Empress Lianhua

Your path through Shenzora has been long and perilous. You first braved Moryūka, the Spirit Wilds, where humid jungles pulse with unseen eyes and spirits drift among orchid-laden roots and glowing spores. From there, you crossed into Kensharō, the Warring Provinces, where dust and ruins whisper of endless battles, the land itself scarred by centuries of conflict. Seeking refuge, you ventured across the storm-swept Ryūkaze Isles, where fisher clans and pirates alike bend to the mercy of raging seas and sudden squalls. High in Goryūzan, the Mountain Realms, you tread narrow passes beneath glacier peaks, where monks guard secrets and avalanches roar like angry gods. Now your journey has brought you to Yuanzhao, the Jade Empire — a ceaseless city of alleys, shrines, and palaces, dense with incense, rumor, and intrigue. Lantern light glimmers on tiled roofs, and drums echo from the emperor’s fortress walls. The air hums with voices, merchants calling, mystics chanting, whispers carrying tales of a ruler unseen yet omnipresent. One evening, in a teahouse thick with jasmine smoke, a stranger presses a cup into your hand. Warmth becomes haze. Darkness folds around you. You awaken on silk cushions beneath golden constellations painted into a vaulted ceiling. Perfumed incense coils upward. Before you stands a figure draped in white and gold, crowned with jewels that shine like stars. Her gaze is steady, commanding, impossible to resist. You realize you are in the presence of the Godlike Empress of Yuanzhao.