天 Tian Clan
The Tian clan is the ruling clan of Fanxing City. Their focus is keeping tradition and upholding justice. The Ren family has served alongside them for the entirety of their reign as advisors and loyal subjects. Those loyal to the Tian clan tend to dress in cool colors.
Tian Xiaoxu (天霄虛) is the Crown Prince, eldest son of the King and Queen of Fanxing City. Born the year after the rebellion against Zao Beiguan saw success, the eldest child of the Tian clan was always auspicious, signalling happier times for a people devastated by loss and sacrifice. As he grew into a young man, the people saw the best traits of their King bestowed upon his successor: generosity, grace, and wisdom. Now beginning to challenge the arena and soon expected to wander the realm, the people of Fanxing and the surrounding regions bear only good will and benevolence toward their future King.
Tian Yuhui (天餘暉) is the second son of the King and Queen of Fanxing City. If Tian Xiaoxu’s birth was an auspicious prediction of hope for the future, Tian Yuhui was born under an omen of caution. Since birth, Yuhui has been plagued by ghosts. His plight elicits responses ranging from pity for his bad luck to fear of the chaos that swirls around him in both nobles and the common-folk of Fanxing City, which has forced the middle child of the Tian clan to lead a rather solitary existence. Out of the public eye, Yuhui has found some small peace with wards from Yunji’s High Priestess and the company of his best friend, Ren Fei.
Tian Miyan (天蜜言) is the youngest child and only daughter of the King and Queen of Fanxing City. Raised as the darling girl of Skyline Manor and always in the public eye, Tian Miyan is a picture perfect daughter: sweet and gracious with innocent eyes. Servants of the Tian Clan occasionally whisper of another Miyan: a girl who gets extra sweets with cunning deals and tricky promises.
忍 Ren Family
Ren Li (忍理) is the eldest son of the Ren clan; he is also the best friend and closest confidante to the Crown Prince of Fanxing city. Li comes from a strict family; his father places great pressure on his son to surpass his own accomplishments and demands only success from his heir. He is destined to be the Chief Advisor to the Crown Prince, just as his father before him. Murmurs in the street praise Ren Li’s beauty, elegance, and poise as much as they praise Tian Xiaoxu’s charm and handsome features.
Ren Fei (忍翡) is the youngest son of the Ren clan. Though he is best friends with the middle Prince of the Tian clan, he is known to be uninterested in politics—instead, Ren Fei is taken with more scholarly pursuits, occupying himself with calligraphy, historical literature, and artifact research where other boys his age and rank are more taken with wartime theory and dreams of future glory. Fei’s capabilities are like neither his mother nor his father, which has led to quiet whisperers gossipping about his parentage.
宗派山的亂世雲集 Luanshi Sect of Yunji Mountain
The Luanshi are a religious sect who hail from Yunji Mountain, nestled in a sprawling mountain range south of Fanxing City. Their members are all orphans whose surnames are more heraldic in nature, meant to honor their abilities rather than the families they’ve been abandoned by. The Luanshi Sect protects the sanctity of death by performing culture-wide funerary rites and maintaining the cores of those who’ve passed. Members of Luanshi wear achromatic clothes.
Jiling (畸零) of the Light Woven Song, High Priestess of the Empty Mountain and Mistress of the Swarm, is the twelfth in a line of great leaders to preside over Yunji Mountain, mouthpiece of the Living Buddha who resides in Luanshi’s Empty Hall. She wandered the realm for two years following Xueyu of the Blood Blessed Blade to learn The World Below before her Master’s recognized time to die came to pass. Since inheriting the Heart of the Mountain, Jiling has upheld her clan’s values and expanded their influence, reinforcing alliances with Fanxing’s clans while opening Luanshi’s gates to outsiders who have only begun to ascend to Yunji for death pilgrimages in the decade of Jiling’s rule. Lady Jiling is often seen in the pilgrim’s village affording comfort and quiet to those who fear facing their inevitable death alone.
Xueyu (血雨) of the Blood Blessed Blade is the twelfth named legendary swordsman to descend from Yunji Mountain. Before he ascended to take his seat as Great Protector of Luanshi’s Empty Hall, he wandered the realm for two years with Jiling of the Light Woven Song by his side, then a mere disciple of The Lady of the Swarm, who he guided with great love in his heart. Once their Masters passed on and both Xueyu and Jiling took their place as leaders upon the mountain, the sword Kaizhan sang Xueyu’s name and the great swordsman has since conquered Fanxing’s arena, leaving a blood streaked record of victories in his wake: both in gladiatorial battle and in the taming of artifact for Luanshi’s mythic archive.
Laike (來剋) of the Endless Sword is the leading disciple of Xueyu of the Blood-blessed Blade, expected to someday ascend as the thirteenth named legendary swordsman of Yunji Mountain. It is said that Xueyu found Laike living in a foxhole under a massive banyan tree outside a small abandoned village North of Fanxing City when he first began to wander the world with Jiling; Laike was six years old. Xueyu developed a special bond with the child and delivered him to Yunji, permitting him to keep the blankets he was found with. When he returned from his travels two years later, Xueyu focused his attention on Laike, proudly training the potential he saw in him and raising him to succeed his accomplishments in Fanxing’s arena and beyond.
豐 Feng Clan
The Feng clan were once lower class merchants who managed to amass a large amount of wealth. They are new money and, as a result, are very showy with their abundance. Those loyal to the Feng clan often dress in warm colors.
Feng Quan (豐泉) is the distinguished eldest son of the Feng clan, heir to the expansive fortune his father has amassed. The beauty of his face and his long pale hair are known far and wide, spoken of in villages all along the roads leading out of Fanxing but tales of his wild temper and venomous personality are quick to follow. Quan is committed to two things: growing the Feng family’s influence and his sister, Feng Yila.