- Location
- the internet
Ah! Forgive my confusion.
Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I was confused at first too, but then I realized the green turtle didn't have a red snake attached 
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh huh. My assumption was an alternate Ling Qi who stayed in the sect.
Turn 16: Arc 4-2
"You know, a clan as old as the Bai has many rumors and stories attached," Ling Qi said blithely. Her feet left no mark or impression on the sand and mud, the water only barely rippling as it came up around her waist.
Lao Keung grunted an acknowledgement. Ahead of her the water swiftly swallowed up his broad chest soaking into the cloth of his vest. "There are, I am sure you and your lord have heard the truth from Lady Bai."
"I find truth comes from many perspectives," Ling Qi replied. The water came up to her neck, and then another step down and it swallowed her head. She blinked once as her eyes went underwater, taking only a moment to adjust to the somewhat silty lake water. "I'd like yours, the Red Bai's."
The words carried, undistorted, it was trivial to draw air from the water, and transform it into a medium for speech, it generated a few bubbles, but some modulation of the vibrations prevented any distortion.
Lao Keung turned to face her, his boots churning up sluggish clouds around his feet. Unlike her the water clearly touched him, though he seemed unbothered by it. Where she floated he stood on the bottom like a pillar of stone. "Why?"
"I'm just a naive foreigner, but surely the children of the Red Python have their own way of seeing the world. Will you humor me?" Ling Qi asked.
She drifted along after him as they descended the slope toward the bed, where the water flowed out into the continuation of the river. She didn't press him further as they moved around clumps of water weed and flashing schools of fish.
"Disorderly. You are all disorderly. Confused and confusing, lacking discipline," Lao Keung finally said. "The Celestial Peaks are more sensible, but in the Emerald Seas it has been so long since you were ruled properly that none here knows their place. Those are the thoughts of my Elders."
"It would probably be insulting to take that as a compliment, wouldn't it?" Ling Qi said.
Lao Keung grunted noncommittally. "We are the blade and the armored fist, the crushing coils of the python. It is not our lot to decide what is insulting, only to punish it, should the White Serpent decide it is so."
Ling Qi's head slowly tilted to the side as she drifted in front of him, gown and hair drifting as if in a slow breeze. "And a fist which starts deciding things may strike something undesired?"
"There you have it," Lao Keung replied, stepping around her, the light from above glinted off the scale patterns which marked his muscular arms. "The world is ordered as it is for a reason, to seek or think outside of your place invites only suffering and chaos. Witness Sun Shao, the Twilight King, the Strife of the Twin Emperors. All arose from individuals refusing to accept their roles. So too with us, our ancestor refused to bend the knee to her elder as was the White Queen's right, and nearly shattered Yao's kingdom. No good comes from stepping beyond your role."
"And what do you think?" Ling Qi asked.
"We're here, I do detect traces of dense qi," Lao Keung replied, seemingly choosing not to hear her question.
Ling Qi hummed and turned her eyes to the task at hand. There was something, it registered as faint sparkles among the murk to her senses, like particulates of glass mixed with the mud and sand. Ling Qi gestured and silver light flickered in the murk, like the scales of schooling fish. As she examined the shifting currents, Lao Keung knelt on the riverbed, digging is fingers into the silt.
"Would it be fair to say that the Red Python are uncomfortable with this alliance then?" Ling Qi asked absently.
"Do you not focus on the task before you?"
"Are you so limited, at your realm and stage?" Ling Qi asked innocently.
He squinted up at her through the water, she smiled back.
"The source of dense qi doesn't seem to be active right now, these traces are breaking down," Ling Qi said.
"Sourced from the water, not the earth. It is not an earth-metal toxin," Lao Keung grunted, standing up. He began to walk away from the river, down into the deeper expanse of the lakebed.
She drifted after him in a wide circle, flitting through the shadows cast by tall stalks of waterweed.
"It is the hope among some that your Duchess has finally mastered this place, and that Lady Suzhen, in her wisdom, sees this and supports the greater ordering of things."
Ling Qi considered this as they began to descend further, leaving the mirror like surface of the lake further behind. The darkness grew deeper even as the murk of the shallower waters settled, leaving the waters clear and still and black.
"Didn't she rise against her role though? Upend the way things were?" Ling Qi asked, not mocking, just curious.
She caught a faint smirk on his lips. It was very brief. "Why, her victory shows that it was the previous arrangement which was wrong, the aberration of correct order, no?"
"Victory needs no excuse?" Ling Qi wondered.
"So it has ever been," Lao Keung. "Everything works backward from victory."
"If I succeed then, will you bow your head and apologize for your doubt?" Ling Qi needled.
"Ah, so it is now 'I'. Disorderly indeed."
Ling Qi gave him an unimpressed look, and turned back to the descent. Down, further into the dark. Snowblossom was not a shallow lake, and was dense with life. Fish swam in dense clouds scattered only by the passage of larger beasts. But even these, great carp larger than men, undulating things that many meters long that lurked beneath the sands, and spirits of water invisible to the mortal eye but nonetheless present gave them a wide berth. Down here at the lake bottom great boulders and chunks of stone were studded with colonies of shellfish half formed from rime and dense water weed that made for waving forests in the deep.
They circled the perimeter of the lake, searching, but it was only in the depths where the traces grew thicker in the water.
"Like blood," Lao Keung said.
"You think?" Ling Qi wondered, the only spirit that might have been potent enough was that of the lake itself, which they'd only made the simplest of placating contact with, having not settled on proper rituals.
"Resemblance only, there would be more upheaval if the lake was wounded," Lao Keung said. "We are cautious people, Lady Ling."
She tilted her head.
"We've been promised better too many times. It is always a lie," he said, pausing by a heavy stone embedded in the muck, he brushed his hand over the rock sending up crystalline bubbles of shimmering color. "Obedience is safe, belief brings suffering.."
"You know that might be true, but you are not cautious," Ling Qi said, thinking back to the remarks she had heard him make, right in Meizhen's presence.
"Correct, Miss Ling is observant."
She was being made fun of a little, Ling Qi thought.
They pushed through a field of boulders and its forest of water plants and emerged in a great basin at the bottom of the lake. The distant thunder of the waterfall churning the surface came to them as a subtle vibration in the water. Here little obstructed their sight. There was only an open abyssal plain, flat and undulating.Fish and other beasts swam overhead but the deepest depths of the lake were serene and silent.
"Caution has its place," Ling Qi said. "I suppose an Elder of the Red Python would say that in the face of such a potent illusion retreat and communion would be best?"
Because this scoop of clear, serene water was a lie. She could taste and feel it. The traces of dense qi stopping so suddenly only made it obvious. They stood before the home of the spirit of Snowblossom Lake, and they were not welcome.
"Mm,likely," Lao Keung said. "You see something I do not?"
"You admit to being blind?"
"Dishonesty at work only makes the load heavier for all."
"Yes," Ling Qi agreed, drifting forward. "Do you know any rights of spirit propitiation, Lao Keung?"
"We have our ways, for the things beneath the notice of lords," Lao Keung observed, a few bubbles emerged from his lips as he crossed his arms. "Lakes are sedate and distant. Mountains in another form. They care little for small things.This lake is wild yet."
"It is, there's nothing to be gained in antagonizing it. This will be our home after all," Ling Qi observed, she drifted out into the clear water, reaching out, her hand skimmed across the surface of something, slick and wet like a soap bubble, wetting her previously dry fingers.
"Inaction is an action as well," Ling Qi said. "More people are coming soon."
"Truth. What do you choose then, priestess?" Lao Keung asked, tilting his head.
"Sixiang, will you let Xia Lin know that I am going to contact the lake spirit?" Ling Qi said.
"Oh boy," her muse chuckled. "Done. She's a little upset."
"I can wait a little while if she needs time. I don't think I want to leave this too long though," Ling Qi said.
"Why?" Lao Keung asked, not accusingly, just curious.
"I don't know what this substance is, but I prefer to resolve dangers where i can," Ling Qi said.
"Reporting back from Xia Lin, she asks for an hour to move everyone off the shore."
"Done," Ling Qi said. "You can leave if you like Lao Keung. Thank you for your assistance."
"What assistance is that? A few words on waterborne toxins? Hmph, I feel as if it were only an excuse to interrogate me," Lao Keung said.
"You were helpful," Ling Qi said. "I am not the best at tracking."
He narrowed his eyes.
She lowered her head. "Despite my brash words, I did not want to disturb the lake spirit without cause. I had hoped for a little more preparation in setting the tone for my relationship with such an important spirit. Thank you for helping me confirm it absolutely."
"What is your plan for that," he asked curiously, walking out beside her, he traced a hand through the water, liquid coiling around his fingers bubbling and frothing. "You do not have a village for a festival or procession. It has known only the passing of barbarians."
"It's not so different," Ling Qi said. "I can hear the echoes, gifts dropped from the sky, sacrifice of food and crafts, human effort and work and hope becomes food for the spirits. It needs to know that we will always be here though. That changes things."
"That is not an answer."
Ling Qi supposed it wasn't. She was not one for serenity. The importance of the pause and coda was obvious, but she was a creature of motion. Even her conception of Endings was not stillness.
But, despite that, want, art, desire. It all had to begin somewhere, the void of wanting, the blank canvas, the stillness that came before the storm.
[ ] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
[ ] Want would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of life, of people, dedication and sacrifice, of lives lived and fulfilled on the shore. (+1 Want XP, +1 Void XP)
Lao Keung grunted an acknowledgement. Ahead of her the water swiftly swallowed up his broad chest soaking into the cloth of his vest. "There are, I am sure you and your lord have heard the truth from Lady Bai."
"I find truth comes from many perspectives," Ling Qi replied. The water came up to her neck, and then another step down and it swallowed her head. She blinked once as her eyes went underwater, taking only a moment to adjust to the somewhat silty lake water. "I'd like yours, the Red Bai's."
The words carried, undistorted, it was trivial to draw air from the water, and transform it into a medium for speech, it generated a few bubbles, but some modulation of the vibrations prevented any distortion.
Lao Keung turned to face her, his boots churning up sluggish clouds around his feet. Unlike her the water clearly touched him, though he seemed unbothered by it. Where she floated he stood on the bottom like a pillar of stone. "Why?"
"I'm just a naive foreigner, but surely the children of the Red Python have their own way of seeing the world. Will you humor me?" Ling Qi asked.
She drifted along after him as they descended the slope toward the bed, where the water flowed out into the continuation of the river. She didn't press him further as they moved around clumps of water weed and flashing schools of fish.
"Disorderly. You are all disorderly. Confused and confusing, lacking discipline," Lao Keung finally said. "The Celestial Peaks are more sensible, but in the Emerald Seas it has been so long since you were ruled properly that none here knows their place. Those are the thoughts of my Elders."
"It would probably be insulting to take that as a compliment, wouldn't it?" Ling Qi said.
Lao Keung grunted noncommittally. "We are the blade and the armored fist, the crushing coils of the python. It is not our lot to decide what is insulting, only to punish it, should the White Serpent decide it is so."
Ling Qi's head slowly tilted to the side as she drifted in front of him, gown and hair drifting as if in a slow breeze. "And a fist which starts deciding things may strike something undesired?"
"There you have it," Lao Keung replied, stepping around her, the light from above glinted off the scale patterns which marked his muscular arms. "The world is ordered as it is for a reason, to seek or think outside of your place invites only suffering and chaos. Witness Sun Shao, the Twilight King, the Strife of the Twin Emperors. All arose from individuals refusing to accept their roles. So too with us, our ancestor refused to bend the knee to her elder as was the White Queen's right, and nearly shattered Yao's kingdom. No good comes from stepping beyond your role."
"And what do you think?" Ling Qi asked.
"We're here, I do detect traces of dense qi," Lao Keung replied, seemingly choosing not to hear her question.
Ling Qi hummed and turned her eyes to the task at hand. There was something, it registered as faint sparkles among the murk to her senses, like particulates of glass mixed with the mud and sand. Ling Qi gestured and silver light flickered in the murk, like the scales of schooling fish. As she examined the shifting currents, Lao Keung knelt on the riverbed, digging is fingers into the silt.
"Would it be fair to say that the Red Python are uncomfortable with this alliance then?" Ling Qi asked absently.
"Do you not focus on the task before you?"
"Are you so limited, at your realm and stage?" Ling Qi asked innocently.
He squinted up at her through the water, she smiled back.
"The source of dense qi doesn't seem to be active right now, these traces are breaking down," Ling Qi said.
"Sourced from the water, not the earth. It is not an earth-metal toxin," Lao Keung grunted, standing up. He began to walk away from the river, down into the deeper expanse of the lakebed.
She drifted after him in a wide circle, flitting through the shadows cast by tall stalks of waterweed.
"It is the hope among some that your Duchess has finally mastered this place, and that Lady Suzhen, in her wisdom, sees this and supports the greater ordering of things."
Ling Qi considered this as they began to descend further, leaving the mirror like surface of the lake further behind. The darkness grew deeper even as the murk of the shallower waters settled, leaving the waters clear and still and black.
"Didn't she rise against her role though? Upend the way things were?" Ling Qi asked, not mocking, just curious.
She caught a faint smirk on his lips. It was very brief. "Why, her victory shows that it was the previous arrangement which was wrong, the aberration of correct order, no?"
"Victory needs no excuse?" Ling Qi wondered.
"So it has ever been," Lao Keung. "Everything works backward from victory."
"If I succeed then, will you bow your head and apologize for your doubt?" Ling Qi needled.
"Ah, so it is now 'I'. Disorderly indeed."
Ling Qi gave him an unimpressed look, and turned back to the descent. Down, further into the dark. Snowblossom was not a shallow lake, and was dense with life. Fish swam in dense clouds scattered only by the passage of larger beasts. But even these, great carp larger than men, undulating things that many meters long that lurked beneath the sands, and spirits of water invisible to the mortal eye but nonetheless present gave them a wide berth. Down here at the lake bottom great boulders and chunks of stone were studded with colonies of shellfish half formed from rime and dense water weed that made for waving forests in the deep.
They circled the perimeter of the lake, searching, but it was only in the depths where the traces grew thicker in the water.
"Like blood," Lao Keung said.
"You think?" Ling Qi wondered, the only spirit that might have been potent enough was that of the lake itself, which they'd only made the simplest of placating contact with, having not settled on proper rituals.
"Resemblance only, there would be more upheaval if the lake was wounded," Lao Keung said. "We are cautious people, Lady Ling."
She tilted her head.
"We've been promised better too many times. It is always a lie," he said, pausing by a heavy stone embedded in the muck, he brushed his hand over the rock sending up crystalline bubbles of shimmering color. "Obedience is safe, belief brings suffering.."
"You know that might be true, but you are not cautious," Ling Qi said, thinking back to the remarks she had heard him make, right in Meizhen's presence.
"Correct, Miss Ling is observant."
She was being made fun of a little, Ling Qi thought.
They pushed through a field of boulders and its forest of water plants and emerged in a great basin at the bottom of the lake. The distant thunder of the waterfall churning the surface came to them as a subtle vibration in the water. Here little obstructed their sight. There was only an open abyssal plain, flat and undulating.Fish and other beasts swam overhead but the deepest depths of the lake were serene and silent.
"Caution has its place," Ling Qi said. "I suppose an Elder of the Red Python would say that in the face of such a potent illusion retreat and communion would be best?"
Because this scoop of clear, serene water was a lie. She could taste and feel it. The traces of dense qi stopping so suddenly only made it obvious. They stood before the home of the spirit of Snowblossom Lake, and they were not welcome.
"Mm,likely," Lao Keung said. "You see something I do not?"
"You admit to being blind?"
"Dishonesty at work only makes the load heavier for all."
"Yes," Ling Qi agreed, drifting forward. "Do you know any rights of spirit propitiation, Lao Keung?"
"We have our ways, for the things beneath the notice of lords," Lao Keung observed, a few bubbles emerged from his lips as he crossed his arms. "Lakes are sedate and distant. Mountains in another form. They care little for small things.This lake is wild yet."
"It is, there's nothing to be gained in antagonizing it. This will be our home after all," Ling Qi observed, she drifted out into the clear water, reaching out, her hand skimmed across the surface of something, slick and wet like a soap bubble, wetting her previously dry fingers.
"Inaction is an action as well," Ling Qi said. "More people are coming soon."
"Truth. What do you choose then, priestess?" Lao Keung asked, tilting his head.
"Sixiang, will you let Xia Lin know that I am going to contact the lake spirit?" Ling Qi said.
"Oh boy," her muse chuckled. "Done. She's a little upset."
"I can wait a little while if she needs time. I don't think I want to leave this too long though," Ling Qi said.
"Why?" Lao Keung asked, not accusingly, just curious.
"I don't know what this substance is, but I prefer to resolve dangers where i can," Ling Qi said.
"Reporting back from Xia Lin, she asks for an hour to move everyone off the shore."
"Done," Ling Qi said. "You can leave if you like Lao Keung. Thank you for your assistance."
"What assistance is that? A few words on waterborne toxins? Hmph, I feel as if it were only an excuse to interrogate me," Lao Keung said.
"You were helpful," Ling Qi said. "I am not the best at tracking."
He narrowed his eyes.
She lowered her head. "Despite my brash words, I did not want to disturb the lake spirit without cause. I had hoped for a little more preparation in setting the tone for my relationship with such an important spirit. Thank you for helping me confirm it absolutely."
"What is your plan for that," he asked curiously, walking out beside her, he traced a hand through the water, liquid coiling around his fingers bubbling and frothing. "You do not have a village for a festival or procession. It has known only the passing of barbarians."
"It's not so different," Ling Qi said. "I can hear the echoes, gifts dropped from the sky, sacrifice of food and crafts, human effort and work and hope becomes food for the spirits. It needs to know that we will always be here though. That changes things."
"That is not an answer."
Ling Qi supposed it wasn't. She was not one for serenity. The importance of the pause and coda was obvious, but she was a creature of motion. Even her conception of Endings was not stillness.
But, despite that, want, art, desire. It all had to begin somewhere, the void of wanting, the blank canvas, the stillness that came before the storm.
[ ] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
[ ] Want would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of life, of people, dedication and sacrifice, of lives lived and fulfilled on the shore. (+1 Want XP, +1 Void XP)
- Location
- scrabbling
Creation is not LQ's thing. She doesn't make things, she takes and changes and keeps. Grinning, Dreaming, Hidden, in that order, in my view.
Creation is one of her concepts, so by definition it is one of her things, if I understand how this domain thing works correctly. And if it's picked now the concept will advance to the third level.
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NoxOfUmbra
Shadow of the night
- Location
- Colombia, South América
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
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- Location
- Central Europe
I think we shouldn't chose this based on concept levels. Both Creation and Want are candidates to become LQ's conceptual counterbalance to Void. Good chances this will shape how LQ perceives Void. A empty space waiting to be used vs. a hole needing to be filled.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Nah, art is fundamentally Creation and that's under Dreaming. And Ling Qi is very much an artist as well as a thief.
This is a good thought, but just makes me want to vote Creation even more.
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Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'ved need read the chapter yet, but
[ ] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
This. Creation needs one more XP to get to Rank III
[ ] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
This. Creation needs one more XP to get to Rank III
Setting aside concept levels, I'm still in favour of the first option. Weilu-flavoured festivals GOOOO!
- Location
- Europe
I'm not sure Ling Qi can promise plenty, even if she aspires to it.
But this is all but certain, people living their lives, good and bad, is only natural.
[ ] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
To offer wealth, music and art in sacrifice. Convincing the lake that we have value because we have value. Likely expensive, and thus difficult in hard times. To dedicate efforts to creating something of value to give to the lake spirit, and thus enrich it.
Rituals and festivals that celebrate for celebration.
[ ] Want would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of life, of people, dedication and sacrifice, of lives lived and fulfilled on the shore. (+1 Want XP, +1 Void XP)
To offer labor and commitment in sacrifice. A show of effort, endurance of pains, to prove that we're in it for the long haul. Theres lots of options for this, the dedication of heavy loads to be carried by mortals as sacrifice, flagellation, immersion in painfully cold waters in winter, or the old classic of blood.
To forge a connection that declares that adversity will not stop us.
Both should work fine, but I think a creative festival where poetry and artwork are created and sacrificed for the spirit would fit our work with Hanyi better.
To offer wealth, music and art in sacrifice. Convincing the lake that we have value because we have value. Likely expensive, and thus difficult in hard times. To dedicate efforts to creating something of value to give to the lake spirit, and thus enrich it.
Rituals and festivals that celebrate for celebration.
[ ] Want would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of life, of people, dedication and sacrifice, of lives lived and fulfilled on the shore. (+1 Want XP, +1 Void XP)
To offer labor and commitment in sacrifice. A show of effort, endurance of pains, to prove that we're in it for the long haul. Theres lots of options for this, the dedication of heavy loads to be carried by mortals as sacrifice, flagellation, immersion in painfully cold waters in winter, or the old classic of blood.
To forge a connection that declares that adversity will not stop us.
Both should work fine, but I think a creative festival where poetry and artwork are created and sacrificed for the spirit would fit our work with Hanyi better.
CharlieKing
Pure of Heart, Dumb of Ass
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
- Location
- USA
[ ] Want would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of life, of people, dedication and sacrifice, of lives lived and fulfilled on the shore. (+1 Want XP, +1 Void XP)
People making sacrifices every day. Small words before setting out. Dedication of labor. Like prayers to thrice-girdled, ox-eyed Salacia. Every sailor made them, 'please stay the Sea's wrath,' they crooned and worshiped and prayed and begged, 'keep the Stormcaller calm o' great Queen of the Sea. Let my nets fill with fish. Keep me from drowning. Beautiful Lady, please, keep me in your care.'
Also work along the shore is much more in line with what is happening now and for a considerable amount of time in the future. A re-negotiation later to a proper festival makes much more sense, imo.
Edit: I was convinced.
[X] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
People making sacrifices every day. Small words before setting out. Dedication of labor. Like prayers to thrice-girdled, ox-eyed Salacia. Every sailor made them, 'please stay the Sea's wrath,' they crooned and worshiped and prayed and begged, 'keep the Stormcaller calm o' great Queen of the Sea. Let my nets fill with fish. Keep me from drowning. Beautiful Lady, please, keep me in your care.'
Also work along the shore is much more in line with what is happening now and for a considerable amount of time in the future. A re-negotiation later to a proper festival makes much more sense, imo.
Edit: I was convinced.
[X] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
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Want is the better one imo, we can't promise prosperity anyways.
I'm much more interested in exploring Void from the perspective of Want than Creation. I don't like the idea that Void is something that needs to be filled by Creation, rather it's a question of what if anything should fill it and the deeply personal pull of desire. Plenty and prosperity is nice but it's a lot cooler to give people what they lack and deep down desire. Instead of throwing a sacrifice of gifts and plenty into the lake, let the people of this land send their wishes and thanks into the waters.
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This is Ling Qi's latest creation concept. Picking the choice that gives Creation XP is about denying the lake spirit's Isolation and fear of loneliness.
Ripples is about the meaning of Isolation in the Infinite dark, when you're all alone. Picking Creation for it works imo. It's the journey that matters, not the beginning or end. It's bringing forth beauty, like our FVM says
It's not about bringing needing to be expensive or whatever. Festivals don't need to be expensive. It can just be people celebrating things. Like with the revelry we saw in Xiangmen. And sacrifice doesn't have to ve expensive. It can just be small gifts of meaning, like woth Hanyi.
Plus, we recently had a talk about sacrifice with Granny, and she said we should ponder it. I'd like to see how that goes.
Plus, you know, getting Creation to rank III. We have no sources for Creation when it's linked to our FSS insight. I hope to change that. We know how the journey changes, ages, rots and Ends. We know how the Ending can bring silence for new things to grow. But we haven't really actualized it. This seems like a good way to do so, especially after we created FFS and decided some things must End.
[ ] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
Edit: Also, some cool arguments for Creation.
Okay, so looking at the options:
[ ] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
[ ] Want would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of life, of people, dedication and sacrifice, of lives lived and fulfilled on the shore. (+1 Want XP, +1 Void XP)
So, both options promise two things. Both of them promise sacrifice, and both of them promise persistence and staying.
Creation though, focuses on festivals and art, while Want focuses on effort
Creation is specifically for festivals and little sacrifices, like what Hanyi received, while Want is about always being there, and working alongside it.
To me, one seems more active and more engaging than the other, and that's Creation. We're actively celebrating it and giving it things, and it'll help set a new tradition and festival for our clan in stone. We're already going to be there because this is our fief and it's a challenge from Shenhua. Promising that feels a bit cheap IMO. But actually gifting a festival seems more engaging and focused than that. There are many beautiful lake festivals that present beauty and art.
And there's some speculation that Creation will make the lake more materialistic, but there's literally an omake (not written by Yrs, but in the sidestory category) that has something built on the Creation part.
Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny) Original - Users' Choice!
First Quest, Forge of Destiny, here Ling Qi stood at the edge of the grass grown cliff and...forums.sufficientvelocity.com
Ling Qi is building a clan of artists. Deciding to build and create art together with the lake fits that imo.
And as said earlier, this will be a good way to finally bridge the gap in Ling Qi's understanding. She knows Abundance encourages creation. She knows abundance perpetuates creation, and that creation denies Isolation, like what the lake is feeling because ultimately, creation is about expression.
But she also knows that as more things get created, things change. They age, and they rot. And finally, they End, so that new things can grow. She understands why there needs to be Stillness and silence too, to clear a blank slate. But she hasn't really explored anything past that transitory state, how the darkness and emptiness births new things, which will then create even more new things. She hasn't actualized the Big Bang! This is an opportunity to do that, one which we don't get often, since we have zero sources of Creation, and many sources of Want.
And it works so well narratively too. First, she thought about Endings in Sea of Dreams, and how sometimes, things must End to bring in new things. Then, she really actualized those thoughts when creating FFS, about how Ending is a transitionary state to bring in new things, but she didn't think about Creation and continuing it. Then, the last update, she thought about the Ending even more, and how it counts for Stillness because sometimes you need that. And now, this can lead to thinking about how the momentary Stillness needed leads to Creation, which rejects Isolation.
So I'm voting for
[X] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
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- Location
- Boston
[X] Creation would be her promise to the lake spirit. The promise of plenty and beauty, of festival and sacrifice. To bring forth beauty from nothing. (+1 Creation XP, +1 Void XP)
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I don't want to be that guy, and I understand that some of us might not be awake when it actually opens, but there's a two hour waiting period.
Voting starts at 00:27.