Exotic Locations: The Celestial Empire

The Well of Souls
Since the beginning of the empire, this valley in the province of Lingshan has held unparalelled mystic power. Here, the spirits of the restless dead roam in semi-corporeal form. Unlike the vengeful undead, these souls are actually truely dead. Some of those who die in the Well of Souls do not join their brethren in the eternal heavens, rather they are kept in eterenal existance until they fulfill a certain task This task is different for each person and depends on what sort of life they lead.

Of course, this is not always true. Most of the people who live and die at the Well of Souls, do not rise again on earth.

Many of these ghosts prefer to stay on earth, and do not ascend. Some of them have been there before the dawn of the Empire, from the old days of the Seven Tribes,

The Well of Souls serves as the Empire's center of magic. Because many of the eldest wizards never ascended, they still remain teaching pupls dead and living. This creates a surplus of talent, creating an industry of magical items bound for the Empire.

In return for relative autonamy and a steady supply of magical items and trainees, the Empire guards all roads to the Well of Souls and facilitates pilgrims and travelers who wish to journey to the well. It serves a military bastion and secondary capital for the empire- many times invaders have been stopped by the combined might of the living and the not at the Well of Souls.

The Deep South
The Deep South used to be a relatively uncivilized area populated mostly by Ogres and Minotaur tribes. Because of the inhospitable jungles, the records of the Celestial Empire and the Meshket have recorded no evidence of cities or towns. They were more or less right. The jungle is full of large maneating creatures and monstrosities, and most of the sentient species lived more or less in the midst of the food chain.

The arrival of the Neogi changed this all of course. Using enslaved jungle beasts, they quickly subjugated the tribes of sentients and established a rudimentary government. The Neogi forces of the Star Remnant consisted mostly of dominated jungle beasts and ogres and giants,

The Lizard Folk Tribes
The lizardfolk that dwell between the Neogi heartlands and the Imperial frontier are a fierce independant people who have managed to survive despite the desperately hostile conditions of the jungle. While they show fealty to the empire, they are only expected to act in a capacity that serves their own interests, protecting the jungles. Thus, the Empire uses them as a sort of buffer state against the Neogi confederations.

The lizardfolk have a tribal hunting society. Males go into the jungle to hunt and forage, while women stay in the village to create crafts and teach children. The lizardfolk have a patriarchal society and are typically ruled by an elder hunter or a warrior cheif. The lizardfolk generously use poisoned weapons, building blades with poison reservoirs. They subsist primarily on meats and starches, making them a very wide and girthy people. A person's wealth is judged by the fatness of his wife.