The Minsheng Empire

The Minsheng Empire is a massive, long-standing, foreign power across the oceans to the west of Indagar. Formerly the home land of the Lanagaran Scions, the Empire has been a long standing trading partner and also adversary throughout the history of The Republic.

## History of The Minsheng Empire

The Minsheng Empire has been in existence for far longer than the history of Indagar. It is said that the history of The Minsheng Empire is as ancient as the sands and rocks. It is known that at some point, estimated to be thousands of years ago, that the continent the Empire hails from, made up of a conjoining of smaller regions, was once home to a great diversity of peoples who lived in relative discord. History recalls that the Emperor, a mighty conqueror of the ancient times, rose to power over the span of 50 years, conquering each of the peoples in turn until the entire continent was brought under his control.

Since the time of unification, over centuries, the peoples of the Empire grew together, eventually to form a single people of many traditions. This was thought to have been spurred on by the increased wealth brought upon by unification through trade, education, and engineering but also because of the brutal grip of the Empire over its own people. As such, the people of the Empire come from a diverse background but have, over the centuries, put aside their differences and unified for strength, wealth, and power. This diversity in people can often be seen in their appearance but also in names which have different cultural origins and backgrounds.

The first and only time the Empire set out to expand away from their homelands was to Indagar, after the discovery of The Well. The Minsheng Empire defeated The Forgotten and established Konagara. However, free from the iron grip of Imperial Rule, with an ocean separating them, the settlers of Indagar eventually rebelled, leading to the formation of The Republic.

Since that time, a thousand years have passed, and the Empire still stands, as mighty as it once was. Its people, well established and unified, no longer fret about their individual identities and fight as one. They have also had a history of a belief in the destiny of the Emperor being one of eventual world conquest, either through wealth, trade, or simply military power.

In recent years, the latest lineage of Emperors have become more imperialistic and greedy than previous times. Once again, they seem to be seeking to expand their borders to other continents than their own. This is most signified by the Declaration of Imperial Conquest that was issued to The Republic on the very night of the Cataclysm. Since then, the people of Indagar have not seen or heard from the Empire, but the Emperor have not forgotten about Indagar or the promise of Spirits.

## The People of the Empire

The people of the Empire hail from various lineages from a once separated and war-torn continent. They would battle for supremacy for all of written pre-history. However, the Emperor unified them through military conquest, and using a brutal, iron fist, eventually forced them to unify into the people that they are today. In these times, the Empire is a wealthy, strong, foreign power, and the people of the Empire have all but forgotten most of their pre-history lineage and squabbles and have instead become a new unified culture.

Like The Republic, the Empire is known for its ingenuity and wealth. Yet, the despotic, political nature of the Empire has led most of its people to believe that their lives and destinies are governed by the will of the Emperor and if not, will be met with by a swift end. As such, the people of the Empire rarely speak out against the Empire not only for fear of reprisal but also in a since of forced, imperial pride. As the Empire has made many of its citizens rich, a powerful aristocracy exists within the Empire whereupon Lords and Ladies control vast swaths of the population through land ownership and law. The peasantry of the Empire provide the most valuable resource of the Empire in terms of its labor and military might.

The life of the average citizen of the Empire is typically in poverty and of subservience to a land-owning Lord or perhaps provincial governor. However, one may rise in station through a little luck or intellect to the governing or engineering class, in which they are the people who are responsible for the invention and governance of the vast lands the Empire controls. It is through this system of hierarchy and reward that the Empire has been able to last so long without any successful rebellion, other than that of Indagar.

## Empire Politics

Throughout the history of The Republic, relations with the Empire have always been frigid as the Empire, even after one-thousand years, still views the entire continent of Indagar to be its rightful property. The Minsheng Empire has a strong undercurrent of belief that it is destined to one day conquer the world with its iron rule. The politics of the Empire are of repression of its own people while simultaneously elevating the ambitious to positions of lesser power to help ensure that the majority of the population stays oppressed. Further, aside from this iron rule, the Empire also maintains a massive military and naval force, acting aggressively in most foreign affairs. Were it not for its insatiable thirst for Spirits, it is likely the Empire would have tried many times to conquer The Republic during its existence.

The Minsheng Empire puts strong value on its technological superiority and believes itself the most advanced civilization in the known world. As such, high value is put on engineering and construction marvels as well as both the sciences and the arcane. This feeds directly into the psyche of the Empire's governance where their belief that they are destined to rule the world is fed by this feeling of knowledge superiority. In reality, the advancement of technology and science has lagged behind that of the Lanagaran Scions who have been using Spirits to increase their ability to progress over a millennium.

Overall, Imperial Politics is a dark arena of navigating the pitfalls of ambitious Lords while also staking a claim to one's own destiny. To do this requires the resources of an oppressed populace, but the Empire views itself as almost divine in its right to rule and thereby truly only values strength.

--Neil (talk) 02:56, 11 October 2016 (AST)