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Yan
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炎 国
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Yan
Yan's coat of arms, depicting a stylized Chinese/eastern dragon head
Other names
Yen (English localization before Dossoles Holiday)
Demonym
Yanese
Based on
China during the Tang dynasty
Etymology
Chinese for "flame"; here refers to the Yan Emperor (炎帝; Yán Dì)
In Other Languages
Simplified Chinese
炎国
Traditional Chinese
炎國
Japanese
Korean
염국
Yan, formally known as Great Yan, is a Terran country located at its easternmost border, neighboring Higashi, Kazdel, and Ursus. It is an imperial monarchy ruled by an emperor titled the "True Lung”, with a large, centralized bureaucracy of mandarins operating under the Six Ministries. As a vast empire, the Lung people govern multiple races whose ancestry traces back to the Hundred Clans, united under the emperor.
One of the classical nations that have existed since ancient times, Yan is well-known for its history and rich, diverse traditional culture, shaped by its extraordinary natural scenery and bustling cities that support a robust economy. The current dynasty rose in the aftermath of the Great Hunt against the godlike Feranmuts, affirming the "mandate of heaven” as belonging only to mortals. Its victory over the "gods” ushered in a long period of social stability and allowed it to remain distanced from the tumultuous Terran heartland until its opening-up in the Crystal Age.
Yan balances leniency and strictness in its social governance, guided by its highly venerated legalism, or Yanlü. The government demonstrates tolerance and even endorsement of racial diversity within its borders.[2] While its treatment of the Infected is relatively lenient, restrictions on their freedom of mobility remain in place, as is common in other nations.[3] Though Yan has not been active in military activities thanks to its apparent stability, its military might remains formidable, owing to constant vigilance against the Feranmuts.
History[edit]
The Hundred Clans[edit]
Since ancient times, before the common era, the eastern side of Terra was home to several tribes along the fertile Liangjiang region. The foundation of the Yanese dynasty could be traced back to the Tribe of Yan under the leadership of its eponymous leader, Yan the Chieftain, who was anointed as the first True Lung. Together with his wife, Yan brought civilization to the tribes by teaching languages and distributing lands to the Hundred Clans, the Baishi (百氏), under his rule. For many years, the Hundred Clans obeyed Yan's authority, providing tributes and military services through the local lords governing the clans.[4] Among the known clans, the clans of the Lung were given the leadership among other clans, and the Kylin clans were nominated to become the leading sorcerers who spread the knowledge of Arts to the common folks.[5]
Unfortunately, Yan suddenly passed away after exhausting his Elder trait for building civilization. His collapse brought along a ferocious civil war, later known by historians as the "Hundred Clan Rebellion (百氏之乱; Baishi-zhi-luan)". With the chieftain’s leadership gone, the old feudal system disintegrated, and the lords fiercely competed for control over vast swathes of land. Amidst the chaos, a rising True Lung claimed himself as the new emperor over the lords. Through a combination of a formidable army and sharp political reforms, he succeeded in reuniting the Hundred Clans under a single sovereign, thereby ending the civil war. Following this war, the centralized imperial system was established which persists in the modern era through generations of bureaucratic rearrangement.[4][6]
The Hundred Clans Rebellion left a profound impact on the Yanese. It marked the abandonment of feudalism, which had fragmented both land and government. In its place arose a centralized imperial court loyal to the True Lung, uniting the Hundred Clans. This centralized bureaucracy remains a defining feature of Yan's governance to this day.
The Great Hunt[edit]
The "Great Hunt" was a legendary historical event in which Yanese imperial troops launched a grand conquest against the prideful "gods," the primordial and godlike Feranmuts. Historically, Yan had and enduring and complex relationship with the Feranmuts. Out of fear of Their power, the Yanese once worshiped them as almighty and wrathful beings. However, the imperial court had shattered this belief following the rise of an energetic, notable, yet controversial True Lung.
The young emperor cultivated the idea of subjugating the "gods," believing that the misfortunes of the mortals stemmed from Their neglect and that the mortals had the right to govern themselves. Among all the "deities," Sui held the longest history of interaction with Yan, and Its disdainful and prideful manner further reinforced the emperor's conviction. Despite this, the True Lung strategically borrowed Their power for political purposes while awaiting the right moment. For instance, he utilized Sui's power during the War of the Hundred Clans to quench the conflict and test Its loyalty, carefully biding his time.[7]
The discovery of the "Ruin of the Gods", where Yanese scholars uncovered bones of the Feranmuts, further reinforced the emperor's belief that those "deities" were not completely immortal.[8] After centuries of preparation, the young emperor embarked on the "Great Hunt." Under the pretense of an autumn ancestral ritual, he lured Them to the festival while covertly assembling his loyal army to surround Them. The hunt began with the slaying of a weaker Feranmut, quickly escalating into a full-scale war. To everyone's surprise, Sui betrayed Its kin and joined the emperor's forces, driven by Its own selfish interest. However, the perceptive emperor anticipated Sui's duplicity and ultimately turned his blade against It, punishing It for Its manipulation.[9]
The Great Hunt succeeded in subjugating the Feranmuts, elevating Yan as one of the few Terran nations that dared to challenge the "gods." Those "deities" who dared to stand against the emperor were either brutally slain or banished from the empire forever. Sui, in particular, was condemned to imprisonment underground. Despite the victory, the campaign came at a great cost. Countless innocent lives were lost, and the Yanese army suffered severe casualties, with three-tenths of its forces obliterated.[10] Moreover, the northern regions of Yan fell to corruption due to the northern demons, the Collapsals whose fragments were enhanced by the army's struggle against Sui, forcing Yan to build heavy fortifications to guard against further psychic pollution.[11]
Pre-modern era[edit]
For millennia, Yan remained distant from the political heart of Terra, largely due to its distant location. As a result, it avoided involvement in any large-scale conflict for much of its history. Instead, Yan focused its geopolitical affairs on the eastern side of Terra. In 631, during the Higashi North-South War, Yan acted as a mediator when the warring factions sought help. The True Lung urged both sides to calm their hostilities, condemning the Oniayame's disloyalty to the Kougon.[12]
The Yanese imperial court utilized its stable geopolitics surrounding the empire to develop its technology and infrastructure. Its first interaction with the outside world began around the year 695 when the Tianshi were dispatched to the Londinium Council of Sages in Victoria to obtain the latest knowledge of science in the western world. These diplomats then brought their accounts back to their motherland which ushered in an era of development. The centuries-old Tianshi Bureau met its first reformation in 698, three years after the Council of Sages, and the imperial court implemented its first sixty-year infrastructure plan in 713 which nourished many of its mega-projects such as the construction of its national highway, the Chidao, in 790 and the fortification of its northern border in the Saibei region in 855.[13]
Modernization era[edit]
Entering the Crystal Age, Yan ushered in its modern era in the year 845 when it dispatched imperial envoys to various nations, a signal of the end of its isolationism.[14] Not only did it open up Yan's border that unveiled the mystery of the east to the Terran heartland, but also, Yan became active in the geopolitics of Terra as a diplomatic and economic partner with the heartland nations in the next two centuries. Notably after the Bloodpeak Campaign of 1072, Yan once again played its role as mediator by easing the tension between Ursus and Higashi, and it poured huge investment in rebuilding Higashi's infrastructure.[15]
Despite its success, Yan continues to face several drawbacks that might threaten its prosperity and hegemony in the eastern region. Aside from the subjugated Sui chained beneath Its mausoleum outside the imperial capital of Baizao, Yan constantly faces development and educational inequalities in its undeveloped rural areas and political plots among the various mandarins and political interest groups vying for their own benefits. With countless efforts, the imperial court has been implementing beneficial degrees and building new infrastructures and industries to ensure Yan is catching up with the modern era.
Among the leading figures of the Yanese modernization was the previous True Lung of Yan, the father of Crown Prince Yan Wu and the current ruling emperor. In his early years of reign, he led the empire to enter the era of industrialization in the Crystal Age.[16] One of his most remarkable achievements was a nation-wide educational reformation of 1054 under the persuasion of the previous Grand Preceptor, allowing the masses to easily gain access to schools and promoting fair meritocracy regardless of background, and through this new policy, more than a few thousand scholars from rural areas were able to enter Baizao and study in its imperial academy.[17]
The Baizao coup[edit]
Despite his grand visions, the previous True Lung met his utter demise in his later reign when he unfortunately contracted Oripathy. Plagued by his illness, the old emperor suddenly became despotic and irrational. As the mandarins of the imperial court worried about his condition, it is said that Prince Yan Wu plotted a coup d'état with the collaboration of the previous Grand Preceptor and his younger brother in the name of eliminating the ill tyrant. So in the night of early April of 1062, Prince Yan Wu personally approached the old emperor on his deathbed while carrying his weapon, and it appeared that the elder prince sought to forcefully exhort his dying father to abdicate. The usurp occurred so fast and quiet that the old emperor suddenly passed away that night.[16]
The coup did not end well as expected. Rather than taking up the throne, Prince Yan Wu and the eighteen Imperial Guards pledging loyalty to him quietly fled the imperial capital of Baizao and never returned. Out of fear of political instability with the demise of the old emperor, the imperial court quickly installed the younger prince as the ruling True Lung despite his unwillingness. To prevent news of the coup from leaking out from the palace as well as solidifying his support from the imperial court, the new emperor conducted violent political purges on opposition factions who opposed his father's tyranny by branding them as national traitors, and one of the victims of the purge was unfortunately the previous Grand Preceptor who scapegoated the blame upon herself and committed suicide by hanging, causing huge lamentation across the empire given her respectable achievements as an educational reformer.[16][18]
Since then, the Baizao coup has been classified as a top national secret that forced the authority to censor much of the news even within its archives, resulting in several purges and even an arson of its imperial library. Within its official history book, it simply ends with the summary of "the Grand Preceptor enticing the Prince to patricide."
Revival of Sui[edit]
In the following years after the Londinium crisis of 1098, its shockwaves caused by the second arrival of the Amnannam spreaded even to the far east which in some ways indirectly awoke Sui the Feranmut from Its hibernation. While Yan has been prepared itself for its revival since the Great Hunt thousands of years ago, the geopolitics of Terra makes it unfavorable to fully utilize its military – from the Stimmverlust of Empress Hildegard of Leithanien in 1100, Laterano’s "Disaster" that caused its populace to "fall" in 1101, to Ursus' general unrest around the same year. So, Yan conducted a secret meeting in 1101 which ended with the mandarins decreed the "Twenty-Eight Policies" that ensured Yan's political stability. Within this new policy, two extra laws were hidden from the public in response to the ongoing supernatural threat: the demons of the north which came into being during the Dahuang demonic pollution, and the unforeseen danger of the Seaborn in its southern coastlines. The new law also aroused the demand of the hawkish side of the Feranmut problem who sought to eradicate it once and for all.[19]
Regardless of various debates, Sui’s revival and the return of several returning Feranmuts back to Yan prove to be disastrous not only to Yan itself but also to all of Terra. Even Yumen, the northern garrison city, was to be commandeered back to Baizao in case the worst scenario happened.
Notable people[edit]
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The characters below were born in Yan but are living in or affiliated with factions outside their homeland.
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Other notable people[edit]
- Bai Dingshan
- Meng
- Ruan Weiwei
- Wei Yenwu's brother: The current, yet enigmatic True Lung of Yan, who ascended to the throne in 1062, succeding his late father. He also ordered the execution of Edward Artorius after his relationship with his younger sister was made public, unbeknownst that he's involved in Kashchey's scheme.[20][21][22]
- Hsi-o/"The Dusk Beauty"(夕娥; Pinyin: Xi'e): A beauty in a particular Yanese folklore who, in order to search for her lost husband, literally flew above to the Twin Moons with the help of the "god" of Mount T'ien.[23] While many of her stories are fictional additions by later generations, many believe she could be an actual being whose story is the first recorded account of a human contacting the Starpod, the "fake sky" of Terra.[24]
- Lien Tzu-hsu☠ (廉子虚; Pinyin: Lian Zixu): An old lady who was Mr. Nothing's martial art master and the head of the descending Lien clan. Targeted by the local authorities, she was "murdered" by her competitors through a forced suicide.[25] She also had a close tie with Uncle Tung in Lungmen.
- Yan the Chieftain (炎氏)☠: The first monarch and founder of Great Yan who named the nation after him after uniting the Hundred Clans. He decided to unify the people in the west to bring order to the wilds, yet he suffered a premature death when the nation was just beginning to prosper.
Places[edit]
Districts/settlements[edit]
- Baizao
- Dahuang
- Lungmen
- Moushan
- P'o-shan
- Shangshu
- Yumen
- Jiangqi (姜齐): Mulberry's and Qiubai's hometown. A major northeastern Yanese city which is known for its harsh winter, river settlements, and its alcohol culture where the inhabitants are heavy drinkers. The city has also been infamous for its water banditry where bandit clans build water fortresses and rob local authorities on boats, one of which including Quibai's father.[26] The banditry resulted in a bloody purge that dismantled the village.
- Jiangqi might be a reference to the State of Qi and the Qilu culture in modern Shandong.
- Kou-wu (勾吴; Pinyin: Gouwu): The city where Mr. Nothing tried to escape from and the hometown of the dead Lien clan. According to Dusk, the inhabitants have a culture of fine delicacy and scalebass fishing during late autumn.[27]
- Kou-wu might be a reference to the State of Wu and the Wuye culture in modern Jiangnan region.
- Ni-Weng (泥翁; Pinyin: Niweng): A village under the foot of Mount Hui-ch'i; famous for its jade.[28]
- Danyan (丹燕): An agrarian city located in northern Yan. At one point the Imperial Court ordered the suspension of all activities due to the harsh winter season. Luckily, Wan Qincheng, then a Tianshi apprentice, managed to rescue the people trapped in the nearby villages and towns by ramming through the Originium ice crystals using one of Danyan's plots.[29]
- Danyan is named after the State of Yan encompassing the Bohai and the Liaodong Peninsula and one of its crown princes, Crown Prince Dan of Yan.
- Langyi (琅珆): The city where Gu Quan comes from.[30] Years ago, the local magistrate was impeached following the accusation of Yu Cheng's fabrication of evidences regarding the murder spree of the Gu family.[31]
- Langyi is named after the historical Langya Commandery in southeastern Shandong spanning from the Qin dynasty to the Tang dynasty.
Landmarks[edit]
- Mount Hui-ch'i (灰齐山; Pinyin: Huiqi): A mountain that is close to Ni-Weng Village; the place where Dusk hides herself.
- Mount Hui-ch'i is a Wu Chinese rendering of Mount Kuaiji in Zhejiang.
- Mount T'ien (天岳; Pinyin: Tianyue): The tallest mountain in Yan. According to the legend of the Dusk Beauty, this was where she ascended onto the moons.[23]
- K'u-t'an River (苦潭江; Pinyin: Kutan): The "River of Sorrow;" the place where young Saga's master was saved by Dusk.[25][32]
- Boulder of Pei-hsïan (北悬巨石; Pinyin: Beixuan): A famous natural site in Yan in which a huge boulder hung itself in midair. Acoording to a legend, the boulder suddenly stood itself after the ascending of an emperor, leading the people to believe that it was a good omen. Sadly, it was destroyed by a Catastrophe a few years ago.[33]
Architecture[edit]
- Chamber of Heaven's Designs (天机阁; Tianjige): A series of fortifications located at the Northland guarded by numerous soldiers and Tianshi. For thousands of years, it acts as a wall defending the nation against the invasion of the northern Collapsal.
- The Chamber is an analogue to the Great Wall of China.
- Chidao (驰道): A.k.a., "imperial highways." Built in Terran year 790, they are governmental infrastructure project aimed for Catastrophe avoidance, resource transportation, and helping people living in remote areas. It consists on a series of interconnected roads sprawling across the wilderness, connecting more than a thousand different nomadic cities across Yan, ensuring safety and communication between them.[34][35][36]
Gallery[edit]
A traditional Yanese village on the mountains
A downtown square in a modernized Yanese city at night
A street in a Yanese city during the day
The inside of a Yanese inn
The room of a Yanese guest house
The guestroom of a classical Yanese mansion
A Yanese supermarket
A room inside a Yanese house
A combat arena in a Yanese city
A cell in a Yanese prison
People[edit]
A male Yanese Forte citizen
A female Yanese Caprinae citizen
A male Yanese Perro villager
A female Yanese Feline villager
An elderly Yanese Lupo man
Ditto, as a Liberi
An elderly Yanese Feline woman
Ditto
A young Yanese Kuranta boy
A young Yanese Kuranta girl
A Yanese Liberi thug
A male Yanese Perro mandarin wearing a blue yuanlingpao
A male Yanese Feline mandarin wearing a red yuanlingpao and a cape
A female Yanese Zalak mandarin wearing a blue yuanlingpao
A female Yanese Kuranta mandarin wearing a red yuanlingpao and a cape
Trivia[edit]
- The war between the "deities" and the Emperor of Yan might be a reference to the Battle of Zhuolu.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ The standard Yanese is based on Mandarin Chinese, while its dialects are based on the varieties of Chinese. The official English localization romanized Yanese words with the Wade-Giles romanization for ancient subjects and Yanese regions whose dialects are based on Southern Chinese variants, and the Pinyin romanization anywhere else.
References[edit]
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