United Cities

The United Cities (A.K.A. "The Empire") is a feudalistic slaver society that controls large portions of land across the continent, most notably within the Great Desert and its surrounding regions as well as having a southern enclave encompassing Kenshi's southwestern coastline. Ruled by Emperor Tengu, they are a highly corrupt empire and monetary worth is the prime measure of a person in their culture. So much so, that being poor and hungry can get you arrested. The drug Hashish is illegal, and the samurai guards are obsessed with purging it from their streets to such an extent that even the material used to produce it, Hemp, is also outlawed.

Slavery and serfdom are important pillars of their empire, providing food and material. Anti-slavery ideologies are considered extremist perspectives and treated as a form of terrorism, and it is inferred that they currently engage in a low-intensity warfare with those who hold it. Another pillar is the Traders Guild. The guild brings their cities great wealth and prosperity. They have advanced technologies, higher quality equipment, and valuable luxuries imported from distant lands.

While they have signed a truce with the Shek Kingdom (as a result of Esata coming into power), simmering tensions between The Holy Nationand United Cities have broken out into open conflict in recent decades (although it could be as a result of any of several plausible reasons, the exact one(s) aren't clearly stated), with the settlements in Bast all set ablaze in the midst of the warfare, the once thriving region has now been devastated into a warzone where both powers continuously send reinforcements into the meat grinder vying for an advantage over the enemy (with the neighboring border used as a relatively low-intensity buffer zone). This conflict likely contributed to the polarization of the UC populace, with the loyalists loathing Holy Nation for their atrocities and siding with UC, and the rebels disgruntled with the noble's rule taking the opportunity to revolt.

Though the United Cities is quite diverse, there is also a great deal of racial/species stratification (that said, it's still less prevalent than Shek Kingdom or The Holy Nation, who both have homogeneous racial makeup, and are very/extremely xenophobic, respectively). The nobility is mostly comprised of Humans (with Scorchlanders having a slightly higher prevalance) and Sheks, while Hivers are disproportionately more likely to be peasants. Non-humans in general are derided in UC newspapers and are at risk from being attacked by roaming "vigilante" mobs known as City Heroes (although their acts of violence puts them at odds with the law). Empire Peasants are often found in the Empire's locations and areas.

The Empire is ruled by the Noble Circle, a cabal of extremely narcissistic, cruel, and entitled lords and ladies. They are known for hunting peasants for sport, making outlandish requests to their guards (such as ordering them to train a pet Leviathan), and generally lacking concern for the lives of anyone beneath them.

Samurai are the leading military and police force of the United Cities.

The United Cities does not tolerate Hemp and Hemp-related goods and production facilities. Owning any building such as Biofuel Distillery (Hemp), Hemp Farm, Hemp Processor or a Hydroponic Hemp will result in a Drug Bust raid against the player if this building is discovered by the authorities. It is likewise illegal to possess or import Bloodrum, Hashish or Hemp into the Empire, despite evidence of use and possession of said substances by the Nobles. "Rules for thee, not for me" is very much what the Empire stands on.

Members of this faction can colour armour and clothing due to a colour scheme attached.

Characters[]

The Noble Circle[]

The Noble Circle is the ruling class of the United Cities. The emperor is elected from this group. The Noble Circle includes Emperor Tengu, Lady Sanda, Lady Tsugi, Lord Inaba, Lord Shiro, Lord Nagata, Lord Ohta, Lord Yoshinaga and Lady Merin. Attacking any of these characters will severely harm your relations with this faction. It is also possible to influence the World States by attacking these characters.

The Noble Circle also may include the Nobles of the Traders Guild and the Noble Hunter.

Unique Characters:[]

Leader and Nobles:[]

Generic Characters:[]

Nobles:[]

Noble Hunter

Military Units:[]

(Emperor Tengu's Entourage)[]

(Noble's Bodyguards)[]

(Tengu's Vault Guard)[]

The Vault Warden

(Special Events)[]

Elite Hunter*

(Patrolling Individuals)[]

(Gate Guards)[]

(Police Force)[]

Civilian Units:[]

(Militia)[]

(Civilians)[]

Citizen

(Merchants and Traders)[]

^{*These characters do not spawn naturally. They may only spawn when certain World States are achieved or during Events.}

Generic Characters will spawn as these Races (relative chance):

Lock complexity[]

Cages - 40
Containers - 40
Doors - 30
Lock Randomization - 10

Armour Quality[]

Armours located in shops of this Faction can have these qualities (relative chance):

Prototype (5)
Shoddy (50)
Standard (50)
High (15)
Specialist (1)

Relations[]

FACTION RELATIONS

The factions this faction has special relations towards. For all others, it will use this faction's default (0).
From United Cities	Towards United Cities
Slave Traders (+60) The Holy Nation (-100) Traders Guild (+100)	Anti-Slavers (-100) Bounty Hunters (60) Empire Peasants (100) Free Traders (100) Shek Kingdom (coexistence) Slave Traders (100) The Holy Nation (-100) The Old Empire (-100) Traders Guild (100) Reavers (-100) Crab Raiders (-100) Skeleton Bandits (-100) Skin Bandits (-100) Grass Pirates (-100) Band of Bones (-100)

Machinists and Tech Hunters make use of the United Cities legal system.

Player Relations[]

The reasons for this faction to have a non-zero relation towards you.

If you start as the Son of a Captain character, your father was a former soldier in their army. This makes them very favorable to you.
Turning in common bounties will give a slight increase (+2) in relations.

Alliances

When you reach 50 relations with the United Cities, you are automatically allied with them. By talking to Koin in Heft, players can learn about ways to become allies with the United Cities.

Money Option: "A small matter of paying your way through the ranks." Players can donate c. 20,000 or c. 50,000 in order to gain favour with the United Cities. To become a full fledged ally, a total of 100,000 cats must be donated.

Influence Option: "Control of a strategically impressive outpost will be enough to show your worth to us." If the player controls a level 2 (watchtower icon) or level 3 (town icon) outpost, the player can instead pay only 10,000 cats, and get a +60 relations.

Force Option: They want you to bring Tinfist to the police.

Alliance Perks

Allying the United Cities has certain benefits the player can exploit.

Occasionally, samurai squads will follow a player character in an effort to protect them. They will follow the player character for a number of days before they depart. A player can exploit this to gain an immeasurable amount of loot from bandit parties and wildlife.
You can now settle on United Cities land tax free. Be aware that much of UC land also overlaps with the Trader's Guild, who will also tax the player if they are not allied to them as well.
The Sand Ninjas and Slave Traders will no longer send raids to your base unprovoked.
United Cities patrols will aid the player characters by healing them.
You can now use equipment in their police station.
Nobles won't hunt you for sport.
Guards will no longer demand a bribe.

There are also drawbacks.

Rebel farmers and Anti-Slavers will turn hostile.
- Considering Rebel Farmers are already hostile, and Anti Slavers live on the other side of the continent from Heft, this isn't really a problem.

Locations[]

Zones

United Cities patrols can spawn in Bast, Heng, Stormgap Coast, The Great Desert, and The Hook.

Towns

These towns, outposts, and other locations are controlled by this faction.

Heft (Capital City)

Town Overrides

Depending on World States, these locations can be controlled by this faction.

Bad Teeth