Dice The Redux of the Tale of a Falling Empire - Lore

[jaydude]

(Edited image, original created by Kashi.)

• Kandara
• Snakehead
• Other places

• 
  

  Kandara​

  The city-state of Kandara is a Realm satrapy within the Southeastern Threshold, located roughly 400 miles southeast of Jiara, and encompassing both the settlement of Kandara itself, as well as numerous villages and farms within the surrounding countryside.
  
  The settlement that would become Kandara was founded shortly after the birth of the Realm, by mortal survivors of the Great Contagion and the Balorian Crusade. In time, it came under the protection of a Dragon-blooded warrior named Hasuri, a Fire Aspect officer from the old Shogunate. Alongside his wife and daughter, he slew bandits and Fair Folk that posed a danger to the settlement, and later oversaw its development into a fortified city. When the newly-formed Kandara drew the attention of the equally young Realm, Hasuri accepted satrapy in exchange for the right to marry into the Scarlet Dynasty and found his own cadet house.
  
  Under the rule of House Hasuri and the Realm's protection, Kandara has expanded to become a bastion of the Dragon-blooded hegemony, as well as one of the wealthiest and most populous cities within the region. Serving in the armies of Dragon-blooded champions, the Kandaran people have battled both raksha and anathema for centuries, and no enemy has breached any one of the city's three great encircling walls.
  
  Spoiler: House Hasuri

  The current king is Hasuri Boroma, a Dragon-blooded of the Fire Aspect who Exalted at the age of ten, having learned of his father's death at the jaws of a Tyrant Lizard. Though only a teenager during the time of the Scarlet Empress's disappearance, he is wise beyond his years, with it being said that the only reason he requires his mother to serve as his regent is so that he has time to meet with his tutor.
  
  Boroma's mother Hasuri Netara is a Dragon-blooded of the Water Aspect. Due to her son's age she serves as his regent, but she deeply loves him and makes sure to get his input before making any serious decisions, having learned that she can trust him to a great degree when it comes to statesmanship.
  
  Hasuri Janhuren is another Dragon-blooded of the Fire Aspect who serves as Boroma's bodyguard. Among the artifacts he possesses is a Red Jade Thunderbolt shield that can fold up into a gauntlet and be unfolded near-instantaneously.
  
  Besides Boroma and his mother, House Hasuri has roughly a dozen other Dragon-blooded members, cousins, aunts and uncles of the current king, with most of them being Fire Aspects. One of these is Hasuri Karudo, a Fire Aspect and full-time shikari of the Wyld Hunt known for possessing a red jade direlance and a dragon-esque suit of red jade plate. Another is Janhuren's ancestor Hasuri Nansho, an Earth Aspect over two and a half centuries old who serves as the head of the palace guards, and is also in charge of overall security within the palace. Finally, Hasuri Hudia is a Fire Aspect who serves as the majordomo of the Royal Palace.
  Spoiler: Other Individuals of Note

  Cathak Sanda is a Dragon-blooded of the Fire Aspect, and the deputy commander of the Kandara garrison.
  
  The Black Fox is an outcaste Dragon-blooded of the Water Aspect, and an infamous thief within the region. By and large working alone, she has recently returned to Kandara, where the many daring heists and burglaries she is said to have committed have made her well-known and respected among the local criminal underworld.
• 
  

  Snakehead​

  Snakehead is the capital city of Nagaraja, a Cathak-controlled satrapy that encompasses a great, serpentine-shaped ridge over 400 miles long - in reality the calcified corpse of a truly giganticbehemoth, with the city itself within the mouth and atop the head of the dead behemoth. Fortresses and fortified towns dot the length of the ridge, for Nagaraja is a frontline against the Lunar Anathema of the Silver Pact.
  
  Snakehead was once the capital of a Lunar Dominion, when Nagaraja was ruled by a triumvirate of Lunars with serpentine spirit shapes that endeared them to the Nagarajan people. Leading armies of snakelike beastfolk, these Lunars warred with the Realm for four centuries until Nagaraja was eventually conquered, with Hasuri Dragon-blooded leading the army that sacked Snakehead. One of the Lunars was killed, while the other two were grievously wounded and forced to flee. Their beastmen and mortal supporters were massacred or driven into hiding, and worship of the nation's serpentine gods was outlawed and replaced with the Immaculate Philosophy.
  
  The beastfolk and mortal Lunar sympathizers who'd escaped the Realm's conquest established new communities for themselves within the forests and jungles east of Nagaraja. Their new life has been a dangerous one, what with the beasts of their new environment and the Realm's continued efforts to make war with them, but the exiles have never stopped dreaming of regaining their former homeland.
  
  
  Spoiler: The Satrap of Nagaraja

  Cathak Cainan Valina is, as her name might suggest, one of the daughters of Cathak Cainan. Of all his children, she is the one most similar to him in terms of temperament; she is brave and skilled in battle, diligent and disciplined in her work, but she also possesses an aura of warmth and friendliness that makes it easy for her to acquire allies, while also able to strike a balance between pragmatism and ruthlessness when it comes to her enemies. With these traits, she has earned the respect of many of her fellow Dynasts - especially those who would like to see her father sit the Scarlet Throne were it not for his failing health - and is even said to have been favored by the Scarlet Empress herself. As a result of all this, many have pegged her as one of the top candidates to replaced the disappeared Empress.
  Spoiler: The Serpentine Triumvirate

  The Serpentine Triumvirate is a trio of Lunars (Two of them Essence 4 and fourth generation) with Nagarajan heritage and snake spirit shapes.
  
  Salashin is a No Moon Lunar, and the most senior member of the Triumvirate, with a cobra for his spirit shape. His human form is that of a tall man with long black hair and a black pointed goatee, and he possesses a hiss to his voice that serves as his Tell. A skilled warrior and sorcerer, he arrived in Nagaraja before the Realm could, and converted it to Lunar Dominion for the purposes of the Silver Pact's goals. Though technically equal in standing to the other members of the Triumvirate, his great wisdom has led to them deferring to him often, both before and after their exile.
  
  Uruma is a Full-Moon Lunar, with a python for his spirit shape. He is a tall and musclebound man with amber-colored serpentine eyes that serve as his Tell. Possessing a mind for war and the greatest physical strength among the Triumvirate's members, he serves as their top general.
  
  Issumi is a Changing Moon Lunar, with a viper for her spirit shape, and by far the newest member of the Triumvirate. A woman with purple hair and lips, as well as a forked tongue that serves as her Tell, she serves as the Triumvirate's main infiltrator and assassin. In contrast to Salashin and Uruma, she is young, being no more than three decades old.
  
  Alongside loyal mortal warriors and Moon-touched agents, the Triumvirate commands a number of different types of serpentine beastfolk, including muscled pythonfolk that serve as frontline warriors, cobrafolk that serve as sorcerers, and nimble and venomous viperfolk that take on the role of scouts.
• 
  Omodar is the capital of Korsan, a satrapy within the inland seas directly south of Kandara. It is the principal enclave of the Korsani, a pirate people who once terrorized the inland seas, taking slaves and other valuable goods from trading vessels and coastal settlements. Those same corsairs eventually accepted satrapy, the Scarlet Empress allowing them to continue their raiding of non-Realm affiliated nations in exchange for a portion of their plunder, seeing it as a more efficient means of gathering tribute than making their victims satrapies as well.
  
  The city-state of Yangofu is a satrapy located in the highlands several hundred miles northeast of Kandara, and several hundred miles south-southeast of Thorns. The city of Yangofu itself was said to have been built long before the Shogunate, before being ravaged by both the Great Contagion and the Balorian Crusade. Whatever the case, powerful wards generated by a manse within the city prevented it from becoming either a shadowland or being lost to the Wyld, allowing for its reclamation after the Realm came into being.
  

 

[jaydude]

People of note​

Spoiler: King Hasuri Boroma

Primary Pool (7): Civil Administration
Secondary Pool (5): Command and Law, Combat, Other Embassy, Social Influence
Tertiary Pool (4): Quick Decisions

Virtues: Justice, Compassion
Resolve: 3

Health Levels: 7
Essence: 1
Defense: 4
Hardness: 3
Soak: 4

Charms/Qualities
Excellency
High-Profile
Red Iron Flames (Wyldburn Evocation) - Commit one mote. For the rest of the scene, Wyldburn's blade becomes enveloped in flames that do aggravated damage to Fair Folk.

Weapon: Wyldburn - Red Jade Daiklave (+2 Accuracy, +1 Defense, +1 Damage, 4 Overwhelming, Tags: Artifact, Melee, One-Handed, Balanced)

Spoiler: Queen Regent Hasuri Netara

Template: Aristocrat
Primary Pool (8): Social Influence
Secondary Pool (6): Civil Administration, Combat
Tertiary Pool (4):

Virtues: Loyalty (to House Hasuri), Compassion
Resolve: 3

Health Levels: 5
Essence: 2
Defense: 4
Hardness: 3
Soak: 2

Charms/Qualities
Asset Freeze*
Did I Authorize This?*
Excellency
High-Profile
Motive-Discerning Technique

*As a result of being Boroma's regent

Spoiler: Hasuri Janhuren

Template: Champion
Primary Pool (8): Athletics, Combat, Read Intentions
Secondary Pool (7): Intimidation, Senses
Tertiary Pool (4): Other Social Influence

Virtues: Loyalty (to House Hasuri), Discipline
Resolve: 3

Health Levels: 5
Defense: 5
Hardness: 3
Soak: 4

Charms/Qualities
Excellency
Arsenal-Summoning Gesture
All-Encompassing Earth Sense
Ambush-Sensing Premonition

Weapons
Scale of Hesiesh - Red Jade Collapsible Thunderbolt Shield (+2 Accuracy, +1 Defense, 0 Damage, 3 Overwhelming, Tags: Artifact, Melee, One-Handed, Shield)