Kemono Islands

The Kemono Islands are an archipelago located northeast of Ashenland, largely obscure to Ashenland because of it's way of life.

Overview
The Kemono islands are in large part a monarchy made up of 9 different families, each attributing their nature to a different family of animals. Of the three islands, each is dominated by one of the race's three subspecies- Terrestrial, Aquatic, and Aerial. Three families rule over each island, and each family is led by a wisened and learned priestess which represents the rest of their family.

The 9 families keep knowledge of the arcane strictly obscure- Most common people don't even know that it exists, outside of what the nobles of the land show them.

The only ones with access to it are the 9 families and their branches of noblemen and nobleladies, supposedly by divine providence. The common people have advanced themselves technologically to make up for this lack of arcane power. Strict information control and harsh laws help to keep everything and everyone in these islands in order.

Geography
The Kemono archipelago has 3 main islands, being them named Seijitsu, Zhuānyè, and Jumun, they're considered the provinces of this country. Besides several small islands who count as small cities.

Zhuānyè
Zhuānyè means discipline. It is the main island, the biggest of them, the majority of the population is made of terrestrial kemonos, although many avian and aquatic kemonos can also be seen there. Zhuānyè has most of the population and it has a strong impact in the economic power of the entire country. Most of the goods consumed by the entirety of the population are made in here. Its main city is Dōngjīng, where the three palaces show where the priestess live. Each has its own set of temples, towers, residences, galleries, courtyards, gardens, and outbuildings. In the middle of the city, there is the highest of the temples, dedicated total and entirely to Inna, the goddess of moon and law. The priestesses in charge of this island are Jing Huang, Syaoran Mei, and Yuting Sui.

Seijitsu
Seijutsu means law. It's the second biggest island, and the most technologically advanced one, the majority of the population is of aquatic kemonos, followed by their avian counterparts. Most new advents come from here, there's a noble order of artificers widely known, any nobleman from any island can become a part of the order if shown enough talent and determination. Magic is a bigger taboo in this island than any other, most public performances of arcane mastery are said to be technological tricks. The main city here is Tsuki, where the 3 main castles (Shiro) stay, they're home to the families of three main priestesses, being them named: Amane Rigo, Pak Hae-Ju, and Shakaku Rise.

Jumun
Jumun means order. It's the smallest of them all but it's still considered big. Jumun is the cultural and military center, which is why it's commonly the main place for the new year festivals, although each island makes their own festival. The capital is known as Seon-Yul and it has the largest and most intricately built of all the temples. They're artists and most of the magic users tend to prefer illusions and conjurations. The three palaces belong to Lee Dal-Nim, Mihiro Chidori, and Mo Daiyu.

Priestess and Noble Families
Status and social class plays an important role in how is your life in the Kemono islands. The priestess families are known and are rather antique, some of them dating back to the beginning of the country when only the Zhuānyè island was actually populated. Just like everything else related to religion, everything results in 9. It's not too common to see the priestess walking in the streets but sometimes they appear. Usually, if they're appearing to the public, they're in their dark blue, ceremonial clothing. The 9 priestess and their families will be listed here, in order of economic and political power.

The Golden Rooster
The Jing family is the oldest and most powerful of all priestesses' families. Their priestess now is Huang, a young adult, about 150 years old. Huang is kind and altruistic and is a wonderful healer, often going around in the cities nearby and helping citizens. Even being good she still suffers a little prejudice for being an aerial kemono in a terrestrial kemono island. She's married and has one son.

The Red Fox
The Shakaku family is a family of many branches, some of them lost their name like the Sasahi and the Akane families, they're considered lesser nobles. Surprisingly, the woman chosen for the priesthood was Rise, an egoistic and harsh woman of undeniable beauty. She rules with an iron fist and is often arguing with Hae-Ju about what should be done. She seems to be good friends with Rigo and they tend to help each other to convince or overcome Hae-Ju's opinion. She's about 275 years old, and although she has a daughter and two nieces none is being trained for priestery.

The Dumbo Octopus
The Lee family is almost as old as the Jing family, it rose up when the Jumun island was being populated. Dal-Nim, their priestess, is the main priestess in this island and is as amicable as can be. She has one daughter (Min, 11 years old) and is a widow. She teaches her daughter to be a priestess as compassionate as she is. You can often find her in the temple with her daughter. She says she won't marry again.

The Gray Wolf
The Syaoran is a family of mostly men, it seems that each generation has 3 times as much males than females. Once every 3-5 generations, they choose one of the toddler girls to be the next priestess and that is the one who's trained. The priestesses from the Syaoran family usually devote their entire lives to the priesthood, another priestess only rises when the previous one dies. Their priestess now is the young Mei, 68 years old. Although her family has status, she's still considered a priestess in training for the other priestess due to her age and inexperience.

The Violet Crow
The Mihiro family is known for their cleverness, they are the strategical part of the army, a fundamental role. They're one of the two families that choose priestesses based on their potential rather than birthrights, for this they have a slightly bad reputation. Chidori, 213 years-old, is the one in charge, for now, her companionability and intelligence are remarkable, being extremely precise in her calculations and quick to think she's the one in charge of the majority of the army. She was never married and she has the help of the son of her older brother and the two sons of her cousin to command the army, all of them are paladins and generals. They say she's a very demanding and perfectionist leader, having soldier train until reaching perfection. The Mihiro family also is the owner of the homonym school of archery.

The Masked Owl
The Mo family, just like the Mihiro family, is known for being smart, they're the ones responsible for the order of artificers, the Tekisa. They're the second family who has a kind of test for small girls become possible priestesses. Daiyu, 252 years-old, is known for her persuasion and determination. Learning quickly and being an avid reader she seems to enjoy spending time in the artificer order more than in any temple. She's always seeking technological advances in warfare and visits Chidori often, she makes the weapons and Chidori finds out the best way of using them. She's a single daughter and is married to Katsuo, Chidori's older brother, which makes people wonder if when her daughter becomes the next priestess will she be considered a Mo or a Mihiro.

The Blue Dragon
Also known as The Blue Sea Slug, Pak is a small and not so popular family but, nonetheless, it's a priestess' family. They, like most other families, wait for Inna to bless a given child to train her for the priesthood. Hae-Ju is a young woman, have just completed her 188th birthday. She's cheerful and calm and seems to be the most devoted of all priestesses. She's often seen in the temple and has two sons, Yoosung (25) and Jumin(17), she has about 30 years of priestery and it the most inexperient one, being treated like Syaoran due to this. Both her children are part of the Tekisa.

The Bloody Jelly
The Amane family is an old and traditional family, even if not holding that much power in itself. Their priestess is Rigo (324), a blind sorceress who's focused on divination magic, she's known for using magic blindsense at all times. The Amane family seems to be tied to almost every important family, and is one of the few families that always get politically advantageous marriages for the new generations when they're still super young, they seem to think that a child is much more adult than they look like and more often than not starts training their kids pretty early, around age 8. Rigo has two male sons and is married to a second branch Syaoran, her oldest granddaughter, Aino (19), is the one being trained for priestery.

The Cashmere Lop
Yuting is another small and unpopular family, they have a couple of farms but nothing to be acknowledged for. Their priestess, Sui (267), is a small and shy woman from the secondary branch, all her cousins and siblings are male. She's usually always fretting around trying to keep Huang and Mei from fighting each other, she's very kind and altruistic. She is not married, and says she has no intention of doing so, therefore the next priestess might be her niece.

The Revolution
The Rebellion is a movement to oust the 9 families from power and give freedom to the people. Their end goal is to spread knowledge of the secrets that said families have been hiding, and to expose the corruption that supposedly exists within those same families. The rebellion has been secretly supported by the Sasahi family, and is championed by a hero that leads them through the battle against the priestesses. The heroes position is passed down whenever the previous hero falls, along with his title.

Followers of the rebellion prefer to follow Inna's sister Katrina, the goddess of storms, the sea, and chaos.