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Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling Backstory

On 1730 AD, February 17th, fraternal twin sisters were born to Shào Míngxiá (邵明霞) in the village of Xiān Mén Cūn (仙门村). Before the sisters were born, their father was killed in an incident where he and several individuals were guiding and protecting a caravan of merchants to their village. He and several were killed by monsters of the night known as Darkstalkers. His name was Shào Xiāngzǐ (邵湘子). Happy with the birth of her daughters, Mingxia named them 邵美玲 (Shào Měilíng) and 邵仙姑 (Shào Xiāngū). Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling grew up among the Shao family, whom have for centuries have had a long tradition and association with the mystical ways of 仙術 (Xiānshù). As they grew up, Mingxia saw via their Qi that they had great potential in them which was of great relief as she was wanting to not only assure their safety, but also keep to the Shao family traditions and name. Since they were able children, Mingxia trained them to become 仙树师 (Xiān shù shī), practitioners of Xianshu. Mingxia herself was a Shifu of Xianshushi and had great aspirations and hopes for her daughters. However, she was never overbearing, allowing them to still be young girls and blossom in their own ways. Even with the freedoms allotted to them by their mother, both sisters sought to make their mother proud. Mei-Ling would show great promise with her natural ways in the mystical aspects of Xianshu while Hsien-Ko was fond of the martial arts and hand to hand combat involved with Xianshu. Balancing their studies, training, and leisure time, the sisters showed relatively swift progress in their abilities in the way of the school of Xianshu and many of the shifu believed they were ready to move on to the next big step in their training: they would be recognized officially as Shifus of Xianshu. However, days before the ceremony, on 1748, July 3rd, Xianmencun was besieged by a hoard of the undead. All the xianshushi were dispatched to fight off the hoard and protect the innocent villagers. At the time, Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling were enjoying some leisure time elsewhere, away from many. As the hoard came in, they did what they could to protect the people. Despite all their years of training, the hoard was proving too much as the sheer numbers were just vast. Before they were consumed by the hoard, they were saved by several xianshushi and shifus, with their mother among the group. Happy to see their mother, they greeted her gleefully and with relief. However, this joy was not to last as with final words of praise and a motherly hug, Mingxia had her daughters restrained by the other shifu as she then made the ultimate sacrifice. Using the Art of Unusual Transformation, she transformed her form into that of a golden dragon of power. She tore through the hoard like a blade to flesh, burning their dark rotten corpses into ashes. While at first confused and wondering what their mother meant by her words and actions, the sisters were in awe of the incredible power their mother displayed. Unfortunately, that awe turned to sheer horror as they witnessed their mother's body burn away right before their eyes. The only thing that fell to the ground were her bagua mirror and bead necklace donning the family name. Both twins were inconsolable and feel into a deep depression, refusing to eat nor talk with anyone. They only knew that their mother's use of the art not only killed her but banished her soul to be lost to the darkness for all eternity. Not able to cope with this, they went against their mother's final wish. After a heated debate between both Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling, they agreed to use the Art of Unusual Transformation. On the night of the July 7th, four days after the death of their mother, they shed their humanity to become warriors of the night: they became jiangshi. After a scuffle with some xianshushi and talking with one of the shifu closest to their mother, they were banished from Xianmencun for their own safety. Having had time to gather supplies and a coffin, they set out in the dead of the night, on their journey to save their mother.

Mandarin names in Cryas Darkstalkers

In the backstory for Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling, I brought up several names that were of Mandarin Chinese origin. I want to take the time to not only explain those, but some other small details relating to Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling. The backstory blog for reference:

Let us start with the names of Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling's parents. First off, yes, they have names in this mythos, unlike in the main timeline. Mingxia, 明霞 (Míngxiá), translates to roughly 'bright halo'. 明 (míng) translates to 'bright, shining, clear' while 霞 (xiá) translates to basically 'halo'. Why this name was chosen was because I like the idea of how the translation of her name basically could be the way her form looked when she transformed into that dragon. A bright body of light in a way. Plus, some positive ways of how the sisters saw her in their lives. Despite being their only parental figure growing up, she was literally their world. Xiangzi was chosen to play off how Hsien-Ko got her name. Hsien-Ko getting her name from the Xian, 何仙姑 (Hé Xiāngū), Xiangzi gets his name from the Xian, 韓湘子 (Hán Xiāngzǐ). So why this Xian specifically? Well according to a bit of digging, there exists a love story between the Xian Xiangzi and a dragon girl known as Longnu. Considering dragon's play a big symbolic importance to the Shao family later on, specifically in the case of Mingxia transforming into a dragon via the Art of Unusual Transformation, I thought it was a cool nod to the legend.

Now for the name of their village: 仙门村 (Xiān Mén Cūn) So, the first part, Xiān Mén, translates to 'Immortal Gate'. The reason behind this relates to the next translation I got. In the main timeline, their martial arts were known as Senjutsu. However, that had more Japanese origins in naming, so I wanted something more in relation to their cultural background. The name for their martial arts in Cryas Darkstalkers is the following: 仙術 (Xiānshù) Xiānshù translates to 'Immortal Arts'. The idea of the village is that it is the birthplace of Xiānshù, first developed by the Shao family line many generations ago. It is said the skills and sorcery of these arts were passed down by the Xiān to the people in order for them to have a means to fight off the Darkstalkers. Overtime, people would believe the land the village sits on is the gateway to the Xian. Or so the stories say. 仙树师 (Xiān shù shī) is the name bestowed upon practitioners of Xianshu. Cūn is basically 'village'. So, their birthplace is basically 'Immortal Gate Village'. Now, these were not mentioned in the backstory, but I wanted to go over these since we are talking about Mandarin. Hsien-Ko's special attacks. In the original game, they clearly were name with the convention of Japanese, which will not fly in CDS. With help from a buddy, I got them translated into Mandarin! They are as followed:

Henkyouki (返響器) is now 返響器 (Fǎn Xiǎng Qì) Reverberate Senpuubu (旋風舞) is now 旋風舞 (Xuànfēng Wǔ) Whirlwind Dance Houtengeki (放天撃) is now 放天撃 (Fàng Tiān Jī) Sky Punch Ankihou (暗器砲) is now 暗器砲 (Ànqì Pào) Concealed Weapon Cannon Chireitou (地霊刀) is now 地靈刀 (Dì Líng Dāo) Earth Spirit Blade Tenraiha (天雷破) is now 天雷破 (Tiān Léi Pò) Thunderbolt Chuukadan (中華弾) is now 中國彈 (Zhōngguó Dàn) Chinese Artillery Those these are likely not necessary, it brought me a lot of joy to do some research and really show some care and love to Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling's Chinese origins. :)