Hyuntai

Hyuntai is a vast continent located east of the Stone Islands and to the west of Ghillodahn. It is known for its exotic goods as well as being a haven for criminals from all around Adunorh
== Geography ==
=== Northern Hyuntai ===
Northern Hyuntai is mainly mountainous with a few tundras on the Northern most tip of the region. The Mountains are spasely populated and are usually home to small communities of either Korobokuru, humans, or orders of monks. 
=== Western Hyuntai ===
Western Hyuntai is home to jungles and rainforests in the south that slowly give way to mountains in the North. The most peoples who live in western Hyuntai live in the Ziyou-Ren Free State. Most who do not live in the Free State are subsistence farmers.
=== Central Hyuntai ===
Central Hyuntai is mainly grasslands and plains. The area is mainly home to farmers as well as a few herders. There are several of Adunorh’s longest rivers that bisect the country. Many people fish along the rivers and many large cities are based along their banks.
=== Eastern Hyuntai ===
Eastern Hyuntai is mainly made up of forest and jungle to the south that slow turn into rolling hills and mountains in the north. The area is well known for escarpments that separate it from most of central Hyuntai. The are is also known for its waterfalls some of which can be almost a mile long.
== History ==
Hundreds of years ago Hyuntai was devastated by a massive civil war, the repercussions of which can still be felt today.
=== The Pre-cycle ===
-Hyuntai is taken over by a group of evil demons from the abyss known as the Oni. The Oni embody one of five elements.
-The Oni have children with Hengeyokai and give birth to the Rakshasa.
-The pilgrim from Zumbasa known as Menelik visits Hyuntai and is appalled by the Oni’s tyrannical rule.
-Menelik escapes Hyuntai and vows to return.
-The Oni obliterate several rebellions and set their sights on the Eastern Reach.
-Menelik changes his name to Cuthbert and invades Hyuntai with crusaders from Zumbasa and The Stone Islands.
-Cuthbert slays the Oni, sealing their immortal spirits inside several shrines around Hyuntai.
-Cuthbert sacrifices 100 of his crusaders in order to have them combat the Oni’s spirits.
-The Yāo Bǎohù are formed in order to keep the Oni locked in the spirit realm. Headed by five of Cuthbert’s most trusted warriors.
=== The First Cycle ===
- Disgusted with the indulgent ways of society, the White Lotus monks leave to the northern mountains.
- Several kingdoms rise up around the larger rivers in central Hyuntai.
-Rakshasa conqueror large portions of central Hyuntai.
-Köşpendi, fleeing the Calian Empire settle in western Hyuntai.
-The Calian Empire attempts to invade western Hyuntai but are expelled by the Rakshasa.
-The Rakshasa are pushed out of central Hyuntai by both the Yāo Bǎohù and local militias.
-Most of central Hyuntai agrees on a similar currency in order to make transactions between different cities easier.
-Hyuntain cities as well as the White Lotus send troops to fight in the War of the Eye, they also assist in ending Rakshasa rule over western Hyuntai.
=== The Second Cycle ===
-Hyuntain culture flourishes during the twenty years of plenty.
-Shortly after the Twenty plentiful years vampires lead by King Edgar the Pious, from Dra`Vakaar invade Southern Hyuntai.
-King Edgar’s army is routed and Edgar himself is slain by the eunuch Zheng Fei with the assistance of Pelor.
-The Buzzard is taken in by White Lotus monks and trained in their ways.
==== The ConquestCategory:Location ====
Around 462 in the Second Cycle a ruler emerged from Hyuntai's eastern most province of Beicheng. He was known as Sun Ce. Sun Ce was an excellent military commander as well as a superb solider himself, the excellent leader employed superior military tactics to conquer much of the fractured Hyuntai. A year into his rule, Beicheng was only a 50 mile stretch of land. However, by fifteen years into Sun Ce's rule, the land of Beicheng stretched from The Sea of Storms to the east, the Dra`Vakaar peninsula to the south and to much to western land mass. While Sun Ce did fight many battles to annex territory he acquired far more land through means of diplomacy. The perfectly timed diplomatic moves of Sun Ce was thanks to the work of his nephew, a prodigal young diplomat named Lou Xing. Lou Xing began to convince many provinces that if they became part of Beicheng then they would enjoy protection from threats like the Shun Chan, as well as sharing in the unified currency system of Beicheng. On top of that, the lords would be able to keep their lands and subjects with the only condition being that they must pay tribute to the great Sun Ce. A greater portion of the kingdoms in Hyuntai agreed to these demands and joined the Beicheng empire, most who did not were destroyed.
==== Civil Unrest ====
After taking up the the throne of Sun Ce and ruling for almost sixty years, Lou Xing died leaving the Beicheng empire, which now encompassed almost all of Hyuntai, to his eldest son, Xoa Xing. Xoa Xing while still a strong leader was faced with many problems during his reign, mainly the Yāo bǎohù rebellion. Yāo bǎohù were a group of priests who claimed linage to the Five Heavenly Winds, the five brothers who slew the Oni, a group of tyrannical demons said to have ruled Hyuntai in times long past. The empire disliked the priests of the Yāo bǎohù for their practice of human sacrifice as well as their sexual promiscuity. The empire finally decreed that all members of the Yāo bǎohù clergy were to cease practicing their religion or be publicly executed. The Yāo bǎohù chose to ignore the order from the Beicheng empire and take up arms in defense of their culture. The civil war lasted for only three years but by the end any members of the Yāo bǎohù had fled to the Fish Islands, been killed, or had gone into hiding.
==== Shift in Power ====
Not long after the destruction of the Yāo bǎohù other religious and political groups in Hyuntai began growing uneasy, fearing that the Beicheng Empire may try to expel them from Hyuntai just as they did with the Yāo bǎohù. Out of fear, some religious organizations allowed the Beicheng Empire to play a more controlling role in their groups. Some did not bow to the authority of the Beicheng, the most note worthy of which were the opium cartels and the monks of the White Lotus. Things came to a head during the Yāpiàn war during which the opium cartels lead by their fierce Rakshasa over lords managed to defeat the armies of the Beicheng empire and established the western half of Hyuntai as the Zìyóu Rén State. The Beicheng empire managed to maintain a hold over most of Eastern and Central Hyuntai however many of the Empire's subjects began to become worried that the great empire may be falling apart.
==== The First Coup ====
Around the same time the Empire was defeated during the Yāpiàn war there was a young politician from the small village of Michuzuma beginning to gain popularity with the people of Beicheng, his name was Guan Yu. Guan Yu wanted to focus on expanding the culture of the empire rather than its boarders, his words struck a chord with many citizens whose loved ones had recently died during the unfruitful and violent Yāpiàn war.
Guan Yu went to Beicheng with a list of names of many nobles and other well-known figures who agreed with his ideas. He hoped to use the list to sway the mind of the current Emperor Zhunge Liang, who was considering another war with the Zìyóu Rén State. Guan Yu's attempts to make Zhunge Liang reconsider his war in the east were not taken kindly by the emperor. Zhunge Liang claimed that if they allowed the "filthy hedonists" in the Zìyóu Rén State to continue operating then other groups or regions would rebel. They would form their own nations just as the opium cartels and the White Lotus had.Guan Yu, disheartened and angry at Zhunge Liang left Beicheng vowing to change the Beicheng empire. Guan Yu began to travel across the Beicheng empire trying to the get its many lords to join his side and convince the emperor to change his ways. It was not long before Guan Yu had amassed a large following of lords and officials who refused to send troops to fight in the Zìyóu Rén State. Zhunge Liang began to fear that Guan Yu may be starting a rebellion and decided to nip what he saw as a insurrection in the bud by killing Guan Yu.
Zhunge Liang planned to have Guan Yu assassinated while he was staying at a friend's house, the assassination attempt did not go as planned as the would-be assassin was apprehended. Most of the leaders who had sided with Guan Yu were outraged and wanted to go to war with Beicheng. Guan Yu, who was a pacisfist, had different ideas, he wanted to meet with Zhunge Liang and try to convince him to hear him and his supporters out.
Guan Yu was eventually overruled by Meng Huo and Lu Mieng who were both powerful lords, Meng in the east and Lu in the west. Both Meng and Lu took large armies to Beicheng demanding that the emperor be removed from power, dead or alive. Zhunge Liang was not prepared for an attack and chose to abdicate under the condition that he would be treated humanely. Both Meng and Lu decided to evenly split the Beicheng empire into two parts with Meng Huo ruling over the east and Lu Mieng ruling the west.
==== The Divided Empire ====
The two lords ruled the their respective halves of the Beicheng empire in harmony with one another. Meng and Lu had been good friends and got along well, but when Lu Mieng died unexpectedly only about ten years into his reign things changed. Lu was replaced by his son Veng Mieng, a young and idealistic man who felt the the customs of the Beicheng empire were growing old and hampering the empire's growth.Veng Mieng, much to the disdain of his fellow Beicheng lords allowed for religious freedom in his empire ending a almost century-long ban on native practices such as those of the Yāo bǎohù. Veng also began to allow open trade with the Beicheng empire's long-time enemy the Zìyóu Rén State. Veng also abolished feudalism in the west allowing for surfs to own and tend to their own land.
Meng Hou was infuriated by Veng's practices stating that they insulted Lu Mieng's memory and destroyed everything he and Lu had worked for by threatening the customs of the empire itself. Hou also feared that Veng Mieng may made a puppet of the Zìyóu Rén State by some sort of Rakshasa magic. Hou tried on several occasions to appeal to his fellow lord asking him to reverse his decisions, but Veng refused saying that Meng Hou's ways were of a bygone era.
Fearing that his empire may be at stake Meng Hou rallied his forces to attack the western Beicheng empire and depose Veng Mieng. The forces of the Eastern Beicheng Empire, which numbered near half-a million attacked western guard posts in the spring of the 501st year of the second cycle, this marked the beginning of the Great Beicheng Civil War
==== The Great Beicheng Civil War ====
The great Beicheng Civil War was fought between the western and eastern portions of the Beicheng empire, and is one of the reasons for the downfall of the great empire.
The war began with a surprise attack lead by Meng Hou, eastern Beicheng soldiers crossed the Luojihe River and attacked a western military fort in the dead of night. The Eastern Soldiers then began their drive into the heart of the Western Beicheng empire.
The first few days the invaders were met with little to no resistance and were confident that they could take the unprepared western capital with ease. But Veng Mieng had a few tricks up his sleeve, namely his alliance with the Ziyou Ren State which had gain him substantial financial backing as well as volunteer troops belonging to groups of significance within the Free State.
The first major battle of the Civil war occurred when the East attempted to take the city of Zhongyao. Zhongyao was an important city for the west and Veng Mieng vowed to defend it to the last man. Zhongyao and its western defenders were backed up by almost 9,000 soliders from the Kappa, Z-ROC, and many other power Ziyou Ren organizations.
Despite a valiant defense put up by the west Veng Mieng was still an inexperienced commander and was unable to correctly coordinate his troops on the field of battle. The easterners under the command of the experienced Meng Hou easily routed Mieng's forces. The western troops and their allies retreated further west now desperate to find a way to stop Meng Hou from reaching the capital.
The many of the western lords were dissatisfied with Veng Mieng and threatened to withdraw support and join the east if Mieng did not regain territory. Mieng managed to get a lucky break when he heard that the current head of Z-ROC: Kālī Bijalī was coming to aid in the war personally. Bijalī was angered at the fact that his troops had been humiliated by his enemies, he was equally angry at Mieng who he believed had caused him to loose such a staggering number of troops.
With Bijalī's support the east gradually started to turn the tide of the battle, the Rakshasa was an accomplished fighter and traction having defended the Beicheng empire once before during the Yāpiàn war. The west managed to begin to push the east back towards their borders, but the east did not go leave without a fight, and after almost three years of war the last of the Eastern Beicheng Empire retreated back across their border.
The Third Cycle
-The Ziyou-Ren Free State is invaded from the north by the Vulture.
-The ZROC begins to back the planters in the Eastern Reach.
-The Vulture kills Kālī Bijalī, and leaves the Z-ROC leaderless
-White Lightning takes control of the Z-ROC.