Xiulan — The Verdant Veil

The largest city in Lin Province is Xiulan, often called The Verdant Veil for the way it seems to blend seamlessly into the surrounding forests and flowering hills. Unlike the towering stone walls and gilded roofs of Tang, Xiulan sprawls organically, its streets winding around groves of ancient trees and alongside serene canals fed by mountain springs.

Elegant wooden structures with sweeping, flower-carved eaves stand amid carefully tended gardens and koi-filled ponds. Bridges draped in wisteria link neighborhoods across water and woodland clearings alike, while lanterns of pale green and soft gold glow like fireflies at night, casting the entire city in an otherworldly light.

Xiulan is renowned as a center of art, philosophy, and refined martial practice. Its bustling markets overflow with fragrant teas, intricate lacquerwork, and enchanted silks said to dance on their own in moonlight. Within the city dwell many masters — calligraphers whose brushstrokes are rumored to capture fortune, woodcarvers who shape living branches into breathtaking forms, and sword sages who teach styles that flow like rivers.

Yet even with its gentle beauty, Xiulan does not lack vigilance. Shrines to forest spirits stand at every gate, and silent watchers patrol the groves, ensuring that the harmony of the city and its ancestral wilds remains unbroken.