The Shijie Empire: Gushui

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GUSHUI
The Winter Wastes

   The southernmost province, Gushui is a harsh tundra landscape populated by harsh, determined people. The Gushui-ren have one goal in this life— survive. Proud, independent, and with little patience for frivolous things like courtly manners, the Gushui-ren have a longstanding mutual rivalry with the delicate Sheng-gu-ren, who view them as barbarians. They are led by a Hunter-King, one who has proven himself worthy over a lifetime on the snow.

   Gushui does not favor soft people-- besides the natural cold of the region and all the hardships this creates, there is also the presence of constant snowstorms, with high speed winds that can easily knock over those who are unprepared for them. The Gushui-ren have adapted to this climate, being impervious to cold and hypothermia at the expense of experiencing heat exhaustion and similar effects at temperatures at 80 degrees and above. Travel to other climates often requires a Gushui-ren to wear long robes infused with cold oil to keep their temperatures lowered.

   Gushui-ren are paler than any of their northern cousins, with eyes that range from steely greys to icy blues. They tend to be rougher in appearance, as the constant winds lend to burnt skin and tangled hair, and every Gushui-ren regardless of rank shows the signs of a life of hard work. Soft hands are, to them, the signs of a layabout.

   For the Gushui-ren, their greatest fear is the near-constant threat of starvation. Gushui is a harsh land, and with the year-round winter storms, growing food not adapted to the climate is difficult. Food sources must come from hunting and fishing, as well as grain subsidies from Sheng-gu. This is more than just about survival, however. In Gushui, magic in the land twists any sapient being who dies from hunger. The corpses reanimate and gobble up their own skin before beginning a relentless pursuit for more food. As these skeletal beings eat, they grow, quickly becoming gigantic monsters capable of wiping out entire villages before moving onto the next source of food.

(Note: These creatures are borrowed from Japanese folklore bone giants. They are not wendigo. They are not based on wendigo, and should not be referred to as such.)

Pronunciation: Goo-sh’way
Capital: Kongdong (kung-TONG)
Demonym: Gushui-ren
Kingdom Colors: Grey, pale blue and black

Table of Contents

• Regional Culture
• Magic and Religion
• Politics, Law and International Relations
• Technology, Language and Economics
• Race
• Gender and Sexuality
• Available Ranks

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REGIONAL CULTURE

   Gushui buildings are low and made of stone, dipping below the earth to better withstand the force of the winds passing over them. They are elaborately carved, with multiple recesses for the storage of objects of high value. Often, family homes will use these recesses to display jars holding the cremated bones of their dead, with tapestries hanging overhead dictating the deeds of the individual in question.

   Gushui-ren often use bones, antlers and furs as both personal and interior decoration. Charcoal greys and black are the most common form of dyes, as well as being used in make-ups and facepaints. Otherwise, Gushui-ren tend to keep their clothing undyed and rely on natural decorations like carvings.

Gushui's main export lies in their bone, mineral and weaponry work. What Gushui lacks in flowers and dyes, they are rich in stones, and are renowned for their carvings. They are so talented in this respect, that it is said a master Gushui-ren stonecarver can make a stone flower whose petals are as soft and delicate as a real one.  They often enchant their carved bone weaponry as well, infusing them with special alchemical oils to render the otherwise brittle bone sturdy as any metal weaponry in the north.

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MAGIC

   Magic within the Shijie Empire is both subtle and potent. For the Shijie-ren, there is an understanding that magic is not this alternate, arcane, otherworldly influence. Rather, magic is a facet of the natural world, in the land and its people. The continent of Panzhong is rife with its own natural magics that influence flora, fauna, and even the weather. It is especially potent within the Provinces of the Empire, with the power to transform the people who live there.

   Personal practice of magic largely expresses itself as a form of alchemy. The Shijie-ren are skilled in developing elemental oils that can be bottled and applied in whatever way the user may wish. Freezing oils may be applied to clothing for Gushui-ren who travel to hotter climates, for example, and burning oils may be applied to weapons to give them a constant flame.

   Spellwork, in the classical Le'raanian sense, is less common than alchemy, and any verbal components are utilized more in the form of chanting to let different nature spirits know they are being called upon. Herbal medicines and appealing to spirits in this manner are common forms of magic healing in the Empire.

RELIGION

   The Shijie religion is largely animistic. Every part of the natural world has a spirit, and each 'type' (water, stone, etc) has its own 'spirit King' and courts. Only someone of similar rank may implore help from a ranking spirit, as it is seen as rude for someone of a lower class to ask for a powerful spirit to fix his problems. Offending a spirit carries very real consequences, as doing so will invite terrible luck in whatever realm that spirit occupies. Angering a water spirit might cause floods, or fire spirits to refuse to light lanterns, or burn a house down.

   Outside of these social restrictions, however, there is very little dogma. Care and keeping of local spirits is done primarily by local priests who are responsible for the maintenance of shrines and offerings. House spirits, similarly, are cared for by the members of that household.

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GOVERNMENT

   Within each Province, there are local forms of government to manage all aspects of that Province. All swear fealty to the Imperial courts, however, and the Emperor's word is absolute law.

   Gushui is overseen by a King and Queen married pair. The King is responsible for Gushui as a whole, overseeing hunts and trade relations, while his wife the Queen is responsible for internal affairs within the province such as overseeing legal matters. Beneath the King and Queen are the Master Hunters, who each look after a city along with their spouse in a mirror of the King and Queen.

POLITICS

   Gushui has a very strained relationship with the northern ends of the empire, seeing them as the reason the Gushui-ren struggle so much to provide food for their people. Heavy taxes from Sheng-gu prevent Gushui from trading consistently with other lands, making them reliant on the food grown within Sheng-gu and, to a lesser extent, other Provinces. The Empire, well aware that Gushui prefers independence, has kept Gushui on a tight leash in order to prevent them from seceding. This, in turn, has only soured attitudes towards the Imperial city, and many Gushui-ren are bitter about their treatment at the hands of their "more civilized" cousins in the north.

NOTABLE LAWS

   Gushui has very strict one-child laws. Due to the lack of reliable sources of food, the Province can't afford to allow for multi-child homes without risking starvation. Because of the magic that permeates the land, any sapient being who dies of hunger in Gushui is transformed into a malicious, hungering skeleton, who grows larger and larger the more it attempts to gorge on everything in sight. Entire villages can be lost to these bone giants, who will then wander the tundra looking for whatever prey they can find. At a certain size, these bone giants become very hard to kill, and so the laws that are most important often have to do with the rationing of food. Anyone caught stealing food is charged as if they had attempted to commit mass murder, because of this terrifying reality.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

   The Empire has a somewhat tumultuous relationship with their neighboring countries, with only a few exceptions. Nhoplan has been fierce enemies with the southern Provinces for millenia, and the borders between Gushui and Nhoplan remain highly contested. To the north, the Province of Sheng-gu endures skirmishes with Muqin de liwu, though these altercations are far more guerilla style and sporadic than conflicts seen in the south.

Liwu: Enemy
Rulastinia: Ally
Nhoplan: Enemy
Veila Kaur: Somewhat hostile
Le'raana: To be determined

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TECHNOLOGY

   Shijie technology is fueled by their advancements in alchemy. They have unlocked gunpowder, freezing concoctions, perpetual fire, and even oils that make bone weapons as hard as forged steel.

LANGUAGE

   Embass is the official imperial language. There are various dialects of Embass, and it can vary from Province to Province. The language is highly tonal, with great emphasis on interpersonal propriety and rankings. It often goes hand in hand with complex body language such as eye contact, bowing, and even the physical space between two persons.

ECONOMICS

   The Shijie Empire relies on thin metal markers to represent their currency. The markers themselves are not made of valuable metals, but instead represent a certain amount of tradeable goods based on a symbolic stamp. An ox, for instance, might cost a hundred beast marks, versus a chicken might only cost two or three. Bags of rice, wheat and vegetables fall under plant marks, metal resources mountain marks, and so on. Local economies depend on what is available to trade, and the value of certain items can vary depending on the needs of the Province.

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RACE


_{A chart of provincial styles of dress, as well as the antlers grown in each Province}

   The Shijie-ren are small in stature, with their tallest citizen being around 5'10". The Shijie-ren are humanoid in shape and bipedal, with skin that ranges from earthy-pale for the southern provinces, to a deep tan in the northern provinces. Eye color also varies by province, with blues for the Gushui-ren, greens for the Songtu-ren, oranges and yellows for the Huohu-ren, and purples and pinks for the Sheng-gu-ren. Their pupils are slitted, and their eyes have an angled slant regardless of province.

Every Shijie-ren possesses small, white dots on either side of the bridge of their nose, a natural marking that is often flaunted with makeup. Their ears are pointed as one would expect from an elf, with the tips sloped back parallel to their skull. All Shijie-ren of adult age grow antlers regardless of gender, and these antlers vary in shape and size depending on the region. These antlers shed on a yearly basis, and it's common fashion in the imperial city to wear elaborate headdresses during shedding season to give the impression of being perpetually antlered.

   All Shijie-ren have long, thick black hair, and it is considered disgraceful to have close-cut short hair. As the Empire often shaves the heads of criminals as a form of penance, having shorter hair marks one as being a recovering criminal and can result in social stigma. Hair is often pulled back as a point of fashion, and elaborate hairstyles vary by province and whether the Shijie-ren in question has shed their antlers for the year or not.

   Unlike humans, or the Anathanati of Rulastinia, the Shijie-ren's legs taper off into thin, deer-like feet with cloven hooves. Another difference is the state of their teeth and bones, which are a dark grey rather than white. The most important difference between Shijie-ren and any other race, however, is their heart. Each Shijie-ren is born with their heart semi-exposed, with the coloration of the heart and surrounding skin dependent on their home province and matching their eye color. The hearts themselves pulse brighter depending on their emotional state, with quicker heartbeats causing an almost bio-luminescent glow.

   Children are born with fawn-spots on their back that fade with age, and these patterns of spots are often used as a form of divination to determine the child's fortune. Belief in this divination varies from person to person, but is widely accepted by imperial society as a whole. Often, the patterns of spots on royal children will be read to see who will succeed the throne, and there's a rather lucrative business to be had for fortune tellers who know which children to divine good fortunes for.

_{A cheat sheet for the Gushui-ren, with possible eye colors}

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GENDER

   As a society, the Shijie-ren are mostly patriarchal, though women are highly valued due to the sheer amount of work that goes into childbearing and rearing. Shijie-ren possess no mammary glands, and the way infants are fed is through a siphon of energy through the heart windows. Only the biological mother can feed her offspring in this way, until the child is old enough to be weaned onto "real food". Motherhood, as a result, is a full time job, and is treated as such within the Empire. It has the unfortunate circumstance of pigeon-holing women into family-centric roles in some provinces.

   In Gushui, while it remains true that women are expected to get married and bear a child, there is far more leeway for them in terms of their professional and personal life. Because of the one-child laws, families don't have a choice in terms of which gender may inherit their estates, and so there is far more equality than in some Provinces. Women Gushui-ren may choose any job they wish, own their own property, and have an equal say in the management of the home and family as their husband. While divorce is uncommon and difficult to do, she may also bring complaints to her local courts about any mistreatment, which may grant her further control over the family assets if found to be true.

SEXUALITY

   In Gushui, where starvation is a constant danger, there are very strict single-child laws. Parenting pairs are pre-selected and arranged to assure each Gushui has only one child at any given time. As such, Gushui-ren engage in extramarital, homosexual relations, and this practice is heavily encouraged. Many Gushui-ren exist in polyamorous bisexual relationships, where the parenting pair have separate same-sex relationships outside of their marriage. In many cases, emotional attachment is more commonly found in these extramarital relationships, and the marriage itself viewed more as a business arrangement than anything else. Very rarely are marriage pairs entirely exclusive to one another, and these relationships come with heavy scrutiny to make sure none create more than one child.

   Exclusively homosexual relationships are accepted, though not treated as marriages, and it can get somewhat annoying when an attempt to assign spouses happens each year. Asexuality, while not expressly understood as its own alternate sexuality (they are referred to as being celibate), is not looked down upon at all, and there are many asexual Gushui-ren who instead keep their focus on their professions, and are usually the masters of their craft. Asexual Gushui-ren, like their homosexual compatriots, often must file against attempted matchmaking.

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AVAILABLE RANKS

As with other leadership roles, these are on a mod-approval basis. Please contact Nephero, GoblinFae, or another of the mod team with questions about leadership roles.

King: [1 rank available] "The Lord Hunter of Shijie" is responsible for the maintenance and well-being of Gushui as a whole. Swears fealty to the Imperial Throne should the time ever come that the Empire requires Gushui's warriors. Largely responsible for organizing hunting parties and border patrols, as well as seeing to trade agreements.


Queen: [1 rank available] "The Lady of the High Wastes", rules alongside her husband and is largely responsible for provincial law. Trials of a sufficient severity are overseen by the Queen herself.


Prince/ss: The child of the King and Queen; Gushui's strict one-child laws mean that only one position is available at any given time. Also given the one child law, gender politics are more lenient, and Gushui has often seen ruling Queens with King consorts. Responsibilities include making diplomatic journeys to other provinces on behalf of the king and queen, as well as leading key hunting parties within the Gushui province.

   TSAI JIANJUN, Crown Prince of the Southern Province


Master Hunters: [4 ranks available] besides the Prince/ss, lead key hunting parties in the province to provide for city-fortresses, and as such lead said cities. Honorific is -zi (pronounced "tsu"). So Surname+zi would be the correct form of address. Tsaizi essentially translates to Master Tsai.


Hunters: [Unlimited ranks available] Effectively low nobility, a Hunter's entire job is to go out into the tundra to hunt game and protect the Province borders, which means combating the Bone Giants whenever they come across the creatures, as well as pushing back any interlopers from Nhoplan.