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.