Ashimachi: Resources, Technology, etc.
Resources
Currency (Tou)
Also known as the “bó” (think “buck”) Tou is the standard currency of Ashimachi, shared by Kansujian, Xinyuan, and Althea. For storytelling purposes the buying power of a Tou is roughly equivalent to 1 USD. They come in several shapes, sizes, and denominations:
| Gong | A large triangular glass and gold piece, worth 100 Tou. Can also be referred to as "gold" in most settings. |
| Kang | A medium triangular glass piece with a silver inlay, worth 50 Tou. Can also be referred to as "silver." |
| Jin | An ornate, two-toned square glass piece worth 20 Tou. While they lack specific stampings, their year of minting can easily be determined by looking at the secondary color of the piece. |
| Kejin | Worth 1/4 Jin, the Kejin is worth 5 Tou. Originally made by breaking a Jin into pieces, they're now minted to prevent fraud. While half of a Jin used to be valued at 10 Tou, modern transactions simply use two Kejin instead. |
| Tou | The eponymous tender of Ashimachi, the Tou is the plainest of all Ashimachi currency. It appears as a simple round steel coin with one side stamped with the face of the current Shogun and the other side denoting its value, year of mint, |
| Chan | Unlike the Kejin, the Chan did not originate from breaking the Tou in half. Nonetheless, it appears as a semicircular piece made of steel, worth 1/2 Tou. The Zhengfu Pagoda is stamped on one side, with similar information to the Tou on the other. |
Ashimachi is foremost among the Coastal city-states for exportation of magical goods. Rarest and most prized among these are artifacts, enchanted tools which greatly enhance human capability in a number of different ways. While "artifice" nowadays typically refers to the refinement, smithing, and permanent enchantment of deicite, its earliest and still most common form involves fusing simple spells of finite duration to spellglass trinkets. Objects created in this way are referred to as "talismans."
The heightened Explorer's Guild presence in Ashimachi makes it much easier to acquire vital artificing resources than in other city-states, so while the process was first developed elsewhere a significant number of manmade artifacts in the Coast come from the City of Reeds. Anomalous Materials
As previously noted, the Explorer's Guild provides Ashimachi with a large population of eager adventurers and a way to connect them with those interested in procuring magical materials and resources. Explorer's Guild initiates looking to quickly make their way up the ranks gladly take on such menial tasks, and the results benefit both parties involved as well as the general populace.
Technology
Spellglass
Also referred to as “Ashimachi glass,” this strong, lightweight, transparent material is created using a process similar to normal glassmaking but instead using refined sand sourced from the Fingerprint. The properties of this sand create glass of sufficient hardness and durability to create viable weapons, armor, and most commonly tools capable of cutting and carving ironwood. Due to this supernatural level of hardness, sharpening spellglass blades is nearly impossible beyond the forge. Weapons and tools which have lost their edge are most often melted down and reforged to circumvent this.
Ironwood
True to its name, this iron-hard wood is sourced from a tree of the same name which is ubiquitous in the Ashimachi region. Due to its extreme hardness, it cannot be hewn with mundane implements - felling trees and hewing the wood into desired forms requires the use of spellglass tools. While much more resistant to burning than standard wood, ironwood exposed to direct flame tends to become brittle.
Cuisine and Substances
Mementos
The name given to dining establishments on the Coast. As the immigrant population in Ashimachi began to swell around the second century LN, cravings for favorites from various Territorial cuisines grew as well. An educated Almani woman named Retta Leder collected a compendium of recipes and techniques from workers, then opened a street stall selling appetizer-sized portions of these dishes.
These dishes, which she called ‘mementos’ - reminders of where the residents of Ashimachi came from - were an immediate and significant market success and a number of similar businesses opened in the following months each with a regional specialty. Aspiring entrepreneurs propelled the market for foreign spices, produce, and limited supplies of livestock to the top of the scene, and proper sit-down establishments began to pop up around the city-- retaining the title ‘memento.’
This is a direct parallel to the origin of the term 'restaurant' in real life, which came about when French chef A. Boulanger established a business selling restaurants (French, "restoratives;" a fortifying food or remedy) to workers in 1765. Hanyou Zi
A famous brand of top-shelf liquors in Ashimachi, named after its founder who started the brand in LN 338. There are three Hanyou distilleries on the Coast: in Ashimachi, Kansujian, and Calava, each one producing different varieties of spirits to cater to the tastes of locals and trade partners. Hanyou Zi liquors are proudly served at the foremost mementos on the Coast. Merrojo
An alcoholic beverage made from fermented merro, Merrojo is a neutral spirit resembling a cross between sake and vodka. Traditionally sold with some sediment for 'authenticity,' Merrojo is a common household staple around Ashimachi and Kansujian. It is especially popular among travelers. Ice Sugar
A refined sweetener made by the boiling and distillation of brittleblossom, Ice Sugar is notable for the natural formation of uniform eight-pointed crystals during its refinement process. These crystals vary in size depending on the volume of distillate and are heat-stable; the production of caramel-like products requires the addition of liquid to fully dissolve the crystals. Mudan Tea
A tea native to Ashimachi, Mudan is known for its dark, almost musty taste - like damp autumn leaves with a very gentle spice note of toasted cumin seed. As one of the first domesticated plants in the Coast, it is grown and harvested on both the commercial and domestic scale. Feihujuan
A popular dessert which traces its lineage back to the time of Wěitīng, the first "tiger cannolis" were made as an offering to the Reed Mother, Miravi. This origin story has been mostly lost to time - as part of the gradual cultural takeover following the city's conquering in LN 62, the creation of this dessert has been falsely credited to one of the Unkaian chefs who traveled with the Shogun. Supposedly, they were made to commemorate the Shogun's bare-handed slaying of a Great Tiger. Reban
Common street fare in Ashimachi, these resemble our "spring rolls" in as much as they are composed of a filling wrapped in paper-thin dough and baked or deep-fried. Like spring rolls, the number and variety of fillings can vary, and both savory and sweet reban are popular.
Cosmic Root
A general-purpose anxiolytic; most commonly used as a sleep aid. It appears as a teal-colored root structure similar to ginseng. The parent plant is a vine which parasitizes trees, and the roots actually grow horizontally into their trunks rather than vertically into the dirt; this different approach means the roots take a comparatively long time to grow.
This works to the benefit of growers, as the roots are most tender and effective when young. The harvested roots are cleaned, peeled, and dried then chewed whole or in pieces.
This substance is most renowned for its use by the Dreamswallowers of the Maqqian Sojourn all the way up north in The Reach. Masters of the Rites of Apotheosis, they gather in groups of a dozen or more and consume cosmic root to induce a massive shared dream with which they craft spirits and gods to order.
Seer's Grass
A light, airy blue-green resin refined from the sap of a plant called Prismatic Amber which can be found growing around boiling lakes in the Ashimachi region. While raw prismatic amber is used for making mildly euphoric teas and tinctures, the refined product is far more intense: it is boiled over an open flame or smoked directly as tar and its vapors inhaled.
Inhalation of these vapors produces an intensely altered state of consciousness which can run the gamut from simple hallucinations to complete out-of-body experiences. Users reportedly experience vivid prophetic visions of "what may come to be," though the veracity of such glimpses into the possible future can be questionable at best. Cosmic Root grows readily on pretty much any type of tree in the Coast, which combined with its mild effects has kept it legal in most city-states.
Attempts to grow Prismatic Amber outside the Ashimachi region have been thus far unsuccessful. While the militant Unkaian government of Ashimachi officially forbids recreational drug use within the city-state, enforcement measures are quite lax due to the enormous profits involved and so Seer's Grass makes its way throughout the Coast in limited quantities.
Miscellaneous
Books
Reflections on the SeaA book written by a group of adventurers about journeying into the Sea. While hundreds of such accounts exist, Reflections on the Sea was personally endorsed by the Ninth Shogun as a useful resource for his Grand Expedition - one of the most successful such expeditions in history. With nearly all of the facts presented within confirmed by the Explorer's Guild, and an abundance of useful and clever tricks for surviving magical perils, it is listed as recommended reading for every member of the Guild. Flowers on High: Seventh Seat Loses the Love of His Life
A Shangxin novel by Wang Jing-shi, many critics regard this as the quintessential bodice-ripping romance. It follows the fictional Jutian Ho, Seventh Seat of the Ashimachi Concordate, who wrestles a marelak bare-handed to save the love of his life. Idan Shalong, a barmaid from Narrowside, witnesses this and falls madly in love with him. Renshi the Warrior Who Lost All
Another well-known Wang Jing-shi novel, Renshi the Warrior Who Lost All was the first in a series of conspicuously homogeneous books released toward the end of Jing-shi's career. That is to say, while Renshi was a commercial and critical success, the following novels were widely panned for being far too similar - "exactly the same tale and characters with a fresh coat of paint to conceal a bland and uninspired work," wrote one critic. A Bestiary in Depth: Explorations of Fauna in the Ashimachi Region
A text that appears in every library in Ashimachi, which presents (rather non-scientific) descriptions of the myriad flora and fauna of the region accompanied by sketches and anecdotes from adventurers. First compiled in LN 864, a new edition of the encyclopedia is published every ten years or so.
Chivalric Orders: An Introduction to the Knights of Drachenkrone
Written by the seventh Shogun's court vizier, this book details the hierarchy and operations of the Drachenkronian Order of Knights - the caste which oversees matters of war as well as mining, metallurgy, and fabrication. Explorations of the other three Orders all having been penned by other authors.
Additional Info
Ashimachi: Resources, Technology, etc.
Ashimachi: Flora and Fauna
Ashimachi: Flora and Fauna
Comments