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<blockquote data-quote="covaithe" data-source="post: 4607953" data-attributes="member: 46559"><p>The Kingdom of Jade was Graf's idea, originally, and I think he had some ideas about fleshing it out, but real life seems to have eaten him. I hope he'll come back someday, but it's probably best not to wait on him for any of this. </p><p></p><p>There are a few more sources of information on KoJ than what's in the wiki page, with varying degrees of canon-ness. There's a discussion starting <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/living-4th-edition/241308-new-discussion-thread-12.html#post4507115" target="_blank">here</a> in the discussion thread with some ideas. To summarize briefly based on my understanding of the general idea, the KoJ represents a realm under constant threat by an outside force, the Oni. It is the remnant of an older, larger, empire, that is mostly decayed and corrupted by the Oni's influence. The Oni attack physically, but also indirectly through the concept of "taint", which is sort of like a contagious evil disease or something. The dragonborn who rule KoJ now resist taint by adhering to a strict code of honor, bushido-style; the idea being that you fall to taint more easily by giving in to temptation, and that death, especially death in combat, is preferable to corruption. The genasi nobility are a remnant of the ruling class of the earlier empire; they have limited power, but great wealth, and are accorded respect by the dragonborn as part of the code of honor. The model is the Japanese Shogunate, where the "Emperor" was worshipped like a god, but the country was run by the shoguns for hundreds of years. </p><p></p><p>Also, there are a few characters with good backgrounds set in KoJ; I'd hate for any fleshing-out to step on that. </p><p></p><p>There are rumors and rumblings of various people contemplating an adventure set in KoJ. (Ozymandias? Is this you? I can't remember, and ENWorld's stupid PM system won't let me keep older PMs.)</p><p></p><p>Some random thoughts of my own: </p><p></p><p>- We've generally avoided creating detailed histories for L4W regions, mostly because the purpose of the setting is to be open and flexible, a platform for DMs to create in and improvise from, rather than a fully detailed setting a la Forgotten Realms. If we write down a detailed history, and then a DM who wasn't part of the discussion wants to run an adventure that contradicts that history, what do we do? One solution that I've advocated that finesses the issue is that any history we write down is an in-game concept, written by an NPC historian. As such, <em>it might be wrong</em>. The historian may have lied, or been ignorant of the real meaning of events, or just be making stuff up to sell books to the gullible. </p><p></p><p>- The MM list the Oni as natural humanoids, as opposed to outsiders or immortals. I imagine them as yet another race of funny-looking humanoids, like goblins or elves. I don't think we have an origin story for them, but I'm not sure we really need one. And the question of why exactly they're so evil and have this taint power, is probably one best left mysteriously unanswered. </p><p></p><p>- "How long has the war been going on?" Well, we know that the Dragonborn have been ruling for at least 100 years, and that before that the empire grew gradually more and more corrupt. Was it taint, or was it just the inevitable corruption that overtakes established institutions over time? Again, possibly better left mysterious. But we can probably say that the war has been going on openly for more than a century, and covertly for longer than that. This probably also covers the questions about when the emperor's betrayal was, and what happened to the Iron General (i.e. he held things together long enough to establish a stable remnant of the earlier empire, establish the code of honor, and died of old age a long time ago.)</p><p></p><p>- I think it would be nice to keep a fairly eastern flavor to the KoJ, a la <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/living-4th-edition/241308-new-discussion-thread-13.html#post4509807" target="_blank">this post</a>. </p><p></p><p>I don't want to close the conversation, I'm just trying to clarify what-has-come-before.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="covaithe, post: 4607953, member: 46559"] The Kingdom of Jade was Graf's idea, originally, and I think he had some ideas about fleshing it out, but real life seems to have eaten him. I hope he'll come back someday, but it's probably best not to wait on him for any of this. There are a few more sources of information on KoJ than what's in the wiki page, with varying degrees of canon-ness. There's a discussion starting [url=http://www.enworld.org/forum/living-4th-edition/241308-new-discussion-thread-12.html#post4507115]here[/url] in the discussion thread with some ideas. To summarize briefly based on my understanding of the general idea, the KoJ represents a realm under constant threat by an outside force, the Oni. It is the remnant of an older, larger, empire, that is mostly decayed and corrupted by the Oni's influence. The Oni attack physically, but also indirectly through the concept of "taint", which is sort of like a contagious evil disease or something. The dragonborn who rule KoJ now resist taint by adhering to a strict code of honor, bushido-style; the idea being that you fall to taint more easily by giving in to temptation, and that death, especially death in combat, is preferable to corruption. The genasi nobility are a remnant of the ruling class of the earlier empire; they have limited power, but great wealth, and are accorded respect by the dragonborn as part of the code of honor. The model is the Japanese Shogunate, where the "Emperor" was worshipped like a god, but the country was run by the shoguns for hundreds of years. Also, there are a few characters with good backgrounds set in KoJ; I'd hate for any fleshing-out to step on that. There are rumors and rumblings of various people contemplating an adventure set in KoJ. (Ozymandias? Is this you? I can't remember, and ENWorld's stupid PM system won't let me keep older PMs.) Some random thoughts of my own: - We've generally avoided creating detailed histories for L4W regions, mostly because the purpose of the setting is to be open and flexible, a platform for DMs to create in and improvise from, rather than a fully detailed setting a la Forgotten Realms. If we write down a detailed history, and then a DM who wasn't part of the discussion wants to run an adventure that contradicts that history, what do we do? One solution that I've advocated that finesses the issue is that any history we write down is an in-game concept, written by an NPC historian. As such, [i]it might be wrong[/i]. The historian may have lied, or been ignorant of the real meaning of events, or just be making stuff up to sell books to the gullible. - The MM list the Oni as natural humanoids, as opposed to outsiders or immortals. I imagine them as yet another race of funny-looking humanoids, like goblins or elves. I don't think we have an origin story for them, but I'm not sure we really need one. And the question of why exactly they're so evil and have this taint power, is probably one best left mysteriously unanswered. - "How long has the war been going on?" Well, we know that the Dragonborn have been ruling for at least 100 years, and that before that the empire grew gradually more and more corrupt. Was it taint, or was it just the inevitable corruption that overtakes established institutions over time? Again, possibly better left mysterious. But we can probably say that the war has been going on openly for more than a century, and covertly for longer than that. This probably also covers the questions about when the emperor's betrayal was, and what happened to the Iron General (i.e. he held things together long enough to establish a stable remnant of the earlier empire, establish the code of honor, and died of old age a long time ago.) - I think it would be nice to keep a fairly eastern flavor to the KoJ, a la [URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/living-4th-edition/241308-new-discussion-thread-13.html#post4509807"]this post[/URL]. I don't want to close the conversation, I'm just trying to clarify what-has-come-before. [/QUOTE]
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