The Dragon's Village 2017

[Topato]

Can I throw out the basckstory I've been thinking of and just be this bear man?

[Karvon]

Sweat trickled down his back as he plodded along the road under the heavy load balanced on his shoulder. He heard one of the guards say the village was not too far away now. Gojiro looked forward to dumping the bale and collecting the pay for his labor. The job had gotten him out of the city, away from his rivals and would provide some coins to tide him over till he could figure out what he would do next.

[Topato]

Tianlong has the face and physique of a strong man in his mid twenties, although a glance at his knowing eyes might suggest he has seen more than two decades of life. He has intricate tattoos covering much of his body.

Tianlong, or "Tian" for short, arrived at the temple about 6 months ago, and sought entry as a student of martial arts. Those who know the inner workings of the temple well might have heard that his petition skirted the very edge of courtesy, seeming almost a demand, and that the masters could have denied him entry for slighting them. However his potential as a student seemed quite exceptional and his irascible tongue must have amused at least some of the masters, for they accepted his application placing him among the more advanced students, much to the chagrin of those who had trained since childhood.

When questioned about his past he will tell fantastic tales of adventure, daring do, and court intrigue. He'll tell these tales with a great grin and big hand gestures, and only the most credulous of the villagers and acolytes would believe a word of it. Most assume he doesn't want to talk about it.

He seems to be getting somewhat restless at the temple now, his studies have progressed well, but there's an air of boredom about him.

[Vanya Mia]

"Must we Master?"

The question from the mouth of Moriko was wheedling in nature as the two sat by the forest stream. Her companion turned his head a fraction and simply regarded her with old brown eyes buried beneath a bushy brow. The diminutive figure of the young looking woman was sitting in beam of sunlight on a boulder over the stream. The toe of one foot dipping in and out of the water, the burbling current from a small waterfall breaking around it. Despite not looking up she must have felt his eyes upon her as she gave an exaggerated sigh.

"The stream needs to sing to us," she gestured towards the forest where a particularly venerable looking tree stood. Its branches adorned with flowers and intertwined with ribbons and strings, the colours of which would all once have been bright though many had succumbed to the bleaching of the sun. "The trees are making shade for us." As she looked down into the water a mane of unusually blonde hair fell forward around a face whose features would be difficult to improve upon except for the nuance of personal taste. She wriggled her foot in a small pool formed between rocks at the side of the falls. "The fish are jumping for us too. It would be very impolite to leave Master." The only reply her companion gave was a rumbling grunt though the insistent tone was obvious.

"It's not our fault they don't know," Moriko continued to plead, lifting her hands outward and palm up in a gesture of querying complaint. "Why do we have to show them? They think they know so won't pay attention." This comment evoked a snort of obvious derision and those wise old eyes now regarded her sternly from under a beetling brow. He rose and turned to head down a path away from the waterfall, barely evident between the trees. Tilting his head he looked back at her pointedly.

"Oh all right," Moriko responded petulantly, rising to her feet and picking up a pack containing her few belongings. She slung it over a shoulder and followed after him, spinning a in a full circle as she walked slowly along with her arms outstretched. "Look after the old one, he holds it all together," she said, seemingly to nothing and no one and then wagged a finger. "And don't be naughty while we are gone!"

[smartalec]

Since he had been a young man, he had been a monk. He had grown within the Monastery's walls, attended to the monk's duties, read words of wisdom, cultivated his breath, and learned stillness. Yet on a day in his seventeenth year, Meng Wen had come to the Abbot Shen, bowed and sat before him, and said, "Wise Master, I wish to learn the sword."

Abbot Shen sighed, put down his cup of water, and admonished the young monk. "Is it stories from Wang Sha's time in the army that you have heard, in the village? You should clear your mind of these thoughts. For as Gong Kun, sage of Fire, said - 'do not dwell in the past, or think of the future'."

Meng Wen considered this, and asked, "But Master. Did the Sage of Fire not also say, 'What we think, we become'?"

And Abbot Shen told him to sweep the grounds of the Abbey for three days.

---

On the fourth day, Meng Wen - tired and uncomfortable - bowed and sat before the Abbot Shen, and the Abbot asked him of himself. And Meng Wen said to him, "Sagacious Master, my back aches greatly, but I still wish to learn the sword."

And Abbot Shen shook his head, and said to him, "Perhaps it is Brother Tian's tales that have taken root in your head. You must find mindfulness, young student, you must be mindful of your root. As the Sage of Fire said, 'A foolish man is he who holds to the idea of self'."

Meng Wen considered this, and asked, "But Master, did not Xian Wu, the Wise Man of Water, once say - 'to know others is wisdom, but knowing yourself is enlightenment'?"

And Abbot Shen told him to tidy the banks of the stream for four days.

---

On the fifth day, Meng Wen - wet and cold - bowed and sat before the Abbot Shen, and the Abbot asked of his thoughts. And Meng Wen said to him, "Honoured Master, my hands are chilled, but my spirit still wishes to learn the sword."

And Abbot Shen spent a moment in careful silence before saying to the young monk, "Perhaps it is the boasting of Farmer Tu that has awakened this within you. You should attend to your spiritual life, and put aside these earthly things. The Sage of Fire said truly, 'a candle cannot burn without fire. A man cannot live without a spiritual life'."

Meng Wen listened, and thought, and at last, spoke. "But Master, was it not the words of Mo Li, Great Tender of Earth, who said, 'choose a trade you love, and you will never work a day'?"

And Abbot Shen sent him to paint the Abbey's walls for five days.

---

On the sixth day, Meng Wen - sore and paint-spattered - bowed and sat before the Abbot Shen, and the Abbot asked, what were his thoughts. And Meng Wen said to him, "Patient Master, I am in dire need of a wash. But one thing has not changed. I wish to learn the sword."

And Abbot Shen cast his eyes to the heavens, for the briefest of moments, and said to the paint-spattered young monk, "These dreams are often fleeting. Are you so sure you will desire so, in a year? For as Jin Yuhan, Speaker of the Air, said - 'don’t do what should not be done, and don’t desire what should not be desired'."

Meng Wen nodded, and bowed his head, yet said, "Yet I believe the Speaker of Air also said, 'sincerity is the way to heaven'. My will is sincere, Master."

Abbot Shen grunted. "The words of the Wise Man of Water tell us - 'ambition may reach to the sky, yet she has one heel nailed to the ground.'"

Meng Wen again bowed his head, accepting this as wisdom, yet again he spoke. "The Wise Man of Water also said to his student, that 'when I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.' My intent is pure, Master."

Abbot Shen long considered the young monk's words, for moments uncounting. The candles dimmed, yet still they sat. And as the sun dipped its last behind the horizon, the Abbot Shen said, "Yet you are a monk, and you live a monk's life and attend to a monk's vows. The Sage of Fire knew of such things when he said, 'better than worshipping gods, is obedience to the laws of righteousness.'"

Meng Wen bowed his head one final time, knowing these words to be true, yet he also spoke, so quietly as to not disturb the still of coming dusk. "I understand, Master. But the Great Tender of Earth also told his attendants, 'only the wisest and stupidest men never change.' And Master, I know - I am neither."

And Abbot Shen nodded. As the candles guttered and were no more, and the two sat in darkness, the Abbot Shen breathed deeply, once, twice, and said, "There is nothing more I can teach you. Tomorrow, you will leave the monastery. You will go to Wang Sha, ask of him to work at his farm, and to instruct you in the five sacred strokes of the sword."

And Meng Wen said, "Thank you, Master."

[Lazybones]

Awesome posts, everyone.

[Shadani]

Drip.

She came from the river. An unwanted burden, perhaps discarded at birth. An old monk found her, crying in her makeshift crib. They could not find her a home, and so the monastery was where she stayed.

Drip.

As she grew, she began to wonder why she was different. No parents or siblings; no toys or children’s songs. The monks told her the story of how she came to live among them, and soon, her imagination ran wild. She left them in the night, leaving behind her lessons and her chores.

Drip.

It was months before they found her. When they finally did, they were not surprised. Where else would she go? The river had claimed her, filled her lungs. She’d been drifting along for days. And yet, when they pulled her out of the water, she opened her eyes and breathed.

Drip.

She remembered little of her time away from the monastery. Snippets of conversations with strange figures, or with things that weren’t really figures at all. Spirits beneath the ripples in the water, hiding just beneath the surface. Their words were riddles, and she asked them all the wrong questions. Some of them laughed at her. Foolish child. How little you know.

Drip.

Sigh.

Ning rose to her feet, abandoning her meditations. The roof was leaking again. She could probably find something to patch it with, if she could just —

No, no, no. She was doing that thing again. Embracing distractions. Turning her back on wisdom, simply because the insights on offer were uncomfortable ones. Because she was afraid, and because the nightmares had never gone away. Even if, over the years, she had learned to pretend otherwise. To smile and to repeat after her teachers even when the words did not feel like they were true. Surely they knew there was something wrong with her. They had to.

“The river is your mother,” Abbot Shen had told her, some time after she’d recovered from her trials. Even after all these years, Ning wasn’t sure if he was being literal, or if he was just being Abbot Shen. It was true she’d journeyed upriver to find her family, a thing that was clearly not there to be found. A childish dream. As if there were even the slightest chance she might find something that would make her normal, that would make the voices in her head make sense.

She had never been alone. Not really. The river was within her; the river-that-was-all-rivers. And in time, all things returned to the river.

Drip.

“Shut your mouth!” she said, to nothing and no one. As she did, Menzo came round the corner, his brow creased with worry. She turned red and apologised, then ran off to find a quiet place, even as he tried to ask her what was wrong.

A few days later, the abbot called on her. He told her that it was time for her to seek out new things; that the monastery had become for her not a place of enlightenment, but a prison. It had been years since the river reclaimed her, and since then she had left its walls only rarely, and never gladly. He was not kicking her out — not exactly — but it was clear to him that her spiritual growth had been stifled. Water must flow as it will. When contained for too long, it grows foul. Stolid. Perhaps one day, when she attains the peace for which she was named, she might return, and stay.

Ning saw the wisdom in this. All the same, some part of her felt betrayed. The monastery was her home, and without its rules and rhythms, she does not know who she will become. The world is wide and vast. She might yet drown.

[Topato]

Is there anywhere we can chuck portrait files? 250kb limit on here and mines 300~

[Lazybones]

My file host is extremely stingy but Vanya Mia has a Box.net account. I bet if you sent her the file she could host it for the group.

[Vanya Mia]

Sorted. Portraits for Tianlong, Meng Wen and Moriko in pack.

https://app.box.com/s/nhgygtq7bsla6qnnrlghrom4snwf7dxe