Blackflame Empire

The Blackflame Empire is a relatively small chunk of territory located on the northwestern edge of the vast Ashwind Continent. Blackflame Emperor Naru Huan serves as vassal to the far more powerful Akura Malice, a Monarch in control of Western Ashwind Continent. Over the Wasteland border, the dragon-boy Seshethkunaaz is Monarch in control of Eastern Ashwind Continent. Akura (with Blackflame vassal) and Dragon are deadly enemies.

History

See Ashwind Continent History for a brief synopsis covering the ancient and mysterious age of the black dragons, the Dread Wars, the rise and fall of the Imperial House of Blackflame, as well as the rise of the gold dragons, the Akura clan, and the Naru clan.

Rise of House Naru

Fifty years ago, the Blackflame emperor’s servants, the loyal Naru clan, took up the position of leadership, replacing the dying Blackflame clan, riddled with insanity from incompatible madra. They became the face of the Blackflame empire. They did not practice the unstable Path of Black Flame, and with their loyal reputation and shining emerald wings the people grew to trust them. House Naru quietly ascended the imperial throne.
The first Naru ruler, the Empress, has since retired into private seclusion. The present emperor is her son, Naru Huan, Overlord. He is responsible for the welfare of “over a hundred million people” (Underlord ch 3).

The Emperor

The current Blackflame ruler is Emperor Naru Huan, an Overlord. He is the highest ranking sacred artist in the realm. For now... For more information about the emperor himself, see Naru Huan

Vassal to Akura

The emperor is vassal to the Monarch Akura Malice, whose capital seat Moongrave is far south of the border, beyond the Seishen Kingdom, more than 10,000 miles away. The Akura clan owns almost three-quarters of the Ashwind continent — the western side, plus islands, etc. (Skysworn, ch 14)

Eithan transported to Akuran capital: "The Emperor had a gatekey that had transported Eithan over ten thousand miles straight to the entrance, but even such a key couldn't get him in the door. The Akura family Matriarch must have created the gatekey herself, or one of her close disciples, because no one in the Blackflame Empire had such control of space." (Skysworn, ch 12)

Geography, Population, Map

The size of the empire is relatively small, compared to the empire’s overlord, the Akura Family. But it’s yet sizable enough, with mountains and valleys, jungles and a large desert, and a lot of ocean coastland. It took a month for the Arelius cloudship Sky’s Mercy to travel from the Transcendent Ruins to Serpent’s Grave (Blackflame, ch 5). It’s hundreds of miles from Serpent’s Grave to Sacred Valley (Reaper, 7)
The population of the Blackflame Empire is “over a hundred million people” (Underlord ch 3).
This map of the empire and borderlands is fan-made. It shows approximate locations, and is roughly scaled, based on the ten books. Some locations are certain, such as Sky’s Edge being directly west of Sacred Valley, and the Desolate Wilds directly east of Sacred Valley. The map is simplified, interpretive and liable to change with new information. See also a map of Sacred Valley.

Major clans

Imperial Naru Clan runs the empire and the Skysworn. The disgraced Jai Clan is exiled out west (before he disgraced his entire clan, the Jai Patriarch stayed at his palace in Serpent’s Grave). The fierce Kotai clan man the seas and the northern seawall (Skysworn). The Redflower clan is responsible for feeding the empire — by farming — so they are neutral in any clan skirmishes:

Only the Redflower family was untouched, as expected: a pair of Jai clansmen escorted a group with flowers on their chests away from the chaos of the battle. The Redflowers grew food for the Empire, and if one of them died, the Skysworn would come down on the Jai clan like a hammer. (Blackflame, ch 17)

The Brightcrown clan handles organized medical care:

A medical attendant from the Brightcrown family stood inside his tent, attending to Lindon alone, hands folded in front of him. Lindon had wondered about the family name before he’d seen one; each member of the family had a floating golden crown over their heads. As the Arelius family commanded the cleaning crews and maintenance workers all across the Empire, so the Brightcrowns controlled organized medicine. (Underlord, ch 11)

. . and House Arelius takes out the trash ;)

Skysworn

The Empire is defended by the Skysworn, an elite imperial force. The commander is Captain Naru Gwei, the emperor’s uncle. Headquarters are located in Starsweep Tower on Stormrock, a mobile cloud fortress/city. Among the squad leaders are Bai Rou and Renfei.

Sacred Valley

Jai Chen

“We're going to the very outskirts of imperial territory,” she said...
“People there have forgotten about the Empire.”

-Skysworn, ch 9

Not really an active part of the Blackflame Empire, this mysterious valley rubs right up to its western border. See map of Sacred Valley. It’s the land that time forgot. Some call it cursed. Owned and tightly controlled by Monarch Akura Malice. Restricted. A forbidden valley. No trespassing. . . And the practice of sacred arts does not work so well here.

Gesha hit him again. “Blackflame Empire covers more land than you think. The Emperor holds the title to the Desolate Wilds, only there’s nothing he wants out there, so he leaves us to ourselves. The empire stretches past the mountain range to the west of us, but I couldn’t tell you just how far, could I?” Lindon had grown up in the mountain range to the west of the Desolate Wilds, and he could say with confidence that no one there had heard of the Blackflame Empire. It was widely accepted that the land outside Sacred Valley was untamed and barbaric. (Blackflame chapter 8)

Inside the Empire

Labyrinth Gates

A Labyrinth runs under the empire and far beyond it, with known entrances in Serpent’s Grave, the Transcendent Ruins, and the Western Labyrinth. The Western Labyrinth Gate is somewhere out west, towards the Desolate Wilds. Jai Daishou illegally entered it and took forbidden weapons, including the Archstone and the Ancestor’s Spear (Skysworn ch 2). The labyrinth is strictly off-limits, by imperial edict, because it led to the Dread Wars.

Cities

Black Dragon Days

Serpent’s Grave was a city built from ancient, giant dragon bones.
Almost every building was either carved into a towering rib,
supported by yellowed fangs, or resting inside a skull

-Reaper

Serpent's Grave -- At the desert’s edge. Seventh largest city, built on dragon bones on Shiryu Mountain, where the last of the dragons had gone to die. Once capital of old imperial Blackflame Empire, who appropriated the dragon’s Path and went mad. See Ashwind Continent History. Serpent’s Grave is/ was Orthos’s home, in the Blackflame Training Grounds. According to Eithan Arelius, there’s a gate to the Labyrinth. House Arelius has a service hub. The Jai Clan has a palace up on the mountain. (Blackflame, ch 8-10)

⭐️Blackflame City - Current imperial capital city, home to the royal family of Emperor Naru Huan.

"The capital of the Blackflame Empire was surrounded by sharp, jagged walls of fractured obsidian so large that he wondered if they classified as mountains. Smaller gates had been carved through the walls all around, but the main gates rose as high as the walls themselves. Each gate was flanked by a towering statue in the same black stone: one, an Emperor with a crown and a long tail. He balanced a carved flame on one extended palm. This long-past Emperor stood facing his counterpart, an Empress with a similar crown and long tail, an identical flame on her palm as well...The Imperial Capital might have been the size of the entire Sacred Valley." (Underlord)

Stormrock -- Floating cloud fortress / city, with Starsweep Tower, Headquarters of the Skysworn Organization.

Regions

Sea Wall -- Defending the empire's Northern coast from invaders on the Trackless Sea. Home of Underlord Kotai Shou, a sea captain, and the Kotai clan, who have gray skin and bond with fish 🔱. They man the sea wall and guard against the Tidewater Sect, for one, who have “leathery blue-gray skin, gills working at the sides of their necks, and shark teeth; sacred beasts advanced enough to take on human form. Some kind of fish. If that wasn’t the Tidewalker Sect, she’d eat her shoes.” (Uncrowned, ch 12)

Southern Jungle

At the southern edge of the Blackflame Empire, this lush green expanse
had once belonged to the Tanaban clan. Before they had been driven to
extinction by the mad Blackflames. Now, this was the home of a thousand
squabbling families, none large or important enough to be called a clan.

-Skysworn, chapter 1

Southern Jungles -- Vast forests teeming with life aura, powerful and sacred ancestral trees that practice sacred arts, feed on blood and flesh, and develop sight, intelligence, mobility. Prison of The Deepwalker Ape. Home to The Underlady of the Southern Jungles and numerous squabbling families. Problematic borderland with Seishen rival kingdom.

Lastleaf Fortress -- in Southern Jungles, where special plants/trees are grown and elixirs are refined at a sacred arts school. Bleeding Phoenix citing and scene of attack by Redmoon Hall cultists. (see Skysworn)

Desert -- The western side of the empire is mostly desert, running up to western mountain range bordering Sacred Valley, and to the sea in some areas. The Western Labyrinth gate is out west, on Jai clan land.

Desolate Wilds -- Out west. Minor clans, criminals, refugees, and exiles. Lots of illiteracy. This environment is inhospitable. A harsh desert runs up against the western wall of mountains and foothills. A Labyrinth runs beneath it. Poisonous rivers, blackened twisted rotting trees, scores of rotting Dreadbeasts. Inhabitants include the Fisher Sect, the Sandviper Sect, the Purelake Temple sect, and occasionally the Jai Clan

Key places in the Desolate Wilds:

• Pure Lake -- only good water for miles

• Transcendent Ruins -- a section of the immense underground Labyrinth suddenly arose in the Wilderness

• Refuge -- shanty-town. Flooded by refugees from Dreadgod Titan attack. Birthplace of Twin Star Sect (see Bloodline, Reaper)

Border Factions

The Blackflame Empire isn’t huge or mighty, and its sacred artists are limited by weak vital aura. The empire has come under attack recently.

The attacks from the Trackless Sea up north had intensified, the wall that defended them broken by the Dreadgod’s rampage. To the east, the Wastelanders were having a difficult time holding back the dragons, and beyond the southern jungles, the Seishen Kingdom eyed his lands. The Empire his mother had saved from the Blackflame family was now webbed with cracks. One firm tap could send it all crumbling to pieces. Over a hundred million people would divide into a thousand splinter kingdoms, all at war with one another. (Underlord ch 3)

To the west, on the Western Sea near the Trackless Sea, lies the Akura-owned Sky's Edge community, where the rare mineral wintersteel is mined. Also to the West, Sacred Valley lies strictly restricted and forbidden, surrounded by mountains, sea, and desert, under Akura control.

To the east, the Wasteland acts as a buffer between Blackflame lands and the hostile dragon realm. The dragon realm covers the entire eastern half of the Ashwind continent. Ziel helps the Beast King defend Wasteland villages from vicious dragon raids.

To the south, beyond the jungles, is the Seishen Kingdom, where King Dakata covets Blackflame lands.

Further south, the Akura homeland. The Akura capital city is Moongrave. Path training and combat trials take place at the Night Wheel Valley. Monarch Akura Malice reigns as overlord to Blackflame and Seishen vassals, to Sky’s Edge mining towns, and to numerous other factions, schools, islands, and communities. She controls the western half of the Ashwind continent and dragons control the eastern half. Borders wars are common, because Malice and the dragon-boy Seshethkunaaz have been deadly rivals for centuries.

To the north, Northstrider hunts dragons in the largest ocean, the Trackless Sea. He discovered an underwater gate into the great Labyrinth here. Also, his pocket world Ghostwater was located somewhere in the vast Trackless Sea.

Key Paths

The Path of Grasping Sky — with emerald wings Goldsign — is only allowed for the royal Naru Clan, but several other noteworthy Paths are practiced to hold the realm together. For example, the Kotai clan protects the Northern Seawall with the Path of the Unstained Shield. Also, Chon Ma, top-ranking Underlord in the empire, protects the realm with the Path of the Cloud Hammer. Farming, and rain, and irrigation is handled by the nuanced and varied Paths the Redflower clan adopt. The medical clan is called Bright Crown, but the best healer in the empire is a top-ranking old Underlady from the Path of Jade Eyes . . .

The Path of the Unstained Shield excels in protection, the Path of a Thousand Hands in versatility. The Path of the Cloud Hammer is respected for mobility and force, the Path of Silver Grace for its elegance. The many Paths of the Redflower family grow food and bring rain throughout the Empire, and the Path of Jade Eyes is unmatched in healing. (Blackflame, ch 1)

The ancient Path of Black Flame is virtually — if not legally — outlawed, for. . . reasons (see Ashwind Continent History). ‘It was stolen from ancient dragons. It is the art of pure destruction. But mortal humans are not suited for the power of dragons. Slowly, the Blackflame family declined, their minds and bodies eroded by the destructive power of their sacred arts.’ (Blackflame, ch 1)

Public Ranking

Ranking

“Everything here in the proper Blackflame Empire has its place,
numbered and categorized. You always know which restaurant
is the best, which public lavatory is the worst, which servant is
more useful than another. Everything they do here is about
climbing one number higher, you see?”

-Blackflame, ch 8

In the Blackflame Empire, sacred artists and service providers are constantly ranked. Ranking changes as sacred artists advance, regress, or die. The ranking is made public. The Jai Patriarch was constantly trying to undermine House Arelius in Serpent’s Grave, to demote their janitorial service rank.

Underlord ranking is especially important. Emperor Naru Huan is an Overlord -- the only one -- so he's not ranked with Underlords.

Top Underlords, ranked in book 4, Skysworn:

1. Honored Chon Ma -- "the number-one Underlord in the Blackflame Empire. He was the head of the Cloud Hammer School, and the dark cloud hanging over his head seemed to indicate the Underlord's perpetual mood. The bearded man scowled, folding his arms and revealing the hammers he wore at each hip."
2. Naru Gwei -- ranked Underlord number two. Captain of the Skysworn. The emperor’s uncle.
3. Underlord Kotai Shou -- the third-ranked Underlord. “Shou was a grizzled old sea captain with his head shaved except for a dangling gray braid in front of each ear. He had storm-gray skin, and he had lost his left arm in battle as a child, replacing it with the limb of a massive stone-madra Remnant" (Skysworn). Kotai Clan artists have grey skin and contract with a fish spirit
4. Naru Saeya -- youngest Underlord in the empire until Eithan arrived. Peacock feathers behind an ear. The Emperor's little sister was tall and strikingly beautiful...but quick to action, like a bull.
5. unclear
6. Li Min Redflower -- Jade Eye School. An older Underlady. The best Healer in the empire.
7. Eithan Arelius -- (he had recently been ranked eleven, until the death of Jai Daishou)