Golden Sun Empire

Goldfield

Goldfield is the domain of Rhoska, Dragon God of the Harvest. The palatial plantation estates are surrounded by rolling hills of farms. The Ambrosian Wheat found here is unlike any other in the world and is a closely guarded secret. The mirrored estate walls are tended by scores of slaves in sky blue robes. They are covered head to toe with a mirrored mask that passing nobles may use. Their brimmed hats are lined with small bells so their whereabouts are always known. Sumptuary laws have standardized the slaves outfits but nobles add elaborate accentuations to show their wealth. The standard of the slaves owner is displayed on badges sewn into their outfits..  Their manors are elaborately designed so masters never see the slaves as they toil. Nobles collect curios and display their collections in their mansions. Touring others homes is a pastime of the elite and is a prestigious competition. The search for oddities has bankrupted nobles or seen young scions dead or worse in a faraway land. The most prized finds are gifted to Rhoska in hopes of earning her divine favor. And regardless, to withhold from your empress and god would be most disrespectful. The capital of the region, Autumnhold, is a massive ziggurat of red veined marble surrounded by an oak tree forest. The capital is in a constant state of harvest. Trees endless grow and bear fruit, grain stalks regrow like grass, and it is all draped in orange-gold leaves. The peak of the ziggurat is a mixture of palace and temple with grand hallways to comfortably fit Rhoska’s angelic form. The Harvest Field mural on the ceiling is renowned as a perfectly preserved piece of art from the age of the gods. The dome depicts a living view, as if you were atop a hill in an endless field of ripe wheat. The clouds slowly circle the painting and change shape and the wheat ripples in a gentle wind. Art of this kind is attested to in many records but this is the only one known to exist intact.

Empress of the Golden Sun Empire, Mother of Harvests, Sower of Prosperity, Heir to St. Clotilda, Steward of Humankind, Queen of the Golden Fields, Dragon God Rhoska

Rhoska began her rule at the dawn of contact and her benevolence and wisdom has kept in her power. When the world was young and the Pellian Wilds covered Terra, Rhoska pulled her ziggurats from the vault of heaven and cast them onto the land. From Autumnhold Rhoska enforced her will onto the land and turned the poisonous jungle into a verdant land. She cast fire onto the hated Bee-Men and burned away their jungles. She felled their great trees and killed their hive matriarchs. During the Holy Progress of St. Clotilda Rhoska willingly submitted to her and joined the holy war against all Bee-Men. Goldfield was spared and suffered no devastation. When the bloodline of the saint died out Rhoska remained loya

Her massive form is of a golden dragon with white eyes. Tales

Autumnhold

The capital of Goldfield and home of Rhoska is golden Autumnhold. The twin ziggurats straddle the Martyr River and its archroads meet in the middle to form Rhoska’s palace above the river. The ziggurats are built of red-gold stone and gleam in the sun. The wealth of the inhabitants can be plainly seen by how high they live. The poorest of all camp in squalor outside the city and the richest live a stone’s throw away from the archroad gates. The palace itself is suspended between the two archroads, and flowered vines stream off. Catching a falling flower is seen as good luck and a blessing. Rhoska herself has no need for the archroads and flies to and from her palace as she pleases in her godly flesh. The fair and dark skinned people of Goldfield gather at the road’s gates, hoping the Golden Dragon hears their petitions. Martyr River flows between the ziggurats and drains into Lake Heite.

The upper reaches are also home to many of the city’s guilds and societies. Their societies are housed in massive compounds heavily guarded to protect their secret knowledge. The compounds are gated with thick walls, topped with steelwork spikes and wires. The guilds take many opportunities to decorate their spikes (Fig. 1) and decorate the walls with mosaics (Fig. 2). While very rare, newer guilds or cults have been granted land in the city. The Morgan Crowmen are the most notable example of this.

Figure 1. The Medicine guilds’s walls are topped with detailed grim reapers with their sharp scythes forming a line of razors.

Figure 2. The most impressive mosaic dates from the Age of the Gods and is featured on the walls opposing the gate of Siege Guild. Both walls portray pale wraiths sowing fire on the land and flying towards the center, only for them to be struck down to the earth.

Lake Heite

The lake has served as a larder for the empires for generations. The lake once held many alien and inedible fish, basking in diseased water. Rhoska cleansed the lake and created many creatures to fill it. Orange fleshed Ruddy Fish are a staple in Goldfield cuisine. They live off the rapidly growing Maid’s Hair seaweed, a salt filtering plant with bright copper flesh.

Past the lake is the Pellian Wilds, a region resistant to colonization. Outposts were established by Rhoska but these are all fortified castles who gather meager trade by the Bee-Men. On the north shore are many fishing villages and small towns. Beyond the shore are endless fields of bright yellow wheat dotted with large estates.

Culture

The people of Goldfield are typically dark skinned with blue eyes but harbor a diverse population. All non humanoids were cast out during St. Clotilda’s Progress so natives have had little influence on Goldfield culture. Rhoska was also diligent in terraforming her lands and they remain one of the most earth like. The empire has many sumptuary laws. The upper class tends to wear elaborate robes that require a servant to carry the back of. The nobles show off with rare dyes and clothes, creating ever more complex clothes and accessories. Artisans and merchants have been a major target of sumptuary restrictions and are forced to wear simple tunics and leggings with dull dyes. The lower class is technically under the same rules of the merchants but they tend to be priced out of most basic additions. They wear undyed cloth and leather, created for manual labor.

The common food is based around bread, mutton, and fish. The lower class eats state provided bread and fish, supplemented with purchased vegetables. Fish and vegetable stews are made of leftovers. Mutton is a rare meat, saved for feast days and weddings.  Artisans eat more varied diets due to higher wages and more freedom of movement. While their staple diet is very basic, they have access to a small amount of imported spices. Everyone drinks the pure ale made from the state brewery.

The upper class and merchants eat the most opulently, primarily dining on mutton and various pastas. They also import many foreign goods giving them a greatly varied diet that changes with trends. Wine and spirits are also very common as the lowers classes tend to be excluded from their purchase.

The main form of entertainment of the lower classes is public plays, built as donations by Rhoska or a rich noble. Plays are heavily censored and are usually made in the form of comedies with mass appeal. Taverns are common, acting as gathering places for communities. Most of the masses are unlettered and announcements are made in the form of town criers.

The upper classes congregate in salons to read and discuss philosophy. Grand banquets in their mansions are common, as are summer journeys to countryside estates. Masked balls are a famous custom that is the highlight of many foreign diplomats' experience with the empire.They also keep their days filled with elaborate court ceremonies. The Golden Sun court has always been directed with a loose claw and intrigue is common. The only untouchables are those favored by Rhoska or working to further her goals.

Races in the hippodrome are attended by all. Rhoska has favored and ennobled racers while the prize money has made many rich.

   The Harvest Knights and Morgan Crowmen.

The only trace of the once noble order is in their humble outfits. The knights are dressed in simple iron armor covered in a brown monks robe, tied with a rough rope. Their flat topped enclosed helmets have been the last sight of many serfs. They serve as guards in the city and surrounding land. They also are tasked as man hunters, aided by crow riders.

The crowmen were mercenaries originally hired by a noble to steal an artifact inside a mountain top temple. Sadly the noble died of a pox en route and the crowmen were stranded in Goldfield. Empress Rhoska took the skeletal thin men as a curiosity and later as guards. Their patrols of the sky helped control the serfs and capture runaways. After some years the mercenary band was elevated to The Blue Sky Cult and given hidden knowledge. Their order takes promising serf children and if they survive their hunger trials they train as a crow rider. Their black dyed clothes are infused with imported Coathill fur to protect against the wind. They abandoned their traditional spears and now wield steel scythes and sickels. Their crow mounts are never fed human flesh as they grow wild with the taste of it but a retired mount is a different matter. In a ritual with roots in the ancient Morgan Steppe they give crows that are too old to fly a final meal of human flesh. The rider of the bird then reassures it as they slit the throat of the beast. To not kill your own crow is most shameful. The crowmen are housed in the Tultian Aerie. Certain runaways are given to the crowmen. To what end they use them for is unknown but no serf that has entered their aerie has returned. The Aerie is half a day's journey outside the city and can be seen from almost any point on the ziggurat. During important alignments of celestial bodies, always in relation to Moon Wife\*, the towering aerie goes dark and screams can be faintly heard on the wind.

\*Moon Wife is called “Morgan’s Eye” by the Children of Morgan which explains their reverence of it.