Naval

Some naval design stuff, showing a few of the ships as well as the main power source for most of the Zhu sea stuff.  

Redone Empress

When I posted it on Twitter and elsewhere some didn't really see what was changed, or got confused and thought Xing Yi was the new look of Empress Li Ling.  So here I'll post a direct comparison of old and new.  The old look is fine and all but was originally made for a different project that didn't happen, so she looked different from the new style of the visual novel.

Update

Been quiet for a while, so just informing people of some things. As my last patreon post said before was taken down, on hiatus for a bit. Lot of things going on and some high expenses, and need to spend more time focusing on work and taking care of some issues for a bit.  Still slowly working on things just less steadily, and don't want to do another attempt at crowdfunding without much of note changed yet.  Visual Novel will still come out just will take a while, as always expected once kickstarter in 2016 failed.  You may see a few small related project come out before it's finished but the VN will still come out and will still be a free release, at the absolute worst it may be split into two parts.

Qigekki Order

The Qigekki are an elite mostly female(around 99%) order of warrior Inquisitors within the Zhu Empire. Chosen by genetic mutation they all share characterized by more wild and powerful chi than usual, they are trained from the onset of puberty in various special camps around the empire. These harsh and brutal camps train them in the ways of the warrior and condition them into seeing themselves as the wrath of the religion, something them and the squad they are put into are expected to take into their daily life. Their purpose is to combat threats to the religion as well as general things that are against it, from demons and rebel cults to heretical citizens spreading their ideas. They are sent as small squads to do various missions, with countless operations going on each year all across the world and beyond, at least one of the squads on a mission each week. They are sent out on missions that range from the quick exterminating a small cult, to more long term jobs sending them to temporary hide outs or traveling in foreign lands for extended periods. Outside of missions they are expected to watch out for and take care of threats to the faith, killing any proven cultists, demons, or anti zhu rebels they find. If they simply suspect someone of connection to such things or of general heresy and trying to incite people against the religion they can bring people into regional Qigekki grounds for trial. No one can refuse and not cooperating grants the Qigekki the right to kill the person on the spot with no legal consequences, as well as putting on trial or killing any others who interfere. The sole exceptions are nobles who can force a Qigekki to halt for one day, after which if no word from command they can continue to their jobs no matter what the noble says. Regional nobles and above can’t be confronted by normal Qigekki and after evidence is collected, must be dealt with by Regional Command or the High Council, the latter of which has the authority to force even the Imperial family to do tests of faith or put them on trial with an unanimous vote. Qigekki of all levels are exempt from all authorities baring the Qigekki Order and the Empress herself, and any problems with them must be taken to the High Council who run and govern over the Qigekki . The government otherwise has no hold over them, and they expected to do whatever must be done to fulfill their tasks, something that makes them both feared and heavily respected within society.

Duties:

Protect Zhu: It the priority of any Qigekki regardless of rank or type to protect Zhu by any and all costs. This refers to protection in a big picture sense, but some Qigekki take this on a more local level and take it as their duty to always protect people from threats if they are nearby. This does not speak the Empire itself, but of the species in whatever form is best for it.

Cleanse Corruption: There are natural enemies of the sea and chi and their corruption threatens to damage the environment as well as the hearts of people. A Qigekki must remove both before they spread too far, and look into any reports of it.

Protect The Faith: A Qigekki is to always protect the faith, from threats that seek to destroy or disrupt it. Those who seek to do so should be shown no mercy and do not deserve the honor of a trial.

Enforce The Faith: A Qigekki most enforce living by the standards of the Great Mother and her prophets when she sees the opposite happening. Warnings for minor mess ups such as slight blasphemous speak or ill-suited actions, and trails for those she suspects are more sinister.

Embody The Faith: A Qigekki should be a living embodiment of the 5 tenets of faiths to set an example for all those around them.

Five Tenets of Faith:

The core tenets of the kind of person a devout child of the Great Mother should be. How exactly to embody them is up to interpretation as there is no official direction for them.

Strength: Weakness in all of its forms is to be challenged and overcome and not allowed to fester within one's body, mind, or soul. To accept the weakness within is to fail the Great mother and accept dishonor.

Courage: Never allow fear to take hold of your mind, one must fight through it and continue on with whatever causes them distress. To follow Zhu is never whimper in the face of fear, but to bear your fangs and destroy it.

Loyalty: Blood may be thicker than water but Loyalty is stronger than blood. Your loyalty must be the most sacred bond you have no matter who it may be too. When you swear loyalty you must stay true to it as long as it stays honorable, the faith and those who you are loyal to must take precedence over any others.

Honor: The most important of all tenets is to be an honorable person at all times. To disregard Honor is to forsake the Great mother and be a blight on society and those above you. Even in the face of certain death, Honor must be maintained for the integrity of one's soul is more important than the vessel of flesh

Discipline: Having control over one’s life, keeping yourself balanced in the aspects that form a proper Zhu. You must be able to control your emotions and reign yourself in when needed, or have the strength of will to force yourself to learn how. You don't abandon tasks of import and force yourself to see them through to the end. You must be in complete control and no instincts or circumstances should win over your mind unless you want them to.

 Qigekki:

Qigekki Warrior: The most common type of Qigekki is the Qigekki Warrior, the Death Dealers of the Great Mother. Split into squads these are the Qigekki that undertake the various missions given by their commanders and are who drags people off for trials and on occasion slays people in the middle of a street. Any large scale combat operation fill be filled with them as there are essentially the military of the Zhu religion. Their primary focus is to take up the various missions given to them and follow up on local reports, but they are also told to handle any relevant problem that they happen to come across as they see fit.

Qigekki Guard: A type of Qigekki trained to defend things and areas as their primary focus. They get moved around a lot but their focus is watching over and protecting holy sites, artifacts of religious significance, and serve as security for large scale religious events. In ancient times they were the bodyguards of the prophet herself and as such it is a position of high regard, these Qigekki don’t involve themselves in trials and have the authority to kill anyone to protect what they are watching over, told to never given more than one warning from a distance. They don’t guard the Qigekki buildings as that task tends to fall to the Qigekki Warriors.

Qitontai: They are the Qigekki of the shadows; they start off in the same camps but are quickly moved into a more hidden location for special training. While the rest of the Order reacts to threats to the faith they are tasked with preemptively taking them out before they can become a proper threat. They are spies and assassins and most are unknown to all but the High Council until after their death and sometimes their retirement if they gain considerable honors.

Qigekki Guide: While still combat trained these Qigekki focus more on the spiritual side of things and often are taught various magics in addition to their chi abilities. As their name implies they help guide others on the proper path, and maintain the various holy sites, they are also called on to battle spirits. Their most important job is creating and altering the Tests of Faith, physical and spiritual trials the Qigekki sometimes force people to go through testing both their fortitude and their will/faith in the Goddess.

Command: Various Commanders and the people apprenticing to replace them and other officers. They mostly work within a large building within each sector where they sort out the various missions and assign Qigekki squads to deal with it, or post open ones. They control the various operations and collect the evidence found against people, these are always older Qigekki though very promising young ones tend to work alongside them in directing other Qigekki around. The majority of trials are presided over by them.

The High Council: Above the sector command is the Qigekki High Council. These are the 11 Qigekki in charge of the entire order and have the final say in all of the affairs. Any actions against a high ranking noble has to be approved by them, and with an unanimous agreement they can even put the Empress herself on trial. They are in the position until death in which new ones are chosen by the High Priestess upon approval of the Empress and Matriarch. If those three also agree they are capable of removing the Council and replacing them.

Tribal lore

Will do a more indepth post later but here is some tribal stuff for some new worldbuilding



The Vek-Rhra Tsenu or Tribals as they are commonly called, are the descendants of the various indigenous people of the Zhu empire. Before the prophet Zhu Shang formed the empire, the Vek-Rhra were scattered tribes living in the various lands touched by the Sea of Chi. Each was different but they all shared a few cultural themes and gave the sea of chi religious focus. They mostly lived in small settlements dotting the landscape while some lived more nomadic life styles. While they all traced common ancestry they each were their own tribes with separate customs and beliefs. They lived in such ways for countless generations until eventually the prophet Zhu Shang came and led the various peoples to victory over the Dark Ones and their outsider armies. Following her example and the power she displayed most of the population quickly converted to her teachings and started to form the Zhu Empire, with various regions becoming kingdoms led by the lesser prophets. As the empire absorbed more and more of the Vek-Rhra, some rejected the idea and refused to be part of some new system.

While the Zhu people weren't happy about it, Zhu herself accepted their decision and reached an agreement with all who didn't want to be part of her new society. They would be allowed to continue their life style without persecution within the vast areas of wilderness that she sought to preserve and keep off limits for development. It was a deal that would last for all time, the tribals would be guarded from outset threats and allowed immunity from imperial law as long as they didn't interfere with things outside of the the designated lands.

As countless generations went by the two groups and the races within them began to drift apart as their cultures became more and more different and they even began to look different. Eventually the imperial Zhu began to resent the Tribals, seeing them as in the way and many seeing them as treacherous heathens instead of as sisters. The ancient decree was clear however so they couldn't outright get rid of their neighbors in the wilderness, instead they became much more proactive and strict about splitting up tribes that get to large. They increased restrictions on tribal traders entering imperial grounds and stopped the old programs of allowing Qigekki of tribal descent to be tutored in their cultures ways, as well as the old deals to get said Qigekki. Ri-kougar and rebel factions began to make hideouts in the same areas as them further increased imperial aggression as well as cause the general public to become more distrustful. In the modern day tribal communities tend to fear and distrust the empire, and there have been a handful of violent incidents in the past few decades. Even the tribals who move into imperial society tend to face a degree of discrimination when in the cities.