Ruan have an Indigo clan head (?), and potential wilderness to expand into a Viscounty.
Bian have a Violett Patriarch and their Clan Head closing in on it, but no land left to claim.
(Quote from quest below, Thread 34 Peers 2 on RR)
"You are braver than I, Junior Sister if that kind of fencing is to your fancy," Ruan Shen said gravely, raising the cup in his hand like a toast. "This one chooses the path of the humble musician."
"Is your grandfather not recently broken through to the Indigo realm?" Bian Ya said, amused. "It may behoove you to begin sharpening your blade yourself."
"Ah, but this one has many older brothers, sisters, and cousins, who have the matter well in hand," Ruan Shen replied. "I shall keep to my areas of talent."
"I wonder how many of them were halfway through the third realm at his age though," Sixiang mused. "I don't blame the poor guy, but I think he might be in denial."
Perhaps, but Ling Qi thought him lucky just for having others to cover for him. "If it would not be rude," she said instead. "Might I know something of your families? I am still coming to terms with the connections in Emerald Seas."
"Do not let our peers fool you, those connections are as tangled as the branches of the oldest growth, the Hui and their predecessors were lacking administrators," Bian Ya replied kindly. "The Bian family oversees some of the more profitable tea farming in Emerald Seas, and we hold the rank of Viscount serving beneath the honored Cai themselves."
"Though your esteemed patriarch's solid foundation in the violet realm has set things abroil again. I believe your grandfather was nearing that realm as well, Miss Bian?" Ruan Shen said lightly. "Alas that lands cannot be conjured whole from the aether."
"Quite so," Bian Ya said, amused. "We cannot all be so lucky as the Ruan, bordering wilderness that has lain fallow for centuries."
Ruan have an Indigo clan head (?), and potential wilderness to expand into a Viscounty.
Bian have a Violett Patriarch and their Clan Head closing in on it, but no land left to claim.
(Quote from quest below, Thread 34 Peers 2 on RR)
Ruan have an Indigo clan head (?), and potential wilderness to expand into a Viscounty.
Bian have a Violett Patriarch and their Clan Head closing in on it, but no land left to claim.
(Quote from quest below, Thread 34 Peers 2 on RR)
So the Ruan clan isn't really an argument against barons who reach Indigo getting promoted to Viscount, its just something they've only recently qualified for and the process will take awhile.
One part personal power, four parts connections and institutional strengths. But you need the personal power to build the rest to where you can get it.
Bit of a topic shift, but there's a reality about our Emerald Seas regional relationships that I think needs to be articulated, and now is better than right before we dive into summit stuff, so that there's time to digest and internalize.
The Foundations are nominally one region. In practice, for us, they are two. The Foundations stretch from the south-western border to around the Argent sect. Notably, this divides it between the Meng's southern lands and the bulk of Wang territory. Yes, both clans we're (theoretically) cooperating with closely on the subject of the political summit with the south. This is in some ways convenient.
However, this split focus also has the consequence of effectively splitting Foundations territory into two, unrelated, camps. The result is that there's really no such thing as a "Foundations" action. It's almost always going to be either a Meng or a Wang Foundations action, we already see this with Hanyi's tour stuff being focused on the Foundations but having nothing to do with the most recent Foundations action we picked(when continuing the Meng stuff was explicitly taken off the table). And those plotlines look like they're still going to be live, and separate, for the foreseeable future.
Rather than synergy, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, there's a strong likelihood that we run into a case of diminishing returns, where it takes two actions to get the benefit of one-and-a-half-ish. Basically, the subdivision of the Foundations between Meng and Wang interests erodes regional abstraction, inherently demanding a higher action-to-information ratio. Because two Count clans are involved in the region, with their own agendas, it takes more investment to reach the same fidelity on region-wide interests, because actions we invest are going to be more prone to being sucked down more narrow, specific twists and turns.
This also compounds with the fact that the Meng and Wang are already the most developed committal interests we're aware of. We've managed to surprisingly seriously pigeonhole ourselves and our reach, having pretty poor access to insights outside of one region, which also happens to be probably the least politically connected and influential region in the province. In terms of serving the interests of our current political project, and our utility to Renxiang's intelligence apparatus more broadly, this is actually a pretty troublesome development.
This isn't a Game Over scenario or anything, but it will be important while moving forwards to realize the limitations of our position and the necessity of expanding our avenues to influence. We desperately need broader, more diverse reach. So we can make informed decisions, if nothing else.
yrsillar said:
Ruan Shen said lightly. "Alas that lands cannot be conjured whole from the aether."
Edit: tl;dr:
I am a bit concerned that we've basically put all our eggs into the lone basket of the Foundations, especially because it's not an influential region and we've also, in parallel, put most of our focus at the count-clan level into the Meng and Wang anyway, making as practically blind in the province at large.
But that's not my main concern, and reading over the post I meandered away from my main concern.
My main concern is the established count-clan narrative threads associated with the Foundations region split it up and demand more action/time investment for the same level of abstract region-wide info.
These two circumstances are a bad combination, because it means we do not even get to benefit from doubling down on one area(because it isn't one area, it's effectively two, but without the broader political payout expected of two!). It means that we get less, overall, for our investment. While also incurring negative externalities through opportunity costs. Not great!
Bit of a topic shift, but there's a reality about our Emerald Seas regional relationships that I think needs to be articulated, and now is better than right before we dive into summit stuff, so that there's time to digest and internalize.
The Foundations are nominally one region. In practice, for us, they are two. The Foundations stretch from the south-western border to around the Argent sect. Notably, this divides it between the Meng's southern lands and the bulk of Wang territory. Yes, both clans we're (theoretically) cooperating with closely on the subject of the political summit with the south. This is in some ways convenient.
I'm not at all sure I buy this basic premise that Region/Clans are linked in the way you're saying they are. So far gaining favor with a particular Comital Clan and gaining favor with the region they are in are basically completely decoupled and I'm not at all clear why that would suddenly not be the case here.
Like, I sincerely think there's never been an action that actually added to both a Clan and their Region (there was the play, but that was Emerald Seas-wide), so this seems like it's probably not a problem in the way you're saying it is.
I'm not at all sure I buy this basic premise that Region/Clans are linked in the way you're saying they are. So far gaining favor with a particular Comital Clan and gaining favor with the region they are in are basically completely decoupled and I'm not at all clear why that would suddenly not be the case here.
Like, I sincerely think there's never been an action that actually added to both a Clan and their Region (there was the play, but that was Emerald Seas-wide), so this seems like it's probably not a problem in the way you're saying it is.
[ ] Mountain Halls-Focus your efforts on building reputation and cachet in the Foundations and Wang lands(Events and chances to improve reputation will focus on these factions for turn 17 and 18)
[ ] Garden of Sinners-Focus your efforts on the Central Valley and Diao lands(Events and chances to improve reputation will focus on these factions for turn 17 and 18)
"Mountain Halls" and "Garden of Sinners" are the names of the Wang and Diao questlines, respectively. They're both options explicitly tying count clan and regional disposition opportunities together narratively and mechanically.
Previously, the choice Meng Diu gave us on where to focus Hanyi's performances innately tied together clan political influence building and regional influence building.
What I'm describing has been the status quo the entire time. It's just been presented to us piecemeal and ad hoc in a way that's difficult to visualize or keep track of.
Hence us effectively quadrupling down into one region based on pretty vague intentions, with no concrete payoff we weren't already essentially promised with half that investment. Might not even be able to fit all the plot threads we committed to the area, honestly, with the way arguably redundant ones unrelated to our core project seem to be getting spliced into things based on new choices. Related choices, but before we've acted on previous ones. It's awkward and a bit backwards, since it means we're picking everything blind.
I agree. And adding on to that, I don't really think the vote that provides events and opportunities for the two turns leading up to the summit will actually take away from the summit.
Plus, the festival is specifically happening next year. If it comes up, we can push it off, because it's a thing for *later* while we have things going on *now*.
Our focus for the Wang and Foundations can also easily be related to Wang Lian's recent mention at the meeting site since she's more well known and our Wang contact
The option we picked means we'll definitely be getting bonuses to the Foundations and to Wang Clan stuff, yes. My point was rather that they won't necessarily be from the same actions, or tied to the same things. Heck, a choice between Wang rep and Foundations rep is very possible, just as one immediate example. So we've doubled down on the Foundations, yes, but 'quadrupled down' is both hyperbole and fundamentally not how the Comital Clan/Region dichotomy works.
We do also still have irons in the fire elsewhere, and will almost certainly have future opportunities to curry favor elsewhere...just not right now, as right now we are acting in a more focused manner.
As for doubling down...that's sort of the point? Like, the goal here is to have a region that we can unambiguously bring into Cai Renxiang's camp due to our personal ties there, and that's a good and useful goal even if the particular region isn't the richest. Especially since it's the region we're basically gonna be living in/next to in regards to our fief, and the primary bulwark against the Cloud Tribes.
Like, I would rather double up on any gains to one region because having one Region with +5 Rep is so much better than having a bunch with +2 at best, or even two at +3 in terms of political power. It's a power base and one you can thus leverage into achieving other things.
The externalities you're talking about are...a bit unclear to me as anything more than complete speculation. Frankly, you seem to be making some rather huge and largely unsubstantiated assumptions about yrsillar's writing and intent in that regard rather than anything I've actually seen good evidence of.
The point I'm making is there's a doubling down of investment but not in terms of rewards. The two subregions of the Foundations, the neglected southern lands of the Meng and Wang lands, are consistently framed by the narrative threads we have available as effectively entirely unrelated regions with a coincidentally shared title. We can't reap synergistic multiplicative gains from the doubled up focus, because that has been explicitly exempted from the timeframe we have to work with.
But at the same time, it kind of does seem like we're facing imminent "homework" from both branches of our Foundation efforts. This is problematic because it bears red flags similar to our experience with the Long Arm questline, where meaningful Diao/Central Valley engagement was locked behind a strung out action sequence that did not have intermediate political payout and ultimately got cut/delayed for time.
We don't currently have the time or space to devote actions to any projects with a similar profile, because we are operating on a very strict immediate deadline of two months.
This is on top of the fact that a) we were always narratively committed to coordinating with Wang Lian and b) at no point, at literally no point, has there been a point in the narrative where the manner in which Foundations clout is intended to benefit our efforts during the summit is articulated. This is not me saying there aren't any benefits; it's to point out there are a lot of fundamental holes to cover in not a lot of space, and increasing our obligation to a narrow slice of interests, without providing a countervailing reward in insight or benefit, which I see no evidence of manifesting, is counterproductive.
The point I'm making is there's a doubling down of investment but not in terms of rewards. The two subregions of the Foundations, the neglected southern lands of the Meng and Wang lands, are consistently framed by the narrative threads we have available as effectively entirely unrelated regions with a coincidentally shared title. We can't reap synergistic multiplicative gains from the doubled up focus, because that has been explicitly exempted from the timeframe we have to work with.
Sure we can. If they're being treated as one region for purposes of reputation, then improving our standard in either (or both) will improve our Reputation in the Foundations region. That's a synergistic bonus right there, and one we care about.
But at the same time, it kind of does seem like we're facing imminent "homework" from both branches of our Foundation efforts. This is problematic because it bears red flags similar to our experience with the Long Arm questline, where meaningful Diao/Central Valley engagement was locked behind a strung out action sequence that did not have intermediate political payout and ultimately got cut/delayed for time.
Firstly, this is pure speculation. Even given this sequence of events was a mistake by yrsillar, there is exactly zero evidence that it's one that will be repeated. Additionally, we did eventually get the benefits from the engagement in question, and the Central Valley is currently one of the places that likes us most, those benefits were just somewhat delayed. Wanting to win the Foundations and the Wang over very thoroughly is a long term goal, we can easily afford to have its payoffs delayed somewhat. I'd obviously prefer they weren't, and see no actual evidence they will be ('this happened once before' is not good evidence), but if they do get delayed that's hardly a terrible problem.
We don't currently have the time or space to devote actions to any projects with a similar profile, because we are operating on a very strict immediate deadline of two months.
This is on top of the fact that a) we were always narratively committed to coordinating with Wang Lian and b) at no point, at literally no point, has there been a point in the narrative where the manner in which Foundations clout is intended to benefit our efforts during the summit is articulated. This is not me saying there aren't any benefits; it's to point out there are a lot of fundamental holes to cover in not a lot of space, and increasing our obligation to a narrow slice of interests, without providing a countervailing reward in insight or benefit, which I see no evidence of manifesting, is counterproductive.
This seems to just be relitigating the Diao/Wang choice to no good purpose and again is entirely speculative. But from what I recall of that argument, the people who argued for the Wang were not primarily doing so from the perspective of 'it will help with the summit'. That was a secondary concern, certainly, but the main factor was wanting an actual ally (ie: getting the Wang to +2) rather than just making someone who vaguely disliked us neutral (ie: getting the Diao from -1 to +0). We currently have no actual allies among the Comital Clans and people wanted that to change. And this choice very much does enable precisely that, at least in theory.
You keep talking about narrow focus like its objectively bad and a problem, but it isn't. Narrow focus is, in some ways, the whole point. This gives us a chance to focus in and get actual allies rather than the entire range of Comital opinions of us being summed up as 'Who?' (every single Clan's opinion is between -1 and +1 right now). Focusing narrowly is probably necessary in order to acquire real allies, and those are something we rather need.
Do keep on mind that though he forgot about it here, @yrsillar can easily integrate the Diao info into the talks with Hualing on RoyalRoad, because FoD has not yet reached that point. It's still at the Weaver of Tails arc.
The problem is that our reward profile is narrow, but our action investment profile is not. The regional narrative space has multiple, mature, non-interacting threads running through it, with new split-off threads popping up before we even have a chance to engage with the ones that are already there. We do not have space to actually reap these rewards, because we simply can't engage with all of the content the rewards are locked behind.
This wouldn't be a problem except that we're on a really short deadline and we desperately need those rewards up and running before we hit it. The doubled focus is counter to that objective if it bloats the requisite investment necessary to hit that point, which I believe it will do because of split narrative focus and scope and the nature of how actions are structured within the quest. This is exacerbated by some part of the whole of regional reward/exploration/engagement also being time lock for a currently vague period.
Mired in an inability to decisively engage with our priorities is not an ideal place to be, and there's a number of warning signs of it happening here.
Firstly, this is pure speculation. Even given this sequence of events was a mistake by yrsillar, there is exactly zero evidence that it's one that will be repeated. Additionally, we did eventually get the benefits from the engagement in question, and the Central Valley is currently one of the places that likes us most, those benefits were just somewhat delayed. Wanting to win the Foundations and the Wang over very thoroughly is a long term goal, we can easily afford to have its payoffs delayed somewhat. I'd obviously prefer they weren't, and see no actual evidence they will be ('this happened once before' is not good evidence), but if they do get delayed that's hardly a terrible problem.
Nah, the Central Valley boost was from a different action, just delivered at an odd time. We also notably didn't get any real Intel or insight into the region, which we were supposed to. And the Diao are still caught in a weird limbo. Cleanup with those narratives was pushed to later and then locked behind a mutually exclusive choice, unfortunately.
Do keep on mind that though he forgot about it here, @yrsillar can easily integrate the Diao info into the talks with Hualing on RoyalRoad, because GoD has not yet reached that point. It's still at the Weaver of Tails arc.
The problem is that our reward profile is narrow, but our action investment profile is not. The regional narrative space has multiple, mature, non-interacting threads running through it, with new split-off threads popping up before we even have a chance to engage with the ones that are already there. We do not have space to actually reap these rewards, because we simply can't engage with all of the content the rewards are locked behind.
This wouldn't be a problem except that we're on a really short deadline and we desperately need those rewards up and running before we hit it. The doubled focus is counter to that objective if it bloats the requisite investment necessary to hit that point, which I believe it will do because of split narrative focus and scope and the nature of how actions are structured within the quest. This is exacerbated by some part of the whole of regional reward/exploration/engagement also being time lock for a currently vague period.
Mired in an inability to decisively engage with our priorities is not an ideal place to be, and there's a number of warning signs of it happening here.
What priorities do we have that are profoundly time sensitive, exactly? The only ones I can think of are those directly tied to the Argent Peak, and those are well within our abilities to resolve. Resolving some others pre-summit would be nice, sure, but it isn't absolutely required.
Nah, the Central Valley boost was from a different action, just delivered at an odd time. We also notably didn't get any real Intel or insight into the region, which we were supposed to. And the Diao are still caught in a weird limbo. Cleanup with those narratives was pushed to later and then locked behind a mutually exclusive choice, unfortunately.
And here we're back to assumptions which I see no evidence for. We received that Central Valley rep as a direct result of the Diao quest-line, you can say it was a later action in that quest line...but receiving a reward from a later section of a quest-line is pretty normal. As for the intel, we got the OOC part. It's right on the front page, we may have missed out a little on the IC part thus far, but that's honestly not a huge deal given that the info is exactly as people predicted it would be based on what we know of the Diao.
Sure we can? Or as much of it as we can ever engage with given this is a quest with limited actions.
What priorities do we have that are profoundly time sensitive, exactly? The only ones I can think of are those directly tied to the Argent Peak, and those are well within our abilities to resolve. Resolving some others pre-summit would be nice, sure, but it isn't absolutely required.
And here we're back to assumptions which I see no evidence for. We received that Central Valley rep as a direct result of the Diao quest-line, you can say it was a later action in that quest line...but receiving a reward from a later section of a quest-line is pretty normal. As for the intel, we got the OOC part. It's right on the front page, we may have missed out a little on the IC part thus far, but that's honestly not a huge deal given that the info is exactly as people predicted it would be based on what we know of the Diao.
Please stop splicing up my posts, it makes the conversation harder, and it's technically against the rules.
The summit and preparing for the summit, in line with various provincial and imperial political priorities we have only a shade of an inkling of an understanding of at the moment, is our pressing priority. We're badly underwater on polling opinions of relevant parties, identifying issues that are likely to occur, or securing backing on points of contention so we can guide things in directions we want. Basic foundational stuff. The fact almost none of it is even on the radar of us readers is kind of the problem personified.
The Central Valley rep reward wasn't a result of the Long Arm questline, or some kind of pre-paid reward for a later action in it. It was the reward for Hou Zhuang's gift part 2. I agree it was weirdly presented, that narratively obviously the result of our heroism, but mechanically and by WoG from yrsillar, it was unrelated to our collab with Diao Hualing.
Backing up a moment, my initial point in all of this wasn't just complaining things are bad and I don't like that. It's that considering the nature of our locked in investment, we should be keeping our eyes open for other opportunities during mid-event votes as much as possible. Frankly, it's to the point I don't think we should even get Wang or Meng options during events like the preliminary summit meeting, for example, because their narrative needs should already be accounted for, and we really need to broaden our horizons to make a credible attempt at making this diplomacy thing work.
This kind of bones the Meng because their plot apparently got put on pause, but their interests in the whole thing are kind of abstract so it's probably fine. Plus, they've got strong narrative representation through Meng Dan. But yeah, any other clan has to take priority over the Meng or Wang if opportunities to interact more come up. They're already squared up; we need to stretch our feelers further.
Well... unless it's the Jia. They can stay ignored. Mostly because they've been completely neglected so far, and it's an easy and clean dynamic to continue. Also it's kind of funny.
Well... unless it's the Jia. They can stay ignored. Mostly because they've been completely neglected so far, and it's an easy and clean dynamic to continue. Also it's kind of funny.
Can someone give me a link to the political map of the emerald seas?
I remember there being one but I seem to be unable to find it … at least it is not pinned under "Informational" like the other maps.
Edit: Found it ... it was hidden under a spoiler on the front page
Celestial Hills: -3
North River Jing: -1
Western Fens: -1
Eastern Plains: 0
South River Jing: -2
Foundations: 3
Thundering Hills: 2
Central Valley: 2
Capital City, Xiangmen: 2
Southern Clergy: -2
Key
Red=Celestial Hills
Blue=North Jing River Valley
Brown: Western Fens
Green: Central Valley
Orange: South Jing River Valley
Yellow: Eastern Plains
Purple: The Foundations
Black: The Thundering Hills
This kind of bones the Meng because their plot apparently got put on pause, but their interests in the whole thing are kind of abstract so it's probably fine. Plus, they've got strong narrative representation through Meng Dan. But yeah, any other clan has to take priority over the Meng or Wang if opportunities to interact more come up. They're already squared up; we need to stretch our feelers further.
Well... unless it's the Jia. They can stay ignored. Mostly because they've been completely neglected so far, and it's an easy and clean dynamic to continue. Also it's kind of funny.
This is something that I think we need to be reminded of. It is not Ling Qi's responsibility to manage relationships with every single Count clan. Managing the Emerald Seas as a whole is what CRX needs to worry about and she's delegating that to her trusted subordinates. The original plan was for us to handle the more Weilu clans like the Meng and Luo while Gan Guangli handled the more Peaks focused clans like the Jia and Wang with the Bao and the Diao being more up in the air for opposite reasons. Unfortunately Gan Guangli got bodied in the first tournament and the entire workload got dumped onto us, which is completely untenable in the long run. Now we're the primary point of contact with the Bao, Wang, Meng, and Diao while Guangli's finally getting around to the Jia and the Luo are just kind of hanging in the wind which is a big tangled mess.
Ideally we'll want to leverage the nascent GG/Su Ling/Diao thing into judo flipping the Diao into GG's portfolio while picking up the Luo for ourselves. We might also want to take steps to 'share' the Wang with GG, we've got a good thing built up with Wang Chao, and they're so close to home we want to keep them, but GG could be a big help there. And the world cries out for a Gan Guangli-Wang Chao bromance.
I'd say 4 Count clans is our effective limit, especially considering we've got foreign diplomacy to worry about too, and if we try to take on more of them we'll rip ourselves apart.
TLDR: The Jia being 'ignored' by Ling Qi isn't some amusing accidental insult, they're completely outside our wheelhouse and it's absolutely vital they stay outside our wheelhouse, for the sake of having a reasonable workload.
I'm a little nervous about getting to see more of the Wang, because if their Cloud Nomad integration project is as horrific as I think it is (see: Indian Residential School System) I'll swiftly grow to hate them with a fiery passion. Cultural genocide is an area where my ability to think rationally instead of going "it's time for a fucking crusade!" flies out the window completely. For example, I used to think the White Plumes were cool, but after The Crucible I want the Cloud to kill them all (Xia Lin gets a pass, on account of not being directly involved in that vileness).
Edit: I can feel my breath and pulse quickening just thinking about it. My grandmother was a survivor of the Shoah. I think this is one of the few subjects that is honest to goodness triggering for me.
This is something that I think we need to be reminded of. It is not Ling Qi's responsibility to manage relationships with every single Count clan. Managing the Emerald Seas as a whole is what CRX needs to worry about and she's delegating that to her trusted subordinates. The original plan was for us to handle the more Weilu clans like the Meng and Luo while Gan Guangli handled the more Peaks focused clans like the Jia and Wang with the Bao and the Diao being more up in the air for opposite reasons. Unfortunately Gan Guangli got bodied in the first tournament and the entire workload got dumped onto us, which is completely untenable in the long run. Now we're the primary point of contact with the Bao, Wang, Meng, and Diao while Guangli's finally getting around to the Jia and the Luo are just kind of hanging in the wind which is a big tangled mess.
Ideally we'll want to leverage the nascent GG/Su Ling/Diao thing into judo flipping the Diao into GG's portfolio while picking up the Luo for ourselves. We might also want to take steps to 'share' the Wang with GG, we've got a good thing built up with Wang Chao, and they're so close to home we want to keep them, but GG could be a big help there. And the world cries out for a Gan Guangli-Wang Chao bromance.
I'd say 4 Count clans is our effective limit, especially considering we've got foreign diplomacy to worry about too, and if we try to take on more of them we'll rip ourselves apart.
TLDR: The Jia being 'ignored' by Ling Qi isn't some amusing accidental insult, they're completely outside our wheelhouse and it's absolutely vital they stay outside our wheelhouse, for the sake of having a reasonable workload.
If we have to focus on Count clans to spread out political focus, then I'll want the Wang, Meng, and Luo
Gan can take the Diao, Bao, and Jia. Realistically, I'm sure we'll have some points of intersection, like the Bao and Diao. But focusing on those three seems like the best to me.
But then that's only between us and GG. If we also consider Xia Lin and Meng Dan (if he accepts), then we can leave the Meng to Meng Dan. I'm honestly not sure about Xia Lin. If she wants to, maybe the Luo, since she has interest in the Old Tribes. Then we'll focus on the Wang and Diao, and GG would focus on the Jia and Bao.
@yrsillar , a new omake for the omake throne.
After making a couple of omakes trying for them to feel "real", I have decided to just have writing this one, without caring for "canon" status.
So, here it is.
Rebirth Chamber
Gu Yujin severed the dense foliage that hung in her way, the cut bits burning to ashes on their own and scattering in the wind long before touching the ground. She had already been trekking up this hill for several hours, and her efforts were rewarded by the vista revealed now before her. Lush forests extended over the hills, vibrant plant life covering much of their surface, and rivers flowed and wounded in the valleys below. The sounds of spirit beasts echoed through the trees, and one could easily hear the rustle of small animals crawling and slithering about.
However, there were stark differences from the image of forests the people of other provinces may have. For one, a great portion of the forest was on fire. Normally, that would be a concerning matter, but in the Golden Fields that was just proof that the trees were healthy. In the same vein, the river that flowed at the bottom didn't carry water, but sand which nevertheless fed life in its wake. All the creatures living here, even the most meager of insects, had adapted and developed unique abilities and characteristics.
A high enough view of the Golden Fields would reveal a complex lattice of crimson forests and golden deserts, dotted all over by artificial oasis long assimilated by the land. Life was thriving, and one could even think that this place had always been a treasure trove of exuberance.
Such a notion was easily dismissed as soon as she let her sight drift to the east. For, even if the sand had been conquered, the ash definitely had not.
The Great Warding Pillars peaked over in the distance; massive black structures that extended from one extreme of the horizon to the other. The death-infused ash from the Cataclysm was contained by their power, stopping its influence from extending beyond the invisible frontier they formed, and allowing life to prosper in the desert.
They constituted one of the greatest architectural feats on the Empire's history, and a testimony to heights that could be reached through collaboration across the Empire and beyond. Its construction was a daring endeavor birthed in conjunction with the people from the farther side of the Grave. Xuan's wisdom, the Peak's geomancy, Cai's artifice and Ling's restoration; all of them came together to achieve what was once thought impossible: to tame the desert. Even the underground cities proved vital for the project's success, due to their expertise in the handling of corruption.
Gu Yujin was really proud of what the Golden Fields had turned into, and the role the Gu clan had on its development. If she had a single complaint, it would be that the people in charge were more imaginative with names. There was a finite number of places that could be called Rebirth Whatever before it started to sound silly, and that number had definitely already been surpassed. Nevertheless, the Golden Fields had grown out of the blasted wasteland it had once been, becoming a buoyant province of the Empire.
Which didn't mean that the dangers hailing from the Grave had disappeared. Far from it, in truth. Frequent expeditions had to be organized to travel beyond the relative safety of the Great Pillars and cull the ashen armies continuously building up at the borders. Outposts and watchtowers had been built along its length, and squads also patrolled in order to find any threat that had managed to slip through.
For that reason, it was considered foolish to venture so closely to the Great Pillars alone, but Gu Yujin had an objective worth the risk in mind. Despite the extensive work to reclaim the Golden Fields, there were still numerous pockets of contamination disseminated throughout the province. Many of these pockets were ancient ruins filled with dangers… and opportunities. Her research had led her to one of such places.
She advanced towards an inconspicuous rock outcropping resting at the side of the hill's peak. Gu Yujin reached overhead and grabbed at thin air, an incandescent great waraxe of solid flame forming in her hands. She swung down and the stone cracked and split with a thunderous crash. The stone crumbled, revealing a passage hidden behind it, and immediately a wind carrying the stench of death and decay assaulted her, almost making her gag.
She resisted the urge, and focused on the darkness of the path ahead. She started walking forward, armor as resplendent as the sun forming over her frame. This was her own personal successor of her family's Vermillion Regalia Art. Many considered the Vermillion Regalia Art as one of the hardest and trickiest Gu arts to master, the fire itself refusing such a task. But Gu Yujin found she felt a great resonance with the art, and so learned it swiftly. It was even easier to incorporate the Mountain element she had an affinity for, a rarity among the Gu clan, when she chose to create her yet to be named Successor Art using Vermillion Regalia Art as a base.
The result wasn't simply molten rock. It was fire forced to go against its very essence, to retain a fixed and static form. Solid Fire. Gu Yujin believed she was able to achieve this feat due to her musings, which greatly differed from the rest of her clan. Most focused on the raw power of fire, on harnessing its destructive capabilities; but her own understanding was born from a completely opposite viewpoint.
Fire was the source of Creation. It was what allowed humans to first leave their caves and burrows, and raise above bare beasts. What allowed food to be cooked, metal to be forged, cities to be built. What allowed people to be kept warm throughout the night, to sing and dance around the bonfire.
Destruction can't be a goal on itself. Only Creation can bring purpose and fulfillment to the fiery Passion burning inside.
That conviction was branded at the core of herself. It was what pushed her to keep advancing, not even flinching when decrepit figures started to pour out of the yawning darkness of the hallway up ahead. Lances wrought of hard sunlight materialized above her and launched forward, easily punching through rusted armor and rotten corpses alike. At first, that didn't seem to do much to stop them, until their bodies were consumed to fuel the fire that engulfed them.
Fire was the source of Creation, but Gu Yujin had to admit she felt no little amount of satisfaction at seeing those cursed wretches burn. She stepped over the ashen remains of her foes, dissolving and reabsorbing her constructs and recovering a sizeable portion of the Qi spent in them. This was one of the greatest advantages of her art. Many of the warriors of her clan tended to burn brightly but briefly, quickly exhausting themselves. Some even went as far as to tap into their own lifeforce to keep going. Gu Yujin had seen where that path led to, and she wasn't interested in it.
She delved deeper and deeper into the ruins. At every step, the deathly miasma that suffused the underground passage grew denser and thicker, though her radiant armor stopped any of it from reaching her. The raised fallen soldiers also grew more numerous and stronger; and, most worrying, better coordinated. It pained her to recognize some of the tactics and formations that her own clan used, inherited from their ancestors. However, that just meant she knew how to best break them.
She forged onward, leaving a trail of finally resting soldiers in her wake. After some time continuing in such manner, she finally arrived at a point where the passage expanded into a wide, high ceiling room. At the other end of the room there was a massive double leaf door, each carved to resemble spread wings, gilded in gold and embedded with crimson gemstones. She could feel the power still thrumming along the characters etched in its frame, even after the over a thousand years that had elapsed since the Cataclysm.
Despite all that, none of those details were the focus of her attention; but the giant form banging into the door. It was a shapeless mass, an amalgam of a hundred soldiers fused together, with weapons and limbs sticking out at all angles. An ash-colored muck kept them glued, and the miasma that filled the entire instance continuously poured out of the gaps in sickly rivulets. The surface of the abomination was dotted by skulls that vacantly peered in all directions.
Gu Yujin felt the attention of those empty sockets turn to her as soon as she stepped beyond the threshold. The being let out a cacophony of shrieks and screams, raising scores of swords, spears and shields in her direction. She responded in kind, creating a myriad of weapons in the air and grasping her great axe in her hands. She leapt forward, even as she felt the amalgam activate over a dozen techniques at the same time.
The battle was frantic. The monstrosity was able to elongate and widen itself, forcing her to dodge, parry and block attacks coming from every direction at once. At the same, when she attempted to counterattack it shrunk and contracted, creating a barrier of bone and steel around itself. To make things worse, every bit of bone and metal she managed to peel off was dragged back into the main body by the same grey substance she had noticed before, which seemed to wriggle as if it had a mind on its own. Gu Yujin narrowed her eyes. It seemed she had uncovered her enemy's true form.
She wasn't getting anywhere like this. With a heave of her will Gu Yujin created six pillars, resembling the Great Warding Pillars outside, and slammed then around the amalgam. It clawed and stabbed, trying to break free from the barrier that suddenly imprison it. She felt that her pillars wouldn't be able to withstand the assault for long. She gathered as much Qi as she was able to harness, and then she focused it in the same spot the aberration was occupying. The construct refused to form, but she kept pushing, refusing to give up.
Then, a Sun was born. It enveloped the amalgam in its entirety, almost too bright for her to directly look at. The thing's trashing intensified, becoming more and more desperate as the bone and metal first melted and then evaporated, consumed by the flame. The only thing left was a grey glob that shuddered and spammed, trying to break free. Gu Yujin raised her hand and slowly closed her first, the newborn Sun contracted with it. She kept going until the critical point was reached and a blinding light burst out.
When she could open her eyes again, not even a speck of whatever that had been remained. She kept looking at the scorched mark on the floor as she recovered her breath, a thought surging in her mind. Forge of the Sun, huh? That wasn't a bad name for her art, she supposed.
She advanced towards the door and looked at the name engraved above. Gu Yujin didn't bother to repress the unlady-like snort that escaped her libs. Rebirth Chamber; of course. She lightly touched the door and, to her surprise, the twin wings slid open on its own accord. That was when a scouring light bathed her. Floating in front of her was a living ray of sunlight in the shape of a man; even diminished through the centuries, a hundred, hundred times reflected, it still was enough to reduce her to ashes in an instant.
Gu Yujin immediately fell to her knees in supplication, and without hesitating started to recite the prayers she had been taught since she was just a kid that had barely learned to talk. When she was done, the sacred being of light flared once again. When the spots on her eyes finally started to go away, she saw standing beyond the door just a mummified body bearing the garbs of a High Sun Priest.
She kowtowed once again, and respectfully stepped around as not to disturb the corpse. The so-called Rebirth Chamber was fairly small and didn't hold much of interest. The only thing of note was a stone pedestal at its center with intricate and exquisite carvings of soaring phoenixes. On top of the pedestal rested a nest composed of thin golden wires, no more than a couple of hands wide. Trepidation run through Gu Yujin's body as she made her way to the pedestal. Her suspicions were confirmed as she peered inside the nest.
There rested a small crimson egg, easily fitting in the palm of her hand, shot through with lines of gold. With great reverence, she slowly picked it up. It was warm to the touch, and it shone with a faint inner light. Gu Yujin could swear she felt a heartbeat against her skin. She couldn't fight the grin on her face as what the reality of what this discovery meant dawned on her.
Right, it's important to realize that the actual day-to-day "enforcement" of Qingge's censure wasn't carried out by members, or probably even direct agents, of the Liu. It'd be dudes from a clan probably not unlike Qingge's old one. Not even real cultivators. After the initial proclamation by the young master which put her on the shitlist, it's been second or third string goons harassing her.
Hell, there is a lot of "the young master personally fucked Qingge over" talk, but it's very possible he never did, and it was just a random servant who decided to send word she was persona non grata because he felt Qingge was insulting, and that no Liu ever learned of what was going on, because why would they even care.
As far as we know said "young master" was just a mediocre kid amongst hundred and just doesn't have the power to set clan wide effort... but this doesn't need any effort at all, people are just very able and pleased to fuck others for no gain.
@yrsillar , a new omake for the omake throne.
After making a couple of omakes trying for them to feel "real", I have decided to just have writing this one, without caring for "canon" status.
So, here it is.
Rebirth Chamber
Gu Yujin severed the dense foliage that hung in her way, the cut bits burning to ashes on their own and scattering in the wind long before touching the ground. She had already been trekking up this hill for several hours, and her efforts were rewarded by the vista revealed now before her. Lush forests extended over the hills, vibrant plant life covering much of their surface, and rivers flowed and wounded in the valleys below. The sounds of spirit beasts echoed through the trees, and one could easily hear the rustle of small animals crawling and slithering about.
However, there were stark differences from the image of forests the people of other provinces may have. For one, a great portion of the forest was on fire. Normally, that would be a concerning matter, but in the Golden Fields that was just proof that the trees were healthy. In the same vein, the river that flowed at the bottom didn't carry water, but sand which nevertheless fed life in its wake. All the creatures living here, even the most meager of insects, had adapted and developed unique abilities and characteristics.
A high enough view of the Golden Fields would reveal a complex lattice of crimson forests and golden deserts, dotted all over by artificial oasis long assimilated by the land. Life was thriving, and one could even think that this place had always been a treasure trove of exuberance.
Such a notion was easily dismissed as soon as she let her sight drift to the east. For, even if the sand had been conquered, the ash definitely had not.
The Great Warding Pillars peaked over in the distance; massive black structures that extended from one extreme of the horizon to the other. The death-infused ash from the Cataclysm was contained by their power, stopping its influence from extending beyond the invisible frontier they formed, and allowing life to prosper in the desert.
They constituted one of the greatest architectural feats on the Empire's history, and a testimony to heights that could be reached through collaboration across the Empire and beyond. Its construction was a daring endeavor birthed in conjunction with the people from the farther side of the Grave. Xuan's wisdom, the Peak's geomancy, Cai's artifice and Ling's restoration; all of them came together to achieve what was once thought impossible: to tame the desert. Even the underground cities proved vital for the project's success, due to their expertise in the handling of corruption.
Gu Yujin was really proud of what the Golden Fields had turned into, and the role the Gu clan had on its development. If she had a single complaint, it would be that the people in charge were more imaginative with names. There was a finite number of places that could be called Rebirth Whatever before it started to sound silly, and that number had definitely already been surpassed. Nevertheless, the Golden Fields had grown out of the blasted wasteland it had once been, becoming a buoyant province of the Empire.
Which didn't mean that the dangers hailing from the Grave had disappeared. Far from it, in truth. Frequent expeditions had to be organized to travel beyond the relative safety of the Great Pillars and cull the ashen armies continuously building up at the borders. Outposts and watchtowers had been built along its length, and squads also patrolled in order to find any threat that had managed to slip through.
For that reason, it was considered foolish to venture so closely to the Great Pillars alone, but Gu Yujin had an objective worth the risk in mind. Despite the extensive work to reclaim the Golden Fields, there were still numerous pockets of contamination disseminated throughout the province. Many of these pockets were ancient ruins filled with dangers… and opportunities. Gu Yujin's research had led her to one of such places.
Gu Yujin advanced towards an inconspicuous rock outcropping resting at the side of the hill's peak. Gu Yujin reached overhead and grabbed at thin air, an incandescent great waraxe of solid flame forming in her hands. She swung down and the stone cracked and split with a thunderous crash. The stone crumbled, revealing a passage hidden behind it, and immediately a wind carrying the stench of death and decay assaulted her, almost making her gag.
Gu Yujin resisted the urge, and focused on the darkness of the path ahead. She started walking forward, armor as resplendent as the sun forming over her frame. This was her own personal successor of her family's Vermillion Regalia Art. Many considered the Vermillion Regalia Art as one of the hardest and trickiest Gu arts to master, the fire itself refusing such a task. But Gu Yujin found she felt a great resonance with the art, and so learned it swiftly. It was even easier to incorporate the Mountain element she had an affinity for, a rarity among the Gu clan, when she chose to create her yet to be named Successor Art using Vermillion Regalia Art as a base.
The result wasn't simply molten rock. It was fire forced to go against its very essence, to retain a fixed and static form. Solid Fire. Gu Yujin believed she was able to achieve this feat due to her musings, which greatly differed from the rest of her clan. Most focused on the raw power of fire, on harnessing its destructive capabilities; but her own understanding was born from a completely opposite viewpoint.
Fire was the source of Creation. It was what allowed humans to first leave their caves and burrows, and raise above bare beasts. What allowed food to be cooked, metal to be forged, cities to be built. What allowed people to be kept warm throughout the night, to sing and dance around the bonfire.
Destruction can't be a goal on itself. Only Creation can bring purpose and fulfillment to the fiery Passion burning inside.
That conviction was branded at the core of herself. It was what pushed her to keep advancing, not even flinching when decrepit figures started to pour out of the yawning darkness of the hallway up ahead. Lances wrought of hard sunlight materialized above her and launched forward, easily punching through rusted armor and rotten corpses alike. At first, that didn't seem to do much to stop them, until their bodies were consumed to fuel the fire that engulfed them.
Fire was the source of Creation, but Gu Yujin had to admit she felt no little amount of satisfaction at seeing those cursed wretches burn. Gu Yujin stepped over the ashen remains of her foes, dissolving and reabsorbing her constructs and recovering a sizeable portion of the Qi spent in them. This was one of the greatest advantages of her art. Many of the warriors of her clan tended to burn brightly but briefly, quickly exhausting themselves. Some even went as far as to tap into their own lifeforce to keep going. Gu Yujin had seen where that path led to, and she wasn't interested in it.
Gu Yujin delved deeper and deeper into the ruins. At every step, the deathly miasma that suffused the underground passage grew denser and thicker, though her radiant armor stopped any of it from reaching her. The raised fallen soldiers also grew more numerous and stronger; and, most worrying, better coordinated. It pained Gu Yujin to recognize some of the tactics and formations that her own clan used, inherited from their ancestors. However, that just meant she knew how to best break them.
She forged onward, leaving a trail of finally resting soldiers in her wake. After some time continuing in such manner, she finally arrived at a point where the passage expanded into a wide, high ceiling room. At the other end of the room there was a massive double leaf door, each carved to resemble spread wings, gilded in gold and embedded with crimson gemstones. Gu Yujin could feel the power still thrumming along the characters etched in its frame, even after the over a thousand years that had elapsed since the Cataclysm.
Despite all that, none of those details were the focus of her attention; but the giant form banging into the door. It was a shapeless mass, an amalgam of a hundred soldiers fused together, with weapons and limbs sticking out at all angles. An ash-colored muck kept them glued, and the miasma that filled the entire instance continuously poured out of the gaps in sickly rivulets. The surface of the abomination was dotted by skulls that vacantly peered in all directions.
Gu Yujin felt the attention of those empty sockets turn to her as soon as she stepped beyond the threshold. The being let out a cacophony of shrieks and screams, raising scores of swords, spears and shields in her direction. Gu Yujin responded in kind, creating a myriad of weapons in the air and grasping her great axe in her hands. She leapt forward, even as she felt the amalgam activate over a dozen techniques at the same time.
The battle was frantic. The monstrosity was able to elongate and widen itself, forcing Gu Yujin to dodge, parry and block attacks coming from every direction at once. At the same, when Gu Yujin attempted to counterattack it shrunk and contracted, creating a barrier of bone and steel around itself. To make things worse, every bit of bone and metal she managed to peel off was dragged back into the main body by the same grey substance she had noticed before, which seemed to wriggle as if it had a mind on its own. Gu Yujin narrowed her eyes. It seemed she had uncovered her enemy's true form.
She wasn't getting anywhere like this. With a heave of her will Gu Yujin created six pillars, resembling the Great Warding Pillars outside, and slammed then around the amalgam. It clawed and stabbed, trying to break free from the barrier that suddenly imprison it. Gu Yujin felt that her pillars wouldn't be able to withstand the assault for long. She gathered as much Qi as she was able to harness, and then she focused it in the same spot the aberration was occupying. The construct refused to form, but she kept pushing, refusing to give up.
Then, a Sun was born. It enveloped the amalgam in its entirety, almost too bright for Gu Yujin to directly look at. The thing's trashing intensified, becoming more and more desperate as the bone and metal first melted and then evaporated, consumed by the flame. The only thing left was a grey glob that shuddered and spammed, trying to break free. Gu Yujin raised her hand and slowly closed her first, the newborn Sun contracted with it. She kept going until the critical point was reached and a blinding light burst out.
When she could open her eyes again, not even a speck of whatever that had been remained. Gu Yujin kept looking at the scorched mark on the floor as she recovered her breath, a thought surging in her mind. Forge of the Sun, huh? That wasn't a bad name for her art, she supposed.
She advanced towards the door and looked at the name engraved above. Gu Yujin didn't bother to repress the unlady-like snort that escaped her libs. Rebirth Chamber; of course. She lightly touched the door and, to her surprise, the twin wings slid open on its own accord. That was when a scouring light bathed her. Floating in front of her was a living ray of sunlight in the shape of a man; even diminished through the centuries, a hundred, hundred times reflected, it still was enough to reduce her to ashes in an instant.
Gu Yujin immediately fell to her knees in supplication, and without hesitating started to recite the prayers she had been taught since she was just a kid that had barely learned to talk. When she was done, the sacred being of light flared once again. When the spots on her eyes finally started to go away, Gu Yujin saw standing just beyond the door just a mummified body bearing the garbs of a High Sun Priest.
She kowtowed once again, and respectfully stepped around as not to disturb the corpse. The so-called Rebirth Chamber was fairly small and didn't hold much of interest. The only thing of note was a stone pedestal at its center with intricate and exquisite carvings of soaring phoenixes. On top of the pedestal rested a nest composed of thin golden wires, no more than a couple of hands wide. Trepidation run through Gu Yujin's body as she made her way to the pedestal. Her suspicions were confirmed as she peered inside the nest.
There rested a small crimson egg, easily fitting in the palm of her hand, shot through with lines of gold. With great reverence, she slowly picked it up. It was warm to the touch, and it shone with a faint inner light. Gu Yujin could swear she felt a heartbeat against her skin. She couldn't fight the grin on her face as what the reality of what this discovery meant dawned on her.
"Too much to put in good order little sister," Ling Qi said, blowing out a held breath. Her eyes scanned the books, the neat scrolls, and journals and collated anthologies, and her eyes strayed to the far messier corner of the table. There were stacked worn and tattered pieces, single pages, scrolls with broken batons and rolls of bamboo slats missing panels or scraped and burned.
Stories, stories from across the Emerald Sea in both distance and time, the gathered scraps she had picked through to keep from the vast wealth found in a corpse Immortals ring.
It was their in a walking corpses rotten face that she had first gotten a glimpse of what refusal to end looked like. Refusal to change, to try and hold the world in place. The buzzing of flies and the sight of maggots squirming under papery skin was a potent reminder. The refusal to see beyond the end of your nose or beneath your feet.
"Self obsession is the worst poison, art should be about the world around you, things that can or should be, things that are," Ling Qi said. "Old things must be allowed to die, but that doesn't mean that you have to discard all that they were. An ending doesn't have to be a complete desolation."
"Mm, I don't know about that, you're pretty awesome big sis, you're even better than me! What's wrong with telling everybody how great you are?" Hanyi asked, tilting her head.
"Hm, I think it's more the obsession bit." Sixiang said. "You got better over your tour, right?"
"I guess so," Hanyi said. "Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. It'd be like if I only ever sang one song, cause I'd already decided it was the best one. That would be lame."
Ling Qi breathed out. "Something like that."
It was true that maybe she went a little too far, Hanyi was right in that there was nothing wrong with a little pride, not really. "Ice can easily be stasis though."
Hanyi paused,kicking her feet."Yeah, it can be. Papa was like that. You can freeze something and keep it forever. You'll break it though."
"You will break it," Ling Qi agreed quietly, audible despite the wail of the mountain wind.
"Winter blows in and things die or go to sleep, labor is put to rest, and the world is made pure for the coming of the new year," Hanyi said.
It was Ling Qi's turn to tilt her head. "Now where did you copy something like that."
Hanyi pouted at her and crossed her arms. Ling Qi kept her gaze steadily. Finally, Hanyi huffed and turned her head. "From that priest who followed us around. It's a pretty saying huh? Very smart."
"Maybe," Ling Qi said with a quiet chuckle. It matched some of her thoughts. Winter wasn't a grand incomprehensible thing, but it was an end all the same, the punctuation of the year, the end of labors and the preparation for new ones. It was cold and without mercy for those who had no warmth to huddle around.
"Cold creeps in always, it comes in the absence of warmth."
"We want things 'cause we don't have them," Hanyi said with a shrug. "What's the big deal?"
"It's easy to only take," Ling Qi replied.
"Mm, sure, I guess it is a lot easier that way," Hanyi said. "But it's boring and lonely."
"No deeper reason than that?" Ling Qi chuckled.
"Does there need to be?" Sixiang wondered.
"I think there should be," Ling Qi said thoughtfully. "If only because of how easy taking is."
"I guess," Hanyi said, flopping down on her rock, belly down to look over the table. She reached out, making a grasping motion with her hands, and Ling Qi snorted, a small controlled gust sending on open scroll flapping into her hands.
"Its all well and good to do as you like, but if that's the only rule, then I think things can only go badly," Ling Qi mused, looking on the more tattered Hui books. She considered the screaming wind around her, sharp despite the thinness of the air. She had come to more deeply touch the element of wind, the soaring freedom of the sky, but the endless blue she glimpsed in her contemplations remained unappealing.
She couldn't see that desire, the pull of total freedom, the refusal of any constraints, as anything but childish selfishness. A self absorbed tantrum. But all the same she did love to fly, and she was still a thief at heart, even if she stole ideas, stole traditions, stole beliefs and stories these days.
"And the occasional gross bomb or toys," Sixiang whispered in her ear, chuckling.
"Don't make me get you with the net," Ling Qi chuckled.
Above, Sixiang's manifestation stuck out their tongue.
"Hey! Are you having a conversation without me? That's rude!" Hanyi complained looking up from her scroll.
Ling Qi smiled politely at her junior sister, who pouted as Ling Qi turned back to her book of songs. Really she was glad she had cultivated the art of the Wind Thief so much before this. Meditations on the wind reflected on cold and winter, she thought. If she was to make something whole of her resources, they would need to come into alignment.
Four Winds Joy: In stealing the wind, the old and stagnant fall, the freed winds dance and scatter, but find purpose. North, East, West, and South. Never again will the winds be wholly wild, uncontrolled, chaotic. Purpose and order are not wholly enemies of freedom, and a contemplation of their intersection can only advance a wily thief's goals. Advances West Wind Step to Four Winds Dance, improving the technique. +1 XP to Motion and Freedom. Unlocks a new Project
Boundaries Untrodden: To slip between, through and around, through the tiniest keyhole or the open window. Round the mountains or through even the veil of death. So walks the thief, who must bypass boundaries in the same way that a bird must fly. But to step across or through, one must understand that which they will violate. Alters and advances the Breeze in the Vault technique. +1 XP to Want and Mystery. Unlocks a new project.
"What would you say the song your Mother taught me is about Hanyi, say it in your own words," Ling Qi asked.
Hanyi's pout faded away into a silent frown. "It was Momma, what she was."
"And what was that?"
"...Death, Momma was death in the cold. The kind that makes you see things in the white out, makes you feel warm, even while you freeze," Hanyi said quietly. "But the warmth is a lie, the pretty shadow in the snow is a lie. The only thing really there is death, death and ice."
"I don't think the warmth and the shadow were lies though," Ling Qi said quietly. She didn't look up from her book, contemplating what she had seen in her Masters house at the very end.
"Mhm, that's why she broke," Hanyi said, turning her head to gaze on the rubble where Zeqing's domicile had been. "I guess, that song is what she was, before people came."
"Master Zeqing was the deepest depth of winter. Cold unceasing, in a way, she wasn't winter at all, because she was never meant to change or pass into spring," Ling Qi said thoughtfully.
"Hm, yeah that seems right," Hanyi said. "I'm not that though."
"What are you then, squirt?" Sixiang asked.
"I'm the first cold wind that blows in," Hanyi said confidently. "The end of fall, the first snow. If you prepare for me, everything is pretty and pure, and you can listen to me sing, but if you slack off, I'll eat you up."
"I dunno, that sounds way too dignified," Sixiang drawled.
"Like you'd know what Lady looks like, you weird dream bug," Hanyi sniffed. "Anyway! Big Sister, what do you think you want to be?"
Ling Qi smiled a little at the byplay, even as she considered the question. She understood what Hanyi really meant, what did she want to make of Master Zeqing's song. She didn't think she could make it something that was not an offensive tool, a thing of danger and harm, those things were too intrinsic to remove entirely.
After all, she could not say that winter and ice were not things of death, at least in part. Rather…
[ ] She would make her successor a song of the early chill, the cold snap in spring, the cold that surprises and reaps the unprepared, a thing as much of wind as cold. (+2 Expression XP, Sets the Successor toward themes of Anti-Perception and Motion.)
[ ]She would make her successor a song of deep winter, the cold that cannot be banished without hearth and kin, a thing of purest dark and cold(+2 Expression XP. Sets the Successor themes toward Persistence and Power.)
[ ] She would make her successor a song of the years ending, the cold that puts the old world to sleep, that it may be born anew in the spring flooding, a thing of waters and rebirth. (+2 Expression XP, sets Successor themes toward Purification and Renewal)
AN:
1. The first option is about early winters and cold snaps, the sort of cold that appears suddenly and ruins the overeager or underprepared. Its about making the art more focused on swiftness and suprise and thematically leans into and pairs with wind thief.
2. The second option is the closest to how the art funtions now, its about whiteouts and blizzards and deep unrelenting cold that can only be withstood in groups and within static defenses, this is more leaning into Ling Qi's field effects and domain abilities, it pairs well with her isolation tech for example. Thematically it holds steady on winter being a cold and terrible, it remains fully in the wheelhouse of being Ling Qi's weapon of war.
3. Is about the the end of the year,its winter as punctuation and erasure, purification of the world and return to zero, after which comes renewal and growth. Thematically it leans into the cycles thing you've all been poking at and leans toward the new beginnings bit of your insight, and support elements of Ling Qi's arts.
Finally, this is only the first vote, whatever is chosen you still have more choices on aesthetics and effects coming up.
[x] She would make her successor a song of the years ending, the cold that puts the old world to sleep, that it may be born anew in the spring flooding, a thing of waters and rebirth. (+2 Expression XP, sets Successor themes toward Purification and Renewal)
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