Chi'an: the unseen kingdom
by Earl MarshallChi'an is an spacefaring Oriental island kingdom located in the Sea of Dawn. I will detail cultural and technological aspects here. Early history: Following the Immortals: The people of Chi'an are descended from an Ochalean sect that sailed in search of and island to settle in the Long forgotten past, following the visions of a wise holy man. That holy man's name was Fujiyama Hirohito, a man who claimed that the Immortals of Ochalea visited him in a dream and told him that he must gather followers and that they must start an perfect island country, guided by logic and reason, and that they gave him the plans to a ship and a map to navigate by. He made speeches in the marketplaces and town squares, and gathered a following of roughly 100 people, promising them a life free of war and dispute. They set sail and after two months sailing, they found their island.
under Hirohito's guidance the people of Chi'an built a giant cloaking device, to conceal Chi'an from would-be invaders. Hirohito appointed six of his most devoted followers to be the lords of certain territory (called Prefectures), they were: Tenchi Yamato, Tetsuo Fujiwara, Yoshi Miyamoto, Chen Tajiri, Ryu Han, and Hiroyuki Yamauchi. They decided that there would be a tournament of scientific superiority that would decide which Prefecture's Lord would rule them that year, the rules were simple: Each Prefecture would build a giant armoured suit that would be powered by an elemental, the lord's would participate in non-deadly combat in the suits, if one of the lords killed his opponent, he would have to commit Hara Kiri, ritual suicide. There would be a committee that would control disputes between the prefectures and judge the tournament (henceforth called the Grand Battle), called the Great Judges. The Golden Age and A great controversy: The following millennia were a time of unbridled exploration, prosperity and advancement. They created cloaked flying ships and adventurers travelled around Mystara, later they created spelljamming starships, and the brave individuals flew across the planes. They gathered much technology from their travels, and they surpassed all nations in their level of advancement. In the year AC 612 something happened at the Grand Battle that would change Chi'an's history forever. The battle was between Shigeru Yamato and Yoshiyuki Fujiwara, a freak mishap caused both suits to explode. The Yamato clan blamed the Fujiwara's, and vice versa. There was a bitter rivalry for centuries, but this was kept in check by the Great Judges, until AC 990.
Recent History: In AC 990 Sakai Fujiwara had all of the Great Judges assassinated and covered up his connection to the crime. He had Hiro Yamato, patriarch of the Yamato clan tortured and killed, all of this was witness by his son Hiroshi Yamato who was 4 at the time. Before Sakai could get to Hiroshi, an order of Mystics known as the protectors of the Dragon, took him in and trained him till he was 16. Hiroshi set out on adventures in Karameikos under the pseudonym Hirohito Fujiyama. He returned to Chi'an at the age of 30 to find that it had been conquered by Sakai. He discovered an old Yamato armoured suit. He led an attack against Sakai in this suit. Sakai in one of his family's suits battled back but was defeated. In AC 1010 Hiroshi Yamato established peace with saner members of the Fujiwara clan and re-established the Grand Battle and Great Judges.
