Jade Empire

The Shugengan Lord is one of the senior wizard-nobles of the Jade Empire — direct descendant of one of the Four Blessed Houses, bearer of the Ancient Dragons' blood-gift. Where Imperial Circles study a Breath in isolation, the Shugengan Lord channels several at once: this is the Way of Jade, the art of holding Breath against Breath in a living balance. The training takes a whole human life — but Shugengan Lords live two to three centuries, inheritance of the blood-gift.

In battle, the Shugengan Lord rides a Longma — a winged spirit-horse born of the meeting of the Sky Dragon and the wind — who is no ordinary mount but a blood-companion, bound to the Shugengan from training. The Longma flies, strikes with iron talons, crosses ranks in a storm. The Shugengan, in the saddle, channels four Breaths at once in harmony, casts spells no Imperial mage could articulate, and wears upon him an armour of celestial steel forged by lost rites. Enemies who see him pass rarely return to tell of it.

The Lord Magistrate is a high official of the Jade Empire, selected by examination rather than by lineage — one of the particularities of Jadean administration that sets Cathay apart from most other powers of Aldémoros. The Golden Examinations recruit those who demonstrate the double-memory (knowledge of both worlds), legal acumen, and elementary mastery of the Breaths. Once raised to Lord Magistrate, the chosen receives the blessing of the Veil-Library and acquires the partial longevity of the Throne's servants.

In the field, the Lord Magistrate commands not by the blade but by strategy — he reads the terrain, anticipates the enemy, redeploys armies at the right moment. Grand Strategist: his army begins with a tactical advantage other factions do not have. His blade is more ceremonial than effective; his armour light; but his mere presence changes the rhythm of the battle. When a Lord Magistrate falls in combat, the Jadean army loses more than its structure: it loses its future.

The Shugengan General is the career wizard-officer of the Jade Empire — descendant of the Four Blessed Houses, but at a rank below the Lord's. He is on the path to the full Way, still in training after several decades — the Way of Jade is not won in a single reign. Like his elder, he rides a Longma — a winged spirit-horse assigned to him on his entry to the Jade School.

In battle, the Shugengan General channels the Breaths with less mastery than the Lord, but with as much commitment. His magic is less rich, his mount less trained, his armour simpler. But he flies. He strikes through the talons of his Longma. He commands regiments of Jade Warriors entrusted to him by the Emperor. And he too lives several centuries — that is what distinguishes an ordinary human officer from a Shugengan, even at the youngest title.

The Gate Master is the senior commander of one of the Jade Gates — fortified citadels that mark the Empire's borders against the Greenskin steppes, the Skaven infestations of the under-vaults, the Beast raids. The title is military and political: a Gate Master commands not only the garrison but judges suspect travellers on the spot, levies taxes, opens or closes the trade route. His word carries Imperial Mandate in his sector.

In battle, the Gate Master wears plate armour and a jade shield — a ritual alloy that does not break under a killing blow and that the Skaven dare not bite. At the blade, he is an exceptional fighter; when he faces an enemy Champion, the Cathayan custom is that he has the last word. Harmony of Stone and Steel: his armour and his blade resonate together — he feels no fear, refuses wounds an ordinary man would not survive. A Gate Master who dies at his post has held, by definition.

The Gate Keeper is the junior officer of a Jade Gate — one rank below the Master. He commands a company or a banner in the garrison, executes the Master's orders, judges minor cases. The office is earned by campaigns — often fifteen to twenty years on the border, sometimes more if one lacks the lineage to push higher.

In battle, the Gate Keeper fights as his Master does — plate armour, jade shield, jade or plain blade according to what the House has given him. He carries the same Harmony, the same Will of the Dragons, but on a smaller scale: his endurance is lesser, his command less recognised. Many Keepers never become Masters; they hold their Gate, live and die there, and the Emperor counts them among his most faithful servants.

The Strategist is a Magistrate of lesser rank — often a recent graduate of the Golden Examinations, still in field service before being assigned to an administrative office. Many become Lord Magistrates after ten or fifteen years; some remain on the field for their entire career, by preference or by failure at the higher examinations. The distinction takes nothing from the respect Jadean soldiers give them.

In battle, the Strategist applies the same principles as the Lord Magistrate: reading the terrain, anticipating, redeploying. His scope is more modest — he commands a banner or a company rather than a wing —, his spells rarer, his endurance more fragile. But a well-placed Strategist can turn a rout into a victory with three well-given orders. The Gate Masters of the difficult borders always request one, and Cathay sends them.

Xian Mei is the daughter of the Dragon-Emperor — Princess of the Celestial Throne, direct heir of the Sky Dragon's blood-gift, and one of the rare bearers of the Transformation: the ability, inherited from the purest Imperial lineage, to take dragon form in the middle of battle. She is young by Jadean standards — barely more than a century — but her magic has already surpassed that of several elder Shugengan Lords. The court watches her grow with hope, with worry, and with patience.

In battle, Xian Mei fights first in human form — celestial plate armour, Talons of Storm in hand, magic of the Tempest in her hands. When the fight turns, or when the enemy deserves it, she transforms: her body rises, her arms become wings, her skin scales. She is then a living Storm Dragon, twice the size of a Longma, capable of striking down whole regiments in a single pass. Disdain of the Dragons: few enemies frighten a Daughter of the Celestial Throne. Her Hatred of the Ruinbearers is not a posture — it is a promise she keeps.

The Jade Warriors are the standard levy of the Jade Empire — soldiers of the Four Houses, trained at the short blade, the pike, and tight formation. Service is voluntary and paid: Cathay does not levy by debt as the Empire does; she pays by merit. The best regiments are those of the great cities — Jade City for the Imperial House corps, Jade-Forges for the Earth-Dragon House, eastern ports for the Sea-Dragon House.

In battle, the Jade Warriors hold in tight formation, fully armed, in plate or lamellar armour according to the House. Their discipline is ancient — it comes from the Before-World, transmitted by the Veil-Library and refined for two thousand years on Aldémoros. Defensive Stance: they refuse hasty manoeuvres, prefer to receive a charge than to give one. Will of the Dragons: the Ancients' blessing runs in their blood in small dose, but enough to give them courage in the face of enemies who would terrify an Imperial soldier.

The Jade Lancers are the cataphract cavalry of the Empire — riders in full armour on barded Cathayan chargers, long lance raised skyward until the charge. They are recruited from the sons of the Four Houses and veteran officers of the Jade Warriors; service is long, equipment costly, prestige proportional. A Jade Lance is worth an Imperial seal in all the Houses.

In battle, the Jade Lancers charge in horde — dense formation, several ranks deep, lances couched across the flank. Where an elven cavalry manoeuvres and chooses its angle, the Jade Lancers charge straight, because their armoured mass and the Will of the Dragons suffice to break what stands in their way. Counter Charge: they hold their position and strike at the slightest enemy charge, turning defence into counter-attack. An Imperial formation that sees them coming changes tactics. An Eraban formation that sees them coming... also.

The Fire-Rain is the Jade Empire's indirect-fire engine — a battery of alchemical rockets inherited from the Before-World, reassembled in Cathayan style and perfected over two millennia. The powder is not that of the Imperial Mage-Smiths; it is a Cathayan formula, jealously guarded, that produces a hotter fire and a longer range than the batteries of Aldérium. No Imperial engineer has ever reproduced the formula.

In battle, the Fire-Rain fires in spray — several rockets launched simultaneously that rise high, descend in arc, and explode on the ground in templates of fire. Served by a crew of three experienced gunners, the engine is surprisingly precise — alchemical powder burns more steadily than Imperial rune-powder. The Greenskins of the steppes have learned to avoid zones where they see Sky Lanterns patrolling: the Fire-Rain always comes after the Lanterns.

The Jade Grand Cannon is the title cannon of the Cathayan arsenal — a piece of massive bronze cast in the Jade-Forges of the Earth-Dragon House, engraved with the Five Glyphs of Concentration that guide the shot and stabilise the breech. Cathayan casting differs from Imperial casting: no Dwarven runic input, but a forge-jade alloy that resonates when the cannon fires — hence the nickname: the one that sings.

In battle, the Jade Grand Cannon fires straight, hard, far — an iron round-shot launched at flat trajectory, capable of cleaving an entire formation if well aimed. Served by a crew of three gunners, calibrated in the morning by a Strategist or Magistrate, it often decides the engagement before melee even begins. Its rate of fire is slow — one shot per phase — but its precision is legendary in Imperial reports: a Jade Grand Cannon never misses the same target twice.

The Sentinels are the stone guardians of the Jade Empire — terracotta-jade golems animated by the Breaths and the Glyphs of Concentration of ancient Cathayan artisans. Each Sentinel weighs more than a tower, stands four times a man's height, and holds alert in the precincts of the great Houses since the Before-World. They are awakened only for wars no House could have won without them.

In battle, the Sentinel strikes with the great blade, crushes with the step, and holds where an entire army would break. Implacable, Unbreakable, it feels nothing its central Glyph does not order. Tiiim-beeer! — when it finally falls, its collapse crushes what lies beneath, friend and foe alike. Terror by its mere presence: few adversaries withstand a Sentinel's advance without breaking. This is the weapon with which Cathay held the Dawn Crusades without yielding a foot of ground.

The Sky Lantern is the Jade Empire's flying engine — a small airship propelled by an air-jade hearth and pulled by the Breaths, fitted with a firing platform and a mobile library for the Magistrate or Shugengan aboard. Invented to patrol the steppe passes against Greenskin raids, the Lantern has spread throughout the Empire — each great House fields one or two.

In battle, the Sky Lantern floats above the field, firing at short range on enemy flanks and illuminating with a magical beam the enemy positions for the ground Magistrates. Heavenly Beacon: its light improves the precision of Jadean engines in direct line. Eye of the Dragon: its crew reports enemy movements like a scout without risk. But it is flammable — a single rocket ill-placed can turn it into a falling torch. Enemies who learn this concentrate their fire.