The Jade Empire is led by the
Immortal Emperor of the Jade Empire, thanks to the grace and blessings of
Kawahara herself. Citizens of the empire are forbidden from worshiping deities other than her. Magic is considered a tool for the gods, and mortals who use it are considered blasphemous and punished accordingly.
Directly beneath the Immortal Emperor are his descendants, the
Fou Family. Directly beneath them are the Nine Noble Houses:
House Guanting
House Gengxin
House Lingxin
House Delan
House Huo
House He
House Huan
House Zhi
House Lan
History
Founding
The first settlers from Aeccelon reached
Tasinem 400 or 500 years before the founding of
Shudan, somewhere near the current day location of
Yidechen. When they found the forests to the south, and the areas around them, to be populated by native yokai, the settlers expanded primarily to the north.
Over the next several hundred years, cities grew and developed primarily due to the direction of the noble families that lived in each. None grew more so than
Shengtai, which was led by the
Fou Family. In time, sometimes peacefully and other times not, they were able to bring the other cities and families under their rule and establish the Jade Empire. The head of the family declared himself the first Jade Emperor.
Birth of the Immortal Emperor
The Empire continued to grow along the eastern coast of Tasinem, eventually moving closer and closer to the
Nobumori. At this time they got along well with the yokai in the region, but didn't often pass through the forest or across the
Redwind Mountains. This left the south western portion of Tasinem less densely populated.
During the reign of the fourth Jade Emperor, Zheng Liang Fou, his son, was murdered by a traitor to the empire. However, thanks to a young hero named Yao Lingxin and the blessings of Kawahara herself, Zheng was reborn and eventually grew to become the fifth Jade Emperor.
After his death, his wife wept so loudly and for so long that Kawahara again appeared and allowed Zheng to reborn in the body of his wife Fu Lan. After this time, she became the sixth Jade Emperor.
When Fu Lan Fou finally grew old was near to death herself, Kawahara gave the empire one last blessing. She tought he priestess a ceremony that would allow them to pass the life of their emperor into the young healthy body of one of the members of the nine noble houses. That person would continue to live on along with the emperor and rule the empire together. Ever since then, the
Immortal Emperor has continued to lead his people.
Modern History
Sometime after BH100, the Immortal Emperor promoted the temple of Kawahara above all other places of worship. Many statues and shrines were replaced with the iconography of Kawahara and the Immortal Emperor. Her main temple was expanded, and additional temples were dedicated to her around
Shengtai.
Around BH50 the Immortal Emperor declared Kawahara the goddess of the imperial capital and banned places of worship for any other deities. Divine magic was forbidden in the capital, and discouraged throughout the Jade Empire. It was said that attempting to claim the power of the gods was hubris and had no place in the empire.
Sometime after BH30 the Immortal Emperor outlawed divine magic throughout the Jade Empire and began to crack down on arcane magic as well. He clashed politcally with arcane practitioners, and had several executed as traitors or banished from the Jade Empire. Notable,
Xue Luoyang was banished from the empire and sent south. Many of the most knowledgeable and powerful wizards of the empire went with him. He spent the next two decades taking them past the Redwind Mountains and then unifying the disparate towns and cities there into the country of
Shudan.
Immediately following Shudan's founding, the Immortal Emperor began taking steps to cut off most communication between the two countries. It was around this time that groups like the
Dian, and eventually the
Bizou came into existance. The
Council of Cultural Norms also appeared around this time to determine the proper ways to worship and behave. They spent a large amount of time collecting and correcting historical accounts of the Jade Empire's past.
Shudan did not hear much from the empire for some time, until after H115 when the empire's new Golden Leaf Consortium began sending merchants and trade caravans. These groups brought with them officially sanctioned news of the empire, as written by a group called the Shishi Order.
House Lingxin was hard at work during this time, raising the quality of all goods crafted in the empire for use internally or for trade.
House Delan was publishing official records about membership in well known and noble families.
House He tended to the underpriviledged of the empire, feeding the hungry and funding orphanages and similar operations.
House Lan worked on improving the imperial capital itself, through the creation of public parks and ever expanding buildings. Updates from the Shishi Order never seemed to mention
House Guanting or
House Gengxin.
Leading up to H150 the communication between Shudan and the Jade Empire began to grow again. Permanent embassies were established in
Zonyashi and
Nanganato, staffed by
House Huo and the Council of Regional Studies. Despire this, there was relectance to allow any permanent delegation from Shudan within the empire. Agents of
The Hotsukai made visits to the imperial capital twice a year, escorted from the border by members of the Gold Wind and hosted within the city by members of the Chuban.
However, following
The Schism, the creation of
The Fade, and the eventually loss of
Mirin's Pass, communication between the two countries has deteriorated again. They now remain largely isolated from each other.
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