This land of wind and sand is also the homeland of the Oni, the gentle beastmen, discovered by the Sennyo and forged  into the race of proud and skilled warriors that protect the Empire. With the Sennyo's aid they have carved out a civilization just below the surface out of the ‘cleansing hands of the wind'. Towns and villages are built into the sides of the plateau and cliff walls. Crops are grown into the hollowed tops of these Mesacities with  massive frameworks built over the hollowed bowl that can be easily covered by thick tarps when the winds pick up.  

 The capital city of Tenrai fills an entire, giant mesa somewhere deep below the northern border. The Oni do let outsides into their city uninvited and guests are blindfolded or taken along pitch black underground roadways before being escorted to the underground city. Heavily protected from both the winds and invasion, the mesacity is home to thousands of Oni who all live within the cool stone walls.  

 The rare human and kobito visitors allowed into the city talk of the delicate and detailed glyphs and pictures carved into the walls. The strange figures, words, symbols and scenes fill almost every corner of the underground complex from the temples, private residences and public spaces. The Oni seem to pay them little attention, but in the silence of the night a faint tapping can often be heard as somewhere a new piece is added.  

 Tunnels link many of the small towns and cities. Originally carved by volcanoes and underground rivers, many have been expanded by the Oni to serve as roadways out of the wind. Others, usually blocked off or caved in,  delve deeper into the earth into the mysteries of the World Below. Others, carefully hidden go to secret caches of weapons and supplies. And even more secret are those that travel out into the Empire.  

 The Samuai of this land, who ride under the Banner of the SilverLeaf,  are all distinguished veterans that have been granted land in their home province as a reward for service to their Empire. The Zentai under their command are all young Oni in training, hoping  to one day become Samurai. The veteran Samurai take their duties  very seriously and their efforts have forged the best warriors in the Empire.  

 The Oni training to become a Samurai takes ten years of grueling labor, drills and lessons.  A handful die, and others are judged by their teachers to be unfit to carry a Samurai's blade. It is considered a dishonor for a failed Samurai to leave the military after all the training and time that has been invested in them and they are expected to remain and  serve the Zentai as officers. Some refuse and become exiles, bandits or ronin, but such occurrences is rare.  

 Gateway to the Moonwoods this province holds its position and duty as guard to the homeland of the Sennyo proudly and with an almost fanatical sense of duty. The borders are heavily patrolled by the Samurai and Zentai, under the Banner of the Full Moon, and those who are found crossing into the province without reason are strongly and quickly dealt with. Cages filled with the dead and dying who have challenged the notoriously humorless border guards dot all roads going into the province. As a reward for their vigilance, the Daimyo for the province is also Shogun, leader of all Samurai throughout the Empire.  

 The capital city of Naythan is the second largest in the Empire. Merchants hoping to do business with the Sennyo travel here, and  Kobito traders brings goods up the Ran river.  But there is no central marketplace in Naythan and only licensed merchants are allowed to sell goods beyond the docks. The shopkeepers wait on the wharves to pick up their orders or browse over the cargoes brought in by dray and boat, hunting for specific goods and items. There is little bulk trading, and the merchants of Naythan specialize in the rare, the magical and the expensive. The expensive shops and rich streets are filled with the agents of rich Samurai nobles, mages from Jidai, Technosorcerers, and even the black curtained sedan chairs of the Sennyo.   

 The rest of the province is filled with gently rolling hills layered with small farms and scattered villages. As the hills slowly rise to the south, the scattered woodlands gather together into a open forest that grows steadily thicker until they cross the Last Straight and become the fabled Moonwoods.   
   
 

 A land of sprawling fields and light woods, this province holds many secrets beneath its bright sunshine. The southern half  is a haven for Oni who find the cool but clement weather an ideal climate. Open sprawling villages and the large estates of the nobility and the rich cover the hilly terrain. Most of the native forests have been cut down for farmland and construction materials leaving the hills covered with short grasses and few trees. The Samurai, who ride under the Banner of the Rearing Horse, have become the foremost mounted warriors of the Empire. 

 But to the north the forest grow thinner and the low hills rise to low, craggy mountains covered in low scrub trees. Deep in the centre of the cold hills, they suddenly drop away to the flat, circular plain known as the Zenpi.            .  

Wreckage from before the Corruption lies scattered across the plain. Twisted towers of demolished buildings and  the skeletons of old vehicles covering the plain like metal vegetation. Many secrets lie hidden in the wreckage and many  treasures lie in wait, long drawing adventurers and those in search of power. But dangers abound. Much of the twisted equipment still hold a spark of life, old weapons and security programs that often fire accidentally, and twisted creatures of metal stalk the ruins. But the most dangerous of all are the TechnoSorcerers who call this plain home and lay claim to everything that lies beneath their feet. .  

 Hovering a dozen feet above the earth, the Zenken Sanctum, home to the fabled TechnoSorcerers, is a giant black spire that sits in the air above the ruins and watches over the land. The inhabitants of the towers are extremely protective of the Zenpi and uninvited treasure seekers are unwelcome and harshly dealt with. The only authorized, if somewhat reluctantly, visitors are the solitary CyberMonks who pick over the plain like rats, scavenging for anything that their more esteemed brethren may have missed  
 

  Wild and free, the province of Muroman sits at the easternmost edge of the Empire, its long sandy beaches fading into the Asayake Sea. Only a few small Oni towns and farms dot the western border the rest covered with thick forest, largely unsettled save for a few shrines and bandits. 

 The land remains largely unexplored and rumors persist of ruins from before the Corruption  scattered throughout the far corners of the forest.  The journey is dangerous however and the few who have tried quickly return, speaking of the cave wolves, shadow lions and screamer owls that  prowl the woods. Most don't return at all.  

Sennyo carriages have been seen slipping into the woods under the cover of night. What they do in the deep woods under the light of the moon remains a mystery and the rumors circulate that the Sennyo discouraged people from going deeper into the land.  

 The Samurai and Zentai ride under the banner of the Howling Wolf and act as park wardens driving out bandits and protecting the villages from creatures from the deep forest. They discourage travelers and adventurers from going into the forest and refuse to help anyone who refuses their advise.