Yantrakari
Yantrakari
Religion
Traditions
-10% Aggressive Expansion Impact
+1 Attrition for Enemies
School of the Looming ShadowThe Yantrakari monks are known in Xianjie and beyond as assassins of supreme skill, ruthless efficiency, and absolute loyalty to their employers (for the right price). Their unique mastery of shadow magic makes practitioners of the School of the Looming Shadow masterful fighters and infiltrators, able to mask their presence, muffle their footfalls, and even step instantaneously between distant shadows. Fabled figures such as White Blade An Lai and the goddess Nathalyne are said to have learned these and other exceptional skills under the watchful eye of the masters of the Looming Shadow, and their great renown has made the myth of the school grow even greater. Such powers and legend make the monks of Yantrakari respected and feared among the powerful of Haless, for it is a rare day when one marked for death by the Yantrakari escapes alive. After all, where can you run when every shadow might hide a lethal blade?
+0.15 Infantry Shock
Born from NothingThe origins of the Yantrakari are humble and begins with the Jaherian conquests. The coming of Jaher and his Phoenix Legions displaced hundreds of thousands of people across Haless, and many of those that fled the lowlands of Rahen and Bomdan would make their way into the misty hills of Xianjie, where they were given shelter by the monks of Wulin. Some of these refugees began to serve the Wulin directly as a show of gratitude for being given a new home. Put to work on less-than-honorable tasks that the masters did not want to be associated with, the early Yantrakari performed with great enthusiasm and zeal as they began to serve their new home. To this day, the Yantrakari families are bound by a strong sense of unity and loyalty to the concept of the Xia as a whole, an oddity among their normally fractious countrymen.
-20% Stability Cost Modifier
Slayers of the PhoenixWhen Jaher ta'Diranhriá came to Haless at the head of the Phoenix Legions, dozens of kingdoms fell or bent the knee, but though many were conquered they were never pacified. The Phoenix Empire in Haless was deeply unstable for its entire history, and both Jaher and his son Jaerel would be assassinated by Halessi intent on throwing off the Elven Yoke. It was the Yantrakari who slew Jaerel and broke the Phoenix Empire in Haless forever, one of their greatest agents infiltrating the palace of the Sunrise Emperor and slipping past all of his defenders to strike the killing blow. The prestige of that kill, the final extinguishing of the Phoenix's embers, is to this day the greatest glory of the Yantrakari.
-1% Prestige Decay
A People Secretive and HiddenThe Yantrakari are well known as a secretive people, distrustful of those outside of their clans and doubly suspicious of non-Xia. Though their loyalty to the Wulin is beyond question, it is rare for more than a token delegation to attend major festivals or gatherings of the Schools, and it is not unusual for the Yantrakari to completely ignore official summons of the Masters. The day-to-day lives of the Yantrakari reveal this secrecy and inward focus to be more than just diplomatic show - folk do not converse as they pass on the street, nor do they hold open markets for the sale of goods or gather publicly for religious worship. Though they are open with those few who prove themselves trustworthy, the Yantrakari's inherent stoicism and reticence to engage with outsiders makes them nearly immune to spies or saboteurs seeking to steal the secrets of the Looming Shadow.
+50% Foreign Spy Detection
Cloaks of the NightThe most famous piece of apparel associated with the Yantrakari are the shadow-wrought cloaks that their most skilled agents wear. Crafted on looms made of ebonwood, creation of a Shade Cloak involves the weaving of fine silk and threads of shadow together into a product not quite corporeal. Seeming to ever shift as if buffeted by an unseen wind and blending perfectly with its background, those who wear these Shade Cloaks are rendered nearly invisible in dim light. With this tool enhancing their already lethal arsenal of skills, the assassins of Yantrakari are nigh uncatchable when vanishing into the night.
-10% Shock Damage Received
Secret ComplexesFrom a distance, the villages of the Yantrakari appear to be no different from any other hamlet scattered throughout Haless, a collection of thatch roofs and paper walls nestled in a misty valley or among rice terraces. A deeper examination, however, would reveal that Yantrakari towns are anything but ordinary, and running between the various buildings of each community are extensive networks of hidden chambers, false walls, tunnels, and subterranean rooms. These secret living complexes allow individuals to hide themselves away in the presence of intruders, or move swiftly from one side of a town to another for purposes of defending their communities. The great experience that the Yantrakari have developed with labyrinthine building has not only made their homes difficult to conquer, but also made them into experts on creating the most usable space in the smallest area with the least resources.
-10% Construction Cost
Whispers of the Qi-XinIn every region of Haless can be found as many kinds of spirits as there are variations in the weather and the stone beneath one's feet, but in the hills of Xianjie the most common spirits are those of wood, mist, and shadow. Among these are a variety called the Qi-Xin, beings of fog that take the form of winged snakes and eat the idle thoughts of daydreamers. The monks of Yantrakari have learned to summon the duplicitous and cunning Qi-Xin, and with pacts and deals have been able to glean great knowledge of the past and present. Some believe that the Yantrakari learned the secrets of Shadow Magic itself from the Qi-Xin - but whatever the truth behind the legend, there is no doubt that the Yantrakari spirit callers are masterful at gathering secrets from across Haless and using them against any targets or enemies of the School of the Looming Shadow.
+25% Spy Network Construction
Ambition
-15% Fort Maintenance
History
TBD
Strategy
TBD