Sheng

Central in both location and importance is the province of Sheng. It is the largest province and also the province in which the emperor resides. The emperor’s palace sits atop Mount Nehongoa, surrounded by the city of Mingmei. All told the Sheng province contains 15 cities: Chizu, Izanami, Kagami, Mamoru, Mariko, Mingmei, Nori, Ratana, Ryoko, Sachiko, Tama, Umeko, Usagi, Yasuo and Yuri.

The population density of this province among the highest in the world, with as much as 100,000 people per square mile in some areas. The wealthy obviously do not live in anything near such population density and the so-called middle class strive for a modest home large enough to house a family of four. Most of the poor live in capsule apartments not much larger than a stall in a typical public bathroom. These people are the lowly paid wage slaves of various corporations and their homes are often built on reclaimed land formed by draining chunks of the ocean and filling them with compacted garbage. The awakened hate these areas because they have mild background counts. Meanwhile the utterly destitute (which accounts for close to half the population), live literally underground in tunnels that were once dug out during some old forgotten war. Most of these people never survive past childhood, and those who do find themselves aching for release from reality. Several yakuza clans have cashed in on this, making quite a profit on drugs, alcohol, BTLs and other experiences. The Yamaguchi clan is particularly powerful here, followed closely by Sumiyoshi. Clashes between the two are common.

Mingmei is central to the Sheng province for obvious reasons. About half of the military is trained in Mingmei while the other half is trained in Yuri. In many ways, Yuri is a sister city to Mingmei and should Mingmei fall for whatever reason, Yuri has been set up to take its place. A secondary palace is there to house the imperial family. There are also specialized teleportation rooms in both palaces that allow those of the imperial family line to quickly transport between them in cases of emergency. These teleportation rooms only function for those of the imperial family blood line so there is no danger of enemies following should the palace fall.

Two major rivers twist through the Sheng province: Yangsu and Nagamura. Yangsu flows down from Mount Doki and is used to transport goods up and down the mountain. Boats then travel to Kagami and end at Chizu, where the port there is used to ship goods both to and from the other provinces. Nagamura is a larger river and flows down Mount Nehongoa starting near Mingmei. A few cities sit along this river’s edge, using it as a highway up to the port town of Izanami. Despite the demands of a sprawling population on the province, the rivers are kept relatively clean and provide drinking water to the cities that lie near them (though it is probably a good idea to boil the water before drinking it). Massive desalination plants on the coasts provide water for the other cities.

Just about every corporation in the world has an office somewhere on the province. With such a high population, it is easy to make a profit on just about any business. This also means plenty of business for shadowrunners. Best of all, with all those people it is pretty hard for law enforcement to come after you once you are off corporate territory. Finding a human in that sea of humanity is like finding a needle in a stack of needles.