Tabot

Tabot (a name meaning "the Roof of the World" ) was a mountainous state founded by monks and barbarians. The monks fled from the oppression of Shou Lung to this mountainous terrain, which contained barbarians, monsters and merciless cold winds. The people of Tabot created their own special culture and customs, and many wise men spent their whole lives in the mountains to learn the truth.

Geography
The land of Tabot was poor but workable. Shepherds grazed their herds of goats and sheep in the mountains. The lands of Bhutan were surrounded by thick bamboo forests, but other lowland parts of Tabot contained rough hills, grassy fields, and few trees. Tabot was a wild land known to experience avalanches and mud torrents.

Fauna
The local draft animals, called yaks, were domesticated many millennia ago. Thousands of goats and sheep could be found throughout the mountains. Fluffy snow birds, monkeys and tigers could be found throughout the country. Yeti were probably the most dangerous creatures found in the countryside. These beasts constantly raided monasteries.

Climate
Tabot's climate was harsh. The short growing season only lasted six to eight weeks, even in the lower river valleys.

This region was dominated by harsh winds and snow storms. The landscape was very severe during almost any time of the year. During harsh winters, bandits were often involved in the looting of these wild and troubled lands.

Cities
Many cities in Tabot have still not recovered from thousands of years oppression, and many areas of this wild place are still not mastered. Indigenous population live in both primitive tents and yurts and more "civilized" wood and brick houses. There are many semi-cities in Tabot too, but they are populated by many bandits and murderers so these cities are very dangerous. But the monasteries have retained their wealth and cultural heritage. Here are some of them.


 * U'chan Gompa
 * M'Tsin Gompa
 * Ko'Chung Gompa
 * Pokarr and Lii Gompas
 * Frekang Gompa
 * Hoshki and Buchan Do Gompas
 * Do'dzin Gompa

Society
The ordinary Tabotans remained a nomadic people. They only assembled in cities for the sake of trade and other conveniences. The monks educated them and taught the deeds of the first High Lord of Oceans, so they were zealously firm in their faith and loyal to the government, which they believed to be strong and improving their lives.

Culture
Tabotan clothing was made of yak or sheep wool and of pounded leather, and usually dyed forest green or bright red. For headwear, men wore simple white linen caps that covered the tops of the ears, thick fur caps with earflaps when it was cold, and handsewn caps on festival days. Women were typically tightly bundled up in woolen dresses that were black or gray in color, and added colorful scarves and ornate headpieces on special occasions. Tabotan noblemen donned dark silk gowns and arranged their hair in certain knots adorned with jewels, while noblewomen wore extravagant dresses bedecked with bells and chimes. Every child and every lama had shaved heads.

Men of Tabot enjoyed gambling and physical contests such as wrestling, roping yaks, breaking in horses for bareback riding.

A popular alcoholic beverage was co'wii, meaning "cow's kick". It was brewed from tubers and was quite strong, as the named attested.

The majority of the peasants dwelled in simple tents, while a few possessed houses with tamped earth walls and thatched roofs supported by a few rough-hewn wooden beams; these roofs were flat because of the limited rainfall. The houses of the nobility were two or three stories high and had tiled roofs raised above the building and a wide open attic. In such houses, the first floor was used to keep animals as a sign of wealth, the second and even third floors were living space for the family, and the attic was used for storage of supplies; birds also lived in this space.

Language
The inhabitants spoke the Tabotan language, which held the nation together but local accents were thick. It was a simple language and the common form was easy to learn. However, few outsiders knew it, and few Tabotans knew the Trade Tongue, necessitating the use of interpreters, who were available in most cities and villages, especially those near the borders and along trade routes. Interpreters could be hired for between 10 and 30 yuan a day. They were fewer in the smaller towns, and hence their prices were higher.

Religion
The Way of Enlightenment (known elsewhere as the "Path of Enlightenment") and faith in the Celestial Emperor and the Celestial Heavens was the state religion of the theocracy of Tabot. It was embodied in the High Lord of Oceans and in the fifteen gompas, or monasteries, that dominated the land.

The calendar was marked by many holy days and religious festivals and parades, with events running all through the year. Their scale, artistry, and grandiose nature were comparable to those of Shou Lung. The priests believed that these displays brought joy to the peasants' otherwise boring lives. In particular, at the start of each year, the priests of U'chan Gompa conducted a special ceremony in which they asked a question of the gods and burned a tortoise shell by placing it in cherry-red hot coals. From the markings that appeared, they divined the future. They inscribed this interpretation on the tortoise shell and hung it hung on the temple wall, so lamas and common folk alike could consult it and plan for the year ahead. Countless questions were asked of the gods in this way, and many influential people submitted their own questions.

Tabot was famous for its hermits, sages, oracles and ascetics who lived in the mountains. It was said that they had powerful visions, could predict the future, protected holy relics, and could raise heroes from the dead for good causes. A legend held that when true oracle died, every bell in Lii Gompa would spontaneously ring nine times to help their soul travel to the Celestial Heavens. Circa, the monks recognized only five true oracles still living in the mountains who'd foretold events and resurrected the dead; they were Smirnk of the Willows of Hokla Mountain, Morka Fooztang from Noko-Ji Peak, Tzu Wan the Entrusted on the Marnu Cliffs, Ti Horr of Mount Wiz'tcu Tan, and the Forgotten One of Pojar Mountain. Most of the rest were dismissed as frauds and pretenders.

The common people, meanwhile, also believed in mighty spirits that lived in the mountains, such as the Wind Spirits that reigned over the Wu Pi Te Shar, and that these should be acknowledged and appeased. They held that the souls of the deceased were absorbed into nearby stones and that a storm without rain brought good luck while one with rain brought bad luck. A common story was of the badger Hignog, who would disguise itself as a man and kidnap and devour naughty children; naturally, these were used to frighten misbehaving children. The monks dismissed such folklore as superstition.

Prehistory
Originally, the land was the domain of barbarian kings and tribal chiefs with their own noble class. They built cities in the lowlands and followed a heathen faith. In their founding myth, millennia previously, the moon descended to the earth one night in the form of a beautiful woman. As she wandered through the night, all the white tigers of the land gathered at her side and were entranced by her. She touched her hand to the foreheads of nineteen of them and they were transformed into human men of strength and intelligence. After the moon women returned to the sky, the new men performed heroic deeds and founded the various clans, including Phutan.

The Years of Frost
Following proclamation of the Organization of Thought in neighboring Shou Lung in, many of the temple militias there were falsely accused and persecuted, so they escaped to the southwest. Many of the monks and temple guardians were looking for a holy land that would remain pure and lasting, ideal for isolated hermitages, and they found it among the high mountain wilds. The first group founded an outpost in (considered a holy year), and fourteen more such groups would follow by. The lamas would remember this period as the Years of Frost, when they endured blizzards, battled monsters, avoided both the barbarian kings and Shou retribution, went without food, and struggled to survive even as their numbers grew few.

Finally, in, soldiers of Shou Lung invaded Tabot, prompting the priests and the barbarians to ally against them. Led by the great sohei Ramara and Baron Ohn on Han Chao, they repelled the Shou in the Battle of Tsagang.

Under the Peace Land Treaty
Afterward, Ohn and Ramara negotiated for ten days and established the Peace Land Treaty between the tribes and the monks. It legitimized the monks' hermitages (now mountain keeps) and gave them a role in the defense of the lowland tribes and thereby cemented land and peace. Together, they founded a new city at the place of their victory and founded the new nation of Tabot. All present blessed the union and it came to be a holy place and a holy word.

In, seven lamas of the Zotung Keep discovered a man frozen in ice on Mesku Peak. They recovered the man and defrosted him, but he melted away with the ice and in his place they found a male leopard cub. They raised the leopard and it grew as big as a horse. Finally, one day it even talked, and asked to be allowed to go free. Surprised, the lamas opened the gates to the leopard, which returned to Mesku Peak. Afterward, the new abbot of the new Zotung Gompa called on the leopard for help when making decisions, and since then, it was said to visit many lamas in dreams to dispense advice on the proper way to achieve enlightenment. The whole affair was declared a miracle, the first of the young nation.

But Tabot continued to be invaded by the forces of Shou Lung, with attempts in, in , and finally in. In this last invasion, the Shou seized the whole of northern Tabot, from Lokar Pass to Ko'Chung. With the fate of their nation hanging in the balance, artisans in Ji fashioned the five crystalline warriors and a group of great dang-ki and wu jens animated them and gave them magical abilities. On the third day of the fifth month, the ragged defenders of Tabot and their five crystalline warriors confronted the Shou Lung army as they marched out of Lokar Pass. Though the battle was terrific, they were victorious, and went onto reclaim all of the conquered lands. The crystalline warriors went into the mountains to await the day when Tabot again had need of them. The date of the battle would be considered holy and celebrated as Crystal Day.

The High Lord of Oceans
In, a boy named H'Dang Li was born under a conjunction of constellations. A shepherd found him crying in the wastelands just north of the Haraki Ridge and brought him to the lamas of Do'dzin Gompa. They saw the child as pure, born enlightened, and fully at one with the Celestial Heavens, as well as highly intelligent and capable of magical powers. Before long, the holy boy was recognized by all the monasteries and loved by the peasants, who gave him many presents.

Very soon, the monasteries were reformed and united under the rule of the High Lord of Oceans, H'Dang Li. Over the years and, they even pushed for control of Tabot itself. The nobles mustered their armies against the monks, but H'Dang Li confronted them alone and wielded mighty magic against them. The soldiers were unwilling to fight a six-year-old boy and lowered their weapons and surrendered.

In the years following, the High Lord of Oceans assumed control of the government, established the council kashag system, and took away the lands and powers of the nobles and dissolved the armies of the monasteries. He also created the Staff of the Oceans and the Gates of Ocean at Frekang Gompa. H'Dang Li reigned for 82 years before selecting a successor and walking away into the mountains.

Appendix
Tabot is modeled after Tibet.

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * Dungeon #8, "The Flowers of Flame"