Out in the ocean far off the coast of the main continent, a new island was raised from the deep and a city was built upon it a few years ago (IRL Nov. 2009). It is the new home for a lost people, diminished by war and hoping for a new start and a chance at peace.
Under the direction of Empress Ong Xifeng, it was built in the traditional style of her people, but by Enclave hands. However, in their zeal to help and their tendency to make things on a grand scale, the city is much too large for the small group.
The Empress invites all who seek a fresh start and a chance at a peaceful life to join her at Xenshi. There are many houses, shops, and farmlands open for the taking, entirely free to those who want them. Also, anyone who is interested in joining the guards need only talk to the Empress or her General.
Nation: Xenshi
Population: Xenshinese humans. Most adults are female. Immigrants from other places are welcome and a few already call Xenshi home.
Magic: The five Chinese elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water
Technology: Mostly Ancient Chinese level of technology. However, newer things are not shunned so long as it doesn't endanger anyone or disturb the peace, so a few of the Xenshinese have taken up learning how to use newer things and immigrants from other lands are welcome to bring their tech with them.
Under the direction of Empress Ong Xifeng, it was built in the traditional style of her people, but by Enclave hands. However, in their zeal to help and their tendency to make things on a grand scale, the city is much too large for the small group.
The Empress invites all who seek a fresh start and a chance at a peaceful life to join her at Xenshi. There are many houses, shops, and farmlands open for the taking, entirely free to those who want them. Also, anyone who is interested in joining the guards need only talk to the Empress or her General.
Nation: Xenshi
Population: Xenshinese humans. Most adults are female. Immigrants from other places are welcome and a few already call Xenshi home.
Magic: The five Chinese elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water
Technology: Mostly Ancient Chinese level of technology. However, newer things are not shunned so long as it doesn't endanger anyone or disturb the peace, so a few of the Xenshinese have taken up learning how to use newer things and immigrants from other lands are welcome to bring their tech with them.
Locations
Xenshi City: The city itself is built in the shape of a circle with a wall around it for protection. A river flows through it to provide the city with water. The buildings are all in an old Chinese style architecture with the sloping rooftops and bright colors. Red is the most prominent color used in the city as it is thought to bring good fortune and scare off evil spirits. Yellow/gold is also used, although more heavily in places like the palace and the temple as it stands for both prosperity and spirituality.
Palace: This is located at the very center of the city. It is built up high to overlook the city and the streams encircle it as well. Open to the public is the throne room where people can bring their issues to the Empress. Otherwise, the rest of the building is mostly living quarters for the royal family and the families of the top advisers. In the center is a courtyard garden. There are also guest quarters for visiting foreign dignitaries and a banquet hall that gets used on rare occasion. Marketplace: Here there are shops of all kinds as well as most of the personal residences. The market is mostly open-air, especially during the warmer weather. There are many bright colors and aromas to please the senses. In addition to the stalls for groceries and the like, there are also offerings of hot dishes. There are spice shops, tea shops, and all kinds of artisan crafts from useful tools to decorative artworks and clothing. There are even some foreign novelty shops that sell things brought in from other places in the world. The Celestial Dragon: This is a specific inn, owned by Qing Yuan. It has a restaurant, rooms for rent, and a hot springs. It is well known for its hospitality, good food, and being tourist-friendly. Diablo's Estate: Diablo's Estate lies just a five minute walk from the palace, through scenic Xenshi. It's the next largest plot of land, developed into a true paradise; it combines the best of the Xenshinese architecture and culture, a little bit of magic and the finest technology available. Training Grounds: Here is where people will be sent if they are in a personal fight, also anyone who wants to do some training can come of their own free will. There is so much space dedicated to it as the people do desire not only to maintain the balance of both a fit body and mind but also desire to learn to protect themselves after the tragedy that they suffered that brought them to the island. Having them spread around ensures that able-bodied fighters could easily be called in to nearby disturbances or to defend the wall. Open spaces are provided as well as equipment for practicing balance, training dummies, and other sorts of things for whatever the practicing martial artist needs. Temple of Balance: The city has a temple dedicated to the religion of the city. Within it can be found shrines set up to various gods as well as small ones dedicated to many of the family ancestries. It is common to smell incense burning within the temple. Xiao-Xing is the high priestess here and details about the religion can be found below in the Culture section. Also located near the temple are quiet gardens for meditation, places of healing, and places of learning, such as the library. Farmlands: While there are also some located outside of the walls, farms are mainly inside to both give them protection and also to continue to provide food for the city in case there is a siege. They not only feed the city, but help in the production of Xenshi's major exports of rice, tea, soy, spices, paper, and silk. City Defenses: The city itself is surrounded by a wall and is protected by a small army of guards, mostly women who are trained in the arts of kung-fu and wushu. *NOTE: The guards all know a secret technique used to teleport others. If there is a personal fight, the combatants will be teleported to the training grounds to finish their fight so that damage to the city is minimized. If there is a hostile who's intent is just to cause damage to the city, they will be teleported off the island altogether and onto the main continent near the lake. *Also: The children are now under divine protection that keeps them from being killed or seriously injured. However, this only applies to the children, not the adults. |
History
The story of Xenshi began on a small continent half a world a way and on the southern hemisphere of Arda. What is now referred to as Old Xenshi began many generations ago when a man by the name of Ong Xiao Chen united several independent cities into an empire. He was a masterful metal user and could stop entire armies in their tracks by controlling their weapons and armor. Although this could be used in brutal fashion, he instead chose the way of peace by forcing fighters to stand still and talk things out. Recognized for his skill and wisdom, he was naturally made the first emperor of the now united nation of (Old) Xenshi, and thus the Ong Dynasty was also born.
(Old) Xenshi grew into a large and prosperous nation under the leadership of the Ong family. In more recent times, it was under the control of a particular emperor by the name of Ong Chao. Emperor Chao faced growing hostilities from the nation on their northern border, Yeman Ren, who wished to expand their territory. However, a few early skirmishes were enough to showcase Emperor Chao's military prowess and the strength of his army, and so hostilities died down to a quiet simmer instead of breaking out into all out war. During the rest of Ong Chao's reign, Yeman Ren quietly built up their own forces, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. This came upon Emperor Chao's death, which left his young son, Jianyu, in charge. With a young and untested leader on the throne, Yeman Ren's forces struck hard and brutally, sparking an all out war. Many cities were outright burned to the ground and refugees began to flood the capital city. The war waged on for years and finally reached the gates of the capital city itself in the autumn of 2009. In an effort to save some of the people, the Emperor Jianyu had the guards teleport the women and children to a hidden safe location far away, which happened to be in the forest of what is known as the Mainland. Unfortunately, not long after that, the capital was taken, and the Emperor assassinated. Upon the death of the Emperor, his first wife, the Empress Xifeng, took charge and started leading and organizing the few hundred survivors who were in hiding. With the people now made up of mostly women, positions of power were of course given to women that were traditionally held by men, and those with training formed the new guard. She chose Yan Huiqing to be the General of their new guard and put her in charge of overseeing the training of anyone who wanted to learn. This was due to her faithful service as captain of the palace guard for many years making her the most capable leader and fighter among the survivors as well as being a trusted sworn sister of the empress herself. The refugees waited to be sent for, but no one further showed up at their location to retrieve them. They assumed that the empire had fallen, and that they were now stranded in this strange new land. As they did not know exactly where they were teleported and the seasons and the stars were different from home, many came to believe that they were on a different world even though this was not truly the case. Needing to provide a new home for the stranded remnants of her people, Empress Xifeng was quick to form an alliance with the Enclave when Frank Horrigan arrived and proposed a deal. He was curious about their ways and offered to build them a new city on a new island that would be built in the style of their old home. In exchange, he wanted only to be able to observe them and send his men there on shore leave on occasion. Desperate and having not much else to bargain with, Xifeng agreed and the Enclave set to work building the city that is now called Xenshi. Now that there is a new city, the Empress plans to lead her people and those who chose to join them into a peaceful future, a rebirth into an era of prosperity after the destruction of the fires of war. |
Culture
The city of Xenshi has a very old Chinese feel to it, with a touch of other Asian cultures thrown into the mix for good measure. The Xenshinese tend to wear traditional Chinese clothing and eat traditional foods as well, although immigrants from other lands are free to do as they like and have brought with them things that have slowly begun to creep into the Xenshinese lifestyle over time.
The war has caused the Xenshinese to place value on two things in particular, peace and fighting skill. The city tends to be a very peaceful and quiet place to live, with the exception to this being during any sort of holiday or festival. On the other side of the coin, after losing so much, they desire to hold on to what they have left, and so many who previously had no interest in fighting have at least taken up learning self defense techniques. Honorable warriors were always held in high regard, but are now seen also as being key to maintaining their new peaceful lifestyle. As in all things, this is a balance to them. Another sense of balance that they find important to keep is the balance of mind/soul and body. They develop their mind and soul through their religious practices and meditation and develop their body through the learning of martial arts, harnessing qi, or even simply doing daily tai-chi exercises. There is even a sect of monks at the temple who devote their lives to honing both mind/soul and body to become a sort of warrior monk. The Xenshinese also tend to see themselves as a part of the whole, first as part of their family and then as part of their nation, rather than being individuals. The good of the community is always placed above the good of the individual and honoring the wishes of parents and elders is important as well. This tends to lead to individuals sacrificing their own desires to take on family businesses and things like that. Rebellion is usually seen as a very dishonorable action and so is often avoided unless seen as absolutely necessary. While the Xenshinese have tried to hold fast to their traditional values, the distinct lack of men has placed the women in more positions of power out of necessity. This has created a temporary matriarchal system where the Xenshinese had always had a patriarchy before. Whether the women are willing to relinquish this and go back to the patriarchal ways once the boys have grown up remains to be seen. The Elements: The Xenshinese have an affinity for the five Chinese elements: wood, fire, water, metal, and earth. Every person is born with an affinity for one of these based either on when they were born or family heritage, as sometimes it seems that an element runs so strongly in a particular family line that it overrides any other determining factors. The level and type of ability a person has as well as the amount it affects their personality varies per individual, but sticks with these traditional five elements. (This is purposefully left vague so that there is a lot of freedom if you wish to create an OC "native.") The elements and the colors they are linked to symbolize a wide variety of things, such as seasons and animals, and show up repeatedly in their traditions. A full understanding of their relation to each other and all of the meanings that go with them is unnecessary for playing, but a good bit of information on them can actually be found on this Wikipedia page if you want to dig into it. They even have small individual pages for each of the elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Religion: The religion of Xenshi is basically Shenism, the worship of deities, cultural heroes, and ancestors all mixed together. It also includes the idea of Yin and Yang, two opposing yet balancing forces in all things, and so Xenshinese strive to find this same centered balance in their lives. There are four concepts that are at the core of the Xenshinese belief system: tian, qi, jingzu, and bao ying.
Holiday - Xenshinese New Year: The celebration of the new year is by far the largest holiday celebration in Xenshi. The Xenshinese follow a lunar calendar, which leaves their new year celebrations on a slightly different date that what the rest of the world celebrates. The celebration starts on the eve of their new year and then continues on into the new year, culminating with the lantern festival on the fifteenth day. The New Year is a time for reconciliation, a clean slate, and wishes of peace and prosperity for all. Some things that can be found during the entire celebration include:
One day a hero arrived to save them from Nian. He told the people that they should decorate the city with the color red and light the lanterns and set off fireworks to help scare Nian away. He tricked the monster and took him as a mount, and continues to ride him still to this day. The next morning, they found that they had all survived the night, and so they threw a celebration. Even now, the cheer "Guo Nian," which means "Survive Nian," is said on New Years as the people are happy to have warded him off once more, and has become synonymous with "Happy New Year." People from all nations are welcome to come visit and help celebrate this holiday. Details about the daily celebrations will be posted every year on the board so that everyone can participate. |
Character Creation
When making a character who is native to Xenshi, there are a few things to keep in mind:
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The Celestial Dragon Inn
The Main Floor of The Celestial Dragon is tastefully decorated with gray painted walls and wooden flooring with black and white paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, various tapestries with the four heavenly creatures are hung on the walls, the eating area, however, has oak wood floorboards.
The Second and Third Floors of The Celestial Dragon have soft gray carpeting, the walls made from cherry wood, the rooms are decorated in blue, white and black, with white paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling of each room, in the hallway, there are light blue paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The Basement of the Celestial Dragon is the living area of it's owners, no one, except the owners, can go down there without permission. The outside of The Celestial Dragon is painted white, with gray and black trimmings along the roof. Outside, at the back of the Celestial Dragon, surrounded by a high wall, there is a large hot-spring, this hot-spring has a wall to divide it in half..Men to the right, and Women to the left. The Hot-spring comes with two changing rooms and clean towels. Off to the side of the hotsprings, within a small grove of trees is a koi pond with several fish, there is a small pathway that leads around the pond along with a couple of benches for guests to sit and relax. This establishment is run by Qing Yuan, her younger sister Bach Yen and their brother Tai Yang, the Inn/Restaurant was opened shortly after the three were among those who were with the refugees who moved from The Old Country to Xenshi. (description by Meg) |
Diablo's Estate
The estate's pathways are adorned in cobblestone, carefully laid in order to be comfortable on bare feet and easy to clean. The Estate itself is powered geothermally, the equipment for which is held in the sub basement of the mansion. All wires are buried deeply in order to preserve the aesthetic look of Xenshinese culture.
Diablo's mansion consists of lavish living areas, opulent bedrooms, an art gallery filled with mementos of his life and popular Xenshinese cultural pieces, a library filled with knowledge; first editions and rare books found all over the world on an enormous variety of topics such as sciences, history and philosophies and perhaps most importantly, a protected basement/sub basement housing the island's most advanced piece of technology: Sierra Actual. The mansion can either be lit electronically or by lantern. The Guest house is a small mansion in its own right, with enough living space for anyone to comfortably set a spell in. Like the mansion, it's powered by the geothermal generator and can be lit electronically or by lantern. The guest chooses. The gardens are huge and adorn the estate grounds between the grand gates and the mansion. They feature gently winding streams beneath softly arcing bridges, a zen rock garden, a lovely pagoda/gazebo for resting and rare plants found usually in select places around the world. A custom built atmospheric regulator keeps these plants healthy and hearty in even the most inhospitable conditions. In the center of these gardens rests a grand fountain. At night, the garden is lit by lantern. The training grounds are adorned with weapon racks which hold a variety of Xenshinese weapons, a small house with which to rest in and a durable tiled practice area that is capable of withstanding blows from heavy maces. It also features a unique implement: An Ironwood tree. This tree is super dense, capable of withstanding an uncommon amount of abuse, making it the perfect tool to hone one's kicks and punches while simultaneously building up a person's pain tolerance. The hot springs are naturally warmed and large enough to comfortably seat 6 people. The area is kept clean and free of debris and the water is constantly filtered in order to keep the place as orderly as possible. It's shaded by naturally growing trees, all in all, producing a relaxing environment for the patrons of this area. At night, this area is lit by lantern. The orchard is small, easily the smallest feature within the estate. A mere 8 trees grow here: Apple, cherry, peach, avocado, pomegranate, orange, lemon and almond trees all grow here. The fruit produced is added to Diablo's pantries though he has been known to donate harvests to various people and establishments around the city. (description by Adam) |