乙巳 004: 大寒

[singlemilletgrain]

[video broadcast]
Greetings again, Corsairs.

[As usual, following a bow, Shu addresses the video feed with perfect poise and elegance.]

After the... challenging events of the New Year's mission, I wish to call for some levity. In Yan, as the year changes, we visit the temples to have our fortunes told for the coming year. It is just for fun, of course. In Dahuang, I keep a place of worship to... [a faint pause] a Xian of agriculture, Shennong, and occasionally run the festivities.

Please come by. There will be traditional New Year's food, of course.

[If anyone has learned anything about Yan at this point, it is that they have Too Many Holiday Traditions and Too Much Food.]

[option 1: just for fun]
[Shu's doorway is vibrantly decorated in red and gold, and when she ushers you in, the most immediate sight is the table filled with plates and plates of food. Mostly dumplings, for dumplings are easiest for visitors, but also whole fish, noodle dishes, and sticky rice.

To the side, there is a little chest with two sets of burning incense at either side. Fortune seekers are invited to kneel, burn incense if they wish, pray for luck from whatever deity or the general karmic wheel of the universe, and then reach out for a container of what look like sticks. There is a little sign explaining this is the tradition of 'qiu qian,' beseeching insight from the gods.

One must ask a clear question, shake the container a few times, and pull out a stick.]

[option 2: the real thing]
[Shu sits at her 'priest's seat' and laughs lightly at the interpretation of the fortune received. Perhaps she sees something more ponderous in your eyes, for after a moment or two, she clasps her hands together and exhales lightly, bowing her head.

Her red pupils have constricted to tiny dots when she raises her head once more.]

...I could give you a better fortune, if you wish.

((If you pick option 2, Shu will either tell you in very vague prophetic terms something that may or may not happen in the future of your canon, something that happened in the past of your canon, or give you a random item that might be useful to you this year. If you pick option 1, it will be total nonsense.))

Comments

[singlemilletgrain]

[It was hard to forget the excited shouting.]

Not exactly. I wanted to know who to thank, so I looked up your information later with the other Corsairs on board the escape ship. You have my deepest gratitude.

[She takes the hand between her own and turns it palm up. Unsurprisingly, it is calloused and hard, the hands of a warrior. Shu's hands, dyed ochre-green, are cool and light as a spring breeze upon Kanna's finger tips.

Her initial words are characteristic of fortunes, vague enough to apply to almost anything.]

...A heart of blazing fire pulses strong. With every beat it seeks to quell its foe. A new companion, doubt, has settled close. Your choice has sunder'd all that you once knew.

[bearsperminute]

[She nods along as she listens. Vague as it is, it's accurate, and probably no more or less than what her interview might have revealed, or even looking up whatever propaganda play they made about the 'Red Demon' she styled herself as and connecting the dots.]

Yeah. It's been a rough few months.

[... Surely they didn't dissolve the Division over this? Even if she had to fight them, she still considers them friends.]

[singlemilletgrain]

Reunion, dreaded, desired, comes at the end of ten thousand li. Upon the promontory of godhood, the seeds of what were sown will flower, divide.

[There is a quiet hum in the air around them as Shu's voice becomes distant.]

The conflict ends; the demon dormant, rests. Beside her lie the remnants of the past. Whole or shattered, split or new, the burning heart shall herald what is come. Alack! Quicken'd steps lead to final grief. Heed - watchful lips shall know when truth to speak.

[After that, she falls into silence for an unbearably long period of time.]

[bearsperminute]

[Real shit, huh.]

[She sits with her thoughts about it for an equally unbearable long moment.]

So they're coming. One way or the other. Dad always said the scales balance eventually. Grandpa said Hel's reckoning can't be forestalled forever.

[She sighs.]

Guess I'd better start preparing, then.

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shu still seems to be spacing out, but as Kanna speaks, she blinks and looks up. Her expression is quite normal now, free of any preternatural suggestions.]

...They are doing well.

[She considers with a head slightly to one side, thinking about how to interpret the muddied lines of the river of time.]

She is... waiting for you in much the same way. You made the best choice possible.

[bearsperminute]

... Yeah, I'll bet.

[She considers how to breach the subject, and decides to leave the petard unexploded, for now-- lets the dread hang in the air.]

... Though, now that I think about it...

I don't suppose there's an Undead problem here, too? They've been cropping up all over, right? I know it's mostly the Church's problem, but...

[singlemilletgrain]

Not so much.

[As far as she can tell, there hasn't been anything of the kind cropping up in mission logs.]

I couldn't entirely understand. What is Undead, exactly?

[bearsperminute]

I'm gonna tell it like my grandpa told it to me, best I can remember, but I don't remember everything and I'm not an expert by any means.

[she takes a breath and starts--]

So. When a person dies, they're judged and eventually returned to the Currents, right? And the stuff that made them up returns to the cycle of life. An Undead goes the other way-- they escape the underworld to live again. This is bad, partly because living in the Underworld is supposed to... stagnate you, rot you, and partly because you separate yourself from the main cycle, you see? You lose the... The things.

Ugh. I was never much of a preacher...

[singlemilletgrain]

Ah.

[She nods in understanding.]

A hungry ghost. A spirit who returns from Diyu absent its yang. Reduced to an animalistic state, it thinks only of satiating its needs and preys upon the essence of the living to satisfy its hunger. Sometimes, the flesh, too.

Is that accurate? We have similar folk stories in Yan, though it seems you are saying this is more than a story.

[bearsperminute]

Yep. That's about right.

... And I should. We fought them, me and my division. One of a few measures the Empire's taken to keep it from burning the entire place down.

[singlemilletgrain]

How awful.

And this is in... another part of the Empire?

[She hasn't heard anything about this, but she supposes the Corsairs can't be expected to keep track of what is happening across all of Esthere.]

To such an extent that they threaten the general populace?

[bearsperminute]

[She nods.]

Slowly, bit by bit, but... in a lot of places.

Often, the Church will do something about it. Or mendicants. Or, well, us, or-- rather, that's what we became when it started being clear that was where we shone most.

[singlemilletgrain]

...Why does this feel like something we should be addressing sooner rather than later?

[She definitely doesn't think this is going to turn out well. ...Maybe she should go read the palms of some of these people in the Empire.]

So the group you were with -- you were specifically tasked with fighting off these creatures? And now they are continuing on without you.

[bearsperminute]

Yeah. They kinda have to.

Since I'm sure you know the Imperial stance on homosexuals.

Even rumors are enough, if it's from high enough nobles.

[ah.]

I, uh, cut ties kinda violently so it would seem like I was acting alone. Then there was the withdrawal, and after all that fighting, my Armor's had it.

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shu doesn't think too often about the topic given that she has no interest in it herself (and couldn't imagine why mortals cared so much about who was having relations with whom), but she has read about official policies of persecution.]

I understand. So you left to protect yourself and your comrades, and you can only hope that they continue on in this work.

Since it is necessary, I believe they have been left alone for the most part. But you are still concerned about the overall threat.

What do you think the Corsairs ought to do about it?

[bearsperminute]

Right now?

[There's a long pause.]

I don't know if there's anything we can do. No one knows why it's happening, and no one knows how it's spreading.

At least, no one who cares to tell the rank and file.

[Read: her.]

And without that information, well... Our forces are good, but they're not that good.

[singlemilletgrain]

Perhaps a note not to kill any knowledgeable members of the Empire when we overthrow them...

[It wouldn't do to win the war and then be eaten by Undead.]

And in the meantime, you are content with helping our efforts here?

[bearsperminute]

As much as I can. It sounds stupid now, but I joined up to help people and test my skills, you know?

[Kanna has stolen so much food during this dumb conversation, and is only now getting to the eating of it.]

And now, it... actually does feel like I'm helping? It's hard to put a finger on it.

I dunno, I was never the biggest thinker.

[singlemilletgrain]

We greatly appreciate your presence. It is a rare thing to find someone with such extensive experience piloting Armors. I hope you do not feel like you are not using your time well here.

[when, you know, there are Undead monstrosities feeding on the land]

You have of course been helpful.

[Shu will not comment on the eating, apart from reaching over with some chopsticks and grabbing more things to put on Kanna's plate.]

[bearsperminute]

I mean. ... Now I have to wonder if it would be better. but... I don't think it would be. To do that, they'd have to be a different Empire, and we'd have to be different people.

Besides. I'm sure it'll come up eventually. I'll just punch 'em then, right?

[Kanna flashes a thumbs up for the food.]

[singlemilletgrain]

Ah.

[A slight cough.]

Certainly. Is that how you dealt with them before? There is no special protocol for destroying the Undead?

[bearsperminute]

Oh. Right. Well. Not strictly. here--

[She raises a fist, and it begins to glow faintly with Ether. It's... Earthy? Earthy, is probably the best way to put it, a golden color that feels stable and strong.]

It's a matter of purifying. So... Having a lot of energy to throw around helps.

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shu blinks in faint surprise and raises her hand toward the display. Without physically contacting Kanna's fist, she seems to explore the sensation of the ether.]

Purification of their spirits?

Is this a ritual to return them to the earth?

[bearsperminute]

For me, yeah.

[She hums.]

I could teach you the knack, but it seems you're pretty content to work on feeding people and getting them where they need to go, right?

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shu laughs a little self-deprecatingly.]

That is indeed my preference and the source of much of my happiness.

However... in truth, I do have an extensive background in something similar. ...In my world, we have a sort of demon, you see. We call them Collapsals. Always, they try to encroach upon my homeland. They have done so for many, many years.