Torio

Torio is a kingdom on Komashi that was destroyed by the father machine; it continued to exist as a simulation made from Investiture in several localized areas to serve as prisons for the yoki-hijo who survived the great reaping of souls that occurred upon the machine's activation. It is relatively small by modern cosmere standards, measuring less than fifty miles across.
== Geography and Ecology ==
=== Environment ===
Torio’s environment is characterized by extreme heat emanating from the ground. Water is not rare there, but it is concentrated in only a few locations. Villages are often built around a steamwell, which serves as a source of humidity and water. The ground near a village is hot enough to hurt but not lethal, whereas the surrounding wastelands--referred to as the searing barrens--are hot enough to ignite wooden clogs. Still, these lands can be traversed at night in hovering wagons pulled by flying devices. The extreme ground heat also causes thermal updrafts throughout the region. Up high, beyond the scorching barrens, there exist cold wastes, where stone gives way to soil.
Plant life has adapted to these conditions by floating on thermal updrafts. Small flowers have wide leaves to collect rain and ride the thermals, with fine dangling roots to absorb humidity from the air. Stocky trees--measuring about eight feet from the bottom of their wide, webbed roots to their tops--are often chained outside homes in villages. Other trees have curled, finger-like roots at the bottom. Made of heavy wood, these trees rely on local adaptations that somehow render them light enough to float on the thermals. Soil-bound plants such as bamboo also exist in Torio, growing in the cold wastes or near cold springs.
Animal life in Torio includes field mice that inhabit floating plants, giant crows roughly the size of a seven- or eight-year-old child--looked after by corviders--and giant hawks, the largest of which can be fifteen feet across.
=== Location ===
Torio is located somewhere on the planet Komashi in the UTol system in the cosmere. Being less than fifty miles across, its size is primarily limited by the dispersal of the steamwells. It is unknown if there are other nations near Torio.
=== Cities ===
* Torio City
* Gongsha Town
* Ihosen
== History ==
It is unknown how long the kingdom of Torio existed prior to its destruction. The yoki-hijo reform movement is a couple of hundred years old by the time the father machine is activated, and the kingdom has an established monarchy with the capital, Torio City, serving as seat of the queen. The yoki-hijo's art is ancient, though this does not necessarily mean that the kingdom of Torio is also ancient.
Torio was destroyed by the father machine during the annual Festival of Reveals in Torio City, where scholars intended to demonstrate a revolutionary means of harnessing spiritual power. Upon its activation, due to poorly created Commands, it conflated hijo and the souls of men, absorbing both all across the planet and leading to the genocide of all of Torio, as well as the creation of the shroud covering all of Komashi. The only survivors were the nomads who lived at the edge of civilization and a few yoki-hijo, who were too heavily Invested to be controlled by the machine.
The father machine's genocide ended all rule in Torio and left only small groups of survivors. For the next one-thousand seven-hundred and sixty-three years, the kingdom continued to exist in some sense as Investiture-based simulations in localized areas hidden in the shroud, where the yoki-hijo were made to repeat the same day ad infinitum, constantly having their memory of the day erased. The destruction of the father machine and removal of the shroud reveals that crumbling ruins are all that remain of the kingdom of Torio.
== Culture ==
=== Peoples ===
The people of Torio wear bright clothing similar in color to the formal dresses and wraps worn at weddings in modern Nagadan. These outfits can be quite bulky, especially for women, who often wear bell-shaped dresses designed to avoid rising too high when caught in the thermal updrafts common to the region. Men's attire is loose and baggy--often pastel in color with a soft, watercolor style--and tied closed at the ankles. They will occasionally accent their outfits with black hats, and often wear short, neat beards.
All genders wear clogs known as getuk--wooden footwear about six inches tall--designed to keep their feet high enough off the ground to prevent burning. While locals grow adept at walking in them, off-worlders find the clogs difficult to move in, comparable to having bricks tied to their feet.
Food in Torio can be cooked directly on the ground, and is served with spoons and maipon sticks. The Torish diet includes stews and a deep blue-purple grain called mingo, similar to Scadrian rice. Nuts are harvested in orchards of floating trees. Meals can be accompanied by smaller bowls of savory sides, each containing only a bite or two.
Torish people bathe at cool springs--typically located in high ground--or in bathhouses if their town does not have a spring.
Weeks in Torio are eleven days long, and it is common to mark out lengths of time in these eleven-day “weeks.” 
=== Religion ===
Religious devotion in Torio centers on the Hijo--spirits (or Splinters left behind by Virtuosity) that naturally reside underground. Torish people will pray to these spirits, and build dedicated shrines in their villages where they can seek the spirits' blessings. They also believe in an afterlife, holding that the souls of the unworthy drift in the cold sky--forever forbidden the warmth of the ground.
At the heart of Torish religion are the yoki-hijo, which translates to "Girl of Commanding Primal Spirits." These individuals are chosen at birth and highly Invested by the spirits, marked by the appearance of a falling star in the sky. They travel among Torio's villages, summoning spirits through the creation of sophisticated sculptures of stacked rocks. Once summoned, the spirits willingly transform into devices--ranging from simple lights to repelling pairs that can lift objects or entire buildings--in exchange for receiving the gift of the sculpture.
Torish culture deeply values the role of the yoki-hijo, as they provide many essential devices for survival and prosperity. They are also regarded as major religious figures and are deeply revered by the people.
In the final two hundred years of Torio's society, a schism arises among the yoki-hijo. By the time of Torio's destruction, twelve out of the fourteen active yoki-hijo have adopted a reform movement, opting for more personal freedom by easing strict traditions and rituals tied to their station. These reformed yoki-hijo feed and dress themselves and take days off when they feel it necessary, yet they have not abandoned their station; even the most liberal among them continues serving the people. Both of the remaining orthodox yoki-hijo remain unaware of the reform movement.
=== Language ===
No curses or swears exist in Torio’s language. Instead, to convey derision or praise, speakers will add modifiers to words or conjugate their sentences in higher or lower forms. Torio's language shares a common root with that of Nagadan, and its script appears familiar to modern Nagadan citizens; however, it remains unintelligible to them in practice.
=== Economy ===
Little is known about the economic system of Torio outside of how it relates to the spirits. Many devices necessary for daily life come from spirits summoned by the yoki-hijo and are distributed according to need. Other necessities--such as water for cooking and bathing--appear to be communal. Water that does not escape as steam from the town geysers is collected by concentric rings of bronze plates. Even so, typical Torish citizens do use money to buy other goods.
== Notable Citizens ==
*Yumi
*Liyun
*Gyundok
*Honam
*Sunjun
*Samjae
*Dwookim
*Chaeyung
*Hwanji
== See Also ==
*Nagadan
== Notes ==
es:Torio