The Hanxi Imperial Palace

The Glorious Seat of the Ancient Empire

The foundation of Hanxi, the grand empire that has dominated world politics for almost all of Iocrade's history, is a defining event of the Era of Strife, the roughly 250-year period from 1 CE to 250 CE that marked the rise of early civilization resisting the many challenges of nature. Among the small single-settlement governments and the small tribal confederacies that dotted the world during this time, it was Hanxi that stood head and shoulders above all others, despite civil strife and war, as the bastion of order and law of this age. A monument to this event, and the divine support of the Gods, is the Imperial Palace. This structure is unique, irreplaceable, and considered to be the single most beautiful piece of architecture ever conceived by many.
Constructed by the servants of Utopia, the plane of absolute order and law, this palace houses the entire central government of the expansive and populous Hanxi empire. The Emperor's many administrators and noble bureaucrats are housed here, alongside soldiers, guests, family, and so much more. It is a center for arts, culture, literature, records, and academics. The importance of this structure cannot be overstated, and its fall would be the functional collapse of the Hanxi Empire - most of all, because it houses the vital founding document of the Empire, the Utopian Edict.

History

The Hanxi Imperial Palace was the result of the conquests of Emperor Cezak of the Yuè Dynasty, the first Emperor of Hanxi, in the first century CE. The conquests of Emperor Cezak remain foundational cultural memories of the Hanxi cultures, in no small part because of the overt and explicit support of Utopia for his conquests, a favour that was never shown to any Emperor to follow. Cezak, formerly Cen Baifu, was known to be a master of debate and argument, a brilliant orator, a genius writer, a masterful politician, an unparalleled warrior, a brilliant general, and a gifted economist. While this praise is all quite justified, there is no doubt that his power was largely the result of the direct divine intervention of the God Cezakiu from whom he took his imperial name, and the gift of the Conqueror's Arms, liquid metal arm prosthetics made of Horacalcum that allowed his mind and body to operate faster than any other human being in the world. His sleepless nights spent writing the Utopian Edict and its endless legal minutia were the direct result of divine inspiration.
Upon the completion of the Utopian Edict in 60 CE, hosts of Inevitables descended from the sky, bringing with them an enormous block of green jade, from which they shaped an equally enormous structure in the space of a day. This building was and remains the most resplendent, even decadent structure in the world - its materials, if sold off, would likely be worth more than the annual GDP of almost any nation on the planet. This palace would become the seat of government for the entire Hanxi Empire, and with it came a green jade crown that gave the Emperor skin akin to adamantine for as long as he wore it. This event was the true foundation of the most powerful and long-lived Empire in the world. That has not, however, given it a spotless history.
The Hanxi Imperial Palace is the place where, in 61 CE, the first Katha Kavadi tributaries sent their gifts to the Emperor, and the Naketao tribes soon after in 68 CE. In this same year, an ambassador of the dragons, Guoteng, came to speak to the Emperor and earned Imperial Dragons a place of sanctuary and comfort in Hanxi, bringing their minds and their magical arts to enrich the nation. It is where imperial academics and inventors devised the first repeating crossbow in 82 CE. The palace is also where Emperor Cezak, in 97 CE, recognized his own incoming mortality and focused on grooming his five sons into suitable heirs for the empire he crafted, and where his youngest son Cen Chin was selected to become the next Emperor 102 CE, who rose to power in 105 CE when Emperor Cezak abdicated. This began the age of Emperor Yuanpei and his codification of Hanxi feudalism and his writing of many seminal books. And, in 136 CE, the Emperor's brother Cen Long seized the throne and was promptly admonished and declared illegitimate by Utopia and the Utopian Edict, turning his army against him and returning a good and just Emperor to the throne, the teenage Emperor Huifu. The Imperial Palace would only be attacked again in 210 CE when Empress Tang committed suicide as a coup attempted to depose her, and the Emperor to follow, Emperor Bai, dragged the nation into an age of pain and poverty before his eventual, and brutal, fall.
The Palace has remained the most important structure in the Empire. It has always been the center of government of the Empire since its foundation, and the Hanxi government has never gone into exile or had to leave the palace. Government appointments in the Palace are the most effective way to get close to the Emperor, appointments to which allow the Emperor to keep tabs on his most powerful nobles.

Architecture

As aforementioned, the Hanxi Imperial Palace is a structure carved from a single solid block of green jade. This jade is magically resilient to damage and tarnishing, and thus the palace has remained pristine for over 1300 years. The main centrepiece of the palace is the throne room, which is over 100 meters long from the entrance to the throne itself, which is a piece of carved jade directly attached to the core block of the structure. Forty pillars flank the walk to the throne, gilded in pure gold. Above and behind the throne is a hold relief depicting Emperor Cezak fighting Stormaki raiders in glorious detail - around daybreak, light shines through the holes and shines down on the Emperor when he is sat on his throne and makes the Emperor's eyes in the relief glow. Access to Renepalian crystal glass has allowed the Emperor's architects to seal these holes without losing the effect. Naturally, the throne room also contains many items on display, various arts and academic works kept in clear, magically protected cases for all visitors to see and marvel at.
The Imperial War Room is a complex structure housed next to the throne room, to the right - the centrepiece of the room is a world map, magically animated, over 50 meters at its longest point, comparable to a football field, in a room 80 meters long. This map can zoom into any arbitrary point on it, and show that area in great detail geographically, though this does not directly provide information - this is not a real-time view of the world, simply an amazingly detailed magical map with settlements and geography. In times of war, the Emperor and his generals will convene here to move pieces across the board and plan their campaigns and battles. And in times of peace, generals will orchestrate wargames on this map for the Emperor's pleasure, who attentively watches to see which of his finest leaders prove to be the wisest and most talented leaders. The walls are full of racks and stands that hold the finest master-crafted equipment available to Hanxi - however, they may not be taken without the Emperor's permission, never in anger unless the Emperor gives permission knowing aggressive intentions, and should the Emperor rescind his permission, the weapon will be drawn back to its rack. The map is a sight for duels and sparing between champion warriors, making these often larger-than-life warriors seem all the more incredible as they fight like giants across the magically formed landscape, displacing water into tsunamis, cracking the earth with their footsteps, and slicing down city towers with misplaced swings of their daos.
The Imperial Library is on the opposite side of the War Room, and houses the single largest collection of literature in the known world short of the Akashic Library itself. Three levels of bookshelves house tens of thousands of books in a three-tiered reverse-step pyramid style structure, with the most common books housed among the lower levels, and the higher levels filled with rarer books. Many of the highest-level books are one-of-a-kind manuscripts, original versions of culturally irreplaceable Hanxi literature, annotated copies belonging to some of the greatest thinkers of history, and so on. Furthermore, one can find a selection of quiet rooms, which can house a reader in near-absolute silence - which was found to be quite unhelpful for concentrating, and so now include ambience of the reader's choice.
The next floor up mostly houses dozens of offices and apartments where lesser nobles and educated people in the Empire are hired to live and work as administrators, covering thousands of vital bureaucratic jobs. Those who live in the Imperial Palace like this live in the laps of luxury compared to almost anyone in the Empire short of reigning nobles themselves. These important administrative tasks are rarely, if ever, filled by a high-ranking noble, and instead are typically the realm of sons and daughters with no prospect of inheritance, or those of unlanded noble families. However, Hanxi's robust public education system has allowed plenty of low-born people to reach these jobs. No soldiers live inside of the palace - bearing arms in the palace without the Emperor's express permission is considered tantamount to treason, or an attempt on the Emperor's life.
At the very top of the Imperial Palace is the Imperial Shrine - such a humble name belies the utterly stunning cathedral to Cezakiu and the Imperial Family that sits there. This structure houses the Utopian Edict itself, and the holy order of eunuch monks responsible for protecting the document, and determining if any of the Emperor's vassals have defied its rules. It is highly improper for any noble to miss the annual congregation in this very shrine, where they are expected to admit to every action they took that they feared may be in defiance of the Edict, and justify their choice. The Utopian Edict will catch fire if any of them knowingly lie or omit their mistakes or necessary sacrifices. Needless to say, lying to the Gods and the Emperor is considered to be quite a serious crime.
Finally, under the Palace is the Imperial Mausoleum, where all reigning imperial families have interred their dead for as long as Hanxi has existed. Every body put in this Mausoleum, once given a week's time to ensure that there is no chance that they are alive, is then sealed in by bricks, so that the body and their many ceremonial grave goods cannot be accessed by nefarious actors. This Mausoleum is also hallowed ground, protecting from malevolent influences of all kinds. Most Emperors undergo a process of magical mummification to make sure that they are preserved - as the bastions of order chosen by Utopia, it is seen as an important symbol to preserve the bodies, unchanged and forever pristine.
Other rooms dot the palace - its sheer size precludes adequately describing every single one in detail. There are also ornate and complex ornamental gardens surrounding the palace, covering 12 square kilometres in total and maintained by a veritable legion of labourers and gardeners. This includes magical plants, including a field of Goodberry Bushes freely accessed by the poor to sustain them in times of hardship. Just outside of these gardens is a barracks housing the personal guard of the Emperor himself, a force of elite soldiers who train their whole lives to be the finest cataphracts and champions of his Majesty's army. Even they, however, may only enter the palace with direct imperial ascent - the punishment for doing so without it is emasculation, followed by death by exsanguination. However, the Emperor is free to forgive his soldiers if their transgression was justified by circumstances.

Information

Type: Palace, Seat of Government, Administrative Capitol
Size: Colossal, Footprint of Over 200 Meters in all Directions (significantly larger considering gardens)
Nation: The Empire of Hanxi
Materials: Green Jade, Gold, Porcelain Bricks, Crystal Glass
Builder: Cezakiu, Patron God of Hanxi; the Inevitables of Utopia

Type

Palace