Tianjing

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Tianjing

(Nation)

Titles

Beloved of the Heavens

Alignment

Neutral good

Capital

Zetang

Ruler

Secretary Etsul Genpo✝

Government

Nyenreng Conclave✝

Demonym

Tianji

Adjective

Tianjing; Tianji

Languages

Empyrean, Tien

Religions

Desna, Kofusachi, Qi Zhong, Shelyn, Tsukiyo, Jin Li, empyreal lords

Images of Tianjing

Source: Dragon Empires Gazetteer, pg(s). 39 (1E)
Tian Xia World Guide, pg(s). 216 (2E)

In Dragon Empires Gazetteer, Tianjing was ruled by Onishi Kazujun. See Talk:Tianjing/Conflicts.

The kingdom of the empyreans, Tianjing is an idyllic land that harbours a dark secret: its people are tasked with guarding against the qlippoth, a truly terrible threat that predates Golarion.

History

Early history

The history of Tianjing predates the arrival of humans to Tian Xia and stretches back into the misty reaches of prehistory.

In the very distant past, the forces of the Upper Planes united in a great war against an invasion of the qlippoth, the most ancient evil of the Great Beyond. An army of archons, agathions, azatas, and angels stood united in opposition to this foul planar invasion and, after untold years, won this ancient war.

The celestials of this golden host could not return home as the danger of the qlippoth was still too strong since the rifts to the Abyssal realm of Yad Iagnoth that the qlippoth had used could not be repaired. The celestials accepted their fate and remained to guard the portal in perpetual vigilance.

After untold centuries humans rose to power in the surrounding lands, and the celestial host happily allowed the best of these people to live alongside them. The celestials gradually intermingled with these humans until their empyrean progeny were eventually numerous enough that they felt safe entrusting the task of guarding the rift to them. The celestials departed Golarion in -2402 AR, at which point stewardship of Tianjing passed to their empyrean offspring.

After the departure of the celestial host

Tianjing flourished in the millennia after the celestials left Golarion, always treating the surrounding human kingdoms with courtesy. Those kingdoms that reciprocated peacefully were granted friendship and access to the idyllic land, while those that tried to conquer Tianjing would find the kingdom very difficult to take and nearly impossible to hold despite its inhabitants' seemingly peaceful nature.

When Imperial Lung Wa rose to prominence, it showed surprising restraint in never attempting to conquer the kingdom even as its empire spread across the rest of Tian Xia. Lung Wa even started providing food, art, and anything else the people of Tianjing could want in the hopes of courting the favour of Heaven. Tianjing came to rely on this foreign aid, which almost proved to be its undoing.

After the collapse of Imperial Lung Wa

In 4606 AR the Empire of Lung Wa collapsed, and in the wake of the chaos that followed the cataclysm Tianjing was on the precipice of destruction. Tianjing had relied on its neighbours for food and allowed its armies to atrophy after centuries of peace, but was suddenly surrounded by either aggressive or indifferent neighbours. It soon became host to gangs of bandits, roving armies in exile, and far worse.

A young empyrean named Sulunai rose to prominence to save the nation in 4619 AR. Sulunai is an enigmatic figure whose calm, reasonable demeanour helped unite her people. Nearly a century later, Tianjing is well on the way to total recovery from the devastation wrought in the wake of Lung Wa's collapse.

Geography

Tianjing is located close to the center of Tian Xia and bordered to both the west and southwest by the Sea of Ghosts. It is bordered by the nation of Kwanlai along the Kimu Mountains to the north, and in its northwesternmost corner Tianjing shares a border with the monster-haunted kingdom of Shenmen.

Tianjing is dominated by the Kaimuko Wood, a woodland that covers much of the country. Its deepest depths harbour links with the Outer Rifts that the ancient qlippoth use to access the heart of Tianjing. Despite this, the landscape of Tianjing is often described as idyllic and utopian.

Government

Tianjing was one of the few nations never conquered by the expansionist Empire of Lung Wa, primarily thanks to the skills of their diplomats. It is ruled from the capital city of Zetang by the Nyenreng Conclave, whose proclamations are interpreted and executed by Secretary of the Council Etsul Genpo.✝

The Conclave is composed of the nation's most educated and respected sages who hail from temples and monasteries that trained them in the empyreans' traditions of guardianship. Despite their wisdom, many are frail and incapable of travel.✝

Inhabitants

Tianjing is primarily populated by the empyrean descendants of the ancient celestials who fought in the region's distant pre-history. The qlippoth still linger, their Abyssal taint always threatening the nation's peace and prosperity, and their threat seems to be growing ever greater by the day. Tianjing's empyreans are also renowned as master crafters, and the various goods they create are in high demand across all of Golarion.

Religion

Predictably for a land populated by the descendants of good outsiders, the most prominent gods worshipped in Tianjing are all good deities, including Desna, Goddess of the North Star; Kofusachi, the Laughing God; Qi Zhong, the Master of Medicine; and Tsukiyo, the Prince of the Moon. Tianjing is also one of the few nations of Tian Xia where worship of the empyreal lords is widespread.

References

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