The Jianghu aka The World of Ancient Fantasy China aka Sword Wizards R Us

[sanbuzhi]

(WORK IN PROGRESS: CATCH-ALL POST FOR EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THE JIANGHU)

THE JIANGHU

The Jianghu

What the heck is the Jianghu? Long story short, it's a fantasy world that comprises martial arts and magic (also martial arts???) and set of social rules and customs. More on this later. It's not a separate world from China but it's romantacised martial China that is both outside of and part of society but also has their own society....I'll expand on this later but for now, enjoy this explaination from Wuxia Society.

!! your content here !!

code

QINGHE

[insert blurb abt qinghe]

THE UNCLEAN REALM

The Unclean Realm

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

code

GUSU

[insert blurb abt qinghe]

THE UNCLEAN REALM

The Unclean Realm

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

code

Yenmeng

[insert blurb abt qinghe]

THE UNCLEAN REALM

The Unclean Realm

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

code

LANLING
[insert blurb abt lanling]

Carp Tower

The Unclean Realm

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

code

QISHAN

[insert blurb abt qishan]

Nightless City

The Unclean Realm

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

Descriptive Title.

!! description here !!

code

Comments

[cierne]

[Cosme sits in another holding pattern for exactly ten minutes, then starts to lightly shake Bria's shoulder.]

Bria, wake up.

[He'll progress to patting her cheek if need be.]

1/?

[burdenedbee]

[For all that slipping into the lace was so easy, coming back is never so seamless. But she’s Bria, she’s more powerful than the other girls, so she has always snapped back to herself in a somewhat refined manner. Always held herself together, for her own image of herself as much as the other girls, dragging the smear of honey away with her hand and gathering herself before issuing the laces proclamations.

This is like that. But also, it’s not.]

2/?

[burdenedbee]

[Cosme’s voice reaches her, and she’s suddenly back in her own body. No longer is she a fluttering, shapeless prism of lights and emotion, peering into a wishing well of information. She’s a girl, of flesh and bone, and honey, but also, despite that honey, synapses that work the way a regular human beings would. Every inch of her body is numb, then it screams back to life, painfully so. It’s all that she can do not to scream or cry, from Cosme’s lap, eyes slammed shut and an arm thrown up to shield her eyes from any light.

For all that the physical symptoms are painful, the sensory ones are worse. The world no longer looks right, the colors muted and missing, like someone’s stolen a few crayons from the box that was used to color life. Everything’s fuzzy and flat at the same time, like she’s trying to watch a 3D movie without the glasses.

This is the part that’s normal.]

cw emeto, body horror, 3/3

[burdenedbee]

[What isn’t normal, is what comes when she pries her arm from her eyes to squint at the light, and recognizes Cosme’s face. When she remembers Miyu in the room. She sits upright immediately then, and coughs, chokes on the honey. Bria clamps both hands to her mouth, just in time to catch in them as she vomits—- but instead of what you’d expect from a human girl, what comes up is sickly sweet smelling honey. Honey that’s all wrong, even for aspen honey. It’s such a dark red… it’s almost black.

This has never happened before. She doesn’t know what it means. Unfortunately, what she saw through the lace isn’t as unclear as the honey she tries to keep contained in her hands now.]

[cierne]

[Cosme doesn't jerk or cry out in alarm, but only because he's already maintaining very close control over his reactions. He just puts a hand under her shoulders, helping to lever her upright.]

Oh - here, sit up, don't choke. We can just clean it later.

[It's a scary sight, but...so was everything she was doing for the past ten minutes, so maybe this is normal?]

[burdenedbee]

[Bria’s expression contorts into one of disdain as he helps her up, her frustration with herself mounting. It takes her a bit to collect herself, to overcome the wrongness coursing through her entire being, but when she does, she moves quickly, wiping her hands on her pretty jacket, wiping her mouth with her sleeve before pulling the entire thing off and pushing it to the side, turned inside out for minimal mess. She’s learned to dress in layers, to manage the situation, though this is all a little extreme.]

Sorry. Sorry—- [For all of her insistences he doesn’t need to apologize—-]

Sorry.

[cierne]

It's okay. You don't need to apologize.

[Will he take any personal lessons from this? Absolutely not. He rubs light circles on her back, at least once she's finished removing her jacket. Really, the fact that she's apologizing is making this edge over into worrying.]

Are you alright? Is this not typical?

[burdenedbee]

[Bria forces herself to breathe, to not tremble when he touches her. Instead, she leans against him, letting him be steady for her, when she feels anything but.]

It’s not… not usual, but it’s happened before. [Not since Caroline.]

I need to—- [She shakes her head. Tries to stand too fast.]

I’ll try again. But I have to go, first.

[cierne]

Go?

[He shoots a look over at Miyu.]

Go where?

[burdenedbee]

… Anywhere. I could go anywhere, and find predators.

I’ve used too much, without giving anything in return. I didn’t see one future.

[cierne]

O...oh, okay.

[This is a fun time to remember who does and doesn't know about the boy honey! Cosme's slightly confused, but mostly concerned; whatever she means, it sounds like it's urgent. And she saw multiple futures? But that can wait, if need be.]

Do you need help getting out?

[burdenedbee]

… On second thought, I should stay put. Until they get back, at least. [It definitely has nothing to do with how tired she looks!]

[routedout]

[ Miyu’s eyes have still been trained on the door but hearing Bria come back choking on honey and then say that, well. That gets her attention. ]

What… were the futures that you did see?

[ Because at least one gotta be right… right? ]

[burdenedbee]

I don’t think they were right. None of them—- None of them were right. Astarion wasn’t there. And… he should be. With him as a factor, nothing makes sense.

[she keeps her expression flat.]

[routedout]

[ … ]

He wasn’t there?

[burdenedbee]

No.

Which is a good thing, I think. If he wasnt missing, then the things I saw… I might be tempted to believe them. But he’s not. And I can’t imagine things continuing, if something had happened to him prior to this—- they’d have come back.

[routedout]

[ This is actually… keeping her pretty calm? Like she’s still a lot more worried now than she was before but comparatively this isn’t the uh. Potential meltdown it could be. ]

I… I really hope you’re right— n-no, that has to be it…

[burdenedbee]

I’ve used too much, without giving back. [She shakes her head, trying to shake the memories free. All of that blood—-]

[routedout]

So feeding it… will give something clearer?

[burdenedbee]

It’ll increase the chances. [She makes sure her hands are clean, then reaches for Miyu’s.]

But it might be better for me to wait here with you.

[routedout]

Oh…

[ As Bria takes her hands, she’ll notice that they’re already shaking. ]

I-If you’re sure…

[ But she’s still scared.

Now that even a single seed of doubt is sown in her mind she’s going to be thinking about it until they come back, no matter how hard she tries not to. ]

[burdenedbee]

I’m sure. Here. [She pauses, considering for a brief moment—- then moves, gently maneuvering Miyu to take her place, beside Cosme.]

He’s really good at hugs. [Then she plops herself on Miyu’s other side, hand still clasping Miyu’s.

She’s trying to be strong, but especially in comparison with Cosme’s structural integrity, Miyu will be able to feel how frail Bria feels against her. She doesn’t tremble, but it’s still wrong.]

[cierne]

Of course. I'm sure that Bria knows what she's doing. It will be alright.

[He automatically puts his arms around Miyu instead, but his eyes are on Bria. Being perhaps less focused on Astarion, he hasn't been totally distracted from the first bit here - ]

What were the futures you saw?

[routedout]

[ Ah... okay. She lets herself be moved, sitting down next to Cosme and accepting the arms around her.

She's just going to go quiet in the hug, giving Bria the space to speak as she eventually wraps her arms around Cosme as well. Because as agonizing as this is for her, it's gotta be even worse for him. ]

[burdenedbee]

[Bria stiffens agains Miyu, and swaps which hand is holding hers, so one hand can wind behind Miyu to clutch at Cosme’s clothes. She shakes her head.]

I’m not darkening either of your minds with a punishment that’s mine to carry. I won’t repeat it.