Some months ago, a few ships were sent by the Order of the Chief God to the coasts of Zipangu. Knowing that the Mamono of the foreign continent were much calmer than the more feral monsters in their own land, the Order’s temples enlisted several missionaries to travel to Zipangu and attempt to keep its human and monster inhabitants chaste, by whatever means necessary. They even planned for some resistance from the locals, and brought soldiers with them to ensure conformity.
After taking the village of Tsumini off of Zipangu’s coast, the Order ran into a dilemma. The Mist Continent’s navy spotted their invasion, and are planning to assist in defending Zipangu from attack. The Order plans on pushing further into Zipangu to Karujo City.
The Order began to build fortifications to defend against any naval attack that might be made by the Mist Continent. However, as one problem was being prevented, another took its place. The Ushi-Oni from the Aikushi Mountians had heard news of the Order’s arrival, and raided the Order-controlled village of Tsumini to reduce the amount of soldiers there.
After the raid ended, Orderite numbers were thinned, but Tsumini remained under their control. But it was all an elaborate ruse. The Order had sent ships to Tsumini as a diversion for the real invasion, which began at the very north of Zipangu, in the region of Tamane-Jaiang. From sloops to galleons, Dragoon knights to airships, the Order spared no expense in this full-scale assault. The Mist Continent Navy fought the Western ships from behind as rowboats full of soldiers landed on the beaches, where Zipanguan soldiers awaited them to do battle. A massive armada, lead by the Prince Elias, now launches their full-scale force of infantry, navy, and airship units at Northern Zipangu. All the while, the small region of Cyrzure Isle has sent three delegates to rally the Zipanguan cities and villages to arms as word spreads of the Order’s arrival.
It has been a few months since the invasion in Tamane-Jaiang. To succeed in his mission to secure the mountain tunnels in the region and take the entire province, Prince Elias led a small task force into the tunnels, staying covert so as to not awaken the ant nest that was the Mamono-filled mines. With the limited information that was given to him, the mission was difficult, and Elias’s group suffered many casualties during the mission. However, the prince eventually found the beginnings of the sulfur-rich mine shafts within the labyrinthine crevices. Following the yellow, powdery deposits of the tunnels, his task force ultimately came upon the stored kegs of sulfur ore, and set the barrels on fire. Finding their way out was certainly harder than getting to the deep mine. Elias and a few other members of his group narrowly escaped the almost volcanic explosions within the mines, while the others weren’t so fortunate. The Zipanguan defenders were smoked out of the tunnels, with only a portion of them managing to escape capture. The remaining native soldiers were either imprisoned or killed in the explosions. Elias and his massive force easily took North Maikeru and Bijuri with little resistance, and the bogs of Maikeru and Kisene were surrounded by occupation garrisons, but were mostly avoided. Masaki put up a strong fight, but their fortifications were not match for the Order’s superior firepower. Now the armada and its troops station themselves in New Sempra, an Orderite-friendly subregion, and have signed a treaty with the Order which gives the Westerners passage with no resistance in exchange for immunity to hostility of any kind. The capital ship docked at the New Sempra harbor, the highest-ranking officials discuss the best method of attack for their next target: Haijuro-Ryu.
Meanwhile, on the east coastal line of Zipangu, the invasion of Tsumini-Taboso was a success. The units under the lead of the high-ranking priests, paladins, and mages, including Captain Fayard and Arch Magus Vez’nan, were resupplied and reinforced with several more divisions. Taboso, well aware of the odds stacked against them and the horrid treatment of the villagers of Tsumini, were forced to compromise with their soon-to-be occupiers. The town’s militia was disbanded, and the entire village was forced to emigrate to the mountains of Aikushi-Oni, the home of the arachnid raiders that the invasion force was ambushed by. The divisions’ scouts surveyed the fortifications of Karujo City, and found that the city’s defenses were too strong for the Order to attack. They would need to rendezvous with the Northern invasion force to gather up a sizable number of troops for a successful siege. Communicating with the armada stationed in New Sempra, both armies are now planning their attack on Haijuro-Ryu. The eastern force believes that if the agricultural subregion were to be threatened, some of the manpower from Karujo will respond and counterattack, leaving the city less defended. Among the strategists, Arch Magus Vez’nan has relocated to his own private pavilion tent among the garrisons of the eastern army, where he, Beatrice, and his servants reside for the time being. Captain Fayard received his own personal tent as well, and practices his sparring and marksmanship, occasionally being visited by his Dragon Zombie acquaintance every now and then (their duel ended in a stalemate, with each of them gaining respect for the other).
The delegation from Cryzure Isle travelled to many other places after informing the major city of Kaitoku of the Orderite invasions, rallying subregional governments and the provinces’ inhabitants behind the cause for defending their homeland. Whether it was managing supplies to local militias or organizing spy networks throughout the provinces, their “diplomatic” missions proved to be increasingly beneficial to Zipangu. With the nation’s disadvantages slowly being resolved, Ladies Ainyl, Bonehart, and Alleria continue their work in Tanuko-Giwa, a subregion known for being one of the most agricultural of Zipangu, where they have been organizing guards to escort the convoys of food that disperse throughout the region. Roran, having sworn fealty to Lady Ainyl, followed her task to gather reports from each harbor in Zipangu and report back to the delegation with anything he finds. On the side, however, he has started to search for a certain knight that his ladyship wishes to meet once again.
Rico Masaki still resides at the inn that he and his long-thought-to-be-dead-but-isn’t-actually-dead Dark Mage girlfriend had rented in Goldwind.
You can choose to be either a Zipanguan (I think that’s what they’re called) or an Orderite. Sticking to Mamono from Zipangu is preferred, if you wish to play as one. You may also play as a Mist Continent soldier.