Thar Shaddin

Take care of yourself

I look forward to your return!

For your next post, Ree, feel free to assume that Cai will wander in whichever direction Piao Bai suggests. After all, only Piao Bai knows exactly what he needs, and something tells me he might just use that as leverage to coincidentally find what he needs only once he has done enough sight-seeing to satisfy his curiosity =p

I've hinted at the shape of the markets, and mentioned they are large, but I'm happy to leave creative control of what the duo actually see at the markets up to you, if you'd like. It's a high-traffic trading town, so feel free to have some fun with it =D

*inserts historical kdrama references here*

Sorry for the short post! I was trying to put more into it, but nothing worked out, so I settled for something simple to keep things rolling

I've been getting some ideas for potential plot hooks starting at the next leg of their journey. Hopefully I will catch you in chat some time! If not, I'll edit this post with some of those ideas later

Please do!

I'm thinking that in a place as large as Tian Xia, with its fairly liberal approach to the concept of magic, there would be a thriving black market in supernatural reagents and entities. The kind of thing which the Jinyiwei try to stamp out, but which is generally too widespread for them to ever do more than shut down one supplier or broker at a time.

Further to that, a cat-sized dragon resembling the Emperor of Tian Xia would undoubtedly sell for a great fortune, either as ingredients or a pet, depending on the buyer.

Given the pair have passed through a large regional trading town, it's likely an agent for such an organisation has spotted them.

So I'm thinking of moving the narrative towards a kidnap attempt on Cai and Piao Bai somewhere between Laoshanmen and Shanyi
(i.e, an ambush in an attempt to kidnap Piao Bai and kill Cai on an isolated stretch of road.)

I've been wanting to construct some kind of organised crime for Tian Xia, and this might make for a good way to dip my toe into that while adding a splash of action to the thread.

(I also have this hilarious mental image of someone trying to shove Piao Bai into a sack, and Piao Bai surprising everyone by turning human. Whether that ends up in the thread or not, the idea still makes me giggle XD )

love it! and I can't imagine there NOT being organized crime there, so it makes sense.

Notes from chat
---

(11:58:27) Metarie: Do you really want Piao Bai to erupt from a bag?
(12:05:32) Cai: That would be cool, yes
(12:06:35) Metarie: I could see panic doing that, since he can't control it yet.
(12:06:52) Cai: Just that "Hah, we got the little bastard!" moment turning into "WTF why did the bag explode and who is this naked man?!" and Cai being all "Wait, what? WHAT? WHAAAAAT?!?!"
(12:07:30) Cai: And yes, it'd be nice to have a Wiki Search Box on the main page somewhere
(12:07:46) Cai: 'Search the Setting' or something
(12:07:48) Metarie: And Piao Bai could go, "Grr. Argh." and bare his teeth at them and hold up his clawed hands at them. Because that would be terrifying.
(12:07:55) Cai: Hahahahaa
(12:08:10) Metarie: Because he would be NAKED
(12:08:15) Metarie: and REALLY, REALLY PALE
(12:08:19) Cai: YES
(12:08:27) Metarie: and freakishly tall
(12:08:54) Metarie: well, for the average Tian Xian
(12:09:20) Cai: And Cai would probably have that moment of triple-take, and likely get kicked in the head for her inattention from her opponent of the time
(12:09:42) Metarie: yup because he'd be naked. and tall. and pale.
(12:10:04) Cai: And eventually, once the battle was won, she'd be all cranky because he distracted her and thus caused her to get kicked in the head
(12:10:30) Cai: And probably tell him to put on some damned clothes and carry his own damn gear, the shirking bastard
(12:11:04) Cai: Ah, the anger caused by profound embarrassment
(12:12:33) Cai: Until eventually she has to admit that the anger is caused by embarrassment and not any fault on Piao Bai's behalf, which will make here even more cranky
(12:13:06) Metarie: we must write this
(12:13:26) Cai: Yes, we must!
(12:13:34) Metarie: squee!
Cool. I'm thinking of two possible options:
1 - they will get attacked somewhere between Laoshanmen and the Hot Springs. Just to make the Hot Springs more awkward.
2 - After the Hot Springs to increase the embarrassment factor.

Option 1 has more scope for comedic interaction between Piao Bai and Cai, I think, as option 2 would mostly influence the post-reveal antics

(12:17:41) Metarie: PIao Bai will enjoy the hot springs regardless of the form he is in
(12:18:01) Talia_Idris: do it so he's in human form!
(12:18:11) Metarie: Possibly more if he is in his human form
(12:18:15) Cai: Yes
(12:18:19) Cai: Let's go with option 1
(12:18:30) Metarie: Because... girls.

Because Girls. Looking forward to getting kidnapped for my sexy dragon parts, but unfortunately I am struggling to post because of work.

Target is early May. sooner if I can.

No problem! Take care of yourself and I look forward to May

I posted.

Sorry that post took so long, Ree!

On the bright side, I have enough background info drafted regarding the Black Gate Society that I will be able to reliably post about them in future without this kind of hold up

Definitely looking forward to the opportunity for some more comedic sequences for this pair now that they've put Yunshan and Laoshanmen behind them =D

Sorry for the delay. Looking for inspiration and coming up dry.

Hey Ree, since our schedules don't seem to match up to catch each other in chat very often, I might start using this to bounce ideas around as we continue with our narrative.

The next scene which I have any concrete plan for is the forest ambush (which should also feature the scene I am most looking forward to: the bagged dragon transformation scene), which happens 2 or so days from the present moment.

Was there a particular turn of events, or aspect of Tian Xia culture, that you wanted to explore in the narrative between the present point and that ambush? If so, please let me know a bit more so I don't stymie the scene by accident

If not, I think a time-skip of a couple of days might be in order, with the new scene starting along a heavily wooded forest path, a day's distance from the hot springs.