1 Absorbability
"The world is a darker place today." - Unknown
———
Across the greatest nations of what men called, 'Planetos'; Westoros, Essos, Sothoryos and Ulthos, wander adventurers uncounted.
They gather in isolated roadhouses or seedy taverns, and by the crackling of fire, through the clinking of ale mugs, share tales of their exploits.
River-boatmen tell of the strange sights and perils of the water ways, which often pass through a wild country untouched by civilization.
The kingdom of Ifequervon, land of the Wood Walkers. An adventurer here had described the place with carved trees, haunted grottoes and strange silences.
The Shadow Lands, further east over the mountains. A place filled with mountains, and the most mysterious city in the world. Asshai, the city that saw the beginning and will see the end.
The Axe, in far northern west of Essos, a group of tall and fair-haired skinned people that call themselves 'Andals' live here in perpetual warring against each other.
Realm Of The Jhogwin, home of the Orge's or Giants, northeast of the future 'Dothraki Sea', set right at the northern tip of the 'Bone Mountains'.
Yet every now and then, a story will be told of the great journey across the blasted territory of the Sarnor.
Of audacious caravans weaving their way through the large areas of the grasslands, filled with warring savages and cannibals.
These dangers and many, many, many more are all braved for but a taste of the riches and wonders that lie in the distant east.
Far beyond the increasingly popular cities of western Essos, past the edge of any reputable maps of this era, is said to be a vast empire of jade and golden cities with floating temples. An ancient land where mystics probe the movements of the heavens and scribes inscribe the every word of their divine emperor.
The Great Empire of the Dawn. A mythic realm established on all the land between the Bones and the Grey Waste, from the Shivering Sea to the Jade Sea and including the isle of Leng.
People from another world live here(not really); a brotherhood of monks that could kill with a touch of the hand. Tribes of strange monkey warriors that dwell in the highest mountains. Immortal eunuch sorcerer's that drink the souls of men, but above all, tales of serpentine creatures called dragons lay here, on whose image was the kingdom founded.
According to legend, the Golden Empire's first ruler was the God-on-Earth, the only son of the Lion of Night and the Maiden-Made-of-Light, who traveled in a palanquin carved from a single pearl and carried by a hundred queens, his wives. He ruled for ten thousand years until he ascended to the stars to join his forebears. Dominion then passed to his eldest son, the Pearl Emperor, who ruled for a thousand years.
Power then passed to the Jade Emperor, the Tourmaline Emperor, the Onyx Emperor, the Topaz Emperor, and the Opal Emperor. Each reigning for a shorter and more troubled time than the previous emperor.
Such stories are enough to ensure that though only one caravan out of ten may return, and fewer still will ever reach the borders of the empire, there is never a lack of volunteers.
While these tales might be dismissed as fanciful, the truth is, that any adventurer who catches a glimpse of the rich and distant orient, will not speak of half of what they've seen. For they know they will not be believed if they tell of what truly lies in The Great Empire.
"N-no wayyyy." A pubescent voice sounded out from the middle of one of its great cities. Yin, a port city on the far south-west of the empire, far from the capital city of Great Cathay.
"Its....beautiful."
(Thanks Templin Institute)
