neighpon [Lore] Ryushima

[Bellosh]

Ryushima - Where the Dragon's Blood Runs Strong

 

Ryushima holds a special place in Neighponese culture. Alone out of all the Home Islands, Ryushima does not have a pony-majority population. By a slim margin, most of the island’s residents are either Qilin or Longma; known in Neighpon as Kirin and Ryuma respectively. Despite this, the Kirin and Ryuma of Ryushima identify themselves as a group strongly disconnected from “mainlander” Long Sun society, although in many respects they also stubbornly refuse to go entirely Neighponese. Occupying a sort of middle ground between the two mindsets, Ryushima’s residents embody the progress-minded, industrious spirit of the Neighponese without completely surrendering the traditions and spiritual philosophies of the Long Sun.

 

In the ancient past, adventuresome Ryuma tribes looking for new lands to take root in flew westward from Long Guo, finding a Neighponese island that had not yet been highly settled by ponies. Finding a place ripe for the taking, the Ryuma warriors began their dominance over Neighpon’s northeastern home island. Over centuries of warfare and trade, other pony clans throughout Neighpon absorbed Long Sun values like deferring to elders and honoring one’s family. In turn, the Ryuma of the now-christened Ryushima adopted more individualistic attributes and learned to sail the seas as well as they flew in the skies. Due to isolationist tendencies however, Ryuma and pony clans mainly lived separately from one another

 

Everything changed once Long Guo was unified under Imperial rule. Refusing to kowtow to an upstart pair of sovereigns, a small number of Kirin nobles and Ryuma chieftains fled across the sea to Ryushima, along with their most loyal followers and much of their wealth. This exodus shook the status quo on the island; accepting that to stay divided meant no chance of restoring their former supremacy in Long Guo, the exiled Kirin and Ryuma leaders agreed to put aside their old interracial grudges. From amongst themselves they elected Daimyos, who ruled Ryushima for life, to lead the effort in restoring decentralized rule to the Mainland.

 

Ryushima’s clans may have been unified, but they lacked enough military might to wage open rebellion against Long Guo’s emperors. Yet as it just so happened, the island proved to be a popular destination for Imperial Watch deserters unable to remain in their homeland. The daimyos therefore turned to this community of martially-trained fugitives, bidding them to train a new cadre of covert agents to wage a shadow war on the Mainland. Using their wealth, the Ryushima daimyos persuaded suitable Neighponese from all over the Home Islands to settle in Ryushima, and train in what would eventually be known as ninjutsu; the Neighponese art of espionage and sabotage.

 

Over many years, the ninja clans of Ryushima infiltrated Long Sun society and performed any dishonorable act necessary to undermine Imperial rule on the Mainland. But each success, no matter how significant, never lasted long before fortunes shifted back in Long Guo’s favor. In response, the armies of Long Guo attempted many times to bring the Ryushima daimyos to heel, but they were always beaten back by ninja warfare, temporary alliances with other Neighponese home islands, and in one rather memorable event, a serpent-summoned typhoon that sunk an entire Long Sun armada before it managed to reach Ryushima’s shores. And thus this state of affairs lasted right up until Neighpon permanently unified to drive back the Viking Caribou menace, after which the Ryushima islanders finally lost the appetite to continue their fruitless ancestral cause.

 

Today, Ryushima is a quaint collection of towns and modest ports, much as it has been for a millennium. Owing to distant cultural roots with the Mainland, islanders here are less reliant on cutting-edge magitech than anywhere else in Neighpon, believing that it helps keep them closer to Nature. Nonetheless, Neighponese influences ensure that the dragonbreathing arts are not as widely cultivated amongst Ryushima’s Kirin and Ryuma, except to magically enchant objects. The great ninja clans have long since disbanded, but there are a tiny few who still work as covert mercenaries-for-hire for clients around the world. Ninjutsu masters usually keep to themselves, but they rank among the most respected individuals in local society.

 

No description of Ryushima is complete without mentioning the historic Ryu Castle, the seat of the local Daimyo’s power. The mountaintop fortress complex, built around a towering stone keep topped with curved roofs, casts its shadow over the island’s center. The interiors may be lavishly decorated, but the exterior fortifications bristle with impervious battlements and enchanted anti-siege weaponry. Not once in the thousand-plus since Ryu Castle was erected has it ever fallen to earthquakes or invaders; not even to the dreaded Viking Caribou. As long as the castle keeps standing, Ryushima will live on as symbol of Neighpon’s heritage. 

~Neighpon in Bloom

Dr. Tong Zei