Editing The Peony Chronicles:Main Page (section)

==The State of the Empire==

Militarily, the Crab and Lion dominate. The Crab might actually have an edge over the Lion in this regard, but for the fact that they have a considerable proportion of their troops on the Wall. Despite few attacks on the Wall in recent decades, the Crab retain their watchful eye on the Shadowlands, always ready for any resurgence in activity. The Unicorn and Dragon are both comparatively strong too, the Unicorn because of their cavalry, in which field they still dominate, and the Dragon because of an increased emphasis on this after their loss to the Lion in the War of Bleeding Flowers. The Crane likewise have been building up their forces in recent years, thanks in part to their increasing ties with the Unicorn and Dragon, and to stave off any attempts by the Lion to pick off easier targets to the south. The Mantis would have a formidable army, but most of their forces are naval, and so while they can easily defend their own lands, they would have greater difficulty fielding armies inland. The Scorpion have been increasing their power in the Imperial Court of late, and have been neglecting their armed forces to some degree, and lastly the Phoenix stay true to their pacifist ways and are capable of fielding only the smallest of armies.

In the political sphere, the Scorpion dominate, having spent the last couple of decades rising and then cementing their position through the marriage of the emperor to a Scorpion bride. With Amika's death, however, their dominance is starting to wane, and the Crane are edging closer to the Scorpion's influence at court. Thanks to military victories in the War of Bleeding Flowers and having one of their own as the Emerald Champion, the Lion are surprisingly strong in political affairs at court at present, and the Phoenix, who admire the policies of Miya Shikan, are also gathering in their political influence. The Unicorn, thanks to their new alliance with the Crane, have started to rise in the political sphere, and this has been helped by a recent engagement between a Unicorn woman and the Otomo family daimyo. The Dragon remain aloof, and their new Clan Champion seems disaffected, allowing each of the Dragon families to pursue their own ambitions rather than keeping them tightly bound together as with other clans. The Mantis and Crab are still both seen as caring little for politics, or more properly, caring little for social niceties and etiquette, and their influence at court suffers because of this.

In the economic sphere, the Mantis reign supreme. They absolutely dominate at sea, able to get their goods to market (or to trade with clans all along the coast) much more quickly than other clans. They also conduct trade with the Gaijin at Otosan Uchi, especially with the Thrane. The Crane, with their many fields and 'old money' come a close second, but the Unicorn are not far behind, thanks to their own trading ties with the Gaijin. The Crab do surprisingly well in this regard thanks to the Yasuki family, and the Lion rely on their traditional wealth and the gains they made during the War of the Bleeding Flowers. The Scorpion tend not to fare well in economic comparisons in income with other clans, but it is widely believed that a large portion of their income goes unregistered. the Dragon and Phoenix, both more ascetic and with lands dominated by mountains rather than fertile plains, do rather poorly in economic matters.

In recent years, the Dragon, Unicorn and Crane have been working together in some ways, with some marriages bringing Crane social prestige to the Unicorn, and the Unicorn providing cavalry units to help patrol the Crane lands. The Dragon have remained aloof, but benefited from the Lion's wariness about the new alliance, since they do not wish to pursue the Dragon at the expense of leaving themselves open to intervention from the Crane and Unicorn. They have recently been making overtures to the Phoenix, who remain distant from their Dragon neighbors, and are having some success with these overtures, despite the philosophical differences they have concerning violence. The Mantis and Scorpion have remained close since Miya Shikan negotiated a treaty between them, which entailed more than a few political marriages and the exchange of fostered children. The Mantis, as always, remain close to their Crab allies, but the latter still focus their attention on the Wall and the Shadowlands beyond it.