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

[Neshuakadal]

I do wonder if this will eventually start the trend to have other founders displayed in plays. I can see a play in the Thousand Lakes where Yao enters the scene, the stage flashes black, and then Yao stands there with everyone else on the stage dead. Doesn't even show Yao fighting, just him entering and the aftermath. Could be very popular in the Thousand Lakes.

 

[Valmond]

The Bai might not appreciate giving anyone the honor of playing the role of Great Yao.
Though if Granny Snek gives it an ok i could see the tales of their courtship getting popular on stage.

 

[Anderein]

The Bai might not appreciate giving anyone the honor of playing the role of Great Yao.
Though if Granny Snek gives it an ok i could see the tales of their courtship getting popular on stage.

Click to shrink...

Oh, that deal was settled some time before he died, actually. So long as you pay a fee per appearance, you can have him in as many plays as you like.

Yao was pragmatic, yes. Most pragmatic.

 

[AeraLynn]

Question. Can someone remind me where we beoke the flute? Because I can't find that

 

[Elsecaller]

Question. Can someone remind me where we beoke the flute? Because I can't find that

Click to shrink...

Fighting Su Ling's mom in the dream.

 

[AeraLynn]

Fighting Su Ling's mom in the dream.

Click to shrink...

Thank you

 

[Valmond]

Oh, that deal was settled some time before he died, actually. So long as you pay a fee per appearance, you can have him in as many plays as you like.

Yao was pragmatic, yes. Most pragmatic.

Click to shrink...

Yao, the Great Spirit of "stay dead", but also of "posthumous licensing agreements".

 

[TimEd]

Yao, the Great Spirit of "stay dead", but also of "posthumous licensing agreements".

Click to shrink...

Licensing agreements that ironically never die.

 

[veekie]

"I suppose I have to hope enough people are enraptured by what could be to counterbalance any disagreements about what was," Ling Qi said.

"Guess I'll just have to hope your as good at the hustle as you are at the flute," Yu Nuan said, casting her gaze up at the sky.

"Is it a hustle if you believe what your saying?" Ling Qi asked mildly.

"It's especially a hustle then," Yu Nuan quipped back.

Click to shrink...

The best hustlers believe in what they sell.
Otherwise its too easily seen through.

"Such a cynical junior," they both looked up to see Bian Ya approaching them again. "But I am glad you took my advice to heart, positive bonds are far more stable than negative."

No one wanted to see themselves in failures, it was better to show a model of success and direct people towards it. Those had been the older girl's words. Ling Qi wasn't sure it was as definitive as that, but for this project she agreed.

Click to shrink...

"I am a winner, be like me" goes better than "You're a loser, stop being a loser"

The stage rose from tightly woven roots and vines, pale green shading into a rich dark brown as bark grew in. It filled the width of the field. Disciples began to arrive, drawn by the curious sight. With drinks and food in hand, shuffling awkwardly between the many beasts drawn by the concentration of Zhengui's qi. Pillars and risers and rafters shot up like new shoots in spring, and were swiftly covered by glittering curtains of dark purple, casting it all in shadow and concealing the figures of those on the stage.

Click to shrink...

Featuring Zhengui!
Playing the honorable role of the Tree in the school play!

What kind of performance would it be they wondered, what could need such a grand set up? A play, which one? There were many popular theater troupes these days, and many playwrights. Something old many said, to fit the theme of the party. Something poorly understood and ill thought out, grumbled some, who found the whole business crude or insulting or both.

Click to shrink...

The Conservatives can feel whats coming up and do not like it.

Yet, as time wore on and the sounds of set up and movement behind the curtain began to fade, the guests, enthusiastic, reluctant or merely interested began to gather, for, if nothing else, it was where everyone was going, and it would not do to be left out.

Click to shrink...

Qi shows her Manipulation score.
You aren't forced to attend.

But all the cool kids are, so you'd be uncool if you don't.

It began with a rumble of thunder, the drifting clouds overhead growing dark and swelling with moisture and flashes of heavenly power. Then, with the cooling of the air, the wind did pick up, and tendrils of mist flowed from beneath the curtains, thin and wispy, but spreading swiftly through the field.

Click to shrink...

This is a nice callback to Ling Qi and Zhengui's gardening experiments.
They found a practical use for it!

A shaggy head and jagged horns, twisted and broken many times, the Stag God, spoke in a voice of thunder, of lowly men who no longer knew their place, of the leader who raised them above their station, and filled the minds of the forest people with defiance. He spoke of far away lands where the gods were falling one by one, to the machinations of man.

Click to shrink...

I actually do wonder...why ARE they fine with other beast gods, even those who traditionally prey on them or have territorial conflicts, but not with humans.

Crimson eyes in the dark, a great and terrible wolf surrounded by his lessers, the Wolf God, who snarled of kin stolen by trickery made weak by luxury, whose submission was an insult to his strength, who would need exterminating alongside the humans for the strength of the pack.

Click to shrink...

Dog Lord: "Once you get cooked meals and bellyrubs you never go back".

A mountain stirred and rumbled, muscle and fur and power, the Bear God, vowed to end the noise of squabbling human life which disturbed his slumber.

Click to shrink...

I...think he's actually pretty reasonable here.
Speaking as someone who gets disrupted sleep from noisy neighbors.

A hissing voice of thousands joined the chorus, the buzzing of insects and the chittering of rats, The Vermin God agreed to lend their might, for man was growing wise and canny in the protection of their stores, and food would grow scarce all too soon.

Click to shrink...

And this here Vermin God is straight up wrong.
Agriculture is the biggest explosion in vermin population ever.

Food would never be scarce, so long as they existed declared the next, a lazing shadow that lay across a mountainside like a divan, the Tiger God looked down imperiously upon the others, and when the others turned voices of annoyance upon them, the flick of their tail was a crack of thunder. Let none doubt their resolve, for like the Wolf God, they had wayward kin in need of punishment.

Click to shrink...

White Tiger of the South winds up in the East later.
Not happy at domestic catte.

Let it all be washed away, like the floods of old! Declared a burbling voice, a shadow in the waters, the River God, that degenerate offspring of the fallen old gods demanded, and received contempt from his fellows as was customary, weakest of their number, even the bold and stupid Eagle God thought him foolish.

Click to shrink...

Dragon left a fish descendant?

And so none paid mind to the smallest of their number, cunning and cruel, the Spider God watched his fellows in silence as the march began.

Click to shrink...

Backstab fortold.

"What a founding tale you southerners have," Bai Meizhen said, observing the play of illusion, and music with some amusement.

"It's convenient," Bao Qingling said sourly, her expression neutral. "Their number means the playwright always has enough figures to spread undesirable traits across, though there are commonalities.."

"Who would dare alter a founding tale?" Xiao Fen asked, tilting their head.

"We aren't the Bai, the original tales are long lost, your friend merely chose the orthodox Cai version."

"I wonder about that," Bai Meizhen mused, a smile playing on her lips. Ling Qi was rarely orthodox.

Click to shrink...

Basically everyone but the Bai are happy to adjust tales to political realities hah.

​

A tall thin young man frowned up at the stage, brows furrowed, lips pressed together in a thin line.

"You are displeased, Sir Meng," observed his companion. A young woman with fang like tattoos on her cheeks and rough hide garb. She leaned against the broad side of a stag,

"How can I not be," Meng De replied. "There is a reason that the great diviner is portrayed as a voice offstage in such plays. It show immense ignorance to do otherwise. It puts all of this shallow imitation in the light it deserves."

Click to shrink...

It seems to me that this is so traditionally because Tsu's message was politically inconvenient, and none of his heirs actually dared to put words into his mouth while wearing his face.

That sounds like a good way to invite Great Spirit intervention.

The girl, Alingge, child of the dwindling hill tribes observed their host confronted another in similar finery, the riddle game, the bond of forest and hill, and claimed his victors right not as king but brother. Her lips twisted in a slightly bitter smile. "And if it is not ignorance?"

Click to shrink...

And another callback!
The stories of the hill tribes we picked up on the Moon Vision Quest!

Meng De looked as if he had bitten into a lemon. The idea that members of his own clan would support such a thing, that the subversive children of Meng Diu would have fallen so far.... "Then that is worse. Tsu was no mere man, it is an insult to even imply that you aspire to take or improve on his labor.."

"Hm," the girl replied, and did not take her eyes from the stage.

Click to shrink...

And THAT right there is the poison that kills nations.
How had it become wrong to follow in the footsteps of his role?

Unity, communication. The gathering strength of an alliance, kin and not, the people of the land marshaled against the coming of the beasts. The diviner sang the future, and bent the ear of every tribe, a swelling confederation of forest and hill. At last did he turn his eyes south, to the mountains. There astride his brother, the noble Horned Lord he came to the foothills of a great fiery mountain, where ash rained like snow, and met with the great lord of the skies Khan of the Clouds. And here he found only stubborn pride, his words and gifts spat back, his warning laughed off. Let the Beasts come declared the Sky, we are mighty, the hunters of Dragons, and our arrows alone will slay them.

And Tsu was assailed by those arrows, those slings, those stinging bolts, and he bore them with strength and dignity as he retreated, raising no hand to his fellow men, for in their pride they had wrought their downfall, if not this age, then in another. And in his restraint he sowed the Clouds with doubt.

Click to shrink...

Another fine touch there.
Even violence does not bar reconciliation.

​

"A token of support, how kind of her," Luo Zhong said, wearing the faint smile that was as much a part of him as his shoes or his cloak.

"She's a good ally," laughed Wang Chao. "But a bit of a show off! I can't say I dislike it."

"Hm," Luo Zhong said. "Do you actually believe you can tame the Clouds, when no other could?"

"Ah, the details are over my head," Wang Chao shrugged, scratching at his bristly chin. "But men are men, aren't they? Let in the ones who are sensible, crush the rest. No waste, eh?"

"You know, I never can tell if you are profoundly idealistic, or profoundly simple," Luo Zhong said, for a moment, showing a real expression on his handsome face. Befuddlement.

"I know what I am Luo! Someone has to break things down before my kin build them up!"

Click to shrink...

The basic principle is sound. People are people.

It was in the cold mountain peaks that Tsu came to rest and tend to his wounds, and there met the aid of the mountain people, the dwellers of icy fields and frozen caves. There again he spoke, and here the people listened. The shaking of the earth was the gathering of beasts, the growing ferociousness of a land awakened against all.
Here too his words were heeded, and though the Mountain folk were away and few, warriors marched with Tsu all the same.

Click to shrink...

And we even have historical evidence of this going on.
More supports for the political play

"Huh, is that part usually in there, it seems kinda convenient," Ma Lei said, scratching her head. She was really glad for her sis, getting to do stuff with like this! But she really wished they'd get on to the fighty bits. The volley of the Cloud nomads had been a really cool effect though! She was pretty sure she could recognize Jun's effects in the rain and wind.

Gun Jun, the guy her sis was so sweet on, watched raptly, his eyes darting around to the figures on the stage. Poor guy was standing at drill attention, he really needed to learn how to relax. "The diviner was always said to have been healed by mystics in the south, but it's usually portrayed as far flung hill tribes. Most scholars tended to say that it represented peoples that were later wiped out by the Cloud Tribes."

Click to shrink...

Gun Jun is still half expecting Dynamic Lord Gan flying into the scene at any moment.

"Huh, is that so?" Ma Lei wondered. She wondered who was right? Well, she'd side with Lady Ling if anybody asked. She was just lucky to be here, all of them were. The Sect had quietly added fifty new slots to the Inner Sect, 'provisional ranks' and scooped up a bunch of people like them. Third realms and high seconds stuck in the Outer.

She'd not have gotten here without the Cai, Lord Gan and Lady Ling. If they thought the Empire could talk to these folks, they were probably right.

Click to shrink...

That answers the problem of recruitment.

Can't do this too often, but they needed to do this to normalize the Outer Sect, otherwise the lingering Greens are going to distort things for years to come.

Tsu stood at the trunk and spoke long and passionately, of their peoples need, of their peoples devotion. That he would lead them, protect them, guide them to care for wood and dell, to preserve always these Emerald Seas, as mighty Xiangmen had done once, in the Age of Woe, where its canopy had sheltered all life from the falling stars and the wrath of the earth.

Click to shrink...

Xiangmen Protects from the starfall.

Best Tree.

Once again, ruin was coming, once again, he begged for the succor of the heavenly pillar, and promised that their children and their children's children would live to give back.

Tsu spoke and prayed and pleaded for seven days and nights as the rumbling of the earth grew harsh as the world began to darken as hurricane winds tore the trees and titan footfalls crumbled the earth.

And at last, ancient bark did flow like water, a hollow and passage among the root and the people streamed in calling their prayers, their thanks to the great tree. Tsu gave voice to his exultation and rejoined his warriors, whose fierceness and valor grew beyond words, knowing that their kin were safe, so long as they held.

Click to shrink...

Seems a bit to me like it took a week for Xiangmen to realize the little ants were trying to get its attention, then went "mkay".

And the beast gods came for them. First of all Impudent and thoughtless Eagle God, whose wings covered the sky and whose shriek alone struck men dead, the sound enough to pulp flesh and shatter bones.

And Yet the Titan of the air was alone, flown ahead of his allies, for glory and pride. Tsu met him in the sky among the rain and the storm, and there he was halted. For though Tsu was no warrior, his mind was sharp and his hide was tough, and he knew the nature of his foes.
And so ten thousand grapnels and ropes and bindings dragged the Eagle Down to earth, for he had eyes only for the foe and not the insects beneath him.

And when his death was struck, it was not by Tsu, nor the Horned Lord, but by the hands of lowly warriors.

Click to shrink...

And the last tie in to the Sect.
For this too was how Yuan He defeated Ogodei.
The strongest of their number took point and attention, while the lessers worked together to drag the sky to the ground.

Eagle God's Dirge: G3
Type: Construct, Attack, Area
Duration: Stunt/Scene
The fastest of the beast kings, the Eagle God, lord of those who flew and preyed on the world below was an impetuous beast, and dove into battle before all the others. If this technique is activated without Primal War Calling, that technique activates freely the next time you use a technique.

On activation, the user plays an ear splitting high note and the Eagle God flies again, if only for a moment. The initial cry is an area attack against nearby enemies. And is followed by a single target attack as the construct dives into a foe and carries them away in its talons, dashing them against the ground at the end of its flight.

When the construct completes its charge, the user may then choose to expend it in a burst of qi as the Eagle God falls. Allies within the scene are filled with a powerful resolve and a burst of speed. Increase the rank of allied defense trait by one. Increase the potency of any allied movement arts used in the scene by 1.

Once the secondary effect is activated, the Eagle God's Dirge cannot be used again during the scene.

Click to shrink...

Yeet enemy leader into the middle of our squad and everyone dogpiles?

 

[BagFullOfLizards]

And THAT right there is the poison that kills nations.
How had it become wrong to follow in the footsteps of his role?

Click to shrink...

Yeah, my opinion exactly. They've made it taboo to even hint you might want to follow in the footsteps of the province's first uniter. No wonder they're so fractured.

 

[Valmond]

The Bai have only one version of their founding story.
Probably because of Granny Snek, she might not be active, but she is around, and paying attention, and might be be somewhat upset if her granbabbies start telling tales about her hubby she does not approve off.

I like the Luo Zhong and Wang Chao interaction. It gives a very good contrast between them.
Even if Luo Zhong might be more skilled at politics, he lacks vision, he is very good at the here and now, but he only works within the paradigm.
Wang Chao is pants at politics, but he does not lack vision, even if he might not know how to get there.
Though in fairness to Luo Zhong, he is not a Scion of The Builder, and has not been shown a vision of the future outside the current imperial leaning paradigm like Wang Chao has.

 

[Dark as Silver]

"We aren't the Bai, the original tales are long lost, your friend merely chose the orthodox Cai version."

"I wonder about that," Bai Meizhen mused, a smile playing on her lips. Ling Qi was typically artistic.

Click to shrink...

FTFY.

 

[Valmond]

Bao Qingling: Ling Qi has chosen an orthodox action
Bai Meizhen: *presses F to doubt*

 

[Oliver_Twister]

And another callback!
The stories of the hill tribes we picked up on the Moon Vision Quest!

Click to shrink...

And iirc spread it all around the province. Looks like they'll finally know who's responsible

...Did the Dreaming Moon just use Ling Qi's cultivation quest to straight up dump that poem across the entire province? As in, the Great Spirit herself, not just the limited local avatar?



Makes Moon-favored cultivators a serious pain in the side for any established order, huh? I wonder what justice chaos the Bloody Moon sowed when Liao Zhu did his EPC quest...

Click to shrink...

Its nothing so obvious and overt, but she did do something pretty big yeah.

Click to shrink...

 

[veekie]

And iirc spread it all around the province. Looks like they'll finally know who's responsible

Click to shrink...

They wouldn't I think.
They'd just assume this country bumpkin just heard it and copied it in.

 

[agumentic]

We're Weilu aligned so Weilu Conservatives will hate us less than the Imperial Conservatives do .

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't be so sure. To Imperial Conservatives, at least initially, we'd appear as another backwards quasi-barbarian without much understanding about our differences from other non-Imperial factions. We might be disliked due to prominence, but it's not an involved ideological struggle. Weilu Conservatives and especially Reactionaries, though, do have both the knowledge to understand what our interpretation means and reason to vehemently disagree with it, as we compete in the same ideological niche. It's the same thing as heretic being worse than a heathen, intraspecies struggle being more vicious and so on.

 

[Oliver_Twister]

They wouldn't I think.
They'd just assume this country bumpkin just heard it and copied it in.

Click to shrink...

Huh. That's more likely yeah. But there can still be rumors! Looking at some of the rumors about LQ, it'll be funny if the least likely one is the correct one.

 

[Lena27]

"You know, I never can tell if you are profoundly idealistic, or profoundly simple," Luo Zhong said, for a moment, showing a real expression on his handsome face. Befuddlement.

"I know what I am Luo! Someone has to break things down before my kin build them up!"

Click to shrink...

I really like the way this shows how much confidence Wang Chao has gotten. That's the real favor Ling Qi has done him personally. He's so much better off now, where before the likes of Luo Zhong could easily make him off-balanced and flustered. Go Wang Chao!

 

[Doramas]

He mentions the "subversive children of Meng Diu," so between that and his talk of Tsu we can be pretty sure he's a Weilu Reactionary opposed to our own Weilu Reformer leanings. That's a -2 relationship for a reason.

Click to shrink...

And I'm pretty sure that the Reactonary Meng Faction is going to drop to -3 as soon as they get wind of this through this Meng De fellow. Heck, maybe even -4 for the more recalcitrant and religious, as well as those that feel most threatened by our success. Which will mean vocal and public disapproval of our project, active opposition to any of our endeavors and anything short of direct sabotage.

-4: Greatly Disliked- The organization will oppose you whenever doing so is both possible and matches with their other goals
-3: Disliked- Members will be poorly disposed toward you and the organization may invest in making your life difficult

Click to shrink...

This is going to create a fair share of troubles. But it is also a chance. The Reformers are already aligned with us, or rather us with them. The Conservatives are our target group.
So if the Reactionaries start trying to turn them against us, they are going to succeed with some. It's inevitable.
However, that will also cause a rebound effect where the most sympathizing Conservatives turn Reformist and many doubtful Conservatives start aligning with us. Specially if we continue to stack up successes and bring prosperity amd security to the South Meng Lands (the Reformist's bastion) through Zhengui's ash, Hanyi's concerts and commerce with the White Sky.

Edit: Then there is the Moderates, but those are mainly in our favour, so those are only go to grow more so over time as long as we don't screw up. Winning over the Conservatives is the key

I think it's possible that Allingge is bitter about something else related to it, rather than towards us directly

Click to shrink...

My take is that Alingge is biter about the "take his victors right not as king but brother". Because then the Weilu took their Trascendence stand and started ignoring them, and the Mason War ended with all dissidence being repressed. The Xi, the Hui and even the Cai were hardly better for the Old Tribes to prosper. They are still going extinct.
And now Ling Qi declares that she wants to build a new Emerald Seas by bringing different groups together as equals, including "southern mountain barbarians", as Tsu once did.
Hope and interest war against doubt and reluctance, yet those that stand alone also fall alone. Ling Qi understand that truth as well as they do.
So, what will the Old Tribes choose?

Can't do this too often, but they needed to do this to normalize the Outer Sect, otherwise the lingering Greens are going to distort things for years to come.

Click to shrink...

Not only that. The Sect lost a good chunk of the Inner disciples at the very start of the war, because many were scions from other provinces that were called back because their families didn't want to risk them in a war that isn't theirs. Like Xiulan.
Then you have to take into account the Inner disciples that have been wounded or killed. Most of those likely were the peak yellows and low greens at the lowest ranks.
So the Sect was in a situation with a lot of empty space in the Inner Sect and a lot of Outer Disciples who would have qualified for the Inner Sect any other year. It was just reasonable for them to promote a good portion of them.

 

[FriedIce]

I wouldn't be so sure. To Imperial Conservatives, at least initially, we'd appear as another backwards quasi-barbarian without much understanding about our differences from other non-Imperial factions. We might be disliked due to prominence, but it's not an involved ideological struggle. Weilu Conservatives and especially Reactionaries, though, do have both the knowledge to understand what our interpretation means and reason to vehemently disagree with it, as we compete in the same ideological niche. It's the same thing as heretic being worse than a heathen, intraspecies struggle being more vicious and so on.

Click to shrink...

I mean, it's in the character sheet - we're at -1 with the Weilu Conservatives and -2 with the Imperial Conservatives. This is probably at least partially because the entire Weilu faction has spent 100 years being out of favour due to the Tyrant Radiance so the Weilu Conservatives are just grateful for what they can get.

Yes, the Weilu Reactionaries hate us as much as the Imperial Conservatives do, but I'm confident that if we encountered an Imperial Reactionary they'd hate us with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. Thankfully there aren't many of those in the Emerald Seas.

 

[agumentic]

I mean, it's in the character sheet - we're at -1 with the Weilu Conservatives and -2 with the Imperial Conservatives. This is probably at least partially because the entire Weilu faction has spent 100 years being out of favour due to the Tyrant Radiance so the Weilu Conservatives are just grateful for what they can get.

Yes, the Weilu Reactionaries hate us as much as the Imperial Conservatives do, but I'm confident that if we encountered an Imperial Reactionary they'd hate us with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. Thankfully there aren't many of those in the Emerald Seas.

Click to shrink...

That's currently the case, but it very well may not stay the case as long as we continue to advance the cause of Weilu Reformism. Many Conservatives/Reactionaries are not going to think that someone doing something Weilu is ultimately good, they are going to think that someone propagating the wrong version of Weilu lore is even worse than Imperials. Also, I am not sure Imperial Reactionaries really exist - what would they want to return to, times before An? That seems more like a niche of various provincial aristocracies.

 

[JohnnieBoy123]

In general most of the Weilu faction is Weilu Moderates and they are the bulk of our supporters. Weilu Conservatives and Reactionaries are almost entirely a Meng concern, with the Weilu Reformers hopefully insulating us from the worst of them.

We also have very strong Old Tribe support but their numbers and power are pretty limited.

The Imperial Moderates don't know what to make of us. Presumably some mix of "she's weird but seems competent"

-Luo Clan: 1
--Imperial Conservatives (20%): -2
--Imperial Moderates (20%): 0
--Weilu Moderates (55%): 1
--Old Tribes (5%): 2

-Wang Clan: 1
--Imperial Moderates(40%): 0
--Imperial Conservatives (10%): -2
--Weilu Moderates (50%): 1

-Meng Clan: 0
--Weilu Conservatives(50%): -1
--Weilu Reactionaries(25%): -2
--Weilu Reformers(25%): 2

Click to shrink...

 

[Orkus Majorkus]

My take is that Alingge is biter about the "take his victors right not as king but brother". Because then the Weilu took their Trascendence stand and started ignoring them, and the Mason War ended with all dissidence being repressed. The Xi, the Hui and even the Cai were hardly better for the Old Tribes to prosper. They are still going extinct.
And now Ling Qi declares that she wants to build a new Emerald Seas by bringing different groups together as equals, including "southern mountain barbarians", as Tsu once did.
Hope and interest war against doubt and reluctance, yet those that stand alone also fall alone. Ling Qi understand that truth as well as they do.
So, what will the Old Tribes choose?

Click to shrink...

Yeah, my take is Alingge looks at that play's message and goes "Wish we could have got some of that brotherly respect shit when the Xi took the throne and brought us in." Better late than never but it's been a loooooooooong time to get to this from the Old Tribes' perspective.

 

[Neshuakadal]

Disciples at the Party

***

The roaring fire crackled and popped while Lang Yu watched from a safe distance, at the hedges' edge. People danced arm in arm around the fire to a heavy beat that felt as old as the mountains. A simple beat and a simple dance. Lang Yu didn't know the steps, but it seemed like it would be easy enough to figure out, even on the fly. She stayed where she was. Parties weren't for her.

Too much of a risk.

Through the years she had made that fact about herself clear. But this party was different. Lady Ling was hosting it as a sort of graduation finale, and it would be ungrateful in the extreme if Lang Yu refused, especially after the Caldera. For that at least she was willing to show some support, even though her fear wormed its way between her thoughts.

So now here she stood, mingling with a significant fraction of the lower five hundred, trying her best to parry away socialites. It was a trade off though. Wallflowers might hover at the edge of events, but so did a more unsavory sort of people.

"What an… interesting party." A voice said from behind her shoulder.

It took a great deal of effort not to roll her eyes as Lang Yu turned her head. Yan Xinyue was the son of a fourth generational baron, a baron known for little else but its stability. Everything about the Yan barony was average. Average crafters, average resources, average scions. This normally wouldn't be a problem. Better by far to be stable and average than to be unstable yet unique.

Yan Xinyue had made this averageness his problem to solve though, and if he was actually as suave as he thought he was, he might have had some success in the matter.

Alas, he wasn't.

"It certainly has a different energy compared to the events hosted by Lord Lu or Lady Cai." Lang Yu said after a long sip from her cup. He was a baron and she, at least for now, was a viscount.

"A kind way to put it." Yan Xinyue said. "But I wonder if such energy sits well with all the guests, look Lord Xuan doesn't seem to be enjoying himself at all."

Yan Xinyue must have cultivated a Way of poor timing, Lang Yu thought with a bit of dark humor. Just as he finished the sentence Lady Ling stepped out of the shadows, talked to Lord Xuan for a brief moment, and then taught him the steps of the dance.

"It seems that Lord Xuan simply didn't know the steps of such a traditional Emerald Seas dance, but at least it seems he was willing to learn the steps." Lang Yu said, forcing a touch of steel into her voice. Hopefully Yan Xinyue's shadow would stop darkening her presence soon. Well established barons really should have a better understanding of wordplay than this. "A virtuous attitude, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes," Yan Xinyue said, and she could hear the grinding of his teeth over the beat of the music, "though one wonders what steps Lady Ling is learning from her foreign guest in return."

Honestly Lang Yu was starting to feel a little bad for the man. He was trying so hard. "Oh? I heard that Lord Xuan was Lord Wang's guest, where did you hear otherwise?"

She didn't bother listening to his hasty attempts at shifting blame for that slip. Before long the man slinked off, likely looking for some who shared his own views. Though judging by where the man was moving towards he would find an even less warm welcome soon.

Xiong Guiying was a fellow survivor of the Caldera attack and even more vocal in their support of Lady Ling. Lang Yu raised a toast for the man about to be set upon by the wolves.

Frankly he deserved it though. Complaining about the hostess at their own party was simply so gauche.

Hopefully with that bit of drama out of the way the rest of the evening would be smooth sailing. She might even retire early, keep the risks low.

"Lang Yu? Lang Yu!"

Her previous thoughts froze in her mind, dread, fear, and unease crawled up her spine. There was a reason she so rarely went to parties, so rarely interacted with others outside of sect assigned missions. That had started to change with Wang Chao's group, but perhaps it shouldn't have.

With almost wooden movement Lang Yu turned towards the voice. There, back lit by the roaring fire, stood a man. Duan Peng. He looked different now, his hair was cut shorter but he had grown a goatee. The mud, the blood, and the tears which so dominated her memories of him were long gone by now.

"Lang Yu, it is you!" Duan Peng said as he strode closer. "I am glad to see you again, it has been quite a while, hasn't it?"

"It has." Lang Yu said. A dull letter giving instructions flashed through her mind followed by the sharp bitter taste of shame that had never left her. "Since that tournament, no?"

Years later that shame had never left her. No matter how hard or high she climbed.

Duan Peng's bright smile faded a touch. "Yah," he said, hand rubbing the back of his head in an achingly familiar sight, "since that tournament."

There was a beat of silence between them.

"Well, this has been a lovely evening, but I really…" Lang Yu never finished her sentence.
The logs in the bonfire shifted and cracked. Sparks flew up and danced away. Lang Yu didn't see any of that. To her the cracking and shifting logs became the cracking and shifting earth of the Caldera, groaning under the assault of that rat's final technique.

For an instant she was back at the caldera, doomed to die no matter how she struggled.

"Hey, are you alright?" Duan Peng said, his voice shattering the memories in Lang Yu's mind.

"Yes." She said softly, allowing the qi about to surge into defense techniques fade back into her dantian. Then she sighed. "Tell me." Lang Yu said. "Why are you even talking to me? The sect has disallowed almost all forms of duels. What else do we have to discuss?"

Duan Peng sighed as well. "This isn't how I really wanted it to go." He muttered. "But very well. I just wanted you to know I forgive you."

Lang Yu stared at him. "Forgive me?" She asked. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to be angry anymore." Duan Peng confirmed. "I was angry, furious even, for a long time after that tournament." He laughed, it was a short weary sound. "In fact the first thing I did when I finally got into the inner sect was to look up your rank. Swore that I would work night and day until I surpassed you. Until I could be the one to shove you to the mud."

There was silence between them again. A longer silence. A silence that cut through the music and conversation.

"That anger really consumed me." Duan Peng said, continuing even as he shifted his gaze away from her, shifted it towards the fire they now were both looking at. There was a sadness in his eyes. "I let it drive my cultivation, destroy my friendships."

"What changed?" Lang Yu was forced to ask, whispering the words to the fire.

"That underground battle." He said. He didn't need to say which one, Lang Yu knew. "They just kept coming, no matter how angry I got." Duan Peng stared forward, flames dancing in his eyes. "In the end I was lucky, I survived, but not because of my anger."

One by one his words fed the fire.

"As I sat in the medicine hall," Duan Peng continued, "I realized that I wasn't important, that something vastly greater than my vendetta was happening. The medical hall staff that saved my life, they were part of something bigger than themselves, the formation workers that raised the defenses down in the deep, they were a part of something bigger than themselves. I realized on the bed that I wanted to be a part of something bigger too, but my anger wouldn't allow me."

He turned his head towards her. Even separated as they were by the gulf of her actions, Lang Yu could still see the sadness in Duan Peng's eyes. It wasn't a sadness for her, it was a sadness for his past self.

"Alone in that medical hall I realized exactly what my anger, my vendetta, had cost me." Duan Peng said, filling in the silence that Lang Yu couldn't bring herself to break. "In the end anger is a flame, a calamity unless leashed."

Those words meant something to Duan Peng. Lang Yu could feel it, if only barely, in the way qi shifted and stretched at the sounds. It would be appropriate to share some deep insight as well, a trading of ideas as it were. But Lang Yu had no words to give.

She had spent too long running away from this very meeting to build something up for herself.

"I don't think we can be friends again." Duan Peng said as he thankfully turned away from her and back to the fire. "But I can't move on until I let go, so I want you to know that I forgive you."

Lang Yu breathed deep, filling her lungs. "Duan Peng," she whispered as he started to turn away from her and before she could lose her nerve, "as a fellow sect disciple, would you care for a dance?"

Duan Peng paused. "I think that would be nice." He said.

The fire crackled and popped as they approached. Together they slid into the dance, into the laughter, into the music, like they had always belonged.

Arm in arm they danced around the fire, feeding it their shames and angers, their bitter memories and sleepless nights. They danced and laughed like they used to all those years ago when they were younger and freer, at least for a single round.

Then the time came to switch partners.

Lang Yu knew as she spun away and stomped her feet and clapped her hands that this was the last she would see of Duan Peng. At least for tonight.

Perhaps one day they would meet again, but they wouldn't meet as friends, or enemies. They would meet as fellow sect disciples working towards something bigger.

It was a better end than she deserved, and maybe now she could stop running and start building.

***

An omake for the omake throne @yrsillar

This idea came to me when we voted for the building up BKSD option. Sometimes if you want to build something up you need a clean slate, and a conversation towards that is what I wanted to portray with this piece. Thank you for reading.

 

[Lena27]

Disciples at the Party

***

The roaring fire crackled and popped while Lang Yu watched from a safe distance, at the hedges' edge. People danced arm in arm around the fire to a heavy beat that felt as old as the mountains. A simple beat and a simple dance. Lang Yu didn't know the steps, but it seemed like it would be easy enough to figure out, even on the fly. She stayed where she was. Parties weren't for her.

Too much of a risk.

Through the years she had made that fact about herself clear. But this party was different. Lady Ling was hosting it as a sort of graduation finale, and it would be ungrateful in the extreme if Lang Yu refused, especially after the Caldera. For that at least she was willing to show some support, even though her fear wormed its way between her thoughts.

So now here she stood, mingling with a significant fraction of the lower five hundred, trying her best to parry away socialites. It was a trade off though. Wallflowers might hover at the edge of events, but so did a more unsavory sort of people.

"What an… interesting party." A voice said from behind her shoulder.

It took a great deal of effort not to roll her eyes as Lang Yu turned her head. Yan Xinyue was the son of a fourth generational baron, a baron known for little else but its stability. Everything about the Yan barony was average. Average crafters, average resources, average scions. This normally wouldn't be a problem. Better by far to be stable and average than to be unstable yet unique.

Yan Xinyue had made this averageness his problem to solve though, and if he was actually as suave as he thought he was, he might have had some success in the matter.

Alas, he wasn't.

"It certainly has a different energy compared to the events hosted by Lord Lu or Lady Cai." Lang Yu said after a long sip from her cup. He was a baron and she, at least for now, was a viscount.

"A kind way to put it." Yan Xinyue said. "But I wonder if such energy sits well with all the guests, look Lord Xuan doesn't seem to be enjoying himself at all."

Yan Xinyue must have cultivated a Way of poor timing, Lang Yu thought with a bit of dark humor. Just as he finished the sentence Lady Ling stepped out of the shadows, talked to Lord Xuan for a brief moment, and then taught him the steps of the dance.

"It seems that Lord Xuan simply didn't know the steps of such a traditional Emerald Seas dance, but at least it seems he was willing to learn the steps." Lang Yu said, forcing a touch of steel into her voice. Hopefully Yan Xinyue's shadow would stop darkening her presence soon. Well established barons really should have a better understanding of wordplay than this. "A virtuous attitude, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes," Yan Xinyue said, and she could hear the grinding of his teeth over the beat of the music, "though one wonders what steps Lady Ling is learning from her foreign guest in return."

Honestly Lang Yu was starting to feel a little bad for the man. He was trying so hard. "Oh? I heard that Lord Xuan was Lord Wang's guest, where did you hear otherwise?"

She didn't bother listening to his hasty attempts at shifting blame for that slip. Before long the man slinked off, likely looking for some who shared his own views. Though judging by where the man was moving towards he would find an even less warm welcome soon.

Xiong Guiying was a fellow survivor of the Caldera attack and even more vocal in their support of Lady Ling. Lang Yu raised a toast for the man about to be set upon by the wolves.

Frankly he deserved it though. Complaining about the hostess at their own party was simply so gauche.

Hopefully with that bit of drama out of the way the rest of the evening would be smooth sailing. She might even retire early, keep the risks low.

"Lang Yu? Lang Yu!"

Her previous thoughts froze in her mind, dread, fear, and unease crawled up her spine. There was a reason she so rarely went to parties, so rarely interacted with others outside of sect assigned missions. That had started to change with Wang Chao's group, but perhaps it shouldn't have.

With almost wooden movement Lang Yu turned towards the voice. There, back lit by the roaring fire, stood a man. Duan Peng. He looked different now, his hair was cut shorter but he had grown a goatee. The mud, the blood, and the tears which so dominated her memories of him were long gone by now.

"Lang Yu, it is you!" Duan Peng said as he strode closer. "I am glad to see you again, it has been quite a while, hasn't it?"

"It has." Lang Yu said. A dull letter giving instructions flashed through her mind followed by the sharp bitter taste of shame that had never left her. "Since that tournament, no?"

Years later that shame had never left her. No matter how hard or high she climbed.

Duan Peng's bright smile faded a touch. "Yah," he said, hand rubbing the back of his head in an achingly familiar sight, "since that tournament."

There was a beat of silence between them.

"Well, this has been a lovely evening, but I really…" Lang Yu never finished her sentence.
The logs in the bonfire shifted and cracked. Sparks flew up and danced away. Lang Yu didn't see any of that. To her the cracking and shifting logs became the cracking and shifting earth of the Caldera, groaning under the assault of that rat's final technique.

For an instant she was back at the caldera, doomed to die no matter how she struggled.

"Hey, are you alright?" Duan Peng said, his voice shattering the memories in Lang Yu's mind.

"Yes." She said softly, allowing the qi about to surge into defense techniques fade back into her dantian. Then she sighed. "Tell me." Lang Yu said. "Why are you even talking to me? The sect has disallowed almost all forms of duels. What else do we have to discuss?"

Duan Peng sighed as well. "This isn't how I really wanted it to go." He muttered. "But very well. I just wanted you to know I forgive you."

Lang Yu stared at him. "Forgive me?" She asked. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to be angry anymore." Duan Peng confirmed. "I was angry, furious even, for a long time after that tournament." He laughed, it was a short weary sound. "In fact the first thing I did when I finally got into the inner sect was to look up your rank. Swore that I would work night and day until I surpassed you. Until I could be the one to shove you to the mud."

There was silence between them again. A longer silence. A silence that cut through the music and conversation.

"That anger really consumed me." Duan Peng said, continuing even as he shifted his gaze away from her, shifted it towards the fire they now were both looking at. There was a sadness in his eyes. "I let it drive my cultivation, destroy my friendships."

"What changed?" Lang Yu was forced to ask, whispering the words to the fire.

"That underground battle." He said. He didn't need to say which one, Lang Yu knew. "They just kept coming, no matter how angry I got." Duan Peng stared forward, flames dancing in his eyes. "In the end I was lucky, I survived, but not because of my anger."

One by one his words fed the fire.

"As I sat in the medicine hall," Duan Peng continued, "I realized that I wasn't important, that something vastly greater than my vendetta was happening. The medical hall staff that saved my life, they were part of something bigger than themselves, the formation workers that raised the defenses down in the deep, they were a part of something bigger than themselves. I realized on the bed that I wanted to be a part of something bigger too, but my anger wouldn't allow me."

He turned his head towards her. Even separated as they were by the gulf of her actions, Lang Yu could still see the sadness in Duan Peng's eyes. It wasn't a sadness for her, it was a sadness for his past self.

"Alone in that medical hall I realized exactly what my anger, my vendetta, had cost me." Duan Peng said, filling in the silence that Lang Yu couldn't bring herself to break. "In the end anger is a flame, a calamity unless leashed."

Those words meant something to Duan Peng. Lang Yu could feel it, if only barely, in the way qi shifted and stretched at the sounds. It would be appropriate to share some deep insight as well, a trading of ideas as it were. But Lang Yu had no words to give.

She had spent too long running away from this very meeting to build something up for herself.

"I don't think we can be friends again." Duan Peng said as he thankfully turned away from her and back to the fire. "But I can't move on until I let go, so I want you to know that I forgive you."

Lang Yu breathed deep, filling her lungs. "Duan Peng," she whispered as he started to turn away from her and before she could lose her nerve, "as a fellow sect disciple, would you care for a dance?"

Duan Peng paused. "I think that would be nice." He said.

The fire crackled and popped as they approached. Together they slid into the dance, into the laughter, into the music, like they had always belonged.

Arm in arm they danced around the fire, feeding it their shames and angers, their bitter memories and sleepless nights. They danced and laughed like they used to all those years ago when they were younger and freer, at least for a single round.

Then the time came to switch partners.

Lang Yu knew as she spun away and stomped her feet and clapped her hands that this was the last she would see of Duan Peng. At least for tonight.

Perhaps one day they would meet again, but they wouldn't meet as friends, or enemies. They would meet as fellow sect disciples working towards something bigger.

It was a better end than she deserved, and maybe now she could stop running and start building.

***

An omake for the omake throne @yrsillar

This idea came to me when we voted for the building up BKSD option. Sometimes if you want to build something up you need a clean slate, and a conversation towards that is what I wanted to portray with this piece. Thank you for reading.

Click to shrink...

That was great. You know, your writing has really progressed. I think I like this one out of all of your others, even if its a bit more serious in tone.