The Jade Empire - OOC Thread

[IgnitedxSoul]

I understand where you are coming from, but I am sorry, I cannot bend the rules in this instance. Characters need to be approved before they enter the story. Also, we need to make them available to the other players.

All roleplays first begin with character creation. It's the way a roleplay works. Creating characters first provides the framework for player actions and interactions, and story development.

You do not need to completely flesh out your characters, but just include a couple of sentences for each of the criteria in the template.

Perhaps you misunderstood me, I wasn't asking for you to bend any rules. I wasn't asking to make a post and then get the character approved.

I guess the only thing I was asking was to keep my place in the post order while I sort out the character and the post.

 

[Louanne Learning]

keep my place in the post order while I sort out the character and the post.

Sounds good. I'm looking forward to getting the details about your character. But this does need to done before the post to the official story is made. It's just the way a roleplay works.

 

[buttercream]

I notice that air is not one of the five traditional elements in the wuxing system, yet air plays a significant role in steampunk.

There's a lot of ways we can then take this - what role does air play in the system? Good or bad?

Or - I'm thinking - the complete fusion of good and bad in one?

Air and wind are associated with Wood, the phase of growth and change. Sometimes positive, other times causing imbalance and frustration. Whether a character views air and the steampunk inventions it powers as good or bad can depend entirely on their perception, and maybe a specific object's purpose as well.

The good/bad fusion would be Earth, the balance of all things and center of the yin-yang, even more stabilizing than Wood can be. Since all the elements and their phases are connected in cycles, the air of steampunk contributing to or offsetting the worldly balance wouldn't be far-fetched.

Definitely a lot of possibilities.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Air and wind are associated with Wood, the phase of growth and change. Sometimes positive, other times causing imbalance and frustration. Whether a character views air and the steampunk inventions it powers as good or bad can depend entirely on their perception, and maybe a specific object's purpose as well.

The good/bad fusion would be Earth, the balance of all things and center of the yin-yang, even more stabilizing than Wood can be. Since all the elements and their phases are connected in cycles, the air of steampunk contributing to or offsetting the worldly balance wouldn't be far-fetched.

Definitely a lot of possibilities.

Fascinating stuff, and I think a wonderful addition to our story.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help with your entry into the lore thread.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Hello all, sorry to report that @nellafantasia will not be able to participate after all, at least for now, and may join at a later date.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Hello, I have updated the opening post to this thread and the Settings and Lore thread with the following information about the wilderness region to the west of Shanghai where eventually our story will lead.

Jixi County, Xuancheng, Anhui, China

This wilderness region, approximately 300 km (185 miles) west of Shanghai, was very sparsely populated in 1858.

Containing rugged mountains and vast swaths of forested valleys, it was home to bandits, hermits, Daoist practitioners, or reclusive monks.

It’s about a seven-day ride on horseback from Shanghai to Jixi.

From Shanghai, you’d travel west through the Yangtze Delta, then into Zhejiang or southern Jaingsu, crossing into the hilly terrain of southern Anhui. The last stretch through southern Anhui (Huangshan/Xuancheng area) is mountainous and forested, which would slow progress significantly.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Hello all, I have made a new post to the official story!

Post in thread 'The Jade Empire - Official story'

Jun 8, 2025

Daiyu strode through the courtyard of their Nanshi home and entered the sparsely-furnished main chamber, dimly lit by gaslight. She stopped short at the scene that greeted her. Her grandparents and parents sat stoically on stools, on either side of the room. Between them stood the matchmaker, an old woman named Tíng, and a stout man dressed in crisp linens whom she had never seen before. She glanced from one face to another. “What’s this?”

Her father, Hao, dropped his eyes. Her mother, Mei, came towards her and guided her to sit on the stool she’d vacated. “My dear daughter,” she began...

• Louanne Learning

• 

I've begun to lay the foundation for the events that will eventually see our characters go west, to the Jixi wilderness.

There's two ways we can approach this - they all cross paths in Shanghai, or do not meet up until they are all in the wilderness.

It is up to you!

There is no need to rush. We can take a couple of rounds of entries to get them on convergent paths.

@IgnitedxSoul - do you have one or two characters ready to enter the story?

 

[Louanne Learning]

our characters go west, to the Jixi wilderness.

Should we have them all go by horseback, or in personal steam-powered airships?

Something like a carriage in the sky?

 

[Louanne Learning]

Should we have them all go by horseback, or in personal steam-powered airships?

Something like a carriage in the sky?

I think both should be available. That anyone could hire either a horse or a personal airship.

I'm thinking of Rennie, who want to disappear into the woods.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Here's a little guidance if you'd like to include a personal airship in a scene (also posted to the Lore thread) -

A personal steam-powered airship:

- a fusion of Eastern artistry and Western industrialization. Made of such materials as teakwood etched with mother-of-pearl inlays, the gondola could have stained-glass windows depicting mythic Chinese creatures.

About the size of a carriage, some are two-seaters, and larger ones are four-seaters.

The steam engine – hissing pistons and clanking gears and steam-release valves - is below the gondola.

Above the gondola is the gas envelope, housing helium. A network of bamboo struts and steam-release valves there regulate altitude and stability.

The interior follows a Victorian aesthetic with velvet-upholstered benches, and a dashboard with compass, levers, gauges and valves.

Most Developed People (the Fādá) own their own personal steamship, but most Elemental People (the Yuánsù), if they require one, would have to hire one (much like someone could hire a horse at a stable.)

 

[Louanne Learning]

@ellekaldwin @buttercream

Unfortunately, @IgnitedxSoul will not have the time after all to participate.

Also, tomorrow I am leaving on vacation, returning June 21. While I will have access to a computer to check in once in a while, I will not have time to write. But @ellekaldwin - your post is expected by this coming Monday, and @buttercream - you have until the next Monday, so that should work out well.

I am very excited to see what you come up with!!

 

[buttercream]

Should we have them all go by horseback, or in personal steam-powered airships?

Something like a carriage in the sky?

Ooh, the airships sound so cool.

How they travel would partially depend on if they all meet in Shanghai first, wouldn't it? I could see Jian, Tala, Daiyu, and Shaohua using the airships, altogether or in pairs, but Rennie seems like a horseback kind of guy to me, so it's hard to say. Lots of possibilities.

 

[Louanne Learning]

I could see Jian, Tala, Daiyu, and Shaohua using the airships, altogether or in pairs, but Rennie seems like a horseback kind of guy to me,

I agree, this sounds about right. And the reason Rennie takes off to the wilderness is to lose himself in nature.

 

[Le Panda du Mal]

A couple questions:

In this alternate timeline, is China still under Manchu/ Qing rule?

Are the Opium wars still a thing?

Is the Taiping Rebellion happening?

 

[Louanne Learning]

is China still under Manchu/ Qing rule?

Yes, the walled Chinese city is under Qing rule, but Western influence and power is gaining ground outside the walls

Are the Opium wars still a thing?

Yes. I think the First Opium War ended in 1842, and this story is set in 1858. One of our characters in this story is a Scottish man who enlisted in the English army and then stayed in Shanghai at war's end.

Is the Taiping Rebellion happening?

It would have been, but we have not made mention of it.


Interested in joining?

 

[ellekaldwin]

New entry is up! I'm super nervous for this one. Writing fight scenes has never been my strong suit, so please give me critique and feedback!

 

[Le Panda du Mal]

Yes, the walled Chinese city is under Qing rule, but Western influence and power is gaining ground outside the walls



Yes. I think the First Opium War ended in 1842, and this story is set in 1858. One of our characters in this story is a Scottish man who enlisted in the English army and then stayed in Shanghai at war's end.



It would have been, but we have not made mention of it.


Interested in joining?

I'm thinking about it. How much time do I have to think about it?

 

[Louanne Learning]

New entry is up!

It is literally one of the best things I have ever read in my life! Wow! It completely absorbed by attention, and makes me so excited about where this story is going. You are an extremely gifted story-teller!

'm super nervous for this one. Writing fight scenes has never been my strong suit, so please give me critique and feedback!

The entire entry is masterful!

Thank you so much!

 

[Louanne Learning]

I'm thinking about it. How much time do I have to think about it?

Well, of course, the sooner you join the better it is for all of us and for your character(s) to become part of the unfolding plot.

There's no deadline, but your first step would be to read the opening posts to this thread, and then create one or two characters using the given template and then send them to me by PM for approval. Then you enter into the story rotation.

We'd love to have you!

 

[buttercream]

Writing fight scenes has never been my strong suit, so please give me critique and feedback!

It's great! Easy to understand and didn't go on longer than it needed to. And the setting is fascinating! Locke's a fun antagonist.

Thank you for bringing the steampunk so hard. Jian and Tala add so much life to the story.