This is an NPC only Kingdom
Kingdom Summary
A self-proclaimed kingdom of balance and enlightenment led by the August Personage of Jade. The supernaturals rule here as much as anywhere. However, unlike in other places, where the supernaturals have been hidden and disregarded, they have been integrated into the Jade’s cultures for generations. Humanity thrives here, protected rather than enslaved by their supernatural rulers, beneath the Sun and Moon of old.
Dominant Races
Chi’n-Ta (Mages), Kuei-Jin, Hsien (Fae), Hengeyokai (Shifters)
Politics & NPCs
The nobility follow a feudal system of Clans and Houses in which the clans are divided along species lines, and Houses are the various groups within those creature types. Each House is led by a Daimyo who owes fealty to their Clan Daimyo. The Clan Daimyo, in turn, serves the Jade Emperor. The nobles of the Jade Empire ascribe to the tenets of Bushido. Though conflicts can, and do arise, they are settled through duels of personal honor far more often than armed warfare.
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Allies
Dischordia
Enemies
Kingdom of Aether, Kingdom of Lazarus, Kingdom of the Iron Lotus
Kingdom Views
The truth of the world can be found sitting at the riverside, The river never begins, the river never ends. All of life is like the river, lessons never begin and lessons never end. What is now has been before and will be again. It is the short sighted and foolish who believe that life has no patterns, no purposes. All that is now is part of what has been and what will come to be. To master the future, one must study the past. Understand the Will of Heaven, and you make all things possible. Ignore it, and you will accomplish nothing.
Aether - Wherever there is light, there must be shadow. The yang cannot exist without the yin. Oblivion is within every being as both the source and the end of every soul. It is as natural to existence as life or Paradise, and the wise do not fear its coming. One must be deeply aware of the impermanence of the world, for it is the journey from beginning to end that gives life meaning.
Aztlan - The actions of this kingdom are reminiscent of the tortures of Yomi - the Hell of Being Skinned Alive, the Hell of the Heartless Sinners... Clan Kuei-Jin could list a dozen. It is unclear if they are unwitting pawns of hell, or willing servants. It is unclear which is worse.
Dischordia - When darkness descends, a man must find allies in the shadows. In other circumstances, the chaos of Dischordia would be anathema to the balance of the Jade. Indeed, at one time, an assassin was sent to remove Balor before he became a threat. The August Personage of Jade, in his infinite wisdom, put the wheels in motion to create the strongest lasting alliance of this age, and the assassin, Tao no Shi, became the voice of two kingdoms.
Jukurrpa - The allies of Clan Hengeyokai revere the dreams of the Emerald Mother, and keep alive the seed of Yang during the drought of Yin. When the Wheel of Ages turns once again, we will look to Jukurrpa as the fertile ground from which the new world grows.
Lazarus’ Empire - Both Stygian wraiths and the kin-jin have long been enemies of the Clans of the Jade Empire. Lazarus continues in the Vatican tradition of trying to impose his beliefs on the world, but the proud traditions of the Jade will not acquiesce so easily to the demands of the power-mad.
Kingdom of the Iron Lotus - Countless Akashayana were slaughtered at the hands of the Chakravanti during the Himalayan Wars. The Consanguinity of Eternal Joy is a beacon of corruption and death. Countless revered ancestors met their final end at the hands of the abomination that awoke during the Week of Nightmares. The Lotus and their goddess have brought little but pain and death to the world, and only furthers the foothold of the Aether in the world.
Ukhu Amarumaya - We have had little contact with those of Ukhu, and know little of their way of life. What we do know of them, is that they serve a god of death. However, the wise do not judge a man by the lord he serves, but by his choice of enemies... and Ukhu Amarumaya has chosen a worthy enemy indeed. They, like us, oppose the rampant imperialism of Lazarus. It is possible we would have much in common with this kingdom.
Umbral Realms
Low Umbra - Shroud 4
- Clan Kuei Territory (Yellow Springs - Shroud 0)
- Clan Kuei-Jin Territory (Yomi-Wan - Gauntlet 5)
Middle Umbra - Gauntlet 4
- Clan Hengeyokai Territory - Gauntlet 0 (Umi, Tiger Lands, Mountains of Heaven)
Clan Five Metal Dragon Territory - Gauntlet 10 (CyberRealm, Digital Web - Gauntlet 2)
- Dreaming - Mists 9 / Banality 6
High Umbra - Periphery 4 (Afterworlds, Elemental Courts of Orient, Fortress of Government - Periphery 3)
Historical Information
Rise of the Yama Kings
In the Western world, the fall of the Shroud saw the ghosts of the dead warring upon the living. In the East, it was an event that welcomed the return of revered ancestors. Yet the fall of the Shroud held within it dire omens. The walls holding back the thousand hells fell shortly after.
Read more: (Shroud Fall) Rise of the Yama Kings
The Yama Kings, freed from their Yomi prisons, declared war upon the world. They competed against one another to become the Demon Emperor who would rule over the sixth age. Each of the races fended for themselves fighting the Yomi lords and their Akuma servants. Only Strike Force Zero, led by Ash Sho Lung, stood in defense of humanity in the face of overwhelming odds.
After but a single year of war, a young man, glowing as bright as the light of day, arrived riding on the back of a Dragon. With arrows of sunlight, the young man slew the Yama Kings and ended the war. He claimed the mantle of the Jade Emperor, and none would challenge him. As the War of the Dead raged throughout the rest of the world, the Jade Empire had begun to rebuild. They re-assembled shards of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, the spirits of the sun and moon. Though weakened and incomplete, the fragmented spirits returned to the heavens... through the aid of engineers constructing orbital platforms.
In the seventh year of the War of the Dead, the August Personage of Jade learned of a Yama King within North America who had eluded his purge. He sent an assassin, Hsien Nayan Tao no Shi, to kill him. Yet, when he arrived, the Yama King was already engaged on the battlefield against Balor. Tao defeated the Yama King, but was in turn defeated by Balor. Balor spared the Hsien's life, and named him the first Voice of Balor to ensure peace between Dischordia and the Jade Empire. Clan Kuei-Jin whisper quiet rumors that the Yama King slain in Dischodia was not the last. They claim that Yomi is not empty, and insist that there are yet other Yama Kings who wait. They say there are those who bide their time and await their chance to rise and claim the mantle of Demon Emperor.
Land of the Rising Sun
Within the Jade Empire, the nobles of Clans Hengeyokai and Chi’n-Ta gathered shards of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. With the aid of Clan Five Metal Dragon, they joined the shards to strengthen the spirits of the sun and moon. Amaterasu's light, though weaker since her fall, brought harm those of Clan Kuei-Jin. The Kuei-Jin rebelled and left the East in pursuit of land beneath the black sun, and free of Amaterasu’s curse. Clan Kuei-Jin seized Hawaii, displacing thousands of Rokea in the process. The Rokea, attempting to find a home, collided into conflict with the Kingdom of Lost Angels.
Read more: (Foundation Era) Land of the Rising Sun
As the Voice of Balor convened the courts of Dischordia, he took an interest in some of its nobles. Those few who impressed him earned invitations to visit his home among the Jade courts. Only Khaalid Gheedi of Aranta-Shadur accepted the invitation. During one of his visits, Khaalid aided Akuma Harshin, and Ash Sho Lung in defending the court against an attack of Spectres. For their dedicated service to the Emperor, Harshin was forgiven for his transgressions and placed as the head of Clan Kuei-Jin. This gave House Akuma the means to reclaim their lost honor, by serving as the Jade’s front line warriors. For Khaalid’s aid, his reward was land and station within the Jade Court.
War of Aether
When Nul struck the East, he wasted no time. A dark fog fell over the Jade Court as Nul moved against the August Personage of Jade. The sudden and unanticipated attack caught the clan Daimyo off-guard and outnumbered. Even so, they slew many of Nul's officers who descended upon the court with malevolent purpose.
Read more: (War of Aether)
As Nul approached the Jade throne, he cast the Emperor's yojimbo aside with a gesture. Hsien Nayan Tao no Shi, aka the Voice of Balor, took a position between Nul and the Jade Emperor. Though wounded in their previous encounter, Tao no Shi refused to allow Nul to bring any harm to the Emperor. The two resumed their duel and battled masterfully. Their blades moved too swiftly for onlookers to follow, each countering the other's magics as well as strikes.
Tao no Shi knew he could not defeat Nul in his weakened state, and his efforts could only delay him. As his inevitable defeat approached, Tao no Shi laid a clever trap for his adversary. At the moment of Nul's victory, Tao no Shi's essence was being stripped and pulled into the void. He called upon his most potent magics, fueling them with his own life force. A bright, searing flame danced between them, burning Nul with the last bit of Tao no Shi's chi. In his demise, Tao no Shi avoided the fate of being unmade, and delivered a crippling blow to his adversary. After his battle with the Voice, Nul was no longer seen on the front lines. The wounds he received could not heal, as pure fires of creation tore through his being. His sacrifice was the first turning point in the war.
Nul's target yet lived, and he had been gravely wounded. Yet he had succeeded in severing the link between the Jade Courts and Dischordia. The two kingdoms began to drift apart. The Kuei-Jin in Hawaii immediately looked upon Dischordia as a potential conquest. The alliance persisted only through the continued diplomatic efforts of Dischordian nobles.
The Sublime Cataclysm
As two powerful kingdoms waged their war, the other kingdoms watched and waited. No matter who would be victorious, their victory would alter the political landscape. Few could have suspected the true cost of the end of the war, or the impact it would have on their own kingdoms. In the war's final months, Lazarus' Legion marched on Dischordia and laid waste to their domains. In response, the Dischordian lords enacted a plan of unsurpassed devastation. None outside of Dischordia witnessed the ritual, but kingdoms the world over felt the impact.
Read more: (Sublime Cataclysm)
The first sign of the Cataclysm was the haze on the horizon. Blood-red and fire-orange, it was visible even in kingdoms across oceans and hemispheres. Storms of fire raged across the European continent. Those who survived the strikes saw clouds of dust and fire, and felt the ground shake from the impact. The reverberation of the catastrophe could be felt all around the world. Tsunamis, floods, and hail storms devastated the Jade and Iron Lotus. Earthquakes rumbled and volcanoes erupted in Ukhu Amarumaya and Aztlan. Sinkholes opened in Jukurrpa swallowing stretches of land. Heat waves ravaged the Diamond Congo, withering the jungles. Great sandstorms blasted across the African deserts. The Antarctic Aether grew even colder as it’s blizzards raged. Across the globe, maelstroms tore their way through the kingdoms of the world.
