Opportunism and Altruism are fantastic sentiments to consider, but not at such risk with your still paltry power. The Heart was old and Sombra was potent. Best to play it safe at this stage.
Your essence wraps around the young Quick Blade, feeding his thoughts: that this place was no longer safe, they should leave, this wasn't their fight.
The Kirin exodus from the Crystal Empire begins not with a rallying cry or a great speech. It starts in the simplest of fashions: Quick Blade stands, telling his friends and family it is time to leave. Without word, they began to follow his lead. And others followed theirs, and more were prompted by them. Shaded Gold and Frozen Meadow both took notice of the event, but despite their differing desires to remain, your will managed to hold their tongue. It was obvious most Kirin had no desire to fight in this instance: for a tyrant they didn't trust or a home that wasn't their own.
That said, they had their own parts to play.
Quick Blade may have got the ball rolling, but Shaded and Frozen knew a way to make their next migration easier. And so, as Quick Blade and others gathered around maps to contemplate where to move, Frozen Meadows came to them. The neutral Kirin expected some form of lecture or disapproval, but instead received a request to spread word of the plan.
The Crystal Empire had a small field filled with a rare, new technology that the empire had monopolized: Airships. Originally meant for transporting passengers and cargo, the Great Winter had prompted the empire to refit them for war. But Sombra and Amora had both deliberately gone out of their way to deny each other the chance to use the aerial devices before they could take off.
In theory, there were enough to transport all of them easily, and the balloon-ships were enchanted to be able to weather the storm. Again, in theory.
It was a bit dangerous, but it was one danger Quick Blade felt better taking than getting involved in the war. And he knew plenty of Kirin that had books from the Empire's libraries before the war had broken out. Between that and some guesswork, they could figure out how to work the ships.
And so the Kirin prepared, packing up their supplies and salvaging anything of value as they waited for a chance. It came quick, a rather potent battle at night. Masked by darkness and the chaos of the battle, Shaded Gold and the hunters snuck into the airfield, knocking out or killing all the soldiers keeping watch over it, regardless of what side they were on. With time bought, the Kirin scrambled to load themselves into the ships. But time only lasted so long.
By the time either side knew of the airfield being taken, the Kirin had confidently deduced how to control the ships, for the most part. Amora, hearing that it had been the refugees, ordered her soldiers to ignore them and push the attack on Sombra's forces. But Sombra grew enraged, sending off a shadow pony and a small force of slave-soldiers to deal with the interlopers.
Quick Blade's ship was the first to become airborne, but remained stationary as he watched the others taking off. And here he bore witness to Shaded Gold and the hunters doing battle with an Umbra, a monstrous pony of smoke and shadow, and the enslaved warriors. The proud leader of the hunters did all he could keep them back, but there were too many, and the Crystal Ponies, side regardless, possessed armor that was hard to damage and weapons that could pierce most hides.
After a fellow hunter sacrificed himself, trying to force Shaded to retreat, the Nirik-embracer reluctantly withdraw with the rest of the hunters, jumping onto a ship just before it took off.
Just in time too, as Quick Blade had managed to figure out how to use the Arcane Cannons on the ship. While the aim was poor, the shot managed to distract the umbra and cover Shaded's escape.
Quick Blade scowled as he looked down at the airfield, now illuminated by flames. Two ships had crashed into each other and another's balloon had exploded. There was no way to land and grab the survivors without risking more or all of them being shot down
A final forth had almost been shot down by the umbra, but had been blocked by a young-adult dragon of all things, to everyone's surprise. Including your own! But you weren't about question the help as its fire pinned down the shadow pony until the Kirin in the airships had finally risen too high for their enemies to strike, the roaring flames killing it and its mind controlled underlings.
With Sombra's rage almost palpable, even at a distance, the airships made for the storm. All company braced as the wind and cold bombarded the shields created by enchanted crystals. They held, but the entirety of the hulls were shuddering. Quick Blade almost feared they had made a mistake until your unexpected and draconic ally made itself known again, roaring loudly as it flew about the ships before flying upwards, roaring streams of fire before flying out of view. It shot down, repeating the acts, prompting Frozen Meadow and Shaded Gold to realize what was going on.
You could feel Quick Blade's frustration as he heard the calls to rise higher, and quickly, not believing he hadn't picked up on that. It wasn't enough to prompt his Nirik form, but he did snort smoke for a moment. Soon, all the airships found their ways higher and higher until finally...
They were above the storm. And everyone stared in awe at the beauty of the clear star-bright sky, lit by the full moon as the light bounced off the endless sea of clouds below.
You felt your spirit uncoil, relaxing as relief spread through you. The worst of that was over. Of the twenty-two airships the Kirin had stolen, only three had been stopped at the airfield and, by a miracle even to you, none in the storm. Only a few hundred lost instead of one or two thousands.
As the Kirin sailed relatively without aim for the first night, you felt a surge of power rush through you. They didn't know you yet, but there were many prayers of thanks to "whatever god" had helped them.
It just occurred to you that you'd need a name or title for the Kirin to address you by eventually, but you stowed that aside for later. Right now, you had something very, very important to worry about.
Using planks to carefully cross between ships, the Kirin began conferring with the more navigational inclined to decide where to go. With the ships, they had more options in terms of distance, but that just made choosing harder. After the events of the Crystal Empire, a common desire to try and find an unoccupied territory spread with ease.
You however, while not all-knowing, are aware of six locations you know to be ideal. However, with so many minds and opinions in play, you did not have the ability to suppress all of them and push them to only one option. All you could do was keep their attention on these six targets and allow them to pick between them.
"Shaded, even if Colossal Rest exists, why would we settle in the Frozen North when we just left the Crystal Empire?" Frozen asked in exasperation as they convened in the captain's quarters of Frozen's ship.
"No, I've been here, it's real. It's secluded and easily defendable, and it's actually just outside the effects of the Frozen North. It is still winter year round there, but it is close and safe," Shaded defended with a firm scowl.
"And it's in spitting distance if we ever decide to invade the empire?" Quick Blade pointed out with a knowing look. Shaded shrugged in admittance as Frozen shook her head in distaste. "I don't entirely disagree with the sentiment, but if we want defense, I've found a spot more to the east and with less of a cold-factor. A narrow river valley hidden by tall cliffs called the Hidden Mirror Valley. It's far north of the griffins, hard to spot, and hard to attack," Quick explained.
"Isn't that Bugbear territory?" Shaded pointed out with a scrunched brow.
"FAR North," Quick stressed to clarify. "It's a bit of a journey, even with these ships."
"Still, a river at least deals with our need for water," Frozen acknowledged as she studied the map. "There is a great swampland, or rather the Grand Swamp, in the south west. Our ancestors once made journeys to it as a coming of age event and for spiritual quests. Its wildlife might make it a bit dangerous, but it'd be much like the Grove in a lot of respects. And while easy to find, it is a giant marsh so..."
"It'd be difficult to navigate and find us in there. A decent safeguard," Shaded allowed. "Though, we have no idea if any other creatures have moved in there, and it's been over a hundred years since we traveled to the Grand Swamp. If it's plentiful you want, there is a waterfall my father told me about as a young one. It's far east of the Grove, but the journey there should be safest, to our current knowledge. Beautiful crystal clear waters, and a large cliff side with hidden cave networks behind the falls. He called it Peaches Falls, since there use to be a lot of them there, but most of the trees were gone by the time he visited it the third time. Theoretically, we could start in the caves and build either further into them or outside the falls."
"Or, you know, both," Quick Blade pointed out with a hum as his eyes went eastward as well. "There is a weird place I keep hearing about east of Griffon stone. Twisted Towers, a strange formation these towering structures of spirals paths. No one knows if it's natural or not, but all accounts and maps make the surrounding out to have plenty of room for farms, and they have some defensive applications, I'm sure."
"Why are all your choices so far away?" Frozen asked rhetorically. "If we're going for space...I admit I thought this was a myth, but even many in the Crystal Empire spoke or wrote about a flowing plains called the Grass Sea if you head north of the Frozen North, and keep going until the Frozen North ends."
"...How far is that?" Shaded questioned uncertainly.
"Longer than we'd like, shorter than you'd think," Frozen answered with a sigh. "This is too big a decision for just us to make, we need to know what the navigators and others think..."
A. Colossal Rest: Ideal for defending and only a short distance away, but very cold year round and sparse in resources.
B. Hidden Valley: Ideal for defending and hard to find, but very far and geographical isolation will make it hard to get aid or leave if it becomes needed.
C. Grand Swamp: Ideal for resources and hard to find, but filled with a lot of dangerous wildlife and vegetation.
D. Peaches Fall: Ideal for resources and one of the safest paths, but fair chance it may have been taken over one or more other creatures, including other Kirin.
E. Twisting Towers: Ideal for population and one of the safest paths, but it is unknown how valuable a place these towers actually are.
F. Grass Sea: Ideal for population and only a short distance away, but is hard to defend due to being completely wide open and also geographically isolated.
I am a sucker for mountains, I vote For A, we could use the confusion of the civil war to continue stealing from sombra and amore, and work toward hiding ourselves. Whenever the empire is banished or amore wins we have a hidden empire. Perhaps we could fake our deaths and grow and wait for the opportune time to strike.
P.S. we could learn to use our Nirik forms to warm the land, or perhaps the Golding could first use his powers to miraculously create warm weather for crops
Well that accelerated quickly didn't it? Would have thought there'd be a mid-point betwixt "keep an open mind" and "the kirin are for the kirin!" Ah well, what's done is done.
Let's see, the Valley and the Rest don't suit a long-term settlement, and the Swamp is just asking for problems with monsters and disease. The Grass Sea sounds lovely, but there's nothing there to build with but sod, and I'm uncertain of our supplies. Grasslands are surprisingly similar to deserts if you're not prepared.
I'd say to make for the East, and if there are any faster airships available it would behoove us to scout out both the Falls and the Towers. After all, a fleet of airships is quite mobile, (until they start to break down) might as well take full advantage.
D or E, whichever proves safer/richer/better.
9870180
Twisted Towers is Safer, Peaches Fall is Richer.
9870186
Hmm, committing sight-unseen still seems somewhat risky, if there's an opportunity for scouting I'd highly recommend it. If not, I'd choose the Falls over the Towers, I've a fondness for waterfalls.
external-preview.redd.it/5yr3LEa2mSsZB0MM4GYAxEIMUThbeRJRvr0il2tHp-o.jpg?width=603&auto=webp&s=b3896ece1852dc33861c0b6031e374dc6cc4e5a1
9870180
Agree, D or E for me as well.
9870208
Preference? Otherwise I'm just going to coin flip your vote.
I also like A, because of their fire form the cold shouldn’t be such a problem, but you scare me with the sparse in resources. Also it depends if they are going to be involve in the war or not.
PD: I have a question? Are we going to choose the race of our new god or is it going to be a Kirin ?
Twisted Towers.
My vote last time was mainly based on balance, allowing defence but not instantly becoming a warrior race. Had nothing against either option personality wise, was just looking at future balance.
Good chapter, keep it up.
9870173
A) Ivote A for pretty sure the same reasons
9870216
The previous vote was to stay out of the war and leave. Until another option to vote comes up or they're attacked, the Kirin are not in any war. They're going some place to settle.
So, to be clear, is that a vote for A?
9870221
Yes
I'd say either C or D.
The swamp would be good because the Kirin used to go there as a coming of age right of passage thing, so they might already have experience with the area and know how to deal with things around there. But there might be some issues like purifying enough water for nearly 2000 Kirin, as well as getting enough food in a swampland type area unless they can get some sort of hydroponics-like set up.
The falls would be good because it has clean, flowing water and we already know the land is fertile because it was named after the amount of peach trees that grew there. As well as the caves being a good defensible position we could fall back to if we ever get attacked, that and the caves would be a good place for Nirik, after all, stone is much harder to burn than wood. And the caves could have resources in them too, like ores and/or gems. However a lot of those things could be a double edged sword, the caves could be home to diamond dogs or Dragons, and the falls could be claimed by any number of surface creatures.
Taking everything into account, I think my vote is going to be
D. Peaches Fall
It may be the more dangerous of the two in the short run, but if we can settle there it will set us up well In the long run.
9870214
Option D.
i vote for E becuase anytime you have strange rock formations triggers my geo sense for uniuqe treasures
[C] Grand Swamp 75%
[A] Colossal Rest 25%
Colossal Rest
sounds like a job for innovation, but sounds harsh, starvation for worship fodder, but not the best
Hidden Valley
long trip and geographical isolation sounds like a hindrance
can't innovate if your not a part the game of nations
Grand Swamp
food (meat and greens) water, hidden; filled with a lot of dangerous wildlife and vegetation to become survivors and then eventually warriors
plenty of reasons to worship; injuries, poisons, diseases, looming monsters in the dark~
Peaches Fall
Ideal for resources and one of the safest paths, but too much competition,
it's obvious we have a high chance of getting rejected and wasting a trip.
Twisting Towers
sounds like a gamble for resources
Grass Sea
No, just no
Current Tally:
A. Colossal Rest: 3
B. Hidden Valley: 0
C. Grand Swamp: 1
D. Peaches Fall: 3
E. Twisting Towers: 3
F. Grass Sea: 0
side note maybe the godling's name should be Qilin (kirin in japanese)
E: The Twisted Towers.
From what we know it is the safest choice, as well as the fact that if it is truly a natural maze then it would be unfathomably easy to defend. Castles were often built as confusingly as possible in order to give advantage to the defending force after all.
The biggest draw back being it could (extra emphasis on could) take generations to properly learn to navigate it, but could also take no more than a few months depending on how well we can navigate it and feed the Kirin information about it. Then there is the fact that Quick said it should have more than enough land surrounding it to turn into proper farms, though that will take much more time, most likely.
In summery:
Pros /Cons
Easily defendable /Navigation will be tricky for possible years
Large framlands /Unknown how fertile the lands are
In my opinion the pros out weigh the cons, and there is always the fact that there could be something unexpectedly arcane about it as a natural maze. Whether that is good or bad we can only find out by going, if there is something that is.
9870336
Should it be Kirin and not something different?
Like alicorns aren't just a normal ponies
Maybe add wings? I don't know
Also, Qilin where I heard that before?
9870357
I said name of the godling, it was funny
9870363
I don't have anything against the name but that Godlings shouldn't be a like normal kirin
Like alicorns have horns and wings Godling should be different somehow
Also who disliked my previous comment?
A, Colossal Rest
While it isn't the most habitable of places, it does allow for close surveillance of our REAL target: The Crystal Empire. With how close the Rest is, we can send spies to keep tabs on the war. That information is highly valuable; we can help or hurt particular sides of the battle to extend the war for as long as possible. When the time is right for us to enter the battle fully, we'll be able to do so quickly.
Resources and heat will be an issue, but I think we can handle it. Firstly, the people have begun praising Us, even if only slightly. Perhaps that power will be enough to let Us raise the temperature slightly or grow food. Secondly, we have a dragon maybe??? They'll be able to help with heat and hunting if they stick around.
Also, can we research the planes a bit? What sort of fuel do they need, if any? Can we use them to import resources from nearby areas?
I don’t think we should just a be a big Kirin with wings, I think we need a form that truly differentiates us from the Kirin such as. As for names, well, I don’t know.
A. Colossal Rest
I think beings like Kirins shouldn't have a problem with cold temperature but for other species ( not counting dragons and yaks) will have problem
About defense
Remember that keeping military logistics functioning on winter and very cold temperature is hell
You need to feed it with supply chain but if you don't have for example trucks you have a problem, thats are reasons why winter saved Russia from Hitler and Napoleon
9870478
How about a loong?
camo.fimfiction.net/NrX-OkQXMOgNWAom3YwPI4tyvaaFL8jfZxNvFtto2LU?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdna.artstation.com%2Fp%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fimages%2F008%2F265%2F374%2Flarge%2Fmaria_-roklain-.jpg
B. Hidden Valley: Ideal for defending and hard to find, but very far and geographical isolation will make it hard to get aid or leave if it becomes needed.
This is my vote.
Can anyone say, Dagobah?
i.pinimg.com/originals/13/f3/5c/13f35c6719bd2d52a587cc0d568b0bbd.jpg
C. Grand Swamp: Ideal for resources and hard to find, but filled with a lot of dangerous wildlife and vegetation.
Plan: Kirin Grey Jedi Order is a go!
Do we even need corporeal form or any form for that matter? Being formless deity or form that did not resemble any mortal race may allow us to gain worshipers from races other that Kirin.
9870659
😮
Oh
Now I can't decide between Colossal Rest Grand Swamp
But wouldn't cold climate mines have a better chance for crystals for lightsabers?
starwarsblog.starwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Gathering2.jpeg
i38.servimg.com/u/f38/14/00/36/77/vlcsna23.jpg
starwarsblog.starwars.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/03/youngling-crystal.jpg
img.lum.dolimg.com/v1/images/databank_lightsabercrystal_01_169_6d843285.jpeg?region=0%2C98%2C1560%2C780
With the swamp there is a chance we will get this img14.deviantart.net/a09d/i/2014/329/d/0/yoda_on_dagobah_by_entar0178-d87n0tm.jpg or this i.ytimg.com/vi/CeCD2bApWKU/maxresdefault.jpg
9870718
Yeah, I had the same doubt too.
In the end was the 'spiritual quest' detail that got my interest.
Spirit swamps are always interesting one way or another.
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/a/a7/Banyan-grove_tree.png/revision/latest?cb=20130630224339
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/powerlisting/images/1/1a/Huu_Swamp_Monster.png/revision/latest?cb=20180703034535
We can always have the crystal acquisition be some kind of milestone journey thing for our warriors later on.
I'm going to go with C. Grand Swamp. It might be a bit of a fight to take and hold, but with the defensible position and resources, whatever losses we take we'd be able to make up in other ways.
(E) Twisting Towers
9870659
Ohhh you have convinced me.
I vote C Grand Svamp
Well, between Fanfictition and Fimfiction, I can happily say that every option has at least one vote.
F. This story is SO interesting! Keep up the good work!
D. Peaches Fall
If we are going to make a national we need resources and safety. This location if unpopulated would be a perfect spring board. The Great Swamp is similar with high in resources and protection from outside enemies, but is instead replaced by internal enemies.
D. Peaches Fall
Perhaps we can find more kirin or other species that we could influence later on as our power grows. Don't think overpopulation will be an issue, seeing how we lost most of our folk in the escape. I'm pretty sure we won't upset any possible living beings with our meager size unless they fumbled the resources up like morons.
9871268
Most? You only lost 3 of 22. Even assuming they were filled completely with Kirins, that's only about 13%.
9870507
9870478
9870424
no wings x3 the godling isn't there to unite three tribes together
If the ponies were just unicorns, I'm sure the sisters would just be big tall unicorns x3
so As before big tall Kirin that has a more angular spikey shape and Niriks with electricity instead of fire~
pm1.narvii.com/6484/cc533bee460d189daacbc4845def2086c123cf1b_hq.jpg
40.media.tumblr.com/5feed25fec8db6e6aab05049391e96b3/tumblr_n3mfx563Y01r4gturo3_1280.png
Current Fimfiction Tally:
A. Colossal Rest: 5
B. Hidden Valley: 1
C. Grand Swamp: 4
D. Peaches Fall: 5
E. Twisting Towers: 5
F. Grass Sea: 1
B.) Hidden Valley. It may be a bit far, but that's not anything to worry about.
9871336
You know what, since it's random in the end, I'll go ahead and reveal the current total tallies:
A. Colossal Rest: 5
B. Hidden Valley: 3
C. Grand Swamp:4
D. Peaches Fall: 7
E. Twisting Towers: 10
F. Grass Sea: 2
9871323
9870507
I do see the Argument for an Alpha Kirin Avatar, however I do not see us as a ruler of the Kirin but more of a guardian Spirit. I think a loong/chinese dragon would be a good avatar for us, we do not intend to rule the Kirin only influence them and lead them, leave the Kirin to the boring beurocratic things.
9871797
Aye, Sun and Moon went in for the direct rule, and look where that got them. Citizenry that panics over bunny stampedes. If you let your people solve their own problems without interference they'll be able to grow in maturity. And perhaps they won't spend the better part of a thousand years in near cultural stagnation because they're dead set on imitating an unchanging immortal.
9871376
I am now out of a job x3
9871797
9871817
Celestia is a dork we all agree
we can be up close
we just tell them to "Do it themselves"
this is not Equestria
we don't have elements to adhere to
and to be honest the long dragon, just doesn't do it for me, too close to Discord
9871842
ok, what if we give him feathers... a feathered serpent
does that still remind you of discord
9871855
Alpha Kirin goddess for the for Kirin
9871863
???
What do you mean... please explain
9871872
sorry if I'm confusing you, it happens a lot