Ponnip

Far away to the east, in the waters beyond the bustling coastal towns of the mighty Celestial Empire of Huaxia, is rumoured to lie a fabled Island Realm, veiled in the mist of legend and shrouded in the fog of war.   For centuries tales have reached the Wisterian Kingdoms of its vast cities, the golden splendour of its palaces, and the lofty keeps of its indomitable castles. And now, ever since a Calean vessel shipwrecked on its shores a few decades ago, much of these rumours have proven to be very much true.   Trade between Western Trading Companies and this mythical new-found Empire flourished in the first decades after initial contact. For in this realm, torn asunder by war and strife, petty kingdoms saw great benefit in the tools of war thus supplied.   But as business prospered and missionaries spread the Holy Word of Pelor, unexpectedly, there came the rumour of a mighty warlord hailing from the eastern most fringes of the mountainous archipelago. From deepest obscurity there rose a man, destined to unify the country, vowing to once again hold aloft the banner of the Emperor! Kingdom after Kingdom he conquered in name of the Son of Heaven, and after a hundred years of endemic warfare, peace was won. Then the country closed its borders.   Hardly a whisper of news now reaches the ears of us Wisterians. Entry into the country is permitted to none but a handful of Transyslan merchants, stowed away on the prison-like island of Schisma, in the natural harbour of Funai. And so it has come to pass that the Empire of Ponnip recedes again into the mists of myth and legend...   Only for a band of five lonely misfits to rediscover and probably utterly destroy..