Shoren
Shoren is home to the lycan people, a nation of dualities. The bestial heritage of the lycan shows in their continuous struggles, the calm of the disciplined mind in their strict cultural and societal expectations. The Shoren highborn drinks tea in a quiet ceremony at noon, reflects on internal calm through the afternoon, and loses themselves to the abandon of combat in the evening, savoring the frenzy of the battlefield.
Raen
In Shoren, the Twin Gods are seen not as literal deities, but rather as a concept called Raen, the balance between inner savagery and disciplined control. They envision this as a Great Dance between Anrai (the savagery of the animal) and Dharen (the control of the self). This duality marks every part of life, from the cultured but bloody warrior, to the honored and practical Samurai, to the serene yet merciless monk.
History
Shoren founded
Office of Shogun established.
Valorian army reaches Shoren
The oldest records kept in the Imperial Palace of Genan remember a time when Shoren was a land of warring tribes. Wolf killed tiger, tiger killed boar, boar killed rat, and rat killed wolf. And so it was for generations. Then, House Rajan ended all that with the creation of Shoren. Nobody can recall what Rajan did to end the conflict, but everyone in Shoren knows they owe an impossible debt to the imperial house for this favor.
All the concepts that anchor modern Shoren society grew out of those first years. First the concept of Raen emerged, and from there the idea that a lycan is conceived savage and chooses to become cultured. It was during the reign of Empress Rajan Datai that the role of Shogun was established. A military dictator who sits beside the emperor as commander of Shoren.
When the vanguard of the Valorian army reached Shoren in the year 2000, it found an empire ready to fight back. The two nations battled fiercely for over 150 years, before Valoria’s decline forced it to pull back support, and, eventually, abandon it outright. The Valorian settlers fought on for another generation before they were driven fully back inside the walls of the modern Free City of Valor.
People
Humanity
Shoren is a country of two peoples: lycan and human. While humans vastly outnumber the lycan, it is the lycan who rule in Shoren, with humans relegated to a secondary place in society.