Blood River

Geography

Blood River is a kingdom of the Southwestern Threshold, northeast of An-Teng. It is a satrapy of the Realm, currently beholden to House Ledaal.

Blood River is a fertile land, existing on the eastern floodplain of the river which gives the land its name as that waterway descends westward from the mountains. The River of Ever-Flowing Blood is named due to the reddish silt washed down from the mountains, which colours the river waters. The river is highly unpredictable, changing course and volume over the course of the year, often flooding out homes and villages and forcing the local peasantry to flee and rebuild elsewhere. Due to this, houses are of shoddy construction, and goods are transported by raft to artificial mounds topped with government fort-storehouses that keep harvests safe and extract a monthly percentage as tax.

The capital of the kingdom is High Spiral, located at the western end of Blood River in the middle of a wide stretch of floodplain. It occupies an artificial hill constructed on a natural, bronze-rich rocky outcrop, protected from river flooding. High Spiral was once surrounded by a mighty city wall, which spiralled up around the hill from a gate partway up, bronze-decorated stone forcing an attacker to take a winding path upward while being bombarded by defenders atop the walls. A war with the Realm saw the wall blasted asunder, the stones torn down to leave only partial ruins, used by locals as walls and foundations on which newer houses can be constructed. At the summit of the hill sits the Citadel of the High Spiral.

History

Blood River is an ancient kingdom, whose exact origins have been lost in time. For centuries, since the time of the Shogunate and perhaps before, the land was renowned for its metalworkers, who were masters of lost wax casting, creating beautifully decorated tools and drums of bronze. The masters of casting ruled the land, forming the Cabal of Craftsmen which held the throne of the land and were fierce in their independence, resisting even the daimyo of the Shogunate. Blood River Bronzes were exported downriver to the coast, and on across Creation, with examples found as far as Rubylak, Whitewall, and Wavecrest.

In the wake of the Contagion, the well-organized armies of Blood River held firm, rejecting the commands of the Scarlet Empress to submit, mortal craftsmen even asserting that it was the Dragonblooded who were to blame for all Creation’s troubles, and the Exalted needed to be purged so that all might be made right. Distant, they were allowed to persist independently, until RY546 when they felt themselves strong enough to march upon their neighbours.

An aggressive Blood River was a threat both militarily (against their satrapies) and ideologically (against the status of the Dragonblooded as Princes of the Earth), the Realm chose to act, deploying the 9th Imperial Legion and the Vermillion Legion to bring them to heel. The Immaculate Order called for action with particular fervour in response to rumours that the Cabal of Craftsmen included one or more Anathema, though the Cabal denied this vehemently.

The conflict is known to the histories as the Siege of High Spiral, and resulted in a Realm victory. After the fall of High Spiral, the Cabal of Craftsmen and many of the ruling class of artisans were put to the sword, and many secret techniques of bronze-working were lost to Creation.

Economy

Rice agriculture is widespread along the floodplain, but the type of rice grown in Blood River is dark, sometimes black, and chewy: sometimes sought by Creation’s chefs to add a visual appeal to dishes, it is otherwise not popular.

Blood River also continues a long tradition of bronze-working, and they are masters of the art of lost wax casting, though they cannot match the beauty and perfection of the relics produced by their ancestors. ‘Blood Bronzes’, in the form of decorative urns and drums and statues, remain the kingdom’s major export.

Culture

The culture of Blood River was once proud and cultured, idealizing the master craftsman as both political ruler and war leader, skill at his craft meaning skill in all other areas. The land had a martial streak, with every family holding a wave-bladed bronze dagger as sacred heirloom. Production of such daggers has slowed, and many were lost to looting and battle in the war with the Realm. The current rulers look down upon armed peasants, and sometimes move to confiscate dagger heirlooms, but many have been secreted away as hidden treasures.

Despite loss of their greatest bronze creations and their martial spirit, Blood River natives today continue to practice some traditions of their fallen forebears. Religious ceremonies and military manoeuvres are directed by musicians beating upon massive, ornately-cast bronze drums (unable to cast new ones to that same quality, the present-day soldiers of Blood River value surviving ancient drums as priceless relics).

Politics

The ruling class of Blood River, craftsmen and masters of bronze-working all, were put to the sword when the Realm conquered the land, replaced by a puppet line of rulers granted the name of House Trung by the Scarlet Empress. This House remains miniscule, dependent on the Dynasty of the Realm to preserve its bloodlines and reinforce its rule in the face of internal threats.

The monarch of Blood River is titled Marchioness, elected on the death of the previous office-holder by vote amongst the Dragonblooded members of House Trung from amongst their own number. The central government is dominated by the Realm’s satrap and the local bureaucrats of the Thousand Scales, who tend to dictate decrees which are then stamped by the Marchioness. Other members of House Trung provide some local bureaucracy, and as Cadet House members others return as Scales bureaucrats.

At a more local level, the government is military in structure, a holdover from the preceding institutions being purged when the Realm defeated the armies of the independent state. Along the river can be found a number of small fort-storehouses, raised on artificial hills. The commanders of these forts, titled ‘Hill-Captains’, are responsible for defending the surrounding territory, enforcing decrees from the capital, and collecting taxes in the form of percentages drawn from goods safely stored by local common folk in the storehouses. Many of the Hill-Captains are essentially hereditary, descended from Legion soldiers who settled in the satrapy following the conflict with the Realm.

There is little spirit for rebellion amongst the populace… while many trade legends of independence and the wonders of bronze-casting that were once known, the tax burden on them is not heavy and they are conscious that the last time they rose they lost a great deal… many are fearful that another rising would see them lose what little remains. It would truly take a shining hero or beacon of wonder to rouse them into action… but with the return of the Solar Exalted to Creation, an age of such heroes and such wonders may have come.

House Ledaal secured control of the satrapy from House Tepet a hundred years ago, but pays little attention to the distant land, content to profit from sale of its black rice and bronzewares in the markets of Arjuf.

- Ruler: Marchioness Trung Livia.

- Satrap: Ledaal Eurymanar

Military

The military of Blood River is not a potent force in the present day. It consists of two branches: the first is the House Elephantry, based in the capital. Each Dragonblooded member of House Trung is expected to command a war elephant, equipping themselves and a crew of their unExalted siblings to man a howdah. The second are the Hill Auxiliaries, skirmish units raised by each Hill Captain, of between five and fifty soldiers. Professionalism and size vary widely depending on the competence of the Captain.

Both of these forces are trained according to the dictates of the Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier, and are capable auxiliaries to Imperial Legions serving in the area.

At the present time, there is no Imperial Legion garrison stationed in Blood River.