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>>5495063
..
…
…..
…….
………

The torturers teased out every feeling from her.

Pain. Sorrow. Hopelessness. Regret. Anxiety. Indifference. Anger. Determination. Happiness. Pride.

The life in this sector was much harder than she expected. Learning to crawl to safety without her fingers and toes while crows feast on her back was quite difficult.

Still, she found a place inside the new community after a couple months. Even without her horse, she is still a capable shootist and scout.

The memories of being strapped to a table and having countless forms of torture conducted on her are always in her mind, but so too do the memories of getting closer to defeating the wardens with each day, meeting people similar to her, and the stories they would tell..

Despite being more physically demanding than her last job, more painful, more stressful, the daily struggle to overcome the wardens and the satisfaction of making progress in defeating them made her far happier than her previous position.

Phrai was right about the wardens. When they had time off, most spend their time reliving old memories, or distract themselves with drinking and rutting. Despite their detestation of the sinners, many wanted companionship from them during their days off.

They’re surprisingly clingy and emotional, but the nature of their jobs mean that anything more than occasional bedmates is not possible.

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>>5495065
Xil’s journey only lasted a few days. Nothing more than a flash that is easily missed when looking through the archives, but a few knows of the effects of such.

With her help, Fhang was able to travel to the human world and pass on the special art of using the flute to his friends.

Perhaps it will stand alongside established schools of magic, such as gravitybearing and fleshbearing, or perhaps it will remain a niche. That is something that only the living can influence. He has played his part.

After a couple weeks, he was eventually caught and brought back to the underworld.
With his past now behind him, Fhang seeks to find a new goal — becoming a renowned gladiator in the Crusher sector.

Not only did Phrai delivered her message, she also nudged Fhang’s master into sending him to his preferred sector as well.

While Xil and him rarely meet, they do write letters to each other once every few months. Apparently there’s quite a few people there that also have arcane knowledge of music like him.

Grace was also punished for her involvement in the escape. It took a few months of being moved around several sectors but she was eventually sent to the Black Lines sector as a advisor for caring for the steel beaked crows.

She seemed to be slightly better mentally, with all the crows keeping her company. At least there’s a few wardens that also share her interest.

The Kodachi ship was relocated after Xil left the Great Sorrow. Wan and Nin returned a fragment of the teleportation circle to the frail man. Apparently the ship teleported somewhere outside the sector and its location remains unknown ever since.

The two serpents had some plausible deniability in assisting his escape as Xil told them that the fragment belonged to 'someone' in the ship but gave no specifics.

>>5495068
As for Ann…

Xil sees her once a year, during the yearly dueling tournament in the crusher sector. While the relationship was sexual, they decide to not get romantic due to the extremely long distance between them and lack of chances for communication.

As for her loyal horse, Guang..

Due to his time manipulation abilities, she is only able to call him under supervision by the wardens.

…
…..
……..

Some day, this will all end.
Eventually, the Red King’s bond to Xil will be severed.
Eventually, her horse will die and reincarnate before her.

The cycle of life and death shall repeat once more. A new story will begin. And these memories will fade away, remembered by fewer and fewer people as time passes.
But at the very least, Xil will pass on, knowing that she lived freely.

Thus concludes A Dragon’s Flash.

>>5495070
Bravo! Thanks for running, SQM.

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>>5495075
Some behind the scene notes…


Each of the horses are inspired by games/tvshows i liked

Masanaga is inspired by Sekiro, and possesses a teleportation ability similar to mist raven in game

Ophelia is inspired by the Expanse, and has PDCs which can destroy projectiles before they reach the rider.

Guang is inspired by Dishonored, having time manipulation abilities similar to Daud/Corvo. Even the term “Bend Time” is taken from the game.

The Kodachi was based off the Expanse’s Tachi/Roci

The description of “chisel like” ship was basically what the book described Roci to be, and the name “Kodachi” was a reference to a shortsword which was smaller than a Tachi or Katana, but longer than a Tanto. Kodachi is ~60 cm but the Wakizashi can be 30-60cm


Like goblin assassin, the environment and characters are based off buddhism mythology (thats why the angels are described as having very little clothing and wear jewelry, the layers of hell being eight, and the pictures are taken directly from illustrations irl of what hell looks like)

Although I tend to change a few things around, extrapolated and merged stuff to make the layers more interesting.

For example, I made the second layer have these black lines which grow from trees and are razor sharp, while irl mythology they act more like rope to bind people while being tortured.

I also gave the birdmen and angels the ability to summon translucent objects because it was cool.

Same goes for the depiction of the upper layers of heaven being technology based.
In buddhism they can wish for stuff, but i made it feel like its a technological center which constructs things instead.

In fact, the 'constructor' part was chosen because of Deus ex’s Universal Constructor. Pretty fitting name.

Anyway, that’s all the notes.
Thanks for sticking with me, RQM.

>>5495088
It's really cool how you managed to work in so many influences, and I especially dig the mythology angle that you sued for this setting and Goblin Assassin. I recognized a few of them, but the breakdown is appreciated for sure!

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Had the chance to visit a temple recently.

Here’s some more photos about the irl mythological/religious influence

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>>5517949
I kept the angels’ clothing/accessories relatively 1:1 for the most part as it is a pretty cool aesthetic

>>5517949
>>5517951
South Asian mythology and design is really underutilized in modern fantasy. It seems as if only Chinese and Indian properties touch on it very often, and even then they're far more influenced by America and Japan. Good on you for highlighting it!

>>5517959
Most recent work that uses SEA mythology is Raya but its pretty mid overall

The message about trust doesn’t work when everything contradicts it

Most of the stuff is merely aesthetic

So mid in fact that a youtuber does a 5 hour vid about everything wrong with the cultural stuff https://youtu.be/94ccFuk7HN8


Its a shame how it turned out.

Ah well. At least Home Sweet Home was pretty good. https://youtu.be/2UT5mmk2PKc

>>5517974
Agreed. Raya looked cool and had some neat worldbuilding, but it had no substance beneath that. You do a much better job, and I hope you get some more mileage out of this setting. Maybe try starting your own fantasy quest with some eye-catching SEA art instead of adopting a quest?

>>5517980
Maybe.
Some day.

I liked how Goblin Assassin ended, and the storylines I had in mind didn’t really change much whether I adopted the quest or not.

Maybe when I get a new idea or storyline, I’ll revisit the setting.

For now, I’m working on Skirmish of the Incel Deities, which is set in a different fantasy world. Most of the lore and stuff is in the skirm jam thread