-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Interest in Oriental Adventures PbP?
- Thread starter Ariakor
- Start date
First Overview - Geography and Religion (and a little of classes)
Geography - A Guided Tour to the Empire of Qilin
Basicly this region of the world is dominated by the Empire, currently ruled by the Liang Dynasty. The Empire encompasses all lands from the Sea of Thousand Dragons in the East to the Rising Phoenix Mountains in the West, from the steaming jungles of the southern provinces neighbouring the State of Belinquar to the Great Spirit Wall protecting the Empire from the mounting Threat of the Shadowlands in the north. But aside from these two outside threats, the Empire also suffers constantly from pirate attacks on its eastern shores, raiding villages and shipping lanes and fleeing to their hidden bases and strongholds in the myriad of islands known as the Dragon Isles further east. The imperial navy has tried for years to get the pirate problems under control, but after the recent tumult in the capital it seems as if the pirates have grown stronger and bolder than ever before. Beyond the Rising Phoenix Mountains in the west another enemy threatens the Empire’s safety. The Realm of Khem’hasar and its odd flying machines today are no more than a nuisance, but during the reign of Liang Tianlong two bloody wars had been fought among the high peaks and rolling foothills on both sides of the mountains. Today there is peace, but slowly news reach the capital of the border becoming uneasy and of flying machines spotted more and more frequently near imperial territory.
The East
The Eastern Provinces of the Empire, along the coast of the Sea of Thousand Dragons, are rich and densely populated, only surpassed by the wide open Plains of the South and closely followed by the West. Here, at the coast, lies the old centre of power for the Empire. From its sprawling capital of Qijing to the many harbour cities and trade routes, the East is where the economy of the Empire is thriving. Unfortunately, because of these riches, robbery and banditry along the highways has become more and more frequent. The Imperial military frequently patrols these roads, but the farther south one gets the more sparse these patrols become.
The South
The Southern Provinces consist of a mixture of fertile plains and dense woods and jungles, broken up by several small mountain ridges which, the further west one travels, eventually join to form the protective base of the Rising Phoenix Mountains and the Khem highlands. They encompass most of the former lands of the Baoren and Huren, though some of their tribes live beyond the river which forms the border between the Empire and the Nation of Belinquar. During the Rule of the Second Dynasty, several new large cities sprang up in these lands on the open plains and today the tribes of the catfolk live peaceful with the humans that once had conquered them. The ancient remains of the feline civilisation still dot the landscape in the form of ruins left over from the war of conquest as well as their cities and villages old and new among the plains and in the jungles. The catfolk are now full citizens of the Empire but still practice their own religions and customs.
The West
The Western Provinces consist mostly of grassy plains bordered by the Rising Phoenix Mountains and are home to the most skilful of horse breeders in the whole Empire. When the Empire was first united under the rule of the First Dynasty, the people of the West were the most stubborn and difficult to bring into the fold. Their then mostly nomadic tribes, which followed their herds across the land would not easily submit to rule by a far away Emperor and settle down, but eventually they did. When the Realm of Khem’hasar, which spreads to the west of the Rising Phoenix Mountains over the vast Highlands of Khem, attempted to seize the western regions, fierce struggle ensued for years. Even after two unsuccessful invasions during the rule of the First Dynasty they attempted another one, this time using strange constructs and flying machines to try and subdue imperial forces. But this attempt, as well as the others, was beaten back, although at a high price, and from time to time the Realm of Khem’hasar tries to test the imperial vigilance with an incursion, so far unsuccessful. But even today, their threat for the people of the Empire continues, albeit not as strong as in earlier times.
The North
The Northern Provinces are by far the most sparsely populated ones. One reason for this is the rugged terrain: the coast is dominated by sheer cliffs with very few places of safe anchorage in between, while further inland the hills and mountains, which in earlier times had been covered with woods which now have grown rather thin, while rich in minerals, also harbour a great range of dangerous beasts. Most of the people dwelling in the North nowadays are either miners or military personnel, sent to guard the former as well as the borders of the Empire from an incursion by the Shadowlands. These are held at bay by the Great Spirit Wall, erected by the order of Emperor Sima Hua of the First Dynasty. Essentially the Great Spirit Wall is a series of towers connected by a wall almost 80 feet high and infused with the ancient magic of the First Dynasty. Beyond the Wall, the lands are even more rugged and inhospitable. Once they had been part of the Empire or of other kingdoms in the north, but Bloodmagic and Corruption by Demons changed all that to become a visible manifestation of the evil of the Netherworld. The last great attack by the roving hordes of the Shadowlands occurred during the Rule of the Second Dynasty and led to the fall of several of the outlying bastions and forts of the Wall, but none of the primary defences had been breached. After that, the forces of the Shadowlands fell into chaos and warred among themselves or seemed to have lost interest in the Empire altogether. But it seems as if today someone or some is bringing order to the chaos beyond the wall.
The Sea of Thousand Dragons
The Sea of Thousand Dragons is known for its notorious bands of pirates and other sea-going outlaws. While many of the smaller islands are uninhabited, the larger ones in the uncountable island chains dotted throughout the Sea often not only provide food and shelter for one or more tribes of humans and others, they also harbour the strongholds and island retreats of the pirate bands. Most islands in the Sea of Thousand Dragons are volcanic in origin, and several of them still contain one or more active volcanoes. In the southern reaches of the Sea they are mostly covered with steaming jungles like the mainland, but the further north they are the sparser their growth becomes. The three largest of them, surrounded by a ring of smaller islands that are little more than volcanoes jutting out of the Sea, lie just a few miles distant from each other and form the centre of the island civilisations. From there most of the legal trade of the so-called Dragon Islands that reaches the mainland comes, exotic food, materials like obsidian and other stuff not common on the mainland. This trade is also what made the islanders rich, but it also is the reason for the increasing pirate activity, because those that are rich already do not like to share their newfound wealth with others more often than not.
General Layout
The Empire itself is divided into 18 Provinces: 8 along the coast, 4 in the south, 2 in the north and the remaining 4 in the west. Each Province is controlled by a Governor from the local aristocracy, usually a Duke in rank. While the dukes obey directly to the Emperor, their subordinates receive orders from them. This kind of pyramid forms the Celestial Order, with the Emperor as highest-ranking member due to his receiving the Mandate of Heaven for his rule. A weakening of the Empire due to inner and outer threats is most often seen as a sign of the current Emperor having lost (or being about to loose) his Mandate, having angered the spirits of the realm’s ancestors and the three Heavenly Guides.
Religion
The Empire of Qilin has a wide variety of religious practices, but whether or not the people go praying at shrine to their local deities like their ancestors did for generations before them or if they pay homage at the local temples and monasteries of the Heavenly Guides, they all practise, in one way or another, the ancestor worship as laid down during the First Dynasty. The basic principle of this is a lasting respect and reverence of the family’s deceased. Every household has a little shrine where, during religious festivals and on special days, like the birth of a child or the death of a family member, offerings are brought to the ancestors of the family and the Heavenly Guides. These Guides – the Dragon, the Phoenix and the Qilin – represent the divine beings of the heavenly order. They are revered throughout the Empire and are, beside the Imperial Ancestors, the most respected of the inhabitants of the Netherworld. The monasteries and temples house a mixed number of monks and priests (the shugenja) who live, practise study and perform the holy duties of the Heavenly Order. Each of the monasteries is associated with one of the five elements – Air, Earth, Water, Fire and Wood – and each of these perform the holy rites a little different according to the beliefs of their elemental leaning. Earth-aspect temples are more common in the North, while Water-aspect temples frequently are found in the east. Air-aspect temples are more common in the West than anywhere else, while Wood-aspect temples are often found among the human-founded cities of the South. Fire-aspect temples, being directly associated with the Heavenly Guides themselves, are encountered everywhere in the same frequency. It is more common for a region to have a Fire-aspect temple in one of the larger cities, while the smaller temples dedicated to the other elements are found in the more remote regions. Every temple teaches its own style of magic, influenced by the elements and each one practices its own form of martial arts, which help the monks and priests focus their bodies and minds on their holy duties. Monks as well as priests are often encountered on the road, helping people in need, tending to remote shrines and educating the people.
Religious Beliefs of the Catfolk
The Baoren and Huren also practise the imperial religions, but they also have their own religious believes. They are more in tune with nature and the manifold spirits within, surrounding everything and everyone and not bound by any beliefs of associated elements to lend form and function to them. These Nature Spirits, as well as the Tribal Ancestors, are revered in local shrines and temples, often side by side with the human ones. Instead of priests leading the holy rituals, the catfolk have their caste of shamans who are their spiritual leaders and often function as guides to the tribal leaders. They see themselves as the embodiment of the Nature Spirits, as their Media through which they are able to interact with the Living World outside of the Spiritrealm. As such the shamans form an essential part of the catfolk’s culture and, though most of them are catfolk, it is also known of some humans who have heard the call of the Spiritworld and followed down that path. Especially in the cities of the Southern Provinces this seems to happen more and more these days.
The Heavenly Guides and the Ancestors (not only the ancestors of the imperial family but the other ancestors as well) grant the Emperor his right to rule over his realm without questioning his ability. It is the pillar upon which the Emperor’s authority rests and therefore each year on New Year the Emperor performs a ritual at the Imperial Temple at Qijing to renew the Heavenly Mandate of his rule. This ceremony is witnessed by most of the aristocracy who has spent the winter at court in the capital, and the streets surrounding the Imperial Temple are usually crowded with people who show their reverence to the Emperor as spiritual and political leader.
The Mystics
Lastly, a little outside of everything, are those who seek to divine the secrets of the arcane. The Wu-ren, the mystic masters of magic, are a secretive group who form their own guilds within the cities and teach the magical arts to others they find worthy.
Geography - A Guided Tour to the Empire of Qilin
Basicly this region of the world is dominated by the Empire, currently ruled by the Liang Dynasty. The Empire encompasses all lands from the Sea of Thousand Dragons in the East to the Rising Phoenix Mountains in the West, from the steaming jungles of the southern provinces neighbouring the State of Belinquar to the Great Spirit Wall protecting the Empire from the mounting Threat of the Shadowlands in the north. But aside from these two outside threats, the Empire also suffers constantly from pirate attacks on its eastern shores, raiding villages and shipping lanes and fleeing to their hidden bases and strongholds in the myriad of islands known as the Dragon Isles further east. The imperial navy has tried for years to get the pirate problems under control, but after the recent tumult in the capital it seems as if the pirates have grown stronger and bolder than ever before. Beyond the Rising Phoenix Mountains in the west another enemy threatens the Empire’s safety. The Realm of Khem’hasar and its odd flying machines today are no more than a nuisance, but during the reign of Liang Tianlong two bloody wars had been fought among the high peaks and rolling foothills on both sides of the mountains. Today there is peace, but slowly news reach the capital of the border becoming uneasy and of flying machines spotted more and more frequently near imperial territory.
The East
The Eastern Provinces of the Empire, along the coast of the Sea of Thousand Dragons, are rich and densely populated, only surpassed by the wide open Plains of the South and closely followed by the West. Here, at the coast, lies the old centre of power for the Empire. From its sprawling capital of Qijing to the many harbour cities and trade routes, the East is where the economy of the Empire is thriving. Unfortunately, because of these riches, robbery and banditry along the highways has become more and more frequent. The Imperial military frequently patrols these roads, but the farther south one gets the more sparse these patrols become.
The South
The Southern Provinces consist of a mixture of fertile plains and dense woods and jungles, broken up by several small mountain ridges which, the further west one travels, eventually join to form the protective base of the Rising Phoenix Mountains and the Khem highlands. They encompass most of the former lands of the Baoren and Huren, though some of their tribes live beyond the river which forms the border between the Empire and the Nation of Belinquar. During the Rule of the Second Dynasty, several new large cities sprang up in these lands on the open plains and today the tribes of the catfolk live peaceful with the humans that once had conquered them. The ancient remains of the feline civilisation still dot the landscape in the form of ruins left over from the war of conquest as well as their cities and villages old and new among the plains and in the jungles. The catfolk are now full citizens of the Empire but still practice their own religions and customs.
The West
The Western Provinces consist mostly of grassy plains bordered by the Rising Phoenix Mountains and are home to the most skilful of horse breeders in the whole Empire. When the Empire was first united under the rule of the First Dynasty, the people of the West were the most stubborn and difficult to bring into the fold. Their then mostly nomadic tribes, which followed their herds across the land would not easily submit to rule by a far away Emperor and settle down, but eventually they did. When the Realm of Khem’hasar, which spreads to the west of the Rising Phoenix Mountains over the vast Highlands of Khem, attempted to seize the western regions, fierce struggle ensued for years. Even after two unsuccessful invasions during the rule of the First Dynasty they attempted another one, this time using strange constructs and flying machines to try and subdue imperial forces. But this attempt, as well as the others, was beaten back, although at a high price, and from time to time the Realm of Khem’hasar tries to test the imperial vigilance with an incursion, so far unsuccessful. But even today, their threat for the people of the Empire continues, albeit not as strong as in earlier times.
The North
The Northern Provinces are by far the most sparsely populated ones. One reason for this is the rugged terrain: the coast is dominated by sheer cliffs with very few places of safe anchorage in between, while further inland the hills and mountains, which in earlier times had been covered with woods which now have grown rather thin, while rich in minerals, also harbour a great range of dangerous beasts. Most of the people dwelling in the North nowadays are either miners or military personnel, sent to guard the former as well as the borders of the Empire from an incursion by the Shadowlands. These are held at bay by the Great Spirit Wall, erected by the order of Emperor Sima Hua of the First Dynasty. Essentially the Great Spirit Wall is a series of towers connected by a wall almost 80 feet high and infused with the ancient magic of the First Dynasty. Beyond the Wall, the lands are even more rugged and inhospitable. Once they had been part of the Empire or of other kingdoms in the north, but Bloodmagic and Corruption by Demons changed all that to become a visible manifestation of the evil of the Netherworld. The last great attack by the roving hordes of the Shadowlands occurred during the Rule of the Second Dynasty and led to the fall of several of the outlying bastions and forts of the Wall, but none of the primary defences had been breached. After that, the forces of the Shadowlands fell into chaos and warred among themselves or seemed to have lost interest in the Empire altogether. But it seems as if today someone or some is bringing order to the chaos beyond the wall.
The Sea of Thousand Dragons
The Sea of Thousand Dragons is known for its notorious bands of pirates and other sea-going outlaws. While many of the smaller islands are uninhabited, the larger ones in the uncountable island chains dotted throughout the Sea often not only provide food and shelter for one or more tribes of humans and others, they also harbour the strongholds and island retreats of the pirate bands. Most islands in the Sea of Thousand Dragons are volcanic in origin, and several of them still contain one or more active volcanoes. In the southern reaches of the Sea they are mostly covered with steaming jungles like the mainland, but the further north they are the sparser their growth becomes. The three largest of them, surrounded by a ring of smaller islands that are little more than volcanoes jutting out of the Sea, lie just a few miles distant from each other and form the centre of the island civilisations. From there most of the legal trade of the so-called Dragon Islands that reaches the mainland comes, exotic food, materials like obsidian and other stuff not common on the mainland. This trade is also what made the islanders rich, but it also is the reason for the increasing pirate activity, because those that are rich already do not like to share their newfound wealth with others more often than not.
General Layout
The Empire itself is divided into 18 Provinces: 8 along the coast, 4 in the south, 2 in the north and the remaining 4 in the west. Each Province is controlled by a Governor from the local aristocracy, usually a Duke in rank. While the dukes obey directly to the Emperor, their subordinates receive orders from them. This kind of pyramid forms the Celestial Order, with the Emperor as highest-ranking member due to his receiving the Mandate of Heaven for his rule. A weakening of the Empire due to inner and outer threats is most often seen as a sign of the current Emperor having lost (or being about to loose) his Mandate, having angered the spirits of the realm’s ancestors and the three Heavenly Guides.
Religion
The Empire of Qilin has a wide variety of religious practices, but whether or not the people go praying at shrine to their local deities like their ancestors did for generations before them or if they pay homage at the local temples and monasteries of the Heavenly Guides, they all practise, in one way or another, the ancestor worship as laid down during the First Dynasty. The basic principle of this is a lasting respect and reverence of the family’s deceased. Every household has a little shrine where, during religious festivals and on special days, like the birth of a child or the death of a family member, offerings are brought to the ancestors of the family and the Heavenly Guides. These Guides – the Dragon, the Phoenix and the Qilin – represent the divine beings of the heavenly order. They are revered throughout the Empire and are, beside the Imperial Ancestors, the most respected of the inhabitants of the Netherworld. The monasteries and temples house a mixed number of monks and priests (the shugenja) who live, practise study and perform the holy duties of the Heavenly Order. Each of the monasteries is associated with one of the five elements – Air, Earth, Water, Fire and Wood – and each of these perform the holy rites a little different according to the beliefs of their elemental leaning. Earth-aspect temples are more common in the North, while Water-aspect temples frequently are found in the east. Air-aspect temples are more common in the West than anywhere else, while Wood-aspect temples are often found among the human-founded cities of the South. Fire-aspect temples, being directly associated with the Heavenly Guides themselves, are encountered everywhere in the same frequency. It is more common for a region to have a Fire-aspect temple in one of the larger cities, while the smaller temples dedicated to the other elements are found in the more remote regions. Every temple teaches its own style of magic, influenced by the elements and each one practices its own form of martial arts, which help the monks and priests focus their bodies and minds on their holy duties. Monks as well as priests are often encountered on the road, helping people in need, tending to remote shrines and educating the people.
Religious Beliefs of the Catfolk
The Baoren and Huren also practise the imperial religions, but they also have their own religious believes. They are more in tune with nature and the manifold spirits within, surrounding everything and everyone and not bound by any beliefs of associated elements to lend form and function to them. These Nature Spirits, as well as the Tribal Ancestors, are revered in local shrines and temples, often side by side with the human ones. Instead of priests leading the holy rituals, the catfolk have their caste of shamans who are their spiritual leaders and often function as guides to the tribal leaders. They see themselves as the embodiment of the Nature Spirits, as their Media through which they are able to interact with the Living World outside of the Spiritrealm. As such the shamans form an essential part of the catfolk’s culture and, though most of them are catfolk, it is also known of some humans who have heard the call of the Spiritworld and followed down that path. Especially in the cities of the Southern Provinces this seems to happen more and more these days.
The Heavenly Guides and the Ancestors (not only the ancestors of the imperial family but the other ancestors as well) grant the Emperor his right to rule over his realm without questioning his ability. It is the pillar upon which the Emperor’s authority rests and therefore each year on New Year the Emperor performs a ritual at the Imperial Temple at Qijing to renew the Heavenly Mandate of his rule. This ceremony is witnessed by most of the aristocracy who has spent the winter at court in the capital, and the streets surrounding the Imperial Temple are usually crowded with people who show their reverence to the Emperor as spiritual and political leader.
The Mystics
Lastly, a little outside of everything, are those who seek to divine the secrets of the arcane. The Wu-ren, the mystic masters of magic, are a secretive group who form their own guilds within the cities and teach the magical arts to others they find worthy.
Last edited:
Nephtys
First Post
The setting looks great, the only problem is that I don't own OA... Could I play a core class? A druid would require only minor adjustments to fit in a chinese setting. By removing the (celtic-inspired) weapon-restrictions, adjusting the animals available for wild shape, and playing the ethos with an eastern flavour one could make it fit nicely. Perhaps one could remove the armore proficiencies and replace them with a monk-like AC-bonus from wisdom.
Otherwise I could just play a monk (renaming Ki back to Chi), or a Wuxia from your link. I'd prefer a spellcaster, though, since I find them more interesting to play.
Otherwise I could just play a monk (renaming Ki back to Chi), or a Wuxia from your link. I'd prefer a spellcaster, though, since I find them more interesting to play.
well, a druid should be fine with me, but make the following changes: proficient only in simple weapons, no armor or shield proficiencies and change wild empathy to "spirit empathy" because, like the shaman from OA which would almost fill the role of the druid in that case (but this guy can't shapechange, has instead a flurry attack like monk), this variant druid is more attuned to the nature spirits of his surroundings and can communicate with these rather than with the wild animals. he still gets an animal companion and can shapechange as per standard rules, though in regards to the shapes you should select some appropriate for the setting. best would be if you make a short list and send it to me (or attach it to your character later in the rogue gallery). to make up for the lost armor proficiencies i would give this character a ac bonus equal to his wisdom modifier like the monk. the only "problem" in-game is that a character like this would be more likely to have come from the southern parts of the realm and therefore could be a bit "uncomfortable" with the rest of the group in the beginning, depending on their choice of characters.
cheers, Ariakor
p.s.: further background info following soon
cheers, Ariakor
p.s.: further background info following soon
Nephtys
First Post
Ariakor said:
Sounds great. And if I understand traditional chinese animism correctly (which I probably don't) the character should be able to work together with a group devoted to the Empire. The "Mandate of Heaven" is strongly connected to harmony with the spirits of the land (since natural disasters caused by the natural spirits would demonstrate a loss of the emperor's mandate). As long as the Emperor keeps his mandate my character would consider him to be in harmony with nature. An attunement to the spirits of the land wouldn't automatically make the character an enemy of civilization (afaik).
That reasoning could even be extended to make my character strongly loyal to the Empire (though I'm still toying with different ideas for the character). Since the Empire alone holds the Mandate of Heaven/Nature the enemies of the Empire would also be the enemies of Heaven and Nature.
i guess you're right on with that. i guess i was a bit unclear on the "uncomfortable" part. In generally a druidic character (with a background in one of the Southern Provinces) is probably just uincomfortable with all the civilised practices people from other parts of the empire have. but that should only be a minor obstacle, since the EMpire in its current form has existed for several generations already And on two occasions, when it became clear that the Emperor had lost the Mandate of Heaven, the people were obliged, so to speak, to remove the corrupted an stagnant dynasty and replace it with one that was better for the Empire in general. So this was mostly done by the nobility, but the people in general felt it when the Mandate of the current Dynasty neared its end and this also found its expression in further unrust within and without.
So a character like this could indeed be loyal to the Empire as such, but not necesserely to the Imperial Dynasty (if justified, and such a character should get a feeling of growing instability in the real world as well as in the Spirit Realms).
And your view towards other realms should be correct as well.
I'm sorry that it takes me so long to post further background info, i just happened to have a lot more work for university comming my way then expected. nevertheless i should be able to post more infos (probably on the people of the empire and their culture, to help with character ideas) within the next day. if you want information on a specific topic, just post it here.
So a character like this could indeed be loyal to the Empire as such, but not necesserely to the Imperial Dynasty (if justified, and such a character should get a feeling of growing instability in the real world as well as in the Spirit Realms).
And your view towards other realms should be correct as well.
I'm sorry that it takes me so long to post further background info, i just happened to have a lot more work for university comming my way then expected. nevertheless i should be able to post more infos (probably on the people of the empire and their culture, to help with character ideas) within the next day. if you want information on a specific topic, just post it here.
ok, here it is:
characters atart at 4th level, 32 point-byu for attributes, standard gold for equipment for a 4th level character (54oo gp), all core classes in OA except for the samurai (this needs some changes in background, but could be taken as well, otherwise) and including the wuxia-class from the WotC-Boards i linked to earlier (as well as the druid with the above changes). all characters should have an affilation with the empire in common or it should at least be possible for them to work together with imperial PCs, if from different background. allowed races are humans, the spirit folk and nezumi from OA and the baoren and huren from my "races" post. You can use material from all 3.5 core books, the complete series, Oa and Rokugan campaign setting as wel as the forgotten realms books.
any other questions regarding charcter creation?
cheers, Ariakor
characters atart at 4th level, 32 point-byu for attributes, standard gold for equipment for a 4th level character (54oo gp), all core classes in OA except for the samurai (this needs some changes in background, but could be taken as well, otherwise) and including the wuxia-class from the WotC-Boards i linked to earlier (as well as the druid with the above changes). all characters should have an affilation with the empire in common or it should at least be possible for them to work together with imperial PCs, if from different background. allowed races are humans, the spirit folk and nezumi from OA and the baoren and huren from my "races" post. You can use material from all 3.5 core books, the complete series, Oa and Rokugan campaign setting as wel as the forgotten realms books.
any other questions regarding charcter creation?
cheers, Ariakor
Last edited:
Character moved to the Rogue's Gallery
Last edited:
