The Afterlife: The Four Winds

To the nomads of Eastrun, the Four Winds are not only spirits who are greatly revered, but are the source from which the Daizu and the Hayao believe they will return. The four horses of Ao Shun, Ao Jun, Ao Chin and Ao Kuang make up the warlords of Shang Ti, the celestial emperor. Those who die will be claimed as part of the Batari of one of the four and will be felt thereafter in the physical world as winds and weather, but who are battling forever in the spiritual realm against foul spirits.

The Origin of the Daizu

Of all the tribes of the humans across all of Erenth, those who would come to be called Daizu were the least likely to prosper. Nothing in their earliest existence would lead anyone to believe they could establish the most feared military presence in Eastrun, nor rule over the greatest geographical footprint in the world. 

Primitive even by Nandi standards, the Daizu were once culturally impoverished and militarily weak. They had no songs, nor legends; no artwork, nor ceremony. Their women did not weave baskets, nor make pottery. Their men did not raise monuments, nor memorialize heroes. 

They did not dig graves, paint caves, nor have anything  approaching a permanent habitation. For this reason, when the Vyrum looked for Nandi to use as servants, they avoided the Daizu as too bestial. The tribe might have disappeared quietly were it not for an accident of fate. 

In the Sixth Age, the mounted cavalier of the Vyrum bred horses. But those that did not take to the rider and saddle; and those which would not tilt with lance; and those who had any defect of appearance were turned loose from the Alds. 

In Eastrun, the horses ran free and without natural predators, they prospered. By the dissolution of the empire, there were vast herds breeding in the steppes of Eastrun. 

It is true that many of the Nandi tribes domesticated these horses, but most saw them as livestock. Those that didn't used them as transportation, or as beasts of burden. It was the Daizu alone who had the distinction of riding the beasts into battle. 

The rejected mounts of the Vyrum found their original purpose with the Daizu. Though it was not with lance or sword, but with javelins. From horseback the Daizu learned to raid and retreat, attack and flee. With such tactics, they were a match for more advanced tribes who boasted foot soldiers and archery. 

Because the Daizu could stretch their campaigns over hours, they never allowed their enemy to rest. Eventually, battlefield successes would win the tribe those tools which they could not make.

The Shen (elves) of Eastrun were the first to surrender before the Daizu. They became a vassal tribe which paid tribute by providing their masters with horn short bows. This proved to be the missing piece of the puzzle for the mounted warriors. When the Daizu broke out upon the plains as archer cavalry, they could not be seriously challenged. 

From one or two flung javelins at relatively close range; they graduated to delivering a withering hail of arrows at distance. When the horse and bow were combined with solid tactics, no tribe could withstand them and no others could lead them. 

At the dawn of the 7th Age, in many parts of Erenth, the humans who had once been captives of the Vyrum were accounted as nobility. These Meni were well-trained in administration and governance. They had weapons and language and books that their less civilized Nandi cousins lacked. But in Eastrun the Meni did not prosper for long. Like the Shen and the Korobokuru the civilized tribes of men fell to the Daizu. 

There are cities in Eastrun. They only survive because the tribute they pay the Daizu. Not one bolt of silk goes West and not one pound of iron goes East without the say so of the Daizu.

The Warriors of Eastrun

The Wide Land between the Pillars of Heaven and the Seas of Certain Death have been covered in the blood of battles for centuries. Upon its bitter steppes and deep within its fertile valleys, men have mastered the art of war. The Daizu warriors and the Jae Shi of the Dynastic City States are the pinnacle of fighting men in Eastrun.

The Daizu are the mounted warriors of the steppes and the foundation of their military might was built upon the expert use of their unique short bow: a composite of horn, wood, and sinew. The Daizu archers are some of the finest to ever handle a bow and arrow. Their specialty is mounted fire from a galloping horse. 

The skills of the Daizu are developed at a young age. Once he is old enough to make war, a Daizu warrior leaves the Ordaru and joins the Bataro. There he learns to serve his tribe as one element of a fighting force that might number 1,000 mounted archers. A group this large, firing in unison will make the sky rain with arrows, striking fear and panic into the hearts of their foes.

The Daizu are as well known for their mounts as for their archery. The steppe pony is a full grown horse is smaller in stature owing to its shorter legs. This breed of horse is very well adapted to living in its harsh environment. It is strong and sturdy and its footing is true even over very tough terrain. A Daizu upon a steppe horse and using a short bow is able to perform some feats known only to the finest horsemen. He can also fire his bow at nearly twice the speed of a trained archer.

The Jae Shi of Eastrun are the young men of privilege, who have been earmarked for war almost from the time of their birth. They are raised on strict codes of honor and taught skill at arms from an early age. They are often taken from, or sent away by, their families to be apprenticed. Every Jae Shi warrior will spend his earliest years in a Temple, learning unarmed combat and serenity from its monks. Upon learning, they will then be joined to an existing Obi-ken -- a Jae Shi warrior who is recognized as a master of swordplay. The apprentice will remain by his Obi-ken's side as a Mitai-ken until he has fashioned his own sword and is released by his master. 

Taciturn and serene, the Jae Shi are believed to be emotionless. From a young age they have learned to master their feelings and their weapons. The calm detachment with which they undertake their craft is often said to be more fearsome that the shrieking attacks of the Daizu.

The Four Winds: a Faith of Eastrun

In the lands of Jenia, the savages that roam the steppes and ply the waves revere the Four Winds.

They believe these winds are the spirits of four mighty brothers, sons of the celestial King and deceased dragon lords allowed to live on for eternity. They witnessed the creation of the world. They are all that is left of a great host of celestial spirits.

Shun Ao, the White Steed is the North Wind and the Bringer of Winter. He is also called the Master of Water. His spirit flows from the towering glaciers and races South over the steppes bringing hundreds of meltwater streams to the lowlands that finally join as mighty rivers by the time they reach the sea.

Jun Ao, the Black Steed is the West Wind and the Bringer of Fall. Also known as the Master of Metal and the Spirit of Peace. He is said to ride out for all men at the end of their lives. His spirit rings out in the sounds of iron and steel brought from the Pillars of Heaven to the lands of warring men.

Chin Ao, the Red Steed is the South Wind and the Bringer of Summer. He is also called the Master of Fire and the Spirit of War. His spirit exhausts itself on the lowlands and brings great waves of heat ever North, drying the grass and making it susceptible to great fires across the grasslands.

Kuang Ao, the Green Steed is the East Wind and the Bringer of Spring. He is also known as the Master of Wood and the Spirit of Mischief and Fertility. His spirit brings both life giving rains and tempestuous storms that beat across the coasts and sweep far inland.

In the primitive cosmology of these barbarians, the spirits no longer have physical bodies, the Four Brothers can sometimes be summoned as mighty horses. Their avatars are able to exert influence from the edges of the World Here Below.