#lei chen

This is a qilin from the Summer Palace in Beijing (the photo is a personal one). Ignore the focal point statuary in favor of the columns and the roofing design in the back, along with the blue and gold and red color palette.

Here's another image, a better view of the architecture (which I love) - more of the Summer Palace, but you can really see the gold and blue beams painted very similarly to how we see them in Deception.

Now take a peek here at this screencap from Deception (below). Lots of similarities; the roof is much shallower and the columns fatter, but there's a lot of aesthetic similarity there. The cornices are missing some figures that are part of Imperial Chinese architecture, but that absolutely makes sense given that this isn't Imperial China, so it doesn't need to have those. Shallower roofs would imply less snow, but let's be real: it's for rendering purposes, not because of climactic decisionmaking and worldbuilding in game. They look nearly flat/mildly sloped, which implies little-to-no snow, or some poor people get up there and sweep them. It's very possible it's like Beijing where the air is just too dry and gets sucked up from the mountains before it gets to us.

Lei Chen also looks to have a similar layout as the traditional geometric layouts of some planned Chinese cities, including a large exterior wall (seen in Xi'an and others, and like the one around the Forbidden City). It also has a main street on one axis with other streets off it. From the playthrough I watched (because I don't have MK:D right now), Lei Chen appears to be on an east-west axis. My Lei Chen is much larger than the MKD Lei Chen is, for a multitude of reasons - like potential future story development! And a whole bunch of Tarkatans could easily get up and over it and slaughter the dozen people inside if they felt like it. ;)

This hazy day shot in Xi'an still gives you an idea of the size of the walls, and a bit of an idea as to how thick they are. Getting through them is no easy task, but I think a horde of Tarkatans would find a way if they really, really wanted to.

I am using a lot of this linkage between Lei Chen and traditional Northern (Han) Chinese architecture (and archetypes) in my representation of Lei Chen. We'll have the E-W axis, with N-S cross streets and these kinds of buildings. I'm also going to lean into other architectural elements in terms of houses and interiors, furniture(!) and the like. Some of this will also come in more subtly, because one of my other headcanons I'm integrating is the "invasion" of Seido.

That will probably get its own post later once I sort it all out, but I feel like there's definitely the potential for good story with foreign occupation of this place that has resisted Shao Kahn for so long. I intend to touch on it lightly when Jade and Kung Lao eventually do make it to Lei Chen and talk with Zeffeero. How will Overlord Zeffeero handle being asked to be involved in another resistance/rebellion? How has that affected the community - what scars does it have, visible and not, that might affect how Jade and Lao get received?

i’m supposed to be working but i’m here thinking about lei chen bc i guess i’ve been thinking about world(city)building lately and such but like. there’s so little on the city sskdfdkdf I guess that’s a good thing bc i can basically do what i want with it ?? but i ought to either watch more walkthroughs or figure out how to get a ps2 emulator to work so i can run around the city myself... it looks rly small and i know mk:d maps aren’t exactly huge, from what little i saw, so hopefully i can... figure something out... i kinda wanna make a map but i do not know if that would be worth my time and i’d be too worried i’d forget stuff... 

i think since i modified yasu a while back the city has just become even more of like... a home base for him (duh, luka) and with handing it over to kotal kahn, it’s going to be a bit more open despite its walls, and so long as things remain relatively peaceful people can probably come and go more as they please... 

after the seidan presence it seems perhaps there are some really rudimentary technologies and mostly just in the Official Buildings and such (watchtowers etc), but i think lei chen citizens might have like... a few applications of magic they’ve begun to use over the years (especially in the way of lights and sounds/music and such, perhaps even refrigeration... thinkin bout desserts here...)... i mean, being in the foggy mountains, being gray and drab many days gets depressing, not to mention really dark at night, so i think many buildings in the city are lit up kind of like this as well as with lanterns and such

there’s also a lot of greenery and a lot of walls especially in residential or somewhat-less-busy areas covered in leaves and hanging plants. the city center with the overlord’s house (?) and gov buildings and like... schools? is less leafy green  but have the ornate red/green/gold/etc buildings u see in mk:d

the lei chen market is oddly fuckin huge and probably is what the city boasts the most, it’s outdoors but booths either have individual roofs or share roofs, some sections have giant tent thingies. there’s always food cooking and u can get hot food from at least one booth per row street(?). it’s definitely one of yasu’s favorite places and he has a Route when he goes on his shopping trips and many of the shops (namely the ones with desserts and candy) know him well and perhaps he is very nice to them hehu

i also think perhaps one of the walls of the city may be built into the side of a mountain and maybe there’s a small river that kinda comes down from that or something? so there are a few really pretty bridges and lakes in the city, even if it’s small... seems possible esp w this map tho i am not sure how hard-set that map is?? anyway

The city was first occupied by Orderrealm soldiers, instituting the curfew and other laws intended to control the population. We know about the curfew because Shujinko was imprisoned for breaking it, despite his ignorance of it (this is canon). Laying down rules and prohibitions around interaction and engagement is an easy way for occupying forces to break up and control a population. Access to gatherings and spaces, and controlling those gatherings and spaces, were at the top of Hotaru’s list.

Lei Chen’s citizens were expecting assistance, not occupation. They did not leap to armed resistance as a first response. They had already been taxed to near-death by Shao Kahn before Zeffeero pushed back; if they were able to handle fighting off a horde, they wouldn’t have needed Shujinko’s aid to get Mileena, Baraka, and the Tarkatans off their territory. They were exhausted, physically, economically, and emotionally, from their trials. Seido’s appearance was a surprise, though quickly one that turned invasive and troubling.

Hotaru demanded that the residents of Lei Chen follow the laws of Seido. These included the aforementioned gathering restrictions, the establishment of work units, and further establishing food and supply rationing due to their economic state. Lei Chen was a mostly agricultural community with some timber and mining from the nearby mountains; work was permitted, by authorized - and supervised - individuals. The Seidans began work initially on improving the homes and defensive capabilities of their new outpost. Everything needed to be brought into the state of order and perfection as decreed by the Seidan code.

Work gangs quickly began to hoard supplies out of the city walls, or find ways to secrete them in the less-well-managed parts of the city.

Hotaru and his soldiers struggled to understand chaos and resistance - part of their own difficulties in apprehending Darrius that had necessitated Shujinko’s involvement. They could only see a city slowly recovering its health and economic stability while challenged by obedience to Orderrealm’s perfectly reasonable procedures. Hotaru’s Guardsmen were used to Orderrealm's practices, and unsympathetic to the new population.