Characters / Destiny Cycle Thousand Lakes

Destiny Cycle Main Character Index
Provinces: The Emerald Seas | The Thousand Lakes

The Thousand Lakes

The seat of the Bai Clan, a province of marshes and lakes that lies in the west of the empire. An ancient province with equally ancient traditions, its ruling clan is so numerous it is more akin to an ethnicity. It possesses many trade connections to the Alabaster Sands and a very profitable bay port made from the battle sight between the Sage Emperor and the Grandmother Serpent when the Sage was courting one of Grandmother Serpent's daughters. 400 years ago most of the Count Clans rebelled and left the province, leaving the Thousand Lakes with many fallow field.

The Bai Clan

The Bai Clan in General

• Absolute Xenophobe: The Bai have been historically isolationist to begin with, but their relatively recent experience with their vassal clans betraying them and the Imperial Throne's antagonism has left the Bai intensely xenophobic and paranoid of outsiders.
• Cornered Rattlesnake: Despite the many wounds dealt to them detailed below, and their steady decline since then the Bai remain a force to be reckoned with. They ultimately survived all the pressures they were subjected to unbroken, and time will tell if they will have a resurgence now that said pressures are finally alleviating.
• Fantastic Caste System: The Bai first began with The Princess of Still Waters and Yao the Fisher, who had 8 daughters. The descendants of each of those 8 daughters^note With the exception of the Grey Rattle, who had no descendants form the 8 castes of the Bai, who each form their own branch clan and are given social roles to expected of them in the heirarchy.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: The Bai rule The Thousand Lakes and were one of the oldest and most powerful clans in the Empire and still are to an extent, but have suffered a rather harsh Humiliation Conga 400 years before the start of Forge of Destiny.
  • In detail: first nearly all their vassals abandon them to form their own province, then when they petition the Emperor to punish this rebellion he sides with and pardons their former vassals, and then when they feud and war with said vassals over this they end up suffering a disastrous defeat that costs the lives of their clan head, his immediate heirs and the majority of their most powerful cultivators. The Imperial Throne further took advantage of their weakened state to further restrict their power and influence in the centuries since.
• Matriarchy: Bai as a whole have a slightly uneven gender ratio of 55:45 favoring women as a side effect of their cultivation of Yin qi and possibly their specific spiritblood heritage. This gender imbalance is significantly heightened to a ratio of 70:30 favoring women in their higher castes with a greater concentration of their spirit bloodline. As a result Bai culture is matriarchal, favoring women in the highest positions of governance, politics and military.
  • It should be noted that it is not impossible for a man to occupy those same positions, throughout their history the Bai have even been outright led by a male clan head on occasion, but these are seen as uncommon exceptions to the rule.
• A Sinister Clue: An interesting variant. Their founder Yao was left handed and as a result the Bai culturally indicate favored subordinates by who stands or sits to their left, rather than their right. This plays into their threatening reputation a bit.
• Snakes Are Sinister: While not objectively evil per say, the Bai have a well earned reputation for being cold and imperious rulers with a vicious cruel streak when provoked.
• Snake People: Their Sublime Ancestor, from which the entire clan as a whole is descended from, is the Grandmother Serpent, an enormous and powerful snake spirit beast once known as The Princess of Still Waters.
• Slobs vs. Snobs: With their refined epicurean tastes, educated sophistication and elegant etiquette Bai are the snobs to the rough and tumble Zheng's slobs.
• We ARE Struggling Together: While they can generally be expected to stand together against an outside threat when left alone the Bai are prone to infighting amongst and even within their various branch clans. Bai Suzhen's efforts to end their xenophobic isolation in order to restore the Bai to their former glory has unfortunately exacerbated the issue.

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Grandmother Serpent

Grandmother Serpent/The Princess of Still Waters/The White Serpent

"You speak of my many virtues, fisherman, but you only reinforce your error. You call me princess, but it seems that you know not the meaning of that word. You are but a fisherman and offer me nothing. You reach far beyond yourself."

The Sublime Ancestor of the Bai, an enormous snake spirit beast born from the Dragon God of Rain and the Mother of Still Waters who spent her days in idle contentment dwelling in Lake Hei. She was originally content to disregard the world outside her domain until a certain fisherman approached her and against all odds, managed to woo her.

She's long since ascended since then, but her physical body remains dormant within Lake Hei.

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• Awakening the Sleeping Giant: She was originally content to leave the developing civilizations on her shore be, so long as they honored the pact she made with their ancestors not to bother her. When one of the cities attempted to win a conflict by tricking their opponents fleet into tresspassing on her waters however, she was so enraged at the prospect of being used she moved to wipe out ''all'' the cities.
  • In the current day, as a Sublime Ancestor, she serves as a last resort that the Bai Clan may awaken should circumstances ever become dire enough to justify it. Given that any conflict involving her would risk destroying a significant chunk of the continent this is not something to be invoked lightly.
• Defrosting the Ice Queen: Much of her legend involves Yao gradually working past her aloof and even hostile nature, over a full 10 years she grows begrudgingly fond of him.
• Engagement Challenge: She sent Yao to kill the 8 leaders of the cities that lined the shore of her lake who had offended her in order to prove himself when he asked to court her. Unlike her prior Uriah Gambit she's notably more conflicted about it, her pride warring with her repressed affection.
• Interspecies Romance: With Yao the Fisher.
• Uriah Gambit: Her first interactions with Yao involved her presenting these to him for her own amusement in exchange for being allowed to live in her company, they grew less difficult and dangerous as she became more fond of him.

Yao the Fisher

Yao

"... I am Yao, who sought the deadliest spirits in all the land, seeking the promises that had been made to me and who found, from the blood mad flowers in the West to the fallen dragons in the East, from the horrors of the Northern Sea to the warring gods of the South, none who made his heart beat as you do, my Princess of Still Waters."

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• Amazon Chaser: Yao's storied adventures across the land were in search of the deadliest creature in the world, with the aim of bedding and wedding it.
• Barbarian Hero: Yao was a warrior from an ancient era who wandered the earth seeking the deadliest creature in the world and bore nothing save the simple clothes on his back and his wooden fishing spear.
• Battle Royale Game: He was both the participant and product of one. The land of his birth, The Skittering Fens, was ruled over by a great centipede spirit known as The Face Eating God who was attempting to create the deadliest human by trapping them in her domain and forcing them to kill and devour one another, with the ultimate prize being the honor of bedding the supposedly deadliest creature in the world, herself, in order to create a brood of Super Soldiers^note This is a deliberate inversion of a practice known as Gu, where poisonous insects are placed into a jar and made to fight and devour one another under the logic that their toxins would be concentrated into the lone survivor. Yao emerged victorious and ultimately proved that he had grown stronger than the Face Eating God herself, disappointed with this he killed and devoured her before leaving to seek the deadliest creature in the world to bed.
• Hidden Depths: As his quote shows there is significantly more to Yao than mere humble fisherman that he first presents himself as, though this is already made increasingly apparent earlier by his continued survival of the Serpent's various tests.
• Interspecies Romance: With Grandmother Serpent, natch.
• Nerves of Steel: His first test under The White Serpent involved withstanding a drop of her venom, which was so potent it corroded the very air around it, without a single movement or sound for an entire day and night.
• Nightmare Fetishist: As he professed to The White Serpent.
  "Your burning gaze and deadly venom entice more than any painted face. Your graceful coils are more alluring than any comely silhouette. I care not for the human frame, only for the beauty of your unrestrained self."

The Eight Daughters

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The White Serpents (Bai)

Descendants of the Eldest Sister who prevailed in the struggle for dominance amongst her siblings, the ruling caste of the Bai, and amongst the most human in appearance with their spiritblood traits being mostly limited to pale complexion, pure white hair, and universal Bai trait: gold snake eyes. White Serpents are groomed for roles revolving around governance, politics and military command.

The White Serpents in General

• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Tradition dictates that their clan head,^aka The White Serpent Queen/King is the most powerful individual in the clan. The White Serpents are not adverse to fighting one another for dominance, sometimes even to the death, either.^note For the past few centuries Bai leadership has been working to discourage fatalities in these challenges, but they still occasionally happen
• Authority Equals Asskicking: In battle White Serpents are expected to lead from the front, and their clan Arts generally revolve around being The Juggernaut in combat.
• The Beautiful Elite: They are the wealthiest and most powerful of the 8 castes that rules over the rest, and their scions tend to cleave closely to traditional imperial beauty standards, as well as maintain a constant dignified poise to their mannerisms.
• Cultured Warrior: In addition to the pride they place in their storied history and culture Bai value martial prowess highly. A lady of the White Serpents would be expected to have skill in refined arts such as needle point, fashion, calligraphy, poetry, fishing, and mercilessly cutting down her enemies without ruffling a hair.
• Good Old Ways: The White Serpents in particular have doubled down on their conservative values in response to the pressures the Bai have faced.
• Lady of War: With the Bai being both a highly martial and matriarchal society, in a setting where Authority Equals Asskicking it's only expected that the women of the White Serpents are this, emphasis also being placed on maintaining their air of dignity and grace even in combat.
• The Stoic: They believe strongly in mastering themselves and their emotions so as not to show weakness or vulgarity.
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Bai Meizhen

Bai Meizhen

A member of the ruling White Serpent branch of the ancient Bai ducal clan, rulers of the Thousand Lakes province, and daughter of Bai Meilin and Hou Zhuang. Ling Qi’s best friend.

Bai Meizhen, rising star of the Bai clan and in desperate need of a friend.

• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Is a stereotypical Ice Queen, but is genuinely kind hearted (for a Bai) and cares for her friends
• Supernatural Fear Inducer: Like all Bai her eyes cause fear in all non-Bai, the fear only grows more powerful as her power increases
• White Sheep: Noted as being kind hearted by several other Bai. This being the Bai, this is treated at either a weakness or a peculiar character trait that is fine is small doses. Her friend, and the readers, are baffled by this. ^note Bai Suzhen retorted coldly. “My niece has a kind heart. That is hardly a fault in moderation.” Ling Qi had to struggle to maintain her even expression at that statement. Bai Meizhen was her best friend, but to call her kind…
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Bai Cui

A haughty and proud serpent spirit beast, cousin to and bonded with Bai Meizhen. The daughter of Bai Suzhen’s Prism spirit beast and the spirit of an assassin’s dagger.

• Loyal Animal Companion: Is Bai Meizhen's bound spirit beast
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Bai Suzhen

Bai Suzhen

Meizhen's aunt and idol

"Pride is important. Poise is important. Presentation is important. But my niece, victory is the most important of all."

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Heiress to the Bai Ducal clan, Aunt to Bai Meizhen

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Bai Meilin

Bai Meilin

Bai Meizhen’s Deceased mother. Died as a result of being blamed for an Imperial Prince’s Death

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Hou Zhuang

Hou Zhuang

Bai Meizhen’s father, and Spymaster for Bai Suzhen

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The Black Vipers (Bai Xiao)

Descendants of the Youngest Sister who willingly supported the Eldest against their other sisters, Black Vipers are marked by jet black hair, patches of black scale patterns on their bodies, subtly narrow features. Black Vipers are raised from birth to serve as bodyguards, assassins and assistants to a White Serpent that they will be paired with at late adolescence. They will serve said White Serpent for life and are conditioned to do so with absolute and unquestioned loyalty.

The Black Vipers in General

• Battle Butler / Ninja Maid: Black Vipers tend to serve as personal servants in addition to their more combative roles.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Xiao are essentially programmed through their cultivation to be incapable of betraying or disobeying their master.
  • Notably, the complete inability to disobey their White Serpent is a relatively recent developement and a symptom of the Bai clan's decline as it calcified into xenophobic paranoia. Prior to that White Serpents were noted to have to earn their Black Viper's loyalty.
• Undying Loyalty: The Xiao are defined by their absolute loyalty to their assigned White Serpent: they are raised outside of familial units in communal creches with rotating caretakers in order to avoid potential conflicting loyalties and indoctrinated through their education and cultivation to serve future their master in any desired capacity. In cases where their White Serpent is killed but they somehow survive they universally seek Revenge if possible, followed by suicide.
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Xiao Fen

Bai Meizhen’s handmaiden and member of the Black Viper branch of the Bai ducal clan.

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The Violet Corals (Bai Xia)

Violet Corals are marked by dark violet hair and similarly colored scale patterns. The caste traditionally serves as a source of scholars and astronomers, as well as ship builders and navigators. They control the navy, riverine and sea trade, and port infrastructure in the Thousand Lakes.

The Violet Corals in General

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Xia Anxi

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The Blue Cobras

The Green Asps

Green Asps are the road wardens and and rangers of the Thousand Lakes. Spends a lot of their time combing though the countryside for monsters and patrolling the borders, as well as serving as scouts in the army.

The Yellow Boas

The Red Python (Bai Lao)

Red Pythons are marked by dark russet hair and scales, a ruddy complexion and being significantly larger and bulkier than other Bai castes. Red Pythons are the second lowest caste and are delegated to serving as laborers, craftsmen and footsoldiers.

The Red Pythons in General

• Mooks: One of their main functions as a clan is to serve as the main body of disposable footsoldiers that comprise an army.
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Lao Keung

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The Grey Rattles

The Grey Rattles are "the mortal caste". Amongst the Eight Sisters only one did not have biological descendants, her corresponding caste is instead occupied by the rejects from the other seven castes who fail to Awaken to the 1st realm by the age of 16.

The Grey Rattles in General

• Adopted into Royalty: As a mortal clan the snake spiritblood traits the Bai are known for have generally decayed, occasionally though a child born in the Grey Rattles is a genetic throwback that manifests strong spiritblooded traits belonging to one of the other castes. In such cases the child is quickly adopted into the corresponding clan.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The entire branch clan essentially serves as a dumping ground for failures that are thrown out of the other Bai branches for not being able to meet the minimum bar of cultivation. It exists mostly seperate from the greater Bai clan, with most members who do manage to cultivate being treated more akin to unrelated commoner cultivators.
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