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.
[X] Mantle of Verdant Resolve
[X] Thousand Roots Enduring
[X] Evergreen Succession
[X] Thousand Roots Enduring
[X] Evergreen Succession
- Pronouns
- They/It
[X] Evergreen Succession
Tales of Sun and Steel 2
His second youngest was a strange girl. She had always been a strange girl. A quiet infant, a thoughtful and studious child, who rarely acted out or defied her tutors. She took as well to her mother's lessons as any of her sisters.
But she wasn't truly satisfied with them. Xiaoli had been the one to spot her fascination with the forges, and had been pleased to see her satisfied with the more refined kind of metalcraft.
He had been the one to observe that she was devouring the expertise of their servant clan jewelers as fast as she cultivated. Let it not be said that he, Gu Guang, Clan head of the Gu did not pay any mind to his children… even if the endless campaigning required of a lord of the Golden Fields, and the administration of Phoenix Home left him far less time than he liked. At least behind its walls he could afford to forge a simulacra or two to spread his time more effectively.
And his daughter had needed that attention. It was a strange thing, how his Xiaoli had grown here in the desert, his razor petaled flower had rooted herself firmly in these sands, becoming everything expected of a Lady of the Golden Fields, for all that she lulled with the soft words and mists of less harsh lands.
Which was itself a deception. He had fostered in those Peaks, in the shining halls of the capital. Perhaps for the mortals those lands were soft, but for the nobility, the polished halls and beautiful gardens were often as cruel as the harshest of dunes.
He was not particularly sad that he was not welcome in that place any longer, after his great 'theft'. Thankfully his Father in Law had stopped sending assassins and saboteurs many decades ago. He had overdrawn his favor with the Ai Patriarch, who appreciated the cultivation reagents and treasures of the Gu.
Gu Guang chuckled fondly at that errant thought. The passion of youth.
But the girl who stood rooted before the shelves of the archive he invited her had never seemed to have such passion.
That had been an incorrect observation. No. She was as intensely passionate as any Gu, it merely manifested in a different fashion. He had been right to show her these archives. Xiaoli had been a bit wary, but she could not deny the talent of their child. That she did not seek the typical path of a Gu heir had done much to soften the grip of fear he knew were embedded deep in her heart, hidden from any other man or woman's notice.
He continued to observe his daughter, through the walls and doors of his meditation chamber. He had never seen a such a young child be so still as his daughter right now engrossed in her goldsmithing scroll. It was no wonder she could cultivate as smoothly as one years her elder, with focus like that.
… She was going to be a prodigious talent, and it filled Gu Guang with pride. Though he still wished for a son to teach his own ways, and guide along the paths he had learned himself, he thought perhaps, this focused, determined child would make a fine and stern Head of their house when he went into seclusion to seek the Sovereign Flame of the Phoenix himself.
Perhaps it was not a bad thing to let his wife bring her ways out into the harsh sun, to let them be tested and grow away from shadowed halls. His other daughters… they were not ambitious, not in his way, but each of them had their own pride, and that was enough.
Though it grieved him that he would likely see at least some among his eldest pass before him.
That was a simple truth of cultivation. He knew that among the greater clans, many parents would not invest any of their attention in a child who seemed unlikely to make the third realm, for that reason… and those unfortunate children born to be mortal from Immortal parents…
He was thankful he had never had to bear such a tragedy. A child who would pass in a bare eighty years even if no affliction struck their fragile bodies.
He was pulled from his thoughts as Yanmei rolled the scroll back up and placed it neatly on the rack, turning, eyes scanning the shelves with voracious hunger. He smiled in amusement. Finished with the first already? His daughter had awakened her voraciousness it seemed. She would do well, going abroad. New experiences and places would temper her, alloy the molten gold that sparked fitfully in her young dantian.
…She would not find her path on the campaign with him though, he thought wistfully. No. He would need to wait longer for that. The Sect was the best choice, she would bloom there, burn bright there, among the heroes of the Argent Peak Sect.
"Father."
She spoke to the empty air. He had left her, to give her a sense of privacy to see what she would do. Yet she looked up, waiting patiently for a response.
"Father, may I copy the scrolls here, so I may annotate without harming our ancestors' archives?"
He palmed his face. Of course, this little scholar. "You may, the scribes' tools are stored in the second chamber off the west wing of the archive."
His voice crackled, carried on the flames of the lanterns which flared gently with each syllable.
"Your copies must remain here however, or in possession of myself or your Mother."
"Yes father," Yanmei said, clasping her hands and bowing toward the nearest lantern.
Perceptive, in one way or another. He would think even this girl would be overcome with excitement at receiving such a gift as free run of this archive, but no. She recognized that he would not actually leave her unobserved here.
She had her mother's eyes, in more ways than one.
He observed her sweeping down the west wing and gathering an armload of blank scrolls and inkstones, saw her dither over her selection of brush the way another child might a tray of bright toys, and return to the central hall. Onto a table went the supplies, and then she was off, stalking the shelves like a hunting bird, reaching out to snatch scrolls with swiftly darting hands. Metallurgy, gemcutting, glass mixing cutting, formation craft… a medical treatise? On excising impurity and infection.
He was curious what she would do with the access she had been given. Whatever path she chose… it would not be one that a main line Gi scion had taken in a very long time, he suspected.
It was another reason to send her to the Sect. Though he did not doubt his Way, or his Father's Way, or his late grandfather's Way. The Gu were missing something though. Something that all these many centuries fighting down the Dead and maintaining their lands had not allowed them to reclaim.
His father would never have considered it. Their pride would not allow it. But, for all the ills of the Celestial Peaks, those shadowed halls had taught him things. Let his daughter branch out as well, then, take lessons from other lands and other wars, seek sparks and embers to fuel their flame from different sources.
He watches his daughter lay out a blank scroll and an inkstone, intently looking at the smelting array on the open scroll beside her as she began to painstakingly copy it. He smiled to see her look of exaggerated childish concentration, and then the exasperation that followed as she missed a brushstroke. A wave of her hand boiled the offending ink away before it could dry.
Genius or no, a child was still a child. He was glad to see it. She still had many years to grow. He Would Miss her. Xiaoli would be inconsolable for many weeks, but she needed room to grow, which he did not think she would find here.
The Gu clan, and his daughter would both be better for it.
But she wasn't truly satisfied with them. Xiaoli had been the one to spot her fascination with the forges, and had been pleased to see her satisfied with the more refined kind of metalcraft.
He had been the one to observe that she was devouring the expertise of their servant clan jewelers as fast as she cultivated. Let it not be said that he, Gu Guang, Clan head of the Gu did not pay any mind to his children… even if the endless campaigning required of a lord of the Golden Fields, and the administration of Phoenix Home left him far less time than he liked. At least behind its walls he could afford to forge a simulacra or two to spread his time more effectively.
And his daughter had needed that attention. It was a strange thing, how his Xiaoli had grown here in the desert, his razor petaled flower had rooted herself firmly in these sands, becoming everything expected of a Lady of the Golden Fields, for all that she lulled with the soft words and mists of less harsh lands.
Which was itself a deception. He had fostered in those Peaks, in the shining halls of the capital. Perhaps for the mortals those lands were soft, but for the nobility, the polished halls and beautiful gardens were often as cruel as the harshest of dunes.
He was not particularly sad that he was not welcome in that place any longer, after his great 'theft'. Thankfully his Father in Law had stopped sending assassins and saboteurs many decades ago. He had overdrawn his favor with the Ai Patriarch, who appreciated the cultivation reagents and treasures of the Gu.
Gu Guang chuckled fondly at that errant thought. The passion of youth.
But the girl who stood rooted before the shelves of the archive he invited her had never seemed to have such passion.
That had been an incorrect observation. No. She was as intensely passionate as any Gu, it merely manifested in a different fashion. He had been right to show her these archives. Xiaoli had been a bit wary, but she could not deny the talent of their child. That she did not seek the typical path of a Gu heir had done much to soften the grip of fear he knew were embedded deep in her heart, hidden from any other man or woman's notice.
He continued to observe his daughter, through the walls and doors of his meditation chamber. He had never seen a such a young child be so still as his daughter right now engrossed in her goldsmithing scroll. It was no wonder she could cultivate as smoothly as one years her elder, with focus like that.
… She was going to be a prodigious talent, and it filled Gu Guang with pride. Though he still wished for a son to teach his own ways, and guide along the paths he had learned himself, he thought perhaps, this focused, determined child would make a fine and stern Head of their house when he went into seclusion to seek the Sovereign Flame of the Phoenix himself.
Perhaps it was not a bad thing to let his wife bring her ways out into the harsh sun, to let them be tested and grow away from shadowed halls. His other daughters… they were not ambitious, not in his way, but each of them had their own pride, and that was enough.
Though it grieved him that he would likely see at least some among his eldest pass before him.
That was a simple truth of cultivation. He knew that among the greater clans, many parents would not invest any of their attention in a child who seemed unlikely to make the third realm, for that reason… and those unfortunate children born to be mortal from Immortal parents…
He was thankful he had never had to bear such a tragedy. A child who would pass in a bare eighty years even if no affliction struck their fragile bodies.
He was pulled from his thoughts as Yanmei rolled the scroll back up and placed it neatly on the rack, turning, eyes scanning the shelves with voracious hunger. He smiled in amusement. Finished with the first already? His daughter had awakened her voraciousness it seemed. She would do well, going abroad. New experiences and places would temper her, alloy the molten gold that sparked fitfully in her young dantian.
…She would not find her path on the campaign with him though, he thought wistfully. No. He would need to wait longer for that. The Sect was the best choice, she would bloom there, burn bright there, among the heroes of the Argent Peak Sect.
"Father."
She spoke to the empty air. He had left her, to give her a sense of privacy to see what she would do. Yet she looked up, waiting patiently for a response.
"Father, may I copy the scrolls here, so I may annotate without harming our ancestors' archives?"
He palmed his face. Of course, this little scholar. "You may, the scribes' tools are stored in the second chamber off the west wing of the archive."
His voice crackled, carried on the flames of the lanterns which flared gently with each syllable.
"Your copies must remain here however, or in possession of myself or your Mother."
"Yes father," Yanmei said, clasping her hands and bowing toward the nearest lantern.
Perceptive, in one way or another. He would think even this girl would be overcome with excitement at receiving such a gift as free run of this archive, but no. She recognized that he would not actually leave her unobserved here.
She had her mother's eyes, in more ways than one.
He observed her sweeping down the west wing and gathering an armload of blank scrolls and inkstones, saw her dither over her selection of brush the way another child might a tray of bright toys, and return to the central hall. Onto a table went the supplies, and then she was off, stalking the shelves like a hunting bird, reaching out to snatch scrolls with swiftly darting hands. Metallurgy, gemcutting, glass mixing cutting, formation craft… a medical treatise? On excising impurity and infection.
He was curious what she would do with the access she had been given. Whatever path she chose… it would not be one that a main line Gi scion had taken in a very long time, he suspected.
It was another reason to send her to the Sect. Though he did not doubt his Way, or his Father's Way, or his late grandfather's Way. The Gu were missing something though. Something that all these many centuries fighting down the Dead and maintaining their lands had not allowed them to reclaim.
His father would never have considered it. Their pride would not allow it. But, for all the ills of the Celestial Peaks, those shadowed halls had taught him things. Let his daughter branch out as well, then, take lessons from other lands and other wars, seek sparks and embers to fuel their flame from different sources.
He watches his daughter lay out a blank scroll and an inkstone, intently looking at the smelting array on the open scroll beside her as she began to painstakingly copy it. He smiled to see her look of exaggerated childish concentration, and then the exasperation that followed as she missed a brushstroke. A wave of her hand boiled the offending ink away before it could dry.
Genius or no, a child was still a child. He was glad to see it. She still had many years to grow. He Would Miss her. Xiaoli would be inconsolable for many weeks, but she needed room to grow, which he did not think she would find here.
The Gu clan, and his daughter would both be better for it.
He's such a good dad, like holy shit how is a Xianxian Dad able to be this good.
NavySeel
"I don't know what I'm doing."
- Location
- Places
He's able to be a good dad so that he can die horribly in the future sending his kids down a path of vengeance and starting the story.
Lady_Story
Humble Teller of Stories, Villainess of Legend
- Pronouns
- She/Her/They/Them
I have said it before and I will say it again. The Gu family is absolutely fascinating to read about. They're an eclectic bunch that very much so does not fit the typical Xianxia norms in their own individual ways.
- Pronouns
- He
Tales of Destiny on Royalroad has 25 chapters of Xiulan.
Lady_Story
Humble Teller of Stories, Villainess of Legend
- Pronouns
- She/Her/They/Them
Xiulan is doing her best out in the field being a girlboss who doesn't take nonsense from anyone else.
It's intensely funny to think about how Xiulan was supposed to based upon Azula therefore by comparison making Yanmei Zuko and Guang Ozai. Yet with the circumstances vastly changed, the Characters change too. Guang growing up in a harsh environment before being thrown into a den of vipers hardened him, yes. But him having actual peers means he never grew so incredibly arrogant and self-centered, as he couldn't, there were many above him and close to him. It's hard to think you're the only one that matters when an old monster can transfix you with a gaze and only their own will keeps you from being an epitaph. Because his wife wasn't a powerless waif thrust upon him, but one he seems to have "Won" by his own efforts, he was not dismissive or abusive of her, meaning their relationship is VASTLY healthier. Even if they seem to ahve two vastly different Daos.
This in turn trickles down to his first two "Real" children, those being Yanmei and Xiulan. Yanmei who favors her mother far more than her Father was cultivated not to try and force herself to conform to his standards but encouraged to branch out and follow her own path. One she seems incredibly focused and skilled at, as oppossed to her father's way which she would likely only ever reach middling at even with great efforts. Much like how Zuko was even with minimal practice a terrifying swordsman, but only ever a good bender, and that was with an immense amount of focus and drive, and eventually deviating from the norm greatly. Zuko almost always fought his best as a swordsman while augmenting them with Firebending. In the reverse he always fell behind.
And even though Xiulan follows the path Azula set, she gets the confirmation of paternal and maternal love the real Azula never gave. It builds her up even as she's burning herself at both ends trying to win that affection all the more, and eventually makes her stop herself and question what it is she's actually doing. Unlike the Normal Azula who never really stopped to look at herself, which lead her to her own destruction.
It's funny how small circumstances can change things so greatly.
This in turn trickles down to his first two "Real" children, those being Yanmei and Xiulan. Yanmei who favors her mother far more than her Father was cultivated not to try and force herself to conform to his standards but encouraged to branch out and follow her own path. One she seems incredibly focused and skilled at, as oppossed to her father's way which she would likely only ever reach middling at even with great efforts. Much like how Zuko was even with minimal practice a terrifying swordsman, but only ever a good bender, and that was with an immense amount of focus and drive, and eventually deviating from the norm greatly. Zuko almost always fought his best as a swordsman while augmenting them with Firebending. In the reverse he always fell behind.
And even though Xiulan follows the path Azula set, she gets the confirmation of paternal and maternal love the real Azula never gave. It builds her up even as she's burning herself at both ends trying to win that affection all the more, and eventually makes her stop herself and question what it is she's actually doing. Unlike the Normal Azula who never really stopped to look at herself, which lead her to her own destruction.
It's funny how small circumstances can change things so greatly.
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[X] Legacy of the Broken Pillar
I like honoring the source of the art instead of just thinking about Ling Qi's experiences and traits. After all, this is a direct gift from a long dead inhabitant of a place no one can get to now. And she's doing everything in her power to keep her memory alive in dream land. Naming it after her homeland just seems so much more important than something like, "Roots of trees in frozen place last long."
I like honoring the source of the art instead of just thinking about Ling Qi's experiences and traits. After all, this is a direct gift from a long dead inhabitant of a place no one can get to now. And she's doing everything in her power to keep her memory alive in dream land. Naming it after her homeland just seems so much more important than something like, "Roots of trees in frozen place last long."
- Location
- South Africa
[X] Roots of Paradise
[X] Evergreen Succession
[X] Evergreen Succession
Well, I could see where Xiulan gets it from.
Though she hadn't gone and abducted Han Jian.
"Sidles up to Power with Yrsillar's patreon."
For a few euros per month the answer can be yours.
- Location
- somewhere over there.
- Pronouns
- They/It
From the way he frames it and the way his wife acts, I think it was less abduct and more elope.
- Location
- The Void
It was definitely an elopement but Xiaoli's dad did not see it that way. Who cares what he thinks though? 😋