BEHOLD THE GREAT URDTREE,HARBINGER OF THE GOLDEN LINEAGE
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
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Turn 14 Summary:
[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
Plus...
- [X] [Locked Retainer Action] Survey the Wall
- [X] [Locked Professional] Xiangmen Auction
Results:
Adoption Vetting:
Yu Nuan will enter to the Ling clan and she got another spirit, a "little god of clouds and rain"...
And also...
Survey the Wall:
[X] River and Cave Region (Average Agriculture, Average Minerals, High Exotic Materials, Medium Trade, High Danger)
Veins of the Earth:
+1 to Fire, Mountain or Water projects
Thunderclap Mountain:
???-Not Developed
Saline Grotto:
+2 Success to a Darkness project or +1 Success to a Lake or Earth Projects
Cathedral of Winds:
+2 XP to Wind, Water Light or Sun projects
Exotic Deposit Found-Shining Air
Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3:
[X] Encourage and lean into this strange thinking about the Emerald Seas. (+1 Community XP, ???)
[X] Focus your network building effort on the Central Valley (+1 to region rep on completion of the Hou Zhuang's gift project. 50% chance on completion of gaining a +1 rep boost with Thundering Hills or South River Jing region)
Weaver of Tails:
Su Ling probably didn't mutilate himself but we lost our flute... *Ling Qi angry*
Su Ling also gained a powerful Bloody Moon (correct me if I'm wrong please) art.
Su Ling Bond Increased to 4
Dreamwalker Trait Increases by one
Shattered Gaol Site Unlocked
+1 XP to a Dream, Darkness or Wind Project
Long Arm of the Law Quest advanced. Action unlocked.
[X] Bring round the subject of the fox children, but avoid mentioning the Diao connection you discovered, leave the matter with the deviant cultivation and sacrificial practices going on. [70% Success. Success means avoiding threats and having some fraction of the Diao enforcement turning to rounding up stray children. May be temporary.]
Xiangmen Auction:
[X] Ten years of service from a Meng Geomancer, for construction and tutoring (Opens special options in fief construction. Zhengui gets ideas)
[X] Notes and Writings from Master musicians of the Meng (New options and projects for creating and modifying arts)
[X] Your eyes in the city itself are still woefully undeveloped, find your new 'friend' among the Court clans to have a conversation and perhaps receive a few more introductions. It can't hurt to build up an important contact more.
Option for fief development added. (Scholar/Scribe/Erudite/Bureaucrats recruit option)
City of Xiangmen added to regional opinions. Value set to 2
[X] A set of notes and a disassembled puppet of ivory and wood reclaimed from an abandoned workshop after its owner passed away with no next of kin. (Gift for Li Suyin, Unlocks Creation Boosting personal action)
Zheng alert!!
Dreamwalker advances to III
Ephemeral Dreamlit Dancer technique becomes permanent part of Dreamwalker trait
P.S. Does anyone know more or less how many days Yrsillar's break is? On the other hand, on the first page I noticed that now we have reputation 2 with both the Bai clan and the Cai... Our reputation with the Cai raised? Or did Yrs lower Ling Qi's reputation with the Bai clan to make it more balanced? Finally... regional opinions is that?
[X] Plan: Of Dreams & Auctions
- [X] [Cultivation] Dreaming (6/3)
- [X] [Cultivation] The Dreaming Gala (10/5 Weaver of Tails, Silent Stone and AD)
- [X] [Cultivation] Opened Vault (6/5 Argent Vent)
- [X] [Professional] Adoption Vetting
- [X] [Professional] Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3
- [X] [Personal] Weaver of Tails
Plus...
- [X] [Locked Retainer Action] Survey the Wall
- [X] [Locked Professional] Xiangmen Auction
Results:
Adoption Vetting:
Yu Nuan will enter to the Ling clan and she got another spirit, a "little god of clouds and rain"...
And also...
Survey the Wall:
[X] River and Cave Region (Average Agriculture, Average Minerals, High Exotic Materials, Medium Trade, High Danger)
Veins of the Earth:
+1 to Fire, Mountain or Water projects
Thunderclap Mountain:
???-Not Developed
Saline Grotto:
+2 Success to a Darkness project or +1 Success to a Lake or Earth Projects
Cathedral of Winds:
+2 XP to Wind, Water Light or Sun projects
Exotic Deposit Found-Shining Air
Hou Zhuang's Gift 1 of 3:
[X] Encourage and lean into this strange thinking about the Emerald Seas. (+1 Community XP, ???)
[X] Focus your network building effort on the Central Valley (+1 to region rep on completion of the Hou Zhuang's gift project. 50% chance on completion of gaining a +1 rep boost with Thundering Hills or South River Jing region)
Weaver of Tails:
Su Ling probably didn't mutilate himself but we lost our flute... *Ling Qi angry*
Su Ling also gained a powerful Bloody Moon (correct me if I'm wrong please) art.
Su Ling Bond Increased to 4
Dreamwalker Trait Increases by one
Shattered Gaol Site Unlocked
+1 XP to a Dream, Darkness or Wind Project
Long Arm of the Law Quest advanced. Action unlocked.
[X] Bring round the subject of the fox children, but avoid mentioning the Diao connection you discovered, leave the matter with the deviant cultivation and sacrificial practices going on. [70% Success. Success means avoiding threats and having some fraction of the Diao enforcement turning to rounding up stray children. May be temporary.]
Xiangmen Auction:
[X] Ten years of service from a Meng Geomancer, for construction and tutoring (Opens special options in fief construction. Zhengui gets ideas)
[X] Notes and Writings from Master musicians of the Meng (New options and projects for creating and modifying arts)
[X] Your eyes in the city itself are still woefully undeveloped, find your new 'friend' among the Court clans to have a conversation and perhaps receive a few more introductions. It can't hurt to build up an important contact more.
Option for fief development added. (Scholar/Scribe/Erudite/Bureaucrats recruit option)
City of Xiangmen added to regional opinions. Value set to 2
[X] A set of notes and a disassembled puppet of ivory and wood reclaimed from an abandoned workshop after its owner passed away with no next of kin. (Gift for Li Suyin, Unlocks Creation Boosting personal action)
Zheng alert!!
Dreamwalker advances to III
Ephemeral Dreamlit Dancer technique becomes permanent part of Dreamwalker trait
P.S. Does anyone know more or less how many days Yrsillar's break is? On the other hand, on the first page I noticed that now we have reputation 2 with both the Bai clan and the Cai... Our reputation with the Cai raised? Or did Yrs lower Ling Qi's reputation with the Bai clan to make it more balanced? Finally... regional opinions is that?
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- Location
- United States of America
While I'm not confident about how long the break will be, I can answer the other questions!
My understanding is that our Cai opinion was raised. Remember, it is a value ascribed not to our relationship with Cai Renxiang but rather to the Cai clan, of which the only major player is Cai Shenhua. I believe we have more recently risen in her esteem with our efforts to help Cai Renxiang in establishing the diplomatic effort with the Polar Nations.
Regional opinions are the value ascribed to how supportive various regions of the Emerald Sea are of Ling Qi. Or, how against Ling Qi they are. Different regions can be split by count clans, and even if two regions are controlled by the same count clan, they can have different opinions and priorities. While I can't find the provincial map right now, in general as you go north our support wanes (presumably because we do not comport ourselves like traditional imperial culture would say we should comport ourselves), and as you go south our support waxes (presumably because they are less concerned with the nuances of traditional imperial culture and more interested in the results of potential diplomacy).
I hope this is helpful!
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- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah!! A lot! Thank you very much 🥰
A week. He deserves more though.
- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
yep, completely agree
It might have happened, but we didn't see it. It's strange that it wasn't mentioned one way or the other though
- Location
- Central Europe
From a narrative standpoint it would make sense to skip the exhibition match while the sect is at war. This year's new disciples definitely noticed that one elder died, a whole bunch of others got injured and the sect head went to war with his huge ass dragon.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Next turn for both I think, if we take the Grinning cultivation action in the upcoming knife fight.
Right now we are getting big Exp boosts since we have all the concepts and stuff needed to get there. We get a 1.5X boost from that. We will lose that in framing since we haven't mastered a successor art.
That's why I wanna do FSS+ asap, since it'll be really slow growth until we master that and we haven't even started it yet.
That's why I wanna do FSS+ asap, since it'll be really slow growth until we master that and we haven't even started it yet.
kfrar
Aspiring Encyclopedia
To elaborate on the other answers, between some T13 gains that were missed and the T14 gains we just got, we currently have 5340/6000 Spiritual and 4990/6000 Physical XP, and we make 900XP of each per turn passively so long as we qualify for the 1.5x multiplier @Elsecaller mentioned. So we'll passively reach G5 next turn, but hitting B5 as well will require us to take a Physical XP project. That, combined with other dangling threads, sets us up with 4 relevant cultivation projects to fit into 3 slots, thus the expectation that this turn might be knife-fightier than usual.
Specifically, we've got:
This project gives us the Physical XP required to get to Bronze Framing next turn, which just feels good. Plus, the Isolation concept progress would help get us to Isolation IV/Community IV, which has been rather heavily hinted to be the prereq for the pending Nightmare Tribulation. And in terms of narrative relevance, a Grinning action, especially as described, would pair well with another survey action or with a Long Arm of the Law quest action to catch whatever fallguy directly messed with Hanyi's concert, and those are some of the more likely professional actions for us to take next turn.
Next up:
TREE.
(We like BKSD, it's useful, and we want to keep cultivating it; we like TREE, and want to learn more about it; and we just visited TREE SHRINE, so if we're not going to cultivate it now, when would we? It would be really weird if we just picked this project up later when TREE turn was now.)
(Also, Home is a neat concept, this is the only source of the stuff besides WHR, which, let's be honest, we're probably not getting to until we actually get to our fief.)
In less TREE news:
This is the last project required to master PLR, which is frankly overdue. We've been working on PLR since Forge, we've spent the last two turns working through two of the Art's final three projects, and we've got a Nightmare Tribulation coming up - squaring PLR away and picking up our Dream insight in preparation for the imminent trial both makes narrative sense and reduces the number of unfinished projects hanging over our heads. Plus, it advances Isolation like Grinning does, and Yrs has super blatantly hinted that Phantasmal Mastery is probably important for LQ's development going forwards, so I'm pretty sure we want to get this done. I especially don't want to do FSS+ without doing this - since constructs are such a big part of LQ's kit, I want to make sure we have our Phantasmal Mastery available in case we want to incorporate constructs into FSS's successor. (We might be able to add them on later, since creating FSS+ and mastering FSS+ are two different things, but changing the mechanisms underlying the art mid-development would be pretty janky, so maybe let's not.)
And on that note:
As has been mentioned before, just as one of the requirements to reach the Threshold stage is to earn an Advanced Insight and the Framing stage to acquire a broad range of Concepts, the Formation stage requires one to create and master a Personal Successor Art. Apparently the ability to reach into your half-baked mess of a domain and prove to the world that you can pull out a coherent Art capable of standing on its own merits is required to push any further.
This is inconvenient for us, because we're going to be working towards Threshold after next turn and we haven't even created a Successor yet, meaning we'll have to sacrifice a 1.5x multiplier on our cultivation speed until we do make and master one. And then there's the fact that every turn putting off FSS+ represents another turn of not having FSS+, which may be an issue if we're forced into a real fight against a peer. And then there's the bit where FSS+ has a lot of personal importance both as our primary link to winter and thanks to Zeqing, and we've been sitting on FSS for a while now both in universe and out, and if we put FSS+ off any longer I'm pretty sure some voters are going to have a stroke.
And on top of all of that are the narrative considerations. Most obviously there's the tie-in to those music notes we just picked up in place of a flute craftsmen, but beyond that, the Nightmare Tribulation seems gated behind Community IV/Isolation IV, requiring us to further develop our Isolation III now and likely changing the nature of the two concepts thereafter. And as it so happens, while FSS in particular is most closely associated with Endings, Winter in general for LQ is most closely associated with the Isolation she experienced on the streets. This, combined with the fact that creating an art and mastering it are two different steps, sets up a natural sequence:
Cultivate on Isolation while developing FSS+ to develop the base of FSS+ and Isolation IV > Undergo Nightmare Tribulation, which will probably throw some of LQ's Isolation trauma back in her face, forcing her to develop a broader understanding of Isolation and Community together > Master FSS+, incorporating her refined understanding of Isolation as she refines FSS+ into its final form. Through FSS+'s creation, we pose a question; with FSS+'s mastery, we record our answer.
(I've tried to be impartial in my descriptions of the other three, but as you may have noticed, I'm pretty keen on this FSS+ idea.)
Mind you, all of those words are just based on what we know now. Stuff could happen next turn that changes things, our available actions might pair better with or require particular cultivation projects, Yrs might revise the cultivation project list entirely as part of the endless task of balancing a system requiring an often-divided content-greedy committee to develop a single coherent philosophy, or something else might come up. Hell, maybe the Liminal Carver or Void lobbies will pull off a surprise upset. I just figured I'd get some of this stuff recorded in one place before I have a chance to forget it over the next week.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah pending any shakeup from Yrs I would pretty much regurgitate what @kfrar just said. It is definitely a good run down of what I'd like to see this turn. There's a couple more I think are cool like:
- We are but Ripples: In waters deep, under skies far, we bear witness to our own crushing smallness. Where then does meaning rise, in the infinite dark? Advances Isolation and Mystery Projects one step. 40% Chance of acquiring Void concept for your Domain.(0/3)
- Soul of Ice: Blizzard and glacier, fine snow and driving sleet. cruel wind and soft snow. Stasis, Inevitability, Endings and Renewal. There is more to ice, more to winter than meets the casual eye. Is your own understanding too narrow? Advances Isolation and Want Projects. Advances Winter's Heart by 1. Begins Trait Quest Chain. (0/5)
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Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Yeah, honestly, narratively speaking, FSS+ next turn when we've got something as relatively neat and connectable together as Grinning to Survey/Long Arm of the Law, Phantasmal Mastery + Hostess Lessons/Sneks, and Xiangmen + "We just finished being there" is gonna be a rough ask, even if I'd rather have it this turn.
Grinning + Xiangmen + Phantasmal Mastery means we're lined up to do our Tribulation next turn, and then from there lead into FSS+ as the next chapter of the story. That being said, the only thing that would be 'Removable' from this I feel would be Xiangmen, though it'd be narratively awkward to do so when we have such a good opportunity right now.
Grinning + Xiangmen + Phantasmal Mastery means we're lined up to do our Tribulation next turn, and then from there lead into FSS+ as the next chapter of the story. That being said, the only thing that would be 'Removable' from this I feel would be Xiangmen, though it'd be narratively awkward to do so when we have such a good opportunity right now.
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I see. Thanks, that was really helpful.
So we are already at 28 total concept level or will be soon enough without any active effort. Which means we already are covered at that front until Formation.
Regarding the Cultivation plans, there are some very good points, and it's true it's going to be a heated debate. Yet, I still want to raise my own preference:
Now that we already have our proto-fief we are going to almost invariably spend a locked action working on it every turn: exploring, developing sites, defending from threats, events and so on.
That's why I want to do this Project, as it would be a massive help for safely facing whatever we may encounter.
Furthermore, it's not only best for the development of the fief, but also for Ling Qi's personal cultivation. Bastion would allow us to discover more cultivation sites and improve our existing ones.
With more and better sites, it would be easier to reach double exp in other Cultivation projects, which means extra advancements.
Right now we are at like 30, but we need a whooping 60 at the end. Bastion would be a great help toward that.
But, yeah, too many good Projects, too few spots.
So we are already at 28 total concept level or will be soon enough without any active effort. Which means we already are covered at that front until Formation.
Regarding the Cultivation plans, there are some very good points, and it's true it's going to be a heated debate. Yet, I still want to raise my own preference:
Now that we already have our proto-fief we are going to almost invariably spend a locked action working on it every turn: exploring, developing sites, defending from threats, events and so on.
That's why I want to do this Project, as it would be a massive help for safely facing whatever we may encounter.
Furthermore, it's not only best for the development of the fief, but also for Ling Qi's personal cultivation. Bastion would allow us to discover more cultivation sites and improve our existing ones.
With more and better sites, it would be easier to reach double exp in other Cultivation projects, which means extra advancements.
Right now we are at like 30, but we need a whooping 60 at the end. Bastion would be a great help toward that.
But, yeah, too many good Projects, too few spots.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Yeah, we're in backlog hell right now, our only hope is that it doesn't get bigger before we're out on our own.
A Loyal Wind
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The Loyal Wind
Tang Lijuan's lungs were burning. She couldn't stop running, she could still hear her pursuers not far behind her. Thorns and branches continued to snag her clothes and skin, both tearing easily in her desperate flight. Tang Lijuan had neither a moment or the spare energy to care about the stinging cuts or torn clothes. She could only focus on running, staying ahead, otherwise…
"You can't run forever girly!"
"We promise not to hurt you!"
Bandits. Her guards? Dead. Her qi? Gone. The only thing keeping her going was fear and hope. Hope that she could somehow get away. Fear at what would happen if she was caught. Best case, she was simply ransomed back to her parents. Worst case…
"We just need you alive you know! Don't make this harder on yourself!"
There were many things that could be done that wouldn't kill her.
Tang Lijuan didn't think about that though. Her only thought was how she would take her next step, how to keep running for one more second. She shielded her eyes as she ran through a thicket of branches and found herself in a clearing. Not far Tang Lijuan saw the walls and gate of a building, perhaps a temple?
She didn't question it, just ran and prayed the gates were not barred.
"This way! She went this way!"
The bandits were still in pursuit but Tang Lijuan would do all she could to not be taken. She cursed herself for not having a sword, a knife, something she could use to fight the low-lives with or at the very least use it so they couldn't take her as a prize.
Running into the gate with her shoulder Tang Lijuan ignored the new flare of pain and nearly shouted with joy as it easily swung open and let her in. The young woman stumbled in and grabbed the edge of the wooden door, swinging it back shut. Seeing an iron bar on the door meant to barricade it nearly brought tears to her eyes she felt so lucky.
Without hesitation she swung it into place. It wouldn't hold for long but hopefully long enough for her to hide and think of a way out of this. A sudden thunk had her screaming and falling to the ground as an arrow sprouted from the door mere centimeters from her.
"Don't think you can hide Tang brat!"
"Ya idiot! What if ya hit her?!"
The bandits' bickering was soon cut off by the sound of a mighty gale. A pause and then one of them speaking again "What in the he-"
Then the screams and rushing of wind.
Then the only thing Tang Lijuan heard was the beating of her heart and labored breathing.
Another gust and the sound of something landing behind her. Frozen in place, Tang Lijuan dared not move. A bloody muzzle of some beast slowly moved over her shoulder and Tang Lijuan's breath caught in her throat.
Fangs bloody with the life of her pursuers dripped onto the ruins of her dress staining it further. Tang Lijuan knew she was dead as the beast's maw opened. Her eyes snapped shut and she waited for those fangs to pierce her skin and rip her throat out.
And waited.
Then she heard something hit the ground next to her.
Feeling a bit daring after not being immediately killed, Tang Lijuan cracked one of her eyes open. Next to her laid the arrow that had been in the door last she had seen.
A huff from the beast sent strands of her hair flying and then it spoke. It spoke! "Fools. Now I'll have to get [Sings-to-trees] to mend this hole." Its voice was a warm Spring breeze but Tang Lijuan could feel the maelstrom that birthed it residing in the beast. And what a power that maelstrom was! It had to be at least Cyan, possibly Indigo but Tang Lijuan couldn't tell for sure with her own cultivation barely beyond awakening itself into the Red realm.
As the spirit, or was it a spirit beast, began to turn away Tang Lijuan's mind finally began to catch up with her. She wasn't dead, her pursuers were though. She was in some spirits court. It had not immediately killed her for trespassing on its domain. Did she simply wait and hope it continued to ignore her? Make a break for it as soon as she felt safe enough? No, there were still more bandits waiting for her and would probably start searching for their comrades once enough time passed.
What were her options then? Throw herself to the whims of this beast that could end her with a thought? It seemed to be that or just sit here and pray another spirit didn't come along and eat her. With her decision made Tang Lijuan turned and threw herself to the ground kowtowing to the mighty spirit that had taken a few steps away from her.
"Th-this o-one-" Tang Lijuan bit her own tongue and cursed under her breath and fought back tears of frustration that wanted to well up. "This one wishes to offer it's h-humblest thanks t-to the great lord's benev-benevolence and k-kindness. Th-thank you for killing th-this one's pur-pursuers. I-if it is not t-to presum-presumptuous thi-this one w-would humbly ask for a-asylum for a t-time!" Tang Lijuan was taking a gamble but it was her best chance.
She heard the spirit stalk closer to her and then felt hot breath on her neck. The great beast sniffed her once and then twice before pulling back. "You have the smell of nobility on you. Where do you come from and what is your name?"
"Th-this one hails f-from Onmani and is known as Tang Lijuan m-my lord." The beast huffed and a low growl began to emanate from it, freezing Tang Lijuan in place. Had she somehow angered the beast? Is this when she would feel its claws raking through her back to end her life? The young woman dared not move an inch.
"Ah," the rumble of the beasts growl died down, "Onmani is quite the distance from here is it not?"
Had the growl just been the beast thinking to itself, much like a person might humm in thought? She had been asked a question though best not keep the spirit waiting. "I-it is my lord. This o-one had b-been sent by this one's parents to learn at a great sect. Th-then the b-b-bandits attacked b-before I fled h-here."
"Understandable." A small pause as if the beast was waiting for something. "Raise your head child, no need for begging. As long as you do nothing to harm the spirits or the grounds here you are safe. I have a few more questions for you but those can wait for later. We should not allow a young lady like yourself to have wounds untended to or to catch sickness because you are not properly attired. Come we shall tend to these things."
Tang Lijuan felt the tears begin falling freely from her eyes. The terror fled from her and was replaced with a bone aching relief. She tried wiping her eyes but the tears just kept coming. "Th-thank you! Thank you very much f-for your generosity my lord! M-may this one know th-the name of their savior?" Tang Lijuan was able to get out as she raised her head before being overtaken by tears and hiccups as she tried to clear her eyes of the tears.
"My pack and subjects know me as [Far Seeing Loyal Hound of Winds and Claws]" Tang Lijuan winced at the idea being forced into her mind, it was enough of a shock that she finally stopped crying. "Ah, my apologies child. It has been some time since I have needed a name of words and sounds. You may call me Zhong Feng." Finally clearing her eyes enough that she could look at the thing that had saved her from a most terrible fate Tang Lijuan couldn't help but be in awe.
It was a most majestic wolf, a golden coat with traces of pure white in its undercoat. Easily twice as tall as Tang Lijuan and with muscles she could see rippling beneath its dense fur, Zhong Feng began to turn away. Seeing their tail curl up around their back, Tang Lijuan blinked and shook her head. The wolf, no, the hound, the idea that it had spoken was closer to a dog and taking in its features again she began to see the difference. She had never actually seen a wolf before but the depictions she had seen had yellow eyes, sharp features, large terrible maws of teeth but Zhong Feng was… softer in a way. A smaller rounder head, bright blue eyes, and the tail were the giveaways.
She watched as Zhong Feng walked over to a pond next to a fruit tree of some sort. They seemed to speak to the tree and soon a monkey with what looked like a staff made out of a living branch scampered down and over to the gate she had come through not long ago. The great hound then cleaned their muzzle in the pond before drinking from it. So confused and enraptured at this mighty spirit hound, Tang Lijuan jumped as they spoke to her again. "Come Tang Lijuan, I will have Wu see to your needs and we can discuss your situation more at dinner."
Readily agreeing with, she presumed Zhong Feng to be the lord of this area's spirits, Tang Lijuan did her best to follow on her aching legs. As they walked Tang Lijuan looked around and really began to take things in. She spotted several connected buildings, pristine and well maintained, that surrounded a flourishing garden of beautiful flowers and trees. She watched as dozens of different spirits moved around, mostly foxes and wolves it seemed like but she saw plenty of simple fairies, a deer, a variety of birds and she was pretty sure she saw a bear as well. It was a menagerie of every sort of spirit or beast you would expect to find in a forest but all put together on an estate that was seemingly not too far in construction from Tang Lijuan's own home.
As they approached the main entrance hall Zhong Feng began to shrink in size until his back was standing not much higher than a grown man would. The door swung open at their approach and the great hound called out, "Wu! We have a guest that needs to be seen to!"
To Tang Lijuan's right a spirit manifested from the wall itself, stepping forward as if coming through a door and not a solid piece of the building. The best way for Tang Lijuan to describe the spirit that came forward was if a fox was taught to stand upright and dressed in a servant's livery. "Well, well, well, a human pup? And a pretty banged up one at that. Definitely needs a bath and those scratches looked at. And your poor dress!" Wu, the fox-like spirit, had a warm matronly voice and they began to fuss with Tang Lijuan's hair and falling apart dress.
"Yes, make sure she is given proper clothes and is treated well. I expect Tang Lijuan to join us for dinner. I would hear your full story then young lady so we may decide what to do with you."
Before Zhong Feng could leave Wu spoke up. "Sir? About the clothes? We don't have any except for…" The more human spirit said before trailing off. The air suddenly felt heavy and thick, almost suffocating. Several moments passed with neither of the spirits speaking.
"Use whatever is needed. I have duties to attend to." Zhong Feng finally replied before disappearing in a flurry of wind.
Wu cleared their throat and ushered Tang Lijuan along. "This way then pup. I hope you won't throw a fit about the bath, the less you fight me during it the quicker it will be."
Tang Lijuan blinked and looked up at the tall fox. "I can… bathe myself? Thank you?" She didn't want to offend her host but she also did not want to fight the spirit in any way.
"You can? How wonderful!" Wu pat Tang Lijuan on the head, as if she were a toddler or a pet? "The lord's offspring usually dread their baths but I agree with the lord that dirt should stay outside me and not in."
Oh! Wu was the house spirit! …Tang Lijuan should have realized that sooner now that she thought about it.
After a delightfully warm bath, suffering through the sting of having a healing balm applied to her wounds, the distress of having to use her old dress as bandages, Tang Lijuan almost collapsed at seeing the replacement dress she was being offered. It was beautiful, like a festival night's fireworks caught and spun into silk. Not only that but it was a protective talisman of no small power either. Tang Lijuan had tried to refuse but Wu eventually convinced her to wear it.
It was not long after all of that that Tang Lijuan was led into a dining room. A large roasted boar sat in the center with five hungry wolf-hounds, one actual wolf, and Zhong Feng surrounding it. She was led to a chair at the end of the table, across from Zhong Feng, where an actual plate with some sort of roll and wild greens was set up.
"Sorry for the meager spread, young lady Tang. It was a bit hard for me to get something together that wouldn't be harmful for a human pup like yourself." Wu offered in apology. "Please let me know how the bread came out though. I haven't had a reason to bake before. It was quite fun!"
"No no! It is quite alright! You have all been far too generous and kind to this one. This one knows not how to repay all your kindness." She offered in reply, turning and bowing towards Zhong Feng as well.
"Enough of that. Let us eat." As those words left Zhong Feng the rest of spirits began tearing into the boar. All except Zhong Feng who just had a beast core set in front of him that he ate in one gulp. Hesitantly Tang Lijuan picked up the roll and took a tentative bite. It… wasn't bad. It was certainly not made from fine wheat but seemed to be wild seeds and nuts. It had a bitter aftertaste but the subtle infusion of qi was enough that Tang Lijuan didn't mind. The fried vegetables were similar, saturated in qi but somewhat blandly cooked.
It didn't take long for Tang Lijuan to finish her meal and once she was Zhong Feng prompted her to tell her story. It wasn't a long one, she had been sent by her family to attend a great sect but had been attacked by bandits. They had killed everyone but her and she had managed to slip away before they could catch her. She had run away into the woods hoping to hide or get away from them but had ended up here.
At the end Zhong Feng nodded. "Thank you Tang Lijuan. This… may seem an odd question but do you know of a clan by the name of Yanhuo? Their lands would have not been far from Onmani."
"Oh, I actually do." It was an odd question but Tang Lijuan so no harm in answering it truthfully. "The Yanhuo clan is actually no more. After several disasters befell them they no longer had the means to do their duties to the Empire. Thus their lands were given to others and most of them either married into other clans or quietly died off. My mother's grandfather was originally from that clan actually."
"That is…" Zhong Feng paused for several moments, "Interesting. Yes, that is interesting." The hound looked up to the ceiling seemingly lost in thought. Tang Lijuan tried not to fidget as she sat there, the wolf-hounds snapping and eating the bones of what was once a boar did not help her nerves.
After about a minute Tang Lijuan cleared her throat politely, "Is it alright for this one to ask a question of you my lord?"
Zhong Feng's head snapped down and he looked directly at her. "Go ahead."
Taking a steadying breath Tang Lijuan did her best to articulate the question that had begun to bug her. "Why do you live here? Is this not a house built for people?"
Zhong Feng's eyes locked with hers and Tang Lijuan could not look away. "Yes, this place was once a home to humans. There even used to be a village as well. But tragedy came and the humans left. I had made a promise though and this was my home as much as it was theirs. They left but I stayed. I keep my promise though it is one that can never be fulfilled."
In those sky blue eyes Tang Lijuan saw sorrow. A sorrow so deep that it brought tears to Tang Lijuan. "I-"
"That is enough talk of that. I have decided what will happen with you." The black wolf walked around the table and sat beside Zhong Feng. "My children, your mother and I have decided. You are old and strong enough to start venturing forth on your own. We give you one final task as your parents. Make sure that Tang Lijuan makes it safely to the nearest human city. Do this and be recognized as adults of our pack, free to make your own decisions."
As all the other wolf-hounds began to howl and bark in joy, Tang Lijuan could not get what she had seen in Zhong Feng's eyes out of her mind. A sorrow so deep and haunting plagued him and yet Zhong Feng was ruler of this land. How? How did he go on like that?
A.N.
@yrsillar Omake for throne! Have an Omake in these lean times my friends. What's that? This can be read as a continuation to Dog's Days? Why yes it very well could be read that way as that was how I wrote it. Let me know what ya'll think.
Tasoli
Life is for Living
- Location
- Behind the Keyboard.
I am having hard time imagining what kind land we have truthfully. Doesn't help that since we have not split up the land.
It would be easier if we picked one of the options and other two went to CRX and Gan but as it is I am not sure how it will be split up.
How big is that valley anyway? Big enough for 3 towns? Or is it single town 2 hamlets kind of deal.
So here's a post I made before this last turn, outlining my predictions on who many updates, and the update subjects, would go into the turn. And I feel like doing a post-turn autopsy because, and this must be stressed, my brain is bad.
At the broadest level, I guessed 21-29 updates, and the turn rounded out at 31 in the end. This isn't really an overshoot though; in my analysis, I was looking at the structural requirements for arcs I thought would be present, especially with break-points/votes in mind. Some gaps between updates were down to writing time constraints, which is reasonable enough, but couldn't be factored for in my original post. Just something to keep in mind is also a factor in the more point-by-point breakdowns below.
Yu Nuan
Prediction: 4=< updates
Outcome: 5 updates. 2 on family and 1-on-1 chats, 3 on the lightning palace adventure. Time well spent, it really fleshed out the characters involved and the world itself.
Surveying the Wall
Prediction: 2-5 updates
Outcome: 3 updates. This arc was very compact for the amount of content in it, partly due to clever vote structuring on the bookends. It very technically bled into a 4th update, but for, like, a paragraph.
Hou Zhuang network building
Prediction: 1-3 updates
Outcome: 2.5 updates. In terms of length, it was really 2, with a conclusion tacked onto the top of an update introducing the next arc. In the RR release, it probably gets collated into 2 updates. This mini-arc was dense, mostly building a foundation for other things. It touches on other storylines later in the turn, which was always the point of the project.
Su Ling
Prediction: 2-4
Outcome: 5 updates. It was rad tho. Importantly, the events mattered, moving forwards. Flute destruction, Su Ling and Gan Guangli romance, Madame Grey, and just as fodder for introspection on what Ling Qi thinks of and wants from the world.
UNCLE BON- uh, ELDER HUISHENG INTERRUPT
Prediction: 0 updates
Outcome: 1.5-ish updates. Kind of stretches across 3, but the first appearance was deep in the denouement of Su Ling's adventure, and the third is some general Ling Qi internal narrative housekeeping covering multiple subjects, so they don't really count. We got some cool mystery and worldbuilding fodder out of his appearance. Again, it does show up later on in the turn, which is nice.
Cai Renxiang's Cai Shenhua Chat
Prediction: 2+ updates
Outcome: 2 updates. It's staggered over three updates, but more or less one chunk with a separate, short, introspective.
Diao Hualing
Prediction: 2+ updates
Outcome: 2 updates. This mini-arc incorporates follow up to Hanyi's concert sabotage(though briefly), Su Ling's arc, and manages to wrap in an appearance by Shu Yue, which is essentially a followup to Huisheng's interrupt and a bit to the conversation with Renxiang, but brief enough it can't be counted as its own thing. Generally, the narrative thread through this string of arcs is handled in a really nice way with good momentum.
Meng Dan
Prediction: Up to 3, split with Xia Lin
Outcome: 2, split with general Xiangmen intro.
Xiangmen/Dream Jaunt
Prediction: Kind of zero? Related to the Gala's 3-5, but also separate. Wasn't expecting multiple dream jaunts at Xiangmen.
Outcome: 2 updates
Auction/Xia Lin
Prediction: Up to 3, split with Meng Dan
Outcome: 3, split with a miscellaneous sort of political encounter.
Dream Gala
Prediction: 3-5
Outcome: 2 updates. Combined with the earlier dream run, that brings it to 4 total.
Miscellaneous Closer
Prediction: 1
Outcome: 1, gawking at big tree temple with Zhengui and Gan Guangli.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, decent ballpark guesses. The way that topics unfurled into actual updates and blended into each other made 1-to-1 comparisons difficult in some cases. I tried not to double-count updates in the closeup comparisons, but lol I'm not going to actually count to see how that turned out.
There were some surprises, in a nice way. (Hi uncle skeleton!)
Things did meander a bit once we hit Xiangmen. I think it's because there was just so much to cram in, and figuring out when and where to add what was genuinely difficult. One thing I noticed was the way the auction got sandwiched by Dream excursions kind of took the wind out of its sails; the first Dream jaunt dealt heavily with the nature of art/artists/creativity/etc, which pre-empted that as a role the auction could play an important role in. Delving into Xia Lin's character more, and her perspective on social events, was amusing but felt like a bit of an underutilization of the setting.
The Gala portion itself was also surprisingly brief, but it ultimately makes sense from a character perspective. Ling Qi didn't quite have the thematic/philosophical juice on hand to justify a prize. It did help refine her path, however, which is good.
In conclusion to my conclusion: I don't think there were any egregious overruns in time or updates in this turn. The compact cohesiveness of the first half of the turn starts to loosen somewhat after we hit Xiangmen, but given all the things that were in the turn, one chunk or another was always going to be a bit... floaty. And there were absolute bangers of scenes all throughout, right up until the end.
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- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A few things from turn 13 that I think aren't on the front page...
Finally, I remember that we also got the breakdown of the Diao factions but the only thing I found is this...
Did I miss it or the only breakdown of the Diao we have is the Emerald Seas regional map?
Finally, I remember that we also got the breakdown of the Diao factions but the only thing I found is this...
Did I miss it or the only breakdown of the Diao we have is the Emerald Seas regional map?
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- Location
- United States of America
I'm pretty sure it's because the Weilu Conservatives just don't like anyone that are not themselves.
The Old Tribes are people like the deer girl from the Luo and Wang gatherings. They follow and want to protect and preserve their customs. But they know they are too small to survive on their own, so they reach out to the big clans despite maintaining a relative insularism. They like us because we can give the old traditions a voice next to the Duchess's heir.
The Conservatives of the count clans don't have the problem of being too weak. For them, Ling Qi is an uppity youngster perversing their sacred traditions, an outsider who doesn't know or understand anything, with no history and no right to tell them how things should be.