Tian Xia

The continent of Tian Xia.

Geographic map of Tian Xia.

Tian Xia (pronounced TEE-yawn-shaw) is the continent geographically farthest from Avistan, and lies across the Embaral Ocean that borders the eastern shore of exotic Casmaron. Often referred to as the Dragon Empires, Tian Xia is most easily accessed by the residents of Avistan via the dangerous land route over Golarion's northernmost continent, the icy Crown of the World.

As a result of its distance from the Inner Sea region, not much is known of this mysterious continent. It has acted as a cradle of civilization for nearly 7,000 years, and in that time has boasted three continent-spanning empires, the most recent of which, Lung Wa, ruled up until a century ago. Mainland Tian Xia today has many different sovereign nations, many of which have experienced a cultural renaissance since the fall of Lung Wa.

Geography

The mainland of Tian Xia is incredibly large, equaling (and some say surpassing) the size of any other continent on Golarion. The mountains of the Wall of Heaven (or Qiang Tian as they are known locally) run along the western border of the continent's northern half from Hongal in the north, all the way to Nagajor in the south. The mountains are incredibly tall with few dips, forcing all overland east-west trade through a limited number of passes, the greatest of which is near the cosmopolitan city of Goka.

To the east of the Wall of Heaven, the land quickly becomes flat and opens into the lands once controlled by Imperial Lung Wa, now the territories of the Successor States.

Many of the islands on Tian Xia's northeastern coast are part of the empire of Minkai, a land slipping toward civil war thanks to the holding of the emperor by the Higashiyama clan.

Tian Xia's southern half is much wilder, and dominated by the massive Valashmai Jungle, along with two mountain ranges: the Chenlun Mountains and the Sudisan Peaks. Here lie the territories of the realm of Nagajor, land of the serpentine nagaji; the mysterious Xa Hoi; and the distant islands of Minata.

Deserts Shanguang Mountains and hills Chenlun Mountains Enlightened Peaks Flying Mountains Gossamer Mountains Kaimuko Woods Kim Loai Hills Kullan Dei Savage Peaks Seething Hills Sudisan Peaks Szaezan Crags Wall of Heaven Wild Peaks	Forests Chang Liao Jungle Chuyokai Forest Eryiu Forest Forest of Spirits Sikhyeu Rainforest Specterwood Valashmai Jungle Vale of Green Spears Rivers and waterways Aya-Maru Sea of Eels Sea of Ghosts Xidao Gulf

Lost kingdoms

• Lung Wa
• Shu
• Taumata
• Teikoku
• Valashai
• Yixing

History

The history of Tian Xia is incredibly long and detailed, dating back 7,000 years to when most humans in the Inner Sea region were still living in barbarism. King Wen of Quain, for instance, has a 98-foot-long scroll that supposedly shows his direct descent from the first Tian emperor, Mu Lung, while Emperor Shigure of Minkai claims he can trace his family tree back 296 generations to the goddess Shizuru. During this long period, hundreds of different nations and three empires have risen and fallen, each of which has taken it upon itself to rename the continent they call home.

The last great empire to arise in Tian Xia was Lung Wa, which ruled the northern half of the continent from 4142 AR on until the death of Aroden in 4606 AR. The natural calamities that accompanied his death led to massive civil unrest that collapsed Lung Wa and led to the current political structure of over a dozen Successor States.

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Inhabitants

Most of Tian Xia is dominated by humans of the various branches of the Tian ethnicity: the Tian-Dan (found primarily in Xa Hoi), the Tian-La (native to Hongal and the northernmost parts of the continent), the Tian-Min of the Minkai archipelago, the elusive Tian-Sing of Minata, and the Tian-Shu, the most common of the five subgroups, which dominate the Successor States of Imperial Lung Wa.

Religion

The people of Tian Xia worship a wide variety of gods, many of which are unique to the continent, while others are shared with those found in the Inner Sea region. Vudrani missionaries first brought the worship of Irori to Tian Xia in 2187 AR. It quickly spread and is now the official state religion of most of the continent's nations.

Most deities on Tian Xia are part of a divine bureaucracy originally organized by Shizuru, called the Celestial Court, a collection of gods that preside over and keep in-check immortals, spirits and other Heaven allied creatures that opt into this system by assigning them administrative duties.

Slavery

Slavery is not limited to the Inner Sea region and is also practised throughout the continent of Tian Xia. This is especially true in the monstrous nations of Chu Ye, Kaoling, Shenmen, and Wanshou, where humans and other native races are kept as chattel, but also in the lands of Minata, Nagajor, and Shanguang, as well as the underground Darklands of Tian Xia. Slavery is even found in the cosmopolitan city of Goka, although it is heavily regulated there.

References

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