Nikan Empire

Lore & Background

The Nikara Empire's military academy is located in Sinegard, the imperial capital. The empire's test, the Keju, is held empire-wide to find the most talented candidates for admittance to their Academies. The empire is ruled by an empress, Su Daji, and twelve regional warlords. The empire's military includes the Cike, a special unit of young, mostly-shaman, imperial assassins led by Altan Trengsin. The empire's history includes the island of Speer, whose Speerly soldiers served the empire by wielding shamanic fire powers from their god, the Phoenix, until they were massacred by the Federation of Mugen in the previous war. The empire's wartime capital is Golyn Niis.

In Their Own Story

Fang Runin ("Rin") is a war orphan in the Nikara Empire whose foster parents employ her in their opium smuggling. To escape an arranged marriage, she sets her sights on passing the Keju, the empire-wide test to find the most talented candidates for admittance to their Academies. Shocking everyone, she places first in her province, which sends her north to Sinegard, the imperial capital and home of the military academy. There, she is mocked for being a poor southerner by her peers, but excels in her studies. She befriends Chen Kitay, the son of a minister, and strikes up a rivalry with Yin Nezha, the son of one of the twelve regional warlords. She also looks up to the school's star student, Altan Trengsin, who is from the island of Speer. She attracts the attention of eccentric Master Jiang, who helps her explore her talent for shamanism. She wins the first year tournament over Nezha, is enthralled by the appearance of the empress Su Daji at a festival, and is taught by Jiang how to access the magic of the gods via meditation and psychoactive drugs. War looms over the horizon, and as Rin enters her third year, the Federation of Mugen invades the country of Nikan and seeks to capture Sinegard. Master Jiang disappears after using shamanistic powers to summon monsters to bring down the gate that Rin and Nezha were defending on the Mugenese army. In the aftermath of the invasion, Rin faints after using the power of the Phoenix to immolate an enemy general who impaled Nezha, which prompts a Mugenese retreat. Rin learns she is a Speerly, and to avoid the warlords fighting over her, she is selected to join the Cike, a special military unit of young, mostly-shaman, imperial assassins now led by Altan. The Cike are sent to the southern port city of Kurdalain, where despite a successful strike on Mugenese reinforcements, Rin struggles to access the Phoenix. There, she reunites with Nezha who apologises to her for his behavior towards her in Sinegard, and they kill one of the monsters released by Jiang. After prolonged street fighting, Altan becomes disillusioned and Nezha is lost during a Mugenese chemical attack. The Cike realize that the Kurdalain siege is a feint and travel to the wartime capital of Golyn Niis to find the city destroyed and its inhabitants massacred by the Mugenese. Sifting through the wreckage, they discover Kitay, who informs them that the empress had fled the city before the massacre, and Venka, Rin's former roommate, who was raped and begs Rin to avenge her. Altan decides that the only way to win the war is to unleash former members of the Cike who are entombed alive after going mad in a mountain prison where their powers are suppressed. Having gotten approval from the empress, Altan sets off with Rin. There, they find Jiang who had imprisoned himself after losing control of his power. He refuses to help them and accuses Altan of only wanting revenge for his people. After releasing Feylen, a former Cike with wind powers, nearly results in Altan's death, the pair decide to leave but are captured by a Mugenese ambush. Rin and Altan are taken to a Mugenese science facility and experimented on with opium. They learn that the empress had betrayed their mission for her own life, and had sold out Nikan. The opium helps Rin awaken her power and Altan sacrifices himself as a diversion for Rin to escape the mainland to head to the island of Speer. There she finds the Phoenix's temple, channels the god's unlimited fire, and destroys the primary island of the Mugenese homeland. In the epilogue, Rin awakens on a ship crewed by the Cike and Kitay, who is horrified by what she has done. She learns that Altan named her Cike commander and vows to use her newfound powers to take revenge on the empress for her treachery.

Reader's Guide

The Nikara Empire is the setting for *The Poppy War*. Its capital is Sinegard, home of the military academy. The empire is ruled by an empress, Su Daji, and twelve regional warlords. The empire's military includes shamanic warriors, such as the Cike, a special unit of young, mostly-shaman, imperial assassins. The empire's test to find the most talented candidates for admittance to their Academies is the Keju. The empire is at war with the Federation of Mugen, which invades the country of Nikan. The empire's wartime capital is Golyn Niis. The empire's history includes the island of Speer, whose Speerly soldiers served the empire by wielding shamanic fire powers from their god, the Phoenix, until they were massacred by the Federation of Mugen in the previous war.

Did You Know?

• The Nikara Empire's capital is Sinegard, home of the military academy.
• The empire is ruled by an empress, Su Daji, and twelve regional warlords.
• The empire's test to find the most talented candidates for admittance to their Academies is the Keju.
• The empire's wartime capital is Golyn Niis.
• The empire's history includes the island of Speer, whose Speerly soldiers served the empire by wielding shamanic fire powers from their god, the Phoenix, until they were massacred by the Federation of Mugen in the previous war.