Board :	Chronicles of the Winds
Author :	Osmarion
Subject :	The Concerns of Yeoni
Date :	12/10
The dawn hangs low over Kugnae, the palace steps still slick with dew. Yeoni arrives quietly, the scent of freshly dyed fabric clinging to his robes. Indigo, saffron, and the faint musk of cedar oil. His hands are rough from labor, his eyes shadowed with concern. He bows, then speaks of the trouble from the east. The merchants have gone silent, caravans stalled, bolts of wisdom cloth dwindling to a few precious rolls. The elders depend on him, yet the threads that once flowed so freely have begun to tangle in unseen hands. I motion for him to sit across the low brazier. Between us, I spread the worn silk mat, a soft grey patterned with hexagrams faded by years of use. From a small leater pouch, I draw old brass coins."Let us ask not for ease," I tell him, but for clarity. We may see what the road of discipline demands." I toss the coins freely. Six lines form, one above the other, a mountain rising from a pond. I feel the stillness of it before I even read the name, Sun. Reduction, sacrifice, restraint, self-control, discipline.The image clear on the mat: A pond at the foot of a mountain. The pond gives its waters to nourish the height above. I study the pattern, then speak slowly, letting each word settle like dust upon stone."This is a time of lessening, Yeoni.The pond must give its waters, so that the mountain may live."It is a difficult omen, yet not an unkind one. Reduction is not ruin, it is the trimming away of excess so that strength may endure. I tell him this."Your supply falters not because the east has turned against you, but because the season itself demands temperance. Where you have poured much into others, now you must preserve what remains."He listens, his hands folded in his lap, his thumb tracing the seam of his sleeve. "Show restraint," I continue. "Use what you have wisely, and the loss will feed renewal. The pond cannot keep all its water. It must give to sustain the height. Sacrifice will lead to reward, but only if done with purpose and grace."