Jade City

Before Hilo in the dining room, Shon Ju demands to take Bero and Sampa’s lives, as is his right as the victim of jade thievery. Hilo convinces him not to, chiding Shon Ju for the lack of care that resulted in the theft. The owner of the Twice Lucky, thankful to Hilo for stopping a public execution, informs him that the Mountain Clan is pushing into the Armpit District of the city, a territory of No Peak. Hilo and his men take Bero and Sample outside and beat them. When Sampa reveals that Three-Fingered Gee was killed by a new jade cutter, Hilo decides to take the boys to his brother, the Pillar, or leader, of No Peak.

Kaul Lan is the young Pillar of the No Peak Clan. He is responsible for its extensive operations and the protection of local businesses; the responsibility causes insomnia. Not wanting his allies and enemies to think he is weak, Lan keeps his sleep problems hidden. This night, Lan retreats to the garden of his family’s estate, where Doru, Lan’s Weather Man, finds him. The Weather Man is the Pillar’s strategist and confidant, surveying the money side of their operation. Doru tries to convince Lan to start exporting jade, but Lan reacts with disapproval—Lan feels that jade should not be used by anyone outside of Kekon. Their power dynamic is complex and unbalanced: Doru, who is much older than Lan, was Weather Man to Lan’s grandfather.

When Hilo brings his captives, Sampa shares his knowledge of the new jade cutter with Lan and begs for his life. Lan grants it, believing that Sampa will not turn to thievery again. However, Lan is wary of Bero, who doesn’t speak and looks at Lan with cool hatred. Nevertheless, both would-be thieves are allowed to leave.

Hilo and Lan theorize that the new jade cutter is Tem Ben, a stone-eye from the Mountain Clan. Stone-eyes are Kekonese with a recessive gene that makes them immune to jade. Tem Ben was exiled for being a stone-eye by his family, but the new Pillar of Mountain, Ayt Mada, must have brought him back. Lan sends Hilo out to investigate but warns him not to elevate tensions with Mountain. 

Lan visits his grandfather, Kaul Sen, the original Pillar of No Peak, who once helped lead a successful rebellion against the Empire of Shotar, the colonial power that occupied Kekon before the Many Nations War that led to Kekon’s liberation 26 years ago.

Kaul Sen is aging and as his jade tolerance wanes, his memory fades. He spends much of the time with Lan reminiscing about the Many Nations War and frequently confuses him for Lan’s father, who died during the war. Lan hates the comparison, seeing it as an indictment of his leadership capabilities.

Kaul Sen is livid to hear that Lan’s sister, Shae, is returning home from Espenia, a neighboring country. Shae forsook Green Bone culture and abandoned her jade to run off to college abroad with a foreign boyfriend. Sen’s criticisms do not stop there; he expresses disproval of Hilo as Horn and rebukes Lan’s suggestions that Doru retire so that Lan can appoint his own Weather Man. With his final criticism, Sen shames Lan for letting Lan’s wife leave. In a show of strength, Kaul Sen beats Lan, telling him that a Pillar must have strong intentions.

Hilo visits Wen, the younger sister of the Maik brothers, and a stone-eye. He sneaks into her apartment, and seeing that she is asleep, scares her. She chides him for the fright, and then they have sex.

Afterward, Wen and Hilo discuss the rising tension with Mountain, and she warns him to properly prepare for the inevitable conflict. Taking her advice, Hilo decides to visit his cousin Anden, a student at Kaul Dushuron Academy, a school training children in the ways of Green Bones. Upon graduation, he will join the ranks of No Peak Fingers and Fists under Hilo’s command.

Shae returns to Janloon determined to be independent from her family and No Peak. She initially left Kekon to escape the intense male egos of her family, but found that the outside world was cold. She attended university in Espenia and achieved nominal success, but could not find a life post-graduation.

At the Kaul estate, Shae reunites with Lan and goes to see her grandfather, who forgives her and welcomes her back into the family. However, when Sen offers Shae her old room back, Shae insists that she will find her own apartment. Her commitment to independence will be difficult, as she can sense the family’s jade and craves its power. Lan encourages her to visit their mother and promises to not pressure her into rejoining the family business.

Shae finds a hotel and spends the next three days apartment hunting. One day, as she returns to the hotel, she finds her other brother Hilo in the lobby. Their relationship is contentious, with a lifetime of rivalry. Hilo is furious at Shae’s refusal to wear jade and rejoin No Peak, but when she asks him for time to figure herself out, he reluctantly agrees. 

Kaul Dushuron Academy is a funnel to the ranks of No Peak. Students hone their talent in the six abilities given by jade: Strength, Steel, Perception, Lightness, Deflection, and Channeling. Anden uses both Strength and Steel to break six hot bricks with his hand without being burned. He is the only one in his class to complete the task without injury. After class, he finds Hilo waiting for him.

Hilo attacks him and they spar, with Hilo emerging the victor. Hilo jokes around that he merely wants to get his punches in now before Anden receives all his jade. Then, Hilo turns serious, advising Anden on whom to trust. Hilo has high expectations for Anden; he catches Anden off guard when he tells him he knows he is gay.

Anden is nervous about jade, worrying that his half-Kekonese heritage will make him susceptible to the Itches. The Itches are terrible side effect of jade: Those who are too weak or imbalanced to channel its power develop mental illnesses—one of the symptoms is intense psychosomatic itching. Anden’s mother, a powerful Green Bone who had the Itches, died after using a cheese grater to scratch her arm; his uncle died by suicide. After Anden’s mother died, the Kauls took him in, making him a member of their family. Hilo understands Anden’s worries but assures him that they will not come to pass. 

In Kekon, Boat Day is a holiday that celebrates and clans. Festivities include the destruction of fake boats, cars, and other important possessions in hopes of appeasing the typhoon god, Yofo, before the beginning of typhoon season. It is one of the few days students are allowed off campus.

During their revelry, Anden goes off with his friends. When he needs to pee, he finds a shop with a bathroom but is accosted by three rival Wie Lon Temple Academy students. Anden has accidentally crossed into Mountain territory and these students demand he pay the shop for using the bathroom. They also want his shirt as a trophy; when he refuses, a fight breaks out.

The fight is broken up by the Horn of Mountain, Gont Asch. Gont scolds the students and takes Anden to Mountain headquarters to meet the Pillar. As they drive, Gont Asch reminds Anden that his mother attended Wie Lon Temple Academy—Anders could have very easily been a Mountain recruit.

Gont calls Lan to tell him that Anden is with him and will not be harmed if Hilo does not overreact. While unconventional and predatory, the Mountain’s kidnapping of Anden does not violate aisho, the Green Bone honor code, as Anden does not yet have jade. Still, in response, Hilo has Gont’s nephew’s apartment surrounded and is ready to kidnap him at Lan’s request. Instead, Lan convinces Hilo to leave the apartment and wait at the designated drop-off spot for Anden’s release.

At the Mountain House, Anden is taken to meet the Pillar, Ayt Mada. Mada is the adopted daughter of Ayt Ygontin, longtime friend and fellow soldier of Kaul Sen. When her father died, Ayt Mada, who was the Weather Man of the clan at the time, swiftly killed all possible rivals, including her own brother, and took his place as the Pillar of Mountain.

Ayt Mada offers to make Anden a Fist in Mountain upon his graduation. He would report directly to her from the neighboring country of Ygutan, where she wants to start selling the drug SN1, or shine. Shine allows non-Kekonese to wield the power of jade. However, the drug is addictive and incredibly toxic when not used responsibly. Ayt Mada believes the spread of SN1 is inevitable and wants to control its supply and demand. When Anden wonders why Ayt Mada doesn’t just approach Lan for peaceful cooperation, Ayt Mada explains that Hilo is too hotheaded for there to be peace, but posits that maybe Anden can convince Lan to join them. Ayt Mada warns him against refusing her job offer and then releases Anden.

Anden tells Lan and Hilo about Ayt Mada’s proposal. Lan discusses it with Hilo and Doru, encouraging Hilo to rein in his men so the two clans can meet. Hilo opposes the offer but Doru is so in favor of it that he even endorses sending Anden to work for Mountain as a sign of goodwill and a way for No Peak to spy on their operations.

Amidst these competing views, Lan decides against joining Mountain, but will not stand in the rival clan’s way. His priority is halting the increase of jade exports. Doru strongly disagrees and suggests they ask Kaul Sen before any final decisions are made. Lan puts Doru in his place: Lan is the Pillar now, not his grandfather. Lan tells Hilo to increase protection for No Peak-affiliated businesses and not to antagonize any Mountain Fists. He also orders Hilo to assign protection for Shae.

Bero’s face heals crooked. Angered by Sampa’s willingness to move on from the failed theft, Bero slashes Sampa’s bike tires so Sampa loses his courier job. Bero, meanwhile, finds a job with Mudt, a black market dealer in SN1 and jade.