The Forbidden East (and other locales).

[rflorisi]

Hello, I’ve been GM’ing GURPS for quite a few years now and am recently getting back into it. Which of course means, I’m working on a project.

I love using the “vanilla” information about the world sprinkled and left behind by Kromm and the other authors. What I’m running into is I cannot for the life of me find the name of the Forbidden East and I could have sworn it got dropped in an excerpt in one of the books!

I’m building the world of the King’s Realm, with focus on Kingsbridge and Tregonwell. The moving to the “Frozen North” or Whitmark, as it was dropped in Taverns. Then the “Steamy South” or Teclá, as mentioned in Monsters 1.

Then there is the stinking Forbidden East, whose name eludes me. Any help, any citations would be GREATLY appreciated.

[SolemnGolem]

Dungeon Fantasy 1 (the supplemental booklet for GURPS, not the standalone Dungeon Fantasy boxed set) had a tongue in cheek bit about classes, and the Exotic East perhaps?

I'll try to look it up.

Edit: Dungeon Fantasy 1 - Adventurers, look under PDF page 11 (printed page 9) Martial Artist. There's a reference to the "Mysterious East".

Oh, I see that OP was asking for the actual name of the in-universe "Mysterious East". I don't know that off the top of my head.

[Varyon]

A quick look doesn't give a country name (and given it's meant to cover the equivalents of China, India, Japan, etc, a single country name doesn't really follow), but "Eastern Adventures" in Pyramid #3/89 gives a bit more information on the default assumed Mysterious East. There's a Central Province in (shockingly) the center, which is the main source of agriculture and civilization. South of that is the Green Lands, which is primarily jungle/rainforest. North are the Icy Steppes, West is the Great Desert, and finally East are the Island Nations (the Japan-analog).

[rflorisi]

Yeah, and from what I can gather, there is an ever-so-alight distinction between the Mysterious East and Forbidden East. The ME seems to be Chinese-inspired with things like “Kung Fu” and Shaolin inspired monasteries, then the FE seems Japan-inspired, with Ninja, Japanese weapons (katana, shuriken, etc), and Pagodas.

I wondered if the name was dropped in The Pagoda of Worlds, but I keep rereading and not finding it.

[Varyon]

If you don't need to absolutely match whatever's been published (or if something hasn't been published), here are some (probably broken Japanese) possibilities.

Kintou (禁東): Forbidden East

Kintou (禁島): Forbidden Island(s)
Yes, the kanji for island, 島, and the kanji for East, 東, can both be pronounced "tou."

Shimatou (島東): Eastern Island(s)

[SolemnGolem]

If seeking Chinese-inspired place names:

"Middle Kingdom" is 中国 zhongguo, which is now the popularly used name for China.

"China" itself derived from the Qin emperor, whose state was 秦 Qin.

Geographically, the "middle territory" over which the warring states and tribes fought, consisted of the Yangzi/Changjiang and Yellow Rivers and the Great Northern Plains for agriculture.

The main words for "river" are 河 he or 江 jiang. You can mix and match any given descriptive name to describe them. 黄河 huanghe is the Yellow River, 长江 changjiang is the (current) modern Chinese for the Yangtze.

The great northern plain is 大北部平原 da beibu pingyuan. Beijing, at the northern periphery of this, literally means "North capital" but historically was known as Beiping 北平 (North peace, also North plain).

The majority of modern Chinese provinces are named with a two character rubric, at least one of which refers to a landmark (river, lake, mountain) or a direction. Some ancient place names may be used as well.

Ultimately, even something as centralized as a China-style country would still be roughly the geographic area of the continental USA, with all the localization and regional quirks you'd expect of farflung communities separated from the metropolitan center.

If you have any need of help brainstorming Chinese-style names, I'm happy to contribute. Wherever my Chinese breaks down, I can consult my wife, who is a native speaker.

Oh, the Forbidden in "Forbidden Palace" in Chinese is 禁 jin, and the compound's entire name is literally the Purple Forbidden City 紫禁城. If you wanted a similar title for "Forbidden East" you might try having 禁东 jin dong as part of it. Adding any word for "province" or "region" or "state" behind it could work.

[rflorisi]

I think I found it! In DF Adventures 2: Tomb of the Dragon King, there is this excerpt:

“ Long ago, after Malthas split the Lightbringers into a hun- dred factions with heresy and before the mandarins of Shansin built their five-sided towers, two dragons came out of the jungles of Padan and passed the mountains of the Echo Wall.”

I believe that can be taken as the Mysterious/Forbidden East, being that I can’t think of any culture that would 1. Merit the title of mandarins and 2. Perhaps the five-sided towers are that of monasteries and pagodas? Correct me, if I’m wrong, but I think Sanshin is the answer I was looking for. Thoughts?

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by rflorisi

I think I found it! In DF Adventures 2: Tomb of the Dragon King, there is this excerpt:

“ Long ago, after Malthas split the Lightbringers into a hun- dred factions with heresy and before the mandarins of Shansin built their five-sided towers, two dragons came out of the jungles of Padan and passed the mountains of the Echo Wall.”

I believe that can be taken as the Mysterious/Forbidden East, being that I can’t think of any culture that would 1. Merit the title of mandarins and 2. Perhaps the five-sided towers are that of monasteries and pagodas? Correct me, if I’m wrong, but I think Sanshin is the answer I was looking for. Thoughts?

That's a valid interpretation, but Sanshin could also refer to a single city or polity. It definitely wouldn't be wrong to use it to refer to the land as a whole, though, considering how little you have to work with.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by rflorisi

I think I found it! In DF Adventures 2: Tomb of the Dragon King, there is this excerpt:

“ Long ago, after Malthas split the Lightbringers into a hun- dred factions with heresy and before the mandarins of Shansin built their five-sided towers, two dragons came out of the jungles of Padan and passed the mountains of the Echo Wall.”

I believe that can be taken as the Mysterious/Forbidden East, being that I can’t think of any culture that would 1. Merit the title of mandarins and 2. Perhaps the five-sided towers are that of monasteries and pagodas? Correct me, if I’m wrong, but I think Sanshin is the answer I was looking for. Thoughts?

Shansin sounds like it would be associated with the China-analogue (Central Province) to me - both due to having people with the title of “Mandarin” and because there’s no native “si” sound in Japanese (the si equivalent is shi). Padan is probably part of the Green Lands, and the Echo Wall is probably the equivalent of the Great Wall of China. Sounds like the Icy Steppes, Great Desert, and Eastern Islands are still lacking names.

[rflorisi]

Thanks everybody for your input. I’d have to agree that it definitely has more “Chinese” inspiration than any of the other possible cultures.

But that still gives me plenty to work with. Between the locales mentioned in Mirror of the Fire Demon, Tomb of the Dragon King, Taverns, and many of the other treasure-troves of lore, I should have plenty to work with to create a living, breathing Vanilla world.