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Shu
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- Shu 6 yrs ago
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Shoopuf,
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Bio
A little about me…
• Female (She/Her) (Cisgender)
• Pansexual
• Thirty years old.
• An America-born Eurasian. (Of Han Chinese and Dutch descent.)
• US Central Time Zone
• Casual & Advanced are my vibes.
• My writing interests are manifold.
• I tend to prefer 1x1’s but I never shy away from a great group RP.
• Ask for the Discord.
Current Roleplays…
• NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS My long-running wrestling career 1x1 roleplay with @Shoopuf.
• ~ BLACK FLAGS OF THE ABECEAN ~ A swashbuckling RP set in the universe of The Elder Scrolls.
Extras…
• My catalogue of characters. (The new one.)
• My old/original catalogue of characters.
• SANDSTRIDERS world and lore.
• A Thousand Legends world and lore.
Group Roleplays that I have GM’d;
Most Recent Posts
Nearly three weeks later and there is still a kobold infestation in this building.
Historical Timeline
1 IE - After saving mortal kind from the yaoguai with the help of the five great dragons the young hero Hui founded the Eternal Empire and the Xiao dynasty becoming The First Emperor.
It was around this same time that the Chromatic Pillars were built - five magical towers that uphold the Celestial Curtain and separate Aniyat from the mortal realm and thus separating mortals from their gods.
2 IE - Building of the Ruby Palace begins.
3 IE - The White Lantern forms, a cult that opposes the newly risen Eternal Empire and the separation of mortals from Aniyat.
5 IE - The Honfokun arrive in Yongcun after being adrift for many moons. After much petition amid much suspicion they are granted a parcel of land by Emperor Xiao Hui in exchange for surrender of their weapons and ships. They name their new land “Karitu” and begin construction of the city of Cimanu.
6 IE - Three assassins make an attempt on the life of Emperor Xiao Hui in the night. All three all killed but discovered to be members of the White Lantern. Xiao Hui proclaims the cult to be enemies of the Empire the following day.
8 IE - A handful of monks stir up unrest against the Empire in villages near Fongmei and Toknam. The monks are banished from Yongcun into the Western Wastes and a number of peasants arrested and jailed for treason. While unproven the monks are suspected to have been members of the White Lantern.
10 IE - Floods along the southern coasts ravage the young cities of Ximan and Bazin and thousands die. White lanterns are found strung along the roads after the floods have passed leaving some to suspect that the White Lantern used magic to cause the flooding.
13 IE - On the day of the Dawn Light celebration as the new year comes a massive horde of zealots marches out from wilderness, lead by monks of the White Lantern, and attempt to storm the capital of Bianwei. The assault fails despite superior number on the attackers’ part and during their retreat hundreds of zealots are ridden down by Imperial cavalry or arrested. Captured White Lantern leaders are executed and their followers all banished to the wastes to die. While they were not destroyed this is the last that would be seen of the White Lantern for some time.
15 IE - After many stillborn Emperor Xiao Huis’ wife bears a single son named Xiao Fulin.
16 IE - The Ruby Palace is finished and becomes the official seat of both the Emperor and the government of the Eternal Empire.
18 IE - Emperor Xiao Hui and Ito Songweo, Seshkyo of Karitu, discuss terms in Cimanu for official vassalization of Karitu under the Eternal Empire. The talks proceed well and Karitu becomes a servile vassal state of the Eternal Empire.
30 IE - Adventurers from the settlement of Wo return from scouting in the north and tell of nomadic Folk who travel by horse with great herds of oxen and other beasts.
31 IE - Imperial emissaries meet with the nomadic Folk of the north various times through the summer moons and open trade with some of their smaller bands.
35 IE - Stray bands of Mokeu warriors have begun to prowl the countryside in the east and avoid all attempts at hailing.
36 IE - An Imperial diplomatic retinue are sent to the east to open talks with the Mokeu people only to vanish without a trace in the jungles.
37 IE - A second Imperial diplomatic party is sent east by the Emperor only to disappear in Mokeu lands as the previous emissaries did.
50 IE - At the age of seventy-eight Xiao Hui passes away peacefully in his sleep one winters’ night. For ten days after severe winds screamed through the air as if the land itself was wailing at the death of The First Emperor.
51 IE - Xiao Fulin, age thirty five, ascends as the new Emperor of the Eternal Empire the day of Dawn Light and the new years’ arrival.
54 IE - In exchange for a better deal on trade between their peoples Emperor Xiao Fulin acquires lands further north from the nomadic tribes of the now named Huafen Plains and oversees the construction of the new settlements of Mianwi and Ludi.
60 IE - The Imperial Army undergoes reforms that include restructure of unit sizes, new tactics to be employed, a more polished chain of command, and the introduction of the first Honfokun into the Imperial ranks.
66 IE - Explorers and hunting parties from Wo intrude upon the hunting grounds on the northwestern border river that separates Yongcun and the Huafen Plains. Imperial emissaries calm the issue despite the deaths of two of the hunters from Wo.
72 IE - A devastating storm destroys much of the city of Buhar on the southern coast.
73 IE - Poachers stalking about the Huafen Plains further agitates the southernmost tribes of the land leading to the Imperial council to declare crossing the northern border an offense warranting severe punishment.
76 IE - Emperor Xiao Fulin dies at sixty-one after a severe illness late in the winter. His son Xiao Jun takes the throne at age thirty-two.
77 IE - The first Honfokun courtiers in Imperial history. Namely the renowned poet and musician Mori Gozan and the court eunuch and Imperial Sword Master Yono Haewo.
80 IE - The first ever Trailing of Torn Skirts is hosted by the fat and lecherous Magistrate Dao Zhun of Zhongme. After much petition by the Imperial Council Emperor Xiao Jun bans the “celebration”.
90 IE - After the death of the childless Ito Hidori, the Tochichai of Karitu come together and form the Karitu Moot, putting more power in the hands of the clans and lords of Karitu. This would alter the political system of Karitu as it changes the traditionally hereditary ruling title of Seshkyo to one to be elected to requiring the approval of the Moot.
91 IE - Emperor Xiao Jun, seeking to expand the Eternal Empire, sends an expedition army north with emissaries among them to deal with the tribes of Huafen. The negotiations go poorly and the chieftains are infuriated by the Imperial forts being constructed in their territory despite their refusal to part with more lands. The southernmost tribes form a military confederacy intent to drive out the Empire.
92 IE - Imperial forts across the northern borders are attacked and farmers fields and homes are burned, hundreds of hostages are taken over several moons. The Emperor declares war on the tribes of the plains and sends ten thousand troops into the north.
93 IE - A number of prominent senshodo in Karitu are assassinated, white dye handprints are found on their bodies. The war between the Empire and the Huafen Plain tribes is at its’ height.
94 IE - After losing four major battles in the late winter and spring season to the Empire the Huafen confederacy opposing its’ expansion breaks up and the tribes surrender a great expanse of land, the settlements of Yuni Pao and Yaobuko are established here.
95 IE - Seshkyo Ikeda Sahnu is assassinated while aboard his personal barge off the shores of Karitu, the assassin however is killed during his escape. A writ and an amulet on the assassins’ body reveal the existence of the White Lantern three generations after the shattering purge of their leadership by The First Emperor.
99 IE - Zhao Zhou, a renowned member of the Imperial Council and shrewd lawmaker, institutes various changes that close gaps of exploitation in the Imperial tax system and also makes edits to the long used Qunyi Moral Code of Law.
It was around this same time that the Chromatic Pillars were built - five magical towers that uphold the Celestial Curtain and separate Aniyat from the mortal realm and thus separating mortals from their gods.
2 IE - Building of the Ruby Palace begins.
3 IE - The White Lantern forms, a cult that opposes the newly risen Eternal Empire and the separation of mortals from Aniyat.
5 IE - The Honfokun arrive in Yongcun after being adrift for many moons. After much petition amid much suspicion they are granted a parcel of land by Emperor Xiao Hui in exchange for surrender of their weapons and ships. They name their new land “Karitu” and begin construction of the city of Cimanu.
6 IE - Three assassins make an attempt on the life of Emperor Xiao Hui in the night. All three all killed but discovered to be members of the White Lantern. Xiao Hui proclaims the cult to be enemies of the Empire the following day.
8 IE - A handful of monks stir up unrest against the Empire in villages near Fongmei and Toknam. The monks are banished from Yongcun into the Western Wastes and a number of peasants arrested and jailed for treason. While unproven the monks are suspected to have been members of the White Lantern.
10 IE - Floods along the southern coasts ravage the young cities of Ximan and Bazin and thousands die. White lanterns are found strung along the roads after the floods have passed leaving some to suspect that the White Lantern used magic to cause the flooding.
13 IE - On the day of the Dawn Light celebration as the new year comes a massive horde of zealots marches out from wilderness, lead by monks of the White Lantern, and attempt to storm the capital of Bianwei. The assault fails despite superior number on the attackers’ part and during their retreat hundreds of zealots are ridden down by Imperial cavalry or arrested. Captured White Lantern leaders are executed and their followers all banished to the wastes to die. While they were not destroyed this is the last that would be seen of the White Lantern for some time.
15 IE - After many stillborn Emperor Xiao Huis’ wife bears a single son named Xiao Fulin.
16 IE - The Ruby Palace is finished and becomes the official seat of both the Emperor and the government of the Eternal Empire.
18 IE - Emperor Xiao Hui and Ito Songweo, Seshkyo of Karitu, discuss terms in Cimanu for official vassalization of Karitu under the Eternal Empire. The talks proceed well and Karitu becomes a servile vassal state of the Eternal Empire.
30 IE - Adventurers from the settlement of Wo return from scouting in the north and tell of nomadic Folk who travel by horse with great herds of oxen and other beasts.
31 IE - Imperial emissaries meet with the nomadic Folk of the north various times through the summer moons and open trade with some of their smaller bands.
35 IE - Stray bands of Mokeu warriors have begun to prowl the countryside in the east and avoid all attempts at hailing.
36 IE - An Imperial diplomatic retinue are sent to the east to open talks with the Mokeu people only to vanish without a trace in the jungles.
37 IE - A second Imperial diplomatic party is sent east by the Emperor only to disappear in Mokeu lands as the previous emissaries did.
50 IE - At the age of seventy-eight Xiao Hui passes away peacefully in his sleep one winters’ night. For ten days after severe winds screamed through the air as if the land itself was wailing at the death of The First Emperor.
51 IE - Xiao Fulin, age thirty five, ascends as the new Emperor of the Eternal Empire the day of Dawn Light and the new years’ arrival.
54 IE - In exchange for a better deal on trade between their peoples Emperor Xiao Fulin acquires lands further north from the nomadic tribes of the now named Huafen Plains and oversees the construction of the new settlements of Mianwi and Ludi.
60 IE - The Imperial Army undergoes reforms that include restructure of unit sizes, new tactics to be employed, a more polished chain of command, and the introduction of the first Honfokun into the Imperial ranks.
66 IE - Explorers and hunting parties from Wo intrude upon the hunting grounds on the northwestern border river that separates Yongcun and the Huafen Plains. Imperial emissaries calm the issue despite the deaths of two of the hunters from Wo.
72 IE - A devastating storm destroys much of the city of Buhar on the southern coast.
73 IE - Poachers stalking about the Huafen Plains further agitates the southernmost tribes of the land leading to the Imperial council to declare crossing the northern border an offense warranting severe punishment.
76 IE - Emperor Xiao Fulin dies at sixty-one after a severe illness late in the winter. His son Xiao Jun takes the throne at age thirty-two.
77 IE - The first Honfokun courtiers in Imperial history. Namely the renowned poet and musician Mori Gozan and the court eunuch and Imperial Sword Master Yono Haewo.
80 IE - The first ever Trailing of Torn Skirts is hosted by the fat and lecherous Magistrate Dao Zhun of Zhongme. After much petition by the Imperial Council Emperor Xiao Jun bans the “celebration”.
90 IE - After the death of the childless Ito Hidori, the Tochichai of Karitu come together and form the Karitu Moot, putting more power in the hands of the clans and lords of Karitu. This would alter the political system of Karitu as it changes the traditionally hereditary ruling title of Seshkyo to one to be elected to requiring the approval of the Moot.
91 IE - Emperor Xiao Jun, seeking to expand the Eternal Empire, sends an expedition army north with emissaries among them to deal with the tribes of Huafen. The negotiations go poorly and the chieftains are infuriated by the Imperial forts being constructed in their territory despite their refusal to part with more lands. The southernmost tribes form a military confederacy intent to drive out the Empire.
92 IE - Imperial forts across the northern borders are attacked and farmers fields and homes are burned, hundreds of hostages are taken over several moons. The Emperor declares war on the tribes of the plains and sends ten thousand troops into the north.
93 IE - A number of prominent senshodo in Karitu are assassinated, white dye handprints are found on their bodies. The war between the Empire and the Huafen Plain tribes is at its’ height.
94 IE - After losing four major battles in the late winter and spring season to the Empire the Huafen confederacy opposing its’ expansion breaks up and the tribes surrender a great expanse of land, the settlements of Yuni Pao and Yaobuko are established here.
95 IE - Seshkyo Ikeda Sahnu is assassinated while aboard his personal barge off the shores of Karitu, the assassin however is killed during his escape. A writ and an amulet on the assassins’ body reveal the existence of the White Lantern three generations after the shattering purge of their leadership by The First Emperor.
99 IE - Zhao Zhou, a renowned member of the Imperial Council and shrewd lawmaker, institutes various changes that close gaps of exploitation in the Imperial tax system and also makes edits to the long used Qunyi Moral Code of Law.
101 IE - Emperor Xiao Jun passes away at the age of fifty-seven in his sleep despite such good health. His eldest son Xiao Jingguo takes the throne at the age of thirty-six.
102 IE - Emperor Xiao Jingguo’s younger twin sisters, Ladies Chan and Gan, become the second wives of the leaders of the respective Ino and Aiko senshodo clans. Both of these clans gained significant power after the string of assassinations from years before. This marks the first prominent cross-race marriages in both Imperial and Xiao dynasty history.
104 IE - Emperor Xiao Jingguo narrowly survives an assassination attempt when an arrow was fired at him from a nearby balcony when he was in his courtyard one morning. The assassin escaped but was suspected to be a White Lantern agent.
105 IE - A second assassination on Emperor Xiao Jingguo fails this time by mere coincidence. Poisoned rice wine that was meant for the Emperor was first drank from by a close friend of his whom he had at last moment invited over, the man did not survive the poison. The servant who served the wine escaped from the Imperial Guard and left no clue to their motivation or likely conspirators.
108 IE - Raids into the eastern lands of Yongcun by rogue Mokeu warbands increase over the spring and summer seasons. Farms and villages are stripped of all supplies and whole populations abducted and enslaved.
110 IE - Namhu and Ru Jao are set upon one summer night by multiple Mokeu warbands who set the cities ablaze as they slaughter the guards, abduct what townsfolk do not escape, and haul away all the food and other supplies they can carry. On hearing of the foul plundering Emperor Jingguo declares war on the Mokeu lands and sends a campaign force of eight thousand men east lead by General Hei Kang.
113 IE - After two years passed and thousands dead in the fighting Emperor Jingguo and the two Mokeu kings of Banhet and Ko’Ang sign a white peace treaty with the assurance of no further raids or attacks on the subjects of the Empire.
114 IE - Emperor Jingguo grants large amounts of land and money compensation to the families of those lost in the two year war with the Mokeu.
115 IE - A large Imperial expedition sent north cross into the lands of the fearsome Kulnar giants and provoke them into attack. In retaliation of this attack the Emperor sends Yan Ren, Imperial general and Sword Master, with a force of ten thousand men north. After peace negotiation attempts fail so begins four long days of unending battle in which the Empire would win despite staggering casualties. The Kulnar are driven back to the far mountains and the Emperor declares the northern border forbidden.
120 IE - Explorers return from the southern seas with tales of a “lizard people” living in a great chain of islands, their cargo holds filled with trinkets and food goods traded for on the islands. Later that year Emperor Jingguo would travel to the islands and make an alliance and trade deal with the Zauri - as they called themselves.
121 IE - After a year of bolstering relations Emperor Jingguo offers vassalization to the Zauri who decline, preferring their independence. This rattles relations between the Emperor and the High King of the Zauri for some time.
122 IE - Ladies Chan and Gan are found dead in their homes by servants on the same day, poisoned during their morning meals. Emperor Xiao Jingguo calls for an investigation while publicly blaming the “incompetence” of their widowed husbands’ and the staff of their estates. This greatly damages relations between the Eternal Empire and Karitu for some time.
123 IE - After a year of investigation it is revealed that the killers of Ladies Chan and Gan were a White Lantern assassins posing as servants. Despite this revelation Emperor Jingguo insists the incompetence of the Honfokun is to blame and and even forces a reimbursement for the funeral service from the Seshkyo as well as additional Imperial legal advisors among the courts and wardens of Karitu.
125 IE - Emperor Xiao Jingguo dies at age sixty. His son Xiao Jie takes the throne at age thirty-eight.
126 IE - A monk from the great temple of Qunyi in Bianwei approaches the Imperial Council and reveals that one of the other monks is a member of the White Lantern. Instead of having the monk arrested the Imperial Council has the monk watched closely by spies planted as temple servants.
127 IE - The monk of the White Lantern in Bianwei is followed one winters’ moon to an ancient shrine hidden in the hills south of Wo. This is is discovered to be the sanctum of the White Lantern’s leadership. The shrine is soon after raided and those of the White Lantern that are not killed are arrested and executed. Confiscated from the shrine is a list of prominent White Lantern members and contacts across the Empire leading to more arrests and executions. Emperor Xiao Jie declares the White Lantern to be destroyed.
128 IE - With the White Lantern threat removed Emperor Xiao Jie and Seshkyo Ino Muneyori hold a grand Dawn Light celebration and invite the High King and various chieftains of Iqati as well. The spectacle would prove a success and mend the frayed relations between the Empire and Karitu and also lead to a military alliance between Iqati and Karitu mediated by the Emperor’s regent.
129 IE - Emperor Xiao Jie meets with a number of smaller Huafen Plains tribes outside of Ludi for a peace summit. The Emperor reopens trade with the tribes and even returns a portion of free lands northwest of Ludi in exchange for shared hunting privileges of the area.
130 IE - Emperor Xiao Jie dies at age forty-three after tripping and tumbling down the stairs of the Ruby Palace and breaking his neck. His eldest son Xiao Jinhai takes the throne at age eighteen, the youngest emperor yet.
133 IE - Emperor Xiao Jinhai becomes afflicted with a wasting illness that renders him infirm forcing Imperial Regent Fu Huang to take over the running of the Empire.
134 IE - Emperor Xiao Jinhai falls into a coma for three moons before passing in his sleep one night at age twenty-two. His younger brother Xiao Yongrui, Magistrate of Toknam, takes the throne at age twenty.
140 IE - Five zealots in Karitu burn down the great school of philosophy in Cimanu destroying all the great works within. All five are banished to the Western Wastes for their heinous act.
144 IE - At the urging of the still regent Fu Huang Emperor Xiao Yongrui grants more power to the Imperial Council while restricting the say of guilds and minor nobility.
146 IE - Regent Fu Huang and his personal advisors draft up new economic proposals which place heavy tariffs on goods from Karitu, demanded higher taxation on nobility, guilds, and temples, while lowering the taxation of the commoners. Though seemingly fair in nature the intent was to weaken the nobles and guilds financially and place more wealth in the Imperial treasury.
154 IE - A number of nobles and regional statesmen form a league opposed to the heightened power of the Imperial Council, calling themselves the Emerald Circle.
155 IE - The Emerald Circle demand the lowering of taxation on the nobility and guilds while statesmen from Karitu petition for a removal of the harsh tariffs on their imports. Both are denied.
156 IE - Trade between Yongcun and Karitu flounders as Honfokun merchants instead look south to Iqati for better dealings. A drought across the northern farmlands causes a widespread food shortage. The merchant guilds of Bianwei, Shanjing, Toknam, and Bazin dissolve. Seeing the possible crisis to come many of the Imperial Council nervously appeal to the regent to repeal some of the directives but he refuses.
157 IE - Riots break out in Fongmei, Mianwi, Ludi, and Wo amid the food shortage, over the summer season thousands die in the riots and from starvation. The Emerald Circle convince various other guilds to dissolve and former members horde away their own wealth. Imperial tax collectors begin to be beaten and killed across Yongcun. Regent Fu Huang goes over the rest of the Imperial Council and declares martial law mobilizing the Imperial Army, claiming to have the Emperor's approval for this action.
158 IE - Regent Fu Huang and his advisors are all stabbed to death by the rest of the Imperial Council who then appeal to Emperor Xiao Yongrui to seize total control. Xiao Yongrui nullifies all policies set forth by Fu Huang and manages to revitalize trade with Karitu and Iqati, he also purchases a large surplus of crops from them as well and has the food dispersed throughout Yongcun. Martial law is lifted and the arduous taxation on the merchants and nobility is lifted. Yongcun would spend the rest of the year recovering from the crisis.
159 IE - The Imperial Council is fully reformed and Emperor Xiao Yongrui returns full traditional power to the throne.
164 IE - Takayama Tamashini composes the “The Yellow Moon Emperor” about Emperor Xiao Yongrui, named as such to point out the appearance of the Emperor for his deep olive complexion and his increasingly round size throughout his rule. The piece was an elaborate criticism of the Emperor including his slothful nature and negligence. It was banned across Yongcun and declared treasonous against the Eternal Empire.
166 IE - Emperor Xiao Yongrui dies at age fifty-two after collapsing during a severe coughing fit amid an evening meal. His son Xiao Dong - born unto him by a concubine - takes the throne at age twenty-nine. Despite not being legally legitimized Xiao Dong was the only known blood descendant of Xiao Yongrui who had no wife and only one of his concubines bore a child, that concubine being Xiao Dongs’ mother.
169 IE - Emperor Xiao Dong insists upon more Honfo senshodo be brought on as consultants and sword trainers for the Imperial Army which improves the technique of the footmen.
170 IE - Emperor Xiao Dong appoints the renowned Honfokun builder Chinen Hanzo as chief architect of the Empire, part of this agreement being that Hanzo’s younger sister and his widowed cousin both become royal concubines.
172 IE - A roving band of Mokeu sellswords build a stronghold on a holy island in Iqati. This would lead to a several days siege by the enraged Zauri that ended with the surrender of the sellswords. On discovering the destruction of the sacred shrines on the island the Zauri mass executed the remaining Mokeu and burned their bodies aboard their beached ships.
175 IE - Several chieftains of the Huafen Plains call for the return of their ancestral lands amid a poor hunting season and growing tensions between many of the southernmost tribes. Emperor Xiao Dong denies this request, the chieftains in turn ending trade with the Empire in their anger.
177 IE - Farmers and huntsmen along the northern border make claims of sightings of traveling Kulnar bands. While skeptical the Emperor increases patrols and outpost numbers in the north.
180 IE - The same Huafen Plains chieftains from five years before again petition for lands, this time with many central plains chieftains at their sides. The Emperor once again denies them and with that the last of the trade with the Huafen Plains is ended.
181 IE - A large confederation forms in the Huafen Plains - the Black Arrow. They send emissaries south to the Emperor to one final time call for the return of their forefathers’ land. Less than a breath after Emperor Xiao Dongs’ third denial a knife is driven into the armrest of his throne and war declared by the tribes.
184 IE - The war with the Black Arrow Confederation ends. Thousands on both sides are dead, the relentlessness and fast attack tactics of the Huafen horse archers meeting the discipline and techniques of the Imperial Army for the second time in written history - the numbers and zealous drive of the Imperial forces winning out. The confederation breaks apart and the chieftains are forced to surrender land retuned to them by Emperor Xiao Jie as well as additional lands.
195 IE - Emperor Xiao Dong offers all three of his sons born unto concubines as husbands to unmarried female members of the famed Nakamura senshodo clan in Karitu. The youngest of these sons would instead become a consort rather than a legal husband and the middle son would elope with a minor noblewoman in Toknam.
102 IE - Emperor Xiao Jingguo’s younger twin sisters, Ladies Chan and Gan, become the second wives of the leaders of the respective Ino and Aiko senshodo clans. Both of these clans gained significant power after the string of assassinations from years before. This marks the first prominent cross-race marriages in both Imperial and Xiao dynasty history.
104 IE - Emperor Xiao Jingguo narrowly survives an assassination attempt when an arrow was fired at him from a nearby balcony when he was in his courtyard one morning. The assassin escaped but was suspected to be a White Lantern agent.
105 IE - A second assassination on Emperor Xiao Jingguo fails this time by mere coincidence. Poisoned rice wine that was meant for the Emperor was first drank from by a close friend of his whom he had at last moment invited over, the man did not survive the poison. The servant who served the wine escaped from the Imperial Guard and left no clue to their motivation or likely conspirators.
108 IE - Raids into the eastern lands of Yongcun by rogue Mokeu warbands increase over the spring and summer seasons. Farms and villages are stripped of all supplies and whole populations abducted and enslaved.
110 IE - Namhu and Ru Jao are set upon one summer night by multiple Mokeu warbands who set the cities ablaze as they slaughter the guards, abduct what townsfolk do not escape, and haul away all the food and other supplies they can carry. On hearing of the foul plundering Emperor Jingguo declares war on the Mokeu lands and sends a campaign force of eight thousand men east lead by General Hei Kang.
113 IE - After two years passed and thousands dead in the fighting Emperor Jingguo and the two Mokeu kings of Banhet and Ko’Ang sign a white peace treaty with the assurance of no further raids or attacks on the subjects of the Empire.
114 IE - Emperor Jingguo grants large amounts of land and money compensation to the families of those lost in the two year war with the Mokeu.
115 IE - A large Imperial expedition sent north cross into the lands of the fearsome Kulnar giants and provoke them into attack. In retaliation of this attack the Emperor sends Yan Ren, Imperial general and Sword Master, with a force of ten thousand men north. After peace negotiation attempts fail so begins four long days of unending battle in which the Empire would win despite staggering casualties. The Kulnar are driven back to the far mountains and the Emperor declares the northern border forbidden.
120 IE - Explorers return from the southern seas with tales of a “lizard people” living in a great chain of islands, their cargo holds filled with trinkets and food goods traded for on the islands. Later that year Emperor Jingguo would travel to the islands and make an alliance and trade deal with the Zauri - as they called themselves.
121 IE - After a year of bolstering relations Emperor Jingguo offers vassalization to the Zauri who decline, preferring their independence. This rattles relations between the Emperor and the High King of the Zauri for some time.
122 IE - Ladies Chan and Gan are found dead in their homes by servants on the same day, poisoned during their morning meals. Emperor Xiao Jingguo calls for an investigation while publicly blaming the “incompetence” of their widowed husbands’ and the staff of their estates. This greatly damages relations between the Eternal Empire and Karitu for some time.
123 IE - After a year of investigation it is revealed that the killers of Ladies Chan and Gan were a White Lantern assassins posing as servants. Despite this revelation Emperor Jingguo insists the incompetence of the Honfokun is to blame and and even forces a reimbursement for the funeral service from the Seshkyo as well as additional Imperial legal advisors among the courts and wardens of Karitu.
125 IE - Emperor Xiao Jingguo dies at age sixty. His son Xiao Jie takes the throne at age thirty-eight.
126 IE - A monk from the great temple of Qunyi in Bianwei approaches the Imperial Council and reveals that one of the other monks is a member of the White Lantern. Instead of having the monk arrested the Imperial Council has the monk watched closely by spies planted as temple servants.
127 IE - The monk of the White Lantern in Bianwei is followed one winters’ moon to an ancient shrine hidden in the hills south of Wo. This is is discovered to be the sanctum of the White Lantern’s leadership. The shrine is soon after raided and those of the White Lantern that are not killed are arrested and executed. Confiscated from the shrine is a list of prominent White Lantern members and contacts across the Empire leading to more arrests and executions. Emperor Xiao Jie declares the White Lantern to be destroyed.
128 IE - With the White Lantern threat removed Emperor Xiao Jie and Seshkyo Ino Muneyori hold a grand Dawn Light celebration and invite the High King and various chieftains of Iqati as well. The spectacle would prove a success and mend the frayed relations between the Empire and Karitu and also lead to a military alliance between Iqati and Karitu mediated by the Emperor’s regent.
129 IE - Emperor Xiao Jie meets with a number of smaller Huafen Plains tribes outside of Ludi for a peace summit. The Emperor reopens trade with the tribes and even returns a portion of free lands northwest of Ludi in exchange for shared hunting privileges of the area.
130 IE - Emperor Xiao Jie dies at age forty-three after tripping and tumbling down the stairs of the Ruby Palace and breaking his neck. His eldest son Xiao Jinhai takes the throne at age eighteen, the youngest emperor yet.
133 IE - Emperor Xiao Jinhai becomes afflicted with a wasting illness that renders him infirm forcing Imperial Regent Fu Huang to take over the running of the Empire.
134 IE - Emperor Xiao Jinhai falls into a coma for three moons before passing in his sleep one night at age twenty-two. His younger brother Xiao Yongrui, Magistrate of Toknam, takes the throne at age twenty.
140 IE - Five zealots in Karitu burn down the great school of philosophy in Cimanu destroying all the great works within. All five are banished to the Western Wastes for their heinous act.
144 IE - At the urging of the still regent Fu Huang Emperor Xiao Yongrui grants more power to the Imperial Council while restricting the say of guilds and minor nobility.
146 IE - Regent Fu Huang and his personal advisors draft up new economic proposals which place heavy tariffs on goods from Karitu, demanded higher taxation on nobility, guilds, and temples, while lowering the taxation of the commoners. Though seemingly fair in nature the intent was to weaken the nobles and guilds financially and place more wealth in the Imperial treasury.
154 IE - A number of nobles and regional statesmen form a league opposed to the heightened power of the Imperial Council, calling themselves the Emerald Circle.
155 IE - The Emerald Circle demand the lowering of taxation on the nobility and guilds while statesmen from Karitu petition for a removal of the harsh tariffs on their imports. Both are denied.
156 IE - Trade between Yongcun and Karitu flounders as Honfokun merchants instead look south to Iqati for better dealings. A drought across the northern farmlands causes a widespread food shortage. The merchant guilds of Bianwei, Shanjing, Toknam, and Bazin dissolve. Seeing the possible crisis to come many of the Imperial Council nervously appeal to the regent to repeal some of the directives but he refuses.
157 IE - Riots break out in Fongmei, Mianwi, Ludi, and Wo amid the food shortage, over the summer season thousands die in the riots and from starvation. The Emerald Circle convince various other guilds to dissolve and former members horde away their own wealth. Imperial tax collectors begin to be beaten and killed across Yongcun. Regent Fu Huang goes over the rest of the Imperial Council and declares martial law mobilizing the Imperial Army, claiming to have the Emperor's approval for this action.
158 IE - Regent Fu Huang and his advisors are all stabbed to death by the rest of the Imperial Council who then appeal to Emperor Xiao Yongrui to seize total control. Xiao Yongrui nullifies all policies set forth by Fu Huang and manages to revitalize trade with Karitu and Iqati, he also purchases a large surplus of crops from them as well and has the food dispersed throughout Yongcun. Martial law is lifted and the arduous taxation on the merchants and nobility is lifted. Yongcun would spend the rest of the year recovering from the crisis.
159 IE - The Imperial Council is fully reformed and Emperor Xiao Yongrui returns full traditional power to the throne.
164 IE - Takayama Tamashini composes the “The Yellow Moon Emperor” about Emperor Xiao Yongrui, named as such to point out the appearance of the Emperor for his deep olive complexion and his increasingly round size throughout his rule. The piece was an elaborate criticism of the Emperor including his slothful nature and negligence. It was banned across Yongcun and declared treasonous against the Eternal Empire.
166 IE - Emperor Xiao Yongrui dies at age fifty-two after collapsing during a severe coughing fit amid an evening meal. His son Xiao Dong - born unto him by a concubine - takes the throne at age twenty-nine. Despite not being legally legitimized Xiao Dong was the only known blood descendant of Xiao Yongrui who had no wife and only one of his concubines bore a child, that concubine being Xiao Dongs’ mother.
169 IE - Emperor Xiao Dong insists upon more Honfo senshodo be brought on as consultants and sword trainers for the Imperial Army which improves the technique of the footmen.
170 IE - Emperor Xiao Dong appoints the renowned Honfokun builder Chinen Hanzo as chief architect of the Empire, part of this agreement being that Hanzo’s younger sister and his widowed cousin both become royal concubines.
172 IE - A roving band of Mokeu sellswords build a stronghold on a holy island in Iqati. This would lead to a several days siege by the enraged Zauri that ended with the surrender of the sellswords. On discovering the destruction of the sacred shrines on the island the Zauri mass executed the remaining Mokeu and burned their bodies aboard their beached ships.
175 IE - Several chieftains of the Huafen Plains call for the return of their ancestral lands amid a poor hunting season and growing tensions between many of the southernmost tribes. Emperor Xiao Dong denies this request, the chieftains in turn ending trade with the Empire in their anger.
177 IE - Farmers and huntsmen along the northern border make claims of sightings of traveling Kulnar bands. While skeptical the Emperor increases patrols and outpost numbers in the north.
180 IE - The same Huafen Plains chieftains from five years before again petition for lands, this time with many central plains chieftains at their sides. The Emperor once again denies them and with that the last of the trade with the Huafen Plains is ended.
181 IE - A large confederation forms in the Huafen Plains - the Black Arrow. They send emissaries south to the Emperor to one final time call for the return of their forefathers’ land. Less than a breath after Emperor Xiao Dongs’ third denial a knife is driven into the armrest of his throne and war declared by the tribes.
184 IE - The war with the Black Arrow Confederation ends. Thousands on both sides are dead, the relentlessness and fast attack tactics of the Huafen horse archers meeting the discipline and techniques of the Imperial Army for the second time in written history - the numbers and zealous drive of the Imperial forces winning out. The confederation breaks apart and the chieftains are forced to surrender land retuned to them by Emperor Xiao Jie as well as additional lands.
195 IE - Emperor Xiao Dong offers all three of his sons born unto concubines as husbands to unmarried female members of the famed Nakamura senshodo clan in Karitu. The youngest of these sons would instead become a consort rather than a legal husband and the middle son would elope with a minor noblewoman in Toknam.
201 IE - Sakai Ichigo, renowned duelist, poet, and songstress, visits the coastal Yongcun cities of Bazin and Ximan and teaches interested women in the concepts of ransutor.
202 IE - Sakai Ichigo continues her eastern journey and arrived in Yogang where she would continue her teachings however later that year in Ru Jao she was stoned to death outside the city by a number of outraged farmers and craftsmen. Her murder stirred great anger among the senshodo of Karitu who demanded death for all the men involved.
205 IE - Sightings of Kulnar continue to increase in the north.
210 IE - Emperor Xiao Dong passes away at age seventy-three. His son Emperor Xiao Heng takes the throne at age thirty-seven.
211 IE - A combined Mokeu force of warbands from Banhet and Ko’Ang attack the eastern border city of Namhu in the late fall. Hundreds are killed including the entire Imperial defending force and the city seized. The Mokeu brother kings Tan-Ju and Wi-Ju declare the city and the surrounding area as a joint territory of Banhet and Ko’Ang. Emperor Xiao Heng sends a declaration of war and mobilizes the Imperial Army.
212 IE - After three fierce winter battles the Imperial Army lays siege to Namhu. Skirmishes take place along the border throughout the year.
214 IE - The two year siege of Namhu ends with the Imperial Army victorious after a mutiny among the Mokeu occupation. Kings Tan-Ju and Wi-Ju are killed in the infighting and the remaining Mokeu warriors and chieftains surrender. The Mokeu prisoners are all released in exchange for the safe release of the Folk imprisoned within the city. Combined Imperial and Mokeu casualties were in the thousands plus the thousands of Folk who died during the occupation from starvation and illness.
215 IE - Honfokun alchemist Matsuyori Kiro begins experimenting with an explosive black powder substance.
216 IE - Matsuyori Kiro is driven from Karitu after his experiments with his explosive powder destroys his estate and causes a large fire on the outskirts of Cimanu.
225 IE - Yamano Huan, a Folk woman raised by a wandering Honfo senshodo, wishes to join the Imperial Army. She is denied by recruiters as there are strict laws against women being allowed in the ranks of the Imperial Army. Her appeals as ransutor are waved away.
226 IE - An Imperial northern outpost is destroyed and all the defenders dead, their bodies found decapitated and impaled on spiked poles. A lone survivor found wandering the plains with his dying breath says it was the Kulnar.
227 IE - Mianwi is overrun and razed by a Kulnar horde numbering in the thousands. The Kulnar then begin marching southeast and plunder the city of Fongmei in the fall, come winter they lay siege to Toknam.
228 IE - At the first of spring General Chongxin Kanbei - a distinguished Hanfo tactician and the first of his people to be an Imperial General - meets the Kulnar in battle along the Emerald River after drawing them away from the exhausted Toknam defenders. The giants rushed across the shallows through showers of arrows and pounded the shore defenses for the entire day. General Chongxin’s forces would win despite heavy losses and his forces would pursue and drive the giants all the way back to their northern wastes. General Chongxin would be named a hero of the Eternal Empire and granted a vast estate and reward pension.
230 IE - Emperor Xiao Heng, the Imperial Council, and General Chongxin Kanbei hold a military summit in Bianwei inviting tacticians and warriors from Karitu and Iqati as well. Reforms are made in the military which include the allowing of Honfokun ransutor to enlist and serve, added tactics for both melee and ranged combat, and the induction of Zauri into the Imperial Army as well as the creation of all Zauri and all Honfokun units.
231 IE - Yamano Huan and various Honfokun women not of ransutor status petition the allowing of Folk women into the Imperial Army, sitting and fasting in the square beneath the Ruby Palace before being forcefully removed by the Imperial Guard. Yamano Huan returns to Karitu and never again sets foot in Yongcun.
240 IE - Emperor Xiao Heng passes away at age sixty-seven. His eldest son Xiao Li takes the throne at age forty-two.
242 IE - Matsuyori Kiro presents his refined black powder and recipe to the Imperial Council after much petition. After various demonstrations the Imperial Council and the army approve and Kiro continues his work.
243 IE - Matsuyori Kiro and his assistants present the Emperor and his council with “rockets”, tubes that employ the use of black powder to launch into great distances and explode. Various demonstration show potential but the rockets prove to be too inaccurate and unpredictable in their use.
244 IE - Emperor Xiao Li falls ill and is bedridden after several days.
245 IE - Less than half a year after succumbing to severe illness Emperor Xiao Li passes one cool spring morning at the age of forty-seven. Childless despite his wife and many concubines - Xiao Li is succeeded by his younger brother Xiao Manquian aged thirty-nine.
246 IE - A devastating storm in Iqati wipes out four entire tribes of Zauri on a small island on the eastern reach.
248 IE - Matsuyori Kiro has still not perfected his rockets for military use, however they are redesigned for festive purposes and the first use of fireworks takes place on the eve of the Emperor’s birthday.
250 IE - Mokeu chieftain Qan-Lung unites various lesser tribes under him and seizes a large portion of uninhabited land in Yongcun east of Yogang. By the time Imperial scouts discover this Qan-Lung has already erected a massive stronghold. Emperor Xiao Manquian sends an envoy to demand the Mokeu depart Imperial lands, Qan-Lung sends the head of the envoy back to the Emperor who then declares war.
251 IE - Mere days after the new year Emperor Xiao Manquian sends an army of three thousand Zauri and three thousand Honfokun units to defeat Qan-Lung and drive out or destroy his forces. The fortifications are easily destroyed by lit barrels of black powder - the first military use of the substance - and after a short, bloody battle Qan-Lung and half of his forces flee east over the border into Banhet.
252 IE - One year after his defeat Qan-Lung returns with an even larger army and lays siege to the city of Namhu. The same Imperial force that defeated Qan-Lung is sent to free the city of the siege however even with reinforcements they are routed by the fierce Mokeu and the Namhu falls not long after. Qan-Lung has the half the population massacred while the rest are sent back to Banhet as slaves or kept as hostages in Namhu.
253 IE - General Chongxin Kanbei, hero of the Kulnar siege of Toknam and the Battle of Red Crossing, is sent with a combined force of ten thousand to reclaim Namhu from Qan-Lung. Kanbei lays siege and launches six direct assaults on the walls during the summer, all of which are repelled. He tries to use rockets however they are ineffective in breaching the sturdy defenses of Namhu. One final assault is launched in the winter and fails, General Chongxin Kanbei and his forces are forced to dig in for the winter.
254 IE - Starvation sets in in Namhu as Imperial units ensure no supplies make it inside the city to the Mokeu. Qan-Lung calls for peace, agreeing to depart Yongcun with his tribesmen and allies and leave what survivors there are. General Chongxin Kanbei agrees but then when the gates are open he orders his men to spring upon and subdue the Mokeu. The General personally executes Qan-Lung in the city square and orders the same of the other Mokeu - his actions would be criticized by his own people and the Zauri in coming generations as cowardly and unfitting of a warrior.
256 IE - Emperor Xiao Manquian’s personal ship is sank during a storm on its’ way to Karitu. The Emperors’ body is never recovered and he is stated as dead, his son Xiao Yue takes the throne at age twenty-seven.
257 IE - Xiao Yue legalizes the Trailing of Torn Skirts - banned nearly two hundred years before in Zhongme - and makes it an official day across the Empire.
259 IE - Emperor Xiao Yue challenges the Seshkyo of Karitu to a drinking competition while visiting Bianwei. The Seshkyo refuses and, after he calls the Emperor a drunken lout, Emperor Xiao Yue threatens war in a fir of rage though his advisors calm him and the party returns to Yongcun.
260 IE - Emperor Xiao Yue’s favorite concubine births four girls, though the last born would die days later.
263 IE - Religious zealots in Bianwei begin to commonly harass the growing number of Zauri in the capital for their faith and devotion to their living dragon god. Many Folk and Zauri are killed in brawls that break out throughout the year.
264 IE - A monk named Sing Bao has revealed himself as the agitator of the anti Zauri religious sentiment in Bianwei and also criticized the Emperor for his hedonistic lifestyle. The Emperor has the man’s tongue and eyes cut out publicly though this only further provokes his zealots leading to more fights between the Folk and Zauri.
265 IE - Emperor Xiao Yue has the zealots of Sing Bao all a rounded up by name and executed or banished at random. In time this cools relations between the Zauri and the religiously disillusioned Folk.
272 IE - After her third stillborn Emperor Xiao Yue in a rage beats his wife unconscious one day in the throne room which greatly alienates him from most of the Imperial Council and other advisors.
273 IE - The youngest of the Emperors’ daughter drowns after falling from a walkway into the Emerald River.
274 IE - Emperor Xiao Yue is found dead in his bedchambers, his cause of death given as poisoning from too much drink given the empty containers in his room. Physicians later discover his heart to be blackened on its’ removal. The Emperor had no sons to account for, only his two daughters by Lady Bao. After much heated deliberation and simmering unrest among the Folk of the Eternal Empire the first empress ascends the throne as to ensure the continuation of Xiao rule. Xiao Hien at age fourteen also becomes the youngest of the Imperial dynasty to rule.
275 IE - Xiao Tae, the younger twin sister of the Empress, is assigned as a ward to Sassa Otan of the minor Sassa senshodo clan.
276 IE - A number of small villages in eastern Yongcun form a separatist confederation, unwilling to be ruled by a woman and their elders declaring the Xiao dynasty ended. The recently appointed Imperial Regent He Kang has the Imperial Army swiftly crush the rebellion and all dissidents executed.
278 IE - Empress Xiao Hien legalizes the enlisting of women of all races in the Imperial Army. Several heated protests and rallies against this rise up across the land but are firmly struck down throughout the year.
280 IE - Empress Xiao Hien with the aid of several personal advisors alters the size and power of the Imperial Council. Only five official positions exist; the Regent, Chancellor, Grand General, Treasurer, and Domestic Overlord. All other titles are considered honorary or minor and have no final authority on the Council and receive little or no pension.
282 IE - The Imperial Council with the Empresses approval place a heavy taxation on guilds after a number of hostile takeovers of smaller markets.
283 IE - Around two thousand displaced Mokeu of various tribal backgrounds cross over into Yongcun to escape a recent upheaval of violence between the two kingdoms. Despite vocal protests from many, common and noble alike, Empress Hien allows the Mokeu to stay where they find suitable. This marks the first notable immigration of Mokeu into Yongcun in history save for stray exiles from Banhet and Ko’Ang.
284 IE - Xiao Tae becomes second wife to the widowed Seshkyo of Karitu.
285 IE - Maleko the Last, a famous clanless Zauri swordsman from Iqati, travels to Bianwei and offers to serve Empress Xiao Hien. The Empress appoints him as Sword Master and gives him the rank of general in the Imperial Army.
286 IE - Empress Xiao Hien marries the younger son of the Magistrate of Shangjing - Ru Huang Fu - matrilineally.
287 IE - Empress Xiao Hien gives birth to her first son, Xiao Hing.
290 IE - Xiao Tae petitions for a title in Yongcun as a member of the Xiao dynasty. Empress Xiao Hien refuses.
291 IE - Xiao Tae again petitions for a title in Yongcun and is refused.
292 IE - Yogang and Ximan are nearly completely destroyed in a devastating earthquake that shakes southeastern Yongcun killing thousands.
295 IE - Empress Xiao Hien gives birth to her second son, Xiao Zheng.
296 IE - Xiao Tae is discovered to have been plotting to assassinate the Empress and her sons with Nagayori Waegan and Agwu Yuki, Tochihai of the minor Nagayori and Agwu clans of Karitu. Waegan and Yuki are executed and Xiao Tae placed under indefinite house arrest in a guarded estate outside of Bianwei - the Empress unwilling to become kinslayer.
300 IE - Word spreads from outcasts of Banhet of a dreaded red-eyed Mokeu who has forced himself in as king.
202 IE - Sakai Ichigo continues her eastern journey and arrived in Yogang where she would continue her teachings however later that year in Ru Jao she was stoned to death outside the city by a number of outraged farmers and craftsmen. Her murder stirred great anger among the senshodo of Karitu who demanded death for all the men involved.
205 IE - Sightings of Kulnar continue to increase in the north.
210 IE - Emperor Xiao Dong passes away at age seventy-three. His son Emperor Xiao Heng takes the throne at age thirty-seven.
211 IE - A combined Mokeu force of warbands from Banhet and Ko’Ang attack the eastern border city of Namhu in the late fall. Hundreds are killed including the entire Imperial defending force and the city seized. The Mokeu brother kings Tan-Ju and Wi-Ju declare the city and the surrounding area as a joint territory of Banhet and Ko’Ang. Emperor Xiao Heng sends a declaration of war and mobilizes the Imperial Army.
212 IE - After three fierce winter battles the Imperial Army lays siege to Namhu. Skirmishes take place along the border throughout the year.
214 IE - The two year siege of Namhu ends with the Imperial Army victorious after a mutiny among the Mokeu occupation. Kings Tan-Ju and Wi-Ju are killed in the infighting and the remaining Mokeu warriors and chieftains surrender. The Mokeu prisoners are all released in exchange for the safe release of the Folk imprisoned within the city. Combined Imperial and Mokeu casualties were in the thousands plus the thousands of Folk who died during the occupation from starvation and illness.
215 IE - Honfokun alchemist Matsuyori Kiro begins experimenting with an explosive black powder substance.
216 IE - Matsuyori Kiro is driven from Karitu after his experiments with his explosive powder destroys his estate and causes a large fire on the outskirts of Cimanu.
225 IE - Yamano Huan, a Folk woman raised by a wandering Honfo senshodo, wishes to join the Imperial Army. She is denied by recruiters as there are strict laws against women being allowed in the ranks of the Imperial Army. Her appeals as ransutor are waved away.
226 IE - An Imperial northern outpost is destroyed and all the defenders dead, their bodies found decapitated and impaled on spiked poles. A lone survivor found wandering the plains with his dying breath says it was the Kulnar.
227 IE - Mianwi is overrun and razed by a Kulnar horde numbering in the thousands. The Kulnar then begin marching southeast and plunder the city of Fongmei in the fall, come winter they lay siege to Toknam.
228 IE - At the first of spring General Chongxin Kanbei - a distinguished Hanfo tactician and the first of his people to be an Imperial General - meets the Kulnar in battle along the Emerald River after drawing them away from the exhausted Toknam defenders. The giants rushed across the shallows through showers of arrows and pounded the shore defenses for the entire day. General Chongxin’s forces would win despite heavy losses and his forces would pursue and drive the giants all the way back to their northern wastes. General Chongxin would be named a hero of the Eternal Empire and granted a vast estate and reward pension.
230 IE - Emperor Xiao Heng, the Imperial Council, and General Chongxin Kanbei hold a military summit in Bianwei inviting tacticians and warriors from Karitu and Iqati as well. Reforms are made in the military which include the allowing of Honfokun ransutor to enlist and serve, added tactics for both melee and ranged combat, and the induction of Zauri into the Imperial Army as well as the creation of all Zauri and all Honfokun units.
231 IE - Yamano Huan and various Honfokun women not of ransutor status petition the allowing of Folk women into the Imperial Army, sitting and fasting in the square beneath the Ruby Palace before being forcefully removed by the Imperial Guard. Yamano Huan returns to Karitu and never again sets foot in Yongcun.
240 IE - Emperor Xiao Heng passes away at age sixty-seven. His eldest son Xiao Li takes the throne at age forty-two.
242 IE - Matsuyori Kiro presents his refined black powder and recipe to the Imperial Council after much petition. After various demonstrations the Imperial Council and the army approve and Kiro continues his work.
243 IE - Matsuyori Kiro and his assistants present the Emperor and his council with “rockets”, tubes that employ the use of black powder to launch into great distances and explode. Various demonstration show potential but the rockets prove to be too inaccurate and unpredictable in their use.
244 IE - Emperor Xiao Li falls ill and is bedridden after several days.
245 IE - Less than half a year after succumbing to severe illness Emperor Xiao Li passes one cool spring morning at the age of forty-seven. Childless despite his wife and many concubines - Xiao Li is succeeded by his younger brother Xiao Manquian aged thirty-nine.
246 IE - A devastating storm in Iqati wipes out four entire tribes of Zauri on a small island on the eastern reach.
248 IE - Matsuyori Kiro has still not perfected his rockets for military use, however they are redesigned for festive purposes and the first use of fireworks takes place on the eve of the Emperor’s birthday.
250 IE - Mokeu chieftain Qan-Lung unites various lesser tribes under him and seizes a large portion of uninhabited land in Yongcun east of Yogang. By the time Imperial scouts discover this Qan-Lung has already erected a massive stronghold. Emperor Xiao Manquian sends an envoy to demand the Mokeu depart Imperial lands, Qan-Lung sends the head of the envoy back to the Emperor who then declares war.
251 IE - Mere days after the new year Emperor Xiao Manquian sends an army of three thousand Zauri and three thousand Honfokun units to defeat Qan-Lung and drive out or destroy his forces. The fortifications are easily destroyed by lit barrels of black powder - the first military use of the substance - and after a short, bloody battle Qan-Lung and half of his forces flee east over the border into Banhet.
252 IE - One year after his defeat Qan-Lung returns with an even larger army and lays siege to the city of Namhu. The same Imperial force that defeated Qan-Lung is sent to free the city of the siege however even with reinforcements they are routed by the fierce Mokeu and the Namhu falls not long after. Qan-Lung has the half the population massacred while the rest are sent back to Banhet as slaves or kept as hostages in Namhu.
253 IE - General Chongxin Kanbei, hero of the Kulnar siege of Toknam and the Battle of Red Crossing, is sent with a combined force of ten thousand to reclaim Namhu from Qan-Lung. Kanbei lays siege and launches six direct assaults on the walls during the summer, all of which are repelled. He tries to use rockets however they are ineffective in breaching the sturdy defenses of Namhu. One final assault is launched in the winter and fails, General Chongxin Kanbei and his forces are forced to dig in for the winter.
254 IE - Starvation sets in in Namhu as Imperial units ensure no supplies make it inside the city to the Mokeu. Qan-Lung calls for peace, agreeing to depart Yongcun with his tribesmen and allies and leave what survivors there are. General Chongxin Kanbei agrees but then when the gates are open he orders his men to spring upon and subdue the Mokeu. The General personally executes Qan-Lung in the city square and orders the same of the other Mokeu - his actions would be criticized by his own people and the Zauri in coming generations as cowardly and unfitting of a warrior.
256 IE - Emperor Xiao Manquian’s personal ship is sank during a storm on its’ way to Karitu. The Emperors’ body is never recovered and he is stated as dead, his son Xiao Yue takes the throne at age twenty-seven.
257 IE - Xiao Yue legalizes the Trailing of Torn Skirts - banned nearly two hundred years before in Zhongme - and makes it an official day across the Empire.
259 IE - Emperor Xiao Yue challenges the Seshkyo of Karitu to a drinking competition while visiting Bianwei. The Seshkyo refuses and, after he calls the Emperor a drunken lout, Emperor Xiao Yue threatens war in a fir of rage though his advisors calm him and the party returns to Yongcun.
260 IE - Emperor Xiao Yue’s favorite concubine births four girls, though the last born would die days later.
263 IE - Religious zealots in Bianwei begin to commonly harass the growing number of Zauri in the capital for their faith and devotion to their living dragon god. Many Folk and Zauri are killed in brawls that break out throughout the year.
264 IE - A monk named Sing Bao has revealed himself as the agitator of the anti Zauri religious sentiment in Bianwei and also criticized the Emperor for his hedonistic lifestyle. The Emperor has the man’s tongue and eyes cut out publicly though this only further provokes his zealots leading to more fights between the Folk and Zauri.
265 IE - Emperor Xiao Yue has the zealots of Sing Bao all a rounded up by name and executed or banished at random. In time this cools relations between the Zauri and the religiously disillusioned Folk.
272 IE - After her third stillborn Emperor Xiao Yue in a rage beats his wife unconscious one day in the throne room which greatly alienates him from most of the Imperial Council and other advisors.
273 IE - The youngest of the Emperors’ daughter drowns after falling from a walkway into the Emerald River.
274 IE - Emperor Xiao Yue is found dead in his bedchambers, his cause of death given as poisoning from too much drink given the empty containers in his room. Physicians later discover his heart to be blackened on its’ removal. The Emperor had no sons to account for, only his two daughters by Lady Bao. After much heated deliberation and simmering unrest among the Folk of the Eternal Empire the first empress ascends the throne as to ensure the continuation of Xiao rule. Xiao Hien at age fourteen also becomes the youngest of the Imperial dynasty to rule.
275 IE - Xiao Tae, the younger twin sister of the Empress, is assigned as a ward to Sassa Otan of the minor Sassa senshodo clan.
276 IE - A number of small villages in eastern Yongcun form a separatist confederation, unwilling to be ruled by a woman and their elders declaring the Xiao dynasty ended. The recently appointed Imperial Regent He Kang has the Imperial Army swiftly crush the rebellion and all dissidents executed.
278 IE - Empress Xiao Hien legalizes the enlisting of women of all races in the Imperial Army. Several heated protests and rallies against this rise up across the land but are firmly struck down throughout the year.
280 IE - Empress Xiao Hien with the aid of several personal advisors alters the size and power of the Imperial Council. Only five official positions exist; the Regent, Chancellor, Grand General, Treasurer, and Domestic Overlord. All other titles are considered honorary or minor and have no final authority on the Council and receive little or no pension.
282 IE - The Imperial Council with the Empresses approval place a heavy taxation on guilds after a number of hostile takeovers of smaller markets.
283 IE - Around two thousand displaced Mokeu of various tribal backgrounds cross over into Yongcun to escape a recent upheaval of violence between the two kingdoms. Despite vocal protests from many, common and noble alike, Empress Hien allows the Mokeu to stay where they find suitable. This marks the first notable immigration of Mokeu into Yongcun in history save for stray exiles from Banhet and Ko’Ang.
284 IE - Xiao Tae becomes second wife to the widowed Seshkyo of Karitu.
285 IE - Maleko the Last, a famous clanless Zauri swordsman from Iqati, travels to Bianwei and offers to serve Empress Xiao Hien. The Empress appoints him as Sword Master and gives him the rank of general in the Imperial Army.
286 IE - Empress Xiao Hien marries the younger son of the Magistrate of Shangjing - Ru Huang Fu - matrilineally.
287 IE - Empress Xiao Hien gives birth to her first son, Xiao Hing.
290 IE - Xiao Tae petitions for a title in Yongcun as a member of the Xiao dynasty. Empress Xiao Hien refuses.
291 IE - Xiao Tae again petitions for a title in Yongcun and is refused.
292 IE - Yogang and Ximan are nearly completely destroyed in a devastating earthquake that shakes southeastern Yongcun killing thousands.
295 IE - Empress Xiao Hien gives birth to her second son, Xiao Zheng.
296 IE - Xiao Tae is discovered to have been plotting to assassinate the Empress and her sons with Nagayori Waegan and Agwu Yuki, Tochihai of the minor Nagayori and Agwu clans of Karitu. Waegan and Yuki are executed and Xiao Tae placed under indefinite house arrest in a guarded estate outside of Bianwei - the Empress unwilling to become kinslayer.
300 IE - Word spreads from outcasts of Banhet of a dreaded red-eyed Mokeu who has forced himself in as king.
301 IE - Rumors circulate of jiangshi haunting the outskirt villages of Ximan. These are waved off as no yaoguai have been seen in over three hundred years. That winter, after a number of women and children have been found drained of their life essence, two jiangshi are killed in a cave near the coast. This causes panic across the land for some time as many believe the yaoguai to be returning.
302 IE - A large number of Mokeu arrive outside of Sucheng bringing more tales of the “red-eyed king of Banhet”. The Magistrate of Sucheng demands that they move on so the Mokeu journey further west and arrive in Bianwei.
303 IE - In the spring a massive army of Mokeu flying black banners arrive at Ru Jao. Instead of laying siege to the city they only destroy it’s outer defenses and then seize the ships and boats in the harbor, setting out to sea. They are later discovered to be moving down the coast toward Shanjing and without doubt then to Bianwei just up the Emerald River. General Maleko musters an army of seven thousand strong and meets the Mokeu in the famous Battle of the Blackened Sands where he would personally duel king of Banhet Xon-Din - revealed to be possessed by a demon. Xon-Din was struck down and his head taken by Maleko, his routed army pursued to the last warrior all the way back to the border of Banhet.
304 IE - Religious zealots in Mianwi and Wo band together and attack the Imperial defenses are various nobility of the two cities. Both attacks are subdued and the surviving insurgents all exiled to the Western Wastes by the hundreds.
305 IE - Xiao Tae is found decapitated in her estate. Despite initial suspicions of Empress Xiao Hien the attacker reveals himself as the youngest son of Agwu Yuki, blaming his fathers’ death and the fall of his clan on Xiao Tae. Before he can be arrested he commits suicide in the square beneath the Ruby Palace.
307 IE - The discovery of silver in the hills just north of Ludi leads to a large rush of settlers and miners.
309 IE - Hunters from Ludi accidentally kill the eldest son of a chieftain of the Huafen Plains. When the chieftain discovers this he demands the hunters be handed over to him by the people of Ludi who refuse. The chieftain declares war and that harvest season his tribe begins to burn down villages and farmholds across the northern territory.
310 IE - The Magistrate of Ludi dispatches his army to meet the plain Folk in battle but they are routed and suffer heavy losses. Wo sends reinforcements a season later and the combined forces this time drive off the attackers. During the winter season the chieftain calls for his allies in his blood feud but they refuse.
311 IE - As the Imperial Army prepares to move north the vengeful chieftain is murdered by his brother who then sues for peace on behalf of their tribe. Peace is made however many vengeful Folk across the north begin to hire mercenary to drive the nomadic Folks further back from the border.
313 IE - Bando Zento and twelve other former Imperial soldiers gather together clanless senshodo, former Imperial army like themselves, and other wanders and form the Free Wardens. They swear fealty to the Empress and the Xiao bloodline and take up the yolk as wandering defenders of the land. The Empress later that year grants them Jencho castle.
315 IE - A particularly harsh famine grips Karitu, worse than any before. The Empress has food reserves sent to help the Honfokun.
320 IE - Farmers and huntsmen claim to have spotted Oni in the hills and ravines around Mianwi. Searches turn up nothing. The last of the sellswords bands hired by the Folk of Ludi depart the Huafen Plains.
321 IE - A number of monasteries and monks in Quizho and Wanhar have begun doomsaying and stirring up sentiment against the Empire. The troublemakers are arrested and some exiled by the authorities of Karitu.
325 IE - An Imperial village north of Mianwi is burned to the ground and all the villagers found skinned and hung from posts and trees. Imperial scouts spot a large horde of Kulnar moving southward.
326 IE - The Kulnar horde reach Mianwi and meet an army of twenty thousand lead by Generla Maleko. The two forces collide in the open fields of Shotan and the battle lasts until dusk. The Imperial Army is exhausted and their ranks soon break as the Kulnar drive them back and into Mianwi, the Kulnar lay siege to Mianwi. One moon later another Imperial force arrives lead by General Fujiwara Goemon. Despite the tenacity and dexterity of General Fujiwara’s forces the Second Battle of Shotan is lost and the generla killed in the retreat.
327 IE - In the last days of winter, still awaiting more reinforcements from the south, Generla Maleko orders a desperate assault on the Kulnar. Knowing his forces may lose he orders that barrels of black powder be used to destroy the city walls so the Kulnar will not have a stronghold to fortify themselves in. Maleko’s forces meet the Kulnar in battle and manage to defeat and scatter them. Losses are great however and General Maleko dies of his wounds from the battle which are many. Empress Xiao Hien holds a seven day memorial for the fallen Zauri Swordmaster immediately after.
328 IE - Empress Xiao Hien disperses large money sums among the commoners of the cities and also distributes surpluses of food to the smaller villages, namely those in the north.
330 IE - The famous thief known as the “Silver Panther” is finally caught and executed in Shanjing after a lifetime of thefts. His hoard of treasure is not found.
337 IE - The small city of Ji west of Karitu is burned nearly to the ground during the particularly hot summers’ fire. Severe fires also break out in Wo.
342 IE - Empress Xiao Hien passed away at age eighty-two, the youngest and oldest ruling of the Xiao dynasty and the only empress in the history of the Eternal Empire. Her eldest son Xiao Hing takes the throne at age fifty-five.
345 IE - Villagers outside of Ximan kill an Oni, bringing its’ corpse to capital for display. The Free Wardens began to scour the frontier in Oni hunts.
346 IE - The Mandate of the Forgotten Oracle, written by the monk leaders of the White Lantern many generations ago, is found in an abandoned monastery outside of Wo. The Magistrate of Wo orders the script burned but it vanishes immediately after.
348 IE - Emperor Xiao Hing passes away at age sixty-one. As his three children were all women, his younger brother Xiao Zheng is next in line - however, as Xiao Zheng is wisened himself he abdicates and so his son Xiao Biju at age twenty-three takes the throne.
350 IE - The Imperial Regent Gongsun Zhou is discovered to be possessed by a shui gui, namely the spirit of Xiao Wai, the younger sister of the late Empress Xiao Hien. Monks from the temple of Qunyi and a shaman from Iqati perform a ritual that dispels the girls’ spirit however this also kills the Regent. The monks and shaman then sanctify the riverside where the Regent was suspected of being seized upon by the shui gui.
354 IE - A pair of Oni attack farmers in Karitu, the famed swordsman Kuroda Shingen defeats both Oni alone and brings their heads to the Seshkyo.
356 IE - Emperor Xiao Biju sends emissaries to the Huafen Plains and opens new trade with several of the smaller northeastern tribes as well as exchanging a large area of land and hunting rights for weapons, armor, and three thousand well-bred Imperial warhorses.
360 IE - Keola, youngest son of General and Sword Master Maleko, hero of Shanjing and Mianwi, pledges himself to the service of Emperor Xiao Biju who in turn appoints him as Sword Master and General like his father.
364 IE - A jiangshi is discovered to be haunting the Ruby Palace every night after several servants and guards are found drained of their life essence. Keola and a pair of Free Wardens lead the investigation and slays the abomination after three nights of searching and waiting.
366 IE - Duelist Tomomori Shogo journeys to every city across Yongcun and defeats all who challenge him. He travels to Bianwei where only Imperial Sword Master Keola is able to hold him in combat, their duel ending in a draw. Shogo turns down an offer of recruitment from the Free Wardens shortly after.
370 IE - A typhoon strikes the coastline, severely damaging Shanjing, Bianwei, Cimanu, Buhar, and Wanhar.
372 IE - Religious fanatics in Cimanu stir up riots over the spring forcing the Seshkyo to instill martial law for an entire season.
375 IE - Pamphlets with excerpts from The Mandate of the Forgotten Oracle begin to appear in small towns and villages across the southern regions of Yongcun. Emperor Xiao Biju orders them all confiscated and any in possession of them interrogated and possibly imprisoned.
380 IE - A vengeful phantom, a Diao si gui, torments the Magistrate of Ru Jao throughout the year. When finally confronted the spirit is revealed to be the younger brother of the magistrate who was thought to have been lost in the wilds. In truth he had been taken from his bed one night and hung by the magistrates men on his order. The Magistrate of Ru Jao commits suicide come the winter when the hauntings do not stop.
382 IE - Emperor Xiao Biju dies at age fifty-seven when a poisonous lizard is discovered to have slipped into his tea one afternoon. The death is stated as an accident. His son Xiao Shanyuan takes the throne at age thirty-two.
384 IE - The Mokeu warlord Ang-Pon leads a confederation of tribes over the eastern border and then north skirting Kulnar lands. They then lay siege to Guangnan while declaring their annexation of the city and the surrounding territory to the Emperor. Zauri general Ankunar leads a modest force from the south in Sucheng and breaks the siege after a short battle outside the walls. He then pursues Ang-Pon’s army south. Come winter the Mokeu build a makeshift fortress south of Namhu.
385 IE - General Ankunar lays siege to the Mokeu fortress however his own ranks are broken in battle after reinforcements from Banhet arrive and push them back. The fresh Mokeu then engage in a series of skirmishes with the Imperial forces while Ang-Pon and his army south to Ru Jao. Using black powder bought from a smuggler Ang-Pon blasts down the gates of Ru Jao and the Mokeu swarm through the city overcoming the Imperial defenses though losing many of their warriors. In exchange for granting them the loot within Ru Jao Ang-Pon enlists a local band of sellswords and brigands while taking the food supplies and armaments for his own ranks. He then sends the mercenary band west towards Yogang while moving north to regroup with his allies, after setting Ru Jao ablaze. As General Ankunar’s forces are broken and sent fleeing back to Sucheng, Ankunar himself dying in battle. The reunited Mokeu erect another crude fortress to hold out for the winter.
386 IE - General Keola leads his first campaign army of ten thousand eastward and lays siege to Ang-Pon’s fort. The siege lasts for several moons as the Imperial forces attempt to starve the warlord into submission. When a courier reveals that Ang-Pon has called for more warriors from Banhet, General Keola launches an assault on the fort. The attack succeeds and the Mokeu forces are decimated though Ang-Pon escapes. To the south the sellswords and brigands break their own siege of Yogang and scatter on hearing that their “employer” has been defeated, though they haul away great amounts of plunder taken from the outlying settlements. General Keola marches south and leaves a defending retinue at both Yogang and the sacked city of Ru Jao. He then marches east for Banhet.
387 IE - Generla Keola’s army arrived at the border with Banhet in the mid winter season to meet a new army lead by Ang-Pon. The two armies make camp on opposite sides of the border and fight three large battles over the next half year. By late summer both have exhausted their ranks, their supplies dangerously low. General Keola calls for support from Sucheng as well as for his men left at Yogang and Ru Jao while Ang-Pon withdraws his remaining forces into the deep jungles of Banhet. The Imperial Army make camp for the winter as support arrives.
388 IE - As spring comes General Keola prepares to march when an offer of peace comes from Ang-Pon. Keola prepares to refuse but his officers all demand he accept as the threat of mutiny is drifting about, the Imperial soldiers unwilling to go marching into the dark, dangerous jungles of Banhet. Keola begrudgingly consents and calls for emissaries from Bianwei who arrive immediately. Ang-Pon surrenders and is removed from power as per the agreement and all slaves and prisoners taken by his warriors are freed. The confederation of tribes that united under Ang-Pon dissolves and choose new leadership. Ang-Pon’s conquest of eastern Yongcun had failed and like his father General Keola was named a hero of the Eternal Empire and he and his men given a large pension for their service.
390 IE - Emperor Xiao Shanyuan dies one evening at age forty after complaining for several days of a lingering head pain. Emperor Xiao Shang takes the throne at age fifteen making him now the youngest emperor and second youngest of all rulers to take the throne. The Black Fang Tong rises to power in Shanjing.
392 IE - The Emerald River floods in the spring and nearly a hundred people perish.
394 IE - Kulnar bands have been skirting the Imperial border to the north and engaging with outposts and forts but there has been no sign of an invading horde.
302 IE - A large number of Mokeu arrive outside of Sucheng bringing more tales of the “red-eyed king of Banhet”. The Magistrate of Sucheng demands that they move on so the Mokeu journey further west and arrive in Bianwei.
303 IE - In the spring a massive army of Mokeu flying black banners arrive at Ru Jao. Instead of laying siege to the city they only destroy it’s outer defenses and then seize the ships and boats in the harbor, setting out to sea. They are later discovered to be moving down the coast toward Shanjing and without doubt then to Bianwei just up the Emerald River. General Maleko musters an army of seven thousand strong and meets the Mokeu in the famous Battle of the Blackened Sands where he would personally duel king of Banhet Xon-Din - revealed to be possessed by a demon. Xon-Din was struck down and his head taken by Maleko, his routed army pursued to the last warrior all the way back to the border of Banhet.
304 IE - Religious zealots in Mianwi and Wo band together and attack the Imperial defenses are various nobility of the two cities. Both attacks are subdued and the surviving insurgents all exiled to the Western Wastes by the hundreds.
305 IE - Xiao Tae is found decapitated in her estate. Despite initial suspicions of Empress Xiao Hien the attacker reveals himself as the youngest son of Agwu Yuki, blaming his fathers’ death and the fall of his clan on Xiao Tae. Before he can be arrested he commits suicide in the square beneath the Ruby Palace.
307 IE - The discovery of silver in the hills just north of Ludi leads to a large rush of settlers and miners.
309 IE - Hunters from Ludi accidentally kill the eldest son of a chieftain of the Huafen Plains. When the chieftain discovers this he demands the hunters be handed over to him by the people of Ludi who refuse. The chieftain declares war and that harvest season his tribe begins to burn down villages and farmholds across the northern territory.
310 IE - The Magistrate of Ludi dispatches his army to meet the plain Folk in battle but they are routed and suffer heavy losses. Wo sends reinforcements a season later and the combined forces this time drive off the attackers. During the winter season the chieftain calls for his allies in his blood feud but they refuse.
311 IE - As the Imperial Army prepares to move north the vengeful chieftain is murdered by his brother who then sues for peace on behalf of their tribe. Peace is made however many vengeful Folk across the north begin to hire mercenary to drive the nomadic Folks further back from the border.
313 IE - Bando Zento and twelve other former Imperial soldiers gather together clanless senshodo, former Imperial army like themselves, and other wanders and form the Free Wardens. They swear fealty to the Empress and the Xiao bloodline and take up the yolk as wandering defenders of the land. The Empress later that year grants them Jencho castle.
315 IE - A particularly harsh famine grips Karitu, worse than any before. The Empress has food reserves sent to help the Honfokun.
320 IE - Farmers and huntsmen claim to have spotted Oni in the hills and ravines around Mianwi. Searches turn up nothing. The last of the sellswords bands hired by the Folk of Ludi depart the Huafen Plains.
321 IE - A number of monasteries and monks in Quizho and Wanhar have begun doomsaying and stirring up sentiment against the Empire. The troublemakers are arrested and some exiled by the authorities of Karitu.
325 IE - An Imperial village north of Mianwi is burned to the ground and all the villagers found skinned and hung from posts and trees. Imperial scouts spot a large horde of Kulnar moving southward.
326 IE - The Kulnar horde reach Mianwi and meet an army of twenty thousand lead by Generla Maleko. The two forces collide in the open fields of Shotan and the battle lasts until dusk. The Imperial Army is exhausted and their ranks soon break as the Kulnar drive them back and into Mianwi, the Kulnar lay siege to Mianwi. One moon later another Imperial force arrives lead by General Fujiwara Goemon. Despite the tenacity and dexterity of General Fujiwara’s forces the Second Battle of Shotan is lost and the generla killed in the retreat.
327 IE - In the last days of winter, still awaiting more reinforcements from the south, Generla Maleko orders a desperate assault on the Kulnar. Knowing his forces may lose he orders that barrels of black powder be used to destroy the city walls so the Kulnar will not have a stronghold to fortify themselves in. Maleko’s forces meet the Kulnar in battle and manage to defeat and scatter them. Losses are great however and General Maleko dies of his wounds from the battle which are many. Empress Xiao Hien holds a seven day memorial for the fallen Zauri Swordmaster immediately after.
328 IE - Empress Xiao Hien disperses large money sums among the commoners of the cities and also distributes surpluses of food to the smaller villages, namely those in the north.
330 IE - The famous thief known as the “Silver Panther” is finally caught and executed in Shanjing after a lifetime of thefts. His hoard of treasure is not found.
337 IE - The small city of Ji west of Karitu is burned nearly to the ground during the particularly hot summers’ fire. Severe fires also break out in Wo.
342 IE - Empress Xiao Hien passed away at age eighty-two, the youngest and oldest ruling of the Xiao dynasty and the only empress in the history of the Eternal Empire. Her eldest son Xiao Hing takes the throne at age fifty-five.
345 IE - Villagers outside of Ximan kill an Oni, bringing its’ corpse to capital for display. The Free Wardens began to scour the frontier in Oni hunts.
346 IE - The Mandate of the Forgotten Oracle, written by the monk leaders of the White Lantern many generations ago, is found in an abandoned monastery outside of Wo. The Magistrate of Wo orders the script burned but it vanishes immediately after.
348 IE - Emperor Xiao Hing passes away at age sixty-one. As his three children were all women, his younger brother Xiao Zheng is next in line - however, as Xiao Zheng is wisened himself he abdicates and so his son Xiao Biju at age twenty-three takes the throne.
350 IE - The Imperial Regent Gongsun Zhou is discovered to be possessed by a shui gui, namely the spirit of Xiao Wai, the younger sister of the late Empress Xiao Hien. Monks from the temple of Qunyi and a shaman from Iqati perform a ritual that dispels the girls’ spirit however this also kills the Regent. The monks and shaman then sanctify the riverside where the Regent was suspected of being seized upon by the shui gui.
354 IE - A pair of Oni attack farmers in Karitu, the famed swordsman Kuroda Shingen defeats both Oni alone and brings their heads to the Seshkyo.
356 IE - Emperor Xiao Biju sends emissaries to the Huafen Plains and opens new trade with several of the smaller northeastern tribes as well as exchanging a large area of land and hunting rights for weapons, armor, and three thousand well-bred Imperial warhorses.
360 IE - Keola, youngest son of General and Sword Master Maleko, hero of Shanjing and Mianwi, pledges himself to the service of Emperor Xiao Biju who in turn appoints him as Sword Master and General like his father.
364 IE - A jiangshi is discovered to be haunting the Ruby Palace every night after several servants and guards are found drained of their life essence. Keola and a pair of Free Wardens lead the investigation and slays the abomination after three nights of searching and waiting.
366 IE - Duelist Tomomori Shogo journeys to every city across Yongcun and defeats all who challenge him. He travels to Bianwei where only Imperial Sword Master Keola is able to hold him in combat, their duel ending in a draw. Shogo turns down an offer of recruitment from the Free Wardens shortly after.
370 IE - A typhoon strikes the coastline, severely damaging Shanjing, Bianwei, Cimanu, Buhar, and Wanhar.
372 IE - Religious fanatics in Cimanu stir up riots over the spring forcing the Seshkyo to instill martial law for an entire season.
375 IE - Pamphlets with excerpts from The Mandate of the Forgotten Oracle begin to appear in small towns and villages across the southern regions of Yongcun. Emperor Xiao Biju orders them all confiscated and any in possession of them interrogated and possibly imprisoned.
380 IE - A vengeful phantom, a Diao si gui, torments the Magistrate of Ru Jao throughout the year. When finally confronted the spirit is revealed to be the younger brother of the magistrate who was thought to have been lost in the wilds. In truth he had been taken from his bed one night and hung by the magistrates men on his order. The Magistrate of Ru Jao commits suicide come the winter when the hauntings do not stop.
382 IE - Emperor Xiao Biju dies at age fifty-seven when a poisonous lizard is discovered to have slipped into his tea one afternoon. The death is stated as an accident. His son Xiao Shanyuan takes the throne at age thirty-two.
384 IE - The Mokeu warlord Ang-Pon leads a confederation of tribes over the eastern border and then north skirting Kulnar lands. They then lay siege to Guangnan while declaring their annexation of the city and the surrounding territory to the Emperor. Zauri general Ankunar leads a modest force from the south in Sucheng and breaks the siege after a short battle outside the walls. He then pursues Ang-Pon’s army south. Come winter the Mokeu build a makeshift fortress south of Namhu.
385 IE - General Ankunar lays siege to the Mokeu fortress however his own ranks are broken in battle after reinforcements from Banhet arrive and push them back. The fresh Mokeu then engage in a series of skirmishes with the Imperial forces while Ang-Pon and his army south to Ru Jao. Using black powder bought from a smuggler Ang-Pon blasts down the gates of Ru Jao and the Mokeu swarm through the city overcoming the Imperial defenses though losing many of their warriors. In exchange for granting them the loot within Ru Jao Ang-Pon enlists a local band of sellswords and brigands while taking the food supplies and armaments for his own ranks. He then sends the mercenary band west towards Yogang while moving north to regroup with his allies, after setting Ru Jao ablaze. As General Ankunar’s forces are broken and sent fleeing back to Sucheng, Ankunar himself dying in battle. The reunited Mokeu erect another crude fortress to hold out for the winter.
386 IE - General Keola leads his first campaign army of ten thousand eastward and lays siege to Ang-Pon’s fort. The siege lasts for several moons as the Imperial forces attempt to starve the warlord into submission. When a courier reveals that Ang-Pon has called for more warriors from Banhet, General Keola launches an assault on the fort. The attack succeeds and the Mokeu forces are decimated though Ang-Pon escapes. To the south the sellswords and brigands break their own siege of Yogang and scatter on hearing that their “employer” has been defeated, though they haul away great amounts of plunder taken from the outlying settlements. General Keola marches south and leaves a defending retinue at both Yogang and the sacked city of Ru Jao. He then marches east for Banhet.
387 IE - Generla Keola’s army arrived at the border with Banhet in the mid winter season to meet a new army lead by Ang-Pon. The two armies make camp on opposite sides of the border and fight three large battles over the next half year. By late summer both have exhausted their ranks, their supplies dangerously low. General Keola calls for support from Sucheng as well as for his men left at Yogang and Ru Jao while Ang-Pon withdraws his remaining forces into the deep jungles of Banhet. The Imperial Army make camp for the winter as support arrives.
388 IE - As spring comes General Keola prepares to march when an offer of peace comes from Ang-Pon. Keola prepares to refuse but his officers all demand he accept as the threat of mutiny is drifting about, the Imperial soldiers unwilling to go marching into the dark, dangerous jungles of Banhet. Keola begrudgingly consents and calls for emissaries from Bianwei who arrive immediately. Ang-Pon surrenders and is removed from power as per the agreement and all slaves and prisoners taken by his warriors are freed. The confederation of tribes that united under Ang-Pon dissolves and choose new leadership. Ang-Pon’s conquest of eastern Yongcun had failed and like his father General Keola was named a hero of the Eternal Empire and he and his men given a large pension for their service.
390 IE - Emperor Xiao Shanyuan dies one evening at age forty after complaining for several days of a lingering head pain. Emperor Xiao Shang takes the throne at age fifteen making him now the youngest emperor and second youngest of all rulers to take the throne. The Black Fang Tong rises to power in Shanjing.
392 IE - The Emerald River floods in the spring and nearly a hundred people perish.
394 IE - Kulnar bands have been skirting the Imperial border to the north and engaging with outposts and forts but there has been no sign of an invading horde.
Xiao Dynasty Rulers
1. Emperor Xiao Hui
• Known as: The First Emperor, The Savior of Folk, Destroyer of Demons
• Known for: His humble beginnings and rising to defeat the yaoguai horde and then founding the Eternal Empire. Granting land a sanctuary to the Honfokun people. Also the only mortal ever to cross over into Aniyat, the heavens. Builder of the Chromatic Pillars and creator of the veil between the planes of mortal and immortal.
• Ruled from: 1 IE - 50 IE (Death)
• Died at: 78
• Children: 1 Son
2. Emperor Xiao Fulin
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Being the son of Xiao Hui. Expanding the Eternal Empire northward into the plains and first treating with the Huafen Plains tribes.
• Ruled from: 51 IE - 76 IE (Death)
• Died at: 61
• Children: 1 Son
3. Emperor Xiao Jun
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Being the grandson of Xiao Hui. His own expansions north deeper into the plains and the construction of more settlements.
• Ruled from: 76 IE - 101 IE (Death)
• Died at: 57
• Children: 1 Son, 2 Daughters
4: Emperor Xiao Jingguo
• Known as: NA
• Known for: The only Emperor ever to face/survive multiple assassination attempts. Presiding over the first war with the Mokeu and the discovery and following four day clash with the Kulnar. Meeting with the Zauri after their discovery in 120 IE.
• Ruled from: 76 IE - 125 IE (Death)
• Died at: 60
• Children: 1 Son
5. Emperor Xiao Jie
• Known as: NA
• Known for: His purge of the White Lantern sanctuary near Wo and apparent destruction of the fanatics cult. New trade deals and bettered relations with certain Huafen Plains tribes.
• Ruled from: 125 IE - 130 IE (Death)
• Died at: 43
• Children: 2 Sons
6. Emperor Xiao Jinhai
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Being the third youngest ruling emperor.
• Ruled from: 130 IE - 134 IE (Death)
• Died at: 22
• Children: 0
7. Emperor Xiao Yongrui
• Known as: The Yellow Moon Emperor, The Fat Fool (Later years.)
• Known For: Being the fourth youngest Emperor. His slothfulness, large girthy body, and foul temper. The corruption that plagued his council and the division across the Empire due to his poor rule.
• Ruled from: 134 IE - 166 IE (Death)
• Died at: 52
• Children: 1 Son
8. Emperor Xiao Dong
• Known as: NA
• Known for: His presiding over the war with the Black Arrow confederation in the Huafen Plains. His vast harem of women, namely his preference for Honfukun concubines.
• Ruled from: 166 IE - 210 IE (Death)
• Died at: 73
• Children: 4 Sons
9. Emperor Xiao Heng
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Presiding over the second war with the Mokeu peoples and the first invasion of the Kulnar and his vast military reforms with the aid of his council and generals.
• Ruled from: 210 IE - 240 IE (Death)
• Died at: 67
• Children: 2
10. Emperor Xiao Li
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Giving patronage to Matsuyori Kiro, the inventor of explosive black powder.
• Ruled from: 240 IE - 245 IE (Death)
• Died at: 47
• Children: 0
11. Emperor Xiao Manquian
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Presiding over the war with the Mokeu warlord Qan-Lung.
• Ruled from: 245 IE - 256 IE (Disappearance/Assumed Dead)
• Died/Disappeared: 50
• Children: 1 Son
12. Emperor Xiao Yue
• Known as: The Heathen Emperor (Later years.)
• Known for: His hedonistic nature; drunkenness and womanizing. His infamous beating unconscious of his wife in the throne room after she continued to fail to give him a son.
• Ruled from: 256 IE - 274 IE (Death)
• Died at: 45
• Children: 4 Daughters (Two died.)
13. Empress Xiao Hien
• Known as: The One Empress, The First Empress
• Known for: Being the first and only Empress of the Eternal Empire. Being the youngest of all rulers, coming to the throne at age fourteen. Ruling the longest of any in the Xiao dynasty. Allowance of women to enlist in the Imperial Army. Heavy taxation of guilds. Presiding over the wars with the Demon King Xon-Din and the second Kulnar invasion. Appointing the first Zauri General and Sword Master - Maleko.
• Ruled from: 274 IE - 342 IE (Death)
• Died at: 82
• Children: 2 Sons
14. Emperor Xiao Heng
• Known as: NA
• Known for: The first yaoguai in hundreds of years is killed during his reign.
• Ruled from: 342 IE - 348 IE (Death)
• Died at: 62
• Children: 3 Daughters
15. Emperor Xiao Biju
• Known as: NA
• Known for: The rise in yaoguai rumors and sightings during his reign. His peace talks with the Huafen Plains tribes and his acquisition of more northern lands. The second emperor to die from an accident. (Poison lizard falling into his tea.)
• Ruled from: 348 IE - 382 IE (Death)
• Died at: 57
• Children: 1 Son
16. Emperor Xiao Shanyuan
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Presiding over the war with Mokeu warlord Ang-Pon.
• Ruled from: 382 IE - 390 IE
• Died at: 40
• Children: 1 Son
17. Emperor Xiao Shang
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Being the youngest emperor and second youngest ruler of the Eternal Empire after Empress Xiao Hien.
• Ruled from: 390 IE -
• Died at: NA
• Children: 0
• Known as: The First Emperor, The Savior of Folk, Destroyer of Demons
• Known for: His humble beginnings and rising to defeat the yaoguai horde and then founding the Eternal Empire. Granting land a sanctuary to the Honfokun people. Also the only mortal ever to cross over into Aniyat, the heavens. Builder of the Chromatic Pillars and creator of the veil between the planes of mortal and immortal.
• Ruled from: 1 IE - 50 IE (Death)
• Died at: 78
• Children: 1 Son
2. Emperor Xiao Fulin
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Being the son of Xiao Hui. Expanding the Eternal Empire northward into the plains and first treating with the Huafen Plains tribes.
• Ruled from: 51 IE - 76 IE (Death)
• Died at: 61
• Children: 1 Son
3. Emperor Xiao Jun
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Being the grandson of Xiao Hui. His own expansions north deeper into the plains and the construction of more settlements.
• Ruled from: 76 IE - 101 IE (Death)
• Died at: 57
• Children: 1 Son, 2 Daughters
4: Emperor Xiao Jingguo
• Known as: NA
• Known for: The only Emperor ever to face/survive multiple assassination attempts. Presiding over the first war with the Mokeu and the discovery and following four day clash with the Kulnar. Meeting with the Zauri after their discovery in 120 IE.
• Ruled from: 76 IE - 125 IE (Death)
• Died at: 60
• Children: 1 Son
5. Emperor Xiao Jie
• Known as: NA
• Known for: His purge of the White Lantern sanctuary near Wo and apparent destruction of the fanatics cult. New trade deals and bettered relations with certain Huafen Plains tribes.
• Ruled from: 125 IE - 130 IE (Death)
• Died at: 43
• Children: 2 Sons
6. Emperor Xiao Jinhai
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Being the third youngest ruling emperor.
• Ruled from: 130 IE - 134 IE (Death)
• Died at: 22
• Children: 0
7. Emperor Xiao Yongrui
• Known as: The Yellow Moon Emperor, The Fat Fool (Later years.)
• Known For: Being the fourth youngest Emperor. His slothfulness, large girthy body, and foul temper. The corruption that plagued his council and the division across the Empire due to his poor rule.
• Ruled from: 134 IE - 166 IE (Death)
• Died at: 52
• Children: 1 Son
8. Emperor Xiao Dong
• Known as: NA
• Known for: His presiding over the war with the Black Arrow confederation in the Huafen Plains. His vast harem of women, namely his preference for Honfukun concubines.
• Ruled from: 166 IE - 210 IE (Death)
• Died at: 73
• Children: 4 Sons
9. Emperor Xiao Heng
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Presiding over the second war with the Mokeu peoples and the first invasion of the Kulnar and his vast military reforms with the aid of his council and generals.
• Ruled from: 210 IE - 240 IE (Death)
• Died at: 67
• Children: 2
10. Emperor Xiao Li
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Giving patronage to Matsuyori Kiro, the inventor of explosive black powder.
• Ruled from: 240 IE - 245 IE (Death)
• Died at: 47
• Children: 0
11. Emperor Xiao Manquian
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Presiding over the war with the Mokeu warlord Qan-Lung.
• Ruled from: 245 IE - 256 IE (Disappearance/Assumed Dead)
• Died/Disappeared: 50
• Children: 1 Son
12. Emperor Xiao Yue
• Known as: The Heathen Emperor (Later years.)
• Known for: His hedonistic nature; drunkenness and womanizing. His infamous beating unconscious of his wife in the throne room after she continued to fail to give him a son.
• Ruled from: 256 IE - 274 IE (Death)
• Died at: 45
• Children: 4 Daughters (Two died.)
13. Empress Xiao Hien
• Known as: The One Empress, The First Empress
• Known for: Being the first and only Empress of the Eternal Empire. Being the youngest of all rulers, coming to the throne at age fourteen. Ruling the longest of any in the Xiao dynasty. Allowance of women to enlist in the Imperial Army. Heavy taxation of guilds. Presiding over the wars with the Demon King Xon-Din and the second Kulnar invasion. Appointing the first Zauri General and Sword Master - Maleko.
• Ruled from: 274 IE - 342 IE (Death)
• Died at: 82
• Children: 2 Sons
14. Emperor Xiao Heng
• Known as: NA
• Known for: The first yaoguai in hundreds of years is killed during his reign.
• Ruled from: 342 IE - 348 IE (Death)
• Died at: 62
• Children: 3 Daughters
15. Emperor Xiao Biju
• Known as: NA
• Known for: The rise in yaoguai rumors and sightings during his reign. His peace talks with the Huafen Plains tribes and his acquisition of more northern lands. The second emperor to die from an accident. (Poison lizard falling into his tea.)
• Ruled from: 348 IE - 382 IE (Death)
• Died at: 57
• Children: 1 Son
16. Emperor Xiao Shanyuan
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Presiding over the war with Mokeu warlord Ang-Pon.
• Ruled from: 382 IE - 390 IE
• Died at: 40
• Children: 1 Son
17. Emperor Xiao Shang
• Known as: NA
• Known for: Being the youngest emperor and second youngest ruler of the Eternal Empire after Empress Xiao Hien.
• Ruled from: 390 IE -
• Died at: NA
• Children: 0
Bonuses
+14 Might
Immune to all mind, soul, and will based magics.
Descriptions
Bashe is the Old Folk name for a massive snake demon with a keen wit and will, wiser than any mortal sage - and as cold of heart as a winter snow. Unlike many of the mindless yaoguai demons Bashe is capable of speaking and according to legend reading the minds of those before her. Amid the yaoguai invasion of the mortal realm Bashe and her sixteen serpentine children destroyed the valley temples to the gods and consumed entire villages, swallowing the Folk people whole. When the hero Hui confronted the snake demon he presented her with the heads of all her children whom he had slain while leading his brave army across the land. Enraged Bashe attacked but was grievously wounded in her battle with Hui who spilled much blood from the snake. Bashe escaped her destruction and when the yaoguai horde was broken and the ancient portals sealed Bashe remained in the mortal realm, hidden away some say for the day she may return and consume the world in vengeance. Despite tall tales of sightings of the snake demon over the hundreds of years never as she been seen again. Many Folk commoners refer to Bashe as the “mother of all snakes” and believe that any and all common snakes one may find are her new generation of children and must be killed lest they all grow to great sizes and overcome the world.
Bonuses
+4 Dexterity, +2 Perception
Description
Jiangshi are terrible fiends of the night who sustain their immortality by draining the life essence of those who fall into their clutches, leaving only a withered husky of a body behind. Jiangshi were not among the invading yaoguai of old but were brought into existence when the foul essences of the invading demons plagued the tombs and cemeteries of Folk and brought the dead back to life, their only pursuit to linger in the mortal world by leeching from the living. Jiangshi are nimble monstrosities and often clever despite their decaying forms and minds. They sneak about the edges of towns and cities to avoid being scene and often dwell in wells, abandoned buildings, and in the hulls of anchored ships. At night they take to hunting for prey, usually seeking younger people - even children - to feed on. They cannot speak, making only a rattling strangled noise from their worm-eaten throats.
Bonuses
+6 Might
Description
Towering and fearsome Oni are dreaded gigantic demons whose origins are unknown. During the great invasion of the yaoguai hundreds of years ago the oni were the most numerous of the demon horde, their size and bloodthirsty nature making them ideal frontal vanguard. Oni are vile in nature and consume the flesh of all they kill and keep any loot from their victims as “trophies”. They are about the same size as Kulnar but more savage and mindless in action and show no kind of greater intelligence.
Bonuses
+4 Perception, +2 Intellect
Immune to physical attacks.
Description
Shui gui are the lingering spirits of those who perished by drowning. They lurk along the shallows of shorelines near where their body came to rest under the water and attempt to lure unsuspecting victims in so that they possess their bodies. Some Shui gui merely replace or overtake the conscious mind of those they seize upon and can possibly be exorcised and the person freed. More powerful shui gui however can totally swap places with those they attack, draining the life essence from their victim and restoring their own mortality while their victim dies or worse becomes a shui gui themself and takes the formers’ place. Shui gui are not demons themselves but merely restless ghosts. Due to their wraithlike nature they cannot be attacked by weapons or even some magics, only dispelled or driven from where they are anchored to their long dead body.
Bonuses
+12 Perception, +10 Might
Description
Xiangliu are towering abominations that resemble a nine-headed water elemental dragon. During the yaoguai invasion of the mortal world xiangliu plagued the rivers and coasts, destroying boats and attacking waterside villages. When the yaoguai horde was broken the xiangliu fled to the deeper waters off from the coasts of Yongcun and Karitu. Few of these creatures were killed during the purging of the yaoguai invaders because of their dwelling in deep water and fewer still escaped back through the ancient portals before they were sealed. In time the xiangliu would be come to known more as great predators of the seas and less and less as demons. Xiangliu do not breathe fire like a dragon but rather rely on their massive size and strong necks to turn over ships and devour the crew when they fall into the water.
Aniyat, also called the “immortal heavens” and “the spirit world”, is a realm of thousands of otherworldly entities and the place of origin of the Ten Divines. Aniyat is a realm of immortality and power beyond mortal comprehension. Dimensions of all manner are constantly shaped and destroyed while others have existed since the first breath of infinity. It is a plane of balance and entropy at the same time where all can be misunderstood but easily interpreted.
What little is truly known of the immortal heavens are what the Ten Divines taught their mortal subjects. Aniyat was first shaped by those who came before the immortals whom now dwell there. Whom “those before” actually were has been long lost to even the immortals’ memories, all that is certain is that they are gone and their creation has been left to those who have come after.
No immortal is truly alike and yet they are all alike by nature, their immortality making them abrasive, aggressive, and rash. While not outright evil many immortals are cold and uncaring in nature as their infinite existence has made them cynical and arbitrary.
The more powerful immortals are capable of shaping and maintaining their own lesser realms and planes within Aniyat crafted to their own desires, will, and tastes. Many immortals will often covet the creations of others, particularly those without the power to mold their own. This often leads to fierce contests and feuds between immortals over ownership of a realm and all within. Many immortals will at times grow bored with what they have created and depart to start anew leaving what was theirs to crumble away or be seized by another of their kind.
The many immortals are constantly in a gambit against one another, most wanting nothing more than to be the most powerful in Aniyat, seeing their creations and vision presiding over all others and setting their own mandate for the plane of infinity. While rarely any sort of “war” breaks out between any of these entities they are no stranger to manipulation, trickery, and subterfuge to bamboozle their rivals.
Only one mortal has ever set foot in Aniyat and returned, the young hero named Hui who would go on to save the world from the yaoguai and found the Eternal Empire. During the Divine Era many mortals would enter Aniyat, none ever to be seen again. Amidst all the speculations and queries the god Qunyi is said to have told his oracles many times “It is not a place for your kind.”
Despite this many have aspired over the generations to enter Aniyat themselves but are unable as the power to do so is limited to monks and oracles who jealously guard this privilege.
The Ten Divines were a group of powerful immortals who came down from the heavens and seized lordship of the mortal realm which was, by their accounts to their mortal subjects, “empty” with no account of any master. “Like an empty strip of silk without ink or a painter.” an oracle once said.
The Ten divided the material land among themselves and each set about creating their own people and molding the land like clay in their palms. Each of the gods used their own unique methods to create, Duazhi using cuts of his own flesh and tufts of his hair to create the Mokeu while Qunyi and Kizunatsu used materials from the Aniyat to create Folk and Honfokun.
Of course not all of the Ten Divines would create their own people, such as Aozhim who instead merely erected his own palace high in the mountains over what would be called the Huafen plains which he guarded for himself.
The Ten Divines are;
Qunyi: Creator and guardian of Folk.
Duazhi: Creator and guardian of the Mokeu.
Kizunatsu: Creator and guardian of the Honfokun.
Aozhim: Lord and guardian of the northern plains.
Anai: Guardian of the seas and ocean and brother of Qunyi.
Zuina: Guardian of the underearth and matron of volcanoes.
Daemeonju: Guardian of the forests and creator of wildlife, sister of Aozhim.
Shonuqar: Harvester of lost souls and punisher.
Hanaga and Hanaba: Twin guardians of the far north and south, Hanaga suspected to be the creator of the Kulnar.
The Ten divided the material land among themselves and each set about creating their own people and molding the land like clay in their palms. Each of the gods used their own unique methods to create, Duazhi using cuts of his own flesh and tufts of his hair to create the Mokeu while Qunyi and Kizunatsu used materials from the Aniyat to create Folk and Honfokun.
Of course not all of the Ten Divines would create their own people, such as Aozhim who instead merely erected his own palace high in the mountains over what would be called the Huafen plains which he guarded for himself.
The Ten Divines are;
Qunyi: Creator and guardian of Folk.
Duazhi: Creator and guardian of the Mokeu.
Kizunatsu: Creator and guardian of the Honfokun.
Aozhim: Lord and guardian of the northern plains.
Anai: Guardian of the seas and ocean and brother of Qunyi.
Zuina: Guardian of the underearth and matron of volcanoes.
Daemeonju: Guardian of the forests and creator of wildlife, sister of Aozhim.
Shonuqar: Harvester of lost souls and punisher.
Hanaga and Hanaba: Twin guardians of the far north and south, Hanaga suspected to be the creator of the Kulnar.
Notes and Facts
• All followings believe in reincarnation/a cycle of life based upon virtue and merit with notable variations.
• Magic is rare in the world after the departing of the gods. The reason for this being that magic was bestowed by the gods or directly drawn from the heavens themselves. Only monk sects retain any sort of power which they draw upon from the holy sites of old. Various enchanted weapons, items, and relics can be found in the world. These are extremely rare and high-priced.
• Magic is rare in the world after the departing of the gods. The reason for this being that magic was bestowed by the gods or directly drawn from the heavens themselves. Only monk sects retain any sort of power which they draw upon from the holy sites of old. Various enchanted weapons, items, and relics can be found in the world. These are extremely rare and high-priced.
An Imperial map of Yongcun and the surrounding territories.
Yongcun is the homeland of Folk and the center of the Eternal Empire, a massive region of rolling hills, deep valleys, open plains, and dense forests. The soils are fertile and make for good farming and the countryside is teeming with wildlife for game. The mighty Emerald River runs down the center of the land and spills out into the sea. Upon the river sits the marvelous capital city of Bianwei, the beating heart of the Eternal Empire and and where Xiao Hui The First Emperor founded the Empire after defeating the yaoguai horde and sealing the portals between the worlds of mortals and immortals.
Yongcun reaches far in all directions and is the largest single state known. The Folk of the land are spread far and aplenty from the other great cities to the small farming villages and open ranges. Life is not without challenges and struggle of course and the people have always done their best under the watchful eyes of the emperors, knowing where their loyalties lie. The people of Yongcun be they Folk, Honfokun, Zauri, or even Mokeu are resilient and adaptive. The weary traveler plods along the roads as the devotee farmer weathers the spring rains and summer heat. The true people of the Empire proud of their land and roots.
A map of central and southern Yongcun.
The region that would become Karitu was first granted to the Honfokun by Emperor Xiao Hui in the year 5 IE several weeks after their arrival from across the ocean. After much petition and offers of peace from the Honfo people the Emperor gave them this land in return for their fealty. The ground was rich, the coast abundant with fish, and the region as a whole was safe and suiting for settlement. The Honfokun built the majestic city of Cimanu along the bank of the Sunrise River and for four hundred years it has stood as a monolith.
Karitu is a small realm hosting only the capital and a number of outlying hamlets along the mountains and through the valleys. Despite this it is a prosperous state and attracts travelers, merchants, and nobility from far and wide. Those who do not come for the sights and marvels of Cimanu or the lovely countryside come to indulge in what the Honfo people have to offer from their food to their arts and entertainment.
Karitu is no stranger to hardship of course. Cimanu has been sacked before and the people put to the sword. And yet the ingenuity and vigor of the Honfokun have twice seen it return to its’ former glory. Famine and drought come but the shrewd leaders of Karitu always know how to prepare hence maintaining the loyalty of their people.
Banhet and Ko’Ang - the two kingdoms of the Mokeu - overgrown, dense, and dangerous. This entire region is made up of bamboo forests, jungles, and marshes. The only telltale signs of any civilization are the widespread rope bridges that thread their way through the tree lines and over the deep bogs, placed here by the Mokeu. These bridges are mostly used as simple pathways from one area to another but many also lead to the hidden sanctums of the Mokeu chieftains and kings, fortresses of stone and wood where the rulers of the Mokeu reside.
Crocodiles, poisonous serpents, tigers, bears, and other such predators inhabit these realms. As if acting like a natural defense along with the pits of quicksand and the great chasms between the cliffs. These two wild kingdoms are no place for the weak or the feint of heart.
The Huafen Plains are inhabited by a number of loose tribal confederations, Folk whose ancestors fled north after the departure of the gods and the coming of the yaoguai. For many, many generations these tribes have lived by horseback off the land, moving in flight with the wild herds across the plains and through the valleys. They also forage the plants of the wilds and at times during long stays in a single range will plant crops.
The winters are hard and the seemingly endless riding harder but these are their lands and the Folk of the plains will cling to what is theirs. They value their freedom and have quarreled with the Eternal Empire many times over the generations. They war with the Kulnar by the season and their horseback archery gives them the advantage over the slower moving and unmounted giants.
The Huafen Plains are a symbol of independence and the untamable wilderness. Not a place to be conquered but to be part of.
A desolate wasteland that once was teeming with life and grandeur. It was here that the yaoguai first descended upon the realm of Folk and brought all of their first fury. The damage that was done was so severe that the earth never healed and the entire region was reduced to sand and ash. Ancient ruins are spread through this forsaken land but little worth the trouble of exploring as very little survived the onslaught of the dark ones. Over the years the fortunate traveler or scholar will find a trinket here that is worth a large sum but this is very rare. There is little life here beyond grubs and beetles and even the bravest shy away from the wastes as survival is near impossible between the vicious sand storms and the lack of food and water.
Beyond the green, lush fields of northern Yongcun is a cold, unforgiving frozen realm. Inhospitable to all others it is here that the Kulnar make their home. They hunt wild game and forage for what other food they can when not warring among themselves or intruding upon the lands of their neighbors. None dare go to the Kulnar lands for few ever return, if the giants do not kill them the cold will. The only signs of civilization are the hunting snares of the Kulnar which any wary traveler will avoid and the strange carvings and great totems said to be found throughout the snowy wastes.
Average Lifespan
Roughly sixty to a hundred years.
Skin Colors
Pale, olive, and light brown.
Hair Colors
Black and dark brown.
Eye Colors
Brown, hazel, green, blue, and amber.
Average Height
Males : 5’8” - 6’0” (172.72 cm - 182.88 cm)
Females : 5’2” - 5’9” (157.48 cm - 175.26 cm)
Racial Bonuses
+1 Might, + 1 Dexterity, +1 Perception, +1 Wisdom
History
Folk were first created by the god Qunyi when the Ten Divines took lordship of the mortal realm. For an untold amount of time Folk were ruled over by their creator god, as were all mortal races of the world, until the coming of the yaoguai. After Xiao Hui defeated the yaoguai at the end of the Divine Era Folk have taken up the mantle for themselves, their largest known civilization the Eternal Empire of Yongcun. Outside of the Empire there are the tribes of the northern plains and then small enclaves of Folk in Karitu and farther south in the islands.
In the four hundred years since the departing of the gods Folk have spread far across the lands, often encroaching upon the territories of their neighbors. While much of the Eternal Empire is built upon the original lands of the Folk most of the northernmost plains were seized amid wars with the Folkish tribes of the Huafen Plains. The Empires’ constant push north also would bring them to face with the Kulnar, the great giants of the snowy mountains. For the past three hundred years the Kulnar have been sworn enemies of Folk, invading both Yongcun and the Huafen Plains several times.
Even amid their expansiveness Folk have maintained relations with the other peoples, though their relations with the Mokeu particularly have been somewhat tumultuous over the generations - shifting between uneasy treaties and outright war.
It is without doubt that Folk have been very successful since the end of the Divine Era though comparisons between that era and the Imperial Era of mortal rule are complex, inconsistent, and can often turn to heated debates. Most consider Folk to be the dominant race of the known world though despite their vast numbers and widespread culture many would dispute this, some of these points of dispute even holding credence.
In the end it can be agreed on that Folk, both of and outside the Empire, have proven a hardy and capable people with a natural pension for adaption, innovation, and development and capable Folk of all vocations can be found; warriors, inventors, traders, hunters, and so on.
Society and Culture
Even within the borders of the Eternal Empire Folkish culture is filled with uniquenesses - each village, temple, and city even having their own traditions and common practices. These can range from festivals to pilgrimages to marital rites.
For example in many villages the people sprinkle holy oils and blessed water around their doors and windows to keep any wicked spirits from entering their homes, a practice unseen in the cities. In Wanhar and Quizho, which border Karitu, the Folk have adapted many Honfokun customs into their daily lives such as remaining barefoot indoors, fasting for an entire moon after large celebrations, and not eating meat and fish during the spring and summer months. In Bianwei and Toknam it is considered good luck to throw coins and other shimmering trinkets into the Emerald River as an homage to the “life vein of the land”. In the city of Zhongme the somewhat vexed Trailing of Torn Skirts takes place every spring. a particular favorite of males in Zhongme. Gender rule is also different in comparison of the cities and smaller settlements and communities of the Empire, women having more say and right in the former.
Although different local traditions and habits can be found all across Yongcun the official Imperial traditions are shared by all the people. Yearly festivals such as Dawn Light and Wan Yue are looked forward to across the realm. Language is shared in the form of both Old Folk and New Folk, nearly all names and titles coming from the first language given to Folk by the gods.
Among the Folk abroad, including the Huafen Plain tribes, cultural practices and everyday life are more collective as these Folkish groupings tend to either be small in size or share insular ways of life.
Religion
After the departure of the creator Qunyi religion over the centuries became less and less influencing among Folk. Only the Huafen Plain tribes and faraway enclaves retain their piety on the whole. Within the Eternal Empire most cities have cast aside their spirituality seeing religion as more of a unifying element for their people than a doctrine or way of life to be followed. Most who visit the temples go seeking wisdom from the monks or to beg for food and a place to rest. What Folk in Yongcun that would say themselves to be devout are to be found among common peasants though some more traditional nobility still give homage to Qunyi.
Those who do still look to the heavens do their best to follow the teachings of Qunyi and show proper respects. They attend mass prayers, present offerings at holy places, and live to their best by the eight virtues stated by the creator. - Loyalty, piety, kindness, love, honesty, justice, harmony, and peace.
Far to the south in Iqati the Folk of the islands have taken to the ways of the Zauri, giving themselves to the worship of the great dragon Runiq whom they favor as a more present divine over the absent Qunyi. To the north the Folk of the Huafen Plains worship Aozhim, the horned guardian who once watched over the grasslands and ensured they stay bountiful for the herds.
Regardless of how waning faith is among many Folk it cannot be denied that it played a huge part in their society. Most cultural practices have some deep root in the old ways and the legal systems of the Empire are all founded on moral codes derived from the eight virtues.
Notes and Facts
• Folkish culture and society is roughly derived from various ancient Chinese dynasties/eras.
• Old Folk (Mandarin/Pinyin) and New Folk (English) are the Folkish languages and by extension New Folk is the official language of the Eternal Empire and its's vassals.
• Old Folk (Mandarin/Pinyin) and New Folk (English) are the Folkish languages and by extension New Folk is the official language of the Eternal Empire and its's vassals.
Average Lifespan
Roughly sixty to a hundred years.
Skin Colors
White, red, blue, purple, green, yellow, olive, light brown, and dark brown.
Hair Colors
Black, dark brown, light brown, red, and white.
Eye Colors
Brown, hazel, green, blue, amber, red, white, and gray.
Average Height
Males : 5’8” - 6’0” (172.72 cm - 182.88 cm)
Females : 5’2” - 5’9” (157.48 cm - 175.26 cm)
Racial Bonuses
+1 Dexterity, +2 Perception, +2 Wisdom, +1 Constitution
History
Much has been lost of the origins of the Honfokun (also “Honfo”). They first arrived on the shores of Yongcun in the year 5 IE after their homeland was destroyed during the arrival of the yaoguai - confirming that the disaster had affected faraway lands as well. After the destruction of their entire civilization the horned people took to the ocean to find a new home spending many moons in a directionless search. Starvation, sickness, and storms accosted them the entire voyage and by the time they arrived in the lands of Folk they numbered less than four thousand - their entire race nearly annihilated.
The Folk were suspicious at first believing the Honfo to be some form of yaoguai. The Honfo made continuous pleading appeals until Emperor Xiao Hui agreed to grant them a small piece of territory of their own under the condition they surrender all of their weapons and half of their remaining ships. Wary but desperate the Honfo complied. They named their new land Karitu and built the great city of Cimanu, a polished gem and testament to their peoples’ prowess.
Over the generations the Honfo would increase in number and in time the Folk grew warm to their presence, admiring them for their craftsmanship and embracing much of their culture as well. In later years Karitu became a willing vassal of the Eternal Empire and developed strong ties with Yongcun. Through wars, civil strife, and disasters Karitu and the Honfokun people have stood with the Empire for better or worse. At times these relations have frayed but never have they broken.
Physiology
The Honfokun are well recognized for the massive horns that grow from atop their heads, their pointed ears, and their many different skin colors. They are the same height and size as Folk and share most of the same traits including lifespan - anywhere from sixty to a hundred years. Honfo mature and age at the same pace that Folk do, males and females alike considered to be young adults when they have neared their twentieth year.
Married Honfokun women typically bare between three to five children in their lives. Honfokun are incapable of cross-race breeding, any unions between themselves and a person of another race are always sterile.
The horns of a Honfo symbolize strength and constitution and large horns on both males and females are seen as one being strong and unwavering. Honfo will often decorate their horns with paints, chains, gold bands, and thin piercings.
Dehorning or breaking off of horns is seen as humiliating and shameful.
Society and Culture
The Honfokun have a proud and rich culture. Their architecture, artistry, literature, music, poetry and more are all appreciated and often prized by others. Their pension for craftsmanship and invention have lead the other races to admire - or envy - them as resourceful and hardworking. Honfo architecture is the sturdiest known and many nobility in the Empire have their estates and castles erected under the lead of Honfo builders and planners.
The Honfokun are also acclaimed for their hand in advancing medicine in the Empire, something that the Folk had little experience with having relied so long on the healing of the divine magics. Acupuncture was first introduced by early Honfo physicians as were a number of herbal substances used to boost resistance to common sicknesses.
Honfo dishes are a favorite among those that can afford the best. The Honfokun diet consists mostly of fish, pork, beef, chicken, and rice as well as many types of leaf vegetables and fruits. Salted and fermented fish and vegetables are a regular choice of meal among nobility.
“Senshodo” is the Honfokun warriors’ dogma of old, studied by Imperial generals and footmen alike. Senshodo is a moral code more than a martial one in truth and teaches that a warrior must live a life of loyalty, honor, diligence, and courage and be willing to die for what they hold dear and for who they serve. Senshodo of course has its’ own schools of sword, hand-to-hand, and polearm combat technique which have been passed down over generations. The origins of senshodo can be traced back to the first Guardians of Mosati who wrote the Gensauri, a compilation of texts that illuminated the way of the warriors. Sadly these were all lost during the destruction of the Honfokun civilization.
Gender laws are very strict in Honfokun society; men are statesmen, warriors, traders, farmers, hunters, craftsmen, fishers, thinkers, and monks and priests. Women are housekeepers, servants, wives, mothers, and second to the men of their lives - and if they have no man in their life they are to find one.
However there is another option for Honfo women and that is to become “ransutor” - “living as a man”. To achieve ransutor a woman must declare her desire to do so and then prove her worth among men through feats of wit, strength, and determination. Once she has done so she is stated as being worthy among men and her life is now anew as she so wishes it.
Religion
Like so much of their early civilization much of the Honfokun ways were lost to the yaoguai scourge, their temples, relics, and records all destroyed in the fires of darkness. What they do cling to is what little was salvaged from their old land and what was remembered and rewritten. Kizunatsu - the creator of the Honfo - shaped his people from the clay of the heavens and then placed them on the seven large Mosati Islands. He took residence on the highest mountain where his people had built a magnificent palace of gold and silver for him.
When their god departed them the Honfokun did not believe that he had been fooled but rather left his creations at the mercy of the dark ones as punishment for their sins. Many claim that before their fall the Honfo people had grown arrogant, slothful, and decadent and earned the scorn of Kizunatsu. Others claim it to have been the fault of the senshodo, that they had used the sacred warriors' way for their greedy ambitions angering the Guardians of Mosati who spirited away Kizunatsu - some say by force others say coercion. Many have questioned this varied theory in the past and pointed out the abandonment of the other peoples by their gods as well. "Then not just ourselves - the whole world truly - had become a sickened and corrupt place." one scholar is quoted to have said.
While there are many branches of theory on the departure of the gods among the Honfokun there is some consensus to the future, that Kizunatsu and perhaps the others gods will return. "The barrier between worlds was raised by mortals, a mere hiccup of an attempt to stop the arrival of any divine", so will say any Honfo monk or scholar. The Honfokun pray for the return of their god and for pardons for their transgressions. Their moral code of old was very similar to that of the Folkish moralities recognized and employed by the Empire hence the Honfokun live by this in hopes of pleasing their god watching from above so that when he does return it will not be with fire from his eyes and maw.
This idea of a future ushered forth by the return of their god have made the Honfokun a more pious people, religion playing a greater part in their lives by comparison of the Folk. While the Honfo do not sneer at their peers they find the decaying faith of Folk discouraging.
Notes and Facts
• The Honfokun are an inspired meshing of Japanese and Korean culture.
• The Honfokun old tongue is a rough combination of Japanese and Korean.
• As with Folk commoners and those born illegitimately do not typically have family/clan names. Most have a given name and refer to their birthplace or home village, town, or city to identify themselves.
• Of the listed races Honfukun have the most overall amicable relations with others, their only rival/enemy people being the hated Kulnar in the north.
• “Horn Head” is a slang term for Honfokun, depending on the involved individuals it can be received with peevish endearment or taken as a provocative insult.
• The Honfokun old tongue is a rough combination of Japanese and Korean.
• As with Folk commoners and those born illegitimately do not typically have family/clan names. Most have a given name and refer to their birthplace or home village, town, or city to identify themselves.
• Of the listed races Honfukun have the most overall amicable relations with others, their only rival/enemy people being the hated Kulnar in the north.
• “Horn Head” is a slang term for Honfokun, depending on the involved individuals it can be received with peevish endearment or taken as a provocative insult.
Average Lifespan
Roughly thirty to forty years.
Skin Colors
White, light brown, and black.
Fur Colors
Light brown, dark brown, black, red, yellow, and white.
Eye Colors
Brown, hazel, and amber.
Average Height
Males : 6’0” - 6’5” (182.88 cm - 195.58 cm)
Females : 5’10” - 6’1” (177.8 cm - 185.42 cm)
Racial Bonuses
+3 Might, +3 Dexterity
History
The Mokeu were created by Duazhi god-king of the mountains. Duazhi made the Mokeu in his image; tall, limber, and ridden in hair. The Mokeu made the mountains their home and built great strongholds and sky bridges that reached across the chasms. Under the guidance of their creator they were an accomplished and unified people. When Duazhi departed and the yaoguai came the Mokeu were driven down from the mountains as the dark ones destroyed their holdings and cracked apart the mountains. The Mokeu fled into hiding in the forests and marshes where they would remain even after the yaoguai horde was defeated.
Below their sacred mountains the Mokeu would eventually form two kingdoms in the lowlands, Banhet and Ko’Ang. For nearly a hundred years these two kingdoms would war between themselves with neither truly able to gain an advantage over the other. Between conflicts Mokeu war parties would venture into Imperial lands and raid, taking away food supplies and slaves as well, though these raids did not become a major problem until around the year 110 IE when the small cities of Namhu and Ru Jao were both sacked.
In response to this Emperor Xiao Jingguo declared war on both Mokeu kingdoms and sent his armies eastward. The Mokeu in turn fortified their lands and prepared for a long siege, the kingdoms of Banhet and Ko’Ang joined for the first time since their establishment. The war would last for just short of two years, the Empire boasting superior vastly numbers while the Mokeu relied on knowledge of the dense forests and swamps and used ambush and fast attack tactics. Though there were only three major battles there were dozens of skirmishes regularly with deaths in the many thousands. The war ended in 113 IE and both sides came to a truce agreement. This of course would not last and the Empire would in time fight four more wars with both kingdoms - the last ending in 387 IE.
Over the generations both Banhet and Ko’Ang have remained chaotic and sundered. Peace is a rarity, never is there a time of serenity in either kingdom. When not warring with each other there are tribal wars within each kingdom or skirmishes with the Kulnar who have come to stalk the valleys of the once sacred mountains. After the last war with the Empire large numbers of Mokeu have began migrating eastward beyond the charted lands, not just exiles but entire tribes at a time - most too petty to survive in the tumultuous Banhet and Ko’Ang. This has lead to many larger tribes growing stronger than ever making some believe that perhaps a more stable time is coming, though to most this is a hollow hope.
Physiology
The Mokeu are resemblant to monkeys that can be found in the jungles. They are taller than Folk and Honfokun and are also stronger and faster. They have a natural immunity to most illnesses and plagues much like the Zauri far to the south. However Mokeu are short-lived, their lifespan between thirty and forty years.
Mokeu are unable to cross-race breed and their beastly appearance makes unions between them and Folk - or Honfokun - be seen as unclean and abominable. Mokeu likewise have no interest in mating with other races, finding “the hairless” and “the scaley” as disgusting.
Due to their short lives Mokeu females are expected to produce as many offspring in their own lives as possible, ideally having four to eight children. This also guarantees the continuation of one’s line given how turbulent and warlike Mokeu society is.
Society and Culture
The Mokeu have little to offer even themselves other than war. They do not boast the towering cities, temples, and monuments that the Folk and Honfokun do - not anymore. Their technology, weapons, and homes are all primitive. They have no poetry, literature, or written language, only that which they speak. Their only music from that of simple drums and flutes that are also used in war.
The Mokeu have no permanent dwellings other than the great tribal strongholds of their kings and chieftains. Forts of wood and stone hidden deep within the forests or sitting perched on boggy islands that can only be reached by the great rope bridges strung through the trees. These high tree-bound bridges also ferry Mokeu across the lands as they tend to prefer avoiding on the ground where they are vulnerable.
Mokeu society is very tightly-knit down to each tribe. Outsiders are always viewed with wariness and every alliance and treaty is struck with tight jaws and narrowed eyes.
Mokeus’ diet consists of bark, broadleaf plants, insects, wild fruits and vegetables, and small animals such as birds, lizards, and frogs. Aside from eating these items raw Mokeu will also make them into stews and kebabs.
Mokeu tribes are lead by the strongest warriors and ideally his offspring should they prove able. When war will not suffice there are trials of strength and speed to establish the chain of strongest to weakest in a tribe. Mokeu are considered adults on their tenth birthday and are expected to have their first kill by the next moon, be it a wild animal or a rival tribe member. Female Mokeu are likewise expected to exhibit strength and are not allowed to have a mate until they have made their first kill, once they have a mate female Mokeu will spend the rest of their life bearing and raising their young.
Religion
One of the reasons of continuing conflict between Banhet and Ko’Ang is the dispute of faith - or some will even say the lead reason. After their fall from splendor the Mokeu were divided between those who chose to revile Duazhi and those who would not. The Mokeu of Banhet have cast off their past ties to Duazhi and instead have looked to a form of ancestor worship. In Banhet it is believed that the spirits of those past inhabit all parts of the jungles and marshes, that the Mokeu and their lands are one. The strongest spirits inhabit the trees, the great predators, and the rocks while the weakest are absorbed into blades of grass, the dirt, and small animals. Many of the more restless spirits will be reborn in the body of a new Mokeu, hence they believe in a kind of reincarnation as the Folk and Honfokun do.
The Mokeu of Ko’Ang see this as blasphemy and ill omens for the day that their god may return, that his wrath will be unleashed at seeing his people veneering grass and rocks instead of their immortal creator. Of the many wars fought between the two kingdoms over the generations a fair number have been wars of faith. Banhet would see their kin that are stuck in the past leave them be or be destroyed while in Ko’Ang many zealous kings have called for “oceans of spilled nonbeliever blood”.
When not at war parties from both kingdoms regularly seek to anger and confound each other in faith usually through torching sacred groves, destroying totems, or simply skulking about killing members of the opposite faith.
Most Mokeu who leave or are exiled from their peoples’ lands have left all faith behind and seek to only live out the remainder of their lives as full and adventurously as they can, embracing whatever comes amid their final breaths.
Notes and Facts
• Mokeu names are roughly derived from Chinese names and have only a single syllable, both in context of their first and last names. Mokeu names are always joined by a hyphen (examples; Pan-Tong, Din-Nang, Min-Wei) and their second is usually their fathers' or a variation of it. (example; the son of Han-Bin would be named Cao-Han). Mokeu will also often call themselves by their tribe. (Cao-Han of the Flaming Fang Tribe)
• "Furred Folk", "Monkey People", and "Beastmen" are derogatory terms for Mokeu.
• Mokeu have tails but they do not have the deep significance that the tails of Zauri do.
• "Furred Folk", "Monkey People", and "Beastmen" are derogatory terms for Mokeu.
• Mokeu have tails but they do not have the deep significance that the tails of Zauri do.
Average Lifespan
One hundred and fifty to two hundred years.
Hide Colors
Blue, green, gold, and purple.
Feather Colors
Blue, green, gold, and purple. (Usually the same color as their hide.)
Eye Colors
Yellow and black.
Average Height
Males : 6’4” - 7’0” (193.04 cm - 213.36 cm)
Females : 6’2” - 6’8” (187.96 cm - 203.2 cm)
Racial Bonuses
+4 Might, +2 Constitution
History
The Zauri come from the Iqati islands far to the south. Unlike the other peoples the Zauri were uplifted from their bestial forms by their patron god, the great immortal dragon Runiq. It is said that the dragon stopped to rest on the islands when he noticed a large number of bearded and feathered lizards all around. They were fast, hardy, and clever for such simple little creatures. Weary of the entropy of the immortal heavens Runiq decided he would remain on the islands and shaped the creatures anew, creating the Zauri.
When the yaoguai invaded the mortal realm the Iqati islands were spared their rampage as, unlike the other immortals and gods, Runiq remained and defended his creations. The Zauri claim that the great dragon still to this day resides in the islands watching over them. Despite much skepticism, as none outside of the islands have ever laid eyes on Runiq, all those who visit attest that there is a powerful force that fills the air and resonates in the very soul.
The Eternal Empire first discovered the Zauri in the summer of 120 IE when explorers arrived on their shores. While initially fearful the tall lizard people proved to be peaceful and intelligent, willing to receive the new arrivals. The ships would return to Yongcun filled with traded goods that included spices, exotic fruits, pearls, and opals. The Emperor himself would later that year journey south and meet with the High King of Iqati establishing relations and opening trade between the two peoples. Merchants, explorers, and scholars all would eagerly sail for Iqati, many with the blessing of the Zauri chieftains would even remain among the islands calling it their new home.
In time the Zauri would begin traveling to the mainlands to the north. Most would take to the coastal cities, including Cimanu, avoiding the inlands by nature of their island background. Many Zauri would take to the culture of the Honfokun and remain in Karitu, Zauri warriors fascinated by the senshodo warrior code and often seeking to be mentored by such masters. Most Zauri who journey to Yongcun or Karitu - that are not emissaries or traders themselves - are aspiring young adventurers and warriors, though some are exiles, clanless, and outlaws. Many Zauri immigrants have even joined the Imperial Army and would go on to carve their name on the battlefield in the service of the Xiao dynasty.
Physiology
The Zauri are the second tallest people after the Kulnar standing above the average Mokeu who themselves are larger than Folk and Honfokun. They have sturdy frames and their tough leathery hide can act as a natural defense against weak attacks and blunt strikes. Like the Mokeu they have an immunity to most illnesses and diseases. Zauri are among the most long-lived of the known races with lifespans ranging from one hundred and fifty to two hundred years old.
Zauri are hatched from eggs, a female Zauri will lay a single batch of three to six eggs in her life. When the eggs hatch the young are placed in a sort of underground cellar-like nursery safe from harm until they are of age. At age five Zauri are the equivalent of a ten year old Folk child and at age ten a fifteen year old. By age fifteen they are considered a young adult and are expected to choose a profession and jaracal to follow.
Zauri cannot cross-race breed and much like with Mokeu any couplings between them and Folk or Honfokun are seen as deviant.
Society and Culture
Much like the Honfokun the Zauri are a people of tradition and honor. Males and females have strict dogmas of life - or “jaracal” - to live by. Likewise each way of life has its’ own jaracal to be fulfilled be one a warrior, shaman, hunter, or fisher. Along with their life dogma Zauri also follow the principles of virtue as set forth by Runiq while avoiding the six sins of the "unguided flesh".
Zauri society in a sense is tribal like that of the Mokeu and very insular, though not to the unwelcoming extent of the Mokeu. A good clan leader and High King is welcoming to visitors but still puts his family and people first. Each island of Iqati is ruled by a single clan who are served by smaller vassal clans on their island, some ruling clans having fewer subordinates than others. The many clans all answer to the High King who in turn is directed by the Oracles, an all male coven of sages who commune with Runiq.
Gender laws among the Zauri of Iqati are existent but less binding than those of the Honfokun and Mokeu. While female Zauri are usually seen as housekeepers and wives any female Zauri with the desire to be something else, such as a warrior or huntress, are allowed to do so. Although the final say often comes down to her clan and close family in the end.
Zauri dwell in densely packed villages surrounded by large palisades to protect them from tidal waves and hurricanes. They live in huts made of palm wood, reed, and a yellow clay that is thick and acts as a natural mortar. The insides of these huts are typically one large open area separated by narrow walls or curtains.
The Zauri have few cultural practices of their own making other than clan gatherings where great feasts and hunts take place. Zauri music is little and like the Mokeu they have no written language but instead keep their stories and histories through carvings, wall painting, and tablets etched with charcoal. Over the generations the Zauri have shown a fondness for Honfokun music and food, favoring their fish and meat dishes as these are central to the Zauris' diet.
Religion
The Zauri pay their devotions to the immortal dragon Runiq, their creator and protector. Through the Oracles the High King receives the mandate of Runiq and with the blessing of the creator of his people the High King maintains order and stability in the Iqati islands. All commands received from the mouths of Runiq are to be followed and any who disobey the immortal dragon or try and circumvent his will shall be severely punished for their blasphemy. In exchange for the guidance of Runiq the Zauri give offerings of food and wealth alike, wealth usually being in the form of pearls, opals, or other trinkets. At certain times of the year, usually during the summer moons, great bonfires are lit at night on deserted islands to give homage to the holy fires of Runiq.
No one other than the Zauri have ever bore witness to the great dragon and even then many among their own have not and never will see him. No Folk or other converts to the following of the great dragon have ever seen him, Runiq only allowing his children to cast their eyes upon him. While many doubt his existence - including small enclaves of Zauri - none can doubt that there is an aura that resonates across Iqati, like the eyes of something great and powerful but firm at heart are upon you.
Notes and Facts
• Zauri names are taken from Polynesia and Southeast Asia.
• Zauri weapons are mostly made from iron with steel weapons reserved for clan leaders and more renowned warriors. This is due to the scarcity of such metals in the islands. Zauri armor is made of leather and hide.
• Much like with Honfokun and their horns the tails of Zauri are symbols of pride, strength, and their personality. The loss of one’s tail is a great shame. A warrior who loses their tail is seen as weak and unfitting of their weapon. In Iqati many Zauri will have their tails cut off for severe transgressions against their clan or blasphemies against Runiq. Exiles and outcasts often have their tails cut off before being banished.
• Zauri weapons are mostly made from iron with steel weapons reserved for clan leaders and more renowned warriors. This is due to the scarcity of such metals in the islands. Zauri armor is made of leather and hide.
• Much like with Honfokun and their horns the tails of Zauri are symbols of pride, strength, and their personality. The loss of one’s tail is a great shame. A warrior who loses their tail is seen as weak and unfitting of their weapon. In Iqati many Zauri will have their tails cut off for severe transgressions against their clan or blasphemies against Runiq. Exiles and outcasts often have their tails cut off before being banished.
Average Lifespan
Unknown.
Hide Colors
Stone gray, white, and light yellow.
Hair Colors
Black, white, and dark brown.
Eye Colors
Black, white, dark brown, amber, and blue.
Average Height
Males : 8’0” - 11’0” (243.84 cm - 335.28 cm)
Females : 7’0” - 10’0” (213.36 cm - 304.8 cm)
Racial Bonuses
+6 Might, +4 Constitution
History
Very little is known about the Kulnar giants of the far north. They were first crossed in 115 IE just shortly after the treaty of the first war between the Empire and the Mokeu kingdoms of Banhet and Ko’Ang. Emperor Xiao Jingguo had hoped to, like his father, continue to expand north over the rolling plains which were filled with wild game and the fertile ground suited for farming. Uninterested in starting conflict anew with the Huafen Plains Folk his expedition forces marched to the northeast where they would wander into the domain of the Kulnar.
The Imperial expedition would first be set upon by the Kulnar when camping several days journey beyond the border of Yongcun. A large warband of the giants attacked them at dawn one day ravaging their ranks and scattered them back southward. The expedition leader wrote to the Emperor and told of giants marching down from the north - omitting at the time that he had moved his forces farther beyond the boundary line than ordered.
A large Imperial force marched from Bianwei lead by General Yan Ren and would meet a massive horde of Kulnar that had amassed on the northern Imperial plains having destroyed the border outposts. Yan Ren would attempt to negotiate and sent envoys to the Kulnar who would in turn send back the beheaded and skinned corpses of the envoys. The ensuing battle was long and bloody, lasting for four days, but the Imperial Army would win at great sacrifice and drive the Kulnar back to their mountains - for a time. Over the next nearly three hundred years the Empire would stave off two more Kulnar invasions.
Today the Kulnar continue to press in the north disallowing continued expansion and development of the northern Imperial lands. They have also made enemies of the Folk of the Huafen Plains and the Mokeu, regularly skulking about their lands and raiding their settlements. The Mokeu have long fought with the Kulnar over the ancient valleys of their ancestral mountain homes, the latter attracted by the wild game that inhabit the valleys.
Physiology
Kulnar are a giant race that tower even over the Zauri. They are very resemblant to Folk aside from their skin colors, height, and facial structure. Their faces are very bulky and rounded, their noses broad and arched, and their foreheads high. It is unknown if they could cross-race breed with Folk or Honfo and even then it is doubtful if it will be ever known. They have broad, sturdy frames and both males and females are riddled with muscle, though wether this is natural or a result of their seemingly harsh warlike culture is unsure. Kulnar are shockingly strong, capable of crushing a man’s head with their bare hands and lifting and throwing very heavy objects. The pure power of a Kulnar makes melee combat with them dangerous, meeting a hard strike with ones’ weapon or shield could wrench loose a shoulder. The best strategy being to dodge their blows and wait for an opening in their defenses.
Kulnar have a strong tolerance to severe weather conditions and high stamina, easily crossing on foot in three days what would take Folk a week or maybe less. Their diet consists of meat from all accounts though it is presumed they also eat herbs and plants. Tales on their eating of Folk and Honfokun flesh are common.
Culture, Society, and Religion
Next to nothing is known of Kulnar society, life, or even origins - though many scholars believe that the departed Guardian of the North, Hanaga, created them. Kulnar seem to be very tribal as warbands will often carry banners with different patterns on them ranging from ram heads to dragons, their warriors having these various images imprinted on their bodies. They adorn themselves in black dye, beads of wood and bone, and feather and fur body coverings. Their armor is made of hides and crudely shaped shards of iron as are their weapons, most fighting with clubs, large axes, spears, and short twisted swords.
Kulnar females fight at the fore beside the males, proving as strong and vicious as their larger counterparts.
The Kulnar are ferocious and unyielding in battle usually not retreating until only a handful of their ranks are left and not wanting to face total annihilation. If pursued they will regather their remaining strength and then fight to the death, thus letting them flee without harassment is usually best.
Nothing is known of their religion other than odd pendants and charms they wear that seem to be symbolizing animals and other shapes such as leaves, mountains, and water. Some travelers tell of large stone totem poles and rock carvings along the border with their lands.
Every attempt to communicate with the giants over the generations have proven futile. Aside from their hostile nature and tendency to kill anyone who crosses them they speak a rushed guttural language, those few who have ever heard it say it “sounds like the angry warbling of a demon”.
* * * * *
for backstory and references. To be gradually expanded upon.
A C, L T - ArtStation
Asaissuperdry - DeviantArt
Alayna Danner - Pinterest
David Lee - ArtStation
Devtexture - DeviantArt
elgrimlock - DeviantArt
Emmy Wahlbäck - ArtStation
Small-town girl
Asaissuperdry - DeviantArt
Alayna Danner - Pinterest
David Lee - ArtStation
Devtexture - DeviantArt
elgrimlock - DeviantArt
Emmy Wahlbäck - ArtStation
Small-town girl
So we have landed quite a few people it seems!
I am marking us full up for now. Odds are in favor of me opening up more spots (or spots being freed up) in the future. ATM this is good starting lineup 💯
I am marking us full up for now. Odds are in favor of me opening up more spots (or spots being freed up) in the future. ATM this is good starting lineup 💯
SCHEDULE
_____________________________________________________________September 22nd through the 25th;
- Creation of the lore thread. (Deeper background and details on the races as well as sections on religion, magic, territories, and added sections on general history.)
- Posting of the character sheet template. (Courtesy of the legendary @Gcold.)
September 26th/27th;
- Creation of the OP. (This will include an explanation of the dice/mechanics system and Map #2 as well.)
October 2nd;
- Final deadline for character sheets.
The RP will ideally start between September 31st and October 4th.
----
Please ask any questions you may have! I am hoping for a decent turnout as I have had this idea for some time now. I did my best to give enough of a sample to pull in interest without leaving things barebone - mind you I did not want to completely spoiler everything! The lore thread will be more refined and add more meat to the world as a whole giving players more to work off of. Expect it this weekend!
For Discord access just drop your interest here and I will PM you a server invite.
- Creation of the lore thread. (Deeper background and details on the races as well as sections on religion, magic, territories, and added sections on general history.)
- Posting of the character sheet template. (Courtesy of the legendary @Gcold.)
September 26th/27th;
- Creation of the OP. (This will include an explanation of the dice/mechanics system and Map #2 as well.)
October 2nd;
- Final deadline for character sheets.
The RP will ideally start between September 31st and October 4th.
----
Please ask any questions you may have! I am hoping for a decent turnout as I have had this idea for some time now. I did my best to give enough of a sample to pull in interest without leaving things barebone - mind you I did not want to completely spoiler everything! The lore thread will be more refined and add more meat to the world as a whole giving players more to work off of. Expect it this weekend!
For Discord access just drop your interest here and I will PM you a server invite.
[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8c8f2nK82w[/youtube][/center]
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[h2][color=#E75480][i]A little about me…[/i][/color][/h2]
• Female (She/Her) (Cisgender)
• Pansexual
• Thirty years old.
• An America-born Eurasian. (Of Han Chinese and Dutch descent.)
• US Central Time Zone
• Casual & Advanced are my vibes.
• My writing interests are manifold.
• I tend to prefer 1x1’s but I never shy away from a [i]great[/i] group RP.
• Ask for the Discord.
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[h2][color=#E75480][i]Current Roleplays…[/i][/color][/h2]
• [b][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/195567-no-mercy-wrestling-legends/ooc][b]NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS[/b][/url][/b] My long-running wrestling career 1x1 roleplay with [@Shoopuf].
• [b][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/197532-black-flags-of-the-abecean]~ BLACK FLAGS OF THE ABECEAN ~[/url][/b] A swashbuckling RP set in the universe of [i]The Elder Scrolls[/i].
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[h2][color=#E75480][i]Extras…[/i][/color][/h2]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187894-shu-s-character-catalogue/ooc]My catalogue of characters.[/url] (The new one.)
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/185317-shu-s-character-catalogue-old-defunct/ooc]My old/original catalogue of characters.[/url]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187868-sandstriders-lore-and-world/ooc]SANDSTRIDERS world and lore.[/url]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/189043-a-thousand-legends-world-and-lore/ooc#post-5395060]A Thousand Legends world and lore.[/url]
[b]Group Roleplays that I have GM’d;[/b]
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• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/185689-s-t-o-r-m-c-l-o-a-k-rise-of-tyranny-shelved-pm-or-dm-me-for-inquiry/ooc#post-5261191]STORMCLOAK : Rise of Tyranny[/url]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/186064-o-gotte-e-the-ring-of-aduzahir/ooc]FORGOTTEN REALMS 🌙 The Ring of Aduzahir[/url]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187015-o-gotte-e-tales-of-deadsnows/ooc]FORGOTTEN REALMS 🌙 Tales of Deadsnows[/url]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187944-sandstriders-a-lost-land/ooc#post-5350727]SANDSTRIDERS : A Lost Land[/url]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/189056-a-thousand-legends-sundered-veil/ic]A Thousand Legends : Sundered Veil[/url]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/191829-minerva-force]MINERVA FORCE[/url]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5586536]2100 ☢️ BADLAND REPUBLIC[/url]
• [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/196987-starfinder-rogue-voyage/ooc]STARFINDER ~ Rogue Voyage[/url]
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<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><div class="bb-center"><iframe src="//youtube.com/embed/F8c8f2nK82w?theme=dark" frameborder="0" width="496" height="279" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br><br><hr class="bb-hr"><hr class="bb-hr"><br><br><div class="bb-h2"><font color="#e75480"><span class="bb-i">A little about me…</span></font></div><br>• Female (She/Her) (Cisgender)<br>• Pansexual<br>• Thirty years old. <br>• An America-born Eurasian. (Of Han Chinese and Dutch descent.)<br>• US Central Time Zone<br>• Casual & Advanced are my vibes.<br>• My writing interests are manifold.<br>• I tend to prefer 1x1’s but I never shy away from a <span class="bb-i">great</span> group RP.<br>• Ask for the Discord.<br><br><hr class="bb-hr"><hr class="bb-hr"><br><br><div class="bb-h2"><font color="#e75480"><span class="bb-i">Current Roleplays…</span></font></div><br>• <span class="bb-b"><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/195567-no-mercy-wrestling-legends/ooc"><span class="bb-b">NO MERCY WRESTLING LEGENDS</span></a></span> My long-running wrestling career 1x1 roleplay with <a class="bb-mention" href="/users/shoopuf">@Shoopuf</a>.<br><br>• <span class="bb-b"><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/197532-black-flags-of-the-abecean">~ BLACK FLAGS OF THE ABECEAN ~</a></span> A swashbuckling RP set in the universe of <span class="bb-i">The Elder Scrolls</span>.<br> <br><hr class="bb-hr"><hr class="bb-hr"><br><br><div class="bb-h2"><font color="#e75480"><span class="bb-i">Extras…</span></font></div><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187894-shu-s-character-catalogue/ooc">My catalogue of characters.</a> (The new one.)<br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/185317-shu-s-character-catalogue-old-defunct/ooc">My old/original catalogue of characters.</a><br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187868-sandstriders-lore-and-world/ooc">SANDSTRIDERS world and lore.</a><br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/189043-a-thousand-legends-world-and-lore/ooc#post-5395060">A Thousand Legends world and lore.</a><br><br><span class="bb-b">Group Roleplays that I have GM’d;</span><br><div class="hider-panel"><div class="hider-heading"><button type="button" class="btn btn-default btn-xs hider-button" data-name="+">+ [+]</button></div><div class="hider-body" style="display: none">• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/185689-s-t-o-r-m-c-l-o-a-k-rise-of-tyranny-shelved-pm-or-dm-me-for-inquiry/ooc#post-5261191">STORMCLOAK : Rise of Tyranny</a><br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/186064-o-gotte-e-the-ring-of-aduzahir/ooc">FORGOTTEN REALMS 🌙 The Ring of Aduzahir</a><br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187015-o-gotte-e-tales-of-deadsnows/ooc">FORGOTTEN REALMS 🌙 Tales of Deadsnows</a><br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187944-sandstriders-a-lost-land/ooc#post-5350727">SANDSTRIDERS : A Lost Land</a><br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/189056-a-thousand-legends-sundered-veil/ic">A Thousand Legends : Sundered Veil</a><br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/191829-minerva-force">MINERVA FORCE</a><br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5586536">2100 ☢️ BADLAND REPUBLIC</a><br><br>• <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/196987-starfinder-rogue-voyage/ooc">STARFINDER ~ Rogue Voyage</a></div></div></div>
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