#tampering with forbidden knowledge [lore]

[shallliveoninsong]

「(Blood) Family」

(This is subject to change if we ever find out more about his family but until then this is what I'm going with)--

Like the rumors say, Jing Yuan's lineage had a long line of service to the Realm-Keeping Commission. While not forced, it was certainly anticipated by his parents that he would follow in their footsteps. This didn't happen, little Jing Yuan was drawn to swordsmanship and the heroic stories of the Xianzhou military much to his family's dismay.

To an extent, he was blinded a bit by the glorification, whether it be intentional by the Xianzhou government or not.

After he got over his very young and somewhat unrealistic dream of becoming a Galaxy Ranger he wanted to join the Cloud Knights. His parents attempted many times to convince Jing Yuan to change his path in life as they did worry about his safety a great deal. They struggled with the idea of him being in harm's way when he just as easily could train for a job in their Commission and be away from the fray of the war with the Abundance. They often spoke to him about the risks to ensure he understood the gravity of what he was trying to get into, yet Jing Yuan wasn't deterred.

He sought out Jingliu to teach him the way of the sword, for he was declined by others due to being so young. By both his resilience in bugging her about the matter and by the grace of the Aeons Jingliu did accept him as her student.

As his career path progressed his parents eventually resigned to the fact that Jing Yuan was set on being a Cloud Knight. Even if they didn't understand his passion and despite being worried about him constantly they tried to not let it show so Jing Yuan could follow his dreams but he could always sense the air of disapproval of the path he'd chosen.

This is a large reason why his friendship with the HCQ was so welcoming and he felt so closely connected to them as they accepted him for what he was from the the get-go.

His parents were already moderately old when they had him. He lost them to mara. It wasn't detected early on so the process of them being guided to the hall of karma was far from a peaceful one.

[s-b-party]

Court of Desolation: Domain with Forbidden Knowledge?

****Possible spoilers ahead!!!

So what is the Court of Desolation?

A domain that is introduced in Cyno’s story quest that is from the age of King Deshret believed to contain treasure inside making bearers capable of seeing beyond life and death or even resurrecting the dead

It’s a forbidden research topic within the Akademiya due to the risks that came along with the idea of the price of one’s life either being the requirement for it to appear or for one to enter it (you can imagine where this led 😔)

Why do I say it’s twisted? If we look at the infrastructure from inside without looking at the cracks in the walls that Taj created in order to destroy it, we come across certain something strange

The walls and structures are covered in what appears to be a purple gooey/slimy substance which we don’t know much about

The torch-like structures (are they called torches???? I don’t know what they’re called, send help 💀) that light up when we follow those blue orbs leading us to them have been seen all over the desert, but there is something different about the torches inside this particular domain

Here is what they normally look like:

Here’s what the torch in the Court of Desolation looks like (I couldn’t take better pics bc the camera function was gone once I entered the domain 😭)

You can see that it retains the same shape & designs, but there is more purple on the front of it

This shade of purple is found throughout this entire domain and there is also the constant imagery of a diamond-shaped eye

The purple used here seems to evoke a sense of malice; the overall domain seems to be like a perversion of the Mausoleum of King Deshret

Interestingly, purple in some civilizations was a color associated with royalty or nobility so I think that in terms of color schematics, the difference between a golden mausoleum and a purple domain that’s meant to be a perversion of said mausoleum makes sense as a contrast

We also see King Deshret represented as an eye in a lot of the art, so to me, the eye in the domain implies that there’s still a divine presence but the purple theme gives it a sinister atmosphere

This court is reminding me A LOT of the Defiled Statue of Seven, another (purple I might add) object of divine importance but also twisted 👀

Some of the mechanics inside this domain seem twisted as well (involves flipping the domain’s walls/corridors upside down); even the stationary walls seem off bc they appear to be at different angles as if they’re turning/spiraling 👀

My theory is that the Court of Desolation may have came into contact with forbidden knowledge & managed to survive up until Taj closed it off

It was created by an organization during King Deshret’s age that is not named, so we don’t know if this organization’s members were originally part of the his kingdom or if they were from another region or maybe even from another world

The reason why I thought it might be forbidden knowledge in the domain is because when we look back at the cutscene explaining how the Withering came to be, we can see it flowing down from King Deshret into his kingdom in the form of a blue and purple liquid substance

That might seem like a simple coincidence at first, but it seems to make a bit of sense when combined with the rumors of treasure giving its bearers the ability to see past life & death along with resurrecting the dead, which are considered sins at the Akademiya (tampering with life & death) aka taboo topics

Now we don’t know with certainty if this domain actually contained such knowledge/information, but I would also like to consider what domains are capable of when it comes to information

We know that once Rukkhadevata erased herself from Irminsul, there were consequences of information deletion/change in the lore, but there are still items/locations where such information was not affected, one of them being domains bc we know that the Viridescent Venerer artifact set still mentions her as she was

Items that we farm in domains are considered to be a form of memory, so assuming that this lack of change in the VV set description wasn’t a simple mistake overlooked by the dev team, we can say that domains are capable of retaining memories/information from the far past

The story requirement for Cyno’s story quest is to complete King Deshret and the Three Magi, which takes place before Rukkhadevata’s self erasure; I only completed Cyno’s story quest after this most recent Archon Quest, Caribert; I don’t know if my time of completion changes anything, but if that purple substance in the domain is actual forbidden knowledge, then it seems on brand that the domain somehow managed to keep it even after the erasure because domains in this game just seem like a backup system for memories of the past

I think the even bigger mystery than the presence of this domain is the unnamed organization that built this domain, there is a lot of speculation here because there’s not much we know about this organization: we don’t know their motive(s) for creating this domain, do we know anybody from this organization even by name, did forbidden knowledge only enter this domain after these people left, were they the founders of any of the existing Eremites’ factions, etc.

I need to see if there’s anything that I’m missing from the archives that might have more insight on this but also I need to catch up on the windblume event 😭 so have these crack thought crumbs for now

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Mnemor

CR 5

Lawful Evil Medium Outsider

Occult Bestiary, pg. 21

While there are a great many devils who will offer one forbidden knowledge not meant for mortal minds, the sinister Mnemor here is a devil that specializes in removing forbidden knowledge from those who can no longer bear it. Whether a memory is traumatic, harmful, or unwanted for another reason, the Mnemor exists to offer relief to those whose minds have become their own enemy. Able to use Calm Emotions to quell potential fright at their horrific appearance, their ghoulish proboscis is their scalpel wielded against unwanted thoughts, its touch inflicting victims with a Memory Siphon, which allows the devil unlimited access to their memories so long as contact is maintained. While the Memory Siphon is in place, the Mnemor can repress memories of any length or intensity while automatically erasing the memory of the invasive procedure to prevent it from becoming a trauma of its own.

While it doesn’t possess Modify Memory as a spell and thus cannot create false memories wholecloth, the lore of the Mnemor states it does possess limited control over the memories it doesn’t repress, allowing it to make small cosmetic alterations. Nothing big, just enough to make one question their own mind, to see specific events in new lights, to change their opinion on certain topics... or to lead them down the very same path they first walked when they discovered whatever it was the Mnemor was needed for anyway. They ARE devils, after all, and though they always keep to their bargains, their price is often worse than the problem. In this case, Mnemor often repress enough specific memories while making tiny shifts to others that the victim becomes a repeat customer, calling upon the Mnemor’s services over and over again and owing the Outsider greater and greater favors in exchange.

It’s difficult to detect the tampering of a Mnemor even if you’re aware it tampered in the first place. Only Break Enchantment, Psychic Surgery, or even more powerful spells can undo its memory blocks, and until you receive one of those you cannot even trust your own recollection of events. And, as I mentioned, since a Mnemor’s Memory Siphon automatically erases itself once it’s through, it’s quite simple for the devil to erase the entire bargain from your mind, leaving you without any idea of what you’ve done until an ally slaps you with an errant Break Enchantment... which, of course, will cause not only the memories of the devil’s visit, but every other repressed memories to come roaring back. Time for another visit!

Repeat customers are valuable to the devils, but they aren’t immediately aware when their tampering is detected or even removed, allowing a past customer to summon them again for assistance, only to be suddenly pounced upon by an angry party. Without any real ability to cause damage (their two claws are their sole means of harming someone, at 1d6+4 damage each), Mnemor must rely on their at-will Suggestion to combo with their Calm Emotions or their Confusion psychic abilities (2 and 4 of their 16 PP, respective) to turn a party against itself. Or, more likely, to at least distract them enough for it to slip away undetected.

And I mean undetected, because Mnemor are Easily Forgotten. Whether it uses its Invisibility psychic ability (costing a meager 2 PP), vanishes via its at-will Greater Teleport, or merely steps out of a room while everyone is confused, anyone who can no longer draw line of sight to the devil must make a DC 16 Will save or be completely unable to remember where it went or what it did. Every encounter with a Mnemor is ALSO Easily Forgotten, memories of why it came and what it did while it was here similarly vanishing from one’s mind, with every fine detail besides “it was here for some reason” draining away. Due to its built-in escape options, it makes for an extremely unsettling encounter if played right; I wholly recommend the DM rolling that Will save at the start of a session without telling anyone what it’s for to both A) make everyone nervous and B) make for an even more disquieting reveal later as the party finds themselves in a mess they cannot remember making.

Mnemor devils can be a terrifying method to, essentially, gaslight your players, but make sure a session like that won’t harm anyone! While it can be fun to mess with their minds and make them question their own perceptions (and Mnemor make incredible vehicles for that at low levels due to their CR), check with everyone involved to keep yourself from going too far!

You can read more about them here.

[inviouswriting]

Kivera - Character Lore.

With her nature, she has an ability whenever she sets foot in any domain or realm to change the atmosphere of the space she is in. Part of her interdimensional being as altering that space and time to her benefit. She sees a web of threads from a source or the ties of bonds.  She follows unique ones and will look at their lives. Kivera can see ones past and their end upon meeting them. If she is summoned, she always tosses out two main conditions of meeting with her.

“One may not ask about matters pertaining to their fate.”

“And one may not ask about the matters of the underworld.” 

Ignorance is bliss around her. She will spare kind souls the knowledge of their pending deaths. She will unleash harsh truths of those who tamper with forbidden subjects with necromancy or raising the dead.

She does not obey every call for her. She ignores certain ones, and will only appear to ones who have truly wronged worlds. Or are trying to use her for their own means. 

Kivera is Purgatory’s keeper and acts as best like a fury or erinyes. She makes judgements based on the lives they have led and whether or not they need to face retribution. She carries out her role without hesitation. 

Misguided souls earn little empathy from her depending what they have done in their lives. Kivera does not overlook necromancy of any form. She also despises tomb defilement since it gives unrest to the dead. She’s often around places of burial or finds robbers to retrieve items that were taken. 

How one can know she is around is the scent of burning cloves in the air, or what smells like wood smoke/fire in the area. She uses it as a cleanse of the area and to deter foul spirits or beasts of her domain.

With her nature and being she can alter any space for good or worse. She’ll stand off to the side if she can’t interfere, if she can she will actively work against whatever is opposing or tip a balance if she finds injustice.

[superlativesamsara]

Godly lore infodump to follow!

Readmore to protect your poor dash from length

Alrighty kiddos if you're still here then that means you've officially consented to learn things you're technically not supposed to know that some pantheons or particularly devout fanatics might consider to be forbidden knowledge of a rather high order! Good for you!

So, Gods. They're powerful. By back reading through this blog I'm lead to believe my predecessor did a basic rundown of divine rank to you, so we'll be skipping that, because she was near enough to correct. Suffice it to say it's a 0-5 scale with 0 being divine Saints and 5 being Skyfathers/Earthmothers/Overgods.

So! What other means of classification are there to godhood? Simple! There's the scale of Scope and the actual Type of God!

Scope is quite simple: some gods only hold power within a limited geographic region. These are Local Gods, denoted with an L before their divine rank. An L0 god, is a saint who has divine power specifically in his place of origin. An L5 god is effectively omnipotent but only within his strictly defined borders, but that almost never happens.

Above Local Gods, we have Planebound Gods. They have power anywhere on their world(s)/plane of origin, but only there. While one might assume that this means they're automatically more powerful than a Local God, divine rank trumps breadth of access to power at this low level. The best way for a P2 (Planebound Minor God) to handle an L4 (Local Major God) would be to remove him from his Sphere of Influence to block him from using his greater powers.

Next up we have the Universal God, whose powers work anywhere in one whole universe. Gods of this category tend towards the more hands-off perspective because otherwise they'd be drowning in work trying to keep all their charges happy. It's a big universe and all ;p

Then we have Multiversal and Omniversal gods, who have powers in a given universe collective or all universes. Normally, these two categories are applied as modifiers to one of the previous ones, in the notation (M/O)#(L/P/U)#. An M1U4 is a major god in their home universe, and would be able to call upon power roughly equivalent to a demigod in other universes where they have influence.

Most deities made by sburb lie in the realm kf M1U4 or O1U4 categories, with minor powers in their domain in all universes or near total power in their domain in their "home" universe(s) (which in this instance is the universe(s) they were responsible for creating, not the one they actually originated in as a mortal).

Next up we have Deific Category, which is more a description of how those powers work.

I'm just gonna list these and give a general idea of how they work, but if you'd like more information, do feel free to ask!

Incarnations: an Incarnation is a god who is fully consumed by their portfolio, more a puppet of their powers or a manifestation of their domain's consciousness than a true sentient god, though they also generally have significantly more power on tap, essentially being able to bring the full might of their domain to bear on whatever has earned its ire.

Paragons: a Paragon is a god who cares for little not relating to their powers and their domains, their mind and soul fully devoted to maintaining that with which they are charged. This type of god can wield a truly frightening level of power over their domain, but they can't use it for purposes not pertaining to their domain. A Paragon of Crafts can only craft things with their powers, nothing more, nothing less.

Guardians: Guardians come in two main flavors, Protectors and Keepers. A Protector defends their domain from outside tampering directly, be that by empowering champions or confronting the threat themself. By comparison, the Keeper shapes and maintains their Domain, like a dedicated gardener, trying to keep everything perfect through indirect means. I group them under one heading because once you look past the flavor of the power they both effectively do the same thing, just approaching their responsibilities from different angles.

Sovereigns: This is the closest to what you'd think of as a "usual" god, Sovereigns are somewhat interesting in that they directly control their domain, but they're limited in that control to what they can perceive. Which, depending on rank, can be quite a lot, but their powers are decidedly not autonomous unless they manually automate them through some other means, such as a relic or creating Holy Servants.

Champions: Champions are generally exclusively minor gods, demigods, or saints, and are usually ascended under the power of a higher deity of the same domain to serve a purpose that they cannot for whatever reason. Generally they have specific or strictly defined powers, and much less capacity to freeform with their domain compared to any of the other categories. It is worth noting, that their domain can sometimes act on its own in their favor.

Finally among the true gods, we have the Vessel or the Eye, essentially what happens when a person is uniquely in harmony with a domain, something distinctly different from the relationship between a Paragon and their domain or an Incarnation and their domain, because the Vessel maintains autonomy from their domain rather than becoming controlled by it.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple but this should be a decent enough background for the moment. The notation is [Scope+Rank Code] [Category and Domain].

So I would be an O1U4 Sovereign of Fate, with a specific lean towards Creation of Fate or Direction.

To be completely clear, my powers revolve around vectors, prophecies, and the shortest path to an outcome, and the creation of the above or things to facilitate them, and my Title is the Smith of Fate.

[brassikarts]

🔥🔥🔥 -Fel- Magic Use

That’s my boy!

- First off, fel magic is the magic of entropy - hell yeah.  But isn’t fel magic in particular supposed to be massively addicting?  Admittedly, I don’t read closely into the mechanics of every warlock RPer (even though I’ve had some fun reading about @alyssa-ward‘s take on things), but I’d think there would be a whole lot more played up about how screwed up on fel juice you get playing with the essence of peoples’ life forces, how psychologically devastating using this kind of magic can be*, and how the Kirin Tor or other magical societies try to limit this kind of power.

* Really, though - if you grew up around The Light, the knowledge of what you’re doing when you Life Tap someone probably really screws up a novice warlock at first.  I’d like to see more descents into madness from people who go this route, and fewer moustache-twirling Snidely Whiplash types.

Maybe this is a sign that I either need to play a warlock (*cries*) or follow more warlock RPers closely.

- Here, I’ll be honest: I get so confused about the lore here, as Blizzard tells it, and my headcanons are probably way wrong, too.  I seem to recall that fel runes are a thing and can be tampered with, and so I’ve run with that and the idea that practiced and disciplined mages may come across them at some point, and don’t use them (or use them very sparingly and only when specific effects are required).  This says to me that some warlocks aren’t born bad - they fall into it, from mages into switching to a darker kind of magic.  

This is awesome, though!  If magic is already supposed to be addicting, and using fel runes to make your spells badass leads to using them more and seeking out more forbidden knowledge to satisfy those urges - I dunno.  I think that’s cooler than waking up one day and like, deciding you’re gonna be a bad boi from now on.

- This is selfish, but I want to see more demon RPers.  I also want to see the symbioses that must come about as warlocks and patrons/servants work more closely together.  (Also, there are enough sexy demons out there.  Someone be a satyr or an imp!)

@nixalegos

[shallliveoninsong]

「Road to Catastrophe」 (2.5 spoilers)

Jing Yuan refers to the actions of Dan Feng here as 'selfish' but he means it in only the most literal sense in that Dan Feng's attempt to bring back Baiheng would only save one life--their departed friend's.

He very much understands why Dan Feng wanted to try, he loved Baiheng dearly as well. Jing Yuan did not, and does not, think Dan Feng had been trying to endanger others when trying to bring back Baiheng. He would never consider the Vidyadhara to be a selfish person.

(Though on a side note, I do find it interesting that the Marshall was very lenient and gave Jing Yuan the benefit of the doubt by making him Arbiter-General yet also does things like making the Luofu be the ones imprisoning Hoolay as a message and a reminder. Clearly, she's someone who can be strict or lenient, but as for if there's reasoning for that or if it is all up to her whims remains to be seen.)

He knows good intentions can drive people into making horrible mistakes or harming others in the process. In Dan Feng's case, all the people the draconic beast slaughtered, and as for Lingsha's mentor, Lingsha herself with her sudden exile from her home as well as Dan Heng's hatching being tampered with.

He wasn't able to stop the mistakes that were made due to good intentions. He can only pick up the pieces afterward as best he can.

[shallliveoninsong]

◇ On Jing Yuan's involvement in the battle with Hoolay when he was first defeated (2.5 spoilers)

Jing Yuan's word choice is very vivid here and his voice when speaking about the matter is much quieter and subdued, like he can still see this havoc before his very eyes despite it being so long ago. Even if it wasn't the first time he had seen such horrific slaughter in war, it was certainly one that left a heavy impact on him.

I HC he was still quite green at the time of this battle, but of course still ready to fight and was skilled enough to hold his own against the borisin. (obligatory this won't be forced on other muses)

But when Hoolay showed up, he was paralyzed by the Lupitoxin as well. He'd never felt this kind of fear before. He knew he had to move, he had to fight--but as Hoolay's sweeping attacks and cut down the soldiers in front of him as if he were tearing through paper, Jing Yuan couldn't force himself to fight, or flee.

It was only thanks to Jingliu that he survived, having intercepted Hoolay's rampage only a moment before he cut Jing Yuan to ribbons. She shouted at him to run, giving him a quick moderate slap to the cheek to snap him out of it.

Finally, that was enough to shake the effects long enough for him to run. He turned and ran, hearing the sound of his Master fighting the beast behind him. Everything was red, and there was so much blood on the ground that it was slick with it. He fell due to this multiple times, only coating himself with more blood. So many remains of the dead were scattered about he had to climb over them to keep putting distance between himself and the borsin Warhead. It was suffocating.

Only once did he glance back, in time to see Jingliu freeze Hoolay in place, winning victory over the Warhead. He should have been able to return then, to help kill or drive off the remaining forces. But he didn't. He kept running until he got back to the base camp.

His guilt and feeling of cowardice clung to him strongly as his injuries were looked over. He apologized profusely when his Master returned from the fight. He feels comforted by her words, despite them being stiff. After all, Jing Yuan was too green at the time to have ever been able to stand a chance against Hoolay, and she told him as such. Her getting him to get out of there was far better than him throwing away his life. He vowed to himself that he would become stronger, so he would never have to run from a battle like that again.

[shallliveoninsong]

Their troops are pinned down. Cornered and bottlenecked with no way out. They're almost out of firepower. No aerial support can get through the planet's shield so they're on their own.

Outnumbered and outgunned Jing Yuan thinks he's found a solution.

"You seriously want to take away so many soldiers from defending the line for this?" Jingliu asks.

"I believe this can work. And you're the key to it."

It's long, arduous work, but finally, the tunnel is finished. It doesn't matter that the majority of their troops are exhausted from excavating it by hand as to not alert their enemies. It must be several miles long. The knights on the line have managed to hold formation, albeit just barely with the scarce numbers. The stage is set.

It's just big enough for Jingliu to run through comfortably and no bigger. As dawn breaks and the fiercest of the fighting continues on the surface the plan is set in motion.

Jing Yuan and the rest keep the abominations occupied on the surface. Then, seemingly out of nowhere icy death emerges from behind, slaughtering most of the enemies troops before they could know what hit them. When they finally did catch on and there were too many swarming back at Jingliu she fell back, escaping back through the tunnel with the abominations a few leagues behind her. This was the second part of the plan. Soon as she was safely outside again the bombs planted in the tunnel were activated, collapsing the earth in on the last of the abominations.

Another victory for the Cloud Knights.

[shallliveoninsong]

「"You'd never recover from that"」

Lady had, of course, been speaking from personal experience when trying to calm Nero down after the revelation about Vergil.

She hated Arkam for killing her mom. What kept her going for so long was the thought of getting vengeance for her. Arkam wasn't all bad as a father, but he certainly wasn't good either. As a minor who was poorly equipped to deal with the trauma of it all and with no one there to help unpack it, deep in her subconscious, she wondered if maybe it had been something she had done. Maybe if she had been a better daughter none of this would have happened.

Those doubts were tossed aside when she became laser-focused on tracking her father down. But once he was finally dead she was just left feeling... hollow. Lady didn't know what she had been expecting, the ghost of her mother to appear and thank her before flying off to the afterlife? It would have been nice, but instead, she was left with the humbling fact that she had just committed patricide. She knew it had to be done, not just for her own sake but for the sake of the human world. But that didn't make her feelings any less complicated once the deed was done.

She hasn't recovered from it. She doesn't think she ever fully will. But she's determined to run toward the future rather than dwell in the past.

[shallliveoninsong]

Favorite

"You! What's your name recruit!?"

The intimidating finger of a much taller and bigger soldier was jabbed directly in the scrawny recruit's face.

"Jing Yuan, sir!"

He tried to shout but it was more like a squeak. The instructor laughed at him.

"You're the kid Swordmaster Jingliu trained? How could she take on such a pipsqueak?"

The recruits lined up at attention on either side of him looked at him with pity out of the corner of their eyes. There was always one person out of a group of trainees who had to be the one to get picked on by the instructors. They were just grateful to Jing Yuan that it wasn't them. In but a few seconds he was surrounded by friends.

"Who here thinks this little scamp will measure up to anything!?"

No one spoke.

The drill sergeant's eyes raked over each one of them. "Ain't he foolish for signing up?"

"Sir yes sir!" the other recruits answered.

The instructor chuckled and shook his head slowly.

"No, you all are the stupid ones. This kid here," he said with a nod toward Jing Yuan, "He's the only one of ya that's gonna make it."

In fewer seconds that it took to gain them, Jing Yuan's friends were replaced with enemies.

[shallliveoninsong]

「Provocation」

Both in the Phantylia fight as well as Jing Yuan's interactions with Cirrus he's much more antagonistic and takes on an air of arrogance toward his enemies to taunt them, which contrasts with his normally lax, humble, and kind personality.

Once upon a time in his younger years he was a fair bit cocky when it came to his ability to come up with cunning battle strategies, but overall he's quite humble. However, he amps up the arrogance to get under his opponent's skin with the intention of either pissing them off so much they get careless or at the very least they reveal a bit more of their hand.

He does so with Phantylia in hopes of protecting the others by drawing her attacks toward himself. He knows more than anyone else there (other than Dan Heng perhaps depending on how much knowledge of the Arbor he retains from Dan Feng's memories) how powerful it is and doesn't want the others being injured or worse in the name of protecting a ship they don't even live on.

His ceaseless verbal jabs despite the dire situation work and Phantylia gets fed up with him running his mouth and targets him first when trying to turn the team into Voidrangers. And this also enables Jing Yuan to have the connection to the Ravager that was vital in defeating her.

After Cirrus threw some insults of their own Jing Yuan hurled some right back at Cirrus. It didn't take much to get a rise out of the heliobus, giving him great insight into what was the best course of action so the Ghost Hunting squad could get the information they needed. He could quickly tell that even if he were to indulge the heliobi in battle they were far too stubborn and hellbent on wanting a fight that only a very definitive and humiliating defeat would truly get Cirrus to concede.

In summary, when taunting an opponent Jing Yuan acts in a way that seems quite out of character to anyone who knows him personally, but this is simply an act to try and gain an advantage. And if nothing else it will make him the bigger target to protect those he cares about.

[shallliveoninsong]

Craven

◇ I didn't mean to post this on April 1st but whoops. Anyway CW for alcohol and using it as an unhealthy coping mechanism. My take on what took place shortly after the general fought his old master.

Panting breaths came from the general as the dust settled. It was done. Not a trace of her remained.

If he hadn’t had Lightning Lord would it have even been possible for him to defeat her?

Not that it mattered anymore.

Jing Yuan pushes himself to his feet using the Starfall Reverie as a crutch. There was no blood on the blade, but he could have sworn he saw it dripping with it.

He should go.

He should…

Really…

Go…

“Oh Aeons,” he whispered.

He killed his master. A warrior who was one of his greatest inspirations, an invaluable ally, and a friend.

The gravity of what he’s done digs into him with barbed hooks. They join the others, and Jing Yuan knows he’ll never be able to rip them out. He knew not how long he stood there frozen by shock. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours.

He needed to get back. Jing Yuan willed his body to move, and after much persuasion it did. One step after the other.

The long trek back to civilization was silent aside from the tip of his glaive occasionally skimming the ground, causing a painful scraping noise.

Under normal circumstances, Jing Yuan would be appalled at the weapon being treated with such a lack of care.

But a gift from one friend being used to murder another wasn’t normal circumstances. What would the other members of the High Cloud Quintet think of him if they were here?

A pair of Cloud Knights quickly spot him when he enters Central Starskiff Haven. They rush over and ask something. At least Jing Yuan assumes they are, but the words don’t register.

There’s no need for a long drawn-out story. Nothing glorious, heroic, or brave happened.

“It is done. Inform the Ten-Lords Commission.”

The general pushes past his soldiers.

A loud clang echoes as the Starfall Reverie is carelessly dropped to the ground as soon as he’s in the privacy of his own home. His armor quickly follows suit. Mimi heard him come in and had padded up to him, excited about his return. Yet for once, even his precious lioness could not ease his pain.

Jing Yuan makes a beeline for the kitchen. He washes his hands, but they still feel sticky with blood no matter how long he lets the water run over them. He eventually gives up and pulls the strongest bottle of liquor he has out of storage.

Mimi headbutts him in the leg.

He knows he shouldn’t do this, it wasn’t a healthy coping mechanism. But to hell with that. Jing Yuan always felt the love for his friends so strongly. But right now, he wanted to feel nothing.

Just for tonight.

He doesn’t bother with a glass. He settles down in the living room on the floor around the low table and takes a big gulp of the bottle’s contents. The alcohol burns down his throat but it’s justified.

Mimi lays down beside him, her head resting in his lap, but he knew the lioness sensed something was wrong with him. He tried not to look at her bright blue eyes filled with confusion.

It wasn’t long until he finished most of the bottle and was fast asleep.

If he was very very lucky, he’d be able to hold onto that nothingness for a while yet.

[shallliveoninsong]

Exit Wounds

◇ cw for blood, injury, and some not so pleasant medical descriptions

He stayed conscious longer than he thought he would.

Thankfully, long enough to make an inspiring speech to stick it to Phantylia before she retreated. But the fight took its toll and darkness claimed him soon after.

Jing Yuan hadn’t received any kind of significant injury in battle for hundreds of years. Perhaps he had gotten too…complacent. He was a good fighter of course, but compared to the frontrunners of his peers…

Despite Phantylia's defeat she got a few last laughs in. When consciousness returned to the General his mind was a disorienting blurred mess. He didn’t know what he had been doing or where he was. People were moving him, talking, rushing around doing something he couldn’t make out through his swirling vision.

All he knew was pain.

It tore through him without mercy, like a rabid beast. It was as if every drop of his blood was attacking his flesh, the sensation permeating from his back. Too weak to move from where he lay the only sign of life consciousness were his muffled cries of pain.

Why…? Dan Heng—right, that was the wound from Cloud Piercer! But then why…

Phantylia’s taunts echoed in his ears.

For my next trick I’ll turn each of  you into my voidrangers. The power of the Destruction will eat away at your flesh and transform you into pawns of the great Nanook!

The connection between himself and the ravager had been broken and yet—

The Destruction must still be in him. It may have lost its source, but with an open wound like the one in Jing Yuan it had a place to cling onto like an infection, still trying to turn him into Phantylia’s pawn.

The voices are talking to him, but he can’t make out what they’re saying. They must be from the Alchemy Commission.

Jing Yuan tries to speak, to say he doesn’t understand, that everything is all jumbled that it hurts like nothing he’s ever experienced before and please do something to grant him some kind of solace, but very few incoherent sounds actually make it out.

Then, a young voice cuts through the haze.

“General!” Bailu yelped.

No. Lady Bailu shouldn’t have to witness something like this!

He musters all his strength to try and sit up, act like he’s fine and hide the ugly sight, for he hates to scare her so, but his efforts are only rewarded with a fresh wave of fiery agony.

“Stop him from moving!” another voice shouts.

Hands grasp him by the arms forcing him still while others tend to his wound.

I’ll be fine, it’s worse than it looks, he tries to tell young Bailu. But all that comes out is tearful 'sorry's.

Bailu shushes him. Pushing past her shock she jumped right into helping.

Jing Yuan wasn’t well-versed in the healing arts. Nor was it easy to differentiate which pain he was feeling that was due to the healers' work and what was due to the Destruction. But he does wish he could be under during their efforts. Why didn’t they put him under? Were they afraid of how any sedatives would react with the Destruction?

The wound itself is its own grisly mess. Cloud Piercer wasn’t exactly known for having a dull blade after all. But if it was just flesh that needed to be mended and bleeding halted that would be easy for the Xianzhou medical technology, albeit it would take some time.

But then, sprouting from both sides that Cloud Piercer impaled him were jagged cracks of fragmentum corrosion. It kept growing and spreading, reopening the wound whenever the doctors tried to close it up.

They had no choice but to cut it out. They removed as much as they could that was deep in the wound and stitched up the rest but there were still jagged lines of darkness flecked with gold on his skin’s torso.

Lady Bailu concocts a medicinal pellet to suppress as much of the fragmentum's power as possible and manages to get Jing Yuan to take it. After the long arduous process is complete, the corrosive feeling from the Destruction begins to dull slightly, finally allowing him to speak fully.

“Thank you…”

_____

Jing Yuan is careful to keep the true severity of his injury to a few select people, most of them being the healers of the Alchemy Commission. He sees no need to create unnecessary worry. Besides, he’s reached a point where they are no longer fearful for his life. The effects of the Destruction were far from over, but the chance of it doing him in diminished significantly after Bailu’s consistent aid. Yanqing, Fu Xuan, the Astral Express crew… they should all be celebrating their victory and focusing on those who still needed aid in the aftermath of all this, not worrying about an old man.

He insists on attending the ceremony for the dead, despite Yanqing’s protests. Jing Yuan plays off the severity, joking with his retainer that he’s too eager to take his place. Yanqing relents and stops making a fuss about him attending.

His whole body is sore, it takes all his effort to mask his exhaustion as the Luofu sees the released Starskiffs off. But it is the right thing to do. Jing Yuan survived. Again. The least he could do is honor the memory of those who died.

It could have easily been him after all.

But it wasn’t.

Why did he always remain?

Why did it have to be him?

[shallliveoninsong]

「Work Ethic」

The General really isn't that lazy deep down. His seemingly low-effort approach to life is a product of the position he's in. His job does not have a reasonable workload for anyone who values any semblance of a work-life balance.

On top of most of them being brain-numbingly mundane administration work they're neverending. There's no way for him to ever get caught up as each day brings a fresh load of tasks dumped onto his desk. He's tried before, and just when he felt like there was some room to breathe and relax a bit a hundred more things needed his attention. He's caught in a never-ending river and sees little point in struggling to make it upstream. It's much less stress-inducing for him to go with the flow and do what work really matters in his eyes within a workday before taking it easy for everything else, much to the exasperation of everyone else. Even for a long-life species life is too short for him to never have time to play with Mimi, garden, or nap.

However, back before he took the position of General he was considered a very reliable and steady worker and it was collectively assumed he'd make it high into the ranks of the Xianzhou military.

[shallliveoninsong]

「Crime and Punishment」

When Jing Yuan was negotiating with the Vidyahara Preceptors and the Ten-Lords Commission over Dan Heng's continual imprisonment and punishment for what Dan Feng had done it nearly drove him to his wit's end. Unlike during the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae when he had far less sway in big decisions of the Xianzhou he was the Luofu's well-decorated General by then. If anyone could lobby for a reduced sentence for young Dan Heng it would be him. Of course he was frantic when trying to negotiate for leniency for Dan Feng as well but given his rank at the time and the gravity of the crime deep down he knew he didn't hold much weight to throw around on the matter (but it didn't stop him from trying, day after day).

Jing Yuan felt a deep obligation to help Dan Heng. Not only because he personally doesn't agree with much of how the justice system of the Xianzhou is run but because while he knew Dan Heng was a reincarnation of his old friend and not the same person even though every time he looked at the young Vidyadhara all he could see was one of his dearest friends (something that would continue on for many years more) suffering being prolonged when he'd already been killed once.

He fought and fought, constantly formally debating with the Preceptors and Ten-Lords Commission both in person and in writing trying to convince them to not keep punishing Dan Feng's reincarnation. Every day that passed that his pleas were denied stung with the bitter taste of failing his dear friend. It disrupted his attention to his other duties quite significantly and led to much stress and sleepless nights as he tried to find a way to get someone, anyone to hear him out. In the depths of his frustration, he debated resigning from his position multiple times. But he knew that would only lessen his chances of his arguements being considered. So he held on, kept writing, kept debating, and finally Dan Heng was allowed to be free of the Shackling Prison--only to be exiled from the only home he ever knew.

The thought of leaving the Luofu with the reincarnation of his old friend drifted in his head a few times. He was tempted. While exile was much better than suffering in prison for Dan Heng it also meant that he would never be able to return to the Xianzhou. He'd already said goodbye to Dan Feng before he was forced into the molting rebirth. Now, he essentially was being forced to say goodbye again, forever this time even though in his eyes his friend still lived. But too many parts of his life had taken root in the Luofu by then. He'd taken in Yanqing since the Sedition, he was mentoring Fu Xuan to be his successor, Mimi was his beloved pet and was not easy to transport or care for without help, and the Luofu still needed his protection. He decided against it in the end, believing it would be best for everyone that way.