Empire of the Heavenly Dragon

Flag of the EHD

Imperial Seal of the EHD

The **Empire of the Heavenly Dragon**, often referred to simply as "The EHD," is a cosmopolitan empire forged from the kingdoms that inhabited the river basins of the far Eastern edge of the continent of Zhongyang and its periphery. It is the most populous state in the known world, with a population of nearly 500 million, and the second largest by land area after the Ghorziak Khanate, spanning 4.4 million square kilometers. By its own reckoning it is also the oldest continuous civilization.

Though the traditional date given to its founding is 2379PF (Post-Flood), with the coronation of Shu Yang, the notion of a Dragonborn Zhongren empire dates back to 1768 when the Kingdom of Zhong conquered the Kingdom of Xiao and its king took the title of 'Emperor of Zhong and Xiao.' This date is significant as the beginning of the concept of a monolithic Zhongren empire, though the empire has not been politically contiguous since this time, and in fact has fractured and reformed several times in its 2,000 year-long history. The most recent dynasty only having taken control approximately 274 years prior in 3300PF.

The EHD is an absolute monarchy ruled by a sole emperor who by his Mandate of Heaven holds all power not only in the EHD, but over the entire world. In practice, the ministers and provincial governors who the emperor invests with his or her political authority and make up the Council of Ministers have a great deal of political sway. Moreover, while some emperors have been charismatic and politically-dominant leaders, others have left rulership of the country entirely in the hands of a council, a regent, or even sometimes a favored concubine.

For the vast majority of its history, like much of the known world, the EHD has had a primarily agrarian and feudal - and later bureaucratic - political-economy. Recently, however, the introduction of trade with Eastern barbarians, the loosening of economic restrictions on the merchant class, as well as the accelerating advances of the state's world-class academic institutions has caused the first few cracks in the Empire's millennia-old economic structure. Only time will tell if the country will reform or fracture once again.

## History

### Prehistory (Pre-400PF)

Before the area traditionally held by the Kingdom of Zhong was invaded and settled by the Dragonborn, it was inhabited by a sedentary culture for at least several centuries after the Yellow Flood which is purported to have wiped out most of the known world when the Celestials rose into heaven. This pre-Zhong culture are known as the "clay-folk" after their preferred choice in building material, and are thought to be the ancestors of the modern Quanren humans. They were the originators of wet-rice agriculture, and leave behind works of pottery, copper, silver, and lead as well as beads of nephrite and quartz. Archeological evidence suggests they also had some knowledge of hydraulic engineering based on the presence of reservoirs and baths. They also left behind a sizable number of granaries, stone walls, and burial mounds. This is the extent of what is known of the clay-folk, as they possessed no system of writing.

### Dragonborn Invasion (~400-800PF)

The Dragonborn are originally thought to be inhabitants of the Taixian mountain range at the headwaters of the Quan River. (See the geography tab for details) At this early period in history they likely practiced limited animal husbandry as well as hunted and foraged for food. Eventually, limited and tenuous food supply forced the Dragonborn off the mountains and further downriver, which brought them into conflict with the clay-folk who already lived there. This drawn-out period of border disputes, intermarrying, and occasional organized conflict lasted somewhere between 400-800PF, by which time the Dragonborn had pushed the humans out of key strategic areas, allowing them full control over the river. It is around 875PF that the first evidence of fixed, stone fortifications at the base of Mt. Tian Shan between the confluences of the Quan and Sylvan river are observed - the site of the current day capital of Tianzhong. This invading force left behind a sizable amount of bronze weaponry and metal hinges for attaching chariot yokes scattered about their grave sites and at spots of major battles. The introduction of bronze weaponry and cavalry being the likeliest factor in their successful conquest of the clay folk.

### Warring Kingdoms (800PF-1430PF)

The "invasion" of the areas along the Quan River was not necessarily carried out by any organized political entity, but rather was simply the result of tribal warlords putting their force to bear to conquer new lands and gain more resources. By the time walls were being constructed near present-day Tianzhong, this period of disorganized raiding against the clay folk had ended and ushered in a new era of sedentary petty kingdoms sprouting up out of tribal territories now settled and fortified. By this time the Dragonborn had adopted wet rice agriculture in addition to a variety of other crops, and enough trade flowed along the river that the relative prosperity of these kingdoms started to be a source of envy. Not only to the Elves then living along the Sylvan River to the North, or to the Steppe Tribes slowly encroaching from the West, but to their fellow Dragonborn, looking to continue their tradition of taking by force.

During this period technology launched forward leaps and bounds: military, commercial, cultural, and even "spiritual" technologies. Iron and eventually steel found its way onto battlefields along with improved bow-making technology, stirrups, armor, and battlefield tactics constantly in demand by these conquering warlords. The profession of "strategist" rose to prominence at this time, particularly in the heroic poems and literature of the age, where they played a pivotal role in a warlord's victory, or as a foil for the warlord's moral failings. The Elvish writing system was also adopted around this time along with the philosophy of Wanmei which quickly became the philosophy de rigueur throughout the Dragonborn-dominated world. Other commercial developments during this period include the discovery of silk and dye production, salt mining, glass-blowing, and the porcelain and lacquered wood that would come to be famous the world over. With the introduction of a writing system and its emphatic champion in the philosophy of Wanmei, many of the old stories, folktales, and legends were swiftly written down on parchment and later paper imported from the Gnomish lands of Xiao, along with many contemporary tales of debatable veracity. Many modern musical instruments also find their primitive early forms in this time period.

The Later Warring Kingdoms period is said to start around 1150PF after the consolidation of the countless multitude of petty kingdoms into several large, centralized states, totaling anywhere between 6-15 depending on the time period. During this time the Dragonborn culture had also extended to the coast and all the way into the fertile lowlands southeast of the Quan River, pushing out the humans they found there and coming into contact with the Tieflings, Gnomes, Halflings, Dwarves, and the Kingdoms of Hancheong. The ever-shifting flux of states eventually began to give way, however, when the Zhongli dynasty in control of Tianzhong (then called Lanshi) won several key battles against the Elves to their north, and along with conquering their trade routes, captured some of their magic-users who would go on to teach magic to the Zhongli. Leveraging this magic against their foes, some time around 1430 the Zhongli conquered the last of their rivals and stood united as the Kingdom of Zhong.

### Period of Dragonborn Unity (1430-1768PF)

Compared to the period that preceded it, the unity under the Kingdom of Zhong was a peaceful one, at least among the Dragonborn and their human subjects. Under the seven 'virtuous' kings of the Zhongli dynasty - said to have each reigned for exactly 50 years - weights and measures were standardized across the kingdom, the metal content of currencies became fixed, learning both magical and mundane began to proliferate, and measurements of time became standardized under the Feng Calendar - named after the king whose decree established it. Throughout the Kingdom of Zhong trade flourished, bolstered by safe roads and consistent economic standards.

Outside the Kingdom however, both the Elvish kingdoms along the Sylvan River and the steppe tribes were beginning to consolidate as well, and this period saw the rise of the first Ezen Khan from the West, whose arrival pushed the Dragonborn back to the walls of Lanshi by the summer of 1731PF, where a combination of a serendipitous flood and valiant, last-minute rescue by a force from the South was all that stopped the fledgling Kingdom from being annihilated. In the span of 20 years, however, the Kingdom of Zhong reclaimed all of its lost ground and even gained some strategic footholds in the area now known as the Junta of the Borderlands. The last of the seven virtuous kings died in 1765PF, passing on a rich, powerful, and centralized kingdom to his 16 year-old heir, Kong Zhongli, who was to propel Zhong, by force of charisma and strength, into its next era.

### Early Imperial Period (1768-2105PF)

The same month that he ascended to the throne, Kong Zhongli organized a campaign against the Gnomes and Halflings of Xiao, ironically aided by the dissection and copying of the Gnomish Crossbow. The campaign saw in three years the Halflings and Gnomes unite under a single banner, the Zhongren suffer over a hundred thousand casualties in the siege of the fortified mountain pass of Menpiao, and a combined death count of over two million between both sides. At last, the three year-old unified Kingdom of Xiao was usurped by the Zhongli king who was crowned in the Gnomish capital of Huyan as the first Emperor of Zhong and Xiao (a title that would increase in length until people stopped bothering) in the winter of 1768PF. While the Gnomes and Halflings would continue to rebel with varying levels of organization and zealousness, this dominion would continue to the present day.

The rest of the early imperial period is marked by near constant conquest and expansion supported by Gnomish industry and invention. In 1908 the Kingdom of Zhong finally pushed the rest of the Elves living along the Sylvan river back into the Wodaichi plateau after their superior magic proved useless against vastly superior numbers. Between 1985-1987 the Empire of Zhong wrested nominal control of Zhangtao from the Tieflings along the entire length of the Hongtu River, but the Tieflings would continue to resist the domination necessary to turn this acquisition into an asset for another 300 years, rendering Zhangtao a battle-stricken wasteland rather than permit themselves to be subjugated by the Zhongren. This was also the turning point in the fortune of the Zhongli Dynasty.

Corruption and decadence among the ruling dynasty resulted in the nearly 500 year-old family slowly losing its influence and devolving power after centuries of gifting tracts of land and noble charters to the military aristocracy as reward for their service. While this process had begun all the way back in Kong Zhongli's time, the land grant that resulted in the ruling dynasty owning less than a plurality of the Empire's land was signed in 1990PF, coinciding with the growing embarrassment of the failed occupation of Zhangtao. Mutterings amongst scholars of Wanmei began to perpetuate the notion that the decadence and moral failings of the Zhongli dynasty was to blame for their loss in prestige, and that they were likely to be replaced by a more virtuous and upstanding aristocratic family now that they had lost the Mandate of Heaven. Despite this, the Zhongli line was able to hang on for another 115 years, mostly as puppets and rubber stamps for the more powerful aristocratic families that lay in their shadow.

### The Black and Red period (2105-2379PF)

This furtive balance of power finally collapsed in 2105 when the Wei family, ruling a personal duchy roughly approximating the current prefecture of Tianzhou, made a formal declaration of war on the Liu family who controlled most of the territory along the coast. Several other major aristocratic houses similarly declared de facto independence - even while continuing to swear allegiance to the Imperial Diadem - and the Empire of Zhong fractured into 12 states-within-a-state. In the midst of this civil war, the Elves reclaimed territory outside the Wodaichi plateau, the rise of another Ezen Khan recaptured all land north of the Taixian mountains, some Tiefling clans managed to slip the Imperial yoke, and the Province of Xiao was to get the closest to freedom that it would ever see in history thanks to a charismatic rebellion leader who was only narrowly put down by the ruling governor. The name of this period refers both to the colors traditionally symbolizing war in Dragonborn culture (black for death and loss, red for blood or glory), as well as to the Wei family who were black Dragonborns, and the Liu family who were Red Dragonborns, the two main contenders for the throne.

Owing to the violence, chaos, and loss of life, food production dropped significantly, and a plague ripped through most of the Empire of Zhong from 2220-2223, killing roughly 1/3 of its population in the midst of a famine. By the end of this period the population of the Empire of Zhong dropped from a high of 105 million in 2150 to 42 million in 2300. Ultimately, none of the aristocratic families prevailed, and it was in fact a peasant by the name of Shu Yang who rose through the ranks of the Wei family's army to the position of marshal and, having earned the army's loyalty, marched off with them in 2351 to conquer the capital of Lanshi under a newly created red-and-yellow banner. Having succeeded at this, he enticed Wanmei intellectuals to his new capital under the promise of government reformation. With a new corps of mounted arcanists from Wanmei academies at his command, he reconquered much of the old Imperial land, finishing with the full reconquest of Zhangtao and a peace treaty which resulted in their becoming a suzerainty in 2379. He was shortly thereafter crowned by a Grand Abbot of the Jade Taixue as the first emperor of the newly-formed Empire of the Heavenly Dragon.

### Yang Dynasty (2379-2410PF)

By the time he was crowned emperor of the EHD, Shu Yang was in his 70's and not expected to last long. He had no living sons, only two middle-aged daughters ineligible for succession. Rather, the imperial diadem would pass to his nephew Jun Yang, who was notorious as a decadent wastrel. With the little time left to him, Shu Yang set about making reforms to the government while he remained a powerful, respected, centralized leader. The first of these came in the Spring of 2380 with the establishment of the civil bureaucracy and the examination system that remains the basis for the EHD's civil government to this day. In the same stroke he took away the formal powers of the aristocracy - although he correctly predicted in his personal diary that they would swiftly take up posts in the new bureaucracy. His second major reform was in the establishment of a system of post offices to expedite and modernize the method of news-carrying to help the delivery of information that the new bureaucracy would crucially need. Lastly, he drew up plans for an Empire-wide system of libraries, schools, scriptoriums, academies, and universities to serve as the educational foundation for this new literate bureaucracy.

When Shu Yang died in 2382 these plans were still no more than ink on paper, and he entrusted the execution of this plan to the newly-created Council of Ministers (then composed only of Ministers from Zhong, Xiao, Ling-Xhidi (The area north of the Taixian mountains), Zhangtao, and Tianzhou). Unfortunately, emperor Jun Yang's reign went exactly as predicted, and the treasury that was nearly emptied during Shu Yang's long decades of conquest was finished off entirely by Jun Yang's long decades of partying. In 2407, the second and final emperor of the Yang Dynasty was smothered in his bed by a concubine. Whether this was carried out under orders, or simply retribution for the emperor's notoriously brutish treatment of his concubines, is unknown to this day. Through the next three years, the Empire waited on bated breath to see if the infant EHD would once again descend into the chaos of a second civil war in a century. Two large, land-owning aristocratic families in fact did rebel, but were swiftly put down by the bureaucratic (and thus non-land-owning) council members and the now civilian-controlled military. After three years, the council in conjunction with the grand abbot of the Jade Taixue reached a unanimous agreement to elevate the Chuan family - an old aristocratic family known for their heavy and generous patronage of Wanmei academies - to the position of Imperial Dynasty.

### Chuan Dynasty (2410-2995PF)

The ascension of Emperor Min Chuan to the Jade Throne marked the beginning of one of the most stable and prosperous periods in the Empire's history. At last in the hands of an Emperor who valued learning, temperance, and patience, the plan for an Empire-wide education system got underway in 2420 when ground was broken on what was to be the centerpiece of the whole intuitive: Tianzhong University, which remains the single most prestigious academic institution in the world. When Min Chuan finally died in 2429, schools, academies, and many other institutions of learning dotted the landscape, such that no one in the EHD was ever further than 10 miles from a school, 50 from an academy, or 100 from a university. Unlike the previous dynasty, the Chuan family - tutored by some of the most influential scholars of the day - continued to produce emperors in the 'perfect' mold of philosopher-king prescribed by Wanmei.

This massive expansion in literacy and education, to say nothing of bureaucratic paperwork, was aided by several Gnomish inventions of the time, including the printing press, water-powered paper mills, the compass, and paper currency (backed by the Standard Electrum Piece made of 1:1 Gold to Silver which also saw its inception during this period) to aid ease of transactions, public and private. The peace, prosperity, nominally meritocratic government, and new inventions led to an increase in crop yield, and in 2650 the population finally counted more souls than it had in 2150. With a stable country, competent administration, and a full treasury, Emperor Tao Chuan launched the first campaign of expansion in eight centuries against the Wuzu people South of Zhangtao, quickly subjugating them through the power of their new repeating crossbows of Gnomish invention: the Cho-Ko-Nu. Rather than stopping, however, Emperor Tao pushed on from Wu to the Kingdom of Dai. While the first conquest went off without a hitch, the second - owing to the denser jungles and bogs of Dai - turned into a bloody 40 year long slog of capturing and recapturing the same crumbling stone fortresses, straddling the reign of three emperors. In the end, however, the Nguoi Suong Mu of Dai capitulated.

The last major conquest of this period was against the people of Hancheong. By a combination of being blocked off by their eponymous mountains, a robust scholarly tradition that lent them a force of arcanists to match the Empire's own, and the EHD's lack of naval superiority, Hancheong had remained unconquered through the millennia of Dragonborn aggression. One instrument of war, however, would turn the tides: the Gnomish bombard. Gunpowder had been invented some centuries prior, but had been a jealously-guarded secret of Fangshi alchemists who assumed it to be an integral element of the Elixir of Life. When this secret was finally leaked, the Gnomes of Xiao took a mere 3 months to put it in a giant brass tube and see what happens when it was lit on fire. With this technology, the formerly insurmountable walls of the Hancheong mountain fortresses fell and Empire soldiers rushed through the breach to seize its capital in 2921. During the short but brutal campaign, more inventions followed quickly behind the bombard, including firelances and handcannons which could be wielded by infantry. With this conquest the borders of the EHD were almost to their fullest extent barring only the Emerald Archipelago, whose inhabitants could still swat the EHD's negligible navy like flies.

### Arrival of the Eastern Barbarians (2995-3101PF)

The decline of the Chuan dynasty began not long after the apex of their power with the subjugation of Hancheong. The rest of the 30th century went reasonably peaceably, mostly consisting of consolidating power and rebuilding the newly-conquered lands. However, this changed in 2995 with the arrival of the Eastern Barbarians. The first to arrive were the Ganlan-Ren on massive, four-masted sailing ships, followed swiftly by the Hong-Ren and the Bulang-Ren with similar if smaller ships. The EHD initially received them coldly, however when a Ganlan-Ren ship captain managed to gain audience with the emperor Pu Chuan, he dazzled the emperor with trade goods from abroad, including amber, jet, tobacco, truffles, rugs, hitherto unheard of seasonings, and heavenly things called chocolate and vanilla. The emperor granted trading rights for the dyes, silk, sugar, porcelain, lacquered wood, and the medicinal drink that had only recently begun to permeate the rest of the Empire from its home region in Dai - tea. The terms of the trade deal were deliberately left nebulous, offering "free and open trade to all foreign merchants of the olive, red, and brown peoples of the East."

This would turn out to be a mistake, as the subsequent emperors became more and more enchanted by the trade goods from the East, tipping the balance of trade against the Empire and slowly siphoning its treasury. Internal trade suffered stagflation when the Empire no longer had the specie to back the paper currency in circulation. Resentment against the excesses of the imperial dynasty grew. Violent clashes between imperial citizens and the Eastern traders broke out, but the iron fist of the Empire came down on its own citizens rather than the foreigners. Despite all this, over half a millennia of stable rule was enough to preserve the traditional legitimacy of the dynasty for nearly another century, though it deflated day by day.

The final nail in the coffin came with the last Chuan emperor's decision to make an ill-fated assault against the Elves to finally crack the adamantine defenses of the Wodaichi plateau and recreate the staggering success of the Hancheong Invasion. The siege of Ichimon - the first and strongest of the Elvish mountain fortresses - was a surprising but bloody success. However, realizing the impending danger of the EHD's hegemonic presence on its plateau, the Faefolk finally banded together into a confederacy to defeat the EHD before it could reach the plateau proper. The Battle of Mamorigahara began in early winter of 3100 along the final two miles of the mountain pass. Lasting five days, it was to be the greatest military defeat in the history of the EHD, and over 500,000 imperial soldiers lost their lives before a retreat was ordered. So many, in fact, that accounts of the battle attest - hyperbolized or otherwise - that the battle concluded 300 feet above where it started from the sheer height of the stacked bodies. Whatever the truth may be, the Empire suffered a blow that crippled its army irrevocably and united the Elves under a single - albeit tenuous - banner. Between this defeat and the economic troubles from foreign trade, even the loyalist Wanmei scholars were now once again whispering of the revocation of Heaven's Mandate.

### The Lanse rebellion (3101-3167PF)

Although it initially began as a peasant's rebellion against food prices and over-taxation, the Lanse Rebellion (as it would later be called by posterity) was quickly seized by the opportunistic aristocracy who smelled blood in the water. That the Chuan Dynasty was in its twilight hours was obvious to all, and the question was then a matter of which Dragonborn noble family would take its place. With no obvious recent precedence, the aristocratic families each took different paths to secure their path to the throne. The Song family - being from the North - snatched up what it could of the military, the Zhou family made a play to gobble up as much of the peasant uprising as it could, the Liu family sought the backing of foreign traders, as well as other minor families who either chose a different path entirely or aligned themselves with one of the larger houses in the hopes of political spoils. Between the peasants, the military, and even some bureaucrats turning cloak, the last Chuan emperor was deposed bloodlessly in 3101. However, the rebellion would last for another 66 years, and no less than 31 emperors in this time were able to capture Tianzhong, sit the Imperial diadem upon their head, and were killed by spies from a rival house, conniving military officers, zealous Wanmei scholars, or simply jealous members of their own family.

Things appeared to be coming to a close in 3162 when the Fa family of Green Dragonborn were able to hold on to the capital for four consecutive years, the longest of any of the merry-go-round of emperors. However, just as the dust was settling, the Chen family, well-ingrained in both the bureaucracy and the Empire's academic system, revealed their trump card. Introduced to the national curriculum a century prior (before the overthrowing of the Chuan Dynasty had even been entertained) was a seemingly innocuous bit of propaganda that stated the primacy of mythical "purple and platinum" Dragonborn, who by their color and metal alone were closer to heaven and thus more fit to rule. The subsequent writing on this theory, accelerated by the turbulence of the civil war and a desire for stability, and gently guided by the seemingly nonpartisan Chen family, concluded that this hierarchical typology of Dragonborn could be extended to all Dragonborn, not just the "mythical" ones.

Characteristics were assigned to Dragonborn based on their color or metal, with blue placed on top as most fit to rule, and green second from the bottom above only half-breeds. Ex-post facto rationale for the rise and fall of the Yang and Chuan dynasties was placed on their respective silver and brass lineages. Coincidentally, the Chen family were Blue Dragonborns and the Fa, Green. This also happened to tie the Chen family to the Zhongli, the original imperial dynasty who had also been Blue Dragonborns. With five generations of bureaucrats and scholars indoctrinated with this new theory, the Chen family swooped in in a bloodless coup that turned the Council of Ministers against the new emperor, demanding a Blue Dragonborn house to sit the Jade Throne. Recognizing that refusing would be a Pyrrhic victory at best, the Fa family stepped down. Fortunately, the Blue Dragonborn Chen family was at hand to ascend the throne in their place.

### Chen Dynasty (3167-3300PF)

In spite of their duplicitous methods, the Chen Dynasty proved competent rulers - or at least more competent than the dynasty they replaced. The first emperor, Bao Chen, set about stabilizing the economy, initially by curbing excess in the imperial court to halt the flow of specie out of the Empire. Having accomplished this through sumptuary laws, he established state monopolies on salt, tea, porcelain, and magic items in order to ensure both state control over trade balances, as well as to add a tool to the toolbox of preventing future peasant insurrections through the threat of halting salt supply. These measures worked so well it kicked off a war with the Eastern merchant powers that consisted mostly of a decade of coastal skirmishes before a treaty was signed giving the port cities that now comprise the Batua Trading Republic over to the merchants in exchange for state administration over the province and the exchange of naval technology.

With Eastern shipbuilding techniques, the EHD began building warships laden with cannons for an eventual assault on the Emerald Archipelago. The army and navy had both ballooned in size during this antebellum period with the formal organization of the military bureaucracy and its recruiting strategies, as well as a stabilization of the frontier regions in the West under a Junta government. The stage was set for the last - or at least most recent - imperial conquest. The conflict with the Emerald Archipelago was to be a violent and brutal one. Long the targets of envy for the Empire's inferior navy, the Dwarves of the Emerald Archipelago had fortified to the brim every island that could sustain a clan of more than 100. On top of this, the Dwarves had no central authority that the EHD could swoop in and usurp as they had done to countless others, being comprised mostly of loosely affiliated clan-based princedoms. Once again, however, the EHD prevailed through its time-honored strategy of throwing as many bodies as it took at the fortifications blasted open by their cannon-laden warships.

The eventual victory in 3208 was not a glorious one by any means, but a hugely unpopular war due to the proliferation of printing presses making news of the war and its toll available to all citizens. This discontent reverberated across the empire and continued throughout the rest of the Chen Dynasty. Nonetheless, the rest of the period was marked with prosperity, and in 3275 the Empire finally crossed the threshold of 400 million souls within its borders. The Empire's improved efficiency in drafting and communication resulted in a swift and effective response to a would-be Ezen Khan hoping to sweep in from the West. In hindsight, most scholars regard this period as being one of the more successful, if modest in EHD history. However, the ability of the press to freely criticize the emperor never outlasted its novelty, and it was the failures, not the triumphs that stuck in the minds of those who lived through the period. The criticism was such that the final emperor of the Chen dynasty, Ping Chen, abdicated the throne in 3299 at the age of 21 with no heir in order to retire to a mountain cottage.

### Wang Dynasty (3300-3574PF [PRESENT DAY])

The spontaneousness of Ping Chen's decision turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the aristocratic families were in no strategic position to vie for the jade throne. Knowing that this window would not last long and hoping to avoid the horrors of yet another civil war, the Council of Ministers swiftly chose one of their own by unanimous vote: Xiuye Wang, then the Minister of the East, and averted civil war. Xiuye had no trouble adopting his new role. Having witnessed the power of the press, his first act as Emperor was to regulate access to printing presses, requiring a special license from the state to operate, which was only given under the concession of having a state censor at hand to review all published works. Though there was - and continues to be - grumbling about this, it was not large enough to put any pressure on the omnipotent emperor to retract the law.

His second major reform was in response to encroaching Shinjuwan business interests, and was to radically change the power structure of the EHD. This was the introduction of the notion of "Heaven Owns All Things." On paper it gave the emperor total, unconditional ownership of all things within his borders in exchange for a radical system of 0% taxation at the Imperial level (though the provinces can still levy their own taxes with the approval of the Emperor). This served the twofold purpose of freeing the markets without resorting to isolationism, and also as an implicit threat to the Elves of Shinjuwan that their trade goods could be seized at any moment, no questions asked, no appeal permitted (although special dispensation had to be given to the Eastern merchants to ensure they did not panic at the news). The result of this was the single largest economic boom in the history of the EHD.

Where many of the prior economic periods of prosperity had been characterized by a cessation in war - internal or external - and thus an increased labor force to work farms and workshops, the economic boom following the HOAT decree was of a different sort. Suddenly freed from a taxation system that mostly took donations in kind such as a gunsmith being commissioned for a certain number of guns, these businesses were able to reinvest in themselves, and banks in them, with the unprecedented confidence in paper money issued by an entity that "owned all things." The truth of this being perhaps a little dubious, as the Wang Emperors were wisely advised whenever they came to power to practice temperance wherever and whenever possible, so as to avoid being seen as abusing the privilege. Paradoxically, the first few Wang Emperors were initially one of the least decadent dynasties.

In the intervening time of economical and commercial development, several major changes to the economy have begun to occur. The first of these, as usual driven by Gnomish invention, was replaceable parts due to the invention of the milling machine. Even apart from the immediate and widespread industrial significance, from the state perspective this meant a hundredfold increase in gun manufacturing. The second was a massive increase in iron and steel production with the invention of the blast furnace aided by the steam engine, with the entire Empire producing in a week what it once produced in a year. This dividend paid into other markets, furnishing peasants - some now able to purchase their own land - with a cheap supply of metal tools and plows. The last of these changes was the establishment of the Imperial Patent Office in 3554, which served to protect inventors from intellectual theft. With this last hindrance to industrial growth removed, the rate of inventions soared, with the power loom in particular driving down the cost of wool, cotton, and even silk clothing to affordable levels for most peasant families.

In the past decade, however, three events occurred which have provided the Wang Dynasty with its first serious tests of leadership. The first of these was the introduction of a new crop from the East: Coffee. An addictive plant that could not be grown in the EHD's northern climates, and one that threatens its state monopoly on tea. The second was the rise of another Ezen Khan to the West, one much craftier and more powerful than the EHD has seen in millennia. The fortifications along the Western edge of the Junta of the Borderlands that were expected to hold and repel even the most fierce of incursions from the Steppe were swept away in the span of months. The last was the sighting of a Shinjuwan warship powered by steam, laden to the brim with cannons, and bedecked in iron rather than wood. And while those virtuous first few Wang Emperors, with their patient and temperate dispositions, might have been more than up for the challenge, the reigning Emperor Wang Gaoxing is far more interested in playing with his concubines and sipping laudanum than in administering the Empire.

## Geography

   The climate in the EHD varies wildly depending on the province, ranging from the semi-arid steppe of the Junta of the Borderlands, to the subtropical forests of the Province of Dai, and many climate zones in between. Its borders encompass several mountain ranges, including the Taixian Mountains that separate it in the West from the Gorzhiak Steppe, the Wodaichi mountains that separate it from the Faefolk Confederacy in the North, and the Hancheong range that rings the Province of Hancheong in the South. Two major rivers flow through it. The first, along whose banks the capital Tianzhong sits, is the Quan River in the North, which is fed into by the Sylvan River originating in the Wodaichi plateau. The second river in the south is the Hongtu River, which splits at several points. East of the Province of Dai it becomes the river Wu, and South of the Hancheong mountains it becomes the Piui River. It terminates in a three-way fork as it approaches the Taiping Ocean.

With a couple of exceptions, the annual changes in climate and temperature are characterized by the monsoon season from late spring to early autumn. The monsoons result in huge swings of temperature, with northerly winds from the plateau resulting in bitterly cold winters, and southerly winds in warm, moist summers. The exceptions are the Emerald Archipelago which is positioned in the midst of trade winds and remains mild and temperate for most of the year, and the Province of Hancheong, which is sheltered from the colder winds during the winter, and receives in the summer the same anomalously sweltering south-eastern winds that the Firbolgs of Pun-To receive.

Its land is considered the most fertile in the world, especially along the river valleys of the Quan and Hongtu rivers, where almost all cultivable land is under the plow. In the North where space is at less of a premium, animal husbandry becomes the predominant agricultural activity. Aside from the Eastern coast and the river valleys, much of the land is hilly or mountainous. Additionally, while much of the center of the country has been long since deforested, some untouched woodlands remain. Particularly the forests of Xiao, the untamed wilderness north of the Emerald Archipelago, and the wild subtropical forests that blanket much of the Province of Dai whose depths forbid all but the most fearless foot traffic. The highlands West of Xiao constitute something of a loose border with the Gorzhiak Khanate where the latter's horses and pack animals are prevented from entering (though the goblin horde finds it suitable for raiding). The Junta of the Borderlands in the Northwest also exists as a border-in-flux, but has a much longer history as the portal to some of the most profitable trade-routes in the world which connect the EHD - albeit indirectly - with the rest of the non-Gorzhiak world.

## Politics

The Empire of the Heavenly Dragon is an absolute imperial monarchy where the emperor (currently Emperor Wang Gaoxing) nominally possesses all political power. This title is passed along by agnatic-primogeniture when possible, however failing this it goes to either the senior-most member of the reigning dynasty during times of stability, or whoever has most of the army behind them in times of turbulence. While there have been times when the reigning dynasty changed, because of the inter-marrying in the upper aristocratic circles, coups have always been executed with some kind of de-jure basis for claiming descent from an earlier emperor - often through a concubine. Currently the Wang dynasty of blue Dragonborn hold power and the Emperor has several male heirs. The heir apparent is the emperor's eldest son Wang Lanxing - a boy of only 12.

Despite being an absolute monarchy, however, the emperor relies on a council composed of seven ministers (the ministers of the North, East, South, West, Center, Left, and Right) who are responsible for a particular area of government as well as the administration of an Imperial province (a duty which is often delegated to an appointed Secretary Governor). Below is a chart of the Council of Ministers, their duties, and the province they nominally administer.

Below the imperial provinces there are two further administrative divisions. The prefectural level presided over by a prefect, and the county level by a magistrate. These are both appointed positions, and owing to the structure of the bureaucracy and delegation of authority, the direct staff of the head of a particular subdivision is regarded as being superior to the head of the next lowest position of government. Such that a magistrate being moved to prefecture-level staff is considered a promotion and not a demotion. Below the level of county are individual municipalities, which may vary in the formality of their bureaucracy in accordance with the stature, wealth, and education-level of the municipality. Larger cities will often require formal civil service exams to be considered for even the most insignificant of positions, while villages may take a vote to elect a chief, or simply pull a name out of a hat. Their subsequent importance is therefore de facto rather than de jure. On paper, the mayor of a large regional market town is equivalent to the chief of a small hamlet, but in practice the former likely has the ear of the magistrate or even the prefect, while the latter deals with lower-level staff acting as liaisons. Listed below is a chart of the total number of prefectures and counties in the provinces as well as the capital prefecture.

\*note: The fraction next to the Junta of the Borderlands refers to (Number under de facto control / Number historically owned)

Parallel to the civil meritocracy are two additional sectors of the state worth mentioning. The first of these are the landed gentry and aristocracy. The gentry are composed almost entirely of Dragonborn, with a few exceptions granted long ago by charter to certain special cases in other races - including the royal houses of Xiao and the Emerald Isles. All noble houses are recorded in the imperial archive, and landed charters are guarded jealously by any houses in possession of them. Although formally divested of political power in 2380, the privileges afforded of landed gentry - including exemption from the draft, from reporting crop yields, and imperial immediacy - mean that they are often entangled in formal politics through some way or another, often resulting from their enclave-status within administrative regions. They also constitute the population from which all imperial dynasties have been drawn from, and they tend to became the major actors during periods of civil war.

While the law forbids both the head of a noble house and their designated heir from holding a position in the imperial bureaucracy, it is silent on the topic of all other offspring, and the higher levels of government are filled almost exclusively by second, third, and so forth members of important aristocratic houses. In certain cases conflicts of interest have to be dealt with directly by the emperor, as in the case of an aristocratic house administering the county or prefect that they reside within. There is no such limitation placed on the emperor, however, and the Council of Ministers - and thus the governorship of the provinces - tend to be inhabited heavily by members of the Imperial dynasty.

The second parallel hierarchy is that of the military. Because of the ability - and occasionally necessity - of mobilizing the entire Empire's resources towards war, the military maintains an administrative staff at every level of government to ensure swift and efficient mobilization of soldiers, supplies, and production. While the civil service takes precedence in times of peace, the balance swings to the military government during war time. The exception to this is the Junta of the Borderlands, which has no civil bureaucracy above the municipal level since it is assumed to be at all times in a state of war preparedness owing to its proximity to the Gorzhiak Steppe. Official titles exist for officers of the military who find themselves placed in these bureaucratic positions, and these titles are exchanged for one another when an officer is moved from the military bureaucracy to a combat tour and vice versa. Below is a hierarchical ranking of all three parallel systems of government to which all citizens of the empire - or at least those in positions of power - are expected to defer. Formal rituals exist for greeting and conversing with one's superiors and inferiors, as well as one's equals:

The other important point of note regarding the politics of the EHD is the primacy of the written word. Much of the Imperial archive dates back over a millennia or more, with a corps of scribes ceaselessly copying degrading manuscripts and alchemists and arcanists brewing and creating chemicals, solutions, and spells to prolong the life of original copies of important documents such as peace treaties and dynastic royal charters. Every citizen's birth is documented by their local doctor or midwife and is placed on file in the capital at Tianzhong, and at their 14th birthday they are required to register for the draft and receive identification papers declaring their personal information, home town, citizen ID, and any recent travel outside of their county. If the Imperial government wants to know where the average citizen is, they do not need a scrying spell to do so.

Other pieces of recorded information include production ledgers, court transcripts, tax documents, survey reports, and more, all the way down to the contents of individual grain silos. This is partly because the Imperial ethos has always been that more information is better than less, and partly because while almost every literate person can take the civil service examination and be placed, not all of these are critically important positions. The vast majority of test-takers are either given a petty clerk position, or one is invented for them, including grain silo content analysts. From a political expediency standpoint this obsession with written record is on some occasions a boon, some a hindrance. With access to - very nearly - perfect records, all the information under heaven is at the disposal of the emperor and his staff, and if caught, things such as pestilence, famine, and disease can be addressed swiftly and efficiently by its full command of resources. But the Imperial bureaucracy with its endless hunger for information is not always the most efficient with its usage of that information, and as often as famines and droughts are solved by Imperial intervention, they just as often go unnoticed as one paper among many on a bureaucrat's desk.

## Military

Because of its centralized control over both logistics and supply line, the EHD can afford to field a standing army of nearly 1.2 million regular troops before irregulars borrowed from nomadic mercenaries, adventuring parties, and private militaries, to say nothing of the millions more of drafting age. These 1.2 million regulars are organized into five armies of 200,000 men each, with the remaining 200,000 comprising a mixture of 'special' troops, including the Empire's four cavalry divisions, 15 artillery brigades with their 1,024 guns, and 5 arcanist brigades. All supported by as many military engineers and specialists as the Emperor sees fit to bring to bear. Special forces further supplement the army by a number that the Emperor himself is not privy to.

Fast becoming outdated in the face of advancing firearm technology, the old-fashioned field marshals of the EHD continue to favor a mixture of pikes and muskets and heavy cavalry led by nobles following their own orders, supported by artillery that may or may not know what either the infantry or the cavalry is doing. In the antebellum centuries this wasn't much of an issue, but with the rise of an Ezen Khan to the West, the EHD found itself on the backfoot against a far more progressive-minded opponent which swooped in and snatched several important forward command bases. However, the process of cycling out well-entrenched field marshals and generals is a slow one that often relies on their voluntary retirement or demise.

Shipbuilding technology has never been a priority to the bloated geographically contiguous empire, and what navy the EHD does have is pitifully outdated, mostly consisting of ships intended to carry soldiers for boarding as opposed to the armed ships of the trading kingdoms to the East or the Sea Elven coastal-raiders. The only exception to this was during the conquest of the Emerald Archipelago, but maintenance was allowed to go lax on this fleet and and the EHD once again finds itself without a serviceable navy in the event of maritime war.

Ultimately the strength of the EHD is found in a combination of its state monopoly on magical items for military use, its burgeoning industrial capacity, and its incomparably vast number of troops. Its size in particular permits it to be run with far less efficiency than its two hostile neighbors (the very notion of Non-Commissioned Officers being an inside joke among the nobility), and still manage to maintain its dominant position. Whether the stirrings to the West or the looming economic and technological rival in the Shinjuwan Republic will upset this balance of power is yet to be seen.

## Economy

Under the Empire of the Heavenly Dragon there is a notion roughly two centuries old of “Heaven Owns All Things.” This serves doubly to suggest that the Emperor is the de-jure ruler over the entire world, and also that he/she owns every material thing in it. This would suggest on paper that the EHD is a totally-centralized command economy. In practice, the Mandate of Heaven means that the Emperor always strives to be the pinnacle of generosity and charitability, and will only make use of their resources as the state needs (such as commanding the labor of blacksmiths in times of war to produce equipment for the state, or stonemasons to build a bridge.) Nonetheless, to assure a proper balance of trade, there is a state monopoly on salt (which ensures compliance of entire cities by introducing the possibility of revoking their salt supply), on tea (for which there are quotas of how much will be exported versus remain for domestic consumption), on porcelain (which has both export quotas and sumptuary laws), and magical items of an "imperiling nature.”

This also extends to foreign traders and foreign people passing through who do so at the risk of knowing that their items can be confiscated at any time, and it is not uncommon for guards and unscrupulous teamsters to use this as the basis for demanding bribes. Although confiscation orders must be formally-approved by the emperor (or, rather, their Board of Revenues), because the process can back up to months or sometimes years, most people are prepared to pay the bribe.

On the matter of labor laws the economy is otherwise largely unregulated and, at present, currently in the process of beginning industrialization in the textile industry. In general, the coastal regions and areas of traditional trade intersection and the textile industry are getting richer while the interior regions and traditional industries are getting poorer. This has prompted a gradual rise in urbanization over the past century or so which accelerates year by year. Because of the central control over public works construction, infrastructure and large projects such as universities and hospitals have not kept up with the increased demand in these urban centers, and the larger cities of the Empire have entered into a fierce and bitter rivalry over priority in construction approval

The standard unit for measuring GDP (which Zhongren economists imperfectly project from a combination of tax revenue, import tariffs, and other occasionally dubious internal numbers) is the Standard Electrum Piece (SEP, the largest denomination minted in the EHD) which is 0.5oz of Gold, 0.5oz of silver by weight. By this reckoning the total value of the economy of the EHD is approximately 文1.34 Billion SEP, although the total coins in circulation are well below this number due to a combination of the use of smaller denominations, paper money, and the massive amount of bartering and under-the-table trades which are never recorded on paper and thus don't factor into the GDP at all. In fact, the peasants that make up the majority of the Empire's citizens go much of their life doing precisely this type of bartering, often with products produced at home and therefore un-recorded. The full economic impact of peasant bartering and subsistence farming is unknown, but some suggest it would double or even triple the total size of the economy if included.

## Demographics

### Overview & Population Characteristics

As of 3550, the EHD is by far the world's most populous country, with a population just shy of 500 million according to its own quarter-century census. It is a relatively youthful country, with 38.5% of the population in the first quartile of their lifespan (Approximately 20 years in human terms, or 100 in a Dwarf's). Another 52.3% in their second and third quartile, and only 10.2% in their fourth quartile. Average life expectancy at birth varies by race and region, but averages somewhere just below the fourth quartile, or roughly ~59 years for humans. The fertility rate is estimated at about 1.2% per year.

The vast majority of citizens live in what would be classified as a rural setting, with only about 4% (or roughly 20,000,000) living in a large city. In addition, most of the population is densely clustered along the two major river valleys - the Quan River in the North and the Hongtu River in the South - as well as the coast and its fertile hinterlands, with an average of about 200 people per square mile in these areas. With a few notable exceptions such as the Province of Xiao, along the Sylvan river that flows from the Wodaichi plateau, and the Hancheong basin; the rest of the EHD's land area averages between 5-60 people per square mile. The populations of the individual provinces are given below:

### Races

The EHD is a massive, sprawling, cosmopolitan empire, and as such has a great deal of variance from region to region in its demography and culture. No one particular race has a majority in the EHD, however humans represent a plurality, comprising around 45% of the population. Dragonborn are considered the dominant race due to their representation at the highest echelons of society, though they represent only 9% of the population. Provinces in the EHD are characterized by close to or near total racial homogeneity with a few notable exceptions. This is due to the low levels of internal movement within the EHD - limited mostly to adventurers, mendicants, merchants, and the slow trickle of peasants into the industrializing cities - but these are the exception and not the rule. For the most part the de facto segregation is not due to any racial prejudice, but a low desire for travel outside of ones' native environs. Below is a list of the major races, though the Imperial census does not differentiate between half vs. full heritage as in the case of half-elves, by sub-race as in the case of Stout Halflings, or by distinct cultures within a race such as Wuzu or Gang Salamdeul humans:

### Languages

The official language of the EHD is Zhongrenhua, the language of the Dragonborn nobility, although most races speak their own native language first and only revert to Zhongrenhua when speaking with officials or people from abroad. This includes humans, who speak close to 40 different mutually-unintelligible dialects across the broad geographic expanses of the Empire. While most city-dwellers and people in a profession that demands some academic background will likely be able to speak fluent Zhongrenhua, peasants may only speak haltingly, or a kind of creole with relevant words like "taxation" and "wages" being in Zhongrenhua but most others in the native language of the region. Small villages will often have a designated lawspeaker who serves a combined duty of assisting illiterate peasants with official forms, giving legal advice and representation, and acting as a Zhongrenhua interpreter between the village and imperial officials.

Apart from the various regional languages, two languages hold a special place in the EHD and its affairs:

The first of these is Ancient Draconic; the ritualistic language of pre-Zhongren Dragonborn shamanic texts. It is a heavily-symbolic and esoteric language that initially lacked both a contemporary lexicon and an oral component - being an exclusively written language. Recently it has seen a revival in academia by Dragonborn "purist" scholars perturbed by the fact that Zhongrenhua (the oral Dragonborn language) adopted Elvish script for its written language. In searching for a "pure" alternative they reformed Ancient Draconic into a modern language - primarily by supplementing with Celestial loan words. Although lacking penetration beyond academic circles, it has gained traction as a lingua franca for the humanities, aided partly by its incomprehensibility to other areas of academia. Proponents of its use petition for its adoption in a court context, but due to its lack of native speakers this has been a slow process.

The other language of import is Celestial, the language of the race the inhabited the world before the Yellow Flood. Its grammar and lexicon were decoded by linguists through cross-comparison with pre-Flood Sylvan texts allegedly translating Celestial. Celestial is of great importance to several communities in the EHD: scholars for its use in excavating the countless archaeological ruins left by the Celestials, adventurers for the same reason, religious officials for its ceremonial significance, wizards and arcanists for its use in the verbal component of spells, and imperial officials for its incorporation in imperial rites and observances including in texts to be read during coronation ceremonies. Essentially it exists as a sort of "high" language intended to convey magnificence and status, with perhaps a hint of the braggadocio depending on who is using it. It is known to have had an oral component, but it is unknown what it would have sounded like, and three and a half millennia separate it from what is thought to be its closest linguistic relative in the Tiefling language of Guaihua.

### Religion

The "Five Major Philosophies" comprise close to the entirety of religio-philosophical thought within the EHD. Strict religious or philosophical exclusivity is almost non-existent in the EHD, and it is common for folks to pick up or put down philosophies as they are relevant to their circumstances. For instance, bureaucrats who are required to be familiar with and mold their actions to the philosophy of Wanmei may set the philosophy aside in their old age in exchange for Fangshi.

As a catch-all term for the "folk" traditions of the EHD, and particularly Dragonborn practices of antiquity, Jingzu suffices to encapsulate the system of thought behind the vast majority of practices, rituals, and rites that the average citizen of the EHD engages in. The formal body of philosophical thought that characterizes the structure, the meritocratic criteria, and the de jure justification for the Imperial bureaucracy is Wanmei, and familiarity with it and its literary classics is tied to ones' advancement in the bureaucracy. The other Elvish philosophies of Fangshi and Fojiao are present in the EHD, albeit in negligible numbers and of little cultural importance outside of the Suzerainty of Ma De. Tengri is also present, but mostly confined to the Junta of the Borderlands where it exists as the de facto folk religion.

Apart from these five, the foreign traders who maintain commercial outposts in the Batua Trading Republic have their own native religions and philosophies which the Imperial government generally regards as being of inconsequential importance.

## Culture

There is not one, fixed culture which characterizes the EHD, and indeed, moving from one province to the next is like stepping into a different country. Nonetheless, certain features, whether inculcated by the demands of the Imperial meritocracy, or by simple cultural osmosis, can be found in most of the EHD in some way, shape, or form.

### Literature

The first of these is a love of the literary arts and the humanities. With the Imperial examination system testing on familiarity with classics of Wanmei, proficiency in calligraphy, history, and cultural knowledge as criteria for advancement. Aside from the 'canon' of classics which are predominantly penned by Dragonborn authors, most provinces have their own (usually secondary) literary canon that they take pride in. Poetry, calligraphy, and prose-writing are all highly valued as skills both in a general context and especially during courtship where they are likely to elevate the stature of the suitor regardless of gender. Though not quite as prized, other skill-in-arts bring similar prestige, and having a multitude of them is said to be a sign of the gentle-scholar so highly praised in Wanmei. Among these are skill at playing the guzheng, landscape-painting, operatic singing, incense-making, and - at least in a courtly context - the aesthetic appreciation of work that someone else had to get dirty and sweaty to produce.

### Cuisine

Food similarly varies in preparation, cooking method, and ingredients, but across the EHD some commonalities can be observed. As staple dishes, rice and noodles are prized everywhere, although cheaper millet, nuts, and oats often fortify the diets of peasants. In the coastal regions of the empire and along her rivers, grilled fish, shellfish, and crustaceans are a common ingredient. In the interior it is more common to see livestock as the central component of a meal, and in the courts and noble houses, water fowl is especially prized. Vegetables and fruits preserved in solutions of sugar, salt brine, and vinegar are common throughout the empire as an answer for the cold, bitter winters of the Northern parts, and as a deterrent to pests and vermin in the South. Their importance is such that withholding salt from a village is often considered a death sentence.

A palatal preference for a balance of sour, sweet, and salty flavors is also common to many parts of the EHD, but the ingredients, sauces, and condiments used to achieve this ideal differs by region; and culinary perfection is primarily a concern for the wealthy and not the peasantry. Similarly, alcohol is consumed in a variety of forms across all classes. In aristocratic circles plum wine and a spirit called Shaojiu are common, although the latter is popular across all social classes with the nobility drinking Shaojiu made from white rice and peasants from a mash bill of whatever they can get their hands on - usually produced from an illegal still. Other famous potent potables include the Banana Beer of the Emerald Archipelago, fermented mare's milk called Ayrag in the Borderlands and Ma De, and the herbal Lujiu of Xiao. Aside from these, beer of endless grain variations can be found brewed across the empire, including lower-alcohol versions which serve as hydration for those without a clean water source or who cannot afford tea.

### Recreation

The forms that recreation and entertainment take in the EHD frequently fall along class lines, although the basic actions are the same. Singing, dancing, and playing music are common at all social strata. For peasants music is a wild, unstructured, free-for-all which involves simple flutes, drums, and lyres played improvisationally over common folk songs. Work songs, lullabies, and ballads meant to tell historical tales can all be heard throughout the average peasant's day. For the nobility and aristocracy music is more refined, and structured around pentatonic scales prescribed by Wanmei as being the most harmonious, and these scales are played on much more sophisticated instruments including fiddles, zithers, harps, and the guzheng - known as the scholar's instrument. Sung music is performed in solo settings by trained vocalists in specially-designed opera halls, although it is not uncommon for nobles to have some folk tunes lodged in their brains from servants and wet nurses singing them to sleep as children.

Dancing likewise follows along the improvisation-structure dichotomy. Where the nobility tend to have rigidly structured and timed dances - and often in pairs - the peasants tend to have wilder, less structured folk dances, usually with a lot of skirt-tossing, spinning, and incorporating brightly-colored streamers or scarves. Rarely are there specific partners in these dances, although young couples have a tendency to find each other in the chaos. Aside from dancing, sports - both solitary and team - provide another source of recreation. Traditional martial competitions of skill and strength such as archery, wrestling, boxing, shot-put, and foot-races are all popular, as they require little in the way of equipment. Conversely, the wealthy tend to enjoy similar competitions that require more wealth to put on, such as chariot-racing, dressage, dragon-boat racing, and various games of strategy from board games up to mock naval battles. Citizens of all ages are especially fond of Tsu-chu, a team game involving up to 13 players on each side. (And playing very similarly to the modern game of soccer.)

On the less savory side of things, many of the above competitions have large gambling scenes surrounding them, including prize matches for boxing and board games. Gambling also takes the form of various card, dice, and tile games. Although gambling is formally outlawed, the lower classes have no trouble finding gambling dens if they wish to do so, and gambling is common to the point of normalcy at the level of wealth where laws no longer apply. Vice often begets vice, and wherever gambling can be found, so too can drugs of all varieties from every corner of the planet, but by far the two most popular are coffee and dragonrock.