An excerpt from The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia, volume II:
The region of the Empyrean mountains near Aksu has a long history of ironworking, due to the abundant presence of the black-ore iron that has been continuously mined there for over three millennia.
An excerpt from a letter found in Miran cache #25:
To the kala Kunala of pleasant aspect, the vasu Lyimsu sends good health, much, infinite, and thus I write.
I am most disturbed by the reports from my agents in Lop Nur to learn that the Horse Nomads, not content with their successes in Anxi, have now descended upon the caravan roads of Lop Nur and Niya, and prey like wolves of the desert on any caravan that dares travel under the protection of the Green Banner army. In the markets and the streets I have heard many tell that these nomads have called upon their brethren, an uncountable horde of inexhaustible horse riders, and they mean to defy the might of the Middle Kingdom itself.
If these reports be true, what steps are you taking to safeguard your caravans? Will you still travel under the protection of the Green Banners? What offense has the general of the Middle Kingdom committed that angers them so? Are the rumors that he has taken the daughter of a nomadic warlord as concubine true?
Write to me soon with news of this conflict.
Transcribed according to the dictation of the vasu Lyimsu by the scribe Nabylah
The folklore of the season of Withering is characterized by a preoccupation with endings. This year lives up to that: the end of the harvest and the end of peace came hand-in-hand.
Who knows what troubles await the Oasis Kingdoms now?
This ends Cycle 4 and begins Cycle 5…
Catalog item #34: painting on silk, depicting the legendary Queen Fadya, enthroned and surrounded by the four symbols of the Kusinne paths.
Catalog item #31: painting on silk, depicting the raising of a memorial obelisk on a royal tomb.
From a sign at the exhibit:
“The next significant outpouring of Oasis culture is that associated with the post-Fadya period, also referred to as the Oasis Mourning Culture, because of the way many of the early works of this movement are related to the reign and death of the legendary Queen Fadya.”
From the Annals of the Oasis Kingdoms:
In the 115th year, the son and heir of the King of Niya was leading a patrol along the oasis trade roads when he was killed in a dispute with soldiers of the Green Banner Army. In retaliation for the loss of his son’s head, King Badal Parsu decreed that fifty of the soldiers of the Green Banner Army should lose their heads also, displayed above the main gate of Niya. This decree was carried out.
An excerpt from Ban Zhao’s Histories of the Western Hinterlands:
At that season, the laborers of Jushi staged an uprising, refusing to work because of the lack of water. The dry wells and the dry fields caused much strife there.
Truly, the mismanagement of these hinterland kingdoms knows no end! Rejoice that you live in peaceful civilization.
An excerpt from a letter by a noblewoman of Aksu:
The mutual respect shown at the funeral of our late, beloved Queen Fadya has greatly healed the tensions between those who practice Symness and those who follow the fourfold paths of Kusinne. There is a new unity here, as all see each other as sisters of Kucina, equally beloved by our new Queen. Many who would not have spoken previously now greet each other courteously, and the agents of the monarchy are treated with deference. Why, just today, my neighbor invited me to the gathering she held to display her newly acquired Zulaji tiles, and there was much gossip between those who were enemies in former times. I heard many rumors of a treasure hidden in an ancient temple somewhere in Kucina.
An extract from a history of the royal family of Kucha, referring to the raising of the memorial obelisk above the tomb of Queen Fadya of Kucha:
The whole town was adorned by colorful lanterns, banners and garlands of flowers. There were people everywhere and the scents of the petals rivaled those of the cooking fires. But more importantly, there was music and dancing in every street and works of art of all kinds. Finely sculpted statues and pillars were set up in the squares, ornate pottery was displayed around the public fountains, and exquisite paintings on silks and tiles and wooden boards were hung on every the wall. The mood of the city was unlike anything I have felt before. There was a spirit of shared wonder and elation, of celebration and camaraderie, even though the city was filled with people of all the Oasis Kingdoms and beyond. For a whole week, we seemed to live in a dream world. People were talking to strangers in the streets as if they were brothers, inviting them to their tables or to share in the smoking of the exotic weeds that they had brought with them. And so many discussion were about art and spirituality and the deeper meanings of life.
8th Thermidor, 1836: Hieronymus writes to me of the results of his excavations near Chayi. He has uncovered a system of dams and sluice gates that he suggests dates to the early periods of its habitation.
Catalog Item #241: Zulaij tile. Its craftsmanship indicates its origin in Kucha, characteristic of the ceramics of that place.
Catalog Item #262: Tableware, Kucha manufacture. The unique ceramic style is instantly identifiable.