Spreading Wisdom

Submitted by Mikey "Janus" Donnelly
Written by Stephen "Laika" Sanford

The Magi of the Realms have a number of Tenets that it’s members try to follow. They are as follows: Seek Knowledge for ignorance is death. Spread wisdom, for experience unspoken is lost. Ascertain the Unknown, for life not questioned is wasted. Quest until the last quest is done. And finally to support the role of magic in the Realms. To that end, Spreading Wisdom is the start of a new series where (when able) we are going to get people knowledgeable about known upcoming adventures, and have them share their wisdom. To start with, we will have Laika discussing Teng Hua.

********************

Teng Hua

Map by Jason Rosa

Teng Hua is an island nation to the far east, a nation that has a unique culture not seen anywhere else in the Realms. I will be going over some important information to know for if you should adventure into the lands of Teng Hua.

Government

Teng Hua has been ruled by their Emperor Matsuma Lysis since the year 1000. Teng Hua has a similar feudal system much like some areas of the Realms, except instead of houses governing cities and towns, there are Clans which have a head of the household that leads the rest of the Clan and participates in meetings to help advise the emperor and govern Teng Hua. While I have not seen or know every Clan, each Clan may have different motives than each other in a similar fashion to politics in the Realms.

Culture

Teng Hua is filled with culture, they have their own food, currency, and festivities. I attended the feast they held earlier in the year, and the food is fantastic, I haven’t had such delicious eastern food in a long time. While most of the Realms enjoys eating foods made of wheat and grain; Teng Hua predominantly feeds its people with rice. Rice is so important to their culture that their currency is directly tied to the worth of a single bowl of rice. Teng Hua has a love of the arts, they showed off a couple of their board games at the feast, namely Shiho (https://viewfromvalehaven.blogspot.com/2019/06/shiho-game-from-feast-of-teng-hua.html). Teng Hua loves their flowers ceremonies and tea ceremonies which are highly honored in their culture. While most of the realms fights with swords and shields; Teng Hua values the martial arts and will put on performances for all to see.

Language

Teng Hua has its own language that is different than the rest of the Realms. While many in Teng Hua can speak and understand common, they have their own language and writing systems. Due to the complexities of common and Teng Hua; direct translations between the two may cause some misinterpretations due to cultural differences. Teng Hua’s language does not use a 26 letter alphabet but instead uses characters that will often translate to syllables to a full word in Teng Hua. This is not like a runeset where things often directly translate to common.

Religion

From what I’ve experienced, Teng Hua does not worship gods in a traditional sense found in most of the Realms. They worship the elements themselves. While similar to what the Kathrani worshipped, Teng Hua has seven instead of eight elements. These seven elements are as follows in no particular order: Air, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Void. Do not be confused about Void, the idea of Void from a Teng Hua point of view is not similar to that found in what the Risen Kingdom uses. Void in this sense is more of a spiritual energy or divine/heavenly power. I have made a chart for these elements to reference with the corresponding character of the elements in Teng Hua.

Yousei

Due to Teng Hua’s connection to the elements there are creatures all over Teng Hua knowns as Yousei (Yō-say). Yousei means Fairy or spirit. While some would draw connection to Faeries, these are more like elemental spirits. Teng Hua has a culture of bonding with yosei; some of these bonds could be equated to that of a family pet or deep of a bond of that to ones soul. A person can bond with multiple yosei, but first one must draw the attention of a yosei. During a recent boating excursion, my group received information on how to entice a yosei. It is unclear currently how to bond with a yosei.

Here is the letter we received:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On yosei

The following details how to entice various yosei to come out from hiding. I hope this work will help future generations to be able to share in the joy that yosei bring. I will briefly go over how to attract some of the more basic types of yosei.

MetalLad - in order to attract a MetalLad, one should find a piece of metal that is tarnished or rusty, and polish it to a shine again. This will be pleasing to the MetalLad.

VoidLad - in order to attract a VoidLad, one should spend time doing one of the following; either draw a picture while blindfolded, or tell a story without using any words. Who knows what might happen if you manage to do both at the same time?

WoodLad - in order to attract a WoodLad, one must collect enough natural wood-like materials and arrange them in a decently large, pleading shape.

FireLad - In order to attract a FireLad, one must create their own coal or ash and use it to draw a sketch. The sketch should be pleasing to a potential fire yosei.

EarthLad - in order to attract an EarthLad, one should make a rock sculpture using at least ten distinctly different size stones. This sculpture should promote serenity. It is especially impactful if multiple sculptures exist near each other.

WaterLad - in order to attract a WaterLad, one should collect water from five distinctly different sources, mix it, then use that water to nourish something.

WindLad - in order to attract a WindLad, one should make a set of windchimes, any material is fine as long as they make sound, and then hang them out for all to enjoy, and to attract the WindLad.

Lastly, there is a type of yosei that is more free spirited in its nature. This very adaptable yosei is only attracted by a collection of all of the other types of yosei.

I hope this writing helps you find yosei of your own. They are wonderful beings, and very resilient. Once you attract them, they will most likely want to stay with you for the rest of your life, unless you choose to send them away, which they won't mind either.

Oku Kyoju

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While this is not all the information of the history of Teng Hua, this is a good starting point for those who wish to explore the lands. I hope this was useful information for everyone and I hope to see you in the lands of Teng Hua.

-Laika en’Naur

Priest of Aurora