Gothic-Orient-Netbook: The standing domains

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Waldi
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Gothic-Orient-Netbook: The standing domains

Post by Waldi »

This are the domains, that are (more or less) ready to use ;)
Zhong'Anling, the Imperial Necropolis of the Asianloft Core:

Domain layout stolen from: Waldi
Further ideas sto- er, adapted from: Jennifer, Waldi, Deepshadow in the Gothic Orient thread.

Cultural background stolen from: Ancient Qin-dynasty China, circa 200 BC. Similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing with strong elements of the Terra Cotta Army near Xi'An.
Cultural Level: (insofar as Western CRs apply to the East) 3
Landscape: Temperate plains, ringed with mountains and hills. Unusually dry air, with plains verging on scrub and rockiness in some places. (Perfect for preserving corpses in tombs.)
Major Settlements: Zhong'Anling, the Tombs of Eternal Peace. The tombs comprise an above-ground palace complex, with gates, garrison, courtyards, and throne room, all decorated with valuable items. However, the main complex is a vast sprawling underground network of rooms and graves, including the immense Porcelain Guard - an array of clay golems and constructs some 10,000 soldiers strong. These are divided into three units: the footmen, the horsemen, and the supply wagons. Their weapons range from swords, daggers, axes, and pole-arms to bows. (Crossbows had not yet been invented in Hua's lifetime.) High-ranking eunuchs occasionally venture into the underground complex's antechambers.
The Folk: Mostly animated constructs: clay golems, doom guards, stone golems. A relative minority of undead.
Population: 0 to 50 live people at any one time, mostly eunuchs.
Language: The Risen speak an archaic form of Hua, which most visitors can understand, given some time. This is not always a benefit when you are talking to undead. (Chinese equivalent of: "Knave! Thou hast trammel'd extravagant wise and now shall I unseam thy soul from its wretch'd corse!")
Religion: Traditional Chinese - Kingdom of Heaven. (Celestial Bureaucracy, Shangdi. Hua Gaozu actually codified and solidified worship in the Celestial Bureaucracy, knowing it would lend credence to his own rulership.) The faith in this bureaucracy grants him and his servitors access to spells.
The Law: Internal palace hierarchy. The undead and constructs serve Hua Gaozu in an analogous way to when they were alive. Hua and his concubines and wives are all Risen, as they were interred here. Key government figures and ministers are represented by stone and clay golems, as they were not interred here (and in many cases were passed on to Hua's successor as his government). A variety of animals, including elephants, tigers, horses, qilin (unicorn), camels, and dragons are all represented in stone statuary - these also can be golems if needed.
Trade: Information. The current live Imperial family occasionally sends secret envoys of eunuchs to the dead city, and they come back with prophecies and oracular visions. In most cases, they came through the mountain pass to the east from Yujing, to pray and pay their respects to the dead. On rare occasions, the dead have given an answer.
Resources: Vegetation does not grow well here, because of the dryness of the air, and apart from the occasional bird or small rodent, few animals stay here long. The nearby hills have coal seams and some marble (ancient quarries attest to this - many were used to build the Tomb-Palace itself). But the real treasures lie within the dead city. Hua was a mystic of no small repute, and under his tutelage the nation discovered magnetism, paper, and acupuncture. Numerous magical and psionic items are likely to be found in the necropolis (many brought to this day by worshipful pilgrims paying their respects), but getting them out may be difficult.
Coinage: Most of the currency here is truly ancient, using a mix of copper, bronze, and silver melted into a unique ingot shape. (Rather like a miniature hat the size of your fist.) These are like gold bullions in the real world - very valuable but with no practical way of spending it. Of interest to collectors only. Although paper was around by Hua's time, he did not make currency use of it. Some paper money is available overground, as supplicants bring it to him in prayer.
Characters: Nobody is ever born here. Plenty of people are born elsewhere and come here and die, however.
Politics: Rumors of the Tombs' opulence and rich trove of magical treasure has spread throughout the land ever since Hua was interred, some 2,000 years ago. This has had the effect of bringing treasure seekers and looters to the area, which in turn generally leads to their demise at the hands of Hua's guardians. The dead fortune seekers eventually become reanimated as guardians themselves, able to spend their eternal days near the coveted treasures they sought, so everybody ends up happy. On occasion, a supplicant will reverse this process and actually come bearing gifts. Such a visitor is brought to the mountain pass gates, just beyond the border, where a small covey of eunuchs always keeps watch at a small outpost called Donglingmen (East Tomb Gates). The eunuchs accept whatever gifts they have and send them on their way, later bringing the gifts to Zhong'Anling. Anybody who is not a eunuch will be in for trouble when they get to the tombs.
Encounters: The name of "Zhong'Anling" is actually quite ironic, given that it is far from a tomb of eternal peace. Anybody who is not a eunuch finds themselves plagued by the city's guardians. First, the invisible, incorporeal undead will follow them, taunting them down alleyways and courtyards with subtle, unsettling effects such as small whirlwinds causing dead leaves to dance. If the intruders do not leave, statues begin whispering to them, bells begin to chime of their own accord, and they hear a few shuffling footsteps. Sometimes they hear little children singing faintly, or playing in the distance. If they cause any actual damage or disruption to the area, the response is immediate and brutal - construct guards come to life and begin attacking them, and ghostly hands appear and grapple with them, either tearing loot from their hands or choking them by the neck. Those subdued are brought underground, where they are placed in a series of coffins which eventually turn them into undead, or clay golems.
If anybody escapes from Zhong'Anling, which has happened on occasion, Hua's forces let them flee. If they have taken no loot, this will simply serve to underline the mystery of his resting place. If they have escaped with some loot, an unseen undead will doggedly hunt them down and trail them. Often, the perpetrator goes mad before he dies.
Any intruder brushes against Hua's senses like a fly in a spider's web - he knows exactly where they are, what they are doing, and roughly how healthy they are. Eunuchs are the only people who can move freely within the city - Hua cannot see or sense them remotely, and must rely on eyewitness reports by his intelligent constructs and undead guards. Theoretically, a raiding party of eunuchs could do fairly well. In practice, however, the bureaucratic nature of a eunuch's existence means they are ill suited to adventures like this, and none are willing to get involved with a potentially empire-shaking plot like that.
Darklord: Rather obviously, this is Hua Gaozu himself. In life, he was a brutal tyrant. In death as an Ancient Dead magic user (and possibly low-level psionicist), his personality has not improved. He knows he was betrayed by his servitors, as a strong enchantment keeps him in his necropolis, which he himself had built to keep his subjects out. He currently lives in a state of mixed emotions - disdain for the looters and treasure seekers, yet knowing that they present the best chance of breaking his seal and setting him free. Also, he is alternately resentful and flattered by his advisory role in the current Imperial rule - he knows the current rulers cannot survive without his aid, but also knows they seek to use his wisdom while keeping him entombed forever. His own distaste for the current rulership is balanced by the knowledge, brought by his own spies, that foreigners are encroaching on Hua soil, and the glorious empire he sought to build is facing change on a scale it has never known before. In face to face combat, Hua is a fearsome foe. He can cast a few arcane spells, a lot of divine spells, and even use a few rudimentary psionic powers to help him out.
Adventure ideas: PCs allied with one or any of the kingdoms could be sent here to retrieve a powerful magical item. While here, they could be captured by Hua's servants and then sent back out with a new mission to fetch a spellbreaker. They might need the services of every major discipline - arcane magic, divine magic, and psionics - to satisfy Hua's demands.
To extend this to a campaign, Hua could either be preparing for a short-term strike at the nearby Yujing Imperial Capital, or he could be planning in the long run for reconquering the entire Asianloft Core. (Knowing his undead status, he would probably attempt this by taking one kingdom as his proxy, which acts as a mouthpiece.) Things could get very interesting if he meets with foreigners and learns there is another Core beyond the Mists.
The central city of Yujing, the Jade Capital
Similar to: Beijing
Cultural Level: 8
Landscape: Mountains to the west and north. Plains to the east. The Grand Canal provides the only waterway to the south. Mountain springs feed the city with water, and there are no natural rivers nearby.
Major Settlements: Yujing, city state. 225,000, of which about half live in the city limits and the rest are in satellite farming communities.
The Folk: 100% Humans and 90% Hua ethnicity. Asian foreigners are a fairly frequent sight here, but non-Asians are not and will draw a lot of attention. Non-humans will probably cause an outcry.
Language: Hua Zhengyu, although the presence of diplomats and traders from around the empire means most commercial businesses will have a little proficiency in non-Hua dialects.
Religion: The Wheel of Enlightenment (Minglun jiao). Also, the fresh spring canal leads down to the city from the northwest, and brings fresh water which goes into the palace's moat. This moat has a Dragon Shrine built at its northernmost extremity, and the domain's dragon manifests in the moat at times. The Emperor also has the Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) where he will perform regular rituals to honor the Celestial Bureaucracy and Shangdi.
The Law: Absolutistic hereditary monarchy with large bureaucracy. The Emperor, Can Jiguang (pronounced "Tsan Ji Gwong" - Brilliant Superb Light) rules here, and receives petitions from diplomats who present the lesser kingdoms. He has a eunuch ministry that takes care of most of the paperwork, and also an Imperial Examination system that provides him with civil servants. Can Jiguang also has founded a secular academy which he hopes will provide some insights into scientific advances.
Trade: Most trade comes either overland along the Imperial Highway, or along the Grand Canal by barge. The area is rich in mineral wealth and plains animals, including deer. It imports silk, wine, teas, dyes, jade, lumber. It is a good source for metals, coal, precious stones, horses (brought in from the Steppes), and information. Yujing's prime export is arguably political favor, followed closely by saltpeter required for gunpowder. The "cha jia" or tea houses are extremely popular here, taking the place of the more usual D&D staple, the Tavern. The Yujing ("jing ju") opera is also a roaring success, and the Yujing "zaji" acrobat shows are a must-see for dignitaries and wealthies.
Defenses: Imperial Army of about 15,000 - relatively small by Hua standards, but excellently trained and in extremely good standing. Unlike other armies, this one rarely routs, with a strong command structure that emphasizes the ability to carry on fighting even if the leaders are neutralized. Armed with horses, bows and crossbows, swords, polearms, and firelances (one-shot bamboo rifles). One division of cannon is here also, more for completeness' sake than any practical use in defence. Being landlocked, Yujing has no navy, although a small Canal guard maintains patrols at the northern end of the Grand Canal.
Coinage: Yinbi or "kuai" (silver currency), 1 of which is worth 100 tongbi or "fen" (bronze currency).
Characters: Anybody born here is almost definitely human, and overwhelmingly likely to be Hua ethnicity. Classes: rogues (traders, guilds), psionicist/monks (Minglun jiao templars), wizards (worshippers of the Dragon), fighters (guards or soldiers), bard (the Yujing singers, or cha jia singers, or even Yujing zaji acrobats). Clerics could serve at any one of the minor temples around town.
Layout: The city comprises most of the domain, with a few outlying settlements in an otherwise plain and forested expanse. The center of the city is the Huangjin Cheng ("Imperial Forbidden City") and is surrounded by a moat that encircles the 9,999 rooms within - here the Emperor makes his residence. The buildings are easily distinguished by their golden roofs and deep red walls, which are thick and designed to withstand cannon fire. The few outsiders who come in are either visiting kingdom dignitaries, new eunuchs, or civil servants picked by the Emperor through his examination process.
Beyond the moat, the second circle of the city is the nobility, diplomats, and visiting foreigners. Embassies from Western Core domains have appeared here, although these are primarily of Nova Vaasa, Darkon, and Dementlieu. Also here is the Temple of Heaven in the southwest, a complex that is circular (unusually for a palace - signifying the sphere of the Heavens) and painted deep blue for the sky.
The moat itself draws from the northwest in a canal, circles the Palace, and then exits to the southeast before it joins the Grand Canal. The Dragon sleeps here, although on occasion it sends rains during a Temple of Heaven service to relieve the summer heat. Legend has it that there was once a vast stretch of salt water called Bitter Sea Waste in prehistoric times, and dragons fought. The current dragon has a special shrine to the north, near the spring, and a special well which, it is said, keeps it safely sleeping underground. Around that well (located in the second circle) is constructed the new Academy of secular studies, financed by the Emperor's decree.
The third circle is for lesser nobles, wealthy traders and scholars. The Yujing Guard also has its garrison here (40,000) and polices the city. The Yujing Guard is disproportionately large, even for a city of its immense size, but is charged with the general police and defense of the city. Geographically, the city has traditionally held off the barbarians to the north, so the large guard is justified. The Kong Miao (temple of Confucius) is located here, where scholars come every year to pray for success in their entrance exams. Several small academies of secular study are here.
The fourth circle is the only circle without an outer city wall, and this is where the common city folk live. If the undead Hua Gaozu emperor were to employ a resentful egotistical scholar to travel around the domain, sending back reports signed only with the first character "Hu" of his name, whilst making snide implications about the cultures he travels through and staying at poor roadside inns to conserve money, then this is where such a hypothetical character might stay. Most of the street markets are here, as well as low-level tea houses and the Grand Canal Docks in the southeast. Of particular note is the "huoyao" (gunpowder) factory in the southwest, which was specifically located there to prevent unfortunate explosive accidents from harming the rest of the city.

A satellite village, Donglingmen (East Tomb Gate) lies to the very west of this domain, bordering on the Necropolis of Zhong'Anling. There a rotating shift of eunuch caretakers is on hand to guide offerings or other convoys to the City of the Dead.

Ruler: Can Jiguang is not a warrior or even an administrator. He's primarily a scholar, devoted to pursuits of knowledge. As an individual, he is likeable enough, but he is a far cry from the reign of his grandfather, the dynasty founder Can Kangfan ("Can, who Defied the Barbarians"). He views himself as a caretaker of the empire, and sets his modest decrees thusly, but he also serves as a perfect example of how an ineffectual morally good ruler can be a bane to the empire he rules. The Nu'erfan Steppe tribes (Nürfan, in their own language) are preparing to avenge their defeat at his grandfather's hands, 80 years ago, and massing for raids along his northern border. Meanwhile, to the south, his subject kingdoms bow and kaotou with seeming obedience, but plot allegiances and betrayals to remove him from power. Most dangerously, to the west, the undying emperor seeks a few good adventurers to set him free, so he can march on Yujing and claim it for his own.

Darklord: Yujing, being the seat of power, does not have a single darklord. Rather, the position of power serves as a corrupting influence on its own. The palace, the throne, even the concubine chambers all tell of centuries of descent from kindness to cruelty, love to hatred, and good intentions to unapologetic travesties. Perhaps the Asian equivalent of the Dark Powers has a representative here, acting in ways to corrupt and seduce.

It is often a truism that "First is the conqueror, second is the reformer, third and later are the failures". The first dynasty head is often the warrior who, blood-drenched and war-weary, ascends to the throne and imposes order out of chaos. The successor is then the one to rule well and in peace, remembering the travails of his father before him and respecting the needs of the people. By the third generation, the subjects are restless, or the nobles are ambitious, or the barbarians are insistent, or the emperor is corrupt - but the seeds of the end are beginning to be sowed and the Wheel of Change grinds on.

The dark power behind Yujing feeds with delight from the despair of the rebel who loses a key battle and knows he is consigned to be bandit instead of emperor in the history books. It relishes the shock of the usurper who succeeds in becoming Emperor, then realizes how hard the task of rulership truly is. It especially loves the debauches and depravities of later rulers, who were born into an order and wealth they did not create, and who squander the goodwill of their people and the hard sweat of their ancestors in their own pursuit of greed and pleasure. And it takes comfort in the fact that no matter how lofty, the emperors will inevitably be toppled by peasants, and the people will claim the crown for their own noble goals... before succumbing to the corruption of power themselves.
Jorpuk, domain of the Nürfan tribes.
("Chaobei" in standard Zhengyu, which means "Facing north". "Chao" also is a term for "dynasty" as well as "Korea" in Chinese.)
CL: (very roughly) 3 to 5.
Cultural background stolen from: Chinese Outer Mongolia, Manchuria, parts of Korea.
Landscape: Brief summers, long winters, merciless snowstorms and plain winds. The Hua people believe (with some poetic justification) that civilization ends beyond here... although some rumor that a Mistway to Sanguinia and the Frozen Reaches lies further north. (Russia?)
Major Settlements: Aisinhar (Hua "Jinhe", meaning "Gold River" in very tentative Manchurian), 20,000 permanent, up to 35,000 further transients. Total populace throughout entire domain estimated less than 100,000. Humans: 99% (60% Nürfan, 35% Taiga, 5% Hua) Others: 1%
Characters: Humans. Classes: Fighter, Barbarian, Rogue, Bard. Very limited Wizard and Cleric opportunities because of religion (see below). Characters here would gain a bonus for Str, Dex, or Con, but likewise take a penalty to Cha or Wis.
Language: Nürfan, Taiga, Hua.
Religion: Shamanism and animism. The domain has no Dragon and does not bow to the Celestial Bureaucracy.
The Law: Nomadic tribal. Ostensible leader is Oboi-saha, ruling at Aisinhar
Trade: Horses, hides, furs, timber.
Resources: beer, coal, bronze, iron, and lots and lots of snow and ice.
Coinage: generally, a barter system is used.
Important notes: The Western-oriented cultural levels do not do this domain justice. The horsemen have innovations and advances in horseriding and animal breeding, and quite a few advanced military tactics. They use obsidian and flint for their arrowheads, and also occasionally sew metal plates onto their breast and backplates for armor, but generally the Nürfan are master workers of leather and furs. They also use silk as an underarmor cover, allowing them to pull out arrows from wounds without cutting around the arrowhead.

Politics: There are about six tribes in the area, some of which want nothing to do with Aisinhar and Oboi-saha, and others who greedily contest his rule and hope to take over the domain's major permanent settlement. Oboi-saha himself has reached his position only by extreme brutality of his rule, even going so far as to execute his own blood-brother in order to cement a political friendship (another tribe claimed he had committed atrocities that required his death). Oboi-saha has, uncharacteristically, weary of infighting and wishes for the splendid eaves and pillars of Yujing to be built here in his land, to glorify his people as a nation.

Darklord: Oboi-saha was brought up to be a pure warrior, and is the direct descendant of a mighty Nürfan general who once conquered Yujing, although this general died before he could declare himself emperor. Once, as a very young boy, he accompanied his father on a trip to Yujing, where his father begged the Throne for aid against the traitorous Chi-jison tribe. The Emperor granted a cavalry tribe of Taiga to aid them. Oboi-saha revelled in the slaughter, and was there at his father's side when the victorious Nürfan also struck down the Taiga to keep their victory exclusively theirs - but the young man had been awed by the opulence of Yujing, and the lives the citizens led there.
He grew to question the creed of his people, that he who dies in a tent is forever disgraced, and he who dies on the battlefield will be reborn as an eagle. He began to wonder whether civilization truly was the recourse for a "soft race", as his people mocked the Hua. He recalled one lowly scribe in Yujing's Confucian temple, who slept on a more comfortable bed, and ate better food, than Oboi-saha's own father did as a king.
Oboi-saha shares much of the torment of Harkon Lukas in the Western Core. He has the makings of a great leader, and tries to promote pursuits like a written epic record of his clan's feats, and a collection of Nürfan writings in Aisin-har. He has seen the very real miracles performed by clerics of the Celestial Bureaucracy, and the invocations drawn from nature by the Dragon mages - he imagines a future when his own people will command such power.

However, he knows he can never rest because of the various challenges to his power, and the fact that his civilization yearnings could easily be interpreted as weakness among his people. Already he has had to strike down three blood relatives - one for justice to prove his commitment to redress wrongs done to another tribe, and two because they had disapproved of his soft ways and sided against him. Oboi-sahan dreams of living as an enlightened Emperor, much as the Hua throne.
Of course, he has no idea that the Hua Emperor deals with exactly the same problems but on a much larger scale.
[/i]
Kingdom of Que
Far to the west of the Tombs of Eternal Peace, the kingdom of Que (pronounced "Ch'weh", meaning true, honest, also a synonym for Imperial City) stretches all the way from the Western Sea, along with the major port city of Yang'An ("Calm seas") in the west to the lake-dotted provinces in the south, and then finally to the south of Yujing and the Tombs. Que is geographically the largest of the kingdoms, but also has changed the most in size. It has traditionally born the brunt of Taiga raids, and many uprisings come from within its borders.
The Que boast of their land as "Wanlongzhou", or the "land of 10,000 dragons" because of the many rivers, which take barges and boats everywhere. At its present state, the state of Que is occupies substantially larger an area than Darkon, the largest Western Core state. Similar to its Western neighbor, it has a very large cosmopolitan population and a greater emphasis on magic than religion or psionics.

Based on: Hangzhou, Shanghai, other cities along the Yangzi River.
CL: (very roughly) 8 in coastal cities, to 5 in inland areas.
Landscape: Valleys, gorges, mountains, and islands make the Que kingdom a very picturesque place. Trade goes well up and down the rivers, and the lakes feature pagodas, palaces, and towers.
Major Settlements: Yang'An ("sea of calm"), the largest city in this kingdom, with a permanent population of 75,000 and almost the same number of transients in city and suburbs. State capital at Huzhou ("Lake land"), pop. 55,000, where many rivers are artificially channelled to an immense inland lake through canals. (Zhonghai lake, literally "central sea".) Lesser cities include Hezhu ("river pearl") a trade and agricultural city, pop. 15,000; Nanping ("Southern Peace"), a trade and cultural arts center, pop. 30,000; and the temperate Chunliang ("spring"), where the weather is mild and sunny, like spring, all year round, pop. 25,000. Literally thousands of smaller cities and villages dot the fertile river valleys, bringing the estimated population to just under 1 million, easily the largest of any one kingdom in the Eastern Core.
Humans: 95% (99% Hua). Foreign ships have brought some other races, which have set up their small communities largely unmolested by the Que leadership, provided they pay their taxes and obey all rules.
Characters: Most likely humans, but occasional cross breeds are not unknown. Such individuals lose their ancestral ranking (a document that lists all individuals born to a family back through 30 or more generations) and cannot qualify for official jobs that require this to be presented - usually civil servant jobs. Classes: Fighter, Rogue, Bard, Wizard, Cleric.
Language: Hua Zhengti/Zhengyu, Que spoken, hundreds of different minor dialects. The large population and the dispersal throughout the gorges and river valleys means entire dialects can change with just a day's ride by horse or boat. However, the Hua Zhengti script keeps edicts clear and allows enforcement of the Que king's rules.
Religion: The domain has a very powerful link to its Dragon and also recognizes the Celestial Bureaucracy. Many smaller villages also worship different shamanistic deities, which the Que king does nothing to stop.
The Law: Taixiang, the current king of Que, largely stays out of lawmaking, preferring instead to translate directly any edict from the Emperor Can. He has chosen to break with Can's rule on one important point - he allows overseas ships to land at his ports as they see fit. This has led to regrettable incidents, such as the ceding of Yadao to the foreigners (see below) but by and large has guaranteed freeflow of trade. More importantly, it has allowed the mage-king to research magic brought over from the Western Core. King Taixiang allows the local princes and dukes to impose their own wills, and does not interfere much with their running of their areas. This is in marked contrast with his forebears, who have run the gamut from public works improver to bloodthirsty warmongers.
Trade: Grains, fruits, agricultural produce, fertilizer, vegetables, meats. Wines, spirits.
Resources: A budding banking industry, fuelled by mercantile ventures and shipping. A large manpower base also allows large scale projects to be undertaken, such as constructing temples and monasteries.
Coinage: The yinbi and tongbi are identical to the Imperial standard. Que prints banknotes of its own, and also exchanges notes from other kingdoms.

Politics: Que is himself a mystic and encourages the cultivation of mystics elsewhere in the kingdom. His ability to control weather conditions (or at least see when weather conditions will be favorable ahead of time) means his navies are especially strong. Each lake tends to have at least a patrol craft, so his soldiers can practice sailing and rowing maneuvers. Que has a few enemies in his state, however. His magical studies have claimed several lives, and although most of these have been kept secret, some victims' families have reason to suspect their lord. The Prince Chen, who commands a keep on the borderlands near the Luo satrap to the south, has plans to secede from Que and to establish his own independent kingdom. Closer to home, the Duke Ying commands a considerable navy and is contemplating seceding and joining the rulership of Yadao.

Darklord:Que Taixiang has assumed many faces and many guises, but at heart he has always been the same. For six generations, he has ruled Que, robbing the youth and vigor from its sons and daughters to preserve his own. His own quest for power has revealed a process by which he might possibly live forever, and Que Taixiang is eager to do whatever he can to cement that. The arrival of foreigners on his shores has brought new types of medicine, new forms of treatments, and even new types of magic to his attention, and he intends to learn more. His light handed rule should not be mistaken for kindness - Que Taixiang once ruled in a previous generation as the ironfisted Que Jiela to construct the Great Canal, which connects several waterways and then curves northeast to connect Yuijing to the rest of the kingdoms by water. Thousands died in forced labor to dig the trenches and place the massive slabs of stone to maintain the canals' integrity. Also, when the Taiga invaded and took over Yujing, the same ruler, acting as Que JianJiu, levied and mobilized tens of thousands of troops to use as expendable conscripts in defending the northern border. Secretly, he kept the Dragon in the ground, sleeping, rather than in the sky. The Dragon's absence meant an unprecedented drought, and tens of thousands suffered as their menfolk stood ready at the border.
When the Taiga advance nearly reached the border of Que's home province, where Huzhou waited with its massed guards, Que Taixiang deduced the location of the Taiga watering holes, through whispers of the Dragon. By using spies from the frontlines, he could tell their horsemen were tired and ready to fall upon the people of his army in their vengeance.
He sent his generals to engage the enemy, then, while they were busy on the fields, his spies circled each of the three main battlefronts and fired the dry brush. For days, the dry fields blazed, and the charred stench of meat and fat, from enemies and friendly troops alike, carried across the nation. When the Dragon at last was freed into the atmosphere, it washed mud, quicksand, and corpses of man and horse into its rivers and finally out to sea.
Recently, Que Taixiang's latest incarnation has won the approval of his cowed subjects, not least because he is aloof and distant from internal affairs. However, as his body ages more rapidly, he requires greater numbers of supplicants to fuel his youth and vigor. He masks these draining rituals as part of a natural test of a wizard's ability, often as a temple meditation or deep forest retreat. Sometimes, the wizard returns, more powerful and more devoted to his lord. Other times, the disciple does not return at all.
Que Taixiang is not supernatural in the fantastic sense - he does not qualify as a lich or vampire. He must eat and drink and sleep like any normal human. What makes him unique is his ability to harness power and use it in a way that seems fair and even handed, all the while hiding his own moral corruption. His latest venture - to become an Immortal - could well be the hubristic leap that damns him in the eyes of the Dragon.
Que Taixiang does not care much for politics and is quite adept at keeping his personal enemies at bay. However, he is surprised and worried at the arrival of the foreigners. His preparations to make the ascendance into Immortality took him centuries to put in place. Now, these foreigners have arrived with their new magic and their innovations, and he is uncertain how this will affect his work.
The Kingdom of Liang
East of Que and south of Yujing is the kingdom of Liang. The king, also named Liang, is a capable, Machiavellian leader, adept at playing enemies off against each other. He is the schemer and plotter, able to think several steps ahead and to change plans when needed. He forms friendships with dukes and princes in his kingdom, but betrays them as needed to increase his power. Frequently, those betrayed go to their graves not even knowing who it was who betrayed them - LiangZhenFang is a great manipulator and knows how to frame others for his dirty work.

Based on: Inland cities and provinces in China.
CL: (very roughly) 7 in major cities to 4 in inland areas.
Landscape: Rivers for trade, hills and mountains. Forests and plains and grasslands. Liang is somewhat smaller geographically than Nova Vaasa.
Major Settlements: Capital Liangzhou in centralized location, pop. 65,000; Nanxia (South Gorge), pop. 45,000; Taihu (sunlake), pop. 20,000 (also used as their naval training lake). Sole port city was Hongjiangdu (red river city), but that has been claimed by foreigners (see below).
Population: Humans: 99% (99% Hua). Estimated population of entire kingdom: 850,000.

Characters: There would need to be a very good reason for a Liang character not to be a human. Liang himself does not have any sympathy for demihumans and often has them incarcerated. Classes: Fighter, Rogue, Bard, Wizard, Cleric. Liang also allows barbarian tribes to reside within his kingdom, as they make for good mercenaries and scapegoats. Sometimes, when criminals are captured and brought to justice, Liang spares them if he believes they were devious and creative enough in their modus operandi. Either way, he rarely wastes a good potential servant (whom he can sacrifice as a pawn anytime in the future).
Language: Hua Zhengti/Zhengyu, Liang spoken, dozens of different minor dialects. However, the Hua Zhengti script keeps edicts clear and allows enforcement of the Liang king's rules.
Religion: Liang has proven to be quite amenable to the Minglun jiao religion, and he naturally embraces the Celestial Bureaucracy. The Dragon of the land is an interesting one because it is largely man-made (see below).
The Great City: The domain has a considerable structure of bricks, earthern trenches, and walls that stretches from north to south in the western third of the kingdom.
Called the "10,000 li great city", it features crenellations and defense towers and is broad enough to allow five horses to pace side by side. It is clearly constructed as a means of demarcating the border with the Que kingdom, and has since been extended southwards to provide a defense against the foreigners who landed at Hongjiangdu.
This is patrolled almost constantly by guard regiments, drawn from the levies of the princes and dukes. This leaves Liang with the strongest at-home army, meaning his inferiors are unlikely to challenge his power effectively.
However, one possible weakness of this is if one of his servitor noble houses decides they actually want to let foreigners invade - they could maneuver themselves to be in control of the gates and then open them at the crucial time.
The Law: Liang ZhenFang sets his laws seemingly with a court consensus, or at least with representatives of his princes and dukes present. In reality, many are foregone conclusions, and the ones that are passed that are contrary to his own interests are usually done so to pit the princes against each other, or even against the Emperor. Liang has sometimes allowed laws to be passed that limit his own interests, knowing he can have them repealed bloodlessly through other means.
Trade: Construction materials, weaponry, gold leaf, wool, silk, oils, a certain type of very smelly beancurd, wine, spirits.
Resources: Meticulous records of all urban citizens are collected, and an effort is currently underway to map and categorize the holdings of all towns and villages too. Liang has the largest army of any of the states, with conscription required for most men age 16 and above. The only exception to this are those who are studying for serving the Dragon or religious or academic institutions. Each soldier usually spends some time guarding his home province, and then guarding at some station along the Great City. Although the total number of soldiers, supply personnel, and spies is certainly known to Liang, it is not public knowledge and most estimates put the total at nearly 80,000, or roughly 10% of the entire population.
Coinage: The yinbi and tongbi are identical to the Imperial standard. Liang prints banknotes of its own, and also exchanges notes from other kingdoms.

Politics: Liang is perhaps the most lawbound and rigid of the kings, though he has considerable flexibility in disregarding them himself. He dislikes demihumans and foreigners, and has no particular regard for the non-Hua tribes either. The Luo tribe - a matriarchical society - between his southwest corner and Que's southeast corner is a stubborn holdout that he wants to see incorporated into his kingdom. He also recently lost his only port city, Hongjiangdu, to the foreigners who occupied it. Liang knows he is at a disadvantage, not speaking the language or understanding the cultures of the newcomers, and he wants to size them up before committing to wiping them from the map. Secretly, the other Hua kings are relieved at Liang's focus on the newcomers, although they are guarded that this may simply be a ploy to get their guards down. It is also likely that Liang is close to the non-Hua "Indochinese" model kingdoms and regions further south. These would probably be a target for his intrigues and expansion of influence.

Darklord: (The following is paraphrased directly from the legend of Cao Cao.)
Quote:
His personal adage was "Better that I should wrong the world than that the world should wrong me," and he was a masterful manipulator and powerbroker. A certain general, once his ally, later turned against him because of his tyranny. In one memorable episode, Liang is fleeing in desperation and is met by the enemy general at a mountain pass.
Without missing a beat, Liang hails him in humble and friendly terms, asking "You have been well, I trust, since we last met?" This appeal to their old friendship causes the general to hesitate, and Liang escapes.
Later on, the general is betrayed and assassinated by a man in Liang's pay. The severed head of the general is brought to Liang, who regards it coldly and says "You have been well, I trust, since we last met?" with a strong sense of irony.
In Asianloft, Liang commands great respect and honor from his common subjects. Higher up, his lieutenants and allies would likely have deep distrust of him, as he does of them. His curse could be similar to Elena Faith-hold. No matter how loyal his lieutenants, Liang mistrusts them and eliminates them after a while, usually playing them off against each other for his favor.

His powers would be similar to Dominic d'Honaire, though. He is able to infect even the healthiest royal court with intrigue, distrust, and suspicion. At a glance, he can divine weaknesses in relationships, and insecurities among his enemies. It would be almost impossible to lie to him convincingly.

Despite his great talents, Liang ZhenFang has a fatal flaw. He will never be a great king, because his intrigues and plots to ensure his own survival keeps his country so roiled in infighting that it will never truly act as a unified domain.

His cynicism and betrayal could be sympathetically viewed as a natural survival reaction to the time when he lived in. But, to paraphrase the Chinese film Hero (Ying Xiong), a good warrior fights battles so that he may ultimately put his sword down in peace. A bad warrior fights battles forever. Liang would be similar to one who can never know peace because he carries his own treachery within him, and infects others with it wherever he goes.
Standing, but the closer description has yet to be translated:
Siranga-Purang

Cultural background stolen from : earthly countries of Thailand, Singapur, Bali and Vietnam, the city of HongKong,
Cultural Level: 9
Landscape: Full Ecology (steaming hot jungles full of life, small rocky islands and saphire-blue sea)
Major Settlements:
Siranga-Purang the "Plague-Den of the Silk-Sea", capitol city and main port (85.000)
Lut-Sham "City of the golden Pagode" a city around the central temple of the domain (4.500)
Phong-Pen fortified city deep in the jungles, bastion against hostile tribes from the northern mountain-forrests (3.100)
The Folk:
Population:
about 214.200 People
Sirangapunese: 60 %
Human: 35 %
Lizardmen: 5 %
Language:
Sirangapunese; Pidgin (the eastern trade-language); Rokuma
Religion:
The Wheel of Enlightment (mock-buddhism), The path of the glorious ancestors; the Kami
The Law:
Officialy: Absolutistic hereditary monarchy with large bureaucracy
Inofficial: "organized" corruption and regiment through the triad-elders
Trade:
Ressources:
naturaly: rice, beans, lychees, citrus, chili-beans, all kind of differend fish and seafood, rice-wine, beer, silk, silver, gold, iron, explosives, shagipang-olek, opium, black lotus, marihuana, cocain, heroine,
just going through the port: what-ever-you-wish
Coinage:
Gold-Kesh (gp); Silver-Kesh (sp); Copper-Kesh (cp)
Characters:
Classes: rogues, monks, wizards, (kung-fu-)fighters
May you live in interesting times !!
-ancient chinese curse
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