A treatise on the Middle Kingdoms

 If you were raised in the Still Pond Monastery from a young age, you were taught that the Middle Kingdoms and the “petty squabbles therein” were cosmically unimportant, and that you were to avoid interfering with such “ephemera”. Those who have lived in the Kingdoms know that this is very far from the truth. The Middle Kingdoms are defined by a sweeping conflict between a newly-risen imperialist Dynasty and the old nations, kingdoms, and tribes of the land that threatens to plunge the entire world into total war.

THE DYNASTY

The largest empire of the Middle Kingdoms, hungrily expanding from its capital Da Wan Zo in the greying Eastern Valley. Its expansion is fueled by STRENGTH, rare and strange magic that enhances power and stamina so greatly that even mere mortals under its influence are capable of herculean force. The secret means of manifesting STRENGTH, and thus control of the Dynasty, are held by the Half-Celestial Empress Sai Lan, a battle-hardened general and bearer of the Blade of Heaven. The zodiac-emblazoned blade, said to have been forged from dragon’s blood in the fires of the Jade Emperor’s star-forges, is so heavy that only a STRENGTHENED Half-Celestial could hope to lift it. Empress Lan claims that her unique capability to wield this blade gives her Dynasty divine mandate. Though the Dynasty’s brute military power is near absolute, its understanding and knowledge of magic is limited, and so rebellions often turn to strange (and occasionally blasphemous) sorceries to create an advantage. No magic comes without a price...

TRAVELING IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOMS

While travelling, choose the number of days the travel will take. (Travelling between two opposite Pillars takes 4 tendays.) If you’re exploring a part of the Middle Kingdoms whose contents have not yet been decided, roll every d8 days of travel therein to find out what’s happening politically in that area.

1 Dynasty land, securely held

2 Dynasty land in conflict of some sort

1-2 Rebellion

3 The Dynasty is yet seizing this land, roll for Empire

4 This is a military outpost

3 Roll for Empire

4 Roll for Empire, but there’s a Half-Celestial around here somewhere

OTHER EMPIRES

1 Hua Din. The people here wear flexible stained-glass mail to denote their status; a farmer has a line of shards along their clavicle, while the rulers wear full-on multichromatic plate armor.

2 Mau. The ruler is a cat of no particular sentience. The locals believe in her oracular power.

3 Ko’rak. In this swampy region, crocodiles are worshipped as the progeny of the gods. Some of the more intelligent varieties hold government positions.

4 Zyn Shou. If you are in need of botanical assistance, this jungle conclave is the place to be. They can pull the souls out of plants and weave them into silken drugs.

5 Tian Tian Tian. Atop the plateau, their greatest city lies dominated by a tower that simulates the motion of the heavenly bodies. Their zodiac-reading and astronomy are legendary.

6 Gou Huang. This massive monastery and canoneer’s workshop is the home of gun-fu. The headmaster will personally teach you, if you can figure out how to make waterproof gunpowder.

7 Monastery. This area is simply a large monastery that teaches a very specific style.

8 Inkblot Atheneum. This academy teaches calligraphy and doubles as a major library. A living crystal computer lives in the center.

9 Turvy. This hub of criminal activity rests in the hulk of a graffiti’d-up, Empire-destroyed city.

10 Feng Yi. Marsh-barges carry floating yurts across stagnant waters and shallow sands.

11 Xyrx. Everyone here is part of a hive mind of Venusian Skinjackers cloaked in human flesh. Why are all the villages so symmetrical and clean? And why are there no children or elderly?

12 Sou Liang Da. Some of the most talented chefs can combine spices and ingredients in a way that sings to the cosmos itself, crafting wholesome and delectable culinary magics.

13 The Tan. These people haven’t forgotten the tongues of beasts taught to them by the first of the Half-Celestials, and Beastspeakers lead their nomadic tribes in their explorations.

14 The Stoneheart Unity. These people worship large rune-scorned cairns they claim come from the stars. Apparently, the veins of the earth twist out from below those radiant stones.

15 Khar. Mummies and wights rule from mausoleum-palaces perched atop massive cemeteries. The few living gather in the deepest catacombs to plan a resistance against the tyrants.

16 Oxen Mines. Tunnels riddle the cliff face from which earth spirits are plucked and put into living bronze weapons. The ruler here is Threeface Dan, a miner fused with two such spirits.

17 Ren Shi Highlands. An indigenous group guards diamonds cast down by a meteor. The diamonds grant near-divine physical strength and willpower when ground and snorted.

18 Moonrake. An archway of antediluvian stone opens to a random place in the cosmos, which shifts every full moon. Around is a shanty-town of accidental wanderers from the other sides.

19 Lands of the Yellow Palace. Te Wang The King With One Eye has a written record of the formation of the cosmos with him in a scroll case made of liquid lapis. Or so they say.

20 Roll twice, they’re in conflict.