Tales of the Exalted

Carts laden with lumber, crops, and ore—escorted by soldiers to ward off bandits, wild beasts, elementals, and foraging enemy troops—trundle past vine-draped ruins and haunted woodlands to converge on the gaily-painted gates of market towns. Brown-water ships haul cargoes down labyrinthine tributaries of the Yanaze River to the crowded cities of the Scavenger Lands. The bustling alchemy of urban life turns grain to bread, lumber to houses, and ore to cups, statues, horseshoes, and plowshares—and spears to fuel the endless wars of the East’s numberless principalities. This rich, populous realm has been a cradle of civilization since humanity’s dawn, and First Age ruins still yield wealth to scavengers canny enough to master their perils. Folk of the Scavenger Lands twice joined forces under the Dragon-Blooded soldiers of Lookshy to repel the Realm’s legions, and by dint of magic, numbers, and tenacity, they prevailed—albeit at bloody cost. Today they remain a thorn in the Dynasty’s side. But without immediate external threat, the military powers of the Scavenger Lands turn against one another. Queens and merchant princes drag their people into war over land, wealth, slaves, glory, or spite. With each war’s end, refugees and unemployed soldiers become bandits and mercenaries. Any thicket-flanked road or narrow defile may host ambush. This chaos offers fertile soil for the strong, charismatic or clever—bounty hunters, scavengers, assassins and thieves, thugs, pretenders, charlatans and swindlers— to rise above their station, winning coin or crown sufficient to place heroes and petty gods at their call.

As one heads farther east, the polities of the western Scavenger Lands give way to the morass of principalities called the Hundred Kingdoms. A hundred foreign powers have conquered the region over the centuries; a hundred minor empires have risen and fallen. From the rich soil of this history has grown a riotous garden of cultures, aesthetics and governments. Here power lies fragmented across citystates, petty tyrannies, theocracies, communes, and other political structures all couched amid mountains, forests, steep river valleys, marshes, and heath —terrain too wild to easily tame but too rich to ignore.

Of all the cities of Vaneha—that rich mountainous country in the triangle between the Yellow and Maruto rivers— the capital city of Jibei is the most beautiful and most storied. It is the City of the Sword, home to the Imperial Daiklave that legitimizes the rule of Sword Prince Gensuji. Vaneha’s finest warriors and weaponsmiths—ranked among the best in the world—live and labor here at the Sword Prince’s command. This is a land arrayed by clans, and so long as Gensuji holds members of each clan’s ruling family hostage, he is its master.
The city of Jibei spreads downhill from the Sword Prince’s dragon-backed manse, its winding avenues lined with dogwood and weeping cherry. Hedgerows and elegant gardens encircle the manors of the clan lords; these mute the rasp of carpenters’ saws, grunts and kiais of sparring warriors, and bustle of merchants trading at the markets for swords, fish, rice, and jade. From balconies one may
watch clouds of birds rise above the marshes encircling Agate Lake—beneath whose waters divers extract from drowned mines the sacred metal used in Vanehan
bladecraft—or see waterfalls cascading down from the sacred mountain Ama-ni-Traya, the enormous forested peak that Vaneha’s people call the center of the world. To hold off the jungle tribes that raid from the Far East, Vanehan laborers expand and extend the Great Palisade, a wall of sharpened boles running for hundreds of miles along the realm’s eastern edge. Keeping the tribes at bay allows Vaneha’s warriors to focus their efforts on a more profitable opponent: the Hundred Kingdoms. Vaneha’s people have invaded that region many times before, even ruled it in the past as a conquering power. Now the Sword Prince raises the Imperial Daiklave to direct the clans northward once more.

Nomadic Horsemen of the Steppe. Their clans were united uner Khal Shono, a Dragon Blood with a dream of conquering the 100 Kingdoms under one banner. They're based obviously on Mongols. The Khal of Khals, as he is known, is very accepting of other Cultures, though there is a growing concern he shuns his own "barbaric" culture after spending so much time among civilized peoples.

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Based on works like Tenchu and Ninja Scroll, though also based on the real Koga and Iga shinobi. They're also strangely superstitious, living in a Forrest. They violently disrupted the Horde's conquest of their lands for nearly three years, gaining a reputation as demons among the Temujin, until one day coming out of the shadows and welcoming their new Lords, claiming an Omen said they should.

Based on West African cultures who view Blacksmiths as having powerful magics (and in this case likely true). Tribal warriors living in a plains area. Fought till only a few tribes remained before finally surrendering to the Horde. Now serve as blacksmiths for the entire Empire, making both Mortal and Exalted weapons.

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A group of City states based on Mesoamerican peoples. Their population, and culture was in decline when the Horde came because of corrupt sorcerer-priests who lead them into extravagant human sacrifice rituals. With the help or a Lunar lead rebellion, the Khal's forces managed to cast down the sorcerers and their demon allies. The Nahuatl pledged to join the Empire and are rewarded with fresh foes to sacrifice to their new Khal.

Government: Matriarichal Monarchy with a complex supporting bureaucracy. The rules is referred to as "The Great Mother"

The overarching theme of the kingdom is "mother knows best" other aspects of the kingdom often refer to family relationships (although very twisted)

There is no marriage in the kingdom; instead the mother directly, or through her bureaucrats direct couples to mate based on desirable traits. All children are then taken after birthing and raised in communal creches. In each creche is a monstrous "wet nurse" a soft slug-like creature with eight arms and several dozen breasts that feeds the children. The milk of the wet nurse also serves to mentally condition / bind anyone who consumes it to view the Great Mother as their literal mother, rather than the person who birthed them. Everyone else in the kingdom are brothers and sisters (the one exception being very high level bureaucrats who are Aunts and Uncles). From the creche each child is assigned a caste based on its performance. The result is a several small, but highly elite and effective professional castes, which a larger base of menial workers.

The kingdom fell despite having a an elite fighting force from the warrior caste,. The military was designed to engage the threats of the surrounding kingdoms, not a massive horde. The great Mother, rather than sacrificing all of her children in a vain attempt to resist, challenged the horde to single combat . Both champions were slain, but the Champion of An-Tir succumbed to his wounds first. True to her word the Great Mother pledged her allegiance to the growing empire.

The kingdom of An-Tir instead of just exporting high quality goods, now exports some of its most proficient caste members to train and assist other kingdoms, in exchange for lower taxes to the horde.

Fu Tien's most valuable asset is that it is a breadbasket kingdom. It controls many hectares of fertile farmland that produce rice, and many other staple grains. A few sleepy hamlets provide gathering spots out in the fields and paddies. It is most known for its one large city, Shen-Fan the capital. It is here that the kingdom receives its nickname.

Any public building, be it government, or commercial never closes. Availability is the number one priority within the city. Needless to say the city is a place of constant trade, business, and entertainment.

A position within the city, be it store owner or government official is not attributed to a person, it is attributed to a mask of office. The dynamic this causes is that an important position is usually filled by two or three people who share a mask of the position. However, this causes several interesting effects.

The first: Social status is determined by mask. Higher positions, and the wealthy have ornate masks. These are passed down as heirlooms, and a reputations cling to masks across generations.

The Second: One person may have several masks. It is not uncommon for a ruler to don another mask and conduct intrigue, or slum to either find out first hand the thoughts of the commoner, or to seek vice with impunity.

The third: Duel relationships develop between people and the masks, with sometimes even best friends turning to bitter rivals and vice versa depending upon the mask they wear.

The fourth: Not everyone wears a mask. The assumption is that this person is a foreigner or a poor peasant. While courtesy all proper courtesy is given (after all, they have money to spend or they wouldn't be here) they are considered to have no real importance until they can acquire one.

On the edge of the Scavenger lands along the Yellow River lies one of the many gems of the 100 kingdoms. Terenuthis is know as the fruitful city, a venerable breadbasket of the east, the great kingdom is known for its sprawling orchards and exports of fruits. Nexus, Lookshy and even the Blessed Isle receive shipments of their high quality produce, often enlisting shippers that have air dragons in order to keep the fruit at its prime until it reaches their destination. The city also has a large drying and canning market, which is also shipped to other locals. It's not unheard of for nobles all the way across the world to pay high prices for some of the peaches or plums from their famous orchards.

The people worship the hundred gods and have a large temple district surrounding the palace but it has attracted the special attention of two gods which the city considers their patrons. Persica, the deer goddess of fruitful abundance and the great stag Vertumnus, God of seasons and growth. During the late winter, spring and early summer the city pays homage mostly to Persica, while worship shifts to Vertumnus during the end of the harvest season and throughout winter.

Behind the royal palace lays the vast walled garden known as the Sacred Orchard if a Fruits. Traditionally only members of the royal family or priesthood may enter although other guests in the palace have been known to enter. The trees here continuously bare fruit from any part of the known Realm and some that can only be found there. Some are even said to have magical properties if harvested correctly.

There are two famous festivals in the city of Terenuthis aside from Calibration, the Shedding of the Petals and the Reaping of the Orchard. These are the only two times the townsfolk are permitted to enter the Sacred Orchard of a Thousand Fruits.

The spring festival, Shedding of Petals only those seeking the favor from Persica may enter as request a task from her. Those she deems worthy due to their pure intentions will get a quest fitting their station. A young peasant my only be asked to fetch her water while a warrior may be told to slay bandits harassing one of the villages. Union completion of their task, the Goddess will grant them with a single white peach from her horns. The peach has a deep red flesh and is to be given to the object of the quester’s affections and sharing it is said to bring the couple fortune. The season following is known for its many weddings.

During the last part of harvest the Orchard is opened once more. Now the fruits of the trees have become fully ripe and many have lost their magic properties. The entire city works together to clear the ripe fruit from the branches and tend to the trees as needed before spending days drying and canning the goods mostly for personal use. Many people will pay a fortune's worth of jade to get a single small jar of such fruit.

Until the Temujin occupation the city was relatively peaceful, supported by the surrounding nations that it fed. It was also ruled by the same family, one that could trace its wood dragon bloodlines back to the Usurpation. The blood has run thin and few dragons were born into the family, the last one was one of the young princes that was slain when the Khal attacked the city. Now the last members of the family are the aging high priestess and the young ward of the Khal, Princess Callista.

One of the 3 Kingdoms of the Han Dynasty

One of the 3 Kingdoms of the Han Dynasty

A large city state surrounded by a wall of a scale and scope rarely seen in the Scavenger Lands. It is lead by it's Dragon-King, supposed immortal ruler and his council of Magi. Also renown for the skill of it's marital artists, art and technology.
So far Shu Han has proven invulnerable to the Khal of Khal's ambitions.

Lyonesse is one of the farthest civilized cities on the yellow River, residing on one of its final forks before it ends in the scavenger lands. The city is know for many things but across the lands it is legendary for one thing: ships. To some it would soon odd that something many vessels were crafted so far inland, but those folks have never have the pleasure of sailing on a Lyonesse ship. Their proximity to the pole of Wood give their craftsmen access to a variety of woods, both mundane and enchanted. Their use of ironwood makes some of the strongest and fastest ships in the land. It historically is well known for its vast navy and powerful army, but until the last 5 years or so was relatively peaceful. This is one reason that the Khal’s army has not reached so far, that and ships do not interest him as much as other gems of the area. Further gossip, the original crown prince disappeared shortly after his 18th birthday, assumed to have shirked his duties over 10 years ago, leaving his younger brother to take the throne. The land has began to reinforce their armies, and it is unknown whether it is from the threat of invasion or signs that they are preparing attacks themselves. (More to come)

A Realm foothold in the 100 Kingdoms.
The city that was lost then found. Out east of Greyfalls and on the edge of the 100 kingdoms lies the small city of Tírnanog. Once it was a thriving metropolis held by the Realm that served as a way point for travelers from the Scavenger lands to the north east but one day it just vanished. Several hundred years passed and for no reason, the city just reappeared. It seemed as if more than a few hundred years had gone by in the city and had changed. The Realm took note of this and sent a small legion to retake the city in their name. Once there, they found that Tírnanog had been used by a Rakasha princess as her playground but recently abandoned it for bigger things. Systematically the Wyld Hunt weeded out the civilians with mutations and obvious fae blood, although many of the people are still hauntingly beautiful with intensely colored features as well as pointed ears. Satisfied with their task, they left the city to be run by their proxy, Cathak Sonek a recently disgraced Dynast. The city, used to worshiping the Rakasha, took to idolizing their new governor and likewise, the disenchanted Dragon Blood began entrenching himself in their ways.