Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
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.
Any ideas for how we're going to investigate Jin Tae and find out if he's on the level, or if he's here to sabotage a chance at peaceful interactions with foreigners? Ask Shu Yue for tips? They're an expert in sneaking, skulking, and other fuck-fuck games like that.
Eh, was gonna discuss a bit more, but vote's locked so no real point.
If anything, the opposite is true, where the arm's length approach has a higher chance of demanding an action commitment if some sort of Problems arise. Because there isn't the same baseline to work from. I don't rate it as a high likelihood either way, though.
This is a quick and easy one. I'm not sure this analysis matches what we see. In the vote options, it's described as including Jin Tae in stuff we're already doing. So at least in terms of AP, you wouldn't expect any cost there.
If anything, the opposite is true, where the arm's length approach has a higher chance of demanding an action commitment if some sort of Problems arise. Because there isn't the same baseline to work from. I don't rate it as a high likelihood either way, though.
- Location
- Finland
If you think we get a change of converting MoI asset to our cause without any AP spent, well, i applaud your optimism.
Now we probably will have to spend more, if we choose to try to convert them, than what we would otherwise have, but on the flip side i would have expected having to spend more AP mitigating any issues they would have cause in the duration, and even more so if we failed in the conversion attempt.
Now we probably will have to spend more, if we choose to try to convert them, than what we would otherwise have, but on the flip side i would have expected having to spend more AP mitigating any issues they would have cause in the duration, and even more so if we failed in the conversion attempt.
- Pronouns
- He
I personally like the option to be more open because it seems like it would fit our muse-style communication art rather than the hidden moon-style polite formal mask
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Huh. I never considered that, actually. It fits well.
[ ] Take a close approach, allow him into the decision and planning loop of most of their actions. Keep him close, and maybe, just maybe outright convince him that you're right.
[ ] You can't be fully sure of Jin Tae's intentions, given his family and work. Keep communication professional and arms length. There is too much to risk here
I guess that's another thing to look forward to next update. Gotta see if this influences one of our social traits.
[ ] Take a close approach, allow him into the decision and planning loop of most of their actions. Keep him close, and maybe, just maybe outright convince him that you're right.
[ ] You can't be fully sure of Jin Tae's intentions, given his family and work. Keep communication professional and arms length. There is too much to risk here
I guess that's another thing to look forward to next update. Gotta see if this influences one of our social traits.
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So, Yrs recently updated the front page, so we finally know FFS' keywords:
So, we can fully double it without omake points if the project is /3 or /5.
Also, I'm very glad it has Persistence as a keyword. It means can probably get Persistence XP from it! And Creation is no longer an antithesis word, so maybe, just maybe, we can get some Creation XP from it too.
Thinking about it, it makes sense why it has the Persistence keyword.
Persistence directly ties into Cycles and their impermanence. And it asserts things only last due to exertion of (the old's) will, so when the old finally die, we get change because there's a new cycle!
I'm not sure why *Power* is an antithesis, but maybe it's related to Power's absolute nature contradicting with the end and death of old and powerful?
I'm really excited about this. If things go well and we have a 0/3 or 0/5 project that gives either Persistence, Endings, Cycles, (or maybe Creation), we can rank each of them up.
Edit: Also, apparently FFS does not have a description because we're still working on it. We're supposed to come up with that description and shape it. So there's more fun and excitement coming up
So, we can fully double it without omake points if the project is /3 or /5.
Also, I'm very glad it has Persistence as a keyword. It means can probably get Persistence XP from it! And Creation is no longer an antithesis word, so maybe, just maybe, we can get some Creation XP from it too.
Thinking about it, it makes sense why it has the Persistence keyword.
Persistence directly ties into Cycles and their impermanence. And it asserts things only last due to exertion of (the old's) will, so when the old finally die, we get change because there's a new cycle!
I'm not sure why *Power* is an antithesis, but maybe it's related to Power's absolute nature contradicting with the end and death of old and powerful?
I'm really excited about this. If things go well and we have a 0/3 or 0/5 project that gives either Persistence, Endings, Cycles, (or maybe Creation), we can rank each of them up.
Edit: Also, apparently FFS does not have a description because we're still working on it. We're supposed to come up with that description and shape it. So there's more fun and excitement coming up
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'll reiterate that two of the Traits on the sheet are still wrong. Vanishing should be 9 (11) and Inquisitive Eyes should be 7 (11).
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's been fixed
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It has indeed been fixed between my post and yours. Awesome.
Converting him is basically besides the point. A bonus stretch goal which was self-admitted unrealistic. It's also just a weird binary.
Regardless of our choice, we want something from the MoI. Specifically, we want to influence their opinion of us. We want them to consider our project at least tolerable. This is a preference, a thing of value that we'd like to secure.
The challenge of the approach to Jin Tae that we've now picked is how it interacts with character dynamics and narrative structures to make that more difficult. Here's the issue, Jin Tae is assigned to us for day-to-day concerns, while Cao Chun reserved oversight on significant matters. We've decided to not engage with Jin Tae substantively on the day-to-day concerns, we're cutting him out of the loop to the degree that's feasible without causing insult. This directly reduces our ability to influence MoI disposition through our primary contact. In fact, it makes Jin Tae's status as our primary contact pretty dubious. If we're glossing over the matters that are in Jin Tae's realm of authority, the "small things", then it's only the big issues where we'll be meaningfully interfacing with the MoI delegation. And that's under Cao Chun's direct purview. He's a 5th+ realm veteran spymaster with an entire apparatus of agents at his disposal, there's nothing we can do to interact with the guy other than listen politely and beg. We don't want people like these as our(effective) primary contacts for factions. It's extremely limiting to the narrative options and opportunities available.
Contacts we're wholly powerless against make for boring, frustrating, or unearned outcomes, and it throttles Ling Qi's willingness and ability to take actual actions in pursuit of actual goals.
And no, before anyone suggests it, we shouldn't be writing off factions entirely at this stage. That's just silly, and it conflicts with Ling Qi's determinations in this very most recent update.
- Location
- Finland
And one of those ways is to spin anything we do in such a way that they will accept our actions.
Which will be much harder to do if they are privy to decision making process.
So bringing Jin Tae in would make it more difficult in some ways, unless we managed to convert them.
You are making a fundamental mistake regarding Jin Tae's narrative role: he is an antagonist. As such his job is to add a complicating factor to our existing plans through the exercise of his own agency. This might not be intentional on the part of the antagonist but, given the framing involved, it probably will be for Jin Tae in particular.
If Yrs does not have Jin Tae exercise agency and instead has him passively accept our decisions then that is a failure of writing. He should be snooping around, confronting us on decisions that we were trying to keep from him, building alliances to try to force our hand in negotiations towards what he finds acceptable, and so on as appropriate for what he has figured out of our plans and what he feels the stakes are.
We have merely decided the context that this conflict will play out in: a series of professional interactions between our allies and Jin Tae. He should be a continued thorn in our side regardless.
Your criticism would make sense for a more neutral, supporting character but Jin Tae is not (or at shouldn't be) that.
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With the turn being almost over, I've been thinking about cultivation options. It is my understanding that the summit itself will take place after turn 18, which means we have six cultivation projects before the big sitdown. Not sure which projects should be taken in which turn, but my preferences would be:
That leaves two slots I'm unsure of. Probably filled with FFS, if we're doing one of its projects every turn.
Not doing Hidden Scribe in tandem with Paying Respects feels indecent.
An advanced insight based on the Nature Of The Human Condition sounds like something Ling Qi could really use for a diplomatic summit. Plus, Sixiang trying to get her to confront her intimacy issues is a plot thread that's been hanging for so long it would be silly to ignore it for much longer.
"Where lies the line between beasts and men, which brings us to war?" The flavour text sounds like it'll help Ling Qi mentally prepare for the summit.
Oliver has pointed out that if Bastion isn't done before Ling Qi loses access to her Argent Vent it'll be a pain in the arse to get it done, and leaving Ling Qi's "talk with grumpy spirits" art unfinished when that's exactly what she'll be doing for the longest time when setting up her fief feels almost criminally negligent.
That leaves two slots I'm unsure of. Probably filled with FFS, if we're doing one of its projects every turn.
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Turn 16: Arc 5-6
There was an appeal in reaching out, trying to find if there was something there she could speak too. It was her first impulse even. But in the end she had to consider the practicalities. The Jin were opposed to both the Bai and the Xuan, their closest external allies, who she already had friends in. While she couldn't say that was an intractable problem. It absolutely wasn't one she could afford to spend the time working on right now. In the end it was another way in which she simply wasn't strong enough yet.
And while Cai Renxiang would ultimately decide things tonight when they gave their reports, she also knew her suggestions would have a great weight. For now it would be best to treat the Ministry and the throne with the respect they were due, but she couldn't afford to give them too close an eye into their decisions.
"It is not. Only the Great Spirits can see things so far ahead," Ling Qi said. "We, who live here on the ground and under the sky, should focus on what we can see."
He laughed covering his mouth with his hand. "Well said. Truly, did I not know any better, I would think you a scion of the old blood in these lands. Let me compliment you on your thorough assimilation, Baroness."
Ling Qi pursed her lips, she couldn't pick out his intentions in those words. Sixiang found them ambiguous too. In her gut, she felt it was a little backhanded though. "I have been a thorough student."
"Indeed one should," he said agreeably. "One's immediate environment cannot be ignored."
She nodded. "Regardless, should we proceed to the meeting hall above? We should arrange our reporting schedule, and I will need to hear your requirements, so that Lady Cai may hear them and decide if they may be accommodated."
She spoke very formally, never looking away from his face. Her language was very deliberate. The Ministry had power here, but it was not in charge.
He gave a narrow eyed smile in return, and tipped his head to her. "Yes, Baroness. Let us keep everything in order.
On a more personal level, once they had decided it, Lady Cai would have her provide Jin Tae with their diplomatic strategy and what immediate steps they would take, and promise to consider any advice which Cao Chun passed through Jin Tae in return.
Advice, consider, 'items of interest', these words and phrases were and would be doing a great deal of work, Ling Qi thought grimly.
"If you guys abused words any harder I might have to call the language guardians," Sixiang chuckled silently as they made their way out of the embassy house.
Was that actually a thing? Ling Qi wondered. Spirits attached to the sanctity of language.
"Nnnnot really, human words change their meaning and character too swiftly," Sixiang replied more seriously. "And they're too closely attached to you guys to have their own will. Can't I make even one joke without you having to be all serious about it."
"No," Ling Qi said blandly. Drawing a nervous glance from the group of workers on the bridge span as she crossed it, some inches off the partially built structure. As she stepped down from the air onto the ground on the other side, she paused. The wind was blowing strangely.
She tilted her head as a sourceless breeze tugged at her hair, carrying with it the faint cry of a crow. Convenient. She'd begun to worry that she would have to work out how to contact the foreigners without invitation. Being on the edge of troublesome in their timing was a foible of all cultivators of divination it seemed.
"Upon your road south, beyond its end, approaching the base of the Haven, in the circle of five stones."
Ling Qi closed her eyes, considering the picture she had built in her head by flying above, seeing through eyes of silver that she surrounded herself with. She nodded her head and took a turn to the left, where she knew the road would end. She had already seen and noted a gap in the trees there, and glimpsed stones similar to the warding stones they used.
It did not take terribly long to leave the imperial road and enter the still unorganized woods. The sounds of life were still muted and distant, hidden under the sounds of movement and construction. That was no different in the south. The road she found there might be more winding, a trench dug and filled with gravel against straight gleaming stone, but it was still a road.
And the circle of stones was no less impressive. Each stone was smaller than an imperial wardstone. Over the road, an arch made by three heavy blocks of smoothed rock, and another arch on the other side. Three other stones arrayed around, steles carved with meticulous pictographs and murals rather than flowing script.
Waiting for her there were several people. The only one she immediately recognized was the Emissary Khadne, who had arrived at the tail end of their visit to the foreigners realm. She was from the White Sky's Sibiar clan-or tribe depending how one wished to portray it- which was the clan which had once inhabited the northern mountains of the wall. The Ones Tsu had supposed contacted long ago.
As such, Ling Qi was hardly surprised to see her hear as her clan would have to be a major player in this whatever their position in the larger confederation. Emissary Khadne was a woman of middling height and thick build, dressed in what were, to Ling Qi's eyes, mannish clothes and heavy furs in the green and white colors of her tribe. Her complexion was similar to Ling Qi's and she wore her dark brown hair in thick braids looped and bound at the back of her head.
"Emissary Ling Qi, an old crow carried to me words of your arrival and wish to speak," The older woman said formally. Much of thick accent had been stripped from her speech from last time. Ling Qi had no doubt that she had cultivated understanding of the Imperial language as thoroughly as Ling Qi had cultivated understanding of theirs.
"It is well past time," said the woman who stood to Khadne's right. "Not even the most meager offering of bread and water has been given, and only the most perfunctory words of welcome."
She was as tall as Ling Qi herself, with a complexion that was a few shades lighter. She wore a black dress, with embroidery in red and gold down the front, which was mostly straight lines but held imagery of stylized vines and leaves between them. Over this she wore a hip length mantle of white and gold, and on her head she wore a wrap of dark red cloth, from which emerged long untamed brown hair. She had fierce eyes and a hawkish nose. Ling Qi could feel the tingling of her examination in her senses.
"There must be some acceptance of strangeness," Khadne said. "I must assume that your people do not consider us guests as of yet, with both our houses yet unbuilt."
"That is so, and I apologize for any offense. For my people this event is unheard of," she said. She had to stop herself from bowing. She'd discovered looking back on her memories that it was seen as odd or inappropriately submissive. "May I know to whom else I speak?"
Naturally she asked in their own language, to show some respect still.
"The one who has spoken is the Emissary Dzintara," Khadne said, gesturing to the other woman. Dzintara gave only a short, sharp nod.
"And I am Rustam, and this my wife Inzhu," said one of the two standing on Khadne's other side. The man who spoke was short and wide, wearing an odd cloth hat with a bushy fur rim that threatened to consume his head, he had a thin mustache and face pockmarked with scars, burns mostly if she had to guess. He wore robes of brown and black, with as much leather as cloth in their construction. The woman beside him, presumably the wife he had introduced, was different.
She was taller than her husband but shorter than Ling Qi, but she wore a very strange conical hat, marked with regular geometric symbols, from the caps tip a white veil spilled down around her back and shoulders. The rest of her dress bore similar markings and the whole thing had more color than her husbands, being mostly silvers and blues, among the layers of the gown, which were not much less intricate than Ling Qi's own dress.
"The Gessiar people believe that only a man and woman together may make a complete Emissary," Khadne said.
"Of course this would be unfamiliar, this is why you must sometimes let others speak first, husband," the woman said. She spoke more softly than the other Emissary's Ling Qi had met, and if she closed her eyes, she could perhaps imagine that she were speaking to a Lady of the Imperial Court.
"Momentary confusion at worst!" Rostam said, chortling. "Hardly a spot on such a wait."
He was being kinder about it, but Ling Qi recognized that the complaint was not really dismissed entirely. "Many preparations are made, our house is not yet ready to receive you. This land, which is no ones, is merely a camp."
"It is quite a thing, your camps, that you would carve the mountains like a slain boar to make it," Dzintara observed dryly.
"The General is passionate about our defense. We do stand near to hostile territory," Ling Qi said calmly. "But it is the lack of communication which I am here to remedy. I offer you my welcome Emissaries, and should you wish it I am prepared to break bread with you."
That was something she had decided to put in her storage ring after speaking to Xuan Shi and reviewing her own memories. Sharing of food as an initial gesture of good will was common across many groups.
"That's well enough then isn't?" asked Rostam, pushing up the brim of his hat. "Two strangers camping on the same plain, that is more what we are no? If we've seen each others fires now, that will do."
"As you like," said Dzintara, not sounding too convinced.
Khadne clapped her hands. "That will do, Emissary Ling Qi. But let me first complete our introductions here. Here with me, Emissary Rostam and Inzhu, and Emissary Dzintara represent our connections with the other confederations of our nation, in the west, in the east, the Seared Lands Confederation-"
Here Rostam nodded, and Inzhu inclined her head.
"-And the Tangled Pines Confederation in the west."
Emissary Dzintara acknowledged this with a nod.
Ling Qi lowered her head a little to both sides. "Will there be a representative from the South as well? I recall that is the direction of your capital."
There was a beat of silence, and none of the women showed any change of expression. There was only a faint curl at the corners of Rostam's lips, as if he found her words amusing.
"The Glittering City does not intend to interfere," Khadne said formally.
Ling Qi considered this. "Then in the spirit of openness, I will inform you that our Empress has sent observers. The Emerald Seas however, remains in authority over these negotiations."
She watched their faces as she spoke but, although a few glances were shared back and forth, and Dzintara's eyes narrowed in consideration nothing else was given away.
"What role, these observers?" Emissary Inzhu asked quietly.
"Similar to your old crows… I think. They will watch for things that soldiers might not see," Ling Qi said carefully.
"Understandable," Khadne said. "We are yet strangers, meeting in unclaimed land."
"Yes. In addition to representatives of the Emerald Seas other clans, there will be representatives of two of what you would call our Confederations, with a third that is observing," Meizhen and Xuan Shi, plus she had to account for Zheng Fu now. "I do not believe they are as close as what you have implied for yourselves…"
Another glance between them. "The Gessiar are both White Sky and Seared Land," Inzhu provided.
"So it is with my Latia, and the Tangled Pine," Dzintara added.
"I thought as much. The ones I speak of are allies, but not part of us," Ling Qi said.
"Hm, all of this sounds like hungry discussion," Rostam said, rocking a bit on his heels. "Shall we have it over our bread?"
"I can agree to this," Dzintara agreed.
"As do I," said Khadne
"Very well then," Ling Qi said. "I believe I observed a large enough clearing some distance north and east of here, please follow me."
They gave her some curious looks, but didn't object.
Now Ling Qi only had to decide what avenue of information she was going to pursue. There would only be time for a limited number of meetings before the summit proper.
[ ] Seek out information on history and culture to better understand the forces at play here. (better understanding of the factions within the White Sky their disposition, and potential cultural flashpoints)
[ ] Seek out information on material things, structures of government and institutions at play here.(better understanding of the likely material demands and potential flashpoints of conflict between your institutions)
And while Cai Renxiang would ultimately decide things tonight when they gave their reports, she also knew her suggestions would have a great weight. For now it would be best to treat the Ministry and the throne with the respect they were due, but she couldn't afford to give them too close an eye into their decisions.
"It is not. Only the Great Spirits can see things so far ahead," Ling Qi said. "We, who live here on the ground and under the sky, should focus on what we can see."
He laughed covering his mouth with his hand. "Well said. Truly, did I not know any better, I would think you a scion of the old blood in these lands. Let me compliment you on your thorough assimilation, Baroness."
Ling Qi pursed her lips, she couldn't pick out his intentions in those words. Sixiang found them ambiguous too. In her gut, she felt it was a little backhanded though. "I have been a thorough student."
"Indeed one should," he said agreeably. "One's immediate environment cannot be ignored."
She nodded. "Regardless, should we proceed to the meeting hall above? We should arrange our reporting schedule, and I will need to hear your requirements, so that Lady Cai may hear them and decide if they may be accommodated."
She spoke very formally, never looking away from his face. Her language was very deliberate. The Ministry had power here, but it was not in charge.
He gave a narrow eyed smile in return, and tipped his head to her. "Yes, Baroness. Let us keep everything in order.
***
She spent the better part of the next our with Jin Tae in the partially constructed meeting hall aboveground, speaking about the procedure for their interaction. She and Jin Tae would be the primary point of contact. He would be present during the arrangement of work team cooperation and any sharing of military planning, and he assured her that he would have latitude to approve decisions within certain limits. They would proceed from there.On a more personal level, once they had decided it, Lady Cai would have her provide Jin Tae with their diplomatic strategy and what immediate steps they would take, and promise to consider any advice which Cao Chun passed through Jin Tae in return.
Advice, consider, 'items of interest', these words and phrases were and would be doing a great deal of work, Ling Qi thought grimly.
"If you guys abused words any harder I might have to call the language guardians," Sixiang chuckled silently as they made their way out of the embassy house.
Was that actually a thing? Ling Qi wondered. Spirits attached to the sanctity of language.
"Nnnnot really, human words change their meaning and character too swiftly," Sixiang replied more seriously. "And they're too closely attached to you guys to have their own will. Can't I make even one joke without you having to be all serious about it."
"No," Ling Qi said blandly. Drawing a nervous glance from the group of workers on the bridge span as she crossed it, some inches off the partially built structure. As she stepped down from the air onto the ground on the other side, she paused. The wind was blowing strangely.
She tilted her head as a sourceless breeze tugged at her hair, carrying with it the faint cry of a crow. Convenient. She'd begun to worry that she would have to work out how to contact the foreigners without invitation. Being on the edge of troublesome in their timing was a foible of all cultivators of divination it seemed.
"Upon your road south, beyond its end, approaching the base of the Haven, in the circle of five stones."
Ling Qi closed her eyes, considering the picture she had built in her head by flying above, seeing through eyes of silver that she surrounded herself with. She nodded her head and took a turn to the left, where she knew the road would end. She had already seen and noted a gap in the trees there, and glimpsed stones similar to the warding stones they used.
It did not take terribly long to leave the imperial road and enter the still unorganized woods. The sounds of life were still muted and distant, hidden under the sounds of movement and construction. That was no different in the south. The road she found there might be more winding, a trench dug and filled with gravel against straight gleaming stone, but it was still a road.
And the circle of stones was no less impressive. Each stone was smaller than an imperial wardstone. Over the road, an arch made by three heavy blocks of smoothed rock, and another arch on the other side. Three other stones arrayed around, steles carved with meticulous pictographs and murals rather than flowing script.
Waiting for her there were several people. The only one she immediately recognized was the Emissary Khadne, who had arrived at the tail end of their visit to the foreigners realm. She was from the White Sky's Sibiar clan-or tribe depending how one wished to portray it- which was the clan which had once inhabited the northern mountains of the wall. The Ones Tsu had supposed contacted long ago.
As such, Ling Qi was hardly surprised to see her hear as her clan would have to be a major player in this whatever their position in the larger confederation. Emissary Khadne was a woman of middling height and thick build, dressed in what were, to Ling Qi's eyes, mannish clothes and heavy furs in the green and white colors of her tribe. Her complexion was similar to Ling Qi's and she wore her dark brown hair in thick braids looped and bound at the back of her head.
"Emissary Ling Qi, an old crow carried to me words of your arrival and wish to speak," The older woman said formally. Much of thick accent had been stripped from her speech from last time. Ling Qi had no doubt that she had cultivated understanding of the Imperial language as thoroughly as Ling Qi had cultivated understanding of theirs.
"It is well past time," said the woman who stood to Khadne's right. "Not even the most meager offering of bread and water has been given, and only the most perfunctory words of welcome."
She was as tall as Ling Qi herself, with a complexion that was a few shades lighter. She wore a black dress, with embroidery in red and gold down the front, which was mostly straight lines but held imagery of stylized vines and leaves between them. Over this she wore a hip length mantle of white and gold, and on her head she wore a wrap of dark red cloth, from which emerged long untamed brown hair. She had fierce eyes and a hawkish nose. Ling Qi could feel the tingling of her examination in her senses.
"There must be some acceptance of strangeness," Khadne said. "I must assume that your people do not consider us guests as of yet, with both our houses yet unbuilt."
"That is so, and I apologize for any offense. For my people this event is unheard of," she said. She had to stop herself from bowing. She'd discovered looking back on her memories that it was seen as odd or inappropriately submissive. "May I know to whom else I speak?"
Naturally she asked in their own language, to show some respect still.
"The one who has spoken is the Emissary Dzintara," Khadne said, gesturing to the other woman. Dzintara gave only a short, sharp nod.
"And I am Rustam, and this my wife Inzhu," said one of the two standing on Khadne's other side. The man who spoke was short and wide, wearing an odd cloth hat with a bushy fur rim that threatened to consume his head, he had a thin mustache and face pockmarked with scars, burns mostly if she had to guess. He wore robes of brown and black, with as much leather as cloth in their construction. The woman beside him, presumably the wife he had introduced, was different.
She was taller than her husband but shorter than Ling Qi, but she wore a very strange conical hat, marked with regular geometric symbols, from the caps tip a white veil spilled down around her back and shoulders. The rest of her dress bore similar markings and the whole thing had more color than her husbands, being mostly silvers and blues, among the layers of the gown, which were not much less intricate than Ling Qi's own dress.
"The Gessiar people believe that only a man and woman together may make a complete Emissary," Khadne said.
"Of course this would be unfamiliar, this is why you must sometimes let others speak first, husband," the woman said. She spoke more softly than the other Emissary's Ling Qi had met, and if she closed her eyes, she could perhaps imagine that she were speaking to a Lady of the Imperial Court.
"Momentary confusion at worst!" Rostam said, chortling. "Hardly a spot on such a wait."
He was being kinder about it, but Ling Qi recognized that the complaint was not really dismissed entirely. "Many preparations are made, our house is not yet ready to receive you. This land, which is no ones, is merely a camp."
"It is quite a thing, your camps, that you would carve the mountains like a slain boar to make it," Dzintara observed dryly.
"The General is passionate about our defense. We do stand near to hostile territory," Ling Qi said calmly. "But it is the lack of communication which I am here to remedy. I offer you my welcome Emissaries, and should you wish it I am prepared to break bread with you."
That was something she had decided to put in her storage ring after speaking to Xuan Shi and reviewing her own memories. Sharing of food as an initial gesture of good will was common across many groups.
"That's well enough then isn't?" asked Rostam, pushing up the brim of his hat. "Two strangers camping on the same plain, that is more what we are no? If we've seen each others fires now, that will do."
"As you like," said Dzintara, not sounding too convinced.
Khadne clapped her hands. "That will do, Emissary Ling Qi. But let me first complete our introductions here. Here with me, Emissary Rostam and Inzhu, and Emissary Dzintara represent our connections with the other confederations of our nation, in the west, in the east, the Seared Lands Confederation-"
Here Rostam nodded, and Inzhu inclined her head.
"-And the Tangled Pines Confederation in the west."
Emissary Dzintara acknowledged this with a nod.
Ling Qi lowered her head a little to both sides. "Will there be a representative from the South as well? I recall that is the direction of your capital."
There was a beat of silence, and none of the women showed any change of expression. There was only a faint curl at the corners of Rostam's lips, as if he found her words amusing.
"The Glittering City does not intend to interfere," Khadne said formally.
Ling Qi considered this. "Then in the spirit of openness, I will inform you that our Empress has sent observers. The Emerald Seas however, remains in authority over these negotiations."
She watched their faces as she spoke but, although a few glances were shared back and forth, and Dzintara's eyes narrowed in consideration nothing else was given away.
"What role, these observers?" Emissary Inzhu asked quietly.
"Similar to your old crows… I think. They will watch for things that soldiers might not see," Ling Qi said carefully.
"Understandable," Khadne said. "We are yet strangers, meeting in unclaimed land."
"Yes. In addition to representatives of the Emerald Seas other clans, there will be representatives of two of what you would call our Confederations, with a third that is observing," Meizhen and Xuan Shi, plus she had to account for Zheng Fu now. "I do not believe they are as close as what you have implied for yourselves…"
Another glance between them. "The Gessiar are both White Sky and Seared Land," Inzhu provided.
"So it is with my Latia, and the Tangled Pine," Dzintara added.
"I thought as much. The ones I speak of are allies, but not part of us," Ling Qi said.
"Hm, all of this sounds like hungry discussion," Rostam said, rocking a bit on his heels. "Shall we have it over our bread?"
"I can agree to this," Dzintara agreed.
"As do I," said Khadne
"Very well then," Ling Qi said. "I believe I observed a large enough clearing some distance north and east of here, please follow me."
They gave her some curious looks, but didn't object.
Now Ling Qi only had to decide what avenue of information she was going to pursue. There would only be time for a limited number of meetings before the summit proper.
[ ] Seek out information on history and culture to better understand the forces at play here. (better understanding of the factions within the White Sky their disposition, and potential cultural flashpoints)
[ ] Seek out information on material things, structures of government and institutions at play here.(better understanding of the likely material demands and potential flashpoints of conflict between your institutions)
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interesting that their capital is staying out of this. That is in theory how the peaks should act as well, foreign relations being handled by ducal families as we see with the Xuan foreign quarters and (formerly) the Bai fighting the Red Jungle. Though i suppose the Ministry of Integrity is trying to centralize imperial control
[ ] Seek out information on history and culture to better understand the forces at play here. (better understanding of the factions within the White Sky and their disposition)
[ ] Seek out information on material things, structures of government and institutions at play here.(better understanding of the likely material demands and potential flashpoints of conflict between your institutions)
both of these are valuable and useful. Though for now i think knowing that they want materially is gonna be more useful.
[ ] Seek out information on history and culture to better understand the forces at play here. (better understanding of the factions within the White Sky and their disposition)
[ ] Seek out information on material things, structures of government and institutions at play here.(better understanding of the likely material demands and potential flashpoints of conflict between your institutions)
both of these are valuable and useful. Though for now i think knowing that they want materially is gonna be more useful.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
As much as I'd love to learn more about their culture, learning how not to piss them off feels like the better thing to do right now.
[ ] Seek out information on material things, structures of government and institutions at play here.(better understanding of the likely material demands and potential flashpoints of conflict between your institutions)
[ ] Seek out information on material things, structures of government and institutions at play here.(better understanding of the likely material demands and potential flashpoints of conflict between your institutions)
In my opinion, learning about history and culture might also be a way to find out how to avoid pissing them off. Unwittingly shitting all over a cultural taboo right in front of them would not be a winner. I'll have to think about it.
In other news:
My desire for Weilu spirit blood and antlers has just increased by a measurable percentage, because I want to shove his words back down his smug throat with the oldest blood in the Emerald Seas.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
While I totally agree, the material option specifically states avoiding conflict as one of its rewards, so it's probably better for that.
[ ] Seek out information on material things, structures of government and institutions at play here.(better understanding of the likely material demands and potential flashpoints of conflict between your institutions)
Something more immediate and relevant for the upcoming meeting, history and culture is all well and good but it's betterto be inoffensive and intrested than friendly and ignorant and accidently offend
Something more immediate and relevant for the upcoming meeting, history and culture is all well and good but it's betterto be inoffensive and intrested than friendly and ignorant and accidently offend
[X] Seek out information on material things, structures of government and institutions at play here.(better understanding of the likely material demands and potential flashpoints of conflict between your institutions)
We already got some history lessons about their old parts. Might aswell see what points of conflict and goods they want instead.
We already got some history lessons about their old parts. Might aswell see what points of conflict and goods they want instead.
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- Pronouns
- He
[ ] Seek out information on material things, structures of government and institutions at play here.(better understanding of the likely material demands and potential flashpoints of conflict between your institutions)
We got a broad history lesson from old Gryja, this option would balance that with more practical concerns
We got a broad history lesson from old Gryja, this option would balance that with more practical concerns