Fantasy Core RPG: Jianghu Setting-Lop Nar and the Empire

Fantasy Core RPG

© Jerry Harris 2013

Published here as Open Game Content.

(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Index.)

Jianghu Setting

Lop Nar and the Empire

 It is not a land that welcomes the living.

Directly west of the city is the vast desert of Lop Nar, a former salt lake.  An ancient merchant route, the Silk Road, once skirted its edge on the way to Far West.  The desert has since covered the road and its settlements.  There are buried cities here, haunted by mummies (at tombs of the rich or holy) and ghosts (at graveyards) and other spirits (at oasis and fake oasis), but with generally of little value within. 

However, there are also lost temples, such as Bezeklik and the Mogao Caves. 

They were constructed by monks seeking isolation, who later hid their sacred texts and artifacts as marauding raiders and desert encroachment came upon them.  Often scrolls and other artifacts are sealed up in the walls.  There are rumors of a savage religious cult at the end of the Silk Road, who are responsible for its closure and who dream of one day conquering the Empire.

But for the Heavens, there is no worthy comparison.

To the East is the mighty Empire itself and far away is the magnificent capital, The Forbidden City and the palace of the Emperor and his court.  This is the seat of Manchu rule with their eunuch sorcerers.  They have held the Han people in their iron grip for over a century.  In spite of their rigid caste-like system, the Manchu are slowly are being absorbed by the native population, but for now they are clearly in charge.  While Shang-tu has a fairly minimal Manchu presence and a near egalitarian society (by comparison), the rest of the Empire is far more oppressive. 

The Emperor is an entirely unseen, mysterious figure.  It is known that he holds the ensigns of Divine power held in several ancient artifacts.

The Jeweled Spear of Creation (can bring the dead back to life)

The Divine Sword Kusanagi (can instantly kill anyone stuck)

The Divine Mirror (can see anyplace within the Empire)

The Divine Crown (telepathy, immunity to mind reading and control, and +4 to Int and Wis)

The Yellow Book of Divination (can always determine the culprit by turning to the dated page when the crime was committed)