Chu Ye

Chu Ye

(Nation)

Alignment

Lawful evil

Capital

Jyito

Ruler

Shogun Tsuneni

Government

Oni shogunate

Languages

Giant, Hon-la, Minkaian, Samsaran, Senzar, Tien

Religions

Fumeiyoshi, General Susumu

Images of Chu Ye

Source: Dragon Empires Gazetteer, pg(s). 20 (1E)
Tian Xia World Guide, pg(s). 60–67 (2E)

A Successor State of Imperial Lung Wa on the continent of Tian Xia, Chu Ye (pronounced choo yeh) is a nation ruled by the malevolent shapechanging spirits known as oni.

History

Founding

Chu Ye was originally founded as a province of Imperial Yixing in 302 AR. This was a because of one man, Soong Bai, a gifted but eccentric hermit who had a chance encounter with an explorer from Yixing. The explorer had been wounded by a diseased boar but Soong Bai was able to save him via the use of acupuncture, an art unknown in Yixing at that time. When word of this miraculous new healing method reached the courts of Yixing, it was decided that the empire needed some sort of presence in the area. Thus was born the nation now known as Chu Ye.

Fall of Lung Wa

The fate of Chu Ye changed rapidly after the fall of Imperial Lung Wa in 7106 IC. Chu Ye was distant enough from the empire's core that it was shielded from the worst repercussions its collapse only to be assailed by something far worse. Unbeknownst to Chu Ye's human inhabitants, the land was infested with oni. Accounts at the time make it seem as though almost every other man, woman, and child transformed into an oni. In reality, these fiends made up less than five percent of the population but with their incredible supernatural abilities this was still more than enough to overthrow the former rulers of Chu Ye in a single week.

Rule of the oni

In 7113 IC, the nation fell into the grasp of the oni and for the first year the vicious fiends treated the nation as their bloody playground. After a year of terrible slaughter the void yai oni warlord Shogun Tsuneni seized control of the nation, and the violence began to settle down.

Over time, oni social structures and behavior have slowly changed as they adjusted to rulership. Rather than avoid each other and engage in wanton slaughter, they have fallen into a hierarchy with structured rules of etiquette that help avoid conflict. Physical forms define their social class, though especially strong or canny oni can climb to higher titles.

Inhabitants

Before the fall of Lung Wa, Chu Ye was well-known for its healers and acupuncturists. The practice of acupuncture was pioneered in Chu Ye, as was the study of qi. After the fall of Lung Wa and its subsequent conquest by the oni, many of Chu Ye's healers fled; those who remained shared their now-secret knowledge with samsarans.

Humans

Much of Chu Ye's human culture was destroyed by oni, burning all but the most valuable works and locking the rest away. Oni slaughtered human elders and systematically brainwashed the young, leaving most of its remaining humans illiterate. Only samsarans recall aspects of Chu Ye culture, and only through the hazy lens of their past lives through reincarnation. Even under the oni, humans kept in slavery by their oni masters practice their traditions in secret.

Humans long served only as slaves or fodder within Chu Ye. Conditions are brutal, and humans are forbidden from owning weapons. The corrupt rule and nature of the oni also attracts evil giants to settle in Chu Ye, though night oni have also shepherded giants into cities to repair infrastructure in pursuit of acclaim.

A recent renaissance spearheaded by sea oni, and later adopted by Shogun Tsuneni, created a favored class among non-oni to solidify the power of the oni elite, as well as to extend the lifespans of skilled workers, artisans, and soldiers. Rebranding themselves as benefactors instead of dictators, the ruling oni now use promises of a better life in a meritocracy to dissuade citizens from rebellion, turning their subjects against each other as they attempt to retain what little success they can achieve while oni congratulate themselves for being born more powerful than those they dominate.

Other ancestries

Kitsune and samsarans live fugitive lives and could as easily become pampered prisoners as being prepared as a holiday meal. Samsarans retain important roles in preserving the nation's lost history and leave clues for their future selves to locate hidden documents.

Chu Ye is one of the few places where cambions can achieve real power in Tian Xia. Oni are rumored to sell some of their human slaves to the fiends of the Lower Planes, and the cambion offspring of the few who survive are returned to Chu Ye and incorporated into the nation's power structure.

Mizu Ki Hikari

Chu Ye's resistance movement is known as Mizu Ki Hikari, and was formerly known as Tethoke, a name associated with independence movements from Lung Wa name that later fell out of favor for its negative imperial connotations. Mizu Ki Hikari's sole purpose is to drive every oni from Chu Ye, and operates through secrecy, decentralization, and constant movement to avoid oni retaliation.

Expatriates

Many who fled Chu Ye resettled in Zi Ha, where the Chuyokai Forest makes the border between the nations more porous. These refugees remain in close contact with people in Chu Ye, and a library in a Zi Ha refugee village preserves copies of historical and medical texts and combat techniques for redistribution to Chu Ye's resistance.

Religion

Chu Ye is home to the most powerful kishin oni in all Tian Xia, a three-eyed, four-armed creature known as Inma. Inma's stronghold is the Nightford Shrine located within the Nightford Mountains; the shrine's dungeons delve so deep that they reach all the way down to the Darklands below. Due to the number of oni that dwell within Chu Ye, the nation serves as a centre of worship for Fumeiyoshi, the Lord of Envy, god of dishonour and patron deity of the oni.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.