Folk of Historica, the Crownlands and the Guilds, allow me to introduce you to an ancient and haunted new land, the Ghost Islands of Yureishima. Yureishima is a cluster of four major islands surrounded by smaller (mostly) uninhabited isles. It is a land dominated by humans, but also filled with creatures, spirits, demons, and inhuman races almost beyond description. It is an ancient land where every rock and tree is alive, both with meaning and with the local spirits and gods that the folk of Yureishima recognize. Because the empire that has long ruled the islands has had a policy of hostility to foreign visitation, no trade or diplomacy has ever been established between Historica and Yureishima. However, times are changing and the Empire is in disarray. The Imperial Family has fallen and the cohesion of the realm has drifted into civil wars, clan feuds, and power struggles between their feudal lords, which they call "daimyo". It is possible that soon, commerce and diplomacy will be possible with the Ghost Islands, leading to a great potential for adventure, fortunes, and knowledge. Though dominated by humans, the Empire is also home to nonhuman peoples broadly referred to as "yokai". Depending on context, yokai can refer to evil demons or benevolent demigods. The yokai are not collectively organized into a political body, kingdom or otherwise, and instead live within or at the edges of human civilization. The more numerous and humanlike yokai can be exceptions, such as the oni who are orc-like in appearance and dwarf-like in industry. Other yokai are difficult to categorize, especially since many of them are said to be shapechangers and tricksters, possessing supernatural powers and mercurial, alien personalities and motivations. Whether this is true or whether these "yokai" are mortal creatures we might find familiar remains to be seen. Here is some information gathered by the few Historicans who have manages to reach Yureishima and return alive:

t Builder's Note: These pictures are MUCH bigger and clearer on Flickr. Please check them out there if you want to get a little more detail. I was worried about posting overly large photos here...

Group Shot: groupmastershot2 by mccoyed, on Flickr