The pace that blankets verdant plains and vibrant forests of Xian Yang is about to be shattered, perhaps forever.
An ancient enemy spearheads a terrifying political takeover, while a fractured history’s unfinished story is reopened and relived. Now it’s up to you to save the island nation before it crumbles to the forces of chaos.
Are you ready to restore order to Xian Yang?
THE ISLAND
Xian Yang is a small place. A month (4 tendays) of travel and you can circulate the mainland, two tendays and you can sail about the coast. The Jade Court virtually rules it all, and most of the plain are conquered by farmland. However, monsters still dwell even in the most civilized of spaces (not to mention the places yet untamed), and the malice in the heart of the Kin may be an even more dangerous poison to Xian Yangi civilization!
On the southern edge of Xian Yan, bordering the Arabus Ocean, is the city of Yokishiro, the biggest city in Xian Yang. Spanning both sides of the Shui River, Yokishiro is the hub for trade coming into and going out of Xian Yang. The Blades of Wheat stand to protect the city from the goblinfolk Kuzgol to the north and the naval raiders from abroad.
North of Yokishiro and east of the Shui River are the Xianduo Fields. These massive plains of waving grass are yet unconquered, and the horse-riding tribes of the Kuzgol flourish in these places, unbothered by the mandates of the Jade Court and fiercely independent (yet not hostile to Xian Yangi). Stone ruins dot the fields, some holding ancient secrets…
West of the Shui River is a wide, grassy plain known as the Hills of Yun. This is the seat of farming and trade on Xian Yang, and along the sides of the Stone Ox Road stretching across the length of Xian Yang, manor houses and agricultural hamlets engage in complicated networks of trade and output to make sure that Xian Yang stays fed and economically afloat.
To the north is a great and mystical forest known as the Toshiro Glade. Dotted by secluded monasteries, gnomish enclaves, and vine-choked ruins of a forgotten age, old adages warn against wandering the Toshiro at night. The Yokai Courts (fey) hold sway over the dark spaces, and even their chaotic malice isn’t the worst of what trror you may find in the depths of the eldritch forest.
Smack-dab in the middle of the Toshiro Glade are some mountains jutting up from the foliage. Called the Hirigana Peaks, the southern shadow of these mountains harbor the second largest city on Xian Yang, called Wudoshi. Wudoshi is the end of the Stone Ox Road, and cuts logs and paper from the woods, exporting them in exchange for crops from Yokishiro. Since they trade in so much paper, Wudoshi is a great seat of knowledge, containing the majority of Xian Yang’s libraries and map stores.
Higher up the Hirigana Peaks from Wudoshi is the Jade Palace, the seat of the Jade Court. Difficult to get to and protected by illusion, the most esteemed members of each clan gather here (and oftentimes live here) in order to pass laws and maintain order in Xian Yang.
A fair number of moderately large islands surround the mainland of Xian Yang, containing fishing cities and unexplored ruins of a bygone era, but those are mostly uncatalogued by the Jade Court. This mini-gazetteer is far from comprehensive, and many wonders exist on XIan Yang that remain uncatalogued here.
THE CLANS
Those who don’t belong to a clan, who don’t have clan honor to maintain, are called “shinokosho”. It is possible to marry into or be knighted into a clan, and this is a great goal to have if you start a shinokosho. The samurai tradition from Godswind Bastion is exclusively taught to shinokosho in order to keep the clans from having ultimate martial power, and being a samurai or a shogun is one of the highest honors a shinokosho can seek to gain without c;an affiliation.
The Horse clan are those who put their nose to the grindstone, who work tirelessly in pursuit of their loft goals. The quality of work and perseverance of a Horse clan agent is truly remarkable. Messengers, artisans, daredevils and mercenaries are all typical Horse clan professions.
The Raven clan know the old ways. They are the closest thing to an indegenous tribe remaining, and as masters of wind and wood are able to utilize their deep connection with nature to great effect. They are apothecaries, shamans, wanderers, and archeologists, and their intuition is practically unmatched.
The Monkey clan are tricksters, entertainers, those who thrive in chaos and invention. Cutpurses, jesters, tinkerers, and artists all might feel at home in the Monkey clan, which operates on overt sensation and approaches problems with the subtlety of a brick through a window.
The Tiger clan are those who seek valor, to write their names in the history books. Aristocrats, warriors, generals, and arcanists are all common members of the Tiger clan.
The Mouse clan are mostly Smallfolk. They are those who hide in the shadows, make things run smoothly, make a push from behind a thick wall. Craftspeople, bureaucrats, labor managers, and demolitionists are common Mouse clan members.
The Snake clan have little patience for politics in courts. They deal in knowledge, be it common, ancestral, long-lost, secret, or otherwise. Spies, librarians, collectors, and storytellers are all common Snake clan members.
The Dragon clan was decimated in years of yore, or perhaps they went into hiding. They were demigods, masters of a magical herbal concoction the recipe to has since been lost through the centuries. Their deeds were the things of legend, and their sudden mass disappearance shaked Xian Yang to the core all those decades ago.
The Jade Court is composed of a council of Jade Consulars, the leaders from each clan, who make Xian Yang’s legislative decisions. The shogun, general of the Xian Yang militaries and the dean of the elite samurai academy known as Godswind (Kamikaze) Bastion, attends the council as well. The shogun is currently a human woman named Sen Dao (Threeblades), a naval veteran well into her 50s. The clans hold much power (including knowledge of the ninja traditions), but most of it is built off reputation, which is why honor is so important to clan members. If a clan loses sufficient face or decorum, it literally loses its power.
A HEAVILY ABRIGIED TIMELINE OF XIAN YANG HISTORY
0-1673 A.S.: All of Xian Yang was composed of tribal structures competing for influence on the newly-risen isles of Xian Yang, called Oshitawa back then.
1674 A.S.: The 13 most powerful tribes became the first clans. The first recorded Jade Court meeting was held in (long ago). Over time, more and more clans were destroyed or merged, and the population of the Jade Court changed to suit that.
1984 A.S.: The Mukashi-Banashi, a set of scrolls detailing the most potent knowledges of the wisest sages under the Court’s dominion, were penned by a scribe-cabal.
2017 A.S.: The Jade Council stood at 7 clans strong, virtually resembling the modern arrangement. Systematic farming, surplus, and trade proceeds to be instituted, beginning a golden age of Xian Yang advancement.
2026 A.S.: Doorfall. Across all of Aeros, the living portal network known as the Doors grew cancerous and mutated, and its crash wiped out entire civilizations. This ended the golden age of Aeros, the Age of Kings, and marked the beginning of the present age, the Age of Heroes.
2028 A.S.: The Dragon Clan vanishes shortly after Doorfall, and with them the Mukashi-Banashi. This is generally regarded as the end of the Age of Kings in Xian Yang.
3672 A.S.: Godswind Bastion established under Togigara Umishatu, and the samurai came into being. Shogun Umishatu led a hostile takeover of the Jade Court upon building a private army of samurai.
3685 A.S.: After suffering from a wasting plague, Umishatu dies at the hands of Jade Court ninjas. The shogunate becomes a position on the Jade Court, however, to prevent further conflict.
4168 A.S.: Within an elf-generation of the present day, the current economic system was set up. The lords, daimyo, operated in the economic and political circles, while the jito oversaw the runnings of their property and the shinokosho labor on the daimyo’s land. Clan members and samurai were generally excluded from this system.
4196 A.S.: A messianic figure named Lenushi encouraged the working class rise up for a cut of the land for their own. Lenushi was quickly put down by the Jade Court, a liability to their system, but the deed was done, and the shinokosho began to whisper of a different way of life called “capitalism”.
4199 A.S.: After a wave of unrest and threats of rebellion, the Jade Court issued an unprecedented event called a “sword-hunt”. Imperial agents forcefully entered homes and confiscated bladed weapons from the shinokosho population. This caused great uproar, so the Jade Court retracted their mandate, but the shinokosho remain ill-equipped for war, and more vitally, rebellion.
4220 A.S.: The present day. The Jade Court remains strong, but threats to their power continue lurk in the shadows. Unrest stirs in the wilds, and civilization becomes wary of its continued safety. Heroes needed…
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