Makoto

Situated in the northwest corner of the Desu Islands, Makoto is a land of religious extremists. The province itself is fairly small and contains 4 relatively small towns: Iku, Haruko, Rai and Yayoi.

The people of Makoto live a fairly regimented life. They leave nothing to chance and always perform as tradition dictates, especially in regards to respect for one’s ancestors. This is probably due to the abundance of spirits that roam the land. As long as these spirits are appeased, they are relatively benign and some are actually fairly helpful, though it may not always be readily apparent. Those who have the skills to deal with them have studied these spirits extensively and each makes use of them in their own way. Even those who are not awakened have a fairly extensive knowledge of customs and charms needed to ward off malevolent spirits while attracting beneficial ones. Whether they are actually effective or merely superstitious folklore is debatable.

Compared to other islands, very little traffic makes its way out to Makoto. This is for several reasons. For one, the people produce about enough for their own needs and have very little that is worth trading with other provinces. For two, none of the cities have ports that would be necessary for larger ships as well as no airports. They each sit upon the ocean and have a small dock for little fishing boats, but larger ships have to lay anchor off shore and send smaller ships to the docks. This is the way things have been for millennia, as dictated by the leader of the province, shinto high priest Omoikane Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi is a powerful shinto priest, both politically and magically. It is said that he is guarded at all times by several powerful free spirits who willingly serve him out of respect. No one knows if this is true, and if it is, why several free spirits would respect a single person so much as to devote their lives to protecting his. Some say he comes from a family whose ancient ancestor aided the spirits in some important way and they have been protecting the family ever since. Others say he is secretly a dragon who has been living among mortals in living form. Regardless of what story is true, if any, what is clear is that Hideyoshi's word is absolute law in the province.

Due to edicts from the high priest, the province has remained quite undeveloped, lacking much of the technology and advancements found in the rest of the world. Technology is strictly forbidden on the island, so many of the conveniences of modern living are either done without, or substituted with magical equivalents. While there is no larger a population of magic users here than anywhere else, there is a much higher proliferation of magical items, some made locally, others imported from Daija and abroad. Foreigners are also forbidden entry to the province. Smaller Desian ships are allowed to trade, but they are not allowed to leave their ships for fear of how they may influence life on the island. Though the occasional shadowrunner team has been known to sneak their way onto the island, there are no corporations on the island, and not much of value for them to be coming for. Even the Yakuza tend to give the place a large berth. The people are simply too indoctrinated for any of the normal organized crime businesses to do very well.

To some, Makoto seems like a natural paradise in an overdeveloped world, and in some ways it is. The air is clean and fresh, rain is actually made from pure water, and everyone eats real food. But the strict edicts of the high priest do leave the people in some old, outdated ways. The biggest example is in how women are treated in society. Women are expected to be subservient to men in every way. It is said that the women of Makoto are supposed to walk far enough behind their husbands that they do not touch his shadow. They should be silent, speaking only when spoken to. They should maintain a clean home and properly serve any guests to the home. Human rights groups have often decried the province as barbaric, but with little outside communication, the people of Makoto do not know of any other way they should live.

There is rumored to be an underground counter culture group that seeks to change things on the island. Supposedly it was founded by several women who saw what life was like for women in other places and wished to change things on Makoto. If such a group exists, it is unknown what their numbers are like, but they supposedly are secretly spreading the word and "corrupting" the good women of Makoto. It could just as easily be that there is no group and that any defiant act by women is merely blamed on foreign corruption as a scapegoat. Evil foreign invaders are easier to accept than the fact that women might want more than a life of servitude.