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Khitai

One can march from great deserts to snowbound permafrost and yet remain in the borders of Khitai. Jungles vaster than any save those in the Black Kingdoms contain lotus of every variety.

The title “Jungles of Khitai” is something of a misnomer embraced by outsiders and native Khitans alike. These jungles are in fact kingdoms, fallen or otherwise, under the thumb of the Great Celestial Emperor. The further south one ventures from Khitai proper, the warmer it gets, and temperate land becomes tropical and dense with flora. There may be one extant kingdom beyond this border or a dozen, only the imperial scribes claim to know for sure, and even they haven’t ventured all the way south to where the jungle breaks upon silver beaches and an unnamed sea awaits.

Khitans consider themselves at the apex of culture, philosophy, spirituality, and sorcery, and in many ways this is true. Khitai’s military is unrivaled from her western border to the Vilayet and possibly beyond. Khitan art has gone through more phases and cycles than all the Hyborian nations combined. It is a huge country with outsized ambitions. Even Khitan snakes are larger than their Western counterparts.

Khitan culture is deeply codified under the idea of duty and fealty. Age equals veneration in Khitai. Wisdom comes with age and is never dismissed out of hand. Sorcery is accepted in Khitai where it is rejected elsewhere, though Khitan sorcery relies more on mesmerism than summoning.

The Outer Dark is not the plentiful source of sorcerous power in Khitai as it is elsewhere. Though black magic finds much use in Khitai, alchemy and hypnotism are more common. However, those Khitan sorcerers who do practice the black arts are as puissant as their counterparts west of the Vilayet. It is said the Emperor keeps a court of such wizards at his disposal. Much of Khitan sorcery was learned at the feet of the Yaggites, elephant-headed alien gods who landed upon Earth millennia ago and were worshipped. They taught humankind sorcery, and for that they were betrayed and murdered. It is unknown if any of these being still exist in Khitai, and if so, they are likely so few as to be essentially extinct.

Vast wealth moves through the country as well as into it. Trade is bountiful, but somehow Khitai remains largely unaffected by other cultures.

Lands of the Hyborian Age

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