[Alneyan]

My only problem with T'ien Ch'i is their capitol-only Mages, especially in Spring & Autumn. I can get the money to recruit two Celestial Masters/Master of the Five Elements every turn, but only have a single capitol (duh!). I am not sure if allowing either of them to be recruited everywhere is a good idea though.

Besides this, T'ien Ch'i has adequate troops (though I am not fond of cavalry, but that's more a personal feeling), and Spring & Autumn keeps better than average archers. Sure, Composite Bows are not Longbows, and they won't win the game, but they work well enough against the weaker independent provinces (on Independent Strength 6/7 at any rate; I have yet to try them with Independents 9). Cavalry provinces are another story though, especially with Spring & Autumn, at least with the national armies.

If you did want to bother Caelum, why not give them an enforced Astral path on their mages? Astral 1 is a curse, and Caelum does not strike me as a nation able to get much us from the low Astral spells (such as Body Ethereal and the like). It will, however, make Caelum closer to T'ien Ch'i, though only one of T'ien Ch'i mages have a mandatory Astral path.