Now he would need to tell Tan Xinyi that their plan failed. Still the inner sect was in reach, so it wasn't a complete failure. Hopefully Tan Xinyi would be just as fortunate in the crafting competition.
A.N
Omake for @yrsillar
A fun thought about future Argent Sect tournaments led to this piece. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!
This is really good!
It feels like their conflict could have been solved with communication. Shame such a powerful and Heaven Defining Art isn't something they have access too
NaanContributor
Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.
- Location
- Hawaii
Why would the Sect put its two highest cultivation disciples who are also antagonistic to each other in the same preliminary group, instead of keeping them separate until the more climactic duel rounds so that their strongest participants don't risk getting eliminated early?
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
Why do you think these are the two highest cultivators? Song Lan is only Bronze, he isn't green yet. There are bigger fights, at least politically, than this one.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This part gave me a STRONG Sun Liling to Ling Qi vibe. Nice to think that the Ling will look similar to the Sun to commoners in the future.
Heh. Our diplomatic trips seem to have ingrained some bad habits in the family.
I think the thing is that they're the only green cultivators mentioned, with Ling Yahui being described as perhaps the strongest "solidly in green". While it doesn't actually say that, I think there could be a tendancy to casually read that as there just not being many greens, with her being maybe a solid G1?
NaanContributor
Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.
- Location
- Hawaii
What Erebeal said ^.
Ling Yahui is presented as the strongest at full Third Realm, while Song Lan is partial Third Realm, and no other peers are mentioned. I suppose the only other explanation is that most or all of the other preliminary groups have one or two other partial Third Realms who Song Lan doesn't think about, but I assumed otherwise and was under the impression that this was a more "normal" year compared to the monster bottleneck of Ling Qi's time, where most of the hopefuls are expected to be Second Realms.
I mean technically CRX didn't even place third in the tournament itself, because there is no match for that.
So a tradition of "one of the semi final losers always hits rank 810" seems a bit weird at the face of it.
If who actually places third is down to Elder deliberations, they might as well just pick a rank that they consider appropriate instead.
Doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't a tradition for the second place to always get 805, but I guess we'll see by how tense CRX is for the finals at the latest.
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
Alright lets break this down.
What does the sect gain from putting two of the strongest cultivators in the same match? The rest of the matches are open. With both of these cultivators the other matches will either be free from politics, and thus allowing the actual talent to rise, or be a steamroll for those they want to steamroll. Sure it's a gamble, but perhaps the sect didn't expect Song Lan to mono focus Ling Yahui, or perhaps the sect arranged things so they had backup actions incase things got to heated in the opening match.
Song Lan is also supposed be written from a very biased mono focus perspective, so that should color the story.
- Location
- The Space Between
An Idea for What to Ask of Xia Lushen
Heya thread, resident lunatic here, back with another weird thought.
What should we ask of Xia Lushen, which is beyond money as payment for examining the knife?
It's obvious that Xia Lushen's talents are significantly beyond our ability to fully utilize. Xia Lushen is an incredibly gifted and important scholar in a very venerable and competitive province. We could certainly get something that could empower us in the traditional, personal power sense. But anything that is within our ability to use is an underutilizing of Xia Lushen's ability.
Here's the exchange from when Shenhua saw us in court:
~~
"Fortune can truly be strange," Cai Shenhua said, her gaze burning on the back of Ling Qi's neck. Sweat gathered on her brow. "But then again, one needs a certain good fortune to advance as you have."
"The baroness is indeed fortunate," Meng Diu spoke up. "It seems likely that the Great Spirits have their plans."
Several of the other Meng gave her sidelong looks, but none gainsaid her. Some of the more traditionally garbed among the courtiers and clan attaches were looking at her assessingly.
"Plans in line with my efforts no less," the Duchess chuckled. "Will wonders never cease. Continue then, how did the initial negotiations go."
~~
We have, in our life as a cultivator so far, never acted to intentionally fulfill the plans of Great Spirits or Elders or Anyone. We simply react to what's going on, chase our desires and curiosities, and end up bumping into things. We seek power. We make connections. We facilitate connections between others. We challenge people. We flip their worldviews on their heads. We're curious, we're creative, and we're greedy.
I've got a greedy idea, thread.
If Xia Lushen's specialties allow him to study, understand, and devise counter to shishigui poisons or persons there is no greater gift he could give than some of his notes on the subject to the Argent Sect.
"But why would Ling Qi ask for that?" you may rightly ask. We're not particularly vindictive, we don't particularly care for casual acquaintances nor mortals, the dreams of Renxiang and Shenhua are nice but ultimately aren't ours, the Sect is a good place but not ours, we like Xin and her husband is pretty cool but we're not their child. What then, is our motivation to facilitate this exchange?
Because Footsteps echo beyond our hearing, and there are other kinds of Power than raw personal Power.
We are a mid-green and although our steps are loud, they're not the steps of Xia Lushen. The most Powerful steps that could fall in this exchange are not ours, thus I think it's limiting to think of this offer in terms of raw personal Power alone.
I will repeat myself. Xia Lushen is an incredibly gifted and important scholar in a very venerable and competitive province. Xia Lushen's talents are significantly beyond our ability to fully utilize. If Xia Lushen's specialties allow him to study, understand, and devise counter to shishigui poisons or persons then facilitating a connection between that research and Argent Sect is an incredibly powerful "footfall". A footfall much stronger than we could possibly make on our own at this time.
What's most compelling to me about this is that it builds off of the ideas we've just learned about Power that isn't just raw Power of self, the social connections we're facilitating at the tournament, and all the ways we've impacted those around us with our oblique applications of our Power.
~
Sword lad hones himself into a less reckless user of Sword Qi. During Three Village Defense, we narrowly save a Green who had recklessly charged the Cloud Tribe alongside other Greens who had already died. A more reckless Sword lad may have died.
~
Li Suyin is supported and her morale is bolstered and she stays at Sect instead of running off after being brutalized. We work on some weird icky formations with her, support her with weird icky materials, and now she's an extremely important asset for the Sect against the shishigui.
~
Su Ling is gradually pulled in from the isolation of the wilds and with the connections she makes after, she ends up saving who-knows-how-many mortals alongside Gan Guangli. On top of that, she also becomes an important asset for the Sect against the shishigui.
~
Meizhen's Way is significantly altered through the tribulation known as "friendship" and in the end the Earth Art cultivated after tutoring with an Elder ends up surprising that Sun Liling and winning Meizhen the match. No need to elaborate how powerful that is for her and the Progressive Bai.
~
Ji Rong learns to respect more than brute strength, and learned now that he's made a Blood Brother he must truly learn to coordinate deeply with him rather than coast on their individual strengths. We'll see how that definition of strength and family intersect with Sun Shao's treatment of Liling over time.
~
We blew up Zeqing and freed Hanyi to grow alongside us. Now we're both clearly a big deal for the White Sky Confederation who could have easily been another enemy, rather than a possible ally.
~
We ended Kohatu's physical suffering, and in our selfless and sincere wish for Meizhen to gain the reward a Tyrant was moved to grant us Zhengui. And Zhengui is Zhengui <3
~
Wang Chao has a whole ass Count-Tier Social Gathering at the Argent Sect being attended by the Left Hand of Renxiang and Bai Meizhen! A Luo wishes to join it! That's a big deal for the Wang Clan, not just for Wang Chao, because they really want recognition and prestige and hooo lad that's some prestige!
~
We brought Shen Hu to a dream in which he fought a desperate defense that couldn't be won. He accepted his role as a defender, accepted that he may die, and in a battle in the underground did die. He died holding a key position against the shishigui long enough for the defensive wards to go up
~
And that's not even everyone we've made great impact on!
We seek Power. Not all Power is raw personal Power, and we have found much success in the connections between people so far. The question is, "Why would Ling Qi ask for Xia Lushen to send relevant findings to the Argent Sect?"
You could say it's an attempt to better entwine the Bai and the Cai. You could say it's an attempt to better ingratiate ourselves to the Argent Sect. You could say it's aiming to best deliver vengeance on those shishigui who have attacked us. You could say it's the best contribution to the War effort we could make while tied up in diplomacy elsewhere. You could say it's perhaps a bit of nepotistic meddling, giving an analysis of a poison based on impurity to the Argent Sect will certainly find its way to the hands of the Sect's foremost expert on impurity Li Suyin. You could say it's self-sacrificing, giving up potential personal Power for better odds that our friends at the Sect to stay safe. You could say it's advancing the vision of an Empire that shares strength-to-strength and best fights its enemies despite personal tensions and goals. You could say it's in the spirit of the Argent Sect to prioritize unified effort against an enemy over the individual success of any one person. You could say it's advancing the interests of Emerald Seas to give the Argent Sect more tools with which to defend the border. You could say it's just good sense, in fact, to empower the Argent Sect when we'll likely end up relying on them as a border barony. You could say it's curiosity, as the report will still exist by the time we're powerful enough to understand it fully. You could say it's a way in which we can push Renxiang's vision of cooperation forward. You could say any number of reasons for us to ask for this.
Everyone that sees it from the outside will have a hundred different possible explanations. I think it's possible they're all true to some extent, and all together they add up to the decision. I think the bottom line though, is that it's the most Power-ful thing we could ask of him.
And we're a greedy girl
c:
Heya thread, resident lunatic here, back with another weird thought.
What should we ask of Xia Lushen, which is beyond money as payment for examining the knife?
It's obvious that Xia Lushen's talents are significantly beyond our ability to fully utilize. Xia Lushen is an incredibly gifted and important scholar in a very venerable and competitive province. We could certainly get something that could empower us in the traditional, personal power sense. But anything that is within our ability to use is an underutilizing of Xia Lushen's ability.
Here's the exchange from when Shenhua saw us in court:
~~
"Fortune can truly be strange," Cai Shenhua said, her gaze burning on the back of Ling Qi's neck. Sweat gathered on her brow. "But then again, one needs a certain good fortune to advance as you have."
"The baroness is indeed fortunate," Meng Diu spoke up. "It seems likely that the Great Spirits have their plans."
Several of the other Meng gave her sidelong looks, but none gainsaid her. Some of the more traditionally garbed among the courtiers and clan attaches were looking at her assessingly.
"Plans in line with my efforts no less," the Duchess chuckled. "Will wonders never cease. Continue then, how did the initial negotiations go."
~~
We have, in our life as a cultivator so far, never acted to intentionally fulfill the plans of Great Spirits or Elders or Anyone. We simply react to what's going on, chase our desires and curiosities, and end up bumping into things. We seek power. We make connections. We facilitate connections between others. We challenge people. We flip their worldviews on their heads. We're curious, we're creative, and we're greedy.
I've got a greedy idea, thread.
If Xia Lushen's specialties allow him to study, understand, and devise counter to shishigui poisons or persons there is no greater gift he could give than some of his notes on the subject to the Argent Sect.
"But why would Ling Qi ask for that?" you may rightly ask. We're not particularly vindictive, we don't particularly care for casual acquaintances nor mortals, the dreams of Renxiang and Shenhua are nice but ultimately aren't ours, the Sect is a good place but not ours, we like Xin and her husband is pretty cool but we're not their child. What then, is our motivation to facilitate this exchange?
Because Footsteps echo beyond our hearing, and there are other kinds of Power than raw personal Power.
We are a mid-green and although our steps are loud, they're not the steps of Xia Lushen. The most Powerful steps that could fall in this exchange are not ours, thus I think it's limiting to think of this offer in terms of raw personal Power alone.
I will repeat myself. Xia Lushen is an incredibly gifted and important scholar in a very venerable and competitive province. Xia Lushen's talents are significantly beyond our ability to fully utilize. If Xia Lushen's specialties allow him to study, understand, and devise counter to shishigui poisons or persons then facilitating a connection between that research and Argent Sect is an incredibly powerful "footfall". A footfall much stronger than we could possibly make on our own at this time.
What's most compelling to me about this is that it builds off of the ideas we've just learned about Power that isn't just raw Power of self, the social connections we're facilitating at the tournament, and all the ways we've impacted those around us with our oblique applications of our Power.
~
Sword lad hones himself into a less reckless user of Sword Qi. During Three Village Defense, we narrowly save a Green who had recklessly charged the Cloud Tribe alongside other Greens who had already died. A more reckless Sword lad may have died.
~
Li Suyin is supported and her morale is bolstered and she stays at Sect instead of running off after being brutalized. We work on some weird icky formations with her, support her with weird icky materials, and now she's an extremely important asset for the Sect against the shishigui.
~
Su Ling is gradually pulled in from the isolation of the wilds and with the connections she makes after, she ends up saving who-knows-how-many mortals alongside Gan Guangli. On top of that, she also becomes an important asset for the Sect against the shishigui.
~
Meizhen's Way is significantly altered through the tribulation known as "friendship" and in the end the Earth Art cultivated after tutoring with an Elder ends up surprising that Sun Liling and winning Meizhen the match. No need to elaborate how powerful that is for her and the Progressive Bai.
~
Ji Rong learns to respect more than brute strength, and learned now that he's made a Blood Brother he must truly learn to coordinate deeply with him rather than coast on their individual strengths. We'll see how that definition of strength and family intersect with Sun Shao's treatment of Liling over time.
~
We blew up Zeqing and freed Hanyi to grow alongside us. Now we're both clearly a big deal for the White Sky Confederation who could have easily been another enemy, rather than a possible ally.
~
We ended Kohatu's physical suffering, and in our selfless and sincere wish for Meizhen to gain the reward a Tyrant was moved to grant us Zhengui. And Zhengui is Zhengui <3
~
Wang Chao has a whole ass Count-Tier Social Gathering at the Argent Sect being attended by the Left Hand of Renxiang and Bai Meizhen! A Luo wishes to join it! That's a big deal for the Wang Clan, not just for Wang Chao, because they really want recognition and prestige and hooo lad that's some prestige!
~
We brought Shen Hu to a dream in which he fought a desperate defense that couldn't be won. He accepted his role as a defender, accepted that he may die, and in a battle in the underground did die. He died holding a key position against the shishigui long enough for the defensive wards to go up
~
And that's not even everyone we've made great impact on!
We seek Power. Not all Power is raw personal Power, and we have found much success in the connections between people so far. The question is, "Why would Ling Qi ask for Xia Lushen to send relevant findings to the Argent Sect?"
You could say it's an attempt to better entwine the Bai and the Cai. You could say it's an attempt to better ingratiate ourselves to the Argent Sect. You could say it's aiming to best deliver vengeance on those shishigui who have attacked us. You could say it's the best contribution to the War effort we could make while tied up in diplomacy elsewhere. You could say it's perhaps a bit of nepotistic meddling, giving an analysis of a poison based on impurity to the Argent Sect will certainly find its way to the hands of the Sect's foremost expert on impurity Li Suyin. You could say it's self-sacrificing, giving up potential personal Power for better odds that our friends at the Sect to stay safe. You could say it's advancing the vision of an Empire that shares strength-to-strength and best fights its enemies despite personal tensions and goals. You could say it's in the spirit of the Argent Sect to prioritize unified effort against an enemy over the individual success of any one person. You could say it's advancing the interests of Emerald Seas to give the Argent Sect more tools with which to defend the border. You could say it's just good sense, in fact, to empower the Argent Sect when we'll likely end up relying on them as a border barony. You could say it's curiosity, as the report will still exist by the time we're powerful enough to understand it fully. You could say it's a way in which we can push Renxiang's vision of cooperation forward. You could say any number of reasons for us to ask for this.
Everyone that sees it from the outside will have a hundred different possible explanations. I think it's possible they're all true to some extent, and all together they add up to the decision. I think the bottom line though, is that it's the most Power-ful thing we could ask of him.
And we're a greedy girl
c:
I agree with your reasoning here and I think it's a good plan overall, but I don't think it's particularly GREEDY tbh. Sure we're increasing our soft power, but how are we benefitting from this in a tangible way? Xia Lushen is asking us for a pretty big favor here, I'm sure we can squeeze a lot more advantage out of him than simply forwarding his findings with the Sect. How can we use this to advance the agenda of our upcoming mission? How can we leverage this into exceeding Shenhua's expectations? If you wanna greed let's go full greed!
Again, I like your plan, I just think we greed harder
Admittedly poison isn't disease, but...
I was thinking of asking him for some pointers on Hoarfrost Refrain. Its a pretty nasty poison... theoretically. The problem is that it only affects one person in full, making it annoying to set up. Meanwhile Xia Lushen's specialty is all about having disease spread throughout a large population. If he could teach LQ and, maybe, Hanyi how to make HR spread more easily among our foes then that would make things much more convenient, both mechanically and narratively.
Its also specifically a Southern poison which might be relevant. As a scholar he might not know about it in particular, and thus grateful, or maybe he does, and give us interesting lore.
Zhengui also has an unusual poison that he might be able to give some pointers about.
I was thinking of asking him for some pointers on Hoarfrost Refrain. Its a pretty nasty poison... theoretically. The problem is that it only affects one person in full, making it annoying to set up. Meanwhile Xia Lushen's specialty is all about having disease spread throughout a large population. If he could teach LQ and, maybe, Hanyi how to make HR spread more easily among our foes then that would make things much more convenient, both mechanically and narratively.
Its also specifically a Southern poison which might be relevant. As a scholar he might not know about it in particular, and thus grateful, or maybe he does, and give us interesting lore.
Zhengui also has an unusual poison that he might be able to give some pointers about.
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Could he whip up a spirit type plague soley designed to kill off shisigui, could be useful in wiping out their underground cities and forts. Aslong as theirs not potential for it to jump species to humans.
I imagine it's what some of major clans could approch him for if they learn of his talents. Since he does something similar to jungle life.
As for Qi could possibly learn from him maybe frost based spiritual type of plague that we could use to mark people who get away or one that grows inside people and slowly freezes them from the inside.
I imagine it's what some of major clans could approch him for if they learn of his talents. Since he does something similar to jungle life.
As for Qi could possibly learn from him maybe frost based spiritual type of plague that we could use to mark people who get away or one that grows inside people and slowly freezes them from the inside.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
I love how quickly and casually this turned into, "let's just genocide the shishigui?" even though we know that the ones nearer to Xiangmen have already surrendered. If the city below the Sect hasn't surrendered formally, they will as soon as Shenhua arrives. The war is focused against the barbarians at this point.
Turn 13: 5-1 Free Time
Ling Qi sat quietly on the far left side of the slowly filling seats in the testing hall, her eyes half lidded and her hands folded in her lap. The picture of a proper young lady getting some soft meditation in while waiting for the qualifying tests of the crafters tournament to begin. In reality, she was peering into the contents of her storage ring at everything she had just received, in her minds eye she turned over page after neatly written page of documents and dossiers.
Once she had trouble even retrieving things from her ring, now with her experiences stepping between the bounds of the physical and unreal, and her adventure in the broken storage space of the Hui, it was simple enough to outright manipulate the objects within.
"That guy is meticulous huh?" Sixiang mused. "There's… alot to get through."
There definitely was. Just the list of potential contacts and and the attached information could have filled one of Cai Renxiang's lawbooks, each suggestion carried with it a detailed biopic, habits and flaws, points of leverage both hard and soft, considerations for best approach and more. Those she set aside, cultivating acquaintances across the province was more of a long term project.
They were all fairly lowly placed, she noted though. Servants, guards and bureaucrats, she supposed that Hou Zhuang didn't want her to get overconfident and go for higher contacts right away.
The rest though, the breakdown on the Emerald Seas situation, with accompanying maps and notes was more immediately helpful. Much of it came to her easily, building off the coalescing understanding she had been gaining of things from her own efforts. She saw the province divided on a map not by the territories of counts but by regions, although they sometimes overlapped.
They were what Hou Zhuang believed were the dividing lines of the lower clans, and scanning through his information, she didn't think he was wrong. The Emerald Seas was of middling size for a province, but it still covered a diverse landscape; from the northern hills and forests at the foot of the Celestial peaks, from the fens in the west to the dry plains in the east, and down to the rolling hills which eventually rose into the Wall. It's main throughline was the River Jing, the Shining River, whose headwaters came from the glaciers in the wall, and which flowed all the way through the Thousand Lakes to empty into the ocean on the other side of the continent.
Key
Red=Celestial Hills
Blue=North Jing River Valley
Brown: Western Fens
Green: Central Valley
Orange: South Jing River Valley
Yellow: Eastern Plains
Purple: The Foundations
Black: The Thundering Hills
Hearty Thanks to @Inferno Vulpix
Under this conception, the lower clans of the Emerald Seas could be divided into eight geographic and cultural regions. The Celestial Hills, a thin slice of the far north on the border of the capital, who saw themselves as little different from their neighbors a few score miles north in the Peaks. Below them the North Jing river valley, most of the Bao lands, which abutted the part of the great continent cutting spanning river until it flowed into the Thousand Lakes. Then there were the Western Fens, the core of the Meng's territory, where the Red Jungle met the woodlands of the Emerald Seas. The Central Valley Region where the Diao reigned, whose southern edge she had visited with Hanyi, was the heartland of the province. East of that was the Southern Jing river region, where the Jia clan was concentrated in what had been the lands of the Chu before Ogodei. Beyond that was a long stretch going from the Celestial Peaks down to the Wall in the south, the Eastern Plains, the dry and grassy plains where the Emerald Seas bordered the Golden Fields province. Last was the Foundations, the still sparsely settled lands in the south where she had spent the last year, encompassing the Wang territories, the Argent Peak and Blue Mountain Sects and the southern gains of the Meng, and a small region marked out as the Thundering Hills after its many waterfalls, as well as the site where Ogodei had died, which caused a great deal of extra rainfall in the region. It was the other half of the Jia Clan's territory, along with the Rushing Cloud Sect.
The notes there were helpful, she'd have to confirm things herself, but she, or rather her liege was doing well in the south at least. The people of the Foundations and the Thundering Hills were both favorable to their project, being so often the ones to suffer in the wars which plagued the province. Things got less favorable as one went further north though.
"Hoh, Lady Ling there you are! I might have missed you if not for the chill!" Wang Chao's boisterous voice cut through the more polite background noise of the gathering audience, and she looked up to see him approaching along the aisle to her right.
"Hello, Sir Wang," she said. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course not," he chuckled, dropping himself into a seat to her right, impervious to the glances of the nobles around him. "Ah, but I'm looking forward to viewing our junior's efforts!"
"I admit I was a little surprised," Ling Qi said. "I didn't think you would have such an interest in the craftsmen, or is it for our other guests sake?"
"I thought the Xuan might enjoy it, yes," Wang Chao said with a grin, seemingly pleased with himself for the deduction. "But I respect this kind of work, you know? I've not the head or the hands for it, but it's the craftsmen of the Empire who take the spoils of our victories and make them something worthwhile. You can bash in the skulls of beasts and barbarians all day, but if no one is about to put up the gates and walls, you'll be bashing forever."
"I hadn't thought of it from that perspective," Ling Qi said. "Well, my arts are even more ephemeral, so I cannot look down on them either."
"Everyone's got their place," Wang Chao said indulgently. "Living would be dull without artists, eh?"
"I suppose it would be," Ling Qi chuckled. The disciples were beginning to file into the testing area, things were going to start soon so…
Her eyes fell on Xuan Shi making his way in with the last trickles of the crowd. Their eyes met over the distance and he nodded, beginning to head her way. A glance over didn't reveal anything wrong though.
"Hmph, if his game is known, that one won't do anything obvious. Especially with so many people about," Sixiang grumped.
"Greetings, lord of Wang, lady of Ling," Xuan Shi said lowly, approaching them along the aisle. "My apologies. This one was kept some time in conversation with the faces of my kin."
Ling Qi deciphered his words quickly but Wang Chao's brows drew together, and she spotted his lips moving mumbling under his breath. His expression thankfully brightened up a second later.
"No trouble Sir Xuan, family must come first," he said enthusiastically. "Take a seat, take a seat."
Ling Qi smiled at him. "I am glad you could make it."
Xuan Shi took a seat beside Wang Chao, giving her a small nod. "The invitation pleases me. Miss Ling is too kind."
"She hardly needed to convince me," Wang Chao said cheerfully. "Why just imagine the wargames we can play out with the assistance of your mobile barrier projects!"
"Sir Wang is familiar?" Xuan Shi asked curiously.
"Well don't ask me about specifics, but I've heard of the effects," the older boy said. "Masterful work from what I hear, such a sturdy defense combined with versatility and mobility! If you weren't a Xuan, I suspect the White Plumes or the Sect would have you drafted already! The things that could be done with such talismans!"
"...My work is only a reflection of the craft of my Elders, the master shipbuilders of the Isles, it is nothing so grand," Xuan Shi said. She could tell despite his collar and tipped hat that he was a little off guard by Wang Chao's enthusiastic and blunt praise.
"Sect brother Xuan's work did show quite a lot of promise," Ling Qi said absently. "I recall you using it to keep up with us at full sprint, even while you deflected attacks."
"Such speed as well?" Wang Chao said. "I'd like to see that."
"Thy praise is too much," Xuan Shi said. "Mine panopoly is difficult to assemble, its reagents rare. The heights of its performance only possible with the modified arts of a ships captain. In a way it, this one has simply transferred the knowledge of a hullmaker to the land."
Ling Qi hummed doubtfully at that, she had seen the fitted ceramic panels of his masterwork, reacting as swiftly as his own limbs and hands. She suspected that Xuan Shi was being reflexively self deprecating, she didn't know enough of the subject to truly call him on it though.
"Ah well, one would expect so," Wang Chao said. "Still it has potential, even a few 'land ships' could be useful. I've heard some of my uncles and aunts speak of something similar."
"Ah? Convergent development? Interesting," Xuan Shi mused.
Things fell silent as the Elder monitoring the test came forth. It was Elder Hua Su, the teacher from her first year, and last year had not been overly kind. Then again, her father, Elder Heng, had passed away, even before the war had started. Ling Qi remained silent as the Elder spoke in front of the gathered disciples and audience. The written preliminary exam was already passed, and now came the practical portion, in which disciples would complete a number baseline tasks from elixir brewing to ward crafting to ensure that they had a baseline of competence in all major disciplines.
As the Elder set off the start of the testing, Ling Qi noticed that Xuan Shi was looking at one disciple in particular. She followed his gaze to a broad back swathed in the Argent Peak Sects silver. The Disciple in question was a tall, wide shouldered young man, with long wavy brown hair and slightly sun darkened skin. He wore a pair of spectacles on his handsome face, whose frame were made of some colorful organic shell material. His robe was very conservative, but the sash that bound it tight around him was highly colorful, woven of colorful shells.
She saw him meet Xuan Shi's gaze and offer a beatific smile. She froze a bit when his sea green eyes turned briefly to her, studying her for a moment in curiosity. He turned back to his workstation, a moment after. He was very handsome, a good balance between the bulk of someone like Guangli or Lao Keung and the aristocratic type like Han Jian. Ling Qi blinked a moment after that thought completed, frowning as she circulated her qi to dispel anything untoward.
"Yeah, cause someone is gonna project an illusion past an Elder," Sixiang scoffed. Ling Qi could feel them rolling their eyes. "It's alright to think someone is attractive, Ling Qi."
...It didn't matter. "Is there a particular junior you have your eye on Sect Brother?" Ling Qi asked Xuan Shi.
"Hm, apologies. This one is merely being cautious of the trouble," Xuan Shi said. "The Jin bring disruption wherever they walk or sail."
"Is that the other ducal scion I'd heard about," Wang Chao said. "I'd never seen one of his kin before. Rather plain isn't he?"
"The Jin have long abandoned the blood of their ancestors," Xuan Shi said stiffly.
Ling Qi hummed to herself, wondering how to direct the conversation.
[] Push on the current topic, ask about the Xuan and Jin, and their history together, let Xuan Shi talk about his kin, which he seems more comfortable in talking up.[80% Success, Increase Xuan Shi confidence with your group. Minimal increase on failure, higher increase on success]
[] Switch back to the previous topic, exploring talisman work applied to vehicles and buildings and the difference between them, Wang Chao seems interested, even if partly goes over his head. [60% Success. Increase Xuan Shi's confidence in your group, with small decrease on failure. Success grants Xuan Shi bond with Wang Chao]
Once she had trouble even retrieving things from her ring, now with her experiences stepping between the bounds of the physical and unreal, and her adventure in the broken storage space of the Hui, it was simple enough to outright manipulate the objects within.
"That guy is meticulous huh?" Sixiang mused. "There's… alot to get through."
There definitely was. Just the list of potential contacts and and the attached information could have filled one of Cai Renxiang's lawbooks, each suggestion carried with it a detailed biopic, habits and flaws, points of leverage both hard and soft, considerations for best approach and more. Those she set aside, cultivating acquaintances across the province was more of a long term project.
They were all fairly lowly placed, she noted though. Servants, guards and bureaucrats, she supposed that Hou Zhuang didn't want her to get overconfident and go for higher contacts right away.
The rest though, the breakdown on the Emerald Seas situation, with accompanying maps and notes was more immediately helpful. Much of it came to her easily, building off the coalescing understanding she had been gaining of things from her own efforts. She saw the province divided on a map not by the territories of counts but by regions, although they sometimes overlapped.
They were what Hou Zhuang believed were the dividing lines of the lower clans, and scanning through his information, she didn't think he was wrong. The Emerald Seas was of middling size for a province, but it still covered a diverse landscape; from the northern hills and forests at the foot of the Celestial peaks, from the fens in the west to the dry plains in the east, and down to the rolling hills which eventually rose into the Wall. It's main throughline was the River Jing, the Shining River, whose headwaters came from the glaciers in the wall, and which flowed all the way through the Thousand Lakes to empty into the ocean on the other side of the continent.
Key
Red=Celestial Hills
Blue=North Jing River Valley
Brown: Western Fens
Green: Central Valley
Orange: South Jing River Valley
Yellow: Eastern Plains
Purple: The Foundations
Black: The Thundering Hills
Hearty Thanks to @Inferno Vulpix
Under this conception, the lower clans of the Emerald Seas could be divided into eight geographic and cultural regions. The Celestial Hills, a thin slice of the far north on the border of the capital, who saw themselves as little different from their neighbors a few score miles north in the Peaks. Below them the North Jing river valley, most of the Bao lands, which abutted the part of the great continent cutting spanning river until it flowed into the Thousand Lakes. Then there were the Western Fens, the core of the Meng's territory, where the Red Jungle met the woodlands of the Emerald Seas. The Central Valley Region where the Diao reigned, whose southern edge she had visited with Hanyi, was the heartland of the province. East of that was the Southern Jing river region, where the Jia clan was concentrated in what had been the lands of the Chu before Ogodei. Beyond that was a long stretch going from the Celestial Peaks down to the Wall in the south, the Eastern Plains, the dry and grassy plains where the Emerald Seas bordered the Golden Fields province. Last was the Foundations, the still sparsely settled lands in the south where she had spent the last year, encompassing the Wang territories, the Argent Peak and Blue Mountain Sects and the southern gains of the Meng, and a small region marked out as the Thundering Hills after its many waterfalls, as well as the site where Ogodei had died, which caused a great deal of extra rainfall in the region. It was the other half of the Jia Clan's territory, along with the Rushing Cloud Sect.
The notes there were helpful, she'd have to confirm things herself, but she, or rather her liege was doing well in the south at least. The people of the Foundations and the Thundering Hills were both favorable to their project, being so often the ones to suffer in the wars which plagued the province. Things got less favorable as one went further north though.
Celestial Hills: -2
North River Jing: -1
Western Fens: -1
Eastern Plains: 0
South River Jing: -1
Foundations: 2
Thundering Hills: 1
Central Valley: 1
North River Jing: -1
Western Fens: -1
Eastern Plains: 0
South River Jing: -1
Foundations: 2
Thundering Hills: 1
Central Valley: 1
"Hoh, Lady Ling there you are! I might have missed you if not for the chill!" Wang Chao's boisterous voice cut through the more polite background noise of the gathering audience, and she looked up to see him approaching along the aisle to her right.
"Hello, Sir Wang," she said. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course not," he chuckled, dropping himself into a seat to her right, impervious to the glances of the nobles around him. "Ah, but I'm looking forward to viewing our junior's efforts!"
"I admit I was a little surprised," Ling Qi said. "I didn't think you would have such an interest in the craftsmen, or is it for our other guests sake?"
"I thought the Xuan might enjoy it, yes," Wang Chao said with a grin, seemingly pleased with himself for the deduction. "But I respect this kind of work, you know? I've not the head or the hands for it, but it's the craftsmen of the Empire who take the spoils of our victories and make them something worthwhile. You can bash in the skulls of beasts and barbarians all day, but if no one is about to put up the gates and walls, you'll be bashing forever."
"I hadn't thought of it from that perspective," Ling Qi said. "Well, my arts are even more ephemeral, so I cannot look down on them either."
"Everyone's got their place," Wang Chao said indulgently. "Living would be dull without artists, eh?"
"I suppose it would be," Ling Qi chuckled. The disciples were beginning to file into the testing area, things were going to start soon so…
Her eyes fell on Xuan Shi making his way in with the last trickles of the crowd. Their eyes met over the distance and he nodded, beginning to head her way. A glance over didn't reveal anything wrong though.
"Hmph, if his game is known, that one won't do anything obvious. Especially with so many people about," Sixiang grumped.
"Greetings, lord of Wang, lady of Ling," Xuan Shi said lowly, approaching them along the aisle. "My apologies. This one was kept some time in conversation with the faces of my kin."
Ling Qi deciphered his words quickly but Wang Chao's brows drew together, and she spotted his lips moving mumbling under his breath. His expression thankfully brightened up a second later.
"No trouble Sir Xuan, family must come first," he said enthusiastically. "Take a seat, take a seat."
Ling Qi smiled at him. "I am glad you could make it."
Xuan Shi took a seat beside Wang Chao, giving her a small nod. "The invitation pleases me. Miss Ling is too kind."
"She hardly needed to convince me," Wang Chao said cheerfully. "Why just imagine the wargames we can play out with the assistance of your mobile barrier projects!"
"Sir Wang is familiar?" Xuan Shi asked curiously.
"Well don't ask me about specifics, but I've heard of the effects," the older boy said. "Masterful work from what I hear, such a sturdy defense combined with versatility and mobility! If you weren't a Xuan, I suspect the White Plumes or the Sect would have you drafted already! The things that could be done with such talismans!"
"...My work is only a reflection of the craft of my Elders, the master shipbuilders of the Isles, it is nothing so grand," Xuan Shi said. She could tell despite his collar and tipped hat that he was a little off guard by Wang Chao's enthusiastic and blunt praise.
"Sect brother Xuan's work did show quite a lot of promise," Ling Qi said absently. "I recall you using it to keep up with us at full sprint, even while you deflected attacks."
"Such speed as well?" Wang Chao said. "I'd like to see that."
"Thy praise is too much," Xuan Shi said. "Mine panopoly is difficult to assemble, its reagents rare. The heights of its performance only possible with the modified arts of a ships captain. In a way it, this one has simply transferred the knowledge of a hullmaker to the land."
Ling Qi hummed doubtfully at that, she had seen the fitted ceramic panels of his masterwork, reacting as swiftly as his own limbs and hands. She suspected that Xuan Shi was being reflexively self deprecating, she didn't know enough of the subject to truly call him on it though.
"Ah well, one would expect so," Wang Chao said. "Still it has potential, even a few 'land ships' could be useful. I've heard some of my uncles and aunts speak of something similar."
"Ah? Convergent development? Interesting," Xuan Shi mused.
Things fell silent as the Elder monitoring the test came forth. It was Elder Hua Su, the teacher from her first year, and last year had not been overly kind. Then again, her father, Elder Heng, had passed away, even before the war had started. Ling Qi remained silent as the Elder spoke in front of the gathered disciples and audience. The written preliminary exam was already passed, and now came the practical portion, in which disciples would complete a number baseline tasks from elixir brewing to ward crafting to ensure that they had a baseline of competence in all major disciplines.
As the Elder set off the start of the testing, Ling Qi noticed that Xuan Shi was looking at one disciple in particular. She followed his gaze to a broad back swathed in the Argent Peak Sects silver. The Disciple in question was a tall, wide shouldered young man, with long wavy brown hair and slightly sun darkened skin. He wore a pair of spectacles on his handsome face, whose frame were made of some colorful organic shell material. His robe was very conservative, but the sash that bound it tight around him was highly colorful, woven of colorful shells.
She saw him meet Xuan Shi's gaze and offer a beatific smile. She froze a bit when his sea green eyes turned briefly to her, studying her for a moment in curiosity. He turned back to his workstation, a moment after. He was very handsome, a good balance between the bulk of someone like Guangli or Lao Keung and the aristocratic type like Han Jian. Ling Qi blinked a moment after that thought completed, frowning as she circulated her qi to dispel anything untoward.
"Yeah, cause someone is gonna project an illusion past an Elder," Sixiang scoffed. Ling Qi could feel them rolling their eyes. "It's alright to think someone is attractive, Ling Qi."
...It didn't matter. "Is there a particular junior you have your eye on Sect Brother?" Ling Qi asked Xuan Shi.
"Hm, apologies. This one is merely being cautious of the trouble," Xuan Shi said. "The Jin bring disruption wherever they walk or sail."
"Is that the other ducal scion I'd heard about," Wang Chao said. "I'd never seen one of his kin before. Rather plain isn't he?"
"The Jin have long abandoned the blood of their ancestors," Xuan Shi said stiffly.
Ling Qi hummed to herself, wondering how to direct the conversation.
[] Push on the current topic, ask about the Xuan and Jin, and their history together, let Xuan Shi talk about his kin, which he seems more comfortable in talking up.[80% Success, Increase Xuan Shi confidence with your group. Minimal increase on failure, higher increase on success]
[] Switch back to the previous topic, exploring talisman work applied to vehicles and buildings and the difference between them, Wang Chao seems interested, even if partly goes over his head. [60% Success. Increase Xuan Shi's confidence in your group, with small decrease on failure. Success grants Xuan Shi bond with Wang Chao]
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- Location
- Canada
[] Switch back to the previous topic, exploring talisman work applied to vehicles and buildings and the difference between them, Wang Chao seems interested, even if partly goes over his head. [60% Success. Increase Xuan Shi's confidence in your group, with small decrease on failure. Success grants Xuan Shi bond with Wang Chao]
My boy Xuan Shi needs a friend like Wang Chao in his life.
My boy Xuan Shi needs a friend like Wang Chao in his life.
[] Switch back to the previous topic, exploring talisman work applied to vehicles and buildings and the difference between them, Wang Chao seems interested, even if partly goes over his head. [60% Success. Increase Xuan Shi's confidence in your group, with small decrease on failure. Success grants Xuan Shi bond with Wang Chao]
the point of this exercise is to get Xuan Shi some friends right? on the other hand, i am really curios as to the relationship between Jin and Xuan
I feel sorry for Sixiang sometimes. Stuck being to voice of reason to a paranoid hermit 🤦♂️
the point of this exercise is to get Xuan Shi some friends right? on the other hand, i am really curios as to the relationship between Jin and Xuan
I feel sorry for Sixiang sometimes. Stuck being to voice of reason to a paranoid hermit 🤦♂️
ElizatronicWarfa
Himejoshi Supreme
- Pronouns
- She/They
[X] Switch back to the previous topic, exploring talisman work applied to vehicles and buildings and the difference between them, Wang Chao seems interested, even if partly goes over his head. [60% Success. Increase Xuan Shi's confidence in your group, with small decrease on failure. Success grants Xuan Shi bond with Wang Chao]
Hmm.
I think I'm inclined to the conversation about kin - the rewards are a lot lower, but it won't go wrong, and I think learning more about Xuan Shi's family situation might give us quite a bit of insight into him.
But that's also pretty much committing us to having a follow-up to this event, and I don't know how many chances we're going to get to make Xuan Shi some friends.
I think I'm inclined to the conversation about kin - the rewards are a lot lower, but it won't go wrong, and I think learning more about Xuan Shi's family situation might give us quite a bit of insight into him.
But that's also pretty much committing us to having a follow-up to this event, and I don't know how many chances we're going to get to make Xuan Shi some friends.
NoxOfUmbra
Shadow of the night
- Location
- Colombia, South América
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Switch back to the previous topic, exploring talisman work applied to vehicles and buildings and the difference between them, Wang Chao seems interested, even if partly goes over his head. [60% Success. Increase Xuan Shi's confidence in your group, with small decrease on failure. Success grants Xuan Shi bond with Wang Chao]
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
[] Switch back to the previous topic, exploring talisman work applied to vehicles and buildings and the difference between them, Wang Chao seems interested, even if partly goes over his head. [60% Success. Increase Xuan Shi's confidence in your group, with small decrease on failure. Success grants Xuan Shi bond with Wang Chao]
It'd be nice to see Xuan Shi have some assertive friends. Also I don't want to listen to him dog on the new husbando prospect.
It'd be nice to see Xuan Shi have some assertive friends. Also I don't want to listen to him dog on the new husbando prospect.
There's a moratorium right now, so you can't vote yet.
- Location
- The Space Between
hmm. How do the Omake Percent Modifiers work? For getting the rolls to be more favorable?
60% with a decrease on failure isn't great odds when the alternative works. 70% or so I'd go for it (and in XCOM I would miss) but you know
I also think it's interesting that he seems to imply that he'd be more accepting of the Jing, when it's almost certain that the Jing and Xuan would have brawled it out often enough in the past. I suppose it would have been like the Monkey and Serpent then, where sure they fight a lot but they don't actually want to cripple one another.
60% with a decrease on failure isn't great odds when the alternative works. 70% or so I'd go for it (and in XCOM I would miss) but you know
I also think it's interesting that he seems to imply that he'd be more accepting of the Jing, when it's almost certain that the Jing and Xuan would have brawled it out often enough in the past. I suppose it would have been like the Monkey and Serpent then, where sure they fight a lot but they don't actually want to cripple one another.
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