In the upper parts of the city, that is those closest to the Palace without actually falling within its grounds, it was not unusual to see idling nobles and their ingrate offspring passing the time with wine and similarly idle conversation. Nobility was an occupation which required constant maintenance, or so such people would have you believe and engaging with ones peers was of paramount importance. It was unusual therefore in such an opulently appointed establishment as the one which Xiaohuli currently found himself to find an idle noble in isolation. He would not normally come to drink so close to the Palace itself as he not only found the gaudiness of such surroundings little to his liking, but also the company to be profoundly lacking. That said it was a friendly place and they knew a little of his background, enough at least to always send him the same server and an unopened bottle. Why be there in the first place if he found it so distasteful though?
One did not attain the world by shying away from it, mores the pity and like it or not the idling nobles and wealthy merchants whom frequented such establishments were the ones who moved the levers of power in the 'world' that the Kou Empire encompassed. Good wine and pretty serving girls, he knew well, tended to make people not only indiscreet but also unobservant. So much so in fact that no one had thus far realized that not only had the Magician's wine not been opened, he'd been reading the same scroll for the past hour and a half. What transcendental insight had he gleaned from this superlative display of patience and resilience against his own vices?
Other than the fact that a fairly prominent Minister of the interior believed that his wife was having an extramarital affair, not all that much. With a clatter and a sigh he laid down the bamboo slip scroll he had been thumbing back and forth through and resigned himself that he would strike upon nothing worthwhile here today. Though he had a vague idea of what he needed to do and where it seemed that grasping hold of the world was not so simple when one had no traction to begin with, opportunities tended to multiply like rabbits sure but when you were completely shut out from the mechanisms of power to begin with it didn't matter how many times you multiplied your odds the answer was always zero.
'Attack the enemy's strategy,' was what his grandfather had always taught him, but when one's strategy was inertia whatever was one supposed to do? He could still see the wide blue sky peeking through the latticework which obscured the otherwise uncovered window and as it cast its shadow over his lounging figure flanked on all sides by overstuffed, too soft throw pillows he could not help but reflect poignantly on the divisions running like shadows through the fabric of the world. That thought, thankfully, did not make his warm wine which had now run too cool to be perfectly palatable any more bitter. Besides its sharp flavor though, his beverage left a question to drip off the end of his tongue.
'All journeys begin with one step, they say, but how do people know which way to start walking?'
One did not attain the world by shying away from it, mores the pity and like it or not the idling nobles and wealthy merchants whom frequented such establishments were the ones who moved the levers of power in the 'world' that the Kou Empire encompassed. Good wine and pretty serving girls, he knew well, tended to make people not only indiscreet but also unobservant. So much so in fact that no one had thus far realized that not only had the Magician's wine not been opened, he'd been reading the same scroll for the past hour and a half. What transcendental insight had he gleaned from this superlative display of patience and resilience against his own vices?
Other than the fact that a fairly prominent Minister of the interior believed that his wife was having an extramarital affair, not all that much. With a clatter and a sigh he laid down the bamboo slip scroll he had been thumbing back and forth through and resigned himself that he would strike upon nothing worthwhile here today. Though he had a vague idea of what he needed to do and where it seemed that grasping hold of the world was not so simple when one had no traction to begin with, opportunities tended to multiply like rabbits sure but when you were completely shut out from the mechanisms of power to begin with it didn't matter how many times you multiplied your odds the answer was always zero.
'Attack the enemy's strategy,' was what his grandfather had always taught him, but when one's strategy was inertia whatever was one supposed to do? He could still see the wide blue sky peeking through the latticework which obscured the otherwise uncovered window and as it cast its shadow over his lounging figure flanked on all sides by overstuffed, too soft throw pillows he could not help but reflect poignantly on the divisions running like shadows through the fabric of the world. That thought, thankfully, did not make his warm wine which had now run too cool to be perfectly palatable any more bitter. Besides its sharp flavor though, his beverage left a question to drip off the end of his tongue.
'All journeys begin with one step, they say, but how do people know which way to start walking?'
- Equipment:
Name: Reclining Dragon
Tier: D
Material: Black lacquered wood shaft, gold fittings with a bronze head and tip and inlaid sapphires either side of the head.
Appearance: One-hundred-and-fifty centimeters from end to end the staff is almost as tall as its bearer. The haft is divided in two by a lipped gold binding above which the staff is ridged but below it is regular and straight. The bronze tip, affixed with a similar gold fitting, features two broze forks which criss-cross one another thrice before terminating. The head is a fairly weighty decoration with a T shaped center set with a sapphire either face and two wing like protrusions set either side.