Setting Info.

You are a monk in the fractured, post-apocalyptic California who recently finished his training at Sa'Migel Arcangel, near the center of the empire. Once a glorious beacon of enlightenment in an unenlightened world, California has fallen to division and sectarianism, and the emperor sits trapped in the holy city of Sacremento, while the Imperial Protectors of the Five Provinces openly war against each other, paying lip-service to Elton IV Yudkow, the living Guru while blithely ignoring his edicts and commands.

You are a follower of the Way of the Cowl, a Cetic sect that promotes secrecy and pragmatism, and favors L'Ron Hubbard as the Paramount Guru. You were chosen by the administration of your monastery to spread the Enlightened Faith to the near mythical Filipines, across the Infinite Pacific Ocean. You grew up in the desert wastes of the mojave, and remember well when false honor and inaction cost the lives of many of your neighbors and the abduction of your sister by foul worshippers of the Atom.

Languages:
Classical Inglish (Literate)
Classical Espanyol (Literate)
Angeleno Spanglish (Native)
Valley Spanglish (Accented)
Fransiscan Spanglish (Accented)
Bajanese (Broken)
Jeffersonian (Broken)
Arixian Spanglish (Broken)

Possessions:
Blue Coweled Formal Robe
Grey Travel Robe
14 Imperial Dolares
A Small Dagger
Provisions for your trip to Monterey

Followers:
Shwaig, A Franciscan follower of the dove. Skilled in healing and diplomacy with peasants. Openly hostile to nobles and the rich. Vegan and Pacifist Zealot. Brings Herbs and Vegetables for the trip, but hardly and money.
Djamez, A Vallejan follower of the fist. Well armed, and a master of the martial arts. Good natured, but a bit oblivious at times. Studious, but Forgetful. Brings a Naginata, throwing axe/hatchet, dagger, 12 Valleyan Dolares, and Jerky. Obstains from all intoxicants.


Setting Info:

The Five Provinces:

1. The Valley: The Valley was the first province of the Empire. Elton, the first emperor, was originally a poor cobbler in the city of Fresno, until he received visions from the Gurus of the Infinite, and deposed the despot of the city and threw him off the Pacific Tower. The people of the Valley (Vallejans) are poor and uneducated, but unmatched in their devotion to Ceticism. They tend to prefer the Way of the Fist. They have quick tempers and love a good fight.
2. Socal: The people of Socal (Angelenos) are known for their business sense, and extreme income inequality. The lords of Socal are the richest and grandest in the empire, and their serfs are among the most miserable. The merchant families of Orange and Los Angeles collectively own the grandest Navy in Califonia. They prefer the Way of the Cowl.
3. Gran Francisco. The San Francisco Bay holds the collected knowledge of the entire old worlds at its universities of Berkeli and Stanford, or so it seems. the Bayfolk (or Fransiscan, as the inhabitants of the city insist on being called) men claim ancestry of every corner of the earth, and the works of every guru as their heritage. They favor the Way of the Book.
4. Baja California: Second to the last of the provinces to join the empire, Baja is constantly on the defensive against the Mexican kingdoms of Sonora and Colima, and constantly having to put down rebellions from their wealthy middle class, consisting mostly of Chino Sagrados, who follow corrupted versions of teachings of the Guru Haysuskristos and his apocryphal saint that they claimed followed him as well. Baja is a hotbed of religious turmoil, and as such, favors no particular sect, as long as they support Ceticism against the Sagrados.
5. Jefferson: The Jeffersonains were the last province to fall fully under the authority of the emperor, due to the efforts of Elton II to push the Gaian Savages out of California. They are proud of their relative independence and outdoorsmanship. They favor the Way of the Dove.

Religions:
Ceticism: The one true way, the path of all the masters, and the state philosophy/religion of the Californias. It is a mixture of Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Scientologist, Baha'i, and Muslim teachings, with a strong layer of Confucian and Taoist philosophy on top of that. It believes in a supreme force that permeates the universe, and sends its teachings to mankind through a series of "Gurus" or teachers, who include (but are not limited to) Haysuskristos, Moamed, Nanak, Elron Hubbard, the First Emperor, Buda, and Kongzi.

Mormonism: Followers of the False Guru Djosef Smith, they live mostly to the east of the Nevada Wastes. They marry many wives, and reject most of the gurus. They often send missionaries in pairs into California, where they are usually tolerated but frowned upon.

Atomicism: Worshipers of The Fat Man and The Little Boy, and the foul demon "Atom" who is so small he can sneak into the strongest body and corrupt it with his poison of "Radiation". Atomicists subject their children to the profane stones this demon left behind, in hopes that they will gain his power. More often than not, this causes them to die slowly of consumption and cancer. Atomicists live in Arixo and Sonora, to the east and southeast.

Sagrado Corazon: the followers of the Sacred Heart of Christ, more commonly known as the "Cult of Saints" are a Catholic offshoot that holds most of Mexico under it's sway. They follow the Guru Haysuskrisos but in an unacceptable way that considers him the same as the creator, and also reveres his mother as the Queen of the Universe. They are devoted to individual followers or saints of Haysuskristos, From the benevolent Papa Fransisco and chivalrous El Santo to the sinister Santa Muerte and murderous Cortez.

Gaians: Worshippers of nature to the north, the believe that females have a closer connection to the Universal Force and "Mother Gaia". Their infiltration of Cetic monasteries led to the exclusion of women from the ranks of the clergy.

Shinto: The faith of the wealthy Nihongo merchants, who come from across the endless sea, little is known about it, except that it practices ancestor worship. The Emperor has called it "A pure way that only needs it's own guru".