"Codex: Sacred Phoenix Empire
Sacred Phoenix Empire is an island nation that appeared out of nowhere in something that could be only termed as a cataclysmic event in which an entire new archipelago of islands appeared near the Eastern Kingdoms, bordering the High Elven Kingdom Quel'Thalas.
One thing about the Sacred Phoenix Empire is that they are an extremely militaristic bunch with some innate control over the elements they call Bending. Very distinctive to the Magic that is commonly used on Azeroth, but no less destructive and powerful if mastered properly.
The first intervention and contact that the Sacred Phoenix Empire had with the rest of the Eastern Kingdom was the short conflict between the Gurubashi Trolls and Kingdom of Stormwind, when the Royal Delegation to the Stormwind was target of assassination from the side of the Gurubashi Trolls.
Then all of the Eastern Kingdoms saw the might of the Fire Nation as they called themselves, as their legions started fighting side by side with the Stormwind, massacring tens of thousands of GurubashiTrolls. It was also the moment when the Fire Nation solidified itself as a technologically advanced nation, far ahead of that of the Dwarves of Ironforge or Goblins of Steamwheedle Cartels.
The brutal conquest led by two Everqueens of Flame Emperor, Everqueen Azula the Fire Queen and Everqueen Esdeath the Ice Queen, showcased the pinnacle of the Bending to the world as they personally killed hundreds upon hundreds of Trolls.
After the short conflict, the Sacred Phoenix Empire returned back to its more isolationist nature, only maintaining a very close relationship with the Quel'Thalas mostly as they became neighbors when the Fire Emperor ordered to occupy the former Northern Amani Region that was controlled by the Amani Tribes. Another nation of the Eastern Kingdoms that enjoyed a close relationship with the new Empire was Ironforge due to their interest in technology and the aristocracy of Dalaran.
When it comes to the rest of the human nations in the Eastern Kingdoms, the Empire only maintains basic diplomatic and trade relationships. Most of the goods that came out of the Fire Islands are considered rare commodities, and most of them, especially their famed tea, are bought by the Noble Houses of Quel'Thalas.
One of the main reasons that is attributed to the relatively cold relationships between the Sacred Phoenix Empire and its other human counterparts is the fundamental nature of the Phoenix Empire itself.
Contrary to the other human nations, the Empire is heavily ruled by their Benders and, after arrival on Azeroth, also by Mages that were cultivated either in the Empire itself or in Dalaran or Quel'Thalas. To the traditional human nobility that looks at Mages with heavy suspicion, the Empire is not a trustworthy partner.
Another of the reasons is most probably access to immortality because, as was confirmed by the High Elves of Quel'Thalas, the Emperor and many people around him or the most prestigious figures within the Empire are awarded the immortality that they won't age through the rite of Secret Fire.
However, if there is a single human nation that enjoys a good relationship with the Phoenix Empire, then it would undoubtedly be the Stormwind Kingdom. This familiarity between the two nations mainly stems from the participation of the Empire in the Gurubashi War, a major conflict between the human Kingdom of Stormwind and the coalition of Gurubashi jungle troll tribes in the south of Eastern Kingdoms, primarily in the territories of the Kingdom of Stormwind.
The Empire was dragged into the conflict when the Ambassador of the Empire to the Stormwind was killed by the Gurubashi Jungle Trolls, which resulted in the Empire sending aid to the Kingdom in the form of Flame Emperor personally leading several of the famous Airships and an entire Brigade of the Phoenix Crownsguard and large amount of Imperial Army against the Trolls.
This alliance would be affirmed when the Dark Portal opened and..."
- Introduction to the Sacred Phoenix Empire from the Book: Nations of Azeroth, by Scholar Bemamar Flamefeast of Dalaran
***
One could say that everything related to the establishment of the Sacred Phoenix Empire began in the Year 95 after the Great War by a man known as Aenarion Septim.
Originally, an unknown orphan was found by the Fire Sages and raised as the fabled child of fire. During the years, he became known as the Phoenix, the blessed of Fire and Flames, and also a descendant of Fire Lord Sozin from one of the collateral branches of the Lineage.
A war hero of the Fire Nation who led several successful war expeditions against the Earth Kingdom and participated in the breaking of the Outer Walls of Ba Sing Se together with General Iroh, he was also responsible for annihilating pirates and marauders from the seas around the Fire Islands.
His brilliance and strategies brought numerous victories to the Fire Nation, together with his unparalleled talent in Firebending and combat; it was only clear that he was becoming a threat to the Fire Lord Ozai, whose ambitions far exceeded his capabilities.
During the years, two factions within the Fire Nation emerged as the most prominent one that were at odds with each other.
One of them was the Phoenix Faction, founded by Aenarion "The Defender," which consisted of the Fire Sages, traditionalists from the time of Sozin, and some elements of the Fire Nation Military, especially the ones that saw more potential in the vision of Aenarion than reckless conquest of Fire Lord Ozai.
Another was the Lordist Faction, which mainly consisted of staunch supporters of Fire Lord Ozai, Noble Clans of the Fire Nation, and a new generation of officers that were brought into power by Ozai and most of the Warhawks who wanted to push the war further and further.
In the fabled Year 95, due to the conflicts between the Phoenix Faction and Lordist Faction reaching the peak and endangering the stability of the Fire Nation itself, it was decided that the two of them would solve the problem through the Agni Kai.
A traditional firebender duel that is centuries old. It is a fight for one's honor and is won only when one opponent burns the other. The outcome of an Agni Kai affects the honor of each opponent. These duels are a popular method of resolving conflicts and are a source of entertainment for all spectators.
It was a duel to death; two would enter, and one would leave.
To the surprise of many and to the expectations of even more, the one who won was the Phoenix, who defeated and killed Fire Lord Ozai in the Agni Kai, succeeding him as a new Fire Lord.
Immediately afterward, he was crowned as the new Fire Lord, and it was decided that he would take the daughter of the previous Fire Lord, Crown Princess Azula, as his future wife, who was 17 years old and, in fact, even before they were rumors of two of them being secret lovers.
As she was the sole child of the Fire Lord Ozai and Aenarion was a descendant of one of the most powerful Fire Lords, Fire Lord Sozin, and representative of the Fire Sages, the union represented the unification of several factions within the Fire Nation.
Immediately after the Agni Kai, the new Fire Lord issues a series of orders that completely restructualized the foundations of the Fire Nation.
Contrary to what many expected, the Fire Nation tremendously slowed down in their conquest efforts and started doing something different. In fact, they started digesting their territories and colonies.
For example, one of the things that Aenarion ordered was to recruit many of the former citizens of the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribes as their own. He was also rather smart about it, because he had something that nobody else didn't...
Stability and vision of the future.
Aside from the rather bloody internal purge of the Fire Nation Nobility and some more radical elements, the Fire Nation has started evolving, all according to the vision that Aenarion had in his mind.
He knew that very well...
In the end, he was a transmigrator from a different world.
And even though he wasn't that well acquainted with the plot of the Avatar, aside from reading some fanfics, he knew enough to make a competent decision. One of the things that he wanted to achieve was the world conquest or, rather, to conquer the continent because nobody actually knew if there were another continent as well...
One of the things that was dividing the people was they belonged to that, and that was something that he wanted to remedy as much as possible. The start was hard, but after one or two years, he managed to recruit a good number of Earthbenders and Waterbenders into the Fire Nation and their services.
The addition of different Benders greatly improved the state of the Fire Nation, even though discrimination was still a problem. But after seeing the efficiency of the Earthbender in combat or construction, or the usage of Waterbenders in healing and other related areas, it started going down.
Another area where many of the resources were being invested was industrialization and recruitment of various talents. Some names that Aenarion remembered from his past lives were recruited directly, and those who were not born, their parents, or grandparents were brought to live in the Fire Islands.
Another thing that he encountered after a great screening was the recruitment of people, as large parts of the Fire Nation were heavily undeveloped due to low population, so those of the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe that wanted to have stable lives and swore Oath on the Asuryan, the Emperor of Heaven were allowed to relocate to the Fire Islands.
Partas Clan of Hunters that were banished from the Agna Qel'a were also recruited by the Fire Lord personally when he defeated the Patriarch of the Partas Clan in single combat and pledged their loyalty to him.
And because they were swearing the Oath on the Asuryan, accepting the religion of the Phoenix God, they couldn't betray their Oath. Literarily couldn't because Asuryan wasn't just some fictional God, but really a deity responsible for Aenarion's transmigration.
At the same time, he heavily encountered procreation so more and more children could be born. The prosperity under the leadership of the Fire Lord Aenarion "The Defender" Septim was evident, and the Golden Age of the Fire Nation was characterized by many reforms and innovations.
At the start of Year 99, after the Great War, something unexpected happened: all territories of the Fire Nation were suddenly enveloped in the bright, blinding light, and then...
Everything was gone.
Entire Fire Islands disappeared from the face of the world, and from the colonial territories, tens of thousands of soldiers, equipment, and everything else were also gone. Not only that but the people who were considered to be part of the Fire Nation, regardless of their ethnicity of being from the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe, were also gone.
Many in the world breathed a grim sight of relief...
The main reason for the hundred years was gone.
No matter the reason, people were just glad that the Fire Nation was gone because those with more brains feared Aenarion more than any Fire Lord before, as he was like Sozin incarnate.
They were aware that the young Fire Lord was preparing for war, grander than anything else, and for that, he was bidding his time. He made countless reforms, expanded the army, completely cleaned out his garden, trained the said army to extremes, recruited other types of Benders, and strived to discover the limits of Benidng.
New Bending Styles and upgrading the already existing ones or introducing new forms of Bending as a whole. Coupled with the large-scale industrialization that was ongoing in the Fire Nation, it was giving the remaining world rights.
It was clear that once the Fire Nation was ready, they would sweep everyone below the rug.
The martial prowess of Azula, the Fire Destroyer, spread around the world as she was considered as much a prodigy in Firebend as her husband, and she was equally bloodthirsty and mad.
And there was his second wife, the daughter of the Partas Clan, Esdeath Partas, and founder of the Icebending. The entire Partas Clan affair was a particularly sore spot for the Northern Water Tribes as they joined hands with their greatest enemy.
Not to mention, seeing that many people from different ethnicities could coexist in the Fire Nation made many open to the idea of Fire Nation ruling over them, as under the leadership of the Aenarion "The Defender" and "Phoenix", the Golden Age of Prosperity was more than just word.
Still, ironically or not, not long after the Fire Nation disappeared, the conflicts didn't really stop.
Various Earth Kingdom Nobles started squabbling over the territories that were once former colonies of the Fire Nation, or looking toward the Northern Water Tribe, while the Water Tribes were instead looking at the mainland.
In the end, the war is always the same.
***
Fire Nation, Imperial City, some time prior to the "vanishing"
Fire Lord Aenarion Septim could be described as a very handsome male; he was young-looking, with red hair and heterochromatic eyes, his left eye being of the red color and his right eye of molten gold.
Right now, as he was going on the inspection of the Imperial Bender Legion, he was wearing his typical armor made from black metal with crimson lines along the metal. His gaze was penetrating through the training ground of the Imperial Bender Legion that, contrary to the old Imperial Firebenders, also contained a good number of loyal Earthbenders, Waterbenders, or Metalbenders.
Next to him, a young, beautiful woman with long black hair and amber-gold eyes was walking side by side. Contrary to him, she wore typical Fire Nation armor as she observed the training of the Imperial Benders.
"There are certainly a few good candidates to the Phoenix Guard."
The woman stated as she observed several Firebenders and Earthbenders sparring against each other.
"Still far from the standards of the Phoenix Guard... while their Bending is good, their capabilities in raw power is leaving a lot to improvement, not to mention their weapon skills are for now subpar compared to the Phoenix Guard."
Aenarion said to his wife Azula as they were observing people sparring. Azula was in charge of the Imperial Bending Legion because it fit her battle-hungry nature, not to mention that she was probably one of the most powerful Benders in the entire Fire Nation after the Fire Lord.
If they didn't count the older generation like her Uncle Iroh, then she was the most powerful Firebender of the younger generation.
"We are almost finished with the consolidation and could start the new stage of war. All Airships have been remodeled to the new model that is even more powerful than the old ones; the new ones created by Minister Mechanist and War Minister Qin are really spending machines of war. Together with the other machinery and the newly restructualized armies, we can start the march on Omashu in a few months."
Aenarion planned to bring down Omashu at first and afterward, they would then march on the Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom.
However, it would be a mostly symbolic victory because, due to the confederative nature of the Earth Kingdom, they would need to subjugate most of the nobles of the Earth Kingdom who refuse to surrender one by one.
His wife Azula nodded, eager for further conflict as she drilled the Imperial Bender to perfection; she had very high standards, and obviously, everyone from her subordinates needed to fulfill them.
Compared to the old Imperial Firebender, the new Imperial Bender Legion was far more powerful, better trained, and equipped.
"This competition with Esdeath and June is becoming more and more annoying..."
Aenarion muttered as he knew that part of the Azula's eagerness was nothing more than competition against her sister-wifes, Esdeath Partas, who was one of the Generals in the Imperial Army, and June, a former mercenary that was recruited by him many years ago and now commanded Onmitsukidō.
Onmitsukidō or the Stealth Corpse were created in the model of the secret service and intelligence branch. They carried out espionage, assassination of the domestic and foreign targets, and they answered only to the command of the Fire Lord.
Aenarion created the Onmitsukidō when he was inaugurated as the Fire Lord from the members of the so-called Shadow Corps that were led by June. Nowadays, after four years of development, Onmitsukidō was one of the most developed branches of the Fire Nation's military machine.
"You don't understand anything... Esdeath flaunted her achievement of crushing the southern sea pirates to me for months, and June managed to destroy the resistance movement against the new regime from the old guard completely and even had the audacity to say that my Imperial Bender Legion was as useless as glorified guards. Once we restart the war, I will show those two who are superior commanders..."
The Fire Lord was wise enough to let his wives sort out the thing between themselves, as he knew that all of them were extremely competitive. Azula, who was somewhat his childhood sweetheart, as she had a crush on him since she was little due to his reputation as a ruthless warlord and hero of the Fire Nation, coupled with the neglect from her father and so on, had a very strong rivalry with Esdeath.
Esdeath, meanwhile, was viewed by Azula as a newcomer and threat, someone who strode in during the negotiations with the Partas Clan that would be instrumental in bringing down the Northern Water Tribe; for Azula, she wanted to steal what was hers.
Ergo him...
And it didn't help that both of them were rather similar in their "hobbies", bloodthirsty personalities, and obsession with fighting and training. Thus, since the moment they met, they were constantly competing against each other, to the point where it was already annoying sometimes.
"Just wait until I personally slay King Bumi, the strongest Earthbender of the current age; I bet that blue vixen won't be awaiting that..."
For the time being, he chose to ignore her ramblings because it was always like that; the only time when both of them were quieted was in the bedroom as then they were preoccupied with different kinds of activities.
"Yeah, yeah, songs would be sung in praise of Azula of Blue Flame, the strongest Firebender of the younger generation..."
Aenarion said as he looked at his wife, who was eager for blood and, most importantly, to prove that she was better than her rival... as expected...
After their short banter, they continued with the inspection of the Imperial Bender Legion, as tens of Firebenders, Waterbenders, Earthbenders, and Metalbenders trained in their Bendering Arts.
The Metalbeding was a rather new addition that was created by Toph Beifong of the Beifong Family, former nobles of the Earth Kingdom, but now, nobility of the Fire Nation as they were rather agreeable to switch coats without much persuasion.
Not to mention, their daughter might become soon enough the new wife of the Fire Lord, so it was a rather good deal for them. Something that Aenarion learned was that not many citizens of the Earth Kingdom had a strong sense of loyalty to the Earth Kingdom itself.
It was rather boggling, but most of them were fighting the Fire Nation not due to their loyalty to the Earth Kingdom, but rather, they were just protecting their own place. The state of corruption and incompetence among the nobility of the Earth Kingdom was far worse than that of the Fire Clans during the rule of Azulon and Ozai.
Nowadays, the Fire Nation Noble Clans kept their heads low and were striving to be the best variation possible, or else, the visit from the Onmitsukidō was inevitable. Considering the fact that June had almost zero mercy; they were rather eager in their efforts to please the crown.
"The previous quality of the troops of Fire Nation was really rather subpar..."
Aenarion muttered as he watched the visible improvements. No matter what propaganda the Fire Nation spouted about its military, the majority of their units were not really that elite, and their commanders were even worse in most cases.
Something that he promptly changed after he was inaugurated as the Fire Lord. Surprisingly or not, it was something that his wife Esdeath was really keen on doing because she was training the regular troopers to their limits.
Together with the new inventions and new armor, the military was in the best shape possible, especially after most of the chain of command was replaced with far more competent officers and not just petty nobles playing as military officers.
The Fire Nation Military Academy was also educating and producing new officers, and in one year, the first class that was accepted would be graduating, so the Fire Nation Military would get hundreds of new officers of new blood.
"Father wasn't keen on creating a new caste of officers whose ambition may be bigger than his confidence in quelling them."
Even though Aenarion killed Azula's father, she didn't really care much about that, as she didn't have any sort of relationship with him... which, considering Ozai's personality where he saw everyone as a tool for his grander ambition, wasn't that surprising.
"The politics of the Fire Nation were always utter garbage..."
Aenarion sighed as they prepared to head back to the palace from the training grounds of the Imperial Bender Legion. There was a lot of paperwork waiting for him to be processed, and there were also several important projects that he needed to oversee personally.
The Onmitsukidō was sending in reports from the Earth Kingdom that the situation was turning to their advantage because the moment attacks from the Fire Nation stopped, the Earth Kingdom nobles immediately started squabbling with each other for resources.
It was rather a funny sight because with the Onmitsukidō fanning the flames, it was possible that some of the more ambitious nobles, especially several of the Dukes, would start fighting each other.
Either for power or for more benefits to their own territories.
There were even reports that some wanted to crown themselves as the new King because they accused the current King of being a weakling, which allowed the Earth Kingdom to fall into the state in which it is today.
Which wasn't exactly false, but it was true, neither.
"A lot of reforms did indeed increase the bureaucracy to a nonsensical degree..."
Azula muttered as they started walking back to the palace surrounded by the Phoenix Crownsguard suddenly, everything started shaking like an enormous earthquake came to the Fire Islands.
Faster than anyone could do anything or realize what was happening, everything went blank, as an enormous wave of blinding light enveloped everything in the Fire Islands and Fire Nation Colonies on the main continent.
This event would come to the history of the world as "Vanishing" because afterward, the entire Fire Islands disappeared, together with every single thing related to the Fire Nation, including the people of other ethnicities that were citizens of the Fire Nation first and foremost.
***
Fire Islands, shortly after the wave of light
When Aenarion opened his eyes after the light disappeared, he didn't feel any different, though one thing was vastly different from the before. His connection to the Spirit was much stronger, like, many, many times stronger, and even his Chi grew tremendously.
He could feel that his Firebendign got several ties stronger, and he was sure that it had something to do with the change in the environment because previously, he felt that Fire Islands, while not really poor in terms of Spirit Density, was absolutely incomparable to now.
The denser the Spirit Energy was in the palace, the easier it was to Bend, and the Bendign was also much more powerful.
'Two possibilities, either something happened to our world or the entire Fire Islands were transported to another world... dammit, if it is the second possibility, all the preparations for the world domination are for nothing. Though, at least we built up our military so we can resist the local threats.'
Immediately after he opened his eyes, he looked around and could see that every single Bender was as confused as he was, and not only them, but also many of the non-Benders, were confused about what was going on.
At the same time, he saw something wondrous when some of the non-Benders erupted in flames or earth...
'Higher concentration of the Spirit Energy in the environment must have awakened the Bending potential of those who were descendants to the Benders but didn't become one themselves mostly due to the lack of talent or anything else... this would cause a great influx of Benders to the Fire Nation.'
Aenarion thought with a slight smile as the more Benders the Fire Nation had, the better it was.
"Your Highness, we need to return to the palace to deal with the situation..."
He heard the voice of the Hierarch of Order of the Phoenix Crownsguard Jiang Wei, the Imperial Guard of the Fire Lord, Fire Lord's Palace, and Archives. After he made a deal with the Spirit of Wan Shi Tong, the Spirit of the Spirit Library, he managed to convince the Spirit to relocate the library to the Fire Nation.
Though on that one, he had to thank his backer or else the dammed Spirit wouldn't agree on that; another great help was bribing it with books, swearing an Oath on the Spirits and Gods that he would protect the library with his very own life and execution of Captain Zhao who burned the part of the library related to the Fire Nation.
It's not like Zhao's loss was some real loss because the man was more incompetent than useful. It took a rather long time to purge the loyalists of the Fire Lord Ozai; most of them were either incompetent or just dangerous to keep around.
The Fire Nation Royal Palace sat in the center of the caldera, and homes radiated away from the huge square directly in front of the palace. The square was meant for the entirety of the population of the capital to gather for royal proclamations and important events.
The land immediately surrounding the Fire Nation Royal Palace was barren and rocky, completely devoid of plant life, making stealthy infiltration nearly impossible. This barren space was usually used as training space for the Phoenix Crownsguard, though Aenarion wanted to do something with it, as it looked rather ugly.
The wall encircling this estate separates the palace from the rest of the city. Outside the defensive perimeter are several lush gardens and villas for use by members of the Royal Family, filled with beautiful plants, trees, and ponds.
The Fire Nation Royal Palace itself was a single structure: an elaborate tower with triple eaves at the center, with three distinct wings joining it. The two smaller wings stand on either side of the main entrance to the palace building. There are towers at the ends of these wings as well. Directly opposite of the main entrance is the third, larger wing, which houses the Fire Lord's throne room.
Since Aeanrion became the Fire Lord, the entire Fire Nation Royal Palace underwent a huge series of reconstructions, ones that were mainly aimed at turning the palace into an impenetrable fortress during times of war, with security being the top priority.
Aenarion and Azula returned to the Fire Nation Royal Palace under the procession of the Phoenix Crownsguard and hurried back to the Throne Room as fast as possible. One thing that both of them noticed was that there were far more people in the city than there should be.
At the same time, it seemed that many of them were from their colonies, which was rather mind bugging how did they managed to get here. One didn't need to be a genius to figure out that it had something to do with the wave of light.
Inside, the Fire Nation Royal Palace was comprised of enormous halls and retains an intricate array of wings and chambers. Large tapestries lined the walls, and elaborate fire-themed images and moldings were laid out all throughout the numerous sections of the structure.
When he arrived at the Royal Palace, it was already full of personnel, be it from the Military or Amdinistarion, because everyone was confused, pacing and running here and there. It was clear that during the time, they were going here, something has happened, or else there wouldn't be this kind degree of chaos.
"Immediately summon the entire Imperial Council and issue order to Commander-in-Chief Bai to declare a state of military emergency of the highest degree. Mobilize the entire Crownsguard, put all members on stand-by, and reinforce crucial parts of the city."
Aenarion ordered the Hierarch of the Phoenix Crownsguard, who gave him a low bow, before he disappeared to carry out the orders of the Fire Lord.
Imperial Council was the highest executive body of the Fire Nation, and it was created after he came into power. It consists of the highest dignitaries of the entire Fire Nation, and Aenarion even awarded honorary seats to the Dragons after he banned the Dragon Hunts started by Sozin, condemned them, and proclaimed Dragons as protected species.
Fortunately enough, there were still some living in the world, and now, they had their own enclave, with around ten adult ones and fifteen hatchlings. Dragons were, for a long time, one of the national symbols of the Fire Nation until Fire Lord Sozin started Dragon Hunts for glory and basically nothing else...
These almost forced these majestic and extraordinary creatures to extinction, but Aenarion was doing everything that he could to prevent it. As they were walking through the magnificent halls of the Fire Nation Royal Palace, a small flying figure rushed toward Aenarion at a fast speed as it was flapping its wings.