Eastern Kingdom

## *Lore*

The Eastern Kingdom was formed around the same time as Central, after the desolation of Dormia when the Priestess Shia Shotaro led a band of warriors, peasants, farmers and nobles away from the once beautiful city to safety. Settling down in the East of Trepheon, the migrants with their diverse range of skills built a stable colony in which Shotaro acted as leader; her kind and benevolent nature holding together the threads of her new people. Shotaro died peacefully at a ripe old age, and her kindness and heroism was remembered and immortalised by her colony - now a flourishing castletown. After her death, Shia’s daughter took control of the East, continuing her bloodline. Shia Shotaro over time has become deified, and her image and memory is worshipped by some of the most patriotic Easterners.

After years of establishing and growing their Kingdom, the Easterners ran into issues regarding the amount of resources they needed versus the amount of resources they had available. Despite the rich source of wood in the forest to the north and the fish-filled ocean by which the colony was built, there were not enough resources to sustain the East’s rapidly increasing population. Thus, the kingdom was forced to look even further East, across the ocean. The Queen ordered for ships to be built from the northern forest’s deposits and began colonising small islands, as well as accepting smaller civilisations their navy discovered as vassals. The kingdom therefore became a naval empire, and the Queen an Empress - solidifying their status as the superpower of Trepheon.

Alas, fate was not on the side of the Easterners. The empire was foolishly spread out, in a way that ships could not reach island settlements in time to react to sea raider and enemy attacks. Their colonies East of Trepheon collapsed, and the kingdom’s reliance on outside resources led to a terrible famine known as the ‘fish famine’ (dubbed so due to the only major resource being available to the Easterners being seafood). The population plummeted and its wealth dwindled. Whilst the East was no longer an empire, its leaders retained the titles of “Empress” and “Emperor”, in the hope that one day their glory would be restored.

This leads us to the beginning of The Far Lands: the Eastern Kingdom has long recovered from the devastation of famine. Shia Shotaro’s last remaining blood relative, Amaya Shotaro, currently reigns as Empress alone after the death of Emperor Asai. The East is now in a hopeful situation, with their economy and production booming, and their military strong.

## *Economy*

Eastern trade is based off of agile animals such as horses and slower, tougher animals like Yaks and Oxen, being used to transport goods such as fruit and fish to Central and other small villages. The cargo trades are protected by Eastern soldiers.

Visitors of the East will likely have their attention grabbed by one particular landmark: the great Mount Vulcan, which can just be seen in the far distance of the Eastern Kingdom. Believed to be blessed by the spirits by the people of the East, Mount Vulcan provides the East with the most fertile soil in all of Trepheon due to its volcanic nature. This soil is capable of growing a wide variety of valued crops including coffee, grapes and a unique red fruit with a gorgeous sweet taste known as "Shia's Fruit".

Mount Vulcan is a rich source of valuable ores for the East, recovered recently after having been abandoned during the Empire's collapse.

In the past, the East has strengthened both its economy and military with the seemingly endless supply of rare schakalite found in the south-east canyons. Whilst the small town of Detaria owns and resides in the canyon, the two factions have a long trade partnership which has supplied the East with its valuable ores. Though the Detarian mines were, at one point, closed down due to a conspiracy led by the Archon Prime, they have now been reopened, strengthening both factions.

The East prides itself on honour, respect and knowledge and acceptance of other cultures and races. As such, they have a long history of good diplomacy with nations outside of Trepheon. This reputation has been beneficial to the East throughout its imperial days as it has allowed them to negotiate good trade deals with foreign kingdoms, and has also been a large factor in the East's success in recovering from their famine.

One factor in the East's previous economic success - and current growth and recovery - is its culture which focuses on the arts. Due to this, the East is home to many unique styles of art, pottery, music, carpentry and craft-work of weapons and armour which has stimulated trade, investment and tourism.

## *Military*

The Eastern army is led by four generals, each representing a specific squadron of troops: infantry (Ejiki Cadre), support and scouts (Lieren Cadre), cavalry (Qishi Cadre) and mancers (Wu Cadre). Due to the East’s smaller population, these squadrons also act as the Kingdom’s official guards as well as its primary attack force. Supporting the Eastern army is the Hodan, a conglomeration of conscripted peasants whom act as cannon fodder in an attack force in order to wear down the enemy. Hodan are not as well trained as the Cadres, however the peasant population do receive some training, and citizens of the East are allowed to own their own weapons and armour which is often passed down through generations.

The Imperial Army is renowned as a fiercely loyal and dedicated force with astoundingly high morale. This is due to the fact that citizens of the East literally believe the Shotaro dynasty to be incarnates of the Divine Wind, and will fight with ferocity to defend them. In terms of training, the Cadres go through extensive and thorough preparation for battle. The Generals lead group trainings, aided by the Imperial Guards who often do one-on-one tutoring with soldiers to unlock their full potential.

Many families in the East place immense value on serving the East through military service, and so the army is never short of eager recruits. However, due to the East's current economic position they are supplied with limited equipment. Often, Eastern families with military history will hand down armour and weapons to their sons and daughters so that they are better equipped than what the state military can provide them with.

The East's partnership with Detaria has meant that East's equipment is often made with the superior schakalite ore, which allows for lighter and deadlier weapons and more mobile yet tough armour.

The Order of The Gundam is another section of the East's military. This order existed after the fall of Dormia with members with different types of armor to help lay out the foundations for what is known as the ''Shijion Kingdom.'' With possible troubles rising from other settlements near to or bandits attacking refugees or villagers, they set out to cease the attacks and regain a peaceful atmosphere which was lost after the fall of dormia. As the age progress so did the order, Each member being of noble birth or veteran at combat, which had different types of helmets and armors ranging from colour to show which Meister it was and the name given to it. The most famous Gundam meister had a green helmet with the Eastern symbol on it's head sticking out.

When the kingdom reached it's empire stage, they acted as the universal police each having their own troops to command to make sure no corrupt or possible attempts to go against the empress from the colonies and to generally make sure they stayed peaceful. Many of the gundam meisters fell due to the sea raids and the stretched out colonies on the map.

With this the order ceased to exist for a while, just being a heroic story to tell your sons and daughters, but with the remaining members either just become nobles or high ranking officers in the military.

In 351 PD (Current time) a Shijion General by the name of Keriz, which was a descendant of one of the Gundam Meisters, revived the order and started selecting candidates from the Shijion kingdom or outside of it, while those outside of it usually wanted glory, Still keeping their signature armor and tradition by naming the armor and picking the look and materials of it.

## *Government and Society*

Perhaps the most notable and unique aspect about this Kingdom is its system of authority; unlike Central and the West, the Eastern Kingdom possesses an extremely matriarchal society, with the supreme ruler being the Empress of the East - who is supported and advised by her three generals - and the Emperor as her passive subsidiary.

The Empresses of the East have been known to pass down the kingdom's ownership into the hands of their daughters even before their deaths. These former Empresses then become what is known as a "Matriarch"; a woman who is preparing to ascend into sainthood, immortalised into the Divine Wind canon. During this process, the Matriarchs tend to oversee temples and conduct religious ceremonies, however have been known to continue to fight and advise their successor in the affairs of the kingdom. Should this take place, the Emperor ceases to be titled "emperor" and is released from his bond to the Empress should he choose to take his own path.

## *Justice and Laws*

1. *Only the Empress, Emperor, Imperial Guard or one of the three Generals can officially execute a criminal. This must be done with the criminal on their knees, and a freshly sharpened katana used to decapitate in one slice to prevent unnecessary pain.*
2. *Every able woman and man must contribute to the kingdom through work and tax. Failure to do so will result in escalating punishments depending on how frequent the offence is.*
3. *Foreigners may stay in the East for as long as they can find and pay for their accommodation. Foreigners with nowhere to stay but the streets shall be removed from the kingdom.*
4. *Foreigners wishing to migrate and live indefinitely in the East must find audience with the Empress, Emperor or ideally one of the three Generals and explain to them how their presence will benefit the East.*
5. *All races and peoples are allowed entry into the East, provided they follow our laws. However, the Imperial Guard have the right to deny entry to any individual they believe to be a possible threat.*
6. *The punishment for murder, or attempted murder, is execution.*
7. *The punishment for rape is castration.*
8. *The punishment for banditry is slavery or death.*
9. *The punishment for theft is five lashings, and the thief must afterwards serve their victim for a week free of pay. Frequent offences of this will result in the culprit being sentenced to slavery.*
10. C*riminals with repeated serious offences shall be forced to work manual labour free of pay for an indefinite amount of time in order for them to contribute towards the Eastern economy.*
11. *The punishment for unaggregated assault is twenty lashings and compensation to the victim, decided by the guard overseeing the matter.*
12. *Conspiring against the Empress shall be punished with execution.*
13. *The defamation of spiritual and sacred objects, primarily the statue of The Divine Wind, will be punished with exile, or potentially execution depending on the severity of the vandalism.*
14. *Civilians may only enter the palace if authorised to do so by the Empress, Emperor or one of the three generals.*
15. *Trespassing in the palace will be treated as a crime against the Empress, and as such will be punished with execution. This includes climbing on the palace walls.*
16. *Duels are only allowed if permission is given by the Empress or one of the three Generals. Should two soldiers of the East have a severe rivalry, they may settle it with a trial by combat with authorisation. The Imperial Guard or General overseeing the match shall decide the rules, such as whether it will be to the death.*