Café de Nuit

No, NykylaiHellray, the other thread was just ideas for Asian domains. This thread is actually about writing these domains up to make a net book.

Waldi, that sounds like a great idea too. There's no reason not to have both; we can easily have more than one era of certain countries represented as different domains, but basically the same ethnic group or even a different one.

Hmm...perhaps, both domains could lie beside each other..the "Yamato-People" would be archaic "aborigines", who live in large forests and little villages gouverned by the last prince of an extremly old noble bloodline (like those "old folk" in Mononoke).
The relationship to the "Meji-People" is a bit twofold. The "Meji-People" living at the border in the smaller towns of their domain consider them as cousins and treat them friendly (they honor the ancient wisdom of the "Yamato-People") while the people from the big and "modern" citys think them to be primitive and supersticious savages that need to be "civilized"...
I think, Ainu- or Kirgisian-like people could be perfect "oriental Vistani".
Perhaps there could be a a more dangerous tribe like clichee-Mongols, that apear suddenly out of the mists, raid small towns and disapear as mysteriosly as they came...

I'd be happy to contribute to a Chinese-style cluster or Core of domains for such a project. My knowledge of other Asian cultures is not as strong, but I would be interested in writing something up.

Alternatively, if it would be hard to get a cluster or Core of several Chinese (and ethnic minority) style domains together, then that's no problem. I was originally envisioning it as a solo project anyway and it could easily go either way just as well.

As an idea, while the all of the domains would be inspired by different cultures, and whatnot, perhaps they all came from different problems of a fallen empire?

I'm glad you guys are interested! You three had the best ideas in the Gothic Orient thread.

As to how to work this out into one continent/ cluster, well, it could simply be like the Core -- nations from different worlds. Some could be from the same world, of course, or even different times. Or we could have all of the new domains being from the same world, some from different times, and the pre-existing domains (I'Cath, etc.) being distant islands. That would be better with I'Cath in fact, to have it be a legendary place no one hopes to find somewhere on the sea. Of course, there's really no reason it all has to be one continent or cluster either; rather like the Core, we could have a continent with islands and clusters nearby.

I think we need to get the most important (size & trade-wise) domains done first before we decide how to arrange them. Then we can add the smaller domains and fit them in. If we have enough material, we're essentially looking at an alternate Core.

The different times thing isn't a new idea; I remember reading that the ruins in Sebua looked ancient to the Akiri, indicating that perhaps even Tiyet was from Har'Akir's past as well. Considering that and the fact that the Mists can enable one to travel through time (willing or not), time is obviously not an obstacle for the DPs.

I guess I need to pm Dion to see if he would like his domains to be a part of this or to remain separate. I hope so, but I'll respect his wishes in this matter, of course.

As for what I'll come up with to contribute, well, I need to see what Asian countries are being covered by others first. I'll try to do one or more of the lesser-known cultures myself. When doing research for adventures and cultural information to flesh out other domains in RL I've learned you can nearly always find what you need on such subjects with Google. Of course, that's also how we can get the info we need to write up appropriate monsters from Asian legend & folklore too. I'd perfer to stick rather closely to the actual legends of Asian monsters than just make something up and stick a traditional critter's name on it. Likewise with religions; we shouldn't attempt to imitate faiths people still follow too closely as many would find that offensive, but we can easily design faiths that are similar.

I have no intention of declaring a deadline, btw. It'll be done when it's done. But I really want to do this and not just fade away as ideas that never got worked out.

So we need some "asian" races ? Perhaps we could use some works I did long time ago for a private "Arcane-Codex-Campain" (thats a german fantasy-RPG). We where in bad need of a far-east-race, so we invented the "Sirangapunesians" and their hideous city "Siranga-Purang". Siranga-Purang is a odd mixture of Singapur, Bangkok and HongKong where the tongs and triads run rampant, while the sirangapunesians tend to be a composite of chinese- and thai-influences.
The sirangapunesians are close relatives to western gnomes ore halflings and look much like "chinese" versions of those races. They tend to live together in incredibly large familys, have often a semi-aquatic livestile (a lot of them live on houseboats on coasts or rivers), seem very chaotic to outsiders, speak very fast and love spicy cuisine (the sirangapunese cuisine is in deed nearly unedible for members of other races and can cause corroded and burned throats. Sirangapunese cooks use everything that fits in a wok for creating meals and add a lot of fried noodles and chili. The sinrangapunesian spice-sauces are especially awfull, for they consist not only of chili and garlic but also of ingrediences like gunpowder or turpentine)

The following is the original german text about them and their city. I hope, I will manage to translate it to english and adapt it to D&D this weekend:

Die Sirangapunesen,
Die Halblinge des Fernen Ostens, Das Volk der 1000 Boote
Beschreibung :In allen Hafenstädten des Fernen Ostens gehören sie fest zum Alltagsbild und auch an der Ostküste Krejiors findet man sie zuweilen (vor allem in den Piratennestern von Khoris) – die Sirangapunesen, oder Yue, wie sie sich selbst nennen. Diese kleinen, drahtigen Gestalten sind eng mit den Halblingen Krejiors verwandt. Westliche Halblinge und Sirangapunesen können sogar gemeinsamen Nachwuchs zeugen, auch wenn dies äußerst selten vorkommt. Es gibt allerdings einige Merkmale, an denen man die beiden Halblingrassen unterscheiden kann : auffällig (für Westler) sind die seltsamen, mandelförmigen der Sirangapunesen, die in der Regel entweder schwarz oder braun sind. Das Haar ist stets glatt und lackschwarz. Ihre Hautfarbe variiert zwischen mittleren Brauntönen und einem hellen Kaffeebraun mit einem leicht gelblichen Einschlag.Sirangapunesische Männer und Frauen tragen ihr Haar immer sehr lang. Frauen aus armen Verhältnissen flechten das Haar einfach zu einem langen Zopf während reichere Damen ihre Haarpracht mit Nadeln und Kämmen zu kunstvollen Gebilden hochstecken. Bei den Herren der Schöpfung wird in allen gesellschaftlichen Klassen der Zopf getragen. Im Gegensatz zu westlichen Halblingen haben sirangapunesische Männer starken Bartwuchs. Der Modetrend geht derzeit zu dünnen Schnurrbärten mit lang herab hängenden Enden und kleinen Spitzbärten am Kinn. Männer wie Frauen tragen alltags schlichte blaue Kittel und Hosen, wagenradgroße Strohhüte und die charakteristischen Holzsandalen. Die wenigen Angehörigen der sirangapunesischen Oberschicht trägt aufwendige, goldbestickte Roben. Sirangapunesen leben in großen Sippen zusammen in Hausbooten oder mehrstöckigen Pfahlbauten direkt an der Küste. Es ist nichts ungewöhnliches, wenn vier Generationen einer Familie zusammen unter einem Dach leben und 15 Kinder pro Ehepaar sind der Durchschnitt. Die Sippen sind patriachisch organisiert, der älteste Mann der Sippschaft, in der Regel der Urgroßvater, fungiert als Familienoberhaupt. Für Beobachter aus anderen Völkern herrscht in den sirangapunesischen Siedlungen (seien es eigene Städte, oder weitaus häufiger, sirangapunesische Viertel in Hafenstädten anderer Völker) heilloses Chaos. Auf den Stegen zwischen den Pfahlhäusern drängen sich wahre Massen an Sirangapunesen und unten auf dem Wasser schwimmen dicht an dicht kleine Transportkähne, vollgeladene Schuten, Hausboote und Wassertaxis. Zwischen den Pfahlbauten sind unzählige Leinen und Seile gespannt, die teils dem vertäuen von Booten und teils als Wäscheleinen dienen. Der Lärm ist überwältigend, dafür sorgt nicht nur das Geschrei von Fischern und Händlern. Sirangapunesen gelten zurecht als schwatzhafte Wesen. Ihre Sprache ist kompliziert und wird von Angehörigen anderer Völker nur selten verstanden (selbst wenn diese Sirangapunesisch gut beherrschen ) da Sirangapunesen stets schnell und hektisch reden, ohne zwischen den einzelnen Worten auch nur Luft zu holen.Wird der Geruch in einer sirangapunesischen Siedlung ebenfalls „überwältigend“, so nähert man sich einer der weithin berüchtigten sirangapunesischen Garküchen.Die sirangapunesische Cuisine folgt einem strikten Prinzip : „Man kann alles essen, wenn man nur genügend Gewürze hinzufügt !“ Man kocht so ziemlich alles, was auch nur annähernd genießbar ist (oder auch nicht, je nach Ansichtssache) und würzt es außerordentlich scharf. Kaum eine Küche der bekannten Welt ist derartig vielfältig wie die sirangapunesische. Allerdings gibt es bestimmte Standartgerichte, die sich großer Beliebtheit erfreuen, wie etwa die „Neun-Glückliche-Hündchen-Suppe“ (reiner Etikettenschwindel, die enthaltenen neun Hündchen sind mit einiger Wahrscheinlichkeit eher unglücklich) , „Möwe-Süß-Sauer“ oder "einfache" Nudelsuppe. Zu jedem Gericht gehören jedoch zwingend „Shagipang-Olek“ , eine dubiose Chilipfefferpaste, in der etliche seltsame Ingredienzen verwertet werden (zum Beispiel Terpentin oder Schießpulver) und Unmengen an Reis ! Nicht-Sirangapunesen sei dringend davon abgeraten, etwas in einer sirangapunesischen Garküche essen. Wenn man es aber doch getan hat (und noch lebt), sollte man NIEMALS nach den Zutaten fragen !!! Die ehrliche Antwort könnte einen Schock verursachen.........Im Fernen Osten haben Yue oft den Ruf, Gauner, Diebe oder Schmuggler zu sein. Dieser schlechte Ruf hängt teilweise mit ihrer eigentlichen Heimat, der Stadt Siranga-Purang zusammen. Dieser Moloch gilt als größte Ansammlung von Geschmeiß und Gangstergesindel im Umkreis von 2000 Meilen. Die Stadt ist Knotenpunkt vieler Handelsrouten und als solcher unermesslich Reich geworden. Neben den redlichen Händlern haben sich dortjedoch auch Schmuggler und Mafiosi angesiedelt und halten die Stadt in ihrem eisernen Griff. Die Triaden von Siranga-Purang sind eine der mächtigsten Verbrecherorganisation des Fernen Ostens.

Spezielle Eigenschaften :Geschick: +2Wahrnehmung: +1Konstitution: -2Stärke: -2 Boote fahren: +5Feilschen und Handeln: +2Yue haben eine besondere Widerstandsfähigkeit gegen ungenießbares Essen entwickelt. Bei Nahrungsmitteln jeder Art steigt ihr Verteidigungswert gegen Gift um +5.

Yue-Namen :

Männliche Namen : Cheng; Cong; Fai; Ho; Kong; Kuan-Yin; Lee; Lei; Li; Liang; Lok; Long; Pak; Shaiming; Shen; Shing; SyingLanh; Minh; Dao; Chin; Chien; Bao-Bay; Hung; Hao; Tuan; Tuyen
Weibliche Namen : Ai; An; Chan-Juan; Fang-Yin; Huan-Yue, Hui-Ying; Jiang-Li, Jiao; Kim; Kim-Li; Li-Ming; Li-Mei; Li-Na; Li-Quin; Lien; Lin-Yao; Ling,Qi; Quing-Yang; Quiao; Ming-Ue; Shan; Shu-Fang, ShuangNachnamen:

Als Familien- oder Sippenname wird bei den Yue der Name des Sippenpatriarchen benutzt. Sehr alte Sippen nennen sich nach dem berühmtesten und geachtetsten Ahnen ihrer Sippe . Nennt ein Yue seinen vollen Namen, nennt er seinen Familiennamen stets zuerst. Dies ist auch die offizielle Schreibweise bei Yue-Namen.
Bspw. würde das Yue-Mädchen Li-Ming aus der Sippe des berühmten Generals Shing, dem Patriarchen der Familie, sich Fremden mit "Shing Li-Ming" vorstellen.


Siranga-Purang
Das Tor zum Fernen Osten

Segelt man von der Ostküste Saphirias aus an den Korsareninseln von Koris vorbei auf dem selben Breitengrad ca. 6500 Meilen gen Osten, so verläßt man das Meer der Stürme und gelangt Legenden zufolge in ein Gewässer, das auf einigen verunischen Seekarten als „Mare Sericanium“, also „Seidenmeer“ bezeichnet wird. An den Küsten dieses geheimnisvollen Ozeans liegen der Sage nach die legendären, mysterienumwitterten Reiche des Fernen Ostens, der Ursprung der Seide, mit der im Verunischen Imperium so profitabel Handel getrieben wird.

Die größte Menge an Seide wird nach wie vor über viele Umwege und Zwischenlager auf Schiffen nach Krejior transportiert, da die uralte, fast vergessene Seidenstraße durch die Steppen von Trulk nur unter großen Gefahren bereist werden kann. Der wahre Ursprung des edlen Stoffes ist nur wenigen in Krejior bekannt, da kaum jemand sich je auf die lange, gefahrvolle Reise nach Osten begeben hat.
Folgt man den verschlungenen Schiffsrouten der Seiden- und Gewürzhändler weit nach Osten über Koris hinaus und vorbei an den Ruinen Atlanteas, und läßt man sogar die geschäftigen Häfen des fernen Al-Rakhan hinter sich, gelangt man zu einer Insel, die als das Tor zu den fernen orientalischen Reichen gilt : auf dieser Insel liegt eine gigantische Handelsmetropole, Knotenpunkt unzähliger Schiffsrouten, Hafen für redliche Händler und verschlagene Schmuggler, ein verkommener Ort des Lasters, der Unmoral und der Gewinnsucht. Man nennt ihn zugleich „Juwel des Orients“ und „Pestbeule des Seidenmeeres“, diesen Moloch der von den Verbrecherkönigen der Triaden selbst beherrscht wird. Welche Ware man auch immer suchen mag, sei sie legal oder illegal, dort wird man sie finden :

Willkommen in Siranga-Purang !

Siranga-Purang ist bei Weitem der östlichste Punkt der Welt, der bis jetzt nachgewiesenermaßen von zivilisierten Reisenden aus Krejior erreicht wurde. Alle vorliegenden Berichte über Länder, die weiter im Osten liegen, sind entweder überlieferte Erzählungen von orientalischen Händlern oder einfach frei erfunden.

Die Insel ist fast kreisrund und mißt von einer Küste bis zur anderen ungefähr 40 Meilen. Das Klima ist feucht und heiß. Kleinere, vorgelagerte Inselchen sind von dichtem Urwald überwuchert. Auf Einigen ist der Wald jedoch gerodet worden, und man betreibt extensive Landwirtschaft. Die Sirangapunesen (seltsame Verwandte der Halblinge die sich selbst die „Yue“ nennen) bauen dort Reis, Gewürze, diverse Obst und Gemüsesorten und dubiose Kräuter, die der Heilkunst oder dem Drogenkonsum dienen an.

Die Stadt Siranga-Purang (sie trägt den selben Namen wie das Eiland) bedeckt ungefähr ein Drittel der Insel. Doch nicht nur auf der Insel befinden sich Gebäude und Behausungen. Die gesamte Westküste entlang stehen unzählige mehrstöckige Pfahlbauten im seichten Wasser, zwischen denen Hausboote, Frachtkähne und kleine Wassertaxis umherschwirren. Unzählige Schiffe aus aller Herren Länder findet man im künstlichen Hafen an der Westküste der Insel, jedoch kaum welche, die aus Krejior stammen. Nur manchmal läuft eine Dau aus Koris ein, deren Kapitän in Siranga-Purang die Beute seiner letzten Raubzüge verprassen will bevor er wieder heimkehrt.
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Der letzten Volkszählung zufolge hat Siranga-Purang ungefähr 850.000 Einwohner, davon gehören etwa 70 % der Rasse der Sirangapunesen an, gute 20 % der Bewohner sind menschlich und bei letzten 10 % handelt es sich merkwürdigerweise um Krask. Die Krask gelangten vor etwa 400 Jahren nach Siranga-Purang, als al-rakhanische Sklavenhändler eine große Schiffsladung gefangener Krask zwangsweise verkaufen mußten, da der Schiffsherr seine Spielschulden bei einem örtlichen Triadengroßmeister nicht bezahlen konnte. Die Krask lebten sich gut ein und haben ihre alte Kultur und Herkunft fast vergessen. Traditioneller Weise arbeiten die Meisten von ihnen noch immer im Untergrund für die Triaden (was ihnen einen äußerst schlechten Ruf einbrachte...).
Allerdings befinden sich permanent weit über eine Million Leute in der Stadt, wenn man alle Schiffsbesatzungen, reisenden Händler, zwischengelagerte Sklaven, Glücksritter und andere Reisende mit einrechnet, die nicht dauerhaft in Siranga-Purang leben.

Die Stadt läßt sich sehr grob in 5 Viertel aufteilen.
Ankommenden Seefahrern wird natürlich zunächst der im Wasser befindliche Teil der Stadt ins Auge stechen, das recht lapidar genannte „Viertel der 1000 Boote“.
Hier lebt der größte Teil der Unterschicht Siranga-Purangs. Man wohnt in Großfamilien zusammen auf krude zusammengebauten Hausbooten oder in einem der ebenfalls sehr abenteuerlich zusammengezimmerten, mehrstöckigen Pfahlhäuser, die kleine Mietwohnungen beinhalten. Die See hat um die gesamte Insel herum eine kränkliche braune Farbe, da aller Unrat und Abfall schlicht ins Wasser geworfen wird. Der allgegenwärtige Gestank betäubt die Sinne ebenso sehr wie der enorme Lärm (der einen überall in Siranga-Purang begleitet). Dicht drängen sich die zerlumpten Bewohner des Viertels der 1000 Boote auf den wackeligen Stegen und Plattformen zwischen den Häusern. Die von ihnen, die noch am besten dran sind, verdingen sich als Arbeiter in einer der vielen Werften oder Lagerhallen. Die Fischer haben ihre liebe Mühe, aus dem verdreckten Wasser etwas Genießbares herauszuholen (selbst für die hartgesottenen Mägen der Sirangapunesen...) Die weitaus meisten der Armen sind jedoch Bettler oder Tagelöhner, die nur zu oft auf die Versprechen der Triaden-Capos nach dem schnellen Kesh (die Stadtwährung) hören. Hunger, Epidemien und Seuchen sind fast schon an der Tagesordnung, doch die Massen der Bedürftigen wächst scheint es schneller, als diese Übel sie dezimieren. Das Viertel der 1000 Boote ist der mit Abstand am schnellsten wachsende Teil Siranga-Purangs. Zuweilen stürzen einige der Pfahlbauten ein, jedoch bleibt eine entstehende Lücke nie lange unbebaut. Doch es regiert nicht nur die Hoffnungslosigkeit ! Gerüchten zufolge hat sich hier an diesem Ort des Elends auch eine Gruppe etabliert, die den allmächtigen Triaden Widerstand leistet. Ein Geheimbund, der sich „Bund der Aufrechten“ nennt, macht regelrecht Jagd auf Sympathisanten der Triaden und deren Helfershelfer. Man munkelt, der legendäre Dr. Feng-Kao, früher bekannt als „Der ehrliche Richter“, habe seine Finger im Spiel. Man hielt ihn eigentlich schon lang für tot, umgebracht von den Schlägern eines korrupten Drogenhändlers, weil er keinerlei Bestechungsgelder annehmen wollte. Die Brüder des Geheimbundes berufen sich auf Feng-Kao und begehen ihre „Verbrechen“ in seinem Namen. An den Orten ihrer Mordanschläge hinterlassen sie stets Papierstreifen mit der Aufschrift „Verurteilt und Exekutiert im Namen des Volkes – gez. Feng-Kao“ Auffällig sind die hervorragenden Kung-Fu-Künste der Verschwörer. Ein exzellenter Meister muß sie trainiert haben. Trotz des verstärkten Terrors durch die Schläger der Triaden und den häufigen (und auffallend gründlichen) Razzien der Stadtwache konnten noch kein Mitglied den „Bundes der Aufrechten“ gefaßt werden.
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Die Fahrrinne zum befestigten Hafen führt mitten durch dieses chaotische Gewirr aus schlecht zusammengenageltem Bambus, Holzlatten und Elend. Oft müssen Patroulienboote die Zufahrt gewaltsam räumen, da Hausboote den Weg irgendeines großen Handelsschiffes blockieren.
Um den mit Mauern und Kanonentürmen schwer befestigten Hafen herum liegen das Geschäftsviertel und die Speicherstadt mit ihren Lagerhäusern. Direkt am Hafen thront alles überragend das festungsartige Gebäude der Zoll und Hafenverwaltung. Hier wird jedes eingelaufene Schiff registriert und die Ladung verzollt....jedenfalls offiziell, denn gegen Zahlung eines saftigen Bestechungsgeldes drücken die Zollbeamten meist ein Auge zu. Bei besonders großzügigen Angeboten helfen sie sogar beim Verstecken der Schmuggelware. Viele Zöllner sollen gar nebenbei für die Triaden arbeiten, was nicht verwunderlich ist, da die Verbrecherorganisation bei weitem besseren Lohn zahlt als die Stadtverwaltung. Aber das ist nur einer der vielen Gründe, warum Siranga-Purang bei kriminellem Geschmeiß jedweder Art so beliebt ist.....
Handelsgesellschaften aller Art (legal oder illegal) haben im Geschäftsviertel ihre Niederlassung, ebenso wie die (überteuerten) Läden der Handwerkergilden Siranga-Purangs, die windigen Bankiers in ihren Wechselstuben nicht zu letzt die Reedereien mit ihren Docks. Die Sirangapunesen leben in der Regel dort, wo sie auch arbeiten. Daher herrscht auch hier dichtes Gedränge. Die meisten Gassen sind eng und labyrinthisch. Ohne Hilfe eines Ortskundigen wären Fremde hier verloren. Für wenige Kesh können Ausländer bei einem der vielen Straßenhändler auf billigem Papier gedruckte Stadtpläne erwerben (meistens sind sie jedoch so falsch und unbrauchbar wie das Wechselgeld, das man zurück bekommt.....)

Der im Zentrum des Geschäftsviertels gelegene Basar gilt allgemein als der größte der bekannten Welt.
„Wenn es verboten ist, bekommst du es in Siranga-Purang !“ sagt man in Al-Rakhan, und wahrhaftig, es gibt kaum etwas, daß man hier nicht für Geld erwerben könnte. Mit der gleichen Selbstverständlichkeit, mit der Körbe voll Gemüse und Säcke voll Reis gehandelt werden, wechseln hier ganze Schiffsladungen Opium, Sklaven, verbotene Feuerwaffen oder Diebesgut aus Piratenüberfällen ihren Besitzer. Die Offenheit, mit der das Alles geschieht ist fast schon erschreckend aber in Siranga-Purang nichts desto trotz alltäglich.
Am Rande des Basars findet sich auch das unscheinbare Gebäude der „Wong-&-Tschiao-Gewürz-Im-&-Export-Gesellschaft“, eine der mächtigsten Handelsgesellschaften östlich von Veruna. Der alte Wong-Gan, der Gründer des Unternehmens war ein ehrlicher Geschäftsmann, von seinem Urenkel Wong-Jen´Djiä kann man das leider nicht behaupten. Was für ein schmutziges Geschäft auf dem Basar auch immer abgeschlossen wird, „Wong-&-Tschiao-Gewürz-Im-&-Export-Gesellschaft“ scheint immer, auch irgendeine Art und weise darin verwickelt zu sein. Hinter vorgehaltener Hand und hinter vorgehaltener Hand wird behauptet, der mittlerweile 95 jährige Händlerfürst hätte sich mit List und Tücke den Platz als oberster Großmeister der Triaden erkämpft und beschäftige sich obendrein mit schwärzester Hexerei. Die alte Handelsgesellschaft diene den Verbrecherfürsten nur noch als Fassade, um einigen ihrer krummen Geschäfte noch einen legalen Anstrich zu verleihen. An diesen Gerüchten scheint einiges wahr zu sein, denn wer sie zu laut auf offener Straße ausspricht, stirbt einen grausigen Tod ! Ebenso seltsam ist es, daß viele hohe Angestellte der Handelsgesellschaft dem „Bund der Aufrechten“ zum Opfer gefallen sind. Wong-Jen´Djiä selbst ist für sein hohes Alter geradezu unheimlich gesund und vital. Sein feudales, schwer bewachtes Herrenhaus, das außerhalb der Stadt an der Ostküste der Insel mitten im Urwald liegt, verläßt er selten. Nur, wenn er auf seiner Privatdschunke eine seiner berühmten Orgien feiert, tritt er in öffentlich in Erscheinung. Es ist ein offenes Geheimnis, daß nicht alle geladenen Gäste seine Dschunke auch wieder verlassen......zumindest nicht lebend.

Vor dem Gebäude Wongs versammeln sich traditionell die Sänftenträger und Rikschafahrer. Gegen eine Bezahlung von wenigen Kupfermünzen kann man eine Sänfte oder Rikscha mieten, um sich an fast jeden beliebigen Ort der Stadt bringen zu lassen. Bei den in Krejior unbekannten Rikschas handelt es sich um eine Art zweirädrige Kutschen mit Platz für einen bis zwei Fahrgäste, die vom Rikschafahrer selbst gezogen wird. Einige modernere Rikschas haben drei Räder und werden vom Fahrer über ein System von Pedalen, Zahnrädern und Ketten angetrieben (die Yue sind in vieler Hinsicht ebenso erfinderisch wie ihre westlichen Vettern...).

Das Geschäftsviertel und das „Blumen-und-Weiden-Viertel“, das Vergnügungsviertel der Metropole, gehen nahtlos ineinander über. Dieser Teil der Stadt wird von vielen Seeleuten als das Herz Siranga-Purangs bezeichnet. Vermutlich liegen sie damit goldrichtig . Und vermutlich findet man nirgends eine dichtere Ballung von Kasinos, Kaschemmen, Bordellen, Opiumhöhlen, Theatern, Garküchen und Kung-Fu-Arenen ! Weithin sichtbar ist die allgegenwärtige Leuchtreklame, eine weitere Erfindung der Yue. Kaum ein Amüsierbetrieb des Blumen-und-Weiden-Viertels versucht nicht, damit die Aufmerksamkeit von Passanten zu erregen. Bei dieser Erfindung handelt es sich um bedruckte mit Schriftzeichen und Symbolen bedruckte Papierlampions, die im langen Ketten entlang der Fassade oder von kleinen Holzbalken herab aufgehängt werden. Unnötig zu sagen, daß schon mancher Brand durch defekte oder unachtsam angebrachte Leuchtreklame ausgelöst wurde. Einige besonders reiche Kasino- und Bordellbesitzer verwenden für ihre Leuchtreklame eine besondere magische Jade die im Dunklen ein helles grünes Licht ausstrahlt.
Es ist schwer zu sagen, ob im Geschäftsviertel oder im Blumen-und-Weiden-Viertel der größere Teil des Profits stammt, der Händler und Verbrecher Siranga-Purangs so unverschämt reich macht.
Sicher ist eines: Das Blumen-und-Weiden-Viertel zählt zu den wichtigsten Standbeinen der Triaden und anderer Verbrecherkartelle. Allerdings haben die Triaden hier ausnahmsweise einmal nicht die absolute Oberhoheit über die Unterwelt. Derzeit herrscht im Untergrund ein erbitterter Kampf um die Vorherrschaft im Blumen-und-Weiden-Viertel. Die Triaden beherrschen unangefochten den Sektor der Opium- und Drogenhöhlen und die Kung-Fu-Arenen.
Um ihre Operationen stärker verschleiern zu können und ihre Gegner zu täuschen haben die Triaden eine ganze Anzahl kleiner Unterkartelle („Tong´s“ genannt, der Ausdruck bezeichnet eigentlich eine Geheimbruderschaft.) eingerichtet, die ein gewisses Maß an Autonomie genießen, jedoch dem „Shan-Chu“, dem obersten Großmeister Rechnung schuldig sind. Der „49-Tote-Steinlöwen-Tong“ dominiert dabei den Vertrieb der Droge „Schwarzer Lotus“, die Unterkartelle „Träumender-Drache-Tong“ und „Schwarzer-Rauch-Tong“ teilen sich den Opiummarkt.
Dabei ist es zwischen den beiden Letzteren sehr zum Ärger des Triaden-Hauptquarties in letzter Zeit zu brutalen Auseinandersetzungen gekommen.

That's really great, Waldi. I can't wai tto read the English translation!

So, here is the first part of my translation (with some additions); the short race-description of the oriental gnomes. The description of their city, Siranga-Purang, will follow (perhaps, Siranga-Purang could be a own domain )
I did not add any gaming-stats. At first, we could use the gamestats for the normal ravenloftian gnomes, but if someone has a good suggestion about sirangapunese gaming-stats... :

The Sirangapunese
Aka.: The Gnomes of the Far East,
Aka.: The People of the 1000 Boats
Description:
Travellers can see them nearly in all ports and habours of the Far East and where ever one can find a chance for profit they can also be found - the Sirangapunese, or Yue, as they call themselves.
These small, wiry people are closely related to the gnomes of the western lands. Western gnomes and sirangapunese can even mature and raise common children, even if this occurs extremely rarely.
There are however some characteristics, at which one can differentiate the two races of gnomes: for westeners the strange, almondshaped eyes of the sirangapunese, which is usually either black or brown, are remarkable. The hair is always smooth and jet-black. Their skin color varies between middle brown tones and a bright coffee-brown with a clear trace of yellow in it. Sirangapunesian men and women carry their hair always very long. Women from poor classes twist the hair simply to a long braid, while rich ladies stick their hair with needles and combs to elaborated and fascinating towerlike hair-styles . Men always wear their hair as a long braid, no matter from wich class of society they descented from. As all gnomes, male sirangapunese have strong facial hair, but unlike western gnomes, they do only seldom wear wild growing, long beards (people with such a look are concideres to be beggars or holy men). The momentary fashion-trends are thin mustaces with long ends hanging down and small goatees. Common men and women alike wear simple blue cotton-jackets and trousers, dare-wheel-large straw hats and the characteristic wooden sandals (no sirangapunese goes without his or her wooden flip-flops) during their everyday life, The few members of the sirangapunesian upperclass wear expensive and elaborated, gold-embroidered robes. Sirangapunese live together in large kinships on houseboats or multileveled buildings of stakes directly at the coast. It is nothing unusual, when four generations of a family live together under one roof and round about 15 children per married couple are the average. The kinships are organized patriachic. The oldest man of the kinship, usually the great-grandfather, functiones as family-leader.
For observers from other races, daily live seems to be a complete chaos in the sirangapunesian settlements (be they exclusive sirangapunesian cities, or far more common, sirangapunesian quarters in the towns of other races).
On the small wooden bridges between the stakehouses true masses of sirangapunese move around and down on the water small transportation punts, full-loaded cargorafts, houseboats and water-taxis themselves swim closely next to each other
Between the buildings, innumerable linen and ropes are strained, which are partly used to fix boats and partly serve as laundry-lines. The noise is overwhelming, but the shouting of fisher-men, traders and dealers is not the only reason for that. Sirangapunese are considered correctly to be chatful natures. There their language is extraordenary complicated and the scripture consists of several thousand different glyphes (far more than in any human writing-system) and is very difficult to understand by non-sirangapunese, is spoken - even if the non-natives can read and write Sirangapunesian perfectly. Sirangapunese always talk fast and hectically and rarely take breath while speaking When the strange smell in the air becomes "overwhelming", the traveller comes dangerously near to one of the feared sirangapunese fast-food-restaurants. The sirangapunesian cuisine follows a strict principle that says: "You can eat everygthing as long as you add enough spice !“
To Sirangapunese, quite everything plant- or animal-like counts as enjoyable meal. All ingrediences are thrown into a large „Wok“ and heatended on a special oven that emmits hissing flashes of flames. The ingrediences are thrown around, mixed with obsure sauces and than are peppered extraordinarily strong. There is hardly a cuisine in the known world that is so rich of variations like the sirangapunesian.
However there are certain standart-meals, that enjoy a large popularity, as for instance the "Nine-Lucky-Doggy-Stew", "Sea-Gull-Sweet-Sour", „Roasted Cockroaches with Almond-Rice“, „Thousand-Years-Old-Smoked-Tofu“ or "simple" noodle soup. To each meal belongs, however a large amount of "Shagipang-Olek" (a dubious, strongsmelling chili-pepper-sauce that contains ingredience like turpentine or gun powder) and to enormous amounts at rice! None-sirangapunese are strongly adviced to avoid sirangapunese food at any costs (sirangapunese meals give a comletely new meaning to the word „hot“). If one however nevertheless did eat something (and still lives and is concious), he should NEVER ask what his meal contained !!! The honest answer could cause a shock.........
In the Far East, the sirangapunese have often the reputation to be a pack of rogues, thieves, betrayers or smugglers. This bad reputation is partly connected with there homeland, the infamous city of Siranga Purang.
This true moloch is considered as the largest accumulation of do-evils and gangsters in a peripherie of 2000 miles. The city became immeasurable rich and prospering because of the many trading-routes that run through the city and ist central position within the silk-ocean. Beside the honest tradesmen, there are however also smugglers and triads settled who settled down here and hold the city in their iron grasp. The Triad of Siranga Purang is one the most powerful criminal organization of the Far East.
Sirangapunese have also (like their western cousins) a strong affinity to sience and inventing. The oriental gnomes truely shine on the field of alchemy and are masters of fireworks. The ultimate goal of all sirangapunese alchemists is the „Potion of Immortality“ (Truely every sirangapunese alchemist searches after it !!!). Unfortunately, the alchemists of Siranga-Purang use large amounts of quicksilver for the most important experiment. Thanks to this fact, the averange sirangapunesian alchemist is very excentric at the best and completely nuts at the worst case.
Sirangepunese names:

Male names: Cheng; Cong; Fai; Ho; Kong; Kuan-Yin; Lee; Lei; Li; Liang; Lok; Long; Pak; Shaiming; Shen; Shing; SyingLanh; Minh; Dao; Chin; Chien; Bao-Bay; Hung; Hao; Tuan; Tuyen
Female names : Ai; An; Chan-Juan; Fang-Yin; Huan-Yue, Hui-Ying; Jiang-Li, Jiao; Kim; Kim-Li; Li-Ming; Li-Mei; Li-Na; Li-Quin; Lien; Lin-Yao; Ling,Qi; Quing-Yang; Quiao; Ming-Ue; Shan; Shu-Fang, Shuang

Kinship-Names: The name of the familys patriarch is used as kinship-names. Very old and noble kinships name themselves after the most famous and most respected ancestors of their kinship. If a sirangapunese calls his full name, he calls his kinship-name always first. This is also the official way of writing sirangapunesian names.

* Misty copies and pastes the info to a text file for later.

The domain of Siranga-Purang in (very) short:

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
Pictures that could show Siranga-Purang:


Sirangapunesian village


A temple for the sirangapunesian spirits


Phong Pen


Estate of a wealthy merchant-prince


royal palace


a sirangapunese city

Here is the translation of the short introduction-text (adapted to Ravenloft):

Siranga Purang
The gate to the Far East
If you sail approx.. 6500 miles eastward from Egertus in Nova Vaasa on the same degree of latitude, then you will leave the Nocturnal Sea and arrive according to legends at waters, that are called "Mare Sericanium" or "Silk Sea" on some ancient darconese sea-charts. This name was given because the coasts of this mysterious ocean, the legendary and mysterious realms of the Far East, are supposed to be the origin of the silk, with which the Traders of Darkon and Nova Vaasa make such high profits.
The largest quantity of silk is transported over many detours and temporary storage facilities on ships to the Core, There is also the age-old, nearly forgotten Silk-Road through the steppes of the Frozen Reaches, but this route can only be travelled under large dangers.
The true origin of the noble material is well known to some educated People in the civilized part of the Core, but hardly someone risks the long, dangerous journey to the Far East.
If you follow the ship-routes of the silk- and spice-dealers far to the east beyond „L´ile de la Tempete“ and past the mad citys of Vechor, and leave even the bustling ports of Sri-Raji behind, the route carries you to an pen-insula, which is considered to be the gate to the far eastern realms.
The ending-point of your journey is a large Habour, the junction of innumerable shipping routes, a port for honest tradesmen and cunning smugglers alike, a hideous and fantastic place of the greed, unmoral and gluttony.
It is called booth "Jewel of the Orient" and "Plague-Dent of the Silk-Sea". This moloch is controlles by the criminal kings of the triads themselves. No matter what kind of commodity you may search, may it be legal or illegaly in other realms, here you will find it !

Welcome to Siranga-Purang !

Metameta: This is my contribution, a respectable portion of which is made up on the fly with relatively little research beyond wikipedia and my copy of Xiandai hanyu pinyin cidian (Modern Chinese-to-Chinese dictionary, 2002 edition). Use whatever you wish - I will be using it all regardless in my campaigns and that suits me just dandy.

Meta: I envision a central Imperial necropolis, Zong'Anling, near a central Imperial live City, Yujing (quite large, rather like London and Beijing are large enough to count as counties almost).

Both would be filled with treasures sought after by the various central kingdoms (rather like the City of Anuire plays a central part in the Birthright campaign setting).

Ethnicity: Because this would be in the deep Core, all the major people would be similar to the "Han" ethnicity of Chinese (the largest ethnicity in the world - brown eyes with epicanthus, black hair, relatively little body hair). Obviously because it's a necropolis, there will be very few live people here. The Earthside term "Han" comes from an early dynasty, so we could apply the same logic here in Asianloft. Let's say the Emperor who lives in the Necropolis lends his name to the entire race of the people he unified.

The dead Emperor's dynasty title could be "Hua" (which is actually another name for China in the real world). This would also become the name of his people, the ethnicity of the core domains he conquered long ago. Thus, everybody who comes from the central provinces and the teeming populations thereof would be known as "Hua folk" or "Hua ethnicity". The character for "Hua" also means "brilliant" or "excellent" in Chinese... I'm going to take some artistic license and say it also (in this campaign setting) means "strong, large adult". (The word Han in Chinese also means that, usually referring to a guy, not a woman.)

Finally, like China, not all the Hua speak the same language. In fact, one likely reason why the multitudinous different cultures have stayed together is probably because the Hua emperor standardized the script, so everybody could at least communicate by writing if not by talking.

Each province may have its different dialects, but the main dialect is Zhengyu ("proper speech") using the official script of Zhengti, which was placed by the Hua emperor and has since undergone some linguistic change. All regions can still understand the script, Zhengti, although some farflung regions have developed parallel or corrupt dialects of their own.

The Emperor: The Chinese historical founding emperor, Qin Shi Huang (Qin the First Emperor) conquered all the nearby kings (known as "Wang") and then invented the title Emperor for himself (which is the same as the character for "Wang", but with the character for "white" above it, which altogether is pronounced "Huang"). Emperor Qin had his tomb facing the border where his then-enemies lived, with the intention of guarding against them.

In Asianloft, this threat could have some factual backup to it. The mighty Hua Gaozu ("Hua Gow Dzu", meaning "Hua the High Ancestor") is now a very, very powerful Risen Dead ("mummy" in commonplace parlance) - quite possibly the most powerful single creature in Asianloft. Unfortunately for him, he is mostly trapped within the necropolis. His rule, though strong, was also merciless, and the architects and geomancers who put together his underground tomb made sure it not only kept enemies out, but kept the Emperor's corpse in. The Emperor decreed that "no man, woman, or child" shall set foot in his tomb without incurring his wrath. This means the only real go-betweens are the "tai jian", or eunuchs, who fall safely out of all categories.

Religion: The first organized religion based on anthromorphic personification was likely the Celestial Bureaucracy, which mirrored the one on earth and often had a whimsical or even arbitrary ruler, Shangdi. (The Heavenly Emperor.) However, Shangdi and his order are generally seen as good, although somewhat negligent of Earth (floods, famine, drought, etc.). Rather like the Greek pantheon, not al the Chinese traditional gods are specifically worshipped by established temples - many are selectively invoked in certain circumstances.

Okay, onward to Zong'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: Zong'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. Perhaps newly dead kings are sometimes brought here, too.
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 Zong'Anling. Anybody who is not a eunuch will be in for trouble when they get to the tombs.
Encounters: The name of "Zong'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 Zong'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.
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.

WOW! Excellent work, guys!

I typed out a long reply recently but then my deeply, deeply worthless browser mucked up and erased it before it could be posted. May karma apply the testicle-pins and nipple-clamps of cosmic retribution to the Mozilla gods for this.

Okay, got that out of my system. A few defining factors about the realm.

Arcane magic is dispensed by dragons. Not the big, fire-breathing XP bundles you see flying through the air, but more as unseen archetypes that the people venerate and pray to. A river, mountain, forest, or coastline could all be manifestations of a dragon. Placing a temple next to a spring or near a lake could serve rather as a leyline does in Druidic mythos. Other processes can do honor to the dragon and ask for arcane help. This is usually manifested in natural settings. Weather, earth, temperature, life - all this is something the Dragons might grant. Feng shui (or geomancy) also is deeply in tune with Dragon magic.

The idea of Birthright's magic system appeals to me, too. Namely, the more sophisticated a human settlement becomes, the lower its magical rating drops. Dragons have to make sure the upstart humans keep worshipping them correctly, but not to the point where their mills and granaries and canals and dams start causing problems with the local flora and fauna. Hence things like floods, earthquakes, storms, fires, hail, and lightning.

Divine magic is dispensed by the Celestial Bureaucracy. These are deities arranged in order of their hierarchy in the cosmic order. Very few things go all the way up to Shangdi, the Celestial Emperor. Those that do often are of earth shaking importance. Lesser petitions go to various lower deities and demigods, and get answered by the relevant bureaucrat. Many minor gods do not have temples per se, but do have little shrines placed in out-of-the-way places. Some Hua families keep shrines to various gods around their homes. Dragon magic and divine magic are generally different but are not mutually exclusive. It is known that they tend to require copious amounts of time for preparation, so casting a Bang! Fwish! Gotcha! style spell a la Forgotten Realms is generally not an option here.

Psionic powers - internal magic - is also known to a degree here, and often made use of by martial artists in amazing bodily feats. Monasteries and retreats often are the main sources of this. Some elements of Hua medicine also stress psionic teachings. One anti-foreigner movement in the South (modelled on the Boxer Rebellion in 19th century China) actually claims its practitioners are impervious to steel and bullets. With psionics, this might actually be true to some degree. This may be similar to the Wheel of Enlightenment proposed by Waldi above, which doesn't so much call down the powers of a god as enhance the powers of the man. A translation of that could be "Minglun jiao" (bright wheel teachings).

Weights and measurements: The usual everyday weight for things you carry in your hand is a "liang" (tael) and applies to money and metals. For heavier goods, a "jin" (catty) is 10 liang, and applies to cloth, food, materials, and water. For bulk goods, a "dan" (picul) weighs 100 jin.
Lengths are measured in "cun" (pronounced tswun) - about a finger's breadth, a "chi" (pronounced "chrr") - about a foot. For distances, most places use "li" which is on the same order as a mile, though exact measurements of this and all terms are variable from region to region.

Coinage varies in its decoration but generally conforms to bronze coins, and silver coins worth 100 bronze. Each is round but has a square hole in the middle for ease of carrying on strings. Paper bills also are used for high-denomination currency. Ingots are used less often.

And with that, onward to the central city of Yujing, the Jade Capital, where all these things come from. This ancient city has been the capital since time immemorial, and through changes of dynasty, has been razed and rebuilt dozens of times.

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 numbered Gazetteer 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 Zong'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 are 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.

Other domains, that come spontaneous to my mind would be (all have to be worked out yet, this are just "sketches"):

The endless Taiga
CL: 5
Cultural Background stolen from: Mongols and Kirgisians
Landscape: Full Ecology; wide, open plains with sparsly growing small forests. The climate is extremly cold during the winter and very hot during the short summer
Major Settlements: Temurkand (1.500)
The Folk:
6.700
99% Human (35 % Temur, 65 % Nürfan)
1% other
Languages: Nürfan; Temurian, Hua, Pidgin
Religion: Shamanism, Ancestral Cults,
Law: The folk is divided up into several tribes. Every tribe is gouverned by a chief called "Khan"
Trade:
Ressources: look at the Frozen Reaches and add horses
Coinage: The Temur trade mostly through barter. if money is needed, they use old coinage from the Hua-Empire
Important notes: While travelling westward, you can go to the Frozen Reaches; The Temur where once great conquerers and the greatest thread to the Hua-Empire, but now this days are gone. There hasn´t been a Great-Khan since 400 years and the modern Temur are far more pacifistic than their warlike ancestors.
Edit: The Nürfan recently elected a Great-Khan (that is not supported by the Temur) and start to ride against the Hua once again...
Dark-Lord: No real idea yet. Perhaps he could be a cursed conspirator against a Great-Khan from the glorious past. he tried to betray his lord and was cursed to ride the taiga for all eternety without the chance of finding eternal rest (if someone has a better idea...)


The northern mountain-jungles (have to find a better name)
CL: 1-2
Cultural background stolen from: primitive mountaintribes in southeast-asia
Landscape: Full Ecology; Hot, steaming Jungles, Swamps and Mountains
Major Settlements: none (settlements are very small villages)
There is an ancient ruin-city builded by a mad godking from Siranga-Purang, but this abbandoned city is avoided by the natives
The Folk:
Population:
round about 4.000 (there are no exact numbers)
Sirangapunese: 10 %
other oriental Gnomes: 40 %
Humans: 30 %
Lizardmen: 20 %
Languages: various tribe-dialects; sirangapunese, pidgin
Religion: Shamanism; Anchestral Cults
Law: every village houses a different tribe and is gouverned by a chief, a shaman or a council of village-elders. Sirangapunese settlements obey the law of the godking in Siranga-Purang
Trade:
Ressources: exotic woods, exotic fruits, ingrediences for various drugs, rice, fur and meat
Coinage: Trade is conducted by sirangapunesian coins or barter
Important notes: there is a bloody war going on between the mountain-tribes and the sirangapunesian tribes (vietnamstyle guerilla-war on the loose !!! ). The sirangapunesians claim the northern mountains to be part of their kingdom, the mountain-tribes see that different
Darklord: No concrete idea yet; I thought of a evil mountain-dragon, a fanatic shaman-witch or an asian vampire (who is perhaps the bygone godking in the ruined city)


Jomon:
CL: 9
Cultural background stolen from: the Japan of the Meji-Aera
Landscape: Full Ecology; temperate forrests and high mountains
Major Settlements:
The city of the iron palace (we need that in japanese ) (12.500)
The Folk:
112.913 people according to the last official registration
Humans: 99%
Other: 1%
Language: Rokuma; Pidgin; Hua; Sirangapunese
Religion: The Wheel of Enlightment; The Kami; Scientific progress and effectivity
The Law: militaristic despotism with a fake-parliament
Trade:
Ressources: coal, iron, rice, rice-vine, beer, clockworks, gunpowder, muskets, swords, scientific advantage and war
Coinage: Yen (the only aviable unit). Jomon-currency is difficult to use in other domains because the jomonians use little coins and large amounts of paper-money
Important notes: Jomon is the technological most advanced and modern domain of Asialoft; it became that during the last 20 years; the caste of the samurai was officialy dissolved and replaced by a "modern" army (armed with muskets, artillery and gunboats); honor and traditions are slowly abbandoned; there is a secret rebell-organisation of former samurai, Jomon became a extremly militaristic power and a thread to nearly all other domains. There are even jomonian occupation-troops holding power in other, smaller domains.
Darklord: The political and spirituell ruler of the domain is Lord Minamoto. He is a strategical and technological genius and mad in a way that is difficult to see at the first glance. For Lord Minamoto, only succes and effectivity are important - honor and traditions are second. That is, why he wiped out his own (and loyal) samurai. They became ineffective. During the last years, he changed slowly into a terrific clockwork-golem with a human brain. Without a heart, Lord Minamoto can´t ever feel true love, but he can remember what it was like to feel it - and slowly Minamoto learns, that this becomes the curse of his existence.
He looks like a odd mixture between Darth Vader and a medieval samurai...
Edit: Perhaps, Lord Minamoto is one of the more effective tools, the ancient dead emperor Hua Gaozu tries to use for reclaiming whole Asialoft. Lord Minamoto knows about his "servant-status" and plans to exterminate the "dried old geezer" (as he calles the emperor in secret) as soon, as his growing power allowes it...

Man, you two have been busy today while I haven't done much of anything. I'm still trying to plan out my version of the Core with a lot of the non-canon domains added (it's hard because my printer is busted, so I can't print out maps and arrange them).

Both of what you two have come up with is awesome. I'm thinking now that instead of including the quasi-Asian domains in this, we could have them functioning as a sort of gateway to Gothic Asia (still need a name). That is, just past Rokushima Taiyoo is the Misty Border; sail into it and a few days later you emerge on the Sea surroudning the continent (need to write up the sea as a domain too). What do you think?