The Qilin trotted across the dry plains, its hooves not bending a single blade of grass. Hooves of Gentle Passage. It was a creature of absolute harmony, bringing luck and rain where needed. It sensed a drought and came to help.
But the sky was already turning a bruised purple.
From a waterhole, a massive shape emerged. It shimmered with all the colors of the spectrum. The Rainmaker Snake (rainbow serpent) of Australian lore uncoiled. Rainbow Coil.
The Qilin bowed, acknowledging another spirit of water.
Too Much of a Good Thing
The Rainmaker Snake did not bow. It roared, a sound like thunder rolling across the outback. Song of Waterholes.
It didn't just bring rain; it brought a monsoon. The sky opened. The dry earth turned instantly into a raging flood.
The Qilin tried to moderate the flow, to channel it into irrigation, but the Snake’s magic was wild and primal. The water rose rapidly, staining the Qilin’s jade scales with mud.
Harmony cannot exist in chaos. The Qilin, realizing that this was not a gentle shower but a terraforming event, found the mud intolerable. It stepped onto a cloud and galloped away to find a sage who appreciated moderation, leaving the Rainmaker to drown the world in life-giving destruction.