Ancestries of the Benevolent Empire of the Jade Flower
Enter the most Human-populated region of Arhun- within the cosmopolitan Eastern Xios region, a large bulk of the Human species exists. This is one of the most urbanized geographic areas in the material plane, and most of it is found under the rule of one seemingly long-running Hegemony- the Benevolent Empire of the Jade Flower, so named to keep up the illusion of an unbroken history and culture. This lineage- not so unbroken as they make it appear but done for stability's sake- is currently under the Sun Tsang Dynasty.
While legends and ancient written chronicles suggest that Human Beings did not begin here, this region of the world can argue that they saw the flowering of civilization- especially urban civilization- flourish here first. The civilizations of Bar-al'tai would say otherwise, with equal surety. Both were under the heel of other groups for a time. Today, the urbane Eastern Xios people thrive (or survive) under a cloud a history of demon pacts and supernatural influences on their leaders. Many times this cancer has been uprooted by the common people or by outsiders, only to have it slowly grow back.
The region of Eastern Xios has been a battleground for millenia between several factions. This is the origin of the worship of the Dragon Lords, the genesis of alchemy and artificing, a flashpoint of numerous demon incursions, and a long-standing "understanding" of "protection" between dynasties and a shadowy race of beings who prefer not to show their faces.
Humans of the Jade Empire
The Benevolent Empire of the Jade Flower is a predominantly Human civilization, one with a strict class and caste system and a rigid sense of hierarchy. The Sun Tsang have inherited a vast bureaucracy that is nigh unto its own religion within the Empire- particularly among its scholarly, eunuch and political castes. These bones, now supporting a "new" ruling family, were set up more than two thousand years ago by the ancestors of the Xu-Jin. Since then, twenty-three dynasties have succeeded to this socio-political system and it is widely regarded that if a dynasty were to reject that orderly structure, their dynasty wouldn't last long.
Sun Tsang
Bokhang
Jai
Jhureon
Long Tsang
Qing-She
Xu Jin
Though accused by their court enemies of being anything from obstructionists to necromancers and demon conjurers, the Xu Jin have long-served the Benevolent Empire as its bureaucratic, legal scaffold. They are part scholar, part priest, part politician and their goal on Arhun is to model the Celestial Bureaucracy- the perfect court of the Divine.
On behalf of the Jade Court of Divine Emperor Tsang VII Cao Xiao, the Xu Jin enforce the Divine Legal Order and the Edicts of Heaven- ancient documents defining the rituals, routines and schedules of every member of the Jade Court. They do this because they know such a vast and heavily populated Empire such as this would be impossible without these edicts. Their charge in the service of the Emperor is ancient, virtually unchanged- the the Xu Jin are fully aware that they alone have been consistently trusted after every dynastic collapse, interregnum and rise of a new regime. It is they who edit history and story to create the notion of an unbroken, stable empire.
The Nearings of the Jade Flower
Smallfolk (Duan Lun)
The Wyldfolk of the Benevolent Empire
Xian Elves
The Xiao Xi'an or Ilvyn Xi'an