The Land of Reeds
Between the eastern coast of Qubresh and the mountains known to the locals as The Teeth, lies what is known as the Land of Reeds. A mostly temperate realm, it is split between a number of feuding warlords whose people live a life of chaotic order that can seem confusing to outsiders. Not helping matters is that the majority of the warlords control domains with their own distinct cultures.
History
The Kurosaya Dynasty
Once, the Land of Reeds was an orderly realm, united under the leadership of noble families. This came to an end over two centuries ago with what is remembered as the Brothers War, when Yamato Kurosaya rebelled against his younger sibling, Masayoshi, the last Tyrant of Yltsu. Born in the 47th year of his dynasty, Yamato was the son of Shinji Kurosaya and his first wife, Hinata. He was a dutiful and diligent child, who lost his mother to illness at the age of nine. As a result, he threw himself into his studies, and upon his majority in the 63rd year of his dynasty, took up a life of military service. The man spent his time patrolling the Gap, the stretch of land between the Teeth and the coast at the northernmost point of the Land of Reeds, battling raiders and beasts from the Maw. During one of these patrols, early in his career, he was joined by his father, as the Empire began looking into another attempt at expanding beyond the Teeth. Venturing close to the Maw, they rescued a woman with vulpine features, dressed in pink silks. Enchanted, the widowed Shinji invited the woman, Tomoe. back to the First City, and within the year they were wed. Yamato never commented on the situation, simply glad his father was finally moving on from his grief. And in 65th year of their dynasty, Masayoshi Kurosaya was born. He was an idle child, though not without talent, and idolised his older brother to his mother’s chagrin. So much so, that at the age of ten, when Yamato was declared Guardian of the North and given the Second City of the Empire, Kuyoshi, he petitioned his father to head north and study the ways of war and governance under Yamato’s tutelage. Seeing the wisdom in this, Shinji acquiesced and the boy joined his brother in the north.The Curse of the Heavens
In the 78th year of the Kurosaya Dynasty, the Land of Reeds was struck by a drought, one which would ultimately last until the end of the Dynasty. There had been such disasters before, but not in several Dynasties. To the common people of the Land, it was an ill omen, a sign of displeasure from the Heavens themselves that they had caused offence. Many believed the extensive mining and logging of the Land to fuel Shinji Kurosaya’s plan of northern expansion to be the cause, offending the Earth and causing it to petition the Heavens to punish such greed. As such, many made showing of humility and sorrow to appease the insult they had collectively given. The First City saw the introduction of rationing and increased taxation to endure the sudden lack of many supplies, which it bore poorly thanks to several Dynasties of opulence. The Second City however, governed by Yamato in a manner resembling the military, fared better thanks to the incentivised discipline of its citizens.The Tyrants of Yltsu
The draconian and oft cruel laws introduced during the drought, and the harsher measures implemented to enforce them as public order rapidly deteriorated, have come to be attributed to Tomoe Kurosaya. It is said she wielded great influence over not only her husband, but the council of advisors established to ensure the well-running of the Empire. Influence she readily used to appease her impulses and desires with greater abandon as time went on. Legend says that she was actually a spirit of chaos and disorder from the Maw, having snuck its way into the heart of the Empire by way of beauty and refinement, and relished in corrupting the once noble Dynasty into the Tyrants they came to be known as. But some argue that she was just a woman from a harsher culture, who could not truly ever grasp the intricacies of the politics at play, and that her simple and brash manner merely exposed the rot that lay within the Dynasty. Either way, by Kurosaya 82, the rulers of the First City were widely known as Tyrants, and it seemed as if a glorious history was coming to an end. But then Masayoshi Kurosaya was suddenly recalled, summoned home by his parents to startling news – he was to be the Heir to the Dynasty, not the elder Yamato. As such he was made Guardian of the Land, and appointed the governor of the First City. This served to calm the populace for a while, and the handover of power saw the repealing of many laws and institutions. An uneasy peace settled on the Empire, and it seemed as if the unrest was over. That all came to an end in Kurosaya 88, with a sudden riot erupting in the main market of the First City whilst it was being toured by Shinji and Masayoshi. In the ensuing chaos, Shinji was killed and Masayoshi wounded. Despite his poor condition, he was swiftly ascended to the throne, and hidden away from public view amid fears of an assassination attempt. With that single incident, all the good that had been done in the past six years was undone, with Masayoshi falling into paranoia, enacting many of the laws he himself had repealed in the name of security, always advised by his mother and the council. The capital fell into chaos, with running battles in the streets between citizens and the Imperial Guard. Truly, the situation deteriorated to such a point that to avoid similar unrest sparking in Kuyoshi, Yamato publicly denounced his brother and declared him unfit to sit on the Imperial Throne.The Brothers War
Starting in late Kurosaya 89 and lasting three years, the Brothers War saw the end of the Empire. Marked by a series of bloody clashes between South and North, thousands died and entire settlements were wiped from existence. Faced with unchecked brutality from the Imperial Guard, the Northern armies had little choice but to respond in kind to avoid being utterly overwhelmed. The losses continued to mount, and both sides were convinced the other was on the brink of victory, so in a twist of cosmic irony, both hit upon the same plan to conclude the conflict – sending their troops in an all-or-nothing attack on the other’s capital, surely undefended now that so many troops were scattered throughout the Land of Reeds. Both brothers had grown up learning the value of action, and neither was willing to yield the initiative by going on the defensive. So two great armies were gathered and sent towards the Imperial cities. Once more, the Heavens mocked the plans of men, and both armies by sheer chance avoided one another on the march, falling upon their rival capitals and sacking them. The widespread destruction saw the end of the civilian governments and many administrative organisations, and the War ended in a bloody draw that saw the Empire shattered. When news reached both forces of what had befallen their capitals, they likewise broke apart. Some lieutenants tried to establish a new Dynasty, only to be cut down by their rivals, who would succumb in turn to the plagues and starvation that followed all war. With records of noble blood lost, it became impossible to verify who was the rightful ruler of the Land now the Kurosaya were all dead. With no true succession established, the realm fell to chaos, and as the years passed, those who measured such things termed it the time of the Chaos Dynasty. As such, by local reckoning, it is Chaos 237.
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