Aventia était calme. trop calme peut-être. Les rumeurs des marchands d'Aznavor ont fait leur chemin dans la rue et les rumeurs de la rue ont fait leur chemin vers les portes mêmes du Palais. Les rumeurs de guerre à Edoniras. Il semble qu'un royaume du sud ait fait la guerre à un autre et, à cause de cela, toutes les nations du monde ont eu droit à une certaine opinion sur la question. Même l'allié des Empires, Anavor, se sentait envahi par les affaires des deux États belligérants. C'était surprenant mais rassurant dans un sens que cela signifiait que l'empereur Si Fu pouvait compter sur son allié si les ennemis de l'Empire de Khan cherchaient à piétiner sur le sol impérial. C'était quelque chose que l'Empereur voulait éviter. Néanmoins, si la guerre venait à l'Empire, ses armées avaient longtemps été préparées, ses hommes avaient vu les armes de feu de l'Ouest et connaissaient leurs faiblesses. Des milliers de charpentiers construisaient depuis des semaines des pavis épais en chêne et en peaux pour protéger les arbalètes de l'Empire de l'impact de ces armes et des cuirasses épaisses avaient été distribuées aux forces les plus basses des Empires. Si Fu désirait la paix mais était prêt pour la guerre.
C'est sur une inspection de sa puissance militaire qu'on rappela à l'Empereur les paroles du sage Xin To, un moine devenu guerrier devenu général. Xin De s'est attardé sur les terreurs de la guerre et a souligné que la majorité des souffrances seraient subies par la nation envahie et que la meilleure façon d'éviter les souffrances de son propre peuple était de faire le premier pas. Bref, une bonne offensive était la meilleure façon de défendre les sujets d'un voisin belligérant. Et les Edonirans étaient belligérants, comme l'a montré la guerre du sud. À son tour, cela a surpris presque tous ses conseillers les plus proches, sauf lui. L'empereur Si Fu a annoncé après l'inspection de ses unités impériales que les généraux avaient été convoqués à la capitale non seulement pour parader leurs unités, mais aussi pour sécuriser les frontières des Empires. Au début de la nuit, sous le couvert de l'obscurité, 50 000 hommes passaient par-dessus la frontière dans les terres du Conseil. Cinq cents Samurai montés s'aventuraient d'abord et descendaient toutes les sentinelles, les autorités frontalières et les patrouilles connues devant 15 000 sabres, 15 000 lanceurs et 25 000 arbalètes répétitifs inondaient des terres ennemies détruisant des fermes, des composés et des villages avant de se rendre dans les villes tout en restant loin des côtes et bien hors de portée des puissants navires de l'ennemi. Les généraux et les commandants inférieurs avaient chacun reçu des cibles, des fermes particulières ou des communautés sans murs à prendre. Il ne fait aucun doute que certains officiers rencontreraient la résistance de quelques colons téméraires, mais ils étaient mal coordonnés et indisciplinés. L'empereur Si Fu savait que le nombre écrasant combiné à l'élément de surprise signifiait qu'à l'aube toutes les cibles seraient dépassées. Les hommes ont été massacrés comme des jeunes qui avaient résisté, mais les femmes, les enfants et les personnes âgées n'ont pas été blessés. L'Empereur avait pris beaucoup de peine pour ne pas être considéré comme un voisin barbare. Les non-combattants ont été traités avec respect et emmenés dans les villes impériales les plus proches de Kok Tai et Foo Mei et ont été bien traités comme des prisonniers. Cependant, à moins que le peuple Arbassi ne se montre coopératif, l'empereur Si Fu craint qu'il ne fasse ce qu'il doit et ne tue ses otages. Ils avaient refusé son mandat divin une fois peut-être la destruction de leurs terres agricoles périphériques et le fait que leurs personnes âgées et leurs épouses étaient entre les mains de l'Empire pourrait les faire reconsidérer la question de la féalité.
Lorsque l'aube éclata, les hommes d'Arbass se tenaient au sommet de leurs puissantes murailles de ville, ils regardaient leurs terres et désespéraient. Au matin, des communautés entières avaient été transformées en piliers de la fumée montant à l'Empereur céleste, les récoltes ont été retirées des entrepôts et ajoutées aux provisions de l'armée, les champs ont été semés avec du sel, les communautés de pêche ont été pillées et les âmes de centaines de paysans et de citoyens d'Arbassian ont rejoint leurs ancêtres dans le ciel. Seules les grandes villes de colons et les régions côtières où des navires ennemis ont été vus avaient été épargnées des carnages nocturnes. En deux semaines, deux lignes de tranchées et de petites palissades seraient construites autour de ces colonies bien hors de portée de l'ennemi. Les préparatifs du siège avaient été faits et ce serait donc au tour des colons d'avoir des nuits sans sommeil.
Nations Name: Empire of the Khan
Flag:  
Form of Government: Absolute Monarch supported by three parties of councilors
Describe the System: The overwhelming majority of people are serfs and have never thought of being anything else. Tradition is deeply entrenched in Kahnian society. People live and die having done what their forefathers did. This applies to Prince and pauper. The three opposing parties in government are the only ones which exist and are not parties per se but advisory groups to His Imperial Highness. The Earth party advises peace and economy, the fire party a party that has become much smaller in the past five hundred years advises for war and the Air party favours discovery and innovation. For as long as anyone can remember the Earth Party has always been dominant as they preach isolation and stability values which have caused stability. The grandfather of the current Emperor is believed to have favoured the Air Party and began exploring new lands on Aventia and commissioned the state philosophers to commence rethinking governance but when he was killed by a fire caused by lightning the conservative priests decided that the Emperor of the earth had angered the Emperor of the Heavens and a implored his son to demonstrate his humility through a return to tradition.
Traits:
Starting points(2)
Imperial Army: There are two ways into the Imperial legions state officer examinations open to all in which candidates are tested on geography, history, strategy and the works of past generals, or by volunteering to join the ranks. Either option is brings honour to a man and his family for the army has been undefeated in a thousand years. The true size of the army is unknown to most but it is generally agreed if the emperor so desired he could walk across Aventia’s Inner sea on the backs of his soldiers if they were ordered to lay down. The Emperor’s treasury personally pays for the training and equipment of the men. In the Empire even the horses wear armour and the men are trained in the use of the repeating crossbow, siege equipment, the spear and the sword. To defy the Emperor is to court defeat and death. -3
Technological Backwater: Once Khan had been synonymous with technological advancement and modernity. No longer. The Dominance of the Earth Party saw to that. What are thunder lances?+3
Huge Lands: The Empire of Khan has long subjugated all other people they know of. The Kingdoms of these past rulers are but mere provinces within the empire-2
Ambitious Generals: Generals are promoted based on success and with few few opportunities for glory and many generals it is hardly surprising that some will do what they can to outshine the others +1
Never been out of the village: What other nations? +1
King of the Seas: Although the Empire’s fleet is antique armed with siege crossbows,catapults and fire-siphons. It’s sails can spread from one horizon to the next and the empires’ sailors know their business. -3
Off the Beaten Track: The only strange men most Khanians have ever seen are those from the other end of the empire. The only Edonirans to have ever come been noticed before were men whose vessels were wrecked by storms and these were few. +2
State Controlled: Aside from the Imperial Trade Company the entire economy is administered in the cities. An army of state civil servants exist to ensure that resources and funs go where they are needed. +1
Strong Industry: the Empire of Khan is so populous that it has more craftsmen, miners and factory workers than a paddy field has grains of rice. These men are gifted with the knowledge of their forefathers and with the skill gifted to them by the Emperor of Heaven -2
Empowered Companies: The Imperial Trade Company is Imperial only in name. it belongs to members of the Air party who use it to compete with the members of the earth party who dominate most land based trade. It has its own flotilla of warships, soldiers as well as trade vessels. +/-0
“I’m not a racist but…”: For almost a thousand years the empire has had no rivals nor even enemies. Its people know themselves to be superior to all others and the magnificence of the Emperors protected by their divine mandate demonstrates it. +/-0
Capital: Wan Chai (Northern landlocked city)
Important Settlements: (from west to east)
Yi Ti: The most recent settlement established by the Empire of Khan. This is a merchant city and home to the Imperial Trade Company. Special laws allow greater economic authority to those who live within her walls and those who bear the flag of her city of their ships. Since it is known that Yi Ti faces no threat from land her defenses are almost entirely coastal. Towers and three thick walls built into the sea connected by tunnel gates guarantee the safety of the ships in its harbour.
Kok Tai: humblest of the Empire’s cities, it is home to the fishing armada. Being between the capital and powerful Yi Ti to the North has severely slowed its economic growth over time. Having to deal with the mighty northern storms in tiny fishing vessels has made the sailors here more resourceful and intuitive. Kok Tai’s men are prized in the Imperial Navy.
Wan Chai: To call this a city is to deceive oneself as in the middle of the city lies a lake upon which an artificial island has been raised where the imperial palace which is itself the size of a small city is located. Workshops, factories and homes sprawl out from one horizon to the next. Strangers who spend a night in the city sleep with great difficulty because regardless of the hour there is always someone at work somewhere within the city. The Capital his home to over a third of the Empire’s army and the best roads of the continent spread out from here.
Wan Sheung: The Holy city. Home to the empire’s famed fighting monks who are able to interpret the messages and omens of the Heavenly Emperor. Also home to the Inner sea’s fleet which comprises two thirds of the imperial Armada.
Foo Mei: The court moves to the jade city in winter as the fruits are always fresh and the lands here have never known snow. As the southernmost settlement in the empire Foo Mei has a formidable military presence with tens of thousands of men stationed here . The beautiful landscape and the security makes it perfect for painters and potters to live here and so Foo mei is deemed as the cultural Centre of the Empire.
Lan Kwai: Administrative heart of the Empire, here tens of thousands of merchants, clerks, scribes, and ministers live and work safe in the knowledge that the fleet is anchored in the inner sea and that they are flanked by the other 6 cities of the Empire. It’s twin walls are manned by the ferocious Tiger guards deadly martial artists who are experts at using the longbow and melée weapons.
Po Shan: The commercial muscle of the empire is based here it trades crops and art from the warm south for textiles and metals from the north. Most of inner city trade happens between Po Shan and Wan Sheung. The women of Po shan are reknowned for their skills that of convince ven the meansest of sailors to part with their wealth. This city has never fallen to siege due to its twin moats and its immense red wall with enough small gaps to allow thousands of repeating crowssbows to fire from within at once.
Important Characters:
Emperor: Si Fu King of Kings, subject only to the Heavenly Emperor.
Ga Yao: leader of the Air party
Hong Jie: Leader of the Fire party
Zhou Fa: Leader of the Earth Party
Traits:
Army: (I will roll this, navy, GDP and stability.)
Navy:
GDP:
Stability: