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--- playable:jiaoqiu [2025/09/21 10:51] – [Character Story: Part I] anadmin
+++ playable:jiaoqiu [2025/10/21 09:53] (current) – anadmin
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-====== Jiaoqiu ======
+====== Jiaoqiu (Nihility, Fire) ======
+{{:character:jiaoqiu-drip.jpg?200 |}}
 A foxian healer and counselor from the Xianzhou Yaoqing. Often greets people with a smile on his face and a scheme in his heart. Born into a prestigious Alchemy Commission family, he once withdrew from practicing medicine due to a broken heart. However, he returned to the field to treat "the Merlin's Claw," General [[playable:feixiao|Feixiao]].
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 As he scooped up floating heart plants and picked out lotus flowers, he peeled open wild rice stems and threw them casually into his mouth.\\
 //"So sweet and refreshing, it delights the palate..."//\\
-After harvesting the plants, he steered the boat back to shore and crossed the lakeside with graceful ease before changing into the attire of a healer.
+After harvesting the plants, he steered the boat back to shore and crossed the lakeside with graceful ease before changing into the attire of a healer.\\
+...\\
-...
 Inside the apothecary, misty steam hunt in the air as tantalizing aromas filled the premises.\\
 //"Your pulse has become more stable since you last visited, but you should still work on getting more rest and nourishing your body. Care to try one of my new medicines?"//\\
@@ Line 42: / Line 41: @@
 ==== Character Story: Part II ====
+The Yaoqing's troops perennially fought on outer planets. He continued to improve the cauldron-based medicinal formula in a multitude of ways so that he could adapt it to the increasingly challenging, complex, and unpredictable environments that the soldiers must be brave.
+The unusual yet profoundly effective formation his medicine came in soon made his name a common utterance across the forces of the Yaoqing, winning him the trust of officers and soldiers alike.\\
+Such achievements nevertheless failed to assuage his heavy heart.\\
+Every day, when the bugle call for departure sounded, he knew the wounded that he had nursed back to health would have to step onto the battlefield once more.\\
+Every day, when he heard the footsteps of returning troops, he knew he would be missing a few more familiar faces among those that gathered around his cauldron. Just recently, even the soldier who always returned to camp yelling about wanting to eat from the cauldron had departed this world for good.\\
+He finished up the day's consultation and left the field hospital, letting out a long sigh. The cold did not bother him in the slightest, even with the snow flurries pelting at him.\\
+When the bugle call sounded yet again, the army was equipped and ready to depart. The field hospital will soon be burdened with grievously wounded soldiers like before. Yes, he has the skills to bring the wounded back from the gates of hell, but these young lives still end up lost in the endless, ravenous war.
+Every night, he would always talk with General Yueyu. This day, however, he was uncharacteristically silent for a long time.\\
+//"Recently, I have been thinking... If the patients that I nurse to health are destined to hurtle toward death once more, what is my purpose as a healer?"//
+A dull cry sounded from the direction of the wards. It was only after blinking several times that he realized both his eyes had gone dry, probably since some time ago... So dry that he no longer had tears to shed.
 ----
 ==== Character Story: Part III ====
+It was time once again for the army to move out.\\
+However, grisly bodies of the dead, the perpetually high death rate, ongoing blasts of artillery fire, and a monstrous creature that appeared in the air were all portents that heralded a devastating war unlike anything that had ever occurred before.
+Until one day, when the towering Cloudpeer Telescope that bore the wills of the trillions of living beings aboard the Xianzhou finally received a response from THEM.\\
+A searing blast appeared out of nowhere, obliterating the weak Abominations of the Abundance into a miasma of blood. A light so blindingly bright that tore the sky asunder. Even mountains and hills that the light reached turned into dust.\\
+He saw the Abominations of Abundance and members of the Xianzhou Legion that were slow to retreat crumble to dust.\\
+He heard about how the girl always by General Yueyu's side weaved in and out of the annihilated enemy ranks, attempting to bring the remaining soldiers back with her. Before the wave of light could reach them, he dashed in with every last ounce of his strength to save that young lady before losing his consciousness in the afterglow of the obliterating light.\\
+...\\
+Tattered banenrs thrashed in the wind as the few remaining survivors gathered around the bonfire in silence.\\
+Clank, clank, clank...\\
+A strong gust of wind swept across, rolling a battered cauldron along the barren ground.
+His body should have long acclimated to the frigid cold climate given the time he had been stationed on this planet. But he had never felt htis cold before. He was cold from the inside out.\\
+In a seasoned manner, he picked up the iron receptacle, filled it with water, and brought it to boil before throwing in scraps of leftover ingredients.\\
+//"It's still so cold..."//\\
+The survivors ate their food in silence.\\
+//"Maybe I should add some spice."//\\
+With that, he retrieved the medicine pouch that he always carried with him.\\
+//"Not spicy enough."//\\
+He added more chili peppers to the mix.\\
+//"Not there yet."//\\
+He emptied every spice he had on him into the cauldron.\\
+//"That's it.//\\
+As oil from the chili bubbled, he used chopsticks to pick up a wild vegetable from the cauldron to taste. When his already numbed sense of taste finally picked up on the spice, it was the first time that he felt so strongly, so utterly alive.\\
+It was a sensation that bordered on pain.
 ----
 ==== Character Story: Part IV ====
+Rainsoar Lake, the Yaoqing.\\
+In the misty rain, yellow floating heart foliage and blossoms decorated the lake as frolicking fishes leaped out of the water from time to time. This lakeside abounds with lotuses and water chestnuts, and old turtles basking on the pebbles were an everyday sight.
+With a herb basket on his back, he rowed a small boat out into the middle of the lake as the falling rain slid down the back of his ear, soaking his clothing wet.\\
+Scooping up floating heart plants, picking out lotus flowers, and peeling open wild rice shoots, sending them all into his mouth to taste.\\
+//"Ugh, too bland..."// He shook his head.\\
+//"Mister, there's an elderly man looking for you over at the restaurant. He claimed to be an old friend of yours..."//\\
+A disciple called out from the other side of the lake, to which he sighed and rowed his boat back to shore.
+He is of course aware of the visitor's intentions, but he had long grown weary of resuming his old profession as a healer.\\
+//"Master, are you here today to try out the dishes cooked with Rainsoar Eatery's cauldron? I must warn you, though: We only serve very spicy and insanely spicy food here."//\\
+The elderly man sighed from his eat at the table.\\
+//"I remember you preferred bland food before joining the army."//\\
+As he readied the cauldron, a glimmer of nostalgia flashed across his eyes.\\
+//"People... tend to change."//\\
+The elder picked up a slice of threadfin snapper, scalding it into the bubbling red broth.\\
+//"I should try it then. But know that I did not come for that. Do you still remember the girl you saved?"//\\
+//"Feixiao, that's her name. The girl that followed the former general everywhere. She has since assumed the role of General of the Yaoqing and now requires a healer by her side. There's no one more suitable for that position than you."//\\
+He smiled wryly, for some reason recalling the sharp pain he felt on his tongue that fateful day. //"Those I saved only ended up as another dead soul when they dived head-in back into the battlefield. I prefer to no longer engage in such futile efforts."//\\
+The elder placed his chopsticks down and shook his head.\\
+//"You misunderstand me. This time, I'm not here to persuade you to heal the masses in this world. I'm here because I want this general... to heal you despondent heart."//\\
+//"She will tell you... what the true purpose of a healer is."//