- Location
- California
Fuck outsiders, fuck the Cai, or both are the most likely reasons.
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.
NaanContributor
Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.
- Location
- Hawaii
Look at Still Waters Deeping's Words that Cao Chun revealed here:
The posters who were saying that SWD has xenophobia built into their Way were right. They were literally incapable of not acting against this project that will have the Emerald Seas being "corrupted by filthy foreigners".
There isnt really a chance for Shenhua not to get involved when talking about Hui techniques. We are only doing damage control
- Pronouns
- He/Him
With high level Cultivators this is often the wrong question to ask about dumb moves. The right one is: Why did their Way demand this?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You have to remember high level cultivators are very rigid when it comes to things directly tied to their Way. It sounds like whoever Still Waters Deeping is has Xenophobia baked directly into their Way as a core component.
It's entirely possible that this is just a rogue elder whose Way demands that they stop the Emerald Seas from getting involved with dirty foreigners. They may not have even seen what damage this would cause their clan or if they did they didn't care because their Way demands purity.
It's also possible that this is a reactionary plot, but if it is they are about to be deep cleaned. They're about to bring the full weight of the Cai down on top of them demanding answers for why this Rot was allowed to spread.
- Location
- somewhere over there.
- Pronouns
- They/It
Even if they had nothing to do with this, raising the sort of opinion that the Traitor would have agreed with is about to become political suicide. The clan as a whole is likely to correct heavily in the opposite direction, plus support almost everything the Cai do.
- Location
- Colorado
Oh I agree. Our lane here is 'primary diplomatic contact with the Polar Nation factions, almost every province in the Empire, and the Ministry of Integrity at the same time.' If we pull off soothing all the ruffled feathers from this incident Ling Qi and the CRX faction are going to be golden. I'm just pointing out that Shenhua is absolutely going to get involved, because as well as we've done things have gone above our paygrade and beyond our remit. Heck, things have most likely gone above Cao Chun's paygrade, or at least beyond his immediate authority. He'll probably have to call up at least his immediate superior to get another task force brought in to assist him digging into the Meng.
Does it say somewhere that SWD is a Meng elder? They could be an old enemy of the Meng.
- Location
- the internet
They have some of the signature Meng arts and qi types they tend to use.
I hope we get access to that Sovereign Meng flute maker from this. We've got the major ingredients, we only need someone to put it together. And we definitely want this flute to last us through Sovereign ourselves with its potent base materials.
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Goddam this is fuckin GOOD. Shit is COMING TOGETHER, and i fuckin LOVE IT
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Most people having a talisman that valuable would be in a very risky situation. But with our backing we might get away with it.
TimEd
Meteor maker
I mean, technically Dress-chan (given a thread by Shenhua) already qualifies as that, so yeah.
Fabula Amanti
I want a Grimoire, but I got books.
- Location
- Singapore
I am eagerly anticipating when the Dress finally awakens as hinted at so far back ago. The conversations with Cai in that arc would be very interesting.
Nobody wants that lol
Meng Dan more or less said it.
We clean this up surgically with Xia Ren.
Or the Duchess applies Nuclear.
I'm not dating claim that Hui are actually around. Rather, than the exposure SWD had to Hui remnants and knowledge (which we know they have, since they were able to mimic them and are the "archivist of the reviled". Basically the the Hui were so evil and bad, just exposure to the stuff they left behind is sufficient to turn someone crazy. The way I see it, we have two options here:
1) Blame xenophobia (the real reason). This makes any opinion similar to SWD to be effectively heretical, so less support for reactionaries and conservatives. The remaining reactionaries will HATE us though, especially in the Meng. It's the "cut out the old to make room for the new" approach. I expect the conservatives to come out about neutral, with their grumbling offset by thankfulness for getting Meng Diu involved.
2) Blame the Hui (lie to save face) While conservative/reactionary support will still drop, it won't be as much. But by giving the Meng an out, they will be very thankful to us. SWD still goes, and they'll likely have to give up the Hui artifacts, but the clan as a whole will be better off. This is the "try to win them over" approach. I don't expect the reactionaries to improve much, but Id be shocked if we get less than +2 for the conservatives. They probably won't ever follow our path, but we could definitely get to grudging acceptance or even "one of the good ones".
Either way, the Reformists are VERY happy. They get to be the salvation of the clan, and the beliefs most opposing them will be distinctly Out Of Favor. I don't think they would be much different based on what we blame (either stronger position within the clan, or stronger clan). I don't think it will go as far as them becoming the primary faction of the clan, but they will probably take over most outward facing duties.
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
It is somewhat hilarious that Xia Ren is the option with less collateral damage.
Pretty sure grandma Meng Diu recognized the Name.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
In particular, in addition to everything else, they get to add "Major contribution to rooting out severe treason among the Meng" to their list of Notable Achievements. Given what their goals were, every bit of that is bonus points.
No. He won't.
The Duchess is involved.
All she has to do is walk every one of them in front of her and look at them.
The Meng belong to her, and some of them have done something that she finds deeply, personally offensive.
The Ministry has done good work, but they aren't really required for this next bit.
If they like, she can maybe let them have the mewling pieces of human wreckage that are left when she's done to sort of poke at and interrogate.
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DeusExBritannia
Red-White-Black-White
- Location
- Texas
Who thinks SWD is a case of "supposed to be dead"? The Hui are so hated that I can't imagine that even a hidden elder can get away with working so closely with their artifacts.
Jiao and Xin do damn good work and they're even better because they founded the work done by the Ministry so of course they'd be the best at making tools for the Ministry's job. The Ministry may hate their guts but they're too practical not to use Jiao's work.
Respect to Meng Dan who's rolling with this like a champ.
Cao Chun is good at his job and is experienced at this kind of stuff when he was rooting out Hui infiltrators. Meng Dan has also earned a bit of respect from him.
Meng Dan knows the score, the best way to protect his family is to find the people who need to be exterminated in order to make the Meng Clan as a whole look better and then accept the lessened consequences.
Jin Tae continues to be astounded by Ling Qi's bullshit persuasion skills.
Nice to have the final 100% confirmation that it's a Meng. We already knew it was a Meng but now there are zero doubts. Also you know it's serious when someone as old and powerful as Meng Diu starts to swear.
Meng Clan is kinda screwed but they're less screwed because of Meng Dan's actions. Oppression Mom and the Sneks are going to take their dues but at least this way they'll survive and stay relevant even if it hurts the Meng Clan. Also this is probably going to cull the elements of the Meng Clan that hate Ling Qi and tie them closer to her because she gave them the opportunity to lessen their losses.
That this whole thing has worked at all much less that it's done as well as it has is one hell of a feat.
This dude's Cultivation and Way wouldn't let him accept what's happening here. Add in the Bai being even tangentially connected and it gets even worse from the Archivist of the Reviled's POV.
There's a lot of jumping to "Mama Cai will raze the Meng", but so far Steep Wattle Dreaming has just screwed with foreigners, low-ranking Bai, and his own Clan. Yes, it's in a way that might make Renxiang look bad, and yes, he's using Questionable Techniques, but if Shenhua was going to get rid of everyone who hates cloud barbarians or the Bai, she'd be ruling a tenth of her province, and if she were going to get rid of everyone using Dream techniques, Ling Qi would've been a smear of ashes several books ago.
This probably ends with the Meng paying a heavy fine and Stream Water Dripping suffering public humiliation or possibly even exile (which, given their Way, is probably worse than death). A functional Duke doesn't ice a major Clan because one cultivator tried to kick over her kid's science fair project.
This probably ends with the Meng paying a heavy fine and Stream Water Dripping suffering public humiliation or possibly even exile (which, given their Way, is probably worse than death). A functional Duke doesn't ice a major Clan because one cultivator tried to kick over her kid's science fair project.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
He tried to mind control a White Serpent Bai. He is a dead man. Cai Shenhua is trying to actually be allies with the Bai, targeting Meizhen (who is Suzhen's favorite niece, remember) is thus a death sentence. All the rest would, I think, be much worse than you're assuming but that part right there? That's why he burns.