nothri wrote:But the majority of classic (and some modern) tales of the supernatural from China don't take place amidst the teeming masses of the city, but in the isolated villages and solitary monasteries of the country. I'd like I'Cath to be a domain where those classic tales of ghosts and demons and fox spirits can come to life. In addition, as was done to domains like Forlorn and the Nightmare Lands I want to improve upon what has already been established and add to it rather than reinvent everything from the ground up.
At the very least it needs some villages and cities. As is there is the DL herself and her daughters and a bunch of fiendish traps and nothing else IIRC.
That I agree with. And given that Tsien's history describes the annexation of other provinces as well as her ancestral manor I think its well within the established canon to assume a certain number of towns and cities hidden within the forest. I also assume some native population of ogre magi (or Oni, if you go by 5th edition) and perhaps a small band of werefox (of a strain that does not transform you into an elf, since that's a little off theme for the domain), as well as smaller numbers of more dangerous entities like ghosts, mummies and oriental vampires. Many of which are capable of looking human through shapeshifting or illusion. You can never be certain if you are dealing with aloof but friendly or at least neutral natives or some entity wishing to lull you into dropping your guard...
Also also, I'm assuming some amount of human population resides in the domain to observe pseudo-Confucian ideals that dictate that one must bury family in their homeland and mourn for a number of years (which of course has to be four years for the purposes of this domain). All of them have of course sworn the oath of loyalty Tsein is said to demand from those who enter her domain. They are tolerated as long as they stay out of her way (she would normally be in favor of exterminating them, but she has discovered that interfering with such traditions can unbalance what numerologies she is trying to master regarding the number four, so to her annoyance she takes a somewhat more hands off approach to tormenting guests than in her early days).
nothri wrote:But the majority of classic (and some modern) tales of the supernatural from China don't take place amidst the teeming masses of the city, but in the isolated villages and solitary monasteries of the country. I'd like I'Cath to be a domain where those classic tales of ghosts and demons and fox spirits can come to life. In addition, as was done to domains like Forlorn and the Nightmare Lands I want to improve upon what has already been established and add to it rather than reinvent everything from the ground up.
At the very least it needs some villages and cities. As is there is the DL herself and her daughters and a bunch of fiendish traps and nothing else IIRC.
That I agree with. And given that Tsien's history describes the annexation of other provinces as well as her ancestral manor I think its well within the established canon to assume a certain number of towns and cities hidden within the forest. I also assume some native population of ogre magi (or Oni, if you go by 5th edition) and perhaps a small band of werefox (of a strain that does not transform you into an elf, since that's a little off theme for the domain), as well as smaller numbers of more dangerous entities like ghosts, mummies and oriental vampires. Many of which are capable of looking human through shapeshifting or illusion. You can never be certain if you are dealing with aloof but friendly or at least neutral natives or some entity wishing to lull you into dropping your guard...
Also also, I'm assuming some amount of human population resides in the domain to observe pseudo-Confucian ideals that dictate that one must bury family in their homeland and mourn for a number of years (which of course has to be four years for the purposes of this domain). All of them have of course sworn the oath of loyalty Tsein is said to demand from those who enter her domain. They are tolerated as long as they stay out of her way (she would normally be in favor of exterminating them, but she has discovered that interfering with such traditions can unbalance what numerologies she is trying to master regarding the number four, so to her annoyance she takes a somewhat more hands off approach to tormenting guests than in her early days).
This does make sense to me. Even today China has some sparsely populated areas. The point is there has to be things to do in her domain.
I've toyed with the idea of expanding the domain with a few small hamlets, and placing Tsien's palace and grounds at the center of an all but abandoned city with the four shrines arranged at the compass points of the city.
One thing in particular I thought of implementing is making the sparse populace that would be included into an Amazonian society. What few males kept alive once coming through the Mists would be enslaved for labor and breeding purposes, commonly abused and often bereft of their tongues. I had thought perhaps many of the women drawn there would be young brides fleeing abusive and unhappy lives, desperate enough to brave the Mists, and drawn into I'Cath. Once there, Tsien and her daughters press gang them, and brutally condition and train them into a small, but growing, army of women that Tsien hopes one day will be able to expand her power beyond the tight confines of her small domain.
You want something that will stick in her craw hard? Make sure the population is always at a number that's uneven multiples of 7. No matter what she does or how many she kills, she can't get it to remain a number divisible by four. People with numerical obsessions can't stand counts that don't fit their formula, so say she kills a few peasants to make the population an even number divisible by 4. The Mists then just spit up a few more or a few others die somehow and again the numbers are off, and it drives her that much more NUTS.
Do us a favor Luv, Stick yer 'ead in a bucket a kick it!
So, gentlemen, that's how it is. Until Grissome.... resurfaces, I'm the acting president, and I say starting with this... anniversary festival, we run this city into the ground! :D
Another possibility: a one-way portal to Shou Lung (in Kara Tur).
Shou people sometimes wander through. Or maybe they are exiled to the Mists as punishments for crimes?
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
