Shengshi had turned Istais on its head in search of Xiaoli and concluded that, wherever in the world she may be, it was not here. The snake still felt the knife of betrayal in his chest, though the hands of reason were gently tugging at the handle in an effort to pull it out. He had perhaps been unreasonable with her, yes, unadaptable and unwilling to change his ways - ultimately leading to her decision to escape. Perhaps a change of scenery would do his divine self some good, too, the snake thought absentmindedly.
The trek back to Jiangzhou was spent in a deep trance of thought. Sparks of concern for Xiaoli burst into existence between elaborate plans for the Classic of Wisdom. A change of scenery, yes - it may just give him that flash of inspiration needed for the next chapter, as well as some possible leads on where that girl had gone. The snake looked up through the foliage and saw the golden decorations of Jiangzhou blink in the light of Heliopolis. He let out a sigh. How could Xiaoli leave all of this? He could possibly maybe show some understanding for her leaving because of his own behaviour at certain times, but to leave this life of luxury - that poor thing! Shengshi hoped she was eating well, at least. Perhaps he should make her some rose petal cakes for her eventual return. She really did like those. As did Shengshi and he snapped one into existence and put it in his mouth, humming happily at the flavour.
The riverlord climbed aboard and cleared his throat loudly. A servant zoomed up on deck and circled the snake as to not disappear. The snake tossed his eyes down at the speeding globule and let out a ponderous hum, plucking his beard in thought.
“Servant - bring your master a pot of green tea, a cup, some rice paper - make sure you do not make it soggy - a brush and ink.” The servant circled him once more and zoomed off. “Oh, wait! I forgot one thing.” The globule stopped, immediately exploding into a cloud of droplets. Shengshi winced, sighed and snapped his fingers. The globule reformed, turned around and zoomed back into orbit around its master.
“I swear, these creatures are more trouble than they’re worth… Yes, one more thing: Tell your comrades to secure everything aboard the ship - we are leaving.” As before, the globule circled the snake one more time before speeding off into the palace. The snake turned to the bow of the ship. He slithered over and placed a tapping hand on the dragon’s head.
“But where to go, I wonder… Perhaps we should return to the Dragon’s Foot, mmm?” He looked at the dragon’s head as if it would answer him. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, it didn’t. The snake sighed.
“Come back to me, Xiaoli, I am lonely!” he shouted and raised his fists ominously. No! No time to sulk again, he thought. Some time back in Fengshui Fuyou ought to inspire his writing! Yes! That is what he would do!
And look for Xiaoli along the way, of course.
The snake warmed up his joints with some quick stretching. He rolled his shoulders, stretched his hip, bent his back a few times and craned his neck around. Then, after drinking a few cups of reinvigorating, though poorly made tea, he slapped his palms together. The clash spawned a soundwave that rustled the surrounding woods and sent flocks of birds flapping away from the river in a panic. Part of the river underneath the ship began to climb upwards, sending the boat off on a diagonal path into the sky. Soon thereafter, the skyriver was cut off and a small portion carried the ship to their destination. Shengshi had admittedly not spent his time sulking on practicing this method of travel, as he had been, well, sulking. Therefore, even though they had barely just left Istais heading east, the snake could already feel the strain on his mind from carrying the colossal ship. It was easier than the first time, but he really ought to take some time in the future to just condition his mind. He would have to take a break along the way. He shuddered as he weighed his options.
So, he could either stop in the-... He retched mentally. The ocean…
Or, take the long route, sailing northwards and stopping in… Kalgrun…
The snake took a deep breath and counted to ten. That was -not- an option.
Well, where else could he stop, then? Perhaps he should just go for it? Go all out for once? He could always try, though he was uncertain of what to do if he potentially failed-
The ship groaned as something ground against the hull. The snake lost focus for a spell, causing the ship to drop onto yet another unidentified object, making a deafening crunch as divine wood conquered mortal stone. Still, there was not supposed to be anything but sea here! What on Galbar had he-...
The snake slithered over to the edge and saw the vast, unending forest of peaks, tall and short. In the very, very little smidge at the end of the horizon, he saw hints of dry rocklands that stretched for what remained of even his divine perception range. When had this been made? He sniffed the empty air around him and closed one eye. Yes, certainly - this was fresh land, divine essence still clinging to the surrounding stone like smoke clings to clothing. The essence was strong and smelt oddly of crab, making the snake a little peckish. He dismissed the thoughts about as soon as they had appeared - this was perfect! A place to rest after a long arduous journey. He could keep going for a little while, he thought, take in the sights and whatnot.
The mountains soon gave way to hills, which themselves eventually gave way to empty plains for stone. How big was this continent? It had to be the biggest in the world! How perfectly, well, perfect! Another land to bring the glorious Flow to! The question was, where to introduce it first?
The boat soared across the landscape for what seemed like an eternity, the continent’s size being truly immeasurable. Alas, however, Shengshi spotted the sea at the other end of the continent’s eastern mountain range. Finally, he thought, my eyes were going blind at the sight of all that bright beige. At the food of the mountain range, Shengshi saw a long stretch of bays in all manner of shapes and sizes. He hummed pensively to himself and sent the ship on a gentle dive towards the ground.
As he had suspected these plains seemed almost annoyingly similar to those on the other side of the mountain. However, he had a haunch that this part of the continent would eventually turn into a green bastion of fertility - with some divine aid, of course. He snapped his fingers rhythmically and bobbed his torso as if to hype himself up. He sampled the earth around and shot the mountains another glance. In time, they would fill with snow and feed many thousand rivers - for now, however, he would have to kickstart the process on his own.
The snake took a globule of water from underneath the ship with an elongated “thaaaank you!” and tossed it up and down in his hand playfully as he slithered his way over to an ideal spot. In a barely-curved ravine between two elevated rocks by the shore, he measured an estimate. He then slithered up next to the mountains and did the same. No, something did not feel right. He took a moment to dive into his soul and sample what power he had left. He had not properly rested for some time - blackouts did not count, after all, he thought with a sigh. Whatever he could squeeze out of this globule, it would not form a river to rival Nanhe, sadly. However, he could the very least make a start.
With a joyous whistle, the snake rolled the globule around in his hands; he bounced it on the ground a few times like some ball; finally he chucked it at the stony ground some distance away with so much force that it broke through the top layer of stone. Shengshi pointed casually in the direction he wished for the river to go, and so it did. The ball dug its way through the weakest parts in the stone, leaving behind a track of water. The snake rubbed his chin ponderously - a name for his creation. Something that would inspire creatures to settle by it. He inspected the quality of the river and frowned. The sand and clay in the ground left the waters beige and unappetising - healthy to plants, no doubt, but it was not the sort of water he would brew anything with. He tasted a sample. Certainly, the waters were packed with nutrients for all manner of plants. It would need a name to denote health, in that case. The snake snapped his fingers.
“You, little river, shall be known as Kangjiang.”
Before long, the snake’s creation had snaked its way all the way to the ocean - or had it? There was something odd here. His power was spent, yet he smelt no brackwater in the distance. He slithered into the water and swam downriver.
Upon arriving at the edge, he saw that there was an obstacle in the way that he had not accounted for - a basin, which now slowly was becoming a lake. Shengshi, abhorred at the sight, cast his hand forward, but was greeted with nothing but a small spark from his palm.
“Suppose I am spent, then,” he mumbled angrily to himself. “Worry not, my dearest Kangjiang - I will come back for you and help you escape this midway prison. As for -you-, little lake!” He pointed a condemning finger at the lake, which almost seemed to recoil somewhat. “You will remain exactly where you are - should not be too hard for a static thing like you.” Laughing smugly, the snake slithered back to his ship.
Back at the ship, the snake walked into his chambers. His servants had fixed his door - that was nice, he supposed. The god sat down at his desk, snatched a sheet of rice paper and dipped his brush in ink.
Wicked is the one Who dams up the Lord’s river; Guard ever the Flow.
He hummed in approval at the passage. A fine thing to encourage his followers to do - guard the Flow. What else should he tell them to do? Heh, writing laws was a good source of entertainment.
Loyalty is key; Servants will obey their lords; Lords will protect them.
A tear plopped the surface of the rice paper. The snake slowly raised a finger to his eye and poked another salty globe out of its corner, studying it some distance away from his face.
“Practice what you preach, you foolish drunk,” he said with a sigh. “Then perhaps she will come back.”
Snek travels homewards while looking for Xiaoli. Happens upon crabland. There, he makes a river named Kangjiang on the eastern shore.
The walk out of the crystalline palace had been almost tear-jerking. The marvellous stones bejeweling the walls as well as the breathtakingly beautiful garden had left Xiaoli awfully awestruck, and now she was sad to leave. The four had spent a few hours getting to know each other. Some more awkward situations involving some more burnt fingers, seeing as Hermes never really knew when not to touch her cup with her delicate, soft, cute hands-... No! No, stop it, head! Tranquil mind, controlled heart. Ahem, regardless, it was evident that the tea was well received, and Xiaoli was relieved beyond words to know that everyone found it palatable. However, after the tea was drunk and conversations quieted down, the team of two - backed, of course, by the fizzy little cloudling - eventually decided that the time had come to leave. They had bid the encaptivating lady of vines farewell and left the gardens through the same way they came in, putting them squarely above the clouds back on the pinnacle of Asceal’s island.
Xiaoli surveyed the cloudscape around them. Come to think of it, since they were alone up here, no one else was looking at them. Maybe she could try to hold her ha-... No! Silly thoughts. Tranquil mind, controlled heart. Besides, Poppler would of course see them. She sighed softly before turning to Hermes. “So, where do we go now?” she asked with a smile.
Hermes face took a serious turn, as if taking her question to be of the utmost important. As she thought, her cloudling companion took it about himself to hum with electricity atop her head, as if he himself was thinking along. Finally a bright smile broke across Hermes’ face, “Want to see my home?”
Xiaoli blushed. So soon! To think that she would take her home already! She struggled for a moment to avoiding blurting out a deafening “YES!” and managed strenuously to bottle up her excitement. This was a cordial invitation - nothing more, Xiaoli concluded rather somberly. She tried to hide her blush with her sleeve as discreetly as possible, failing utterly, and nodded. “Yes, that would be very nice,” she said, choking a giddy giggle.
Against all odds, Hermes smile seemed to grow even wider as she took a few steps towards Xiaoli. Knowingly, Poppler zipped into her knotted hair right as she wrapped her arms around Xiaoli, her spear and club clinking off each other as she did. Xiaoli herself blushed to the point that small vents of docile steam floated up from underneath her black hair. It only took a second, but with a crash of sound and a sudden blur, the trio was rocketed off the peaks and above the clouds.
The great cloudy plains zipped by underneath, and in time that eventually gave way to an endless blue ocean. Their time spent over the ocean was the longest of the journey, and due to the immense speeds it was spent in silence, Hermes focusing hard on her positioning only now and again looking at her catch with a reassuring twinkle in her eye. Xiaoli felt that she never could get quite used to this sight, an entire sea soaring by underneath at speeds neither she nor her master could achieve, even in water. She would occasionally look up at the Dreamer’s chalk-white face and her awe would morph into a warming sensation of safety. In the moment, the girl could not help but tighten her grip around Hermes just a little tighter.
All at once an amazing landmass broke the horizon, glittering red coasts waved at them, and blue mountains could be seen in the far distance. Hermes seemed to ignore the rocky coastline, zipping by and over it. It was only once she flew over the first set of strangely moving mountains did she land. Very softly did she settle onto a great expanse of red grass, little water potholes and stampeding trees. Behind the group the distant sound of grinding crumbled in their ears, the mountains ever swapping in place. Hermes seemed to pay the oddities no mind, and simply squatted down to wave her hand through the strange grass, her cloudling companion resurfacing to zip off to one of the many puddles, joining the swathes of other cloudlings that fogged the landscape. Xiaoli savoured the moment and walked a short distance, feeling her heart bounce with wonder and her mind weep in confusion. She had not even conceived of the possibility of seeing a pack of trees trot across a red savannah before. In the distance, the mountains zoomed back and forth like clouds on the sky. It was all quite surreal, she reckoned, scratching her temple in bewilderment. She turned back to Hermes and Poppler and gestured to the dreamlike landscape.
“Do you actually live here?” she asked in a perplexed manner.
Hermes’ hand turned into a fist as she snatched a handful of the grass and plucked the blades. The Dreamer stood up and nodded, “Yes, well. I live closer to the center, but the whole place is my home.”
As if brushing off the surreal nature and deeper meaning of the question, Hermes extended her grassy catch to Xiaoli, a candy sweet aroma leaking from the freshly harvested grass, “Chew on this! I like it.”
Xiaoli eyed the grass and took in the smells. She felt her mouth water a little and put a blade in her mouth. She chewed for a moment, grinning and giggling at the flavour - such a delicious little snack! Much sweeter than the fruits she was used to, yet it was not as filling - in fact, it was not at all filling. The perfect snack! The red plant matter tinted her already colourful teeth. Xiaoli hummed happily at the flavour and put a hand on her cheek.
“That was delicious! May I have another one, please?” she asked.
“Uh huh!” Hermes happily nodded, quickly snatching another blade of the sugar grass for Xiaoli. While she handed it over, her enthusiastic mind and body wandered along with her words as she explained the various different things to see, “... If you start seeing white little blotches floating around you, those are flowers on the tripvine, so go slow… There are so many butterflies in the mountains, and some of them you can only see if you sit down and wait… Those are called Bilbies, they hop around and are furry, but not much else… And I call those Crunchers on account of their big mouth and the sound they make when they eat a tree.” Xiaoli skipped along dreamingly, chewing sweetgrass and taking in most of the explanations and sights with half-hearted attentiveness and wholehearted enthusiasm, occasionally dropping an “oh” or an “uh-huh”, depending what she could manage in her joyous daze.
Her finger pointed to one of the large rhino like herbivores with a hippo wide mouth chasing down the herd of trees, “They only eat the running trees, not the trees of the Limbo forest where I was born. OH! There are some neat fruits on the way there, they jangle in the wind like music.”
Xiaoli’s eyes widened. “Oooh! Is that so? I would love to see them, if we could!”
“Of course,” Hermes smiled wide, “I know they were made before me, but sometimes I like to think they were made for me.” The Dreamer laughed at her own joke, taking Xiaoli’s hand and leading her through the rest of the flatlands. Xiaoli, still stuck in her daze, was pulled along like a doll. She did not mind in the slightest, though. Eventually the group found the foothills of a mountain and after a short trek upwards, they were cutting through a strange forest of mushrooms the size of trees, fit with strange little possums sucking on nectar flowers and strange clumps of mosses flying around. A certain magic seemed to hang in the mushroom forests, and whenever the wind cut through, as promised, there was a small melody of jingling fruit.
Finding a particular spot between four stout mushrooms, Hermes hopped onto a mossy rock. Reaching as high as she could, her fingers managed to graze the hanging fruit from the cap of the shortest fungi. The fruit let out a soft jingle as she did, and then with a tiny hop she managed to grab it, her short fall back to the rock snapping it free from the mushroom with a loud bell like sound.
Hermes huffed and handed the cylindrical color blotted fruit to Xiaoli, “The ends are kinda hard, but if you snap it in half, the center tastes really good. It’s not very sweet, though.”
Xiaoli accepted the fruit and did as instructed: She snapped it in half to reveal the beige, mushy middle interior. Using her index finger, she dug out a small clump and put it in her mouth. Hermes had been correct in her assessment that it was not particularly sweet, not as sweet as the grass had been, anyway. The texture was mushy and a little grainy, with a rather bland flavour that leaned towards sour. It would probably be really nice with some side dishes, though. Perhaps with some nuts and jam or perhaps with some tea. Not wanting to be brutally honest, however, she smiled at the flavour, perhaps a little wider than necessary.
“I like it!” she said, “it would be wonderful with some nuts and berries in a fruit salad, though. We should make that some time!”
The smile started in Hermes’ eyes as she beamed at Xiaoli, “You know, I never got to show anyone this stuff before. It means a lot to me that you like it all.” Xiaoli giggled sheepishly.
“It-... It means a lot to me that you wanted to bring me here, too…” she whispered, steam drifting gently up from her hair. She looked down at her feet, shuffling them in place. The wind brushed through the mushroom trees, rustling the fruits on the caps into song. The orchestra of the dreamland made Xiaoli cast her eyes up to the fungi to observe. Her cheeks flushed and she let out a joyous laughter, neatly skipping a little around in circles.
Hermes sat on her mossy stone and watched Xiaoli, a sleeping Poppler in her hair. Time slowly leaked by and in a moment, Hermes suddenly perked up, “Want to see where I was born?” Xiaoli ceased her hopping, turning to Hermes with blinking eyes. What would such a place look like? Don’t tell me-! She wasn’t bringing her to her master’s sphere, was she?! Xiaoli took the liberty of giving her dress a runover with her eyes. Just as she had feared, the time since leaving the Jiangzhou had made it weary with travel, and the fabric around her ankles showed signs of tears and rips - not to mention the overall presence of dirt and mud all across the skirt. She couldn’t possibly meet a -god- like this!
She blinked. Then again, she did really want to see the place where such a beautiful, soft, se-NO! Stop it, head! Tranquil mind, sweetroll heart. No, wait… Rank and file, controlled farts. Bah! Silly, silly, silly! If this entailed her meeting a god, she could not agree to come along - that was that!
“Yes,” Xiaoli answered eagerly. What was that?! She was supposed to decline! Yet she felt herself almost desperately drawn to follow Hermes wherever she suggested they go. Xiaoli supported her answer with a grin. Very well, she thought, she was created with all manners of improvisational skills and eloquent mannerisms. She could naturally handle this… She hoped.
Once again Hermes seemed to break emotional law and somehow appear even happier, as if she was expecting a no. The Dreamer could barely contain herself, her fast walk turning into a strange skip as she led the way down the other side of the mountain. Xiaoli giggled at her skipping and soon joined in the merry gait. As they made way into the valley, the mushroom forest slowly gave way to a forest of trees -- the still kind.
The trees were old and sturdy, with gnarled roots that wove in and out of the ground as well as crooked branches. Here and there a cloudling could be seen dashing behind the dark leaves, their tiny bodies reflecting the evening heliopolis above the canopy. The further the trio walked on, the more the ground flattened and the more a strange sense of nostalgia leeched into Xiaoli's mind, despite never setting foot here in her entire life. Xiaoli looked around with crooked eyebrows and a pinch of concern in her soul - did the woods remind her of the Nanhe jungle, perhaps?
The forest seemed to thicken for a while, forcing the duo to walk single file in silence. At last the forest once more began to open up into root dominated patches of groves and ancient trees. As if the scene was beginning to be too mundane, small glowing orbs suddenly appeared. Their light shedding only slightly in the dim atmosphere, their bodies hovering lazily and only slowly moving when necessary. As the group walked by them, a few decided to follow; some turned a passionate pink as they followed Xiaoli, a few others a sunny yellow as they floated by Hermes. Such beautiful colours, Xiaoli thought - pink like blushing cheeks. She giggled to herself and noticed the sunny orbs around Hermes. They were pretty, too, but… Why were they yellow? Did the orbs go by personality or emotions or… She swallowed - or feelings for one another?! For a second, it felt as though someone pickled her heart in strong brine. Did the different colours denote different interests?
She shook her head hastily. No, that couldn’t be it! It was by personality, of course! Yellow connotes, uh, strength and joy, yes! Pink connotes beauty and, uh… Uhm… L-love? Her cheeks flushed, but her heart still ached. Hah! It likely based itself on the stronger personalities within, of course! That-... That had to be it, right?
The Dreamer seemed to pay them no mind as the group finally spilled out into a massive grove ringed by the most ancient of trees. The small orbs floated en masse around a great stone pedestal easily a cottage in width, with a large arch of stone connecting two ends; its large entirety was made of a single, dark primordial stone, and it had a surface that looked impossibly smooth. With a skip and a bounce, Hermes suddenly planted herself in front of Xiaoli, facing the river lady with her tell tale cheshire smile, “Here we are!” Xiaoli wiped all the concern off her face and returned the smile with one of her own, not even bothering to hide all her river pebble teeth. She had a look around the group’s immediate position, noted the pedestal and the general layout of the clearing.
“Majestic,” she whispered loudly. Naturally, she thought, it would take a place of such divine presence to create a mortal being so divine as Hermes. She let out an almost shivering sigh. Tranquil mind, controlled heart now, Xiaoli. Remember, your lord gave you the gift of reason - but also the gift of the heart! Can’t I be allowed a little leeway? No! You aren’t even sure if she likes you in that way! That-... That doesn’t mean I cannot try! You are the spawn of a divine being- So is she! I wasn’t finished! You are the spawn of a divine being and she is a mortal - it would never work! We are literally the first to ever (potentially) try - you have nothing to back that up! Look! Look… Just…
“Just take it slow and find out of she likes you back, okay?” she said and formed a box-like gesture with her hands, as if laying a strategy.
“What?” Hermes cocked her head, her eyes staring at the little air box.
Xiaoli froze and recoiled a little. “N-nothing! Did you hear something?! I didn’t! Hehehehe!” Her sheepish laughter continued a little longer than necessary. “I, uh, I didn’t say anything else, right?”
Hermes smiled wide at Xiaoli’s speech, unsure if it was amused or confused, but before she could answer a great flash dominated the grove accompanied by a loud whisper of power. Negatives flashed in Xiaoli’s eyes as they slowly readjusted, and a soft hum faded from her ears. When her senses slowly drifted back to intelligible, a figure stood on the pedestal, underneath the archway.
The figure was dressed like a gentleman, and had skin as colorless as Hermes. A large cheshire grin was planted on his face that reminded Xiaoli of Hermes’ if not much bigger and longer. Two spiral eyes stared hard at the Avatar, but before any interaction could happen, Hermes let out an excited squeak and rushed the pedestal with such speed, a sonic boom erupted from where she was standing. In an instant she was clasping K’nell’s right hand with both of hers, a giddy twinkle in her eye. Xiaoli was uncertain of whether she had fallen to her knees as a result of the the god’s appearance or the sonic boom, but she did not waste any time forming the position into a kowtow, pressing her palms and forehead to the ground in prostration before K’nell.
“Your Holiness - it is an immeasurably great honour to meet Your blessed self. This servant is named Xiaoli, advisor to Shengshi.” She held her pose as she spoke. “This servant hopes she is not intruding upon Your sacred grounds.”
“I know exactly who you are,” a grainy voice swirled next to her right ear, as if K’nell was standing immediately next to her, making Xiaoli shiver, “and I know exactly what you have done-”
The voice hung long enough to garner a speck of anxiety, “-you have shown Hermes a great kindness, and have befriended her in a way of which I approve. She speaks of you in her sleep, and has honey’d my ear with your exploits together.”
Hermes seemed to shift with a slight embarrassment but K’nell continued, “You are welcome here, and welcome to stand and face me.”
Xiaoli held her pose for an additional second before slowly rising back up to sit on her ankles. She discreetly brushed off the dirt on her forehead and slowly looked upwards until her eyes fell on the smartly dressed figure. She dared crack a small smile.
“This servant is beyond grateful for Your hospitality, as well as for Hermes. She is a dear friend to me and I-...” She paused. This was likely not the best time to spill all the details. “... And I hope she is as happy with me as I am with her.” She sent Hermes a wink.
“Of course, Xiaoli!” Hermes smiled back at her friend. K’nell stood silent for a while, leaving the two to simply look at each other, before suddenly pulling his left hand from behind his back, palm up. Suddenly a box materialized on top of it. It was small, perhaps an inch thick and maybe seven long, with a depth no more than the thickness. It was made of a wood that reminded Xiaoli of the color of the trees about her right now, and was hinged in a silver pattern that reminded her of a dream she never had.
“Come,” K’nell’s voice sounded behind Xiaoli, “take your prize.”
Xiaoli pondered for a second. A prize for what? For being Hermes’ friend? She smiled, rose up and made her way towards the god. It was nice to see that the world had other hosts as hospitable as her master. A thought stabbed through her conscience, leaving an open wound. Her master! She had been gone for so long! Was he alright? The warm colours in her cheeks dimmed even as she approached the two on the pedestal. She stopped in front of the god and bowed, extending two hands which she cupped together to accept the gift.
The box was gently placed on her hands, the gift weighing slightly more than she might have expected. K’nell’s voice hung between the group, “A seed that the field of the world may need in the coming days. Open it.”
Xiaoli straightened herself back up and looked pensively at the box. She looked up to K’nell as if seeking reassurance before slowly lifting off the lid. There sitting on a cushion of black velvet was a small flute made out of a white metal, it had seven holes to control the flow of wind through the tiny mouthpiece. Something about it calmed Xiaoli’s heart as she looked at it. The calming warmth spread throughout her body and the colours returned to her skin; her shoulders relaxed; her pupils swelled ever so slightly. She carefully took the flute in her hand and let her eyes drink in its every detail. She eventually looked back to the god and gave him a smile complemented by misty eyes.
“Th-... Thank You, Your Holiness. May this servant.. May this servant try it out?”
Like a conductor K’nell raised an allowing hand, his eyes intent on Xiaoli, paired with Hermes’ own eager gaze, her lips slightly parted in suspense. Xiaoli put the box carefully down on the ground and then placed her fingers on the flute’s slim, metallic body, testing the distance between the holes. Finally, she laid the mouthpiece between her lips and blew.
A stream of water shot out the front of the pipe, as well as through four of the seven holes. Xiaoli’s normally white skin turned pink and she hid her face behind her sleeve. “S-sorry! Allow me to try again!”
K’nell stood silent, keeping his conductor’s hand raised in permission. Hermes’ on the other hand, zipped back down to her friend and investigated closely, before nodding, “try again.”
With Hermes next to her, Xiaoli felt her heartbeat with renewed vigor. The colour in her face remained, but not due to embarrassment this time. She concentrated and put the flute to her lips again. Alright, how do I do this, she thought. To blow air in a concentrated manner without the water, too… She first blew very carefully, producing some quiet notes. This encouraged her, so she added some more vigor, the tones growing louder and more colourful. As she concentrated on keeping the water in her mouth from flushing out again, she painted the air around them with calm, blue notes that seemed to swim around them like fish in a stream. As she tested the instrument, the blues became purple skips and red crescendos, brushing across the fictive canvas like a brush across paper.
As Hermes stood admiring the beautiful sound, suddenly Poppler tumbled out of her hair and landed on the ground with not as much as a pop. The Dreamer spun to look at her cloudling friend, kneeling down to poke. The Cloudling only stirred slightly and Hermes looked up at Xiaoli, “He is asleep.”
“Beasts of anger, beasts of violence, and beasts of destruction and wroth; The world will see all of these, but as I said: here is a much needed seed in the field of the world,” K’nell’s voice whispered about the trio, “a gift unto you, to be shared. See the hearts of these beasts pacified when they come too much, pass the flute to those who need it most, and never stop showing kindness.”
Xiaoli fell to her knees and clutched the flute tightly to her chest. “Yes, Your Holiness. This servant swears upon her existence to always show her kindest self to others and to share Your sacred gift with all those that may need it.” Her eyes spawned small tears and she inclined her head. “Thank You, Your Holiness, thank You so much.”
K’nell held out a palm then the little cloudling stirred to, lazily hovering back up to Hermes’ hair, “you all have my blessing.”
There was another bright clap of light, and as the buzzing and the pinkish hue of eyes shocked by light faded, K’nell was gone.
Xiaoli blinked and looked back down at the flute. The first gift she had ever received from another deity - it was beautiful. She would treasure it dearly. She looked at Hermes and grinned.
“So… Where to now?”
Xiaoli and Hermes leave the Lustrous Garden, then zoom off over to Tendlepog.
There, Hermes shows Xiaoli all the LSD-level shit going on in the dreamland. Xiaoli loves it wholeheartedly. She has intense thirsty thoughts about that Hermes, too. Poppler likely knows and is plotting Xiaoli’s disappearance.
The two share some tender moments until Hermes gets the idea to show Xiaoli her birthplace, which they then go see. There, they enjoy another sweet moment before K’nell shows up. Being the gentleman he is, K’nell gives Xiaoli a gift, a nice flute, which when played puts Poppler to sleep. K’nell then promptly disappears.
Cameo by Cyndi Lauper
The Fairy flute: Able to bring the angriest and most violent beasts to sleep: 1 MP, discounted by Sleep to 0.
A neat box, no might spent
Bringing Poppler back to the waking world, no might spent
There had been no dream - Shengshi’s mind had been too broken to even reach the Palace. The snake’s crusted eyes cracked open, revealing a pair of bloodshot, stone grey orbs each adorned with one empty reptilian iris. Some time passed before the snake actually perceived the light passing through these irises - it was vast and blue, lit by one distant orb of yellow fire and complemented by a smaller, blueish orb that appeared almost crystalline, both sticking awkwardly to the blue surface like flies in a web. He let out a long, dry groan.
The snake god felt his head pump and rush like a heart as his mind desperately ordered the rest of his body to react. A moment passed and the snake felt his sensations return, though he promptly wished they had not. Unlike his eyes, the snake’s tongue had been spending one too many hours in open air and had thusly pruned up quite spectacularly; he raised an agonising hand to his nose and found that it still remained, which was odd seeing as the snake could neither feel it nor breathe through it; finally, the snake god found that his abdomen had been left underneath all the barrels from the night before and that his tail was now severely lacking in all manner of bodily fluids. He lifted his back, sounding the crackling cacophony of a crooked cord straightening out, and let out a pained yelp. He lifted a stiff arm to his face and dragged a sticky palm across his groggy features. Upon pulling his hand away, he noticed visible traces of all the colours of the alcoholic rainbow on his skin - from grape red to vomit green.
“Xi… Xiaolih…” he rumbled.
There was a long, empty pause.
“Xiaoli!” he repeated, his voice sparking a hint of frustration. He curled himself forward enough to achieve something one could generously refer to as stability and placed his head in a dry palm. He cursed mentally. Where was that damn girl? Had she and the mortal fallen asleep together inside the palace, perhaps? He had to investigate.
With reluctance and resistance, the snake’s body manage to raise the creature to a standing position. He shook his face until his cheeks wobbled and blew his nostrils clean. He poked the crusts out of his eyes and slowly slithered towards the palace in a zig-zagging manner. By the Architect, he would give her such a scolding. How could she have left her master to sleep on the deck, like some drunken scum? He had evidently been too kind with her. He took a quick detour to the railing to purge his guts of the remains of yesternight’s feast. However, upon looking back up, the snake’s eyes widened.
The ship was no longer surrounded by vague excuses for grass, but the horizon was green and rich with illuminated foliage, and the skies were black with birds. How long had he slept?!
“Xiaoli! Where are you?!” he roared once more, charging up to his chambers, all pain and discomfort forgotten in the moment. The stairs became a blur underneath the racing god; the doors, mere paper before the rampaging beast. His beautiful gates were violently ripped from their hinges as Shengshi quite literally burst into the room, scanning his uncharacteristically clean chambres with desperate eyes. They were empty.
The stairs once more became a blur as he stormed under deck and inspected the every room he could think of down there; afterwards, he searched every guest room.
Not a single soul to be found.
After nearly a day of turning his entire ship on its head, Shengshi hopped off and into the river, swimming its entire length several hundred times over the course of the rest of the day. He flanked the river on each side on foot the following day.
“To think one so close to me would simply evaporate like so…” he said and shot Heliopolis a scowl. Maybe she actually had…
He promptly shook his head. A silly hypothesis. It was not nearly hot enough.
“Then perhaps… An assassin!” he proclaimed and grabbed at his chest. Such tragedy, such horror! To think his dearest Xiaoli had so suddenly been sent to that funny cat. Oh, what a horrid fate!
He shook his head again. “No, that cannot be it. I am certain I would have felt something.” He begun to ascend the closest mountain. Alright, so… She was not dead - that was certain. Then had she perhaps been kidnapped?!
The snake let out a vicious snarl and raised his fist into the air. The nerve! He had invited a guest into his home and she had kidnapped his most prized servant! He slithered atop the peak and raised both hands into the air, clenching his fists.
“Curse you, mortal! A thousand, ten thousand bitter curses from the bleakest void be cast upon your petty soul!” He keeled forward and let out a few heavy pants. A faint and rare, yet oddly familiar sensation tickled at his eyes and the god reached a clawed finger to his face. He retracted it and inspected the glistening orb dangling from his clawtip - a tear, clear and pure as thin, fresh ice, yet murky with sorrow and solitude. His eyes rapidly spawned more and the snake collapsed onto his tail, casting his blurry gaze at the many droplets crashing against his palms and the cold stone below. He wrapped his arms around himself and let out a quiet wail that promptly morphed into hacking hulks.
“I-...” He snorted. “This… Is my fault…” He let out another wail. “I am… I am scum!”
A sudden clash of scale against flesh echoed through the immediate air. Shengshi snorted again and rubbed his sore cheek. Then he struck himself again.
“You -fool-! You utter, impudent lizard!” he snarled at himself and slapped his jaw once more. “You tell her you will change your ways… You tell her the future will be different… And what do you do?!” His hand lost momentum and fell down against the dirt. The snake collapsed onto his elbows and hammered against the stone with clenched fists, sending gentle ripples through the mountain.
“You reveal to her nothing but the hypocrite within.”
There was a long pause, broken only by the occasional sulk. Shengshi turned his murky eyes to his fists once more and examined the cracks they had struck into the immediate stone around him. He snickered coldly to himself.
“I see… Even as I rage against my own folly, I simultaneously destroy that which is around me.” He stroked gently at the stone cracks. “My hubris, my arrogance, my impulses…” He hummed pensively. “They are all part of me, yet undesirable parts - scum to be scraped off…”
He curled up his tail and sat himself comfortably on top of it. “-... Or is it the cream that should be skimmed off? Parts so integral to my being that they should be savoured - desired even!” He looked down into the river valley below, his home glistening on the stream like a nugget of gold in a beck.
“I mean, gaze upon what I have created! I should naturally be allowed a smidge of pride!”
He snickered. “Yet I confess - I may possibly, once or twice, under certain circumstances, be a little vexing, perhaps.” He scratched his chin. “Yet are those traits truly undesirable - is a prideless god a worthy one? Is the meek creator one to be respected? Are the impulses to be repelled?”
He shook his head. “It is clear that none of these hold true - a god who cannot take pride in its work will forever be hated by its inadequate creations; no sane creature would ever respect a creator with no spine; and an existence without impulse is empty.” He rose up and looked into the sky.
“And yet… And. Yet, the inadequacy holds true for the opposite.” He took a deep breath and sighed. “The Flow carries no inherent message of balance…” He closed his eyes. “However, the rivers adapt to the world around. I used to despise the idea of conflict, yet I have caused it on several occasions - all because I failed to adapt.”
Shengshi looked around at the stone surface below. It flattened out in his immediate area, but the peak upon which he stood was flanked by plateaus and points on all sides, with rolling hills and crevices flowing outwards from the mountain’s foot below. Far below, the bioluminescent woodlands and its inhabitants flourished all around the island. He felt his heart pulse warmly at the sight. His project’s subjects - the creations to which he would bring prosperous harmony in time.
“For that, however, I must adapt.” He waved his hands and a brush blackened with ink popped into his right hand; in his left hand appeared a stack of rice paper sheets. The snake hummed for a moment and begun to write.
In knowing the Flow, a sound mind is key; With wisdom in tow, the way splits in three: The saintly is humble, With manners upheld; The chosen will bargain, So enmity’s quelled; The wise act as such, respectful of all, Like undisturbed rivers, the Flow is unstalled.
He dipped his brush in a floating orb of ink he had summoned and reached for a second page.
In knowing the Flow, a soul must know change: The morphing of forms, of content and range. The river will slither Past hard rock and stone; The landscape; reborn With threads, water-sown. The tapestry shifts and twists and turns; In studying Flow, it is this one must learn.
Another dip of ink and change of paper coloured the otherwise dull soundscape.
In knowing the Flow, the soul must have heart. A saint of the Flow, with emotions can’t part. The river turns right, A mind of outrage; The river turns left, The mind of a sage. The river is fickle, thus even the wise Carries a sword, should conflict arise.
Shengshi punctuated the final page with his personal stamp and put it on top of the two others. He read through his work again and hummed ponderously. Yes… This would be his work - his gift to the mortals upon their arrival. His Classic of Wisdom - his philosophy and the concept of the Flow condensed onto paper for all to read and evaluate. However, this was merely a first draft of a manuscript - there was much work to be done.
The snake took the pages and rolled them together before securing them with a few strands of his black hair. With scroll in hand, he descended the mountain. However, he stopped halfway down and scanned the forested lands below, its dim illumination barely visible in the light of Heliopolis. He rubbed his chin and gazed back up at the admittedly barren mountains. These would need some colours, too, though the bright kind that melts and forms those nice little tributaries.
He snapped his fingers and grinned. These mountains would be the source of this island’s fresh water. All would drink deeply in the cleanest water from the peaks, and the rivers would be both populated by and flanked with all manners of creatures that could live in both cold mountains and warmer waters. Yes, he had laid his plan - now to execute it.
Shengshi raised his arms. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with a rumble, several tons of water from the lakes and rivers below rushed up to their master in the form of colossal pillars. The snake waited until the pillars had grown girthy and rich, then clapped his hands together, sending the pillars at a colliding trajectory right above the mountain’s peak. The waters crashed against one another, sounding a frightening-... Poof?
What fell from the heavens was not water at all - no destructive flood or deadly wave - but snow. Tons of snow fell across all the mountains on the island, colouring them a beautiful white. Once the snake was satisfied with the amount of snow, he twisted his hands. The white dunes around him began to shake and quiver. Then, they erupted to reveal all manners of hairy, furry creatures of varying sizes. A few of them trundled over to the slowly forming streams towards the lower edges of the snow blanket and made futile attempts to jump in; others hopped and skipped around in the white heaps, ecstatic to be alive. They slowly began to spread out across the mountain range, their wide paws and thick-skinned webbed feet keeping them from falling through the feeble ice layer on top of the snow.
The snake grinned. Asceal would love this! Lots of bright surfaces to reflect even the dimmest of light. A strange, woolly creature came over to the snake and rubbed its horned head against its creator affectionately. The snake raised his eyebrow at the creature and patted it carefully. It bleated happily before pulling away and hopping off. Shengshi noticed that it was particularly woolly around its wide hooves, no doubt to keep itself warm as it swam through his rivers. Another one of the snake’s creations, a small furry frog, ribbited quietly as it hopped into the snow and swam through it as if it was water.
“Ah… Adaptability,” the snake said contently. Now that the rivers were beginning to form, he hopped into one and swam his way down the mountain. He would have to keep looking for Xiaoli, but at least now he had calmed himself.
Somewhat.
Shengshi wakes up with the hangover to end all hangovers and has no idea where Xiaoli is. As he sobers up, he gets more and more desperate to find her until he eventually mounts a mountain to sulk.
On the mountain, he has a philosophical debates with himself and proceeds to start his big writing project: The Classic of Wisdom. Once satisfied, he turns the mountains of Istais into snowpeaks full of all manners of creatures and sources of fresh water. Proceeds to look for Xiaoli again thereafter.
Heliopolis was beautiful this time of day, Xiaoli thought. She sat comfortably on a small silk pillow on the barely grassed, still somewhat rocky ground, ponderously sipping a cup of tea next to a low salon table and Nuhe. In all honesty, she had surprisingly enough managed to find a few aesthetically pleasing qualities in the abominable stream; however, she would wholeheartedly prefer this to be the only one of its kind.
She had another small sip of tea. It was not the river itself that frightened her, though. Reluctantly, her mind painted the image of her master the night before. She had attempted to convince herself earlier that that creature had been no master of hers, but a demon in his disguise; regrettably, though, she had later reasoned that whatever demon had possessed her master in the moment had definitely always lived there - it had only taken the meeting with the right personality to lure it out.
She emptied her cup and refilled the teapot with hot water. She admired the unfolding leaves for a moment before lidding the pot again. As she waited for the tea to reach optimal flavour, she dipped her hand into the waters. She sighed softly. No, there was nothing inherently wrong with the river itself. The current was strong, yes, but she felt no hatred, no poison, no vengeance - there was only the pure water from Fengshui Fuyou. She voiced a quiet prayer to let the river flow in peace so that it one day could take its natural shape.
She gently placed her fingers around the handle of the teapot, lifted it up and gracefully poured her cup half full. She placed the pot back down on the table and savoured the fragrance of the dancing steam rising from her cup. The moment was interrupted by a terrible ruckus from the ship behind her and Xiaoli let out a long sigh that became a raspy groan towards the end.
After Shengshi had returned to his chambers the night before, the servants had brought ungodly numbers of wine flasks to his chambers, quantities unusually high, even for him. Xiaoli had attempted to enter the room around midnight, but had immediately been forced back out by drunken scoldings and threats. She had not heard from him since - until now.
“XIAOLI!” The call rung out from the middle spire like a war cry. The girl took a deep breath, stood up, turned around, sat back down again and kowtowed before the dragon’s head, which now supported a tall snakeman who seemed unable to stand straight.
“What does my master wish for?” she asked calmly, forehead still resting on the back of her grounded palms. There was a long hum from above.
“Schpeak up! I can’ hea’h you!”
The girl sighed and sat up. “I said, what does my mast-” “Don’chu talk back to meh!” said the snake and smashed a wine bottle against the sculpture beneath his feet, coating part of the golden head in a sickly white liquid. The girl flinched and looked down.
“I apologise, my l-lord,” she said, her voice quivering. The snake scowled, though tears were welling up in his eyes. The girl looked up and felt a gasp escape her. The god sniffed loudly and pointed a shaky finger at her.
“Pack up yoursss… Your set! We’h leavin’!” He turned on his tail and set off, but slipped on the wine and fell over. Xiaoli felt her own tears build up upon seeing her master like this. She opened her mouth to speak, cleared her throat and tried again.
“But, but mylord! We just came!”
The snake, now partially back on his tail again, snarled and cursed. “Yesh! And now…” He paused. “We’h leavin’!” He spat on the ground below and roared out a curse. “Kalmaaaar! If you’sh ou’h there-...” He paused to lick his fingers clean of wine. “... If you’sh ou’h there, Architect curse yoouu’h!” He slithered out of her sight. Xiaoli sniffed quietly and wiped her tears away. She finished her tea, placed her rest of her tea leaves in her pouch, and reduced the table and tea set back into the dirt and stone she had constructed it from. She picked up her pillow and climbed aboard.
Upon reaching the deck on the ship, she found that Shengshi had not made it up to his room at all, but had fallen off the back of the dragon’s head and laid unconscious on the wooden deck. She rushed over to him and placed her hand on his sharp-featured face, her tears rushing across her cheeks like small rivers of their own.
“Why…” she whimpered. “Why are you like this?” She attempted to pull the god to his feet, but being only a little over half his height, she could not manage to get a proper grip around the snake. She felt a black bile of frustration build up with her as she tried to drag her master up to his room, and upon reaching his door, that bile had melted into a raging shade of red.
“Is this why you created me? So that I could be your… Your nanny?” She pulled open the doors to be greeted by a punch of alcoholic fumes and an abominable sight unlike anything she had ever seen. The poetry on the walls had been all by clawed away; some paper walls were broken or outright missing; even the god’s priceless calligraphy station had been cloven in two. Xiaoli looked down at her master in disbelief.
“You… You did all this?”
He did not respond. Xiaoli felt her teeth grit and she lifted her arm, bringing it down on her master’s face with such force that, upon impact, her hand broke apart. She screamed in pain and fell back against the wall. She stared at her handless wrist, which was now just a cylinder of fine sand with water on the inside. She then looked at Shengshi. The snake had not responded at all. Xiaoli collapsed to her knees and hung her head in defeat. As a final effort, she pushed her master onto the floor inside her room, reshaped her hand with the sand on the floor and went down on deck.
Once there, she reached out to the waters below and around the ship. The ship slowly began to inch forward, then sped up, until it was tossed into the air by a rocket-like current and carried onwards by a small circulating river underneath the hull. She had to get them somewhere peaceful. Her first thought was Fengshui Fuyou - her master would be delighted to finally come home again, she thought. However, already now, she felt the strain on her body from carrying the ship by herself. No, it had to be closer. They had to find somewhere closer! She reached into her mind, and through it, memories from her master’s mind. She remembered seeing the planet through his eyes before her creation - she saw a region of the world without land. Perhaps there, as far away as possible from everything else, they could rest for a spell.
She steered the streams so the ship turned around. They set off to the southwest.
For hours, Xiaoli had seen nothing but ocean. Yes, they had to be close now. She had recently spotted some specks of green far below, but it had likely just been some unpopulated islands. She wiped some of the sweat that pooled on her face away and looked ahead once more. Her eyes widened. What was that ahead? Land?
She had not been mistaken. There was a large island on the horizon before them. From what she could see, there were lakes there, glistening in the light of Heliopolis. She would rather not have Shengshi meet with his sister Ashalla by accident, so a lake would be a much better spot for rest than the ocean.
Xiaoli collapsed to one knee. The strain on her mind was agonising and she felt her grip on the water weakening. She looked up again, barely seeing past the dragon’s head. Her breathing grew more frequent and she grit her teeth. They were too far away. They were not going to make it! They would crash into the oceans below and be at the mercy of Ashalla!
Her other knee gave out and she fell onto her hands. The ship dropped from the sky. As they hurdled towards the sea, Xiaoli tried to regain control, but found that her power was spent. Even her form had begun to give out, droplets of sand and water dripping off her extremities. She felt panic well up inside her - would the impact perhaps destroy her now? She began to lift off the deck as the ship gained more momentum. She snapped around and reached for the planks below with fingers that kept disintegrating. As the water approached like an oncoming wall of stone, Xiaoli cried out for help.
“MASTER!”
Xiaoli opened her eyes and felt the familiar planks against her skin. Was she still alive? She then rocketed to a seated position and looked at her hands. Her fingers were present, every single one. She quietly counted them just to make sure. She checked her toes and counted them as well. She assessed her every body part and found them present. She took a quivering breath and wrapped herself in her arms, keeling forward with a quiet, thankful whimper.
After a moment, she looked around. The ship was in the middle of a tranquil lake, surrounded by green plains and mountains on each side. Was this the next life, perhaps? She stood up and pinched herself in the arm. She flinched at the pain and sighed.
“An afterlife where I can feel pain? That was unnecessary…” she muttered.
“Indeed,” muttered a familiar voice. Xiaoli turned abruptly to the dragon’s head behind her to see Shengshi sitting comfortably on top of it, writing poetry. The snake turned his head around and gave her a sad smile.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. Xiaoli stood there dumbstruck.
“How did you save us? You were unresponsive!” she cried out in frustration. The snake sighed and stood up, slithering over to her.
“Yes, I was very much…” He tapped his chin, looking for a good phrase. “Out of it, as one would say, but-”
“No! No, you were not just ‘out of it’, do you understand?!” Shengshi recoiled as Xiaoli stabbed a finger into his face. “You were abhorrent! You were insufferable! You were-” She paused and took a deep breath. “Do you know what I had to do?”
The snake shook his head carefully, cowering somewhat. Xiaoli glared at him. “I had to pull your drunken butt -all the way- up to your room, after -you- decided that we should leave! How many floors are there between the deck at your chambres, hmm?!”
“... F-... Five…” the snake mumbled shamefully.
“Correct! Five floors, each with two flights of stairs, because someone thought it would be more aesthetically pleasing to have longer, flatter steps instead of taller ones!”
The snake deflated. “Well, thank you for putting me back in my room, at lea-”
“Oh yes! and then we come to the subject of Your Lordship’s room! Tell me, how many times have you absolutely decimated it by now? Seven? Eight? Shall we say ten for reality’s sake?”
The snake was, at this point, almost lying on the floor with Xiaoli towering over him.
“N-.. Now I think that is a little unfair, my dea-”
“Do NOT ‘my dear’ me, my lord. I was created to be your voice of reason, heart and advisor on morals, NOT to be your nanny!”
There was a long, deafening silence, broken only by Xiaoli’s ragged breathing. The snake opened his mouth several times to speak, but could not form a coherent sentence. The girl wiped away some tears of frustration and sighed.
“I just-... I just wish you would actually take my advice to heart once in a while…” She lowered her head.
The snake was lost for words. He reached out to her, but his arm retracted itself against his will, or possibly in coherence with it. He slowly pushed himself to his tail again. As he looked his creation in her clear, misty eyes, he felt his heart shatter. What had he done? He looked down at his palms and felt his breathing accelerate.
“I…” He started a sentence, but stopped talking when Xiaoli placed her hands in his and squeezed gently.
“I don’t want to hear you say you’re sorry, my lord.” She looked into his eyes and smiled softly. “Just remember what I said and just-...” She paused. “Just ease down on the drinking, alright?”
The snake looked at her and then at the nature around. The water’s gentle song; the grass dancing in the wind; the mountains glistening in the light. Where had she taken them, actually? All he remembered was waking up at the sensation of flying before hearing Xiaoli’s scream. He had then taken them to the closest body of freshwater and placed them down. He had found Xiaoli unconscious on deck, her body reduced to her torso and her head. He had fixed her as accurately as he could have in his state and had then proceeded to sit on deck and wait until he sobered up.
Now that he was, he felt his chest filling with thick, heavy liquid guilt. The machinations in his mind twisted and turned as he tried to fashion some words to say.
“Xiaoli,” he said quietly. The girl blinked and looked curiously at him. The snake let go of her hands and jumped overboard. The girl stood dumbstruck for a second before rushing over to the railing of the ship. “Wai-! My lord!” The snake was already too far away to hear her. He swam over to the western bank of the lake. From her spot aboard the ship, Xiaoli could see her master perfectly - and see, she did.
The snake slithered onto land and took a deep breath. The scars he had cut into Xiaoli could not be healed in a day - for all he knew, her memories of the monster within him could perhaps never fade. However, he could at the very least show her how much she meant to him. He would make things right in time, but for now, this was the best he could do.
The snake gently rocked the waters around the riverbank with his tail. Once they began to move, he beckoned them over to the sandy shore. The waters danced and jumped with glee as the snake moved his hands gracefully like a painter with a brush. The waters washed ashore, dragging sand and clay along with them. The snake pulled gently at the polluted dirtier waters, making them hop out of the stream and form delicate patterns along the bank. The main river itself curved softly across the grassplains - it did not even drown the grass in its path; it merely pushed it gently aside and let it settle at its banks. There were no cracks as the waters sanded away the ground below; there was only the calming sound of the flow.
The snake slowly slithered along as the river rolled ahead. Obstacles in the way were respected dearly, the waters swerving around them on one or both sides. The water carrying mud and sand tossed themselves onto the banks, sprouting flowers, reeds and shrubberies in intricate patterns. The mud that remained in the water became small fish, amphibians and insects. The snake continued playing his watery instrument and his performance gradually played along with the harmonies of the wind. As he danced along the verdant grass, he began to laugh and sing. Xiaoli, who at this point had brought the Jiangzhou along to witness her master’s work, felt tears of joy well up in her eyes.
There the snake spun and hopped to the music of nature and tranquility, painting the most beautiful landmark upon the world.
Heliopolis sat calmly on the horizon. Shengshi and Xiaoli sat in silence along the bank of the new river. The occasional frog came over to inspect the curious creatures, and Xiaoli would let out a sweet giggle and pat the little frog on the back, prompting it to skip right back into the water.
“I have a name for her,” Shengshi finally said. Xiaoli gave him a smile and a curious look.
“What would my lord like to name his new creation?” she asked playfully. Shengshi held his hand over the water and a small fish hopped over it and back into the water on the other side.
“This is the most beautiful river I have ever made…” he said softly. “There is only one name I can think of…”
Xiaoli giggled. “Jiangzhouhe?” she proposed playfully.
Shengshi gave her a warm smile. “Lihe.”
Xiaoli’s eyes widened and she stopped breathing for a moment. Then, her lips parted in a wide smile complemented by misty eyes.
“Yeah… I like that name too, my lord…”
Xiaoli drinks tea in the sun. Gets interrupted by her alcoholic father/self.
Shengshi decides that they should go make their own sanctuary for life, with blackjack and hookers, so he tells Xiaoli to pack up and get going. Proceeds to pass out promptly thereafter. Xiaoli is about 120% done with Sheng’s shit after pulling him all the way up to his room. Realises her master may in fact be the worst.
Xiaoli takes the ship to the most tranquil place on the planet: The Southwest, which, as it turns out, actually has an island. She loses control of the ship on the way, though, and the screen fades to black.
Xiaoli wakes up to find Shengshi writing poetry on the deck. She gives him a roast so well done that it’s practically a brick at that point.
Shengshi decides that the best way to say sorry is to make Xiaoli a fancy river, which he calls Lihe. (Li’s River or ‘Beautiful river’.)
1FP on the river Lihe. 1FP on the ecosystem in Lihe. 5FPs left.
X) Unions of Glass, Copper and Phosphorous were tasked with studying the black speck retrieved from Godrim's corpse. B) The rest of the Hammersworn started massproducing javelins, axes, shields and spears for an upcoming fight with Sky Chicken.
“Sons of the Hammersworn - welcome home!” roared Osman with thunderous glee. The Great Hall burst into celebration upon the return of the expedition company. Osman stood at the far end of the council table, arms open and mouth grinning. He was flanked by all the other councillors, even old Khyber Tin, all of whom were applauding the brave warriors. The tables were stacked high with dishes, pots and plates full of spring’s bounty and the labours of many a starving dwarf. The crew’s faces betrayed a deep shame through their faked smiles, though it seemed the surrounding crowds had not noticed. The twelve dwarves lined up before the councillors, Kadol and Joron the Younger placing themselves in the middle, flanked by five warriors on each side.
“What do I do? What do I say?” Kadol whispered desperately to Galloin, who stood at attention next to him. The golden-haired warrior shook his head. It was clear that he did not have an answer. Kadol felt beads of sweat form on his face and he looked left to see Joron the Younger, still furious. His brow had hung low over his eyes from the mines and home, and not even the scents of fresh food had done much to soothe the young dwarf’s rage. Kadol took a deep breath and lifted his arms to accept a brotherly hug from the chuckling foreman. He received some hard slaps on the back and some kisses, too, none of which he felt he deserved.
“Now, our sons - tell us the tale of your travels!” Osman said. There was a long pause, only broken by the occasional call from the back for Kadol to speak up. Every time he opened his mouth, Kadol felt himself choke. After a minute or two, he had managed to form a coherent sentence in his head, but as he opened his mouth to speak, Galloin stepped forth.
“Good foreman, if it is not too much to ask - we have travelled far and barely rested. The trek has been hard on us all, especially the lads. If we could, let us eat first - then we will share our tale.”
There was an audible groan from the crowd. Osman and the councillors looked disappointed as well, but the foreman shrugged and raised his hands.
“So be it! Let the feast begin!”
The following two hours rang loud with clanking mugs and the dropping of cutlery on the floor. Only the councillors were permitted to eat off of the clay plates that had been saved after the Calamity - the rest of the dwarves ate off of slices of bark and grain bread. Today, everyone got a taste of actual grain ale - a small batch made from what little remain of Heel’s grain. The mood was higher than it had been since the days before the Calamity. Grain porridge, smoked fish, even some cave mushrooms that the Qorr and the iron miners had brought with them - all culminated in a feast to rival the gods’ atop Golumnar. The ten warriors had all returned to their respective unions, being greeted with hugs, kisses and triumphant cries at each of their tables. Kadol and Joron the Younger were invited to eat with the councillors, but neither said a single word during the meal. Then, as the plates began to empty, a rhythmic rumble started at the far end of the hall, supported by a quiet word. Kadol could not make out what was being said, but as more and more joined the drumming and chanting, his face drained of colour.
“Tale, tale, tale, TALE, TALE!” the dwarves around the hall all chanted. The foreman stood up chuckling and walked over to Kadol’s chair, pulling the young, reluctant dwarf out of it forcefully. Kadol was dragged along and placed squarely in the middle of the hall for all to see. As dwarves in the hall quieted one another down with hushing and smacking, Kadol took in a deep breath. He had spent the last two hours preparing for this. He had a reasonable story prepared now, he thought.
“Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers - I will not lie. Our trek was… Our trek was long and arduous. It took the strength of everyone among us to make it as far as we did; however, in return for our efforts, we made it far beyond where any Hammersworn has ever set foot.” The Great Hall was quiet as the grave - for possibly the first time in Hammersworn history, every dwarf present focused their entire attention on the young lad. This fact did not help Kadol’s nervousness in the slightest. Nevertheless, he pressed on.
“Beyond the mines and Godrim’s post, we came upon a crossroads, where our party was split. My half went into the valleys below the mountains, and Galloin’s half went up into the hills.” He paused for a moment and bit his lip. He breathed in and continued. “Unfortunately, neither of us found anythi-...”
There was a screetch of wood against stone from the councillor table, followed by some angry, inaudible chattering. Soon, Joron the Younger stood across the hall from Kadol, furious eyes burning like hot coals. He raised a finger and pointed at Kadol, who froze. Murmurs sprung to life among the crowds.
“Liar!” Joron the Younger screamed. Kadol, as well as a good number of dwarves in the crowd, recoiled.
“Wuh-... What?” Kadol managed to blurt out before Joron the Younger once again shouted, “Liar!” Joron the Elder, face red with embarrassment and rage came rushing over. “Have you had too much to drink, boy?! Let the lad finish his-”
“He is lying, father! We -did- find something!” The Jorons’ eyes both widened. Kadol had at this point recoiled to the point where he was leaning on the Earth Union table, surrounded by curious and confused farmer dwarves. The councillors all stood up. The warriors, led by Galloin, all flocked to Kadol.
“What did you find, then?” said Joron the Elder, his annoyance complemented by curiousity. The Younger glared at Kadol. “Say it,” he snarled. “Tell them what you did.” Kadol felt his world collapse around him and nearly lost his balance. As he attempted to control his rapid breathing, Galloin grabbed his arm and hoisted him to his feet.
“We had no choice,” Galloin said. “We found Godrim as a mere fragment of himself, deep into enemy lands. He told us that he had been cursed by a cruel troll.” There were gasps and glance exchanges in the crowd. The warrior continued. “The ghost we knew was no more. He had all but lost his memory, and when we found him again at his post…” He hesitated.
“SAY IT!” Joron the Younger shouted, now being restrained by his father and Ra’ol Cave.
“He told me to kill him,” Kadol whimpered.
“Speak up, boy! What did you do?!” Khyber Tin roared through toothless gums.
“I killed Godrim Thunderhowler!” Kadol screamed, tears flowing down his face. There was a long pause. Not even the breaths of the dwarves were audible. Finally, Osman stepped forward, his face betraying a dumbstruck desperation.
“I gave you a mission, lad, to go find the only dwarf who could help us against the menace…” He sucked a long breath through grit teeth. “... And you murder him…” He looked to Galloin and the warriors.
“Arrest him,” he said. The warriors hesitated. Galloin, still holding the now-limp Kadol, shook his head defiantly.
“Foreman, Joron tells only the partial truth-”
“Did he or did he not murder the ghost?!” the foreman roared.
“It was not murder! It was mercy!” the warrior boomed back. The other warriors echoed the statement. Osman rumbled angrily and turned to Joron the Younger.
“Why, exactly, did he murder the ghost?” the foreman inquired in a sinister voice. The restrainers loosened their grips on the young Joron and stepped forth.
“The ghost apparently told him to, foreman. However, I doubt the motive was anything beyond cowardice in the face of the mission beyond his retrieval.” He stabbed a finger in Kadol’s direction. “This one did not -wish- to find the sorcerer king, and so murdered the ghost to avoid it!”
“N-no! That isn’t true!” Kadol said, his voice quivering. The foreman quieted the rambling from the crowd. “Speak up, boy!”
“I swear, foreman! He commanded me to kill him! He was not himself! He was sick-!”
“Or!” Joron the Younger retorted. “He could have been feeling weakened from being so far away from his body for so long. Did you ever consider that?” Kadol tried to speak, but found that his mouth produced no sound.
“He was dangerous!” Galloin snapped at Joron. “He could have killed us all with a single roar.” “And yet…” The voice was familiar, but this time it was Joron the Elder who spoke. “Instead of leaving him to be to see if he would return to his senses, you had him destroyed.” He sneered at Galloin, who glared back.
“Stay out of this, scrollworm. You weren’t there.”
The old dwarf patted his son on the shoulder and snickered. “That is right. I wasn’t, yet my eyes were, and my eyes are saying that the hero of our people did not meet the expectations laid upon his shoulders.” He gave Kadol a disapproving glare. “Congratulations, son. You were sent to find an additional saviour to the one we had - and you return with nothing new and having killed the old.”
“He could have killed us!” Galloin repeated.
“A potential danger in exchange for a definite lack of safety,” the Logmaster declared. There was a silence.
“B-... But… He was sick…” Kadol no longer managed to produce any noise beyond a meek whisper. However, in a flash of memory, he realised something. He stabbed a hand into his pockets and pulled out a flask.
“Wait! I have proof! I have proof that he was sick!” he screamed, silencing once more the now bickering masses. Joron the Elder scoffed, but Joron the Younger remained attentive. Kadol shook the flask and it hissed as before. In the silence of the hall, it was as audible as a storm. Joron the Elder’s smirk turned dumbstruck.
“What… What is in there?” he asked.
“Likely a weak base and something sour,” Erima Rock proposed. Several of her unionists hummed in agreement.
“I-... I will not uncork the flask, for I have no idea what it will do to all of us if release.” Kadol found himself stepping back in vain, as he still leaned up against the table. “All I can say is that it is a black speck with a mind of its own.” There was another pause, followed by a roaring laughter from most of the dwarves presence, with the exception of the councillors and the expeditioners. Joron the Elder stepped forth, snatched the flask from Kadol’s hands and inspected it without uncorking it. He placed it to his head and listened to the seething noise within. He grunted and turned to the foreman.
“There is something in here…” Osman raised his brow and grunted. “So what? Would you like to study it?” he rumbled. The Logmaster nodded.
“While he may have eliminated the only guardian of our people, he deserves a fair trial. If what is within this flask turns out to be a spirit disease, then he will walk free and we will all be wiser - perhaps even able to learn what happened to the ghost.” However, as much as the Logmaster spoke kind words about Kadol, he finished with a scowl at the young dwarf. “If not, he will work in the penal mines until his last day.” Kadol felt himself go limp again, causing Galloin to stagger as he tried to keep the lad afoot. The foreman nodded slowly.
“So be it. The Copper, Glass and Phosphorous Unions will study this ‘disease’,” the foreman decreed. The second he did so, the doors burst open to reveal a winded Qorr Coal. As every present dwarf turned to him, the colossal dwarf tried with great effort to form a coherent sentence in between ragged breaths. He was quickly followed by Gummar, who evidently had much better endurance.
“The Abductor’s back!” the miner yelled. There was a pause so all could process the statement, followed by cries of panic from both children and adults. It took every councillor’s commands for peace, order and quiet, as well as six gong-like metal pans slammed by Khyber Tin before the crowds finally calmed. Osman stepped up to the centre of the hall. He barked furious curses to himself as he walked.
“I don’t know about you, sisters and brothers, but I am getting really gods-damned tired of that cursed chicken!” He took a swig of ale and smashed his tankard against the floor, breaking it into a thousand pieces. He stepped over to the hearth in the centre of the room and grabbed one of the long knives ideally used when preparing roast boar and raised it into the air.
“No! This time, we fight back!”
The dwarves in the crowd looked puzzled. Osman groaned.
“I want javelins, axes, shields and spears! We will rout that bird from the Western Mine come spring! Let us show it the sharpness of Hammersworn steel!”
Some in the crowd let out triumphant cheers, but a good number still remained quiet. Osman snarled.
“Aye!” The councillors and the crowd looked to the councillor table, where it turned out that Khyber Tin had been sitting all along. The old dwarf got to his shaky feet with some help from Roka.
“Aye, I say!” His sentiment spread through the crowds like fire through dry grass. Soon, more and more echoed in agreement. Osman grinned from ear to ear.
“Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters - TO THE FORGE!”
There was a collective roar as every Union charged out the Great Hall to prepare for the great battle in the future.
That night, Shengshi felt himself wake up. The snake sat up and stretched - only to realise that he was not in his basket. Upon rubbernecking his head around, he found that he was not in his own chambres, either. Where were his beautiful walls of carven wood? What had happened to his wonderful, somewhat stained carpet? How on earth had he not noticed this in his sleep?
He briefly glimpsed a wicked grin. The image moved without his consent. He had not even gotten out of bed, yet the ground beneath him disappeared, leaving the snake to fall endlessly in thin air. As a sort of futile attempt to mimic his more avian siblings, the snake tried his best to flap his arms to achieve lift.
It worked.
The river lord, for the second time, found himself flying leagues above the surface of Galbar. He saw the Dragon’s Foot, as well as the Kick. In the distance to the north, he saw two odd shapes twist and turn in ways that were too animated to be qualities of a landmass - and yet there could exist no living creature that large. Finally, to the far west, Shengshi saw a new land still steaming from its creation.
Another change of scene. He was in Fengshui Fuyou - or at least, the aura was familiar. However, this was no sphere of his. The rivers ran flaming hot, searing the earth around as well as its inhabitants. The snake covered his eyes at the horror, but his hands went through his face, instead gouging at his eyes. As the divine blood soiled the earth below, the blind god felt a sharp taste in his mouth - one that soon warped into a tangible cork in his throat. The suffocating god clutched at his throat, but found that his hands had long since melted to the bone from the surrounding heat. He finally coughed up the cork, but his throat would not yet know air. As asphyxiation stole away his consciousness and the magma below liquified his form, the river lord could only feel the taste of wine.
Shengshi awoke with such a start that he tipped his basket over, was sent rolling out of it like some tumbleweed, and crashed into one of his slider doors, breaking it in half. The river lord, now laying with his tail on his veranda and his torso on top of a bisected wood-and-paper wall adorned with one of his better poems, took a moment to assess what he had just witnessed.
He failed, however. All except a singular snippit had all but evaporated from his memory like water on burning coals. Shengshi licked the inside of his mouth. There it was again. He was certain he had not been drinking the night before, though… Was his mind playing tricks on him again? The snake stood up, fixed his door and turned around. His mask paled.
It would be a generous statement to call his room messy at this point. His adorned floor carpet’s divine symbol had suffered grievous discolouring, being no longer red, but various shades of purple and brown; the cracks between his floorboards were white with the dust of the pulverised porcelain cups that had all been swept poorly into all four corners; the main calligraphy station had originally been made of rosewood, but seeing as it had been marinated in ink a few nights straight now, it appeared to have taken on a rather charcoalish colouring. The roof was missing at least four lanterns and the veranda outside carried the faint scent of the vomit that the servants had not had time to clean up yet.
Shengshi let out a long, raspy groan, followed by a dry, hacking cough.
“SERVANTS! The usual!”
Two globules of water rushed in his door minutes later, one carrying a tray with a glass of blueberry juice and one of pickle water; the other, a plate of egg stir fry and pickled cabbage. The globules placed the breakfast on the small saloon table and zoomed back out. The snake slithered over slowly and nearly collapsed into a sitting position. He chugged the glass of pickle juice and winced, letting out a nauseating belch. He chugged the blueberry juice quickly to keep the bile down. Then, as he poked weakly at his stir fry with his chopsticks, he pondered the situation. How long had he demonstrated this neglectful, hedonistic behaviour? How had he managed to break so many cups? Had any of his siblings seen him like this?
“Servants! Bring me a drink!”
How did this keep happening? He was a god, by the Architect! He knew his limits - if he even had any! A globule came in with the usual bottles and a few extra cups. The river lord took the tray and waved the servant away. He poured himself a cup and walked out on the veranda. Today was an uncharacteristically gloomy day - the clouds to the south were thick and black. From his tower atop his castle, the snake saw the distant roost of flame - a work of that noisy, fiery brother of his, no question. He shook his head slowly and put the cup to his lips.
The cup soon went flying overboard. Shengshi instinctively leaned forward over the railing and stretched out an arm to catch it, though his effort was futile. He watched as the cup descended through the air and broke through the water surface below with an inaudible blop. The snake recoiled from the railing. What had come over him? He had fully intended to drink the wine, yet as soon as the scent entered his nose, Shengshi had retched. The stabbing stink had cut at his nosehairs like a knife, and for a mere second, he had seen demons in the drink.
He let out a sigh and stepped inside, only to find that the rank scent permeated his room. This made him retch again, this time to the point where he could taste his breakfast again.
“This cannot go on,” he reasoned and went down to the deck.
Shengshi descended from the ship and swam down Nanhe. His speed was not extraordinary this time - he merely paddled gently through the river water. He closed his eyes and attempted to clear his mind of everything: The dream, the wine, the mess. All that remain was the temperate licks of water against his skin, the gentle wash of water against his ears, and the moist scent of life all around. He had reached the northern tip of the rainforest. The occasional curious fish came over to nibble at the god’s red scales. A few tadpoles tried too. A small frog landed on the snake’s belly with a soft, wet slap and gave a light croak. Here, the god feel asleep again.
His eyes opened again. The sky was gone, replaced with clouds of soot and shadow. The river below him ran thick with scalding lava and the trees around were no more. He tried to swim faster, but could not muster the strength to crawl through the elastic molten stone. In a desperate attempt to free himself, he reached out to whatever water was around and-
Donk!
The snake laid still on the ground by the river, his head pressed up against a now bisected rock. Before him, the river rolled on merrily; behind him, several trees had either been knocked over or bent to the side. An educated guess lead the snake to believe he had cast himself ashore in his sleep with a torrent of water. What’s worse, the dream had mostly faded - yet an imagine remained: Fire.
Shengshi stood back up and slithered through the forest for a spell. Phystene had truly brought life to this land: Even here at the northern edge of the woods, the green thickets were still very much present, reinforced by mighty trees to the south, some of which were visible through the vines and leaves. The previous barren stoneplains had given way to a fantastical rainforest mirrored only in the imagination. Yes, yes… Here, he could find some peace and tranquility.
After wandering for an unknown length of time, he came upon a small beck, no doubt a tributary of Nanhe. It was barely even a metre across, and its water ran so clear Shengshi could see the old stones along the riverbed through the water. The snake found the beck entrancingly beautiful and sat down, admiring the simplicity of it. Around the beck sprouted tiny blades of grass and even taller leaf-bearing stalks. This was what he had sworn to protect - the flow’s mission to bring life to all of creation. His smile diminished.
“So why, then, am I haunted by these rivers of flame?” he whispered to himself, his voice laced with a droplet of desperation. The beck did not answer him; it could not answer him. Shengshi understood, for it was but an infant, yet the question persisted. He let out a groan and cupped his hands into the water, bringing a mouthful to his lips to drink. Yes… Purer water could not be found in this realm nor any other. A thought intruded into his troubled mind. Perhaps that was all he needed? A substance to calm his nerves, yet preserve his spirit. He smiled at the little beck, which seemingly looked back through streaks of reflected sunlight. “Thank you, dear child. You have given your lord more today than any other subject can give him for aeons.” He wrote a name into the soil by the bank.
“From this day on, you are Xiaoli, the first of my court.” The beck began to glow. “You shall be my heart and my voice of reason; the jailor of my hedonism. You shall guide me and others in times of despair and confusion…” Slowly, the centre of the azure-glowing beck began to rise, fashioning itself into a humanoid shape. Shengshi’s smile turned to a grin. “You shall uphold the teachings of the Flow and pass them on to whomever wishes to learn.”
The shape grew detailed: Stones from the riverbed were ground into pale sand than floated to the form’s surface and hardened into soft, flexible skin; the dark earth from the riverbanks flowed through the shape and mixed with the remains of weeds and grasses than had been caught in the water - together, they sprouted from its top as long, silky strands of hair. The shape grew thin, yet toned arms which themselves sprouted beautiful hands with ten fingers each. The hair was soon complemented with a head and a soft face with sharp features. The shape grew sharp, protruding ears like its master; it formed eyes clear as the water into which they stare, like its master; its nose was a little smaller and pointier than the flat, feline nose of its creator, though. Finally, a pair of red lips formed on the pale face. Shengshi stared in awe at the creature before him. She was like a work of art given life - a statue carved from the finest marble by the greatest crafter in creation.
Xiaoli opened her eyes and looked at her creator. Her irises mirrored his: clear as water in a glass. She softly lifted her hands to her face and tested the sensation of touch. Her breath grew ragged as she felt her soft, somewhat prickly skin of fine sand brush against her cheek. She looked down to her feet, then the riverbank, then her master, who nodded eagerly as he slithered back a bit. The girl shyly lifted her right leg and placed the foot in the water by the riverbank. She pulled herself closer and let out a concerned sigh. She looked back at her master, who beckoned her over eagerly. The girl looked back at her feet before raising her leg again. She took a deep breath and lowered it.
“I… I can walk… On land,” she remarked in a voice as gentle and soft as the sound of a mountain stream. Shengshi grinned at her.
“Yes, my dearest Xiaoli. You are my heart. You may explore creation with all the glee and enthusiasm you can muster.” As she heard that, the girl’s lips parted to reveal a grin of teeth made from riverstones in all shades from white to brown to black. She jumped into the air shouting and yelling out of sheer joy, splashing dirt and earth into the beck and water onto land. Shengshi laughed softly.
“It warms my heart to see that you are so happy, my dear. Perhaps there is a link?” he jested. Xiaoli placed a hand on her naked chest, waited a moment and titled her head to the side as she smiled at Shengshi.
“I think that there just might be, my lord,” she responded. She then turned around to face the water. She moved her hands softly through the air and the two of them watched as the river water ascended and wrapped itself around Xiaoli’s body. It clung to her arms and her torso, and then dripped down over her legs. In a flash, the water around her legs hardened and became a short and thin azure silk skirt that flowed down to her ankles and a little further. The white silk torso draped softly over her every curve and bend, and the sleeves and cuffs hung low and were almost as wide as the skirt. The skirt itself was held in place by an azure ribbon around Xiaoli’s waist. Finally, she took a bright, polished red stone out of the river and made herself a necklace with it. Shengshi stood gaping in awe.
“Magnificent…” he whispered. “You… You have inherited my powers.” Xiaoli covered her mouth with her oversized sleeve and let out a chuckle.
“Well, you did make me a creation of the Flow, my lord,” she reasoned. “To be blessed with such a gift - one would naturally understand the Flow well enough to influence it.” The snake closed his gaping mouth and cleared his throat. “Indeed,” he voiced. Xiaoli looked looked around curiously at the surroundings. She skipped across her birthbeck and picked at some leaves hanging from a nearby tree. Shengshi could not help but keep observing the girl as she danced through the forest, laughing and singing in the shadows under the trees.
After an hour or so, Xiaoli had calmed down. She walked over to the river and laid down to relax. Shengshi slithered over and sat down by her. He let his eyes run freely across the girl’s form. He still could not believe that he had managed to create something so beautiful.
Xiaoli looked at the snake oogling her and let out a soft sigh. “My lord, as your voice of reason, I will have to inform you that good moral behaviour does not include giving young girls such a look.”
Shengshi recoiled, placing a hand at his chest. He felt blood rush to his cheeks and looked away. “Of course! Naturally! You accuse me of such behaviour? I was merely-...!” He chuckled sheepishly as Xiaoli gave him a light scowl. The snake cleared his throat. “My apologies.” Xiaoli sighed again and nodded. “It is what I am here for, my lord.” The snake raised an eyebrow and plucked at his mustache pensively. Suddenly, a grin so malicious he could not hide it formed across his lips and he looked to Xiaoli, who was playing with a curious frog who had likely never seen a person made from sand before.
“I know what we can do! How about we have a drink or two?” Shengshi said. Xiaoli looked at him and grinned. “My, that is a fantastic idea, my lord! Prepare a fire! I will get the ingredients.” This confused the snake, who was busy fashioning cups from a nearby pit of clay; however, before he could ask her to elaborate, Xiaoli had already sprinted upriver. Shengshi shrugged and got to making a fire. What could she possibly need a fire for, he thought. Unless…
The snake’s mind raced at the thought. Could she indeed be that much alike him? To order -distilled- wine as one’s first drink! Perhaps she possessed his hedonism as well? A part of Shengshi’s mind he’d rather give any thought to suddenly grew quite excited. He prepared everything to the best of his ability, and when Xiaoli came back, the snake had made a salon table, some pillows for seating, and a masterfully stacked campfire for the two.
“I trust you brought the still, too?” he said, smirking. Xiaoli eyed the surroundings, assessed the situation and let out a sigh that slowly turned into a groan.
“My lord…” She took a deep breath. “I am very grateful you created me.” Shengshi’s smirk widened. “Because I can see now that you have to learn…” She flicked her fingers as she looked for the right word. “Restraint.” Shengshi’s smile diminished slowly. Xiaoli sighed yet again.
“No, no matter. Fashion us a kettle, please.” Shengshi raised an eyebrow and effortlessly shaped a kettle from the nearby mud. Xiaoli took it, voiced an elongated “thaaaank you”, and took off the lid. She filled it with river water and set it over the fire to boil.
“Now fashion us a mortar and a pestle, if you would.” Shengshi snorted and made her what she asked for. She took it in the same way as before. She took out some leaves from her ribbon belt and put them into the mortar. She proceeded to grind them into a green mush with the pestle. Shengshi began to smile again and nodded.
“Aaaaah! I see! This is the wort for the brew, yes?”
Xiaoli looked up at Shengshi, and for a moment, Shengshi could have sworn he saw a horrified expression on her face. She merely shook her head and kept grinding the leaf mash. After a while, the pot began to boil over.
“Ah, it is boiling. My lord, would you please fill the cups you have made with the water?” Shengshi did as she asked. At this point, he was too curious to ask questions. Xiaoli slowly added a little mash to the water in each cup. Then, using a brush she had quickly fashioned for a handful of grass straws, she stirred the mash around in the water until it reached a green, almost thick consistency. He passed one cup to her master, slid a little away from the table and proceeded to kowtow before him.
“Please, enjoy your drink, my lord.”
Shengshi looked at the green liquid with a suspicious scowl. “There is no alcohol in this… You did not add any yeast,” he muttered sourly. Xiaoli, forehead still pressed against her hands on the ground, replied in a patient tone. “As your voice of reason and jailor of your hedonism, it is my opinion that you perhaps need a drink without any alcohol, my lord.” The snake muttered something about -her- perhaps needing a drink without alcohol and looked into his cup. He could compare it to Phystene’s skin, or a blade of grass, or anything green and grasslike. Even the smell was akin to a bland garden. He sighed and took a sip.
Where was he? He looked around. He had not moved, yet he did not at all feel like himself. In front of him, Xiaoli had gotten back into a comfortable sitting position and was sipping her own cup. She gave him a clever little smile as she did so. The snake looked around. Everything was suddenly so clear. The water in the beck trickled along calmly, yet he could hear its quiet song; the wind brushed through the leaves - had they been doing that the whole time? Downstream, he heard the frogs croak their little choruses. What was this feeling?
“... eace, my lord?”
Shengshi looked up. Xiaoli was looking at him, smiling as ever.
“Are you at peace, my lord?” she repeated patiently.
Shengshi looked back down into his cup.
“Yes…” He felt his body, his soul and his aura all pulse in a tranquil manner. “What-... What is this?”
“I call it the Water of Eternity. Granted, the name iiiis a work in progress, so…” Shengshi chuckled.
“I like it, but the name is a little long. How about just Eternity?”
Xiaoli shook her head. “No, that -is- already a word. How about Woe?” Shengshi grimaced.
“What? No, that sounds awful. Ternity!”
“What is that, some kind of game?” Xiaoli laughed. She snapped her fingers. “How about just… Tea?” The snake snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “You, my dearest Xiaoli, are a genius.” Xiaoli blushed. Shengshi summoned the leaves that Xiaoli had made this tea from. He laid them out on the table and held his open palm over them and summoned forth a calligraphy brush and some ink. Xiaoli watched curiously as Shengshi laid out three leaves and dipped his brush in the ink.
“Any property you would like to add, my dear?” he asked her. Xiaoli placed a pensive finger on her chin and let out an audible “hmm”.
“How about cleansing? As in, not only will it cleanse the soul, but also the body of undesirable stuff?” she proposed. The snake nodded.
“I agree. Anything else?”
“How about an increased lifespan for all who consume this leaf?”
Shengshi scratched his chin pensively. Immortality, huh…
“No, that is not a power I would like to give to just any mortal,” he mumbled, hand still on his chin. “I think it already is satisfactory.” Xiaoli nodded.
“Be attentive, Tea, for your lord speaks!” The leaves began to glow a warm shade of verdant. Shengshi wrote the first character down on the leaf to the right.
“Grow vibrant and green - reveal to all who see you that you are a herb of health. Bless those who consume you with purity of soul and system.” The rightmost leaf shone brighter than its two neighbours. Shengshi moved to the middle leaf and wrote down the character.
“Offend not the tongues of your consumers with appalling taste, but give them incentive to support your growth by giving their taste buds the most gentle and stimulating sensations.” The second leaf joined in its neighbour’s flashing display. Shengshi turned to the final leaf and wrote the final character.
“Be true to the Flow and all its teachings. You may not inherently be of my realm, but I accept you into it, my dear subject. You shall have sanctuary along my every river, and the soils that drink my waters shall forever sate your needs. In return, your lord demands loyalty and morality - never shall you poison those who consume you, nor shall you quench the thirst of those who would seek to end your lord’s reign. These are my demands.” The third leaf took on the familiar grow. Soon, all the similar plants in the forest around them glistened in the same way, revealing themselves as near and distant blinks through the foliage. Xiaoli’s widened eyes jumped between her master and the now-normalising leaves.
“Do you… Do you think I can do that?” she asked carefully. Shengshi raised an eyebrow and scratched his head.
“Well, uhm…” He plucked pensively at his beard. Xiaoli sat there patiently, but she was visibly itching to experiment. Shengshi shrugged. “Only one way to find out! Go find us a different tea plant.” Xiaoli, grinning from ear to ear, rocketed to her feet and zoomed off into the foliage.
In the meanwhile, Shengshi made himself another cup of tea. A gentle sigh left his mouth as he swallowed his first mouthful. This ease, this peace - it all seemed so foreign to him even though he had barely known hardship in all his short existence. He would have to consider the value of this sensation - perhaps prosperity did not necessarily mean hedonistic pleasure for all of creation - perhaps there was more to his goal than gold and luxury. A word came to mind, one that he had considered as an end goal through prosperity, but one that should perhaps hold an equal position to wealth and joy for all of creation.
Harmony: Peace between the source and the consumer; the perfect circle of resource recycling; calm in spirit and wise in mind-
“My lord! I found these!” Xiaoli thrust a fistful of flowers in Shengshi’s face. The snake recoiled slightly. Xiaoli stood still for a moment and then quickly regained her composure, bowing deeply before the snake.
“My most sincere apologies, my lord. I did not mean to interrupt you.” The river lord chuckled softly.
“I am happy to see you are so eager, my dear. Now, prepare a pot and let us taste.” The girl immediately did as asked and prepared a fresh kettle of hot water. She tried to mash apart one of the flowers. However, it soon became clear that the result was not satisfactory. She prepared two cups and neither of them could swallow the appalling liquid.
“Blegh… This tastes like plant oils,” the snake spat. Xiaoli covered her mouth with her sleeve and she leaned to the side to spit. She sighed, but soon an idea came to mind.
“How about we add the flowers to the water without crushing them?” Shengshi gestured for her to go ahead. Another kettle was prepared, but this time, the flowers were added to the boiling water. Xiaoli poured her master’s cup first and the snake had a taste.
“Mmm… The flavour is a little weak,” he said as he rolled the liquid around in his mouth. Xiaoli sighed and took a sip from her own cup. She raised an eyebrow and eyed first the cup, then Shengshi.
“What do you mean? It’s perfect.” The snake returned the expression.
“Let me have a taste of yours.” They exchanged cups and tasted. The snake ran a forked tongue around his lips after swallowing.
“No, you are right. Yours is perfect. Mine is a little weak.” Xiaoli put a pensive finger on her chin.
“Perhaps mine grew stronger because I poured my cup last?” The snake nodded. “That is likely the reason, yes… We cannot have that. How can a host serve tea to their guests if everyone gets drinks of different qualities!” With that, the snake fashioned a small clay mug. Xiaoli raised a curious brow.
“This shall be a medium between kettle and cup - the pitcher in which one stores the finished tea so all may drink the same brew.” Xiaoli smiled and clapped enthusiastically. “What shall we call it?” Shengshi paused, scratching his chin.
“Uh… The, uhm… The equal cup!” Xiaoli scoffed and tilted her head on the side, rolling her eyes sarcastically. “My lord, your creativity knows no bounds.” The snake returned the eyerolling gesture and hissed softly at her.
“Do not criticise your lord unless he is outright wrong in his actions, dear Xiaoli.” The girl winked at him and bowed her head. “Of course, my lord.” They brewed another kettle of tea, this time using the equal cup to distribute the tea. The two of them drank simultaneously and let out a satisfied sigh.
“It is much sweeter than the green one. The colour is also lighter,” Shengshi remarked. Xiaoli nodded.
“Naturally, my lord. This is but a mere infusion of flavour, not an outright mixture of ingredients.” The snake nodded. “Well, are you going to name it, then?” Xiaoli smiled and nodded, reaching for the calligraphy brush and the ink. Shengshi nodded proudly - the girl’s writing stance was nothing short of perfect, with a stiff grip around the brush and solid control over the arm. Xiaoli dipped her brush in the ink and placed two flowers down on the table.
“What qualities should we give it?” she asked. Shengshi shrugged.
“This is your creation, my dear. You may give it whatever you like.” Xiaoli deflated a little and her face flushed with the red colour of embarrassment. “Th-... Then… Since it is flower tea… How about we make it… Influence two creatures’ feelings for one another?” Shengshi raised an eyebrow, feeling beads of sweat form on his forehead.
“In-... In what way?” Xiaoli covered her blushing face with free arm’s her long sleeve.
“In… In…” She paused. “I am certain my lord knows the way I mean.” The snake cleared his throat sheepishly and drank the rest of his tea swiftly, looking away.
“G-.. Uh… Go ahead. It is your creation, a-... After all…” he said, looking away and covering his face with a clawed hand.
The girl lowered her sleeve so she could see what she was writing. “B-be attentive, tea of flowers - your lord’s ruh-... Your lord’s representative speaks!” The two flowers began to glow in a warm yellow light. She painted the first character on the rightmost flower.
“You are not inherently of the Flow, either, yet in return for your loyalty and morality, my lord will grant you sanctuary in his realm. You shall be welcome to eat and drink along his every riverbank, for his table always has food for his subjects. Your home along the rivers shall forever provide for you and all your offspring from this day, until the end of time.” The rightmost flower began to radiate bright yellow light. Xiaoli turned to the leftmost flower and let out a hacking, embarrassed sigh.
“A-and you shall forever be tasked w-with bringing people closely together! You shall tie bonds between strangers and tighten bonds between friends!” She took a deep breath. “A-a-and… You shall forge bonds of eternal love between those of the world’s creatures who share feelings for one another.” She finished the character and covered her face again. The bright yellow light briefly flashed pink before slowly receding. The two of them slowly revealed their flushed faces, avoiding direct eye-contact. Shengshi finally spoke.
“W-... Well done. It would s-seem that you have indeed inherited my p-powers.” Xiaoli let out an embarrased chuckle. “Heh… Yeah.” The two sat in silence for a spell. Finally, Shengshi got up. Xiaoli’s eyes followed his movements, but she still covered the face below her nose with her sleeve.
“Where are you going, my lord?” she asked. Shengshi scratched his arm sheepishly.
“I, uhm… I need a cold bath, if you will. I will be right back.” Xiaoli nodded slowly. The snake god soon disappeared into the foliage. She looked down at the flowers, which almost stared back at her, making her feel even more embarrassed.
“I pray that he will not make this tea for me…” she said, sighing.
After calming down and packing their things, the two headed back to the Giant’s Bath and the Jiangzhou. Shengshi found Xiaoli’s method of swimming to be rather interesting: Instead of actually swimming, the girl simply reverted into the components that made her form and placed them inside a globule of river water, which travelled upriver with its master. The two of them ascended onto the ship’s deck, where Xiaoli promptly reassembled.
“Magnificent,” she whispered, mouth agape in awe. Shengshi smirked. “I will have to give you the tour during out voyage. We have a long distance to cover.” The girl raised an eyebrow. “Wait, are we leaving?” Shengshi nodded.
“Yes. We are heading for the new continent - the one I saw in my dream, the one far to the west.” Shengshi slithered to the front of the deck and prepared to influence the fresh waters below. Xiaoli followed him.
“But how do we get there? This boat cannot travel on sea! We cannot control the currents!” Shengshi smirked. “We are not going by sea.” Xiaoli stood there dumbstruck. Shengshi continued. “Now that there are two of us, we will travel as my sister Azura would.” Xiaoli put a pensive finger on her chin.
“Now, be ready to push the current forward when I say go.” Xiaoli still had several questions, but she made an educated guess and concluded that her master was not too interested in hearing a voice of reason right now. She prepared herself and shouted, “Ready!”
With that, Shengshi screamed, “GO!” at the top of his lungs and, in a display of water and foam, ripped a pillar of water out of the water in front of the ship. Xiaoli started, but quickly regain composure and pushed the ship forward. The ship’s hull creaked and croaked as it sailed uphill. Shengshi kept pushing the pillar upwards and Xiaoli kept pushing it forward. When the ship had ascended high enough, Shengshi cut the bottom of the pillar and let the it fall back into the Bath. The remaining water underneath the ship rolled around the underside of the deck for a while before forming an oblong surface that kept pushing the river forward like a current, but at the same time travelled with the ship. Xiaoli could not believe her own eyes. “We-... We’re flying! My lord, we’re flying!” Shengshi felt beads of sweat form on his forehead, but ignored them and let out a strained laughter. “Hah! I experimented with this idea in Fengshui Fuyou! One day, I shall create a river in the sky that can connect all the celestial spheres - like a massive river network!” He groaned slightly as he had to refocus for a moment.
“For now, though, I can only keep Jiangzhou afloat.” Xiaoli walked over to her master and smiled. “As your voice of reason, I have to admit - I am in awe at the thought of this actually working.” Shengshi chuckled again. “I cannot keep this up forever, mind you. Get some rest. You will take over by sundown.” Xiaoli bowed. “Yes, my lord.” She turned and made her way to the palace, but before she entered the door, she turned back and faced the red-scaled back of the river lord.
“Thank you, my lord. Thank you for creating me. I swear upon my life that I will serve you with diligence and wisdom.” The snake laughed again.
“Thank you in advance for your service, my dear. Now rest up.” She bowed again and entered the castle. The snake looked over the side of the deck, seeing the endless ocean below. Ashalla was no doubt somewhere underneath, eyeing him. He paid the thought no mind.
It was time to bring the Flow to the new world.
-After Narzhak left, Shengshi got shitfaced and ruined his apartment. Had a helluva nightmare. He woke up and tried to have another drink, but found that his alcoholism is becoming a bit of a problem. -Proceeds to go on an existential journey to the woods. Has a nice lil’ stroll along one of Nanhe’s tributaries. -He has a moment of enlightenment next to the river and decides that the river gave him that moment. Proceeds to knight the little river to his avatar, Xiaoli, First of the Court. He gives her the roles of his heart and his voice of reason, as well as his on-demand on drunk watch duty-person. She displays that she possesses similar powers to Shengshi and he is awestruck. -Xiaoli turns out to be really hot, so snake gets a little creepy. Xiaoli is having none of that and decides to make Shengshi something to drink. -Turns out that Xiaoli’s drink is a banger, so Shengshi ‘appropriates’ the plant and names it the green tea plant. The characters he wrote on the tea leaves spell out 康绿茶, literally healthy green tea. -Xiaoli gets curious as to whether she can make things, too, so she goes to make some flower tea. However, turns out the qualities that she wants to give flower tea (the power of luh-ve) makes the two of them really embarrassed and they share an awkward moment. Xiaoli names the tea with the characters 永爱, meaning eternal love. -The two pack up and head to Jiangzhou, and then proceed to make the ship fly with river powers before sailing to Kalmerica.
2MP = created Shengshi’s avatar, Xiaoli, First of the Court. 1MP = ‘appropriated’ the green tea plant, making the world’s first cup of delicious macha. 1MP = made love tea (on Valentine’s Day of all days. How crazy is that?) 5/5 Might for Brewing port. 0MP left.
Once again, Shengshi stood on the deck of his ship squat in the middle of the Giant’s Bath, only this time, there was a weak current pulling him towards the north. Furthermore, opening the portal to Fengshui Fuyou seemed to have overfilled the Giant’s Bath - now, water ran down all sides. Shengshi looked to the direction opposite of Beihe. The distance harboured little more than barren, pointy rocks in varying shapes and sizes.
Wait, what was that? Shengshi slithered over to the railing of the ship and leaned forward, as if it would help his eyes focus on the small, flexible lines on the horizon. Had the mud worms made it through the portal and grown enormous in the span of a few minutes?
The snake scratched his chin.
“Well, only one way to find out!” he voiced with a grin. He turned around and reached out his hand, grasping the air. The thundering waterfalls below suddenly ceased.
“Waters of Beihe, your master calls!” Shengshi lifted his clenched fist. The horizon to the north was suddenly blocked by a slowly climbing pillar of water that curved and bent across the sky above the ship.
“Your task is simple - make yourself a sibling!” With that, the pillar shot forth downwards like a harpoon and broke the stone wall on the south-western edge of the Giant’s Bath in a spectacle of rock and foam. As he had done with Beihe, Shengshi grasped the waters still and had them forcefully dig their way ahead. After a few minutes, the third river of Galbar had been carved - the longest in the realm. Shengshi grinned smugly.
“Perfect. I think I shall call this one…” He pondered for a moment and naturally arrived at the most creative name he could think of: “I name you Nanhe, the southern river! Now… Onwards!” With that, the ship turned towards the new south-western flow and sailed down the waterfall and towards the southern tip of the continent. On the way, Shengshi prepared his calligraphy set and made great efforts to immortalise the moment in a poem.
“What the?” Phystene’s quiet question was lost as the sounds of destruction, of stone being torn asunder, echoed all across the continent. She had been in the process of checking on the progress of her lichen and rock worms, progress that she was thus far quite pleased with, when the sounds began. Her interest in the dirt below her temporarily lost as she looked around for what new Galbar shattering incident had begun.
New meteors? She looked up and saw nothing new in the sky. Perhaps someone had created a tsunami? No. It would have sounded different. She closed her eyes and listened to the horrendous sound. It sounded almost like… it was certainly coming from further east than her current position.
Deciding that she wouldn’t be able to learn anything new from her current position, Phystene turned towards what she suspected the source of the sound was and headed off. Hopefully this wouldn’t be some world ending crisis like what the last few days had brought.
Shengshi had only gotten halfway into his poem before he had left his room in a hurry to take in the unfamiliar surroundings. The gray, jagged mixture of rock and sand had disappeared, instead giving way to strange, sea-green nets that covered the stones not already buried in dirt. Furthermore, he noticed that the wiggly lines on the horizon earlier had not at all been mud worm escapees, but a much larger and more menacing type of worm, which diet seemed to be the very ground it traversed. This was surely the work of another god, and surely enough, the divine aura soon pulsed through the air like a gentle breeze.
The water drill in the distance had stopped - it had surely reached the ocean. As Shengshi observed the uncharacteristically blackish brown surroundings, he felt yet another spark of inspiration strike; the snake promptly slithered back up to his room to continue his poem - no, a painting, he would make! Augmented with a poem!
The surroundings were indeed too beautiful to not chronicle to the most miniscule detail: where land and ocean met - the first great river delta. He set up his canvas on his personal veranda. The divine presence grew stronger, however. It would seem the painting would have to wait. He slowed the currents underneath his ship and walked over to the railing for his veranda.
“I do not believe we ever got the pleasure of a proper introduction, dearest sister.”
Phystene looked up from where she knelt next to the new river, a warm smile spread across her face. She waved at Shengshi with her right hand while her left remained submerged in the river. “The pleasure is mine.” She paused for a moment before asking “Is this recent addition to the continent your doing?”
Shengshi bowed deeply. “Indeed. I hope I am not a disturbance to your most beautiful work. Oh, pardon me for a moment. I will be right down.” With that, the snake promptly went back into his chambres and made the quick trek down to the deck, where he promptly hopped off the ship and into the river below. He swam over to where Phystene was testing the waters and slithered ashore.
“There. Our throats would quick parch had we been standing so far apart shouting to one another. Also, this is so much cozier. How are you? How has creation been treating you?”
“I am better now that I have this beautiful river to quench my thirst.” Phystene answered. “When I first heard the sounds its creation caused - I’m assuming it was you making all that noise - I had feared that it was yet another tsunami or meteor strike. It's nice to know at least a few other deities are interested in creation more so than destruction.” Her voice had become tinted with sarcasm.
“Still” She continued, “setting that aside I have enjoyed my new existence greatly. I’m sure you’ve seen some of my work on your way here. It isn’t much, yet, but soon the soil created by my lichen and worms will nourish even greater life.”
Shengshi sighed. “Yes, our sibling flock does have a few…” He rolled the words around his in his mouth for a moment. “Well, never mind that. Yes! I did see your work! Lichen, is that what you called those fancy, uh… Nets? Is it a form of grass? Fungus, perhaps?”
“It's actually a combination of several organisms.” Phystene answered. “To think of them as fungi wouldn’t be too far off the mark.” She shrugged. “I created them to help break down the rock on this continent. They aren’t the fastest at that task, I created something else for speed, but the sheer amount of area I was able to cover with them more than makes up for that.”
The snake nodded, grinning. “Ah, a most wise solution! One that can last so that you will not have to manage the process, as well. A most admirable idea!” The snake gazed around. “Speaking of ideas… I may or may not have one, though it may require the use of some of this dirt. Humour me for a moment, if you would, please.”
The snake snapped his fingers and a globule of water came rushing over the edge of the ship carrying now wet paper and a calligraphy set. It exploded as soon as it left the ship, but Shengshi took control of the soaring water and used it to catch the flying tools, bring them safely down his level before he snatched them and let the water climb back up the side of the ship.
“I really have to use something else than paper to write on…” he muttered sheepishly. He quickly sketched a map of the region based on what he remembered from Urhu’s map and painted a circle around the south-western tip of the continent.
“We are here, correct?”
“I believe so, yes.” Phystene answered with a raised eyebrow. “You realize that’s made from dead trees, right?”
Shengshi slowly turned his head from Phystene to the sad, soggy sheet of paper. “... Huh… Imagine that.” He cleared his throat sheepishly. “I, uh… I can probably write on a rock if that would make you more comfortable,” he proposed with an uncertain grin on his face.
“It’s fine” Phystene answered with a chuckle. “The forest provides for all, as long as nothing is taken in greed.”
Shengshi let out a sigh of relief. “Still, I would like to apologise with utmost sincerity for this transgression. It was an amateurish choice of surface to draw on, and I am deeply sorry.” The snake bowed before the goddess, perhaps a little longer and a little deeper than necessary.
“I accept your apology, though I don’t feel it was truly necessary.” Phystene said. “To be honest I was simply… poking fun at you? I didn’t believe you were using paper out of any sense of greed and now I feel vindicated in that belief.” She seemed to be intentionally not looking at Shengshi’s ship. “But enough about this. You said you had an idea?”
The snake snapped to and turned back to the soggy paper. “Yes! Right, idea!” He regained his composure and gestured to the surrounding land. “I propose a union of cooperation - a union of gods to bring verdant life to this continent, starting here. Your creations have made much of this land prime for plants grand and small. I present you with this river, Nanhe, as well as any offshoots I may carve further up - all to colour this region green in the name of creation!” He paused for effect. “What say you?”
“I would be honored to partake in a partnership with you.” Phystene said with a smile. “And I had hoped that was your idea. With Nanhe here now, we have the perfect conditions to begin spreading plants and animals on this continent.”
She waved her hand at the surrounding area as as she did so grasses and shrubs began to emerge from the fresh soil. The occasional tree sprang to life where there was enough soil to support it, breaking up the tapestry of grass and shrubs that now covered the landscape. She focused her energies on the river and fish, amphibians, and other freshwater creatures began to appear. “A gift for you, friend.”
Shengshi lowered his torso and leaned forward to greet the beautiful little creatures. His eyes teared up at the sight and he stood up again, smiling sentimentally at Phystene. “What amazing little animals you have created. I am most grateful.” He bowed.
Her gaze shifted to Shengshi’s ship and her smile momentarily wavered. “Would you mind doing me a minor favor and move that....” She gestured towards his ship, her voice possessing just a hint of disgust despite her best efforts “someplace else?”
Shengshi looked at the ship and sneered. “Oh, of course. Just a moment, please.” He clapped his hands and a few globules tossed some pots of wine and a basket of what one could assume was picnic supplies overboard. Shengshi caught them all, with the exception of a single bottle of freshly made cider. He faked a whimper.
“That is unfortunate… Regardless, here we are.” He put the supplies down on the riverbank and pointed to the ship.
“Await me back in the Giant’s Bath. I will be staying for a while.” With that, the currents underneath the ship switched directions, shoving the ship back upstream in a terrible hurry. The tumultuous waters left behind splashed the river banks and sent the occasional fish flying out of the water. Shengshi made an effort to capture the flying fish in some water globules and toss them back, however. After ensuring that every last fish had been returned to its home, he turned to Phystene with a smile.
“Before we start, allow me to return the gift with one of my own.” The snake reached into his picnic basket and pulled out a bottle of wine which he promptly offered to Phystene.
“What is this?” She asked as she accepted the bottle, tapping the glass with a finger. She tilted her head to the side as she gazed at the strange object. She grabbed the bottle by its neck and hefted it as if it was some kind of club, giving Shengshi a bemused smile as she did so.
The snake snickered as she made an attempt to weaponize his most prized possession and reached out to her. He gently relieved her hand of the bottle, flipped it, uncorked it and gave it back.
“There. Place the opening to your lips and have a taste. It is a little something I have been working on. I call it wine!”
Phystene kept her bemused expression, but did as Shengshi had told her. She slowly lifted the bottle to her lips and tipped back. It became immediately apparent that she wasn’t used to consuming substance in this way, as some of the wine escaped out the corner of her mouth and began to run down her cheek, to her jaw, and continued down her neck.
“Grapes?” She asked as she finished her sip, seemingly unconcerned by the wine that hadn’t quite made it down her throat.
Shengshi gave the bottle a look. “I believe that one I made from lychee, actually. A little sweeter than most grapes.” He tapped his chin. “Is it not good?”
“It is… odd” Phystene answered after a moment of silence. “This is the first time I’ve gained nourishment this way. The sensations are… very odd.” She tilted her head to the side again. “It reminds me of something else from my… original world.”
Without much forewarning, the ground shook, strongly enough for it to be clear that it was not the wine taking effect. Then again. And again.
In the distance, what had dimly seemed to be one of the peaks of Qiangshan was conspicuously drawing closer. Before long, its metallic glimmer and fiery lights at the pinnacle became visible; a little later, and the sound of low rhythmical humming reached the two gods.
By the time the immense figure stopped in its tracks, it was clear enough this was not a mountain that had taken to walking for some reason.
”Shengshi, was that?” Narzhak’s thunderous voice called out from somewhere above, ”Phystene? That you?”
“Oh… hey you.” Phystene said with a flat voice. Her eyes focused on the metal armor he wore and she shifted her weight from foot to foot. “I would love to stay and converse further, but I have so much to do” She kept her voice controlled, albeit a bit rushed.
Her gave shifted to Shengshi as she gave him a slightly dishonest smile. “Oh look a new plant.” She gestured towards the river, where some reeds of sugarcane had begun to grow at her command. “Maybe you two could do something with it?”
Shengshi raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you leavi-...?”
One of the giant’s hand rose to disappear high above, and a loud scraping of iron on iron echoed down. ”...I guess we could?” The towering god sounded more perplexed than anything. ”Take one, sharpen the tip, skewer something with it. I’m sure there’s better things you can do with it, though. Maybe throw it instead.”
Shengshi looked first at Narzhak, then back at Phystene who seemed to be shuffling further and further away.
“My word, I hope the wine did not taste that bad.”
“It was fine.” She gave Shengshi a strained smile. “And it looks like you guys have things under control over here.” She inched further away. “So…. I’m going to go to the ocean and… make a coral reef or something to… try and mitigate some of the risks of a tsunami washing all of this away.” The last part was much more of a question than a statement.
Shengshi raised a finger in objection and then looked back up at Narzhak. He took a moment to absent-mindedly count the number of plants the giant likely had crushed on its way over and put two and two together.
“Aaaah, I see. Well, I whole-heartedly support this, uh…” He plucked at his beard. “... Idea? Yes, idea. Go make that quarrel beef- CORAL REEF. We will, uh, manage.”
“Great!” Phystene said, a genuine smile finally appear on her face. “Well good day to you. Shengshi. Narzhak.” She gave each a nod of her head before she turned and ran away.
Shengshi waved perhaps a little too enthusiastically before turning to Narzhak. “So, dearest brother…” He gulped. “How are you?”
Shengshi makes the Nanhe river, which runs from the Giant’s Bath to the southwestern tip of the Dragon’s Foot. Phystene and Shengshi meet up, have a nice chat.. Phystene makes a new grasslands in the southwest of the continent. She makes Shengshi some nice lil’ fishies and then shows she sucks at drinking things. Narzhak appears and awkward Phystene is awkward.
Point expenditures: Shengshi: 2FP on Nanhe River
Phystene: 3 FP large ecosystem 1 MP or 2 FP towards animal port
After Urhu had left, the snake slithered back up to his chambers. He quickly grabbed the scroll and walked back out on deck. He smelt the air for a moment and looked in the direction he presumed to be…
Wait, what should they call the directions?
Shengshi waved the thought away. That was likely something he would have to agree upon with his siblings. Either way, he was pretty certain the top of the Middle World was this way. He sniffed once again - this was the direction that reeked the most of the sea. Shengshi sneered. While he admittedly did not wish to wander out to sea, it was the truth of the universe that all rivers eventually lead there - thus, he himself had to see it.
The Giant’s Bath was filling up; now was the time. Shengshi mounted the dragon’s head at the front of his ship. He swirled the waters below it to turn the ship in the right direction. He unrolled the scroll and compared the wall of the Giant’s Bath to the observations Urhu had made. The terrain was no ideal for larger river valleys, but in time, future rivers would sand away the jagged terrain and carve newer paths until great valleys would form. For now, though, all he needed was a single one.
“Waters flowing, fresh and clean - Hear your master’s call!”
The waters in the Giant’s Bath began to whirl and foam on the edges.
“Waters foaming, not yet free - Make a waterfall!”
Like a sieging battering ram, the waters recoiled before blasting against the upper wall of the Giant’s Bath, breaking apart the upper layers of stone. In a violent display of gravel and foam, the beam of water flowed out of the elevated lake and down into the shale below, hammering at the rocks and cliffs below until they, too, succumbed beneath the sudden flood. The terrain caused the water to flow in all directions at first, something Shengshi found regrettable. He clenched his fists, pulled his hands back and, in a fabulous manner, brought both fists forward in a sudden motion.
The water falling from the waterfall began to twist and spin. It struck against the ground like a drill against rock, forcefully carving a way ahead through the nooks and crannies that offered the least resistance. Before long, Shengshi proudly looked upon the first river on Galbar.
“I think I shall name it… Beihe,” he said to himself. He slithered upstairs and grabbed a calligraphy set, which he used to write down the characters of the river into one of his poems.
Stranded among stone; Freedom comes with Beihe’s birth; The flow continues.
The snake nodded in approval at his work and steered the streams under his ship so they pushed the vessel towards the falls. The ship obeyed its watery rudders and soon tipped over the edge and into the frothing depths below. The snake nodded and headed inside and up to his chambers to take in the view. Shengshi did not worry about his ship, however - he was confident the rivers would catch him completely safe-
CRRNK!
Everything not secured to the deck lurched forward. While nothing fell overboard, the snake himself was tossed out through his windows and crashed into the neck of the dragon’s head on the deck below. The wood of the ship's stern hollowly rebuffed the water that pushed at its rear. They had stopped, but the river still flowed below.
"Huh?" A deep and familiar voice barked out from beneath the prow. "What's a hunk of wood doing out here?"
Shengshi lifted his face off the dented planks. It would seem that his enchantments did -not- make the ship impervious to physical impacts from divine beings. A thing to keep in mind for the future. No time for that, however, for another being had entered the vicinity. At the head of the ship's hull was the hulking red form of the god of blood, chest-deep in the rushing water.
Shengshi stood up, dusted himself off a bit, and greeted his brother with a bow.
“Ah, to think I would meet the beating heart of our family here. My most humble greetings to you, dearest brother Kirron. You would not happen to feel generous today, would you? I seem to be stuck.” The snake gestured sheepishly to the tilted ship.
Kirron lifted one arm out of the water to shield his eyes from the new sun. He parted his mouth and squinted his eyes. "Stuck!? You can move just fine up there, Sheng."
It only took a small crane of the head for Shengshi to notice Kirron's other arm outstretched and clutching the front of the ship's spine.
"I'm feeling about generous enough not to wreck your floating house for running right at me," Kirron continued. "But I've greater cares, brother. Tell you what, you can purchase my forgiveness by answering some questions. I'll just take your ship out the river while we talk, eh? Don't want you drifting off like some dreamer..."
Kirron braced both his arms against the stern and hoisted up. With an almighty creak, the ship tilted forward. Or, rather, the stern lifted up out of the water. Shengshi clutched the nearest object, the stern railing, and let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank you, thank you! You are much too kind! J-just… Please put her down gently - GENTLY!”
There was another loud creak, though this came from the sudden weight on the luxurious planks as the ship hull smacked into the rocky ground underneath. At least the maiden voyage really got to test the ship’s capabilities, Shengshi thought, though he would definitely have to inspect the damages later. He got back to his tail again and slithered over to the edge of the deck and peeked over to spot his red-skinned brother.
“Thank you, truly,” he said somewhat sourly. “I would just like to add that I did not intentionally sail Jiangzhou in your direction - the flow merely guided it as such.” He cleared his throat sheepishly. “Now, what did you wish to ask?”
"Well, it happens I'm looking for something..." Kirron waded out of the current and onto the shore. With the ship leaning to one side on terra firma, it was a simple matter to pull himself up over the railing. "The blood spilt in the Architect's cave. Some of it went somewhere. I'm trying to find it." Kirron pointed at Shengshi. "I followed the smell to you. Here, upriver. Know anything about that, Sheng?"
The snake scratched the hair behind his left horn and looked up towards his left temple as to look extra pensive. Though, in truth, he had absolutely no idea. “I mean, it is unfortunately not quite in my nature to hunt for, uhm, blood to the extent that it is for you, dearest brother, so I admit that the only thing I can offer is perhaps some refreshments.” As with Urhu, he gestured towards the gates of the spire.
As Shengshi raised his hands to point, there was a blinding flash of fire and fury in the sky. Both gods shot their gaze to the spot which recently had housed Asceal’s little project - one that now had, apparently, been blown to smithereens. Shengshi’s jaw dropped.
Kirron stroked his chin. "Heh, nice trick."
“Well, if anything, that looks like a bloody endea-...” The larger pieces of what they assumed was the remains of the celestial machine entered the young atmosphere in another display of fire and light before finally crashing against the surface with a solid boom. Shengshi himself was unsure of what it was, but a weak yet ominously present wave pulsed through the aura of the surrounding environment, teasing that something unusual had happened. Kirron pulled a frown. He sensed it as well.
“I propose we look a bit around." Shengshi suggested. "Maybe we will find this… Whatever you’re looking for on the way? With everything that has happened lately, we may even find the planet’s first blood bath,” he said jokingly. “Though this river cannot take us all the way. It will likely only take us to the oceans in to the bei.” Shengshi scratched his chin. “Though I could carve more, I suppose… With your permission, of course, dearest brother.”
Kirron had been staring sternly down the horizon. Only after a second did he give Shengshi a glance. "Hm? Sure, whatever you like. I don't plan on throwing it again." Kirron stepped back onto the rocks and shoved the ship back into the river with one foot. It scraped into a splash but stayed afloat, even clonking against the opposite bank of the river.
A moment after, Kirron bounded back onto the top deck and righted his balance. Without showing a hint of his previous joviality, he walked up to the bow and looked out. "Take us downriver. It smells like...What was that you said we would find, Sheng?"
“A blood bath?” he proposed as he absent-mindedly twisted the streams a little to shove the ship forward. “Oh my, I merely jested.” His face went pale - there was indeed another flow of fluids in the distance. He hoped only that it was merely the work of another god.
It did not take long for his clear water to succumb to the pollution of the foul ichor that flowed from further inland. The grimy substance sickened Shengshi to the point where he found himself retching, yet there was a familiar essence about it that kept his curiosity piqued enough to keep his own bile down. The snake waved his hand in the stern manner with which he commanded all the fresh waters in these realms and found the flaming red river insubordinate. He gritted his fangs and glared down into the foul flows beneath.
“The arrogance…” he spat and tightened his hands around the ship’s railing with such ferocity that the wood planks, even with all their enchantments and reinforcements, groaned and snapped. “To have the audacity to not only create a gruesome excuse for a river like this - but to have it poison -MY- waters! Who did this?! Who perverted this beautiful flow into a poor excuse for… For curry?” Shengshi jumped down into the river and tasted the essence. He froze in the water, eyes wide and horrified. The substance was thick and wretched - almost metallic in flavour. The essence within it stabbed at his mind and body, as if trying to twist him into something he could never be. He immediately clawed his way back onboard.
“SERVANTS! CLEAN ME!”
Swiftly, globules of water soared out of the main gate to the castle and packed themselves around their lord, licking and wiping off the ichorous substance. Shengshi sat down, his face chalk-white with shock.
"Now you're starting to get it, huh," Kirron finally cut through Shengshi's rage. He looked down on the watery god with a deep frown. "This was no mere spit in your face, river man. We go to its source."
Shengshi did not say anything, but the flows turned the ship and forced it upriver towards the source of the ichor. After sailing upriver for a time, he looked back at Kirron, then slithered towards the edge of the deck, staring down into the wicked goo licking against his beautiful ship’s hull. He retched again.
“No… We must halt for a moment! There is something I must do!” In a hurry, he slithered to the stern of the ship.
Kirron followed his movement and folded his arms.
At the edge, Shengshi made great effort to slow the disobedient torrents below. The world’s beasts and plants could not be allowed to confuse this for his own clean, nutritious waters. No, this sacrilege demanded an equally heretical response. Shengshi tightened his fists and reached out to the moisture in the air; the rivers underground; the water spirits still uncorrupted in the stream beneath his ship. To all surrounding water, the lord of a thousand streams called.
“The flow is eternal - and in most circumstances, all should congregate in one great river…”
The earth behind the ship began to crack and heave as water from the air and the rivers drilled and dug its way deep underground.
“However, I care not what the purpose of this gruesome act was - it shall -NOT- be given the sanctuary of my realm!”
Massive shards of rock and stone erupted out of the ground across the horizon behind the ship, propelled by fuming blasts of water.
“You, cruellest waterway of filth, are banished from my realm!”
The earth shattered and quaked as the flow of ichor was interrupted by a wall of towering plateaus and peaks that soon stretched from the oceans in the distance to Shengshi’s right and curved around the horizon like a great dam. The reddish ichor slammed against the mountain walls, raging with all the foam and fury of a beast suddenly trapped. Soon, however, it realised its futile efforts and began flowing along the mountains towards the oceans. Shengshi wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
“This is your prison, monster! May you never pollute my waters again!” Shengshi said, glaring down at the red river testing the new terrain. He gave the mountains a look, too. Some of them were still steaming from the heat of their birth. They were thin and sharp with small bases. Shengshi estimated that the tallest of the peaks could be no taller than five thousand feet, but that they should be more than enough to keep the red menace out of his pure domain.
“I think I shall name them Qiangshan… Yes, yes, a fitting name for their honourable task.” Shengshi wrote the characters in the air in front of him. There was a gentle shake as the mountains received their name. Shengshi let out a tired sigh and realised the enormous strain on his mind as the tumultuous torrents below struggled to be free of his control. He snarled and redoubled his efforts, quelling the resistance and forcing his ship upriver and onward. He slithered back to the bow and gave Kirron a fake smile supported by a furious glare.
“Now we can head to the source.”
Kirron looked down at his brother. His frown parted into a shark-toothed grin. "I was wrong about you, Sheng. I had you down as a pushover." He looked ahead. "I thought I was going to have to boil your blood to shut up your dry-heaving." Kirron clapped a hand roughly on Shengshi's back as he strode to the railing. He leaned down on his hands and squinted his eyes ahead. His grin lowered. "We're getting close."
The first visual signs started with steam rising over the craggy hills. Amongst the soft breeze fluttering by their ears, the gods heard another sound from the barren land. A churning and bubbling. The waters were so thick with the red ichor that Shengshi's hold over the water that bore it reduced, slowing them down. But it was no barrier for the gods to overcome. After struggling up the thin creeks aloft an upwards-flowing bed of water, the ship finally tipped up and onto a vast body of red liquid, hissing, steaming, and boiling beneath the hull.
"It's just ahead here," Kirron remarked.
They drifted forward for only a short time through the clouds of heat and steam until Kirron noticed something down beneath the water. He raised a hand and, mysteriously, the ship gently slowed to a halt.
Stepping back from the railing, Kirron lifted a hand as if to gently pick an invisible fruit. With it, a long, thin globule of red hot ichor emerged from over the side of the ship and drifted to a point over his hand. Kirron opened his mouth and willed a tiny droplet onto his tongue. Immediately, he shuddered and bared his teeth, letting the rest of the ichor splat in a steaming puddle on the deck.
"What a gruesome way to die." Kirron lashed his tongue as if to air out the taste.
Shengshi slithered over to inspect the ichor further. His short dip into the stuff had left him disgusted, and with Kirron’s confirmation, the presence of divine essence suddenly made a lot more sense.
“Was it a battle?” he inquired, voice cracking ever so slightly with confused sorrow. “Or was the Architect’s task too much on the mind?”
"No. It was a...an avoidable accident," Kirron sniffed. "A mistake. Something flew at speed. Must have sheared her in two if what I'm sensing at the bottom of this lake is what I think it is."
The strain on the snake as he attempted to control the now highly concentrated ichor below forced forth a pained groan from the god. He clutched his head and looked to Kirron.
“Would… Would you mind taking over for a bit? I will have the servants fetch us something to… Dull the senses a little.” He yelled out the command and there was a hint of a scramble of metal and glass from the decks below. “How did it come to this?” he muttered. Out the spire gates came a globule carrying two wine bottles and a pair of small cups on a tray, which it placed at the gods’ feet before sliding back inside. Shengshi filled his cup and flushed its contents down in a swift motion. He gave Kirron a nod.
“You go on ahead. I need a moment.”
Kirron paused in his thoughts to eye the bottle and cup. He took his hand away from his chin to swipe the bottle up off the ground. He sat himself down. "There's something I don't get." He snapped off the top of the bottle with his other hand and drank down half of its contents in a single swallow. He wiped his mouth on his arm and continued. "It was just a chunk of...rock, I think, that got her. Why didn't she defend herself? Not like she didn't want to -- the memory didn't have a, uh, resigned feeling to it. Was she really that stupid?"
Shengshi took another drink and shook his head. “If the Architect truly made us what we are, he would not make us vulnerable to mere… Mere rocks.” He furrowed his brow into a scowl. “No… Even if she was a fool of the most barbaric stupidity, rocks brush off our divine skin like water off a mountain, no matter the speed. This must have been a result of conflict. A cruel plot between feuding siblings. The question is… Who would do something like this?”
Kirron snorted. "I dunno. I might have done it if she pissed me off enough."
At that moment, a large dot in the sky beyond the Blue glowed with warm light and swelled at enormous speeds. Shengshi looked up.
“Is that Orvus making another meteorite?” he said, placing his hands on his hips with a disapproving scowl on his face.
Kirron only gave it a glance before looking into his broken bottle and swirling his wine around. "Would've thought you'd be used to it by now."
The stone in the sky grew bigger and bigger at a frighteningly rapid pace. Then, it finally stopped.
“Did he just make our planet a sibli-?”
The cracks of fire and lava that spread across the sphere were visible from the surface of Galbar. The following violent turmoil of cosmic forces broke apart the new moon, and pieces of debris entered the atmosphere is a display of fire and flash. Shengshi let out another sigh.
“I wish we could all just have some time without all this chaos.”
Kirron stopped swirling his wine and lifted his eyes to Shengshi. Suddenly, he threw back his head with a hearty guffaw, showing all his gleaming sharp teeth. He slammed a fist on the deck and laughed some more.
"Sheng, you gotta learn to lighten up!" Kirron gulped down the rest of his wine and tossed the glass over his shoulder. It shattered into pieces on the deck behind him. "This place is getting to you, I can tell. Why don't you show me what you've been up to before you put your boat up on a hill in this place? I'll only grab a few more bottles of that drink before I'll let you be, so you may as well."
Shengshi raised his head and pulled at his chin inquisitively. “What I’ve been up to, you say?” He pointed across the fresh mountain chain clogging the image of the horizon. “Well, I basically just arrived from my home in Fengshui Fuyou. If you would like to see it, well…” He looked around, then at the ship’s deck at his feet, then at the mountains.
“I may have made it a little hard for us to return to the river Beihe…” he confessed sheepishly. “Tell you what, I’ll tell you the password and you can go have a look if you would like! You simply need to present the water in the Giant’s Bath -- I think that’s what Urhu called it -- with a figure that looks like that.” He gestured to the dragon’s head at the bow. Kirron leaned to one side to look at it.
“Don’t mind me, I will find a way out of this…” He retched. “... Oh my, I will never be able to have curry again after today…” He shook his head and looked back to his sibling, a fanged smile on his face. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll sail the ship around. Also, help yourself to as much wine as you can. Bottom floor, room towards the stern. If the door appears to be locked, it isn’t, the handle is just being silly. Go grab some, please! I, uh, I need some rest.”
Kirron pulled a thoughtful frown and hummed. "Appreciate it, Sheng," he remarked before Shengshi slithered out of sight.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Shenshi's sleeping basket was not the end of his excitement for the day. He was permitted peace to lay down for all of four minutes before the world lurched to one side. Wood strained and creaked as gravity righted itself again, save for an odd bouncing motion unlike any ripples on a lake. The snake groaned angrily to himself and slithered out, scowling.
The first thing Shengshi noticed when he peered out of the nearest window was the craggy lands of the continent, and most definitely no water below. Shengshi had a vague idea of what was going on and looked across the room to the windows on the other side. Through them, all he saw was the majestic Blue dotted with red spots of burning meteors. He slowly pulled his hand across his face and let out another, surlier groan before slithering outside.
Upon arriving on deck and peering over the tilted side, his suspicions were indeed confirmed: The ship was being carried - and he would not require omniscience to estimate who was doing the lifting.
“Deeeeaarest brother Kirron,” he opened through a fanged, faked grin. “While I am -certainly- very appreciative of your aid in getting me home, I can assure you - you are much, much too kind! Please, do go on ahead! I will catch-!” There was a larger bump than usual and the snake was briefly slammed against the railing. “... Catch up shortly.”
"Settle down, Sheng!" Kirron called back from under the hull. His voice was only slightly constricted by the weight on his shoulders. "Rest your weary cartilage. I'm just borrowing your ship to show its figurehead to that bath you told me about. If you really want to stay back 'n' enjoy the scenery, I ain't going to force you to stay riding."
Shengshi pinched the bridge of his flat nose and let out a sigh. “No, you know what? Fine, be my guest. Just… Warn me before we get to the mountains, alright? I have to secure some of my wine casks…”
Kirron did not warn Shengshi when they reached the mountains. The snake had taken a break between tying together pots and casks and securing them against the wall when he noticed the ship came to a halt. He raised his head and looked around. Had they arrived already? Then, he felt a dip, then another one, as Kirron was testing the ship’s weight. Then, it dawned on him.
“Oh no…”
Everything around him creaked, cracked and crumbled as every natural force objected to the ship’s godlike acceleration. Even the snake was flattened against the floor by the sheer suddenness of the push, which then shortly after turned into a tingling tickle in the snake’s belly and a horrified stare as he realised that the remaining casks if wine began to float in the air. Fruitlessly, the water god tried to swim through the air to pick up the flying barrels, but had to resort to clawing at the floor to get any sort of forward motion. He manage to catch a few before his divine instincts told him that there was something very hard coming towards him at a very high speed. Shengshi placed himself underneath his precious caskets and prayed.
The impact shattered what remained of the poor wine pots that he had not managed to save. The snake laid weeping on the floor which was filled with nearly a foot of wine. He clutched his remaining two pots as if their were stuffed animals and curled up in a ball to mourn the loss of so much delicious drink… Until he remembered that he did not, in fact need to mourn it at all. His godly powers could easily fix this! He stood up, wiped his wine-splattered face with his hand and licked that hand.
Wait, what was that flavour? He had a sip of the rest of the wine on the floor. It was coming from somewhere… It was sour, but weak. Very weak, compared to the rest of the fragrant wine surrounding him, and yet its flavour was complemented by a gentle fizz. He slithered over to the source of the flavour and found a basket of old apples which had taken a swim in the alcoholic pool. He took one out and had a taste. Nothing special - they tasted like normal apples, albeit a little soft and stale. He tasted the water around the basket. What was this? The fizz and sour tang were back. Had the wine yeast eaten the apples?
His hypothesis was confirmed with some further testing in the bouncing room. The water around the apples, permeated with wine yeast, had become a new drink. A very weak one, granted, but perhaps one even mortals could enjoy in moderation. Shengshi kept a few bottles of the stuff for later examinations, cleaned up the room and headed out.
He peeked over the side of the deck. Sure enough, his red brother was still carrying the ship. Shengshi climbed down and caught up to him. Kirron looked around his arms as they held the ship aloft. "I see a glint in your eye. What have you got there?"
“Good day again, brother. It so happens that a serendipitous miracle happened in the briefly ravaged wine cellar and this was made.” He presented the bottle. “Care to have a taste?”
"Hah! Who am I to say no?" Kirron shifted the keel of the ship to rest on his shoulder and slowed to a stop. With one hand holding up the hull, he took the bottle in the other and brought it to his lips. He did not bring the vessel down until it was completely drained, at which point he exhaled with satisfaction and tossed the bottle back into Shengshi's arms. "You're getting good at making brews, Sheng! That drink left a tingle in my stomach -- a spring! Hop back on the boat, brother! I feel like picking up our pace a little!"
Kirron shifted the ship back into both his hands as he spoke. Already, he was virtually arcing with energy. His big grin and wild look in his eyes spoke of a dangerously brief last leg of the journey.
The snake grinned from ear to ear. “Why, you are most kind to commend this humble one’s drink. I will make sure to make a little extra just for you to bring along!” With that, he climbed back onboard.
Shengshi went back to the wine cellar for further experimentation. How had this substance not appeared in Fengshui Fuyou? Granted, there had not been any wild apples lying around, but this sort of flavour ought to have popped up while he was brewing. He pondered for a time. Perhaps it was the change in environment? Perhaps his siblings had made some microbial life forms that enhanced his yeast, or perhaps replaced it entirely. He tested his other brewing batches. Some had indeed grown fizzy and fresh. He sampled the contents and compared the strains of yeast in all of them. None of them were of his making; if they were, they had been severely altered.
“I suppose this is what I get for telling the Sleeper’s Sand yeast not to live in waters that other life depends on,” he muttered to himself, though there was no anger in his voice - if anything, he marveled at this property of yeast. He closed his hands around the jars of samples.
“Inhabitants of my waters, listen to your lord.” The samples began to glow. “You are not inherently of the Flow, I sense as much. You thrive in waters both running and still…” He sighed. “Yet you possess qualities that I want. As such, I give you sanctuary in my realm, and bless you with growth and strength on your paths to the other realms of fresh water.” The samples in the jars began to swirl and bubble.
“In return,” Shengshi continued, “you will obey these commandments given to you by your lord.” Shengshi let go for the jars. Their contents continued to glow, however, and went completely still as if to show their attention. “Firstly, you shall never produce any brew strong enough to kill. No matter the size of the beast, nothing shall die from outright drinking you. Whatever happens after, though, is not your fault.” Shengshi shrugged unapologetically. “Secondly, you shall never more infest other brews. While I forgive you this time, others will not be as joyous to find their batch of wine destroyed. Thirdly, you shall only eat fruits. You shall shun all other forms of sweetness apart from fruit. In return, you shall have the capabilities of creating everything from delicious dry brews, to sweet and sour drinks, and I will grant you the power to grow in old fruits even without the purpose of making wine.” Shengshi scratched his chin. “Lastly, you need a name.” A somewhat more melancholic thought dawned on him. “I think… I think I shall name you after our fallen sister. While her… Blood may have done the surrounding lands a disservice, her death is a tragedy regardless. A beautiful goddess that should be remembered with this wonderful drink.” Shengshi picked up sample jar, poured himself a glass and lifted his cup in a toast.
“I name you - cider.”
Around the time Shengshi swallowed, the ship dipped again to signal that it was time for another short flight. Shengshi called his servants in as fast as he could and had them surround the barrels and pots like belts. As the ship soared up into the sky, some pots succumbed to the pressure or simply fell out of the piles. Even though restoring the wine inside was a simple task, the feeling of loss stabbed Shengshi’s heart like a dull lance.
He slithered up on deck again and let out a sigh of relief. Kirron was atop the deck with his arms crossed, they were back in the Giant’s Bath, and Hemen had already recognised the dragon’s head. The waters before the ship sprouted two wide ribbons of water that first extended high up into the air, and then intertwined at the top, forming beautifully intricate arch of water knots as they stretched downwards along one another in a spiralling pattern. Through the dew dripping across the gateway from the top of the arch, the gods saw the tranquil sight of Fengshui Fuyou.
“Well, we have arrived. Would you like a smaller ship so you can go inside and explore?” Shengshi asked smiling.
"I was going to borrow one anyway," Kirron said. "I can carry plenty on my own, but my arms can only wrap around so many of those round barrels." He pointed a thumb off to the side, where one of the ship's dinghies resting on a frame on the deck, laden with a small stack of wooden casks. “Of course,” the snake reasoned. He clapped his hands and his servants brought up a smaller vessel, large enough to fit roughly one Kirron and however much wine this one Kirron would like to bring along - up to maximum of ten barrel-sized pots. It was evident that the vessel had been fashioned from leftover planks from the construction itself, for some of the planks were uneven and it was not as laden with gold and ornaments as its mothership was. It also included an oar, as opposed to the mothership. Shengshi scowled in disappointment and turned to his servants, who were busy zooming around in circles in order to stay alive.
“This is what you bring when your lord demands a boat?!” Shengshi turned back to his brother and bowed deeply. “My most sincere apologies and requests for your forgiveness, dearest brother. They possess not minds of reason… Nor minds at all, when I think about it-...”
Kirron raised a hand to interrupt, smiling. "It's perfect." He walked towards the vessel, clapping Shengshi on the shoulder on the way past. "You're a real pleaser, Sheng. Thanks for everything." He took his previous dinghy and unceremoniously poured is selected casks in a rumbling pile into the new ship. Already, the servants brought up a few more pots of wine and cider to line the extra space.
While the servants hoisted the ramshackle boat into the waters below, Kirron turned around with his fists on his hips and flashed a grin. "I'll see you around, river man! I had great fun today! Fare yourself well!"
And with that he stepped over the railing and landed on his new vehicle.
Shengshi still grimaced at his agreement to send off Kirron on what in his eyes was such a shabby piece of flotsam, but he had by now learned that it was better to just let his brother do what he wished and avoid stalling him further. The snake leaned over the railing and waved to his brother. The red god was making a wake behind him with an oar in hand.
“I return the sentiment, dearest brother of mine! Have a safe and fortuitous journey!” A thought popped into his head. “Oh! And please do not mind the mud worms. They may bite, but they never bite hard. Oh, and do not mind the huge floods that may occur. They do that, sometimes!” Yet another thought surfaced. “And please do not throw any huge rocks around-... And he’s gone.”
Continuing from last time, Shengshi finishes up filling up the Giant's Bath to let his ship run free on the huge new river Beihe.
He hits an obstacle at the base of the hill. It's an incredulous Kirron, following the trail of this missing blood he's been wondering about.
Kirron asserts kindly asks that Shengshi help him out.
Kaboom! Asceal's sun thing explodes.
The gods sense something icky. They decide to investigate downriver.
They reach the river Seihdhar in Shengshi's boat.
Shengshi does not take the ichor in his river system very well. While Kirron is interested in getting to the 'bottom' of the matter upriver, Shengshi has to stop and, in a seething rage, make a dividing mountain range between the river Beihe and the river Seihdhar to satisfy his constitution. He names the mountains Qiangshan.
Kirron, having assumed that Shengshi was kind of a wuss up until then, gives him some props. They continue to the lake at the Seihdhar's headwaters.
At the lake, Kirron tastes the near-pure ichor, reads the memory of its spilling, and wonders how Seihdhara succumbed to such a mundane accident. Shengshi suspects foul play. They talk about it over some wine.
Orvus' new moon breaks up overhead. Shengshi facepalms mentally.
Without any solid conclusions, the subject goes to the general chaos of this early universe. Kirron tells Shengshi to lighten up.
Observing just how bothered Shengshi was with the godly ichor all around them, Kirron suggests Shengshi shows him Fengshui Fuyou.
Shengshi tells Kirron how to get in there by presenting the Giant's Bath with something resembling the figurehead of Shengshi's ship. Rather than spend time boringly making such a key for himself, Kirron opts to carry the ship over the new Qiangshan mountain range with Shengshi still inside.
Shengshi has to suffer the rough ride while his wine pots tip and break everywhere.
Serendipitously, the wine yeast mixes with some nearby apples and Shengshi tastes the result. Through some new commandments, he conceives a drink to commemorate Seihdhara's passing: Cider!
He offers some cider to Kirron. He really likes it because of the fizz it has!
Eventually, they get back to the Giant's Bath and the ship enters Fengshui Fuyou. Shengshi supplies Kirron with a rapidly constructed boat filled with casks and pots of booze and they go their separate ways, reflecting on the interesting day and their new friendship(?)
Shengshi at the start of the turn: 5MP/21FP
MP -1 for making cider yeast, effectively introducing fermentation and rot to fruits. FP -10 for Qiangshan mountains and Beihe river. (2/5 Might towards Brewing port.)
<Snipped quote> After a few hours she had gotten a very good idea of what the continent was like. In a word: boring. It was rock and rock and more rock. Oh and a random river of blood that ran through most of the continent. Because why wouldn’t that be a thing? Or perhaps calling it a river of ichor would be more fitting as Phystene could sense it possessed a divine nature.
I may have misunderstood, but I was under the impression that our resident river god had made Continent Kirron his base and that, if it is not already flush with rivers, it already has the Hemen/Giant's Bath (are they the same thing or am I confused?) at it's centre. I never imagined Continent Kirron being rocky at all. On the contrary, thought the mere presence of the Gateway to Fengshui Fuyou meant it was rather riverfied.
Hey, fam! No probs. We actually address that in an upcoming collab. Just so it's clear, the Seidhar was the first river on the continent to my knowledge. Shengshi has not carved any himself yet. The Hemen is inside the Giant's Bath, so, and I can probably spoil this much considering it was teased in the previous collab, it is very likely that Shengshi will make at least one river flow out of that area. However, with the Giant's Bath being a cauldron-shape and also elevated off the ground, most of that water has technically been trapped for the time being. It will be released and begin sanding at the continent soon.
Also, Kirronland is, to my knowledge, still basically a hedgehog made land, so extremely rocky.
The tunnel of water and light that extended from the Hemen Gate to Galbar was long and windy. Shengshi had really not expected there to be this long of a travel - considering he had seen the reflection of the watery world through the dew dripping across the gateway. Perhaps it has been a representative image of sorts - a figment of the actual reality of Galbar. Nevertheless, Shengshi felt the Middle World draw closer as the humid breeze of Fengshui Fuyou gave way to the dry, empty air of Galbar. Shengshi stretched and slithered out on the deck. This was it. This would be his workplace. His siblings’ and his new clay to sculpture. He was ready - ready for anythi-!
Crrrrack.
The ship came to a sudden halt, tilting a little forward from the sheer force of its momentum. The snake, now rolled up on deck and thoroughly confused, unrolled himself and stood up. Around him, his servants were zooming around the deck in a state of panic - if something as simple could feel fear, that is. The snake slithered over to the side of the deck and looked down over the enormous, bulging hull of the Jiangzhou. Where he had thought there would be water, there was just a whole lot of shale, gravel and rubble.
“What?”
The snake hopped down and looked around. In his name, where had all the water gone? Had his siblings already dried the planet out? Had they failed already? He plucked at his beard in a disappointed state of deep thought. He knew his brother Sartravius had given off some destructive vibes, but he did not expect him to act on them! The snake shook its head and let out a sigh, turning to inspect the damages to his impervious ship.
Perhaps it was the heat of the sun against the bare rocks playing tricks of illusion, perhaps the stress had made the god a bit mad, but, unequivocally, there was a figure in the horizon, and not any figure, but the silhouette of a ship. Shengshi poked at a somewhat scraped plank casually as he shot the horizon a glance. Had Asceal made some sort of mirage creature? He slithered away from the immediate vicinity of the ship and gave the distant object a friendly wave of a clawed hand.
To his surprise, the figure slowed down and then started to sail in a curve, changing its route to go towards Shengshi. As it got close, it became clear it was an actual ship, hovering over the sea of rocks, raising dust as it went by. Out of courtesy, it became a far smaller vessel, a simple barge, and rose up in the air as to not throw a dust cloud towards the god. Shengshi did not recognize the vessel, but he felt a familiar presence aboard - not one he had interacted with before, granted, but any sibling of his was always a good sight. The snake leaned back on his tail and bowed as deep as he could forward.
“It is a most fantastic joy to finally meet you face to face…” The snake looked up with a grin. “... Dearest sister Urhu.” The boat slowly hovered down until it was easy for Urhu to look out of it, the wanderer jumping down to meet Shengshi face to face. She was not too good with graciousness. ”Oh… hey Shengshi. Nice to meet you too.” she looked to the side for a moment, and then back to the god. ”Cool ship, but you look a bit stranded.” Shengshi chuckled sheepishly and looked towards the top of the castle aboard the ship, which peaked at a height almost ten times his own.
“Yes, it would seem my beautiful castle has indeed arrived upon a… Most unexpected of predicaments.” The snake twisted his long, black left whisker. “Furthermore, I am afraid I cannot dislodge this colossal work of art on my own - I am much too weak right now.” He gave a gentle, saddened sigh.
The wanderer tilted her head before nodding. ”Is that so? Is the hull damaged? I got some spare wood and a workshop here.” she said pointing towards her small boat. ”Oh, and if I made a… uhm… crater, do you think you could fill it with water or are you too tired?”
Shengshi looked at Urhu, straightened himself up and rolled his shoulder. He clenched and unclenched his fists and looked first back up at the ship before looking at the ground.
“I think I have another idea,” Shengshi said. He slithered back a few tail lengths and lifted his arms into the air.
“Servants! Come! You master requires your service!” he boomed. A moment passed, followed by several streams, thick and thin, flowing down the side of the hull and forming a colossal flat whirlpool on the ground before the two gods. The water ran and jumped through the cracks and crevices in the stone ground to remain as evenly distributed as possible. Shengshi smiled and looked over at Urhu.
“Watch this. Servants! Bring my ship to the nearest shore, please!” The whirlpool shot out a single, shallow river that quickly made an attempt to dive underneath the ship and push it away. However, the terrain proved to make such an endeavour somewhat inconvenient. Shengshi deflated somewhat.
The wandering goddess chuckled softly before placing a hand on the shoulder of the other god. ”The nearest coast is quite far, you are pretty much in the middle of this continent. Your poor servants would have to overwork for entire days to make this trip.” the goddess of travel told. Shengshi hissed sourly to himself. This was turning out to not be such an amazing day after all. He raised a hand once more and the streams soared back up along the hull before crashing onto the deck in a distant splash.
“What did you say your plan was again, sister?” Shengshi inquired.
”Come over, I will show you.” she said, extending a hand so she could help the fellow deity into her ship. Shengshi took the hand with a smile and slithered aboard. When that happened, the goddess took the ship’s wheel and made it float a bit higher in the air, then, in the very front of their eyes, it started to grow larger, going from a small boat fit for a crew of three to a massive narrow ship.
Having not done much since she arrived, the goddess was full of vitality and divine strength, casually raising her hand and raising the land around Jiangzhou, making it so the palace stood in the middle of an empty lake. ”I can take your ship back to the coast, the difficult bit is getting it into Nyeothay Tag’s deck without damaging either ship. Thus the lake.” Shengshi was certain the ship could not be harmed, but then again, a divine object such as Nyeothay Tag could potentially damage the oiled mahogany planks of the hull. Shengshi gave Urhu a nod.
“I will see what I can do.” The snake thus slithered over to the edge of the deck and looked down. He had not actually seen the Jiangzhou from above, and seeing it, he thought the green roof tiles may have been a poor design choice to go with the dark brown mahogany and gold dragons. He would have to change that at a later date. Regardless, he clapped his hands together and a globule of fresh water shot up into the air from the deck of the Jiangzhou, flew into the sky and landed at his tail. The globule proceeded to zoom around the god in circles. Shengshi gave it an authoritative stare and pointed at the empty lake beneath his castle boat.
“Go - bring water to that thirsting soil.” The globule spun around him once more and hopped off into the thin air. As it fell, Shengshi moved his pointing finger to the globule, and it quickly grew considerably in size. In but the blink of an eye, the globule contained enough water to fill the very bottom of the lake - possibly just enough to lift the Jiangzhou off the bedrock.
“If it is not enough, I can do a little more, but it will require the sacrifice of more servants,” Shengshi admitted with a sigh. The wanderer looked at him with somewhat worried eyes, looking over the water and sighing, she feared accidentally damaging either her or his ship, so she had to think of an alternative.
”I have braved a few storms while crossing this continent, why don’t we wait for one? When it comes, it will raise the water level, therefore making it easier for me to maneuver my ship.” she told. The snake hung his head and sighed.
“It would simply be horrible to just leave my exquisite home behind, though,” he said with a quivering lower lip. Urhu shook her head. ”We could simply wait inside your palace, no?” The snake wiped away a serpentine tear and looked down.
“It would indeed be a terrible waste to not show you around inside.” The sob was immediately replaced with a grin. “Yes, yes! Let us head inside! I actually have such an exciting drink for you to sample!”
The goddess answered with a grin of her own. ”A drink eh? Now that sounds quite nice.” she would make Nyeothay Tag small again and sail down, leaving it to float in the air by the side of the palace. Shengshi hopped onto the deck of the palace ship and extended a hand for Urhu to grab so he could gracefully help her descend. She took the hand and hopped down, she pondered for a moment about how that skip had made her go from host to guest.
“Right this way, dearest sister,” the snake said and beckoned her along as he slithered towards the gilded and bejeweled, carven mahogany gates of the castle.
Upon opening the gates, the gods were greeted by a long hallway with walls draped in lunar-white paper. On the left-hand side, part of the wall was covered in characters that made up what appeared to be clauses and phrases. However, there were no such writings on the opposite wall. By the characters furthest away, on the floor, laid a calligraphy set. Shengshi chuckled sheepishly.
“Oh my~... I had completely forgotten about that! Truly, pardon the mess. It is still very much a work in progress.” He grinned at Urhu and went down the hallway. “Feel free to take in the sights along the way.” The hallway was lit partially with the natural light outside and partially by red paper lanterns hanging from the walls above the white paper. Sometimes, a table with plates of fruit, vegetables and various sauces would pop up along the wall, generously offering their bounty to the hungry bypasser. Shengshi snatched for himself a juicy date and bit into it, through the stone and all.
Urhu would take a few samples, grapes, tangerine, apples, it was all quite delicious and complimented well the looks of the beautiful palace into a full pleasant experience. Her siblings had some quite beautiful and elegant homes, yet, for her, the simple rustic comfort of Nyeothay Tag was the only thing she could see as a home of her own. There was another door up ahead, even more beautiful than the last, where even the spaces between the lines in the woodwork were made of gold, making an organic display of art across the dark wooden door. The door handles were made of polished green jade, which Shengshi again thought did not exactly fit the surrounding colours. He shook the thought off and swung the doors open to reveal the feast hall.
A gilded wooden railing stretched across the floor in the front. Upon further inspection, it was revealed that the railing bordered a sudden fifty foot drop. Down below, tables and chairs in all sizes filled a huge, marble-floored room. The upper floors rested on amber pillars carved to look like lizardskin. The centre of the hall below was room to a massive table of ever-changing dishes and drinks that were being switched out every minute. At the far end of the feast hall, there was a golden table with twenty-four differently sized chairs and a crimson tablecloth. The entire room was lit with a colossal chandelier made up of red paper lanterns, all of which were covered in poetry.
“Right this way,” the snake said and descended a huge flight of stairs. Urhu nodded, a bit awestruck by the sheer opulence of the sight in front of her, Shengshi was a god who enjoyed the fine joys of life, but both of them went for completely different approaches on how to achieve such things. It also seemed they both had a taste for space bending ships, albeit the interior of Nyeothay Tag was dwarfed by Jiangzhou, despite the former being a larger vessel when not transformed.
The wanderer walked among the chairs and found her own with ease, despite not being a goddess with a particularly out of the ordinary body, it seemed the chairs were not only tailored for body types, but also for personal tastes. ”You have a pretty great place, Shengshi.” she told in a very casual tone.
The snake chuckled. “Only the finest for a god and his siblings. On my own honour and name, I shall one day make this ship more radiantly beautiful than that fancy orb they put in the sky. What did they call that, anyway?”
The goddess sneered ”The Sun, I think. I mean, one is fine, I guess, too extravagant but hey, it helps the plants go big. But can you believe they wanted to make a second, even brighter one?”
Shengshi demeanour betrayed a low scoff. “By the blessed Architect, with all due respect for them, it is like they do not even recognise the rest of us who will have to look at that thing. Two might have even been detrimental to those plants. Hmph.” Shengshi rolled his eyes discreetly, but quickened to when he saw the door ahead.
“Ah, at last. Please, come in.” Shengshi unlocked the unusually locked and certainly unusually bland steel door. The doors swung open to reveal mountains upon mountains of stacked, barrel-sized pots, all labelled with the same character. Shengshi pointed at one of the closer pots.
“You see this? I call this ‘wine’! A fantastic invention that came to me as a sign from god-... Or well, as sign from us, I suppose?” The snake chuckled and removed the cover from the pot. The room immediately filled with a powerful, almost choking odour - borderline repelling to even divine nostrils. The snake grabbed two small cups from a nearby shelf and filled both, offering one to Urhu.
The goddess sniffed the drink for a bit, bobbing her head back a bit surprised with how strong it smelled, she was almost tempted to use her divine abilities to perceive the taste, but that was just boring. She took a sip and took a moment to feel the taste in her mouth. ”Whoa… bitter. But also sour? Strong taste… kinda weird really.” There was a question about context there, her words could be taken as a complaint, but the truth would be clear once she took the cup and drank all of the remaining wine at once. ”Hah! Makes me feel warm…” she added. ”Great stuff.” Shengshi downed his own cup and grinned.
“Is that so? I am so happy to hear that, dearest sister! I believe this one was made with…” Shengshi dipped down to instead the characters underneath the symbol for alcohol. “... Lychee, yes! A wonderful fruit, that one. Full of all kinds of sugars. Here, have another!” Shengshi almost forcefully snatched Urhu’s cup and gave her a refill. He naturally filled his own cup, as well.
The goddess didn’t take offense to that, on the contrary, she was more than eager to have more the wine. ”This also makes me feel a bit light, kinda like when I am in a hot bath… Oh, do you have a bath in this ship? I had to break my head when I was thinking about how to fit one in Nyeothay Tag, but in the end, I managed to make one… then a few more.”
Shengshi snapped his fingers. “Servants! The lady demands a hot bath!” Immediately, there was a ruckus coming from the kitchens as a flood of water flushed out through the doors across the feast hall and up the stairs.
“Please, follow me,” Shengshi said, bring another two pots for the journey. The two gods headed up the flight until they reached the floor just above the feast hall. The room above the wine storage was revealed to be a bathhouse, now flushed with steam and the smell of herbs and incense. The centre of the bathhouse was home to a huge bathtub filled with herbal waters. The surrounding boilers all had pipes and channels that lead into the main tub.
”Oh, this is pretty great, I have a similar one in my garden, albeit it is far smaller.” she said, stepping closer to the water and sniffing a bit, before letting out a relaxed sigh. ”Great selections of herbs and incense, a less skilled person might oversaturate or underuse, but you and your servants know the exact balance.”
The goddess quickly undressed, keeping only the wine-filled cup on her hand, before she entered the waters. ”Balance… I guess that is the key, you know?” she said, thinking back at the topic of the two suns that they had touched earlier. It was a rough and sudden transition, influenced by the wine. ”That is the thing Asceal and her friends miss.” Shengshi wrapped his long hair up in a towel and slithered into the enormous tub. He snapped his fingers and a globule of water zoomed by with more wine, this time served in a fine porcelain flask.
“Indeed… Balance is required in true prosperity - too little of the good, and you will never achieve prosperity; too much, however, and your prosperity comes at the cost of others. I would rather not backtalk our siblings for their somewhat more…” Shengshi took another drink and a water globule zoomed over to refill his cup, standing still just long enough to pop in a spectacle of water and force. It reformed just in time to catch the falling wine flask, however, and zoomed off. “... But I see truth in your statement - there is a distinct lack of an understanding of balance among our kin.”
”I have no ill will towards them, I mean no harm, but I think its important to have… uh… a sense of criticism, right?” as she talked, she would air chop as if to highlight her point. ”I mean, like, being good is nice, I get it, its the right thing, but you also need, uh… an element of struggle, see? You have to be good but you cannot overprotect… It’s like a pond, you know? A still pond might look more welcoming than a raging river or the turbulent seas, but the unmoving pond will eventually putrefy and die, while the oceans and rives will go on, living and breathing through crashing waves.”
Shengshi took another drink, cringed at the flavour and shot his arms up into the air in applause. “Preach, dearest sister, preach! As the flow meets conflict, it overcomes them!” The snake had his cup refilled, had another drink and stopped mid-slurp, as if an idea just popped into his head - or was that the servant globule again? He was not certain.
“You know what thish world needsh?” Shengshi slurred. “More-a that-... That flow, y’know? Like-... Like somethin’ to remind the world itsh turnin’... Y’know… Like a river twistsh and turnsh, sh-... Sho must the world over time, or somethin’...?”
Urhu tilted her head and squinted her eyes, slowly going from a rested position leaning against the sides of the tub to leaning forward, hand on her chin. ”Wow… Shengshi… That is genial… Yeah! I should do that… My sphere is yet undefined, I could, like… dedicate it to the impermanence of all things and uh… the flow of change… or whatever.”
The snake had another drink. “Hhhokay… What’sh the mosht basic two elementsh that create…” He hiccuped. “... Flow?”
”The two elements that are companions to all ships. Water and Wind” the goddess took another sip of the wine. Shengshi punched the water in agreement. “Cuh-rrect! Now, I shay we make water ‘n wind command the flow o’ the world! Have days o’ wetnessh ‘n storms - have daysh o’ dryness ‘n still air!” Shengshi scratched his chin. He could not help but feel like someone was missing from the discussion, but decided to drown the thought with another swig.
The goddess had had similar ideas as he spoke, but she still swam a bit closer and placed a hand on the slithering god’s shoulder. ”Yeah… that is great stuff. You are very enlightened Shengshi!” she nodded for a moment, her face red thanks to the bath and alcohol. ”Remind everyone there is a time for everything. Like there is a time for light and dark, time for rain and a time for drought… oh... “ she suddenly stopped, the idea was really churning in her head now, more concepts flourishing as she spoke. After a moment looking to the side, she looked back straight into the fellow god’s eyes. ”What about a time of cold… and a time of warmth? Oh… or even… a time of blooming… and a time of wilting?”
Shengshi stared back into her eyes for a moment before punching the water once again. “Urhu! You’sh a geniush!” The snake rocketed to a standing position and immediately fell backwards out of the tub, his tail still inside, lazily flopping from side to side as the god gave a drunk cackle.
The goddess smiled at the compliment, nodding. ”Yep!” she said proudly.
“Yesh…” The god struggled once more, but did not manage to stand up. He lifted his cup up and a globule came over to fill it. He downed it immediately. “Life ‘n death… Harmony… ‘N the flow continues!”
Urhu moved out of the bath and sat at the border of the tub, filling her cup of wine as well before placing it close to Shengshi’s own cup. ”A toast! … To the flow of all things!” Shengshi clinked his cup against her weakly, only to find that it had not been refilled when he put it to his lips.
“What should we cullh thish… Concept?” he slurred. A water globule came over with the flask, which Shengshi snatched and used on his own to pour his drink.
That was a charged question, and the drunk goddess was left pondering deeply about it, she looked around and saw the stewing herbs that had been used for the bath, an idea blooming on her mind. ”It makes an otherwise dull unchanging world be filled with strong contrasting feelings, like spices and herbs on a meal… so… how about… season?”
“Who’s shneezing?” Shengshi said, utterly confused by the logical leap that had not actually taken place.
Urhu puffed her cheeks. ”Not sneeze! Its like the action, you know, when you go and… ahhh!” she had been impatiently rocking back and forth on the border where she was set, and this eventually came to the logical conclusion of her falling on her back into the bath. She was quick to rise up, spewing out some water and then sighing… before laughing. Shengshi, while unable to see what had transpired in the tub, joined the laughter.
The room Urhu woke up in the next morning, while severely lacking in the opulent flair that Shengshi had make clear he advocated for, was likely still much too fine for her tastes. Its itinerary consisted of a fine bed, a dresser, a carpet with Urhu’s divine logo upon it, and some of Shengshi’s poetry hanging on each side of the door. The walls were mahogany draped with clear, white paper, and the floor was a nice, golden shade of bamboo. Her mattress was dressed with silken sheets, complemented with small, puffed pillows stacked around the corners of the round bed. On the dresser by the wall laid her clothes, washed and scented with exquisite soaps.
The wanderer woke up with the feeling she had been hit in the head by Aelius’s Chariot, she could not deny though, the bed provided by the palace was quite comfortable. She slipped onto her clothes and blinked a bit as she saw the symbol she had been designing to represent her once Mortals came about in the carpet. She guessed that a lot of info had been shared by the Architect’s mind meld… or by the drunk night of carousing, she only remembered things well up to the whole ‘seasoning’ talk.
Awkwardly, she opened the adorned door and looked around the corridor, finding 6 other rooms, it was possible to notice they all were themed after a god, and the wanderer assumed there would be more of those, probably one for each deity. Shengshi was really impressive with his abilities as a host, Urhu guessed he had been the only god who took the architect’s info and looked at it for ways to accommodate and be nice to his siblings, instead of picking enemies and allies. A small water globule zoomed over to her feet, bringing with it a soaked note. It dropped it and zoomed off just as fast as it had appeared. The note was written in visibly shabby handwriting and read as follows:
Dearest sister. I am afraid I am in a bit of an awkward state at the moment, and as such cannot join you for breakfast. However, you are more than free to help yourself to anything in the feast hall. The servants are tasked to follow your every command, so do not be hesitant to ask them for whatever you would like.
If you have any questions or queries, I am in my chambers on the top floor of the Middle Spire.
All the best, Your brother Shengshi.
There was a time for many things, but there was no time in which Urhu would deny free food. After just one trip, she knew the paths of the elaborate palace quite well and was quick to move into the feast hall. The breakfast menu was as ever-changing as the dinner menu had been the day before, but the scents of freshly cooked millet porridge, buns stuffed with vegetables and weeds of all sorts and enough stir-fried rice to feed an army permeated the room.
With nobody around to look, Urhu dropped all sense of good manner and feasted upon the myriad of dishes being served, while she did pay close attention to the taste of the meals, she was also wolfing down on the buns and rice as if trying to prove she was indeed a sister to Anzillu the Abhorrent. The kitchens continued to provide the tables with more food as it was eventually eaten by the hungry goddess. Soon, the goddess finally stood up, stretching and patting her stomach, satisfied from that sort of hunger one only has when they are not the ones providing the food. She decided she wanted to speak with Shengshi again, but not before going back to Nyeothay Tag to gather a few things.
Of all the doors in the palace, the snake had evidently spent the most time refining his own chambers’. The usual mahogany had given away to pinkish rosewood, bejeweled with green jade flowers with golden petals and flanked by two giant, golden dragon statues with ruby eyes. The handles were shaped like miniature golden dragons, and there was a poem written on the door in golden characters.
The river lord rules; Soft in force and wise of mind; Prosperity comes.
It was a beautiful and delicate thing, Urhu almost felt inadequate when she was trying to open the door with a single finger as she was holding a large paper scroll and birdcages with both her hands.
The inside of Shengshi’s room was, in contrast, quite messy. The huge carpet on the floor with the river lord’s symbol was stained with several black spots of ink. Calligraphy kits laid all around, along with several empty porcelain cups - some of which laid shattered on the floor. The crimson silk drapes danced in the morning breeze, flickering the sunlight at the seven foot tall basket in the end of the room, from which a rasping snore rumbled through the room.
Urhu did not mind the mess, she was somewhat obsessive with keeping things well organized but even she had days where she would leave a misplaced boot or a glass cup out of its place. Announcing her entrance was the song of the caged birds she had captured in The Eye of Desolation, the wanderer hoping that would be enough to wake up the river god. The thunderous snore stopped after a few tweets. The basket quivered and shook before a black-haired, crimson-scaled and beige-skinned face peeked out of the top. Shengshi let out a quiet burp.
“Oof, do pardon me, dearest sister. Give me a second, will you?” The head descended again.
The goddess nodded at her brother’s word and turned around, giving Shengshi some privacy until he felt ready to present himself. After a minute or so, there was a quiet rustling sound behind Urhu, followed by some clinking porcelain and a quiet complaint, likely about a headache.
“Servants! An omelette - and the juice of cranberries and blueberries! Make it quick!” The snake then softened his tone. “You may turn around now, dearest sister.”
Urhu turned around, acting more gentle than usual as she held the caged birds on her arm. ”Good morning Shengshi.” she told before giggling. ”Seems like I was not the only one whose head was hit by Aelius’s Chariot yesterday.”
Shengshi chuckled sheepishly, the water globules storming through the door with his breakfast order.
“Aelius has a chariot now? How much did I actually miss when I was in Fengshui Fuyou?” He downed the glass of cranberry juice, grabbed his plate of food and his spoon and slithered over to his saloon table.
“Please, come sit.” He gestured to the spot on the floor next to him by the table. Urhu nodded and walked over, placing the cages on the floor and leaving the scroll on her lap. Shengshi eyed the objects.
“Say, what have you brought, dearest sister?” he asked, mouth full of eggs.
Urhu smiled. ”Well, these are some birds I captured while on a hunting trip in The Eye of Desolation… which is uh, an island on the other side of the world, it was created by a giant rock being thrown against the planet…” the goddess felt induced to add more information as she saw clear signs of confusion in her sibling’s face. ”Uhm. Yeah. We had some problems with some upper realm gods throwing around cosmic boulders, thankfully only one has hit Galbar.”
Shengshi choked on a bite of egg and drowned it with some blueberry juice. He grabbed a nearby handkerchief and patted his lips softly.
“Pardon me…” He cleared his throat. “That is truly unreasonable behaviour - already conflict is leading to destruction upon the world we have been tasked to bring creation to!” He grumbled angrily into his blueberry juice. He sighed. “While I agree with our sister Arae’s sentiment that family is to be loved regardless of actions… Such senselessness.” He shook his head and chowed down on another spoonful of omelette.
“However, let us not think of that - those are some beautiful birds you have brought!” He eyed the tweeting creatures with a most curious look. “What are they for, may I ask?”
”A gift.” she explained, looking back at the cages. ”While in The Eye I singled out the birds I found had the most pleasing song, initially I thought about keeping them in the greenhouse within my ship, however, since I live alone and without servants, it felt a bit cruel, even if food and water were provided… Furthermore, they often found ways to stray away from the garden and hunting songbirds through a non-euclidean environment is just not fun.” Shengshi grinned from horn to horn. “A gift? For me? By the blessed Architect, you are much too kind, my sweet, dearest sister Urhu!” The snake bowed his head deeply towards her. “I think I shall keep them here in my chamber - their song will make a beautiful call for me to wake up to in the morning.” The snake’s forked tongue jolted out as his grin turned into a softer smile. “They will surely inspire many years of music and poetry in this castle. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”
The goddess bowed back. ”I am glad you liked it, I am sure the birds will enjoy their stay as well.” She then picked up the scroll and placed it on the table. ”I would also like to propose a deal. The drink of yesterday, wine, was quite tasty, and I would like to stock Nyeothay Tag with a barrel of it. Would you like to trade it for this?”
She unveiled the scroll and revealed a map of the whole word, detailing even the most minute of landscapes and with easy to read topographic information on valleys and mountains, an aspect that would be particularly useful for a god who ruled over rivers. Shengshi eyed the paper and, in a split second, saw a thousand rivers sprout between the hills marked on the map. He looked back at Urhu.
“One barrel? You insult me, sister.” He grinned. “You shall have as many as your ship can carry.”
Urhu choked on nothing, as if the words had hit her like a rock. ”I think enough to fill a wall of my cellar is enough brother, you know, non-euclidean environment and all, we could run into paradox if we tried to fill it… But really, thank you so very much.”
“A wall and ten more, then,” Shengshi proclaimed stubbornly and stood up, totally reinvigorated. “I will have the servants load Nyeothay Tag with the very finest batches I have.” He took Urhu’s hand in his own and closed his other hand around it. “It is the least I can offer for your exquisite company and unforgettable kindness,” he added.
The goddess smiled. ”You were a great host, Shengshi, I will surely have you as the core example of how to treat a guest once there are mortals in this realm. Thank you for helping me to figure out what my influence on this world should be as well, I really needed the wine and a nice warm bath to clear my mind and also a friend to talk about my ideas with.”
Shengshi waved a dismissive hand. “It is a great honour to have you praise me as such, and an even greater one to be an example to your followers - one I accept with utmost humility.” He rolled up his tail and bent his torso down on the ground, kowtowing before the goddess. “I wish you all the best with your quest to bring these… Seasons to Galbar, and know that you are -always- welcome to stay here at any time.” He stood back up and smiled.
Urhu nodded but then remembered something, gasping. ”Oh right, don’t you want me to help with taking your palace to the coast? It seems raising the surrounding cliffs has also brought over some water sources, a few waterfalls have been filling the lake up since last night. I now have the room to maneuver Nyeothay Tag below Jiangzhsuspectedou.”
Shengshi shook his head and patted the map. “While I am humbled by your wish to help, I think I will use this opportunity to carve my own mark into this land, so to speak.” He winked playfully.
With a smirk, the goddess nodded. ”I kinda supected it. Well then, I need to get going and get to work on a few things myself. Good luck with your tasks, brother, I will see you soon.”
“And to you, dearest sister. I hope it is very soon, indeed.” The snake followed her to the deck, where they said goodbye one last time before the goddess boarded her ship.
- Shengshi finally crosses into Galbar just to find himself stuck in the middle of the land - By coincidence, Urhu was exploring the new continent and found her stranded sibling. - She says she can help, but she can’t just dive her own boat into the rock, so she raises up a ring of cliffs around it for it to be filled with water as a sort of raised lake. (reference) - Shengshi is too tired to fill it fully, Urhu proposes waiting out for the rains to fill it. - While waiting, she is invited to the boat palace, where the gods eat some food, drink some (a lot of) wine and then have a bath. - Urhu starts talking out about her ideas of flow and change, Shengshi helps her to brainstorm and, with a terrible pun to surpass Termite’s Mk2 ‘Iron - Irony’, the goddess decides she will create seasons. - Next morning both gods have a mean hangover. Urhu gifts songbirds from The Eye to Shengshi and then trades a topographic map for barrels of wine. - The map changes Shengshi’s objective, who decides to stay and shape the continent. While Urhu goes on her way.
2 FP used to create the raised lake (The Giant’s Bath) (2/5 landmark) Urhu - 13 FP - 0 MP
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