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Blessed Isle

East

The Raised Kingdom

One of the stranger nations of the Thousand Kingdoms is known for its bridges. This would not be so interesting except that all the bridges connect various hills and do not cross any bodies of water. During the years preceeding the Fair Folk invasion the entire area was under water but for numerous islands. Connected by imperishable bridges made by First Age methods the area was influenced heavily by the Lunar who later Exalted there leading to a lot of animal images and themes to the bridges and architecture. The Shogunate covered up these motifes where they could.

The Fair Folk invasion changed things however. Elemental energies and chaos changed the landscape in places an soon enough the lake was empty or raised, waters diverted. Now the bridges connect various hills on which towns and a city or two are built with a class of underpriveledged and criminal element setting up shop under the arches of the bridges themselves.

The Ruins of Ronal

Just two days by foot north of Nexus lie the ruins of the RCP once called Ronal by its natives. Once a minor Dragonblooded weapons production facility the Great Contagion and Ursupation reduced its popualation to nothing. The last ones to live there placed traps and wards to gaurd it before the disease consumed them. Yet seven centuries beside a major city means that it has been visited time and time again by the Scavanger Lords. The ancient traps have a tendancy to repair and rearm themselves and so even now the place holds dangers though no real treasures.

It is that exact fact that has turned the place into a tourist destination of sorts. The retired Scavanger Lord Tam of the Quiet Blade has turned it into a profitable business. She takes rich tourists or young scavanger lords to be on trips to the place. Since she is so familiar with the place the dangers add some excitement to the trip without putting people in real danger. It is good training for the young and an experience for the jaded as well as letting her live in very fine condition in Nexus. Her home has never flooded and doesn't suffer the black snow that the poor parts of the city does.

The Kingdom of Tima

Around 800 miles directly southwest of Densador lies the city state of Tima. Situated on the banks of the Grey River this city has many sobriquets. The Land of Song, the City of Music, the People of Chime and Voice, and many more as even in the many kingdomed east it stands out. Music is the language of these people in a very literal way. They have their own unique tongue based on musical notes. The writing looks more like sheet music than regular words. Even when they learn other languages they often have a musical quality to how they speak which is their accent as it were. Those with a particularly heavy accent just sing sentances in other languages.

Modern day Tima is not particularly large but it is well off. The land around it provides the food it needs, it is well stocked in lumber and its location on a major river provides ample fishion and the opportunity for trade that it brings. Furthermore its reputation as a musical city brings lets it export music, musical instruments, and musicians. Every five years a great performance goes down the river to Great Forks, Nexus and Lookshy and once every ten they go to the Imperial City and have performed for the Empress. The land has no enemies to speak of and is not built on any First Age ruins though sometimes travellors hoping to go to Rathess pass through it.

Tima is also a matriarchy ruled by Queen Freshly Fallen Frost, an Air Aspect. The reins of power pass from mother to one of her daughters every 50 years. This could pose problems were the reins of power held in purely human hands for the last 700 or so years the city state has been ruled by Dragonblooded. They have managed to remain a mostly cohesive group as well with only one attempted coup around the middle of the fourth century. Families determine lineage based off the mothers and inheritences generally give a priority to the eldest daughter and then is shared more or less equally among the remaining sons and daughters. There is no real major discrimination though in terms of what can be accomplished.

Taking a look to the city states long history it only goes back to a decade or two after the start of the Realm. A small core group of ex-Shogunate Legionairs had been harrying the retreating Fae and stamping out any small pockets that remained. Two decades of guerrila warfare against the Fair Folk and a few cunning deceptions had lead to the group developing a strong musical bent. Musical notes used as ciphers, and soldiers taught to sing and play as a way to delay the Fair Folk. The commander had noticed that time and time again the Raksha would hold off on devouring soldiers or their commanders if they had some musical talent and could amuse them. This trick had allowed dozens of rescues and even ambushes to be set up.

They first tried to enter Densador on their way back but the madness of that place drove them away. So they went to the Grey River and having found a place well situated the commander declared they would found a city there. Music was kept up as method of secret communication. Humming messages, written notes, various tools for dealing with outsiders the whole thing evolved over the centuries to become their main language. They also benifited off of a certain degree of divine patronage. Parad, the Left-Hand of Power, was almost having fits after the Ursupation devested the Terrestial Host. He feared for a renewed period where the Dragonblooded would fuck anything that moved and dilute their blood even more. So he appeared in dreams to various leaders but not many heeded his words being a little bitter at the Gods seeming to do nothing.

Yet she heeded it and has benifited of his patronage. Mostly it has come in the form of his help in choosing husbands ensuring a degree of bloodline stability unknown outside of the Realm or Lookshy. Yet they have never been exactly prolific and with the natural drives of ambition in many who would exalt but were not the eldest daughter some would leave to seek their own fates elsewhere. Still a strong stable population of nobility that has intermingled in many places with the royal families own bloodline. What Dragonblooded exalt from the common folk tend to have been descended of immigrants to the area. Officers did not screw around with the rank and file and that tradition has remained in a way leading to the nobility not chasing peasent or servant girls and boys around for a quick tumble.

Underneath the modest palace lies two things. The royal burial crypts and the last pieces of Shogunate War technology. Each Queen has a customized tattoo on their body, an advanced form of the Cipher Missive and Craft Icon dragonblooded charms that the ancient machines recognize and will respond to. Or maybe they don't. They have never seen any use since they were put away and may no longer be operational. Still the mark is nigh un-copyable and serves as a good way to tell who is, or was, the Queen.

South

The Prosperity Breeze

Hidden in the vast deserts of the south lies an area dominated by these great white columns that stand a hundred meters high each. At the top of each column a great windmill operates slowly churning the winds through the area into essence which powers great machines burried under the sand. Great catwalks and platforms connect this windmills and even after millenia they operate and though weather and time has not ravaged them damage by mortal hands has taken their tole in places. Today various desert tribes battle amongst these windmills to capture which of them they can. Wind is turned to essence which then is turned into various goods. Food, water, metals. The valuables of the desert.

In the First Age though they were set to another task. The complex powered great spiritual drills which worked from Creation into the Labyrinth itself and let the Solars gather materials from that place without leaving the comforts of Creation. The drills could be quite damageing while in operation to the tunnels of that place but since only ghosts were the ones who would be ground to motes and nothing by the machine no one overly cared much.

After the Ursupation the Dragonblooded of the Shogunate repurposed the machines to help feed the many lands of the south. That and they were afraid to try to maintain it as it was and risk turning that strange spiritual device on other realms. Yet the Great Contagion would ravish the south as it would all other lands. The desert seemed to swallow it up and it was lost but to ancient memory and the desert tribes which battle for it.

West

North