8th of Sun’s Dawn, 5th year of the Gwangyeong Era (February 8th, 4901 YDC)

Go’jun’s eyes snapped open as the ground around him trembled and shook. He felt no pain, and so turned to look around, eyes scanning his surroundings. To his relief, all he could feel were the soft cushions he rested upon, not the thunder and fury of the battlefield. Go’jun raised his hand, wiping off the droplets of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. His breath calmed as he focused on the present, not the nightmares of his first battle near thirty years ago. No, the Hwa’myeon never hit him that day. His men swept the rebels from the field and he marched into Kin’ryeon, the capital of Ye-hyun Province victorious and as the restorer of Imperial rule.

He had come far since those distant days as a greenhorn [i]Kaein[/i] leading his first regiment against the enemies of the Celestial Empire. Though not without his own share of failures, he leapt from victory to victory. Each defeat was but a stepping stone to lift his shining star even higher, for his wings to take him further up to the sky. That was how he rose to be the best of the best and considered to be the greatest tactical mind of his time. Indeed, if his father was sitting beside him now, he would smile as his cub soared higher than he ever had.

The [i]Kaein[/i] was 54 now, and was a mere [i]Kaein[/i] no more. Go’jun was nothing less than [i]Dai’in[/i], the Supreme Commander of the Banner Armies. And it was because of his role that he was in a carriage headed for the Sun Gate, the entrance to the Imperial Palace; For he was summoned by the esteemed Gwangyeong Empress herself.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/LdxfQDH.jpg[/img]

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An hour later…

The surging crowds gathered around the Sun Gate reached their height as the sun approached its apex in the sky. Li’yen was among those masses watching, waiting to hear the Empress’ public proclamation on the 5th year of her reign. She was not a noble, or any sort of scholar-bureaucrat. Far from it, she and countless others like her made their wealth in Cantha, selling the bounties of Amrea to the foreign traders braving treacherous waters and storms to trade with the [i]Hong[/i]. 

The shrieks of fireworks launching towards the skies marked the arrival of the Empress on the walls above the gate. They flew gracefully as if to pierce the Sun itself before exploding, painting the midday sky with the patterns of the Imperial Phoenix. The crowd gasped in awe, witnessing the rare spectacle before them as court officials and servants assembled on top of the gate, bowing as the Gwangyeong Empress strode towards the gate’s terrace, clad in the finest silks, her face partially obscured by the pearls hanging from her intricate, emerald-studded crown.

Beside her was a court official, dressed in the garments of a Duke of the Third Rank. It was the highest title available for those outside the Imperial family, and as such, was usually reserved for the Ministers of the Imperial government. Li’yen could see him hold a parchment in his hand, most likely a list of declarations from the Empress.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the crowds kowtowed without a single word when the presence of Her Divine Eminence was made known. She hurriedly joined in the ritual, prostrating herself before the monarch on the terrace above. As the throngs of commoners rose once again, the royal proclamations began.

The speech of the Empress was archaic, a form of Amrean meant for solely for use in writing, not for everyday speech. Li’yen would’ve barely understood what the Empress was saying were it not for the official beside her translating it into a form more relatable to the common people. 

“To my good and loyal subjects,” she began, with the voice of the Minister trailing behind, repeating each and every line. 

“It has been 5 years since I have ascended to the throne, 5 years since the passing of my mother, the Myosong Empress. I have spent these years pondering, learning, reflecting on the state of our celestial empire, granted to me by the grace of the Sun. I have wondered, what is the purpose of my reign? What shall I achieve with the power placed in my hands? It was not until now that I knew the answer.”

“Perhaps not. I knew the answer when I chose the name of the new era my ascension would bring. The path before us is clear. It is the same path the Emperors of old once attempted to follow. Bankuo, Hwang’son, T’ao-gwang, they all knew the path that we as a people must take, yet they were thwarted both within and without. Our empire is both ancient and vast, we are amongst this earth's oldest people. It is not only our right, but our sacred duty, granted to us by the Sun to be the leaders of the civilized world. We must nurture, guide, and discipline the barbarians, the savages that still have yet to see the bright hope, and the salvation we offer.”

“How else shall we save the myriad millions who live under the gaze of the Sun? To strive for their common prosperity and happiness is our burden. To deliver unto them the Path to Brilliance is our greatest mission. The Celestial Empire shall not look inwards any longer. Thus my proclamation is such!”

“Our vast domain will march once more! From land’s end to land’s end, across the waves in search for those willing to share in our generous beneficence. We will show all that lies under the Sun that the Path to Brilliance is before them!”

“Heed this proclamation and go with the grace that each and everyone of you is working for a far greater goal!”

As the Empress’ speech was brought to a halt, the assembled courtiers cried out as one, speaking in unison. The ground seemed to vibrate around Li’yen as both her and the myriad masses joined the baritone chorus of the palace officials, the cry of an Empire looking out beyond its own borders for the first time since the fall of the Weeping Emperor. The chant reverberated through the air, from the walls of the Sun Gate, to the entirety of the Imperial City of C’hung-jin and the lands beyond.

“Cheonghwa-pyewon, won’sui! Cheonghwa-pyewon, won’sui! Cheonghwa-pyewon, won’sui!"
[i]"All Hail Her Majesty the Empress, may she reign for ten thousand years!"[/i]
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[b]11th of Sun’s Dawn, 5th year of the Gwangyeong Era (February 11th, 4901 YDC)[/b]
[i]Imperial Capital of C’hung-jin[/i]

“Goddamnit! Get to the damn point, Min! You can’t just call us all the way from the four corners of the Empire and waste our time with this!” 

Those words set the men and women gathered around the intricate table up in arms. There were five of them in total there, if we include the one shouting, known to the group simply as Mae-da. He was a man that could definitely be considered unnatural in every sense of the word. Snow-white hair accompanied by near blood-red irises and skin as pale as a damnable strigoi. The sound of his fist slamming the table would make it painfully obvious he was not in a good mood.

Opposite him sat Min Ru’sa, the leader of the group. She was a woman that could best be described as playful and nonchalant, yet had desires and aspirations unrivalled. Brushing aside a lock of her brown hair from her face, she rose in her seat and gazed at Mae-da.

“Now, now, I’ll get to it in a moment, alright? I just wanted to catch up with the rest of you four first! Go’jun shipped us off individually to the every frontier in the Empire to deal with Strigoi problems and inspect candidates for the Imperial Mages. This is the first time our little group of Mage Commanders have seen each other in over a year!”

“You know, Min...we’ll have plenty of time to catch up after this. It wouldn’t hurt if you just told us why we’re here in the first place.” The second voice of discontent came from Zhu Rae’in, leaning ever closer to the table.

“Why we are here?” He asked, left eyebrow raised.

“Fine! I’ll just get to the point…” Min snapped back at him. “The fact of the matter is that the Gwangyeong Empress is sending an envoy to the Far East. I think I mentioned this to you before Zhu…” She rubbed her forehead slightly as she struggled to recall the name of the country in question.

“Y...llendthyr. I think that was what it's called."

“‘Yllendyr’” is what you wrote to me in your letter.” corrected Zhu

“Right. Yllendyr. The Yllendyr Imperium. The Empress is dispatching Duke Xen V Huo-ming on the Imperial Flagship, Y’ang-wei to travel to the Far East to make treaty with the Yllendyr Emperor. Go’jun wrote to me requesting that I consult with all of you and pick someone to accompany me in escorting Duke Xen on his journey to Ylleria. 

“A journey...to the Far...East?” asked a fourth voice. The group turned to see Lin Ha’en staring at a map she had recently placed onto the table. Both Zhu and Min rolled their eyes to hear her speaking in such a staggered manner. 

Mae-da laughed upon hearing Ha’en speak, “Prepared too many spells and can’t be bothered to keep track of what the last segment of the invocation phrase was again, Lin?” The rest of the table let out light chuckles before huddling around Ha’en to examine the map.

Min couldn’t recognize the design nor the script in which it was written but if she had to guess, Ha’en bought it in Cantha after meeting some merchant from across the seas. It wouldn’t be completely out of the question, given that Lin was assigned to deal with Strigoi sightings in the peninsula southeast of the port city. 

Wei Wu-myeong, the odd man out finally spoke up at last. “It’s quite a distance, isn’t it? I’m not sure what the scale of this map is, but it would take atleast half a month to cross the Great Ocean by my estimate. And of course, the [i]Yang-wei[/i] is the only vessel we have constructed so far capable of surviving Kraken attacks with a full degree of certainty, so bringing along the lesser steamboats is risky. I suppose the Yang-wei would simply need to be loaded with an obscene amount of coal to fuel the journey.

Zhu shut him down before he could derail the conversation any further. “Beyond the point, Wu-myeong. That’s for Go’jun to sort out. There should be outlying island ports at which to refuel. It’s not like the [i]Yang-wei[/i] is going to make a beeline straight for the Yllendyr Emperor’s capital anyway.”

“Right you are Zhu, sorry about that.”

“Anyway…” Min butted in, “Who’s going to come with? It’s a given that I’ll be accompanying Duke Xen, so I’ll need someone else to go as well.” 

“Wait...a second...who decided that?”

“Myself, obviously~!” She said grinning. “Now who else wants to go? It’s down to either Zhu or Mae-da really. Wei being the eccentric that he is, he’d probably try to mind control and pluck information out of whatever poor peasant he sees as we approach the capital. And despite what Lin says, she’s going to hit the words in the right order for her invocations eventually, and I’d rather it not be on the boat, or when we’re in the presence of the Yllendyr Emperor. I don’t even want to try explaining away that incident when it happens.”

Both of them crossed their arms in protest to Min’s rather blunt statements, but eventually sighed and resigned themselves to it. It’s not like they wanted to go in particular anyway. Well, Wei did, if only out of sheer curiosity to see what the civilized domains of the Far East were like.

Zhu was next to reply “I have no interest in travelling East. My men have uncovered the hiding place of a rather troubling Gerudo bandit chieftess encroaching on the northern steppe towns. As such, I will have to take my leave soon to deal with her.” 

“Guess I’m the only one left huh?” Mae-da shrugged before turning to Min. “Guess I’ll come with yer. Could use a break from killing Strigoi anyway. Not much of a challenge anymore when you’re nearing your hundredth. Just don’t expect me to be much good talking to royalty. You know how I am.”

“Definitely. You’ve never been one for more formalities than necessary, really. That settles it then. I’m going to charter a steamship to take the two of us down to Cantha to meet with Duke Xen. Meet me at the docks tomorrow morning, alright?” Min said as she turned around to grab a brush, ink and parchment to write down the details of the charter.

“Alright Mae-da?”

Silence.

“Mae-da?”

She could hear the sliding doors shut behind her.

“Wait! You’re all leaving already?! Not gonna spend an evening catching up over a game of [i]Sho’ji[/i]?”

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Letter from the esteemed Gwangyeong Empress, Avatar of the Sun God and Defender of All Civilization in the West, addressed to the Emperor of the Imperial Yllendyr Sovereignty, Protector and Enlightener of his Vast and Proud Domain.

Greetings, most gracious Emperor of the Yllendyr. My envoy has arrived at your court from my own, beyond the great seas separating our great Empires, bearing this letter to be presented to your worthy eyes and your's alone. I write this to you, speaking as one enlightened leader to another, to inform you of the state of decay the world has fallen into.

The barbarians and savages grow without end, blind to the path to brilliance that is our sacred duty to show to them. To civilize them, to bring them out of their folly and instill upon them piety and the benefits of our respective civilizations is our natural course of action. As such I offer you my aid, in return for your own. Together we must act in unison to prevent the decline of the world into an era of unwashed ignorance. We, Amreans, and you, Yllendyr are the Noble Races of this earth. If we neglect our commitments to the cause of civilization, I shudder to think what fate we doom the world to.

If there are uncertainties, refer to my envoy. He will be able to assuage your doubts.

Yours respectfully,
The Gwangyeong Empress

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Letter from the esteemed Gwangyeong Empress, Avatar of the Sun God, Defender of Civilization and Pacifier of the Barbarians, addressed to the various nations of [i]Tien'sha[/i], the Western Continent, with the exception of the Yllendyr colony.

Hitherto, my Celestial Empire has not seen fit to interfere with the affairs of the savage and barbarian states beyond its immediate frontiers. Such was the policy for over two centuries and many years before that, and it was as a result that Tien'sha has fallen into a state of disarray. 

It has always been my mission, that of my predecessors and the Empire as a whole to strive for the mutual prosperity of this land's myriad peoples. I will not allow it to be overrun by a sea of unwashed barbarism and savagery. The Dathanari and Gerudo have proven their civilized nature, and thus are exempt from the following lines, as are the civilized Children of Wulfram who acknowledge the benevolent rulership of the Regent Hildegund. 

Listen, and tremblingly obey, barbarian states. The Phoenix has risen again and its will, and the will of the Sun will be made manifest. A new order will be constructed and laid in stone from here on, to advance the cause of civilization. Prostrate yourselves before the Empire's will and dispatch your envoys to my court at Chung'jin with tribute posthaste, to mark your submission and admission into the framework of this continent's new order, and that the proper work may begin to cleanse you of your barbaric ways.

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[hider=Amrean Dictionary]
Yang-wei - Flagship of the Imperial Navy. Roughly translates to "Display of Might".
Sho'ji - A game roughly analogous to Chess, except it can be played with up to 6 people in a similar manner to flying chess.
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[hider=Explanation of Amrean noble ranks]
There are five tiers of nobility in the Celestial Empire ranging from top to bottom: Prince, Duke, Marquis, Count, Baron. Each tier of nobility is subdivided into 5 ranks, with V being the lowest and I being the highest subrank. The title of Prince is granted only to members of the Imperial family, and Duke II is the highest noble title obtainable by those outside the imperial family. Noble ranks are usually granted to those who have passed the Imperial Examinations, and each subsequent generation of a noble's descendants inherit a rank of nobility lower than their progenitor.
[/hider]