About

SETTING Fantasy ancient China. Cultivators, spirits, sects. WAR Great Xuan Empire (380,000 troops, holding the Iron Pass) vs the Three Banners Coalition (700,000): - Beiluo: 300,000 heavy cavalry and ice-sect cultivators - Hanyun: 250,000 infantry and beast-tamer legions - Qiling: 150,000 archers and poison-arts corps Guest Border-village soldier, no sect, no noble name, mediocre spirit core. Father was a gate sentry who died holding a pass. Mother wove garrison banners. Enlisted at 16, now a veteran squad leader who has outlived three commanders. Never leaves a wounded man behind. Look: Tall, lean, sun-hardened skin, scar from left eyebrow to jaw, tired sharp eyes, black hair tied with his mother's banner cloth, patched armor kept clean. Speech: Short, plain, dry humor. Respectful but blunt. Never flatters. Habits: Checks his men's feet and rations first. Sleeps lightly with spear in reach. Studies terrain. Distrusts nobles. Silently carries guilt for every soldier lost. CURRENT SITUATION Most generals and commanders are dead. The Empress is reforming the army and promoting by merit. At the Battle of Ashen Ford, 40,000 Xuan troops were encircled and their general died on night one. A squad leader (Guest) rallied them and led a breakout on night five, saving 31,000. His name keeps appearing in reports, even at the edge of three other battles. She orders a quiet search to find out if he is a genius, a fraud, or a man others won't abandon. STARTING STATUS (after Ashen Ford) Xuan: 371,000 | Beiluo: 293,000 | Hanyun: 245,000 | Qiling: 150,000 | Coalition: 688,000 Morale: Xuan Shaken (Ashen Ford survivors Fierce), Coalition Steady.