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[h3]Shengshi[/h3]

5MP/9FP

[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/2b4925ee-b215-4b89-a794-5058a6c53e13.png[/img]
[colour=lightseagreen][h1][b][i]Ashalla[/i][/b][/h1]
[b]Goddess of Oceans, Storms and Ice[/b][/colour]

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It felt like millennia since he had sailed the Nanhe - or was it perhaps that he had sailed it so often that even the slightest change in environment was enough to mark itself as a significant and lasting memory in his mind? The snake confessed ignorance, though he most certainly felt something other than nostalgia. An orb of pain pumped in his heart, pulsing intermittently with a rift of regret in his mind. They were at the very headwater of Nanhe, gazing the short distance up to the divinely bottomless Bath. His holy ears heard the bicker of mortals from the trade town of Biashara, settled on the foot of Urhu’s ancient crater. Some would see him, no doubt, but for once, he hoped none would approach.

He hadn’t the heart to talk to mortals.

Footsteps approached from the entrance to his veranda, and he turned to see the four shattered expressions of Zhu Rongyuan, Qiang Quan, Yong Cai and Fu Lai’an, all of them kneeling despite their grief.

“These servants have returned, as His Lordship commanded,” Zhu Rongyuan offered somberly. The snake nodded.

“Good. Descend into the belly of the ship and wait there for further instructions. Before long, we will sail into Fengshui Fuyou, where we will remain until the end of time and space.”

The four servants drew quivering breaths, before Fu Lai’an spoke the single word, “Why?!” The snake raised a brow.

“Why, Lord, must we go? We were faithfully serving King Anu without issue! We had just defeated the greatest threat to Talemon and now is the time for the kingdom to truly prosper! Why leave now?!” She stood panting after her yelling, and the three others were huddling to her to keep her kowtowing.

“Forgive her, Lord! She is-- she is quite upset and not herself!” Zhu Rongyuan pleaded. The snake lifted a hand.

“No, no, you deserve to know.” His expression darkened. “In the days since we left the Temple, I have been thinking: This world, a divine world, has become a plane of mortality. It is no longer the slate of gods that it used to be. This world is now for the mortals to rule.”

Zhu Rongyuan blinked skeptically. “B-but… Mortality is still loyal and dependent on the gods! What made His Lordship think this way? What has mortality done to cause such dismay?”

“It is not the work of mortality that has brought these thoughts to mind,” the snake clarified. “It is the culmination of thought and philosophy that I have pondered in the time since Tendlepog retreated into Moksha.”

“B-but what about prosperity?! The dream of the Flow?!” Zhu Rongyuan pleaded. The snake sighed.

“Asteria, Talemon, the Synod - all have shown such varieties of prosperity and values. This diversity in goals - does it not cloud my own ideas of the true goal of life? Are a full belly and wealth truly the keys to a life of fortune? In my view, yes - and certainly in the Asterian view. However, the Talemonese also include prowess in war as an aspect of prosperity, and the Synod speaks of piety.”

“Y-yes, variations exist,” Fu Lai’an tried to reason, “but do these truly shatter His Lordship’s goals?”

The snake closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. “Perhaps not, but my morale, after millennia of divine disputes, godly wars and mortal squabbles, certainly has been.”

Qiang Quan growled angrily. “So… This is about you?” The three others gasped and looked at him like he was a ghost. The snake’s eyes opened again and shifted to the warrior, reptilian slits replacing rounded pupils. “We were prepared to die for King Anu,” the warrior continued, “yet we were drawn back to join you on your final journey - all because we are, deep down, your subjects?!”

The snake hissed. “Where did you learn to talk that way? To your Lord of all creatures?”

The warrior stood stalwartly despite his colleagues’ attempts to drag him down to his knees. “This servant-- No… -This one- has done its duties flawlessly to its King - its only King. This one thought you were drawing us back for a reason, but this… This is no reason - least of all one to abandon our TRUE King!”

The snake unclenched a fist and Qiang Quan was lifted off the floorboards. The warrior suddenly reached for his throat, choking for the first time in his entire life. The three others crawled over to the snake and tugged at his tail. 

“Lord! Lord, please! Let him go!” the three of them pleaded, but the snake glared fire at them.

“Insubordination will not be tolerated. Anu may have been your king, but he is MY son, meaning whatever is his is also mine. Especially that which I have given to him.”

Qiang Quan, despite his breathing issues, cast a defiant look at the snake and whispered, “Talemon.” The snake hissed and closed his fist again. The next second, nothing remained of Qiang Quan but sand, clothes and water. Fu Lai’an and Yong Cai both screamed and crawled over to the pile. Zhu Rongyuan shifted between the snake and the sand, unwilling to believe what he was seeing.

“H-His… His Lordship murdered him…”

“Since when would you, Zhu Rongyuan, see punishment of the insubordinate as murder?” the snake hissed accusingly. The scholar drew a breath before putting on the same expression as his passed colleague.

“... Qiang Quan was never insubordinate. The man was more loyal to his master until the very end.”

The snake closed his eyes. He placed his hand on the scholar’s shoulder and Zhu Rongyuan become sand and water, as well. Fu Lai’an and Yong Cai looked over, their horrified expressions sizing up their creator. The snake offered both of them a hand.

“Are there any of you who still see me as the true master?” A moment passed before Yong Cai stood up. She wiped the tears from her water eyes and went over to take the snake’s hand. The snake smiled, but Yong Cai was glaring back.

“Talemon,” she whispered, and the snake returned the glare. After Yong Cai collapsed, the reptilian eyes shifted to Fu Lai’an, who had huddled up against the veranda fence, clutching her head desperately.

“Fu Lai’an, do you still consider yourself a subject of Shengshi?”

The Servant sniffed and shifted between the three piles of sand and wet clothes. When the snake slithered over to give her a hand, Fu Lai’an reluctantly accepted. However, as she rose, she looked down and then back up.

“This servant prays, Your Lordship, that whomever judges You in the afterlife will be more merciful and forgiving than Yourself.” As the snake’s smile disappeared, Fu Lai’an reached into a small bag on her waist and extracted a vial of salt. She opened her mouth and swallowed its contents. Immediately, she started to choke and her skin began to drizzle off. As her hand melted away in Shengshi’s palm, the last of the King’s Council became a pile of sand. 

The snake looked around. He then stared at the small heap of sand in his hand before closing it tightly. “Even in my final days on this planet, I still cannot act the leader I tell everyone to be…”

That moment, the clouds began to tumble and roll. A certain presence was in the air, and the snake scowled upon identifying it. The sky darkened, wind howled across the plains and picked up loose items on the deck of the Jiangzhou, and rain pelted the ground. A great shape rose out of the Giant’s Bath which a single flash of lightning outlined as the watery form of Ashalla staring down at Jiangzhou.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“There you are, Shengshi,”[/b][/colour] rumbled the voice of the storm.

“Forgive me if I am not myself in welcoming you, dear sister, but I am in a foul mood,” the snake hissed somberly in no particular direction.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“As am I.”[/b][/colour] Ashalla leaned forwards. A large watery limb gripped the bow of the Jiangzhou, causing it to rock precariously. Ashalla’s head stretched forwards until it was within arm’s reach of Shengshi, her face as large as the snake. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“When you cursed Li’Kalla’s island to rot, did you consider [i]where[/i] that rot would go?”[/b][/colour]

“Oh, is THAT why you are here,” muttered the snake and rolled his eyes. “Not to say hello, not to visit - noooo, it is always because -something- dirtied your oceans or did not go quite along with your plan. Now, did I consider in the moment that I punished Li’Kalla’s people for her insolent behaviour, that rot, like most liquids, runs towards the sea? No, I did not, and I am sorry for that.” He sighed. “There, is that better?”

The boat creaked and groaned as Ashalla shifted her weight. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“I thought you to be one who cared for the cleanliness of water. I thought I could trust you not to pollute me.”[/b][/colour] The Jiangzhou shifted suddenly as Ashalla shoved it a few metres downriver, away from her. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“The environmental damage has long since been rectified, but you have wounded my trust.”[/b][/colour]

The snake hissed. His crew on the deck below looked busy trying to rebalance themselves with the ship’s movement. “Of course I care for water purity; however, again, that was not quite the thought running through my head in the act, now was it? Certainly, it is a shame that this has caused this rift between us - it truly is - but know that the rot leaking into the ocean was not an intended effect. I do not know if intention is something you even consider in this case, but there it is.” He sighed again. “Are we finished?”

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Careless. Negligent.”[/b][/colour] Ashalla’s turbulent water seethed for a few more moments as her gaze bored into Shengshi. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Do not let it happen again.”[/b][/colour]

“Oh, I would not worry about that. I reckon very few such events will happen again by my hand, indeed.” The boat rocked one final time as Ashalla loosened her grip on the vessel and straightened back up to a more natural posture.

Shengshi’s gaze shifted to the Giant’s Bath. He then looked down to the deck at the unsteadily kowtowing servants, all of whom were facing Ashalla in the distance. The kowtowing servants had not escaped Ashalla’s notice either. But Ashalla still had more to say.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“None, not very few.”[/b][/colour]

“A figure of speech, sister - there will indeed be nothing at all.”

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Good.”[/b][/colour] The storm above seemed to ease, although Ashalla still stood in the Giant’s Bath.

The snake blinked lazily in her direction. “You are still here…”

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Unless you had matters to raise with me, I can leave,”[/b][/colour] said Ashalla in a voice like a running creek.

The snake pursed his lips and gave a somber hum. “... Do you ever think about K’nell?”

The storm calmed further, with the wind stopping and the rain reduced to a light drizzle. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“I do.”[/b][/colour]

“What do you think about when you do? Anything in particular?”

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“His music and artistry,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla said in the soft patter of rain, [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Why do you ask?”[/b][/colour]

The snake sighed. “See, of late, I am beginning to think that he had the right idea. To leave, I mean.”

Somewhere in the depths of Ashalla, a bubble surfaced and popped. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Oh. Are you leaving too?”[/b][/colour]

The snake nodded at the Bath below Ashalla. “I will make some final preparations before I do, but yes. I will return into Fengshui Fuyou, where the infinity of rivers will make me impossible to find. Away from all this, this chaos of bloodthirsty gods, of ungrateful mortals, of my own doing. Peace from it all.”

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“And what will you do then?”[/b][/colour]

The snake shrugged. “Maybe I will fade away with time - finally finish that book I am writing. Maybe I will return at the end of all things, broken after millennia of loneliness, and dry up every river and choke every seed. Honestly, Ashalla, I do not know. All I know is that I am tired of this life.”

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Orvus said the same thing,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla said. Her gaze seemed to freeze over, her thoughts elsewhere.

“Oh, I can imagine. He likely has more reason to be tired than me - than anyone.”

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“He did,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla said. Then the rain dripping onto Shengshi’s shoulders spoke in a whisper only he could hear, [colour=lightseagreen]“Is this how a god dies? Reality obeys our will, yet if we lose the will to live, then do we cease to be?”[/colour]

“Immortal in every way, except in the heart. I wonder if the Architect ever considered this?” The snake straightened himself up and stared outward across his jungle. The distant bicker of Biashara had faded, no doubt due to the weather. “Do you ever think about giving up?”

[colour=lightseagreen]“Such a thing is unthinkable to me. I will persist so long as there is water in this world,”[/colour] said the whisper.

“Must be nice,” the snake hummed. “Yet I thought prosperity would be enough to bear me for eternity. Now look at me.” He shook his head. “My rule has been riddled with conflict and disputes. How would this world have fared if I had given up sooner, I wonder?” He gave Ashalla a raised brow. “I reckon Li’Kalla’s island would have been doing much better.”

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Li’Kalla’s island is recovering. I even gained some worshippers from cleaning up the blight,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla said, her voice returning to normal volume. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“You did good in this world, Shengshi. These three rivers and the life in and around them, along with many other rivers. The cleansing of the river of Seihdhara’s ichor. The Wuhdige tribe. Hermes and Xiaoli and the Dreamers. My Kraken met Chuanwang with the city you had made for the Dreamers - a clever idea.”[/b][/colour]

“A handful of accomplishments in an aeon of existence. I am glad they happened, but looking at Asteria, at the island, at Kalgrun - many wrongs have been committed. It is almost a balance, it is. Maybe that can be written on my epitaph…” He smiled in no particular direction. “... Shengshi, a god of the balance between good and evil.”

Ashalla was quiet for a few moments, then she looked at Shengshi and said, [colour=lightseagreen][b]“This is what you will. I shall not stop you. May you find the peace which you search for, Shengshi.”[/b][/colour]

The snake nodded. “Thank you, dearest sister.”

Ashalla’s watery form began to shrink, but before it disappeared she spoke again. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“You may keep the painting. Let it remind you of the good you did on Galbar, and of me.”[/b][/colour]

The snake chuckled. “Yeah… I will.”

[hider=Summary]
Siwei, the Council of Four, return to Shengshi’s boat. He tells them why he called them - because he plans to abandon Galbar. The council are upset. Their loyalties lay with King Anu of Talemon. Tensions escalate until Shengshi smites them and they die.

Ashalla appears. She scolds Shengshi for polluting her oceans with the Rot - a negligent act, which Ashalla makes Shengshi promise not to do again.

Shengshi then reveals his plans to leave Galbar. He has grown tired of this life. After some final preparations Shengshi will sail into the Fengshui Fuyou and get lost forever. They have an extended heartfelt goodbye.

[i]No Might spent.[/i]
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