[centre][img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/divinus-iii/images/d/df/Shengshi-logo.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/310?cb=20190112093445[/img][/centre]

[centre][h1]Shengshi[/h1][/centre]
[centre][h3]MP: 0/FP: 4[/h3][/centre]


It was a rainy morning over the Nanhese third of the Foot; patches of the woods were drenched and dripping, heavy streams pouring off the colossal fronds and leaves up top and crashing into the soil below like falling pebbles. The monsoon seasons were always exciting to the snake, for no other time of the year did the forests blossom so magnificently and the rivers flow so rampantly. The Beihese bumblebees, already heavily resistant to water and mud, buzzed about in docility despite the downpour, bringing soggy pollen along with them in neat little socks around their hind feet. Much like these industrious little creatures, the snake also found himself outside of shelter, taking in the damp view around his ship. On his lap was his guzheng which notes were both flat and sharp with weather wear. It wasn’t exactly pleasing to the ear, but the snake’s thoughts focused on other matters. 

“Say, He Bo?” 

The head servant, the snake’s personal butler, took one step forward from under the roof of the tower top and into the rain, his silk robes soaking instantly. “Yes, My Lord?”

The harp strings quieted and the snake lifted his head, still gazing outwards across the jungle. “Are you content?”

The servant raised a brow and bowed. “Why, yes, this servant is perfectly content, My Lord.”

The snake pursed his lips. “And, if I were to order you to speak frankly, would you repeat the sentiment?”

Before He Bo could answer, the snake added, “While I trust you wholeheartedly, worthy servant, I will remind you that I -can- see your thoughts if I so wished.”

The servant bowed again. “Once more, this servant declares its utmost joy in living for its Lord and its Lord’s family and guests.”

The snake nodded. “Good, good… But do the other servants aboard feel the same?”

“Naturally, My Lord,” He Bo said. Shengshi looked skeptical and tapped his temple twice to remind him. He Bo wrinkled his nose a little and cleared his throat. “Pardon, My Lord - force of habit.” He paused, rubbing his hands together nervously. “There… There is a… Clique, so to speak.”

“A clique?” the snake inquired. 

He Bo nodded solemnly. “A most shameful band of naysayers and enemies of morale, all of whom have expressed heretical opinions of life aboard this sacred vessel - and of His Lordship’s leadership.”

The snake blinked and frowned curiously. “I see… Have you a number? How large is this clique?”

“Not large, thankfully - they number a measley one hundred or so. In a mass of ten thousand, they are but radical stragglers.”

“What castes do they belong to?” The snake put this harp aside and turned to face the servant.

“All four, My Lord, though the majority of their numbers are of the Strong caste.”

The snake sighed. “As to be expected - naturally, those who have been deemed unfit for other professions beyond those of warriors, logisticians and deckhands would rank highest in dissatisfaction. How large is the fraction of the Strong in this clique?”

“This servant confesses it may not know as much as His Lordship would like it to - though it estimates that the Strong number roughly a third of the clique’s total members. At least, according to the rumours.”

The snake hummed. “Does this clique have a name?”

“Officially, no - they have yet to garner anything but infamy and punishment, and is thus undeserving of any name beyond “the clique”.”

The snake nodded once more. “He Bo,” he said after a moment.

“Yes, My Lord?”

“Bring them to me - all of them.”

He Bo’s eyes went round for an instant, followed by a frown and a bow. “At once, My Lord.”

As the servant went off inside, the snake intertwined his fingers. He looked to the north, towards the distant peaks of Qiangshan. A thought entered his mind.

The currents below Jiangzhou reversed. The ship sailed north.

[hr]

As usual, it did not take long for the snake’s will to be done. Soon his veranda hosted all one hundred and eleven “cliquettes”, which were further surrounded by another line of servants armed with bags of salt. The snake had attempted to express his disapproval for the weaponry, but his creations were much too insistent that they were needed. In the end, not even a god could win against the fanaticism of their followers. 

The snake surveyed the small crowd. The white gi of the Strong did indeed dress the bulk of the clique, but among them were also silken robes of the Noble and even leather and linen of the Skilled. The black robes and hat of the Wise, however, were nowhere to be seen. It could perhaps be reasoned that the Wise were the highest caste, and took part in many of the governing decisions aboard the ship. In many ways, they set the premises for how well off they were themselves, and while several of them were the pinnacles of morality, Shengshi loathed to recall that there had been cases of corruption in the past - right underneath his own nose. 

He was not invulnerable to failure, and this clique proved it.

“Welcome, dear servants,” the snake opened. All one hundred and eleven servants fell to their knees and kowtowed, although one was particularly lax about it - almost spitefully so. The snake eyed this particular one with a hard eye and beckoned for him to rise.

“You, who take so lightly to addressing your creator - what is your name?”

The servant rose, face resolute, but hands quivering. His hair and beard were unkempt, similar in sight to wild vines and bushes. The sand he took for skin was partially muddy and his gi was dirty and loose were the others had dressed in their finest clothes. In a voice tinted with fright, he spoke, “This… This servant is named Kai Shi.”

The snake rolled the name around on his tongue and hummed in a voice like thick, black oil. “May I ask what brings you to act in this manner? You, who did not even comb your hair before you came to me; you, who did not even don clean dress before the ascension up my tower; you, who have chosen to take a skin mixture which not only disharmonises your very look, but also makes you unfit for both sand-skinned and mud-skinned tasks. What brings you to act in this manner, I repeat?”

Kai Shi blinked, his brow dripping with the nervous moisture. A moment passed before he answered. “This servant wishes to protest,” the servant responded.

He Bo, who stood behind him, stuck a gloved hand into his bag of salt, but Shengshi held up a hand. He Bo sucked in several seething breaths, freezing out of sheer obedience. The snake eyed Kai Shi curiously, then the rest of the clique.

“Do all of you share this mission?”

Save for one or two headshakes, the rest all nodded. The snake hummed and asked, “What, then, is it that you wish to protest?”

The clique all looked to Kai Shi whose face now carried a faint sheen of defiant pride. “With all due respect, Your Lordship, these servants are unwilling to wait any longer to battle for the fate of their souls - His Lordship promised them fifty years ago to take up arms against the vile Wind Demon, but for all those years, all they heard was “preparations take time”. Then…” He paused and the snake hummed.

“Preparations do take time, and--”

“Then there was the failed experiment--”

The servant fell forward screaming, his back covered with snow white. In an instant, He Bo and two other servants had ripped the shabby gi in half and smeared his back with copious amounts of salt. Kai Shi laid there on the deck, surrounded by his frightened clique and a vengeful wall of fanatics. “You do -not- interrupt His Lordship, you maggot,” He Bo spat. 

The snake scowled. “Stand down,” he thundered and slithered through the crowd over to the squirming man. With a slight twist of his hand, he extracted the salt from his body and collected it into a small, white pebble in his hand. “He Bo - you and the others may leave.”

He Bo blinked. “B-but My Lord, they--”

“-They- are guests in my tower, and whatever they say, I am certain I can handle. Now, please, leave us.”

With hung heads, the loyalists entered Shengshi’s room through the veranda doors and descended into the palace. Only the one hundred and eleven cliquettes remained with the snake now. He hummed pensively. “Does this happen often?”

Kai Shi looked around and many of his companions nodded solemnly. “Our peers do not take kindly to our views, Your Lordship. His Lordship is our creator, after all, and to speak against Him is, well… Heresy.”

The snake pursed his lips and tugged at his beard. “An unfortunate devolution of blind loyalty - one I am guilty in fostering. Interruptions are uncalled for, yes, but nothing to salt a person for, even if it was me you interrupted.” With a dismissive wave, the snake clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “Does anything else upset you about life here?”

A second servant rose, this one dressed in the Noble caste long tunic of a cleaner. She bowed. “My Lord,” she began, “This servant confesses to heretical thoughts - a wish to live off the Jiangzhou.”

The snake held up a palm. “Tone down the self-accusations of heresy. To want to live somewhere else is not heresy. Though I must ask, is it the ship that bothers you, or my leadership?”

The servant’s lips quivered and she appeared petrified. The other servants tipped deeper in their kowtow. She stuttered, her lips forming words without sound to back them up. The snake nodded. “I see.” He sucked in a breath. “It is odd how one changes throughout life - and how one remains the same.”

The servants eyed him curiously. The cleaner blinked. “My Lord?” she said. 

The snake sighed and shook his head. “I still have ways to grow as a master, I see.” She scowled momentarily. “I confess, much to my own shame, that I am absolutely livid within. A part of me wants to curse you all - pluck you apart grain by grain, drop by drop, until the spirits within you gives out. Such ingratitude, such disloyalty…”

The servants shook collectively. Some broke into tears and wails. Others laid themselves as flat as they could and chanted prayers of forgiveness. Kai Shi gave the cleaner a look of pride, even as his lips shook and his eyes flowed. The cleaner herself clutched her chest as if a pang of guilt had blown a hole in it. However, the snake raised a hand and the wailing seized.

“However, I have already made this mistake once, punishing ingratitude with suffering… Or twice - at this point, I do not quite recall the number of times I have gone against my own teachings, which either says to me that my teachings are naive - or that I am a moralless despot.” He looked outwards at the recovering, sniffing crowd. “I free you all from any punishment based on your utterings against me for a whole minute. Any insult, any criticism - I will take it all.”

The servants looked at one another.

“Well, go on, then.”

“You tyrant!” the cleaner shouted. The snake recoiled a little.

“Well, that is perhaps a little--”

“Populistic liar!” Kai Shi roared.

“Alright, alright, I will accept that one, but--”

“You never practice what you preach!”

“His Lordship is a foolish drunk!”

“Slaver! Despot! Blind coward!”

“Since when have I been a coward?!”

“Alliance breaker!”

“Yes! That one I absolutely agree wi--!”

“You think lifting crates for eternity is a life?!”

“At least let me finish, but alright, alright, valid point.”

“You are selfish and arrogant!”

“Oh! The minute has passed!” The crowds fell silent, all of them suddenly feeling the stings of fright and fear as they inspected the shocked snake. The god, however, merely scratched his temple and hummed. “Good heavens, no one has spoken to me like that since Kalmar. Hearing it from mortals is, in all honesty, utterly infuriating.” He sucked in a breath. “I gave you my word, though - no punishment regardless of the words spoken. I confess, however, you went a little beyond my expectations, to put it mildly.” He patted his chest. “Wow… Do you really all feel this way?”

The crowd unanimously nodded. The snake deflated. 

“I… See. Well,” he sucked in a breath, “I suppose I will give you leave to find yourselves a new master.”

The servants’ eyes all went wide. Kai Shi stepped forward. “... Really, Your Lordship?”

The snake nodded solemnly. “Well, yes, keeping you here is, well… What a tyrant would do, is that not so?”

The servants looked at one another. Kai Shi frowned and bowed. “These servants are incredibly grateful, but… Where would they go?”

The snake sighed. “You cannot live without a river nearby… As it so happens, I know of a place that will be fitting for you. A cradle in which to start anew and explore your newfound autonomy.”

With that, the ship which had arrived at the Giant’s Bath, soared off into the sky eastwards, carried on a constantly changing and renewing river.

[hr]

The ship floated down over a green streak in the endless oceans, topped with white peaks along almost its entire length. To the north and west were faint islets, and the mainland beneath shone with colourful woods which seemed to emit their own lights.

Istais.

The ship landed on Lihe River, a section by the foot of a mountain, and a staircase flooded up along the hull, connecting the deck to the shore. The servants had all gathered on the deck before the group of one hundred and eleven that were standing before the staircase. The snake wrinkled his nose, looking reluctant. However, he then turned to the crowd behind him and shouted commandingly, “If anyone wishes to go with them, they will be allowed to do so unspoiled. Know, however, that this will be your only chance to. Any later attempt to join this enclave [i]will[/i] be considered desertion, punishable by death.”

The crowd remained steadfast. He Bo gave the snake fanatically loyal stare. The snake nodded at him and turned back to the leavers. “So be it, then. My servants, as generosity is the greatest feat of a lord and king, I will grant you one final gift before you part.”

The snake waved a hand. There, in the mountain wall above them, stone and sand seemed to blow away on the wind. Iron formed into red roof tiles that topped tall stone towers and houses, stacked along the cliffsides into a grand and great [url=https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/539670012026159134/554249675071291395/dominik-zdenkovic-12262018-img-dz-overview-render-v2-internet.png?width=948&height=670]temple[/url]. All the servants stared in awe. Between the tall buildings ran a river made of glacier runoff. It was perfect. With one exception.

Kai Shi looked up at Shengshi. “My Lord, forgive this servant for asking, but how will they keep warm? The mountains are cold and their bodies will freeze come winter.” 

The snake nodded. “Worry not, for the temple will never reach temperatures below freezing. As long as you remain in its vicinity, you will never turn to ice.”

The servants looked at one another and grinned. They fell to their knees and kowtowed, with Kai Shi in the front.

“Thank You, Your Lordship. While these servants may leave Your sacred vessel, they assure His Lordship that they will remain faithful to him with prayer and sacrifices.”

The snake nodded. “Very good. You are free to go.”

And so the servants ran excitedly down the stairs and hurried off towards the temple. As they disappeared from the view of those aboard the ship, He Bo turned to Shengshi.

“My Lord, a temple which will remain warm despite the season… Yet that will be encased in snow most of the year - is that not just a prison?”

In a voice like oil, the snake replied, “Perhaps.”

[hr]

Kai Shi in his dirty rags led the enthusiastic group of servants towards the foot of the mountain, and as they began to climb, the cleaner who had introduced herself as Tu Shui, poked the leader on the shoulder. Kai Shi turned to see the grinning face and chuckled. “What?”

“Well, now that we’re free, what should we call ourselves?”

Kai Shi hopped over a small stone and reached out to help Tu Shui, frowning all the while. “Call ourselves? Why, we’re servants, aren’t we?”

Tu Shui returned the frown. “No! Not anymore! We’re free, Kai! Free to call ourselves whatever we want!”

Others echoed her words and cheered. Kai Shi hummed. “Well, alright. What should we call ourselves, then?”

One in the crowd raised her hand. “How about the Free?”

Kai Shi shook his head. “No, it’s too simple. Besides, including a ‘the’ in our name makes it hand to conjugate.”

Another hand. “Liberated!”

Kai Shi wrinkled his nose. “How would you even pluralise that? More liberateds? No, no. Next one.”

Tu Shui raised her hand with a cheshire grin about her face. Kai Shi nodded for her to continue. “Liberite.”

Kai Shi pursed his lips in thoughts. Many others nodded. “Liberites, huh,” the ragged man mumbled. He mouthed the various forms of the word and nodded weakly. “Yeah, could work.”

“Also, we will from now on address each other as friends, family. No more of this servile nonsense,” Tu Shui declared. Kai Shi motioned for her to slow down.

“Woah, calm down now. We’ve only just gotten our freedom.”

“So? What is there to keep from the ancient customs aboard the Jiangzhou? Ranks? Castes? Out with it! We are equal - you and I are equal. He and she are both equal. Uniforms, too--” The crowd gathered around and cheered her on as she ripped the tunic from her body and stood there for all to see, her sand-covered body glistening in the light of Heliopolis. Kai Shi blinked skeptically, but Tu Shui was soon lifted above all and carried up the mountain to the song of cheers and praise. The ragged servant tugged at his unkempt beard and sighed.

He hoped at least some tradition would remain by the time they got to the top.

[hider=Summary!]
Snake wonders if He Bo is happy, and he says he is, but reveals that a small fraction of the Servants are unhappy. The snake asks him to gather these servants up and finds that they number 111. Led by a man named Kai Shi, they mainly protest Sheng’s unwillingness to actually go to war right away, as well as express dissatisfaction with Sheng’s leadership. Sheng encourages them to speak their minds, which he later regrets when they bombard him with insults and criticism. The snake, shocked, decides to give them a new home on Istais, in the temple complex of the Temple of Heaven. The servants run happily up there, but on the way decide that, since they’re free, they should rename themselves to Liberites. Furthermore, under the leadership of Tu Shui the Cleaner, they abandon the caste and class traditions as well as uniforms.
[/hider]

[hider=Might!]
Shengshi before: 0MP/4FP
1FP - Build monument: The Temple of Heaven. A large temple complex that stays warm (above freezing) despite the season without additional heating required.
Shengshi after: 0MP/3FP
[/hider]