Empress Dowager Xiao Yanyan’s life won’t be a mirror match for sure. In fact, she was indeed the de facto Ruler of Liao at the time, leading her own cavalry troops, fighting against Chinese and Balhae (can be represented by Koreans or Jurchens). The narrator could be her son, Emperor Shengzong, and the last scenario could be Shengzong’s invasion of Goryeo after she passed away.
If meanwhile the Tangut campaign is based on Yuanhao, the comparison would be interesting. Both of stories can be narrated by the sons respectively, and the image about what kind of ruler and parent they were can be presented. Xiao Yanyan was a wise and brave mother, and her son cherished her teaching and legacy even after she passed away; while Yuanhao was ambitious, dangerous and brutal man, even his successor had to assassinate him…
What I talked about is things like the Lithuanians and Poles campaign. They are basically ONE single long story narrated by same person but the former part is presented by Lithuanians and the latter part is by Poles.
When I imagined the story of Jurchens and Chinese, the rivalry between Wuzhu and Yue Fei came up to me. The former part would be based on Wuzhu, who followed his brother to conquer Liao and Northern Song and later led the southern expansion, and the latter part would be based on Yue Fei, who led the great countback against Wuzhu and Jin army until a palace intrigue.
The campaigns could be one story narrated by a Jurchen captain of Jin army, descendant of a Wuzhu’s trooper, to his Han recruit on the eve of Mongol siege. The last scenario could be the captain defend a city of Jin while the Song would betray their ally and allied with the new conqueror, which would ironically be a de javu of they betray Liao and allied with Jin in the very first scenario of Wuzhu.
The rise and fall of empires, the satire of history, and the image of a tragic hero would come to life, which are what I prefer than just a victory after another victory of a great emperor. One of the reasons for the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty was because they turned their backs on Liao and cooperated with Jin. After the Southern Song Dynasty abandoned Yue Fei’s efforts, they eventually faced the same history. They turned their backs on Jin and cooperated with Mongols, and also finally conquered by Mongols. This is even another and better interpretation of “Into China”.
So you mean to pick one protagonist in each century in the region, though they are not having a clear tie to another.
This is your mod, so it’s all on you. You and your team have worked on it with passion and without compensation, I can’t and won’t challenge your choices.
It would be my pleasure if my outdated two cents on the concept of East Asian DLC and the campaign DLC could be a little bit of help or reference to your team.