The Shengkai-Huaduo Autonomy

> “Don’t you dare say we didn’t fight hard enough, strive enough, sacrifice enough. For forty harvests we did what any Lungyi warlord or pretender can only dream of doing: we made the Dragon bleed.”
>
> Zhuang Junhao, the captain of the Iron Typhoon, the Crimson Na Jia

**The Shengkai-Huaduo** was a collection thirty-two autonomous villages, garrison towns, and merchant bastions united in alliance and council located in the Hei-Yan commandery of Baik Hu. The Shengkai-Huaduo is notable for having declared their independence from the Immortal Empress immediately after the death of Mai Shang**,** the warlord, dragon-tyrant, and appointed governor of the Hei-Yan.

In the 174th Harvest of the Eight Moon Era, the current day, the once-verdant valley where the cities of the Shengkai-Huaduo used to stand is now an uninhabitable wasteland, rendered barren by the hand of the Immortal Empress herself.

Long may She reign.

## History

### The Beginning of a Mistake

Founded during the 53rd Harvest of the Eighth Moon Era by a council of village headmen, merchant-nobles, and disgruntled garrison commanders, the Shengkai initially began as a provisional authority meant to keep the commandery from descending into chaos in the wake of the death of Mai Shang—who died while he was leading a reprisal raid against the holdings of a neighboring Lungyi warlord.

When this ad-hoc council realized that aid from the Imperial throne will take tens of harvests to arrive, compounded by the fact that Hei-Yan is surrounded by rogue warlords and opportunistic imperial “unifiers”, the council unanimously decided to secede from the Hegemony of Baik Hu and establish the **Shengkai-Huaduo**, sometimes referred to simply as the **Shengkai** or the **Autonomy**.

Some would say that the formation of the Shengkai-Huaduo was born from sheer administrative pragmatism, militant opportunism, or the simple desire to cling together. Regardless, one thing is for sure: for the first time in over four generations, the black and green flag of the dragon-tyrant of the Hei-Yan flies no more. In its place, is the standard of the Shengkai-Huaduo, emblazoned with a vibrant lotus flower of pink and white. For the first time in four generations, the people of the Hei-Yan found themselves free, and beholden to no higher authority than themselves.

### A Most Grand Experiment

The Shengkai-Huaduo can be quickly summarized as the antithesis of the Hegemony of Baik Hu in all aspects, both social and institutional.

Its defining feature that the Autonomy is an entirely self-sufficient collective of cities, run by a council of thirty-two individuals selected by popular consent of the people—charged with representing the interests of their city or collective. This council is formally known as the **Shengkai Congress**, and ascendancy to a seat happens regardless of one’s circumstance of birth or wealth. So, it would not be surprising to see trueblooded bantai noblemen work together with non-dragonblooded tawo. Unprecedented, considering the highly traditional and stratified nature of Baikhan society, which emphasizes the divide between Bantai, Lungyi, and “everyone else”. One supposes that the social composition of the Shengkai Congress is unsurprising, considering that the Bantai that comprise most of the “noble” portion of the Congress are relatively young, who are keenly aware of the failings of the old-world order, who wish to usher in a kinder world. Thankfully, these noble born recognize that, by virtue of their privileged upbringing, their perspective of this nebulous concept of “a better world” is tone-deaf at best, and myopic at worst. The push for the inclusion of non-nobles and local leaders as permanent fixtures of the Shengkai Congress came from, quite surprisingly, bantai themselves; with the loudest of these voices coming from Zhuang Mingzhu and Zhuang Junhao, who trace their bloodline to the 21 Lungyi unifiers of the first Hegemon.

After weeks of tense discussion, back-and-forth debates, and two near-death experiences, the members of the first Shengkai Congress established its first tenet: all are equal under heaven, for all have a right to a dream of a better world, and to build it with their own hands. It shall be a world that will never know war, only peace. No tyrants above, no slaves below. No empires, only home.

And so, the notable feature of the Shengkai-Huaduo is that it places importance on the aspect of self-governance, answering to no distant authority that is blind and deaf to the realities of the people that it was supposed to serve. The Shengkai’s governing body is incredibly intimate with the material conditions of the thirty-two cities, emphasizing consensus-building via debate and discussion among its members. This choice of governance is a stark contrast to old forms of governance that is emblematic of the Hegemony: the sweeping—and often tone-deaf—decrees from an increasingly distant, insulated, and imperial center, who can only exercise its will through violence and only ever acts in its own self-interest.

The Congress may be made of wide-eyed idealists, but they are not naïve. They know what kind of world they live in, one that still clings to the old ideals of empire and conquest, of violence and war. One that still holds onto the Divine Mandate of Heaven, as if the voice of a dead god gives anyone the right to rule. The world as they know it is still cruel and violent, and the Congress would be foolish to lay down their arms prematurely. But contrary to what was expected of them, they swore under the stars of heaven and above the fires of hell that the Autonomy will never become a new Baik Hu, a new Hegemony. Thus became the second tenet of the Shengkai: to never become another Sword of Creation, to never become a tool of empire, of a mad conqueror. The Shengkai is an open hand—as opposed to the iron gauntlet of the Hegemony—but it will not hesitate to clench into a fist to defend its ideals and principles.

Adopting a policy of martial self-defense, the Shengkai-Huaduo would never muster its considerable fighting force to conquer the commanderies of neighboring warlords and imperial usurpers—despite it being the surest way to secure the safety of the Autonomy—it shall only act in the defense of the Autonomy. The Congress resolved that it would endure the storm of the Baikhan succession crisis, and they would do so without becoming a new Hegemon. However, this did not deter many an upstart warlord, who sought to test their mettle against the fledgling “polity”. After all, are they not simply a rag-tag collective of farmers and disowned noble children playing at being kings and queens?

Many a warlord found that their dreams of empire ended prematurely—dashed against stone bulwarks of the Shengkai’s great bastion-cities—for its defenders hold fast to their convictions, of their dream of a better world, and they will fight like demons to protect their dream.

### The Fall

All good things must eventually come to their bitter and bloody ends. All stories do, all tawo do, and all gods too, and Shengkai is no exception.

## Notable Individuals

### The Zhuang Children

The eight children of the Zhuang clan were known to have lived in the Shengkai-Huaduo for the entirety of the Autonomy’s existence—from foundation to fall—and all eight children were involved with the Shengkai to various degrees.

* **Zhuang Junhao,** the eldest son of Zhuang, he fled to the Hei-Yan commandery with seven of his sisters in the first few harvests of the Baikhan succession wars. Eventually he became one of the founding members of the Shengkai-Huaduo Autonomy, becoming one of the thirty-two councilors of the Shengkai Congress. He acted as a as a diplomat-general during this time, championing the Autonomy’s ideals in the gilded halls of the Imperial Palace, to deaf ears. Fought tooth-and-horn at the last stand of the Shengkai, and it was here that he earned the nickname the *Crimson Na Jia.* It is a nickname he abhors with a passion.

* **Zhuang Haiyong,** the youngest daughter of Zhuang, who spent the first 40 harvests of her life entirely in Shengkai, she was but a babe only two harvests old when her siblings fled to the Hei-Yan. And so, being practically raised in the Autonomy, she internalized its ideals of equality, freedom, and harmony with fellow tawo, to the point that she can be said to be its fiercest defender. And she still is, up to this day, despite what others might try to tell her. Shengkai-Huaduo may be lost, but its ideals of camaraderie, union, and solidarity will live on through her, as long as she still draws breath. Goes by the titles of *The Corsair Queen of the Black River* and *The Lady-Maelstrom of Karuhung.*

* **Zhuang Feihong,** the eldest daughter of Zhuang, who had her feet bound and forcibly contorted into lotus-shapes at the command of her mother and father—with the intent of making Feihong a more enticing marriage prospect—robbing her of the use of her feet to get around. Feihong served as an advisor to the thirty-two councilors of the Shengkai in matters of war and commerce, with tactical acumen being surpassed by none. The Eldest Daughter has the glory of being the architect of the Shengkai’s greatest victories against the Imperial Army regiments sent to crush the Autonomy. But it was not enough, in the end. Goes by the titles of *The Corsair Queen of the Eight Heavenly Mountains* and *The Iron Hand of Nan Hai.*

* **Zhuang Zhenbao,** a daughter of Zhuang, she was born the sickliest child of the eight and almost killed her mother at childbirth. Owing to her frail physical condition, she spent most of her days locked within the ancestral mansion-fortress of the Zhuang family. Zhenbao eventually became a prodigious healer—who could supposedly manipulate both pohon and kalag to cure any ailment and heal any wound—who served as Shengkai’s foremost physician. It was said that she was the last one to abandon the burning valley of the Autonomy during the night of the Fall. She could’ve saved them all if she only had more time. Goes by the titles of *The Corsair Queen of the Twelve-Thousand Hells* and *The Keeper of the Last Door.*

* **Zhuang Mingzhu,** a daughter of Zhuang, whose Voice was said to be able to bend anything under heaven to her will—tawo, storms, mountains, rivers, and even gods themselves cannot help but be enraptured and listen when she speaks. Although, observers say that her legendary beauty also helps with her charm. Thus, Mingzhu served as the chief ambassador and diplomat of Shengkai—with Junhao playing subordinate to her—who helped forge alliances and stopped wars before they even began. But her words, wiles, and beauty could not stop the fall of Shengkai, for how can beauty alone sway those with hearts of iron? Yutadagat has no room for souls as gentle as Mingzhu, and that will remain true until the end of days. Goes by the titles of *The Corsair Queen of the Lotus Isles* and *The World-Singer of Mazu.*

* **Zhuang Haizhu,** a daughter of Zhuang and the twin of Mingzhu, whose spirit is unshackled by the earth and whose nightmare is a gilded cage of gold. It was only through Mingzhu’s will and guts alone that she would earn acclaim as the greatest sailor that the Hegemony of Baik Hu ever produced—for who else explored the eight hellrings of Shanjiabu-Yama, saw and survived the golden sands of Al-Ranwar, braved the frozen plains of Kharankova, and met Si Gurang Tungko himself on the edge of the horizon? *And lived*? And so Haizhu became the admiral of the Shengkai-Huaduo’s merchant fleet. But where was Mingzhu when Shengkai fell? Eyes to the horizon, but seldom towards home, and she will hold that mistake close to her heart until the end of time. Goes by the titles of *The Corsair Queen of the Far Edge of Fate* and *The Heavenswalker.*

* **Zhuang Hailong,** a daughter of Zhuang, who since an early age has shown an aptitude for blade and glaive, and a ferocity that rivals the twenty-one Lungyi Warlords of the Old Empire. Over time this ferocity would be tempered by the tutelage of a great Akainon satariya known as *Al-Hurra,* who would impart the tenets of honor, loyalty, and justice unto the young bantai woman—in between lessons on Akainon bladework, of course. The years of her study under the sarimanok knight would culminate in her crowning achievement: the slaying of a great Iyamati naga—one that has fallen into *di-Hiyang*—that plagued the mountains of Shengkai. Since then, Hailong would become the martial champion of the Shengkai, holding its lotus banner high and fighting at the forefront of its defensive wars. She would protect the Autonomy and her siblings, for what else is there worth fighting for? But in the end what can one woman—the bravest of the brave—do in the face of an enemy that holds no honor, no love, and no remorse? Goes by the titles of *The Corsair Queen of the Eternal Storm* and *The Demon Daimyo of Iyamat.*

* **Zhuang Hairui,** a daughter of Zhuang, the smallest of the eight siblings, both in stature and demeanor. When Hairui was still a lady in the house of Zhuang, she is always being pushed at the forefront of social events, much to her chagrin. It does not help that Hairui is a compulsive liar, who maintains the mask of the Great Game of Baikhan politics with flawless ease. She always wears this mask no matter what, only letting it down around her siblings or her lovers. Thus, Hairui became the spymaster of the Shengkai, protecting it from threats that require a more… subtle answer. But what can the invisible blade and shadowed whisper do against the mailed gauntlet of the Imperial Throne? What could little Hairui have done? Intercepted the battle plans earlier? Killed the right person, perhaps? Only the wind will know the truth. Goes by the titles of *The Corsair Queen of the Eclipsed Moon* and *The Crownthief of Peng Lai.*