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starswornoaths · 6 years ago

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I wrote these a bit lengthy, so I’m sticking a cut here bc spoilers for 4.5 but I was an indecisive bean and there’s an entry for Serella, Uthengentle, and just because I write him enough that I might as well, one for Aymeric as well! Thank you for the ask! \o/

(edit: OR IT JUST WON’T LET ME ADD A CUT WHAT THE ACTUAL SHIT TUMBLR I’M ON THE DESKTOP SITE SO FAIR WARNING SPOILERS FOR 4.5 AFTER THIS EDIT OKAY THANK YOU I’M SO SORRY WTFFFFFF)

Serella:

My name is Serella Arcbane. (her name is underlined)

Not so long ago I would have found it ridiculous that I needed to remind myself what my name is. Given that I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been referred to by my name instead of a title, however, I think I’m allowed. Now that I have another one, however temporary...it seemed a good time to remind myself.

Antecedent...the title carries with it too much pain. Too much loss. The remaining Scions approved of my accepting the title for lack of anyone else with any seniority willing or able to take it. I remind myself that it’s temporary, that the second even one of my companions wakes up, I get to just be the Warrior of Light again.

Just, I say. As if it were an inconsequential thing in itself.

At least then, when I was naught more than the Warrior of Light, I was able to still be Serella. I wasn’t made to isolate myself from everyone I know and love. It hurts, knowing that I had finally found family amongst so many people, so many I hold dear, who now can’t see me, either because they are unable to make the journey or because it would be improper of them to do so.

Ma came to visit me today. Her visit...I don’t know. When she called me by my name...I didn’t even respond to it at first. It was as if I had just...forgotten it. Perhaps I did. Perhaps I will again. She suggested I write it down. Said it’s how she remembers the little things about Da. I don’t know if it’ll help. I wish he was here, too. Of all the things I’ve forgotten, that I can’t remember what he looked like hurts me the most.

I’ve forgotten so many things I took for granted. So many little things about those I love. In writing, I hope I can remember at least a few- or at least, be reminded of them.

Raubahn has this deep belly laugh when I crack jokes with him- and really, he is the one constant patron of my puns, readily exchanging more with me for as long as we both have jokes to spare. Says it’s from years of being a father. I can’t remember how his laugh sounds.

Merlwyb would refuse to admit it- and if she ever catches wind of documentation of it, she’ll throw me to the Sahagin, of that I have no doubt- but I miss her singing. Low and rumbling as thunder, textured like velvet but fills the room like smoke. I’ve forgotten how the tune goes, which is ridiculous. I’ve heard her hum it a thousand times.

Aymeric...gods, for how he haunts my dreams you would think I would remember his smile. I should. I remember the things that made him smile. When I would bring sweets from that one chocolatier in town, or sweets from somewhere I had recently traveled. When I would move his bangs to kiss his forehead. Or sometimes...just when he looked at me.

What shade of blue were his eyes? Were they a deeper shade like the night sky over the Steppe? Or was that the blue of his coat that I’m remembering?

Why am I forgetting everything so quickly?! I have object permanence! It’s only been some moon and a sennight since I last saw everyone! I’m not some geriatric invalid rapidly losing who I am! I’m not some tempered thrall of a primal, adrift in want to serve my master and bereft of all concept of self! I am not-

(The following lines are writ with words made illegible with scribblings of ink and lines frustratedly crossed through them with enough force to nearly tear a hole in the paper. At the bottom, as if in triumph, there are only two more legible sentence:)

I am Serella Arcbane, and no one can take that from me. Not even a god.

Uthengentle:

Visited Ma over coffee this morning. I went fully intending to just say goodbye then and there. Made sense, I figured. We were leaving tomorrow.

I couldn’t say goodbye. I tried, Rhalgr knows I did.

Had written a letter ahead of everything just in case. Only makes sense, given our line of work. Left that instead. Didn’t even have the stomach to say goodbye at the door. I left while she went to make another cup for me. I’ll have to apologize to her later. If we make it back.

...When. When we make it back. No sense in the doom and gloom; we’ve been through such shite before. Doubt this would be the end of it, either, but I can hope.

Ellie’s been having worse episodes with that voice, nearly passing out a time or two from what F’lhaminne told me. I hate I can’t be more help. I wish I could at least understand what she’s going through. All I get is headaches, sometimes a flash of an image, but it never bothers me. Krile suspects that has to do with Serella being more sensitive to aether and the Echo than I am.

I just hope they stop once we leave. They should, right? If we’re going where we’re being called, they have no reason to keep callin’, I’d assume. Or their arseholes, and will do it anyway. Won’t matter. Let ‘em. We’ve got our family to save.

...Well. Some of ‘em. Still feels wrong to abandon everyone on the front lines. We should be there. The closer we get to leaving, the more ill I feel about it. From what Ellie said, she’s not faring much better in that regard. Said Aymeric told her to let them handle this fight, but he’s gotta know without us it could go either way. The man’s not stupid- none of ‘em are. Raubahn promised he’d defend the camp with his last breath...but I don’t want it to come to that.

Riol’s been scouting in Thancred’s place- from what he’s been able to gather, the Garleans are holding their cards to their chest. They have something big planned, and they’re just waiting for the right time to use it. Is that time when we’re out of the picture?

I hate that I don’t know, and I can’t find out before we leave.

I hate even more that we have to leave at all, but it’s clearly not something we have a choice in. Either we go to them, or we’re pulled to them. Better we still have our bodies and our senses and just bite the bullet.

Warned Hilda to up the Watch with the Templars out of Ishgard. Not that she needs that warning; woman’s an unstoppable force already. It could be her and her alone standing at the gate if the Imperials march on Ishgard, and the safe money would still be on Hilda, far as I’m concerned.

I know my friends are capable without me around. I know they don’t need the Warriors of Light to keep them going. Doesn’t mean I don’t just want to be there to protect them- or failing that, die with them- and just fuck off to some far flung wherever.

We’ll be back before we know it. I’ll see to it myself if I have to.

Aymeric:

The battle continues into its fifth week, now. Though we have not lost an ilm to the Imperials, nor have they lost ground to us. Losses on both sides are mounting. We are hitting a breaking point, everyone can sense it. That there is a turning point fast approaching is not in question, but to which side the tide shall turn.

O Halone shield your children from the encroaching dark, I beseech thee.

The Warriors of Light make to leave in search of the Scions. The Alliance had to all but force them into leaving this battle to us, a turning point that came with the fear that (there is a name crossed out) the acting Antecedent had fallen to the same affliction that had claimed the rest. With her restored, however, they yet have hope to find those whose souls have been set adrift from this star. I only hope their path leads to victory, and then to home.

(the remainder of the entry is written in a different ink, presumably at a later point in time. The letters are splotched in places with drops of water.)

I nearly lost her. When Estinien laid her lifeless body in front of me, I feared the worst. We bore her to Ishgard with the full expectation that she would not wake. By the Fury, but when she did...

We are...no longer courting. I remind myself of this every time I am made to respond to one of her missives. That we are only separated by temporary obligation is beside the point: whatever relief I might have felt, whatever ache I carry in my chest will have to stay there, so long as she holds the title of Antecedent.

Only for now. Another reminder to myself.

She yet shields me, even now, so far from the battlefield as she is made to be. Her promise still sits upon my hand. It shall do so unto death, and longer yet. I have already requested she not be allowed to take the ring from my finger. I have no need to be freed from it in Halone’s halls; regardless of her own heart, if I am the first to fall, then I will wait. I had long since decided thus, even before we were betrothed.

I only wish I had not been so reserved with her for so long. I should have made more time for her. I swore to her I would never take her for granted and yet to dwell on our courtship, I always took her return as given. Now...now I only pray, and continue to fight that I might live to see her return.

(there are entire swaths of sentences scratched out, only some words such as, “promise,” “love,” and, “forgive,” are barely legible)

She must return. I know not what to do without her otherwise.

O Halone guide my beloved home in victory.

#chysgoda #thank you for the ask!#why yes I'm still on this feels train!#spoilers for 4.5 #ffxiv rp ask meme #Serella Arcbane #Uthengentle Arcbane #Aymeric de Borel

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tripstations · 6 years ago

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Walking the Great Wall of China: How did Dong Yao-hui cover it all?

Luanping, China (CNN) — On a warm spring morning in 1984, Dong Yao-hui and his two young friends, Wu De-yu and Zhang Yuan-hua, pulled on military surplus backpacks and boots and set out on a hike along a stretch of the Great Wall of China.

Their walk began at Laolongtou — or the Old Dragon’s Head — in Shanhai Pass, where what was once believed to be the easternmost stretch of the Wall reaches into the Bohai Sea. From there they forged westward toward the mountains of Hebei province and the vast Chinese territory stretching out beyond.

By sunset the first night, they’d made good progress and took shelter in a crumbling fortification that, centuries ago, had accommodated the men who once stood guard on the Wall, perhaps watching for invaders from the north.

There they contemplated the journey ahead of them — a walk of 17 months and 8,850 kilometers (5,500 miles) that would test their endurance, but also take them into the record books as the first people ever to walk the length of the wall.

It was a trip that would not only change the lives of the three friends but would change the fortunes of the wall itself, helping preserve it and elevate it to the revered status it holds today.

First Great Wall expedition

Dong Yao-hui has spent the last three decades protecting and promoting China’s Great Wall.

Harry Forbes

“It was the first time ever for humans to go on an expedition of the entire Great Wall, leaving the first complete set of footprints,” recalls Dong, now 62. “It was a nonstop uphill and downhill journey.

“The heat from summer, the snow in winter and the exhausting hikes were all challenging but they weren’t insurmountable. We just walked and walked and we made notes of what we saw. It was very repetitive like how a farmer tends to his farms.

“Little did we know when we were on the journey that it would end up becoming a lifelong project.”

Back in May 1984, the Great Wall was famous beyond China as the structure that could — so the legend goes — be seen from space. At that time, however, more was perhaps known about the surface of the moon than the contours of the wall.

Work on it began more than 2,500 years ago, its origins dating back to China’s Spring and Autumn Period of around 770 BC to 476 BC. Various sections were added in subsequent eras as competing dynasties and factions sought to exert their control.

Work eventually stopped in the 17th century. Today the wall reaches over 21,000 kilometers, winding its way through 15 provinces, 97 prefectures and 404 counties.

And while certain parts had long attracted tourists, both from within and outside of China, such was its size that by the 1980s — when the country was emerging from the turmoil of its 1949 communist takeover and the excesses of the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and ’70s — many sections had slipped into obscurity, disrepair and sometimes oblivion.

Dong Yao-hui, Wu De-yu and Zhang Yuan-hua were the first men to walk the entire length of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall.

courtesy Dong Yao-hui

This is where Dong enters the story. At 25, he was working as a power cable technician — and poet — in his hometown of Qinhuangdao, close to the Shanhai Pass, where he would later start his odyssey.

“I climbed power towers, often next to the Great Wall,” he recalls. “Slowly, I developed an interest in the Great Wall. ‘Who built it? When was it built? Why was it built?’ I had all these questions but there weren’t a lot of books you could read about it — not even the government had such a record then.”

Soon Dong’s interest formulated into a plan. And after two years of preparation, he and his two friends embarked on the epic trek that they thought would take them three years, but would in fact be completed in just 508 days.

An unexpected lifelong project

Dong, Wu and Zhang decided to focus only on the 8,851.8-kilometer Great Wall stretch that was restored and built during the Ming Dynasty — around 600 years ago. It’s the most well-preserved section and the part most commonly referred to when we talk about the Great Wall today.

“Our hiking outfits were military uniforms provided by troops stationed at each area,” recalls Dong. “Our rucksacks were donated by China’s Mountaineering Association — which were used during their expedition to Mount Everest. We were considered well equipped in the olden days.”

Instead of referencing a map, they simply followed the wall and recorded their own path on paper as well as their observations on the wall’s condition. At night, they usually slept inside the wall’s gates and fortresses, which were physically separated from the main structure, so they could document them too.

“Just think how tiring it was for us to walk the Great Wall… But today we keep taking it apart, so is society more civilized now? Or more idiotic? ”

Dong Yao-hui

“Little did we know when we were on the journey that it would end up becoming a lifelong project,” says Dong.

On completing their journey, the expedition team spent the following two years consolidating and publishing their experiences in a book titled “Ming Dynasty Great Wall Expedition.”

But what they initially thought would be the end of their obsession with the Great Wall would transpire to be just the beginning as the repercussions of their journey rippled much further than expected.

Prior to their expedition, Dong couldn’t find much documentation about the Great Wall.

courtesy Dong Yao-hui

“We had another plan originally to trek along China’s 18,000-kilometer seashore,” says Dong. “But our affair with the Great Wall was unstoppable once ignited.

“The further I went, the more it became a responsibility to society rather than just a self-fulfilling project.”

As they shared tales of their adventures, it became clear to the trio that it was not just the physical demands that left lasting impressions, but also the emotional impact of seeing how much of the wall had fallen into ruin.

So much so that they alerted authorities.

“When we told the ruling officials they said, ‘Right. Right. Right,'” Dong says. “But actually no one took it seriously, so we felt pain.

“Just think how tiring it was for us to walk the Great Wall, let alone how it must have been to build it. But today we keep taking it apart. So is society more civilized now? Or more idiotic?”

Today Dong comes across as a gentle, scholarly figure, one who has dedicated more than half his life to the study and preservation of the Great Wall, but contemplating its parlous condition revives the youthful indignation that propelled him on his original quest.

“Yes, I admit I can be reckless and emotional when talking about the damage sometimes,” he says. “It’d be better if I could deliver my message in a more rational and gentle way.

After trekking 508 days, the trio arrived at Jiayu Pass in 1985.

courtesy Dong Yao-hui

“But I can’t control it. I’m so upset — it’s a pain that comes from the bottom of my heart.”

Dong’s anguish isn’t without justification, with the wall continuing to face threats. In 2014, the Great Wall Society, which Dong founded and is now vice president of, reported that only 8.2% of the structure was in good condition.

Dong tries to put such stories in a positive light, saying the fact that these issues are even appearing in the news suggests there’s been a change in attitude regarding the Great Wall.

“In these 35 years, the effort to protect the Great Wall has changed [immensely],” he says.

“Before the nation reformed, every village was destroying the Great Wall so it wasn’t considered news. Today, the media fights to report on it and people condemn it. The overall awareness of Great Wall preservation has improved.”

Witnessing the damage being done to the Great Wall, Dong devoted his life preserving it.

Harry Forbes

Cable technician-turned-‘Son of the Great Wall’

Dong can, of course, take a lot of credit for this. These days he’s known as the “Son of the Great Wall,” with a reputation as its leading authority. When US Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton visited the wall, he was their designated expert guide.

The respect conveyed on Dong is on display on another spring day earlier this year as CNN Travel joins him during a visit to the Jinshanling section of China’s Great Wall, in Hebei province, about two and a half hours northeast of Beijing.

Wearing a modest checkered shirt and a pair of dress pants, he is welcomed by a village of local officials and managers, before putting on a red hiking jacket to climb up the wall’s stairs, his agile frame always a step ahead of the crowd.

“Mr. Dong hasn’t been here for a while now,” one of the managers says with a broad grin, before updating the special visitor on the status and conservation works happening along this section of the wall.

The bespectacled scholar quietly nods and occasionally whispers short inquiries.

A survey carried out in 2014 found that only 8.2% of the Great Wall is in good condition.

Yong Xiong/CNN

Work to preserve the Great Wall began in earnest in 1987 — three years after Dong’s hike — when UNESCO inscribed it was a World Heritage Site. Since then, China has implemented a number of measures to protect the world-famous attraction.

The Cultural Relics Administrative Department was given control over the overall protection of the Great Wall.

Meanwhile, a new daily visitor cap of 65,000 has recently been implemented at the popular Badaling section of the Great Wall to improve the overall experience and prevent deterioration. A three-grade warning system will also be deployed to warn tourists about the size of the crowd on the wall — all in real-time.Other measures include the demolition of a heavily commercialized tourist market at the foot of Badaling. It’s to be replaced with a Great Wall-themed cultural square by 2022.

China’s Great Wall was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Yong Xiong/CNN

Great Wall tourism: Turning the poorest into the wealthiest

“Great Wall tourism gives the local community a tremendous push as it develops,” says Dong.

“Look at Mutianyu, a village at the foot of the Great Wall. It was once the poorest village in Huairou district. Some 30 years after it has tapped into Great Wall tourism, it’s now the wealthiest village.

“How did it go from the poorest to the wealthiest? It didn’t steal and sell a single brick from the Great Wall — what it sells is the culture of the Great Wall.

“We must develop local economies so the local farmers can enjoy the benefits and fruits of Great Wall preservation. Then you don’t even need to ask them to stop damaging the wall or stealing bricks — they just wouldn’t do it.”

Dong places his palm on the weathered wall, still contemplating it as he did 35 years younger. But today, he ruminates on a mission grander than his own journey.

“Someone, once upon a time, dug up some earth, molded it into a brick,” he says. “Someone else brought it all the way up the mountain and built a wall. Then many people guarded the wall for hundreds and thousands of years.

“The Great Wall is definitely alive. It isn’t just a cold, stone wall. When you put your palm on the wall, you’re holding hands with countless of ancestors from over the years.”

The post Walking the Great Wall of China: How did Dong Yao-hui cover it all? appeared first on Tripstations.

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tipsycad147 · 6 years ago

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THE SHOCKING TRUTH OF ALOE VERA

Written by Algoth’s Grove

“The plant of immortality was documented by the Egyptians as early as 16 Century BC. However, science has evolved, and we have found that this beauty isn’t as safe as we would have liked to believe.”

Aloe Vera, also known as Aloe, Burn Plant, Lily of the desert, Elephant’s Gall, is found right across the world as an addition to all sorts of healing products. From shampoo’s to make-up removers, soft drinks, edibles, over the counter medicine and so forth. Since the time when Egyptians would present this incredible plant as a funeral gift as well as using it as a beauty product, Aloe Vera has come a long way in folkloric medicinal uses.

The problem with medicine is that we do not read or research enough information before listening to the old witches tales on the uses. As a 21st century witch, everything must be balanced by the science. Algoth’s grove loves our Aloe, but its uses in treating anything internally is not backed by science, and the scary fact is that without the correct process of decolorization, Aloe Vera produces a component called Aloin. In rats, Aloin showed to produce tumors in the large intestine, it has also been showed to be a active cause behind ovarian cancer and other feminine reproductive problems. It is also extremely potent in ensuring the dilution of semen in artificial fertilisation of sheep.

The scientific evidence that we have is frightening enough to risk taking Aloe Vera internally. It is used extensively in Ayurvedic Medicine as Kathalai, and we find it in almost every supermarket today. The FDA removed the laxative version from over the counter medicine because the evidence of safety was not concrete enough to have it passed. When Googling Aloe Vera, the medicinal effects make this plant an incredible medicine, but the science and the toxicology reports are not speaking the same language. Yes, science has yet to meet our folkloric understanding of medicine, and even though topically Aloe Vera is wonderful for an entire array of medical issues such as acne and psoriasis, however, your skin absorbs this plant, once is fine, but a continued use on a daily basis is not something that the science behind it recommends.

Magically, Aloe was sacred to the Egyptians and to Islamic followers today. To witches, the Aloe Vera is a plant of femininity, representative of the element of Water and of the moon. It is sacred to the astological sign Cancer and is a great charm to bring peace into the home.

The spirit of Aloe Vera is phenomenal both medicinally and magically, however it is not worth ingesting until there is concrete evidence of its absolute safety. But the choice is really yours.

Algoth’s Grove

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