Yuanszi
Yuanszi
Religion
Traditions
-10% Idea Cost
+2 Tolerance of the True Faith
Granaries of the HillsThe Yanhe’s lengthy banks–its waters bearing silt, blood, and ash–curls under the Demon Hill’s watchful shadows. Flowing from the Jade Mountains, the river carries life itself in constant and grand vibrance, invigorating our country with soil so fertile, it is said chi can be sapped from it. But to drain our own blood is not necessary, as the Horned Ogres have enlightened us; no, that is destined for distant lands. \n\nFrom the field to the hovel to the capital hall, our crops grow in overabundance while the lands up and down the Yanhe fume with conflict and strife–what novel opportunity for corruption with aid from our like-minded overlords. Rewarding our fervor to the Lefthand’s principles, the Oni tribute-seekers who darken our doors accept our offerings without fuss. As foreign profiteers depart from our markets with precious goods in tow, we smile and bow, earning us an inroad of thanks as Oni spies mark the merchant’s usefulness to our plans.\n\nOur land’s lifesblood flows into all, and by our gifts, we sow the Lefthand Path’s guidance over Haless.
+10% Goods Produced Modifier
YaorenjunSince our philosophy’s founding, Yuanszi’s chi manipulators sought tutelage from the Shirgrii. Oni manipulate chi within themselves and within others with ease, yet they could not easily impart these techniques to us. As Bright Claw Master Shukaga lamented: “what a struggle for the heron to teach the shrew to fly.” As a result, the Shirgrii sponsored separate training tracts culminating in a one-sided final trial: Inudojeku, or The Grasp.\n\nThis dual system remained unchanged for generations until the Command’s conquest of Xiadao. With Righteous Path refugees fleeing to our lands, they shared their chi-fostering techniques made by and for humans. As aptitude increased, even Inudojeku became a novice’s hurdle, and for our ascent, our overlords gifted scrolls and texts scoured from Xianjie temples–a gracious apology from master to student.\n\nAdversaries and outsiders reductively brand these living saints as “Demon Warriors,” but we praise them as Yaorenjun–the People’s Shining Prince, for when they sap life or draw their weapon, the land shimmers with malice. For their mastery over chi, Yaorenjun develop Oni hallmarks: tiny horns, pointed jowls, blazing eyes, and even blood-red skin.
+0.1 Infantry Shock
+5% Morale of Armies
Rot in the ArteriesFrom Tianlou’s towering High Temple to Rayavhashapal’s Halls of Endless Debate, across the terror bird plains of Shuvüüshudi to the bustling tropical port of Arawkelin, our eyes and ears regulate the pulse of nations. Like a skilled healer, our agents measure their life flow, administer salves to soothe pain and hasten vitality… or imbed a deadly corruption. Not that we need to drain our patients of their chi; they serve a better use as rot among the misguided.\n\nWhether a wandering ascetic, helpful merchant, or captivating musician, our grasp extends over the continent. When distant lands seek inroads, contemporary knowledge, precious goods, or deadly discretion, we are there, ready and willing to provide our humble services. Little do these customers know, each gesture and deal furthers our designs; with strength taken, wealth accrued, and influence leveraged, the Lefthand Path cannot be stymied.
+25% Spy Network Construction
Battle of Hell's MistIn 1226, Puttranchi of the Blurred Stripe, the harimari Commander-General of Hubao and an arrogant High Philosophy proponent, yearned to conqueror a new realm in the wake of the Phoenix Empire’s dissolution. Dubbed the Puttranchi Expedition, the Commander-General mustered a great host to ransack our lands, defile our temples, and ban practice of the Lefthand Path. Hubao’s troops even won success in the Demon Hills, outmaneuvering Azjakuma’s unprepared forces and threatening the Shirgrii of Kabiurgark and Ajgriijarul.\n\nBut Puttranchi’s ambition decayed to hubris.\n\nIn 1228 along the Halkawta river, a united force of Yuanszi and Azjakuma mirrored Hubao’s main army for four days: two predators circling their prey. On the fifth day, the Oni mages invoked a heavy mist littered with phantom lights: another calm night camping without battle. By the time Hubao realized our deceit, we were upon their tents and beds: Oni and Yaorenjun alike stalked the ensuing madness, eyes aglow and chi flow shimmering in the fog. When the mist cleared, a quarter of Hubao’s army laid slain and drained while the rest fled back to their fortress. Though Puttranchi managed to escape, the Battle of Hell’s Mist snipped his tail and spirit for the rest of his miserable days.
+0.5 Yearly Army Tradition
Plunderers of the TemplesWhen the Oni pledged their services to the expanding Command, we nodded from the sidelines with a patient smile. “We will stabilize them,” the Oni whispered. “They magnify magic if left unchecked. Such grand structures require meticulous upkeep.” Lie after lie after half-truth, but the listless Godlost could not risk the chance. And so the Lefthand Path’s greatest goal became feasible: dissipating the High Temples’ protective wards to consume the energy within.\n\nBut not all the High Temples stand within the Command’s reach. While we provide what aid we can to the powerful giantkin, we realize our true calling: while the Oni oversee the complexes in their control, our mages and spies will infiltrate and corrupt the distant High Temples. With decades of subterfuge as foundation, our foes are inoculated to danger’s symptoms, and by the time they realize our true goals and seek to bind our hands, it will be too late.
+10% Religious Power
Heart of the LefthandWhen the Path first appeared, the rivers flowed as one: tendrils of thought, strange new techniques, unearthed ancient ones, and a constant flow of ideas and peoples. When the river currents divided, the Righteous Path fared well in earning supremacy, and, despite our best efforts, expelled us like a fever expunges disease. As we fled to the monsters in the hills, we learned bitter defeat and damning truths. \n\nThe Righteous Path discovered tranquility, but the Lefthand Path found strength. What good is peace and harmony if power is left for vile and evil things? Why not fill this dark inevitability with our own will? If we must become demons to do this, then we have nothing to fear: a rot without hope for a cure, eternal and virulent.\n\nAzjakuma, fumbling with their Stone Giant masters’ fortress-monasteries, agreed with our small folk philosophy. Through a synthesis of ogre and human thought, we saved each other: the Oni learned the wisdom of directing strength, and we gained a protector and vigorous role model.
+2% Missionary Strength
Devil's BrewA headstrong Szitu Human named Homei, like so many aspiring chi manipulators, sought tutelage from the Shirgrii of Ajgriijaral in the early 800s. The monastery welcomed her, but after years of training, she failed to measure up to her peers’ chi channeling techniques. Fire in her belly and at wit’s end, she harvested the bittersweet grapes that grew around the school and stored them in a damestear jar. While the drink fermented, Homei infused the concoction with all the chi she could acquire. During her Inudojeku, she downed the brew and gained unparalleled might, but despite her sudden power, she passed out in her master’s grip in drunken bliss. The Oni masters, impressed by her drink’s chi-magnifying effects, invited her to perfect her craft as monastery brewmaster.\n\nIn the following decades, Muniang, or “Devil’s Brew,” spread out of the Shirgrii and into the Demon Hills, Yuanszi, and then along our trade networks. Renowned for its potency, Devil’s Brew hisses when poured, fumes like a dragon’s gullet, swells a drinker’s chi like an exploding furnace, and even intoxicates towering giantkin. Easily humbling boisterous fools, few souls can stomach more than a cupful without adverse effects, yet it remains a prestigious and familiar drink across Haless.
-1% Prestige Decay
Ambition
+1 Merchants
History
TBD
Strategy
TBD