Keir, in all honesty if I was going to try that type of idea. I would either go; Lady of Fortune and try to use a Celestial to make the Shields. Or a Great Enchantress. She begins with a pick in Astral, makes Astral Gems to forge/Power of the Spheres more often and costs quite a bit less to get to the same level as a Jade.

That 10% chance for a good event (in whichever province he stands) just isn't "wow". Maybe this is because of the weight of the luck scale, or not. I couldn't tell you.

Now I don't mind that he doesn't have a full effect of fortune. On the contrary I thought of that as just an 'extra' but with him being T'ien Ch'i only and my quest to make good Racial specific pretenders, he just got taken down a notch on "Good pretenders for:".

Give the Emperor another Astral and I might change my mind.