Xanat, the Ancient Capital
It lay beyond the legends of the Old Road and the legacy of Mycorria. It lay beyond the great wastes and towering mountains of the Showl. It lay even beyond the buried clamours of mankind’s primordial folly. For there, amidst the Seven Lakes, lay the jewel of the Occident, the Empire of the Heavens-
Srama.
Upon the lakes where the Empire was formed, great cities endure- the chief of which is Xanat, the Ancient Capital. Golden-tipped towers adorn glazed buildings of blackbrick, the bustling streets filled with market squares and rows upon rows of urban housing. Floating lanterns cast their paper light upon the vast shadow cast by the grand palace. Even beyond the fortified walls lay a massive sprawl of new developments, manmade rivers connecting all quarter’s of the city as merchant canoes flow throughout, delivering goods from raw ores and bloodwood logs to fine ceramics and instruments of brass. And far above the highest spire loom the stormbreakers, grand airships of the Empire, whether to join the Treasure Fleets or to serve as stage for the next noble feast.
Within cities such as these, the age-old hierarchy of the castes has begun to give way. Wealthy aristocrats sponsor academies for artisans, mechanists, merchants, and even cartographers and entertainers. Though these Pillars of Ascendancy, it is possible for the well-off commoner to become a far more recognised tradesman. Some paths even lead to honourary nobility- such as the tribunes instructed by the Academy of Honourable Justice, or the bureaucrats mentored by the Academy of Everlasting Order. And indeed, though the Risen Empress retains her ancestral authority, it is in truth the many-faceted Administration that maintains most power over the Empire. It is by their will that the Vigils attend to their cities, that the Warlords command their armies, and that the Academia are afforded their privilege.
Less prominent in the cities- but no less important in the structure of society- are the Dhalin- monks and priests that form the spiritual orders of the Empire. Though a few attend to their temples in the lake-cities, the vast majority instead take to the small mountainous settlements where their ancient monasteries and shrines still remain. It is above the clouds that they find their scared ground. They speak of an invisible yet immutable ether that courses through their being, of meditations and rituals to cleanse themselves of impurity, of even rituals such as self-obliteration and post-mortality. However much is hearsay and however much is truth, it is the Dhalin that are the unspoken arbiters in Sramese affairs. For it is by their hand that the Imperial Family are taken to the tethers of Highest Peak and lifted into the air, to test their will against the madness of the skies. Those who endure are said to possess unsurpassed wisdom- those who do not are said to be have proven unfit of soul.
Beyond even the mountain monasteries lay another world entirely- that of the countless rural villages that dot the countryside. Though they pay their tribute to the great cities and dispatch their goods under escort of the Imperial Watch, their loyalty lies firmly to themslves. From time to time nearby villages may feud, local levies shedding blood across the rivers or below the jungle canopy. So long as the flow of goods is not disrupted, and the conflicted ended swiftly, the Administration tolerates these feuds as an unstoppable eventuality. But should they impede the great cities, the Army of the Heavens descends upon them, resolving each dispute under the shadow of armed stormbreakers and through the unflinching glares of soldiers and warrior-monks alike.
It is not unheard of for the great cities themselves to enter violent disputes. Civil wars, peasant revolts, and succession conflicts all linger in the history of Srama, documented by well-kept statues and memorial grounds across Imperial lands. The byzantine structure of the Administration and draconian penance of those found wretched is intended to mitigate the chances of further such incidents. But no realm is ever truly free of corruption, and the scheming of bureaucrats proves just as insidious as the scheming of aristocrats. For Srama is a realm of opportunity as much as legacy, of change as much as tradition. Sky Captains lead demonstrations of force and wealth across the neighbouring territories, on occasion descending to exchange cultural souvenirs and supposed artefacts of power. Dhalin pilgrims and wandering explorers cross paths in the wilderness. Great merchants lead immense caravans of mule and elephant around the mountain passes, pursuing rumours of eldritch idols to the east. Even such obscure roles as archaeologists exist, uncovering the earth to discover relics of lost history amidst the mountain ruins.
And what relics they may yet discover.
For as Srama expands, as the Empire of the Heavens yearns for yet greater wealth and yet greater knowledge, its expeditions grow ever nearer to the ancestral remains of man’s earliest errors, the hideous forms of once-servitors in the shadows-
It will not belong before the Clamour is heard by more than its own.
