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.
- Location
- The Space Between
Isolation is a Blade for us, folded into our very sense of being (Domain).
Power is more than a Blade, it's the ability to affect or resist Change/Motion. BKSD's constructs don't have Blades of Isolation in them, but they still can achieve or resist Change.
Want is a direction. Want aims Power to achieve Change/Motion in the direction of Want or to resist Change/Motion that would shift someone off course of their Want(s).
Communication is a delivery mechanism for information between self and outside-of-self. Communication would be something similar to a handle to the Blade that is Isolation. It could also look like a Lever if you're a Hui looking to socially engineer a generation.
I think Isolation as a Blade is an interesting metaphor because a Blade can do a great many things as the swordmasters know. It also can only really do one thing: cut.
My personal advocacy would see "Our Blades" be "Starvation, Isolation, and Ignorance/Delusion" where our creative/building/additive forces would be "Sacrifice, Community and Curiosity/Secrets".
Power and Want and Communication and Choice can all do more than just Cut so I don't think they're blades. I think they're just vital parts of reality.
On the other hand I'm not sure Starvation, Isolation or Ignorance/Delusion can do anything other than Cut. Sure a Cut can accomplish a great many things but at the same time it only will ever be a Cut, never a creation.
Sidebar: Remember when that Sword-Cultivator parried our Music with a sword? Well what if our Music could swordfight a Sword-Cultivator hmm??? Bet they didn't see our Musical Build having an understanding of Blades sharp enough to swordfight with coming!! Also, applying Unity of Blades to fighting the "Blades" of Starvation, Isolation and Ignorance/Delusion sounds like a good way to use Unity of Blades without relying on an explicit physical outgroup. The outgroup-threat is the conceptual Blades of Privation seeking to slay any and all. Much more stable that relying on actual physical enemies. They're definitely harder enemies to put down than any human culture group.
Double Sidebar: I also want to take a little moment to advocate once again for Song-Seeking as a general concept. A use of our three Patrons to pull old songs out of the rot of ages and the context they're chained to, in order to sing a new song in the now. In some respects this dive into dead Hui ideation is that kind of dumpster diving, although it doesn't seem to be musical yet. Having Greed and Desire actualize into a sort of malicious Drinking Song would be kinda badass I'd love that. Even if it doesn't end up musical in any way though, it's the right shape of Dumpster Diving to give us experience in doing more dumpster diving later on, hopefully to find old songs and dances!
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- Location
- Finland
Assuming that the connection can't also be severed.
Uncle Skellies prison was not perfect, it can be entered and exited.
So perfectly isolating someone is HARD, probably practically impossible in almost every case.
But world is full of edge cases.
And not really the point.
The point was that nobody is immune to isolation, some ways may be very resistant to it, in the end, everyone is can be isolated from their allies (and enemies, in a more defensive side).
Uncle Skellies prison was not perfect, it can be entered and exited.
So perfectly isolating someone is HARD, probably practically impossible in almost every case.
But world is full of edge cases.
And not really the point.
The point was that nobody is immune to isolation, some ways may be very resistant to it, in the end, everyone is can be isolated from their allies (and enemies, in a more defensive side).
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That works well until you hit a protagonist, then they just shrug and start cultivating void qi.
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
I don't think this works? You are trying to use blades as both your in-groups' tools and your out-group threat, which means you are trying to have your cake and eat it too.
But even more than that, I think trying to make unity of blades bloodless by removing all actual people from the out-group destroys unity of blades no matter what concept you try and use for the out-group.
It's theoretically possible for cultivators to be immune to each other's bullshit.
Yrsillar said:
- Location
- Colorado
I mean, those two both hit the absolute peak of cultivation. Up until we hit that point the 'proper' answer to someone being immune to one of our concepts is just to deepen our understanding of that concept until they're not immune anymore.
Yao didn't get to the point of being able to tell 99.999999999% of all things that they do actually die when they are killed by accepting that there's some things that are just immune to death.
Isolation and Community might be resisted if they either have a stronger conception of the ideas, or reject them entirely. Immunity would take a point where they aren't just ignored/suppressed, but actually gone entirely, which is possible, but I don't think such a cultivator would be very human
Thank the great spirits for the tireless efforts and never ending work of the MoI.
Outside of the empire's culture though, that's a different question entirely.
And with how central the Ith has community embedded in their culture and cultivation, I could see being a hermit to call on when times are bad as a big sacrifice.... But then, we know the higher an Ith cultivator rises, the shorter their life is, thanks to the expedition LQ was part of earlier.
A spirit not necessarily need community though, looking at the fungal spirit that gave LQ such a trouble.
[X] Ignorance and Delusion [Align offensive technique to Communication and Isolation]
Isolation might not work great on someone with a strong self-conception as a lone traveler. Would probably not be great against Wind Girl we just talked to. But that's part of how fights work, at that point we hopefully tackle a different enemy and let an ally take point on the one who's resistant to us in particular.
- Location
- Colorado
Expand your concept of isolation beyond 'community' or 'peers' then. Isolate them from the world around them, their senses, emotions, or desires.
Why are people still debating and voting when Greed and Desire to fight with Communication and Want won?
Maybe the discussion is interesting on it's own merits, or isn't solely for the purpose of lobbying the voter population.
Developing our way is a continuous thing, how we shape Want and Isolation will always be relevant topics at minimum until we hit realm 4, and very likely after as well.
The voters may just be confused due to the ongoing discussion though.
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
It it really isolation though if you are trying to isolate them from themselves? Like, it seems you'd need to first break a cultivator to the point where those are separate things from them.
Peers sure, but emotions and senses seem like what actually makes up the person themselves. A monolith, not an agglomerate. So, "cut" would work but "isolate" seems like it would just grab the singular whole.
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Heyo guys I want to make sure I don't rush an important update and put some more thought into how exactly this technique is going to work, so there won't be an update today. (Also Mh: Wilds. I should have known I would get addicted the moment I started really playing) Will get back to Ling Qi's adventures soon.
- Location
- Colorado
Then you start working on your definition of 'singular whole.' I'm not trying to say this would be easy, no more than it would be easy for a community-focused cultivator like an Ith to adapt their concepts to weather being isolated, but either way the 'proper' thing for a cultivator to do is to deepen their understanding of a concept that's being challenged. Don't accept your limits, go further beyond.
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fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Is we can isolate someone well enough then it doesn't matter if we can't harm them. Our objective to fight is generally harm prevention.
Unfortunately I am too late and have lost this vote.
[X] Ignorance and Delusion [Align offensive technique to Communication and Isolation]
Brotherhood of the Orchid 2
Brothrhood of the orchid 1
Cao Dai stood before the falling waters and ran his finger idly along the long, puckered scar that now ran across his cheek, just barely missing his eye before disappearing under his hairline. The memory of his deployment stirred, never far from the surface.
The stinking smell of the bog had long since become normal, the mixture of corroded metals, stagnant water, and rotting flesh no longer making his eyes water. They had marched in, the first day, and wondered at the sunken cheeks and haunted stares of the men they were replacing. Oh how they had boasted, quietly laughing behind their backs, that very first day.
The laughter had stopped the first day they had deployed into their square of the grid.
Blades from the mud. The screams of tormented souls. Rusted hulks lurching from the bog waters, clad in mud and reeds. All hours, without end. No rest. No succor. And then they had met the enemy in force, a rusting legion of ghost machines, marching in good order.
The shrieking automaton with a man's screaming face and threshing blades for arms howled as it's half-ghostly steel clove through his sword and carved into his skin.
He felt arms wrap around his waist, and warm breath on his neck. "You look distinguished, Cao Dai."
He reached back and touched Sima Yan's dark hair. It helped to bring him back.
"A true imperial hero hm?"
"A man of virtue and dignity unimpeachable," Sima Yan hummed, lips touching his ear.
"I don't know, there's a court whisperer, who might be able to impeach my virtue quite well," Cao Dai drawled.
Sima Yan chuckled, and he couldn't deny the rich sound made his heart flutter. The astrologer leaned forward, chin on his shoulder, face just in view if he turned his eyes aside. "Then you should be very certain that you keep him happy, hm?"
"I am surely trapped in his web," Cao Dai mused. "Will the others be along today?"
Late, I suspect."
Cao Dai felt some regret as Sima Yan stepped away. He turned himself, away from the artificial waterfall pouring down from the pavilion roof. They'd rented out a space different than their usual this time. They stood now at the foot of mount Wu, in one of the richer agricultural regions. Below their mountainside pavilion a gorgeous pastoral landscape rolled out before their eyes, beyond the curtain of the falling waters. The air was crisp and clear, and the patter of the waterfalls made a calming natural background.
He followed Sima Yan back to the ornate tables shaped from delicate, hollow silver piping, and stuffed silken cushions, arranged to overlook the rolling fields green and gold and the picturesque little villages between.
"I have heard the courts have been astir," he said idly, reaching out to grasp Sima Yan's hand.
"All this business in the south… Honestly, its a bit md that things are still so noisy down there, even now," Sima Yan sighed with exaggerated affect. "And then there was the jockeying for the Empress' retinue for her simulacrums visit to the southern capital… Rarely have I seen so many grey-bearded old men, squabbling like little boys over who shall have the big bug."
Cao Dai chuckled at the idle image it conjured, of his uncles posturing about like children, stamping their feet and shouting.
"Do you think it likely the Emerald Seas will call for Imperial Aid in their war? I have heard things about the subterranean barbarians that are concerning," Cao Dai asked idly.
"Hard to judge, but my gut says no. Disheveled and disorganized as they are… well."
Well. The idea of an imperial muster wasn't quite as exciting as when he was a boy.
"Gahhahha! Look at the both of you, watching the countryside like an old couple!"
Gong Hu's booming voice shattered the serenity like a boulder hurled through a pane of glass. Their friend bounded up the stairs, still filled with the same boundless energy as always, heavy boots thumping on the delicate tile.
"Slow… down… you… oaf!" A distant voice shouted up the stairs behind him.
"Hurry up then!" he boomed back.
"It… is… uncouth… to use… a movement art… just to climb… the stairs!" Kang De's complaint echoed back, rapidly growing closer through the winding stair that led to the pavilion.
"Ah, no one is watching," Gong Hu dismissed waving his hand.
"That's hardly the point," Sima Yan said dryly. "Have you heard from the others?"
Gong Hu's grin faded. "Tao Shen's marriage contract was completed. He's on his way out to the Alabaster Sands. You're slipping Sima. I thought you'd know that."
Sima Yan looked like he had bitten into a lemon. Cao Dai himself grimaced.
"..I've been buried in court business. I hadn't thought…" Sima Yan trailed off unhappily. "I suppose Gonsun Wei won't be coming then."
"I tried," Gong Hu said with a shrug. "But I get it."
"Indeed! I truly believe we could have brought cheer to our friend's heart in this dark moment, but one cannot force such a thing," Kang De said, finally mounting the last of the stairs.
"Unfortunate," Cao Dai said. There was no more to be said than that. It was a sore subject for all of them really. The most foundational duty one had to their clan was to continue it, or serve their interests in continuing another.
Mad formationcraft from the south aside, it would be all of their turns eventually.
His scar itched. He squeezed Sima Yan's hand. Perhaps he should be focusing a little more on his cultivation.
He rose from his seat, turned to face his friends, and clapped his hands. "Regardless! I will call this meeting of the Brotherhood of the Orchid to order once again! Welcome friends. I hope you will all enjoy our venue today."
"Most beauteous," Kang De, said tilting his chin back. "A finer sight there is not than the peaceful lives our valor and honor enables!"
"Hmhm, I suppose it's relaxing enough, good for mighty warriors in repose!' Gong Hu said, the laughter returning to his voice. "And congratulations my friend! A fine scar indeed! Truly none can doubt the bravery of the Cao!"
He chuckled. "Don't think I do not see your own Gong Hu. It looks as if you met a great foe yourself."
The edge of the starburst scar was only half visible, spreading across his friend's exposed pectoral under that loose carouser's robe he'd worn today.
"This lummox stepped right into the path of spirit's hook like a fool," Kang De said. "As if I would not have dodged its point with ease."
"Gahah! You're just so fragile looking, I suppose my body moved on its own!" Gong Hu boomed, clapping Kang De on the back.
The slender man scowled up at him. "I may not be a rockheaded fool, but I am no sculpture of spun glass. Do not insult me so again."
"Got it, got it, my prince. I promise to be more mindful."
"It is good to be at peace, only a few friendly voices to dog my ears," Sima Yan said quietly. "You chose well, Dai."
He inclined his head.
"My friend you have my sympathies for being among the crowds at court. What I have heard in mine own home, the petitioners scraping at my Uncle's ear for a moment of attention from the Empress, even at one remove!" Kang De lamented. "You have chosen an accursed path indeed."
"Perhaps, but it is useful for finding the latest and greatest in opportunities. Long has our brotherhood's paths wandered far and away, but I think I may have a chance for a truly bountiful quest for all of us," Sima Yan said, smiling thinly.
"Oho! What's that now, Master Sima, speak!" Gong Hu said, bounding to take a seat on one of the delicate chairs, uncouthly resting his elbows upon its back.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Gong Hu," Sima Yan chuckled. "Only that the palace will soon be releasing a call for young heroes to delve into certain long-disused portions of the palace basements. These in particular have been closed since the second dynasty. It's risky. There's only been some cursory divination and we would likely need to cede the truly momentous discoveries to our Elders, but The palace is requiring divination experts for this, and I could use a retinue."
"Interesting!" Gong Hu said, stroking his chin.
"A chance to see the inside of the palace itself. I am intrigued," Kang De agreed. "Well, it is a break in the delving season anyway, at least for we lower realms. What say you Cao Dai?"
"I think a warm-up to ease me from my rest would be welcome indeed," he said. "What in the world are we delving into?"
"It seems to be a series of second dynasty archives, that were pulled out of phase with the material. The anchoring process is done, but one cannot know what so many centuries detached from reality has done. I think it shall be a fascinating adventure indeed."
He was less certain, in the privacy of his own thoughts. But he was hardly going to let Sima yan go without him.
Another duty, but hopefully they could all avoid new scars.
Cao Dai stood before the falling waters and ran his finger idly along the long, puckered scar that now ran across his cheek, just barely missing his eye before disappearing under his hairline. The memory of his deployment stirred, never far from the surface.
The stinking smell of the bog had long since become normal, the mixture of corroded metals, stagnant water, and rotting flesh no longer making his eyes water. They had marched in, the first day, and wondered at the sunken cheeks and haunted stares of the men they were replacing. Oh how they had boasted, quietly laughing behind their backs, that very first day.
The laughter had stopped the first day they had deployed into their square of the grid.
Blades from the mud. The screams of tormented souls. Rusted hulks lurching from the bog waters, clad in mud and reeds. All hours, without end. No rest. No succor. And then they had met the enemy in force, a rusting legion of ghost machines, marching in good order.
The shrieking automaton with a man's screaming face and threshing blades for arms howled as it's half-ghostly steel clove through his sword and carved into his skin.
He felt arms wrap around his waist, and warm breath on his neck. "You look distinguished, Cao Dai."
He reached back and touched Sima Yan's dark hair. It helped to bring him back.
"A true imperial hero hm?"
"A man of virtue and dignity unimpeachable," Sima Yan hummed, lips touching his ear.
"I don't know, there's a court whisperer, who might be able to impeach my virtue quite well," Cao Dai drawled.
Sima Yan chuckled, and he couldn't deny the rich sound made his heart flutter. The astrologer leaned forward, chin on his shoulder, face just in view if he turned his eyes aside. "Then you should be very certain that you keep him happy, hm?"
"I am surely trapped in his web," Cao Dai mused. "Will the others be along today?"
Late, I suspect."
Cao Dai felt some regret as Sima Yan stepped away. He turned himself, away from the artificial waterfall pouring down from the pavilion roof. They'd rented out a space different than their usual this time. They stood now at the foot of mount Wu, in one of the richer agricultural regions. Below their mountainside pavilion a gorgeous pastoral landscape rolled out before their eyes, beyond the curtain of the falling waters. The air was crisp and clear, and the patter of the waterfalls made a calming natural background.
He followed Sima Yan back to the ornate tables shaped from delicate, hollow silver piping, and stuffed silken cushions, arranged to overlook the rolling fields green and gold and the picturesque little villages between.
"I have heard the courts have been astir," he said idly, reaching out to grasp Sima Yan's hand.
"All this business in the south… Honestly, its a bit md that things are still so noisy down there, even now," Sima Yan sighed with exaggerated affect. "And then there was the jockeying for the Empress' retinue for her simulacrums visit to the southern capital… Rarely have I seen so many grey-bearded old men, squabbling like little boys over who shall have the big bug."
Cao Dai chuckled at the idle image it conjured, of his uncles posturing about like children, stamping their feet and shouting.
"Do you think it likely the Emerald Seas will call for Imperial Aid in their war? I have heard things about the subterranean barbarians that are concerning," Cao Dai asked idly.
"Hard to judge, but my gut says no. Disheveled and disorganized as they are… well."
Well. The idea of an imperial muster wasn't quite as exciting as when he was a boy.
"Gahhahha! Look at the both of you, watching the countryside like an old couple!"
Gong Hu's booming voice shattered the serenity like a boulder hurled through a pane of glass. Their friend bounded up the stairs, still filled with the same boundless energy as always, heavy boots thumping on the delicate tile.
"Slow… down… you… oaf!" A distant voice shouted up the stairs behind him.
"Hurry up then!" he boomed back.
"It… is… uncouth… to use… a movement art… just to climb… the stairs!" Kang De's complaint echoed back, rapidly growing closer through the winding stair that led to the pavilion.
"Ah, no one is watching," Gong Hu dismissed waving his hand.
"That's hardly the point," Sima Yan said dryly. "Have you heard from the others?"
Gong Hu's grin faded. "Tao Shen's marriage contract was completed. He's on his way out to the Alabaster Sands. You're slipping Sima. I thought you'd know that."
Sima Yan looked like he had bitten into a lemon. Cao Dai himself grimaced.
"..I've been buried in court business. I hadn't thought…" Sima Yan trailed off unhappily. "I suppose Gonsun Wei won't be coming then."
"I tried," Gong Hu said with a shrug. "But I get it."
"Indeed! I truly believe we could have brought cheer to our friend's heart in this dark moment, but one cannot force such a thing," Kang De said, finally mounting the last of the stairs.
"Unfortunate," Cao Dai said. There was no more to be said than that. It was a sore subject for all of them really. The most foundational duty one had to their clan was to continue it, or serve their interests in continuing another.
Mad formationcraft from the south aside, it would be all of their turns eventually.
His scar itched. He squeezed Sima Yan's hand. Perhaps he should be focusing a little more on his cultivation.
He rose from his seat, turned to face his friends, and clapped his hands. "Regardless! I will call this meeting of the Brotherhood of the Orchid to order once again! Welcome friends. I hope you will all enjoy our venue today."
"Most beauteous," Kang De, said tilting his chin back. "A finer sight there is not than the peaceful lives our valor and honor enables!"
"Hmhm, I suppose it's relaxing enough, good for mighty warriors in repose!' Gong Hu said, the laughter returning to his voice. "And congratulations my friend! A fine scar indeed! Truly none can doubt the bravery of the Cao!"
He chuckled. "Don't think I do not see your own Gong Hu. It looks as if you met a great foe yourself."
The edge of the starburst scar was only half visible, spreading across his friend's exposed pectoral under that loose carouser's robe he'd worn today.
"This lummox stepped right into the path of spirit's hook like a fool," Kang De said. "As if I would not have dodged its point with ease."
"Gahah! You're just so fragile looking, I suppose my body moved on its own!" Gong Hu boomed, clapping Kang De on the back.
The slender man scowled up at him. "I may not be a rockheaded fool, but I am no sculpture of spun glass. Do not insult me so again."
"Got it, got it, my prince. I promise to be more mindful."
"It is good to be at peace, only a few friendly voices to dog my ears," Sima Yan said quietly. "You chose well, Dai."
He inclined his head.
"My friend you have my sympathies for being among the crowds at court. What I have heard in mine own home, the petitioners scraping at my Uncle's ear for a moment of attention from the Empress, even at one remove!" Kang De lamented. "You have chosen an accursed path indeed."
"Perhaps, but it is useful for finding the latest and greatest in opportunities. Long has our brotherhood's paths wandered far and away, but I think I may have a chance for a truly bountiful quest for all of us," Sima Yan said, smiling thinly.
"Oho! What's that now, Master Sima, speak!" Gong Hu said, bounding to take a seat on one of the delicate chairs, uncouthly resting his elbows upon its back.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Gong Hu," Sima Yan chuckled. "Only that the palace will soon be releasing a call for young heroes to delve into certain long-disused portions of the palace basements. These in particular have been closed since the second dynasty. It's risky. There's only been some cursory divination and we would likely need to cede the truly momentous discoveries to our Elders, but The palace is requiring divination experts for this, and I could use a retinue."
"Interesting!" Gong Hu said, stroking his chin.
"A chance to see the inside of the palace itself. I am intrigued," Kang De agreed. "Well, it is a break in the delving season anyway, at least for we lower realms. What say you Cao Dai?"
"I think a warm-up to ease me from my rest would be welcome indeed," he said. "What in the world are we delving into?"
"It seems to be a series of second dynasty archives, that were pulled out of phase with the material. The anchoring process is done, but one cannot know what so many centuries detached from reality has done. I think it shall be a fascinating adventure indeed."
He was less certain, in the privacy of his own thoughts. But he was hardly going to let Sima yan go without him.
Another duty, but hopefully they could all avoid new scars.
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The Celestial Peaks: "Man I hope the south will quiet down."
Soon to be White Galidan: "Bonjour."
Soon to be White Galidan: "Bonjour."
- Location
- Colorado
I respect the work you put into being his hype man, but it's hard to get excited about him as an antagonist when he's up against Cai Shenhua, who's got way more narrative build up as an antagonist for the late/end game. Any Destiny players here? It's like trying to get hyped up about Skolas when the Taken King is coming with the next expansion.
Way easier to be interested in all the threats that don't have to overcome her first, or are coming in later like Sun Shao/the Red Garden, the Grave, the Polar Gates, or even the really vague stuff like whatever's happening with the Maelstrom or Banabar.
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A little wholesome yaoi to balance out all the toxic yuri lately.