Lore

She Will Keep the Sea

Shen Changfeng leads her fleet across the Jade Sea and makes landfall on the northern shore of Nippon, seeking a foothold in a new land.

1

The Uncrowned Admiral

Shen Changfeng is the most renowned admiral of the Eastern Provinces. When Nipponese pirates renewed their raids on Cathay after Yin-Yin's disappearance, she led her fleet in pursuit across the border and deep into Nippon's waters. Her victory was total, yet in the course of it she also sank several of Nippon's official warships. News of her triumph reached the Celestial Court on the same day as Nippon's protest. With Yin-Yin gone, her opponents at court seized their opportunity: war pressed hard upon the Great Bastion in the north, they argued, and this was no time to provoke Nippon. A writ of censure followed, demanding that she surrender her command and return to the capital. Shen did not obey. Taking every warrior willing to follow her, she put to sea and set a course straight for Nippon.

2

Land of the Samurai

Across the far eastern sea from Cathay lies Nippon, land of the samurai. In name it bows to the court of the Holy Sun, yet the court is a shadow, and the samurai clans answer only to themselves. Year after year, the daimyo bleed one another white over the title of Shogun. Now the longships of Chaos grind ashore through the cold mist, foreign fleets stalk the sea lanes, and pirates, monsters and the ambitious pour onto the islands. The Holy Sun still shines on the capital, but at the edge of the isles, gods, blades and ambition are unsheathed as one.

3

Born of Mountain and Water

The yokai of Nippon were born of its mountains and waters, and once lived in seclusion in the depths of the islands. To mortal eyes, however, their horns and scales made them little different from the Daemons of Chaos and the Beastmen. Centuries of fear and prejudice hardened into blood-feuds handed down from one generation to the next. When civil war engulfed the land and longships came ashore, men and yokai alike were caught in the blaze. Still they slew one another in the long night of hatred.

Ibuki, the Hanyo Wanderer, never drew his blade to answer insults or arrows loosed against him. Time and again he simply took his stand before the helpless, stubbornly setting his odachi between them and danger. Mortal ronin and hunters of the wilds, together with hanyo wanderers bearing the blood of another kind, came willingly to his side, won over by his deeds and his beliefs. These followers became known as the Akatsuki-shu (The Dawnbreakers).

4

Two Long Victories

The short victory is the shared prerequisite for both long victories. The two long routes run in parallel, not either-or — a single campaign can finish both, one after the other.

Short Victory

Foothold in Nippon

The pirates Shen Changfeng had chased were only the part of the wreck showing above water. Nippon bows to the Holy Sun Court in name alone: the daimyo never lay down their arms, Chaos has put down poisoned roots, and foreign warlords hold land of their own. To root herself in the eastern sea, she must first teach this burning archipelago the word order again.

  • Destroy the Cult of Tsien-Tsin, the Okumoto Clan, Grimgor Ironhide and Skarbrand the Exiled
  • Control Koyashu Isles, Stormy Coast, Shotaku Marshes, Koteishu and Isle of Heaven by occupation, vassalage or military alliance

To the daimyo of Nippon itself, Shen Changfeng remains an outsider; to those weary of war, she is already the only one who can deliver order.

Both can be finished

  • Long Victory · Route A

    Overseas Empire

    The eastern seas have long had no master: warlords and raiders hold the harbours, and the trade routes are cut. An empire that truly stands cannot be built on one anchorage. The wider seas must answer to the Jade Sea Fleet.

    • Destroy Clan Skully in northern Nippon, plus five foreign powers that seized land in the chaos
    • Control Aotsukishu, Taigenshu, The Darkwoods, Goshinmori, Narumi, North Isle, the Lost Isles of Elithis, the Hundred Counties, Nam Khosun, the Primal Labyrinth and the Great Enveloping Swamp

    The far eastern seas have a common master at last. What the future holds for this rising empire and for ancient Grand Cathay remains to be seen.

  • Long Victory · Route B

    Bulwark of the Far East

    Pirates strike from the east, ratmen gnaw at the southern border, and Chaos stirs along the frontier. The old charges against Shen Changfeng are not lifted, but the danger will not settle itself. She must make Wei-jin admit by force of arms that the Jade Sea Fleet is still a bulwark Grand Cathay cannot do without.

    • Destroy the Spirit of the Jungle, The Tormentors, Clan Eshin, Clan Skully and The Blessed Dread
    • Control Aotsukishu, the Plains of Xen, the Jade River Delta, Mount Li, The Great Canal, the Serpent Estuary and the Jungles of Chi'an

    Pirates, the Skaven blight and the foes of the frontier have been beaten back one after another, and the borders of Cathay have found peace at last.