36.2 Simply Wonderful

General Summary

Day 539

I go to find Trillium as soon as Qing Chen and I have finished. She is sleeping peacefully but I can still feel the dragon magic leaking out of her. It's weak, about the same level that Ricken emits from having found Black Tourmaline's scale. After an hour or so it fades and she wakes feeling groggy and not remembering Qing Chen at all. Her magic feels chaotic and jumbled, a sign of the emotional turmoil she is feeling.   As much as I want to keep her at my side I think she will be safer here with Jaeril and Yneir keeping an eye on her while I take Qing Chen out of the village for a more intense get-to-know-you period.  

Day 540

The next day the little scholar and I head out of the village, intent on getting to know one another and trading scholarly insights . In his travels here there are some sites he thinks I'd find interesting and I'm more than happy to be shown around. On our way to his first site he asks if he can pepper me with questions - another thing I am happy to allow.   Over the course of our walk I find myself telling him about the Collective and their uniformity, their lack of individuality and how any race that joins them is stripped of what it means to be their own people. I articulate the difference between this and the Empire and how even when Carthians joined us they formed their own bond with the Empress that preserved what it meant to be Carthian.   I tell him the story of elves right from their roots - how we were fae, then elves, Kindred, and even some elves who've never filled the wound in their hearts.   I hear about his people and their universal culture with localized environments that lead to differences in how they behave or experience the world. His valley contains deep caves and so many people  have eyes like his that allow them to live in the light and dark with comfort. Others live near waterfalls and place great value on the temperance gained from withstanding the pressure of water. Like dwarves, they have larger organizations that are varying in power and presence in different valleys and are unified by their ideals. He's curious to know if his people are more like the Empire or the Collective but I tell him it's an impossible question.   I share something Amytri once told me about faith and how the act of gaining proof destroys the faith and replaces it with knowledge. To that end I want to know why his people revere and follow their Exalted Ones if all they have is faith. On this side of the Barrier elves can still feel the bond of the Empress and access the shadows she gave us. When I walk amongst elves they feel the bond strengthen and this is knowledge and a personal relationship with our leader. Qing Chen says that his people have also maintained the magic of the Exalted Ones and thus continue to feel their touch and presence. I will forever be curious about the people who follow leaders whose only continued presence is in ancient gifts - this Brotherhood, the humans. Perhaps it is only those who follow Zephyr who are never going to hear their gods speak.   When I laugh and remark that his people really do sound like humans and I shouldn't be surprised since they follow the same people he comments that it's possible the human gods are the same as their Exalted Ones and as he continues describing them I cut him off -  

This thing I am saying is not just an opinion.

  I didn't think I would share this so easily but it feels easy to talk to him, easy to share things that I know because I want him to share things back. I tell him about my teacher and how she is on her way back from visiting with the Exalted Ones. Part of me envisions introducing them and letting her be the villain who tells him that his gods are cruel and selfish people but all I say is that I will think about whether it would be appropriate to introduce them. My teacher is not kind and I can't imagine her handling him gently.   By now we have reached the first location he wished to show me - a pre-Imperial elvish settlement built into a hillside. The magic here feels calm, meditative, and conducive to growing things. The plant life here is all in bloom despite it being well into the summer and the flow of magic feels intentionally constructed, a fact Qing Chen confirms with diagrams he's made of the area.   It has created a lush and vibrant garden and I'm eager to plant an orange seed and show Qing Chen how to grow a seed into a sapling. I explain about my family's orchard and how I like to plant a seed in special places I visit. In exchange he shows me how to set up a defence array that will protect the sapling from destructive energy travelling towards it, both magical and kinetic. His people use it to protect their own sacred places, including some trees that I ask him to tell me about.   One is a fir tree that is over a thousand years old. It resists any attempt to harm it that are not part of nature itself and so the arrays set up around it allow people to study teh flow of energy that passes through the tree. Some people believe it was planted by one of the Exalted Ones since it sits so close to one of their ruins.   Another sacred place is the Dragonfall Blood Forest, a place where the bones of dragons still lie (I cringe) and redwood trees with scaled bark and red leaves have sprung up. There continues to be an aura of strength and power in this place and the wards there protect the trees from being hurt intentionally. Some people think it is a wicked place that ought to be destroyed.  

I think it is neither unholy nor sacred; it is simply wonderful.

  And the last of the trees he tells me about is the Flowing Mist Tree, with silver-blue leaves and an ever-present calming mist that emanates from it. The mist promotes the release of conflict and hostility and their elders will sometimes require people in conflict to spend time beneath the tree together. I wonder at what might happen if Trillium and some of this Brotherhood spent time beneath the tree - how powerful is its magic?   It is not, as I'd hoped, a sign that Qing Chen's culture reveres trees themselves but it is a start. When I ell him about Grove trees he is pleased to know that the spirit array he taught me might be useful to keep those trees safe, and he will use my growth magic to see if they can propagate their sacred trees. Apparently they produce seeds but none have taken when they are planted. My next suggestion is to ask a troll for some advice.   Before we settle down for camp we collect some ingredients from the lush garden and share information about the plants and what they can be used for. I recognize several that Ipthina told me about and before long my apothecary segment is well-stocked. Throughout the entire process he is extraordinarily considerate about the potential spiritual value of any of the plants and is careful to ask before taking cuttings. To honour his own people he burns a small bowl of herbs and bows while they are consumed, a practice I am curious about but will ask about over dinner.