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=-=General Information=-=
Legend:
Legend:
The west is endless fertile wetland: easy to defend, impossible to attack. The heartlands and south-centre are comprised of thick, impenetrable forests that offer little aid to any larger force. This impedes development in the area severely and trade within the region is rare and difficult. Typical crops include rice, wheat, soy, eggplants, cabbage, carrots, corn, peas, scallions, pineapples, coconuts and many more.
The east is a province rich in natural iron deposits littered throughout the multitude of swamps and bogs. The so-called ‘iron sludge’ is a staple of the province. There is also a charcoal industry to feed the fires of the forge-cities. Crops grown include wheat, millet, carrots, soy, bok choy and many more. Additionally, there is a small pipeweed industry in the fringes of the territory, though these aren’t legal under imperial law.
The south and southeast are areas poor in terms of food and water, but rich in jewels, salt and other minerals. To a large extent, these are provinces for slaves, Draconians and other creatures ill-suited for the rest of the empire’s core.
The Midland Sea offers much in terms of trade routes and fish.
There are various monsters throughout the realm, especially deep inside the forests of Ithram, Origo and Druïthim. These have never been recorded by Imperial statesmen, however, and are therefore considered by the Empire’s nobles to be the product of local superstitions.
In terms of regular beasts, the central realm is home to tigers and rhinos, many of which are hunted for their hides and bones. The forests of Druïthim are supposedly home to several herds of jungle elephant, but due to overhunting, these haven’t been seen for years.
The Empire of Gu-Wei
=-=General Information=-=
- A lake- and riverfaring empire with a long history situated south of the Midland Sea.
- The imperial family and the court are mostly comprised of Elves, with a few lower positions being held by humans and, in the southern settlements, draconians. The most populated areas of the empire, the riverlands and lakelands, are home to mainly humans and mucklings.
- Gu-Wei is a hereditary empire that claims to trace its heritage all the way back to ancient Muha.
- Their proximity to and mastery of the lake and its rivers makes them an able trading empire. The state is dependent on the grain, fish and fabric trade for its income. The currency used is the gu-weian bei, small metal shards with holes in the centre.
- The nation speaks a multitude of languages with no standardisation efforts beyond the requirement to speak guanyan, or ‘official speak’, when applying for a position at court. The written word is known as guwen and is largely standardised in the governmental positions. Guanyan is also being used by traders as a lingua franca.
- Population: 14 million with a total army size of 210 000 professional soldiers.
- Wealth: Rich, but disparities are considerable.
- Espionage: Poor.
Elves (Huangzu): A ruling minority of elves claiming to descend for the nobles of Muhakim. They are typically tall and fair of skin, naturally lean and almost enchantingly beautiful. The Huangzu elves hold all upper positions of government, including the position as the royal family. Their numbers are few, however, and what little their supposed heritage knew about magic has long since been watered out of the bloodline. Today, this ruling minority suffers a multitude of issues related to inbreeding and mind-sicknesses. An emperor akin to those from the olden days has not been seen for centuries.
Elves (Puzu): A larger group of peasant and gentry elves that hold smaller areas of land around the capital. Physically, they are quite similar to the Huangzu, with the exception of typically more colour variations of the skin, shorter ears and more rugged features. These are considered noble enough to hold lower positions of government, with the worthiest even being allowed to serve at the royal courts. However, interbreeding between the huangzu and puzu is considered taboo.
Humans (Renzu): The decisively largest single group in the empire, though its internal diversity is much greater than what government reports would have the emperor believe. The renzu is actually comprised of four smaller ethnic groups of humans found throughout the riverlands, lakelands and forests. In their own tongues, there are:
Mucklings (Xiongzu, or ôck-li’yoch): The mucklings are a beastfolk native to the Midland Sea. They are short-statured, stocky, frog-like humanoids that dwell on the border between land and water. Due to their ugliness, odd tongue and uncivilised way of life, these are often employed as slaves by the Middlings and lakeland governors. They begin life as tadpoles in the lake and grow throughout a five year period until reaching the humanoid stage, at which point they take on an amphibian lifestyle, hunting on land as well as underwater. Unless enslaves, they typically live in small villages on the lake and river banks and go about their days without much interference. While generally territorial and aggressive, they can rarely compete with the superior weaponry and armour of the imperial army. In the harbour cities, the mucklings often live in terrible slums. Much of their culture has been destroyed in the past centuries, but they have a deep-rooted shamanistic religion that centres around the tribe priest and the cycles of life and death and the tides.
Draconians (Longzu): Found primarily in the south, the diverse draconians make up a small minority in the overall population of the empire. However, due to the proximity of the Tsorodar Empire, draconians are often selected for positions of governorship in the south to keep relations warm, the pool of candidates primarily consisting of Bozak draconians. Draconians enjoy a decent rank among the citizens of the empire, often being employed as soldiers, pit fighters or hunters. As the Gu-Wei empire has no fixed caste system, Da’Covele runaways are sometimes caught on the border. While most of these are sent home to the Tsorodar empire to be executed, a fair number make it past the border unseen to start new lives in the less controlled areas of the empire.
Elves (Puzu): A larger group of peasant and gentry elves that hold smaller areas of land around the capital. Physically, they are quite similar to the Huangzu, with the exception of typically more colour variations of the skin, shorter ears and more rugged features. These are considered noble enough to hold lower positions of government, with the worthiest even being allowed to serve at the royal courts. However, interbreeding between the huangzu and puzu is considered taboo.
Humans (Renzu): The decisively largest single group in the empire, though its internal diversity is much greater than what government reports would have the emperor believe. The renzu is actually comprised of four smaller ethnic groups of humans found throughout the riverlands, lakelands and forests. In their own tongues, there are:
- The Jianger-Kaan: Once a loose coalition of river tribes in the western wetlands, the Jianger-Kaan now make up a sizeable portion of the Gu-Wei population. Their homeland, the Guokou riverlands, are among the most fertile areas of the entire empire, and are thus simultaneously the most raided and most well-guarded area of the country. The Jianger-Kaan are themselves varied within, with skin and hair colour ranging from bronze to black, generally hard-worked and stocky builds, and close ties to the local water buffalo. Due to their importance to the empire as a whole, the Jianger-Kaan are well respected even among the elves, and are allowed a great deal of autonomy.
- The Middlings: This group of humans are native to the lakelands, and have a presence all around the Midland Sea; however, only a few clans actually swear fealty to the Gu-Weian emperor. They aren’t as numerous as the Jianger-Kaan, but what they lack in numbers, they make up for in tradeskills, particularly in shipscraft and fishnet spinning. They known the lake and its rivers well, and also make up the bulk of the empire’s trading fleet. However, they are often disliked by the nobility for being opportunistic and profiteering, and typically suffer discrimination as a result. The Middlings typically have bronze or golden skin and black hair, and the males often grow long facial hair.
- The Druïtha: Native to the thick forests of the central empire, the Druïtha are a simple group of various woodland tribes. Their culture has heavy elements of nature worship and emphasis on an ascetic lifestyle. While they more than often present a barrier for expansionist governors seeking to prospect for natural resources in the many sacred groves, the Druïtha have made themselves invaluable to the empire by sharing their secrets of silk production. While the people themselves are typically superstitious and easily aggravated, their skill in fabrics production has made the empire incredibly rich. Therefore, they are allowed great freedom of religion, movement and rights. The Druïtha are typically pale and rugged in appearance, with scars and tattoos covering their bodies.
- The Esterlings: This group of humans are native to the eastern lakelands, riverlands and forests. They are a hardy, strong folk, with mainly bronze and black skin. Most of the males are bald and have large beards, while the females have hair of chestnut or black colours. Culturally, the Esterlings are stubborn and competitive of nature, putting their lives into their trades as blacksmiths, lumberers and farmers. Historically, the Esterlings have manned the economic powerhouse of the empire, the iron sludge forge towns, and are also responsible for some of the largest rebellions throughout history. They have a tense relationship with the elves, and their oral traditions hone their memory for when the elves cross the line next.
Mucklings (Xiongzu, or ôck-li’yoch): The mucklings are a beastfolk native to the Midland Sea. They are short-statured, stocky, frog-like humanoids that dwell on the border between land and water. Due to their ugliness, odd tongue and uncivilised way of life, these are often employed as slaves by the Middlings and lakeland governors. They begin life as tadpoles in the lake and grow throughout a five year period until reaching the humanoid stage, at which point they take on an amphibian lifestyle, hunting on land as well as underwater. Unless enslaves, they typically live in small villages on the lake and river banks and go about their days without much interference. While generally territorial and aggressive, they can rarely compete with the superior weaponry and armour of the imperial army. In the harbour cities, the mucklings often live in terrible slums. Much of their culture has been destroyed in the past centuries, but they have a deep-rooted shamanistic religion that centres around the tribe priest and the cycles of life and death and the tides.
Draconians (Longzu): Found primarily in the south, the diverse draconians make up a small minority in the overall population of the empire. However, due to the proximity of the Tsorodar Empire, draconians are often selected for positions of governorship in the south to keep relations warm, the pool of candidates primarily consisting of Bozak draconians. Draconians enjoy a decent rank among the citizens of the empire, often being employed as soldiers, pit fighters or hunters. As the Gu-Wei empire has no fixed caste system, Da’Covele runaways are sometimes caught on the border. While most of these are sent home to the Tsorodar empire to be executed, a fair number make it past the border unseen to start new lives in the less controlled areas of the empire.
According to the Imperial Doctrine (Year 757)…
A thousand years ago, the Muha emperor’s concubine, Sha-laxas Itha, pregnant with her firstborn son, was sent away, far away, to escape the danger of the rampant hordes of wickedness. Across hills and under branches, her chariot took her, until the horses were coughing blood and running on stumps sanded away by stone and root. So long was the journey, that before their unknown destination was reached, Sha-laxas Itha gave birth, and that which she had born was the son of the dawn and the night, emperor of tide and storm, or tree and beast. When the soldiers who had helped her returned the son to her arms, his very touch sealed shut the wounds he had torn on his way out, and from his first minute, the boy could speak.
So the young emperor spoke: “Bring the chariot to yonder hill; stick so your swords in the grass, o guardsmen, and wait until the sun has set. When dawn again has cast its rays upon this virgin soil of old, the realm my blood shall rule eternal, clearly will be seen.”
The guards obeyed, for none could dispute the miracle before themselves. So they in place of tortured horses shouldered the chariot by its drawbar and shaft, and with the mother and the emperor in the carriage, they brought it to the hill up ahead. At the top, they dug their blades into the soil and went to sleep. That night, they saw visions of a second Muhakim - a greater Muhakim - ruled by imperial blood as divine as had ruled their home for centuries.
When they woke up, at last, their emperor had spoken true - before them laid the rays of heaven, glaring down at the distant plain. There, between the lake and desert, the capital to stand a thousand years would be built.
Written by the predecessor to the current ruling dynasty, the Imperial Doctrine has become a staple of the imperial cult and the heritage of the royal family. However, in spite of its acceptance as historical fact, it overshadows the true founding of the Gu-Wei empire:
The first elves to settle the Xinguo, the empire heartlands between the Midland Sea and the southern deserts, may at some point have had ties to the Muha empire. However, the settlement of the heartlands happened 848 years ago as opposed to a thousand, and was largely limited to a small coalition of elven escapees from the north. Armed and armoured with superior technology, this coalition (known as the Guzu) began conquering and assimilating surrounding elven refugee tribes. Efforts were made early on to establish a centralised government, but due to limited access to food, rampant disease and constant conflict with local human tribes, the Guzu could never keep enough soldiers to maintain larger order. In the end, they were driven from the Xinguo heartlands and forced to trek northwards, where they eventually settled by the Midland Sea. In the year 207 of the second age, the settlement of Shi was founded by the first Guzu emperor, Rizan of the Shi dynasty.
The lakelands suffered few of the same issues as the heartlands, with the foreign tribes being fewer, less aggressive and easier to defend against, and the access to waterways allowing for much greater degree of inwards communication. Rizan was a capable emperor and a dedicated diplomat. He made peace early with the lakefarer tribes and initiated cultural exchange programs to acquire as much knowledge as he could about the land, the lake, the flora and fauna. Through these exchanges, the Guzu learned of the tribes’ foes, allies, disagreements and internal struggles. These slips of the tongue shortly became the graves of a multitude of tribes, as the Guzu pitted them against one another, bribed them, turned on old allies in favour of mightier favorites. The Guzu equipped their closest with bronze tools and weapons and watched them wipe out the smaller rebels who stood against the growing might of the Shi dynasty. By the year 297, the Guzu controlled all of the southern lakebank and a considerable chunk of the heartlands.
With the heartland recaptured and the empire’s strength boosted beyond recognition, Rizan looked away from the forested empire centre for a moment at the distant riverlands to the west. Tales from the human traders told of food in immeasurable abundance, and the last hundred years certainly had tested the larder sizes of the empire. They first moved in with diplomats, trying to learn from the multiple tribes along the great rivers; learn of their motives, their cultures - their enemies. Initial contact was friendly enough - trade agreements were settled and grain, fruit, legumes and vegetables flowed into Shi. However, the trade was lopsided - the royal advisors cautioned that much of the realm’s wealth was being drained in return for much too little crops. At the time, the Guzu had a complex iron industry, using iron sludge from the eastern swamplands. In return for a week’s worth of crops, the river tribes demanded enough iron to amount to two weeks of work. The trade simply wasn’t sustainable.
In 314, Rizan had had enough. The empire was by now in severe debt, and all too dependent on the grain trade, so the emperor rounded up the royal forces and went to war against the river tribes. It would be a conflict which would outlast the emperor himself, for the river tribes were crafty. They knew the wetlands would swallow whatever heavier cavalry the imperial forces employed, and their canoes and rafts much outpaces and outmaneuvered the cumbersome battle fleet of the Shi dynasty. The first few skirmishes brought nothing by losses to the empire: Ships were sunk; warriors, drowned; horses and chariots, forever lost in the swamps. In 361, after 47 years of war, emperor Rizan died of unknown causes. The losses the empire had suffered were immeasurable - some land had been conquered, only to be lost promptly thereafter as the enemy rallied against them. Fortifications built would just sink into the ground and break. Before long, the empire itself fell into turmoil as bordering tribes to the south and east initiated revolts. An opposing political faction arose in court known as the Sons of the Phoenix. They garnered support among the uprising factions as faction members would lead raids against imperial institutions and set free prisoners and slaves. In 366, the Phoenix Rebellion reached Shi and the Shi dynasty capitulated.
A thousand years ago, the Muha emperor’s concubine, Sha-laxas Itha, pregnant with her firstborn son, was sent away, far away, to escape the danger of the rampant hordes of wickedness. Across hills and under branches, her chariot took her, until the horses were coughing blood and running on stumps sanded away by stone and root. So long was the journey, that before their unknown destination was reached, Sha-laxas Itha gave birth, and that which she had born was the son of the dawn and the night, emperor of tide and storm, or tree and beast. When the soldiers who had helped her returned the son to her arms, his very touch sealed shut the wounds he had torn on his way out, and from his first minute, the boy could speak.
So the young emperor spoke: “Bring the chariot to yonder hill; stick so your swords in the grass, o guardsmen, and wait until the sun has set. When dawn again has cast its rays upon this virgin soil of old, the realm my blood shall rule eternal, clearly will be seen.”
The guards obeyed, for none could dispute the miracle before themselves. So they in place of tortured horses shouldered the chariot by its drawbar and shaft, and with the mother and the emperor in the carriage, they brought it to the hill up ahead. At the top, they dug their blades into the soil and went to sleep. That night, they saw visions of a second Muhakim - a greater Muhakim - ruled by imperial blood as divine as had ruled their home for centuries.
When they woke up, at last, their emperor had spoken true - before them laid the rays of heaven, glaring down at the distant plain. There, between the lake and desert, the capital to stand a thousand years would be built.
Written by the predecessor to the current ruling dynasty, the Imperial Doctrine has become a staple of the imperial cult and the heritage of the royal family. However, in spite of its acceptance as historical fact, it overshadows the true founding of the Gu-Wei empire:
The first elves to settle the Xinguo, the empire heartlands between the Midland Sea and the southern deserts, may at some point have had ties to the Muha empire. However, the settlement of the heartlands happened 848 years ago as opposed to a thousand, and was largely limited to a small coalition of elven escapees from the north. Armed and armoured with superior technology, this coalition (known as the Guzu) began conquering and assimilating surrounding elven refugee tribes. Efforts were made early on to establish a centralised government, but due to limited access to food, rampant disease and constant conflict with local human tribes, the Guzu could never keep enough soldiers to maintain larger order. In the end, they were driven from the Xinguo heartlands and forced to trek northwards, where they eventually settled by the Midland Sea. In the year 207 of the second age, the settlement of Shi was founded by the first Guzu emperor, Rizan of the Shi dynasty.
The lakelands suffered few of the same issues as the heartlands, with the foreign tribes being fewer, less aggressive and easier to defend against, and the access to waterways allowing for much greater degree of inwards communication. Rizan was a capable emperor and a dedicated diplomat. He made peace early with the lakefarer tribes and initiated cultural exchange programs to acquire as much knowledge as he could about the land, the lake, the flora and fauna. Through these exchanges, the Guzu learned of the tribes’ foes, allies, disagreements and internal struggles. These slips of the tongue shortly became the graves of a multitude of tribes, as the Guzu pitted them against one another, bribed them, turned on old allies in favour of mightier favorites. The Guzu equipped their closest with bronze tools and weapons and watched them wipe out the smaller rebels who stood against the growing might of the Shi dynasty. By the year 297, the Guzu controlled all of the southern lakebank and a considerable chunk of the heartlands.
With the heartland recaptured and the empire’s strength boosted beyond recognition, Rizan looked away from the forested empire centre for a moment at the distant riverlands to the west. Tales from the human traders told of food in immeasurable abundance, and the last hundred years certainly had tested the larder sizes of the empire. They first moved in with diplomats, trying to learn from the multiple tribes along the great rivers; learn of their motives, their cultures - their enemies. Initial contact was friendly enough - trade agreements were settled and grain, fruit, legumes and vegetables flowed into Shi. However, the trade was lopsided - the royal advisors cautioned that much of the realm’s wealth was being drained in return for much too little crops. At the time, the Guzu had a complex iron industry, using iron sludge from the eastern swamplands. In return for a week’s worth of crops, the river tribes demanded enough iron to amount to two weeks of work. The trade simply wasn’t sustainable.
In 314, Rizan had had enough. The empire was by now in severe debt, and all too dependent on the grain trade, so the emperor rounded up the royal forces and went to war against the river tribes. It would be a conflict which would outlast the emperor himself, for the river tribes were crafty. They knew the wetlands would swallow whatever heavier cavalry the imperial forces employed, and their canoes and rafts much outpaces and outmaneuvered the cumbersome battle fleet of the Shi dynasty. The first few skirmishes brought nothing by losses to the empire: Ships were sunk; warriors, drowned; horses and chariots, forever lost in the swamps. In 361, after 47 years of war, emperor Rizan died of unknown causes. The losses the empire had suffered were immeasurable - some land had been conquered, only to be lost promptly thereafter as the enemy rallied against them. Fortifications built would just sink into the ground and break. Before long, the empire itself fell into turmoil as bordering tribes to the south and east initiated revolts. An opposing political faction arose in court known as the Sons of the Phoenix. They garnered support among the uprising factions as faction members would lead raids against imperial institutions and set free prisoners and slaves. In 366, the Phoenix Rebellion reached Shi and the Shi dynasty capitulated.
The Phoenix Sons’ saying went as such: “Like the bird of flame, our empire shall fall and rise again, more beautiful than ever.” In many ways, that mission succeeded. The first action the new emperor, Laoqun of the Feng dynasty, did was to end the grain trade with the river tribes. While this decision was unpopular at first, the empire’s population had been reduced so immensely that little to no starvation followed. Secondly, the emperor reduced the taxes on iron, salt and fabrics, nearly bankrupting the state a second time in a decade. However, public opinion was high and Laoqun dedicated his rule to building up again the lost trust of the border tribes. The ban on other races than elves at court was lifted, and the royal family was soon counselled by elves, humans and even the occasional muckling. The diversity of the empire prospered as a result, and the proto-tribes of the Middlings and Druïtha could be seen working their crafts in street shops. However, not all bonds would heal so easily, and the river tribes were particularly hateful of the Guzu. Laoqun thus decided to never send elves to negotiate with them, but instead send humans. After all, humans had much more in common with other humans than elves did.
However, the peaceful solution Laoqun had dreamed of did not come to pass. By year 401, the lake tribe coalition that had sworn fealty to the Feng dynasty was at war with the river tribes, and the contract binding the lake tribes to the empire forced the imperial army into the conflict. The royal coffers had barely recovered in the past forty years and Laoqun knew that the empire couldn’t survive another war like the dreaded War of A Man’s Age. The emperor sent out emissaries to all corner of the empire, begging for support. A number honoured their oaths, but the emissaries returned largely empty-handed.
The emperor thus had no choice but to raise the taxes. Initial backlash was merciless, with open rebellion in the eastern regions and the threat of a two-front war on the horizon. However, the Feng dynasty couldn’t afford to break its alliance with the lake people: for one, they kept the coffers full with loyally paid taxes and trade; secondly, they were much too close. In the year 407, as the east drew closer and closer to a loss and the river tribes gave no sign of struggle, the emperor died of a stroke. His successor, Mengshi, unrelated to the emperor by blood and instead chosen on account of his merit, ordered the lake tribes to pull out of the river lands and concentrate fully on containing the eastern rebellions. While initial responses were stubborn and unwilling, the lake tribes eventually left the river lands and sailed east to the Iron Swamps. With the reinforcements in place, the Guzu forces allied with loyal human tribes and the lake peoples turned the tides of war completely, forcing the rebels far away into the eastern forests. The Guzu commanders installed a powerful garrison and made bloody examples of rebel prisoners in the streets and on the borders -- blood eagle torture and flaying were commonly practiced to instill fear in the hearts of the rebels. The Guzu blamed all the horror in the region on the uprisers, and a hatred begun to fester in the people against the opposition. In year 406, enemies of the Feng dynasty were given a bounty of ten bei, enough to feed a family of five for a month. Traitors were rooted out like weeds in the garden, and the witch hunt almost started a second round of turmoil; however, it was much more stable than the region had been before.
With the east under control, Mengshi set his eyes west again. There would be no hope in a frontal assault again. While control of the east provided a much needed source of income for the imperial coffers again, an attack on the river lands would be outright suicidal. So he would wait. The river tribes would never leave their own lands to attack - it was much too easy to defend and nigh impossible to attack from; however, could the emperor give them a reason?
For centuries, he planned and taunted the riverlands, often offering them mockingly beautiful gifts to show how stellar the heartlands had become. By 580, alliances made with the Druïtha and various other human woodland tribes came together to conquer the heartlands in the name of the Feng dynasty, so silk flowed through Shi like water through the riverlands. Emissaries were constantly sent back without their heads, hands, legs or noses, but Mengshi pressed on. Surely enough, by the year 600, various factions in the riverlands begun viewing the empire through different lenses. Trade opened up again, but the emperor’s men were certain to keep the prices under their control. The empire prospered, and slowly, slowly, the imperial traders were feeding the river tribes misinformation, lies and deceit about their allies, turning the tribes against one another. In 611, the chief of the Jianger-Kaan, one of the smaller river tribes, came to the royal court for an audience. They spoke of oppression and betrayal from the Ungur-zun, lords of the headwaters, and wanted their vengeance. If the empire offered their aid, the Jianger-Kaan would smuggle a force across Laojiang, the widest river and the biggest thorn in the side of any attack plan to seize the wetlands. While the imperial warfleet was well known and hated among the river tribes, none would suspect the small galleys of Jianger-Kaan.
This was the opportunity the emperor had waited for. Immediately, he agreed to send over ten thousand troops to lay siege to the Ungur-zun capital of Dosr-ung. The assault happened later that year; the river clans had not a minute to react. The transport across the Laojiang had been swift and efficient, and the soldiers had hidden in the dense woods until the time came to strike. When the war horns sounded, an unprepared city faced ten thousand armoured elves and men. Dosr-ung fell within hours.
With the greatest and most powerful river tribe under imperial control, more and more rose up against their oppressive masters in hopes that they would gain imperial favour. By 613, the riverlands, the bane of emperor Rizan and the Shi dynasty, and a five century old thorn in the side of the Guzu elves, were finally under the control of the Feng dynasty.
A hundred years of prosperity followed: Riverland grain flowed into the capital of Shi and the population grew with unprecedented speed. In fact, population growth was so rapid that the nobles at court began to fear that the empire had become dependent on the western riverlands - too dependent. Various factions rose up at court, all of which came up with their own solutions to the problem. Emperor Mengshi, while popular among the people (or, well, those that knew of him), had grown quite unpopular in court of late, primarily among the elven cliques. The ones united Sons of the Phoenix had split into a multitude of subfactions, which added deeper complexity to the already diverse court. In 715, a grave plague broke out in Shi that spread out across the land, bringing with it an unfathomable death toll. Emperor Mengshi took ill and died within weeks of the outbreak, and in his place rose a faction of the Muha Brotherhood, a faction believing in the supremacy of elvenkind. They quickly surrounded themselves with guards and walls of words, arresting anyone who spoke up against their segregating ways. Other races were banned from court, causing great turmoil in the many factions of the empire. The plague that had ravaged the realm was blamed on the mucklings’ unclean way of life, and a great culling followed, effectively ending muckling society as it had existed for millennia.
In 737, the Druïtha of the Heartlands burst into an outrage as imperial forces sent lumberers to turn Düatha-de-Eamhair, the main grove of the northern circle, into farmland. The outrage was met with violence, which spurred a great rebellion which would come to be known as the Ashen War. Druïtha humans were vicious in their attacks and knew their wooden terrian better than the imperial armies of Guzu elves, Jianger-Kaan sailors and various other human tribes. As brave as the woodland tribes were, however, they could not withstand the fire arrows and pitch-rolled boulders of the imperial forces. The entire grove was reduced to ashes, and the Druïtha subdued through force. By 755, the Muha Brotherhood cast aside the name of the Feng dynasty and instead named their own emperor, Guxiong of the Ge dynasty.
However, the peaceful solution Laoqun had dreamed of did not come to pass. By year 401, the lake tribe coalition that had sworn fealty to the Feng dynasty was at war with the river tribes, and the contract binding the lake tribes to the empire forced the imperial army into the conflict. The royal coffers had barely recovered in the past forty years and Laoqun knew that the empire couldn’t survive another war like the dreaded War of A Man’s Age. The emperor sent out emissaries to all corner of the empire, begging for support. A number honoured their oaths, but the emissaries returned largely empty-handed.
The emperor thus had no choice but to raise the taxes. Initial backlash was merciless, with open rebellion in the eastern regions and the threat of a two-front war on the horizon. However, the Feng dynasty couldn’t afford to break its alliance with the lake people: for one, they kept the coffers full with loyally paid taxes and trade; secondly, they were much too close. In the year 407, as the east drew closer and closer to a loss and the river tribes gave no sign of struggle, the emperor died of a stroke. His successor, Mengshi, unrelated to the emperor by blood and instead chosen on account of his merit, ordered the lake tribes to pull out of the river lands and concentrate fully on containing the eastern rebellions. While initial responses were stubborn and unwilling, the lake tribes eventually left the river lands and sailed east to the Iron Swamps. With the reinforcements in place, the Guzu forces allied with loyal human tribes and the lake peoples turned the tides of war completely, forcing the rebels far away into the eastern forests. The Guzu commanders installed a powerful garrison and made bloody examples of rebel prisoners in the streets and on the borders -- blood eagle torture and flaying were commonly practiced to instill fear in the hearts of the rebels. The Guzu blamed all the horror in the region on the uprisers, and a hatred begun to fester in the people against the opposition. In year 406, enemies of the Feng dynasty were given a bounty of ten bei, enough to feed a family of five for a month. Traitors were rooted out like weeds in the garden, and the witch hunt almost started a second round of turmoil; however, it was much more stable than the region had been before.
With the east under control, Mengshi set his eyes west again. There would be no hope in a frontal assault again. While control of the east provided a much needed source of income for the imperial coffers again, an attack on the river lands would be outright suicidal. So he would wait. The river tribes would never leave their own lands to attack - it was much too easy to defend and nigh impossible to attack from; however, could the emperor give them a reason?
For centuries, he planned and taunted the riverlands, often offering them mockingly beautiful gifts to show how stellar the heartlands had become. By 580, alliances made with the Druïtha and various other human woodland tribes came together to conquer the heartlands in the name of the Feng dynasty, so silk flowed through Shi like water through the riverlands. Emissaries were constantly sent back without their heads, hands, legs or noses, but Mengshi pressed on. Surely enough, by the year 600, various factions in the riverlands begun viewing the empire through different lenses. Trade opened up again, but the emperor’s men were certain to keep the prices under their control. The empire prospered, and slowly, slowly, the imperial traders were feeding the river tribes misinformation, lies and deceit about their allies, turning the tribes against one another. In 611, the chief of the Jianger-Kaan, one of the smaller river tribes, came to the royal court for an audience. They spoke of oppression and betrayal from the Ungur-zun, lords of the headwaters, and wanted their vengeance. If the empire offered their aid, the Jianger-Kaan would smuggle a force across Laojiang, the widest river and the biggest thorn in the side of any attack plan to seize the wetlands. While the imperial warfleet was well known and hated among the river tribes, none would suspect the small galleys of Jianger-Kaan.
This was the opportunity the emperor had waited for. Immediately, he agreed to send over ten thousand troops to lay siege to the Ungur-zun capital of Dosr-ung. The assault happened later that year; the river clans had not a minute to react. The transport across the Laojiang had been swift and efficient, and the soldiers had hidden in the dense woods until the time came to strike. When the war horns sounded, an unprepared city faced ten thousand armoured elves and men. Dosr-ung fell within hours.
With the greatest and most powerful river tribe under imperial control, more and more rose up against their oppressive masters in hopes that they would gain imperial favour. By 613, the riverlands, the bane of emperor Rizan and the Shi dynasty, and a five century old thorn in the side of the Guzu elves, were finally under the control of the Feng dynasty.
A hundred years of prosperity followed: Riverland grain flowed into the capital of Shi and the population grew with unprecedented speed. In fact, population growth was so rapid that the nobles at court began to fear that the empire had become dependent on the western riverlands - too dependent. Various factions rose up at court, all of which came up with their own solutions to the problem. Emperor Mengshi, while popular among the people (or, well, those that knew of him), had grown quite unpopular in court of late, primarily among the elven cliques. The ones united Sons of the Phoenix had split into a multitude of subfactions, which added deeper complexity to the already diverse court. In 715, a grave plague broke out in Shi that spread out across the land, bringing with it an unfathomable death toll. Emperor Mengshi took ill and died within weeks of the outbreak, and in his place rose a faction of the Muha Brotherhood, a faction believing in the supremacy of elvenkind. They quickly surrounded themselves with guards and walls of words, arresting anyone who spoke up against their segregating ways. Other races were banned from court, causing great turmoil in the many factions of the empire. The plague that had ravaged the realm was blamed on the mucklings’ unclean way of life, and a great culling followed, effectively ending muckling society as it had existed for millennia.
In 737, the Druïtha of the Heartlands burst into an outrage as imperial forces sent lumberers to turn Düatha-de-Eamhair, the main grove of the northern circle, into farmland. The outrage was met with violence, which spurred a great rebellion which would come to be known as the Ashen War. Druïtha humans were vicious in their attacks and knew their wooden terrian better than the imperial armies of Guzu elves, Jianger-Kaan sailors and various other human tribes. As brave as the woodland tribes were, however, they could not withstand the fire arrows and pitch-rolled boulders of the imperial forces. The entire grove was reduced to ashes, and the Druïtha subdued through force. By 755, the Muha Brotherhood cast aside the name of the Feng dynasty and instead named their own emperor, Guxiong of the Ge dynasty.
Guxiong began his work immediately, ordering every writer and historian in the capital to draft a census of lineages in the court, and to begin work on what he and the Muha Brotherhood called the Imperial Doctrine. For too long had the Guzu mingled with lesser races on the quest for greatness - it had soiled their sacred heritage and impeded their mission to lay all the world beneath a new Muha empire. As such, the Muha Brotherhood and the emperor’s men wrote volumes upon volumes of history tracing Guxiong’s bloodline back to the last emperor of Muha, and his favorite concubine, Sha-laxas Itha. The court enforced this new doctrine that spoke of a sacred magical heritage from a thousand years past, and a bright future that would, like the phoenix, rise again out of the ashes even stronger than before.
A complete overhaul of the state was also in order: For nearly five hundred years, the state had been primarily built around the capital of Shi, with few to no actual elven settlements beyond. Lesser races had not actually been governed; they had gone about their own ways, occasionally paid taxes and then taken up arms upon the emperor’s command. In terms of control, the previous emperor could point to but a few lose lines on a map and vaguely declare that those were the empire’s borders. However, everyone at court knew that over half the peasants, woodlanders, lakefarers and other tribes they governed only knew of the empire as two to three armoured guards that occasionally stopped by their village demanding grain.
Guxiong and his clique agreed - this would not do.
It began in 758 with the installment of a new rank - governor. The country was divided into sixteen provinces, each to be governed by an elven governor sent from the capital. The governor would enforce imperial law and doctrines on the citizens of the empire, and see to it that not only taxes were paid, but that the citizens also paid an imperial tithe directly to the imperial family. To avoid separatism, each province was also monitored by an envoy of the emperor, and the traditionally tumultuous east was divided into a multitude of provinces to avoid any one province seizing power in the area.
By 760, however, it became abundantly clear quite quickly that the peoples of the empire had quite the opposite opinion on how the country should be run. In the newly dubbed provinces of Duyin (Druïthim) and Duhan (Dûna-de-Hama), the imperial doctrine of an emperor of divine origins strictly counterspoke the Druïtha belief that no living being could ever descend from divinity, and that the only contact the living could establish with the gods was one through harmony and unity with nature. Furthermore, the local governors agreed that the main commodity of value in the province was silk, and it was declared that the local tithes should be paid in silk. However, the harvesting and processing of silk was a sacred ritual to the Druïtha, and to hurry it along in any way was considered wanton blasphemy. Any effort to increase production in time for tithe season was thus met with hostilities and at times open conflict.
The provinces of Guokoubei (Northern Riverlands), Guokounan (Southern Riverlands) and Jiangdi (Jianger) faired little better. The local festivals around sowing season and harvesting season were banned on account of overlapping with the emperor’s birthday and the Month of Ancestors. Immediately, this sparked rampant riots throughout all three provinces. Food exports to the Heartlands were stopped nigh overnight, and chaos erupted soon after in the central regions. In the east, too, tensions grew high as the oral traditions passed down for generations were suppressed in favour of the imperial cult. Even the far south, which had been a largely stable part of the country for centuries, experienced riots as Draconians grew unimpressed by the weak-bodied leadership of puny elves.
As quickly as they could, the governors sent messages to the emperor, urging him to roll back the tithe reforms and the emphasis on the imperial doctrine, but the emperor would not answer them back. No, for as riots ravaged the countryside and the capital grew famished, the emperor and his closest delved into the deepest dungeons of the imperial palace, where they began to call for angels, demons - anything that could save them in their peril. Meanwhile, one of the governors, Yandi of Sunguo (Sunnaland), united the other governors of the east in a rebellion against the Ge dynasty. Yandi had grown sympathetic to the Esterlings’ cause, seeing the tyranny in suppressing centuries of culture all to legitimise a despotic rule. The rebel armies met little resistance on the way, indifferent governors and supportive soldiers allowing them safe passage. They entered the royal palace to see that the emperor and his who clique had committed ritualistic suicide in a vain effort to summon some form of dark magic. Whether they had succeeded is unknown, but what was certain was that a new leader was needed. Yandi took it upon himself to see the systems of his predecessor undone, and was in 763 crowned emperor Yandi of the Wu dynasty.
During his reign, Yandi removed the restrictions on who could serve as governor, but he did not quite open up the court. During his initial days as ruler, he uncovered a dozen unfinished or prototype plans for possible reforms, many of which he confessed were quite revolutionary. Among other things was a population census, far from completed but vaguely drafted. It categorised the many citizens of the empire into actual groups for the first time: There were two kinds of elf, likely to legitimise the number of elves he threw out of the city for disagreeing with the imperial doctrine; the humans were united into one group, perhaps a reason behind their recent rebellion; the mucklings, who had been reduced to meagre vermin stalking the streets of Shi and the banks of the Midland Sea, were included for some reason; and the Draconians of the south. It was a rough draft, but a draft nonetheless.
Further digging into the many proposals made Yandi ponder if the previous emperor truly had been so mad and despotic as he had thought: Many of these reforms would effectivise the state considerably, including a standardised system of writing, a standing army, quarterly taxation instead of monthly… The list went on. Yandi would keep some and scrap some.
By 783, the majority of governors were from the actual province they governed, which solved a number of issues. Yandi declared that the imperial doctrine should no longer be enforced, but instead taught as imperial history to those seeking to enter a position at court. Local customs were legalised once more, and the tumult slowly begun to die down again. Governor power was restricted further, and beyond taxation and military drafts, the central government remained largely invisible to the majority imperial citizens. Anyone seeking a position in government had to learn the standardised script known as guwen; traders and trading guilds who operated with written accounts also had to learn to be allowed into imperial ports. The Greater Shi area developed a local dialect which became the official tongue of the empire, known as guanyan. Finally, the bei was introduced as the standard currency for all to use, phasing out among other things the barter economy of the Druïtha. Standard weights and measurements were also enforced, based on the Middling units used in trade.
A century passed under Yandi’s rule and reforms were passed slowly and allowed the populace time to adjust. Yandi’s royal court had come to be known as the Huangzu, just as Guxiong and his clique had wanted. These elves were of Yandi’s own blood and served in the highest seats of government. The emperor made certain to maintain good relations with them all at all times, and was thorough when it came to emphasising that he was descended from Muha, and that he himself had been chosen to rule out of all of his family by angelic mandate. This idea of the angelic mandate was spread throughout the empire and adapted for local cultures. All would know that to unseat the emperor was to go against the will of the angels and gods. The tax system had filled the state coffers with metal, food and fabrics, all of which were spent on great structures to honour the greatness of the Wu dynasty. Shi was no longer alone in being the only great city in the empire. Other centres of industry, trade and growth popped up around the realm: Jiangla and Jianger in the riverlands, with populations numbering almost a million each; Amarra, jewel of the east, an industrial port city with nearly seven hundred thousand diligent workers keeping the iron forges flaring day and night; Norrabi in the Sunnaland province, uniting the fabrics of the Druïtha groves and jewels and minerals of the southern deserts with the markets of the north. The country was blooming; the phoenix had risen again from the ashes.
A complete overhaul of the state was also in order: For nearly five hundred years, the state had been primarily built around the capital of Shi, with few to no actual elven settlements beyond. Lesser races had not actually been governed; they had gone about their own ways, occasionally paid taxes and then taken up arms upon the emperor’s command. In terms of control, the previous emperor could point to but a few lose lines on a map and vaguely declare that those were the empire’s borders. However, everyone at court knew that over half the peasants, woodlanders, lakefarers and other tribes they governed only knew of the empire as two to three armoured guards that occasionally stopped by their village demanding grain.
Guxiong and his clique agreed - this would not do.
It began in 758 with the installment of a new rank - governor. The country was divided into sixteen provinces, each to be governed by an elven governor sent from the capital. The governor would enforce imperial law and doctrines on the citizens of the empire, and see to it that not only taxes were paid, but that the citizens also paid an imperial tithe directly to the imperial family. To avoid separatism, each province was also monitored by an envoy of the emperor, and the traditionally tumultuous east was divided into a multitude of provinces to avoid any one province seizing power in the area.
By 760, however, it became abundantly clear quite quickly that the peoples of the empire had quite the opposite opinion on how the country should be run. In the newly dubbed provinces of Duyin (Druïthim) and Duhan (Dûna-de-Hama), the imperial doctrine of an emperor of divine origins strictly counterspoke the Druïtha belief that no living being could ever descend from divinity, and that the only contact the living could establish with the gods was one through harmony and unity with nature. Furthermore, the local governors agreed that the main commodity of value in the province was silk, and it was declared that the local tithes should be paid in silk. However, the harvesting and processing of silk was a sacred ritual to the Druïtha, and to hurry it along in any way was considered wanton blasphemy. Any effort to increase production in time for tithe season was thus met with hostilities and at times open conflict.
The provinces of Guokoubei (Northern Riverlands), Guokounan (Southern Riverlands) and Jiangdi (Jianger) faired little better. The local festivals around sowing season and harvesting season were banned on account of overlapping with the emperor’s birthday and the Month of Ancestors. Immediately, this sparked rampant riots throughout all three provinces. Food exports to the Heartlands were stopped nigh overnight, and chaos erupted soon after in the central regions. In the east, too, tensions grew high as the oral traditions passed down for generations were suppressed in favour of the imperial cult. Even the far south, which had been a largely stable part of the country for centuries, experienced riots as Draconians grew unimpressed by the weak-bodied leadership of puny elves.
As quickly as they could, the governors sent messages to the emperor, urging him to roll back the tithe reforms and the emphasis on the imperial doctrine, but the emperor would not answer them back. No, for as riots ravaged the countryside and the capital grew famished, the emperor and his closest delved into the deepest dungeons of the imperial palace, where they began to call for angels, demons - anything that could save them in their peril. Meanwhile, one of the governors, Yandi of Sunguo (Sunnaland), united the other governors of the east in a rebellion against the Ge dynasty. Yandi had grown sympathetic to the Esterlings’ cause, seeing the tyranny in suppressing centuries of culture all to legitimise a despotic rule. The rebel armies met little resistance on the way, indifferent governors and supportive soldiers allowing them safe passage. They entered the royal palace to see that the emperor and his who clique had committed ritualistic suicide in a vain effort to summon some form of dark magic. Whether they had succeeded is unknown, but what was certain was that a new leader was needed. Yandi took it upon himself to see the systems of his predecessor undone, and was in 763 crowned emperor Yandi of the Wu dynasty.
During his reign, Yandi removed the restrictions on who could serve as governor, but he did not quite open up the court. During his initial days as ruler, he uncovered a dozen unfinished or prototype plans for possible reforms, many of which he confessed were quite revolutionary. Among other things was a population census, far from completed but vaguely drafted. It categorised the many citizens of the empire into actual groups for the first time: There were two kinds of elf, likely to legitimise the number of elves he threw out of the city for disagreeing with the imperial doctrine; the humans were united into one group, perhaps a reason behind their recent rebellion; the mucklings, who had been reduced to meagre vermin stalking the streets of Shi and the banks of the Midland Sea, were included for some reason; and the Draconians of the south. It was a rough draft, but a draft nonetheless.
Further digging into the many proposals made Yandi ponder if the previous emperor truly had been so mad and despotic as he had thought: Many of these reforms would effectivise the state considerably, including a standardised system of writing, a standing army, quarterly taxation instead of monthly… The list went on. Yandi would keep some and scrap some.
By 783, the majority of governors were from the actual province they governed, which solved a number of issues. Yandi declared that the imperial doctrine should no longer be enforced, but instead taught as imperial history to those seeking to enter a position at court. Local customs were legalised once more, and the tumult slowly begun to die down again. Governor power was restricted further, and beyond taxation and military drafts, the central government remained largely invisible to the majority imperial citizens. Anyone seeking a position in government had to learn the standardised script known as guwen; traders and trading guilds who operated with written accounts also had to learn to be allowed into imperial ports. The Greater Shi area developed a local dialect which became the official tongue of the empire, known as guanyan. Finally, the bei was introduced as the standard currency for all to use, phasing out among other things the barter economy of the Druïtha. Standard weights and measurements were also enforced, based on the Middling units used in trade.
A century passed under Yandi’s rule and reforms were passed slowly and allowed the populace time to adjust. Yandi’s royal court had come to be known as the Huangzu, just as Guxiong and his clique had wanted. These elves were of Yandi’s own blood and served in the highest seats of government. The emperor made certain to maintain good relations with them all at all times, and was thorough when it came to emphasising that he was descended from Muha, and that he himself had been chosen to rule out of all of his family by angelic mandate. This idea of the angelic mandate was spread throughout the empire and adapted for local cultures. All would know that to unseat the emperor was to go against the will of the angels and gods. The tax system had filled the state coffers with metal, food and fabrics, all of which were spent on great structures to honour the greatness of the Wu dynasty. Shi was no longer alone in being the only great city in the empire. Other centres of industry, trade and growth popped up around the realm: Jiangla and Jianger in the riverlands, with populations numbering almost a million each; Amarra, jewel of the east, an industrial port city with nearly seven hundred thousand diligent workers keeping the iron forges flaring day and night; Norrabi in the Sunnaland province, uniting the fabrics of the Druïtha groves and jewels and minerals of the southern deserts with the markets of the north. The country was blooming; the phoenix had risen again from the ashes.
At the mark of the 900th year of the 2nd Age, emperor Yandi declared to all that the empire of the Guzu elves, which for so long had existed without a truly defined name beyond the Guzu or whatever name of the dynasty in power had chosen, were to be given a true name. He took the first character of the Guzu name, 古, meaning ancient, and claimed the only character he deemed worthy to describe the empire: 威, wei, the guwen character for might. In guanyan, thusly, the empire was named Gu-Wei, ‘ancient might’.
It would be wrong to classify the Gu-Wei empire’s culture as a singular thing. With the multitude of ethnic groups and cultural criss-crossing between the various races, Gu-Wei is host to a plethora of different customs, ranging from clothing to festivities to languages. Here are some examples:
To a high degree, the whole empire follows a loose set of laws laid out by various emperors since the dawn of the empire. These include the usual passages, such as prohibiting murder, stealing, adultery and various other malicious practices. However, while a standardised system of law has been in the works over the past two centuries, the Elves of Shi cannot seem to rid their realm completely of a number of older laws that stick to their subjects like marrow in the bones.
A remarkable trait among the riverlanders is their blood debt law, which states that any murder entitles the family of the deceased to a life from the killer’s family. This debt can be paid either through servitude, death or property. Due to the severity of the two first options, most choose to pay the family of the deceased the amount equal to the life of their dead relative. These prices are standardised, with the death of an adult male costing a thousand bei; an adult woman, two thousand bei; a child under the age of fifteen summers, five hundred bei; an elder above the age of forty summers regardless of gender, a thousand bei.
Occassionally, however, some will choose the path of servitude. In the event that this happens, the killer or someone from the killer’s family is chained to the deceased’s family until death, regardless of whether the family believes the debt has been paid. The family chooses how they wish to treat the servant, and the servant has no right to argue against unfair treatment. Most servants die shortly after enslavement due to overworking.
The sacred groves are defined as any forested area that the druids have declared carries seeds of the gods. These groves are respected and cared for like children, for they are the only worldly connections to the gods, without which the world would be doomed. Therefore, harming the groves in anyway is punishable by death. Harming can be as little as peeling bark off of the trees.
Nature takes its time with everything - nothing is ever hastened along, or so the Druïtha say. Unlike their Esterling neighbours to the northeast, the Druïtha shun all manner of mass production or unsustainable resource extraction. Therefore, any effort to ‘hurry nature along’ (that being increasing production at the cost of nature, for example filling the forest with silk worms which then eat all the leaves and shrubberies around), is prohibited and punishable by death.
Few qualities are more important to an Esterling than pride - the very act of losing face or causing someone to lose face can ruin a person’s whole career - whole life, even. Thus, whenever an Esterling is insulted gravely, they can invoke the right to duel, at which point the insulter and insultee will both draw swords and fight until one of them falls. This right is culturally accepted and the winner is not charged with murder afterwards regardless of the imperial laws prohibiting such.
The Middlings believe in great profits, and centuries of knowing the markets and trade have led them to choose any port whenever, regardless of whether its friendly or mean. Due to their importance to the imperial coffers, the Middlings are effectively allowed to smuggle and trade with the enemy as much as they want, provided they can show the port authorities adequate documents.
Riverland Law: The Blood Debt
A remarkable trait among the riverlanders is their blood debt law, which states that any murder entitles the family of the deceased to a life from the killer’s family. This debt can be paid either through servitude, death or property. Due to the severity of the two first options, most choose to pay the family of the deceased the amount equal to the life of their dead relative. These prices are standardised, with the death of an adult male costing a thousand bei; an adult woman, two thousand bei; a child under the age of fifteen summers, five hundred bei; an elder above the age of forty summers regardless of gender, a thousand bei.
Occassionally, however, some will choose the path of servitude. In the event that this happens, the killer or someone from the killer’s family is chained to the deceased’s family until death, regardless of whether the family believes the debt has been paid. The family chooses how they wish to treat the servant, and the servant has no right to argue against unfair treatment. Most servants die shortly after enslavement due to overworking.
Druïtha Law: The Sacred Groves
The sacred groves are defined as any forested area that the druids have declared carries seeds of the gods. These groves are respected and cared for like children, for they are the only worldly connections to the gods, without which the world would be doomed. Therefore, harming the groves in anyway is punishable by death. Harming can be as little as peeling bark off of the trees.
Druïtha Law: The Law of Nature’s Speed
Nature takes its time with everything - nothing is ever hastened along, or so the Druïtha say. Unlike their Esterling neighbours to the northeast, the Druïtha shun all manner of mass production or unsustainable resource extraction. Therefore, any effort to ‘hurry nature along’ (that being increasing production at the cost of nature, for example filling the forest with silk worms which then eat all the leaves and shrubberies around), is prohibited and punishable by death.
Esterling Law: Right to Duel
Few qualities are more important to an Esterling than pride - the very act of losing face or causing someone to lose face can ruin a person’s whole career - whole life, even. Thus, whenever an Esterling is insulted gravely, they can invoke the right to duel, at which point the insulter and insultee will both draw swords and fight until one of them falls. This right is culturally accepted and the winner is not charged with murder afterwards regardless of the imperial laws prohibiting such.
Middling Law: Embargo-Free
The Middlings believe in great profits, and centuries of knowing the markets and trade have led them to choose any port whenever, regardless of whether its friendly or mean. Due to their importance to the imperial coffers, the Middlings are effectively allowed to smuggle and trade with the enemy as much as they want, provided they can show the port authorities adequate documents.
Crafting carries many meanings throughout the empire: In the east, crafting refers to the way of life for the citizens of the forge-cities, fashioning rusty sludge into iron tools and weapons; to the Druïtha, craftsmanship is turning silk into fabric and wood into totems and idols; the Jianger-Kaan see craftsmanship in culinary art, spending hours and even days perfecting recipes; the Draconians see craftsmanship in jewelry and even martial arts; the mucklings practice shell art and stone carving to shape idols of worship in their villages and slums.
The Elves, both Huangzu and Puzu, practice goldsmithing and jewelcrafting using the resources imported from the south, and the Middlings build great ships for both the trade fleet and warfleet of the empire.
Additionally, the Guzu elves of old passed down schematics and trade secrets in medicine, papercraft and construction, which especially the Puzu Elves make good use of in expansion of Gu-Wei culture throughout the realm.
The Elves, both Huangzu and Puzu, practice goldsmithing and jewelcrafting using the resources imported from the south, and the Middlings build great ships for both the trade fleet and warfleet of the empire.
Additionally, the Guzu elves of old passed down schematics and trade secrets in medicine, papercraft and construction, which especially the Puzu Elves make good use of in expansion of Gu-Wei culture throughout the realm.
Clothing varies a great deal throughout the empire, with each ethnic group differing slightly depending on local customs and climate. Largely, however, the availability of silk and flax fabrics and the overall warmth of the southern temperate areas, the majority of the populace wears light clothing in the form of tunics, robes and baggy pants.
The Huangzu commonly dress in fine silks with bejeweled embroideries, using materials from all across the realm. The daily clothing follows a strict gender-based code, where males wear black or white robes and females wear red, blue or green. What colour one wears is decided by one’s station and relationship with the emperor. The emperor himself wears only yellow to signify their station.
Other colours denote:
Male:
What the male fashion shares in common is an emphasis on one or two colours for the whole attire: Black with gold, white with blue.
Female:
As opposed to male clothing, female dresses often have multiple different colours and embroideries to complement and contrast the base tint. Furthermore, they often wear short jackets of contrasting colours.
Military Fashion:
Another trait common among the males of Huangzu is ceremonial armour in official ceremonies. This armour is heavy and cumbersome, but incredibly beautiful and a strong sign of wealth and might. Due to its expense, however, it’s typically only worn by those closest to the emperor.
Puzu Elves typically hold lower positions in government or at court at the most, and the majority are either peasants, artisans or scholars. Their clothing is not colour-coded as strictly as that of Huangzu, but heavy influences from the central court create certain norms for what to wear. Among the gentry, for example, one is expected to at least own one attire in the style of Huangzu silk for ceremonial and official occasions. Here, the men are expected to wear black or white, and the women red or blue, though the colours are not tied to particular positions. However, outside of Greater Shi and deeper into the Heartlands, the gender divide on colours is less rigid, meaning Puzu governors outside of Greater Shi often wear red robes and consider it a proud cultural trait.
Those who are of lesser means and birth usually wear linen or leather, depending on what’s available. The heat can get intense in the summer, especially further into the Heartlands or in the south in Druïthim. Those who are well off among the peasantry try their best to appear like Huangzu by wearing linen robes fashioned from flax. The richest estate farmers hire master spinners to fashion them such clothing, and some attires are nearly indistinguishable at a glance.
Middlings dress in what they sell, most often, so many of the merchants dress themselves in silk and linen fabrics, often in the form of turbans and robes. The Midland Sea is known to occasionally be quite windy, so baggy, insulating clothing solves both issues of hot and cold. Landbound merchants, especially the rich, gladly dress themselves like Huangzu and Puzu nobility, as to appear even richer.
The Jianger-Kaan typically only wear clothing to protect from the elements, such as the powerful summer sun or the torrential winter rains. Clothing is typically restricted to loincloths in the Southern Riverlands, tunic and skirts growing in popularity to both the north and south. The richest wear leather fashioned from the skin of water buffalo or Huangzu silks, depending on their station. Due to slight distrust of the Elves, however, the majority of riverfolk still carry resentment towards Guzu culture. They also often wear large, shield-like, circular straw hats when working.
The Muckling clothing is often simple, limited to loincloths and vests. Depending on whether they live in villages or slums, their clothing may vary from primal, but whole, to poor and ragged. The mucklings use leather to make armour, though centuries of repression and cultural loss has left much of their more complex culture in ruins.
The Huangzu commonly dress in fine silks with bejeweled embroideries, using materials from all across the realm. The daily clothing follows a strict gender-based code, where males wear black or white robes and females wear red, blue or green. What colour one wears is decided by one’s station and relationship with the emperor. The emperor himself wears only yellow to signify their station.
Other colours denote:
Male:
What the male fashion shares in common is an emphasis on one or two colours for the whole attire: Black with gold, white with blue.
- Black: Father/uncle/older brother to the emperor. Has limited power at court, but husbands will make decisions in the emperor’s place if the emperor for some reason is unavailable. Those dressed in black function as advisors to the emperor. As they are figures of importance for the emperor’s growth, the emperor repays them with respect and wealth.
- White: Cousins, nephews, sons, young brother: Those that wear white have no power initially unless granted a position, typically in the military or in provincial governance. The white robes are typically referred to as ‘scholardress’ as the emperor’s cousins, nephews, sons and younger brothers are forced to undergo an intense education so they one day can serve their leader as able officers or statesmen.
Female:
As opposed to male clothing, female dresses often have multiple different colours and embroideries to complement and contrast the base tint. Furthermore, they often wear short jackets of contrasting colours.
- Blue: Emperor’s mother/aunt/older sister: Serves in advisory positions as well as caretakers of the emperor. They oversee management of the royal estates such as the summer and winter palaces, and the central palace grounds in Shi. The blue-clothed are nonetheless very well respected, and traditions dictate that the emperor must see to it that these individuals are married to good men and given wealthy homes.
- Red: Cousines, nieces, daughters and younger sisters of the emperor: Much like their male counterparts, this group is put in education to serve the emperor. However, due to the tight familial bonds among the Huangzu, most of the red-clothed are sent into domestic education to serve as the emperor’s future concubines or wives to the emperor’s sons and brothers.
- Green: The emperor’s wife and concubines: Compared to the other groups, these enjoy quite a bit of freedom, being closest to the emperor and the bearer of his children (provided they live to not see their father overthrown).
Military Fashion:
Another trait common among the males of Huangzu is ceremonial armour in official ceremonies. This armour is heavy and cumbersome, but incredibly beautiful and a strong sign of wealth and might. Due to its expense, however, it’s typically only worn by those closest to the emperor.
Puzu Elves typically hold lower positions in government or at court at the most, and the majority are either peasants, artisans or scholars. Their clothing is not colour-coded as strictly as that of Huangzu, but heavy influences from the central court create certain norms for what to wear. Among the gentry, for example, one is expected to at least own one attire in the style of Huangzu silk for ceremonial and official occasions. Here, the men are expected to wear black or white, and the women red or blue, though the colours are not tied to particular positions. However, outside of Greater Shi and deeper into the Heartlands, the gender divide on colours is less rigid, meaning Puzu governors outside of Greater Shi often wear red robes and consider it a proud cultural trait.
Those who are of lesser means and birth usually wear linen or leather, depending on what’s available. The heat can get intense in the summer, especially further into the Heartlands or in the south in Druïthim. Those who are well off among the peasantry try their best to appear like Huangzu by wearing linen robes fashioned from flax. The richest estate farmers hire master spinners to fashion them such clothing, and some attires are nearly indistinguishable at a glance.
Druïtha live in moist, hot, dense forests, and many go out into the open barely clothed save loincloths to cover the bare necessities. What is typical is that much of what they wear is made from that most comfortable of fabrics, silk. It was said back when the Guzu first made contact with the Druïtha that even their beggars gather the food they earn in sacks of woven silk. The material is in such overflow that its only true value to the Druïtha is religious. Dyeing clothes is a newer concept, however, introduced by the Guzu; it has only been roughly two centuries since the Druïtha began dyeing the clothes they wear.
As opposed to the other ethnicities of the empire, the Druïtha are openly against the fashion of the capital, and the governors of Druïthim and Dûna-de-Hama often suffer hard glares when official ceremonies force them to don Huangzu clothing.
As opposed to the other ethnicities of the empire, the Druïtha are openly against the fashion of the capital, and the governors of Druïthim and Dûna-de-Hama often suffer hard glares when official ceremonies force them to don Huangzu clothing.
Esterlings are a simple folk that wear what best complements their work, be it light clothing with thick gloves and boots in the forge-cities, leather and thick cloaks to ward off the autumn and winter elements in the fields, bare-torsoed in the baking sun. The common materials found in Esterling clothing are linen and leather; the richer gentry and nobles will occasionally wear Huangzu silk during official visits or when making visits.
Middlings dress in what they sell, most often, so many of the merchants dress themselves in silk and linen fabrics, often in the form of turbans and robes. The Midland Sea is known to occasionally be quite windy, so baggy, insulating clothing solves both issues of hot and cold. Landbound merchants, especially the rich, gladly dress themselves like Huangzu and Puzu nobility, as to appear even richer.
The Jianger-Kaan typically only wear clothing to protect from the elements, such as the powerful summer sun or the torrential winter rains. Clothing is typically restricted to loincloths in the Southern Riverlands, tunic and skirts growing in popularity to both the north and south. The richest wear leather fashioned from the skin of water buffalo or Huangzu silks, depending on their station. Due to slight distrust of the Elves, however, the majority of riverfolk still carry resentment towards Guzu culture. They also often wear large, shield-like, circular straw hats when working.
The Muckling clothing is often simple, limited to loincloths and vests. Depending on whether they live in villages or slums, their clothing may vary from primal, but whole, to poor and ragged. The mucklings use leather to make armour, though centuries of repression and cultural loss has left much of their more complex culture in ruins.
Gender:
Gender differences is viewed differently throughout the empire, but the imperial doctrine is quite specific about the role of women in government - that being that it is nonexistent. According to the imperial doctrine, women serve as masters of the home, not what’s beyond it.
Among the Huangzu, this means that women possess quite a lot of authority within the imperial palaces, but are functionally powerless outside of them. Women cannot hold positions of governance or military posts, either.
Among the Puzu, the laws stay much the same: Women are largely restricted to the home while men decide matters relating to what’s outside of it. The same culture applies to much of the Jianger-Kaan and the rest of the riverfolk, which coincides neatly with imperial doctrine.
In Esterling and Druïtha territory, however, women have traditionally taken a much greater role outside of the home: Forge-cities are manned just as much by women and men, and Druïthan men are forbidden from serving in the military, as they instead must follow the path of druidism. These cultural rifts have caused numerous disputes throughout history, and the Druïtha still do not offer soldiers to the imperial army on account of the male requirement.
Hierarchy:
Social mobility isn’t impossible in the empire, but it’s strictly controlled. The Huangzu make all imperial decisions, and all the realm’s subjects must (ideally) accept them without question; however, the various governors around the realm and their advisors make more specialised decisions on the local scale. Furthermore, a small minority of advisors at court comprised on non-Huangzu officials may potentially have a small sway in national decisions, but these are few and reliant on connections to spread their influence.
Outside of the royal sphere, however, potentially anyone can rise to become a lesser official or even provincial governor. All they require are is an education at the Imperial Academy in Shi and a mentor who will speak for them during elections. This right is universal for elves, humans and draconians. Mucklings are not allowed to apply to the Imperial Academy.
Any decision made at the provincial level is absolute and will be enforced through law. For this reason, locals are often encouraged to participate in local politics through dialogue with the provincial government to achieve the most harmonious agreements.
In terms of racial hierarchy, the elves regardless of type are above humans, and enjoy certain handicaps in court of law, such as shorter and milder sentences compared to their shorter-lived counterparts. Draconians and humans have equal standing in society, though kobolds that sneak across Gu-Wei borders are treated as lesser and often shunned. Mucklings are at the bottom.
Gender differences is viewed differently throughout the empire, but the imperial doctrine is quite specific about the role of women in government - that being that it is nonexistent. According to the imperial doctrine, women serve as masters of the home, not what’s beyond it.
Among the Huangzu, this means that women possess quite a lot of authority within the imperial palaces, but are functionally powerless outside of them. Women cannot hold positions of governance or military posts, either.
Among the Puzu, the laws stay much the same: Women are largely restricted to the home while men decide matters relating to what’s outside of it. The same culture applies to much of the Jianger-Kaan and the rest of the riverfolk, which coincides neatly with imperial doctrine.
In Esterling and Druïtha territory, however, women have traditionally taken a much greater role outside of the home: Forge-cities are manned just as much by women and men, and Druïthan men are forbidden from serving in the military, as they instead must follow the path of druidism. These cultural rifts have caused numerous disputes throughout history, and the Druïtha still do not offer soldiers to the imperial army on account of the male requirement.
Hierarchy:
Social mobility isn’t impossible in the empire, but it’s strictly controlled. The Huangzu make all imperial decisions, and all the realm’s subjects must (ideally) accept them without question; however, the various governors around the realm and their advisors make more specialised decisions on the local scale. Furthermore, a small minority of advisors at court comprised on non-Huangzu officials may potentially have a small sway in national decisions, but these are few and reliant on connections to spread their influence.
Outside of the royal sphere, however, potentially anyone can rise to become a lesser official or even provincial governor. All they require are is an education at the Imperial Academy in Shi and a mentor who will speak for them during elections. This right is universal for elves, humans and draconians. Mucklings are not allowed to apply to the Imperial Academy.
Any decision made at the provincial level is absolute and will be enforced through law. For this reason, locals are often encouraged to participate in local politics through dialogue with the provincial government to achieve the most harmonious agreements.
In terms of racial hierarchy, the elves regardless of type are above humans, and enjoy certain handicaps in court of law, such as shorter and milder sentences compared to their shorter-lived counterparts. Draconians and humans have equal standing in society, though kobolds that sneak across Gu-Wei borders are treated as lesser and often shunned. Mucklings are at the bottom.
As mentioned, the written word, guwen, is standardised across the whole realm as the only written language accepted in transactions, official and unofficial documents and literature. It’s a logographic script supposedly derived from ancient Muha magical glyphs. It is incredibly difficult to learn and requires a great deal of financial and time investments, which is one of the reasons literacy rates are borderline nonexistent outside of the higher gentry and nobility. However, guwen has been a boon for Esterlings, Middlings and Jianger-Kaan alike, as these civilisations never possessed a written language, or used one that was underdeveloped and insufficient. The Druïtha unofficially use a runic, syllabic script that is officially banned, but secretly allowed for religious reasons.
As for spoken languages, the Gu-Wei empire is incredibly diverse in the centre and much more unified in the riverlands. Water unites, so the Jianger-Kaan dialect of xiyu (western talk, or riverfolk speak) is not so different from the Ungur-zun all the way up to the northern border. In the east, the situation is similar: Rivers and the Midland Sea have united most of the east and Midland around very similar tongues, exceptions being the borders between Origo and Ithram, where dense forests and scattered populations have led to the development of some strange languages that are largely unintelligible to the rest of the Esterlings.
The southeastern Heartlands and Druïthim, however, have some tongue that even after 500 years of cultural exchange remain largely uninfluenced or unchanged from the isolated languages native to the Druïtha woods. The Druïtha speak in total eight different languages with a much greater number of dialects. The languages spoken in the Dûna-de-Hama province, specifically in the provincial capital Hi-Dûna, have been heavily influenced by Esterspeak due to trade, with the Hi-Dûna dialect even having been changed slightly at a syntactic level.
The language spoken in Shi, specifically the one used by the Huangzu and the Puzu, is known as guanyan. This is an old Elven-derived language with tones and limited consonants. To know it fluently is a requirement to graduate from the Imperial Academy in Shi, and is used in all political processes. Among traders it also functions as a lingua franca within the empire.
The Muckling tongue commands a wholly different repertoire of sounds than what elven or human mouths can properly replicate. Several words incorporate croaks of different tones and intensity, sounds which are completely necessary to properly convey meaning. Differences between stressed and unstressed croaks may mean the difference between warning someone that the village is in danger and calling one’s conversation partner fat. The grammar lacks tense, instead conveying meaning by laying down a context then explaining one’s point; for example, in order to tell someone else that something else happened yesterday, a muckling would say “yesterday, something happens”. Furthermore, while it’s been severely marginalised over the course of the centuries, there is a higher form of Muckling speech known in history scrolls as croaksong or rrurrt-yk-xechen. Once, this was a special dialect of mucklingspeak with its own grammar and diction, entirely dedicated to oral poetry, song and religious practices. Long strings of various croaks and ribbits would weave together into religious choral music that went on long into the night. These days, only a number of ageing tribe shamans are familiar with the tongue; in town slums, the tongue has been lost for ages.
As for spoken languages, the Gu-Wei empire is incredibly diverse in the centre and much more unified in the riverlands. Water unites, so the Jianger-Kaan dialect of xiyu (western talk, or riverfolk speak) is not so different from the Ungur-zun all the way up to the northern border. In the east, the situation is similar: Rivers and the Midland Sea have united most of the east and Midland around very similar tongues, exceptions being the borders between Origo and Ithram, where dense forests and scattered populations have led to the development of some strange languages that are largely unintelligible to the rest of the Esterlings.
The southeastern Heartlands and Druïthim, however, have some tongue that even after 500 years of cultural exchange remain largely uninfluenced or unchanged from the isolated languages native to the Druïtha woods. The Druïtha speak in total eight different languages with a much greater number of dialects. The languages spoken in the Dûna-de-Hama province, specifically in the provincial capital Hi-Dûna, have been heavily influenced by Esterspeak due to trade, with the Hi-Dûna dialect even having been changed slightly at a syntactic level.
The language spoken in Shi, specifically the one used by the Huangzu and the Puzu, is known as guanyan. This is an old Elven-derived language with tones and limited consonants. To know it fluently is a requirement to graduate from the Imperial Academy in Shi, and is used in all political processes. Among traders it also functions as a lingua franca within the empire.
The Muckling tongue commands a wholly different repertoire of sounds than what elven or human mouths can properly replicate. Several words incorporate croaks of different tones and intensity, sounds which are completely necessary to properly convey meaning. Differences between stressed and unstressed croaks may mean the difference between warning someone that the village is in danger and calling one’s conversation partner fat. The grammar lacks tense, instead conveying meaning by laying down a context then explaining one’s point; for example, in order to tell someone else that something else happened yesterday, a muckling would say “yesterday, something happens”. Furthermore, while it’s been severely marginalised over the course of the centuries, there is a higher form of Muckling speech known in history scrolls as croaksong or rrurrt-yk-xechen. Once, this was a special dialect of mucklingspeak with its own grammar and diction, entirely dedicated to oral poetry, song and religious practices. Long strings of various croaks and ribbits would weave together into religious choral music that went on long into the night. These days, only a number of ageing tribe shamans are familiar with the tongue; in town slums, the tongue has been lost for ages.
To the Elves, there are three great celebrations throughout the year: Day of the Dawn, the Emperor’s Birthday and the Literature Festival.
Jianger-Kaan festivities mainly relate to the sowing season and the harvesting season, which due to the riverlands’ fertility happen twice per year. After the emperor allowed for the Month of Ancestors to be celebrated simultaneously with other festivals, the riverfolk have also taken up this custom.
Middlings and Esterlings share common celebrations. Additionally, they both celebrate Month of the Ancestors.
The Druïtha are the only ethnic group to not celebrate any Guzu holidays, keeping mostly to themselves with ancient religious celebrations venerating nature and its processes.
Draconian…
Mucklings have lost much of their culture over the past 900 years. What remains is but a shadow of the complex lifestyle they ones lead. However, through all the hardships and toils they’ve had to endure and still endure, there is one festival their masters cannot erase:
- Month of the Ancestors: This is a month-long event during which both Huangzu and Puzu elves mourn those that have passed and pray for advice and blessings for the coming year. During the start of the month, graves are sweeped and washed, and children are expected to make offerings of a tenth of what they earn or reap during that month to their parents. As the month nears its end, great festivals are thrown to praise the festivals and bring great fortune in the coming year. There are musical performances, theatre telling stories of the past, dance numbers and, of course, feasts in abundance. Falls on the first month of every year.
- The Emperor’s Birthday: Celebrating this day goes back all the way to the first emperor Rizan, whose birthday was on the seventh day of the tenth moon. The manner of celebration has stayed largely constant, with great markets and games in Shi. Nowadays, great gladiatorial tournaments are arranged in a specialised arena called the Phoenix Nest. While this fighting pit is open all year round, it’s especially active on this day. Emperor Yandi’s birthday is the ninth day of the third month.
- The Literature Festival: Largely a local festival in Shi, the Literature Festival is in truth a different name for the Imperial Academy graduation ceremony. The academy grounds is first filled with stalls manned by the soon-to-be graduates presenting their final works of prose or poetry. Then at midday, the top ten students will present summaries of their works for all to hear. Finally, the academy principal announces that the students are worthy graduates and then open markets in the streets selling food and commodities for the families to gift their newly graduated son.
Jianger-Kaan festivities mainly relate to the sowing season and the harvesting season, which due to the riverlands’ fertility happen twice per year. After the emperor allowed for the Month of Ancestors to be celebrated simultaneously with other festivals, the riverfolk have also taken up this custom.
- The Sowing Festival: Falls on the second month and the eighth month. A village wide celebration during which the many families come together to preserve what they have left in the form of wine, beer, preserves or other dishes. Animals are also typically slaughtered for this festival both to let the farmers eat themselves fat and strong, and to smoke and dry the meat for the long wait until the harvest.
- The Harvest Festival: Falls on the sixth month and the twelfth month. The whole village comes together to reap the fruits of their labour and enjoy it in the form of great feasts of noodles, steamed and baked goods and various stews and soups.
Middlings and Esterlings share common celebrations. Additionally, they both celebrate Month of the Ancestors.
- The Harvest Festival (East): Quite similar to the harvest festival of the riverlands, except that the Esterlings don’t celebrate with a village-wide meal; the streets are rampant with drinking and song, but the dinner is eaten at home with one’s family. Falls on the seventh month.
- Nongri (‘Boorsdag’ or ‘Farmer’s Day’): Every last day of the week, all workers are exempt from work. While this usually isn’t treated as a celebration, it has its groundings in history where it stands as a stab back at the governor for imposing too much power over the artisans of the forge-cities.
The Druïtha are the only ethnic group to not celebrate any Guzu holidays, keeping mostly to themselves with ancient religious celebrations venerating nature and its processes.
- Pilgrimage of the Groves: Occurs every year during the fifth to eighth months. Young Druïtha who are to be druids or witches go on a pilgrimage from grove to grove to ask the nature spirits’ blessings. During this time, the areas around the groves are host to markets, religious gatherings, theatre and music.
- The Mulberry Festival: This festival falls on the ninth month, right after the pilgrimage. This is the collective spinning and weaving of all the silk collected throughout the year from the mulberry moths. The fabrics are later stored and portioned out for the various tax quarters. The festival it especially a time for druid and witch apprentices to show that they have mastered the art of weaving, and weaving competitions are hosted with huge crowds.
- The Reforestation: Falls on the third month. Here the druids and witches gather those willing and go to plant trees in place of dead ones or recently chopped ones. This event often causes heated disputes with the Puzu elf peasants of the southern Heartlands who deforest their lands to make more farmland, only to find that Druïtha come back on their land to plant new ones the following year.
Draconian…
Mucklings have lost much of their culture over the past 900 years. What remains is but a shadow of the complex lifestyle they ones lead. However, through all the hardships and toils they’ve had to endure and still endure, there is one festival their masters cannot erase:
- Tadpoling: During the sixth month, when the tadpoles hatch, the mucklings throw great feasts where they eat hearty meals and throw the leftovers into the river or lake. Their tadpoles eat the leftovers and grow fat and healthy. What remains of the religious element that once played a huge role is now the local shaman wishing for emancipation and a new home for the mucklings.
Entertainment at court is largely limited to games, performances and competitions within the royal family, like archery competitions, riding tournaments, chariot races and many more. The exceptions to this are the Phoenix Nest and the Dayantai Opera Hall:
The Phoenix Nest:
Located in Shi, it is an enormous rectangular arena within the courtyard of what was once a massive military complex. There are weekly spars and gladiatorial fights both with and without weapons, and every month there is a huge chariot race, which is considered the height of entertainment among the nobles. There are even provincial teams, and the competitive spirit gets fierce when rival teams race.
Dayantai Opera Hall:
A massive theatre and musical complex under the open sky, where theatre troupés and bands come every months to play for the audience of the capital. All players must pass tests set by a board of judges to perform, but those that do have the opportunity to play before the imperial family. The best among them may be lucky enough to be hired as royal performers, work for which the pay is great and fame, greater.
Around the realm, entertainment comes in a multitude of forms: Middlings will occasionally travel around the riverlands with circus troupés onboard; Esterling oral tradition comes with a career, where storytellers have high social status as both entertainers and teachers; Druïtha relax with music, dancing and games; Jianger-Kaan and other riverfolk over drink and party to entertain themselves; mucklings will have swimming and fishing competitions.
Furthermore, music is very important in the Gu-Wei empire, being appreciated by every culture that inhabits it. Typical instruments played include flutes and drums, but the Guzu have introduced various others such as the guqin and guzheng, two types of harps; the erhu, which is a two-stringed instrument; gongs and han drums, and more. Song written in any of the languages within the realm may find themselves to be quite popular with even the royal family if allowed to spread. Thanks to opportunities like those at the Dayantai Opera Hall, music can potentially let beggars become nobility.
The Phoenix Nest:
Located in Shi, it is an enormous rectangular arena within the courtyard of what was once a massive military complex. There are weekly spars and gladiatorial fights both with and without weapons, and every month there is a huge chariot race, which is considered the height of entertainment among the nobles. There are even provincial teams, and the competitive spirit gets fierce when rival teams race.
Dayantai Opera Hall:
A massive theatre and musical complex under the open sky, where theatre troupés and bands come every months to play for the audience of the capital. All players must pass tests set by a board of judges to perform, but those that do have the opportunity to play before the imperial family. The best among them may be lucky enough to be hired as royal performers, work for which the pay is great and fame, greater.
Around the realm, entertainment comes in a multitude of forms: Middlings will occasionally travel around the riverlands with circus troupés onboard; Esterling oral tradition comes with a career, where storytellers have high social status as both entertainers and teachers; Druïtha relax with music, dancing and games; Jianger-Kaan and other riverfolk over drink and party to entertain themselves; mucklings will have swimming and fishing competitions.
Furthermore, music is very important in the Gu-Wei empire, being appreciated by every culture that inhabits it. Typical instruments played include flutes and drums, but the Guzu have introduced various others such as the guqin and guzheng, two types of harps; the erhu, which is a two-stringed instrument; gongs and han drums, and more. Song written in any of the languages within the realm may find themselves to be quite popular with even the royal family if allowed to spread. Thanks to opportunities like those at the Dayantai Opera Hall, music can potentially let beggars become nobility.
While the different kinds of cuisine vary quite a lot throughout the land, all the ethnic groups of the empire focus their diets around large amounts of carbohydrates.
Western Cuisine (Jianger-Kaan and Western Heartlands):
Rice is a staple food of the west, being almost single-handedly responsible for the enormous and steady population growth. The riverfolk see rice as the basis for all other meals, and a typical day starts with a large bowl of rice, often served fried in egg with corn, peas and scallions. The wealthy may also eat steamed wheat buns stuffed with soy sauce fried meats.
The most important meal to the riverfolk, however, is lunch at midday. Due to the hot and moist climate, working the fields at this time of day becomes nigh self-torment. Therefore, people instead flock to the cooler inns and taverns for bowls of beef noodle soup, grilled and seasoned river fish or soy-fried eggplant on rice, eaten with a side of water buffalo milk and pineapple or coconut cakes. If there is room for more, the riverlanders usually eat rice until they’re full.
For supper, the riverfolk either eat at home or with their neighbours in the village centres. The typical dishes served are based on what the families grow in their fields: eggplant, cabbage, carrots, turnips, scallions, bok choy, soybeans, spinach and more, often seasoned with peppers of varying spiciness. These vegetables are commonly served with broiled or grilled fish. Jianger-Kaan cooking typically uses soybean oil or buffalo tallow to cook their food in large woks. This meal is the primary source of fiber for most riverlanders, where darker greens provide a nutrient-rich and filling alternative to denser grains. All of this is typically served with rice and, if the families can afford it or own water buffaloes or ducks or chickens, steak and eggs.
Other important parts of the riverfolk diet include fruits like watermelon, oranges, lychee and goji berries. Due to Elven influence, tea has also become a staple of the diet and is frequently drunk for supper or between meals. The access to soybeans has also lead to the Jianger-Kaan becoming adept tofu-makers, and the local mapo-tofu is known throughout the whole country.
Eastern Cuisine (Esterling, Middling and Northern Druïtha):
Where rice is the staple of the west, wheat and millet form the basis of all food in the east. Furthermore, they incorporate to a much greater extent various meats and fats to support their hardworking lifestyle, chief among which is pork. Morning routines are similar to those in the west - breakfast consists of pork chops with sides of bread and millet gruel, typically eaten at home.
The first vegetables of the day are consumed around lunch, where the workhouses and taverns near workplaces (or the housewife if one is a farmer) typically serve salted pork, fried fish, pork buns or fresh bread with sides of carrots, boiled bok choy, fermented beans or sautéed spinach. Middlings typically switch the salted pork for even more fish, like lake catfish, carp, minnow or other species. Especially the Druïtha, but also Esterlings and Middlings, supplement lunch with various fruits like oranges, peaches and lychee, and roasted cashew nuts. These are typically also snacks throughout the day.
Supper is, like breakfast (and possibly lunch), enjoyed at home in the form of salted pork, fried pig’s fat or bacon, supplemented with either bread, wheat noodles or rice from the west. Occasionally, if the family has access to soybeans, tofu will also be made and served in exciting sauces.
Northern Cuisine(Huangzu and Puzu):
Elven food differs from the rest of the regional specialities in that it has a heavy reliance on various spices and flavourings to achieve greatness. Without the added complexity of spices, Guzu cuisine is largely restricted to rice, meats and vegetables; however, Guzu are expertly familiar with the local spices growing in their area, and make full use of them. These spices are cinnamon, star anise, cloves, fennel seeds and numbing pepper, and together they lift all elven dishes to a much higher culinary level than their peers, save perhaps for the Jianger-Kaan. The Puzu fishermen also produce fish sauce from the lakefish, which provide a much needed umami boost to otherwise uninteresting meats.
While the Huangzu and Puzu are radically different in terms of social standing, their diets haven’t diverged too much during their 100-200 years of separation, the larger differences being mainly due to differences in wealth.
A day typically starts with a piece of fried fish, a bowl of rice and a bowl of hot soup or light porridge, like millet gruel. The nobility will usually have long, drawn-out breakfasts with tea instead of soup or porridge, which they’ll drink for nearly two hours every day. Puzu farmers may downplay the fish in favour of more carbohydrates in the form of more rice, corn or Esterling bread.
Lunch to the Puzu is similar to the riverfolk’s - around midday, most Puzu Elves will head to the nearest tavern or inn (or foodstall, if they work in a city) to have grilled duck, chili-cooked fish, soy-braised beef and more, served with cold noodles in a vinegary soup and bok choy woked in oil. The Huangzu have a similar diet, but the quality is substantially improved upon, and the food is often served with wine brewed from rice, wheat or fruit and supplemented with cakes and sweets. Seeing as they never leave the palace complexes, they never get to experience the outside foodstalls of Shi’s streets.
Supper is eaten at home, typically consisting of spicy fish, beef or pork served with a side of rice and chopped lotus cores, if they can afford it. If not, the lotus cores are swapped for bok choy or spinach. After supper, even Puzu elves enjoy a long break with hot tea and, if they can afford it, sweets in the form of pineapple cakes or biscuits. Huangzu will typically towards the end of the day bring out heavier wines if the occasion calls for it (if it doesn’t, some will make an occasion), brewed in great clay pits for a whole year. The product is known as baijiu.
Southern Cuisine (Druïtha and Draconian):
The Druïtha kitchens are perhaps the dullest, seen from the perspective of the rest of the country. Many Druïtha eat their food raw and unprocessed, and small groups hold on to ancient traditions that forbid them from eating anything they haven’t caught themselves, which makes their eating patterns erratic. The majority, however, have taken to northern cultural influence and cook their food in manners resembling the Guzu and Esterling cuisines.
For breakfast, Druïtha typically eat fruit and nuts to start the day. If they have access to it, they may also eat dried meats or drink millet gruel. However, the distance between towns is long in Druïthim and Dûna-de-Hama, so inter-village trade is typically erratic and unpredictable.
Lunch provides the Druïtha with one of their main protein sources: fried silkworms. Typically served in a bowl by themselves or on rice if available, these provide a much needed protein boost in an otherwise wanting diet. Many choose to drink this with coconut water or a local drink known as éonimhir, which is milk mixed with animal blood, commonly boar or cow, if available.
Supper consists of additional fats in the form of nuts and sugars from fruits, nowadays typically fried and tossed with soy sauce, rice and bits of bird or rabbit meat.
Draconians, on the other hand, are carnivores, and eat meat imported from neighbouring provinces or whatever they can catch in the lands bordering the desert.
Western Cuisine (Jianger-Kaan and Western Heartlands):
Rice is a staple food of the west, being almost single-handedly responsible for the enormous and steady population growth. The riverfolk see rice as the basis for all other meals, and a typical day starts with a large bowl of rice, often served fried in egg with corn, peas and scallions. The wealthy may also eat steamed wheat buns stuffed with soy sauce fried meats.
The most important meal to the riverfolk, however, is lunch at midday. Due to the hot and moist climate, working the fields at this time of day becomes nigh self-torment. Therefore, people instead flock to the cooler inns and taverns for bowls of beef noodle soup, grilled and seasoned river fish or soy-fried eggplant on rice, eaten with a side of water buffalo milk and pineapple or coconut cakes. If there is room for more, the riverlanders usually eat rice until they’re full.
For supper, the riverfolk either eat at home or with their neighbours in the village centres. The typical dishes served are based on what the families grow in their fields: eggplant, cabbage, carrots, turnips, scallions, bok choy, soybeans, spinach and more, often seasoned with peppers of varying spiciness. These vegetables are commonly served with broiled or grilled fish. Jianger-Kaan cooking typically uses soybean oil or buffalo tallow to cook their food in large woks. This meal is the primary source of fiber for most riverlanders, where darker greens provide a nutrient-rich and filling alternative to denser grains. All of this is typically served with rice and, if the families can afford it or own water buffaloes or ducks or chickens, steak and eggs.
Other important parts of the riverfolk diet include fruits like watermelon, oranges, lychee and goji berries. Due to Elven influence, tea has also become a staple of the diet and is frequently drunk for supper or between meals. The access to soybeans has also lead to the Jianger-Kaan becoming adept tofu-makers, and the local mapo-tofu is known throughout the whole country.
Eastern Cuisine (Esterling, Middling and Northern Druïtha):
Where rice is the staple of the west, wheat and millet form the basis of all food in the east. Furthermore, they incorporate to a much greater extent various meats and fats to support their hardworking lifestyle, chief among which is pork. Morning routines are similar to those in the west - breakfast consists of pork chops with sides of bread and millet gruel, typically eaten at home.
The first vegetables of the day are consumed around lunch, where the workhouses and taverns near workplaces (or the housewife if one is a farmer) typically serve salted pork, fried fish, pork buns or fresh bread with sides of carrots, boiled bok choy, fermented beans or sautéed spinach. Middlings typically switch the salted pork for even more fish, like lake catfish, carp, minnow or other species. Especially the Druïtha, but also Esterlings and Middlings, supplement lunch with various fruits like oranges, peaches and lychee, and roasted cashew nuts. These are typically also snacks throughout the day.
Supper is, like breakfast (and possibly lunch), enjoyed at home in the form of salted pork, fried pig’s fat or bacon, supplemented with either bread, wheat noodles or rice from the west. Occasionally, if the family has access to soybeans, tofu will also be made and served in exciting sauces.
Northern Cuisine(Huangzu and Puzu):
Elven food differs from the rest of the regional specialities in that it has a heavy reliance on various spices and flavourings to achieve greatness. Without the added complexity of spices, Guzu cuisine is largely restricted to rice, meats and vegetables; however, Guzu are expertly familiar with the local spices growing in their area, and make full use of them. These spices are cinnamon, star anise, cloves, fennel seeds and numbing pepper, and together they lift all elven dishes to a much higher culinary level than their peers, save perhaps for the Jianger-Kaan. The Puzu fishermen also produce fish sauce from the lakefish, which provide a much needed umami boost to otherwise uninteresting meats.
While the Huangzu and Puzu are radically different in terms of social standing, their diets haven’t diverged too much during their 100-200 years of separation, the larger differences being mainly due to differences in wealth.
A day typically starts with a piece of fried fish, a bowl of rice and a bowl of hot soup or light porridge, like millet gruel. The nobility will usually have long, drawn-out breakfasts with tea instead of soup or porridge, which they’ll drink for nearly two hours every day. Puzu farmers may downplay the fish in favour of more carbohydrates in the form of more rice, corn or Esterling bread.
Lunch to the Puzu is similar to the riverfolk’s - around midday, most Puzu Elves will head to the nearest tavern or inn (or foodstall, if they work in a city) to have grilled duck, chili-cooked fish, soy-braised beef and more, served with cold noodles in a vinegary soup and bok choy woked in oil. The Huangzu have a similar diet, but the quality is substantially improved upon, and the food is often served with wine brewed from rice, wheat or fruit and supplemented with cakes and sweets. Seeing as they never leave the palace complexes, they never get to experience the outside foodstalls of Shi’s streets.
Supper is eaten at home, typically consisting of spicy fish, beef or pork served with a side of rice and chopped lotus cores, if they can afford it. If not, the lotus cores are swapped for bok choy or spinach. After supper, even Puzu elves enjoy a long break with hot tea and, if they can afford it, sweets in the form of pineapple cakes or biscuits. Huangzu will typically towards the end of the day bring out heavier wines if the occasion calls for it (if it doesn’t, some will make an occasion), brewed in great clay pits for a whole year. The product is known as baijiu.
Southern Cuisine (Druïtha and Draconian):
The Druïtha kitchens are perhaps the dullest, seen from the perspective of the rest of the country. Many Druïtha eat their food raw and unprocessed, and small groups hold on to ancient traditions that forbid them from eating anything they haven’t caught themselves, which makes their eating patterns erratic. The majority, however, have taken to northern cultural influence and cook their food in manners resembling the Guzu and Esterling cuisines.
For breakfast, Druïtha typically eat fruit and nuts to start the day. If they have access to it, they may also eat dried meats or drink millet gruel. However, the distance between towns is long in Druïthim and Dûna-de-Hama, so inter-village trade is typically erratic and unpredictable.
Lunch provides the Druïtha with one of their main protein sources: fried silkworms. Typically served in a bowl by themselves or on rice if available, these provide a much needed protein boost in an otherwise wanting diet. Many choose to drink this with coconut water or a local drink known as éonimhir, which is milk mixed with animal blood, commonly boar or cow, if available.
Supper consists of additional fats in the form of nuts and sugars from fruits, nowadays typically fried and tossed with soy sauce, rice and bits of bird or rabbit meat.
Draconians, on the other hand, are carnivores, and eat meat imported from neighbouring provinces or whatever they can catch in the lands bordering the desert.
Education for everyone is among the chief accomplishments of Emperor Yandi. After the Imperial Academy was founded in 759 by Emperor Guxiong as a way of educating Guzu elves to become proper bureaucrats, the only applicants to be accepted were Huangzu. In 768, five years after Emperor Guxiong had been overthrown by Yandi of the Wu dynasty, the Emperor decreed that Puzu and even human nobility would also be allowed to attend, provided they could pay for their own tuition. By 770, all restrictions on race and class were removed and whomsoever had the means could send their sons to attend the academy (women are not allowed to attend still).
Students who are enrolled begin their studies at eight years old. There they are given a bed in a twelve-man dormitory, which they will sleep in for the next ten years of their education. Classes begin at dawn and finish at sundown, after which the student will be given assignments, usually in the form of essays, poetry, painting, speechcraft or reading and reciting. In a seven day week, students are given one day off, which better be spent studying if they want to pass the year.
Year 1-4: The student is taught to read and write guwen. By year two, they are expected to be able to read and write commentaries showing understanding of old poems and essays; by year three, articles and philosophical documents. Guanyan is the oral language used in teaching and the students no longer have dedicated classes to oral guanyan after year three; by that time, they are expected to know it fluently. At the end of year four, each student is given an exam which involves remembering ten passages from a set of essays and articles written by the royal family throughout Guzu history. The list changes every year and the exam form is recitation of the passages to a panel of three teachers. Remembering at least seven out of the ten passages flawlessly by heart is a requirement to pass; however, a passing grade is rarely considered good enough.
Year 5-8: After passing the final exam of year four, students are taught imperial history, philosophy, mathematics, natural sciences, astrology, medicine, military theory, literature and politics. They are given access to the Academy library and study halls and encouraged to delve into literature outside of what they focus on in class. During these years, each semester has an exam at the end which tests a subset of everything the students have learned throughout the semester, culminating in a final exam at the end of the eighth year which challenges the student to demonstrate their knowledge of everything in an oral presentation before their teachers in each subject. The students are given the final two months of the final semester to prepare, and each exam may last a period of time based on an hourglass used by the teachers (roughly an hour and a half). In order to pass, the student must adequately present the subjects’ most important lessons with examples and answer any questions posed by the teachers without fault. Any deviations from this may result in a failure.
Year 9-10: By this point, the student is considered adept at the key subjects that a statesman is expected to know. During the final two years, students are to begin work on their final thesis which will be presented at the Literature Festival. The student is free to choose his subject from those he’s been taught in the years at the Academy, even being allowed to compose his own work of poetic literature. The most commonly chosen subjects, however, are medicine and history. Philosophy is a subject students commonly start with, until their supervisor berates them for challenging the official imperial doctrine, at which point their careers may be in danger. At the end of the tenth year, the student presents his work to his supervisor and receives feedback and a final evaluation of their school performance as a whole. The evaluation takes into account three criteria: Academic performance, overall conduct and degree of expression of Guzu gentlemanliness, so-called junzi.
It should be noted that to fail at any exam, even semester exams, automatically leads to expulsion with no recompensation for already paid tuition that now will be lost. However, tuition is a yearly expense, so to fail in the beginning of the year is a lot worse than to fail at the end. A student is allowed to enroll at the Academy and fail a total of two times, though most who fail the first time never return on account of both the academic and economic pressure.
All books and tools used for tuition are to be paid by the student himself or the student’s family. The Academy provides only rice paper to write on. Theft is not uncommon, but punishable by beatings or, if the offense is grave enough, expulsion.
Junzi is a key term repeated throughout the whole education process. In addition to a formal education, the student is also taught the cultural aspects of the junzi - the ideal gentleman, portraying every quality expected of a man of the Gu-Wei state. Early on, students are taught the importance of diligence in one’s work and to avoid temptations like bullying, cheating and procrastination. However, due to the immense pressure to succeed as well as a thorough culture of competition, the former two are typically ignored unless the culprits are caught. Students are then taught the proper way to dress and address classmates, superiors, royalty, women, children and many more. They are taught to use self-deprecating pronouns about themselves and respectful, uplifting words to address others. Finally, students are taught proper form when greeting, writing, eating, bowing, kowtowing and more.
As students grow older and master the basic concepts of a proper student, they are taught to express themselves before crowds, how to develop a sense of charisma and rhetoric, and traditions for bestowing gifts and arranging feasts and buying food and drink. They are taught to distinguish poor wine from good, and what sorts of food are acceptable when hosting other statesmen, superiors, subjects and royalty. They are taught to lead, and a select few exceptional students are given opportunities to lead social or construction-related projects in or around Shi.
Students who are enrolled begin their studies at eight years old. There they are given a bed in a twelve-man dormitory, which they will sleep in for the next ten years of their education. Classes begin at dawn and finish at sundown, after which the student will be given assignments, usually in the form of essays, poetry, painting, speechcraft or reading and reciting. In a seven day week, students are given one day off, which better be spent studying if they want to pass the year.
Syllabus:
Year 1-4: The student is taught to read and write guwen. By year two, they are expected to be able to read and write commentaries showing understanding of old poems and essays; by year three, articles and philosophical documents. Guanyan is the oral language used in teaching and the students no longer have dedicated classes to oral guanyan after year three; by that time, they are expected to know it fluently. At the end of year four, each student is given an exam which involves remembering ten passages from a set of essays and articles written by the royal family throughout Guzu history. The list changes every year and the exam form is recitation of the passages to a panel of three teachers. Remembering at least seven out of the ten passages flawlessly by heart is a requirement to pass; however, a passing grade is rarely considered good enough.
Year 5-8: After passing the final exam of year four, students are taught imperial history, philosophy, mathematics, natural sciences, astrology, medicine, military theory, literature and politics. They are given access to the Academy library and study halls and encouraged to delve into literature outside of what they focus on in class. During these years, each semester has an exam at the end which tests a subset of everything the students have learned throughout the semester, culminating in a final exam at the end of the eighth year which challenges the student to demonstrate their knowledge of everything in an oral presentation before their teachers in each subject. The students are given the final two months of the final semester to prepare, and each exam may last a period of time based on an hourglass used by the teachers (roughly an hour and a half). In order to pass, the student must adequately present the subjects’ most important lessons with examples and answer any questions posed by the teachers without fault. Any deviations from this may result in a failure.
Year 9-10: By this point, the student is considered adept at the key subjects that a statesman is expected to know. During the final two years, students are to begin work on their final thesis which will be presented at the Literature Festival. The student is free to choose his subject from those he’s been taught in the years at the Academy, even being allowed to compose his own work of poetic literature. The most commonly chosen subjects, however, are medicine and history. Philosophy is a subject students commonly start with, until their supervisor berates them for challenging the official imperial doctrine, at which point their careers may be in danger. At the end of the tenth year, the student presents his work to his supervisor and receives feedback and a final evaluation of their school performance as a whole. The evaluation takes into account three criteria: Academic performance, overall conduct and degree of expression of Guzu gentlemanliness, so-called junzi.
It should be noted that to fail at any exam, even semester exams, automatically leads to expulsion with no recompensation for already paid tuition that now will be lost. However, tuition is a yearly expense, so to fail in the beginning of the year is a lot worse than to fail at the end. A student is allowed to enroll at the Academy and fail a total of two times, though most who fail the first time never return on account of both the academic and economic pressure.
All books and tools used for tuition are to be paid by the student himself or the student’s family. The Academy provides only rice paper to write on. Theft is not uncommon, but punishable by beatings or, if the offense is grave enough, expulsion.
Junzi - the Elven Gentleman:
Junzi is a key term repeated throughout the whole education process. In addition to a formal education, the student is also taught the cultural aspects of the junzi - the ideal gentleman, portraying every quality expected of a man of the Gu-Wei state. Early on, students are taught the importance of diligence in one’s work and to avoid temptations like bullying, cheating and procrastination. However, due to the immense pressure to succeed as well as a thorough culture of competition, the former two are typically ignored unless the culprits are caught. Students are then taught the proper way to dress and address classmates, superiors, royalty, women, children and many more. They are taught to use self-deprecating pronouns about themselves and respectful, uplifting words to address others. Finally, students are taught proper form when greeting, writing, eating, bowing, kowtowing and more.
As students grow older and master the basic concepts of a proper student, they are taught to express themselves before crowds, how to develop a sense of charisma and rhetoric, and traditions for bestowing gifts and arranging feasts and buying food and drink. They are taught to distinguish poor wine from good, and what sorts of food are acceptable when hosting other statesmen, superiors, subjects and royalty. They are taught to lead, and a select few exceptional students are given opportunities to lead social or construction-related projects in or around Shi.
Guzu architecture is one which has spread through the realm with great success, being adopted by the majority of ethnic groups throughout the realm. Typical traits for buildings is bilateral symmetry to signify balance and harmony, as well as strict adherence to the four winds: The city of Shi is built like a grid in that all buildings either face the south or the east. While this system fall apart towards the city fringes in the slum areas, the emphasis on city planning has spread to newer cities throughout the whole realm.
Buildings are typically built on slightly raised platforms. The main material used is wood, though larger structures such as temples, palaces, governmental offices and forts are primarily constructed from dark gray clay bricks or stone. The roofs are commonly supported by large wooden beams, and the timber frames used to keep the structure’s integrity connect primarily through joinery and dowelling alone - nails, glue or other adhesives are seldom needed. Walls are typically thin and movable as sliding doors, as the beams carry all the weight of the roof. The roof itself is gaubled with inclines ending in points at the tips. This style of building now dominates new architecture throughout the realm, with two types of housing complexes being the most common.
The architecture is particularly popular in the west, where is has largely replaced the traditional bamboo huts the riverfolk used to live in. Today, cities like Jiangla, Jianger, Kaan and Dosr-Ung are centres of Guzu city planning and expansion.
In the east, the architecture is prominent, but due to an already strong urban population, many of the cities have failed to adopt Guzu-style city planning, expanding in more natural sprawls. Furthermore, some local Esterling groups regularly express their preference for their people’s traditional stone huts. These share a limited number of traits with the Guzu architecture.
Druïtha architecture has adopted the fewest traits from the Guzu, taking a rather conservative approach to housing in general. Druïtha traditionally live in burrows between the roots of their sacred groves, the deepest of which stretch nearly fifty ten down into the ground, or in small huts fashioned from mud. However, due to increasing influence from their neighbours, more and more Druïtha move closer to Hi-Dûna in Dûna-de-Hama province in hopes that they may live in an actual houses. These typically belong to the younger generations, which are heavily condemned by their elders in Caitir in Druïthim province. Caitir is the largest Druïtha settlement which does not contain a single house. It is a collection of holy groves and home to several thousands who live in burrows or just around in the trees. The temperature makes heating obsolete, so the inhabitants need only protection from the elements, which the trees will occasionally be able to grant by themselves.
Buildings are typically built on slightly raised platforms. The main material used is wood, though larger structures such as temples, palaces, governmental offices and forts are primarily constructed from dark gray clay bricks or stone. The roofs are commonly supported by large wooden beams, and the timber frames used to keep the structure’s integrity connect primarily through joinery and dowelling alone - nails, glue or other adhesives are seldom needed. Walls are typically thin and movable as sliding doors, as the beams carry all the weight of the roof. The roof itself is gaubled with inclines ending in points at the tips. This style of building now dominates new architecture throughout the realm, with two types of housing complexes being the most common.
- The courtyard (yuan): A small enclosure typically reserved for one family, containing houses for servants, kitchens, stables (if the family has the means), sleeping quarters, studies, dining hall and more, all surrounding a central courtyard with a paved core surrounded by grass and flowers. The yuan is built facing the south to absorb as much sunlight as possible, while the northern winds blowing in from the Midland Sea are left blowing at the back wall of the house.
- The sky well (tianjing): More common in the west and south, where the heat gets intense in the summers. The tianjing is a large, circular (or rectangular) building complex that houses a community of multiple families. The term “sky well” comes from the large open courtyard in the centre of the complex, which allows for ventilation. Furthermore, the roofs cave inwards so rainwater may be collected in a well in the centre of the complex.
The architecture is particularly popular in the west, where is has largely replaced the traditional bamboo huts the riverfolk used to live in. Today, cities like Jiangla, Jianger, Kaan and Dosr-Ung are centres of Guzu city planning and expansion.
In the east, the architecture is prominent, but due to an already strong urban population, many of the cities have failed to adopt Guzu-style city planning, expanding in more natural sprawls. Furthermore, some local Esterling groups regularly express their preference for their people’s traditional stone huts. These share a limited number of traits with the Guzu architecture.
Druïtha architecture has adopted the fewest traits from the Guzu, taking a rather conservative approach to housing in general. Druïtha traditionally live in burrows between the roots of their sacred groves, the deepest of which stretch nearly fifty ten down into the ground, or in small huts fashioned from mud. However, due to increasing influence from their neighbours, more and more Druïtha move closer to Hi-Dûna in Dûna-de-Hama province in hopes that they may live in an actual houses. These typically belong to the younger generations, which are heavily condemned by their elders in Caitir in Druïthim province. Caitir is the largest Druïtha settlement which does not contain a single house. It is a collection of holy groves and home to several thousands who live in burrows or just around in the trees. The temperature makes heating obsolete, so the inhabitants need only protection from the elements, which the trees will occasionally be able to grant by themselves.
The Gu-Weian military is largely reliant on conscription for the majority of their armed forces, the base for which consists of a subset of every ethnic group in the realm except the Druïtha. Roughly 210 000 individuals are professional soldiers and mainly occupy themselves with maintaining the borders or keeping the peace. These professional soldiers are typically trained at a regional military base from the age of fifteen, and most remain soldiers throughout their whole lives. The salary for a Gu-Weian soldier starts at twenty bei a day and increases by ten with every five years of service time, encouraging prolonged stay (up to a limit of 80 bei a day, enough for oneself and one’s family to live quite comfortable in a lesser townhouse or at a large farmstead in the countryside if they spent nothing else for a year). Many soldiers send their money home to their families through the imperial postal service, but a fair number also live as kings by themselves in peace time. The salary for conscripted soldiers is considerably lower, topping out at three bei at the most - this is, however, still more than most businesses can afford to pay their workers.
As a whole, the majority of Gu-Weian military funds go to their navy: Guzu warships are typically large and well-staffed with skilled archers and lethal artillery; this does make them extremely expensive, however, and is one of the key reasons as to why they cannot sustain a larger standing army.
As a whole, the majority of Gu-Weian military funds go to their navy: Guzu warships are typically large and well-staffed with skilled archers and lethal artillery; this does make them extremely expensive, however, and is one of the key reasons as to why they cannot sustain a larger standing army.
The chain of command in the Gu-Wei army is divided into four levels: The head of command, the commanding ground officers, assisting officers and veteran troops. These have different names depending on which section of the military they belong to:
The key requirement to sit in the chain of command (Phoenixes exempt) is to have completed an education at the Imperial Academy and to have focused one’s final thesis on military theory. To apply for a position at the chain of command, one’s thesis will be read and evaluated. If found satisfactory, the candidate will be given the rank of cadet and put through a three year intensive training program at a selected military institutions that delves deeper into warfare as a subject. The cadet learns of the various different battlefields throughout the realm; he learns to fight to a degree (though this is expected to be trained on one’s own accord); he learns to ride horses, navigate ships and to survive in the wild. At graduation, the cadet is promoted to the assisting officer rank. However, only those of the Huangzu can ever be promoted to the rank of general or admiral. This assures that the command of the military always stays in the hands of the imperial family.
- Navy: Admiral - Fleet Commander - Ship Captain - Phoenixes of the Blue Flames. The admiral functions as an overall commander and director of all naval forces, delegating orders to the fleet commander, who acts these out with the subset of ships granted to him. Each ship is commanded by a captain, and each crew ideally has a small squadron of Phoenixes, elite warriors whose experience serves to guide the conscripts in a conflict.
- Army and cavalry: General - Commander - Lieutenant - Phoenixes of the Red Flame. Both of these sections are led by the same commanders: Generals who lay down battleplans and delegate orders to their commanders. Commanders oversee a section of the army, like the cavalry or the infantry, and have a large number of lieutenants to move smaller companies according to the generals’ plans. Making up the bulk of the elite cavalry, as well as the main sources of experience to pass on to the conscripts, are Phoenixes of the Red Flame.
- Artillery: General - Artillery Commander - Archer-Lieutenant - Phoenixes of the Yellow Flame. The generals analyse enemy positions and the surrounding terrain - locations of forests, canyons, hilltops and so on - and draft up plans for placement of archers, crossbowmen, catapults and rocket artillery. The artillery commander delegates the troops and equipment accordingly, typically sending archer-lieutenants into forests with a company of archers to ambush the enemy early on before retreating while larger artillery, commanded either by the commanders or by the generals themselves, bombard the enemy giving chase. Phoenixes of the Yellow Flame are the military’s rangers, elites specialising in assassinations, stealth and scouting out terrain and enemy positions.
The key requirement to sit in the chain of command (Phoenixes exempt) is to have completed an education at the Imperial Academy and to have focused one’s final thesis on military theory. To apply for a position at the chain of command, one’s thesis will be read and evaluated. If found satisfactory, the candidate will be given the rank of cadet and put through a three year intensive training program at a selected military institutions that delves deeper into warfare as a subject. The cadet learns of the various different battlefields throughout the realm; he learns to fight to a degree (though this is expected to be trained on one’s own accord); he learns to ride horses, navigate ships and to survive in the wild. At graduation, the cadet is promoted to the assisting officer rank. However, only those of the Huangzu can ever be promoted to the rank of general or admiral. This assures that the command of the military always stays in the hands of the imperial family.
Phoenix is the highest rank a professional soldier can reach without attending the Imperial Academy. It is given to soldiers who have served in the army for at least fifteen years. They are given the highest salary and the military will subsidise their enrollment at the Imperial Academy if they wish. Their rank gives them limited command, up to one company (100 soldiers), and they may take act as mentors for other soldiers to help them become phoenixes. Armourers, weaponsmiths and bowyers all line up to prepare equipment for Phoenixes on account of their deep pockets.
The Navy is the core of the Gu-Weian armed forces, centred around the use of great warjunks manned by archers and armed with heavy artillery like three-stringed ballistae, catapults and rocket artillery, flanked by lesser ships manned by more archers and boarding crews. The warjunks are plated around the edges of the deck and the deck is constantly kept wet during combat to avoid fireworks sparks setting the ship aflame. While the vessels are incredibly dangerous at a distance, the warjunks are very vulnerable up close - especially to fire ships and fire arrows. The lesser ships are therefore tasked with keeping assailants away from the warjunks.
Gu-Weian cavalry is small and underfunded on account of the empire’s terrain. While the bare open areas around Shi allow for cavalry charges and even chariots, the vast majority of the land within Gu-Wei borders is unsuitable for wagons or shock attacks on account of being too densely forested or too soft of ground. Still, a small number of elites make up an elite group of cataphracts, tasked with defending the generals on the field and flanking enemy forces if possible. Cataphracts are heavy cavalry armed with lances and coated in thick armour to withstand even arrow fire.
While chariots are being slowly phased out along with the remainder of the cavalry, they are still used in races and to a very limited degree in warfare to carry around officers and wounded.
While chariots are being slowly phased out along with the remainder of the cavalry, they are still used in races and to a very limited degree in warfare to carry around officers and wounded.
Gu-Weian infantry contains the fewest professionals of any military section. Being nearly entirely conscripted, the infantry are typically far from skilled, consisting of peasant levies given halberds and very light armour and tasked with keeping the enemy armies away from the artillery. Typical weapons include the ji halberd and spears.
Artillery is to a large extent considered the pride of the military, regardless of its size relative to other sections, as well as the amount of funds spent on it. This is in large part due to the advances in fire and powder-based weaponry. Black powder is made with Esterling charcoal, saltpeter made using bat guano found in the various ancient Druïtha burrows in the Heartlands, and sulfur harvested from salt pits in the southern regions.
Artillery has the second fewest number of professionals, the vast majority of soldiers being conscripts given bows and crossbows. Siege weaponry comes in the form of triple crossbows, catapults with various forms of ammunition, and rocket artillery. The triple crossbow packs enough of a punch to pierce fortified stone walls, and the rocket artillery will set alight any city built with thatch roofs. The catapult is typically loaded with balls of hay rolled in pitch and lit aflame.
Artillery has the second fewest number of professionals, the vast majority of soldiers being conscripts given bows and crossbows. Siege weaponry comes in the form of triple crossbows, catapults with various forms of ammunition, and rocket artillery. The triple crossbow packs enough of a punch to pierce fortified stone walls, and the rocket artillery will set alight any city built with thatch roofs. The catapult is typically loaded with balls of hay rolled in pitch and lit aflame.
The Gu-Wei state have a number of heavily fortified positions throughout the land, the majority of which are now staffed at a minimum. There can mainly be found within each regional capital and serve as a base of operation for local peacekeepers and soldiers. Some forts also lie on the borders - there’s one on the northern border with the Zentauri.
The governmental structure of Gu-Wei starts with the Emperor on the top, for he makes any and all ultimate decisions and his word is law. The majority of decisions made throughout the realm, however, are not important enough to reach so far up. At the very bottom are the various tribal chiefs and town mayors, whose role it is to run the villages and towns and make certain the tax collectors’ due is paid. Overseeing the chiefs and mayors is a centralised department of statesmen under the governor. These statesmen typically hold office in a larger city council, reporting all noteworthy details about daily affairs up to to the governor in the provincial capital. The governor, with the counsel of his council, then makes province-wide decisions on work plans, spending, local taxation, placement of peacekeepers and more.
Furthermore, governors function as local judges in court of law in high-level criminal cases, where they judge in accordance with imperial law. However, provincial laws and paragraphs can be added into consideration in certain areas. As an overall goal, stability and harmony in a province is paramount to a governor - instability in one’s region is looked upon as an outbreak of plague that must be contained at all costs. As such, the Emperor stresses that the government maintain a strong, yet not too invasive, presence in all provinces - the people should not live under a pressure that could foment within them thoughts of revolution, but they should know that such thoughts will be met with death.
For these reasons, the governor functions to a large degree as a diplomat between the Gu-Wei state and the myriad of ethnic groups within its borders. Most of the time, this goes without issue, as the peoples of the various regions are well-acquainted with the iron fist of the peacekeepers; however, on occasion, no harmonious solution can be found, at which point the governor will ask the Emperor for further instruction. Up until now, the most common solution has been culling of the uprisers.
It should be noted that while, as mentioned above, any male citizen can potentially become a governor, it is incredibly hard to maintain one’s position as one without heartfelt conversion to the imperial doctrine. The Emperor keeps an office of scholars in every province whose job it is to ensure that the provincial governor himself remains loyal to the throne in Shi. This secret police is particularly active in Druïthim and Ithram, where the people demand that their governor be one of their own.
Due to the Emperor’s largely detached role in government beyond the occasional executive order, the Imperial family largely never leaves the palace of Shi, except to go to the summer palace in Red Clay province. This has continued for nearly a century, and those of the Imperial family not attached to the military (and even a number of those) have no concept of the actual state of the realm beyond their walls.
Furthermore, governors function as local judges in court of law in high-level criminal cases, where they judge in accordance with imperial law. However, provincial laws and paragraphs can be added into consideration in certain areas. As an overall goal, stability and harmony in a province is paramount to a governor - instability in one’s region is looked upon as an outbreak of plague that must be contained at all costs. As such, the Emperor stresses that the government maintain a strong, yet not too invasive, presence in all provinces - the people should not live under a pressure that could foment within them thoughts of revolution, but they should know that such thoughts will be met with death.
For these reasons, the governor functions to a large degree as a diplomat between the Gu-Wei state and the myriad of ethnic groups within its borders. Most of the time, this goes without issue, as the peoples of the various regions are well-acquainted with the iron fist of the peacekeepers; however, on occasion, no harmonious solution can be found, at which point the governor will ask the Emperor for further instruction. Up until now, the most common solution has been culling of the uprisers.
It should be noted that while, as mentioned above, any male citizen can potentially become a governor, it is incredibly hard to maintain one’s position as one without heartfelt conversion to the imperial doctrine. The Emperor keeps an office of scholars in every province whose job it is to ensure that the provincial governor himself remains loyal to the throne in Shi. This secret police is particularly active in Druïthim and Ithram, where the people demand that their governor be one of their own.
Due to the Emperor’s largely detached role in government beyond the occasional executive order, the Imperial family largely never leaves the palace of Shi, except to go to the summer palace in Red Clay province. This has continued for nearly a century, and those of the Imperial family not attached to the military (and even a number of those) have no concept of the actual state of the realm beyond their walls.
Gu-Wei religion is first divided in two: The Imperial Doctrine and the Honoured Faiths. The Imperial Doctrine, while primarily being a work to legitimise the rulership of the Huangzu, carries with it heavy religious symbolism that manifests itself as Guism, the worship and honouring of the Muha Empire and past Gu-Wei emperors. The Honoured Faiths are three broad generalisations of the Renzu faiths: Jiangjiao (riverfolk faith), dongjiao (eastern faith) and dujiao (Druïthism). Any other faith beyond these three is considered superstition and is forbidden from being practiced in the open. To control this, the state keeps tight control of all religious gatherings with the help of specialised peacekeepers familiar with local customs and rituals. Any deviations from these outside of the private home results in prison sentences.
Beyond these faiths, the Muckling faith is largely lost to time and is today considered superstition by the authorities. The Draconians to the south are given diplomatically-granted exceptions to the superstition rule, but their religions are not accepted anywhere else in the country beyond the regions of Drakka, Shajiang,the Deadlands and parts of Longway.
In Guism, there are no gods, but ancient kings and heroes that have been venerated to godhood. There are to be given sacrifices in the form of food, commodities or live animals every month, lest they bring misfortune and instability upon the realm. The Month of the Ancestors is the most important time of the year. Since this religion is part of the Imperial Doctrine, all governors and students at the Imperial Academy are required to practice it. This has caused the majority of those in state positions, regardless of ethnicity, to pass on the faith to their family and peers. Today, Guism is the most widespread faith in the Empire, often mixing into local faiths.
While Guism has replaced many of the original deities in the ancient riverfolk faiths, the small collection of different, yet quite similar, sects spread throughout the riverlands keep a certain set of traditions that Guism has yet to wash out.
Along the northern borders of the riverlands, a small minority worships the Zentauri faith. These live in hiding as their faith is illegal under Imperial law.
- Veneration of livestock: All farm animals are sacred to the riverfolk, venerated for the food they give in the form of eggs, milk and meat, as well as for feathers, bones and hides. Animals are to be treated as well as people up until the point when they are to be slaughtered, which is done as quickly as possible to let the animal feel the minimum necessary amount of pain. The animal’s skull is then added to the family grave.
- Reincarnation: The riverfolk believe that all living creatures have spirits which, upon the owner’s death, will enter a newborn somewhere else in the riverlands and continue its life until a new host must be found.
Along the northern borders of the riverlands, a small minority worships the Zentauri faith. These live in hiding as their faith is illegal under Imperial law.
Here, too, Guism has made a considerable dent in the local faiths. Luckily, the Guist concept of ancestral sacrifice to avoid misfortune coincides well with the native belief that not pleasing one’s family patron god or matron goddess will lead to the downfall of the whole clan. Esterlings, and to a certain degree Middlings, are incredibly proud of their heritage and clan identity is at times more important than wealth and position. This reflects itself in their religion, which almost universally operates by venerating their clan originator, whether that be an ancient mother or father. This person is referred to as a family’s patron god or matron goddess. While the concept used to go much deeper, with various rituals depending on the wishes behind the sacrifices, Guism has watered out many of the old rituals, and the two faiths are functionally the same with different semantics.
The exceptions to this rule can be found deep in the forests of eastern Origo and southern Ithram, where isolation from the outside world has preserved the ancient faiths of Esterling religion to the point where it no longer is considered part of the faith and instead supersition. These esterlings have public alters and arenas were different clans can publicly sacrifice and duel in the names of their patron and matron gods.
The exceptions to this rule can be found deep in the forests of eastern Origo and southern Ithram, where isolation from the outside world has preserved the ancient faiths of Esterling religion to the point where it no longer is considered part of the faith and instead supersition. These esterlings have public alters and arenas were different clans can publicly sacrifice and duel in the names of their patron and matron gods.
Druïthism is likely the most well-preserved faith on the whole among the ethnic religions. It has large geographic variations, but the general gist revolves around preservation of the sacred groves. The sacred groves are centres of communication between the mortal world and the divine beyond, according to the faith, and the whole society is structured around them. The most popular occupation for a Druïtha is that of the priest, which are respectively called druid and witch for man and woman. These are responsible for tending the groves, gathering food from around the forest and meditating on the nature of creation and life. Due to the scarceness of food in the region compared to their neighbours, Druïthism teaches asceticism for all its worshippers, both to keep them from sin (which for many is basically defined as anything their neighbours would do) and overconsumption.
What has created the largest rift between Druïthism and Guism is that Druïthism forbids its believers from seeking divinity from other sources than the sacred groves. This is why Druïtha who go to the Imperial Academy either keep up a convincing act or are forced to give up their faith and be forever shunned by their people.
What has created the largest rift between Druïthism and Guism is that Druïthism forbids its believers from seeking divinity from other sources than the sacred groves. This is why Druïtha who go to the Imperial Academy either keep up a convincing act or are forced to give up their faith and be forever shunned by their people.
Beyond these faiths, the Muckling faith is largely lost to time and is today considered superstition by the authorities. The Draconians to the south are given diplomatically-granted exceptions to the superstition rule, but their religions are not accepted anywhere else in the country beyond the regions of Drakka, Shajiang,the Deadlands and parts of Longway.
The Gu-Wei empire is, above all else, an empire built on internal and external trade. Despite the growing incompetence of the Imperial government, the economy of Gu-Wei is running incredibly strong. Being an agricultural powerhouse thanks to the riverlands to the west, Gu-Wei exports rice by the tons to the other countries of the continent, the most important customers being the Tsorodar to the south and the Thalassians to the east. Internally, the economy is fueled by the exchange of Esterling iron for riverfolk rice, most carried on Middling ships and transacted in Elven ports. The exploitation of Shajiang and Deadland salt is entirely nationalised by the state and distributed in exchange for a salt tax to avoid salt deficiency in the more populated areas of the country.
Luxury commodities also make up a sizeable chunk of the Gu-Wei economy, though these are largely traded internally. The most important luxury ware to the Gu-Wei is Druïtha silk, the value of the trade making up as much as a fifth of gross domestic product. It’s not only consumed at home, but also serves as an exception to the rule by being in great demand internationally, too. Demand is kept high by the slow-paced production, as well, so prices for silk remain higher still. The gemstone industries of the south make up a much smaller percentage of GDP, but are considered culturally important to the Guzu, and are thus artificially expensive despite the large deposits.
Luxury commodities also make up a sizeable chunk of the Gu-Wei economy, though these are largely traded internally. The most important luxury ware to the Gu-Wei is Druïtha silk, the value of the trade making up as much as a fifth of gross domestic product. It’s not only consumed at home, but also serves as an exception to the rule by being in great demand internationally, too. Demand is kept high by the slow-paced production, as well, so prices for silk remain higher still. The gemstone industries of the south make up a much smaller percentage of GDP, but are considered culturally important to the Guzu, and are thus artificially expensive despite the large deposits.
Being the main source of income for the state, the tax policy demands that every province offer a percentage of their quarterly production to the state’s use. This percentage varies depending on province and produce, with Red Clay paying up to three fifths of its iron produced per quarter on account of the massive scale of production, while Drakka pays measly ten percent of the crops they produce, as the overall yield is very low on account of poor soil. As the tax primarily affects communities rather than the individual, villages either grow closer or split apart; when the tax collector comes, one can either band together to pay or root out those who cannot contribute.
This method of taxation isn’t without its faults, and depending on what product is taxed, the tax collectors can cause local famines, tool shortages or loss of business. On more than one occasion have riverfolk villages starved because their crops are taxed, while Esterling villages’ larders are full as they pay their tax in iron.
Taxes is handled by a small ministry under the provincial governor, and everything they collect is stored in the provincial capital or in storehouses in other centres of commerce if the distance is too great.
This method of taxation isn’t without its faults, and depending on what product is taxed, the tax collectors can cause local famines, tool shortages or loss of business. On more than one occasion have riverfolk villages starved because their crops are taxed, while Esterling villages’ larders are full as they pay their tax in iron.
Taxes is handled by a small ministry under the provincial governor, and everything they collect is stored in the provincial capital or in storehouses in other centres of commerce if the distance is too great.
As a whole, the government tries not to interfere too much with the regional trade, as the routes that already have been established already provide a most harmonious outcome. However, any ship bringing wares from another province must pay tariffs to the local provincial government before they may bring their wares onto the dock. These tariffs vary depending on the ware, with the grain tariffs being practically non-existent and the tariffs on Elven jewelry being so high that it’s almost improfitable to sell them to anyone but the richest of nobles. This also counts for international trade, with tariffs on Tsorodar minerals being lowered as a show of good faith.
Tsorodar sugarcane is almost like a drug to the Gu-Wei nobles, and is in the highest demand. Honey makes a close second, as the smokey flavours of southern honey is especially popular among the riverland gentry and nobility. Minerals like salt, iron, copper and others are also important. FInally, due to its properties of being thinner and translucent, Tsorodar silk is occasionally bought to be used in speciality products, such as hems, veils and undergarments.
Legend:
- Orange dot with black centre: Imperial capital
- Orange dot with red centre: Provincial capital
- Orange dot without centre: Large settlement with at least 500 000 inhabitants.
On the map, the province names are written as they are referred to by their local populations. However, the Guzu refer to them by their names in guanyan. These are:
- Beiguokou (N. Riverlands): Provincial capital is Dosr-Ung. Second most populous province in the country. Drier than the south, but still quite humid. Largely flat.
- Nanguokou (S. Riverlands): Provincial capital is Jiangla. Most populous province in the country. Incredibly humid and warm with soil fertility that is replenished every year by floods. Flat.
- Longwei (Longway): Provincial capital is Longway. Hot and humid region with the majority of its population being concentrated in the north. Dries out the further south you go. Borders Tsorodar. Hilly towards the south.
- Longjia (Drakka): Provincial capital is Tazakk. Dry and hostile environment that supports a small group of Draconians, largely immigrants and escapees from Tsorodar.
- Jiangdi (Jianger): Provincial capital is Jianger. Hot region with occasional dry seasons caused by desert winds. A centre for growth of grapes, dates and wheat. Heavily forested in the north.
- Guoxin (Heartlands): Provincial capital is Chang’an. Heavily populated in the north with almost no permanent settlements in the south. Largely reliant on the Midland Sea for proteins and fats, but also produces large yields of agriculture and livestock products in the northern half. Very warm with cooling lake winds in the north.
- Shiwei (Greater Shi): Provincial capital is Shi. The capital province and home to the largest city in the empire. Has little to no proper food production by itself and is entirely reliant on imports from its surrounding provinces. The fringes of Greater Shi are home to farms akin to those found in the Heartlands, but these don’t come close to producing the amount of food necessary to feed the capital. The majority of the province consists of small towns and villages surrounding the capital proper.
- Duyi (Druïthim): Provincial capital is Caitir. The whole province is one great, largely untouched jungle. Simultaneously the richest province on account of the silk trade, and the poorest as almost all of the profits are collected by the provincial governor in Caitir. Incredibly warm and humid.
- Duhan (Dûna-de-Hama): Provincial capital is Hi-Dûna. The home province of the only Druïtha trading port, through which almost 99% of all silk produced in the realm flows. A great deal of the previously untouched jungle here has been removed to make way for the steadily expanding provincial capital, as well as other villages which house Esterling immigrant workers.
- Dasha (The Deadlands): Provincial capital is Sandcleft. The second least populated province, though an incredibly important one. Home to the largest salt mine in the empire, the Deadlands large serve as a penal province for prisoners and slaves. Rocky and dry, it contains vast gem mines, as well, making it an incredibly rich province despite its purpose.
- Shajiang (Shajiang): Provincial capital is Graystone Keep. The least populated province. Shajiang also carries a status as a penal province, but whereas the Deadlands actually attracts a few law-abiding citizens on account of some fertile land in the north, Shajiang is nearly completely without fertile land, relying on food from Origo to sustain itself. Its main exports are salt and gems.
- Nandi (Sunnaland): Provincial capital is Norrabi. An agricultural centre in the east, Sunnabi serves as the main source of food for the citizens of Dûna-de-Hama and much of the east. While they don’t have the same fertile soil replenishment as the Riverlands, much of the realm’s food is produced here.
- Zhongdi (Midland): Provincial capital is Midta. Most populated province in the east, though in large part because of how the border is drawn. The provincial capital is the second largest trade port after Shi. Temperate and comfortably warm towards the north with much warmer and more humid regions in the sound.
- Hongtu (Red Clay): Provincial capital is Amarra. Centre of Esterling industry and home of the largest forge-city, Amarra. The province name comes from the iron-rich soil, which collects and forms rust deposits in the various swamps and bogs. Wet and humid landscape.
- Wugu (Origo): Provincial capital is Longon. A province which prosperity is divided near-perfectly down the middle: The west is advanced and well-connected to the rest of the empire; the east is considered backwards and underdeveloped, many living in much the same way as their ancestors did centuries ago. This is due to the nigh sudden appearance of thick forests halfway through the province, and these endless woods now feed a powerful charcoal industry in the province.
- Yilan (Ithram): Provincial capital is Estenkampt. Like Origo, Ithram is also considered quite backwards as more than sixty percent of its landmass is covered in nearly impenetrable jungle. The provincial capital sits, however, on the rivers connected to old Muha, so it’s considered a vital part of the empire’s cultural exchange with its roots.
Legend:
- Skyblue stripes: Wetlands.
- Green stripes: Dense forests.
- Blue stripes on the Midland Sea: Fishing grounds.
- Red-marked gray triangles: Iron deposit.
- Blue-marked gray triangles: Gem deposit.
- White-marked gray triangles: Salt pit.
- Green dots: Sacred Druïtha grove.
The west is endless fertile wetland: easy to defend, impossible to attack. The heartlands and south-centre are comprised of thick, impenetrable forests that offer little aid to any larger force. This impedes development in the area severely and trade within the region is rare and difficult. Typical crops include rice, wheat, soy, eggplants, cabbage, carrots, corn, peas, scallions, pineapples, coconuts and many more.
The east is a province rich in natural iron deposits littered throughout the multitude of swamps and bogs. The so-called ‘iron sludge’ is a staple of the province. There is also a charcoal industry to feed the fires of the forge-cities. Crops grown include wheat, millet, carrots, soy, bok choy and many more. Additionally, there is a small pipeweed industry in the fringes of the territory, though these aren’t legal under imperial law.
The south and southeast are areas poor in terms of food and water, but rich in jewels, salt and other minerals. To a large extent, these are provinces for slaves, Draconians and other creatures ill-suited for the rest of the empire’s core.
The Midland Sea offers much in terms of trade routes and fish.
There are various monsters throughout the realm, especially deep inside the forests of Ithram, Origo and Druïthim. These have never been recorded by Imperial statesmen, however, and are therefore considered by the Empire’s nobles to be the product of local superstitions.
In terms of regular beasts, the central realm is home to tigers and rhinos, many of which are hunted for their hides and bones. The forests of Druïthim are supposedly home to several herds of jungle elephant, but due to overhunting, these haven’t been seen for years.
- The Gloch’ach’ribb: A small group of rebellious Mucklings in the slums of Shi. In secret, these rebels seek to unite their scattered people and carve out a homeland for the Mucklings somewhere by the Midland Sea. They work through hidden gatherings in the unspeakable ghettos through which none of the city guards dare or care to patrol. There, these Mucklings gather whatever weapons, tools, food and materials they can smuggle away from work so they one day can bring about their revolution. The Gloch’ach’ribb is currently unknown to the imperial forces, and the Mucklings very much aim to keep it that way. They are led by the youngest shaman among their kind, Ribbigus Croak, a youth of nineteen who apprenticed under the last true Muckling high priest, Uch’sochoch Frokk.
- The Commission on Local Faiths and Customs (the Commission): A secret police dedicated to control the religious beliefs of the empire’s populations. They have known offices in every major city throughout the realm, but the majority of their membres live as undercover spies among the citizens. The organisation is managed and led by Puzu nobles elected by the Emperor, but the spies are human, various individuals who have either been bribed, beaten or blackmailed into service. A third group within the organisation are known as Inquisitors, who upon the discovery of illegal superstition will to the best of their ability see to it that it is never seen again. One final mission the Commission is tasked with is hiding the existence of monsters. They do this not by exterminating them, but by silencing whomsoever spreads word of their existence.
- The Alchemists’ Guild: A suborganisation of the Imperial Academy, the Alchemists’ Guild are the minds behind the Gu-Wei weapons development and study of medicine. Made mainly up of Puzu Elves with a small subset of humans, they pursue military and natural research in the cellars of the Imperial Academy. They are not a secret organisation, but a number of their projects require discretion.
- The Blue Phoenix Company: The largest shipping and trading company in Midland, responsible for nearly half of all ware transports in the realm. Their company headquarters is located in Midta and their shipping fleet is the largest one belonging to a single company, even outnumbering the old Royal Trading Fleet, simply to the point where the Empire has hired the Blue Phoenix Company on a long-term contract. The head of the company is Lord Unsur Quam (Yunsu Kuan in guanyan), a Middling nobleman with tight connections to the governors of both Shi and Midland and, though it’s not proven, the Tiger’s Fang Triads.
- Snaketongue Slavers: The Snaketongue Slavers is a small family of Draconians who have been given permission to oversee the extraction of minerals in the Deadlands and Shajiang provinces, headed by the Bozak Zakkhashar (Sha Kushang in guanyan), a ruthlessly calculating individual with little sense for other things beyond efficiency and profits. While Zakkhashar’s ancestors used to hunt and catch humans, elves, Draconian runaways and kobolds and employ them as slaves, the slavers have a prisoner exchange agreement with the Gu-Wei government, so that all prisoners sentenced to a life in prison will be sent to the penal provinces to work. That way, they receive an almost constant stream of slaves to replace those who die in the heat of the deserts.
- Tiger’s Fang Triads: Criminal organisation located in Midta. When Midta became the second largest trading port in the empire, it also grew into an arena within which outcompeting one’s rivals could mean the difference between prosperity and bankruptcy. This is where the Tiger’s Fang comes in - originally a group of thugs hired by firms to disrupt competition, it has since grown into an organised institution in the trade city’s underworld, whose support in vital when pursuing trade deals, profits or even the position as local governor. Today, the Tiger’s Fang runs a multitude of prostitution rings, winehouses, gambling dens and debt collection firms. After the Blue Phoenix Company, theirs is the second largest business presence in the region, making them practically untouchable to the local peacekeepers through bribes, threats and loopholes in local laws. Has a fierce rivalry with the Black Dragon Triads. Led by a council of Middling oligarchs known as the Eight.
- Black Dragon Triads: Criminal organisation based in Shi. While not as large as the Tiger’s Fang, the Black Dragon Triads have a number of friends in considerably higher places, rumoured to even have connections to Prince Yanqiang. The Black Dragon Triads started their endeavours as thugs in a past governor’s employ, tasked with silencing rivals and critics. In the governor’s employ, they grew from a simple group of ruffians to a small army with deep ties to pipeweed and wine distribution. When the governor who had employed them eventually grew frightened of them, the triads had him replaced with another. Even while they are right under the nose of the imperial family, the triads’ connection to the prince makes them untouchable. Has a fierce rivalry with the Tiger's Fang Triads. The head of the organisation is a Puzu nicknamed ‘the Immortal’.
Emperor Yandi of the Wu Dynasty: Previously seen as a genius reformer mature for the throne, the last century hasn’t been kind to him. Over the course of the last hundred years, rivalry at court, the loss of his favourite concubine and a growing fascination for lecherous behaviour has led the emperor to shirk his duties as a leader and instead pursue the women of the court.
Race: Guzu Elf (Huangzu).
Family:
Ribbigus Croak: The youngest Muckling shaman to ever live. Leader of the Gloch’ach’ribb.
Sun On-Yee: A low-level thug in the Tiger’s Fang Triads.
Race: Guzu Elf (Huangzu).
Family:
- Prince Yanri: Eldest son and heir. An ambitious character with little love for his father. A prodigy in the field of statecraft, the prince does whatever he can in his power to keep the empire from crumbling from his father’s incompetency - at least, enough for the other nobles to see, anyway.
- Prince Yanqiang: Youngest son, being born of Yandi’s deceased concubine, Songyan. A general of the imperial army at a very young age, Yanqiang lived his whole life in luxury. For a general, he is incredibly rash and foolhardy, faithfully believing in the supremacy of archaic tactics and frequently ignoring the importance of terrain and elements. He’s addicted to pipeweed and tries to keep it a secret, along with his relationship to his supplier, the Black Dragon Triads.
- Queen Liansong: Wife. Daughter of the old emperor Guxiong and is in truth quite hateful towards the current dynasty. She believes her husband to be weak and secretly has an affair with her son, Yanri.
- Taomei: Elder sister. A doting character who explicitly wishes for the emperor to take her as his concubine. Currently in charge of the winter palace in Red Clay, from where she writes and sends love letters to her brother.
- Princess Wanmei: Eldest daughter. A young, naïve and spoiled girl infatuated with her elder brother Yanri. She frequently aids him in his schemes for the throne.
- All Huangzu. At the very least, every Huangzu are cousins. Ever since Guxiong divided the elves into Huangzu and Puzu, no new blood has entered the royal pool.
- Wu Liren, governor of Greater Shi: Also the principal of the Imperial Academy. A fantastically wise Puzu scholar with friends in the dark corners of the capital. He owes much of his status today to the Black Dragon Triads and frequently looks the other way whenever they wish to spread a little disorder.
- Zhang Mozhang, governor of the Heartlands: A morally just and, some say, incorruptible Puzu statesman, strongly faithful to the emperor and his duties. Diligent in his work and humble in his act, Zhang is an exemplary governor, and the Heartlands prosper as a result.
- Dosr im Khammed (Dushu Kang), governor of the Northern Riverlands: An estate farmer whose parents worked their way up from a small patch of land to a grand chateau in the northern riverlands. Charismatic and generous, Khammed is fond of spoiling his friends with gifts and banquets. Hopefully, he doesn’t grow too fond of it.
- Bast im Ratinmaar (Ba Ran-ma), governor of the Southern Riverlands: Son of a long lineage of ancient riverland kings, Ratinmaar’s life has been enveloped in luxuries and expectations. Long before he was eligible to apply to the Academy, his family had mentors from Shi come to prepare him for his education. Ratinmaar has been molded into the ideal scholar, and while he serves his people well, there are speculations as to when this overworked statesman will snap under all the stress.
- Jianger min Agung (Jiangdi Gong), governor of Jianger: Smart, handsome and charismatic, Agung is both well-liked and well-positioned. A good diplomat and able sailor, though at times overly in love with the flask.
- Longway mi Ismaya (Longwei Ma), governor of Longway: A shadier character who’s been in power of Longway for quite a number of years. He keeps his head low to avoid drawing attention to his province and particularly the illegal production of pipeweed in the south.
- Dai Borzalik (Bozan Dai), governor of Drakka: A Bozak born and raised on the Gu-Wei side of the border. Strict, earnest and calculating. Has a tense rivalry with Zakkishtahar and the Snaketongue Slavers to the east.
- Áed the Pale (Bai Ye), governor of Druïthim: A majorly corrupt Druïthim whose pockets are full of wealth embezzled from the silk industry. The Commission makes certain to keep him well-bribed so they functionally can restrict more and more the cultural diversity of Druïthim.
- Zakkishtahar (Zan Shita), governor of the Deadlands: Elder brother of the leader of the Snaketongue Slavers, Zakkhashar. His ties to his brother and the slavers makes him inclined to grant them quite a bit of autonomy, and to a large degree, the organisation owns the whole province.
- Wang Ritian, governor of Dûna-de-Hama: An unpopular Puzu governor with little support from his subjects on account of his ethnicity. Wang has made numerous attempts to relate to the local Druïthim, but he struggles immensely.
- Bonursan Sunna (Sun Boshan), governor of Midland: A wealthy, well-educated merchant with a tight connections to both the Tiger’s Fang Triads and the Blue Phoenix Company. Due to his powerful friends, he is often forced to appease them over the affairs of the city.
- Ramansun Nomir (Numin Ran), governor of Sunnaland: Comes from a family of shipbuilders.
- Pontansun Urmir (Yunmin Po), governor of Origo: Industrialist to the core, Pontasun relishes in the idea to expansion of the charcoal and iron productions.
- Sun Zinong, governor of Shajiang: Highly corrupt Puzu elf who hates his station in the south. The only joy he finds in his work is the vast amount of wealth the gem and salt extraction bring into his pockets.
- Honursan Yomir (Yongmin Shan), governor of Red Clay: Comes from the largest family of iron smelters in the east. Dedicated to upholding his family name of Honur and thus fiercely protects his own and his family’s honoured through duels and other means.
- Ethensen Uramar (Yunman Sen), governor of Ithram: A rebellious character whose many years in office have made him hostile to the the central state.
Ribbigus Croak: The youngest Muckling shaman to ever live. Leader of the Gloch’ach’ribb.
Sun On-Yee: A low-level thug in the Tiger’s Fang Triads.
