Kara-Tur

Kara-Tur is a continent on the world of Toril in the Forgotten Realms. It is east of Faerûn and seperated by steppes and the Great Wall of Stone. Kara-Tur ia an analog for Asia. Interestingly, unlike Faerun which only draws inspiration from Medieval Europe, many aspects in Kara-Tur are analogs of existing East Asian practices, religions and organizations.

Nations
There are five major nations in Kara-Tur: Shou Lung (based on Imperial China), T'u Lung (splinter faction of the Shou), Kozakura (based on Feudal Japan), Wa (another Japan inspired land) and Malatra (based on Mauryan India).

Shou Lung
The vast empire of Shou Lung is undoubtably the most powerful nation on the face of Toril. With an immense population, vast territory, and governed by an efficient and generally honest bureacracy the Shou could, with a great deal of effort, come to completely dominate the planet. That they do not is due to cultural rather then military or economic factors. The Shou have been expansionistic in the past, but the current emperor finds more pleasure in knowledge and culture then military conquest. This tendancy has been reinforced by the recent Horde invasion, which devastated many of the northwestern provinces, decimated the armed forces, and left the upper ranks of the Mandarinate in a leaderless shambles. During this time, a large number refugees fled to the Unapproachable East in Faerun and settled in the Thesk region. The nation is thus still recovering from the upheavals. So, while this nation controls the largest military fleet in Realmspace, those vessels are employed in a strictly defensive role, rooting out pirates and acting as a counter to the fleets of Wa and the Elves.

The official head of the government is the Emperor, but in practice everday affairs of state are handled by the Chancellor, who executes the Emperor's decrees, oversees the bureaucracy and controls the information that reaches the emperor's ears. The current Emperor is Kai Tsao Shou Chin. The Wu Jen is the Emperor's official court wizard, who advises the Emperor's policies with divinations and deals with magical threats. The government is composed of eight ministries: State, War, Magic, Faith, Sea, Agriculture, Public Works and State Security. It is a meritocratic system; every year the Civil Service Examination holds examinations to test candidates for government jobs. The Shou have always had a strong trading relation with Faerun. In fact certain regions in Faerun make a living solely on the imports from Shou Lung and many Shou Expatriates have settled in Faerun. The people of Shou frown upon slave trade, and anybody found guilty is put to death.

The main criminal organisation in the country is the Tsui Tong (analog for the Triad) which is given a certain degree of freedom to operate within the semi-independent port city of Kai Shan due to the aid and support they gave the Emperor during the Black Cycle which brought Shou Lung back from the brink of ruin. There are no Imperial troops stationed in Kai Shan, nor are there any magistrates or town guard. The city's reputation is its greatest defence, though the Shou Spelljammer fleet would certainly counter any attempts by outsiders to invade the city, as it is technically still a part of Shou Lung, and surrounded by other Imperial territories. It is rumored that the Tsui have contacts with the Chainmen (though selling Shou citizens to slavers would surely bring the wrath of the Emperor down on the city, if discovered), the Tenth Pit, and even the Zhentarim of Faerun.

The Shou practice manily two types of religion, "The Path" (analog for Confucianism) and "The Way" (analog for Daoism). Majority of the people in Shou Lung practice "The Path" where they worship the Celestial Emperor and the Nine Immortals and a whole host of lesser immortals called the Celestial Bureacracy. The other religion called "The Way" is more of a philosophy than a religion. It focuses on the enlightenment of the self rather than the worship of gods. Kana and her family are practitioners of "The Way".

Lying between Kara-Tur and Faerun is a Great Wall of stone. According to legend, a wu jen wizard was tasked by the emperor to find a way to keep the Tuigan hordes from raiding Shou Lung's northern provinces. The wu jen stole the Jade Mirror from the sea dragon Pao Hu Jen, whose body was thousands of kilometres long. The wu jen led the dragon on a chase along the border, and at a certain point stopped and held up the Jade Mirror to the dragon's eyes, which instantly turned him to stone. After his petrified body fell to the ground, the emperor had his engineers carve fortifications into it so that it could serve them as a defensive wall.

T'u Lung
T'u Lung has been a seperate state from Shou Lung since breaking away from its northern neighbor nearly three centuries ago. Since that time Shou Lung and T'u Lung have officially be at war, the conflicts have ebbed and flowed, of course, but the provinces along their borders have become deserted and ruined from the endemic warfare.

Composed of six provinces T'u Lung is everything Shou Lung could become but is not. The provinces are ruled by hereditary nobles who pay as little attention to the T'u Emperor as they can get away with. Taxes go unpaid, free men are enslaved, and criminals left free. The government is corrupt on all levels, though in some rare districts a local magistrate may be somewhat honest and honorable. Poverty runs rampant throughout the nation. Unless forced to unite by some outside force (in the past this has most often been an invading Shou army) the nobles of T'u Lung fight incessently among themselves.

Many of the cities and towns are now in ruins, even those which have not been abandoned have many ruined buildings within their town limits. On the other hand, the nation's corrupt, ineffective government allows neogi, Chainmen, and pirate raids unheard of access. Only the random presence of powerful wu jen or shukenja in some of the smaller villages appear as potential dangers to raiders. The nation has a strong slave trade often capturing and selling Shou people to the Thayan Slavers in Faerun.

Kozakura
The island kingdom of Kozakura is a land of beautiful mountains, thick forests and sparkling seas. The majority of the inhabitents live on the main island of Shinkoku, but there are nearly a thousand islands surrounding it. The people live along the coasts, the central moutains are wild and untamed. Powerful samurai rule the land, in theory their power devolves from the Emperor. For many years this has been a purely symbolic office, however, the real power has reasted in the hands of the Shogun, the military commander of the nation. The nation is currently undergoing a civil war and has not had much contact with outsiders. The official religion is called The Eight Million Gods (analog for Shinto), which involves worship of a host of nature deities including a sun goddess and the Emperor of Kozakura who is believed to have descended from divine ancestry. The main criminal organization is called the Yakuza.

Wa
The island nation of Wa has much in common with Kozakura, despite (or perhaps because of) the two nations' traditional rivalry. Like Kozakura it is composed of a series of islands clustered around a large central island, Tsukishima. Over 80% of Wa is moutainous, the other 20% composes the strips of habitated land along the coasts. Wa is particularly cursed by nature, Typhoons and earthquakes are not uncommon, and many of Wa's volcanoes are still active.

Waan government is similar to that of Kozakura as well, there is an Emperor but his position is largely ceremonial, the real ruler of the nation is the Shogun, Matasuuri Nagahide. Unlike Kozakura, however, the Shogunate of Wa is strong and vital, in fact Wa is enjoying the longest period of peace of any nation in Kara-Tur. Peace has led to advancements in education and the arts, as well as a general increase in prosperity. The official religion of the Country is a variation of "The Path". A rigid social system ensures domestic tranquility, distinct social classes are strictly adhered to, traval is monitored, and religion is regulated.

The nation is rather xenophobic and contact with foreign elements is forbidden. Foreign vessels are only allowed to dock at the port of Akkaido. Those who have adopted foreign customs and ways are oppressed, especially those who follow the imported Western deity, Chauntea. In fact, most officials will go out of their way to make life hard for foreigners while they stay there. The nations prosperity is limited to the upper classes, the peasents stagger under a dizzying array of obligations, rules, and taxes.

Ronin and out of work bushi have caused many problems since the Shogun's adminstrative reforms reduced the numbers of the nobility and soldiery to more reasonable levels. The Shogun has been considering setting up a colony on Garden for the express purpose of reducing the number of trouble makers in his realm. Like Kozakura, the main criminal organization is the Yakuza.

Malatra
Malatra is a jungle nation.

Tidbits

 * Several equiptments in the NWN2 have been stated as being imports from Kara-Tur.