EVENT #07: ASPHODEL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

[vivalamods]

EVENT #07: ASPHODEL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT PLANNING

The Corsairs have been mobilized and preparations are underway. As negotiators are dispatched to Vindess to prepare for the evacuation under Imperial noses, the crafters and suppliers set to work, preparing the new settlement and whatever airships can be spared for the evacuation. Some Corsairs have even taken it upon themselves to build or “liberate” more airships for the effort.

As always, when the goal is certain the Corsairs move as one. Together, they will see Asphodel completed. All hands are needed, the question is, where do you lend yours?

MISSIONS

Prepare Asphodel: Get the new settlement of Asphodel up and running to receive the refugees from Vindess.
Priority: Critical
Challenges: Corsairs will need to keep the settlement hidden while also making suitable housing and preparing farms and other amenities to sustain life. It will require a large amount of excavation to get in order, as well as construction of homes, furniture, and other facilities. The work will be backbreaking and the timetable is extremely aggressive.

Prepare Citizens for Evacuation: As the citizens of Vindess toil under Imperial lockdown, the Corsairs must prepare the entire population for evacuation.
Priority: Critical
Recommended Roles: Negotiators and Infiltrators
Challenges: Corsairs will need to convince the entire population to evacuate. There are a number of methods that can be employed, while many are going to be reluctant the Imperial crackdown has shaken the settlement and unease is high. There is evidence within the Imperial offices that Infiltrators can recover that show mass executions with lists of “dissidents” have been scheduled for April which the Corsairs might make use of if they choose to investigate. Other options include capturing potential dissidents and taking the entire willing population while executing or taking prisoner loyalists, or other methods the Corsairs determine for themselves to make this happen.


Acquire Airships: The Corsairs always need more airships, and moving an entire population will require heavy effort and can use as many ships as can be mustered.
Priority: Optional
Recommended Roles: All
Challenges: The Corsairs don’t have the major Ether Stones that serve as the airship engines and will need to either capture or salvage resources to increase the size of their fleet. While the Corsairs have been investigating airships that don’t require Ether stones, that research is still a distant dream, but some Corsairs may want to spend some time pushing that investigation along to see if they can make it a reality sooner rather than later.

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Comments

[straykitty]

"It seemed like you were up to something interesting, so I thought I'd take a look. Seeing a harvest god at work is a rare experience, no?"

Her smile is quite mischievous.

[singlemilletgrain]

"Not so much. I have been here all day and night since I arrived, after all."

Shu does not bother to deny anything.

"Here. Help me."

And Shu will smoothly step on the blade of a hoe to bring it upright, handing it to the girl.

"Stay and I shall tell you a story."

[straykitty]

"Of course."

Renne takes up the hoe with ease. "Where would you like me? I would love to hear your stories."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Here." She gestures for Renne to follow to the southern half of the field. "We shall put the seeds in tomorrow."

Shu herself has picked up a tined cultivator from somewhere.

"Once, long long ago, there was a creature who knew little of the world. It came into being at a difficult time. The people of the land had just concluded a terrible war against great beasts that left them in poverty and hunger. To the north lay a frigid wasteland inhabited by devils. To the south was the capital of the kingdom, ruled by great men and women who did not spare a glance for the peasantry toiling in the soil. And so this creature found itself among the poor and the hungry."

[straykitty]

"Very well."

Renne whirls the hoe in her hand, adjusting to the weight before setting to work. She's clearly not used to the implement, but well accustomed to striking things with tools. Surely just tools. She nods as she listens with interest.

[singlemilletgrain]

Thunk.

Shu swings the hoe overhead in an arc. Though her movements are almost lazy, she is exerting far too much effort for the simple act of swinging a hoe.

Thunk.

It seems more as if she is making a point.

Thunk.

Though what that point is, who knows?

"...The creature wandered for a long time. There was nothing to see but dirt. No one to speak to but the miserable creatures crawling upon the dirt. It thought... what fools they were, to live such wretched lives. Until one day, it came across a farmer."

Thunk.

"The farmer was kind to the creature. She thought it a lost child. But its behavior was odd, and in jest, she wondered if it was a Xian, a being of legend who dwelt in the firmaments. Laughingly, she called upon the Xian to show its power by causing the crops to grow."

Thunk.

"It did. This was nothing for the Xian, but for this poor farmer, it was everything. And yet, what do you think she said next?"

[straykitty]

Renne ponders for a moment.

"I would think something about not overly relying on such a power, or perhaps demanding something in return."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Hm? ...Ah, no. I meant the farmer." Shu shakes her head slightly. "Although you were quite correct, after all. The farmer, overwhelmed at this show of power, immediately said that the Xian must not do that again. For if she grew to rely on such power, why... what would happen when the Xian inevitably left? What would happen to the people if they forgot how to make the land fertile themselves?"

Thunk.

"The Xian had met many people in its travels. This was the first time it had met a human who had not demanded more. Intrigued, it decided that it would stay a little longer."

Thunk.

"Months passed. One day, it said to the farmer: why do you stay in such a hard place? Once, I was tall as a mountain and my back was as broad as this whole land. Then, I looked out and I saw lush fields, verdant valleys where food grew in abundance. I could take you there in the blink of an eye. You can guess, I am sure, what she responded."

[straykitty]

Renne smiled a little. "I would imagine something like not wanting such a bounty that she hadn't earned."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Similar. She said: how would she ever return to her home after experiencing such a place? And when the Xian asked why she would want to go home, she said: who would help feed her neighbors?"

Shu shakes her head.

"Ah! What a person. A human who lived such a pure and blameless life. And so the Xian stayed even longer. Was this what it meant to be human? What did the farmer intend with these meaningless and pointless principles? It was unfathomable."

[straykitty]

"I take it then that the Xian dwells apart, or has no peers? Humans draw our strength from community, after all. Or at least that's what I've been told."

[singlemilletgrain]

Shu shakes her head slightly.

"Xian do not have an existence in the way that you or I understand. Though they are conscious beings, they are also immutable forces. It is like asking if the stars have a community or the continents. This Xian, you see, had taken on human form for unusual reasons."

And she smiles.

"Do not be so quick to eschew such connections. I believe you had quite a few visitors in the last few weeks."

[straykitty]

"A god among men then. We have had such things in the past, although our gods seem quite a bit more grounded."

Renne returns Shu's smile with a somewhat tired look.

"It's not that I eschew them, but that I am unused to them. And in truth, I don't know that I deserve them. Understand, my past is complicated, and stained in the blood of many a Corsair. That I can even be here at all, much less be afforded a chance to study and learn is more than one such as I deserve."

[singlemilletgrain]

Shu hums slightly in thought as the cultivator sinks into the earth once more.

"May I offer a thought?" She is going to, even if Renne says no. "I believe that it is the prerogative of others to decide if you are worthy of their companionship. That is the fundamental basis of a relationship. I do not know if you have the right to decide on their behalf."

[straykitty]

"Oh, trust me, I know. That was impressed upon me rather doggedly, but it still surprises me."

It sounds like her siblings had quite the time convincing her, if nothing else.

[singlemilletgrain]

"I expected as much. But it cannot hurt to reinforce the message."

Thunk.

"And so... to conclude the story. At the end of many long years, it was time at last to part. For the Xian, it was the blink of an eye. For the farmer, old and frail... it was the end of a lifetime. They had lived together, dined together, farmed together. And so by living as a human for these decades, the Xian came to understand a little bit of humanity.

"In those final days, the old farmer asked her companion a favor. She said, when I am gone, our dream will die. That everyone the world over never knows hunger. There will be no one to feed my neighbors. There will be no one to pass down my knowledge - the movement of the seasons, the breeding of the crops. Please, stay here and watch over the people in my stead.

"And the Xian said, you told me never to use my powers for fear they would rely on me. And now you wish me to care for them for the rest of eternity?

"She replied, no. I don't want you to be their saint. Just live here, as a human. Teach the children the farming methods we developed. Pass down our knowledge. And one day, live to see our dream become reality."

Thunk.

Shu looks up at Renne with a smile.

"Well? That is the end of the tale. What do you think? Do you think the Xian carried on the farmer's wishes, burdening itself with a human life? Or do you think the spirit could not do such a thing?"

[straykitty]

Renne smiles a bit as she too, works the land.

"I don't. I can't believe such a being would burden itself with a human life, having gained but a sliver of understanding. Although... I know some fools who might do something similar if given a choice, so I suppose I'm not one to talk."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Indeed. It would be a fool who would make such a choice."

Shu shakes her head pityingly.

"And some would say the farmer was a fool as well. What good was it to care for the others in the barren lands? She did not know them. She did not gain anything by helping them. And yet she died with them on her lips."

Thunk.

"Just an inconsiderate fool."

With a smile, Shu gestures back at the dirt that she has upturned. There is now a visible pattern in the design she made. It looks like this:

神 農

"There is an epilogue to this story. To this day in Yan, the story is told of Shen Nong, the Divine Farmer, who saved all of Yan from starvation with her wisdom. She died searching for the fabled Shen Gu, the Heavenly Grain that could prosper under all conditions. To this day, her teachings are what guide the agricultural practices of Yan. As to whether this Xian existed or whether this is a simple fairy tale... None can say.

"So? Did you find this educational?"

[straykitty]

"It was certainly fascinating. To think, such stories could exist from other cultures and worlds. It makes me long for what we have lost."

Renne grins a bit. "That said I am inclined to question. This Divine Farmer, would there be any who claim her favor or heritage?"

[singlemilletgrain]

Shu smiles enigmatically.

“No, not at all. Shennong died without a family or heir. We cannot say how her legend lived on. Of course, the tales have likely been exaggerated over time, but it is a wonder that we have any records at all of her life. Her real name has been forgotten as well, for this was all over one thousand years in the past.

“Nowadays, we have shrines to her. I maintain a statue of Shennong in my home of Dahuang. But though she seems to be gifted with divine forethought, what the people are forgetting is that she was simply a normal human being who believed that she could make a difference.”

[straykitty]

Renne considers for a moment.

"Interesting. I would have imagined such a figure would be used to deify a ruling class, although it seems she has instead become an object of worship in her own right. Still a fairly predictable reaction, I suppose."

[singlemilletgrain]

"The rulers of Yan never had any interest in Shennong. She was very much a saint of the common people. By the time her teachings spread across Yan, her fame was such that she was almost considered a Xian in her own right. At that point, they saw that her wisdom would produce prosperity, and they were more than happy to allow her figure to be worshipped, if it would boost crop production."

She shakes her head a bit.

"And the rulers of Yan are... generally considerate of their people. You who labor under the Empire perhaps have never had that experience."

[straykitty]

Renne ponders the words for a few moments before she responds.

"I believe there are people like that amongst the serfs, those who might bring great innovation and truly care for their neighbors, without any hope of gain. Even the Empire cannot grind such beliefs away, especially in those held as so much lesser that they are beneath notice."

sorry for the enormous delay!

[singlemilletgrain]

"That is the power of a collective." Shu nods in agreement. "Where a people sow the beliefs of a community based society, there is little that they cannot withstand. Together, the peasantry of Yan persisted for over a thousand years. Now, that region, Dahuang, is the breadbasket of all of Terra."

"...But perhaps that is enough of old tales for tonight. Come another night and I shall tell you another story. For now, you should rest."