Fusang (Nation)

## Introduction

Fúsāng is a beautiful land on the western coast. Officially, they claim all the lands between the Heaven-Touching Mountains and the western shoreline to be theirs, but in truth they are only slowly spreading inland, much of their power and population concentration located directly on the coastline. The land of Fúsāng starts in the north at the uppermost point of the temperate rainforest, in the shadow of the mountains dividing it from Alasqa. From there it extends all the way south to their trading post in Aztatlan, including the massive rainforests in the north, the arid, desert-like lands in the distant south, and everything in between.

Politically, the realm of Fúsāng is ruled by Her Radiant Majesty the Empress, who rules from her capital city in Jade Harbor, at the southern end of the rainforest. The empress holds the legacy of the Ming dynasty in her veins, the direct descendant of the infant princess who was rescued from the Qing. She appoints governors to the various provinces of Fúsāng, each one centered in the largest cities of the realm, who rule by extension of her authority until replaced or relieved of duty. These governors then appoint leaders of the various cities and towns in their district, and report regularly to the Empress. Some of these governors are very powerful figures, others are posted in the remote reaches of the empire as more of a punishment than anything.

From the outside, the empire looks very stable and peaceful, the only major outside forces threatening them being the distant Qing, and the relatively weak Haida. But the nation is a divided one. The people are divided amongst each other on many issues, and there are rebellious factions, pirates, corrupt officials, greedy black-market merchant families, uncooperative martial art schools, and a fundamental division around the simple question: What does Fúsāng do now? The Azure Dragon party wishes to make the new world their home forever, a new homeland in a rich and fertile land. The Gold Dragon party wishes to return to China’s mainland with an army, to take back the homeland they were exiled from.

## Playing in Fúsāng

Fúsāng proper is made of only two cultures, but their region touches a great many native populations, and some less human ones. Han (Mainland) refers to characters who are either recently from China, or were raised in very traditional households in Fúsāng. Han (Frontier) refers to characters who live out in the more wild parts of the nation, where there’s less traditional influence on the daily life. There are many native groups in Fúsāng’s area, including Native (California), Native (Northwest Coast), Native (Great Basin), Native (Plateau), and Native (Southwest). All of these cultures have a good deal of variation within them, making Fúsāng one of the most diverse regions, culturally, though the Fúsāngrén don’t have a great track record for respecting cultures other than their own.

Fúsāng is one of the few areas where a non human race has significant territory and their own distinct culture. The Sasu Qua’che, the Sasquatch culture of the northwest coast, are granted domain over the Great Forests to the north of Jade Harbor by imperial decree, as part of their agreement the Empress to maintain the forests and oppose the enemies of the empire within it. Spirit-Born found in the main cities of the empire are usually killed at birth, but in the fringes of the settlements, they can be found, though their existence is generally hidden from outsiders to the community. Little people in the Heaven Touching Mountains have made it all but impossible for Fúsāngrén to make it across the barrier.

Adventurers in Fúsāng come in many varieties. Gunslingers make up much of the military in the area, and it’s relatively easy to transfer from the service of the military to a freelance adventurer. Martial artists are relatively easy to find, there being schools devoted to teaching the various styles scattered through the eastern empire. Priests are easy enough to find, wandering monks doing good deeds all through the land, or in monasteries. Wizards are also easy to find, as the Qing paid special attention to wiping out the Ming dynasty’s spellcasting legacy, driving a great deal of practitioners across the sea to the new world. Sasu Qua’che make dangerous brutes, and they also have a great deal of shamans.

The technology in Fúsāng is quite advanced, with many skilled craftsmen loyal to the old empire brought over during the expulsion from their homeland. Fúsāngrén gunsmiths and alchemists mix the most powerful gunpowder and carefully craft each rifle with skill and precision. Fúsāngrén shipwrights create masterful ships, marvels of engineering ranging from the titanic treasure ships, to swift and maneuverable riverboats. The only issue they face on technology is resources. Cut off from large-scale trade by hostile pirates and Haida raiders, Fúsāng must fend for itself with it comes to providing materials for its industries. Thankfully, the land is bountiful, but the trouble is getting the ores, the wood, the goods out of their hiding places and where they can be used. The existing industry can barely keep up with demand, and it doesn’t help they keep losing supply ships to raiders and pirates.

## Plot Hooks

* The Imperial Kitchen-Master has recently been unable to prepare any dishes which satisfy Her Radiant Majesty’s discerning palette. He believes that he may be able to please her with an entirely new dish, something which no one in Fúsāng has ever tasted before. He has recently heard a rumor that far to the north, herds of enormous woolly elephants are kept. He has tasted their preserved meat, and believes that if he could obtain a live mammoth, and slaughter it for Her Radiant Majesty’s table, he would finally have the ingredient he requires to truly express his creative genius.
* The Radiant Throne has commissioned the First Grand Imperial Survey of the lands which lie to the east of the Heaven-Touching Mountains. Any Fúsāngese citizen with knowledge of these lands will be richly rewarded for imparting such knowledge to the Imperial Cartographers. Even greater compensation awaits any native of these lands who is willing to act as guide and translator to the Her Radiant Majesty’s Explorational Fellowship.

## NPCs

* Captain of the Nameless (i.e. Her Radiant Majesty's personal bodyguards)
* Many-Pearls, Chief of the richest tribe in Fúsāng
* Peach-Pit Ping, lv. 8 human Drunken Boxer (a jovial pot-wearing wanderer who plants peaches wherever he travels along the frontiers of Fúsāng; only he does this because he likes to drink peach liquor, not just because he likes to eat them).
* Longtooth (once a notorious Sasquatch bandit, he was eventually defeated by a powerful wu jen and forced to wear a Golden Headband of Obedience until he atones for his misdeeds)