Capital & Settlements
Akison (Island Capital): A city that encompasses its entire island. Built like a five-petaled cherry blossom expanding outward from the central palace. Inspired by ancient Japanese cities — curved rooftops, zen courtyards, fortified bamboo walls, stone walkways over water. Trade and travel hub to other continents. Friendly to outsiders. Known for its martial government, rogue tech zones, and world trade access.
The Five Blossom Rings (Sakura-go):
- Tetsukaku (鉄閣, ‘Iron Heights’): Central petal and government district. Home to the Iron Bloom (Sunlee’s palace and the Tetsugan meeting hall). Lined with stone watchtowers, ritual gardens, and elevated ceremonial halls.
- Koganemura (黄金村, ‘Golden Village’): Martial training petal — temples, dojos, and tournament grounds. Monks, swordsmen, and Iron Path initiates live and train here. Hosts annual martial festivals and public spar duels.
- Uramizu (裏水, ‘Hidden Waters’): Subterranean and canal-filled black market zone and criminal underbelly. Curved alleys, shadow bridges, and hidden gates form a maze under the surface. Policed unofficially by old guilds and smugglers who answer to no one but tradition.
- Harashima (原島, ‘Sprawling Isle’): Riverfront petal — Akison’s economic lifeline and port district. Houses foreign embassies, trader towers, and floating market barges. Known for its cranes, sails, and midnight auctions.
- Shōmeika (照明花, ‘Luminous Blossom’): Cultural and spiritual heart of the city — where art, music, and religion converge. Filled with blossom-viewing temples, ink halls, and ancestral gardens. Night is lit by paper lanterns, spirit drums, and performance arenas.
Kurashiki Region (Northern Island Mountains): Located in the cherry blossom-lined peaks of Akison’s island. Known for its cold mists, sparse mountaintop settlements, and ancient dueling sites. Home to powerful samurai and shinobi clans, each guarding unique traditions and secrets. Difficult to navigate — most outsiders are watched or rejected unless sponsored by a clan. Governed through clan law, but all swear conditional loyalty to the Iron Path.
Kurashiki Lords: Ancient bloodlines rooted in mountaintop keeps and cherry blossom valleys. Each clan controls schools, shrines, and assassin orders unique to their house. Some clans train warriors for the Blades of the Iron Path in exchange for influence.
Oniofast (Mainland): Jungle town built into ancient shifting ruins. HQ for covert Pegasus operations. Streets are half-mechanical, half-organic. Constantly shifting. Rose, Butterfly, and magis are banned by silent agreement — entry is suicide. Known for its annual ‘Signal Harvest,’ when rogue tech is extracted from the jungle. Locals trained in survival, stealth, and encryption.
Kusamori (Mainland): Center of medicine, poison, and herbs. Built on platforms above the forest canopy. People travel by tram-type vehicles. Extends across the whole peninsula.
Okbridge (Mainland): Checkpoint city connecting the mainland to Akison island. Tight customs, engineer guilds, and vehicle refit stations. Strategic for defense, trade, and secret smuggling. Built around a huge bridge from Akison to Okbridge. Vehicular repair capital.
Neruvalis (Mainland): The ‘Disappearing City’ — built on a slope into the water, sometimes submerged by tides. Midway port to Glaril. Underwater tech salvage point.
Notable History
The Great War and Renaming (795–800 ACC): The State of Akison was formerly known as the Republic of Shimaguni. Shimaguni backed the South Goldhelm faction during the Great War (also known as the Golden War), believing in the southern territories’ cause for autonomy. When the war ended with the Equinox of Power, the South had been defeated. The people of Shimaguni elected Sunlee as its new head. He renamed the nation the State of Akison and established the Iron Path doctrine — the governing philosophy of discipline, clarity, and personal strength that defines the kingdom today.
(wild jungles, brackish rivers, towering canopies, and hidden labs) and a mountain-and-blossom island (political and cultural heart of the kingdom).
Government — The Iron Path
Ruled by Sunlee, the Master of Martial Arts — one of the most powerful beings in the world. Governs through personal strength, respect, and the doctrine of discipline and clarity.
The Tetsugan (‘Iron Eye Council’): 4 Kurashiki Clan Emissaries, 5 City Keepers (one from each of the five Sakura-go districts: Tetsukaku, Koganemura, Uramizu, Harashima, Shōmeika), and 2 Tora no Shūjin (‘Prison Tigers’ — Sunlee’s appointed field enforcers). The council meets within the Iron Bloom, a fortress directly in the center of the city, resembling a Japanese temple, guarded by invisible shinobi in every shadow of the building. Votes are held only when Sunlee allows — his silence overrides any tie.
Military — Blades of the Iron Path
Akison’s elite force, personally trained or approved by Sunlee. Organized into four primary martial orders:
- Tetsu-no-Kiba (‘Iron Fangs’): Frontal combatants and urban enforcers.
- Yamigasa (‘Shadow Hats’): Ninja operatives trained in Kurashiki. Masters of silence.
- Kinzoku Kawa (‘Metal River’): Amphibious soldiers and river guardians.
- Sōryū Heika (‘Twin Dragon Guards’): Sunlee’s personal protectors, feared by Arashi-level foes.
Entry requires surviving the Tetsudōmei (‘Iron Oath’) — a week-long silent jungle trial of survival, pain, and willpower.