Great Forks

Within the midst of the fiercely independent eastern territories, the city named Great Forks lies at the confluence of the Yellow River and the Rolling River. The City of Temples (as it is known to savants) is a place of celebration. Gods of all sorts have shrines and followings here and the festivals thrown for them often span the city in their decadence. Indeed the city is ruled by Three powerful Gods with a council of statesmen beneath them. The average citizen is well-educated, many are literate and are mildly condescending towards outsiders but not unkind. The economy is carried by a form of limited slavery, but even most of the slaves feel lucky to live in such a center of learning and culture.

A little over a decade ago the army of Great Forks was wiped out nearly to a man. What passes for an army now has been woefully untested. Very few veterans are left, and the city's rulers know it. They work very hard to maintain good relations with neighboring kingdoms.

• Dedicates of the Ovanda Sutra: Originating in Great Forks, the Dedicates study the scriptures of the sex goddess Ovanda, who teaches that extreme indulgence is just as spiritually demanding as asceticism. All her monks study the Orgiastic Fugitive Style of martial arts. Her worship has proven popular, given the holy lovemaking techniques her Dedicates share with everyone at the holy brothel-temples established in her name in Nexus, Great Forks and along the Grey River.
• The Blood-Lotus Society: Something half-way between a private arena and an orgy club, the Blood-Lotus Society of Great Forks specializes in finding the most attractive and skilled fighters to duke it out in the club's private facilities. Before the fight, all competitors are feted like gods by those who have bet on them, with the rich and powerful of the city abasing themselves for the chance to dally with them before the fights. Those who win the fights become the darlings of the Society, while the losers are unceremoniously dumped out the servants' entrance. Most of those who come through these doors fight in either the First Pulse or Orgiastic Fugitive styles, and the upper echelons of the Society - the Masters of the Blood-Lotus - are themselves masters of the Orgiastic Fugitive techniques.

Laws Regarding Slaves in Great Forks

• All slaves must be marked with a mark of ownership. Typically, this is done through tattooing or branding within the city, though visitors often visit one of the jewelers just inside the city gates to get a mark stamped on earrings for their slaves. Slaves must wear these marks at all times.
• Slaves must have a manumission price, and they must be kept up to date on that price at all times.
• Slaves may own property.
• Slaves may marry.
• Slaves may only be subjected to certain types of punishment.
• Slaves may not be cut off from their families.
• Slaves may not be coerced into worshipping in any cult, temple or faith.
• Slaves must be given one-half day off from work per week in order to meet any faith requirements they may have; most people in Great Forks simply give their slaves a full day off per week.
• Killing a slave is a civil crime, if perpetrated by a non-owner. An owner may only kill a slave if the slave is guilty of certain crimes; other wise, the owner is required to pay a civil fine, paid by releasing other slaves worth three times the full manumission price of that slave.