The Fortress of Yichotuan

By the Heavens and Hells I'm STILL mad! All I did was open the door to power. They were so happy about the little tricks, little blessing to help their pathetic lives and sly curses to cause trouble to rivals and enemies. Too afraid to do what they really wanted! All happy and smiles while it is paid with your blood and not theirs! Running away calling for guards and Witchhunters when you make their secret wishes real. Make the ox plow the field unattened by magical commands? Fine. The loudmouth hated by all has his beast die suddenly? Frightened faces, mutters and whispers behind your back. Show the one you desire why they should return the feeling, showing them how you feel and what you can do with them and making them feel it too? Suddenly all the village is pitchforks and torches calling their good friend a monster! I showed them a monster! Then I left to find a place where my power and skills would be appreciated instead of spit at, cursed and hunted like a beast.

Blood Mage Kahou Zhil, Student novice, personal journal

Structure

Personal magic power determines ranks by levels of skill. At the highest level is the Ring of High Lords. Though some may say it is all under the will of The Necromancer, Kuyom Bakul. Below them is the Court of Masters which advise and deal with the lower classes. Next are Tributes to which the lesser mages pledge themselves. While Might Makes Right, the Tributes assure the lower ranks are not slaves to the higher. Then come the Lesser Masters (Magus) who are well skilled and powerful but with limited following or influence. Then come the Tutors of moderate power and skills who take on student Novices of starting level skills. Student Novice are the next to lowest citizens of the Fortress. The lowest are the young Scorpions who have a few levels of magic but refuse obeying and studying under another. The lowly scum are slaves, the Buhig Bhaheer (the pumpkin headed Bugbear) and other mundane humans. Zombies, skeletons and animates follow and obey their necromancer creators.

Culture

The less powerful are generally submissive and obedient to higher power. The higher level and ranked may blast, curse or otherwise destroy any who slight them - if they can. Status is gained by resisting successfully and pushing back. Survival is by avoiding the attention or ire of the more powerful, or attaching oneself to one of the powers. The High Lords pass edicts to the Court who modify or approve, and rarely reject edicts which affect the whole of the Fortress, even to the Towers as well as the Commons. Each High Lord is absolute in their own tower. Slaves and servants tend the land and provide the basic needs. Only Human mages are allowed, or those who pass as human.

Public Agenda

The Fortress location is by Edict to remain hidden and secret beyond the fact that is in the Northern wild lands of the West, between the Golam Imperial provinces, the Kingdoms of the Teeth and The Harrowland . Magics conceal it from observation and notice. The Fortress is a haven for mages and magics considered evil, blasphemous and undesirable in the Empire who do not wish to be come servants of The Harrower and are not yet ready to strike out to create their own kingdoms. It's agents trade with the Pirates of the Teeth and crime organizations through the Golam Provinces and frontier.

Assets

The Fortress is home to some of the most powerful Necromancers, Blood Mages, Sorcerers, Corruption or Death Path Shamen, Black Magic practitioners and followers and minions of Evil Gods (like the Rulers of the Hells) who are willing to coexist and share domain. The Fortress has 15 towers with 6 empty or lacking High Lord rank rulers. ( 3 are actually occupied). The Court numbers 16 and Tributes 21. The Common hub has 49 Magus and 87 less ranked. They have several Demon Age artifacts, and armies of undead and Bugbear. Bugbear attach themselves to persons of power as their "boss", many seeking early position as henchmen of aspiring Students or Scorpions. The Fortress is also the shrine of one of the Elder Gods . The Fortress is supplied with Arcane crystal either from hidden mines or given up to them from the Elder God.

History

In the tribal Period over 6000 years ago the Fortress was founded as a shrine to an Elder God and was home to a Skinchanger and it's tribes and loyalists. After a thousand years the Skinchanger vanished - dead, destroyed, gone elsewhere or controlled by another is not known. The Fortress was a haunted place for centuries after and the Elder God slept. On or about 1559 T the Ruins became the home to a Necromancer who was what would in the modern day be Quol: woman who is counted a man and given male status and role. Kuyom Bakul worshiped the Elder God and made it offerings. The Fortress was repaired and expanded and via the power of the Elder God, and Kuyom Bakul's powers, dark mages found their way to the place. His students and followers grew and other powerful mages arrived. Rules and ways to permit them to grow and survive were forged and in the first centuries enforced by Bakul the Necromancer's powers. He never sought a wider kingdom, only a private domain where his researches and powers could continue undisturbed or challenged. Kuyom Bakul still exists as one of the High Lords of Yichotuan - sustained by necromancy and the Elder God, though years may pass with no sight or sign of the Necromancer.

Foreign Relations

The Fortress does have communications with the more sane former students and rivals who have left and sought their own domains where none dare disobey or gainsay the Mage's commands. They will actively help Corrupted and Fellspawn to set up in wilds or hidden mountain locations, many holding grudges and hatred of family, clan, towns or villages as well as Imperial agents and the Empire itself. Because of this and by it's nature The Imperial Order of the Ruby Rod: The Witchhunters has finding and destroying the Fortress as a high priority, offering a bounty of 500 Talents of silver for information, 5000 for detailed information and upto 10,000 Telents for the specifics of location, population, power and defenses. Many adventurer treasure hunters have sought the reward. Few are ever heard of again.

Agriculture & Industry

Undead and slaves are reported to work fields and do the repetitive mechanical labor where magic is not sufficient. The living are controlled by magic and likely do not even know or believe they exist as slaves. Bugbear do not labor, nor do the wicked mage masters.

Cosmological Views

There are many ways of Magics. Each is similar and yet different. Isolated islands where different standards rule and one school can not change another. What differentiates individuals is power. The Magic wielder has much more power, the ability to shape reality and command the world and other beings. Power and ability should be the only measure of right. The mundane would control or ban us when we are like Gods, and they are insects. We escaped to the edge of civilization and established our new order. We command the mundane and the inhuman creatures and we are the rulers, each according to their power.

The Known Magic Styles consist of the following types:

1. Hermetic: The mage is attuned to the Astral and produces magics by forming formulae, calculations and modifications of the True Ideal Forms and Laws by incantation and "writing" in the astral that manifests in the mortal world.
2. Ascending or Dragon Line: The mage is attuned to the Ley or Dragon lines of Magic that shift and flow across the world. They master control of the colors of these lines and shape and combine them into "spells" by force of will and directed essence flow. Descending or Black Magic mages are either associated with Corruption or practice the Mu dark powers rather than the Ka positive colors.
3. Shamanism: In this primitive magic, the mage is allied to spirits and coaxes or bribes them into imprinting powers into the spirit or aura of the mage or the spirit performing magics as "favors" to the shaman. The imprinted powers are activated by concentrated visualization, invocation with memorized chant or words and directed essence flow. The Traditional Shaman is associated with Nature spirits and Natural Forces. Twisted Path of the Made are Shamen of civilization's spirits. Twisted Dead Path or Corruption shamen serve evil spirits and foul ends.
4. Sorcery: The sorcerer binds, controls and commands spirits - frequently demons from beyond and drawn from the Rift/ Void. The things may take material forms or not. The Sorcerer claims that everything is a demon to the awakened and can be bound and forced to serve. The Sorcerer doesn't cast spells aside from summons, bindings, and banishments. The powers are from the demons the sorcerer controls producing the magics. These frequently turn to evil as the demon turns the tables on the sorcerer.
5. Necromancy: the mage is attuned to the death energies and masters flesh, memory, Underworld and aspects of the Abyss. Dead flesh or even living can be made to move and obey commands with use of sympathetic connection in a doll made with parts of the victim. Parts ripped from one grafted onto another. Ghosts and underworld spirits influenced and commanded or even drawing power from death itself or using it to drain the life and vital energies of the living by riding the all consuming hunger of the Abyss. Only the lowest levels of necromancy are not evil in themselves, but with power comes corruption and ever greater evil and harm.
6. Blood Mage: These terrible evil mages steal essence and influence by control of blood. They learn to tap it and draw it out to fuel their magics or to harm and kill and even to control from just a drop of blood.
7. Divine Magics: Priests and holy persons may channel the powers of the Gods via prayers and devotions. They have no theory or structure aside from faith and ritual.
8. Fae Glamours: The fae use distillations of dream to weave magics, mesmerizing or causing someone to see the "dream" of a thing rather than it's true nature as reflected from the Astral in the mortal realm.
9. The abberations: magics granted by ancient devices, other grants of powers from beings and Spirits or use of Arcane crystal or magic devices. Inherited ancestral powers also fall into the abberation class.
   

Lesson One Imperial School of Magic, Lanhou, Kuan

Founding Date

234 T.

Leader

Kuyom Bakul

Economic System

Command/Planned economy

Major Exports

The Hidden Fortress exports terror, mayhem and destruction.  To a lesser degree it sells magic talismans and Arcane Crystal to criminals and pirates.  It will frequently support evil mages across the empire by use of spirits and demons, supplying materials and crystal or other means such as providing them a place to hide and grow their evil skills and foul magics before taking wing to trouble the innocent.  It does take a fee in supply and coin for this aid.  Some say Yichotuan has a hand in supporting and supplying not just criminals, but Imperial rebels.

Major Imports

The Fortress uses it's undead, spirits, bugbear and magics to raid the tribes and settlements of Beastmen and Skinchangers in the wilds, and to attack independent cities or even Imperial towns, forts and forces in the Golam lands.  Bodies become slaves or undead, and only those with Magic power may be spared. Goods are taken for use in the Fortress, where it is said even the lowest live very well indeed if they wield magic.