The practice of the big sit was something that had been with them since long before Still Water’s time. Old stories spoke of the first sit being held between Stingy-Eye’s Horde and the Earth Emperor’s three strongest daughters, but that was almost certainly just a story; more likely, it was an evolution of perfectly mundane gatherings between ancient clans, that spread into a more general everyday thing over time.
But if you were comparing that mythical sit to the potentially-legendary one today, Still Water liked to think that he and his brothers were the dragons of the tale. He certainly hoped he wasn't Stingy-Eye; a shrewd negotiator, she was not.
The third foreigner, clad in the same fired-clay armour as the first two, looked to the campfire with a bemused expression on his face. Strange, that we use the same expressions. No other animal was so uncannily close. Perhaps their people shared ancestry? A diminutive clan having migrated to another world would be the answer to most of the disquieting questions rattling around in his head. But this isn’t the time for speculation. Ten Thousand Poisons would only be able to work things in their favour so long, so it was time to do his part.
The man Lu was sitting in the leader’s place across from himself, so he took the liberty of beginning even if the other two had yet to join.
“[Let us start with the introductions, then.]”
“[Honoured patriarch, as I said before, it would really be better for-]”
“[I am Still Water,]” he barreled through, “[Patriarch of three hundred years to the Clan of Horrible Swamp, and Idol to the Cult of Still Water. Father to Hides-Her-Stinger-Tail and Great Swamp Mother. Mine is the consumption of water, the lifeblood of all the world.]” He nodded to the next man in line, and the Warboss introduced himself.
“Warboss Pluck. I led the raids into Mountain territory for a while. I had a son, but he got ate by a leech.” A small pause, where Still Water gave him a nod. “Mine is the consumption of green matter. Uh, plants and stuff.” Then the next Warboss introduced himself, then the next.
While his subordinates were speaking, Lu was making an obvious attempt to tell his allies what to do, while still appearing to be paying attention to the speaker. It was mildly fascinating; Still Water could tell he was using some sort of technique, but whatever it was, it was completely odourless. He hadn’t smelled the communication technique either, though he could feel an energy tether connecting himself to the man. It was fine, like the fragile webbing of a pupa, and he was careful not to touch it lest it snap.
Before the last Warboss had finished speaking, the other two had taken their places to Lu’s left. The one who had come through with Lu was obviously distressed, starting at every little thing like a bleeding animal. But the other one was much more interesting; his posture was a nearly perfect mimicry of Still Water’s own, and when their eyes met he could feel a tiny spark of danger.
That’s one to watch.
Glitterwing finished his introduction, and Lu reluctantly took up his side of the sit.
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Thank Heaven that Lan knows how to use Telepathic Bond wordlessly. Though the man was a bundle of nerves, he was much more familiar with the spell than either Lu or Tai Sho. While Lu could have used illusions to communicate, the truth of the matter was… Better that he uses the qi, rather than me; he doesn’t have a rescue mission to go on afterward. While he had a small stash of replenishment pills, it was better to be as frugal as possible.
At least convincing Tai Sho to play along had been easy – surprisingly so, in fact. Which meant that the only thing they had to do now was stall. The clansmen were still introducing themselves – presumably; he wasn’t going to waste his limited qi supply on an extra six casts of Interpreter – so he took the opportunity to construct as many asides for his upcoming speech as possible. Without it being egregious, of course. Don’t want to sour the mood too much.
The native to his right stopped speaking, and Lu paused for effect before opening his mouth.
“[I am Lu, son of Shu. I am merely a humble inner disciple of the great Steadfast Heart Sect, sent here by our Patriarch Steadfast Heart. Though the entirely proper thing to do would be to wait for Elder White Knuckle to arrive…]” He sent a meaningful look Still Water’s way. “[…I get the feeling that you would like to hurry things along. To that end, I suppose I’ll have to describe his accomplishments for him, so that we can skip past all that after he arrives.]” The patriarch’s brows curled inwards, just slightly.
Just delay until someone with seniority shows up. No pressure! “[I would not say I know the man well on a personal level; how could I, when I am but one of a great many students? But every member of our sect could tell you of his conquest of the Redheart Demon Sect, which first caught the eye of our patriarch. Indeed, though it seems fantastic given the man’s current position, the great White Knuckle was once a wandering cultivator – you might say a lonesome one – who progressed all the way to the inner realms without any outside aid whatsoever. This occurred eight centuries ago…]”
Lan continued to feed him facts about the Elder, which Lu expanded into as long a narrative as he could manage. He obviously knew a few things; White Knuckle was a public figure of some renown, and the patriarch’s personal student. But for whatever reason the shy scholar seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of his life.
As the minutes stretched on as he went into meticulous detail about the person who should have been sitting in his spot, the warriors began trading glances. Doesn’t matter. They can’t even understand me anyway – only Still Water matters, really. And while the wrinkled old man looked increasingly consternated, it was obvious he had a lot more rope. I’m not doing anything other than following your traditions, patriarch. It isn’t my fault you decided to enter negotiations with an underling.
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Granny hadn’t felt this sort of sheer fatigue in years. Keeping a lone warrior lost in the swamp was child’s play, but while the rest of the humans could be considered to be in a sort of metaphorical mire, it wasn’t the kind that you could get lost in.
There were really only two true locations; the bit that came out in Knifefish Bog, and the similar bit that came out on their side. And actually it was just one location, stretched out in a way even she struggled to understand. So that was even harder!
If it was just keeping one or two going around in circles, she might have been able to keep it up for days. But Still Water wanted to talk to Lu alone, so she was doing what she could to twist the fate of over forty men simultaneously. She might be able to keep them away for another hour, but half that was more likely, and half that likelier still. Already she had let a few slip through, one through bad luck and another through the strength of his fate.
But she kept stringing them along, doing her part. To see something is to believe it, and even the tenuous reality of that strange in-between place had a little bit of give to work with; if the traveller was trying to go one way, they would take longer to go the other way. By existing inside it, they imparted some basic rules that were probably not there otherwise.
Squishy, slimy rules that were hard to get a hand around, but still rules.
But it couldn’t last forever; she only had so much power to give, so a few minutes before it would have all fallen apart anyway, she decided to give up.
Better to use what was left on something more useful.
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“[…And so the Black Cloak Group was annihilated. Ah, that particular cell, anyway.]” The six ogres had visibly lost interest ages ago, and Still Water looked like he had bitten into something unexpectedly sour. But he hasn’t stabbed anyone, so this is a win. “[Which is, I think, the end of the story.]”
[Sorry, that’s all I have. We could describe other battles, and just say that White Knuckle was there?]
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Responding to Telepathic Bond was strange; it was entirely different from Lu’s Interpreter, even though a big chunk of the former’s forms were used in the latter. [No, I think we’re running up on the end of his patience. You have your speech ready?]
[Ah, I suppose?]
Good, good. Still Water’s expression broke into relief as Lu turned to his left and nodded to Lan. “[I’ll pass things to my senior, for now- who should also really have gone first, since this is his literal job.]”
Lan looked like he was attempting to pull his head into his collar, but the rigid armour wasn’t allowing it. “[Ah… well…]” He cleared his throat as the warriors perked up, looking interested again. Oh, did he cast on all of them? You see, Sir Lan, this is why you should have taken the lead; you obviously put much more forethought into this meeting than I did! “[Hello, my name is Lan. I’m a disciple of the inner sect, and I suppose that Lu is right.]” He took a deep breath. “[I’m not fond of public speaking, so I’ll keep this short. I’ll just lay out what the sect wants from this meeting, if that’s alright..?]”
[Lan, you’re meant to be stalling!]
[It’s been much too long. Something has obviously gone wrong; we need to proceed as though it’s going to be just us.] He glanced at Lu. [You’re right. I really should have been doing the job, not leaving it to you. I panicked, and I’m sorry for that; from now on, please allow me to shoulder the burden of the negotiations. I’m sure you’d rather be looking for your friend, anyway.]
Lu was conflicted, and conflicted about feeling conflicted. Obviously, I didn’t want to be doing this – but now that I’m sitting in the leader’s spot, I feel responsible for the rest of it! You should have found your resolve twenty minutes ago, before I got attached!
“[Hmm, usually we would go around the whole circle.]” The patriarch’s needle-filled smile was back. “[But I suppose that’s fine; we’ll just have to do more introductions when the rest of your group gets here. Go ahead, speak your piece.]”
Well, at least they seem to be able to communicate properly. I'd been just a tad worried about that. Which was silly; Lan was casting a much higher realm version than the one Lu had been forced to use, so presumably a lot more information was going through.
Lan cleared his throat. “[To speak as plainly as possible, the sect desires three things: to be unrestricted in entering and exiting this reality, an assurance that our people will not act with hostility to one another, and…]” His eyes narrowed in determination, a sharp contrast to the nervous hesitancy he had showed up to this point. “[A further assurance that our realities will not attempt to breach into each other without the other’s permission.]”
Lu could feel something coming off the patriarch. It wasn’t a ki fluctuation, but had similarities to one – though he would say it was more akin to a taste than a touch. “[As much as I would wish otherwise, I have no ability to police the other clans.]”
Lan’s head bobbed slightly. “[With respect, I must disagree with you. The Horrible Swamp Clan has gathered almost all of the breaching treasures that exist on Salt, the same as our Steadfast Heart Sect has done on Earth. We are, as of present, the only two polities with anything close to an active ability to exploit the other's world. And I think we would both desire that it stays between us, yes?]” Dear me, where did this spine come from?
Still Water’s brows rose – and whatever the flavour-pulse was, it was becoming stronger. He’s not building ki for a technique, I could already feel that before. Ah, not knowing how these senses work is troublesome; gift, if you could perhaps fill in some of this information..? But no, he’d have to actually start the learning process before the gift would unlock itself further.
“[Oh? Let me make sure I’ve understood.]” The patriarch leaned forward, a gleam in his eyes. “[Your sect would prefer to deal with us, and only us?]”
“[As far as travel is concerned, we believe that a single point of entry would be beneficial.]” Lan tapped his faceplate, likely trying to push up his spectacles unconsciously. “[More defensible. Obviously, there exist those who would attempt to take this opportunity for themselves. It is in both of our interests to not allow this.]” A pause. Sweeping his hand over the side of his armour, Lan drew something from a spacial treasure worked into the ceramic. “[To that end, we have compiled a list of breaching treasures that exist outside of your territories. Assuming our continued cooperation, we would assist you in their retrieval or destruction.]” He held it out.
As the object traded hands, Lu saw it was a small jade tile. Some sort of array flag? The patriarch held the tile up and examined it, rubbing the smooth stone with metallic inlays between his fingers. “[Junk..? No, this is…]”
“[A divination array. One that can find objects that are sufficiently identical to one another.]”
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Tai Sho was once again in an agitated state of mind. The past few hours had been a small balm to his soul; finally achieving some small measure of information, finally having a concrete plan to reach his objective, had been like realising he had been carrying a mountain on his back only after it had been lifted away.
But now it was pressing down again. No, it was worse than before; that had only been an out-of-place shadow, the potential of danger. Whatever this was was a true threat to his life. But much like the previous situation, there was very little he could do through his own power.
Neither he nor disciple Lan had any idea why the others were trapped in the liminal space, and further, why the sect wasn’t communicating with them. Their armour was equipped with the proper arrays – they should have started getting instruction the moment they arrived.
Did the sect even continue to exist, or had it been wiped away by a tide of golden holy light? Or were the natives playing them, blocking the transmissions and more powerful members somehow? But then, why was I let through? White Knuckle said he would explain the particulars once they were through, but that seemed like little more than an empty promise in the sallow light of the sputtering fire.
Is master Seventh Wheel even still alive? He mercilessly crushed the thought before it could affect him; he was surrounded by potential enemies. This was no time to show weakness.
No, he needed to be sharp, sharper than a razor edge. His Path glided somewhere behind him, its presence both soothing and uncomfortable in its intensity. Trust is the currency of society; show them what they desire.
Some of his agitation smoothed away, almost against his will. Yes, yes. It isn’t as bad as it seems. These were people, and people were predictable for the most part. He simply needed to understand their motivations, without losing sight of his own. The goals, in rough order: survive the day, successfully negotiate to the sect’s benefit, retrieve Bull, return to the sect. Assets: myself, one fourth realm disciple, one third realm disciple. Three powerful treasure armours, and all the supplies they carry. No, now that he was looking at it objectively, it was much less daunting.
He waited patiently while the inner disciple outlined how to use the divination tile. He seemed to have snapped out of his earlier fugue; that was good, perhaps he would be half as useful as Bull’s peon. [Once we’re done with outlining the basic terms, let me take the lead. I want to see if we can’t flip some of the subordinates.]
Lan sent a wordless confirmation through the Bond, not missing a beat. The leader has greed in his eyes. Not bad, but not good; we have something he wants, but if we ask too much he’s more than capable of killing us for our treasures. Tai Sho might be seventh realm, but he had no delusions of his own strength. So we should play it soft, unless the Elder miraculously appears. I’ll start arrogant, boastful, then when he pushes back I’ll be cowed. Ceding the ground will-
…Was that old woman always there? Seated to Still Water’s right, there was an elderly woman in a shapeless robe. She caught him looking, and her mouth curved in a broad smile. No, surely not. Lan and the leader were still in conversation, and Lu hadn’t startled; neither of them noticed her appear. Illusion?
The woman’s mouth opened, and he saw small teeth imbedded deep into her gums, only the very tips visible. “Hello, dearie. No no, don’t speak,” she made a shushing motion, “My dear husband prefers brute force, but I can tell that you’re more subtle than that. Like old Granny.”
He was very carefully not looking right at the woman, doing his best to not acknowledge her at all. Telepathic Bond. He successfully formed the spell, but it failed – there was no valid target.
“That’s not necessary, dearie, not necessary. You just sit and be a good boy.” There was a pipe in her hands, and she puffed a few times. “You’re going to try to schmooze your way in, aren’t you? It will probably work, too; we don’t pick out Warbosses for their small egos.”
Mental Fortress. The anti-illusion art activated, and the old woman became something else for a split second. It was taller, and a bit broader, though it was still in an old tattered robe. Beyond that, no details could be made out; whatever illusions it was hiding behind, they could only be suppressed, not broken. The thing made an affronted noise, and then it was an old woman again.
Wisps of qi, the remains of the shattered Mental Fortress, floated about his head before being drawn back into his spiritual veins. His body tried to sweat, but he did not allow it. Or perhaps I should? No; this creature is making a show of being approachable, though it isn't very good at it. Or he was misreading the situation entirely, or he was right but the native idea of approachable differed from the human one. Fear is probably not the reaction it wants. Better to keep it hidden.
“What was that?” She brandished her fork at him. “I told you to be good! If you act up again I’ll steal your tongue, and you’ll never get the chance to speak to any of these men!” She huffed, her face screwed up with disapproval.
Somehow, he didn’t think she was bluffing.
She eyed him for a moment – he assumed; her eyes were buried by wrinkles, even deeper and more numerous than the patriarch’s – before sitting back on her rock. “Hmph. Children these days. Alright, I was going to have some fun, but you’ve soured my mood.” In his head, he prepared a second Mental Fortress, and considered simply bolting for the gate. I have some skill with illusions, but to break a seventh realm Mental Fortress so easily she must be far beyond me. He would grab the other two as well; besides being aligned is terms of goals, they would be a layer of armour between him and any mental attacks. “I have a bargain for you. I’ll let the rest of your troupe through, and in exchange you don’t interfere. Just let your little friend do the talking and everything will work out.”
Oh, you’ll let them through, will you? Preposterous. There was no reason at all to believe she was responsible for the delay; more likely she was just trying to profit off-
“Not convinced? Here, a demonstration.”
She snapped her fingers, and Tu Niu, one of the diplomats, dropped into reality behind him, falling straight down out the bottom of the gate.