Celestial Empire The Celestial Empire , also known as the Celestial Heaven or the Empire of Heaven , was the dominant pantheon of the continent of Kara - Tur , especially the empire of Shou Lung , and the overarching spiritual state managing its gods , spirits , dragons , and other creatures , all through the Celestial Bureaucracy . The Spirit World . The Celestial Empire stood within the Spirit World , a plane that lay coexistent and coterminous with the land of Kara - Tur . Every deity who was a part of the Celestial Bureaucracy had a small realm attached to the Spirit World . The whole realm was known as the Celestial Heaven , or simply Heaven or the Sky . Lying at the Center of All Heaven , the Celestial Empire was governed from the Celestial Palace , where the Celestial Emperor sat upon the Jade Throne . Sphere of Influence . The Celestial Bureaucracy held dominion over the continent of Kara - Tur , from the empires of Shou Lung and T ' u Lung in the interior ; to the Ama Basin in the north ; Koryo , Kozakura , and Wa in the east ; Tabot in the west ; and Malatra and Petan and the islands of Bawa and Bertan in the south . Its sphere of godly influence abutted the Faerûnian pantheon and the Mulhorandi pantheon at the Hordelands and the Utter East , and the Zakharan pantheon in its far southwestern corner in the Sempadan Forest . From the celestial perspective , the whole land was known as the Red Earth , or simply the Land . This and the Sky above were all part of the Celestial Empire . Organization . Description . In the Shou view , as espoused by the Path of Enlightenment and most accurately by the Faith of the Nine Travelers , the Red Earth was the Mirror of Heaven in all ways . Therefore , the existence of the empire of Shou Lung reflected the existence of the Celestial Empire , a divine state that ruled all of Heaven and the Red Earth . It was an empire of the spirit world , with a bureaucracy to match , populated by immortals , demigods , dragons , spirits , and other powers who served as the officials of the Celestial Emperor . The people of the material world , even its mortal emperors , were all subjects of the Celestial Empire . The empire was governed by the Celestial Government and in turn managed by the Celestial Bureaucracy . Most of the so - called spirit creatures of Kara - Tur were subjects of the Celestial Emperor , and many held positions or offices in the Celestial Bureaucracy . Celestial Emperor . At the head of this pantheon , the Celestial Emperor ruled the Celestial Empire and oversaw the Celestial Bureaucracy . From this lofty position , he decided the path of What Has Been and Will Be . He determined that Heaven and the Red Earth should mirror each other in the pursuit of perfection . He was also the architect of the Path of Enlightenment . A master of delegation , he gave every deity their divine duties , and appointed the Celestial Court — also called the Great Court of Heaven — and the Million Officials to deal with trivialities like dealing with human s . Nine Immortals . In addition to the subjects of the Celestial Empire and the officials of the Bureaucracy , the Celestial Emperor commanded the Nine Immortals . When Shou people spoke of " the immortals " , they invariably meant the Nine . They stood beside the Jade Throne , always ready to do as the Emperor bade as agents of his divine will . At his direction , they commanded the Lesser Immortals and other officials and each took responsibility for one aspect of the Path of Enlightenment . Their duty was to embody an ideal of the Path — one of the nine core virtues of Artistry , Compassion , Courage , Fidelity , Honor , Karma , Love , Respect for Tradition , and Scholarship — and so teach by way of example . They were also known as the Nine Great Dragons , in which form they held up the world and could move all things with their minds . The Nine Immortals and their responsibilities were : Lesser Immortals . The Lesser Immortals were servants and aides to the Nine Immortals . They were drawn from the spirits of deceased sages , those who had in life been especially holy . The Celestial Emperor bestowed on them immortality and a limited godly powers . Under the direction of one of the Nine Immortals , they also had certain tasks to carry out , whether in the Celestial Heaven or on the Red Earth of Kara - Tur . There were six main groups of Lesser Immortals . The Moon Women had the great responsibility of maintaining Heaven itself . They refilled the oil lamps in the Sun , polished the crystal orbs of the stars , and steered the motions of the Moon and the constellation s . Since these governed the calendar , Moon Women were patron saints of festivals , portents , auspicious moments , and other matters of time . Serving Chan Cheng , the Spirit Warriors had the duties of creating courage and resolve in those who wavered , and leading armies of phantoms , the manifestation of which could swing a battle . Spirit Warriors also helped those who ' d fallen in battle for a good cause , escorted the spirits of heroes for judgement by the Lords of Karma , and guarded the gates of the Underworld against trespassers . Serving Shu Chia , the Jade Ladies created copper , gold , jade , silver , and other riches , and hid them in the earth for mortals to discover . Serving Nung Chiang , the Rice Spirits governed the harvest and fertility , causing rice to grow , animals to have their young , and women to bear babies , and decided if a family should have children . Serving Kwan Ying , the Ladies of Compassion roamed both Heaven and the Red Earth to find pain and suffering and either alleviated it themselves or had the goddess do so . Serving Fa Kuan , the Lords of Karma acted as defense or prosecution for the souls of the deceased before the Lawgiver , or sat as judges themselves . Together , they decided whether a worthy soul , one who ' d lived a life of goodness and merit , should be raised to Heaven to be among the Ancestors , to be considered a Sage , or even to serve among the Lesser Immortals themselves . Those they found unworthy were condemned to remain as spirits , imprisoned in the Underworld in the day , and wandering the Red Earth at nights . The Million Officials . The Million Officials , also called Officers , were agents of the Celestial Empire and Bureaucracy . Many were spirit creatures and dragons ; most dragons of the east were officials in the Bureaucracy . At the behest of the Celestial Emperor , they carried out his orders , bestowed rewards on the good and punishments on the evil , and filed annual reports on their work . Most were loyal and dependable , but a few could be inept , insubordinate , or outright corrupt , but these were inevitably found out and sacked by the Emperor . The duties of the dragons were as follows : The yu lung had no official position in the Bureaucracy . As a result , humans gave it no offerings nor worship . For example , the chiang lung worked for the Ministry of Thunder , which in turn answered to the Celestial Empire . The chiang lung were the lords and guardians of lakes and rivers ; every such body of water was the jurisdiction of a single chiang lung , but they rarely showed themselves to humans outside their jurisdiction . They had the duties of making or bringing rain and managing water flows , and were responsible to the Bureaucracy for the denizens of the water within their jurisdictions . The tun mi lung , meanwhile , were charged with causing hurricanes and typhoons , which caused much destruction in coastal lands . They could only do so on the orders of the Bureaucracy , but enjoyed their jobs far too much , forgetting their plans and unleashing devastating storms in spite and cruelty . The Celestial Emperor himself found it hard to rein these powerful dragons in and punish them . Ancestors . The Ancestors were the spirits of the worthy deceased who had been granted entry to Heaven . There , they always had delicious food and fine clothing , and enjoyed eternal lives without pain , weakness , or suffering . They had the responsibility of giving advice to their still - living descendants . Each had a secret name they told only to their most trusted child , which they could use to summon their parent to seek their wisdom . Sages . A Sage ( or " Budda " , as they were known in Tabot ) was a spirit who ' d lived a life of boundless merit , purity , and resolve , with the sole goal of attaining perfection and becoming one with the will of Heaven , to become Heaven itself . They came from all classes of society , from any race or kind . Sages were allowed to walk beside the Lesser Immortals , but they were not yet granted godly powers or Immortality , not until they ' d achieved in death the greatness they ' d not yet achieved in life . However , some great people were considered Sages while they still lived , and they wandered the Red Earth , dispensing their wisdom and teaching others through example . When they died , they were raised to the ranks of the Immortals . Living or dead , Sages dwelled apart from society , as hermits in caves in the mountains or secluded spots in the jungle , where they could seek peace and simplicity and achieve an inner harmony . This gave them knowledge , wisdom , and long life ( if they still lived ) . They also acquired mastery of elements of the material world , gaining the power to perform great feats , such as walking across hot coals , breaking swords with but a touch , and quieting typhoons and earthquakes . Sages conversed with nature spirits , could command beasts to serve them , or cause monsters to retreat . Great creatures of the Celestial Bureaucracy such as dragons sometimes sought out the counsel of Sages , or merely desired to talk with them . Others . Mad Monkey was a mischievous demigod who stood completely outside the Celestial Bureaucracy . This enabled him to operate as a free agent , even to act to solve a problem when the Bureaucracy could not or when it had failed . He was fundamental to the Bureaucracy , though none up to and including the Emperor would say so much . Activities . At the beginning of the New Year , the Celestial Emperor called his Great Court to an audience before the Jade Throne , and every one of the Million Officials gave reports on their work , their successes and failures , and even their misdeeds , as the Celestial One saw through any deception . These reports were examined by magistrates and officials , and , with each report , the Celestial Emperor gave his judgment , reward , or punishment , as appropriate . Rogue officials , those who ' d proved incapable , corrupt , or ill - behaved , were formally devested of their position and powers and sent to the Underworld . Others were then appointed in their place . When a dragon was newly appointed to the Celestial Bureaucracy , the news was conveyed to mortal humans via dreams announcing the name of the new dragon official and the date on which they commenced their duties . Mortal humans held ceremonies and banquets of offerings in order to please them and gain their favor . Worship . In Kara - Tur , belief in the Celestial Empire was very strong . The Celestial Emperor had appointed each of his Immortals to oversee all the relevant matters , and human s were expected to call to the appropriate Immortal . He had also organized the Celestial Court to handle trivial matters like speaking with humans . No one prayed directly to the Emperor ; daring to call directly to him was seen as an act of utter impudence , one that would be answered with thunder and lightning . History . There had only ever been one Celestial Emperor , he had ruled the Celestial Empire since the start of the Great Cycle , since the beginning of time . In the beginning , when the worlds were but newly formed and molten , the Celestial One blew his cool , misty breath — a divine wind called the kamikaze — upon the land , cooling the fires and making it fertile . Meanwhile , he had his kami , the spirits of nature , wander the land to still its upheavals . And thus was born the Red Earth , the land of Kara - Tur . It wasn ' t long before humankind arose from the dust of this Red Earth , but they were savage , argumentative , and belligerent . The Celestial One disapproved , and wished for their lives to be a reflection of Heaven , to follow his Path of Enlightenment . To this end , he sent to the Red Earth his emissaries , the Nine Immortals , who would each teach one aspect of the Path and serve as the first emperors of Shou Lung . He caused red lightning to inscribe the precepts of the Path into the sheer granite of the Cliffs of Tanghai along the Hungtse River , so that people would never forget them . It was believed the Celestial Emperor and the Nine Immortals would remain in their exalted positions all through the Great Cycle of time and for all eternity . They would be there even when the worlds themselves ended in flames . In history . According to recorded history , the Celestial Emperor blessed Chan Cheng , a great leader who ' d unified a number of warring states along the Ch ' ing Tung River in −1887 DR , making him the first of the Nine Immortals . Language . The Celestial Court had a particular language , known to its dragons .