Kunakura
A two-bit kingdom several days south of the territory of Greyfalls, on the western bank of the Lesser Rock River. Though beloved by its people, the kingdom is ailing. It is not rich enough to afford an Outcaste champion, nor mighty enough to compel tribute from ships on the Lesser Rock. It survives only because of the dubious mercy of its Fair Folk neighbor.
The people of Kunakura show their remote Nuri ancestry in the cadence of their names and a tendency for tawny skin. Green hair is rare, but seen as a lucky sign. Kunakurans welcome trade with the Guild, but have not adopted the silver standard. Relations with Greyfalls are cordial. In truth, Greyfalls would have annexed Kunakura long ago, if the region wasn't more trouble than it’s worth.
Places of Note
Sedasen: A port town on the Lesser Rock, Sedasen is all most travelers see of this kingdom. It plays the charade of a mining town, but most of its residents have never seen the inside of the kingdom’s tin mines. Dream-eaten slaves toil away in the hills, and the townsfolk of Sedasen grow fat on their labor.
The Spring Fastness: More commonly referred to as “Mobo’s temple,” the Immaculate monastery is an hour’s ride south of Sedasen, near to the tin mines. Over a century old, the Fastness’s purpose is to seal off a nearby shadowland. The monks have build several pavilions and playgrounds near the border, inviting the living to come and push back the darkness. At night, the pavilions are empty and the Immaculates patrol the shadowland’s border, led by Mobo, a mighty Earth outcaste born in Sedasen over a century ago. The Spring Fastness is his life’s work, and he is largely successful - the shadowland is now barely more than a single blighted hill, ringed with jade warding talismans on poles.
Sweat and Tears Stronghold: A Guild slave citadel far north of Sedasen, off the beaten path and on the border of Greyfalls’ territory. The surrounding territory is highly unsafe, patrolled by tribes of lion-men. These barbarians capture the unwary and drag them to their home to the west as meals for their Fair Folk master. The wretched dream-eaten are then sold to the slave citadel, where they are processed and sold in turn to populate Kunakura’s tin mines. It is an ugly secret of the Stronghold that the lion-men capture people from the western side of Kunakura and sell their husks to their neighbors on the Eastern side.
Monitor: This ancient keep is the seat of the king. Its walls and the cobblestone roads around the area are meticulously kept at great expense. No new buildings are ever constructed. There are no maps of Monitor; any found are swiftly destroyed. A census is taken of this region weekly; the king will sometimes compel his subjects to relocate to or from his castle and the small town that surrounds it. Monitor is a massive geomantic seal that holds an ancient beast slumbering in the earth below. The population is part of the seal’s equation; it must be kept constant or the beast awakens. Only the king knows this secret.
The Howling Canopy: A Wyld zone to the west of Monitor, equivalent to a bordermarch in strength. It is a lush and venomous jungle, in stark contrast to the temperate hills that surround it. The Canopy is home to the lion-man tribes and the fae lord who rules them. They vastly outnumber the mercenary band that defends Kunakura’s borders. The lion-men have not invaded, however, because of an arrangement made with the mercenaries: the border patrols “accidentally” miss a few rounds, allowing the lion-men to capture fresh entertainment for their master. The dream-eaten the lion-men sell to the Guild then serve to prop up the kingdom’s failing economy. The mercenary captain hates this arrangement, but can see no way out of it.
