Nangong Family
The Nangong Family is seated in Jiangling Prefecture. It is called the "Heart of the Wulin" and the mediator of the Jianghu, the fairest and most upright in all its dealings, with Great Harmony as its lifelong wish. A Wulin family and a house of letters both, it has produced a Top Scholar of the martial examinations and a Wulin Alliance Leader. Its connections are wide, and though the Jianghu's storms rage, it has stood unbroken for centuries. Everyone in the Wulin knows the name Nangong; they say that to offend the Nangong Family is to offend eighty percent of the Wulin at once.
The clansmen all wear pauldrons and cloaks, imposing and majestic, their pride and the proof that they stand on their own. They bump into people just walking down the street; the worse ones even fit crescent-shaped spikes to their belts. Utterly mad.
The Nangong Family Teachings are famed for their long, enduring defensive stance. The unites offense and defense, steeped in the Confucian spirit: no arrogance, no discouragement, humility bringing harmony. Their hereditary Internal Skill roots itself in protecting the heart, the mind guarded at the pass, thoughts subdued, the heart empty as a valley, all things made one. It is said that even at a hundred years old, 's mind is still clear and methodical, and this is the work of the .
The family is a longtime friend and ally of the Tang Clan. Because of a past affair between Nangong Yuan and Lady Wen, it is at daggers drawn with Jinxiang Palace.
Pauldrons
This tradition began with the Founding Patriarch of the Nangong family, Nangong Zhi, for two main reasons.
First, in the Battle of Jiangling, to scatter the Jin army's morale they had to flaunt their own strength. The pauldrons were made so exaggerated precisely so the Jin soldiers would see them from afar and be struck with fear.
Second, they get in the way. Pauldrons and cloaks both, in a fight they hinder the wearer and the foe alike. When an enemy finds the pauldron a nuisance, he will strike at the places the armor does not cover. It is as good as not striking at all: it seals off many of the opponent's lines of attack and leads him into moves you expect. Know yourself and know your enemy, and a hundred battles bring a hundred victories.
does not approve of pauldrons. The guess is that when using Qinggong, if a pauldron comes around a corner, it is easy to be unable to pull back in time and crash into it. Dangerous indeed.
Pauldrons are imposing, and they keep uncouth Wulin folk from coming over to slap you on the shoulder, maintaining a polite social distance. But because they bump into doors so easily, the Nangong Family usually keeps its doors wide open, which looks generous and open-handed.[1]
The women of the Nangong Family have the right to modify their own pauldrons, but the size and materials are decided by status; women not of the main family who use gold will be taken to task. Also, if a Nangong clansman is driven from the family, his pauldron is confiscated.[1:1]
Phoenix Treasure Robe
A hundred years ago, to overawe the Jin army, Nangong Zhi forged the invincible battle armor, the Phoenix Treasure Robe. On the Western Wulin route there is a chance to see Nangong Shen wearing it. Extravagant and absurd, majestic and domineering, impervious to blade and spear, it even breathes fire. It is so over the top that one cannot help wondering whether the Nangong clan's heads are all there, and it even has its own BGM!
Supporters of pauldrons are frightened out of their wits at the mere sight of it and lose all will to fight.
Elegant Affairs
The Nangong Family are all people of refinement: they study letters and martial arts alike, are versed in all the Four Arts, and love nothing better than romance. Even mindful of their reputations and keeping themselves chaste, they still must hear a tune or two and stroke a Young Lady's slender jade hands before they will call it a day. Because of this, there are no few elegant affairs.
Nangong Yuan
Nangong Yuan once saved the number one beauty of the Jianghu, the courtesan , from the clutches of Shangguan Sun, and won her heart. But Nangong Yuan refused Su Yanxiang's feelings and gave her to his gravely wounded friend Wen Wuwei.
After Wen Wuwei's death, Nangong Yuan was ashamed, and brought gifts to Jinxiang Palace to see Lady Wen, not seeking to mend what was broken, only to make amends. Lady Wen used drugged incense and the sound of the qin to disorder his mind, and made him lie with an ugly woman for one night, and so Nangong Qian was born. Years later the woman brought Qian to the family gate, and Nangong Yuan would not look at him.
Not a day passes that Nangong Yuan does not regret saying what he did not mean that day, but Lady Wen's old grudge will not fade, and for twenty years the Nangong Family and Jinxiang Palace have been at odds.
Nangong Shen
Nangong Shen and Shangguan Ying have been betrothed since childhood. Shangguan Ying was naturally beautiful, and he liked her at first sight; the two children were innocent and took to each other well. But as they grew older she grew ever more beautiful, and took over her father's business besides. Nangong Shen, by contrast, was still only an Eldest Young Lord, and the gap in their abilities shamed him. And Shangguan Ying had a fierce temper, and they could not agree on anything, so the two drifted further and further apart.
To make Shangguan Ying wary and keep a little of his own fire in check, Nangong Shen went and befriended a courtesan. But when a man of refinement meets a woman of Yue Ping's talent and beauty, how could he not love her? One careless moment, and he got her with child. So after the Battle of Jiangling he had no choice but to break the engagement and drive Shangguan Ying away; otherwise, with her fiery temper, if she ever learned the truth, she would have beaten someone to death and then done away with herself.
Two generations, both fated to courtesans, both making women weep. It runs in the blood, all right.
Secret Manuals
Notes
- The Nangong Family Servants are paid very well; converted to modern standards, more than Bird Bear's monthly salary.[2]