As the Kirins charted their course, you took this time to get to know your creatures, in a manner of speaking. Your being, your spirit is all about them and with them. One Kirin was around the story circle, another was peering at a babe that survived the great winter while another was staring out over the horizon in contemplation.
They do not know you yet, but you are beginning to know them. As a god should, that much you believe you have right.
You know that Quick Blade has an emotional immaturity that, occasionally, gives him tunnel vision. That it makes him passionate and driven. That it is the cause of his inability to comprehend how much sway he has at times.
You know that Shaded Gold was jaded even before the windigos came. That those years of hunting dangerous beasts and the rare invaders had left him cynical about any way to prosper that didn't involve force. That he is no true warmonger, but is haunted by the idea that the death of his fellows hunters might one day be for nothing.
You know that Frozen Meadow is afraid, but not of death, but to hope. That she welcomed her barrenness when she believed it cruel to bring a child into this world. That she dreads the thought that all this hardship will make them into something worse than the windigos.
Even more, you know the pain of the father that lost his child in the storms, the joy of brothers separated long ago and reunited by this journey, of the aunt that discovers she still has a niece in the world, and the sweet love the living have for both those saved and the bitter love for the lost.
But most of all, you feel their hope and know it is yours.
As you grow in power, you find your influence has to. You cannot take physical form any time soon, unless you're wrong, but you can do small things; like making a Kirin turn to see something in the corner of their eye that was never there.
A trick you are very happy to have, in retrospect.
"Windigos!"
A Kirin cries out as the specters of winter neighed loudly, a herd of them rising up to attack the airships.
You know there is little concern, but still you watch in interest as the battle happens. Of course, it is more akin to diverting a river. The frosty ghosts bash against the shields of crystalline magic, but find no purchase to break through. And while the arcane cannons cannot kill the creatures, they certainly do drive them off, even cause them pain if you are sensing them properly.
Still, the conflict is long yet dull…which is a good thing. You sense that without these ships, or even with those of lesser quality and defenses, such a conflict would have gone dire for the Kirins. The dragon, a young adult in most respects, took great aims in her attempts to turn the magical foes to steam. To no avail, but it did ward them off more.
That was something you had to remember: These Kirin were your chosen, but not the only race to join in this exodus. There were many, in fact: Griffons, Hippogriffs, all kinds of ponies, and more. They were the minorities far and wide, but they were there, and you mustn't forget that.
The dragon you knew intimately, for lack of a better word. Her name was Thicket, and she had taken to resting on different ships when those not needed for steering the ship went below deck, giving her space to safely rest. And between her breaks from flying, she spoke to those that were curious of her. After all, why would a dragon join them?
Dragons were resilient creatures, but even their fires could not fight off primordial chills forever. Full grown and newborn dragons alike would fall into a deep, death-like sleep when the winter overwhelmed them until warmth revived them once more. The elders hibernated by slowly feeding on their own mass and magic over time. While baby dragons and eggs needed exceptionally little to survive compared to other young, some would still never awaken from their slumber.
But ones like her were both too young and too old, forsaken to endure the cold and risk a death far before their time. And Thicket had grown weary of watching others wasting away as frost took hold. When the Kirins seized the ships, she saw a race making a break for it, to find a place away from all this. She took a chance and here she was.
And here she was indeed. Feisty and strong, and loyal even to non-dragons; plus, honestly, less hotheaded than you expected. And she was open to you, just as the Kirins were, so there was potential there. A dragon would be valuable, short and long term, if she didn't split from the group eventually. But that wasn't here or there. You had more immediate issues to consider, that would be the bedrock going forward.
It was something you had hardly considered up until this point, but there is a great deal of malleability to the Kirin as a society. You cannot introduce entirely new concepts, but you don't have to. In this time of survival and new beginning, with the prospect of heading to a new home, it brings many to question how they should live, what things they should take up and abandon, look deeper into and expand upon.
Just as with the decision to leave the Crystal Empire, you can influence them to embrace one side more than the other, quieting those on the other side. But while you have discovered six overarching subjects, you find you can only bring yourself to effectively influence four of them. And while the importance of some is obvious, even you are not sure what the boons and consequences of some choices will eventually be.
The topic that caught your attention the most was that of magic. Those without it simply assumed that magic is magic is magic. But while there are many different ways to classify the different forms of magic, there are two fundamental difference paths to the arcane arts: External Magics and Internal Magics.
Internal Magic is the most common and the easiest for most mortals to use, as it was to draw on one's own personal mana supply and mold it into spells. As an inherently magical raise, Kirins already knew the basis of Internal Magic, but were hardly committed to it.
External Magic was the opposite, drawing on mana foreign to someone. Be it from or through an object, or the latent magic in the surroundings, this magic was far harder to learn and control, but it was something that anyone could learn, in theory. More importantly, in exchange for its difficulties and risks, it was potentially far more powerful than Internal Magic.
The question after that became a talk of Supremacy. Not of race or ideals, but of Supremacy of Physical or Supremacy of the Metaphysical…a very intricate topic that you weren't even sure of the answer to. Or, perhaps, the answer was as each individual god willed it to be. In this world, both logics were sound. While of little apparent worth, it was ultimately how your Kirins would view and make sense of the world, and you.
Supremacy of the Physical was the ideal that the physical world was the base of the Metaphysical, that nature and matter ultimately ruled over minds and magic.
Supremacy of the Metaphysical, on the other hoof, argued that mind and magic ruled over nature and matter-that reality was ultimate a construct of the mind.
Beyond these were more obvious societal issues. Such as the question of hierarchy, or lack thereof. Kirins long had very little in terms of "classes." There was the chiefs, the elders, and the seniors of any given occupation. Beyond that, not many other gaps existed. But things change rather easily, and being exposed to many different creatures and cultures had influenced Kirins all into considering how they would do things in the future. If they would have a Flat or Steep Society, as they were calling them.
A Flat Society aspired to distributing power and gains to all members of the group, to make everyone as equal as possible. While enabling freedom, it did eliminate the drive to succeed in many.
A Steep Society was more common, they knew. While others gained more power than others, the implied desire was to reward the best as they rose through the ranks of society.
It was rather curious and perplexing to think about that, knowing that you'd be above and beyond them regardless of which form their society took. But the Flat-Steep discussion had lead and mixed into another more often than not-the idea of Societal Roles. While none were yet discussing the idea of a bloodline based caste systems, there was the question if one should stick to and perfect their given craft or change roles, Solid against Flowing.
A Solid Society meant all were expected to stay to their roles and play their part unless extreme circumstances arrived, of course. While this could lessen the strain of society as a whole, it couldn't guarantee the same for the individuals.
A Flowing Society allowed others to change their role as often as they desired, but this did not guarantee they would do well at their desired role, nor that there would be one to fill the role they left behind. Less strain on your creatures who were more hopeful about their futures, but doubtless a strain on society at times.
There was some irony here, you were sure, given that you were born into your role and could never change it even if you desired…which you didn't think you could, but the irony remained. But just as the topic of one's right to change their occupation came up, so did rights in general. It was mainly something in the back of their minds for now, but something you found curious to ponder on. Rights were things that all those considered a citizen should have, but the question you wondered is if those Rights were Temporal or Immutable
Temporal Rights, as you referred to them, were the point of placing rights and fundamental laws as a product of time and circumstances. Meaning that, over short and long periods, they could and even should be changed to fit new times and circumstances. While the mindset allowed for great adaption in times of need, you knew there was an issue with that. If Rights were the foundations of a society, then changing them moved and shook everything.
Immutable, however, implied that the rights and fundamental laws were permanent and inalienable to a member of society. And, in theory, meant to represent how your Kirins believed the world should be on some level. While upholding those rights would be difficult in troubling times, and make adjusting to some situations more challenging than needed, it gave them a greater sense of unity as a nation, of belonging-Something to be proud of and even another thing to fight for.
And all of this lead to a question that...you really could never understand the importance of, due to your nature, but could grasp that it was important to them. Individuals existed inside of Societies. This point is obvious, just as grass is green and stars are in the sky. But the question becomes, does Individuality exist because of Society or does Society exist because of Individuality? While it was a given that creatures could live solitary lives, the underlining meaning was obvious the more one stared at the question.
If Individuality exists because of Society, than that means that individuals are a product of nature, rules, and norms that a given being grows up around and lives by.
If Society exists because of Individuality, that implies that a being ultimately is who they are. They can be influenced by society, made better or worse, but they cannot be truly created or changed by it. Rather, individuals are the ultimate shapers of the society around them.
The Group vs The One, The Many vs The Few. You wondered how many mortals and gods even looked at that question and thought the answer was obvious. It isn't. Personally, you're not sure you like either answer, or if this even needs an answer.
In the end, you can only influence four of these debates and obviously each debate could only have one answer. The other two, answers regardless, would be rendered unimportant to think about in this future society that your kirins will found, even if more shall join.
Your gaze turns outwards and wide, seeing your destination. Luckily, you have time to consider and get things rolling in the debates. It was still a long journey to the Grand Swamp.