World premise
A playable world seed with consequences.
As the Jiedushi of Lingnan in 756, you stand at the edge of a fracturing world. While the An Lushan Rebellion incinerates the northern capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang, the southern heat of Guangzhou offers a different kind of peril. You govern a humid, volatile port where the smell of expensive frankincense mingles with the stench of the Pearl River mud. Your opening weeks are defined by the struggle to maintain Imperial dignity while the central treasury's reach fails. Survival here means balancing the demands of a desperate, distant Emperor against the local power of maritime merchant-kings and the restless indigenous tribes of the subtropical interior.
Rising hardship is tightening daily margins across the Guangzhou markets as northern silk exports fail to arrive.
Local survival pressures are forcing the Governor to choose between sending tribute to a failing court or feeding the local garrisons.
Authority, rumor, and household expectation are shifting as the 'Miasma' season approaches, threatening the health of the administrative staff.
Most openings for wealth or influence depend on the Shibo-shi dhows, timing the tides, and the favor of the maritime merchant syndicates.