甲辰 003: 冬至

[singlemilletgrain]

[video transmission]

Greetings, Crimson Corsairs.

[As usual, the elegant woman appears with a beaming smile amidst the warm steam rising from bowls of... something or other in her kitchen.]

I understand you come from many winter traditions, both in this land and in your homes. If you would allow me a brief intrusion... In Yan, it is customary to celebrate the Winter Solstice, the 'dong zhi.' As it is the longest night of the year, we give thanks that the light will return and the days will soon grow long once more. In the depths of midwinter, it is a reminder that balance and yang will be restored, no matter how dark the nights may seem. For those of us in agrarian communities, we give thanks also to the animals who have brought us through the hard times.

[A mischievous glimmer shines in her eyes.]

Of course, it is also the day that the venerable master of the stove, Zao Jun, reports to Tian on whether or not your house hold has been 'naughty' or 'nice,' which I understand is a part of some other traditions as well.

Please allow me to offer prayers to Tian on your behalf. What is it that you hope for when the sun returns in its full splendor?

[in person, all around]

[Shu appears at your door on this cold, long winter evening, knocking politely and awaiting an answer. Whether she sought you out specifically or whether she's never met you at all, she stands and waits in her warm coat holding an extraordinarily large soup bowl in her hands. Somehow, it does not seem to trouble her.]

Comments

[singlemilletgrain]

Oh, no.

[She responds in the fashion of one who frequently receives the same compliment and is required by culture to demur.]

This is very simple, really. I could show you some time if you'd like.

[The filling is sesame paste and oozes out, thick and dark.]

This dish always reminds me of my family.

[straykitty]

I'd like that, if you don't mind. I'd love to share this with my own family, I think they'd enjoy it.

[singlemilletgrain]

Of course.

[There is the faintest note of pleased surprise in her voice, as if she had not expected an affirmative response. Shu becomes a little less rigid and immediately searches around for a piece of paper.]

The ingredients are very simple. The only difficulty will be the glutinous rice which does not appear to be a crop cultivated in this land. But I harvested some in the fall and am happy to share.

Glutinous rice flour, sesame, lard, and sugar is all you need. I like to add a few slices of fresh ginger for taste. And if you prefer a healthier fat, you can substitute anything for the lard.

Let’s see…

[She eventually starts writing on something she retrieves from a trash receptacle.]

And the preparation of the ball itself is simplicity itself. Tang yuan translates to ‘soup ball,’ by the way, which sounds much less elegant in Esthere language.

[straykitty]

[ Renne smiles gently ]

I'll be sure to use the proper name. You say you've been cultivating this "glutinous rice"?

[singlemilletgrain]

This is not to say Yanese is always preferred. Do you know we say 'essence of egg white' when you say protein?

[Which is absurd to her as someone who has existed before people started domesticating chickens for eggs, but she supposes no one had any reason to name such a thing prior to that.]

Oh, but yes -- I had a nice crop earlier this year. I am a farmer by trade. Or, as my hometown prefers to use nowadays, an 'agricultural specialist.' They seem to feel 'farmer' is too...

[Here she says another Yanese word, 'tu.']

Hillbilly, I think would be the right phrase.

[straykitty]

"Hillbilly" sounds a bit pejorative. I know the Corsairs must surely appreciate any new crops you are able to bring us.

[singlemilletgrain]

Oh, I have no issue with ‘farmer.’ It is amusing to me - the importance of status and symbolic meaning to many people.

Officially, my title is Nongye Tianshi, which translates to Celestial Master of Agriculture. I am not sure what there is about it that is celestial. It seems to me entirely the opposite. But I have spent my life in the fields, and I will do so until my final days.

[Here Shu finished scribbling on her discarded piece of paper and hands it over to Renne.]

The recipe.

But if you visit sometime, I shall make it with you.

[straykitty]

Your title makes it sound like you were a god in your home world, at least as far as our reckoning. You certainly seem to have a presence about you. And I would love your assistance - I don't want to make this for my family before I know what I'm doing. They might know I'm not perfect but I try not to remind them of that fact.

[singlemilletgrain]

Nothing so important, I assure you. Though I am very accomplished at what I do, if I may say so myself.

[She lies through her teeth without missing a beat, though a small part of her mind finds this exchange highly amusing.]

Please, I insist. I have nothing to do in these winter months besides care for my animals, you know.

Oh -- but you must tell me more about what you do. I was asking you about this place...

[straykitty]

I'll certainly have to stop by then.

As to what I do, put simply, I'm able to do things that go above and beyond the functions of the communication device you're familiar with using. I hope to use this against the Empire in our coming operation to take control of their own communications and broadcast our messages to the wider populace.

[singlemilletgrain]

Ah... How clever. You mean to propagate our propaganda.

[This is something she can understand, even if the technical details escape her.]

I have often wondered how many are aware of the extent of our plans. How seriously we take our operations and how sincere we are of our goals.

[straykitty]

Having spent time on the Isles Above, the Corsairs are a convenient boogyman. The Empire likes to use our presence to justify whatever atrocities it commits against its own people under the guise of "keeping them safe".

[singlemilletgrain]

I imagine the common people have seen through such a thin facade, at this point. Or at least... I hope so.

[She shakes her head.]

How close do you think you are to accomplishing such a feat?

[straykitty]

It's hard to say. I think the public opinion can be swayed, but this is one of the first opportunities we've had to really bring our point of view to the masses unfiltered so we'll have to make the most of it. We do have some sympathizers already, especially among the lower classes who aren't treated all that well but it's not enough support to build a movement from right now.

[singlemilletgrain]

You grew up in this world. Do the common people truly believe the Empire has their best interests in mind? Or is it simply the inertia of being trapped in a system from which there seems to be little other choice?

[straykitty]

It's a bit more complicated. The Empire constantly finds enemies - Corsairs, dissidents within, surviving dragons, whatever it is the fear of these enemies and the Empire's "record" of keeping the people safe but fearful help them to control the masses. Life may not be good, but life under the enemies will be far worse. Enough people believe enough of it to not want to challenge the status quo.

[singlemilletgrain]

Dragons...?

[She had heard of some of this history, but was not entirely familiar.]

Then let us dispel such notions. Though I cannot imagine what could be framed as 'worse' than essential slavery. How much work do you imagine it will take to connect to the Empire's communications?

[straykitty]

[ Renne notes Shu's confusion, her expression a bit more serious ]

Before the Empire, the lands of mortals were ruled by the Dragon Lords, each controlling their own domain in the Isles Above. The revolution that sparked the Empire's formation was the development of powerful gunpowder-based weaponry that could slay even a dragon, and when the Empire rose it ordered every single dragon be killed. There are a few left, but most exist in hiding.

As to connecting to the Empire's communications, breaking in isn't the problem, it's holding it. I'm pretty good, but they have a lot more resources than I do so I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it.

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shu's tail twitches. Given that the person standing before Renne is pretty clearly a Dragon Person, this story does not exactly fill her with approval.]

Were these 'Dragon Lords' such oppressive rulers? Moreso than the current regime? I find it difficult to believe that people would simply condone a genocide.

What would help you keep the connection longer? Sabotage of their own systems?

[straykitty]

[ Renne smiles at the twitch of the tail, she had certainly anticipated this reaction ]

Hard to say, this was over one hundred years ago but they certainly were by the way the Empire tells it. Even the Corsairs don't have much good to say about their rule, but there WERE distinct cultures and languages among mortals while they ruled which leads me to believe they weren't as bad.

And to keep them at bay, sabotaging their own systems or the people operating them is usually the best bet.

[singlemilletgrain]

One hundred years is not so long...

[Shu murmurs, and although she means 'I can remember perfectly well things that happened a hundred years ago,' the much more likely interpretation is 'one hundred years is not so long for collective memory of a society that its impact is so easily forgotten.']

Though I do wonder what the plans of the Corsairs are when they succeed in their aims. The dismantling of a government is not so easy to accomplish without something to fill the vacuum. It is quite an old conundrum.

Perhaps sometime we can initiate an operation to help you maintain control of their systems.

[straykitty]

[ Renne smiles slyly. While one certainly COULD interpret it the other way, she has a hunch. ]

Are you sure you aren't a god? That's quite a long time for most of us on Esthere. Even the legendary dragons only lived about three centuries, or so the stories go.

Even having someone to guard my operation would help - it's likely they'll send soldiers after me once they detect my signal and while I can certainly deal with them, it does take SOME time that I cannot be spending controlling their system.

[singlemilletgrain]

Ah - I cannot live up to such lofty expectations. I fear that perhaps I did not explain adequately. 'Nongye Tianshi' is a title shared by many highly skilled agricultural laborers in Dahuang, you see.

[There is something about her utterly gentle expression that conveys a faint hint of irreverence. Very faint, though. 'The quiet things are not said aloud,' it conveys. And in truth, being 1/12th of a god makes a difference. She has never considered herself true divinity - the siblings are exactly what they call themselves. Proxies and nothing more.]

The collective memory of humans outlives the individual. Even if the truth has been distorted by lies and propaganda, I believe there are stories that preserve that kernel of truth, still. If you consider, there is likely someone alive today who was born in the time of the Dragon Lords. Probably they do not remember it, but perhaps they remember what their parents would tell them of that time.

And so... it may not be too late.

[That said, philosophical discussion isn't what's important right now.]

I should be happy to help with that. Incidentally, I am also a contractor for a... biomedical organization. Essentially, a bodyguard.

[straykitty]

[ Renne gives Shu a tight grin ]

You become even more interesting by the moment. I suppose there's an important part I should mention. One of the Empire's tenets are the elimination of the old. Art, culture, literature, everything of the old world is contraband. We are now one culture, one language, one people under the Divine and in service of the chosen Emperor.

Or so it should be. Have you visited the Vault yet? The largest existing record of our past, our culture, our languages, we Corsairs preserve it. So no, it's not too late. But if we fail, it will be.

[ She gives Shu an amused, quizzical look ]

I may not look it but I've dipped my toes into biomedical research myself. I'm not quite making the connection between that and being a bodyguard, however.

[singlemilletgrain]

Yes, I reside here, in the Vault. For about three months now. I have perused the archives with great interest, though not always complete understanding. I have never had prolonged contact with the regular citizens of this world, regretfully. I was enslaved in the mines and then came here immediately after. If it is true that all has been utterly eliminated, then... what a tragedy for this world.

[Shu shakes her head.]

As for my contract, it is difficult to explain without belaboring the details. Very concisely... In my world, there is an analogue of Ether known as Originium. It is not native to Terra, but it is a source of immense power and manifests as crystals. It is produced by great calamities that happen in Terra, incidents we call Catastrophes, akin to unpreventable natural disasters.

It is also a deadly contagion. Though it is inseparable from our society now and powers almost all technology and Arts, prolonged exposure to Originium results in an incurable disease called Oripathy, wherein living matter is converted into more Originium. The victims become crystal, eventually dissolving into Originium dust. It is highly contagious and those who fall ill are cast out of society and ostracized, labeled the Infected. They have almost no rights in most of Terra as Oripathy is inevitably deadly.

Rhodes Island is the only organization in Terra that seeks to find a cure for the Infected. Most countries are currently engaged in violent armed conflicts or have other reasons to drive Rhodes Island away. None trust the organization, for Rhodes Island is largely composed of those who suffer the infection themselves. Owing to my Arts, I have the ability to lock down large swaths of land and prevent movement in and out. As Rhodes Island did me a great service not too long ago, I offered my aid for their missions.

[She pauses for breath.]

That was perhaps a book in and of itself.