Xiao

On the southern edge of the Desu Islands sits Xiao. Due to a peculiar phenomenon involving the thermal energy in and under the province, much of the island is constantly covered in fog. The province is home to nine cities: Chika, Cho, Haru, Ishi, Nami, Naoko, Rafu, Reiko, and Rumiko. Though it is not as large as Sheng, it is close and the population is huge.

One of the reasons for Xiao's huge population is that the people of Xiao tend to live longer than most, which they attribute this to their careful worship of the kami. There may be some truth to this as a good 50% of the population is of the elderly persuasion, and of that population at least 90% of them are healthy enough to work. Most choose to work as a means of keeping in good health through active lifestyle at least as much as their need for money, though they do not work as hard as they may have in their younger years.

The large number of elderly has created a culture that venerates the past. Ancestors are of course properly respected, but there is a distinct emphasis on the caretaking and respect of elderly, recording accurate history and carefully maintaining the graves of their ancestors. To the people of Xiao, longevity is nice, but it is through history that people become immortal. It is said that the libraries of Xiao contain the most accurate history of anywhere in the world. Of course this history is almost completely exclusive to the Desu Islands, but there are supposedly works that date back to times before the world existed. Such works are considered to be something of a legend and no one really knows what they would contain, but it is a legend many believe in.

Xiao is home to the Chronomancy school of mystical arts. Members of this school study time itself and how to manipulate it. Young practitioners are said to be able to view the past and slow down or speed up time while the most powerful among them are supposedly able to travel through time and change history, or the future. While this might be possible in theory, practitioners are are very insular lot who are very secretive about their studies, secluding themselves away in massive structures they refer to as "Time Capsules". To the general public, Chronomancers are either seen as an overblown group of awakened historians who pretend to have more power than they actually have; a kooky cult of history buffs who peddle snake oil; or, if their claims can be believed, one of the most dangerous groups of magic users the world has ever known.

Like Makoto, Sheng is ruled by Shinto priests. However, unlike the extremely conservative, xenophobic and backwards-thinking practices of Makoto, Sheng is quite modern and progressive. The religion is used in conjunction with modern life as opposed to instead of it. High Priest Abe Satou is seen by many as a kind, respectful and fair leader. His policies do much to uplift the people of the province. It is one of the few provinces to have a non-privatized police force, ensuring that everyone gets a similar level of security (at least in theory). Public schooling is properly funded, allowing the province's children to be educated for the modern world. The priests themselves also provide government-funded, magical health care for all. However, despite his leadership, there are still many of the problems of modern society. People are still poor (primarily due to corporate exploitation), Yakuza clans still have power over the streets, and overpopulation means that there is a fair amount of pollution, and adequate housing is hard to come by.