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.
Flat Society.
Temporal Rights.
External Magic.
Solid Society.
External Magic and Solid Society took me a bit to settle on.
I've decided to review this chapter here instead of fanfiction this time around. Anyway wonderful work as always, and I look forward to finding out what awaits them when they arrive at the Grand Swamp. Though have to ask if everything is ultimately decided by random roll of the dice, what role if any do the votes play? Because i'm still kinda of confused there to be honest.
Also really great to learn it's not just Kirin part of this massive group traveling but certain members of other species like Thicket the dragon. While the Kirin might be this gods chosen species, i'm actually quite interested in what places Thicket and other non-kirins might find for themselves in this developing group society/culture.
Now here are my next votes for this chapter.
External Magic
Supremacy of the Physical
Steep Society
Temporal Rights
9898422
Huh? No, the random roll was for only for the location, and the votes determined the chances of it being picked. This is by majority vote, as are most decisions.
1:External Magic
2: Supremacy of the Metaphysical
3: Flowing Society
4: Steep Society
1) Eternal magic is clearly the hardest of the two, so quickly mastering that would be greatly beneficial. If Internal Magic is so easy, our people will learn about it naturally despite us focusing on External magics. BAM, two birds with one stone.
2) I believe that the people will more easily accept a Godly figure if they believe in mind over matter. Dealing with atheism will decrease the worship we receive, which is clearly bad.
3) While I think that the structure of a static society is beneficial, keeping our people happy is more important in the long run. Flowing society has its downsides, but I believe that a steep society eliminates them for the most part.
4) A flowing society and a steep society work together perfectly! If there is a vacant position, someone WILL take it. In doing so, they have a monopoly or a particular job, thus gaining wealth. This will in turn lead others to join this profession. If someone's bad at the job, they simply won't earn customers, and will eventually change their career path.
9898435
OH! I got'cha sorry for the confusion on my end that's a my bad. But thank you for clearing it up really appreciate it.
1:External Magic
2: Supremacy of the Metaphysical
3: Flowing Society
4: Steep Society
My answers are
Internal magic because we should master our own capabilities before using others
Supremacy of the Metaphysical because I personally think that we should master the mind. Mind over matter and all of that.
Immutable Rights because I believe there rights should never change for the worse.
Flowing Society, let them be what they want to be.
Also when I saw Flat Society vs Steep Society I immediately thought "Oh no it's capitalism and socialism. This is going to be a doozy"
I really had to debate with myself and go back and re-read a few of the sections, but I have my votes.
Internal magic
Supremacy of the metaphysical
Steep society
Immutable rights
Edit: wow, yeah really had to debate with myself, there were only 2 comments when I started. I sat here thinking about it for nearly an hour and didn't even realize it untill now.
1) External Magic
From what we know it is harder and more dangerous, but also stronger and more powerful. That and it makes me think of the Kirin's Nirik side, strong, dangerous, and volatile.
2) Supremacy of the Metaphysical
While gods can take a physical form they are metaphysical beings in the end. In other words this translates to Supremacy of the Gods, AKA us.
3) Temporal Rights
Immutable Rights is definitely not a bad thing, but it can easily lead to misunderstanding of the rights and even more problems in the future. Temporal Rights can have the same issue, but they can be changed or even turned into Immutable Rights if need be.
4) This last one I am unsure of so I will go with Steep Society
A Steep Society will mean that our followers will work hard and be sufficiently rewarded for their work, as well as meaning that they will be good at what they do. Probably.
Steep Society
Flowing Society
Temporal Rights
Society from Individuality
Internal Magic
Supremacy of the Metaphysical
Immutable Rights
Society from Individuality
Self-knowledge, self-mastery. The kirin bear great power within themselves, a flaming passion that will accept no limits. That passion cultivated will make a great society, but it needs a strong foundation. Immutable rights and an awareness of the importance of the individual will ensure the vibrancy of the people for generations to come.
Supremacy of the metaphysical furthers our own goals, and further acclimates the kirin to the reality of their nirik forms,as an intrinsic part of them.
Innate magic may not posses the same raw power as ambient magic, but it as much more flexible to the designs of the wielder. Furthermore it is a resource that the kirin will always posses, as it dwells within them.
My actual vote:
i can't vote in all 6 but i will show the logic i used anyway
external magic
Supremacy of the Metaphysical
Steep Society
Flowing Society
Immutable Rights
Society from Individuality
feel free to use this logic in your own votes
1:External Magic
2: Supremacy of the Metaphysical
3: Flowing Society
4: Temporal Rights
1. Bodies have limits and internal magic will be a second objective that will grow in time while the focus will be on surpassing body limitations and its magic on external magic.
And again internal magic will still exist but won't be the main focus
2. It should strengthen Godling in short
3.A flexible society that can change depending on the need
4. You just need to look at the history of a lot of countries. Once good rights are stupid today.
Flexible rights mean adaptability to change of society that will change with the progress of technology
But some rights shouldn't be changed but adapted, especially those fundamental
1. External magic, internal magic sounds easy to do, however if we can also learn external magic we can become much more powerful, perhaps our greatest casters can even sap the magic of our enemies.
2. Supremacy of the metaphysical, we need to be able draw more worshippers and this is just an easy way to guarantee that
3. Steep society. To an extent, people should be able to move up and down the ladder, it shouldn’t be easily stuck, however we should have more power as one climbs the ladder and not just a equality as no one has a reason to work during good times
4. Immutable rights, we need stability in our world and while rights should be available for change it should be under a specific process agreed upon in a referendum.
Now that that is out of the way I would just like to say wow, that is a great chapter and I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t too happy with the great swamp but that is just the luck of the draw, I presume that the swamp is not permanent and that we can move eventually if we so desire.
Great job on the chapter, I look forward to reading more.
External Magic
Supremacy of the Metaphysical
Steep Society
Flowing Society
I find the debate of whether one type of magic is better then the other to be truly meaningless. power is power, so I'm going to ignore this.
While society only exists because of the individuals that make it, those individuals wouldnt be the same without a framework to base themselves off of. Even if they strive to change it, the changes they seek are based on what they disagree within that framework. Ultimately this is a meaningless debate right now.
So here are my debate I think matter more then the first two.
I vote for metaphysical
While physical supremacy will give us a strong people, i feel that having a stronger mind will lead to a stronger people. It doesnt really matter how strong you are if you can be tricked by a fool.
I vote Steep Society
While a steep society can be unjust, the drive to accomplish more will ultimately lead to a stronger society, even if those at the top may not be the best for the job. A flat society would cripple us as a civilization.
I vote Flowing Society
While a stable solid society would be best on a logistical standpoint, it would cripple those that can do better in other areas. no matter what if someone can choose, they can find a field they flourish in, and their happiness would promote a more stable self in the long run.
I vote temporal right
I find the aspect that a changing society will always find the best morals for the moment at hand to far better then to uselessly cling to traditions that dont help the current society to flourish. Now I will admit that those in power could use this power ruthlessly, but give enough push the corrupt's heads will roll.
Flat Society
Immutable Rights
Solid Society
Supremacy of Metaphysical
External magic
Supremacy of the metaphysical
Steep society
Inmutable rights
PD: please explain to me the random system, some votes are random regardless of our opinions or their are a determine amount of random votes?
9900357
The only random vote was the locations, and the votes there determined the likelihood of each option. This chapter's votes are all by majority, as are most of the things in this fic. I try to clearly tell, in the notes and in story, when it is random.
Internal Magic
Steep Society
Solid Society
Society from Individuality
External Magic
Supremacy of the Metaphysical
Flowing Society
Immutable rights
Dunno if votes here are still being taken, if so, heres my toss in
Supremacy of the Metaphysical
Steep Society
Flowing Society
Temporal Rights
I like Thicket and her understandable empathy.
Ok, here's my votes:
-Inequal distribution of power and riches is one of the many problems of modern day, and one very difficultvto resolve. But for this small population, it could be possible to stop the problem from starting in the first place, so accepting that it will cost many the ambition to aim high, I vote for Flat Society.
-I do value the freedom to choose what path to take on life, and what role I want to fulfill. It is risky to give this community the ability to choose roles and be unsuccessful in their new endeavors, but failing is a part of life and, ultimately, their choices and consequences should be up to them. So I choose a Flowing Society.
-Supremacy of the Physical. It is, in my opinion, our growth in the physical world and interactions with it that forms the metaphysical.
-External Magic. It may be risky and difficult, but if in theory anyone could use it, then it should be the focus of the new society, as not all of the members of this society are Kirins. There may be those that have little to no magic in them, so it could put them on a disadvantage.
My vote the foundation of society
Flowing society
Supremacy of the Physical make technology a priority
Society exist because of Individuality
Steep Society
The magic fields all give power with pro and cons, we should not dedicate ourselves to only one field.
Steep Society
Flowing Society
Immutable Rights
Society exist because of the individual