After I wrote The League of Adventurers, I realized the campaign and characters that the Neoquest crew were cooking up sounded like a really fun story. So I decided to just go all-out and write it as a full-blown narrative.
Since college, I've been really interested in East Asian history and culture, and I wanted to try something a little different here. Shenkuu in canon seems to be very much based on medieval East Asia, such as feudal Japan and the Ming Dynasty, so I thought it would be fun to write a story set in ancient Shenkuu with the flavor of Qin Dynasty China, Yayoi-era Japan, and Three Kingdoms-era Korea. I also wanted to write a Neopets story with the feel of a wuxia fantasy novel, with four intrepid underdog warriors setting out to fight injustice. Also, the prose sounds a more old-fashioned than usual because I wanted the story to have the feel of a Chinese classic translated into English in the early 20th century. Yeah, I put way too much thought into all of this. :)
I think the story is even more fun if you imagine that this is how the actual Neoquest campaign played out--it's honestly pretty easy to figure out which characters in this story correspond to the Neoquest players. Also, yes, the Yuezhi in this story is the same character as in Worth Searching For. I purposely left it ambiguous as to how much of her role in this story Blynn made up. It's entirely possible that she and Yuezhi kept in touch and Yuezhi ended up telling Blynn about some of her past.
I didn't change much in this revision from what got into the Neopian Times, mostly a few minor prose alterations. However, I did completely change Eunji's and Ganzorig's conversation with Takeryuu during the climax to give Takeryuu a little more character development, as well as get a few more jabs in at tyranny and legalism.
Chapter 1
Thousands of years before Neopia’s present day, the Circle of Twelve, with the wizard Jahbal at their head, rule the Great Empire in the area of what is now Neopia Central. But the Circle have overstepped their bounds and begun misusing their power, succumbing to greed and anger. Even now, the southern city of Kal Panning plans for a revolt, but it will not end well for them.
Meanwhile, far to the west, on the other side of the Mountains at the End of the World, lies Shenkuu.
Life at the Lotus Mountain Temple was bliss for Eunji. The faerie Vandagyre could feel the harmonious energies of the area flow and meld with the rocky crags, the ancient pines, the mists that twined through the valleys below, and the merrily painted pillars and roofs of the temple. Bright colours attracted positive energies, Master Cheol always said. That was why Eunji and the other geomancers kept the temple well-painted.
Eunji’s pink wings flittered as she bounded up the narrow wooden steps to the waterfall where the acolytes obtained their daily water. Chores were a joy at Lotus Mountain Temple. Everyone’s work helped keep the place running, and through their joint efforts, harmony was maintained and energy flowed as bounteous as a river.
A pole stretched across her shoulders with large
pails on both ends, and Eunji deftly kept her balance on aged steps that wound
up the cliff, hugging the sheer rock. Even had she not possessed wings, the
distance to the valley below would not bother her. Master Cheol had taught them
the importance of being stout-hearted, as immovable as these great mountains.
