Hiyokudo

Hiyokudo is a city in the Kingdom of Adavia. In the religion of Souerism, it is designated the holy city of the goddess Raya.

Lore
Over 1,400 years ago, a cinder cone volcano stood in Hiyokudo's place. At some point, an eruption caused the top half of it to be blown off, covering the surrounding area in molten ash. However, with time the land recovered and became extremely fertile due to the volcanic soil.

Hundreds of years later, the area was settled by an order of monks dedicated to the earth deity Raya, who is associated with volcanoes and farming, and is usually represented by a fox. The monks believed the dormant volcano was a sacred place representing nature's capacity for both life and death, and they built a temple in honor of Raya on top of it.Among the monks, who believed in the natural cycle of life and death, there was a splinter group known as the Kazan Sect who took this ideology to the extreme, wanting to forcibly bring about the "rebirth" of Rathnir by manipulating plate tectonics through some unknown method, literally splitting open the continents and flooding the world with lava.

After a schism within the monastery, the Kazan Sect and the Monks of Raya engaged in a battle that killed many on both sides, before the remaining Kazan Sect fled the area without a trace. The remaining Monks split up to search for them. It is unknown where the Kazan Sect escaped to, but some speculate they may have gone to Eldham.

Left abandoned, the temple was rediscovered and re-settled by an extraterrestrial archaeologist named Byro Kaeru, who started building a town around it. This town was eventually recognized by Hinokuko's government and Byro was granted lordship.

In-Game History
Player Byroglyph (also known as Cosmic_Hex) wanted to join the city of Hichi, the capital of the now-defunct Hinokuko Imperium, but after the city was griefed and looted, he decided it would be better to find a place to build his own settlement instead. In May 2021 he founded the settlement of Hiyokudo, a name he decided on after trying out several others, which means "fertile soil" in Japanese.

Though Byroglyph managed to acquire a citizen or two, the fall of Hinokuko shortly after Hiyokudo's founding made the town's already scant population stagnate for several months. It wasn't until the formation of Adavia that Hiyokudo began to see a significant increase in population.

In the early days Adavia's history, the land was plagued by constant bandit attacks, two of which occured inside Hiyokudo. At the time of the first attack, Hiyokudo was the least-defended city in Adavia, which lead to the construction of its signature white concrete walls. The second attack occured when a bandit entered through a small, unnoticed breach in the wall during a large tour, then proceeded to kill many members of the tour group.

Although Adavia no longer has a bandit problem, Hiyokudo's defenses stand as a reminder of that era, and it is now perhaps the most difficult city to infiltrate in Adavia.

Government
Like the other cities in Adavia, Hiyokudo has elected officials known as Archivates who govern the city and represent the city's citizens on the Adavian council. Hiyokudo currently has two Archivates, Byroglyph and Salman.

Culture and Religion
Hiyokudo has a culture and build style based on medieval Japan, with some Nepalese influences as well. Despite being centered around an ancient temple, Hiyokudo is a secular town. The temple of Raya stands more as a historical artifact than a place of worship. However, those who truly believe in Raya are free to worship if they choose.

Geography
Hiyokudo is located in a hilly birch forest. A dark oak forest lies to the north, a swamp to the east, plains to the west, and eventually, the Rough Sea to the south.