saturations | Week 6 cyoa: hei, jiuqing, vin, and kashuu

I...

[jiuqing tries to think of a way to explain, and comes up with absolutely nothing. help. how do you tell someone that you think they're not real, or just a figment of someone else's memory that she only knows of because she got kidnapped and is now residing with them in a maniacal prism where there is murder every week?]

I don't know. The last thing I remember, there was a flash of light, and... then I was here. [she glances in the direction that the injured soldiers were taken to.] ...when they saw me, they called me a heretic and tried to attack...

I can't remember anything before that...

[ uh... okay. Iceheart is like if you say so, I guess? She crosses her arms and tilts her head. ]

... You do not look like one of mine. [ Closes her eyes. ] If they brand you as a heretic, 'twould be a death sentence to return you to Ishgard, but with the knights captured here you might have a safe return.

However, the inquisitors—if they find aught suspicious—will execute you for sacrilege.

[ ... ]

You are cold, are you not? We can provide you temporary shelter for the moment, until you decide your next journey.

[it's not entirely a lie. she doesn't know anywhere in this world that she could possibly have come from.

she looks a little freaked out when iceheart mentions execution! wow! ...but she changes the subject pretty quick. shivering, she nods.]

I... I would appreciate that. Thank you... Lady Iceheart, was it?

[ Her expression stays neutral, but in her steely gaze Su Jiuqing can see that she doesn't like it. ]

... That is the title they gave me. [ ... ] My name is Ysayle.

[ The two heretics return with the two knights, bonded and silenced. ]

My men have returned, so we may away. Follow closely. Even if the knights pose no threat now, the fauna in Coerthas are still dangerous.

[ And Ysayle with her party leads Su Jiuqing nearby to a place on a hill. The two-story building sits near the mills, seemingly abandoned and frosted over from the shillings and the sills. When they enter inside, the ground floor is a stable, but no farm animals to be found. They descend the steps...

Ysayle asks her other followers to get Su Jiuqing some soup to warm her up. Otherwise, she's here for what Ysayle said, for temporary shelter. At this time, she may talk to any of the people here (Ysayle, other heretics, or one of the now gagged knight prisoners) for more information before she decides where she wants to go. Or, she can, I guess just decide right away and leave. ]

Lady Ysayle, then.

[she follows her! ...it's still pretty chilly; she'll gladly accept the soup for warmth.

time to gather some information. she'll address ysayle first, unless she seems like she's busy, in which case she'll talk to some of the other heretics.]

You said this was... Coerthas? I don't suppose you have a map of the area...?

And yourself?

[ Might as well learn the stranger's name for conversation. ]

Of course. Only a fool would wander the tundra without an inkling of their whereabouts. [ wait, oof. ] I did not intend to give offense.

[ But Ysayle gestures to the nearby table where Jiuqing will find a map! They are in the circled area, Gorgagne Mills. To the Northeast is the Sea of Clouds, the Northwest Dravania, and very far south leads to Ishgard. ]

My name is Jiuqing.

[hmm. she smiles faintly.]

...no offense taken. If I'd chosen to come here on my own, that would have been pretty foolish of me, but... I don't know how I ended up here, so...

[anyway, she goes to look at the map!

there is, like, zero recognition when she reads the names on the map.]

How long would it take to travel to most of these places...?

[ Tilts her head again. ]

'Tis strange that you found yourself in the middle of the tundra, but I've heard and seen stranger. [ eh. ] Some hours. Ishgard to the south would be the longest.

[ That would be handwaved the fuck out of. ]

Is there somewhere I might be able to meet a lot of different people, or somewhere a lot of travelers pass through? Maybe I can get some idea of where I came from and how to go back if I find other people who are dressed like me...

[ Ysayle blinks... Cause this is weird to her, but still she accepts weird things happen. Weird people happen, too. ]

... I'm afraid with the Dragonsong War, not many pass the western highlands, let alone travel to or through either Dravania or Ishgard.

However, mayhap the dragons could assist you. With their years of wisdom, they must know something.

The... dragons?

[she blinks]

Would they be willing to help me, do you think?

Aye, the dragons. I know not all of Eorzea understand their ways or even know of their intelligence, but they are wise creatures... Their lives transcend ours, living past a millennia.

[ So like! Who else could know the secrets if not for the oldest race? ]

I had plans to pass through Dravania myself to seek audience with the great wrym—ask him to aid my campaign for peace.

Might I accompany you, then? I could make myself useful as a healer on the journey, just in case.

[ ...

Ysayle is a bit at a loss here, lips pursing some. ]

You would trust me? Alleged leader of the heretics? They would say I would sooner feed you to the dragons than assist you.

Perhaps I don't know you well enough to trust you.

...but I don't know you well enough to distrust you, either. And the truth is, you helped me. The only other people I've encountered so far have tried to kill me.

[she smiles very faintly]

If you wanted me dead, you wouldn't have to go to the trouble of feeding me to a dragon. You could have simply allowed those soldiers to kill me before apprehending them.

Even in war, kindness can be found among men—for you to have been left in the cold without aid... That is too cruel. [ Truly, Ysayle thinks that. ] ... I speak the truth when I say I wish for no more corpses made by war. Yours included.

You need better dress to survive the journey. [ She gestures to one of her men to get Jiuqing a winter coat. ] We'll be going next sunrise.

Thank you, Lady Ysayle.

[jiuqing smiles. it's less faint this time, and much more genuine - she brings her hands together and gives a bow.]

I'll do my best not to be a burden on the journey.

[ She laughs a bit at that, covered politely behind a hand. ]

Those should be my words. I may be experienced in travels, but I am no healer. [ thinks. ] Seeing that you are not from here, if you have other questions I am willing to answer them.

[ But if Jiuqing wants to talk to someone else? Or just turn in for the night, that's fine, too. Also, she gets this coat but in lighter pink. ]

[cute. she will bundle up. nice and warm.]

The truth is, I'm so unfamiliar with this land that I'm... really not sure what sorts of questions I should be asking. Is there anything you feel someone ought to know, to be able to survive here?

… It would do you good to know about the War then.

[ THE WAR! ]

Do you know aught of it? Even some semblance?

[jiuqing's brow furrows as she tries to think back to the conversations she's had with aymeric and estinien.

but then - because i got a 17 and apparently only roll high when death isn't on the table - she remembers something out of a memory she'd seen, weeks ago.

"the infamous lady iceheart, here in ishgard? this is most unexpected..."

"she has done much to quell the violence. the inquisition may not approve, but we are glad of her presence."

"and with the great wyrm's demise..."

but she's going to see the great wyrm, isn't she? this moment - if it is a reflection of someone's memory - is from before the moment she'd seen. what lies in store, if she accompanies ysayle on this journey?

and -

"...that men and dragons once lived together in harmony, and that it was man's treachery that shattered the peace and plunged our peoples into war..."]

...just that it's... been going on for as long as nearly anyone alive today can remember. Does anyone even know why the fighting began in the first place?

[ JIUQING YOUR LARGE BRAIN!! ]

… Each side has their bias, their own story, but whether that is the truth many do not know. However, I know that dragon and man once lived in harmony and it was man who would betray trust.

Ishgard—they would turn a blind eye from it, call it blasphemy, and continue their bloody crusade.

[ … ]

Do you wish a recount of the beginning?

If you wouldn't mind giving it, I would appreciate that.

[that way if she slips up and references something from aymeric's memshare ysayle will assume she heard it from her! yeah!!]

[ A nod. ]

So you understand the source and nature of my knowledge, I possess the echo—a blessing of light from Hyaedalyn herself, the Mothercrystal. She is the deity of this star. At times, I could receive visions of the past pertaining to locations or people, but naught I can force.

[ Haha! You can now memshare Ysayle. ]

Over a millennia ago, man and dragon were at peace. They had an alliance built upon the foundation laid by Saint Shiva, an Elezen woman, who was in love with the great wrym Hraesvelgr. Dragons outlive us, thus Shiva asked Hraesvelgr to consume her… So that her aether would ever stay with him.

So forth, peace, until it was broken by King Thordan I and his Knights of Twelve two hundred years later. They would slay Ratatsokr, brood-sister of both Hraesvelgr and Nidhogg, for the power in her eyes… Subsequently, they point their weapons at Nidhogg as well, then take one of his.

Ever since, Nidhogg has led dragons to war against man for a thousand of years.

If I were Nidhogg, I'd be pretty mad too...

[if she rolled higher than a 1 she would probably not say that out loud. but like. seriously.

it's no small wonder the dragons want revenge.]

...not mad enough to go after people who weren't the ones who did all that for a thousand years, though.

Week 6 cyoa: hei, jiuqing, vin, and kashuu

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