The Empire

1. The Empire

   #41

   Additions to Law and Government- the legal system and Ministry of Laws.

2. The Empire

   #42

   Updates to Clans

3. The Empire

   #43

   Ffolkki added to Forms of Men

4. The Empire

   #44

   Edits:
   Decided that Ffolkki do not, in fact, have blonde-haired individuals in their midst, and added a new Word to Remember.
   Also, added Dragonglass Hillsmen as an appendix to Imperials.

5. The Empire

   #45

   I'eshu: Magic in the Empire
   
   Breathe deep, breathe strong. Breathe in the magic of the air around you. Make of your mind a void, free of all the detritus of the false world. Know and see.
   The Earth is a world bathed in magic. Magic flows across it as tides in the sea. Life exists because we may breathe in magic from the air around us- suffocation and drowning deprive the breathing being from taking in sustaining magic from the air, and thus, they die.
   
   The Way of I'eshu is the path of magic, or at least, the path known in the Empire. I'eshu is known throughout the Empire as a mysterious path through which monks of I'eshu can see the future, know the past, and alter themselves. The I'eshu monks are very much a secret society, and the ways of magic are not at all easy or well-known. I'eshu Masters are feared throughout the Empire as sorcerors, and it should not be assumed that I'eshu is an established order or brotherhood- it is more a tradition.
   
   Only certain individuals are capable of learning the Ways of I'eshu, individuals who are born with the ability to see the flows of magic that transfuse the land. All I'eshu monks are able to see the flows- without this ability, it would be impossible to understand them, or how to affect them. Sometimes, these individuals, known as "bashutengshusso", or "those who are able to see", are generally born with the ability, though it sometimes becomes apparent at puberty. Bashutengshusso often come to I'eshu monks on their own, seeking to learn the Way. Others are sought out by I'eshu Masters; this often occurs when a Bashutengshusso is very powerful or already trained in the ways of hedge magic or Vulgar Sorcery.
   
   Among I'eshu monks, there is a loose heirarchy, from the renowned I'eshu Masters, sorcerors and seers of great power and skill, to simple I'eshu Wanderers, apprentices of the Way who learn the various sutras, techniques, and traditions from other Monks they may encounter. However, this heirarchy should not imply any sort of established order. Just as the practitioners of Kung Fu are disparate communities with similar-yet-different ways, so are the practitioners of I'eshu. It should also not be inferred that I'eshu is an open or well-known practice; everybody knows that there are sorcerors, but nobody really knows what I'eshu is.
   
   It is important now to establish the difference between I'eshu, a form of Noble Sorcery, and Vulgar Sorcery.
   When most mortals imagine magic, they think of wild-eyed Bashutengshusso calling fire from the air and wearing cloaks of butterflies, causing rains of frogs, or curing illness with a touch. This is Vulgar Sorcery, also called Wild Magic or Blind Magic (that is, magic used without seeing the consequences). While it is true that magic can allow one to do these things, using power in such a way is an active tearing of the Web of Fate, shredding the skeins of destiny that wind around the sorceror. Those who affect the Universe in this blunt, heavy-handed fashion too much may find that things go wrong- paradoxes occur, time loops, and what was once mere misfortune becomes the retaliations of the Gods. In fact, it is not uncommon for Vulgar Sorcerors (unschooled Bashutengshusso such as hedge wizards, tribal shamans, village wise-women, witches and warlocks, and the short-lived Sorceror-Kings of Manthey) to fade entirely from the Universe, having inexorably destroyed the fates and destinies binding them to the Earth.
   Where Vulgar Sorcery is commanding reality to obey you, Noble Sorcery is asking it and tricking it, beguiling the forces of Fate to your favor, and utilizing the uninhibited powers of Gods and Demons. Where in Vulgar Sorcery you may command flame to be your armor, in Noble Sorcery, you bargain for the honor of serving at the hand of a Fire Spirit in his hall for a month and a day, and in return have his blessing. Where in Vulgar Sorcery you may force serpents to shed their venom for your alchemy, in Noble Sorcery you may beguile the Queen of All Serpents, and be her lover, in return for the gift of her childrens' venom. Noble Sorcerors may use the powers of Seeing, seeing the past, the present, the future, dreaming, places far and near; Vulgar Sorcerors may not See, for they cannot send their gaze along the threads of Fate which they have destroyed. Noble Sorcerors (and certainly I'eshu Masters) are often masters of trickery and negotiation, whence springs the Dlanni phrase "to talk like a mage", meaning "to lie".
   
   The Way of I'eshu begins with meditation. No matter what Master a Bashutengshusso may learn from, they will always start their training with meditation. I'eshu meditation involves long periods of fasting and sitting (cross-legged, of course) in an area or chamber which calms the Bashutengshusso, allowing the mind of the apprentice to become tranquil and empty, and allows the meditator to take long, deep, slow breaths, bringing in the most possible magic from the air.
   I'eshu Wanderers learn the most basic skills of the Way of I'eshu- those of Seeing. Wanderers study from texts of magical procedures, ancient scrolls and diskbooks, undergoing special excercises which allow the Mind's Eye to open. Some Bashutengshusso never achieve an opening of the Mind's Eye- not all can perform the arts of Seeing. But one can never truly be an I'eshu master without being able to peer into the Web of Fate, at least in some limited fashion.
   I'eshu acolytes may also learn the rituals, sutras, and koans necessary to summon Gods; first learnt are those to summon Spirits, for the Gods of the Earth are the simplest and most easily dealt with Gods. Next are those pertaining to Demons- these are accompanied by the means with which to bind said Demons, and long studies into infernal registers in which the Gods mark down Spirits who go ronin and become Demons. The last learned summonings are the limited means by which an I'eshu monk may contact the Gods of Heaven, those far-off and overspread stars. These enigmatic and distant beings are difficult indeed to find and speak to (it is like roping a star, say many I'eshu monks), and even then, they can be frustratingly complex and vast. The consciousness of a God of Heaven, even the lesser Gods of Heaven for which we have no name, is difficult to fit into the spiritual spaces of the Earth, and it is generally not proper or right within the Web of Fate to so interfere with those lofty beings. Mortals cannot, it seems, even conceive the souls of the highest Gods of Heaven (Shining White, Roarer Horribly, et cetera), and thus, those Gods are not within the power of even an I'eshu Master. It must also be noted that these summonings require a fluency in the Language of the Gods, which is not at all easy to render into mortal concepts.
   I'eshu monks also learn the Ways of Mortal Power, rituals and experiments by which magic can be used to exalt some portion of a mortal's power or experience. The Ways of Mortal Power can be used to strengthen the body, empower the mind, or deepen the soul. They are also used for healing, and entail a certain knowledge of the body's workings, and of medicine. Monks almost always aid study in the Ways of Mortal Power by practicing the martial arts- Serpent Style and Violet Spider Style are common.
   Other learnings which may be included in I'eshu are those of pacifying and contacting the Dead (specifically, those Dead who remain on the Earth or those in the Underworld; obviously, the Dead who enter the Cycle of Reincarnation cannot be contacted until they live again), the causing of illusions and such affectations of the mind, and, in a few places, shapeshifting (though that skill lies on the border between Noble and Vulgar Sorcery).
   
   Not all I'eshu monks may learn all the skills mentioned here- some may learn more, or different, magics. Also, there is an image in many minds that I'eshu Masters are withered old men. This is untrue- most I'eshu studies require a complement of physical excellence, and many I'eshu Masters are among the most fit and healthy individuals one may ever meet.
   
   Note on Low Magic
   I have noted that the I'eshu article seems to imply that the world is High Magic. It is not. Only the Bashutengshusso can use magic, and there are very, very, very few Bashutengshusso. There are, at most, 10,000 I'eshu monks in the entirety of an Empire (about 12 million). I'eshu is really, really difficult- summoning the least Spirit takes a great amount of exerted willpower, and keeping the Spirit from simply dismissing the summoner and leaving takes even more. Healing, and other spells of the Ways of Mortal Power, sometimes can reflect back at the I'eshu monk- a monk who heals a severed arm may, in turn, lose his soon in an accident; a monk who strengthens a man's muscles may find himself to a wasting disease.

6. The Empire

   #46

   Added:
   Music to the Forms of Man.

7. The Empire

   #47

   Finally got I'eshu off the ground. Read it, now!

8. The Empire

   #48

   Finished off I'eshu. Soon to come- Crane and Fire Scorpion Clans.

9. The Empire

   #49

   Added note on Low Magic to I'eshu.

10. Imperial Equipment and Stuff

    #50

    Imperials have a variety of familiar-yet-different equipment, and it is necessary to know what this stuff is, so...
    
    Rang- Rang means "blade". The rang is the traditional Imperial sword, a hilt-less, heavy blade, shaped like a scimitar with a long handle and a heavy pommel. The blade is held in the opposite fashion as scimitars are- that is, the concave side is the bladed side, and there is no point. Usually about three feet long.
    
    Go-rang- "Great blade". The Imperial equivalent of a greatsword. A very long, heavy rang that is slightly straighter, though still curved. Usually about five feet long, which, for an Imperial, is very long indeed.
    
    Pu'muk-rang, si'ita, and tru'mo- Axe, spear, and mace.
    
    Imperial Armor- Imperial armor is defined as pauldrons, gauntlets, a breastplate and gorget, as well as greaves and armored sandals, and a helmet. Underneath, the wearer dresses in two layers of clothing and a leather jacket-like garment, therefore protecting the regions not covered in metal.
    Imperial Pauldrons are essentially plates of hardened leather covered in a mail of metal squares. The breastplate is a solid piece of metal.
    
    Imperial Cloak- An Imperial cloak is much like the familiar European cloak. However, the hood is sewn into a wide-brimmed straw hat (much like a coolie hat).
    
    Discbook- Imperials usually record information in scrolls. However, when information must be recorded in a nicer and more durable way, they are recorded in discbooks. Discbooks are circular, as would be assumed, are circular. They have covers of wood, faced with colored leather or cloth. The pages unfold accordion-style, so that, if one were to unfold the whole book, one would have a long chain of parchment circles, strung together with leather cords.

11. The Empire

    #51

    Got the last two Elder Clans up; soon will begin on the Lesser Clans.

12. The Empire

    #52

    Updated the Clans- Six Wasps and Whale's Ribs added, as well as a blurb about Least Clans in the opening paragraph.

13. The Empire

    #53

    Qi added to Forms of Man.

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