Everyone knows that on the eastern edge of Creation lies the Elemental Pole of Wood, a massive barrier of trees so tall nothing can fly over them and so tightly packed together nothing can get through them. Many also know that at the feet of this magnificent barrier is a forest of such breadth and girth as to leave even the most jaded agape and incredulous. To the south that forest turns to jungle, and to the north it becomes a sea of conifers. But in the land directly to the east, just before the Pole itself, lies the Thousand Emerald Satrapy - the most formidable and breathtaking temperate forest in all of Creation.
Mortals who first walked the face of Creation soon came to recognize the treasures of this place. It could feed them, clothe them and shelter them. When they were sick or hurt it could ease their suffering. When they were tired, the sound of a gentle breeze through the branches and grasses could sing them to rest.
But when they were careless, disrespectful or lazy, the forest could also kill them - often without warning and certainly without hesitation. Some of its dangers were incidental, others much more deliberate. But wether an early forest dweller broke her neck falling from a treetop or was ripped apart by an angry wild boar the result was the same and it served as a silent reminder that life should never be taken for granted in the far east.
When Mortals began trading with each other it was only natural that the forest's bounty would fuel this commerce. When this trade formalized itself in the creation of the Guild that commerce became even greater, but with commerce came greed and exploitation. The first mortals who came into what is now called the Thousand Emerald Satrapy used what was around them for survival. They took only what they needed - no more no less - and respected what was given to them. The Guild saw everything as theirs for the taking. Every tree, plant, animal and native mortal they laid their eyes on was fair game for the market block. The Guild strode into the eastern forests like they owned them - bought and paid for. Soon they would learn this was not so. They would come to understand that just like those who had come before them, they lived at the sufferance of what dwelt in the green, and they did not like that one bit.
In those days Creation was ruled by the Shoguns, and it was just such a Shogun who listened to the complaints of the Guild about how difficult it was to do business in the far east. The merchants showed the Shogun the many wonders that could be found there and made available to anyone - for the right price. Rare meats, furs, exotic animals and people, lumber of every description and plants for every use. But gathering such things was difficult, time consuming and dangerous…oh if only they had help…..
That first Shogun paved the way for what was to come when he sent half a legion of his best soldiers to accompany Guild caravans into the far east. Within a season, both the merchants and soldiers were all dead.
The Shogun who had sent them to their doom passed away soon afterwards, but his successor worked the 'eastern question' into an already heady and ambitious plan. You see it wasn't just the east that was proving difficult to bring to heel. The Righteous Children of the Dragons met opposition wherever they went and in whatever they wished to accomplish. It soon became clear that in order to project the will of the Elemental Dragons to the four corners of Creation there would need to be a more permanent presence in its far reaches. Most today in this Age of Sorrows do not remember what the name of the ruler who decided this was - but they well know the result. They were (and still are) called the Shields.
They were to be part icon, part small city and all fortress. Massive and foreboding, they would signify to any who looked upon them that the Shogun was looking back. Four would be built, one for each far-flung corner of Creation. The Shield to be built in the east was called the Impenetrable Glacis Verdant. It would take thirty years to finish, but when it was completed it provided everything hoped for in its design. The Shogun could project force far from the Blessed Isle and the Guild could now pursue their concerns with the help of the Shogunate a comparative stone's throw away. So guarded, they wasted no time in prosecuting matters.
In all recorded history the only time the Glacis Verdant ever came close to being breached was during the Great Contagion and subsequent incursions by the Fair Folk. Even then the place itself held firm and it's failure would have been the fault of the flesh and bone that occupied it, not in its design or construction.
When the Scarlet Empress took power over seven hundred years ago she saw no reason for tinkering with what worked. Indeed, she showed even greater support for the eastern endeavors than the Shoguns who came before her. She renamed the area under the Glacis Verdant's purview the Thousand Emerald Satrapy and poured even more resources into it. She expanded the garrison at the Glacis and added a greater number of weapons from the First Age. She created the House of the Ghost Arrow out of an insular clique of bow savants and encouraged it to become the premiere school of archery in all the Realm, drawing students from far and wide. Things were progressing well indeed. Guild profits were higher than they had ever been and though the Realm would always have trouble with the near east, the far east seemed well in hand.
Then two years ago the Empress disappeared.
One by one the Dynastic Houses withdrew from their commitments in the Satrapy, fulfilling them instead using second or third line families with nowhere near the resources their patrons had. With the Empress gone everyone knew the game of politics would liven up considerably and no one wanted to be stuck out in the far east when there were greater prizes to be had on the Blessed Isle. Even the second and third line families were anxious to ease their commitments to the far east and turn their eyes towards more tangible goals. This in turn meant even they began to hold back resources and manpower as much as they could. Some even went so far as to fulfill their obligations with mercenaries or half trained mortal militias. As quality and quantity of commitment declines no one is certain what the future will bring, but most are filled with a sense of dread for the future - for surely this neglect cannot continue forever without paying a price…..
Players will take the role of Dragon Blooded from second line families who have been sent to this area to discharge an obligation that everyone wishes would just go away - everyone except the people in the area who are looking in fear at the savages, creatures and spirits in the trees. They hear the drums in the forest, hear the bestial roars ever increasing in ferocity and proximity. They see the corpses of their own just on the periphery of their lands, often done to death horribly. They know fear and they need help. In the past they knew they could count on that help, now they are not so sure. Where once stalwart members of the Imperial Foot stood ready to assert the will of Shogun or Empress, now there are half-assed house troops and Guild mercenaries who are as likely to toss them to the wolves as protect them. Already unscrupulous Guild merchants are skimming profits and redirecting funds - can the Realm's scraps be far behind?
And matters have now become worse....soon the Thousand Scales will decide that it isn't in the Realm's best interests to maintain a garrison there at all. They will order the troops out - and the PC's will have some choices to make....
