The gates to Shu-Fen have been reopened, although the land is still hard-hit.
Overview
The wonders of Shu-Fen once lay in its beauty and vast grandeur, but no more. The road came, creeping through the Sea-Snake and Green-Glass rivers. Over the spreading blackness is a cloud-smogged sky that blots out the sun. Once there were seven proud provinces in this satrapy, but at least one was destroyed.The countryside, where it is not infected, has been nearly emptied of people; they hide behind walled fortresses or in mountain hideaways. The road was driven back, but not entirely defeated. Although the area is recovering, it is far from healthy.
Geography
The vasty satrapy of Shu-Fen is made up of seven provinces, each with its own glorious traditions, fantastical fortresses and square-towered stone walls. The primary highways of Shu-Fen are the great Sea-Snake and Green-Glass Rivers inter-cut with the magnificent system of canals, locks and bridges that are under imperial control and administration. All of this gives way in the far south to rich rice paddies and, eventually, the Unending Ocean. North of this, before the road came, fields of luminously green farmlands were broken by sparsely forested mountains. There is at least one city in each province, each filled with life and color and squalor in its markets with whispered, silken secrets behind rice-paper screens and fans. War is in the air everywhere, here, and the countryside is bereft of young men, off to join their lords' levies. The Sea-Snake River is also known as The Yellow String that Ties the Continent, after its colour and size. Some provinces have fallen already, either in wars before the road came, or to the blackness.
Map
See +view map when in Shu-Fen
Sochi-yu
- Location
- North Central
- Capital
- Sochi-no-Uezi
Wealthy farmlands to the south and west with forests and mountains to the north and east, a wealth of mountain lakes and the most navigable of the Imperial canals. The jewel of Shu-Fen, and no wonder, for the fabled city of Sochi-no-Uezi sits at the meeting place of four canals, lowlands and highlands. It is home to the Prefecture of Shu-Fen as well as the ancient line of the Lords of Sochi. As yet untouched by war, there are still soldiers in evidence everywhere here — those of the Imperial colors around Sochi-no-Uezi, and those in Sochi-yu's own colors massing at the walls.
Sochi-yu is gone, her gates smashed by the defenders, the brilliant city of Sochi-no-Uezi so much dust. There is only the Road here, now.
Ueni
- Location
- South East
- Capital
- Ueni-Cho
To the southeast, Ueni was much-ravaged by the soldiers of the Glorious Ascendant Dragon and has had little breathing space before preparing to battle the Road. It is now home to the remnants of the northern barbarians, who are living the life of Reilly. The pearl city of Ueni-Cho still holds its beauty and its secrets on its coastal island, and quietly guards the last Gate back to the Penglai Empire.
We-li
- Location
- North East
- Capital
- Yuki
Remote, taking up mostly the mountainous area to the northeastern region of Shu-Fen, We-Li's stone walls hold comparatively strong despite the ravages of the Road. Life along the small mining and fishing hill-towns that line the Green-Glass River and its tributaries carries on more guardedly than usual, with the 'city' of Yuki and the Cloud Palace nearly lost, as they always have been, in the maze-like mountain passes. The men of this province are hard, tempered by a rough life, and ready for war if it should come.
We-ueni
- Location
- Central Eastern
- Capital
- Ueni-Ui
The province of We-Ueni is in the central eastern region of Shu-Fen. Its curtain walls still stand strong, lined with vigilant defenders who have taken up positions again. Mostly farmland with a little bit of mountain to the north, the countryside has been infected by the creeping infection flowing down the canals from the north and west, though attempts have been made to staunch their flow. The Green-Glass River is still far healthier than its twin. The towns are quiet, with most of the men off at the walls and only women left to hawk fish or man the Inns and tea houses. The city of Ueni-Ui sits in the foothills, central-province, tiered and square and angular, its people carrying on the business of love and life and death in the shadow of passing destruction.
Wu-xiung
- Location
- North West
- Capital
- Ko-Xiung YangXiung
Wu-Xiung is the northwestern-most province of Shu-Fen, already ravaged by recent military occupation and then by the roving bands of barbarians being chased everywhere by the dark denizens of the road. Where the city of Ko-Xiung once stood there is nothing but a cold, burned ruin. The city of Yangxiung stands as the new Capital.
Yu Mai
- Location
- Central Western
- Capital
- Xiung-Ui
Yu-Mai, in the mid-western area of Shu-Fen, is in ruins. Once the proud stronghold of Glorious Ascendant Dragon, proud and rich and strong, it is less than a shadow of its former glory. Black fields are dotted, where any life remains, by those trying to rebuild in the wake of the road. In the remote west, Xiung-Ui is still half-hidden in the mountains.
Zhun
- Location
- South Western
- Capital
- Zhun-Yi-Ui
The province of Zhun at the southwestern corner of Shu-Fen was touched by the black road, seeping south from Yu-Mai and choking the delta of the Sea-Snake River, and the rice crops suffered as a result. Zhan-Yi-Ui, already ravaged, still stands apart in the mountains' last lowlands to the north of the province.
