Lan
- In this Canthan name, the family name is Li.
“Lan, you are so amazing. So intelligent. Witty, and funny, and cute. And a brat. Even if you hate being called out on it. You're already growing up to be such an incredible person. You can be whoever you want to be. You have your ma's same fiery soul. Don't let that fire burn out.
— Li Bo in 01 Changhai 1638 CC
Li Lan (608–620 CC)[1] is the deceased daughter of Li Ai and Li Bo who lived on Shing Jea Island during the unification of Cantha. In order to bring peace to her distraught mother following her and her father's deaths, Lan takes on the form of the Spirit of the Mountain and seeks the aid of adventurers to help calm Ai down and resolve her internal struggles so that she may continue her work as the keeper of Sunqua Peak. Lan's grave monument is located next to her father's monument and an unknown monument on the path leading to the mountain's summit.
Biography[edit]
Early years[edit]
Li Lan was born as the daughter of Li Ai and Li Bo and lived on Shing Jea Island in Cantha during Emperor Usoku's reign. She grew up to be an intelligent if mischievous child who desired to become a powerful elementalist like her mother Ai who taught her a few simple spells.[2][3]
When Emperor Usoku began the unification of Cantha circa 1637 CC (1127 AE), Lan's father Bo, along with several other Shing Jea clansmen, was called to serve in the imperial army and join the emperor's forces on the mainland for the upcoming offensive against the Kurzicks of the Echovald Forest.[4] Bo often sent letters home and described his experiences in the army to his wife and daughter while training both his combat and music playing skills as well as befriending fellow soldiers such as the unusually tall and strong woman Hyo-Sonn.[5]
After witnessing the horrific acts committed by Usoku and the Ministry of Purity during their campaign to unite Cantha, Bo and Hyo-Sonn defected from the army and fled back to Shing Jea.[6] Bo eventually perished at the age of 32, however, leaving his family in Hyo-Sonn's care. His last letter was addressed to both Ai and Lan, and he professed his love for them while encouraging them to keep on living.[7]
Two years after Bo's death, Lan passed away at the age of 12.[8] It is not clear whether Ai tried to save Lan but failed, or if Ai's magic was unleashed during her grieving and she accidentally ended up killing her daughter. However, the deaths of her family left a lasting mark on Ai whose grief would only increase as she began blaming herself for Lan's death.
Sunqua Peak Fractal[edit]
Lan continued existing as a ghost, however, and observed Sunqua Peak where her mother Ai, who was wracked with grief, was meditating. Ai's inner turmoil attracted demons to her who feasted on her doubt, fears, guilt, and sorrow, and her elemental magic deeply disturbed the natural and spiritual balance on the mountain as a result. Scared to confront her unhinged mother, Lan disguised herself as the deer-like Spirit of the Mountain and sought aid from travelers to save her mother and the mountain.
By the time Dessa and her team of fractal explorers ended up in Sunqua Peak Fractal which depicted a distorted view of the historical event, they encountered Lan, disguised as the Spirit of the Mountain, who asked them to help her restore harmony to the mountain. The spirit's rather casual tone and mispronounced words made Dessa suspicious, but she nevertheless suggested that the fractal explorers do as the spirit asked.
By the time the party reached the mountain's summit, they discovered Ai as the Sorrowful Spellcaster meditating in grief. Lan was hesitant to approach her mother after witnessing how much in turmoil Ai really was, and she believed that her presence would only agitate Ai more. Lan decided to drop the act of posing as an elightened spirit by turning to more casual talk although she still refused to reveal her true form. Dessa began putting the pieces of the mystery together after realizing how much the spirit cared for Ai, but decided to see the quest to the end.
Ai lashed out at the explorers, however, first telling them to leave her alone with her pain and then threatening them before attacking them. Although the explorers were able to quell the elementalist's rage after a clash, they soon learned the true source of the elemental imbalance as Ai's doubt, fears, guilt, and sorrow manifested as demons which took her over and attacked the party. After a fierce battle, the explorers were able to weaken the demons enough that Ai managed to drive them out, thus calming down the weather around the summit.
Once the explorers had collected letters written by the late Bo to his family and delivered the letters to Ai for closure, the disguised Lan finally approached her mother to tell her that she was safe. By the time the spirit began praising Lan for her qualities, Ai realized that the spirit was none other than Lan herself, forcing Lan to reveal her true form.
When Ai questioned why her daughter had hidden herself, Lan responded that she had been scared of her mother's magical outburst and had been unsure how to approach her until the explorers had assisted her. Ai apologized to her daughter about what her unleashed powers had done and how she felt responsible for Lan's death, and admitted to missing her and feeling alone. Lan comforted her grieving mother, stating that Ai would never be alone.
Location[edit]
- Fractals of the Mists
- Sunqua Peak Fractal (Only after giving the letters to Ai)
Related achievements[edit]
Sunqua Peak Fractal: Respect for the Dead — Show respect for those who walked before. (3
)
Notes[edit]
- Li Bo's letters found in the fractal mention both Lan and the dates 1637–1638 CC (1127-1128 AE) which correspond with the timeframe of Emperor Usoku's campaign to unite Cantha in 1127 AE. However, Bo and Lan's graves show the dates 586–618 and 608–620 CC (76–108 AE and 98–110 AE), respectively, which would place their deaths over a millennium earlier than the events described in the letters, as the Canthan calendar starts counting from the Mouvelian calendar's year 510 BE. This discrepancy may be caused by the fractals being unreliable narrators due to the Mists combining imperfect copies of landscapes and people from different time periods, however.
Trivia[edit]
- Lan misspells and mispronounces certain words like "sellibrate" ("celebrate"), "quill" ("quell") and "steamed" ("esteemed"). While disguised as the Spirit of the Mountain, her use of mispronounced words is one of the clues which suggests that the deer-like "spirit" is not quite what it appears to be.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Weathered Monument
- ^ 01 Changhai 1638 CC
- ^ Happy Birthday, Mama!
- ^ 03 Nemnai 1637 CC
- ^ 25 Mikan 1637 CC
- ^ 08 Suzhen 1637 CC
- ^ 01 Changhai 1638 CC
- ^ Compare the dates of death listed on Bo and Lan's grave monuments.
