Walking Disasters and Me-Lessons of the Past – Ch 31

Walking Disasters and Me-Lessons of the Past – Ch 31

As I'm still processing that bombshell of a revelation about Jun Li with wide eyes and a not insignificant amount of fear, Ios chirps back into the conversation, "Akiko, what about spiritual tailoring? I know that is another main profession in this universe, but you make it seem like that isn't the case?" I look over and see Ios is apparently fine with just glazing past the torturer information, so maybe I should too for my own sanity.
I swallow nervously, still coming to terms with the suddenly scary black furred fox, and turn my attention back to Akiko as she nods her pretty head in answer, "Indeed, that is a profession on this world, or should I say it used to be. The last openly practicing spiritual tailor left this world many centuries ago, and the art has mostly been lost or destroyed since her departure. The reason behind that is a rather sad affair, but I feel Amelia should know about it regardless."
She turns to face me with a serious expression on her face, brows slightly turned inward from the emotion, "Roughly 2400 years ago, a massive, all-encompassing war broke out on this world. The initial reasons and causes for this have been lost to time, forgotten, or evidence destroyed by the survivors looking to ensure there was not a repeat of such an event, but what can be gleaned is that two powerful sects sought the same thing at the same time, and would not bow to the other.
Those two sects are now both long forgotten to history as well, even their names cannot be certified with any surety. Regardless, surviving records show that at that time most powerful positions were held by males, almost without exception, and that was the norm across the entire world. Women of many races and creeds were kept in isolation, or confinement, in semi-autonomous sects that were beholden to the larger, more powerful ones dominated by men. The reason for this arrangement was that another 1000 or so years earlier than this period, a large plague coupled with yet another world war had seen the razing of many towns, cities, and the general populace which resulted in a staggering 70 - 30 split of men to women at the end of it all.
It came to light that the plague was man made, literally, and specifically targeted the female populace by and large. Various theories and reasons about why this virulent disease was created and used exist, but again due to the nature of history being controlled for the safety of the future, we may never know the why and how of it all. The end result was that the surviving females were kept in the utmost safety, to ensure the population didn't completely die off in the next century or two.
Now, those female sects were mostly treated decently in the beginning leading up to this most recent conflict I spoke of; however, that all changed when the war started. Early on, the men increased their presence in their homes and estates in the guise of protection and security, but that soon turned out to be a falsehood or at least an alibi. More and more s of villainous deeds, unregistered pregnancies, and women sadly taking their own life became the norm after about a decade into the conflict, with punishments for the offenders coming few and far between.
After nearly 400 years the conditions were even more abysmal, with women being so heavily regulated that they may as well have been considered cattle, and cases of abuse long since being ignored by the powers that be. By that point of the war, both sides and their vassals had entered into a kind of stalemate, and any time they fought directly, even small border skirmishes, at least many hundreds of thousands perished. One of the few surviving accounts we have is how the end of the war came to be, and the conditions the women faced during it.
It begins with a general of one of the two superpowers, and how he had been ordered to investigate the condition and wellbeing of a women's sect which was under their protection. Apparently, they had not received communications from this particular group for some time, and even with a war going on no one thought the lack of correspondence too important since it was essentially in the heart of friendly territory. Likely a drunken event gone on too long or the men having some fun and forgetting to check in, they reasoned.
Sadly, that hubris led to a disastrous result. The unnamed general arrived to find the grounds destroyed, walls broken, towers sundered. Not a living soul was left in the entire area or the surrounding township, the once green and lush fields full of flowers and life that adorned the inner courtyard now stained dark and dying from the flood of blood that soaked it in the owners' final moments. And their final moments were
gruesome
. Bodies of the women, and the protectors assigned to the estate, were hung from surviving architecture, still standing ramparts, eves of houses and storerooms, or even nailed to the walls of standing buildings. Others were simply left on the ground, dropped like an unwanted sack of flour after being slain, staining the ground with their life essence that by now had long since dried.
The general broke down at the sight, because one of his mates was in a leadership position at this branch, as they were a rarefied pairing that actually loved one another in this day and age. He found her stripped naked, with her skin flayed and her body leaned over her desk, a message written in her blood next to her deceased and desecrated form. The message was a simple one: Bring us Kalieopea or more of the same fate awaits your women."
I am shocked in horror, a hand over my mouth as my eyes are wider than the plate that now sits in front of me, as Akiko takes a moment to gather her thoughts before she continues, my mind reeling from the sheer... evilness of it all. Sure, Earth had our world wars, and another one seemed to always be on the cusp of breaking out if you believed the news any, and we weren't above some wanton murder and genocide ourselves, but that doesn't make it any easier to process or accept when you are directly confronted with it either. And the treatment of all of those women... With my mind still in turmoil at her recounting of the history of this place, Akiko continues on with her forlorn, tragic tale.
"Kalieopea was the world's foremost spiritual tailor and was quite excellent in other crafts as well and considered a genius. Items made by her gave the user unbelievable power and resilience in the face of battle and had many other positive effects on crafting and alchemy, which was sorely needed at the time. Nearly anything that she touched turned into a quasi-Transcendent Rank item, and the clothing she imbued could put a peak half-step Apogee cultivator above nearly all who opposed them. She was also a very powerful half-step Apogee cultivator in her own right, one of the few women that were allowed to reach such heights as it furthered her skill and enchantments on her works which was seen as a military necessity.
That ended up being a liability however, as she had been forced to make several battle attires and tunics for the war effort over the years which gave her side a distinct advantage in pitched confrontations. Unfortunately, her side in the conflict was beset by failing, tradionalist leadership that often misused assets and talent in favor of older styles of warfare which involved simply throwing bodies at an issue until it was solved while they watched from afar in their gilded towers. The enemies' side, however, out massed them by over a 2-1 margin, including powerful individuals at the half-step, so even with her items aid they could not gain any progress against them for long.
With her also being a powerful cultivator, she also protected her sect which was close to a front line often, but she made an error during one of her outings. The last battle, at this point, that she had engaged in was with the only surviving son of the opposing sect as well as a decent portion of their personal forces. That heir was intent on breaching the front lines and making his way to her home, to do Heaven only knows what when he arrived. Her talent and use to the enemy were worthy enough to be taken off the board, in his mind no doubt.
Kalieopea met him directly after he did succeed in breaking the initial skirmish line with friendly forces, and an intense battle played out in the skies. For months, no one dared move as the spectacle above them played out, two powerhouses making the very air displace and explode simply from accelerating to meet fist to fist, sword to sword. The heir was overconfident however, and constantly underestimated Kalieopea's power, and eventually her grim resolve.
In a series of elegant maneuvers at the end of the fight, she severed his sword arm and left leg, while then kicking his bleeding body back to the earth below. A huge crater formed from the impact, the sound alone sending anyone near the site to their knees with ruptured ears as dust and rock filled the sky over the battlefield. She landed calmly next to the broken man, and when he asked for mercy, she simply cut his head off without a response. She then took to the field of battle once more, lost in a blood lust or simply trying to end the fighting and return home, we do not know. All that is certain is that at the end of the week, all of the opposing sect's 300,000 forces were wiped out to the last man.
Needless to say, a response was warranted and given by evil deeds. Once the sect leader learned of this, he ordered all female sects to be brought into the capital for further 'protection' and had Kalieopea and her attendants moved into the leading sect directly. While this did cause a ruckus amongst traditionalists, the obvious necessity of it proved to win out in the end and his will was made manifest. Under the safety of the capital's walls and forces, the women remained, prisoners, for many years. Things at first were an improvement to their plight, even hopeful as new life was brought into the capitals battered economy and the rules and restrictions on women were lessened after Kalieopea argued on their behalf to the sect leader. However, that sadly was not to last.
The opposing sect grew furious at their attempts at coercion so easily being thwarted and began the conflict anew after a few years of rebuilding their strength in secret. Like a tidal wave upon the land, they crashed into the long-established fronts, bleeding men and the area dry of life in their conquest. Mile by mile they drove, and even though their losses were also extreme, the minds of these men seemed to be devoid of reason, reduced to slathering beasts of murder and destruction. It has now come to light via other recovered records that they had beseeched demonic forces to augment their remaining cultivators, so desperate to right the wrong that was made of their pride, as well as to put down their foe once and for all.
Now facing such losses, many common folk as well as people in leadership roles in the sect began discussing the possibility of maybe giving in to the enemies' previous demands. What was one woman's life in the face of this slaughter? It started as hushed whispers, but soon became open, frank discussions in official forums around the once mighty capital city and the sect leader did nothing to stop it fearing open revolt if he did. The treatment of the women became harsh and cruel, many blaming not only Kalieopea for their fates, but any woman at this point. Especially those of her sect. The only person to stand up and speak for the embattled women was the now retired general who had seen the destruction of his lover's sect. He pleaded with his kinsmen to put their anger and fear aside, as that was what the enemy wanted more than winning any conflict on the front.
Sadly, one fateful day a mob descended into the main hall of the sect and demanded that the sect leader turn the cursed woman over to them so that they be finally done with this war, the head of the outspoken general raised onto a pike, fresh wet blood dripping and staining the elegant, noble halls from the pike's macabre decoration. The shell of a man stuck in centuries of fighting and management of a now suddenly crumbling empire, eyes hollow from surveying recent battlefields soaked in carnage he had never seen before, simply pointed down the hall weakly from his chair, directing the mob where to go.
They eventually found their prize after searching and ransacking the halls leading to an ornate door made of rich oak wood with a loom painted on it. Inside, the woman of the hour was sat simply next to an open windowsill, having no doubt watched the mob's arrival into the halls themselves with their gory trophy held aloft. Her long, brown hair flowing in waves behind her from the breeze that rolled into the room which sat upon the third story of the estate as the leader of the angered masses stepped forward, another powerful 5th realm cultivator, and he demanded she be held in custody and followed them to be turned over to the enemy.
With beautiful, precise movements, she turned her face to regard these 'men' and her piercing green eyes bored into their very souls. "I see," she said in what was described as a harp being played by a world renown genius, "that you have abandoned reason same as those who would see this city burn. Very well then. I hereby declare that for the safety of the innocent and all women kind, that every female sect now declares independence and sovereignty in this land, the aggressors to our west, and the whole of Mara. Any who interfere with our lands or people will be killed, and their families and sects burned to the ground." Her tone was level, steady. Like a rock shorn cliff defending against the ocean of madness that lapped at its base. Her posture elegant and powerful, poised and ready to set true her purpose.
In bafflement, the gathered men simply gawked and then erupted into raucous laughter and disbelief. The leader spoke condescendingly once more, "Little girl, you and your kin are nothing but pawns and tools for us. Now, fulfill your purpose and come quietly, or we shall make you come in tears!" and lunged at Kalieopea with specially made iron manacles that would seal the cultivation of any who had them put on.
Before anyone could blink, the man's head exploded in a shower of gore and viscera, his body falling to the stone floor below them like a puppet whose strings had been severed, with a wet squelch of erupting blood. As his form fell the rest of the mob looked on in horror as there were now several floating pieces of silk which had been thought to merely be crafting materials or decoration beforehand, one of them coated in the fresh blood of their leader's neck. With a cold, emotionless stare from Kalieopea, the silken ribbons lashed out at the group of 100 men in an instant, and none lived to see the next one.
Suffice to say that she went on a holy rampage around the capital after that, starting with the merciless killing of the failure of the sect leader who was still sat upon on his chair. He was killed in an exceptionally brutal fashion, with her using her silk to batter and defeat him and then restrain him until they flew above the city below. In eyesight of all, she used her silken blades to perfectly flay his skin from his muscles, then muscles from bone, then bone from joint, before burning them all in a rainbow-colored flame that had she had been renowned for.
After that, the gets a bit vague, but what she said came to fruition. The female sects banded together, as it seemed this had been a plan set in motion for some time and now finally enacted, and were able to defeat both superpowers and any other obstacles before establishing what is now considered the current capital of Drimstyera, which loosely translates in ancient tongues to Peace Upon Bones.
The conflict was the longest and bloodiest this world had seen so far, and by the end of it the gender ratio had been flipped quite dramatically, and for some reason it still persists in such a fashion to this day. Women now outnumber men by a comfortable margin, generally 65 - 35% even though efforts have been made to achieve a more neutral balance over the years. Like I said, for some reason any effort to fix the imbalance is met with failure or disaster, and any time the imbalance seems to deepen one way or the other, the birth rates correct it until it reaches that threshold again. Many assume it was a curse placed on the entirety of the worlds bloodlines as punishment for their treatment of women who they were meant to protect.
Regardless, after the unification and pacification of the lands, all evidence and methods of spiritual tailoring was either destroyed or taken by Kalieopea when she took the tribulation for the 6th realm and left this world, likely tired from all that had occurred to her and her loved ones. Tailors do exist here, mind you, but the art and technique of using Qi to empower cloth has not been reclaimed since that time, and again, some think it is another curse set upon by someone in the aftermath of the conflict or a new Law created by Heaven after her ascension."
Ios and I both stare at her with astounded expressions. For my part, all of this seems even more of a fantasy than what I'm going through right now! It's all just... way too much information all at once to process. As I'm trying to gather my wits, my mouth opening and closing without any sound coming out, Ios speaks up with her usual chirpy joyous voice being quite subdued, "Holy shit Akiko. That's... that's some heavy lore you just dropped on us. When Ilya and I were studying this universe, and this world in particular, we knew it was a dangerous place if someone wasn't prepared or didn't have something like the system to help them. But she never told me about any of that, if she even knew it herself. To be honest, we were mostly pulling from any and all historical records we could find, and some of them are kept under quite decent protections that we couldn't pierce from afar."
No shit that was heavy, captain obvious! Sigh, breathe Aims, don't lash out at Ios just because you're frazzled right now... I do end up taking a few deep breaths with my eyes closed, just to help the effect sink into me more. When I open them, Akiko is staring at me with a waiting expression, her tails softly waving behind her as her ears are turned attentively to me, like she is ready to hear anything and everything I have to say.
"Well, I can't really argue with what Ios said. That's fucking intense Akiko." I breathe out again, and continue on, "So... what does telling us all of that mean? Aside from just learning about the history of this world and stuff. Is there still a... I don't know, cultural significance to it? Are men now heavily controlled instead of women? I doubt it since that dumbass Elder Xu was apparently in a position of power here. I'm just trying to understand what you want me to learn from all of that, aside from making me
beyond
fucking depressed for those poor women and all the innocent people caught up in that war."
Akiko nods smoothly and reaches out for my hand, which I place in hers as soon as she does. With calming strokes across my knuckles and a kind look now upon her face, she explains further, "I know my dear, and there is no hidden agenda or meaning behind me telling you and spirit Ios all of this, not really. It is important for you to know the history of this place if you are to integrate into it successfully, and for Sandra's integration as well. Now that you and spirit Ios know, she and spirit Ilya can be told by yourselves in a much more... agreeable fashion than what I had to submit you to.
As for your concerns, men are treated fairly and the same as anyone else in society. They can have positions of power, lead their own lives, and cultivate as they wish, however the fact of the matter is that it took many years for the world to rebuild after that war. During that time, many centuries mind you, women held the majority of ruling positions in nearly all continents, and that continues to be the case to this day either by law or by tradition.
The other main reason for this long, bloody tale is that it was a direct answer to the question of spiritual tailoring for spirit Ios. While I am beyond assured that we are missing a lot of historical information behind it all, this account is the main focal piece we have left of explaining its disappearance as a profession from the surface of Mara, and it cannot be told without its accompanying trauma, sadly."
I think about what she said and breathe out a big sigh of relief. At least history hasn't repeated itself with throwing the surviving men into essentially breeding camps, furthering on the cycle of violence and hate. It does suck that it happened at all, but this just further goes to show how brutal this world, or universe I guess, is going to be.
"Well... thanks Akiko, for telling us all of that. I'm still processing all of it a bit, but I'm glad it seems like the lessons finally got learned. Unless you guys had another massive, bloody war in the meantime?" I try to joke out, the obvious shock still floating through my voice and body. Akiko, bless her, simply widens her kind smile a touch and keeps stroking my hand.
"Indeed, dear Amelia. There are still conflicts and regrettable power struggles that occur still, but nothing on the scale or impact of what the past has gone through. Truthfully, a large-scale war has not happened in all of my years of living on Mara, the last one I believe was about 900 years ago over a Queen in a far-off land stealing away a bride that was promised to another Queen across the sea they lived in. It was a decently long affair, about a decade or so of besieging the kidnapper's fortress of a sect, and it was ended by the enemy army tricking the defenders by hiding inside a large, ornately crafted wooden beast of burden posed as a 'gift to the victors' that had hidden arrays inside to hide the troops. At night, they disembarked their cover and opened the main gates and disabled their protective arrays to allow their allies inside and rescue their Queen's bride from the homewrecker. It is quite the fun read if you're interested in viewing it yourself, once you learn the language of course! It was made into a good-sized tome about 600 years ago~!"
... These mother fuckers have their own
Iliad?!

Lessons of the Past – Ch 31