The Ten Thousands Eternal Guardians (Warforged) as a new character race
by Marc SaindonThis is a suggestion for a race-ancestry-specy (call it what you want) that is both new and very ancient, based on China's real vast collection of statues from an imperial tomb.
Lore-wise, during the War of Wrath, both Ochalea and the Pearl Island secede from the Thyatian Empire to avoid entanglements that could get them attacked by Alphatia. Thincol later dies. At this point, the current ruler of Ochalea can just (fan-made idea) "claim the Mandate of Heaven" and declare himself the legitimate ruler of Ochalea. He'll be facing retribution from the legions eventually, although the now "legit" ruler can call on the Mandate to re-activate an ancient terracotta automaton army that was created for Ochalea's "time of need" (a bit like King Arthur sleeping in Avalon until the end times as the once and future king).
On this map, the Province of Wang features the 'Plains of the Dead' and an unnamed Ruins hex. So let's call this place "the Necropolis" and establish as Ochalea's equivalent of the Arlington Cemetery were all the fallen soldiers get buried with honors. In one tomb complex, this is where the terracotta army laid dormant until a legitimate ruler could call on them for help.
Map of Ochalea, 8 miles per hex
The Eternal Guardian are statted like the Warforged from Eberron, but also have the ability to be healed with the Mending spell like the Spelljammer Autognome.
While Constructs, the Eternal Guardians (or the "the Ten Thousands", a number that maybe vastly more or less than 10,000 and does not represent precise accounting, but the idea of "many") are imbued with the soul shard of an ancient Ochalean warrior, by a process that combined forgotten Artificer and Clerical magic. They are Automatons with feelings and full personalities, although their very long dormancy has made them very amnesic about the past, and while they remember some of their military training and their own name, the rest is pretty hazy (they re-start at level 1 in most cases, and that's you PC!). Although they all start as Fighters, because of their soul-shard, they can pick up any Class afterwards.
The 10,000's current role is to serve in the army to repel a potential Thyatian invasion, or an Alphatian one. Perhaps this is part of a larger plan: Teng Ling-Dieu is already a level 36 Cleric, so perhaps he has started his journey on the Path of the Dynast to become an Immortal, which means declaring independence, seizing the Mandate of Heaven, re-activating the terracotta army, and repelling attacks from both empires to guarantee Ochalea's independence is part of his trials to gain immortality.
(image from: https://www.deviantart.com/laietano/art/Terracotta-Army-964673601)