Kara-Tur Empire
The Shou Lung empire was started by the peasant farmer, Nung Fu, when he was invested with the Emplems of Imperial Authority by the legendary Nine Travelers. By the 1300s, the Shou Lung empire ruled from its capital at Kuo Te'Lung and stretched over much of the Kara-Tur continent, although war with the breakaway territories of Tu Lung in the far south-east had raged for over two centuries and would continue to do so until the late 15th century.
The governments of both Shou Lung and Tu Lung empires were generally decadent and corrupt, but to varying degrees. In Shou Lung, the nobles were kept in tighter check by the bureaucrats and priesthood. It was a surprise, therefore, when the most recent crisis of succession in Shou Lung was solved by a Tu Lung nobleman. Emperor Kao Shein Tang fathered no sons, provoking a bloody outbreak of palace intrigue as nobles vied for the hand of the eldest daughter, Princess Wei Rie. The fourth son of the Tu Lung Emperor, Wai Rai Dan, impressed the princess so with his wisdom and humility that she personally petitioned her father for the right to wed who she chose. Not thirty years later, now Prince Consort 'Kao' Rai Dan and Empress Kao Wei Rie at last unified the two empires once again and formed the Empire of Kara-Tur.
There are no native populations of elves or smallfolk anywhere in Kara-Tur, although ancestor and animal spirits often take near-human forms, and these are believed to be natives of either the faewild or shadowfel. On rare occassions, these spirits have interbred with humans to produce powerful Ban-shen, half-gods. Dragons also regularly take human form here, and the dragonflights take a much more active interest in day-to-day life in Kara-Tur society than most outsiders would be used to. Some form symbiotic relationships with the local farmers and lords where the dragons are well fed or even worshipped in exchange for their protection and wisdom.
Due to its size, the Kara'Tur Empire wants for very little. The southlands are generally given over to rice farming, while the northlanders produce metals, sheep, and horses.
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