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

[purplexing]

Oh...

[He listens quietly as he works a bit slower on his plate. Maybe he's finally reaching his limit. And maybe it's a bit of other things too.]

...I guess...

[He doesn't sound 100% sold on that. But then he still feels like he's very much floating along with whatever currents the Corsairs stir up, doing whatever it takes not to drown.]

[singlemilletgrain]

[Her smile is understanding as she quietly pours him some tea. Liquids facilitate further digestion.]

There is always value in taking the time to understand who you are and what you want separate from your family or companions. You may not think so at the moment, but... you have grown and changed in ways that would not be possible otherwise.

...Obviously, it is not a good thing that you have been separated from those you love. But my brother returned to Dahuang, perhaps a week before I came to this land. I was stunned at the person he had become. ...And proud.

I am sure your family will feel the same.

[purplexing]

[That's something he supposes he can't deny. There's been some great opportunity that he knows he would have probably never had if he never left home. He's just not so sure he would have willingly paid such a price had he known it.

...then again, he knows he'd never be satisfied with just the scraps of whatever they could pick from what fell off the Empire's table.

He picks up the tea with a soft "thank you" before trying a few sips to test the temperature. A cautious smile touches his lips as he thinks of how a homecoming would be. Would his father be proud of him? Or upset that he'd gotten caught? Both, maybe, but Donnie really hoped for the first.]

I hope you're right.

[singlemilletgrain]

I am sure I'm right.

[Shu smiles -- then her eyes flicker briefly to the upper left as she seems to think of something. As Donnie quietly sips at his tea, she slips away from the table and retrieves the canister of qian sticks from the little shrine.

He seems to be done eating, anyhow.]

Here.

Take one.

[purplexing]

[Inwardly he braces himself for more food, but he's somewhat relieved that it isn't.

Ah, but instead it's this thing. He eyes it like it might bite him before leaning forward to pick out a stick.]

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shake shake shake. The stick that comes out is marked #101... which is a bit weird, because the book of prophecy only goes up to 100.

Oh wait. There it is. On the back of the last page in small, neat text. If it looks like someone squeezed this one into the book in pen instead of dignified inkbrush at the very last minute, that's because that's exactly what happened.]

This year's lucky creature: the Green Lung Dragon. Always listen to everything she says no matter what. Also she is right about everything.

[Looking over his shoulder, Shu nods sagely.]

Ahhhhhh.

The wisdom of the gods is powerful, indeed. We must be sure not to spurn such a gift.

[purplexing]

[Squint.]

....

This thing is rigged.

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shu ignores him and continues laying it on a bit thick.]

Glory be upon thee, blessed divine oracle, for thy inspired wisdom. We offer our prayers upon thee and promise to abide by thy guidance.

Especially the young one.

[purplexing]

.......

[singlemilletgrain]

Donnie, you must offer thanks. [She pokes him in the cheek.] Thus saith the Green Lung Dragon.

[purplexing]

Ow.

Why a "lung" dragon?

[He puffs his cheeks out in a pouted sigh, rolling his eyes. Okay fiiiiine.]

....thank you for...whatever that was.

[singlemilletgrain]

[yaaaaaaaaay

Shu stifles something that is somewhere between a snort and a chuckle and ends up choking slightly on her spittle instead. She probably deserves it.]

Ahem.

'Lung.' [She corrects his pronunciation.] A Yanese Dragon. We differ from the Dracos and Vouivre of Londinium.

((aaand to bed))

[purplexing]

[Donnie smirks a liiiittle bit at that, hiding it behind a gulp of tea. It has reached a gulpable temperature so therefore there seems no need to sip it.]

Oh, got it. Do you change into a dragon form, or have you always been more humanoid?

((o/))

[singlemilletgrain]

[Her eyebrows shoot up, one of very few times Donnie has seen her taken off guard. But her expression relaxes into a smile soon enough. She almost seems... embarrassed.]

You are the smart one.

[And because she doesn't wish to lie to someone with whom she has grown quite close -- ]

...Yes. I have a dragon form. But it is not like yours. There is nothing humanoid or anthropomorphic about it.

Your appearance is not unusual in Terra, by the way. There are plenty of Terrans who present with more bestial features.

[purplexing]

Wow...

[He doesn't know what there is to be embarrassed about. Or maybe that's not something she wants everyone to know? Still, he can't help but look briefly starry-eyed at that. Of course he has to wonder what that would look like.]

Oh, really? I know there are lots of different peoples here who don't look completely human but I haven't seen many Turtlekin specifically. My guess is that they've just learned to stay more hidden and prefer places closer to the water.

[singlemilletgrain]

[She certainly would prefer it not to be public knowledge. It is unlikely that she will ever shift unless some sort of utter disaster strikes, so Donnie might have to use his imagination here.

Shu evinces a more troubled expression as he explains how he has met very few of his kind.]

Your race -- the Petram, we call them in my world. There are very few of them remaining. They had a great, ancient civilization once, but they seem to have vanished into the lost mists.

Even I don't know what happened to them.

-- Ah, it's not that they're extinct or anything, it's only... rare.

[purplexing]

[Not that he expects her to go showing off such a form randomly anyway, so at the very least he doesn't seem disappointed that nothing more is offered in that regard. He gulps down the rest of his tea.]

Lost mists? But...you've met some?

I think...there are dragons here but they're rare too. I read somewhere that the Empire tried wiping them out. So now they hide.

[singlemilletgrain]

Yes, there is a Petram with Rhodes Island, the organization I contract for. She is, ah...

[...A total airhead and usually not sure where she is, what's happening, or who she's talking to? But Shu doesn't really like to insult people, so.]

A very excitable girl.

Renne explained the dragon situation to me last month. Not that I am remotely biased, but I do think the dragons would likely make better rulers than whatever the Empire deems to be 'rule.' I do wonder if we might seek their aid at some point.

...What did you hear of the time before the Empire, growing up?

[purplexing]

[He tilts his head at that. What's with that pause, Shu.]

Hm. I guess it wouldn't be so strange to do so. I doubt any remaining dragons would have any love for the Empire. The problem would really be to find them. Or maybe they'll find us.

...I never really heard anything about 'before the Empire.' I hardly knew anything about the Empire in general. Dad didn't really say much about whatever he might've known about it. And I suspect he didn't really know a whole lot about how things might've been before it. He's old but not that old.

[singlemilletgrain]

[Look, the first thing Cuora said when she first met Shu was 'where am I,' which would be fine, if it also wasn't what she said when she second met Shu, and also third met, and also fifth met. The fourth was 'who am I,' which was very deeply concerning.]

How strange it is to have no history before one hundred years past. Many people I ask say the same. It is a tragedy, in many ways. And evidence of the ease with which one might distort and manipulate the truth.

The grand history of Yan is thousands of years old. To think that something like that might be reduced to whispers and fading memory.

It is all rather... illusory.

[...This is probably not the kind of thing Donnie cares about.]

Your father... I remember you said he fled with the four of you from the Empire.

[purplexing]

[Shu's patience is admirable; Donnie would have given up after the second or third time.]

It doesn't help that the Empire kind of keeps restrictions on books and things. And I don't know what they might teach in their schools, which I'm assuming they must have.

[Donnie's never heard of schools or academies until the Vault. He almost cried when he found out he could learn everything and anything they had available there. Of course, getting over the hurdles of learning how to read has certainly given him some more realistic perspectives on just how long it would take to get through every book in the library.]

Well...not exactly. He found us, but he didn't say where. He never really specified what he used to do, just that he decided to retire. My guess is that he used to fight in the coliseum. He's really good at fighting, he's the one who taught us.

[singlemilletgrain]

Was there any particular reason he wanted to train you? Simply self-preservation? Not many parents teach their children such things at that age.

[Perhaps he foresaw a future in which his children would do exactly what Donnie was up to now.]

If he was so tight-lipped about the Empire and fled from their rule, I feel that he would approve of your activities now. He wouldn't have raised you away from their influence otherwise.

[purplexing]

Maybe because it was the only thing he knew how to teach us?

[Look, as much as Donnie loves his dad, said dad-ing was the bare minimum. He is 80% sure that his father didn't put that much thought into his reasons.

...but still, the suggestion that maybe his father would approve of the things he's been doing now, warms him.]

I hope he would...

[singlemilletgrain]

...Oh.

I do not have any children, so I suppose I cannot speak to proper parenting techniques. [Shu does not approve.] So he was unable to educate you or train you in other life skills? How was it that you picked up an interest in machinery and other mechanical gadgets, then?

[And how did you learn anything whatsoever.]

[purplexing]

I mean...he taught us how to talk and look out for each other?

[That's something, right?]

Mostly we just ran around doing our own thing so long as we didn't go too far from home.

Me, I just liked learning about things. Plants and how my brothers would react if they ate or touched something funny. There was an old Ether-powered lamp we had, and when it stopped working no one complained when I tried taking it apart. Dad ended up getting a new one eventually, so I took that one apart to to figure out why the other one wasn't working. And then sometimes there'd be bits of things that would wash up on the beach, in retrospect, I'm assuming were remnants from battles out over the seas.

Dad found me some tools at some point and I never thought to ask where because I was just happy to have them.