P'o-shan
P'o-shan (Pinyin: Poshan) is a village in Yan.
Background
Lying beneath the feet of Mount P'o, P'o-shan was an ordinary village that really existed in Yan long time ago with no more than a hundred households living there. However, a Catastrophe hit the settlement and polluted the underground water with Originium, causing it to be no longer inhabitable. Although the villagers tried to seek help from a nearby town, there was no Catastrophe Messenger there and those who went there suddenly went missing. In the end, the villagers gradually abandoned P'o-shan and started an aimless journey to other settlements.[1]
Out of a request from Dawn, who was also a member of the P'o-shan community, upon her deathbed, Dusk recreated P'o-shan in her painted world according to Dawn's memory. Additionally, the village will no longer suffer from Catastrophes or Originium. It is in this paradise that Dawn lives her new life as a shopkeeper in a pawnshop.[2]
Despite the peace in the painted world, P'o-shan often suffers from the invasion of "Ink Spirits," a term for the ink apparitions created by Dusk with her brush. These strange looking creatures could devour humans, but upon being attack, they will turn back to a pool of ink. Ever New Year's Eve, which they call "Dusk Ridding," the villagers will rush to the other side of the village and hide from them for three to five days.[3] Dawn believed that the Ink Spirit represents Dusk's emotion.[4]
The village has two landscapes which serves as its natural border:
- Mount Hung-tung (鸿洞山; Pinyin: Hongdong): the mountain where the Ink Spirits come from. It is on the westernmost border of the village.
- Tung-shêng River (东升河; Pinyin: Dongsheng): a huge river that marks the village's easternmost border.
If one tries to walk away from these borders, they will somehow return back to the village, as if one walks on a Möbius strip and comes back to the starting point.[5]
There is a strange phenomenon in P'o-shan. The sun and the moon never sets in P'o-shan, to a point that there is a confusing idea concerning day and night. To them, the place where the sun locates is day and vice versa.[3] Also, when P'o-shan is uttered destroyed by the Ink Spirits, everyone will fall asleep and the village will be rebuilt in the blink of an eye, as if it is actually "reset." Except for Dawn, everyone in the village will lose the painful memory and start a whole new day.[5]
In addition to these, Dusk also added a new origin story to P'o-shan. According to the Hermit, P'o-shan was founded when a rich merchant settled here after a fire consumed his previous mansion seventy years ago. Miraculously, the merchant discovered a painting scroll which remained unharmed in the burnt ruin. Being in awe with the painting's scenery, he send out his servants to search for the place where it was painted as well as evaluating its feng shui. After he settled down, more and more people, who were mainly scholars and hermits, began to flood the new village, making it how it looks like today.[3]
In order to get out of P'o-shan, one must require the consent of Dusk or they will be trapped forever. However, there are individuals who could get out of it by themselves such as a strong will through meditation (Saga) or a strong sense of one's surrounding environment through Arts (Shen Lou who could feel the different temperature of raindrops).
Notable inhabitants
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- Ah Jan (Pinyin: Ran): A little girl in P'o-shan who was rescued by Mr. Nothing during the invasion of the Ink Spirits. Her father ran away and her mother went missing. However when everything was reset by Dusk, she was reunited with her family without knowing what happened yesterday.
- The "Umbrella-Boiling Hermit" (Hermit Shanzhu in the original Chinese text): Called "the Storyteller" in-game, this middle-aged man resembling Lu Xun is the most respected person in the village. He lives in a mansion where he spends his time diving inside his library or telling many stories and legends to other villagers. However, his true identity is Dusk's avatar to supervise the painted world.
Gallery
The alleys of P'o-shan
The road that leads to P'o-shan's gates
The interior of Dawn's pawnshop
Etymology
Poshan simply means "Grandmother's Mountain" in Chinese.
Trivia
- P'o-shan's scenery is in traditional Chinese ink painting style and the building architectures resemble those of Xitang, Zhejiang Province.
- P'o-shan is similar to the Painted Worlds of Ariamis and Ariandel in the Dark Souls series; a parallel dimension inside a painting.