The Tougawa Archipelago
Structure
Culture
In the Easternlands on the Continent of Eluth the majority of society has an individualistic focus. WHere the rights of the individual must not be tread upon in order to satiate the public, and is seen best in the Azurean Confederacy. However in the Tougawa Archipelago the society has a much larger collectivist approach, with the closest Eluth analog being the Elysian Empire. The Orientals have the view “the needs of the many over the needs of the few”, and therefore a great many of the orientals are ready to lay down their life for the good of the nation.
This devotion to nation causes the clan leaders to be held in high esteem and failure to follow orders or show loyalty leads to the soldier to be orderd to commit suicide to preserve their honor. A leader who fails to lead well or is considered a selfish and dishornorable, they likewise are expected to commit suicide to preserve the honor of their family and let their successor lead the clan or group without the actions of their forebearer overshadowing them. If the leader refuses to commit suicide a rebellion is almost certain to follow as their underlings will likely view them as a disgrace to their station. In many cases the family of the leader is spared no mercy and will be slaughtered to atone for the disgrace of the leader.
The worst crime a Tougawan can commit is treason. A soldier that betrays their leader or deserts is no longer considered a sentient being. They are an animal that would betray their own and their nation for their own gains. Traitors & deserters that are captured by their old clan are given a tortuous death. This can range from being boiled alive or locked in a box covered in honey to starve and be eaten alive by ants and vermin, to sawing or crucifixtion. Paradoxically the side the traitor joins sees the treason as heroism, and these traitors can be met with large amounts of praise and monetary gifts.
Though militaristic in culture, artistic pursuits can be found in the Archipelago. Writings and poetry are some of the most popular forms of artistic expression. The Orientals tend to focus on horror stories and tales of heroic sacrifices. The most popular being the tale of Sora Yamaguchi who stood in defiance of a unhinged clan leader. The tyrant would burn the towns of his own clans, believing them all to be spies and demons. The Tyrant would soon further fall into corruption and surround himself with evil spirits and creatures called yo-kai. Sora traveling far and wide became skilled enough to stand against the tyrant and slew him. Sora though a hero felt shame for betraying the clan leader, he went in front of his clan and boiled himself alive to atone for his betrayal.
The outlook of magic has been negative for most of the archipelagos history. The practice of using ki originated in the archipelago. This was at odds with the Eluth pratice of wizardry, and so it was seen as undermining oriental values and tradition. This led to the creation of the Maho no Koroshi-ya “Magic Slayers”. A group of monks who hunt down all users of the arcane on the archipelago. The Maho no koroshi-ya are so feared that even a user that can only cast cantrips are usually cast from villages and forced to live alone as an outcast, so as not to draw the attention of the monks.
Paintings and visual art is not as common and have only recently seen an uptick in popularity due to trade with Eluth allowing imports of a larger selection of dyes. Before this dyes were only afforded to the most rich and few were available. Old paintings of the Orientals uses mainly muted colors of reds, and yellows, blues were almost impossible to make and blues that were made were often fragile. For this reason Blue became the symbol of high birth and nobility among the commoners.
Cuisine in the archipelago is, unsurprisingly, mainly fish. The orientals cure and ferment their fish in a way that causes them to last for quite some time, and in other cases may even eat the fish completely raw. Another much loved food of choice in the archipelago is noodles which is usually served in a spicy soup along with pork. Popularized with the rise of the Tougawa family the noodle soup quickly spread throughout the archipelago becoming a staple of the diet. Rice is another staple of the diet and is the base of almost all dishes, certain garnishments and seasonings may be added to the rice however white plain rice is the most common choice for the inhabitants.
The architecture of the archipelago is very distinct having little arches rather preferring a complex bracket system which supports large dominant roofing that may take up half of the entire building. The eaves of the roofs extend far beyond the walls causing a dimness in the interior. This dimness has a noticeable effect on the atmosphere causing the interior to seem very cozy. This basic design changes little throughout the archipelago however insulation and interior design can differ greatly with thicker walls being found throughout the northern Shakokumo Island, while the hot Shimatari Island sees much thinner walls and use of paper walls throughout the interior.
Public Agenda
Assets
History
The people of the Archipelago are a hardy bunch having lived in the archipelago for Millenia. The clans of the Archipelago for most of their history have been at war with each other, claiming islands and land as wars were waged to consolidate power. It wasnt until the rising of Tyrant that the Island became united. With his powers over of the arcane. He raised a cursed Island known as Yahrobe and released the many Yokai. Many heros rose to fight and defeat him but all failed. One night from a now forgotten clan a man named Sora Yamaguchi rose to fight the tyrant himself. He sought the aid of the Shinjin and they blessed his sword with their strength and he acneded the mountain of Yaharobe to fight the tyrant. With the blessings of the shinjin he slew the tyrant and released the archipelago from the tyrants grasp. His victory granted him the titel of Shogun and he changed his name to Sora Tougawa. Thus the Tougawa archipelago was born. Prior to this the nation was simply known as the Orient.
Sora had 2 sons Hidetaro and an unnammed second elder son. THe elder was stuck from the rocord and so his son Hidetaro Tougawa ascended the throne in 1734.
During Tougawa Hidetaro’s 40 year reign he was a gentle yet stern ruler. Passing many laws that were to help the nation become more united and to consolidate power under him. After his Passing on 5/2/1774 his son Tougawa Akira took over as Shogun. Akira though not as popular as his father proved to take up the role with relative quickness and ease he helped continue his fathers legacy creating rules that allowed the clans to conduct their own training and not have to rely on the Shogunate Army. His reign was one of economic growth with a number of investments into arts, industry and agriculture. The Akira period of the Archipelago saw the war like clans and culture shift to one of art and peace.
Akira passed quietly in his sleep after 50 years of rule on 11/8/1824. He had no sons so his daughter 16 Tougawa Fumiko was named the Shoguness of the Archipelago at the age of 16 years. This coronation was met with skepticism and some hostility as she had no husband and the Archipelago has historically considered women weaker. This would be the first time that any Tougawan had to swear fealty to a woman.
The Fumiko period of the Archipelago was one of gender equality and revolution. Her first order of business was to allow women to take on leadership roles in society. She wanted to allow women to fight but due to push back from her generals and clan leaders she had to give up on enforcing this decree. Despite this under her rule the women of the Archipelago gained much in the way of freedom and quality of life. Arranged marriages started to dwindle and her new social policies became more accepted among the people. She opened trade with the eastern continent of Eluth and the once isolationist Tougawa archipelago experienced an economic boom.
On 2/17/1857 During a cold winter night Fumiko and the royal family was asleep in the Shogunate Palace on the Island of Toutama. Assassins broke in and murdered her and the entire royal family. No survivors were found and without a line of succession the Tougawa Shogunate fell and the archipelago fell into chaos.
The Clans having their own armies started to make claims to the throne. These claims were met with outrage and anger, causing a renewal to hostilities. On 4/19/1857 the War of Reunification began and continues to this day. The clan leaders who once claimed the throne have passed away only for their successors to take their place claiming the throne. There are now eight clans claiming the throne, each stationed on different islands of the archipelago. They are: The Yoshiro Clan, The Kenshin Clan, The Morimoto Clan, The Ueno Clan, The Arakawa Clan, The Kaneshiro Clan, The Sakaguchi Clan, and The Date Clan.
The war seemed to show no signs of slowing down but recent rumors from the few that have made it to the Archipelago state there seems to be an uneasy truce at the Archipelago, but the reasons are unknown. One can only hope the Archipelago has come to an agreement that allows the fighting to stop, but as of yet it appears only temporary.
Disbandment
Demography and Population
Territories
Military
Religion
Agriculture & Industry
Trade & Transport
Education
Infrastructure
Divided by water; United by blood
Maps
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The Tougawa Archipelago