Image of Potential Eastern Coast
Image of Current East of Tempus

The Tempus Oriental Mainland along the Eastern coast of the continent with its capital city, Kai Ping(?), situated on the cliffs near the BLANK Ocean, is a society of 3 main castes.

  1. The Elven Noble Caste
    The Elven noble caste lives within the walled Imperial City and dedicates their lives to one of four livelihoods:
    1. Warfare - The House of the Dragon, the 2nd most powerful Elven House, commands the military forces of the Empire.
    2. Knowledge - The House of the Pheonix, the currently ruling House, dedicates its families power and riches to the pursuit of knowledge.
    3. Treasury and Trade - The House of the Tortoise manages the wealth of the Imperium
    4. Art - The House of the Qi'lin(Unicorn) is effectively the Artisan Guild... the closest the Elven nobles get to actual work
    5. Lesser houses, of which there are many, may align themselves completely with a particular house(meanign they all work in that field) or, more often, choose to apprentice their children in any of the houses as deemed fitting given the child's abilities or the House's political needs.
    6. Lesser House: So'La - a Minor House associated with the House of the Tortoise... concerns itself with the trade of animals in the Imperium. Of special note: The Father of Hirai (Jiao Villa butcher) and the Mother of Joni(Hirai's wife) work for as house manager and master cook in the House's Manor in Kai Ping - this is how Hirai and Joni met.

    The females of the noble caste are generally considered a form of art or property and a possession of the House. once a female is wed to a House she loses all associations with her former House. There are a very few women who choose to join the military(only as archers) or the Artisans.

  2. The Human Middle/Lower Classes
    The Humans form the middle and lower caste level of the Eastern society. They serve a variety of roles in the society including:
    1. Managers: The Humans fit a necessary niche between the elven nobles and the field workers. Many of the households have favored human families who serve as managers either in their Houses in the Imperial City or from the Human Town( Unnamed at this Point) outside of the city.
    2. Trade: The House of the Tortoise is nominatively in charge of Trade, but, in truth, the humans tend to manage all trade outside of the Empire. The House of the Tortoise is only concerned with the politics of trade and the political power it can wield over the other houses.
    3. Menial Labor: Some humans do menial labor in the fields, but in general that is left to the Orc Slaves/Servants. Menial labor in the city such as the construction of carts, axle repair, barrel making, etc is done by the humans since this work is below the Elven artisans who focus on more artistic work such as fine weapon making, jewelry, fine clothing etc.
    4. City Rulers: The Elven Nobles care little for the affairs of the human town and leave ruling it to the humans. The elven nobles DO keep the peace with the Imperial Army's Tiger Division.
    5. Military: Human males can serve in all aspects of the military but are NOT acceptable as officers. Only Elves may serve as officers.
    6. Servants: The Elven nobles do not allow Orcs in the Imperial City and the elves are above serving others.. so humans serve as paid servants. Usually, a House will 'adopt' or favor a Human household(family-line) whose entire line will be trained to serve the Elven House. These families are extremely loyal to their Elven House. Male elves must be served by Male humans and the male servants usually also work as general managers of the household. Female elves are served exclusively by female humans who also work in the kitchens and cleaning staffs.

    In the Human Town, human males generally fulfill managerial roles( city council) or artisan/military roles. Females are expected to stay at home and care for the household - everything from managing finances to raising children.

  3. The Orc Servants/Slaves
    Orcs have been subjugated by the Elves and Humans and 'forced' to work in the Rice and Opium fields. 'Forced' b/c the Orcs rely on the Elves for protection and in many ways food. The Orcs that live near the Imperial City would probably not survive without the assistance of the humans and elves. This is not to say that there is not cruelty in the treatment of the Orcs by the humans. Humans look on the Orcs more as tools than as living beings. Much the same way that the elves look on the humans. Orcs might as well not exist where the elves are concerned.
    The only time an elf might be concerned with an Orc is if the Orc flees the villages and decides to try to make a living in either the Dryad Forest(which is protected by treaty by the Elven Military) or the Qi'lin woods(which are the Emperor's personal reserve)... then the Orc may be hunted down as a simple animal.

There are 3 Groups of Interest in the Eastern Society.
  1. Servants of the Poppy
    The servants of the poppy are a medical order that accepts male elves or humans. This order provides medical care neutrally to all citizens of the Imperium, including the Orcs. A servant is duty- and honor-bound to provide care to anyone who requests it. If someone requests a Servant and turns away the Servant b/c of the Servants race(i.e. an Elf refusing treatment from a human) they lose face and may not request treatment from the Servants again.. the Servants must offer treatment( the Servants will almost always insure that the offer comes from someone of the same race or caste as the refused Servant). The only special case is the Emperor and his family. They may request only Elven Servants.. the Emperor can only be served by Elves by Imperial law.

  2. Conclave of the Spider
    The conclave is made up of disgraced members of the elven Houses. If a member of a House is disgraced, he may choose to save the honor of his House by leaving the House, giving up all his family rights and joining the Conclave where he will be trained in the art of Assassination and Secret Warfare.
    The Conclave is only spoken of in whispers and members are rarely seen in the streets. Their Temple lies outside of the Imperial City where they manage their own farms with humans and orcs. When in public, the Conclave members wear all white robes and veil their faces. Rumors have it that their faces have been tattooed with mystic markings.
    There are rumors that the Conclave does allow women to enter its ranks. This is true. In fact, the Ruling Council of the Conclave is made up of 3 members, currently 2 male and 1 female elves. This ruling Council rotates its Chair at each meeting... the Chair has no vote unless required to break a tie between the other 2 Councilmembers.

  3. Council of Seers
    A group of Wise Men who have blinded themselves when they entered into the study of the Seers. The Wise Men study the movement of the Stars and Time and are the trusted advisors of all of the Houses.
    The Home of the Seers has a library that is filled with prophecies of the future.


The Geography of the Eastern Empire

The Eastern Empire lies past the Ravaged Country. The Eastern Road leads to the edge of a great ravine referred to as: The Mouth of the Eel. This ravine was formed by the passage of the Xian River. The ravine begins upstream at the Falls of Lim Chi and is hundreds of feet wide at this point.

A rough cobbled road leads north along the ravine to the Golden Dragon Bridge. This bridge was built hundreds of years ago in the beginnings of the Eastern Empire. The bridge spans the Ravine. From the Bridge you can see the Falls of Lim Chi far to the north.

On the far side of the bridge lies an Imperial Barracks and Guard Posts. The Imperial Barracks marks the beginning of the Path of the Sun. An East-West road of bright red-colored stone that runs across the Eastern Empire to the gates of the Imperial City. North of the Path of the Sun are vast Rice Fields irrigated from ditches in the north that have been dug from the edges of the Xian River. Along the North edge of the Rice fields, the traveler can see the mud huts of the Orc villages.

South of the Path of the Sun is the Grey Forest and the Poppy Fields. The Grey Forest is a large expanse of tall trees inhabited by Dryads. The Dryads have established a relationship with the Empire that the Dryads are protected by Imperial forces outside the forest. The Poppy Fields are used to grow and process poppy flowers for their medical use.

An ancient lighthouse is on the cliffs on the far side of the Grey Forest. This lighthouse is used to warn ships as they near the Xian River of the reefs at the mouth of the river. (The Eel's Teeth).

Near the Poppy Fields, a Northern Imperial Highway connects the Imperial City with a nearby human village on the Xian River that provides freshwater fish to the city. The Northern Imperial Highway extends to the north to...
Not far from the Northern Imperial Highway is the gates of the Human Town and then through the middle of the HUman Town to the gates of the Imperial City.

North of the Imperial City lies the Imperial Qi'lin Woods which are the official hunting reserve of the Emperor and the Houses. A mythical unicorn resides in the forest and seeing the unicorn is considered the greatest of omens. Many parts of the forest are swampy and inhabited by beings of a significantly more evil demeanor than the unicorn.


The Military
The Tiger Division

The Tiger Division is the defensive portion of the Imperial Army. They perform guard duties at the border of the Empire as well as in the individual cities. They are effectively a combination of a National Guard and the Police. The Tiger Division wears uniforms of gold and black and, of course, use a stalking tiger as their mascot. Tiger Division troops are usually stationed at barracks/outposts throughout the Empire and generally stay at these outposts. They rarely patrol the countrysides, leaving that to the Horse Division. The Tiger Division is predominantly human(65%). The Tiger Division is mostly swordsman or pikemen. There are numerous archers stationed in the cities. The majority of the Tiger Division archers are male and elven with the occasional human or elven female.


The Horse Division

The Horse Division is the raiding and offensive branch of the Imperial Army. The Horse Division is almost entirely made up of cavalry and is in this age a relatively small part of the Army. The Empire has very few enemies and even fewer of them are outside the borders of the Empire. In recent centuries, the Horse Division has taken up assisting in the defense of the Empire by patrolling the entire Empire on horseback. The Horse Division is about 60% elven (80% male, 20% female) with most of them(60%) swordsmen and the rest archers. All females are archers. The human 40% of the force are about 90% male and serve almost exclusively as swordsman(altho a significant portion actually wield axes or hammers instead of swords). Again, all serving females are warriors.


The Bird Division

The Bird Division is only in the most general of terms a military force but it has traditionally been associated with the military and falls under the control of the House of the Dragon. The Bird Division is the Intelligence Agency of the Eastern Empire. It is used by the Empire to gain valuable information about their few external enemies and their allies. It is also used internally by the House of the Dragon to spy on the other Houses. Typically the House of the Dragon is able to maintain the most efficient and knowledgable spy network in the politics between the Houses. However, most recently, the Emperor joined his house with the House of the Owl(the current Dragon Commander of the Bird Division) by marrying the First Daughter of the House. Despite the Dragon Commander's close ties to the House of the Dragon this union has proven most profitable for the Commander and his allegiance has perceptibly shifted towards the Imperial family.