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.

Bajin Oni Concept

 There is more to the setting than just the Zhu Empire. A major part of the early stories will also be the Baji Isles, a japan based setting within the larger world.  I couldn't do Japanese inspired fantasy without Oni so they were something I spent some time making.  I'll save the details for when they get a race post along other Bajin races, but here are the ideas behind them.

The base idea came from sort of the modern view of them, large orge like creatures who love to drink normally have red skin and horns.  Kept that for both male and females, but took the anime route and made sure they look humanish in the face. I went with the more humanized ideas of them and gave them distinct cultures and societies with customs beyond base urges. I based their cultures loosely on the old pop culture view of Native Americans, with a little mongol thrown in.  Making them quasi nomadic tribes with their own specific customs based on the area they are found in.  Known to be aggressive towards outsiders but can be reasoned with and have established trade relationships with certain settlements. They are the most physically dominant race in Baji in my setting and you will often see them in physical roles in any appearance in my games normally solo against groups of humans.

Maru Concept

I don't normally do the concepts for minor characters because there isn't much to say, but I'll say a little for those curious.  The idea for Maru was my desire to add more younger characters and to explore different family dynamics. I decided Rani needed a sibling and what cuter than a brother who was more reserved and shy while she was aggressive and bold. I decided to have him be shorter and smaller muscle wise than her, though he will eventually grow taller than she is.  But he will stay smaller in terms of muscles and weaker, as she is the strength of the family and someone who he is meant to look up to.

Rak-Zanu

I'm going to be going through old entries and updating them soon, so they may be worth re-looking at in a week or two.

But this is an explanation of what Rak-Zanu are.

Rak-Zanu is a term exclusive to the Nobility of the Zhu empire, and represents something that only applies to them. While servants can be bought or inherited by any member of society, Rak-Zanu are a special rank of servant that swears a life oath to any rank of noble. A Rak-Zanu is the heard servant of said noble and becomes the equivalent of one rank below them, granting them status and protection from laws that would otherwise affect them. They spend the rest of their lives (though they get off days, outside of emergencies) protecting and serving the noble and helping to achieve whatever their goals are.  Most Rak-Zanu are primarily bodyguards and as such extensive combat training is required for the position, but some serve other roles such as adviser or caretaker if the noble is a young child; a few Rak-Zanu are even personal chefs. Rak-Zanu are the responsibility of their masters and they are legally allowed to ignore all but the most sacred of laws and traditions if it will protect the noble they serve.  When one becomes to injured or old to effectively serve they instead become the assistant of their replacement, or in some cases the coach.

Ing Rao concept

art by Kopi

As evidenced by some of the other characters I like to showcase different aspects of society with some of these characters.  With Ing Rao the idea was to showcase a few different things at once through her. For background wanted someone that had a connection with Tribals since otherwise they wouldn't have a real presence, so she was created to sort of be a bridge between tribal communities and the main society of the empire. Most of the Visual Novel handles the concept of honor and family traditions through martial arts but I wanted to have a way to show there are other aspects besides that.  So adapted an old idea for a monster hunter who hunts exotic beasts to use for her hobby of cooking, into Ing Rao who is a famous chef and hunter.  The darker skin and different dress style was made to help distinguish her from those from the main parts of the Empire.

Xiao Quan Concept

Art by http://kopianget.deviantart.com/

The idea for Xiao Quan came with me wanting to involve a younger character that could help shed light on lesser nobility as well show how the lives of younger royals are. So that is the idea behind her background, a young noble who hangs around the main ones.   Her personality was a result of my desire to want a more nerdy fangirl character, and since a lot of the story involves martial arts it made sense for that to be her obsession.  So she was made to have a more cute look because I felt it would mesh well with her over the top attitude regarding martial arts and just how excited she can get about it.  I wanted some sort of yo-yo as something she can play around with and even fight with to show her creativity and knowledge of technique, the artist behind her decided chinese yo-yos would be best.

Eraeli Concept

I knew early on I wanted to have some characters that helped show the magic nature of the setting without being mages themselves. I also wanted a character that while they could fight it wasn't their primary purpose. I combined the two and developed it into the idea for Eraeli. I made her a traveling blacksmith from outside of the Empire so I could have a reason to show in greater detail how others feel about the setting as well as expand on what world building would be possible over the course of the VN.  Setting her from outside of the empire gave me greater flexibility in what she looked like and decided to go with a more African influence with addition of a third eye for a more mystical look helping to cement that she was indeed from a fantasy setting and offer both a needed perspective as well as show off some more non combat mystic elements.  

Keiji Concept

I always knew from the start I wanted a more Japanese based character and had already developed a land for said characters to be from (Will speak on that in a later post). Toyed with what kind of character beyond that and eventually decided a noble from one of the clans of said region.  Was interested in doing a very feminine male so went with it for Keiji a samurai prince of sorts who can easily pass as a Japanese girl. I felt it fit and added to the design and a good contrast to what you'd expect/he comes off and what his story actually is. 

Rin concept

Art by Henry

Early on I realized I needed to show how closely related all of the Zhu races are and feature more than just Zhuni as part of the Imperial family.  After a while it was decided that one of the princesses would be a Xerin, a 9 tailed one to convey more prestige and sort of contrast Aya's less regal look.  Made the character someone that would allow me to focus on a similar theme as Aya only with a different aspect of being royal/society  and sort of do the flip side of how Aya herself handles it.  Also find a good character to show some more lighthearted stuff within the palace.  For the look she was directly inspired by Ahri of League of Legends more so than any actual kitsune or similar stories.

Rani Concept

For Rani I knew I needed someone that was one of the other Zhu races, to help show some of the diversity of the Empire. So an Ethera made the most sense for a bodyguard type character, a natural berserker with a notably different look from the others.  From that idea I merged the idea that each of the royals has a main retainer as well as wanting Dokura to have some more development so turned Rani into one of her children.  Taking elements from her initial storyline and my love of anime to create sort of a thuggish delinquent type character.  With all of that in mind the last thing was the design itself, which me and Henry tried to create something very different from the other characters to fit that if it wasn't for her bloodline she would be just another thug; the trouble making daughter of a well respected woman.  So taking inspiration from punk fashion and mixing it with a sort of anime bully look we got her outfit and hair.

Takuya Concept

original sketch

redesign sketch, both by Henry

While I have a few mages now when i was first starting off I didn't really have much idea of what I wanted from a mage character, and also noticed I didn't have any real male characters. As I worked more on magic, Takuya slowly came to life. He was actually first a character in a random one off scene that was fixing some magic device, just to give some more flavor before randomly deciding he would be the first male I really brought to life.  The concept itself changed a few times from an older man from a different nation, until eventually being a local mage but without much detail. It wasn't until way later I decided to use him to explore some secret aspects of magical factions in the Empire and directly tie him with the Empress and her family.  That idea mostly stayed the same but it's been tweaked more for the game to make him closer to Aya's age and a full on adopted family member that had been with them for years.  Though he has changed into more of a pretty boy the tattoos have been consistent, sort of my take on a rune type deal with symbols of divine power carved into flesh to enhance certain forms of magic.  So now he's both a family member that allows me to look at males more, as well as explore things relating to magic as he is head mage of the Palace.

Aya Li Qiao Concept

Both By Henry

One of the protagonists of the second timeline is Aya Li Qiao, the daughter of the Empress and actually the first character I made.  The colored image on the right is her initial design with the sketch on the left her redesign for the current projects.  She was actually made for an online roleplay I was in and from there sort of made a setting around her and even a short story.  She was sort of based on wonder woman initially, a princess from a female dominated society with mystical artifacts to help her out  While some of that is still present, she mostly is her own thing now, more reflective of various martial arts stories I used to read and watch. When I started the VN it has been years since the initial design and so everyone involved has a more clear idea of how the setting looked, so she was remade with more setting appropriate style and more original hair style then before while still showing the original inspiration. In many ways the idea behind her is that of the young martial artist training for the long road of mastery, and dealing with the various enemies and trouble that is on that path.

Twins Concept

Art by Henry

So early on when decided to do a Visual Novel dealing with the Empress's daughter (who will get her own profile soon enough) I decided she needed some good teenage rivals as part of the cast of characters.  After thinking of things that fit the martial arts theme I chose a pair of characters that would be out to prove themselves at every turn.  Being two of them kept the challenge up and gave a real obstacle to showcase where she is and where she still has to go as a martial artist and their goal having to do with family fit well with hers of what she has to live up to.  After that we thought of ways to make interactions cool and decided twins would be the cutest choice and based their quirks and stuff off of that decision.  And so we got what are actually my favorite characters design wise.

Dokura Ibeshi Concept

By Henry

The idea behind this character actually goes back several projects and many iterations, but I'm going to focus on the idea behind the final version.  I decided to work with the idea of retainers for the Imperial family and decided each member would have their own head retainer/body guard normally one that mixes with their own style and personality.  These individuals would often be picked at an earlier age by older family members based on their chi potential and trained to cover the perceived weaknesses of the royal they would guard.  They would be conditioned to be loyal to them, often to the point of love to ensure that they would protect them at all costs and always try to keep them happy.  The last part is the biggest reason for Dokura, a character that loves her master so much that even when her master seems to have lost her way she will aid her darker plans.  She was made to be sort of a side kick role in the 1st timeline, and sort of a reluctant antagonist/frenemy in the 2nd.   The claws are there just because I've loved them as martial arts weapons ever since I played dynasty warriors as a child.

Priestesses

General

The primary and most common job regarding the religion is the all-female staff that are the public's guide and aid to the faith.  They are government employees that work at the temples closest to their home, aiding in prayer, teaching religious tales and lessons, group meditation, consoling,  as well as more specialized tasks of dealing with spirits and demons, and protecting people they care for.  Priestess are required to always be willing to help those who are in need, and if a dishonorable person seeks redemption they are required to aid them in the task and speak on their behalf in regards to any trouble they've got in.  This isn't a get out of jail free card for the criminal since the priestess has to actually believe they want to change, and even then it only reduces the sentence and not actually removes it all together.  They are well respected in the community and serve as sort of community mother and big sister figures to many people of all ages for how much they assist others and their warm friendly attitude.

To become a priestess one has to go through a year of classes which take place every day at the temple, and once they prove they have learned the basics and concepts they are made a priestess in training where they shadow a more experienced Priestess for several years learning more and more of the practices as well privately studying with them to ensure they become as dedicated and understanding as the job requires.  As time goes on they are allowed to do more and more things on their own until they are allowed to take a final test to prove they are ready.  The test involves memorization of several legends and holy texts, at least a basic understanding of how to do magic, consoling a person in need while the Head Priestess observes, explaining how the Tenets of Faith apply to  them on a personal level, and the sacrifice of their great accomplishment (if it's not a physical object then a symbolic sacrifice of it) on an altar to the Great Mother.  

Caretakers 

The Caretakers are the most common form of Priestess, and the one most people think of when they hear the word or think of temples.   Serving as the face of the religion these women can be found in the temples all day, the younger members of the order actually living inside of them.  During their 12-18 hour shifts they walk around the complex praying, meditating, and maintaining the building as they wait for people to enter.  If the day is slow they will send a few of the women out into the streets in order to help random people with their daily tasks or anyone they notice is in need.  When people are there they lead in group meditation, personal prayers, and tell stories of the faith to children. They are who Zhu confess too when it comes to being dishonorable and they serve as counselors for various trouble for life, ranging from marriage issues to business deals.  They are obligated to help anyone regardless of who or what they are, and are the people who talk on behalf of prisoners to get reduced sentences or second chances.  They feed and provide blankets for the homeless every day, often bringing the younger ones and letting them sleep in the temple. 

Galeizou 

Galeizou tend to have their own buildings, but they are often smaller additions to an existing temple or the top floor of a particular large one.  They serve as a form of healer for the spiritual ailments, though they do have a moderate degree of skill in physical healing as well.  They don't have specific shifts such as caretakers most of them instead being on call, with one or two left in the building to document the needed cases.  When they are told about a spiritual issue such as possession, a mystical curse, or in some cases malevolent spirits lurking around they quickly assign someone to go and look into it.  While there they will uses their various magical and specially attuned chi to deal with the threat or ailment, often carrying a spell book of sorts with them though more experiences Galeizou end up memorizing the entire book and creating their own methods.  At least once a year every Galeizou is required to do a pilgrimage across the entire kingdom that they live in, walking across the landmasses and helping everyone and everything they come across with spiritual issues.  This period is also treated as a time to seek out spirits that lurk in the outskirts of settlements and deal with them. 

Slayers

Slayers tend to have their area in the basement of temples, the floor normally filled with training equipment as well as various texts for them to look into.  They are known as Slayers because it is their job to deal with the more "earthly" plane of magic, them combating demons  and monsters instead of just raw spirits like their sisters.  They use magic but it is normally either to enhance their equipment or to summon benevolent allies, their primary fighting method utilizing chi attuned to the needed energy signature for the threat.  Their job is equal parts preparation as it is actual fighting, them spending countless hours researching the threat and fine tuning their traps and equipment before actually engaging and enemy.  While small ones can be dealt with by a single slayer, most creatures are attacked with a group and through planning, scouts constantly on the lookout for new ones and listening to every report they come across.  

Phoenix Warriors

Art by Henry

Normally I'd put the concept for this specific character, but instead I'll put the in universe explanation of the group he represents in his appearances

Northern Spirit- Vesta
Southern Spirit - Kon'Shu
Western Spirit - Ralvir
Eastern Spirit- Loc'Tun

In the Early days of the universe, when Kios formed from the ambient energy between the various planes of existence 4 spirits were birthed from the left over energy. The spirits were birthed in the form of massive bird like creatures of spiritual fire, these forms soaring across the various planes of existence for millions of years, watching over the state of affairs and seeing how things were meant to be. Over time things began to change, various life forms began to form all throughout the realms and those life forms attracted those who sought to end the balance. Beings from beyond sought to disrupt it, and various creatures from within sought to control or end it. The spirits were powerful in their home realms but had little influence outside, yet they all knew they had to uphold their duty of protecting the balance somehow. To solve this they each sought out a life form on or near the planet Kios, each having their own reasons for who they chose. They gave these beings power and the freedom to use it as they pleased as long as they became their avatars and defended the various planes from all who threatened the delicate cosmic balance.

The spirits each take up residence in a different sector of the planet's spirit realm watching over the various planes that intersect with that sector and sending any needed information to their avatar. How they communicate various from spirit to spirit, as does their criteria for choosing an avatar two things that have been shaped by their various experiences over their infinite life span.

Each Avatar is transformed into a new life form that straddles the line between the various planes, them gaining the ability to step into other realms and dimensions as needed, their bodies components changing if needed. They are given intimate knowledge of an ancient fighting art crafted by the spirits, and a superhuman body to match it. They all have a natural attunement to flames of the soul, a fire that burns both the body and the spirit as its user wishes. The specifics of the fires look and other uses vary from avatar to avatar, normally based on the persons mental state. The most notable gift each avatar is given, is the gift of immortality they become immune to age and illness and will regenerate from any fatal wound (no matter how extensive), slightly more powerful than before. All avatars hold the memories and experience of all previous avatars of their particular spirit.

Despite this they don't last forever, every so many years the spirits fight their avatars in order to test if they are still worthy. Every time the spirit loses it returns multiple times stronger than before forcing the avatar to constantly improve, the moment they don't is the end of their service as they are defeated and stripped of their powers allowed to live out the rest of their days as a normal person or be killed if they seek a warriors death. One can also willingly give up their powers but such a thing is very rare

Nisu Concept

Art by Henry

 

Since very early in the creation of the setting, I decided the Zhu Empire had multiple races that made up the central Zhu species.  One of the more populous of which was Xerin, a kitsune inspired race that I will write about later. And so it only made sense that I should have one of them as a central character in what is planned as a big exploration into the setting.  Working with the theme of change and growth decided a young not so special character would fit best into the role. So went with a girl in her early teens, to have the most room to work and to go with the still in training princess Xing Yi.  Only instead of straight martial arts training and warrior spirit, showing the other side with magic and religious work within their culture.  Yeah not a whole lot to what sparked her creation, but there it is.  

Hwang Ce Concept

Sketch by Henry

Hwang Ce is a rather important character in my world, who I've toyed with for awhile but only recently really managed to turn him into a real character.  Initially he had appeared in an early story of mine in the shadow form, spewing cryptic messages around certain events and encouraging certain actions. I don't fully remember where I was going with him back then, but I think he was going to be one of the later villains or something who had been at a sort of war with the priestesses.   After I began to flesh things out more and shifted the focus on the stories, I begin to think about the various figures that would result of magic.  In the current incarnation Hwang Ce represents one of those Issac newton type figures, a genius who changed the way things are thought of.  He's used as a character to show off high level magic and information as well as explore the different schools of thought and ways of approaching large scale conflict within the universe.  I regard him as neither a hero or villain (though I'd put him more on the anti hero side if I had to), just a scientist who will do what he has to, in order to preserve the beauty of the cosmos and unlock its many secrets.

Hirara concept

Sketch by Henry

The idea for Hirara spent a long time being bounced around in my head.  Pretty since I decided to do a tale focusing on Xing Yi it was decided that it had to be some sorts of martial arts journey, even before then I know I had to go back to that theme with her.  And any such journey needs to have a master of sorts who teaches the fighting style and contributes to the character growth. The initial idea had a standard master, just some old character who teaches their fighting style to Xing Yi.  The archetype works and as long as the design and character were strong they'd serve the purpose so it was left as for a while.   As I began to flesh things out more I settled on her being a woman and having her look more like a mother over a grandmother to Xing Yi when it came to appearance.  With the change in look I decided to make Hirara more of a primary fighter and Xing Yi fall into a sidekick or partner role over Hirara simply being her Master.  The idea behind that was so that Xing Yi could grow and develop her own journey while taking part in her master's.  

I started think about how in some stories a big part of the training of swordsmen is to forge their blade, uniquely to their ability and soul.  It inspired me to do something like it with her, only for martial arts in general. Instead of Hirara teaching her student a specific style, she would help build a foundation and philosophy within the girl and help branch it into it's own unique fighting style.  Besides liking the idea, the choice gave me much more room in what to do with both characters since they no longer had to match up. Eventually resulting in me making Hirara a more mysterious legendary figure who just appears place without any known story of where she came from.  This is furthered by her clothing style being very different from the royal fighter look of Xing Yi or even the random Zhu garb, to hopefully give the feeling of a woman not bound by that specific land.