Qutang Gorge
Overview
Qutang is a deep, narrow gorge near the Eastern coast of the Blessed Isle, where the Great Coast Road makes its arc away from the shore on its path to the [Imperial City]] and the Scarlet Span Bridge. Since the days of the Shogunate, the Gorge has been a bottleneck for those seeking to move quickly between the southeastern Isle (such as present day Incas Prefecture) and the interior on the march to the Imperial Mountain, and in the present day it remains a site for occasional banditry or political ambushes.
The Gorge is, however, also famed for its beauty, its scenic nature and the journey through it the subject of many poems and songs. It is home to numerous landmarks,
Layout
Entering the Gorge from the southwestern end, the Great Coast Road passes through the Diving Gate and descends, moving past the Stroking Wall and Sweet Wine Falls, then following the left bank of the Burbling River past the Stairway of Shozei Meng, and Hanging Monk Rock to reach the Lake of Sweet Waters at the deepest point of the Gorge. The Road then proceeds over Rainbow Bridge, following the right bank oof the Chasing Stream past the Cavern of Bellows to its origin at Drinking Peacock Spring, and then further past the Rhino Gazing at the Moon, emerging from the northeastern end of the Gorge under the gaze of White Mist Temple to continue on its course northward.
Locations within the Gorge
Diving Gate
The Diving Gate is a large manse-gatehouse that crosses the Great Coast Road as it descends into the southeastern end of Qutang Gorge. Where it passes beneath the Diving Gate, the Road is discoloured, not its usual black but a yellowed white.
Though the gatehouse is well positioned to engage those entering or leaving the gorge, it does not block the Road itself, its geomancy barring doors or barriers which would block the free passage of essence along the path.
The Gate is a manse aspected to Earth, producing the Stone of the Perceptive Scout. It is under care of House Sesus, and home to a way-shrine devoted to Ancient Stone of Journeys, god of the Great Coast Road.
Stroking Wall
The Stroking Wall is a sheer vertical cliff of white stone, located towards the Southwestern end of the Qutang Gorge. It is recognizable and renowned for the characters carved into its surface over the centuries, in various styles and languages, by masters of calligraphy and poetry including Du Fu, Ruan Okura, Hongsheng, and Sesus Okuni.
The calligraphic carvings of the Wall, and the process of adding to them as years go by, concentrate the essence flows of the area into a manse which produces a Memory Stone. The manse was under care of House Tepet until the War with the Bull, after which it passed through House Ragara to come under care of House Mnemon.
Sweet Wine Falls
Sweet Wine Falls is a thin waterfall where the Burbling River cascades down over the cliff face into Qutang Gorge, after feeding the vines of the Sweet Wine Vineyards which spreads inland from the clifftop above. It is said that in the moment of their fall the waters of the Falls become as sweet as wine, a claim the accounts of travelers readily confirm.
The vineyard and Falls have been shaped to take advantage of local geomancy, forming a manse which produces a purple-hued Gem of Tears to Poison within the stupa straddling the top of the Falls. The manse and vineyard have been under care of House V’neef since that House’s founding, before which they were held by House Peleps, who took up the duty on the dissolution of House Iselsi. The vineyard is overseen by vinter V’neef Thagada.
Burbling River
The Burbling River is a river located in the southern Scarlet Prefecture, which flows through fertile farmlands before passing the Sweet Wine Vineyards and falling into Qutang Gorge by way of the Sweet Wine Falls. The river has been tapped for irrigation on a massive scale before making this descent, an effort not only beneficial for agriculture but reducing the flow of water to the level required by the manse formed from the Falls.
From the Falls, the Burbling River flows down the Gorge alongside the Great Coast Road, until empties into the Lake of Sweet Waters.
Stairway of Shozei Meng
The Stairway of Shozei Meng is a point along the cliffs which line the Qutang Gorge, where a series of small, deep holes have been cut into the cliff face, ascending approximately halfway up the cliff before coming to an end. Into these holes have been placed poles of wood, around which vines grow and entwine, allowing someone to hop from pole to pole, ascending up the cliff. The final hole has no pole, instead being the point where local essence is concentrated to form the hearthstone of a manse, producing a Jewel of Youthful Suppleness. The manse is under the care of House Ledaal.
The Stairway of Shozei Meng is named for the legend surrounding it. It is said that, during the early Shogunate Era, a great battle was fought on the clifftop above, which ended in the defeat and death of a much-honoured chumyo. Meng, a loyal officer in the fallen general’s army, wated below in Qutang Gorge following the defeat. When night came, Meng began to construct her Stairway, ascending the cliff under cover of darkness to retrieve her commander’s body so it might be put through great funerary ceremonies and entombed.
An Immaculate monk walking on the cliff heard shozei Meng making his ascent, and wishing to prevent heretical veneration of the dead gave a cry like that of a Rooster. Meng, thinking dawn had come, quickly abandoned her ascent, leaving the Stairway only halfway up the cliff.
Hanging Monk Rock
Not far from the Stairway of Shozei Meng, the Great Coast Road and the Burbling River pass beneath the giant outcrop known to many as ‘Hanging Monk Rock’, for the fact it has been carved to show a tonsured man hanging by one foot beneath the ledge, This carving, and the arrangement of polished white stone tiles which form the statue’s ‘robes’, serve to concentrate the local flows of essence into a manse which births a Hardened Spirit Gemstone.
It is said that when the Shogunate officer Meng, whose name was given to the nearby Stairway, discovered that a monk had tricked her with the false call of a rooster, she hunted down that monk and suspended him from a rocky outcrop, leaving him to hang above Qutang Gorge until he had turned to stone.
The Rock is a source of some discontent amongst monks of the Immaculate Order and the more devout members of the Scarlet Dynasty, both due to its very iconic nature and its associated myth. However, the Scarlet Empress was said to be amused by the tale, and blocked any efforts to destroy or reshape the manse, citing the fact a change here might disrupt the essence flows which fed the myriad other manses within the geomancy of the Gorge. In her absence, the House Cathak caretakers of the manse have been considering alternative geomantic structures.
Lake of Sweet Waters
The Lake of Sweet Waters is a lake located at the deepest point of Qutang Gorge, fed by the Burbling River and the Chasing Stream. At the center of the lake, inaccessible save through swimming, is a stupa of marble and polished silver, where the local geomancy has been shaped to produce a Gem of the Shining Brook. The manse is in the care of House Peleps.
Rainbow Bridge
The Rainbow Bridge is a bridge of Adamantine Glass, over which the Great Coast Road crosses over the Chasing Stream as it empties into the Lake of Sweet Waters. Sitting in the shadows of Qutang Gorge, the Bridge appears mottled grey-blue, but when Sol Invictus approaches His Zenith, his light pours down upon the Bridge and it begins to glow with a hundred iridescent colours.
Chasing Stream
The Chasing Stream is a short, thin river in the Qutang Gorge, flowing from its source at the Drinking Peacock Spring down to the Lake of Sweet Waters. The Stream is shallow and its bed rocky, making it occasional site of horse races between scions of the Scarlet Dynasty seeking to test their skill at horsemanship.
Cavern of Bellows
The Cavern of Bellows is a manse and network of tunnels running into the base of the cliffs which line the Qutang Gorge. Between the Lake of Sweet Waters and the Rhino Gazing at the Moon, six entrances can be found, half-concealed by the boulders at the cliff base, which cut through the rock to meet at a large central cavern. The stone of this cavern is carved with stylized figures clad in fantastical armour, detailed in filigree of gold, displaying size and powers of flight reminiscent of Warstriders and Dragon Armour. A seventh tunnel leads upwards towards the clifftop, but has collapsed partway along its length.
At the center of the cavern-chamber is a large forge, surrounded by five sets of bellows. The ‘coals’ of the forge are not true fuel but fragments of black Obsidian, the essence of the Cavern directed by the bellows to channel essence of fire in order to ignite them. With one bellows pumping they glow warmly, the heat rising as more bellows are pumped, three sufficient to work Gold and soft metals, four to work Iron, and five to work Steel.
The manse produces a Stone of the Craftsman Working the Immaculate Forge. It is under the care of House Nellens.
Drinking Peacock Spring
The Drinking Peacock Spring is located in an open manse-cave at the base of the cliffs in Qutang Gorge. Within this cave, a constant stream of water descends from the roof of the cave, flowing from springs within the cliff, forming a number of stalactites and stalagmites. Some time long past, geomancers shaped the largest of these stalactites, carving it into the form of a male Peafowl, moss and Bamboo growing around it fanning out to form its tail and feathers. The stream of water from the roof descends into the bird’s upturned beak before running down its body into the large pol around its feet, from which the Chasing Stream flows out of the cave and down to empty into the Lake of Sweet Waters.
The manse forms a Stone of the Craftsman Mixing the Blessed Formula in the nest between the carved bird’s claws. It is currently under care of House Ragara.
Rhino Gazing at the Moon
After the Great Coast Road makes its descent into the Qutang Gorge, past the mist falls of the Temple of White Mist, the road makes a slight turn before continuing to the Drinking Peacock Spring. This turn takes it around a stone manse-pavilion, in which sits a massive boulder: the Rhino Gazing at the Moon. The boulder is not carved, but its silvery-grey shape is reminiscent of a Rhino with one massive horn, looking up to the sky. The manse's hearthstone, a Stone of Earth’s Blood, forms out of sight in the crack of the boulder's 'mouth'.
Ancient stories tell that the boulder was once a mighty Furnace Rhino, brought to the Blessed Isle from the Deep South by a foolish daimyo of the Shogunate Era. This rhino overcame its captors and fled, searching for a way home… the Qutang Gorge and its various caves dug into the earth as it searched in vain. Taking pity upon the beast, and knowing it would never be able to go home, the Incarna Luna reached down and gave it peace, quenching its furnace fires and turning it into stone.
The Immaculate Order is far from happy with this story, though various internal disputes exist as to the correct solution, with some holding that such a tale mistakenly credits Luna for an act carried out by Pasiap (the stone itself is not carved or worked, and thus by some definitions aniconic), others stating that discussion of the story ought be purged entirely, and even a few who hold that the story provides a perfect example of what happens to those living in Creation when gods violate the Perfected Hierarchy. House Cynis, which is caretaker of the manse, keeps a play based upon the tale in the repertoire of the performing troupes at the Palace of Trees.
