Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
I wonder if she'd have allowed it if she wasn't Way-locked. Or maybe she wouldn't have been Way-locked if this wasn't the sort of thing she allows?
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.
Tasoli
Life is for Living
- Location
- Behind the Keyboard.
IT might be she Waylocked herself to ensure she does not stifle her students back when she first become a teacher.
I'd wager this is the right answer.
Much like LQ has to figure out just how far she wants to intervene for someones own good vs letting them make their own choices, balance the needs of the community vs the needs of the individual etc., Elder Ying probably needed to figure out where she drew the line between protecting students and stifling them.
And at the end of the day, the path of cultivation is known for being high risk/high reward. Everyone who reaches her level does so through a fair few brushes with death, and knows that the greatest dangers and greatest opportunities are often one and the same.
Lady_Story
Humble Teller of Stories, Villainess of Legend
- Pronouns
- She/Her/They/Them
I think we can all agree that Yanmei is really heckin cool
No, clearly she is really heav'ning hot.
Gu's still are The Best
it's probably more that low-level spirits keep building upon one another than a trick to getting more liking from greater sun or Moon . Greater Moon may only care for the LQ as an individual, not the LING clan but by the time LQ has a kid of cultivation age Sixiang will be high cyan at the least maybe even above that so getting Six's attention will be enough to get them started in moon cultivation. next generation after that kid will have 2 or 3 moon spirits within the clan to petition from so in a while clan specialization is build
Year 45 Month 12 Arc 3-2
"Aha! What a wonderful surprise!" Gan Guangli boomed. His grin was brighter than the lights of the meeting room they had come to him. "Welcome to Shenglu, Lady Li, Lady Su!"
"Don't Lady Su me Guangli, there ain't anyone here who's gonna be offended," Su Ling huffed.
"As you wish Su Ling," he laughed.
Ling Qi chuckled herself, stepping around the large central table to find her seat at the head, Sixiang trailing along just beside her. "Take your time everyone. There will be refreshments on the way, the plan is to leave in the afternoon, so we have plenty of time to talk and plan."
"Wouldn't it be better to leave earlier?" Su Ling asked.
"Nah. Grandmother'll be up tonight, we'll have better luck then," Sixiang said with a grin, dropping into a seat beside Ling Qi. It was strange to hear the muffled rattle and clack of ceramic on wood when they did.
"Well, I don't know about luck, but I did design the qi siphon which will power the seal activation for lunar qi, since my Cleansing Argent Breeze Filter requires a potent source of yin qi," Li Suyin said, looking up at the door frame, examining the privacy formations subtly worked into the engravings in the wood.
"Which I'll also be helping with," Ling Qi agreed. "You said you had a physical sealing talisman too? It's well to stop any pollution, but we need to cut off physical passage too."
"Oh yes, though I can't take credit for those. My own work is only a small part of the Five Temple Impurity Seal Elder Jiao designed."
"That'd be that big silver disc thing right?," Su Ling asked, finally taking a seat herself. "I didn't get everything about it, but it's meant to lock in with the ambient earth qi and seal it against manipulation, right?"
"Yes, the impurity detection that makes it activate at its higher stage is mine, but Elder Jaio's work on the wide area sealing and repelling effects, is much more important," Li Suyin agreed. "One should be enough for any other undetected passages in the upper plateau region."
"Excellent? What would it take to overwhelm or bypass?" Gan Guangli asked, rubbing his chin.
"The energies required would render any stealth or subtlety in the attempt impossible," Li Suyin said. "And it is designed to be untamperable from beneath, save by brute force. It's not impossible that a skilled specialist like Ling Qi could bypass it with great effort."
No security was truly impenetrable or inviolate, Ling Qi knew. That was simply the way of passive defenses. Someone clever could always work around them in time. "Which still gives a great benefit. Raising the bar to infiltrate higher increases the opportunity cost of trying to operate where the seals are installed."
"Yes!" Li Suyin agreed, nodding cheerfully. "Together with the filter it should mean you will have no impurity worries save for active, invested attacks from the Ith. Which…"
"We would need military might to combat no matter what, and with this we will have more warning even for that," Gan Guangli boomed cheerfully. "Though I am curious, Five temples…?"
"Bountiful Earth, Celestial Dragon, the Heavenly Pillar, the Dusk sun, the Hidden Moon," Su Ling rattled off. "Five great spirits invoked, and woven into defense.."
Ling Qi's eyebrows rose. "Elder Jiao does not hold back. Invoking that many great spirits without offending or miscalling any of them into one formation is not easy. It's… operating off of demesne principles then?"
"Yes, invoking the sovereignty of the Empire and its ancestors over the earth, and reinforcing the division between the depths and the surface… it will make it a little less potent this far out, but testing has shown it should still function without serious maintenance for at least a decade," Li Suyin declared.
It was at the time that there was a timid knock at the door and they fell silent for a moment as Ling Qi gestured, opening the door, allowing the server staff to enter and bring in the refreshments. Su Ling, she noticed, still looked uncomfortable being served, but Li Suyin cheerfully thanked the servers, even as they eyed the looming skeleton behind her chair with not a little wariness.
It did make Ling Qi pleased that the fear in their postures was tempered and weakened as she let slip just a small part of her domain, a few wisps of mist crawling along the floor beneath the table. She was here. These were her guests. They were her staff. Both were under her protection.
Sixiang grinned knowingly at her, and Ling Qi merely sniffed, busying herself by filling her plate with some small treats.
"Softy," Sixiang whispered, accepting only a cup of aromatic tea, inhaling deeply from the rising steam. "I wonder if you even need me anymore, with how confident and together you are now."
"I will never not need my friend Sixiang," she replied back quietly. "Qiyi isn't the only one who noticed the silence, you know? I miss your voice."
Sixiang chuckled quietly. "Man, I've really gotten needy huh? I've missed you two, these gals are fun. I wouldn't mind spending one month outta three pestering Suyin to go out more, but I'm really glad to be back."
Ling Qi briefly reached out, resting their hand on top of Sixiang's, surprisingly, it felt like flesh and blood, not whatever was underneath.
"Suyin does good work, and so do I," Sixiang said cheerfully.
Ling Qi let the subtle screen over their words go and the sound of the dining room roared back in full force..
"...Gonna get yourself thwomped on the head like that one of these days, you know Guangli?" Su Ling drawled.
"Then I shall accept my lumps with honor! It is important that men know their leader is with them and will take the first blow!"
"I kind of want to see one of these 'beavers," Li Suyin muttered into her cup, eyes sparkling suspiciously.
"So you can feed them to Zhenli? Why's the fuzzball still in your dantian anyway?"
"Well, I didn't want to frighten the servants…"
All of them, every one looked at the looming bone mannequin behind her.
"I didn't want to alarm them more." Li Suyin pouted. "But fine, She should stretch her legs…"
Ling Qi's eyes widened, "Ah, Suyin…"
Li Suyin's spirit beast materialized by the base of her chair. Zhenli was still squat and compact for a spider, with thick fuzzy legs held close to her puffball pink body and huge, glassy and unblinking eyes.
"This Zhenli thanks the Baroness Ling for having her," Zhenli said in her mind, pedipalps spreading apart to match her lowering head.
"You are welcome, but…" Ling Qi, began..
It was then naturally that the door opened, revealing her mother and sister, who she had sensed coming down the hall. She'd invited them to eat with everyone today, wanting her family to grow more used to other cultivators…"
"My apologies for being late. We were held up in cleaning my younger daughter's…" Ling Qingge murmured, her head ducked low, only to freeze and pause.
Li Suyin had chosen a seat right by the door. Which meant Zhenli was directly in her mother's line of sight. Her sisters too. Biyu's eyes were widening even as she looked, and Ling Qi began to rise, preparing too…
"Fuzzy!"
Biyu squealed, high and loud, but it was not in fear as Ling Qi had expected. The little girl darted forward, out of her shocked mothers grasp.
"A-ah! Young Miss. Do not. This Zhen li…. Baroness. Help!"
Her little sister had pounced on the large, dog sized spider, squeezing her like a pet.
"Biyu. No!" Her Mother spoke out, voice strangled a half second after, rushing forward to pry the little girl away despite the fear Ling Qi could still feel making her heart thunder.
"Woah there little one, one must not touch others without permission!" Gan Guangli scolded. Rising to his feet and carefully helping her Mother disentangle Biyu. Zhenli rapidly scuttled under the table the moment the beast felt she could avoid harming Biyu in her escape.
"I'm sorry Mother, but I promise there is nothing unsafe in the room. That is only Zhenli, my friend's spirit beast. She would never harm her hosts," Ling Qi said reassuringly. Rounding the table to approach her Mother.
The woman still looked a little frazzled, her breathing uneven, but she was swiftly composing herself. "O-of course. Please excuse my shameful reaction, honored guests."
"No! Not all of them are Madam Ling. I am very sorry for my unthinking action. Zhenli is a good friend, but I forgot how she could be perceived," Li Suyin apologized rapidly, rising from her seat and bowing repeatedly.
Ling Qi sighed as her Mother and Li Suyin began their dueling, escalating apologies, and accepted her little Sister from the grinning Gan Guangli.
"Biyu, why would you do that?" She scolded quietly.
"Weird dog was very fuzzy," Biyu said, curling in her arms, unsure of why people were upset.
"You shouldn't grab onto beasts suddenly, they can be dangerous, or you might startle them," Ling Qi explained.
"But… Sis is here."
And anything around her big sister couldn't be dangerous, she sensed the completion of those words. "...You still need to ask before touching little sister."
She spoke firmly. Even if she wouldn't let Biyu be hurt, one had to have boundaries. "It's very rude. No matter how cute you think they are, okay?"
"...Okay."
Ah it looked like the duel was over, Suyin was victorious in having her apology accepted. "Well, let's not dwell. Come sit next to me Mother, the tea is still warm."
"So, Li Suyin, you mentioned there was something you needed to establish in person in your last letter. Something about limited capacity?" Ling Qi asked, pushing her plate aside.
"Oh yes, just something we should decide so I can be efficient with storage space," Li Suyin said. "I have a limited number of arrays which I can upkeep on my current qi. Which I cultivate often enough."
Su Ling snorted. Ling Qi kept her expression innocent.
"And I suppose we can't power them for you."
"No, these need to be custom made to the user, which would take some months… I've made several for core disciples, but I have not had the time to spend with any of you on the project," Li Suyin replied.
Ling Qi sighed, and gestured for her to continue.
The most… intensive array is my Mother's Adamant Bones formation. You're familiar with the way distance and space become twisted and bent around and in the underworld's tunnels?"
Ling Qi grimaced and so did Su Ling. "Yes."
"And the way your own liminal travel was disrupted?"
Her first attempt at a long distance dream step. They'd almost been lost in the Deep Liminal. "That was due to interference from… something though."
"Yes, Elder Jiao has determined from studying the remains of the talisman he gave your group that it was some ith artifice, but it is something which comes easily to their impurity methods, and we will not have a talisman from the Elder."
Her mother looked a little worried, though Ling Qi could tell she only partially understood.
"My Array acts to solidify the laws of the surface and the material world in its radius, dampening the distorting effects of the underworld, but it would also certainly disrupt your own movement arts as well," Li Suyin explained. "In addition, its power issues mean that I would have to weaken the duration of my impurity filtering formations on us, so we would have less time to spend in the tunnels before the toxicity began to affect us."
"Which I assume you would strengthen if you didn't activate the other formation," Ling Qi said thoughtfully.
"Yep," Sixiang piped up. "You want more time but more potential for spooky twisty stuff, or do you want less spooky twisty stuff but less time?"
"Succinct!" Gan Guangli chuckled.
"Yes, thank you Sixiang," Ling Qi said dryly
[ ] Activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
[ ] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
"Don't Lady Su me Guangli, there ain't anyone here who's gonna be offended," Su Ling huffed.
"As you wish Su Ling," he laughed.
Ling Qi chuckled herself, stepping around the large central table to find her seat at the head, Sixiang trailing along just beside her. "Take your time everyone. There will be refreshments on the way, the plan is to leave in the afternoon, so we have plenty of time to talk and plan."
"Wouldn't it be better to leave earlier?" Su Ling asked.
"Nah. Grandmother'll be up tonight, we'll have better luck then," Sixiang said with a grin, dropping into a seat beside Ling Qi. It was strange to hear the muffled rattle and clack of ceramic on wood when they did.
"Well, I don't know about luck, but I did design the qi siphon which will power the seal activation for lunar qi, since my Cleansing Argent Breeze Filter requires a potent source of yin qi," Li Suyin said, looking up at the door frame, examining the privacy formations subtly worked into the engravings in the wood.
"Which I'll also be helping with," Ling Qi agreed. "You said you had a physical sealing talisman too? It's well to stop any pollution, but we need to cut off physical passage too."
"Oh yes, though I can't take credit for those. My own work is only a small part of the Five Temple Impurity Seal Elder Jiao designed."
"That'd be that big silver disc thing right?," Su Ling asked, finally taking a seat herself. "I didn't get everything about it, but it's meant to lock in with the ambient earth qi and seal it against manipulation, right?"
"Yes, the impurity detection that makes it activate at its higher stage is mine, but Elder Jaio's work on the wide area sealing and repelling effects, is much more important," Li Suyin agreed. "One should be enough for any other undetected passages in the upper plateau region."
"Excellent? What would it take to overwhelm or bypass?" Gan Guangli asked, rubbing his chin.
"The energies required would render any stealth or subtlety in the attempt impossible," Li Suyin said. "And it is designed to be untamperable from beneath, save by brute force. It's not impossible that a skilled specialist like Ling Qi could bypass it with great effort."
No security was truly impenetrable or inviolate, Ling Qi knew. That was simply the way of passive defenses. Someone clever could always work around them in time. "Which still gives a great benefit. Raising the bar to infiltrate higher increases the opportunity cost of trying to operate where the seals are installed."
"Yes!" Li Suyin agreed, nodding cheerfully. "Together with the filter it should mean you will have no impurity worries save for active, invested attacks from the Ith. Which…"
"We would need military might to combat no matter what, and with this we will have more warning even for that," Gan Guangli boomed cheerfully. "Though I am curious, Five temples…?"
"Bountiful Earth, Celestial Dragon, the Heavenly Pillar, the Dusk sun, the Hidden Moon," Su Ling rattled off. "Five great spirits invoked, and woven into defense.."
Ling Qi's eyebrows rose. "Elder Jiao does not hold back. Invoking that many great spirits without offending or miscalling any of them into one formation is not easy. It's… operating off of demesne principles then?"
"Yes, invoking the sovereignty of the Empire and its ancestors over the earth, and reinforcing the division between the depths and the surface… it will make it a little less potent this far out, but testing has shown it should still function without serious maintenance for at least a decade," Li Suyin declared.
It was at the time that there was a timid knock at the door and they fell silent for a moment as Ling Qi gestured, opening the door, allowing the server staff to enter and bring in the refreshments. Su Ling, she noticed, still looked uncomfortable being served, but Li Suyin cheerfully thanked the servers, even as they eyed the looming skeleton behind her chair with not a little wariness.
It did make Ling Qi pleased that the fear in their postures was tempered and weakened as she let slip just a small part of her domain, a few wisps of mist crawling along the floor beneath the table. She was here. These were her guests. They were her staff. Both were under her protection.
Sixiang grinned knowingly at her, and Ling Qi merely sniffed, busying herself by filling her plate with some small treats.
"Softy," Sixiang whispered, accepting only a cup of aromatic tea, inhaling deeply from the rising steam. "I wonder if you even need me anymore, with how confident and together you are now."
"I will never not need my friend Sixiang," she replied back quietly. "Qiyi isn't the only one who noticed the silence, you know? I miss your voice."
Sixiang chuckled quietly. "Man, I've really gotten needy huh? I've missed you two, these gals are fun. I wouldn't mind spending one month outta three pestering Suyin to go out more, but I'm really glad to be back."
Ling Qi briefly reached out, resting their hand on top of Sixiang's, surprisingly, it felt like flesh and blood, not whatever was underneath.
"Suyin does good work, and so do I," Sixiang said cheerfully.
Ling Qi let the subtle screen over their words go and the sound of the dining room roared back in full force..
"...Gonna get yourself thwomped on the head like that one of these days, you know Guangli?" Su Ling drawled.
"Then I shall accept my lumps with honor! It is important that men know their leader is with them and will take the first blow!"
"I kind of want to see one of these 'beavers," Li Suyin muttered into her cup, eyes sparkling suspiciously.
"So you can feed them to Zhenli? Why's the fuzzball still in your dantian anyway?"
"Well, I didn't want to frighten the servants…"
All of them, every one looked at the looming bone mannequin behind her.
"I didn't want to alarm them more." Li Suyin pouted. "But fine, She should stretch her legs…"
Ling Qi's eyes widened, "Ah, Suyin…"
Li Suyin's spirit beast materialized by the base of her chair. Zhenli was still squat and compact for a spider, with thick fuzzy legs held close to her puffball pink body and huge, glassy and unblinking eyes.
"This Zhenli thanks the Baroness Ling for having her," Zhenli said in her mind, pedipalps spreading apart to match her lowering head.
"You are welcome, but…" Ling Qi, began..
It was then naturally that the door opened, revealing her mother and sister, who she had sensed coming down the hall. She'd invited them to eat with everyone today, wanting her family to grow more used to other cultivators…"
"My apologies for being late. We were held up in cleaning my younger daughter's…" Ling Qingge murmured, her head ducked low, only to freeze and pause.
Li Suyin had chosen a seat right by the door. Which meant Zhenli was directly in her mother's line of sight. Her sisters too. Biyu's eyes were widening even as she looked, and Ling Qi began to rise, preparing too…
"Fuzzy!"
Biyu squealed, high and loud, but it was not in fear as Ling Qi had expected. The little girl darted forward, out of her shocked mothers grasp.
"A-ah! Young Miss. Do not. This Zhen li…. Baroness. Help!"
Her little sister had pounced on the large, dog sized spider, squeezing her like a pet.
"Biyu. No!" Her Mother spoke out, voice strangled a half second after, rushing forward to pry the little girl away despite the fear Ling Qi could still feel making her heart thunder.
"Woah there little one, one must not touch others without permission!" Gan Guangli scolded. Rising to his feet and carefully helping her Mother disentangle Biyu. Zhenli rapidly scuttled under the table the moment the beast felt she could avoid harming Biyu in her escape.
"I'm sorry Mother, but I promise there is nothing unsafe in the room. That is only Zhenli, my friend's spirit beast. She would never harm her hosts," Ling Qi said reassuringly. Rounding the table to approach her Mother.
The woman still looked a little frazzled, her breathing uneven, but she was swiftly composing herself. "O-of course. Please excuse my shameful reaction, honored guests."
"No! Not all of them are Madam Ling. I am very sorry for my unthinking action. Zhenli is a good friend, but I forgot how she could be perceived," Li Suyin apologized rapidly, rising from her seat and bowing repeatedly.
Ling Qi sighed as her Mother and Li Suyin began their dueling, escalating apologies, and accepted her little Sister from the grinning Gan Guangli.
"Biyu, why would you do that?" She scolded quietly.
"Weird dog was very fuzzy," Biyu said, curling in her arms, unsure of why people were upset.
"You shouldn't grab onto beasts suddenly, they can be dangerous, or you might startle them," Ling Qi explained.
"But… Sis is here."
And anything around her big sister couldn't be dangerous, she sensed the completion of those words. "...You still need to ask before touching little sister."
She spoke firmly. Even if she wouldn't let Biyu be hurt, one had to have boundaries. "It's very rude. No matter how cute you think they are, okay?"
"...Okay."
Ah it looked like the duel was over, Suyin was victorious in having her apology accepted. "Well, let's not dwell. Come sit next to me Mother, the tea is still warm."
***
Later when the refreshments were all cleared away, the catching up was done, everyone had been able to settle in, and Biyu had been allowed to carefully pet both the spider and the bat in the room, and had now curled up in her mothers lap to doze contentedly, conversation turned to more serious things."So, Li Suyin, you mentioned there was something you needed to establish in person in your last letter. Something about limited capacity?" Ling Qi asked, pushing her plate aside.
"Oh yes, just something we should decide so I can be efficient with storage space," Li Suyin said. "I have a limited number of arrays which I can upkeep on my current qi. Which I cultivate often enough."
Su Ling snorted. Ling Qi kept her expression innocent.
"And I suppose we can't power them for you."
"No, these need to be custom made to the user, which would take some months… I've made several for core disciples, but I have not had the time to spend with any of you on the project," Li Suyin replied.
Ling Qi sighed, and gestured for her to continue.
The most… intensive array is my Mother's Adamant Bones formation. You're familiar with the way distance and space become twisted and bent around and in the underworld's tunnels?"
Ling Qi grimaced and so did Su Ling. "Yes."
"And the way your own liminal travel was disrupted?"
Her first attempt at a long distance dream step. They'd almost been lost in the Deep Liminal. "That was due to interference from… something though."
"Yes, Elder Jiao has determined from studying the remains of the talisman he gave your group that it was some ith artifice, but it is something which comes easily to their impurity methods, and we will not have a talisman from the Elder."
Her mother looked a little worried, though Ling Qi could tell she only partially understood.
"My Array acts to solidify the laws of the surface and the material world in its radius, dampening the distorting effects of the underworld, but it would also certainly disrupt your own movement arts as well," Li Suyin explained. "In addition, its power issues mean that I would have to weaken the duration of my impurity filtering formations on us, so we would have less time to spend in the tunnels before the toxicity began to affect us."
"Which I assume you would strengthen if you didn't activate the other formation," Ling Qi said thoughtfully.
"Yep," Sixiang piped up. "You want more time but more potential for spooky twisty stuff, or do you want less spooky twisty stuff but less time?"
"Succinct!" Gan Guangli chuckled.
"Yes, thank you Sixiang," Ling Qi said dryly
[ ] Activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
[ ] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
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Qingge have traded pointers with her senior Li Suyin and been humbled. Qingge has eyes but cannot
"An Elder incorporated my work into their own unaltered but thats totally unimpressive I promise. My self esteem is fine, why?"
not to underestimate Suyin, but this seems like a common thing. formations don't depend directly on cultivation, and if someone invents something useful, then others, even if far more experienced will use it. and usually, any specialized practitioner is bound to make some innovation. thats how it would be in RL engineering and science, at least. its still impressive, but mostly just as a sidenote of her work on impurity itself.
- Location
- Colorado
So I'm leaning toward no MAB? It cuts down our investigation time, and I feel like we can handle space twisting with this crew as long as there's not an Ith army group camped out down there.
Formations very heavily rely on your cultivation, that's the reason why there is always issues with supporting already built stuff after creator and their disciples died out).
They're both gotten really good at Arrays and this kind of stuff it makes me want to focus on it more since it's some useful stuff. Also the explanation behind how it works makes sense and is really cool.
PowerLeca
Rapidly aging
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I am so glad this sentence exists
the exceution, sure. but not the ideas.
Lady_Story
Humble Teller of Stories, Villainess of Legend
- Pronouns
- She/Her/They/Them
"Biyu, why would you do that?" She scolded quietly.
"Weird dog was very fuzzy," Biyu said, curling in her arms, unsure of why people were upset.
I approve, pet the cute fuzzy things Biyu... pet them all! ( ╹▽╹ )
"Weird dog was very fuzzy," Biyu said, curling in her arms, unsure of why people were upset.
I approve, pet the cute fuzzy things Biyu... pet them all! ( ╹▽╹ )
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- Location
- United States of America, Michigan
Thankfully 'weird dog' isn't touch fuzzy get dizzy lol
Sirrocco
Pedantic
She may be a scary winter lady of despair, but she's our scary winter lady of despair.
...as an adorable fuzzy!
Last edited:
Biyu is shaping up to be a great Spirit Beast lover. That's certainly a trait I want to develop on the Ling Clan.
But Ling Qi should still teach her to not hug any and all cute or cool spirit beasts she encounters.
That can go badly pretty quickly.
Now, the vote. I'm leaning heavily on not activating the Array.
[] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition
Both Ling Qi and Sixiang are experts on liminal travel. And Su Ling has her own anti-liminal fuckery arts.
So having more investigation time is more valuable.
I also feel this will allow us to have a longer encounter with the Piper, the Cathedral's crystal spirt. So that would be the best way to establish a relationship with them.
But Ling Qi should still teach her to not hug any and all cute or cool spirit beasts she encounters.
That can go badly pretty quickly.
Now, the vote. I'm leaning heavily on not activating the Array.
[] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition
Both Ling Qi and Sixiang are experts on liminal travel. And Su Ling has her own anti-liminal fuckery arts.
So having more investigation time is more valuable.
I also feel this will allow us to have a longer encounter with the Piper, the Cathedral's crystal spirt. So that would be the best way to establish a relationship with them.
Jiven
With the power of the moon...
- Location
- Strasbourg, France
I told it earlier, but i missed you so much Six. Glad to have you back!
[ ] Activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
-cuts down on spatial distortions and potentially other subterranean environmental phenomenon
-interferes with Ling Qi's movement arts
-shortens safe delve time
[ ] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
-leaves group more vulnerable to subterranean spatial distortions/alien Laws
-Ling Qi's movement arts may still be unreliable due to the above effects
-longer safe delve time
I'm leaning towards not activating the array. Considering that Ling Qi's movement arts will be hampered in some way with either choice, the main advantage to activating the array seems to be cutting down on the chances of getting straight up lost or turned around down there. And as Li Suyin points out, we won't have a teleport home talisman, so that's a legitimate risk. Buuuut, eh, I'm not really worried about that outcome.
Two main reasons I think the risk is worth it. One, Sixiang's also along, and allowing them a freer hand on the liminal side of things seems courteous. Second, this is good practice. Getting a feel for the wonky space underground, and how the liminal interacts with it, can only benefit us.
-cuts down on spatial distortions and potentially other subterranean environmental phenomenon
-interferes with Ling Qi's movement arts
-shortens safe delve time
[ ] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
-leaves group more vulnerable to subterranean spatial distortions/alien Laws
-Ling Qi's movement arts may still be unreliable due to the above effects
-longer safe delve time
I'm leaning towards not activating the array. Considering that Ling Qi's movement arts will be hampered in some way with either choice, the main advantage to activating the array seems to be cutting down on the chances of getting straight up lost or turned around down there. And as Li Suyin points out, we won't have a teleport home talisman, so that's a legitimate risk. Buuuut, eh, I'm not really worried about that outcome.
Two main reasons I think the risk is worth it. One, Sixiang's also along, and allowing them a freer hand on the liminal side of things seems courteous. Second, this is good practice. Getting a feel for the wonky space underground, and how the liminal interacts with it, can only benefit us.
ReignTorrential
Save Your Crown for a Rainy Day
[X] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.
[X] Do not activate the Mother's Adamant Bones Array on the expedition.