Also victory needs no excuse also relies on you winning.
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Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Yeah.
To be fair, by all indications we've seen that this behavior is kind of the default of the Western Territories. "If you can't survive solo in the jungle you don't even deserve a barony" and all that. Ji Rong is particularly strong but even he just barely qualified to be worth investing real training in.
The unspoken assumption there is "If you're not strong enough to protect yourself, you're not worth our time and attention."
In other words, it strongly looks like the Western Territories have developed a rather strong disdain for the weak as being a millstone around the neck of the strong. This is--in a sense--a valid survival strategy (Given how at any point the jungle might just rear up and murder you, you can't get into the habit of expecting support from the outside to help you), but it does tend to make you look like a bandit if you're not actually living in an "Every Household for themselves!" society where any household that can't defeat a sudden apocalypse is a net drain on everyone else, and best left to die on the vine while you scavenge what you can from the burning ruin.
This probably carries on to some extent even to the older generations, since that's the only way they get to avoid culpability for the mass die-offs of mortals that happened when they literally walked away with the majority of the defenders against a very hostile border is by assuming "If they were worthy of living, their overseers would protect them/they'd save themselves"
To be fair, by all indications we've seen that this behavior is kind of the default of the Western Territories. "If you can't survive solo in the jungle you don't even deserve a barony" and all that. Ji Rong is particularly strong but even he just barely qualified to be worth investing real training in.
The unspoken assumption there is "If you're not strong enough to protect yourself, you're not worth our time and attention."
In other words, it strongly looks like the Western Territories have developed a rather strong disdain for the weak as being a millstone around the neck of the strong. This is--in a sense--a valid survival strategy (Given how at any point the jungle might just rear up and murder you, you can't get into the habit of expecting support from the outside to help you), but it does tend to make you look like a bandit if you're not actually living in an "Every Household for themselves!" society where any household that can't defeat a sudden apocalypse is a net drain on everyone else, and best left to die on the vine while you scavenge what you can from the burning ruin.
This probably carries on to some extent even to the older generations, since that's the only way they get to avoid culpability for the mass die-offs of mortals that happened when they literally walked away with the majority of the defenders against a very hostile border is by assuming "If they were worthy of living, their overseers would protect them/they'd save themselves"
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- Location
- Colorado
To clarify my position, I agree that stealing resources from Gan Guangli while he was out defending the Sects's mortals during an actual barbarian invasion is a terrible look for Lu Feng. Looking back it looks like my only issue was with these posts by Valmond:
Lu Feng is a complete asshole, but what little information we have on him points to him being genuinely loyal to Sun Liling. That's my position, he's loyal to his liege at the very least, but in the eyes of most of the Empire the rest of his decision making and general competence seems to leave a lot to be desired.
Lu Feng is a complete asshole, but what little information we have on him points to him being genuinely loyal to Sun Liling. That's my position, he's loyal to his liege at the very least, but in the eyes of most of the Empire the rest of his decision making and general competence seems to leave a lot to be desired.
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I guess the playacting a hero comment could be taken to refer to his acts when the sect was under attack but I would assume them more about his general demeanor. Definitely get why GG would depict the conflict in that manner for a grand finale of such a contentious rivalry but not sure LF would be tactless enough to boast about his actions there. Wouldn't be surprised if those in Western Territories, desensitised to death as they would be, may write off the idea of plundering while GG was distracted as acceptable but I imagine he's aware enough of the audience not to be smug and laugh about that. (Also not actually suggesting that plundering was WT approved to be clear)
Alternatively it's, "if you're not strong enough to defend a territory you don't deserve one/can't be trusted with one." Which seems pretty fair in the hell jungle considering their death rate and the fact that support from the rest of the empire is shriveling.
If we really want to analyze things in terms of him living in a death jungle, there really isn't much reason to have a network of Barons trying to settle land as they'll just die and all those resources will be wasted. Instead they should have everyone live in heavily fortified cities with Indigo+ cultivators providing defense and then have groups of a Cyan leader and Green support go foraging for as many resources as they can bring back (which is probably quite a lot).
This is a very inefficient use of land compared to dedicated mining/farming but that doesn't matter because they have far more land than they can exploit.
Ultimately such an environment makes survival far more important than victory and there is safety in numbers.
- Location
- Greece
Honestly, Lu Feng sucks. Not because he fights dirty. I do not hate him because of his fighting style and I do not think GG does either, or he'd hate us as well. Rather, the problem is that he is opportunistic and cynical to the point of cruelty. When you sabotage the other faction in the face of an outside threat at the same time as the other faction is trying to defend people, you are not ok to any extend, and no victory can justify your actions because you are making things worse for everybody with your "successes". The point of "Victory needs no excuse" is that, well... all's well that ends well. But even if Lu Feng wins, he has made everything a little bit worse for everyone.
So screw that guy.
So screw that guy.
As always, get fucked Sun (and Sun subsidiaries)
Celestial Spheres Part 2
"Oh do be careful with those," Astronomer Wu said, wringing his hands. He winced and clenched his legs as the movement of the horse beneath him bounced him again in his saddle. Whoever it was who had said that one never forgot how to ride should have been denounced for lacking rigor in their testing, because boyhood lessons were most certainly not coming back to him.
The soldiers ahead, who were now carefully pulling the wagon holding his supplies back up from where the cliff had crumbled under its wheel, gave a disinterested grunt.
"What are we moving that can't be in a storage ring anyway Astronomer?" spoke the voice beside him.
"Qi sensitive lenses and refractors," he answered, swaying in his saddle. Bump, bump went the horse, and he clutched the reigns. He was quite sure the wretched beast was laughing at him. "The spacial qi in a storage array will taint them irrevocably."
He chanced a look at the man beside him, Captain Dun was a handsome fellow, an officer of the Argent Sect military. His mail and plate was polished to a shine and his oiled beard extraordinarily well kempt. All told he seemed a refined fellow at first glance, but Astronomer Wu was not fooled.
Military, not even once. He had learned that lesson already.
"We're making this passage in such a vulnerable state for a few bits of glass?" Captain Dun said dubiously, proving his point.
"No, we are doing this so that I might oversee the construction of a new observatory in the south, which might allow the art of astronomy to be advanced in countless ways!" Astronomer Wu said. He nearly bit his tongue as the horse rocked him halfway through his speech.
"...Yes, of course. My apologies," Captain Dun said.
Astronomer Wu sniffed, knowing he was being humored. Still as they trundled around a curve in the mountainside, he would have been willing it leave it at that.
"What good's all the stargazing anyway. You can divine a bit with them, but you don't need a big, fancy building for that."
He blinked in surprise at the question from one of the soldiers guiding the wagon. Then he grinned. Someone who actually wished to learn, would miracles never cease!
"A good question. It's true that astrological arts do not require the ability to study heavenly bodies in detail, instead being concerned with the movements of those bodies in relation to the vault of heaven, but astronomy is itself a most useful field of study in understanding our world!"
"Hm, is that so?" said the captain. "What do you learn that is useful to us on the ground?"
Astronomer Wu pursed his lips. These simple folk would not be satisfied with more academic answers. "Well to begin with, the main purpose of this outpost is to track the provenance of heavenly stones."
"Eh?" asked the soldier, glancing back as he guided the wagon. "Like falling stars?"
"In layman's terms," Astronomer Wu said. "Ah you might be familiar with the tale of your own Elder Shi Ying bringing down a mountain sized stone from the heavens in the great battle with Ogodei?"
That earned some recognition. He would hope so, given the crater that absurdity had left. The doings of Sovereigns were truly frightening to contemplate.
"Of course we're familiar with it," one of the soldiers grunted.
"I'd always assumed the esteemed Elder conjured the stone from her qi with the Sect Heads help, or perhaps raised it from the ground and cast it back down," Captain Dun said casually, eyes scanning the sky. "You mean to say that there are stones just floating about in the sky? Why do we not see them?"
"Ah but they are not in the sky, but above it," Astronomer Wu said, awkwardly pushing his spectacles up as the damnable beast he was riding jostled him again. "And so far away, even a mountain seems, but a pebble. There are countless such objects strewn in the darkness between the lunar and terrestrial spheres. These foreigners in the south call them the blood of the sun, the remnants of His battles. I would like to confirm this! Do not many old legends speak of fabled weapons forged from metals that fall from the sky?"
"A holy spear of sunmetal would probably scare those bastard corpse eaters," grunted a soldier. "Not like any of us'd get ahold of one though. Be locked up in the Bao's vaults faster'n you could spit."
Astronomer Wu coughed into his hand. "Well yes, they will certainly remain valuable even if I can discern which stones contain metal and which are mere stone. All the same, this has value even to you, yes?"
"It seems so," said the captain, seeming mollified. "You said the foreigners think they're the sun's blood, and I can see that. The priests say He fights for us at all times and even the best warriors bleed. But Why don't they fall here too then?"
"That is one thing I hope to learn, gentlemen," Astronomer Wu said with some pride. "Although… I am not certain these foreigners are wholly correct."
"That so," said the captain. The conversation paused as they reached a steep part of the hill, rounding the mountainside. Ahead the plateau where the outpost and observatory would be built loomed, the lines of construction already visible on the stony plain.
Astronomer Wu did not speak until all the grunting and heaving had finished and they were once more on level ground. The wretched mare he rode had not managed to spill him from his seat even when cantering up the cliffside they had just mounted.
"Yes, I wonder if some are not older still then that, remnants of even earlier wars," he mused. "I wonder what one could learn, from a stone that had lain untouched since the day it was cast from the Nameless Mother's skin.
That earned him a sharp look and some muttered prayers.
But the Astronomer bore it. Superstition or not, just imagining such a chance was beyond invigorating!
The soldiers ahead, who were now carefully pulling the wagon holding his supplies back up from where the cliff had crumbled under its wheel, gave a disinterested grunt.
"What are we moving that can't be in a storage ring anyway Astronomer?" spoke the voice beside him.
"Qi sensitive lenses and refractors," he answered, swaying in his saddle. Bump, bump went the horse, and he clutched the reigns. He was quite sure the wretched beast was laughing at him. "The spacial qi in a storage array will taint them irrevocably."
He chanced a look at the man beside him, Captain Dun was a handsome fellow, an officer of the Argent Sect military. His mail and plate was polished to a shine and his oiled beard extraordinarily well kempt. All told he seemed a refined fellow at first glance, but Astronomer Wu was not fooled.
Military, not even once. He had learned that lesson already.
"We're making this passage in such a vulnerable state for a few bits of glass?" Captain Dun said dubiously, proving his point.
"No, we are doing this so that I might oversee the construction of a new observatory in the south, which might allow the art of astronomy to be advanced in countless ways!" Astronomer Wu said. He nearly bit his tongue as the horse rocked him halfway through his speech.
"...Yes, of course. My apologies," Captain Dun said.
Astronomer Wu sniffed, knowing he was being humored. Still as they trundled around a curve in the mountainside, he would have been willing it leave it at that.
"What good's all the stargazing anyway. You can divine a bit with them, but you don't need a big, fancy building for that."
He blinked in surprise at the question from one of the soldiers guiding the wagon. Then he grinned. Someone who actually wished to learn, would miracles never cease!
"A good question. It's true that astrological arts do not require the ability to study heavenly bodies in detail, instead being concerned with the movements of those bodies in relation to the vault of heaven, but astronomy is itself a most useful field of study in understanding our world!"
"Hm, is that so?" said the captain. "What do you learn that is useful to us on the ground?"
Astronomer Wu pursed his lips. These simple folk would not be satisfied with more academic answers. "Well to begin with, the main purpose of this outpost is to track the provenance of heavenly stones."
"Eh?" asked the soldier, glancing back as he guided the wagon. "Like falling stars?"
"In layman's terms," Astronomer Wu said. "Ah you might be familiar with the tale of your own Elder Shi Ying bringing down a mountain sized stone from the heavens in the great battle with Ogodei?"
That earned some recognition. He would hope so, given the crater that absurdity had left. The doings of Sovereigns were truly frightening to contemplate.
"Of course we're familiar with it," one of the soldiers grunted.
"I'd always assumed the esteemed Elder conjured the stone from her qi with the Sect Heads help, or perhaps raised it from the ground and cast it back down," Captain Dun said casually, eyes scanning the sky. "You mean to say that there are stones just floating about in the sky? Why do we not see them?"
"Ah but they are not in the sky, but above it," Astronomer Wu said, awkwardly pushing his spectacles up as the damnable beast he was riding jostled him again. "And so far away, even a mountain seems, but a pebble. There are countless such objects strewn in the darkness between the lunar and terrestrial spheres. These foreigners in the south call them the blood of the sun, the remnants of His battles. I would like to confirm this! Do not many old legends speak of fabled weapons forged from metals that fall from the sky?"
"A holy spear of sunmetal would probably scare those bastard corpse eaters," grunted a soldier. "Not like any of us'd get ahold of one though. Be locked up in the Bao's vaults faster'n you could spit."
Astronomer Wu coughed into his hand. "Well yes, they will certainly remain valuable even if I can discern which stones contain metal and which are mere stone. All the same, this has value even to you, yes?"
"It seems so," said the captain, seeming mollified. "You said the foreigners think they're the sun's blood, and I can see that. The priests say He fights for us at all times and even the best warriors bleed. But Why don't they fall here too then?"
"That is one thing I hope to learn, gentlemen," Astronomer Wu said with some pride. "Although… I am not certain these foreigners are wholly correct."
"That so," said the captain. The conversation paused as they reached a steep part of the hill, rounding the mountainside. Ahead the plateau where the outpost and observatory would be built loomed, the lines of construction already visible on the stony plain.
Astronomer Wu did not speak until all the grunting and heaving had finished and they were once more on level ground. The wretched mare he rode had not managed to spill him from his seat even when cantering up the cliffside they had just mounted.
"Yes, I wonder if some are not older still then that, remnants of even earlier wars," he mused. "I wonder what one could learn, from a stone that had lain untouched since the day it was cast from the Nameless Mother's skin.
That earned him a sharp look and some muttered prayers.
But the Astronomer bore it. Superstition or not, just imagining such a chance was beyond invigorating!
- Location
- United States of America
Let's go astronomy in a geocentric system! Let the weirdness in the solar bodies begin!
- Location
- somewhere over there.
- Pronouns
- They/It
I was all set up to dislike him, but then he showed that he's actually really interested in explaining what he knows to someone, just because they ask an honest question. Then, he's able to do so well, in a way that relates his topic to their own experiences and understandings, and interestingly enough it seemed that all his airs of superiority fell away while he taught. I now find myself liking this guy quite a bit.
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- Location
- Colorado
We cultivate stellar qi, and we're almost as curious about those sky lights as he is. We should need relatively little convincing.
- Location
- Charlton, NY
Correction, we cultivate darkness, ice, and wind as related to the concept of the home and the family, or at least it's heading that way. Renxiang is the one who cultivates light qi that originated from her mom who probably took inspiration from the nasty, nasty stars that used to rain radiation down on the hapless savages until that one Moon cultivator wrote down all the names of the stars so the greater Moon could shield the planet.
We literally cultivate Stellar Qi via the Moon when we use Eight Phase Ceremony.
Moon Qi is not Stellar Qi, because it is it call Moon Qi, not Stellar Qi.
Gosh Veekie, get it right
- Location
- California
"Can I snort these space rocks?"
The others may not have noticed somehow, but I was just making a joke
- Location
- the internet
Yeah it also says somewhere explicitly in text about the atmosphere being the filter for Stellar qi, making it safe for cultivator use. I forget where but its not just in Yrs' WoG in Discord. Its in the story.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Isn't one of LQ's moon auntie blessings based on her following her curiosity? We could probably turn that into some kind of appreciation for the sciences.