Post by Admin on Aug 24, 2012 20:31:25 GMT -5
Geography: The Upper Kingdoms, a collective name for eleven allied states, cover a massive swath of the mid-northern and central eastern lands. Each is named for one of the twelve zodiac gems. Streams and tributaries, natural or otherwise, are a common feature, and are often used for travel as an alternative to the dirt roads that go over the land. Formerly extensive forests in the central and south have been thinned out considerably to make room for farms and cities. Fault lines run through the northern and central regions, and the largest stretches out into the western desert that separates the Upper Kingdoms from Arcadia. Each Kingdom has farms and villages at its outskirts, guarded by small outposts at the borders.
The Amethyst Kingdom is situated on the central plains of the Upper Kingdoms, with the Garnet Kingdom in the hills directly south and the Diamond Kingdom occupying the mountain ranges to the east.
The Citrine Kingdom sits on a broad plateau in the mid-north. Just south of it, the Peridot and Sapphire Kingdoms are located side by side, respectively east and west, at the edge of a large forest. As they expand further south, more of the forest is cleared away. The Opal and Pearl Kingdoms are furthest to the north, with the Pearl Kingdom at the Ruthenian border.
The Aquamarine Kingdom comprises a large strip of low-rising hilly land along the southeastern coast, most of which is farmland converted from forests. The southernmost lands are a mountainous region rich in mineral resources, and house the Emerald Kingdom.
To the west, a megaoasis, also boosted by magic and encroaching upon the edge of the desert, is the territory of the Topaz Kingdom.
Weather: While most of the Kingdoms experience a temperate climate, the exact nature of the weather varies; the northernmost lands and mountains have colder temperatures through the year, while the central Kingdoms experience frequent storms and the occasional tornado in the summer. The northern kingdoms sit over the fault lines, and as such are plagued by frequent, but usually mild earthquakes. The two southernmost kingdoms have a warm, tropical climate - humid weather, frequent rain and sunshine all year round.
Population: "Extremely large and equally diverse" is the best, and some believe most accurate way to describe the Kingdoms' population. It is simply too large to take specific numbers of those living by the Kingdoms' laws, let alone those who have hidden themselves away to avoid the constraints of Kingdom life. All common races - human, beastfolk and fey alike - are present in significant number, and some estimate the total strength to be high into the hundred millions, if not passing the billion mark.
Form of Government: Each Kingdom is ruled by a King and his court, with the eleven Kings themselves led by the ruler of the Amethyst Kingdom, the Dragon Emperor. Within individual kingdoms, laws are largely left to the discretion of the royal administration. The Lang Shin, a police force based out of the Garnet Kingdom, oversee the nation's security, weeding out dissent and corruption from within the government and populace to ensure the Kings are unchallenged and the nation remains stable.
Technology: Coal, gas and extensive manpower are the Kingdoms' primary fuel sources, with magic providing for their shortcomings. The nation has yet to progress to plumbing and electricity, but traditional medicine and incendiaries remain thriving trades.
Favored Magics: The presence of numerous martial schools has made Physical magic the most commonplace form, with many focusing on one or more of the five traditional elements of Fire, Water, Earth, Wood and Air. The study of Written magic is covered by the Citrine and Topaz Kingdoms, and most schools of traditional medicine feature the use of lower-tier Material magic. To facilitate its duties, the Garnet Kingdom holds a niche in Scrying, Stealth and Ward magic.
Major Locations:
- The Amethyst Kingdom is the center of power within the Upper Kingdoms. The Amethyst King conducts his duties from a grand fortress known as the Dragon Throne. Four times a year, during the solstices and equinoxes, the fortress is made open to the commoners, allowing them to greet and address the king directly.
- The Garnet Kingdom is hidden within the hills. Wards prevent its location from being charted, and magic is regularly used to alter the landscape to further hide its exact location. A small city contains a recruitment academy for the Lang Shin, an elite intelligence force; it also serves as one of several gateways to the real Garnet Kingdom, a base carved out from an underground cavern which features a dense, regularly patrolled web of tunnels, leading to training rooms, interrogation cells and operation centers.
- The Diamond Kingdom is an army encampment in the mountains. Advanced military training and planning is conducted here.
- The Citrine Kingdom holds the collective knowledge of the country in the libraries of Wu Xian, and controls how much of it is dispensed through the Ministry of Education. Most of the nation's ministers and top scholars graduate from Citrine-certified universities.
- The Opal Kingdom is the magical counterpart to the Citrine Kingdom. The Kingdom's top magicians overlook the goings-on of their realm from the Yao Shu Towers, a set of high crystal buildings with scrying enchantments that allow them to view any point within their Kingdom at once.
- The Sapphire Kingdom runs the brunt of the nation's trade and commerce. The capital city of Fan Rong is world-famous for providing open access to a plethora of goods brought in from across the eleven Kingdoms, and equally infamous for its black market, where many high-tier Material goods are available for exorbitant prices.
- The Aquamarine Kingdom consists of the coastal villages and farmlands that lie along the southeastern borders of Kingdom land. The King "rules" from Lao Village, but prefers to accompany the fishing fleets and farm workers in their duties each day. An offshore pinna-mollusck colony at the base of a yellow coral reef called Jing Wu provides a supply of sea silk to add to the Kingdom's trade.
-The Topaz Kingdom is situated in the heart of Yin Tsang oasis, protected from desert raiders by a network of enchanted mirrors which simultaneously project mirages in a radius around the oasis and provide scryers with an early warning system. It is considered the Upper Kingdoms' seat of high culture; a haven for artisans to mingle among their kind, and for visitors to witness the Upper Kingdoms at their finest.
-The Peridot Kingdom, one of the smaller kingdoms, is the center of social administration for the Upper Kingdoms. The Registry of Marriage and Family occupies the largest district where it keeps an archive, recorded and preserved with magic, of many of the licensed citizens born into the Kingdoms, their relatives, birthplaces, and other relevant vital statistics for tracing lineage, identifying medical histories and other purposes. With such a large populace to handle, this archive is far from complete, but the efforts of an entire city of workers has still done much for the Kingdoms' various social projects.
-The Emerald Kingdom is built into the southern mountains and forests, with the stone warded for stability. Workshops, lumber mills and mining camps are the main feature of the industry-oriented domain, presided over by the Emerald King, who rules from Qin Manor, a well-guarded house hidden in the woods.
-Artifacts said to come from the Pearl Kingdom often appear on the black market, all with enchantments associated with dark magic, but little else is known about the land. Civilians are barred from it. Rumors speak of a high Lang Shin presence, and it is known that magicians from the Opal Kingdom often venture there under heavily armed guard. All communication with the Pearl Kingdom is heavily encoded, to the frustration of various forces which have tried to intercept messages passing in and out. Empaths who were brought into low orbit above the area are reported to have become very disturbed, with some experiencing violent nightmares for up to weeks later.
- The Ni Ming, or unnamed lands, are a blanket term for the mostly unpopulated forests and mountains, and even the ruins of old fortresses and cities that remain scattered across the land. Abandoned in favor of the other kingdoms, such structures are in disrepair and hold equal potential as a treasure trove and death trap for archaeologists, explorers and grave robbers. Some are thought to be cursed; others still are rumored to be Lang Shin training or execution grounds. A few monasteries are home to great martial arts teachers and warrior mages - if only one could gain permission to enter.
Major Concerns:
- The Upper Kingdoms hold strictly to the teachings of their founder, a philosopher-mage. They have yet to move away from "his" ideals, such as the belief that all folk of all races have their own unique and specific manner of contributing to the good of the many. This particular one, as interpreted by his disciples, has led to citizens of different kingdoms and races being locked into specific roles from birth, and extreme prejudice against any cross-racial relationships.
- Individuals are tested at a young age, and showing any special talent almost always leads the child to be taken somewhere their gifts can be better employed: the exceptionally bright taken to the Citrine Kingdom, kids who were good with numbers taken to the Sapphire Kingdom, etc. Personal, or parental, opinion factored in exceedingly little in that equation. Beastfolk and Fey are likewise locked into roles according to species, and expected to spend their lives in Kingdoms which suit their roles - rodents become merchants, the big cats raised to be warriors or guards, Noble Fey trained to be mages and so on.
- Of the many old strictures the Upper Kingdoms hold on to, perhaps one most jarring to visitors is their policy on women. Supposedly for the good of everyone, women are largely limited to domestic or menial roles. Few to none rise to any prominent position in society, and all are expected to marry as soon as is reasonable. Their opinion is largely ignored in favored of "the more educated male" populace.
- In any society, it is inevitable that someone, or a group of someones, will find the laws not to their liking. They may attempt to change them for the better, sometimes violently. The Garnet Kingdom's answer to such dissidents is their police force, the Lang Shin. With the Peridot Kingdom's extensive citizen records, it is easy for them to find leverage to convince restless individuals to keep their peace... if they are in a merciful mood. Higher level threats to the Kingdoms' stability live in constant fear of disappearing without a trace.
- The Upper Kingdoms are usually slow to answer calls to aid and other messages from their allies. A closer look at the nation reveals mountains of bureaucracy and formal procedure that only the Kings are able to sidestep, at the risk of upsetting their royal brothers. Delving deeper beneath the surface, foreign investors often run into corrupt minor officials with palms to grease and relatively few scruples.
- Kusanagi was once joined to the other eleven states as the Ruby Kingdom. The remaining Kingdoms have never forgotten this, and have made numerous attempts in the past to 'reclaim' their lost brother, by force if necessary.
- Kusanagi suffered under Kingdom rule. Its citizens have never forgotten this either. Friendlier overtures to Kusanagi, asking it to return to the fold, have been met with tersely polite rejections on good days. On not so good days, Kusanagi has hinted at neutering the persistent threat to their sovereignty.
- Kusanagian and Kingdom culture have spent centuries developing in opposition to one another, with their history texts usually painting the other as the villain. When citizens of one nation speak of the other in polite company, they usually do so with disdain or pity. In less polite company, the venom comes out in full force.
- In the early days of the Upper Kingdoms, Ruthenian forces infiltrated various key regions and caused mild levels of dissent among the population. While most of the agents were found and eliminated, the Kingdoms still bear a grudge against their northern neighbor for having diverted their forces enough for Kusanagi to break away.
- There has been no word from the last Pearl King since the World War, when a breach was made in the Ruthenian barrier near Pearl Kingdom lands. Wagging tongues tell of shambling undead and quasi-human monstrosities, and while magically enhanced satellites have only captured static, some have recorded dangerously high levels of dark magic in the vicinity of the palace.
The Amethyst Kingdom is situated on the central plains of the Upper Kingdoms, with the Garnet Kingdom in the hills directly south and the Diamond Kingdom occupying the mountain ranges to the east.
The Citrine Kingdom sits on a broad plateau in the mid-north. Just south of it, the Peridot and Sapphire Kingdoms are located side by side, respectively east and west, at the edge of a large forest. As they expand further south, more of the forest is cleared away. The Opal and Pearl Kingdoms are furthest to the north, with the Pearl Kingdom at the Ruthenian border.
The Aquamarine Kingdom comprises a large strip of low-rising hilly land along the southeastern coast, most of which is farmland converted from forests. The southernmost lands are a mountainous region rich in mineral resources, and house the Emerald Kingdom.
To the west, a megaoasis, also boosted by magic and encroaching upon the edge of the desert, is the territory of the Topaz Kingdom.
Weather: While most of the Kingdoms experience a temperate climate, the exact nature of the weather varies; the northernmost lands and mountains have colder temperatures through the year, while the central Kingdoms experience frequent storms and the occasional tornado in the summer. The northern kingdoms sit over the fault lines, and as such are plagued by frequent, but usually mild earthquakes. The two southernmost kingdoms have a warm, tropical climate - humid weather, frequent rain and sunshine all year round.
Population: "Extremely large and equally diverse" is the best, and some believe most accurate way to describe the Kingdoms' population. It is simply too large to take specific numbers of those living by the Kingdoms' laws, let alone those who have hidden themselves away to avoid the constraints of Kingdom life. All common races - human, beastfolk and fey alike - are present in significant number, and some estimate the total strength to be high into the hundred millions, if not passing the billion mark.
Form of Government: Each Kingdom is ruled by a King and his court, with the eleven Kings themselves led by the ruler of the Amethyst Kingdom, the Dragon Emperor. Within individual kingdoms, laws are largely left to the discretion of the royal administration. The Lang Shin, a police force based out of the Garnet Kingdom, oversee the nation's security, weeding out dissent and corruption from within the government and populace to ensure the Kings are unchallenged and the nation remains stable.
Technology: Coal, gas and extensive manpower are the Kingdoms' primary fuel sources, with magic providing for their shortcomings. The nation has yet to progress to plumbing and electricity, but traditional medicine and incendiaries remain thriving trades.
Favored Magics: The presence of numerous martial schools has made Physical magic the most commonplace form, with many focusing on one or more of the five traditional elements of Fire, Water, Earth, Wood and Air. The study of Written magic is covered by the Citrine and Topaz Kingdoms, and most schools of traditional medicine feature the use of lower-tier Material magic. To facilitate its duties, the Garnet Kingdom holds a niche in Scrying, Stealth and Ward magic.
Major Locations:
- The Amethyst Kingdom is the center of power within the Upper Kingdoms. The Amethyst King conducts his duties from a grand fortress known as the Dragon Throne. Four times a year, during the solstices and equinoxes, the fortress is made open to the commoners, allowing them to greet and address the king directly.
- The Garnet Kingdom is hidden within the hills. Wards prevent its location from being charted, and magic is regularly used to alter the landscape to further hide its exact location. A small city contains a recruitment academy for the Lang Shin, an elite intelligence force; it also serves as one of several gateways to the real Garnet Kingdom, a base carved out from an underground cavern which features a dense, regularly patrolled web of tunnels, leading to training rooms, interrogation cells and operation centers.
- The Diamond Kingdom is an army encampment in the mountains. Advanced military training and planning is conducted here.
- The Citrine Kingdom holds the collective knowledge of the country in the libraries of Wu Xian, and controls how much of it is dispensed through the Ministry of Education. Most of the nation's ministers and top scholars graduate from Citrine-certified universities.
- The Opal Kingdom is the magical counterpart to the Citrine Kingdom. The Kingdom's top magicians overlook the goings-on of their realm from the Yao Shu Towers, a set of high crystal buildings with scrying enchantments that allow them to view any point within their Kingdom at once.
- The Sapphire Kingdom runs the brunt of the nation's trade and commerce. The capital city of Fan Rong is world-famous for providing open access to a plethora of goods brought in from across the eleven Kingdoms, and equally infamous for its black market, where many high-tier Material goods are available for exorbitant prices.
- The Aquamarine Kingdom consists of the coastal villages and farmlands that lie along the southeastern borders of Kingdom land. The King "rules" from Lao Village, but prefers to accompany the fishing fleets and farm workers in their duties each day. An offshore pinna-mollusck colony at the base of a yellow coral reef called Jing Wu provides a supply of sea silk to add to the Kingdom's trade.
-The Topaz Kingdom is situated in the heart of Yin Tsang oasis, protected from desert raiders by a network of enchanted mirrors which simultaneously project mirages in a radius around the oasis and provide scryers with an early warning system. It is considered the Upper Kingdoms' seat of high culture; a haven for artisans to mingle among their kind, and for visitors to witness the Upper Kingdoms at their finest.
-The Peridot Kingdom, one of the smaller kingdoms, is the center of social administration for the Upper Kingdoms. The Registry of Marriage and Family occupies the largest district where it keeps an archive, recorded and preserved with magic, of many of the licensed citizens born into the Kingdoms, their relatives, birthplaces, and other relevant vital statistics for tracing lineage, identifying medical histories and other purposes. With such a large populace to handle, this archive is far from complete, but the efforts of an entire city of workers has still done much for the Kingdoms' various social projects.
-The Emerald Kingdom is built into the southern mountains and forests, with the stone warded for stability. Workshops, lumber mills and mining camps are the main feature of the industry-oriented domain, presided over by the Emerald King, who rules from Qin Manor, a well-guarded house hidden in the woods.
-Artifacts said to come from the Pearl Kingdom often appear on the black market, all with enchantments associated with dark magic, but little else is known about the land. Civilians are barred from it. Rumors speak of a high Lang Shin presence, and it is known that magicians from the Opal Kingdom often venture there under heavily armed guard. All communication with the Pearl Kingdom is heavily encoded, to the frustration of various forces which have tried to intercept messages passing in and out. Empaths who were brought into low orbit above the area are reported to have become very disturbed, with some experiencing violent nightmares for up to weeks later.
- The Ni Ming, or unnamed lands, are a blanket term for the mostly unpopulated forests and mountains, and even the ruins of old fortresses and cities that remain scattered across the land. Abandoned in favor of the other kingdoms, such structures are in disrepair and hold equal potential as a treasure trove and death trap for archaeologists, explorers and grave robbers. Some are thought to be cursed; others still are rumored to be Lang Shin training or execution grounds. A few monasteries are home to great martial arts teachers and warrior mages - if only one could gain permission to enter.
Major Concerns:
- The Upper Kingdoms hold strictly to the teachings of their founder, a philosopher-mage. They have yet to move away from "his" ideals, such as the belief that all folk of all races have their own unique and specific manner of contributing to the good of the many. This particular one, as interpreted by his disciples, has led to citizens of different kingdoms and races being locked into specific roles from birth, and extreme prejudice against any cross-racial relationships.
- Individuals are tested at a young age, and showing any special talent almost always leads the child to be taken somewhere their gifts can be better employed: the exceptionally bright taken to the Citrine Kingdom, kids who were good with numbers taken to the Sapphire Kingdom, etc. Personal, or parental, opinion factored in exceedingly little in that equation. Beastfolk and Fey are likewise locked into roles according to species, and expected to spend their lives in Kingdoms which suit their roles - rodents become merchants, the big cats raised to be warriors or guards, Noble Fey trained to be mages and so on.
- Of the many old strictures the Upper Kingdoms hold on to, perhaps one most jarring to visitors is their policy on women. Supposedly for the good of everyone, women are largely limited to domestic or menial roles. Few to none rise to any prominent position in society, and all are expected to marry as soon as is reasonable. Their opinion is largely ignored in favored of "the more educated male" populace.
- In any society, it is inevitable that someone, or a group of someones, will find the laws not to their liking. They may attempt to change them for the better, sometimes violently. The Garnet Kingdom's answer to such dissidents is their police force, the Lang Shin. With the Peridot Kingdom's extensive citizen records, it is easy for them to find leverage to convince restless individuals to keep their peace... if they are in a merciful mood. Higher level threats to the Kingdoms' stability live in constant fear of disappearing without a trace.
- The Upper Kingdoms are usually slow to answer calls to aid and other messages from their allies. A closer look at the nation reveals mountains of bureaucracy and formal procedure that only the Kings are able to sidestep, at the risk of upsetting their royal brothers. Delving deeper beneath the surface, foreign investors often run into corrupt minor officials with palms to grease and relatively few scruples.
- Kusanagi was once joined to the other eleven states as the Ruby Kingdom. The remaining Kingdoms have never forgotten this, and have made numerous attempts in the past to 'reclaim' their lost brother, by force if necessary.
- Kusanagi suffered under Kingdom rule. Its citizens have never forgotten this either. Friendlier overtures to Kusanagi, asking it to return to the fold, have been met with tersely polite rejections on good days. On not so good days, Kusanagi has hinted at neutering the persistent threat to their sovereignty.
- Kusanagian and Kingdom culture have spent centuries developing in opposition to one another, with their history texts usually painting the other as the villain. When citizens of one nation speak of the other in polite company, they usually do so with disdain or pity. In less polite company, the venom comes out in full force.
- In the early days of the Upper Kingdoms, Ruthenian forces infiltrated various key regions and caused mild levels of dissent among the population. While most of the agents were found and eliminated, the Kingdoms still bear a grudge against their northern neighbor for having diverted their forces enough for Kusanagi to break away.
- There has been no word from the last Pearl King since the World War, when a breach was made in the Ruthenian barrier near Pearl Kingdom lands. Wagging tongues tell of shambling undead and quasi-human monstrosities, and while magically enhanced satellites have only captured static, some have recorded dangerously high levels of dark magic in the vicinity of the palace.