The Empire of Vuo Ra

The largest remaining nation on the surface of Koru, the empire of Vuo Ra spans most of Ti Nga. Gi Vong, its capital city, rivals Ede'an as it was when Skyfire occurred. Boa Eng Dim, the human Emperor, serves as the face of the aristocracy, but it is rumored that he is merely a figurehead, and the council of scale, an advisory group of five dragons, has the true power. The empire was at its height when the Year of Dark Sun hit and was strong enough to weather its effects through effective societal control by the imperial bureaucracy. Three hundred years later, however, the empire is in dire straights.   The council of scale is currently undergoing a power struggle with different members pulling the strings of different nobles. The division has led to civil instability in the empire reducing its ability to govern itself or control incursions from the Otherworld. Many regions have become increasingly autonomous and many are bankrupt. The unsuccessful Guo Sa Tri uprising, a recent peasant rebellion, left large swaths of farmland fallow and many villages burnt to ashes. Displaced people have set up squatter camps in and around the stable cities, and banditry has become common as the destitute attempt to eke out a living in the increasingly lawless regions of the empire. The emperor is old, and it is rumored that he may abdicate in favor of his youngest daughter, princess Boa Niu Fei.   The empire is multi-ethnic and multi-racial, having absorbed many other peoples into its bureaucratic hierarchy. The ruling dynasty is human, however, hailing from the Vuo ethnic group. Vo Len is the patron goddess of the Empire.   The empire uses copper coins called Roa.   Vuo is the primary language in the empire. It is written in the Neruan characters (spread to the Vuo from the Divine Archipelago).