Yongjing

Adapted and inspired from WotC's Journey's through the Radiant Citadel.

For centuries, the nation of Great Xing has been synonymous with power and prestige, with no finer example than the country's glorious capital: Yongjing. The city teems with scholars, bureaucrats, artisans, and performers. But Yongjing was not always so vibrant. Beneath the fine floor tiles and immaculate garden paths lie the remains of prior dynasties and their long-dead citizens - concealing a turbulent past marked by war, subjugation, and famine.
The rule of the Xing dynasty has brought wealth, stability, and peace to Great Xing. But now the imperial secret of longevity has been exhausted, which means the White Jade Emperor's long reign will end soon. The Grand Secretary who governs Great Xing according to the emperor's command knows that it's only a matter of time before word of the emperor's impending death gets out and the stability of the empire is put to the test.

Features

Those familiar with Yongjing know the following details:
Hallmarks. Yongjing is known for its courtly drama and labyrinthine bureaucracy. Its rulers enjoy exceptionally long lifespans.
People. Humans, dwarves, and elves make up most of the population of Yongjing, with humans outnumbering dwarves and elves two to one. Almost all residents have black hair, warm skin tones, and rounded faces.
Languages. Xingyu is the primary language of Yongjing (free language for those local to Yongjing), and most residents are also fluent in Common and Elivsh. Xingyu is written in the Elven script, though scholars and upper-class citizens often also learn the language's older and more complicated pictograph representations.

Noteworthy Sites

The city of Yongjing is a bustling network of tightly packed buildings and narrow alleys. A wide central avenue bisects the city and connects the grand palaces of the emperor's court through a series of plazas.

Hall of Divine Wisdom

Each morning, the Gate of Ascendance is thrown open, and petitioners seeking the ear of the emperor crowd onto the plaza in front of the palace known as the Hall of Divine Wisdom. Ministers interview each petitioner - and swiftly reject requests too trivial to warrant the emperor's involvement. The plaza is also a prime location for pickpockets and spies. Most days, wealthy petitioners are turned away and must seek other means to solve their problems.

Inner Butterfly Court

The north side of the city is taken up by the palaces of the royal court, which make up their own district - the Inner Butterfly Court. Only the emperor's family and their attendants are permitted in this area, and most residents rarely leave the district except for opera performances and holiday festivals.
Spousal palaces line the east and west sides of the Inner Butterfly Court, each building the residence of a royal spouse and their children. Two larger central palaces are occupied by the emperor, who resides in the Palace of Heavenly Command and reserves the Palace of Favored Unity for visits with his expansive family.

Kiln District

The southwest part of Yongjing houses hundreds of earthen kilns, where the famed white-and-blue porcelain of Great Xing is painted and fired. Potters work in assembly lines to meet a quota of hundreds of pieces a day, with twenty percent of those pieces going to the emperor. Xing porcelain fetches exorbitant prices in foreign markets, so armed guards accompany every shipment that leaves the city. At the Office of Authenticity, imperial artificers apply intricate identifying marks to each piece. Despite this, counterfeiting is a constant problem.

The Old City

Over the centuries, the rulers of Yongjing have expanded and updated the city, building on top of existing architecture. As a result, many structures conceal forgotten chambers, hidden passages, dusty traps, and ancient artifacts beneath their floors. Expeditions into the subterranean Old City are common, whether staged officially on behalf of the emperor or undertaken in secret by criminals and treasure hunters.

Life in Yongjing

Residents of Yongjing take great pride in their city and frequently boast about everything from its venerable age and historic architecture to its lack of unsavory elements - such as the rats and diseases that are so common in other, lesser cities.

Chasing Longevity

The importance of a long life is drilled into children from an early age. The folk of the empire and Yongjing proudly consider their society a meritocracy, where anyone can work hard and rise above their current station - provided they live long enough. Therefore, citizens maintain healthy lifestyles, drink medicinal teas, and carry symbols of longevity such as long-lived animals or plants.

Court Intrigue and Succession

In the imperial court, tradition dictates that the social standing of each member of the emperor's family is determined by the preferences of the emperor. If the emperor publicly favors one spouse over another, the pecking order is reset accordingly, and everyone must quickly adjust their behavior to recognize this new hierarchy.
At no time is an emperor's favor in greater question than when they die. Rarely do Yongjing's long-lived rulers have to consider the prospect of death, and they put even less consideration into designating a particular heir from among their shorter-lived family members. When an emperor dies unexpectedly, a period of squabbling follows, as imperial family members, secret offspring, and pretenders produce evidence of being the past emperor's favorite. These squabbles ultimately devolve into secret wars, as the Inner Butterfly Court becomes beset by intrigue, assassinations, and disappearances until a single heir claims and holds the throne for a year's time. Only then is that individual universally accepted as the new emperor.

Delicious Bounty

A typical meal in Yongjing might include sweet or savory buns, salty pork, and stir-fried dandelion leaves. Wintertime stews are flavored with bone marrow and laden with sliced lotus root, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. In summer, Yongjing's courtyard gardens are filled to bursting with oranges, lychees, plums, and peaches.

Fashion and Society

Clothing in Yongjing favors loose and flowing styles - and the wealthier the wearer, the more elaborate the embroidery. Ministers are identifiable by their black winged caps, while members of the royal family wear elaborate headdresses.
The households of city residents are built around the clan, made up of several generations of family members and multiple spouses of any gender, typically joined through arranged marriages. A clear hierarchy within each of these complex familial structures helps to facilitate social harmony. Members of a clan keep close eyes on one another, because the deeds of an individual affect the social standing of the clan as a whole.

Grand Dynasty

Yongjing is the governmental center of the flourishing Xing dynasty. At the top sits the White Jade Emperor, the third since the rise of the Xing dynasty. Like nearly all the previous monarchs, the emperor is a elf, with a life span long enough to have experienced the cyclical nature of history firsthand - a trait considered necessary to rule.

Imperial Service

Most of Yongjing's bureaucrats are of elvish lineages. A Grand Secretary appointed by the emperor leads the Octadic Council, a group made up of the leaders of the city's eight Ministries: Agriculture, Arcana, Bureaucracy, Culture, Diplomacy, Finance, Imperial Lineage, and Public Works. A position in one of the bustling ministry offices is the most prestigious employment in Great Xing, promising lifelong access to luxury and elevated status for an entire family. Children from all backgrounds study for the annual Imperial Exams, hoping to score high enough to be selected to fill a vacancy. Those who show aptitude for more clandestine work might be selected to join the ranks of the Imperial Ghosts, versatile soldiers who serve as spies for the empire.

Names

Names in Great Xing are ungendered and place an individual's family name before their personal name. Personal names are formed of two words; the first is usually determined by birth order, social status, or rank, and the second is an aspirational or lucky name representing the parents' hopes for their child. The following names are common in Xing:
Family Names. Jia, Ke, Li, Song, Sun, Tai, Tian, Xing (royal family only)
Status. Bo (firstborn), Meng (firstborn), Xia (second-born), Zhong (second-born), Shu (third-born), Ji (fourth-born or more), Jun (noble), Si (heir), Wen (scholar)
Aspirational. Jie (heroic), Mei (charming), Ming (bright), Qian (rising), Tong (leader), Yi (virtuous), Zi (gentle)

Characters from Yongjing

If players want to create characters from Yongjing, consider asking them the following questions during character creation:
Do you have family connections to the emperor? Do you use those connections to make your life easier, or do you conceal them to reduce the threat of assassinations or intrigue?
What personal symbol of longevity do you carry? Is it an elephant, a turtle, or another long-lived animal, or perhaps ever-growing bamboo or some other ageless plant? If you don't carry a symbol, why is that?
Do you serve the empire in some official means? Do you serve as a bureaucrat, having passed the Imperial Exams? Are you one of the emperor's defenders? Or have you left such service behind?

Pronunciations

The Yongjing Pronunciations table shows how to pronounce names that appear in this adventure.

Yongjing Pronunciations

Name Pronunciation
Deng Bo Huan dung boh hwan
Lio Gong lyo gong
Lu Zhong Yin loo jong yin
Tulao too-lao
Wei Feng Ying way fung ying
Xing shing
Yongjing yong-jing