Bhopan

Bhopan

(Nation)

N

Alignment

Neutral

Capital

Hoba Dukuza

Ruler

Webhekiz

Government

Hereditary monarchy

Demonym

Bhopanese

Adjective

Bhopanese

Languages

Bhopanese, Kelish, Mwangi

Religions

Green Faith, Desna, Eidolon worship, Shamanism

Source: Impossible Lands, pg(s). 110–129

Bhopan is a small island in the Obari Ocean between Garund and Vudra, stated to be east of Nex.

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Geography

Bhopan lies amid pockets of doldrums between two major currents. Arriving there accidentally is nearly impossible; without a skilled captain and navigator, a ship is likely to end up becalmed or sunk by a hidden reef. The Bhopanese coast is covered in mists hiding jagged stone reefs. Since the native trees rarely release their branches and driftwood almost never floats to Bhopan from elsewhere, stranded sailors and scouts have no firewood or material to build temporary shelters, and thus must risk their lives on the beach or beneath the forest boughs.

Outside of a safe zone around Hoba Dukuza and pathways carved by the Greenwatchers, the entire island of Bhopan is covered in jungles, home to deadly endemic flora that essentially replicate the role of a national military.

History

Long ago, the empire of Bhopan was terrorised by the fey tyrant Qxal. By the time a group of heroes locked away most of Qxal's power beyond the Door of Seasons by claiming the Perennial Crown, the empire was reduced to the most remote island in its former territory. The Perennial Crown was locked away and the Bhopanese people embraced isolationism. Most people who knew of Bhopan's existence regarded it as just another empire that was lost to history.

When four Pathfinders found the Door of Seasons in the Mwangi Expanse, near what was once Bhopan's original capital, they heard Qxal's voice that it could only be opened if just one person remained alive. While the four swore a pact to ignore the door and leave it to those who happened to survive the longest, one of them, Selmius Foster, could not shake the belief of an immeasurable treasure that lay behind the Door of Seasons. He and his servant and chronicler Adolphus continued to research Bhopan's history and scour for clues in ancient ruins, eventually discovering that the ancient empire has in fact survived on a remote island.

When Selmius and Adolphus arrived at Bhopan, they found an ally in the revolutionary princess Ganjay, the Opal of Bhopan, but were not welcomed by the natives, who feared that any contact with outsiders could reveal them to Qxal once more. Selmius was executed for high crimes, while Adolphus and Ganjay, who would eventually become Adolphus' wife, barely managed to escape their own executions and absconded with the royal treasury, which they used to found a Pathfinder lodge in Quantium.

People

The majority of Bhopan's population are humans who bear fey blood or magic passed from parent to child. The fey influence extends back to before they migrated from the Mwangi Expanse, but has significantly grown since then, to the point that they no longer appear human to outsiders (in Pathfinder Chronicles, Volume 3, Adolphus describes them as "dog-faced").

With the exception of some beastkin families, they tend to reproduce much more slowly and at a more irregular rate than elsewhere. Either a biological quirk or magical influence ensures that overpopulation or underpopulation never becomes an issue.

The outer jungle is home to malicious fey, like gremlins, bilokos, and dryads, who might either be the Bhopanese's allies or stranded servants of Qxal.

References

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