Zhushen God-King Dominions

Description

While most of the Giants sided with the Elder Titans against the Gods, the Giants of Qinhei stayed mostly neutral and watched. When the Gods turned out victorious and turned to those who had betrayed them, the south-eastern Giants came to them with an offer: they would aid them in hunting their former brethren and with the help of the Gods they would also overthrow the Draconic Dominions that had sprang up in Qinhei. In exchange the Gods would not touch them or any of their descendants. Thus the Heavenly Compact was signed.

Of course it should come as no surprise that once the Giants had hunted their brethren and overthrown the Dragons, they would choose to rule themselves. They conquered and enslaved significant parts of the human kingdoms of Qinhei and settled themselves in the arable central plains of the region. They also created the Taurkin to carry construction materials for their grand palaces, and Oni to be their chosen warriors and police the rest of the population. They called themselves God-Kings, (mistakenly) believing that since the Gods could no longer touch them, they were equal to them and that other species should worship them as such. Naturally, when everyone believes themselves to be divine, they all believe themselves fit to rule. Initially this worked out fairly well as they all had their own towns to preside over, but as their population grew the pieces of land to divide became smaller and differing political and religious views started to cause friction.
Nowadays the Zhushen God-Kings have fractured into three larger kingdoms that hold most of the land, with a few smaller vassal factions that are allied to the main three. They are mostly centered around and vying for the central northern plains that consist mostly of fertile lowlands and foothills with thousands of rivers coursing through them. The three kingdoms are as follows:
Kingdom of Tai. To the west lies the Kingdom of Tai led by a conservative traditionalist faction of Giants. They strongly believe in their own divine right to rule and in the old system. The uprising of the Centaurs is to them not a sign of failing policies, but of the ruling classes growing too mild in their approach. Their land borders directly on the mountains where the Centaur revolutionists operate from and they suffer their attacks the most.
Kingdom of Qi(shi). Further east, the most separated from the conflict with the uprising, lies the Kingdom of Qi, sometimes called Qishi as well. The Giants here, who have named themselves 'The Enlightened' instead of God-Kings, have adopted a different stance. They believe that the current system is unsustainable and that all their misfortune is the Gods working around the Heavenly Compact in indirect ways. They want to take the self-hating, violent method of religion that the persecuted Giants of other regions have adopted and make it their own. It is their belief that that is the only way to reconciliation with the Gods and thus to prosperity.
Kingdom of Xiaobei. To the north, having taken control of much of the fertile plains as well as the coastal trade, is the Kingdom of Xiaobei. It has risen around a single figure, Zhenshen He, a very charismatic Storm Giant who has made the claim that he is a direct descendant of Zhenshen Shouxian, the original king of the Giants who wrote the Heavenly Compact. With his heritage he and his followers believe that he has the divine right to rule all of Qinhei. They have unified much of the northern regions that were growing dissatisfied and are now trying to strong-arm the ones that will not join quietly.

Politics

Political ideas and reforms do differ between the three kingdoms currently, but there is a certain political direction that is common throughout the region's various factions that has led to the current situation. The God-Kings are generally extremely prideful and they act as such. For the most part there have been few reforms even when there were initial signs of an agrarian crisis mounting and a rebellion rising, and even during the rebellion they have done little to alleviate the underlying problems. Thus the situation has not improved and really only worsened, leading to the uprising of the Centaur secessionists who believe that there can never be a good society for them under the rule of the Giant God-Kings.
The Giants in their pridefulness also think that Qinhei is best off without much outside influence, and that they should focus on their own culture and of course their self-glorification. They have minimized import and mostly only had contact with the Khuagawa Tetrarchy of Sabara anyway, which is why the level of industrialization here is far behind that of the other continents. Focusing inwards may help stabilize the country and homogenize beliefs, but this lack of technological advancement could very well prove to be their undoing someday.

Culture

Zhushen culture has been built around the idea that all living things are part of the world and they affect the world around them. The greater a person and the purer their spirit, the more they will affect the world and approach the divine, until they reach a point where they can be considered akin to a God. Of course the God-Kings have also emphasized the idea that Giants naturally have more of the natural energy of the world and a larger spirit, thus putting them closer to the divine than other species. It is important to note that not all Giants are considered God-Kings in current Zhushen, only those who are supposedly pure enough of spirit, which in practice often means those with enough political influence.

Fashion and Food

Example robe

Traditional belted robe for the higher class.

Traditional Zhushen clothing usually consists of wide and flowing robes or shirts. Most men wear a short jacket under long trousers and cotton shoes.

Those in a higher position tend to wear long belted robes that indicate their status and black, leather shoes.
Women in a soldiering position or who perform tough manual labor keep the same fashion as the men, but sometimes with a skirt instead of trousers. Women in a position of comfort instead tend to silken shoes and a long, loose outer coat over a traditional dress. Headwear, belts, jewelry and handheld fans are common accessories, particularly among higher classes.
Zhushen cuisine can vary from region to region, but the staple food that is cultivated nearly everywhere is the willowgrass unique to Qinhei. Its grain can be produced into flour and is used as the base for noodles and bread. There is a variety of vegetables within the region, particularly beans, peas and mushrooms, while meat is relatively scarce compared to the huge population size of the region. Example dishes that incorporate these are among others: steamed willowgrass buns filled with minced auroch meat, vegetable soup with noodles and fermented tofu sauce, stir-fried beef with noodles and bean sprouts or willowgrass noodle rolls stuffed with scallops and vegetables seasoned with meat roast drippings and soy sauce.

Architecture

Aside from architectural properties that are commonly found in Zhushen, such as bilateral symmetry and large open spaces, there is one particular aspect that stands out: size. With a mixed population of tall Giants and smaller humanoids, building and entrance sizes are a serious consideration. As crude a statement as it may be, it helps that there is a large difference in class between the Giants and humanoids. This has led to a segregation in living area, which means that housing is usually adjusted to the size of the occupant.
But this is different for public buildings of course. If a humanoid employee needs to be able to freely enter and leave a government building for example, it obviously cannot have closed giant-sized doors that they would never be able to open. Giants are certainly never going to willingly play doorman for a smaller creature, the thought alone is absurd for them. They are usually both large and they either have no doors, or doors that are almost always open except during emergencies. In some rare cases there are doors for both sizes in a building, but generally the Giants dislike this as it feels like a negative gesture or sign of resistance to their own divine right to rule that there is something made specifically not for them. As if the puny humanoids are separating themselves and believe they can do just fine without their taller overlords.

Religion

While most Giants in the rest of the world know that the Gods hate them and that they can only earn their respect and appeasement through their own pain and violence, this is not the case for the God-Kings of Zhushen. They know that the Gods cannot touch them because of the Heavenly Compact and thus have built a state religion around their own worship, forcing the lower class humanoids in their population to worship them. The only exception are the Enlightened of Qishi who believe that the Gods will slowly tear them down through indirect measures and see the recent troubles as a sign of that.
Not all people devoutly worship their Giant overlords, and it is not uncommon for people to maintain a hidden home-shrine or to worship particular nature spirits or the Elemental Princes or some such. It is dangerous though, as some of the God-Kings crack down heavily on these (in their eyes) heretic practices and have their Oni soldiers frequently do routine inspections to prevent such illegal worship.

Serve the Divine!

Type

Geopolitical, Theocracy

Alternative Names

Divine State of Zhushen

Training Level

Levy

Veterancy Level

Trained

Demonym

Zhushonians

Government System

Monarchy, Theocratic

Location

Qinhei

Giant Hierarchy

While the type they belong to doesn't mean everything, generally certain types of Giants are more suited to certain roles, or they have historical precedent for being treated a certain way. With some exceptions, they are generally viewed as follows:
Storm Giants: The Storm Giants of Qinhei are low in number but in a favored position due to the history of Zhenshen Shouxian, their first King and leader who signed the Heavenly Compact with the Gods. As such most of them end up in a position of leadership, unless they wish to be left alone and retreat to a mountaintop, which surprisingly many of them do.
Cloud Giants: The most curious and social amongst giantkind, the Cloud Giants often rule in the steads of the Storm Giants. They are experts at making use of their other kin's natural talents and tendencies. They build tall palaces for themselves and have a tendency towards extravagance.
Fire Giants: Quite literally hot-headed and passionate creatures, these Giants often make for poor, impetuous and impatient leaders, even if they crave dominion over others. Instead they are better as warriors and generals, their passion being well directed towards the overwhelming of their enemies. Interestingly enough, they also have a perfectionist attitude that makes them excellent craftsmen.
Stone Giants: The most calm and grounded after the Storm Giants, they are well-suited to administration and craftmanship, but they lack the charisma and sociability of a leader or trader. Thus they often work as regional administrators under the Cloud Giants, or as bookkeepers or artisans in a company.
Hill Giants: Slow, lumbering and frankly, stupid. Their lack of intelligence means they often get pushed around by their smarter kin. They are used as gofers, brute foot-soldiers and sometimes farmers even.
Other types of Giant, such as Fog Giants, Frost Giants or Fomorians are either not present here, or so rare as to not really be able to classified in general.