Editing New Jhelom (section)

===Artistry===
Art and Culture are held paramount in the empire, despite being functionally useless. A product of their massive economy.

Some go far, however, into the depths of Art - some interpretive dancers can induce emotion or thought, from depression to berserker fury. Some painters have prophetic fits - and one painting in the Vizier's gallery, when smeared in blood, becomes a window to another place - high, high above the world.

In the true depths of Art, all beauty becomes power. When one has slaved over a piece, putting every fiber of craftsmanship and skill towards it, carefully shaping or practicing it to be truly beautiful, truly perfect- when one can truly be said to have poured one's heart and soul into it- then that soul can exert true power, not merely suggesting impressions or emotions but demanding them in ways that more mundane art never could. All works of truly Inspired beauty hold power, whether blown glass or carved stone and painted canvas.

; Painting :
* The Vizier's gallery features many paintings, aside from the greatest secret of the portal-painting. Within some slumber long bound creatures, forgotten and unknown by all. Within others are futures, series of paintings leading to the apotheosis of all life or a broken, cracked, desolate waste that makes the Broken Wastes of the West look fertile. Some change routinely. Some are many things - one painting routinely shows whatever the Vizier had for breakfast next week.

; Glass Blowing : The Empire's Glassworkers make creations of outstanding beauty - and sometimes, with the correct delicate patterns, can harness the powers of magic that flow invisible through the skies. Their Glass Cannons are quite a sight.

* The Empire has ships without sails of cloth - they have sails of glass, that draw in the power of the sun and stars and power an engine.
* Magical Glass creations are incredibly expensive and quite rare; but are as much work of art as sorcery, every one is the work of a master craftsman and is ornately and baroquely decorated.
* It is said that there is a way to shape glass so that one can gaze at the heavens - a thing called a "telescope". But it is also said that any who profess to have such a thing are taken to the palace and never return. There is something in the heavens not visible to the naked eye that someone must want to be a secret.
* I had a friend, whose name I shall not mention. He worked wonders with glass and magic.
*: He decided to build a device that could record images - storing these pictures for later. He got it working and showed me. Delighted, he intended to go all over the city, taking these pictures.
*: I did not see him for some time after that. When I next saw him, he was haggard, pale, and would not talk to me. He told me he was now almost done working on a device that could record whole moving scenes. I was astounded and congratulated him on this truly impressive work. He then burst into tears and I left him, confused.
*: Later I found that he had died. He had leaped from his apartment window. I was saddened, and wanted to take some of his "pictures" for proof of his genius.
*: I noticed something strange in them. Many were fairly normal. But in others... there were things there that did not make sense - shadows coagulating themselves into shapes like humans - where there was nothing to catch such shadows. These shadow-things haunted the edges of his pictures, impossible. Many looked to be missing heads, or other pieces of themselves.
*: I then found his scene recording. I have not found a way yet to watch it. A good part of me does not want to. But I must now. I must. Every day, these thousands walking the street - are there things that we never notice, out of sight? And what are they capable of?

; Dance :
* There are none more respected in the Empire than those who have mastered dance.
* I have heard that the dancing girls you see in the Upper Circle and around the Vizier's holdings... the particular ones though, the ones in the outfits of Sky Blue? With the gold, and the pendants with swords? They are the Cloud Guard. They combine the magic of the artistry of their dancing with excellence with the sword and knife. The fact that they are dancing girls means that they go most places in the better areas of the City. And mostly they do just dance - but at the drop of a hat, they will enact the will of the Vizier. Make sure to hire dancing girls with outfits of different colours, yeah?