From The Pinnacle To The Pit

“Thou at the sight / Pleased, out of Heaven shalt look down and smile, / While by thee raised I ruin all my foes, / Death last, and with his carcass glut the grave.”

Strange days have come to Creation, and even its most distant corners feel a change sweep over them. Ashrapur sit in the southwestern seas, a verdant and gleaming gem for those who would pick it. On this lonely island, servants sharpen knives to cut their master's throats; war-drums echo though the jungle; great rulers turn to madness; and deep beneath the earth, a long-dreaming beast stirs and opens one horrible eye.

Within this tempest stands sun-crowned warriors, reborn from forgotten myths, to carve new legends for themselves, and change the face of Ashrapur -- if they survive.

From the Pinnacle to the Pit is an Exalted 3rd Edition Solar game by hippokrene for the RPG.net forums.

Ashrapur and its Environs

Maukai

The second largest of Ashrapur's cities, Maukai is a bustling port city with a population of over twelve-thousand. Its people are some of the most diverse in the region with a wide-range of ethnicities, religions, languages, and cultures on display.

Over a century ago, Maukai pledged itself to the Realm. It retained its rulers and laws, but the Immaculate Order became the state religion, its military was drastically curtailed, and it now pays tribute to the Realm in the form of silver and black jade.

It's allied with the cities of Anica and Tulkai, and their combined influence over the surrounding region forms Ashrapur's northern power bloc.

Maukai's current Kai is Vashistic Om.

Naranja

Naranja, the Floating City, sits in the Ashrapur's great basin and is the largest city on the island. It is the crossroads of the island's trade and controls some of the richest jade and iron mines. The city predates the Great Contagion and benefits from a number of artifacts and workings found nowhere else on the island.

It's allied with the cities of Matahja, Lotco, and Annik, forming the central power bloc. Its attempt to conquer the northern lands over a century ago caused Maukai to cede to the Realm, and it remains hostile to Cynis influence.

Naranja's current Kai Tavisharwa Nah, who is currently 12. The Nah line descends from the goddess Lahis, She of Ten Thousand Rivers, and the city has enjoyed her patronage since they ascended to power.

References

Champa - A division of land tended by, typically, an extended kinship group. Champas are often farmlands that pay tribute to a sajil.

Kai - Typically the highest ranking lord in an area. Analogous to king.

Sajils - The Lords of Ashrapur. Sajil is a loose term, it may refer to anyone from the chief of a village of fifty to a wealthy noble ruling over a hundred champas to one of the heads the cartels.