I'm 99% sure they're speaking about the Celestial Dragon King of the East, last seen getting smacked into the dirt by Grandmother Tiger, Grandfather Fortress and the Guo Patriarch. They had to kill him seven times. So yeah it'll be a long-ass time before Zhengui can fight a Dead Prism who respawns.
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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.
She's hot like a nuclear reactor is hot!
- Location
- Space between realms
- Pronouns
- He
TBF Shenhua is modeled after Ragyou Kiryuin from Kill-la-Kill. Also, she's beautiful/terrifying in the same way nature or a piece of art is.
- Location
- Staring into the void
Voting has slowed down. Works and Spiritual Affairs has a solid lead. Looks like we're going to be talking with CRX's dad.
- Location
- Colorado
Given his personality, more like talking at him. Spiritual Affairs is probably going to be carrying this conversation.
I'm not really interested in Renxiang's father, to be honest.
What I realy want to know is how the Spiritual Affairs Minister regards us, and our way of approaching spirit contracts and management.
In particular, I would like at least some comment on what they think about Hanyi's tours.
That's a large scale project to shift and rearrange the seasonal courts of the southern Meng lands. Right now it's still small in scope, but it will expand. Hanyi has already performed for a Viscount's territory, which is pretty significant.
And because is backed by part of a Count clan, Hanyi's influence will keep growing if no issues come up.
What does the Minister think of that? Do they think it's a good chance to improve and put order on the disarrayed spiritual landscape of the south? Or are they displeased because they think our unorthodox approach will cause more trouble on the long term?
I want to get the general picture about that.
What I realy want to know is how the Spiritual Affairs Minister regards us, and our way of approaching spirit contracts and management.
In particular, I would like at least some comment on what they think about Hanyi's tours.
That's a large scale project to shift and rearrange the seasonal courts of the southern Meng lands. Right now it's still small in scope, but it will expand. Hanyi has already performed for a Viscount's territory, which is pretty significant.
And because is backed by part of a Count clan, Hanyi's influence will keep growing if no issues come up.
What does the Minister think of that? Do they think it's a good chance to improve and put order on the disarrayed spiritual landscape of the south? Or are they displeased because they think our unorthodox approach will cause more trouble on the long term?
I want to get the general picture about that.
I want to steal Cloud Nomad knowledge of these "whorls". Ling Qi's a ways off from putting together generalized traversal methods other people could use, but I'm confident she could improvise passage for herself while losing the minimum number of appendages in the process. Some personal strategic maneuverability in the mountains sounds useful.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Assuming this does result in a legitimate conversation involving them, that could be pretty interesting, yeah. Depending on things, they might even have some interesting things to say about the differences between the white sky's approach to such things compared to the emerald seas' general stance.
For how big you have to be to break through like Kerrigan:
Edit: And a bunch of Mu stuff:
Shao as we know turned the sky crimson for twelve days and eleven nights when he became White.Yrsillar said:
Edit: And a bunch of Mu stuff:
If someone had informed the Herald of the Mu having been reduced to puppets:Yrsillar said:
Yrsillar said:
Last edited:
The Meng better prepare a parade that lives up to the expectations, then.
- Location
- Washington
Ranking Ling Qi's suitors based on the expected quality of their parade:
1, Bao Qian. Money just Does These Things and as traders they are very experienced in getting the necessary supplies across a province and a half.
2, Meng Du. Ancient warehouses can provide many of the same benefits wealth does, and the performance parts of the parade would be wild
3, Xuan Shi. There is no doubt in my mind that if they WANTED to the Xuan could put any parade from any other candidate to shame by an order of magnitude. I just don't think they'll be inclined to do so, for Xuan Shi, so far from the ocean.
4, Bai Xia Anxi. Suffers similar problems as the Xuan but starting from a lower base capability.
1, Bao Qian. Money just Does These Things and as traders they are very experienced in getting the necessary supplies across a province and a half.
2, Meng Du. Ancient warehouses can provide many of the same benefits wealth does, and the performance parts of the parade would be wild
3, Xuan Shi. There is no doubt in my mind that if they WANTED to the Xuan could put any parade from any other candidate to shame by an order of magnitude. I just don't think they'll be inclined to do so, for Xuan Shi, so far from the ocean.
4, Bai Xia Anxi. Suffers similar problems as the Xuan but starting from a lower base capability.
Year 46 Month 1 Arc 3-2
"The Cai clan gives our welcome and esteem to the matriarch of the Diao and her honored clan. Stewards of the Central Valley, masters of the deep groves, keepers of the central highway, wardens of vales and waters and blooming flowers…"
Cai Renxiang began to speak, hands folded behind her back, listing off the many more minor titles attached to the clan as the procession formed up. She and the others were a 'unit' with Cai Renxiang, as far as the organization and honors were concerned. As her direct retainers, they were as her feet and hands. The various ministers and lords had their own in ones and twos.
It did make things a little nerve-wracking. As the heiress, Cai Renxiang was allowed more 'attaches' than others, but there was an expectation that they would be of higher cultivation and rank.
…Ling Qi could see that they were the only ones besides the escorting soldiers who were of less than the fourth realm. And she could detect some discontent in the air, a low undercurrent from the lords and ministers around them. It was a very subtle thing. None would openly express displeasure at the Duchess' decree.
At least without her presence demanding they speak their minds. Which as she understood it, had already been done. According to Renxiang, there had been quite a few proposals from court worthies to place attendants for her liege's retinue during the procession.
In the end, this was the result of the Duchess' decree. She was sure she'd have to either soothe ruffled feathers soon or just accept the small enmity formed from her presence here. It wasn't as if there weren't benefits either.
It was an immense honor to be allowed here.
"..To the great heavenly pillar, and the supreme Throne of Seasons, where your bride awaits your arrival."
All of them bowed toward the closed palanquin, lord and soldier and attendant alike."
The Diao men at the head of the carriage clapped their fists against their breastplates, accepting the welcome in the same flowery terms, extolling the virtues of the Cai clan and the beauty of Xiangmen as Cai Renxiang had just finished doing with their own holdings, and indicating the excitement of the bride to meet her… bride.
That still didn't sound quite right in Ling Qi's head. Also, the implication that the two were not already familiar was a little amusing. There really wasn't any avoiding that though, given the formal etiquette of the situation.
She fell in beside Cai Renxiang as the procession began to move. On the left, matching Gan Guangli on the right. Meng Dan walked behind her, and Xia Lin walked behind him.
In the immediate column to her right were the Ministers of Works and the Minister of Spiritual Affairs. One of them, she knew. Diao Luwen was Cai Renxiang's father after, and the Duchess' previous spouse. One might think a man would be resentful to march in his former wife's wedding procession a bare year after their contract was ended without cause, but…
Well, he was Diao Luwen, and everything she might criticize Renxiang for at times was true a hundredfold in him. The only emotion she could feel from him was an aggressive disinterest, and if he were aggravated it was only because he was being pulled away from his work projects for this.
But given the subtle fluctuations in his qi reaching out into the further reaches of the city, she was absolutely sure he had a few simulacrums off doing exactly that, and so he was merely bored to be here. Even he was dressed in finery though, the regalia of the Minister of Works was not the flashiest thing, a high squared cap in the Ministries green, and an ornate wide-sleeved robe worked through with repeating geometric patterns.
Beside him was another man, the Minister of Spiritual Affairs. Zhu Fan was a member of Xiangmen's court clans, and officially a priest of the Bountiful Earth, inducted and ordained in the inner cult of the temple. But he had a reputation for fairness and equal dealing with the other often fractious cults of the various Great Spirits of the Emerald Seas, not so dissimilar from his patron.
He had the look of an incredibly ancient man, with snowy thinning hair long, hanging eyebrows, and a beard that gave him the appearance of a sage from a storybook. His face was a map of deep wrinkles. He wore his Ministries white without decoration but carried a staff that rang and jangled with the weight of the holy charms and rings threaded through the wide brass ring at its head.
He too did not seem the most content to Ling Qi's eyes, though she doubted anyone else of lower or equal realm would have noticed it without scrutinizing him very much more. It was a combination of a faint tightness around his lips and a very slight tremor in his qi. She knew the more traditional clergy of a weilu bent did not really like what Shenhua had done; with this marriage or with her child. The reasoning varied from sect to sect, but they agreed wit was unnatural and likely to displease many spirits long term.
Ling Qi couldn't speak to that. She was mostly involved with negotiating with spirits who were much more inhuman in their concerns. There was… probably some basis for concern regarding the balance of Yin and Yang in a relationship as important as that of a Duke or Duchess, from her slowly growing understanding of geomantic principles, but she found any argument that relied on Cai Shenhua having a deficit of yang energies to be at least a little dubious.
Zhu Fan's eyes flicked her way as they left the landing platforming, descending to great fanfare from the musicians strategically positioned at intervals down the boulevard. She supposed she must have let her attention to linger a bit longer than was polite.
"Questions lie behind your eyes."
His lips didn't move, nor did he turn his head, there was nothing so gauche as that as they marched with their heads held high, the Diao Matriarch's palanquin rocking gently on the shoulders of the fourth realm cultivators carrying it.
There were small whispers like this up and down the line, cultivators speaking without speaking, the low whisper of conversation among the pageantry. "Only idle thoughts about your duties, honored Minister, I apologize if I stared too long."
"It is nothing," he said, though she could feel a thread of idle curiosity from him. Was it the clarity of her 'not-speech', or simply that he could feel the extent of her perception? She couldn't know, the Minister was hardly a mortal or low cultivator who she could read with transparent ease. "That is not surprising, given the extent of the infrastructure you have undertaken, or so I have heard."
Ling Qi kept her eyes facing ahead, her hands folded in her sleeves, her longer stride paced carefully to never gain nor lose on her liege as they marched. Bright music filled the air, they were getting down among residences and shops now and there were numerous people cultivators all, lining the streets and the rooftops, flowers were scattered in the air ahead and in their wake, filling the air with their rich scent.
"I am honored that the small projects I have undertaken should reach such exalted ears," Ling Qi said humbly. "But then I supposed the eyes of the capital must observe the heiress from time to time."
"They must," Zhu Fan said, the exacting tap of the jade butt of his staff ringing in the quiet between verses of the celebratory melody playing. "You have… concerned some among the ministry, but it is good to know you have the tutelage of an expert to guide you. The old methods are… orthodox enough, in their way."
"Inefficient. Traditional methods emphasize the wrong factors. Human Life Quality and Carrying Capacity should be the highest goals of any settlement project."
Diao Luwen's cold, disinterested voice was like the turning of a millstone in her ears. He did not look around either of course, remaining ahead, hands folded behind his back, hidden in voluminous sleeves.
"Debateable, Minister Diao, though as always, I respect your intentions," Zhu Fan's voice had a tired edge too it. Ling Qi suspected that the two men had traded some variation of these words many times. "The ancestral methods do have their value in taming fresh lands, even if they become less beneficial at greater densities."
"And when you reach them, you shall be locked into onerous pacts which inevitably result in greater damage when you are forced to alter them to account for higher population. Best to begin as you intend to continue," Diao Luwen replied.
Ling Qi wondered if she would be forgotten entirely in the wake of a well-trod argument between colleagues
"I assume the young Baroness and her Lady have their reasons."
Perhaps not. Cai Renxiang's eyes flicked briefly toward them. But she could tell her friend was in communication with the Diao herald herself regarding the opening ceremonies.
"We feel as if density is not likely in the foreseeable future, given the remoteness of our lands. So the Meng's more spread-out method of settlement is desirable. In addition, my own spirit relationships make negotiation and renegotiation more effective and reliable," Ling Qi said, quietly.
The palace was visible now in the distance, coming around the curve of the jutting branch. Light and color were shown from every window, and vast banners were flying all along their route. Until they reached the outermost gates of the palace the procession would continue to be just that, a simple parade through the streets. Once they did reach the gates though, there would be some ceremonies at each one, welcoming the new bride in an official and spiritual fashion. Oaths and bindings tying her into the ancient foundations of Tsu's ducal palace only somewhat less than the Duchess herself.
"A good reason as any. With such a potent land god bound to you, it would be foolish not to take advantage."
"It is what it is. I expect the South to go through many disruptions yet," Diao Luwen said absently. "So if there is anywhere for such methods it is there."
Zhu Fan wrinkled his nose. In a less formal scenario, she suspected he might have snorted. "Baroness. I would speak to you, post-ceremony. This idle chatter is not enough for the conversation I wish to have."
She gave a very slight nod as their path began to take them upward again, winding and winding toward the gates of the palace, their bright red shade stark against the green of the canopy. Cai Renxiang strode ahead, picking up her pace as the greater part of the procession fanned out, making way for the Palanquin to be brought before the gates. They were closed, a dense mesh of woven living wood that hummed with the quiet, unvulnerable strength of Xiangmen, as inviolate as the trunk or branches of the tree. If Ling Qi extended her senses further, she could feel the web of curses and ancient protections that would brutalize anyone who thought they could simply go around it.
"Who comes before the gates of the Palace of Seasons!"
The voice of the herald assigned to the gate boomed out as he recited his ritual line.
"It is I, Cai Renxiang, heiress to the Throne of Seasons." Her liege recite, stepping forward. "I come with the offerings of the honored Diao clan, Dowry, and bride, to join their blood to the blood of the Cai."
Cai Renxiang began to speak, hands folded behind her back, listing off the many more minor titles attached to the clan as the procession formed up. She and the others were a 'unit' with Cai Renxiang, as far as the organization and honors were concerned. As her direct retainers, they were as her feet and hands. The various ministers and lords had their own in ones and twos.
It did make things a little nerve-wracking. As the heiress, Cai Renxiang was allowed more 'attaches' than others, but there was an expectation that they would be of higher cultivation and rank.
…Ling Qi could see that they were the only ones besides the escorting soldiers who were of less than the fourth realm. And she could detect some discontent in the air, a low undercurrent from the lords and ministers around them. It was a very subtle thing. None would openly express displeasure at the Duchess' decree.
At least without her presence demanding they speak their minds. Which as she understood it, had already been done. According to Renxiang, there had been quite a few proposals from court worthies to place attendants for her liege's retinue during the procession.
In the end, this was the result of the Duchess' decree. She was sure she'd have to either soothe ruffled feathers soon or just accept the small enmity formed from her presence here. It wasn't as if there weren't benefits either.
It was an immense honor to be allowed here.
"..To the great heavenly pillar, and the supreme Throne of Seasons, where your bride awaits your arrival."
All of them bowed toward the closed palanquin, lord and soldier and attendant alike."
The Diao men at the head of the carriage clapped their fists against their breastplates, accepting the welcome in the same flowery terms, extolling the virtues of the Cai clan and the beauty of Xiangmen as Cai Renxiang had just finished doing with their own holdings, and indicating the excitement of the bride to meet her… bride.
That still didn't sound quite right in Ling Qi's head. Also, the implication that the two were not already familiar was a little amusing. There really wasn't any avoiding that though, given the formal etiquette of the situation.
She fell in beside Cai Renxiang as the procession began to move. On the left, matching Gan Guangli on the right. Meng Dan walked behind her, and Xia Lin walked behind him.
In the immediate column to her right were the Ministers of Works and the Minister of Spiritual Affairs. One of them, she knew. Diao Luwen was Cai Renxiang's father after, and the Duchess' previous spouse. One might think a man would be resentful to march in his former wife's wedding procession a bare year after their contract was ended without cause, but…
Well, he was Diao Luwen, and everything she might criticize Renxiang for at times was true a hundredfold in him. The only emotion she could feel from him was an aggressive disinterest, and if he were aggravated it was only because he was being pulled away from his work projects for this.
But given the subtle fluctuations in his qi reaching out into the further reaches of the city, she was absolutely sure he had a few simulacrums off doing exactly that, and so he was merely bored to be here. Even he was dressed in finery though, the regalia of the Minister of Works was not the flashiest thing, a high squared cap in the Ministries green, and an ornate wide-sleeved robe worked through with repeating geometric patterns.
Beside him was another man, the Minister of Spiritual Affairs. Zhu Fan was a member of Xiangmen's court clans, and officially a priest of the Bountiful Earth, inducted and ordained in the inner cult of the temple. But he had a reputation for fairness and equal dealing with the other often fractious cults of the various Great Spirits of the Emerald Seas, not so dissimilar from his patron.
He had the look of an incredibly ancient man, with snowy thinning hair long, hanging eyebrows, and a beard that gave him the appearance of a sage from a storybook. His face was a map of deep wrinkles. He wore his Ministries white without decoration but carried a staff that rang and jangled with the weight of the holy charms and rings threaded through the wide brass ring at its head.
He too did not seem the most content to Ling Qi's eyes, though she doubted anyone else of lower or equal realm would have noticed it without scrutinizing him very much more. It was a combination of a faint tightness around his lips and a very slight tremor in his qi. She knew the more traditional clergy of a weilu bent did not really like what Shenhua had done; with this marriage or with her child. The reasoning varied from sect to sect, but they agreed wit was unnatural and likely to displease many spirits long term.
Ling Qi couldn't speak to that. She was mostly involved with negotiating with spirits who were much more inhuman in their concerns. There was… probably some basis for concern regarding the balance of Yin and Yang in a relationship as important as that of a Duke or Duchess, from her slowly growing understanding of geomantic principles, but she found any argument that relied on Cai Shenhua having a deficit of yang energies to be at least a little dubious.
Zhu Fan's eyes flicked her way as they left the landing platforming, descending to great fanfare from the musicians strategically positioned at intervals down the boulevard. She supposed she must have let her attention to linger a bit longer than was polite.
"Questions lie behind your eyes."
His lips didn't move, nor did he turn his head, there was nothing so gauche as that as they marched with their heads held high, the Diao Matriarch's palanquin rocking gently on the shoulders of the fourth realm cultivators carrying it.
There were small whispers like this up and down the line, cultivators speaking without speaking, the low whisper of conversation among the pageantry. "Only idle thoughts about your duties, honored Minister, I apologize if I stared too long."
"It is nothing," he said, though she could feel a thread of idle curiosity from him. Was it the clarity of her 'not-speech', or simply that he could feel the extent of her perception? She couldn't know, the Minister was hardly a mortal or low cultivator who she could read with transparent ease. "That is not surprising, given the extent of the infrastructure you have undertaken, or so I have heard."
Ling Qi kept her eyes facing ahead, her hands folded in her sleeves, her longer stride paced carefully to never gain nor lose on her liege as they marched. Bright music filled the air, they were getting down among residences and shops now and there were numerous people cultivators all, lining the streets and the rooftops, flowers were scattered in the air ahead and in their wake, filling the air with their rich scent.
"I am honored that the small projects I have undertaken should reach such exalted ears," Ling Qi said humbly. "But then I supposed the eyes of the capital must observe the heiress from time to time."
"They must," Zhu Fan said, the exacting tap of the jade butt of his staff ringing in the quiet between verses of the celebratory melody playing. "You have… concerned some among the ministry, but it is good to know you have the tutelage of an expert to guide you. The old methods are… orthodox enough, in their way."
"Inefficient. Traditional methods emphasize the wrong factors. Human Life Quality and Carrying Capacity should be the highest goals of any settlement project."
Diao Luwen's cold, disinterested voice was like the turning of a millstone in her ears. He did not look around either of course, remaining ahead, hands folded behind his back, hidden in voluminous sleeves.
"Debateable, Minister Diao, though as always, I respect your intentions," Zhu Fan's voice had a tired edge too it. Ling Qi suspected that the two men had traded some variation of these words many times. "The ancestral methods do have their value in taming fresh lands, even if they become less beneficial at greater densities."
"And when you reach them, you shall be locked into onerous pacts which inevitably result in greater damage when you are forced to alter them to account for higher population. Best to begin as you intend to continue," Diao Luwen replied.
Ling Qi wondered if she would be forgotten entirely in the wake of a well-trod argument between colleagues
"I assume the young Baroness and her Lady have their reasons."
Perhaps not. Cai Renxiang's eyes flicked briefly toward them. But she could tell her friend was in communication with the Diao herald herself regarding the opening ceremonies.
"We feel as if density is not likely in the foreseeable future, given the remoteness of our lands. So the Meng's more spread-out method of settlement is desirable. In addition, my own spirit relationships make negotiation and renegotiation more effective and reliable," Ling Qi said, quietly.
The palace was visible now in the distance, coming around the curve of the jutting branch. Light and color were shown from every window, and vast banners were flying all along their route. Until they reached the outermost gates of the palace the procession would continue to be just that, a simple parade through the streets. Once they did reach the gates though, there would be some ceremonies at each one, welcoming the new bride in an official and spiritual fashion. Oaths and bindings tying her into the ancient foundations of Tsu's ducal palace only somewhat less than the Duchess herself.
"A good reason as any. With such a potent land god bound to you, it would be foolish not to take advantage."
"It is what it is. I expect the South to go through many disruptions yet," Diao Luwen said absently. "So if there is anywhere for such methods it is there."
Zhu Fan wrinkled his nose. In a less formal scenario, she suspected he might have snorted. "Baroness. I would speak to you, post-ceremony. This idle chatter is not enough for the conversation I wish to have."
She gave a very slight nod as their path began to take them upward again, winding and winding toward the gates of the palace, their bright red shade stark against the green of the canopy. Cai Renxiang strode ahead, picking up her pace as the greater part of the procession fanned out, making way for the Palanquin to be brought before the gates. They were closed, a dense mesh of woven living wood that hummed with the quiet, unvulnerable strength of Xiangmen, as inviolate as the trunk or branches of the tree. If Ling Qi extended her senses further, she could feel the web of curses and ancient protections that would brutalize anyone who thought they could simply go around it.
"Who comes before the gates of the Palace of Seasons!"
The voice of the herald assigned to the gate boomed out as he recited his ritual line.
"It is I, Cai Renxiang, heiress to the Throne of Seasons." Her liege recite, stepping forward. "I come with the offerings of the honored Diao clan, Dowry, and bride, to join their blood to the blood of the Cai."
*****
A small afterward, If you enjoy the quest, please consider dropping a few dollars to the patreon or for a fun bit of merch. For patrons even as quest followers you get early access to commissions, full access to Journey to the East as well as the new sidestory featuring Meizhen's trip in Zhengjian underway as well as first access to new stories if I make them!
Check out them out!
Patreon
and
Destiny Store
Thank you your readership and participation in the Quest!
*****
In addition, currently launching a Bluesky account Join me there for news and such if you wish!
A small afterward, If you enjoy the quest, please consider dropping a few dollars to the patreon or for a fun bit of merch. For patrons even as quest followers you get early access to commissions, full access to Journey to the East as well as the new sidestory featuring Meizhen's trip in Zhengjian underway as well as first access to new stories if I make them!
Check out them out!
Patreon
and
Destiny Store
Thank you your readership and participation in the Quest!
*****
In addition, currently launching a Bluesky account Join me there for news and such if you wish!
Another old man wanting a chat with LQ. Post ceremony is going to be packed with stuff to do.
Well, that went better that I feared. Having the Meng geomancer teaching us seems to have quelled some of the concerns the Minister may have had about our methods. And he indeed wishes to have a more in depth conversation about our spiritual endeavours in the south, as expected.
Now, that is the chance to fix our rep with the Clergy, make proposals and secure some support from the Ministery of Spiriual Affairs.
While I agree with Diao Luwen to some extent, I would argue that achieving a harmonious coexistence with the environment is crucial to guarantee Human Life Quality on the long run. Specially when that environment is not only literally alive, but also sentient with varying degrees of sapiency.
Luckily, the Wang Roads go a long way to maintain that Carrying Capacity he deems so important; as well as the hybrid Meng-Wang style we'll keep developing once we start building up along and into the cliff instead of just in the mist.
I guess that's just what happens when you put Cai Renxiang and Ling Qi to set up a settlement together.
Now, that is the chance to fix our rep with the Clergy, make proposals and secure some support from the Ministery of Spiriual Affairs.
While I agree with Diao Luwen to some extent, I would argue that achieving a harmonious coexistence with the environment is crucial to guarantee Human Life Quality on the long run. Specially when that environment is not only literally alive, but also sentient with varying degrees of sapiency.
Luckily, the Wang Roads go a long way to maintain that Carrying Capacity he deems so important; as well as the hybrid Meng-Wang style we'll keep developing once we start building up along and into the cliff instead of just in the mist.
I guess that's just what happens when you put Cai Renxiang and Ling Qi to set up a settlement together.
Not just life quality. Security, if you go far enough. It's why the people of the Red Sun were the Sage's hardest targets.
Yrsillar said:
Karthak said:
Yrsillar said:
Karthak said:
If you are one with the land, the land is one with you.Yrsillar said:
- Location
- Washington
The empire broadly LIKES it when there are actual spirit courts you can negotiate in a way not entirely unlike you can negotiate with a human political entity instead of a bunch of rogue wild spirits. Hanyi is solving a genuine problem for them. It might not be EXACTLY how he would go about it in a perfect world, but in a perfect world this genuine problem would've been solved centuries ago.
And yeah the addition of the Meng geomancer does probably do a lot to convince them there's a method to our madness instead of PURE winging it. Meng spirit ecology is a known factor. It's predictable, in its way. The order of preference probably goes "Pure Imperial spirit organization > Meng-ish spirit ecology > Untaught Winging It That Gets Lucky > Continued spirit anarchy in the south > Untaught Winging it that gets UN-lucky."
I get the sense that's actually a huge concession from this guy.