Tengoku

Tengoku

The New Mandate of Heaven

100 years ago, the Dark Warden swept down from the north, the Black Iron Army his vanguard.   But the Dark Warden's army was a wedge that split the Kingdom, and the Kingdom shattered like porcelain.   Heaven had spoken; a new Emperor was crowned, this one cold and black as iron.   It was thus that the Dark Warden's Mandate came to fruition.   It was thus that the Dark Warden started his climb on history's ladder a man and ascended it as a god.

The Iron Emperor's Rule

In the aftermath of the war, the Warden united Tengoku under his Mandate.   There was no law but that of the Mandate: all of the old laws were stricken down.   There was no spiritualism but that of the Mandate and the Ancient Ancestors: temples were shuddered, monasteries burned, and spirits silenced.   There was no magic but that of the Mandate: towers were sundered, pacts were broken, and the Weave regulated.   There was no knowledge but that of the Mandate: libraries were emptied and scrolls reduced to ash.   There was no future but that described by the Mandate: the Book of 10,000 Paths was replaced by the One.   Any who opposed the Iron Emperor and His Mandate was burned alive by the fiery breath of red dragons or cut down by the cold, shimmering blades of the Ancient Ancestors, silent behind their smiling masks. There weren't many who opposed him.

Edge of Empire

Only on the edge of the empire do the people and races of Tengoku enjoy relative freedom.   Silently complicit do the people teach of the Old Ways.   But for how long?