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Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
 
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
 
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
 
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
 
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
 
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
 
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
 
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
 
[X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
 
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Chat Fic Sublime
  • Apocrypha
    • Chat Fic Sublime​

    Xiangmen has created a new room
    Celestial Dragon has been added to the room
    Celestial Dragon has been given Admin privileges

    Celestial Dragon: Thanks Xiangmen!

    Xiangmen: 🌳👍

    Celestial Dragon has changed the room name to "Celestial Empire, Empire of Qin, Long Live the Sage Emperor"
    Celestial Dragon has added Horned Lord, Grandma Serpent, Reveler, Grandfather of Tides, Purifying Sun

    Celestial Dragon: Hi everyone! I thought it would be a good idea to keep in touch more since we're going to be working together from now on! We can use this chat to update each other on what's going on and you all can ask for advice when you need it. Thanks again to @'Xiangmen for getting this all setup!

    Xiangmen: 🌳👍

    Reveler has changed their name to 🐵🎉
    Grandma Serpent has changed their name to 🐍🔪

    🐵🎉: Ha! Beat ya to it!

    🐍🔪: Fuck you!

    🐵🎉: Only if you ask nicely! 😘

    Grandfather of Tides: I ain't dealing with this shit, later nerds🌊🌊🌊

    Grandfather of Tides has left the room.

    Horned Lord: "Radiate boundless love towards the entire world."

    🐵🎉: My man!

    🐍🔪: Why does that sound familiar?

    Celestial Dragon: By the Nameless this was a bad idea wasn't it?

    🐵🎉: No!

    🐍🔪: Yes

    Purifying Sun: I thought it was a good idea…

    Horned Lord: "The world is afflicted by death and decay. But the wise do not grieve, having realized the nature of the world."

    🐍🔪: Who do you keep quoting?

    Horned Lord: Have they not visited you yet?

    🐍🔪: They who?

    Celestial Dragon: Hold on a second guys, I need to check on something.

    Celestial Dragon: …

    Celestial Dragon has changed the room name to "Celestial Empire"

    Celestial Dragon: Um, what do you guys know about selecting a new emperor for your empire?

    —

    Horned Lord: Really? You don't remember meeting the monk at all?

    🐍🔪: I don't see why I should remember them.

    Horned Lord: Because they showed us the best way to make this world left to us by the Nameless better? Really the only way we can make it better forever?

    🐍🔪: What did they look like again?

    Horned Lord: Bald, golden skin, gaunt like they hadn't eaten in months, red robe? Eyes of light that saw you in a way you'd never been seen before?

    🐍🔪: Not ringing any bells.

    🐵🎉: Oh! I remember that dude now! Super chill, actually really liked him.

    Purifying Sun: Why didn't I get a visit?

    Horned Lord: Wait, you remember him? Then why didn't you recognize any of the quotes? Why aren't you working on transcendence?

    Purifying Sun: Transcendence? Is that like Ascension?

    🐵🎉: Like the ideas about kindness and generosity and doing good and stuff? I'm all for it! The stuff about non-violence and no indulgence? Gonna have to hard pass on that I'm afraid.

    Purifying Sun: Oh, I've been meaning to ask @'🐵🎉 could you maybe ask your people to stop the raiding on my people? Aren't we supposed to be part of the same group now?

    🐵🎉: I mean I could try?

    Purifying Sun: … @'Celestial Dragon

    Celestial Dragon: Play nice with everyone Reveler

    🐵🎉: Fine I'll see what I can do.

    Horned Lord: sigh You know what I've said my peace. If any of you change your mind I left instructions with the Weilu.

    Horned Lord: @'Xiangmen Keep an eye on things for me? Peace!

    Xiagnmen has stopped playing City Simulator 2

    Xiangmen: 🌳👍

    Xiagnmen has started playing City Simulator 2

    Horned Lord has left the room.

    🐍🔪: What?

    🐵🎉: What?

    Purifying Sun: What?

    Celestial Dragon: What?

    —

    Celestial Dragon: Grandma Serpent you seriously need to tell the Bai to stand down.

    🐍🔪: First, no, they aren't wrong. Hu Shou was first born; it's his right to rule. Second, they'll prove they're right by force of arms.

    🐵🎉: Yeah! Fight fight fight!

    Purifying Sun: Oh I'll show you a fight you stupid monkey!

    🐵🎉: Yeah bring it on you flaming bird!

    Living Isle: Imma eat some of that tasty Jing land.

    Celestial Dragon: Guys please don't make this worse! Look, Shang Tsung is working really hard to make all the lands better, he's a great emperor. I'm sure if we just sit down and talk about this we can come to a peaceful resolution.

    Xiangmen has stopped playing City Simulator 2

    Xiangmen: Server update

    Celestial Dragon: Hold on just a second @'Xiangmen we're in the middle of something really important!

    Weilu have been removed from server.

    Room closed

    We're sorry this server is currently closed for maintenance! It'll be available again soon!
    The Room 'Celestial Empire' has been opened, all previous users have been added.

    Xiangmen: Done

    Xiangmen has begun playing City Simulator 3

    Celestial Dragon: Oh gods! Everything is on fire! What happened! I can fix this I can fix this!

    🐵🎉: Holy shit I did not sign up for this!

    Living Isle: …is there still a Imperial City?

    Celestial Dragon: It's fine! Just needed to do some spring cleaning right? We all have to do that every now and then!

    🐍🔪: @'everyone We all agree to not let this happen again and to never talk about this?

    Celestial Dragon: Agreed

    Living Isle: Yep!

    Purifying Sun: Agreed

    🐵🎉: 👍

    Xiangmen: 🌳👍

    —

    Living Isle: Hey has anyone seen Grandfather of Tides around?

    🐵🎉: Um, they left a few millennia ago dude

    Living Isle: Oh, is that why the Jing are so mad?

    🐍🔪: They left a century ago

    Living Isle: Then who are all these angry sailors?

    Celestial Dragon: You mean the Jin?

    Living Isle: Didn't you just say they left?

    Celestial Dragon: No no, the Jin are who they replaced the Jing with.

    Living Isle: 🙁 That's confusing

    🐵🎉: Tell me about it

    Purifying Sun: Hey do you guys remember that Ao Longshen guy? I think I found him.

    —

    Celestial Dragon: Good news everyone! I know it's been a little empty around here ever since that little… incident with the Purifying Sun but we've got someone new to take their place!


    P̷̡̹͎̙͎̩̗̆́ȗ̴̢̺̻̩̭̳̼̘̎r̷̖̥̰͍̔́̓͠ị̶̛̌̌͋̽̒̑́͠f̴̢̡̼̜̼̐y̵̧͍̹̰̜̲̽̐͑̌͊̅̓͘͠i̴̼̼̦̫̦̟̙̣̔̉̂͛̕̕̕͠ͅn̶̛̯̖̏̀̆͆̓g̸̠̪͕̱͉̖̘̐̓̇́̓̽ ̸̲̻̫̰͚͚̖̋̐̌̀̂S̵̠̼̪̱̘̈̅̅̈̋̌ų̵͓͍̫͙̱̃̊̓͝n̴͎̣͕̝̘̟̹͇͆̊́̉̾ͅ:̷̛̗̱̮̟̳̼̖͚̾̆̉̌͜͝ ̸̬̞͓̟̥̮̃̇͆̀͜͜͜P̶̻̱̰̫̹̱̮̙̥͗ľ̶̗̭̺̝̑e̴̢̧̬̜͔̭̺͑̀̅ą̸̳̦̲̠̰͗͊̓̒̎̎̚ş̴̨͚͖̄̕͜ͅe̶̡͇͖̗͓͍̒͗̓ ̵̢̲̲̟̜̙̋ͅĥ̸͙̙̜̻̰̠̽͌̃e̴̢̢̺͚͔̟̻͕̊̓̾ĺ̷͙͒́̀̇̍͐̚p̶͖̎̆̄̓͊


    🐍🔪: @'Xiangmen Does that mean we can remove Purifying Sun from the server finally?

    Xiangmen has stopped playing City Simulator 3

    Xiangmen: Can't

    🐍🔪: Why not?

    Xiangmen: Not dead

    Celestial Dragon has added Grandfather Fortress to the room 'Celestial Empire'

    Celestial Dragon: @'everyone Please welcome @'Grandfather Fortress

    🐍🔪: Welcome

    Xiangmen: 🌳👍

    🐵🎉:     Hey

    Living Isle: Howdy friend!

    Grandfather Fortress: Can't stop gotta keep moving if I stop they die no time to talk gotta keep moving can't stop or they die

    🐵🎉: They seem nice

    Xiangmen has banned Xi Clan from the server
    Xiangmen has added Hui Clan to the server
    Xiangmen has started playing City Simulator 4


    P̷̨̦̣͚̌ư̶̦̬̩̰̥̿̀r̷͇̰̮͉̖̹̗͗i̶̳̍̓͋͊͒͝͝͝ḟ̶̰̫̍̈̀̅y̷̢̗̥̗͓̹̠͍̔̂͐̃̏̚͘͝í̸̫͓̻̭̟̍̏͛̒̍͐͐ǹ̷̢̻͉͔̫̇̓g̷̨̱̮̭̩̮̒͛̆̂̀̍̓̏ ̶͓͎̯͉̖̀̿Ś̶͚͎̥̗̈́̀̀̽u̷̲̍̓̄̽̊̃ǹ̷͈̒:̵̪͍͈̖̣͆̎̆̐́̃̈́͐̋ ̶̡̮͇̝͉̌̇̈́̍̐͌͋C̵̡͇̙̺̣̻̞̽̽̚a̷̰̬̜̬͕̅͛̓̆̐̾͋͘͠n̷̨̨̛̹̪̆̿̄̂͌͝ ̵͎̖̲̤̄̅̀̐̚â̷͇̗͙͓̩͖̔͗̌̅͜͝n̷͕͍̦̪͔̭̮̤͛͜ý̵͇̟̬͊́͊͋͑̉̄ò̷͎͓͕͕̙̠͉̣̭̓̈́̾͂͝n̴̢̲̒̿e̶̪͍͚̊ ̸̡̛̳̰̤̜̳̟͉̼͂͐̈́̿̆̃͘͝h̵̯̬̥͎̗̎̈́̎̄̉̚ͅę̴̭̬̰̺͉̩͚̽̾̋̔́͊͜ȧ̵̛̜̲̺͎͕̙̊̑̓̍ṟ̵̢̡̳̗͉̲͛̓̓̓̈̚ ̷͍̘̯̘̹͌͒͐̽́̀͌m̴̦̘̻̲̭̬̣͋̔̒é̷͈͉̘̣̅̐?̸͔̲̀͗̉͐̎̒͒̋̕


    —

    🐍🔪:     Still can't believe you're fine with this Sun Shao guy @'Celestial Dragon

    Celestial Dragon: He's getting that jungle under control finally. Honestly fuck the jungle.

    🐵🎉: Sounds hot

    🐍🔪: You're a pig

    🐵🎉: 🙁 Man I miss Pigsy

    🐍🔪: What?

    🐵🎉: Old friend don't worry about it

    🐍🔪: Why am I not surprised you were friends with a pig?

    🐵🎉: Because I'm awesome?

    🐍🔪: No.

    Celestial Dragon: Oh get a room you two, everybody knows the Bai and the Zheng have a secret hate-fucking thing going on now and you two are no better.

    🐍🔪: How dare you imply my descendants would be so uncouth as to share a bed with those brutes!

    🐵🎉: Wait it was supposed to be a secret?

    🐍🔪: …

    🐵🎉: 🤷‍♂‍

    Xiangmen has stopped playing City Simulator 4
    Xiangmen has banned Hui Clan from the server
    Xiangmen has added Cai Clan to the server

    Living Isle: Everything okay @'Xiangmen ?

    Xiangmen: Clean up 🌳👍

    Xiangmen has started playing City Simulator 5

    Celestial Dragon: Well that's probably not good…


    A.N.
    Please blame @disgruntledghost for this idea. I just took it and ran with it. @yrsillar Got some good ol' Omake for ya.
     
    Last edited:
  • Apocrypha
    • Not gonna lie, Xiangmen is the star of that fic despite most of what they say being "Tree thumbs up"

    And the progression if City Simulators as disasters roll in is perfection, including how it ends.

    Can... Can we award more omake power for great content? This was simple yet got some genuine laughs out of me.

    Xiangmen has stopped playing City Simulator 4
    Xiangmen has banned Hui Clan from the server
    Xiangmen has added Cai Clan to the server

    Living Isle: Everything okay @'Xiangmen ?

    Xiangmen: Clean up 🌳👍

    Xiangmen has started playing City Simulator 5

    Celestial Dragon: Well that's probably not good…
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
     
    [X] An open air gala with songs and poetry and a great deal of food, open to spirits in the old style, taking some elements from older traditions. (Best suited to Wang Chao, a little scandalous, leans the group toward Weilu Reformists factions. Moderate chance of changing Wang Chao's reputation for better or worse. May offend conservatives of all stripes)
     
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    The Precipice
  • Sidestory
    • Red was the color of exhaustion. Of faces flushed and ruddy with exertion, of eyes rimmed and veined in crimson from the endless pouring over of reports. For a month and more every moment not spent stamping out barbarian remnants had been spent assembling his evidence, drawn from a hundred, hundred officers and lords whose grievances had finally boiled over enough to speak against their overlords at least in private.

    All of it for the promise that the Duke, the just Duke Fuxi, would see this and be moved to act.

    Sun Shao knelt now in his liege lords private bower. It was a place of austere beauty, a balcony emerging from high on the side of the palace of Zhengjian, overlooking the dark, shining waters of sacred lake Hei. A verdant garden bloomed here, said to be tended by the Duke's own hands, vibrant with life so toxic and poisonous that merely brushing a leaf or flower with his hand would likely send even Sun Shao into shock. He knelt at the side of an artificial pond, whose waters bubbled and churned musically as it flowed into a stream that rained down from the balcony's edge, and fresh water replaced it, bubbling from underneath.

    Bai Fuxi sat before him, garbed in a light robe of pale blue, seated in a chair of woven wicker. Sun Shao knew it was a sign of great trust, to be allowed into his lord's sanctum, to see him in such a casual state. It filled his battered heart with hope. He was valued, his loyalty returned. There were rotten elements among the White Serpent, ruinously vile ones, but they were still the Lords of these lakes, and justice could be done.

    "This is troubling beyond words," said Bai Fuxi, his even voice touched by heat. They were quietly spoken, barely rising over the rustle of paper from the reports in his hands. Sealed in those pages were dozens of pieces of evidence, missives and recording stones and more, documenting his accusations, collected by those whom the conspirators saw as beneath their notice.

    "Lijie has grown unacceptably sloppy, and it has infected her children more than I could have imagined," the old duke mused. "I have been far too soft with her, it seems, my favor misplaced."

    "These matters go far beyond intrigues of court," Sun Shao said dutifully. "The defense and production of the west have been caused severe damage from this."

    "Yes," the Duke said. "To damage the Thousand Lakes this way, for a personal grudge is unacceptable. There must be consequences for this. It is good that you were able to prevent the damage from spreading. I commend you for continuing excellent work even in the face of loss."

    Those words were a balm to Sun Shao, calming some small part of the rage in his heart. He had been right to maintain his trust.

    "I will have her and her children withdrawn to the capital, they are unfit for military roles," Duke Fuxi mused. "Hm, Mingxiu and her daughters have proven level headed, providing a degree of blooding would grant her the opportunity to prove herself."

    Sun Shao blinked, it was a slow thing, he felt as if his eyelids held the weight of mountains."...And then there will be a trial for Bai Luxian?" he said. To destroy Bai Lijie, he had no hope of this but surely that worm at least…

    Duke Fuxi hummed to himself, flicking idly through the reports, faint fluctuations of qi and light in his eyes indicating further inspection of the presented evidence. "For allowing his conspiracy to be so utterly unraveled, yes, some additional punishment may be in order."

    Sun Shao felt his breath hiss through his teeth, the sight of skinless bodies appearing in the darkness behind his eyelids. Something deep in his being trembled, where a part of his Law had already come loose, broken under Bai Luxian's sneer.

    "A charge of military negligence and corruption, house arrest for a span of decades and some reeducation may prevent the boy from being entirely wasted."

    Copper and iron, Sun Shao tasted them both, the darkness of closed eyes burned red. "Duke Fuxi; my family, my people, my home…"

    Despite his centuries and cultivation, his voice cracked, one final plea that this nightmare would end, that the truth he had built his life upon was not a lie.

    "You will have the full funding of Zhenjian to repair the damage," Duke Fuxi said absently. It was not even cold, his voice. It was not cruel, it was not kind. This was not affectation, Sun Shao realized. It was the voice of a bureaucrat observing a shortfall in taxes, the voice of a spirit devoid of both.

    There was a pause, and he felt the Duke's gaze upon him, like scalpels sliding under his skin. "You have been poorly used, it was my hope that your success would inspire the pride of the Bai, to force my children to better themselves. Instead, they chose to tear you down. Disappointing. I will ensure you receive proper support in the future."

    A test, his entire life, a test and a tool to inspire indolent white worms. His family the sacrifice for their failure. At the ragged edge where Duty and Law had once been bound as one, something else broke, a wet rip of snapping flesh and sinew.

    Manicured fingers tapped on woven wicker as the Duke considered him. In his mind's eye Sun Shao saw his lord through senses unclouded by expectation. A machine of interlocking blades and gears, oiled in venom, a metal serpent with a hundred heads, whose fangs were spears fit impale the leviathans of the deep. It had no sympathy, it had no love, only the memory and echoes of these things, wielded like theater masks.

    "Your family is a particular misfortune, but you are young for one of such stature. A new wife of good blood will be found, you have many centuries to sire new sons and daughters of your line. The House of Sun will continue to stand high."

    Sinew snapping, bone splintering, the pounding of a heart, and the boiling of blood. A Law, bent and tarnished, snapped into a new configuration. The Sovereignty of War, burning his brow, consumed greedily this new fuel.

    Family was Everything.

    These words stood at his core. He had believed all of the Thousand Lakes to be kin, ruled under sometimes imperfect wisdom but unassailable strength. They were one people and one land, something more than a mere province of the Empire.

    He was wrong.

    The Bai were not Family, but Other. He and his, the unscaled, those who had descended too far from the blood to even stand among the grey, were not their kin. They were tools at most, trash and debris at worst. Clutter and mud on the serpents shining streets

    There could be no friendship with those who were not kin, not family. At best, there could be mutual exploitation for temporary goals. The interests of one's own could never remain aligned with the Other forever.

    Everything for Family.

    "Still, this embarrassment requires reprisal," said his enemy, the patriarch of serpents, killer of his kin. "I feel your anger in this General. The Barbarians will be crushed."

    "I have already drawn plans to assault and raze the temple city of Rammadh," Sun Shao said.

    Duke Fuxi paused. "No. To invade the jungle is folly. We will only lose men and material for unusable land and cursed plunder. Nothing is worth such an invasion. Instead, take the land up to the river Tiesha, and it's opposite bank. I will organize a movement of people to colonize the border further and provide a better buffer for more valuable lands."

    Cowards.

    The serpents would never fight, he realized, not when they could use him and those like him as a wall of flesh and blood, to let them lounge in luxury and comfort while his soldiers and their children died and died and died.

    There was nothing worth invasion of the jungle. He wondered if that was true.

    "I have plans for this as well, shall I present them for your review, Duke Fuxi," Sun Shao said mechanically.

    "Of course you do, but later. It will be better for morale if it is arranged in public," said the duke. "You are dismissed general, there is much I must consider before your public audience."

    Slowly he rose to his feet, clapping a fist against his chest as he bowed. "Your will be done, my liege."

    The punishment for rebellion was death.

    The reward for service was a slower death.

    Those like Bai Lijie and her disgusting children called him a brute and butcher.

    Let it be so.
     
  • Sidestory
    • And that's how Shao was convinced he needs to murder all the Bai. And honestly, I'm saddened we didn't try to reach out to the Princess, to try and hear her out and create some bridge, even if we could not keep it given the thing with Grandmother Flower.
     
    Yeah, his only mistake was being too rash, and not having his backstory published sooner. His grand daughter has always been my favorite character in the sect, and I would have enjoyed the much deserved extermination of the Bai.
     
    It's the Yao instincts. Those KILL E V E R Y T H I N G instincts from his early days got passed down, not his 'Family/Tribe/Nation/Unit works together vibes' from his later days.

    It's why they take civility (and a touch of logic) to such extremes, so they don't murder everything just because.
     
    Zaealix said:
    And that's how Shao was convinced he needs to murder all the Bai. And honestly, I'm saddened we didn't try to reach out to the Princess, to try and hear her out and create some bridge, even if we could not keep it given the thing with Grandmother Flower.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I am too. But think of how Cai Renxiang would've suffered without Ling Qi to give her that boost and produce the results Shenhua demanded of her. We know that had CRX failed and continued to fail Mommy Radiant Tyrant...she also would've had an awful fate involving more horrific, irreversible violations of her body. As if she weren't traumatized enough already.
     
    Last edited:
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