Great Zhou Empire

The Great Zhou Empire was founded several hundred years ago and was once a large, powerful nation. All other countries paid homage to it as its might and ____ overwhelming to all. But had later been reduced to the much smaller and unimportant country that it is now.

Locations
The Great Zhou Empire is made up of thirteen cities/counties and contains a vast variety of landscapes.

History
Prior to the creation of the Great Zhou Empire, the royal family of the Great Wu Empire had been following alongside the royal family of the Great Zhou Empire as their loyal and devoted vassals as they waged war all over Cangmang Continent together. Later on, when the Great Zhou Empire established itself as a country, in recognition of their service, the Great Zhou Royal Clan conferred upon the Wu Clan the hereditary title of king Wu, allowing them to enjoy an endless amount of privilege and power. In the proceeding hundred years, the Wu Clan continued to be faithful to the Great Zhou Empire, guarding its borders and intimidating all those who wanted to invade.

However, the Wu Clan suddenly rebelled more than fifteen years ago, causing the Great Zhou Royal Clan to realize that the Wu Clan was hiding their strength and biding their time over the years. In fact, the Wu Clan had already possessed extremely great power and recognition and even managed to numerous confer numerous kings to their side. In a short period of less than a year, the Zhou Clan was completely defeated; the surviving civilians continued to retreat and could only escape south towards Zhou clan’s ancestral land, which outlines the current Great Zhou’s territory.

Throughout the retreat, the Wu Clan had tightly pursued the escaping party. However, once the party reached Zhou clan’s ancestral land, the Wu clan merely surrounded us and did not attack, as if they were waiting for something. Unbestowed to the Zhou Clan, a certain prophecy that had been passed down in the inner circle of the Wu Clan for several hundred years: "Python and sparrow swallow the dragon, and the Great Wu will rise and flourish!" The event the Wu Clan was waiting for turned out to be the birth of Zhou Yuan.

When Zhou Yuan was born, a mystical sign appeared in the heavens as dragon Qi swirled around him, and a mighty dragon roar shook the land; it was the sign of the legendary one-in-a-billion Sacred Dragon Blessing. K ing Wu’s wife, who had been pregnant for three years without giving birth, also gave birth to a son and daughter that day outside the city. Python Qi coiled around the baby boy, while spirit sparrow Qi was present around the baby girl’s head; both were also blessed by destiny. Zhou Yuan was taken away by King Wu and placed in an array along with the two twins of the Wu Clan.

On that day, the cry of a python and sparrow was heard outside the city. Multi-colored lights had exploded, while they seized the opportunity to transform.

On that day, the sacred dragon wailed inside the city, turning into green smoke that rose in spirals, before fading away. This was the python and sparrow swallowing the dragon.

The Great Zhou Empire suffered continuously since that day, that was until Zhou Yuan turned thirteen.