Kamigawa
May 17, 2019 1:53:23 GMT -6
Post by Amanojyaku on May 17, 2019 1:53:23 GMT -6
There are stories of a remote crystal sphere, a twisting skein of Umbra and Materium much like the Abyss in miniature drifting about the edges of the Wheel. It doesn't appear on any star chart. Passing spelljammers report a feeling of being watched intently on the approach, of great untrusting eyes in the Umbra on them at all times. This is Kamigawa, where tradition is law, and visitors merely tolerated.
Kakuriyo and Utsushiyo
From the void, Kamigawa resembles nothing so much as a symbol of duality, the Umbra and the Materium whirling about each other in an endless dance. The two are very much symbiotic here; spirits abound in the Materium and mortals just as easily finding themselves wandering into the Umbra. The fact is, on Kamigawa the Umbra is as much a fact of life as running water or the necessity of fractal-edged swords.
In the utsushiyo, the Materium, much of Kamigawa is rural, dotted with shrines to the major spirits associated with a given region. Very rarely are lands developed more than is strictly necessary, for fear of offending the local spirits, and even farming is approached with caution. Mining and dredging are practices only undertaken on the smaller of the two continents, where the locals and spirits are much more cavalier about their dealings; most of the materials used in Towabara are imported from either the Sokenzan mountains or from other crystal spheres entirely.
In the kakuriyo, the Umbra, even these rare appearances of mortal life are gone. The spiritual reflections of the lands are pristine, beautiful and idyllic representations of their material counterparts. The small shrines in the utsushiyo are grand palaces for their spirits in the kakuriyo, host to a scattering of mortal servants, while other rare mortals live the lives of hermits.
Inhabitants of Kamigawa
Kamigawa is noted for having a large number of sapients among its native inhabitants, with an equally large amount of either convergent or divergent evolution to support them. Fox-like kitsune-bito live out a near-tribal existence at the northwestern edge of the larger continent, where the plains of Towabara meet the outer edges of the Jukai Forest, though they manage to inveigle themselves into nearly every capacity available in Kamigawa. Their neighbors to the north are the orochi-bito, who live in the deep forest. Very few of the serpent folk venture outside the jungle, as their tribal chiefs fear the corruption of outsiders to a much greater degree than do the gregarious foxes.
To the east of Towabara lies the salt desert of Minamo, periodically flooded by the sea. Minamo is a land given over entirely to the kami; almost nothing of the utsushiyo can actually live there. Rather, most of the "inhabitants" live far above it; Kamigawa's moon Otawara is directly over the region at perigee. Otawara itself is a shard of the kakuriyo, a palace world given over to the soratami-bito from which (they think) they have divine right to rule over the world below them.
The smaller northern continent is divided between a more mountainous southern region and a bitter swamp to the north. The three-eyed satori-bito call the highest peaks home, while the nezumi-bito skulk in the fens. Hulking o-bakemono can be found all across the northern continent, calling to proper daemons rather than to the mere spirits the rest of Kamigawa ascribe to divinity. Notably, on Kamigawa tieflings (called oni) are an almost naturally-occurring race, that occur as a result of Umbral influence on corpses in the northern continent. Kamigawan tieflings invariably have three eyes regardless of the corpse possessed, though the third is non-functional, as a result of the possessing spirit's denial of its home in the kakuriyo.
Finally, of course, humans infest every corner, screwing up perfectly good bloodlines as they go. While most of them came down with the big megacorporations and stay in Eiganjo as a result, there are always some who think they can strike off better elsewhere... a second city in Minamo, monks living with the orochi in Jukai, gangers trying to push around the scum in Takenuma, you name it. Fortunately for the kakuriyo, most of them aren't smart enough to avoid hacking off something they really shouldn't.
Towabara
The central plains of the larger southern continent still bear the scars of the Second Spirit War, a bleak event of centuries triggered by the arrival of a certain megacorporation. Much of the land immediately surrounding Eiganjo still bears visible craters, many of which have been clustered enough to form small lakes as the rains returned. Much of the wildlife has been replaced by strange megafauna, as if the kakuriyo still doesn't trust the invaders in their walled city to the south.
The kitsune-bito are the native tribe of the plains, though they mostly live to the northwest, where the plains give way to the outer edges of the vast Jukai Forest. They were among the first to accept the newcomers, not only bringing their own sorcerous crafts to trade, but also teaching the naive Maliwan Corporation the rites to properly appease the spirits of Araba, where their hab unit settled. The fox folk usually avoid the city, finding the outsiders' buildings sterile and confusing, though a few small numbers have settled in with their new friends.
Eiganjo
The city of Eiganjo is the habitation unit of one of the few worldships in the Maliwan Corporation's fleet, carefully placed onto the ruins of a city near the southern coast of the larger continent more than a thousand years ago, occupying a few square kilometers of the scarred Towabara plains. This, as many of the locals will tell you, was the trigger for the Second Spirit War, as Maliwan proceeded to stake claim to the world without fully understanding the balance it had been in for eons. The city of the hab unit was ultimately rechristened for the city it had been landed on as a part of the tribute to the spirits Maliwan had offended, and so Maliwan accepted the rituals to appease them in return for the Syrneth artifacts this allowed them to freely remove from the lands they had claimed. And so Maliwan's CEO took on the title of daimyo of Towabara.
Eiganjo is a walled city, safe from wandering spirits and other beasts that inhabit the plains, but it has a population far larger than the external measurements should allow for. Naturally, the city is larger on the inside; a small lake and several acres of arable land fill the western half of the hab unit, while the eastern side is given over to urban needs... a labyrinth of business, industrial, and habitation districts surround the great Spire and administration district from which Maliwan conducts their business. A rather large section to the east of the Spire is used as a spaceport, with an underground hangar beneath for maintaining the various mecha employed by the megacorporation's exploratory teams.
The vast majority of Eiganjo's inhabitants are humans, arriving with shuttles from Maliwan or other corporations hoping to gain a toehold in Kamigawa. Others include elves, eldarin, and the occasional aasimar bodyguard, though all are considered to be gaijin; only those few still alive who arrived with Daimyo Kaguya are considered to be natives.
Jukai
The northwestern end of the southern continent is a massive temperate forest, easily the part of this crystal sphere where the veil between the two worlds is thinnest. The kami of the trees are omnipresent, readily available to answer those who pray with the intent to listen, and always there in support of the orochi-bito who call the forest home. The beasts of the forest seem strangely united in their distrust and aggression toward outsiders, which some take to be the reason why the fox folk don't venture very deep into the woods, or why there are so few signs of "civilized" habitation.
In all actuality, this is due more to the native orochi-bito being insular and xenophobic, as well as just not needing the same creature comforts as the mammals who share their world. The serpent folk viciously persecute outsiders who trespass in their lands, driving them off or capturing them as offerings to the local beast-gods. It is said, however, that some outsiders are accepted; that a monastery-shrine long thought ruined stands in the deep Jukai where the monks they accept dwell.
The veracity of such stories may forever be in doubt, as even those orochi who break from their tribes to venture into the invaders' city don't love them enough to volunteer such information. The gaijin, for their part, often don't care enough to ask.
Minamo
The desolate salt pans to the eastern end of the southern continent are very much a major disappointment to those who would explore them. There is no native wildlife save for the occasional ocean fish washed up on the lower floodplain, only the odd stray kami exploring its vast tract of salt. Unlike the ruins in Towabara, there's very little in the way of artifacts to be found, only various flavors of salt harvested (with the proper rituals for appeasement, of course) for use in Eiganjo's projects.
As with most places, humans have a distressing habit of forcing themselves to live where they're not wanted; a lone building, constructed on a mountain overlooking the floodplain, gives the region its name. Minamo is a place for learning about the crystal sphere that its builders found themselves in, for piercing the veil between worlds and safely studying how they both work. While it is unfortunately difficult for supplies to be run between the academy and Eiganjo, Minamo has been very lucky to receive a blessing from another, higher place...
Oboro
Otawara, Kamigawa's moon, enjoys a close orbit at the best of times, but at its nearest, it passes directly over the Minamo Academy. Where most moons are barren orbs good only for their albedo in planetary night, Otawara is a kingdom in itself, and its capital is Oboro. It is the seat of the soratami-bito, a rabbit-like tribe who claim to be demigods overseeing the rest of Kamigawa.
Many of the details are unknown, for the moon folk very rarely allow visitors to return in a condition allowing them to divulge them (those in the Daimyo Kaguya's service simply don't speak of it), but the city of Oboro is said to be one of silver and mythril, a palace-keep fit for Luna herself. Outsiders must be "purified" on entry and egress, dropped off at either Minamo or the Eiganjo Spire. With all the curiosity regarding their moon-palace, the soratami certainly like to meddle in the lower world; many of them have schemes within schemes, mostly surrounding the invaders and the various factions now crawling in Eiganjo.
Takenuma
The northernmost half of the northern continent is a vast, fetid swamp full of rotting bamboo and festering magic, inhabited primarily by corpses and scavengers. Kami of rot and ruin roam the swamps, while buildings are built high above on stilts of whatever materials can be found that won't rot in the filth. The bodies are mostly those killed way back in the First Spirit War, some of which have been miraculously preserved in the depths; dredging for the armor and weapons worn by those bodies as well as the occasional artifact of an older era is the most lucrative - and only legitimate - business to be found here.
The skulking nezumi-bito have the widest range of Takenuma's country, lordless rogues and ragpickers all. In fact, much of what is built in Takenuma have them to thank, for without the rat folk's ability to sniff out undegradable plasteel for stilts, there would be no escape from the filth. Much as one might like to avoid the rats, however, it would be wise to keep an eye on them, for the nezumi may find courage in their explosive numbers, but invariably flee when the o-bakemono come calling. The rats may trade salvage for money, but the ogres trade only in flesh, teaching their lessons in cruelty and harvesting the living for their own bloody rituals.
Numai
The only actual city in Takenuma is its capital, a stilt town full of shoddily built homes with no apparent entrance. Numai is a city for the desperate... the nezumi who call Takenuma home, the humans chased away from everywhere else, and the oni summoned by the local o-bakemono to terrorize them all. Nobody is happy here, nobody is here because they want to be, except for maybe the oni. The rats and the humans find what's valuable, the oni beat it out of them, and the o-bakemono dare them to show themselves in order to reclaim it.
It takes a great deal of courage to try and make a living in Numai. But the ogres and their pet demons exist to beat that courage out of you. There are very valuable items to be found in the marshes, ones that the corporations in the city will pay great money for. But the rats who guide you to them will be all too glad to shank you to get it for themselves. There are people who will gladly protect you from your guide.
But you should beware, lest the lure of your treasure be more valuable than their paycheck.
Sokenzan
The southern half of the northern continent is a large mountain range, with a single tongue of coastline to the south to allow for egress to the sea, moving into a near labyrinthine pass to the north. It is certainly possible to navigate through Sokenzan on foot, but it puts one at the mercy of the snow, oni, and the o-bakemono who summon them. There is almost no flat land to be found once within the foothills, and barring the tongue of flat land leading from the south up to the Ganzan Pass, the shoreline is mostly rough mountain, unlandable from the sea.
The southeastern corner boasts the tallest peaks in the crystal sphere, known as Tendo, where the satori-bito tribe dwells. The three-eyed folk are insular, living as hermits in the tall mountains, but not to the extent of the orochi down south; they have been known to offer a grudging sort of respect to those who can reach their monastery homes, but rarely go out of their way to help travelers. The satori simply do not like to interact with others, if it can be avoided, but violence is at least reserved for their o-bakemono neighbors.
Shinka
Deep within the Sokenzan Mountains, it is not uncommon to see a monastery built high on the peaks. The satori-bito build theirs on the vicious spires of the Tendo Peaks, guarding the sentinel peak Untaidake. Their human students build theirs on lower, slightly more hospitable mountains to the north. In all of Sokenzan, there is but a single fortress hermitage built by o-bakemono. It is on the eastern edge of the continent, the northmost of the Tendo Peaks, facing the disgusting fens of Takenuma.
This is Shinka, whose mountain was won with the blood of a thousand satori-bito and their patron kami. The ogre shamans who claim this blood-soaked hermitage enjoy their pride of place, and are almost condescending in their welcome for guests. Of course, it is hard to teach how to incarnate oni without a proper vict... er, audience, after all. Or rather, that is what their three-eyed neighbors seem to expect; the ogres of Shinka are in fact very gracious hosts, as long as their guests are equally gracious about enduring the brutal training to learn their brand of blood magic.
Kakuriyo and Utsushiyo
From the void, Kamigawa resembles nothing so much as a symbol of duality, the Umbra and the Materium whirling about each other in an endless dance. The two are very much symbiotic here; spirits abound in the Materium and mortals just as easily finding themselves wandering into the Umbra. The fact is, on Kamigawa the Umbra is as much a fact of life as running water or the necessity of fractal-edged swords.
In the utsushiyo, the Materium, much of Kamigawa is rural, dotted with shrines to the major spirits associated with a given region. Very rarely are lands developed more than is strictly necessary, for fear of offending the local spirits, and even farming is approached with caution. Mining and dredging are practices only undertaken on the smaller of the two continents, where the locals and spirits are much more cavalier about their dealings; most of the materials used in Towabara are imported from either the Sokenzan mountains or from other crystal spheres entirely.
In the kakuriyo, the Umbra, even these rare appearances of mortal life are gone. The spiritual reflections of the lands are pristine, beautiful and idyllic representations of their material counterparts. The small shrines in the utsushiyo are grand palaces for their spirits in the kakuriyo, host to a scattering of mortal servants, while other rare mortals live the lives of hermits.
Inhabitants of Kamigawa
Kamigawa is noted for having a large number of sapients among its native inhabitants, with an equally large amount of either convergent or divergent evolution to support them. Fox-like kitsune-bito live out a near-tribal existence at the northwestern edge of the larger continent, where the plains of Towabara meet the outer edges of the Jukai Forest, though they manage to inveigle themselves into nearly every capacity available in Kamigawa. Their neighbors to the north are the orochi-bito, who live in the deep forest. Very few of the serpent folk venture outside the jungle, as their tribal chiefs fear the corruption of outsiders to a much greater degree than do the gregarious foxes.
To the east of Towabara lies the salt desert of Minamo, periodically flooded by the sea. Minamo is a land given over entirely to the kami; almost nothing of the utsushiyo can actually live there. Rather, most of the "inhabitants" live far above it; Kamigawa's moon Otawara is directly over the region at perigee. Otawara itself is a shard of the kakuriyo, a palace world given over to the soratami-bito from which (they think) they have divine right to rule over the world below them.
The smaller northern continent is divided between a more mountainous southern region and a bitter swamp to the north. The three-eyed satori-bito call the highest peaks home, while the nezumi-bito skulk in the fens. Hulking o-bakemono can be found all across the northern continent, calling to proper daemons rather than to the mere spirits the rest of Kamigawa ascribe to divinity. Notably, on Kamigawa tieflings (called oni) are an almost naturally-occurring race, that occur as a result of Umbral influence on corpses in the northern continent. Kamigawan tieflings invariably have three eyes regardless of the corpse possessed, though the third is non-functional, as a result of the possessing spirit's denial of its home in the kakuriyo.
Finally, of course, humans infest every corner, screwing up perfectly good bloodlines as they go. While most of them came down with the big megacorporations and stay in Eiganjo as a result, there are always some who think they can strike off better elsewhere... a second city in Minamo, monks living with the orochi in Jukai, gangers trying to push around the scum in Takenuma, you name it. Fortunately for the kakuriyo, most of them aren't smart enough to avoid hacking off something they really shouldn't.
Towabara
The central plains of the larger southern continent still bear the scars of the Second Spirit War, a bleak event of centuries triggered by the arrival of a certain megacorporation. Much of the land immediately surrounding Eiganjo still bears visible craters, many of which have been clustered enough to form small lakes as the rains returned. Much of the wildlife has been replaced by strange megafauna, as if the kakuriyo still doesn't trust the invaders in their walled city to the south.
The kitsune-bito are the native tribe of the plains, though they mostly live to the northwest, where the plains give way to the outer edges of the vast Jukai Forest. They were among the first to accept the newcomers, not only bringing their own sorcerous crafts to trade, but also teaching the naive Maliwan Corporation the rites to properly appease the spirits of Araba, where their hab unit settled. The fox folk usually avoid the city, finding the outsiders' buildings sterile and confusing, though a few small numbers have settled in with their new friends.
Eiganjo
The city of Eiganjo is the habitation unit of one of the few worldships in the Maliwan Corporation's fleet, carefully placed onto the ruins of a city near the southern coast of the larger continent more than a thousand years ago, occupying a few square kilometers of the scarred Towabara plains. This, as many of the locals will tell you, was the trigger for the Second Spirit War, as Maliwan proceeded to stake claim to the world without fully understanding the balance it had been in for eons. The city of the hab unit was ultimately rechristened for the city it had been landed on as a part of the tribute to the spirits Maliwan had offended, and so Maliwan accepted the rituals to appease them in return for the Syrneth artifacts this allowed them to freely remove from the lands they had claimed. And so Maliwan's CEO took on the title of daimyo of Towabara.
Eiganjo is a walled city, safe from wandering spirits and other beasts that inhabit the plains, but it has a population far larger than the external measurements should allow for. Naturally, the city is larger on the inside; a small lake and several acres of arable land fill the western half of the hab unit, while the eastern side is given over to urban needs... a labyrinth of business, industrial, and habitation districts surround the great Spire and administration district from which Maliwan conducts their business. A rather large section to the east of the Spire is used as a spaceport, with an underground hangar beneath for maintaining the various mecha employed by the megacorporation's exploratory teams.
The vast majority of Eiganjo's inhabitants are humans, arriving with shuttles from Maliwan or other corporations hoping to gain a toehold in Kamigawa. Others include elves, eldarin, and the occasional aasimar bodyguard, though all are considered to be gaijin; only those few still alive who arrived with Daimyo Kaguya are considered to be natives.
Jukai
The northwestern end of the southern continent is a massive temperate forest, easily the part of this crystal sphere where the veil between the two worlds is thinnest. The kami of the trees are omnipresent, readily available to answer those who pray with the intent to listen, and always there in support of the orochi-bito who call the forest home. The beasts of the forest seem strangely united in their distrust and aggression toward outsiders, which some take to be the reason why the fox folk don't venture very deep into the woods, or why there are so few signs of "civilized" habitation.
In all actuality, this is due more to the native orochi-bito being insular and xenophobic, as well as just not needing the same creature comforts as the mammals who share their world. The serpent folk viciously persecute outsiders who trespass in their lands, driving them off or capturing them as offerings to the local beast-gods. It is said, however, that some outsiders are accepted; that a monastery-shrine long thought ruined stands in the deep Jukai where the monks they accept dwell.
The veracity of such stories may forever be in doubt, as even those orochi who break from their tribes to venture into the invaders' city don't love them enough to volunteer such information. The gaijin, for their part, often don't care enough to ask.
Minamo
The desolate salt pans to the eastern end of the southern continent are very much a major disappointment to those who would explore them. There is no native wildlife save for the occasional ocean fish washed up on the lower floodplain, only the odd stray kami exploring its vast tract of salt. Unlike the ruins in Towabara, there's very little in the way of artifacts to be found, only various flavors of salt harvested (with the proper rituals for appeasement, of course) for use in Eiganjo's projects.
As with most places, humans have a distressing habit of forcing themselves to live where they're not wanted; a lone building, constructed on a mountain overlooking the floodplain, gives the region its name. Minamo is a place for learning about the crystal sphere that its builders found themselves in, for piercing the veil between worlds and safely studying how they both work. While it is unfortunately difficult for supplies to be run between the academy and Eiganjo, Minamo has been very lucky to receive a blessing from another, higher place...
Oboro
Otawara, Kamigawa's moon, enjoys a close orbit at the best of times, but at its nearest, it passes directly over the Minamo Academy. Where most moons are barren orbs good only for their albedo in planetary night, Otawara is a kingdom in itself, and its capital is Oboro. It is the seat of the soratami-bito, a rabbit-like tribe who claim to be demigods overseeing the rest of Kamigawa.
Many of the details are unknown, for the moon folk very rarely allow visitors to return in a condition allowing them to divulge them (those in the Daimyo Kaguya's service simply don't speak of it), but the city of Oboro is said to be one of silver and mythril, a palace-keep fit for Luna herself. Outsiders must be "purified" on entry and egress, dropped off at either Minamo or the Eiganjo Spire. With all the curiosity regarding their moon-palace, the soratami certainly like to meddle in the lower world; many of them have schemes within schemes, mostly surrounding the invaders and the various factions now crawling in Eiganjo.
Takenuma
The northernmost half of the northern continent is a vast, fetid swamp full of rotting bamboo and festering magic, inhabited primarily by corpses and scavengers. Kami of rot and ruin roam the swamps, while buildings are built high above on stilts of whatever materials can be found that won't rot in the filth. The bodies are mostly those killed way back in the First Spirit War, some of which have been miraculously preserved in the depths; dredging for the armor and weapons worn by those bodies as well as the occasional artifact of an older era is the most lucrative - and only legitimate - business to be found here.
The skulking nezumi-bito have the widest range of Takenuma's country, lordless rogues and ragpickers all. In fact, much of what is built in Takenuma have them to thank, for without the rat folk's ability to sniff out undegradable plasteel for stilts, there would be no escape from the filth. Much as one might like to avoid the rats, however, it would be wise to keep an eye on them, for the nezumi may find courage in their explosive numbers, but invariably flee when the o-bakemono come calling. The rats may trade salvage for money, but the ogres trade only in flesh, teaching their lessons in cruelty and harvesting the living for their own bloody rituals.
Numai
The only actual city in Takenuma is its capital, a stilt town full of shoddily built homes with no apparent entrance. Numai is a city for the desperate... the nezumi who call Takenuma home, the humans chased away from everywhere else, and the oni summoned by the local o-bakemono to terrorize them all. Nobody is happy here, nobody is here because they want to be, except for maybe the oni. The rats and the humans find what's valuable, the oni beat it out of them, and the o-bakemono dare them to show themselves in order to reclaim it.
It takes a great deal of courage to try and make a living in Numai. But the ogres and their pet demons exist to beat that courage out of you. There are very valuable items to be found in the marshes, ones that the corporations in the city will pay great money for. But the rats who guide you to them will be all too glad to shank you to get it for themselves. There are people who will gladly protect you from your guide.
But you should beware, lest the lure of your treasure be more valuable than their paycheck.
Sokenzan
The southern half of the northern continent is a large mountain range, with a single tongue of coastline to the south to allow for egress to the sea, moving into a near labyrinthine pass to the north. It is certainly possible to navigate through Sokenzan on foot, but it puts one at the mercy of the snow, oni, and the o-bakemono who summon them. There is almost no flat land to be found once within the foothills, and barring the tongue of flat land leading from the south up to the Ganzan Pass, the shoreline is mostly rough mountain, unlandable from the sea.
The southeastern corner boasts the tallest peaks in the crystal sphere, known as Tendo, where the satori-bito tribe dwells. The three-eyed folk are insular, living as hermits in the tall mountains, but not to the extent of the orochi down south; they have been known to offer a grudging sort of respect to those who can reach their monastery homes, but rarely go out of their way to help travelers. The satori simply do not like to interact with others, if it can be avoided, but violence is at least reserved for their o-bakemono neighbors.
Shinka
Deep within the Sokenzan Mountains, it is not uncommon to see a monastery built high on the peaks. The satori-bito build theirs on the vicious spires of the Tendo Peaks, guarding the sentinel peak Untaidake. Their human students build theirs on lower, slightly more hospitable mountains to the north. In all of Sokenzan, there is but a single fortress hermitage built by o-bakemono. It is on the eastern edge of the continent, the northmost of the Tendo Peaks, facing the disgusting fens of Takenuma.
This is Shinka, whose mountain was won with the blood of a thousand satori-bito and their patron kami. The ogre shamans who claim this blood-soaked hermitage enjoy their pride of place, and are almost condescending in their welcome for guests. Of course, it is hard to teach how to incarnate oni without a proper vict... er, audience, after all. Or rather, that is what their three-eyed neighbors seem to expect; the ogres of Shinka are in fact very gracious hosts, as long as their guests are equally gracious about enduring the brutal training to learn their brand of blood magic.