#this was from the investigation of ancient rubbing from the luofu

[elegyofthemoon]

guys i hate to say it but

i think tingyun's actually dead

[apopcornkernel]

hey jingfu president 😏 i was gonna claw through ur inbox eventually when i could form a coherent question abt this but ill just do it now while the iron��s hot

i plan on writing canon compliant jingfu but the timeline baffles me so much 😭 do you happen to have any notes on hand about when the quintet was formed, how long ago that was before jingfu met, when jingfu met, and what they’ve been through together in canon until well.. now (being post jingliu companion quest).

i want to have a sense of how much fu xuan would know abt his involvement with the quintet (hurt/comfort fan here).. given that he was general when jingfu already met i assume the group was formed WAY before that.. but when did they have their fallout? was fx there as master diviner when dan feng came back as dan heng? (i assume yes?) was she there when jing yuan had to defeat jingliu? (tears my hair out)

so sorry about this i will definitely do my own research but was just wondering if you had some/any info first!

hellooo!!! okay quick note before i start a lot of my info will be coming from my memory and checked using the wiki

before i get started with your questions: let’s have the dates we do know! (SC - Star Calendar)

Between 7280–7329 SC - HCQ established.

According to both Todd Riordan's Investigation of Ancient Pattern Rubbings from the Luofu and Jing Yuan’s Story 4, the HCQ lasted less than a century in total. (I put down 7329 as the latest because if it had been less than fifty, i think they would've said less than half a century instead of less than century.)

7379 SC - Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae & Dissolution of HCQ

7380 SC - Jing Yuan and Jingliu's fight in that one animated short

8072 SC - Jingfu joint war crime to end the Third Abundance War

8096 SC - Yanqing “rose to fame in a tournament and was conferred the rank of Cloud Knight Lieutenant”

8100 SC - (PRESENT) Trailblazer storyline begins

ok!! onto your questions:

1. when was the quintet formed? when did it fall?

so, actually. like i noted in the above dates, we really don't know when it was formed. however, we know when it ended—which coincides with the Sedition, at 7379 SC! working backwards from there, we’re told by a primary (jing yuan) and secondary source (todd riordan) that the HCQ lasted less than a century, so I put down a range between 7280–7329 SC. pick whatever year suits your fic best!!

2. how long ago was this before jingfu met? when did jingfu meet?

i am sad to say that this was likely a very long time before jingfu met, or even before fu xuan was born. in Oblation Obtained, Order Ordained, Fu Xuan says:

I was not born in the heroic and extraordinary era of the High-Cloud Quintet. To have seen those legends with my own eyes...

however, Fu Xuan's Story 4 (8072 SC) isn't necessarily the first time she meets the general (although it does seem like the first time she gets to talk to him directly, one on one). Story 3 talked about her leaving for the Luofu, and Story 4 picks up with the phrase “Centuries passed thus”, implying she spends at least more than one century in the Luofu before the Third Abundance War begins.

so strictly speaking: their first meeting is likely in 8072 SC, but you have a few centuries’ of leeway if you want to have them meet earlier!

3. what has jingfu been together for in canon?

unfortunately, after the third abundance war in 8072 SC, we aren't given much on the large-scale workings of the Luofu until the trailblazer arrives. we do, however, have tiny updates on the movements of the fanghu, yaoqing, yuque, zhuming! also, if you refer to the dates i gave you up there, fu xuan would have been around for yanqing's promotion to cloud knight lieutenant in 8096 SC :D

and of course, they were there for all the events of the trailblaze missions ! hehe

4. was fu xuan there as master diviner when dan feng was reborn as dan heng?

no :( i'm pretty sure dan feng's molting rebirth was enacted shortly after his imprisonment, and fu xuan has already said she wasn't born in that era

5. was fu xuan there when jing yuan had to defeat jingliu?

no, same reason as above :(

that's really it hsjshsj i wish hsr would release a history book with dates for everything :( it would make my life so much easier,,, anyways i hope this helped <3 good luck on the fic omg i can't wait to read it!!!!

[elegyofthemoon]

idk if anyone's interested, but the section "A Shot from the Sky" from "Investigation of Ancient Pattern Rubbings from the Luofu":

One of the most common literature themes in Xianzhou is fire deification. In the era of the Flaming Catastrophe, a hero was sabotaged by the nobles and imprisoned. The hero later worked with Flint Emperor — the leader of the heliobi — and destroyed the Muldrasil, the wingweavers' lair, with a divine arrow. The hero's body dissipated, but it was not the end of his life. Instead, he ascended to become The Hunt, also known as the Reignbow Arbiter by the Xianzhou people. However, there is no factual evidence to show that the hero is Lan. Almost all theories that support this assertion are less-than-credible, given that they can all be traced back to a single origin, which is the "Ode to Reignbow Path." This is why the Alliance has not made its stance clear about this assertion, although it is widely circulated among the folks. Well... Although the Alliance has never denied the authenticity of the fire deification myth, we all know it is equal to a denial from the Alliance's standpoint.

The section (IV) in question from "Annotations from 'Ode to Reignbow Path'":

Brilliant stratagem needed for dire plight, the Reignbow roused out of necessity. [†2] Tell not the glorious to rest with their wine, but prays for the Heliobus to encase their entity. Tell not the warrior to rest in slumber, but with the Flint Emperor to assault our nemesis, without charity. [†3] Human lives are but a transient lightning. The fate of heroes never lies in their own hands, never with certainty. All the people rose to follow the Reignbow's example, daring to guard the sky and protect home and company.[†4]

Related editor's notes in the section:

[Editor's Notes] [†2] To repulse the invasion, the Xianzhou people decided to raise Reignbow from their slumber. Once awakened, the Reignbow analyzed the situation and concocted a strategy to break the deadlock. [†3] Reignbow ignored common advice, heading into the prison deep within the Xianzhou Zhuming and persuaded the imprisoned Heliobi leader, the Flint Emperor, to help the Xianzhou fight off the Denizens of Abundance. They made a deal and the Reignbow allowed the Flint Emperor to possess their physical body, in exchange for the power of the Heliobi. [†4] Inspired by the hero's sacrifice, many Xianzhou residents made the same heroic deal. They formed suicide squads and marched alongside the Heliobi. As clouds that cover the heavens, will the warriors protect the Xianzhou and soar eternal. This is the origin story of the name "Cloud Knights."

Is this important for Ruan Mei? mmm probably not lmao but I just thought the idea is interesting if you think about how these play now into folk tales and the idea of Ruan Mei getting raised on such stories before deciding to take godhood by the hand and learn to play god herself

wait actually ruan mei wanting to become an aeon brings back that questionable legend about how someone on the luofu became lan i need to go back amd look for it but its a thought.