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Introduction / Table of Contents

A Yorks

First Lieutenant
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May 20, 2011
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Artwork of J.F. Oliveras

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INTRODUCTION

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Should one ask what the year is, one should hear various answers. A merchant from the Tang Empire would say that it is the Year of the Earth Monkey, 3645. A Tibetan might propound that the aforementioned Earth Monkey be specifically Male, and that the year be 514. A monk from the monastery will tell you that it has been one-thousand-three-hundred-thirteen years since the Shakyamuni Buddha was enlightened, and a Manichaean will tell you that it has been 553 years since the birth of Mani, and 2,269 years since the birth of Zarathustra. Perhaps the most easily recognisable to you, reader, would be if you asked a literate Christian man — for he would tell you that the year is 769 Anno Domini.

Our world is a world in a state of constant flux. The rebellion of the Sogdian-Tang General An Lushan has recently come to an end, leaving the Heavenly Kingdom in a weakened state, but not unready to re-exert its influence on the Western States. To the north, the Uyghur Khaganate rules the endless Siberian steppes to the north of the Celestial Mountains. The great Uyghur clans number five, and four further great hordes owe their allegience to the Khagan — the Mongol Ötüken, the Kyrgyz, the Kimak, and the Karluks. They are no friends of the Tang Empire, and seek to take advantage of its weakened state.

To the south, the great king Trisong Detsen has managed to reverse the century-long decline of the Tibetan empire. Following in the footsteps of the previous Dharma King, Songtsen Gampo, Trisong Detsen is a driving force in the conversion of his Kingdom to the teachings of the Shakyamuni Buddha, though it is a slow process as the peoples of Tibet still consider it to be a foreign and unusual religion. Brief military interventions and excursions against the Tang Empire have brought great prestige to the Tibetans in recent memory, as well as a great deal of influence in the Tarim Basin.

Thus, I suppose, it comes to our story.

Here, nestled upon the glacial rivers and oases of the Tarim Basin, clinging to life on the fringes of the Taklamakan Desert, you will find us. We go by many names — Turpanian, Kroraini, Agnean, Kuchean — but we are all the same people across this land, save for the Saka who live in the southwest. Our petty kingdoms are many, but we are in essence one nation. The Chinese call us Yuezhi and the Uyghurs call us Twγry, but you might call us Tocharians.

Our cities are numerous, but they can be neatly arranged into seven polities, the three most important of which are:

  • the Kingdom of Kroraina and its subordinate Principality of Narubho; Kroraina is the largest and most populous of the Tocharian polities, despite being ruled from one of the smallest of the major Tocharian cities on the northern edge of the Lop Nur. It is nevertheless an important city along the Tang Empire's trading network and is therefore gifted with prosperity. The Kroraini King, Siddharte, is descended from a line of Buddhist kings stretching back nearly a century and a half.
  • the Principality of Ārśi, which is prettily nestled in the eastern extreme of the Celestial Mountains. Its cities straddle the course of the Kaidu and Kongque Rivers. Two of the most populous cities in the Tocharian realm, Agni and Korla, are located within its borders. The previous Prince, Cakuraya, was killed while serving loyally against An Lushan's rebellion in the last year of the fight, leaving his young son Buddhatala on its throne. Ruled by a shy and naïve boy of seventeen years as of now, its fate is uncertain.
  • the Principality of Kuca, which lies along the southern Tian Shan road. Its capital, Kuca, is the most populous of all the Tocharian cities. Ruled by the just-tempered Dharmawarme, it is bordered by friendly states and protected by the impassible mountains to the north and the Taklamakan desert to the south. Protected from the raids of the roving Uyghurs and their vassals, Kuca is decidedly the economic and intellectual heart of the Tocharian world.
Formerly Turpan would have been counted among the great polities of the Tocharians, but recent struggles with frequent Uyghur raids and the loss of its sovereignty to the Tang Empire have made it a shadow of its former self. There is time yet to see what that polity's fate shall be in the future.

Finally, I suppose I should introduce you to our subject: Buddhatala, the young prince of Ārśi himself.

Buddhatala Intro.jpg

Seventeen years of age and as foolish as one would expect of such. A shy boy with a selfish streak, who was somewhat inattentive to his studies after the death of his father. Graceless. Martially talentless. His only redeeming qualities may well be his literate nature and his patient soul. A boy who would much rather drink Huangjiu wine with his few closest friends than attend the unceremonious day-to-day of the court. To further confound the situation, he is blessed and cursed with a more qualified elder sister, who may see fit to usurp him alongside her husband, who just happens to be the Chancellor.

What will fate have in store for our young subject? Only Heaven knows, and we are doomed to remain ignorant in its shadow.


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TABLE of CONTENTS

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BOOK I — THE YOUNG PRINCE
 
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That's a solid intro. Looking forward to how things go from here.
 
That's a solid intro. Looking forward to how things go from here.
In and in! This was a lovely intro and I look forward to seeing where this goes.
This is something of a spiritual successor to the Hidden Flower of Lóulán, which followed the story of Kroraina (using its Chinese name, 樓蘭 Lóulán) rather than Ārśi. This time I'm using a default character and will be focusing much more on interpersonal relations in the court at Agni and throughout the Tarim Basin in a more narrative form.
 
The Hidden Flower with its narration was a special read; this one's more classic and has a very nice introduction, too. I'm following :).

Though I do hope for your sake that you'll manage to settle the nomads if you are planning on taking this story over a few characters. The sheer amount of raiding hosts gets unbearable in that region after a while :mad:.
 
Now that was a very effective introduciton.
 
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Stunning introduction ...
 
Chapter I — 麻
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"So, it kind of goes like this," explained Kaundinye, adding some cordgrass to the mortar in his hand and grinding at it with the pestle. Upatisye and Buddhatala listened intensely to their friend, the oldest and in their minds the wisest of them, as he worked. "There are two primordial forces in the universe — one's good; the other one's evil — and they're basically the manifestations of light and darkness." He pointed to a small cup of opaque greenish liquid near where Buddhatala sat cross-legged on the floor. "Could you hand me that cane juice?"

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Kaundinye, Friend of Buddhatala

Buddhatala looked down and reached for the cup. He clumsily fondled it, nearly knocking it over in the process, and cursed inaudibly. Face aflush with slight embarassment, he handed the cane juice over to Kaundinye, who poured it in with the crushed cordgrass and continued to grind. "So, the light and the darkness are in a constant battle for supremacy, and the interaction between them is how the universe came to be," he continued. "Now, the universe came to be in three steps. There was the first creation, in which good and evil existed in two separate realms: the World of Light, ruled by the Father of Greatness and his five Shekhinas, and the World of Darkness, ruled by the King of Darkness."

Upatisye seated herself on the floor next to Buddhatala, leaning against him. A feeling of electricity ran down his spine as her weight rested into his shoulder. She kicked off her shoes and sighed, scratching at the back of her neck under her hair.

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Upatisye, close friend of Buddhatala

"Now," said Kaundinye, continuing to grind away at his concoction, "the King of Darkness became jealous of the World of Light, and attacked it. The Father of Greatness called out to the Mother of Life-"

"Wait, wait," interruped Buddhatala, holding up a hand. "Where does this Mother of Life come from?"

"You'll find out," replied Kaundinye, "if you listen to the whole sto-"

"It sounds like something you've pulled out of your arse to advance the plot," said Buddhatala. He felt Upatisye squeeze his thigh, and looked down to see her scornful scowl. He looked back over to Kaundinye, who looked unphased as he continued to grind, adding more cordgrass to his mixture. He felt another squeeze on his thigh as Upatisye cleared her throat. He understood. "Sorry, Kaundinye. Continue your story?"

"Thank you," said Kaundinye. "So the Mother of Life gives life to her son, the Original Man, and sends him to battle against the forces of darkness. Now, the Original Man is armed with five different shields of light, which are reflections of the five Shekhinas, but he loses them to the forces of darkness in the ensuing battle."

Kaundinye's wife, a Han woman named Shengtong, sauntered into the room with an air of dignity, brandishing a small alabastron in her hands.

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Shengtong, wife of Kaundinye

Her muted smile and deliberate motions were a result of her upbringing within the Tang Empire, but in spite of her stiff etiquette and paucity of words, she was a kind and warmhearted soul and a good friend to both Buddhatala and Upatisye. Still, she could not hide her momentary look of disgust at Upatisye's shoes kicked off haphazardly in the middle of the floor — in her opinion, they should better have been left at the door. She was quick to suppress it, however, as she was willing to forgive the little faux pas of her barbarian friends far from the Tang courts.

Kaundinye looked up at Shengtong, and said in her language, "My, you look as though you've come to present a gift of state. Do you never relax outside of our bed?"

Shengtong cut a grimace at her husband's apparent tactlessness. She responded in Tocharian, "Don't you think it a little bit impudent to speak to your wife in such a cheeky fashion in front of your guests?"

Kaundinye blushed slightly, mouth agape as he was at a loss for words. Buddhatala let out a chuckle, and Upatisye turned away and covered her face to stifle a giggle. Shentong turned to look in their direction, and added, "And shame on you for saying nothing to this baboon of a husband of mine — I know you speak Chinese."

"A-apologies, love," said Upatisye, struggling to contain her giggling. Buddhatala nudged her shoulder and she giggled even more. Shengtong's stony courtly smile slowly melted into a more natural expression as she relaxed into the room.

She felt a brush against her arm as Kaundinye nudged her with a hand. Without looking up, he held his open hand in her line of site as he continued to grind ingredients in the mortar with his other. Shengtong eyed his open hand, then his face, still turned away, scoffed, and placed the alabastron in his palm. "How rude," she muttered.

"And yet," Kaundinye responded, pouring the contents of the alabastron into the mortar and mixing it into his concoction. Its strong scent filled the space of the room within seconds. Upatisye's nostrils curled as the scent struck her — it was no pleasant thing after all. Kaundinye cleared his throat and added, "And yet you find it somewhere in your heart to love this baboon, as you put it. Perhaps the Tang did not squeeze every vestige of emotion out of you after all."

"Don't count on it," said Shengtong, lifting her chin and patting the back of his head. "I just have an appreciation for the odd cute baboon." Kaundinye scoffed as he sat the pestle down on the bench beside himself. He held the mortar and its putrid contents to his face and smelled the concoction. With a slight gag he reeled back. Upatisye shifted her legs beneath herself and stood from a squat, brushing some of the sandy dust off of her skirt. She disappeared into the room from which Shengtong had just come, and within a moment she returned with a tray with four ceramic drinking bowls of sweet mint lassi atop it. She placed it on the floor between Kaundinye and Buddhatala, and Kaundinye stood and knelt over it. He distributed the contents of the mortar between the four bowls evenly, then sat it off to the side as he sat cross-legged opposite Buddhatala. Shengtong and Upatisye sat on either side opposite one another so that the four of them had formed a circle around the tray.

"So," said Kaundinye, "shall we partake in the gift of clairvoyance?"

"We await the host," said Shengtong, nudging her husband's shoulder.

"Well, I suppose," Kaundinye said, placing two hands on one of the ceramic bowls. The rest of the group followed suit, and they each lifted their respective bowls in unison. "Let's drink up." They each lifted their drinking bowls to their lips, and the sound of gulping filled the room as they killed their beverages in a single go. Kaundinye finished his first, letting a deep breath and wincing slightly as he sat the bowl down on the tray. "Made it a little strong; what do you think?"

"Mm- yup," said Upatisye, finishing her drink and placing the cup down. She stuck out her tongue and gagged slightly.

"Just a bit," added Shengtong, stoically expressionless.

Buddhatala nodded in agreement, wiping letting out a choked cough as he wiped the concoction from his moustache. He placed the cup with the others on the tray and leaned back, resting his weight on his hands. Upatisye smacked her lips a few times, much to Shengtong's dismay.

"So, how long do you think it'll take to feel the effect?" asked Upatisye.

"Normally about a quarter of a shí, but given that it was on the stronger side, I'd say maybe about a kè?" said Kaundinye. "It's not an exact science though. Each of us might get hit at a different pace."

"I see," said Upatisye, contorting her face. "Well, pass some time then. Tell us the rest about this religion of light."

"Right," said Kaundinye. Shengtong rolled her eyes but said nothing to discourage him. "So when the Original Man lost the five shields of light to the forces of darkness, it was revealed that that was the plan the entire time, and that the shields were just bait. But the Original Man is trapped in the world of darkness, so the Father of Greatness began the second creation, calling out to the Living Spirit, who called upon his five sons, and sent a call to the Original Man. An answer returned from the Original Man to the world of light, and the Mother of Life, the Living Spirit, and his five sons began to create the universe from the corpses of the evil beings together with the light they swallowed."

"Sounds, erm-" Buddhatala tried to articulate his thoughts as he followed. "Complicated?"

"Oh, it is," said Kaundinye, nodding. "It's not really meant for mere mortals to understand, you know?"

"Wow, you must be a real thinker then," teased Upatisye. "A real philosopher, a real Laozi of Manichaeism, huh?"

"I do pride myself on being a thinker of things," said Kaundinye, apparently oblivious to his conceited air.

"I bet you do," said Buddhatala. Upatisye giggled and shot a glance back at him.

"I do, in fact," replied Kaundinye.
Shengtong rolled her eyes so hard that she might have swallowed them. "Don't encourage them, love. Just tell your story."

"Hey," interrupted Upatisye, indicating Shengtong with an open hand. "If you're going to call him a baboon in one breath and a lover in another, what kind of woman does it make you?" Shengtong scowled and opened her mouth to reply, but Upatisye cut her off, "Unless you are referring to his love for you?"

"In which case," Buddhatala mumbled, "don't think that, just because he licks it, it's love."

Upatisye clasped both of her hands over her mouth to avoid laughing aloud, and Shengtong's mouth fell wide open as she clutched at her collar with a gasp. Kaundinye narrowed his eyes and glared at Buddhatala for a moment, then shook his head.

"Anyway," continued Kaundinye. "In the second creation, ten heavens and eight worlds were created, and all of them contain a mixture of good and evil beings and what have you. The sun, moon and stars are made out of the light recovered from the world of darkness." He cleared his throat and scratched at his chin hair. "The moon is a conduit for light, you know. When the moon waxes, it's soaking up light from the universe and when it wanes, that's the light leaving the moon and heading for the sun, which channels it into the Milky Way, which is the avenue by which it returns to the world of light."

"That's some deep lore," said Upatisye. "So wait — is all the light just going to leave the world eventually? Is it all going back in some way?"

"It is, in a way, yes." Kaundinye explained, moving the bowls around on the tray to illustrate his point. "But every time a person is born, a little bit of light gets trapped in them, so that slows the process of the return."

"So, wait," said Upatisye, waving her hand and shaking her head. "So, having children literally puts off the completion of the universe."

"Yeah, that's correct," said Kaundinye. "Ideally you wouldn't have any but that is the nature of mankind. We're dumb."

"Damn," said Upatisye. Shengtong grimmaced at the thought of a woman cursing so brazenly. Buddhatala moved to chuckle, but the sound was stopped up before it ever left his throat. He looked around the room and felt a slight dizziness setting in. Leaning forward, he placed his hands on his knees and stared down at the bowls on the tray that Kaundinye was shifting about. His words faded into the background as Buddhatala focused intently on the movements of the bowls. A minute which seemed to take up the space of an hour passed before he felt a nudge on his thigh. He looked up and saw Upatisye trying to get his attention. "You alright, Tala?"

"Oh- erm, yeah," answered Buddhatala, sitting up straight. "Just, erm-"

"He's feeling the effects," explained Kaundinye. "He'll be fine."
 
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There is a lot of humour here.

I have only one quibble with the writing: the word agape was used twice, and that is probably once too often in this fashion. The first time it works, the second time it irked. Of course, this is just a personal reaction.

A mightily potent brew there.
 
There is a lot of humour here.

I have only one quibble with the writing: the word agape was used twice, and that is probably once too often in this fashion. The first time it works, the second time it irked. Of course, this is just a personal reaction.

A mightily potent brew there.
I hadn't actually noticed the repetition. I've gone back and made a minor change to that
 
Tocharians with han portraits and turkish clothes?
For that you can thank @Nendur for their excellent work on the mod Better Looking Garbs, which adds a large number of portrait sets and scripts for gfx_culture variation in randomly generated courtiers, among other things.