Ajura

By far the strangest of Halrin's continents, Ajura (pron. AH-joo-rah) is home to the massive geological anomaly most commonly known as the Rift. Countless myths surround its creation and properties, to the point that separating fact from fiction has become nearly impossible. Regardless, the Rift and its surrounding precipices have become home to countless settlements, nearly all of which are currently in the midst of the largest rebellion in the planet's long history.

The Nations of Ajura

The Kiyokawan Empire (pron. kee-yo-KAH-wah)

The following is the 655th Mandate of the Empire since its founding in 928 SA, published in the wake of the Nawthi Rebellion:

Issued from the Hall of Banners, Miyahama
Year 1190 of the Second Age, Ninth Cycle of Meris
Under the Seal of Her Majesty Empress Keiretsu VI, Daughter of the Infinite Lotus Line, Sovereign of All That Lies Between Rift and Sea

True order is unprovocative. It is tedious, repetitive, and at times wholly agonizing. Yet we strive for it always. Human history is marked by heroes who sought order, despite its paler colors. Why? Because those heroes knew the dark, dark alternative.

The enemy will tell you there is freedom in rebellion. They will claim that darkness allows you to paint your own light. They lie. Freedom is the cloak of the coward, an easy lure that mocks the pale while leading you toward a false order of their own making.

The Wuxian Liberation Party within the Lake Cities of Mohai were the first to don this false cloak of freedom, and the First Precipice suffers for it; not by our hand, but by theirs. The Party's self-declared councils have failed to feed the people of Mohai, to protect them from splinter groups, or to fulfill even the most basic duties of governance. Whether through ambition or incompetence, the result is the same: Mohai suffers. The tribes of Nawthi, should they continue down this same path, will suffer as well.

Thus, from the Hall of Banners in Miyahama, I speak now in command:

The Wuxian Liberation Party will surrender to our forces in Kiretsugawa, lest they drive their cities further into ruin.

Prime Minister Pralop Phothipong and the tribes of Nawthi will surrender to our forces in Naunakhon, lest they join Mohai in desolation.

Should these parties fail to heed imperial command by the end of the Ninth Cycle of Meris, we shall invoke the Rite of Arakida. By ancient imperial doctrine, all governors, legates, and vassals will be granted full martial authority to restore order by any means necessary. No trial shall be required where treason is plain. The laws of peace will be suspended in lands where peace has been abandoned. For the sake of those you claim to fight for, see that this does not come to pass.

— Sealed by the Empress Keiretsu VI
— Inscribed by the Court of Ministers, in accordance with the Lineage of the Infinite Lotus

The Nawthi Rebels (pron. NOW-thee)

The following is a rebel dispatch, likely a call to arms aimed towards disparate Nawthi communities that have yet to link with the main rebel group:

Transmission Date: 1190 SA, Second Cycle of Rain
Signal Origin: [Untraceable — presumed uplink near the eastern flank of the Chusang Tropics]
Transmitter Tag: Voice of the Massifs
Power Source: Manual crank, duration capped at six minutes
Access Class: Open / Shortwave / Uncoded

[Faint static. A deep creak, then a voice.]

“You are listening to the Voice of the Massifs. We have returned.”

[Brief pause. A soft metallic clicking, likely the crank gear locking.]

"To those still trying to trace us by wire: we suggest better wire. The telegraph line running from Busai through the Timur Valley was taken down at dawn... again. That makes three this month. To those in Lom Sanan, the Empire sends steam. Four carriages, armored and full of supply. One Gatling, two dozen troops, and General Okemura, though you may know him by his other name: The Butcher of Chusang. We will send reinforcements when we can, but be wary.

"To our forces in Busai who say they’ve run out of ammunition, you have not run out of stones. We are sending brass in four days' time via the west channel. Look for the painted crate marked 'candied mangoes.'"

[Brief hum... what may be a low chorus of multiple voices, possibly a transmission ritual or power test.]

"We hear movement near Ang Timur. Not confirmed. Could be loyalist scouts. Could be deserters. Either way, watch the reeds. This transmission will end in sixty seconds. Our crank is tired. So hear this last:

“Tahanan sa ugat. Tahanan sa ulan. When you are lost, speak to the trees. They remember your name."

[Transmission ends.]

The Lake Cities of Mohai (pron. MOW-hai)

The following are excerpts from the private field notes of H. Iwasaki, a Kiyokawan official assigned to oversee and extract knowledge from Mohai mystics during the occupation. These notes were written 8 years before Mohai entered open rebellion:

Department of Rift Studies
Office of Integration, Zisen–Puzui Sector
Internal Use Only — Provisional Security Classification: Yellow
Filed: Autumn, 1176 SA
Location: Luguan, Mohai Region, East Ajura

Entry 1:

I have arrived at Luguan, the second of the three major Mohai settlements surrounding Lake Mohai. The city was established by Imperial mandate as a water-harvesting outpost, primarily for the extraction of what’s been termed “stable-cycle rainfall," a phenomenon associated with the surrounding region’s unnatural hydrology. The lake lies on the eastern rim of the Rift, a geographical anomaly so vast it cleaves the continent. The Precipices, sheer walls of escarpment, mark the boundary between Kiyokawan highlands, the lakerim, and the Rift proper—Daizonglie, as the locals call it. This last and lowest region, I have not been allowed to approach.

Entry 2:

After twelve days of observation, I can confirm that Lake Mohai does not follow any conventional hydrological logic. Rainfall occurs daily, always in the early hours, despite clear skies. It appears to condense midair and fall exclusively on the lake’s eastern edge. At the same time, significant vapor emissions have been recorded on the western end, directly over the cliff face into the Rift. A closed atmospheric cycle has been proposed by the Puzui lift engineers, suggesting that evaporation into the Rift basin and subsequent updrafts create the daily precipitation through local condensation.

In short: the lake feeds itself. No water enters. No water leaves. It simply returns.

Entry 3:

The Mohai people offer no physical resistance to our work here, but they do not cooperate either. When asked about the lake, they respond with stories rather than explanations. A woman known locally as Baozhai, apparently a respected elder, refers to the lake as 'the First Mouth.' She said, “The Rift does not divide.” She said, “We built cities by its lips. Now we live in the breath it gives back.” Whether metaphor or madness, it is consistent across multiple speakers.

Entry 4:

While conducting a water extraction calibration, 27 liters of lake water were transferred to a steel-lined containment basin. Within minutes, the water’s surface flattened unnaturally. Two assistants reported headaches. One began crying without stimulus. A third assistant claimed they could hear “lapping," as if from beneath the basin, not above. Containment was secured. Water returned to normal after 93 seconds. I have ordered the siphons inspected. Baozhai, upon seeing the incident, said only: “It listens best when we don’t.”

Entry 5:

From the Kiretsugawa aerial maps and imperial scout accounts, the Rift spans hundreds of miles from north to south. Its walls descend beyond measured depth. Local cartographers refuse to map its interior, claiming the land changes. No visible bottom. No light reflection. Engineers have reported sound irregularities during lift construction, long-range echoes that do not correspond with known wind corridors. In particular, the area directly beneath the plateau (west of Lake Mohai) is surrounded by what field observers describe as “stillness pockets.” One likened the sensation to “being underwater with your ears open.”

Entry 6:

Baozhai has vanished. She was last seen walking alone near the south gate of Luguan. Her sandals were found at the edge of a dock. No splash was heard. No guards reported disturbance. It rained three hours later, stronger than normal.

A stone was left on her cot: smooth, warm to the touch, flat, the size of a closed fist. I have forwarded it to the mineral archive. No sediment match.

Entry 7:

We came here to study water, not mythology. And yet I cannot escape the feeling that both exist here in the same shape.

The Rift is not simply geological. It changes the air, the tone of sound, the color of shadows. If water cycles through it, then it connects two places, and neither may be here. I no longer believe Lake Mohai is a reservoir. It is a lung. It draws in what we do not see and breathes out what we refuse to hear. Baozhai said once, before she disappeared: “We live in a story told by something deeper than land.” I am requesting reassignment to Miyahama. If this document is archived, I advise the following: Do not drill. Do not dig.. Do not ask questions you are not prepared to hear answers to.

H. Iwasaki
Department of Rift Studies
Zisen–Puzui Sector Field Office

Ancheom (pron. AHN-ch-yome)

The following is a letter written by the Provost of Ancheom's Bardic Colleges of War and State to the many universities of Halrin in the wake of Ajura's multiple rebellions:

An Open Letter from the Bardic Colleges of War and State
Inolae, Ancheom’s Cross
To the Learned Institutions of Kharne, Sefria, and All Curious Nations of Record
Dated the 3rd of Johannar, Year 1190 SA

“Rhetoric does not serve the state. Rhetoric is the state.”
- Inscription over the Courtyard Arch, College of State

To our esteemed colleagues,

Permit me, as both a scholar and a survivor of more than one regime change, to speak plainly. The world has grown uneasy again.

I am not surprised. Ours is a history measured in the crests and troughs of empires. And in your towers, I imagine your first concern is not with understanding this, but with shielding your students from it. “Now is not the time to travel,” I hear. “Not to Ajura, and certainly not to Ancheom’s Cross.”

That would be a mistake.

Let me assure you: the Bardic Colleges of War and State remain intact and operational. The city of Inolae is safe. Our libraries have not burned, our students still argue in the open. To be frank, our halls have survived much worse.

And unlike any other institution on the planet, we do not teach by pretending the world is gentle.

The College of War continues its instruction in war minstrelsy: a proud, ancient tradition that marries lyric with lethal strategy. Our students compose songs meant for trenches. Our ballads are built to shake morale, rupture alliances, and bury empires beneath elegy. You may call it subversive. We call it applied composition.

The College of State, meanwhile, does not dabble in the euphemism of "civic communication." We teach propaganda, openly. We train students in the full architecture of state narrative: how to build it, fracture it, and, when necessary, weaponize it. Your graduates may write treaties. Ours write histories that will last far longer.

We remain open to foreign students. We remain open to visiting scholars. The College of War is currently accepting applications for its next class in Tactical Elegy Construction, and the College of State has expanded its Fourth-Year Fieldwork in Subversive Diplomacy to accommodate those with experience in disputed regions.

We extend this letter not as reassurance, but as a challenge. Do not withdraw. Do not allow fear to undermine curiosity. Do not pretend your neutrality is safe.

On behalf of the College Board,

Provost Jin Seorim
Chair of Epistemic Security
College of War & College of State
Inolae, Ancheom’s Cross

The Dakha Corsairs (pron. DAH-kah)

The following is a confidential Wenlaw Federation intelligence and trade report, circa 1191 SA, circulated within the Warcourte Committees of External Stability and Strategic Commerce:

CONFIDENTIAL | FOR INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY
WENLAW FEDERATION // WARCOURTE INTEL ARCHIVE

Report No. 914-B // Classification: A2-Level Clearance
Date: 16th of Rhudan, 1191 SA

Subject: Strategic Assessment of the Isles of Dakha and Adjacent Rift-Edge Trade Activity
Prepared by: Lt. Gen. Marybeth Albreigh, Committee of External Stability

I. Overview
The Isles of Dakha, positioned northwest of Ajura along the Meridic trade artery, have consolidated under de facto rule by the pirate faction known as the Jalasi Reavers. While lacking formal sovereignty, the Reavers operate as a functional syndicate, overseeing all six primary isles and managing illicit trade operations that span Halrin’s entire eastern corridor.

The capital, such as it is, is Jalai, a coastal fortress-isle that now serves as command center and safe harbor for the Reavers’ merchant and raiding fleets. Surrounding islands—Malipulau, Taramalay, Amrapur, Avindhya, and Navradhar—maintain localized authority structures but report to the Jalasi Council and contribute to the protection and raiding operations throughout the Meridic.

II. Strategic Risk to Federation Interests
The current situation in Dakha poses the following risks to Wenlaw regional stability and commercial integrity:

Disruption of Sefrian-Kharne Trade Routes:
Jalasi vessels have successfully intercepted and looted over a dozen known Federation-aligned merchant ships within the past year. While most incidents are unconfirmed due to jurisdictional fog near the Corridor, survivor accounts consistently describe high-precision boarding tactics and Rift-modified weaponry.
Exploitation of Rift-Edge Resources:
In violation of the 1171 SA Palaweian Centennial Amendments, the Reavers are funneling Rift-adjacent minerals (particularly irradiant crystal deposits harvested from the Darapur dig sites) into black market production hubs. These materials are refined in port settlements such as Bandalangar, before being trafficked back into mainland markets via Avindhya, Navradhar, and Amrapur.
Human Trafficking and Rogue Harboring:
The port of Kaban, situated on Ajura’s northern coast, now serves as an unregulated freeport where all manner of illegal goods, persons, and weapons pass without oversight. It has also become a known passage point for Nawthi and Mohai rebel elements, whom the Reavers have offered discreet transport for the right price.

III. Rift Utilization
Dakha’s economic expansion hinges largely on their exploitation of the Second Precipice of the Rift. Intelligence confirms the presence of forced labor camps around Darapur, where captured or indentured workers are made to extract Rift-adjacent matter, often under lethal exposure conditions. Despite the high mortality rate, materials extracted here exhibit properties that suggest exposure to unstable energy cycles, likely the result of the Rift's vapor pressure interacting with subterranean aquifers. Federation science councils have petitioned for further data.

IV. Recommendations

Increased Naval Patrols along the Meridic-Sefrian coast, particularly south of Meriston.
Trade Sanctions on known Rift-derived commodities originating from Kaban or Dakha-flagged vessels.
Deployment of Infiltrators to Bandalangar or Taramalay with orders to disrupt key logistical nodes.
Diplomatic Pressure on Palawei to limit transit protections afforded to pirate-linked vessels.

V. Conclusion
The Jalasi Reavers, and by extension the Isles of Dakha, represent a non-state actor operating with sovereign-level capability. Their control over Rift-adjacent resources, their entrenchment within the Halrinan black market, and their facilitation of rebellion movements all make them a clear threat to the Federation’s strategic interests in the Meridic Ocean.

We advise high priority monitoring.

Signed,

Lt. Gen. Marybeth Albreigh
Committee of External Stability

Warcourte of the Wenlaw Federation