Phutan was a small kingdom in Kara-Tur, neighboring Tabot. Its capital city was Bhutan.[1][2][3][4][5][note 1]
Geography[]
Phutan occupied a wedge of land between the Po Yul Dzayul Range to the north and the Wu Pi Te Shao Mountains to the southwest. To the southeast was the border with Tabot, leaving it quite locked in.[2][3][4][5] Moreover, the land was covered entirely in dense bamboo forest,[1][2][3][4][5] bisected by a river that flowed into Tabot and was ultimately a tributary of the Hungtse River in Shou Lung. In the middle of this, beside the river, stood the city of Bhutan.[1][2][3][4][5] The only other river of note was the misty Wohani River, which meandered through the foothills of the Po Yul Dzayul in the north before entering Tabot.[6][2][3][4][5]
Relations[]
The monks of Tabot, no friends to Phutan, saw it as lawless land that gave sanctuary to outlaws from Tabot, T'u Lung, and Shou Lung, and that its "heathen king" decreed lamas and holy men be killed on sight. There were constant conflicts between the Phutanese and the Tabotans at Hoshki Gompa and Buchan Do Gompa over the border.[6] Passage through Tabot to Phutan was restricted, but the rebellious Lady Holang of Pim Tung in Tabot would allow free passage upriver to Phutan for those who paid.[7]
History[]
Prehistory[]
The moon woman transforming white tigers into men.
Phutan shared its early past with Tabot. 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. One of these clans founded Phutan, the others the various kingdoms of Tabot.[8]
But unlike Tabot, Phutan seems never to have been occupied by the exiled Shou monks and their monasteries between Shou Year 585 (−665 DR) and Shou Year 640 (−610 DR), nor to have fallen under the sway of the High Lord of Oceans in Shou Year 2318 (1068 DR).[8][note 2]
Modern History[]
In Shou Year 2607 (1357 DR), Buchan Do lamas reported a Phutanese army assembling at the border. Tabot went on a war footing, mustering soldiers in the area and ordering conscription in a few towns, hiring mercenaries, and accepting volunteers from among the temple guards.[9]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The place is called only "Phutan" in Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms Volume I, but only "Bhutan" appears on all maps of the region. While this could be an error or variation in spelling, there is no actual contradiction: the maps specifically label the city as "Bhutan", not the country.
- ↑ The history of Phutan and its split from Tabot is unknown, but its lack of religious sites on the map, different faith, and conflicts suggest this account.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume I). (TSR, Inc), p. 69. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Maps). (TSR, Inc). ISBN 0-88038-608-8.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 (1989). Kara-Tur Trail Map. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 0-88038-783-7.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Karen Wynn Fonstad (August 1990). The Forgotten Realms Atlas. (TSR, Inc), p. 16. ISBN 978-0880388573.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 ProFantasy Software Ltd. (1999). Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas. TSR, Inc. File: ?.FCW
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume I). (TSR, Inc), p. 72. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume I). (TSR, Inc), p. 76. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume I). (TSR, Inc), pp. 73–74. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume I). (TSR, Inc), p. 77. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.