The East

**Utefue** also known as **The East** is an immense landmass located to the east of Aurelia, extending into the far east of the known world. There are many city-states located on its north-western shores, with Harvest Valley located deep in the continental interior and the cities of the rebellion against Nobunaga on the south coast. The continent extends far to the east, around the Letawa Expanse, to the distant and fabled lands of Hōseki and the Silent Expanse. Utefue climate is temperate in the northern and western portions, and subtropical in the southern & eastern portions. Rainfall generally decreases as one moves eastward in Utefue.

The extreme eastern end of the continent has not been fully mapped. Aurelia's landmass is much longer from north to south, extending from the hellish wastelands of Hell's Reach to the Far Northern polar regions, but east-to-west travel is much shorter. In contrast, the greater bulk of Utefue runs along an east-west latitude, while its northern and southern extremes are a shorter distance.

People or things from Utefue are referred to as "**Utefi**".

## Regions

### The City-States

The Nine City-States are former colonies of the previous Ryoshi Dynasty before its fall. The City-States are the westernmost part of Utefue, and thus the closest part of the continent to Aurelia - located on the other side of the Empty Sea.

* Yamazaki
* Uihae
* Gwayeong
* Nobunaga City
* Horomatsunai
* Zhongxiang
* Yahatsukawa
* Zoayuan
* Yeojin-Kamisuzawa

Each is an independent city-state, competing amongst themselves for land and resources and forming various shifting alliances. They are located on the westernmost portion of Utefue, separated from Aurelia by the Empty Sea, and are in frequent contact with the Aurelian Emperor, conducting brisk trade with them.

In general, the western region of Utefue containing the Cities is dominated by rugged hills in the north, which give way to rolling plains as one proceeds further south. Chief among these are the Hills of Niyama located in the center-north of the western region. The only major forest in this region is the vast Emperor Xian Forest, located east of the Hills of Niyama and bordering the plains of the Harvest Valley.

### Harvest Valley

The plains of the "Harvest Valley" are the vast grasslands of the interior of Utefue, a "sea of grass and wheat" which stretches for miles upon miles. It is inhabited by small agricultural towns and farms. Though the plains is massive, finding these small farms are near impossible without directions from locals.

The Harvest Valley is vast, and borders many other regions of Utefue. It is east of the City-States, beginning east of the Emperor Xian Forest in the north, and in the south, it is north-east of the swamps that are between Horomatsunai and the Ziqau Peninsula. The rebellion city, Uisan, is directly south of much of the Harvest Valley. The eastern border of the Harvest Valley is unknown, as it forms the eastern end of the explored regions of Utefue itself.

### The Wastes

The Wastes is a series of harsh deserts, southeast of the Harvest Valley and east of the Spinal Column's coastal mountains. Eventually, even the grass plains of the Harvest Valley reach too far away from any body of water for anything to grow, resulting in the sparce and empty deserts. There are some ruined or lost cities in the Waste, which were once able to flourish using large irrigation works but with their people gone and the irrigation abandoned they have been reclaimed by the sands. Though mostly abandoned, the current emperor of Utefue, Nobunaga, has built his castle within the mountains of the Wastes.