This is definitely not true canonically. There’s direct contradictions in the book. I’m sorry if you think I’ve hinted at this but that’s never been my intent.
There are lots of correct assumptions in this thread, but I’ve been asked to not confirm ^_~ I will point out that if you care, the answer is in my original BoB AMA thread.
Sorry to jump in, I’ve largely let speculations run abundant (as requested by the OP), but since you invoked me in support of the claim I felt I should say something.
I clearly need to read the original thread closer. 
Another question worth considering: what preceded the Empire? Was the Old Empire really the first time humanity produced the written word? Or is that a story the Empire invented to enforce cohesion between the many ethnic groups it conquered? The idea of an Imperial conspiracy is kind of fun, especially as a monkey wrench you can throw into the lore.
I haven’t finished the play through yet, but I thought you kept pointing out the similarities between broken and chosen because of that fact. But of course there are many other possible connections. Either way it doesn’t matter, I’m not that interested in canon answers because my players will never read the book and all that matters is what happens at the table.
I am really enjoying the actual play though, Zora is creep AF and I just finished the epic siege of Fort Calisco. Thanks for posting the game (and I guess designing it too). It’s getting me really excited to start my campaign.
Perfect 
And I agree.
Hey there all, I’m new to these forums and I have some RAMPANT Speculation!!!
The Legion is being specifically targeted, not because a Chosen is with them, but because of Annals that it carries with it.
If someone had he time to sit down and read through everything, they would find out who the Cinder King is (The Last Emperor of Dar), why they are doing what they doing, how they are doing it and how to stop them.
Third part of the Campaign is the Legion travelling the world find the resources they need to finally stop the Cinder King.
Okay here we go.
The Living God is just that, a god of the living, that’s their “portfolio”, what they are about, living people. Makes sense for Zora, she’s all about living life but not about life in general (not trees or animals but the life of people). That’s why their chosen don’t die, it’d be in antithesis to what they are all about.
The Cinder King is one of the chosen of an opposite god, a god of dead people, The Living God’s antithesis, its chosen must be dead. All the Broken are also Chosen of The Dead God. Have you noticed the Broken are one threat higher than the Chosen? That’s because even after Chosen die their bodies retain much of their power so this Chosen of The Dead God (the Broken) are Chosen wielding other Chosen’s corpses. But I hear you say “They can’t all be chosen of the same god, no one does that except… oh wait yes, The Living God.” I hypothesize there can only be nine Broken + the Cinder King, just like The Living God can only have 9 chosen. Opposite sides of the same coin. The Dead God must have some connection to Dar, that’s why Zora went and messed it up, maybe she slew the previous Chosen of The Dead God.
I’d further theorize that Zora is the big top dog of The Living God similar to the Cinder King and The Dead God. That’s they they both have fire stuff going on and why Zora can cleanse corruption as a default power. She “has an understanding of it” (Living God’s Kiss).
Where did the Cinder King initially come from? How did a Chosen corpse initially come to be Chosen? Not sure. Super crazy theory I think is wrong but it’s fun to think, the Cinder King is actually not made from the corpse of a Chosen but the corpse of a god. Zora ended the Godswar by “striking the god within a Chosen”. Maybe that dead god got Chosen by The Dead God.
Still no idea what’s up with the Living Fire or Cinderblood, maybe the Chosen who’s corpse the Cinder King is living in had that stuff as part of their “portfolio”. Maybe corruption is part of their “portfolio”.
Great theorizing by Bsomeone!
Here’s a speculative question I’ve been mulling over: "What did the Cinder King whisper to Render at his Breaking that drove him into an insane rage?
Possible answers:
That Zara is responsible for the Cinder King’s escape. Had she left the ten-pointed crown on the throne in Dar he could never have escaped, but she took the last point and now his power grows again.
That the Living God is responsible for the Cinder King’s power. The same power that let the Living God create nine chosen is the same power that the Cinder King now uses to break his enemies.
That the Living God lied to Valsim, he was never going to be able to defeat the Cinder King, merely slow him down. He was always going to be a sacrificial lamb.
And another question I have no answers for:
We have seen some evidence that when a Chosen is Broken it damages, maybe even kills the god.
When Nyx was Broken the moon shattered.
When Blighter was Broken alchemy was corrupted.
But when Render was Broken, Zora emerged from the wilderness, seemingly unaffected. What makes the Living God’s Chosen unaffected by their brother’s Breaking?
For the last one, I have run with the Chosen of the Living God each having their own related sub-dominion or theme.
So Render was the Chosen over honour, and with his Breaking, all supernatural oaths made to or by Chosen have become inert, whole Zora has dominion over skill in war.
Zora remains affected, though, in a specific way - either Render or Zora must die before next summer, their coexistence unsustainable.
I like your explanation. Here’s mine:
Most people know that the Living God created nine Chosen, but very few people know why. The answer is that The Living God has anticipated the coming of the Cinder King (or something like him) for a very long time. The Living God’s Chosen are insurance: so long as they live in the world, he cannot be corrupted like the other gods in a Breaking. Unless the Cinder King can kill or Break each of his Chosen, he will be untouched by the Cinder King’s corruption.
I like that too!
In fact, I think I’ll use both, and say the sub-dominions corrupt, but the Living God stays insulated as long as he has an uncorrupted Chosen.
The sting in the tail is that either the disease or the immune system will win - either Zora or Render will stand, and that will determine the outcome.
I can’t update the first post in the Thread anymore, so I’ll just note that Stras has confirmed that Dar is the capitol of the Old Empire.
https://community.bladesinthedark.com/t/places-heritage-and-the-map/1083/3?u=udachnik
This makes me think - is the Cinder King the Dead Emperor returned as effectively a revenant to take revenge on the Chosen who killed him? It would be interesting to correlate those who were Broken vs the Chosen who killed him etc…This would explain why he has the crown of fire (mostly)…
I know I’m late to the thread, but one of the questions I have is whether or not the Blooded of Royin can also be Broken. I’d speculate that they can, particularly if the Chosen and if Dar itself can. The question is more whether or not they are worth the Cinder King’s time. But it would be crazy if the Cinder King had an army of Broken Blooded, kind of an elite legion of infantry.
Also, I have a wild speculation for Andrastus: The region has only one god, but that god has a sort of multiple personality situation going on, thereby partly contributing to the divisive chaos and conflict in the region.
Awesome thread! What do you guys make up of the fact that “[a]nimals cannot be raised from the dead” (p 197)? Would there be a specific reason why only humans are susceptible to become undead? It makes me wonder if there is a link with the Royin’s Blooded or god. That may also inform why the detailed Brokens’ disposition towards the Horned One seems slightly more focused on their portfolio (the natural world).
Animals can’t be undead but they can be blighted, and controlled by undead, so I guess the difference is not so great… especially since not all Brokens’ troops are themselves undead…
According to the Panyar moon priests, humans are distinct and separated from the natural world, that is why we must actively learn how to live in harmony with nature because it is not our natural instinct to do so. The priests claim that when a human dies and the soul departs it leaves a void that certain magics can inhabit. In contrast, there is no “soul” that departs an animal at death; it remains a part of the Horned One’s Great Red Cycle of birth and consumption. -Bhimabai Ambedkar, Bartan Scholar.
@Udachnik
I do agree that it might be a matter of soul, with Breaker’s hexed and incorporeal undead supporting a duality of body and soul/spirit.
Another link being the Panyar not taking animal names as they belong to the Horned One. So even though animals can be blighted and even controlled by the undead, the Cinder King cannot “hack” what you–I mean, what Supreme Teacher Ambedkar calls the Horned One’s Great Red Cycle. That could certainly change should the Cinder King manage to break the Horned One’s Chosen.
@A_B might be absolutely right that I’m grasping at straws here, but I do think that the limitations of a power to raise the undead can bring light into the nature of that power. If an exception confirms a rule, then it can also reveal that rule. Canonically, we know that the Cinder King is not the Living God, but that they still are strongly related in one way or another. Maybe this relation explains why only soul-bearing creatures can be turned undead. The relationship between the Cinder King and the Living God shows a certain kinship (figuratively), the one with the Horned One is one of rivalry.
Again, I wonder whether/how the Royin god factors into this. Blood and the power that runs through it count among the central themes of BoB and it manifests in the Royin god through Blooded Heroes. A Chosen’s divine power passes through blood without the offspring’s consent as an inherited trait.
I find interesting that no Chosen manifested to defend the Confederacy. There might be a number of reasons for this, but it is notable that the Royin god is the only one–so far, and unless I’m mistaken–that left its people to die when the Cinder King showed up at their door. Could it be that the Royin’s god was aware of the Cinder King’s power and afraid of that power? Or did the Cinder King had already defeated/usurped him years before (perhaps less likely than the former)?
I’m assuming that “manifested” here means that there was no Chosen at all, as opposed to there was a Chosen but no one knew about it. Or maybe the Royin God tried to find a suitable Chosen, but no one accepted. I find that there was no attempt to Choose more plausible.
Hey I don’t know if this has already been discussed or clarified, but since Render is one of the Living God’s Chosen and is therefore older than the nine chosen in the Eastern Kingdoms, am I correct in saying that there are 8 Chosen (Shreya and four other survivors of the Breaking along with Horned One, Zora and the Aldermark Twin) alongside 7 broken (Blighter, Binder, Breaker, Render, Aldermark Twin, Original Broken and missing Eastern Kingdoms Chosen)