Hope you liked this first story! I've got a bunch more already done or in progress, so if you did enjoy, more will be coming! If you hated it... I think they're getting better, so maybe come back and try again later? Or not? Totally up to you!
I'm still figuring out just how I want to write these stories and build the world, so each story has a different approach, focus, and style. This first one is quite brusque, and got quite deep into politics - probably a bit too much for a first story. I promise, the majority of the other ones are more action/adventure-y. Swords, magic, romance, a whole mix of high and literary fantasy.
I'm also looking for beta readers, because right now it's just me and my lonely thoughts on this (my usual editors don't like fantasy. No, I don't know what's wrong with them). So if you're interested message me.
Also thought I should share a few world-building notes to help clarify some things that are mentioned in the story, but not explained, in case anyone's interested. So here goes!
Notes From The Central Empire
The Ten Values of Heaven: A "great chain of being" type social hierarchy chart that classifies people based on their occupation and (usually) birth. The Emperor is at the top of the chain, supported by the ten Kings/Queens of the Central Empire. Each King or Queen is then supported by ten Dukes, and so on and so forth. The Empire is basically super into powers of ten.
The ten values are:
1. The Emperor/Empress.
2. Kings/Queens.
3. Dukes/Duchesses (mostly military leaders)
4. Courtiers (direct servants of the Emperor, including Ministers)
5. Scholars and bureaucrats (the moral and thought leaders)
6. Professional soldiers
7. Land-owners/nobles
8. Skilled workers
9. Laborers (including peasant farmers)
10. Others/untouchables (former convicts, prostitutes, etc.)
If you're a nerd like me, you'll want to do the math to figure out how many people this would result in. The answer is somewhere around 115,000,000 (assuming about three million in the "others" category, not one billion). The reality is far more complicated though, as I'm working with a total population of about 160,000,000, far more unevenly dispersed across the social strata than a simple 10 by 10 by 10 repeating system would allow.
Ancient Castle of Liangyong: The old Imperial capital city that's considered the height of the Central Empire's gaudiness. Featured in an upcoming story.
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Shuli Go Stories Vol. 1: Beyond the Mists
FantasyZhao Lian is a sheriff without a county. A member of an old magical order called the Shuli Go, she was raised to uphold the law and protect her fellow citizens. But after her order was disassembled, she was left with no choice but to wander in searc...
