Lore: Surrounded On All Sides - An Examination of the Empire's Neighbors - the Purple Silk Kingdom
The Purple Silk Kingdom used to be a nation much like the Empire. In many ways, the peoples of the Empire and the Kingdom were and are cousins. Though rivals throughout their history and coming to blows more than once, the two states were more similar than not. Both had sects, both had a well-functioning bureaucracy, and both had abundance that led to the blossoming of art and philosophy. With its borders relatively secure and riches that more than rivaled the Empire's, the old Purple Silk Kingdom was a well-functioning nation, albeit one with a tendency towards opulence and decadence. Books have been written and songs sung of the massive feasts and festivals the Kings of the Purple Silk partook in.
And then the barbarians of the east came. United by their Hetman, Cemultu, the barbarians swept across the Purple Silk Kingdom like a plague. Cemultu had made common cause with the Azure Dragon of the East who had been insulted by some slight of the Kings of the Purple Silk. It is rumored that the court of Purple Silk had fallen into true decadence and chosen to eat one of the Azure Dragon's descendants. No one knows if the rumor is true, but this scholar does not doubt its veracity.
Upon alliance with the Great Dragon, Cemultu claimed a divine mandate and united the disparate tribes and petty kingdoms that called the eastern steppe and its environs home. The combination of heavily armed and armored winged hussars and fast hitting bow cavalry drove all before the horde. Where they met resistance too strong, the kirin cavalry, powerful cultivators riding powerful spirit beasts, overwhelmed the opposition with their earth shaking charges and high-power Qi attacks. It did not help that Cemultu himself was a powerful Awakened, as were his personal unit of bodyguards.
When the horde invaded, the various duchies of the Purple Silk Kingdom debated their response as their King continued to throw parties. One by one, different parts of the Kingdom fell. Though the individual duchies and sects fought, they were disunited and did not have the power, either in men or cultivation to throw back the horde. In the span of a decade, the Purple Silk Kingdom was overrun.
The horde proceeded to try and invade the Empire. However, the Empire had seen the threat of the barbarians and united against like it had united against every external threat for more than a millennia. The combination of the Imperial military, the nobility's banners and levies, and the sects' military forces created an impenetrable wall that broke the back of the horde. Thrown back, it reconsolidated its control of the Purple Silk Kingdom, breaking the Kingdom and the former lands of the eastern barbarians into a host of fiefdoms beholden to Baretu, Cemultu's son who was elevated to the hetmanship and after Cemultu's ascension. Baretu crowned himself King of the Purple Silk Kingdom and cemented his control over the kingdom by marrying the daughters of his most prominent chieftains and magnates.
Over time, the Purple Silk Kingdom has grown more and more similar to its form before the eastern barbarians came. The King throws massive parties, the bureaucracy has increasing amounts of power, and fractious nobles vie with one another. The greatest change has the been the institutions of debt peonage and serfdom that have made the lives of the common folk even more difficult than they already were under the old Kingdom.
However, some of the chieftains and magnates clamor for the old ways of conquest. The richest target is, of course, the Empire. The Duchy of the Black Crane maintains a constant guard against incursions. Its levies are well-trained to counter the Kingdom's cavalry, and its vigilance is legendary. Nevertheless, young riders still occasionally cross the Red Earth River to raid and to build their names. The Crane cannot be everywhere. And occasionally the raiders go north, around the Duchy of the Black Crane to raid across the Red Earth River against the Sect of the Broken Tree. The Broken Tree sets outposts of younger disciples along the river so that the youngsters may experience combat outside of a true war.
The politics of the Purple Silk Kingdom are contentious. From the newly renamed capital of Azure City, the King ostensibly presides over the Conclave of the Szelka, the body made up of all the tribal chieftains, military commanders, and nobility with their own followings. In reality, the Conclave is a fractious collection of lords who can only agree on their dislike for one another. The only thing that holds the whole mess together is the personal power of Cemultu's grandson, Baretu, who is a pinnacle Sage cultivator. Along side him rides the forces directly sworn to Baretu, including the kirin cavalry. And of course, Baretu is tied to almost all of his chieftains and great magnates via ties of kith and kin.
It is obvious that the Kingdom is a threat to the Empire, but it is also a threat to itself. It remains to be seen whether the Kingdom will turn its restive energy against the Empire or against itself.
- Excerpt from Surrounded On All Sides - An Examination of the Empire's Neighbors by Chao Tsing, Scholar Emeritus, the Imperial University of the East.
And then the barbarians of the east came. United by their Hetman, Cemultu, the barbarians swept across the Purple Silk Kingdom like a plague. Cemultu had made common cause with the Azure Dragon of the East who had been insulted by some slight of the Kings of the Purple Silk. It is rumored that the court of Purple Silk had fallen into true decadence and chosen to eat one of the Azure Dragon's descendants. No one knows if the rumor is true, but this scholar does not doubt its veracity.
Upon alliance with the Great Dragon, Cemultu claimed a divine mandate and united the disparate tribes and petty kingdoms that called the eastern steppe and its environs home. The combination of heavily armed and armored winged hussars and fast hitting bow cavalry drove all before the horde. Where they met resistance too strong, the kirin cavalry, powerful cultivators riding powerful spirit beasts, overwhelmed the opposition with their earth shaking charges and high-power Qi attacks. It did not help that Cemultu himself was a powerful Awakened, as were his personal unit of bodyguards.
When the horde invaded, the various duchies of the Purple Silk Kingdom debated their response as their King continued to throw parties. One by one, different parts of the Kingdom fell. Though the individual duchies and sects fought, they were disunited and did not have the power, either in men or cultivation to throw back the horde. In the span of a decade, the Purple Silk Kingdom was overrun.
The horde proceeded to try and invade the Empire. However, the Empire had seen the threat of the barbarians and united against like it had united against every external threat for more than a millennia. The combination of the Imperial military, the nobility's banners and levies, and the sects' military forces created an impenetrable wall that broke the back of the horde. Thrown back, it reconsolidated its control of the Purple Silk Kingdom, breaking the Kingdom and the former lands of the eastern barbarians into a host of fiefdoms beholden to Baretu, Cemultu's son who was elevated to the hetmanship and after Cemultu's ascension. Baretu crowned himself King of the Purple Silk Kingdom and cemented his control over the kingdom by marrying the daughters of his most prominent chieftains and magnates.
Over time, the Purple Silk Kingdom has grown more and more similar to its form before the eastern barbarians came. The King throws massive parties, the bureaucracy has increasing amounts of power, and fractious nobles vie with one another. The greatest change has the been the institutions of debt peonage and serfdom that have made the lives of the common folk even more difficult than they already were under the old Kingdom.
However, some of the chieftains and magnates clamor for the old ways of conquest. The richest target is, of course, the Empire. The Duchy of the Black Crane maintains a constant guard against incursions. Its levies are well-trained to counter the Kingdom's cavalry, and its vigilance is legendary. Nevertheless, young riders still occasionally cross the Red Earth River to raid and to build their names. The Crane cannot be everywhere. And occasionally the raiders go north, around the Duchy of the Black Crane to raid across the Red Earth River against the Sect of the Broken Tree. The Broken Tree sets outposts of younger disciples along the river so that the youngsters may experience combat outside of a true war.
The politics of the Purple Silk Kingdom are contentious. From the newly renamed capital of Azure City, the King ostensibly presides over the Conclave of the Szelka, the body made up of all the tribal chieftains, military commanders, and nobility with their own followings. In reality, the Conclave is a fractious collection of lords who can only agree on their dislike for one another. The only thing that holds the whole mess together is the personal power of Cemultu's grandson, Baretu, who is a pinnacle Sage cultivator. Along side him rides the forces directly sworn to Baretu, including the kirin cavalry. And of course, Baretu is tied to almost all of his chieftains and great magnates via ties of kith and kin.
It is obvious that the Kingdom is a threat to the Empire, but it is also a threat to itself. It remains to be seen whether the Kingdom will turn its restive energy against the Empire or against itself.
- Excerpt from Surrounded On All Sides - An Examination of the Empire's Neighbors by Chao Tsing, Scholar Emeritus, the Imperial University of the East.
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