Shinpo, Western Edge of the World

Shinpo and the eastern coast of Greater Hunlo

   Far to the west, off the coast of Greater Hunlo, are the seven major and eight minor islands that make up the vassal kingdom of Shinpo. Most of the east knows little of this ancient land and its people and this is unlikely to change anytime soon as Shinpo has slipped into insignificance and vassalage.  Where once an intelligent, precise and aggressive people thrived, now exist a people broken and shamed. Their leaders corrupt and weak, content to be ruled by their Hunlo masters, the people of Shinpo have very little to pride themselves on. Some would mourn but many others consider this only just as Shinpo once brought misery and destruction to much of the world.
  For most people, Shinpo is just a land from which silk, gold, silver, platinum, gems and fine tea comes from and not much else. Some might also know that long ago it was a powerful empire ruled over by one of the more evil gods, Ng. Prior to the great catastrophe known as The Sundering, Shinpo was a militaristic land which under the rule of Ng constantly warred against her much larger neighbor Hunlo and its god, Xixiziang. Despite being outnumber in virtually every conflict, more often than not, Shinpo emerged victorious. This was due as much to the discipline and tenacity of her people as it was to the leadership of Ng. The people of Hunlo were courageous and intelligent, but poorly led time and time again as Xixiziang had no use for the military arts.
 Ng was known to require of her people ever increasing heights of perfection, demanding such strict social control that it was said to drive some of her subjects mad. Social castes were clearly defined, from the moment one was born, one was given a purpose and prepared to serve in that capacity. No allowance was made for deviation or rebellion and yet oddly this did not produce a stagnant and dull culture as was the case in Oton. It is interesting to note that once each year a period of horrifying chaos descended upon the nation in a week long festival known as Exuberance.
  During Exuberance, which one can think of as a nationwide festival, anything and everything was suddenly allowable. During this time the most debauched and sometime horrifying behavior was perfectly acceptable. Ng herself participated in and led many of the orgies or carnivals of violence, depravity and sex that ensued.  The purpose of this festival was never spelled out in any religious texts, there were none ever produced by the priests of Ng, but it seems reasonable to surmise that Exuberance was like the release valve on a steam engine. It allowed the people to purge and express what they were forced to largely suppress the rest of the year and so maintain their sanity. It should be noted that not everyone engaged in atrocious behavior, many simply used the time for revelry, family outings and carnivals of the more traditional sort. It was well known by the Shinponese, which areas to avoid if one did not wish to become a victim or take part in the harsher activities.
  Shinpo was a land of tremendous beauty, the numerous gardens were all meticulously designed to mimic the random quality of nature and yet maintained in a perfect state that nature could never achieve. The buildings were constructed to precise standards using only the finest materials available and both architects and construction workers were highly valued. Cities were laid out not in grids, as in Pyria or Drury, but there was still a method to the curved roads and seemingly random placement of buildings. Today, however, Shinpo has fallen far away from these standards. One would wonder, were Ng to return, how she would react to Shinpo's present condition.

Excerpt from: A Social and Physical Geography of Gloe, by S.K. Stietz, Prof. of Geography, University of  Drury.

Lin: Last of the gods?

   After the Sundering, as chaos exploded across Gloe, the gods now free of their shackles began to lash out at one another in ways hitherto unseen. The world suffered these god wars for centuries and as is well documented in our histories, Ng emerged as the last of surviving god to challenge the very Oracle herself in Obsidian. There, upon The Pale, surrounded by the Waters of creation, she was slain after her second attempt at invasion and thus her threat was forever ended and the gods extinct. Out in the barbarian lands they still worshiped their deities, refusing to believe they had been killed. For centuries the peoples of these lands prayed in vain, their words borne away upon the wind,  never to be heard.
  However, rumors in academic and religious circles have consistently held that Ng was not the last god, that another remained hidden, avoiding all conflict and contact except with her own peoples. Lin the god of all of the Wilds of Inne, was not accounted for in the histories. Most believed that being militarily weak she was slain by Ng or another of the gods with little effort and thus did not bear mentioning, but this seems more a contrivance to avoid investigating her further. Perhaps, it was even an idea propagated by Lin herself to maintain her anonymity. And the Wilds of Inne, a land so treacherous that no one who has entered has ever returned, provides her shelter from prying religious and scholarly eyes. Lin was cunning and wise, she cherished the people under her care and was counted among the good gods. Who her people are is unknown and will most likely remain so until someone can mount an expedition strong or clever enough to return.
  Does Lin still rule in the Wilds of Inne? Has she remained hidden all this time, concealed from even the Oracle herself?  It would be a nice thing to know that at least one of the gods survived Ng.

Patrica Hume
Amateur Historian & Purveyor of Things Once Thought Lost

Excerpt found in a badly deteriorated notebook discovered behind Patricia's dresser after her death in 1653 A.S. Patricia herself was always considered an oddity amongst the Humes. While she possessed great intelligence, she preferred to remain separate from most people, never attending a social function, never making use of the Companions and only rarely dining with the family.

Obsidian

Obsidian Caldera

  The Obsidian Caldera is perhaps second only to The Great Rift as a magnificent and unique geological feature. Located near the western side of the Crooked Teeth range, approximately centered north and south, it is protected from the outside world by both its location and the Pascon, a wall entirely unnatural in origin.
  The caldera is roughly four kilometers in diameter, although it is not perfectly so.The outer edge of the caldera is known by the inhabitants of Obsidian as The Rimwall. The slope of the Rimwall is at or near 90 degrees at every point. From the floor of the caldera to the lowest point of the Rimwall, the Eastern Pass, the height is 2154 meters. From the floor to the highest point is 3893 meters and the peak is the tallest in the Crooked Teeth range. It is named Huining Peak, after a famous Praetor of the city. Huining Peak is located on the southern side of the Rimwall. There are two passes, creatively named the Eastern and Western Passes, each one requires a strenuous climb up switch backing trails with sheer drops on one side. One misstep can lead to death.
  Entry into the caldera can be accomplished at one of five points, one can hike over one of the passes, but the Pascon prevents entry. One can also use the Artery system under the floor of the caldera, but this has been unused for nearly two millennium and due to damage from Straken activity, is unsafe. Finally, one can enter using The Slice. The Slice is, in fact, the only method used to enter the caldera and it is only used by the natives of the land. No outsider is allowed to enter the caldera, this is one of the reasons for the Pascon as on several occasions parties have attempted to climb over and down into the caldera.
  The floor of the caldera slopes downward to the center and is completely covered by the Green Wood, a forest of mixed soft and hardwoods. There are many streams and all flow to the circular crevice known as The Deep, where they are either collected in reservoirs and pumped into the city or cascade over the edge creating incredible waterfalls. The flora and fauna of the Green Wood is not so diverse as that of a typical forest in barbarian lands, all large predators were hunted out long ago and now only herbivores and predatory birds still live their. There are several small predatory mammals but none are threats to humans.
  The most notable feature of the Green Wood are the Raobob trees. These trees are the second largest living creatures on Gloe, only Behemoths are larger.  Raobobs can grow to be 90 to 120 meters tall and 12 to 25 meters in diameter. They produce the precious sap called Amber, which is the primary export of Obsidian. The root system of the Raobob is extensive and the roots themselves act as walls, shelters and pathways for the creatures of the wood.
  The Deep is a ring crevice that is reported to be bottomless but in fact is not. It is extremely deep and nearly reaches the mantle region of the planet. The bottom is molten rock and water falling is turned to steam which creates and almost constant fog which obscures the bottom. It is wide, about 200 to 400 meters across and the sides are rough and easily climbable, however, where would one climb to? A unique feature of The Deep are the eight Pedestals, great flat-topped pillars of stone upon which are communities of the poorest of the peoples of the city. In truth, the pillars are connected to the walls of the Deep but so far down the mists block the connections from view.
  The inner side of the Deep is a ridge ring named The Corman, the Corman is rugged and features many ridges which run from the top to the bottom edge. The Corman is composed of mafic and ultramafic stone such as granite, basalt, schist, olivine & obsidian, giving it a dark and ominous look. There are 13 large ledges on the Corman upon which both Wei towns and Patron estates are located. Each ledge is roughly equivalent in size, but the shape varies. Patron ledges are the four highest, the largest of the ledges is named the Orincth and is a place for festivals, political meetings, executions, the infrequent market and general public activities.
  The Corman is in fact the crater wall of the very heart of the Obsidian Caldera. Inside the Corman are The Waters, a material unlike anything else in Gloe. Legend says that all things be they living or not, came from the Waters and that some day they will all go back to them at the end of all things. The Waters themselves appear bluish-silver and are not as viscous as water. The surface of the lake remains placid unless disturbed but rings tend to fade quickly rather than build. Any material that touches the Waters dissolves utterly, leading to the use of the lake as a means of execution and also infanticide. One mystery is how the stone that contains the Waters does not itself dissolve.
  Finally, roughly in the center of the Waters in The Pale, the island upon which the Oracle of Obsidian lives. The island itself is unremarkable, consisting of three hills, two connected and one isolated out on a finger of land. The Oracle's dome rests in the saddle between the connected hills. The hills are covered in lush vegetation, except the isolated hill which is barren, craggy stone. The island has beautiful white sand beaches and no means of reaching it as any craft placed upon the Waters dissolves rather quickly.

Celeste' Fenaille, OSihr to Margeri' Fenaille
  A.S. 1845, Geographical Overview of the Obsidian Caldera

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