Tian Xia

The continent of Tian Xia is a strange and exotic place to visitors from the west. Here, humans rub shoulders with fox and bird people, honour is an almost palpable force capable of deciding the fate of nations, and any stone or bush at the side of the road could potentially hide a fiercely protective guardian spirit. But one of the greatest differences between Tian Xia and the rest of the world is the way in which dragons interact with the people of the land.

In most parts of Golarion, including the Inner Sea region, dragons are recluses at best, and marauders at worst. The legends and tales of dragons devastating entire cities, gobbling up legions, and laying waste to nations are based all too closely on actual events. Even in the extremely rare cases when dragons seek to interact directly with humanoids without wreaking violence on a massive scale, the results are questionable — the ruler of the island nation of Hermea is a dragon, and his nation is composed of outwardly happy-seeming people, yet one does not have to look far under Hermea’s surface to find evidence of trouble and discontent. And Hermea is the only such example at this time. This is not to say that dragons never aid humans — just that, when such aid is given, it is almost always on a personal level. Dragons rarely, if ever, interact with the humanoid society of the Inner Sea region on a large scale other than to oppress or devastate.

This is not the case in Tian Xia. Here, the dragons that inhabit the land are not the reclusive metallics, murderous chromatics, or impartial primals. The dragons of these lands are known as imperial dragons, creatures inexorably tied to the balance of nature and civilization, ancestors and descendants, and heroes and villains. They do not avoid humanity — they embrace it. Indeed, several of Tian Xia’s most common gods may themselves be dragons. But even if these deities simply prefer the draconic form, the point remains the same. In Tian Xia, dragons serve as rulers, as advisors, and as gods. The five imperial families of Minkai were granted the divine right to rule by the goddess Shizuru in her draconic guise. The nation of Quain depends upon the magical aid granted by the powerful Celestial Dragon — aid greatly coveted by its neighbours Lingshen and Po Li. And in Xa Hoi, the people are ruled by a sovereign imperial dragon in human form. For these reasons and more, the lands of Tian Xia have long been known as the Dragon Empires.