Was Ashveil involved in the Sedition of Imbibator Lunae?
It's a strange question to be asking, however, in light of recent developments and my own theories made on the matter (such the connection between Abundance & Voracity) and the trends that have emerged in Planarcadia, there's an extremely curious possibility I think merits investigating.
The reason I'm asking is because, from what we know and are gradually finding out, Ashveil has a curious string of coincidences involving his relationship with the Xianzhou Alliance, several of which make him a little suspect. In exploring this possibility, I'll list factors between what we know concretely, and follow it up with what is likely just pure speculation on my part.
Ashveil's timeline within the Xianzhou
In Real Holy Laughter!, Unraveled at Daybreak, we get our first, real inkling of Ashveil's hinted connection with the Xianzhou. To put it succinctly, Ashveil was involved with the Xianzhou for decades, spanning from when he met Yingxing when he was young, to much later after the Sedition of Imbibator Lunae.
In both Primeval & Other Things, The Lethe Below the Living and in Mortenax Blade's voiceline about him, it gives us clues to a time in Yingxing's formative years when Ashveil was still active as La Mancha that he and his Master, Huaiyan, worked together to create the prosthetic arm that ultimately sealed the Shadow inside of it, and the signature sword-staff/cane that he possesses.
The next instance was told to us directly by Pearl in Real Holy Laughter!, Unraveled at Daybreak wherein she lists some of his feats, one of which includes devouring Shuhu.
For direct context to when this occurred, look no further than Dan Heng IL's second character story that details Baiheng's kamikaze gambit to both save Dan Feng (and Jingliu) and destroy Shuhu, utilizing a power that many now believe may have been Ashveil's due to the specific framing of when exactly Ashveil was said to devoured Shuhu. As you'll see in the linked post, it has screenshots from the 4.1 livestream wherein Ashveil boasts about seeing Yingxing and Huaiyan forge a certain artifact some seven or eight centuries ago, lining up with his believable involvement in the Shuhu Upheaval Period that occurred at around this time.
The last and most notable instance was displayed in Primeval & Other Things, The Lethe Below the Living when Ren undergoes his self-examination and final trial against Shuhu, wherein he revisits a memory with La Mancha who visited him directly after the Sedition, lamenting his incarcerated state and transformation. (In addition, it should be noted that La Mancha stating how "the shadow has tasted the flesh of Abundance within you" may be another piece of evidence that he was involved in the Shuhu Upheaval Period.)
It should also be mentioned that La Mancha being pursued by Cloud Knights in Letters to the Detective may also be telling due to the fact that we don't know if La Mancha was allowed in the Shackling Prison at the time after the Sedition, but what's clear is that the liberation never happened; Yingxing was resigned to atonement, and La Mancha respected that. Still, trespassing can still be a serious crime.
It should also be noted, however, in File Repository: Ally — Rangers that this pursuit might not be as dire as Ashveil interprets it. If connected, then said Cloud Knights might also be a part of those wanting to reach out to the Galaxy Rangers to reestablish an alliance, especially to their leader.
And lastly, while this may be more circumstantial than anything, in Medical Disputes on the Ship of Fools, Welcome to Arcadia, Ashveil's lines here hint that he might've known Dan Feng, as he recognized the surname, but not Dan Heng himself.
Voracity & Resurrection?
Now, the main reason I am asking this question in the first place is specifically because of what was learned in 4.3.
During Arcadia of Mystery and Terror, The Lethe Below the Living, Ashveil congregates with people like March, Ruan Mei, and Tingyun in the Tavern while brainstorming the struggle against Asat Pramad. One of the topics that crops up is the circumstances surrounding the trend that began cropping up after the Swarm Disaster: AHA went out of THEIR way to scatter Oroboros' body like a many-headed hydra, suppressed it with Abundance (like the Planarch Welwood), and siphoned the power of Oroboros' own Path.
As I've gone through before in another meta, it's incredibly likely that this trend found its way aboard the Luofu, as there are many clues hinting to this.
This seems to be the case as told by Evanescia in Postmodern Imagenesis, A Resounding Gong or a Clashing Cymbal, So Laughed the Masses.
It's in Dan Heng IL's first character story that points the strongest to this possibility, that the "maddened and frenzied dragon" may actually be a husk of Oroboros sealed beneath the Ambrosial Arbor's roots. Which leads to another question: if this is the case, could this Oroboros fragment been responsible for the disaster of the Sedition?
What is summarized by Jingliu in her companion quest, Clouds Leave No Trace, doesn't mention Oroboros/Voracity being involved in the process at all. However, I don't think that eliminates the possibility.
In Species of the Galaxy: Wubbaboo and the adventure mission, Floating Grease Chronicles, both hint at the possibility of how the death of a Leviathan becomes the vehicle that begets life, which could be compared to a sunken ship becoming a habitat for sea life to flourish.
Now, it can't be entirely overlooked that the insinuated formula for the Sedition is primarily summarized as Abundance (Shuhu) + Permanence (Transmutation Arcanum) = the Half-Draconic Abomination.
However, through Taoran in Ebb of Past Sins, Finest Duel Under the Pristine Blue (II) and the Kind Female Voice in DHIL's companion quest, The Dragon Returns Home, we're reminded that the Transmutation Arcanum is the process or ritual that achieves new life, not necessarily the means alone by which he tried to reincarnate Baiheng.
What's more, the possibility that Long and THEIR Scions (like the Vidyadhara) being related to or descended from Leviathans is a crucial component in understanding the point I'm trying to make. And if anything, informs why Baiheng was revived as the Half-Draconic Abomination.
We learn as much in Jingliu's 4th character story during the Sedition when Dan Feng expresses disbelief that the disaster unfolded so horribly. The anticipated outcome was Abundance (Shuhu) + Permanence (Transmutation Arcanum) = Reviving Baiheng as a new High Elder.
Something extremely similar transpires in Amphoreus in Styxia Fables, Castorice's backstory, in a way, being an allegory to the Sedition and what they tried to achieve in a similar disaster.
Again, in Arcadia of Mystery & Terror, The Lethe Below the Living, like the dragon in Castorice's story was corrupted by the Black Tide, the "maddened and frenzied dragon" below the Ambrosial Arbor, which may very well be a husk of Oroboros, was also corrupted. And with it inevitably being part of the Transmutation Arcanum Dan Feng tried to utilize to bring back Baiheng, instead created the Half-Draconic Abomination.
Yingxing: inspired or helped?
Now, gathering all these pieces of evidence together, you may notice--starkly--that Ashveil had no discernible part to play in the Sedition nor in the creation of the Half-Draconic Abomination. And that is very much the case.
Between the Passerby's Roaming Dragon Bracer of the relic set Passerby of Wandering Cloud, and the Divine Querying Master Smith relic set, Smith's Unbridled Boots, it paints the same, deliberate picture. That both Dan Feng and Yingxing went through with the Sedition, and dearly paid the price for it. However, that doesn't mean I still don't have questions.
In A Dragon Gallant, Its Ocean Distant, of Topclouded Towerthrust, we're met with a highly interesting conversation within a Mirage Echo: that between Yingxing and Dan Feng and the former being allowed inside Scalegorge Waterscape to research a mysterious topic for a few hours. While we never learn what it was he researched specifically, many did and still believe it was related to reviving Baiheng.
Backpedaling to what we know now years later, between Yingxing outright knowing how to handle and seal a husk of Oroboros within Ashveil's prosthetic arm, it informs us of the fact that he likely had awareness of how to deal with a husk of Oroboros, let alone the segment that exists beneath the Luofu's Ambrosial Arbor.
Which begs the question: did Yingxing go forward with this idea, based on his acquaintanceship with La Mancha at the time, in constructing a plan to revive Baiheng, one of his dearest friends? Would this plan have involved the life-creating origination of Oroboros as a Leviathan? For now, we can't know for sure, but the possibility is highly intriguing.
Conclusion
To make a long story short, my thinking behind this is Yingxing's friendship with La Mancha, in making his prosthetic, may have granted him the background necessary to help with Dan Feng's plan to try and resurrect Baiheng. That his unique understanding may have granted him overconfidence in thinking he and Dan Feng could defy the Vidyadhara's destiny and resurrect their friend as a High Elder, even if not as herself.
So no, Ashveil wasn't involved in the Sedition of Imbibator Lunae. But as one thing often leads to another, it does make one wonder if befriending Yingxing may have led to the disaster that would ruin Yingxing decades later.
thinking about how ashveil would react if you asked "would you still love me if i were a worm?"
... considering how he still cares for his ranger companions who were turned into monkeys... then yes, yes he would. he would love you completely. it would probably also hurt.. i feel like thats one of the many sensitive subjects for him.
the galaxy ranger's capacity for intense loyalty and sense of justice is exactly what makes me love them all so much.
which only hurts more when you realize that the "one eyed owl" and the "heartless bear" mentioned in that one letter in his office are also galaxy rangers and past companions, who are now hunting ashveil because they blame him for something... what could have possibly happened for them to turn on him so badly that they'd even hurt other rangers just to get to him? i need to learn more about him so bad
