Empire 6 - The Lands of the Embers

[Blossom]

Mixtli
Region 80, One of the Citlallo Isles

Summary: A sleepy rainforest island home to humans, bird people, and crafty little bugs.

Spoiler: Geography

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Mixtli is a densely forested island that benefits from near constant rain. The varied altitudes of the uneven and dense land make ground transport difficult.

Communities live in round houses built high into the trees deep within the forest. Instead of bedrolls and mats, people sleep on soft hammocks made of Nagaran silk. Homes and buildings are connected by rope bridges for those who cannot glide from tree to tree. Dancing is incredibly important to the communities. Humans dance in flowing clothes and hold silk fabrics to mimic the beautiful feathered dances of the Skyclad Dancers in their Sky Forms.

Spoiler: People

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While islands may spring up from the sea, their inhabitants often come from other lands both near and far. Mixtli is home to a mix of humans and Skyclad Dancers.

Like those from nearby islands, the humans carry their Sparks and their affinity for fire. Unlike those from Citlallo and Popoco, people here tend to have bright colored hair in cooler colours (such as purples, blues, and greens) and their skin is a slightly lighter bronze due to the more heavily forested geography and cloudy weather.

The Skyclad Dancers are humanoid avians that hailed from Tarandi in the past. Their bodies are feathered, albeit humanoid, with the ability to glide using their feathered “wings.” They can also shapeshift into a feathered serpentine body called their “sky form.” In this form they can fly and glow. This is the form they use for their ritual dances. Unfortunately, Skyclad Dancers are a short lived people.

Spoiler: Faith

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The people of Mixtli are not very concerned with concepts of religion or spirituality, they just are. At the Northern end of the island exists a large clearing overlooking the water that locals refer to as Mococoloa. Twice a year, at the start of the warm season, and at the height of harvest time, a festival is held to celebrate the changing of seasons. For three days, people feast and dance, artisans show off their finest dyed silks, and lounge on plush cushions and blankets under the stars. Because of these festivals, Mococoloa is an important place for the island residents.

Spoiler: Resource

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The Nagaran Slingers are small insects, approximately flat, round discs in shape. Male Nagaran Slingers produce wax and female Nagara spin fine silk. The Nagara eat large fruit that grow high up in the trees of the dense rainforest.

After they swarm onto one of the fruits, causing it to fall from the branches of the springy trees. This drop breaks open the fruit's outer shell, which is cold, dry and smooth like polished stone, releasing the thick sweet liquid and soft inner flesh, which the Nagara pack devours. The insects turn a unique substance found in the nectar of the Nagara fruit into a sort of wax, which they extrude between gaps in their shell-plates to make a large fluffy mass over their shell, which repels moisture and cushions their landing. This wax builds up over time, and the locals will travel through the Nagara tree forests to capture Nagara packs in tightly woven nets, scrape off their wax, and release them again. This wax, when melted down, is fantastic for tablets, sealing, and many other applications.

The Nagara build their nests high up in trees. The nests are spun out of silk and covered in wax to protect them from the heavy rainfall. The people of Mixtli collect the silk strands to weave into luxurious fabrics that can be dyed vibrantly using pigment from fruits and plants.

[Blossom]

Trifaria
Region 83, One of the Citlallo Isles
Writeup courtesy of Lleban! Thank you!

Spoiler: Geography

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The landscape of Trifaria island is marked with the scars of glacial advance and retreat over the centuries, leaving a thin rocky soil across the island. Most of the terrain is covered in a mixture of pine and conifer forests, ill suited for most forms of agriculture. The soil only supports small plots of oat and rye. Moose, giant walking owls, elk, Brown bear, Daezrin wolverines, dwarf mammoths, goats, and long legged foxes. Meanwhile the coast is rocky, dotted with fjords that house numerous fishing communities. The shallow seas of the Dazerin isles allow for a wide diversity of marine life most notable, hundreds of expansive reefs filled with mussels, oysters and clams.

Spoiler: People

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The main inhabitants in this region are a series of fishermen tribes collectively known as the Kasurha. Kasurha are typically found in villages consisting of long houses elevated on several planks of wood nestled within the fjord valleys. Travelers have been known to derisively call them Kasurha, the Plank folk. During the day men and boys go out into the coves and reefs to fish. While women journey into the forest to hunt goats, rabbits, and forage. Each season is celebrated with a festival where the Kasurha participate in fishing, weaving, and cooking competitions. All genders routinely anoint themselves in pine oil before the start of a hunt. Frequently Kasurha nobility adorn themselves with gilded oyster shells and pearl necklaces.

Spoiler: History/Faith

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The Kasurha are fiercely independent people who typically prefer to remain in their villages. Occasionally a council of Kasurha forms in the event of a great calamity of threat from foreign lands. 200 years ago the Kasurha tribes united together to fight a tarandian pirate lord exiled from the lands of the Shandolyn. Using guerilla tactics and a mastery of slings, a united Kasurha people pushed the invaders back into the sea.

Spoiler: Resource

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The Kashura lands are awash with reefs bearing pearls. Pearls are popular jewelry, and elaborate necklaces are seen as signals of status. The pearls vary in color, from opal blue, ivory, and even a vibrant crimson.