Editing Mothfolk (section)

===Decentralization===

Kuraga died at 127, first of the true dynasty of his descendants. He was replaced by his niece, a former priestess named Michika. She ascended at the age of 32, and was highly pious, forgoing the more ornate dressings of the court for a simple silk robe. Under her guidance, the Church of the Flame spread through the colonies, and beacon-temples arose across the domains. However, the armies of the mothkin were inexperienced and thinly spread. Many colonies had to fend for themselves, often with aid from halfling or human neighbors. The Lich Kingdoms of the south spent more concern on their human adversaries, but Michika recalled the bulk of her forces to fend off the hordes of undead and corrupted from Tanjian. Around this time, a colony of mothkin under the leadership of an apostate named Anenzi trekked into the deserts beyond the Benayan, founding what would later become the Farapidaans. That is a story for another time.

Now, as the armies left the disparate colonies, they raised militias of their own, the Zaibuto. They held a power equal to, or even above, the priesthood in decentralized regions, and their magecraft and alchemy kept their respective towns safe.

The uniting around religion and the relative autonomy of the Zaibuto led to the decline in authority of the Daimyo, whose power would wax and wane over the next several centuries in accordance with the power of the Zaibuto. But because the Daimyo was always allied with the priesthood, the power of the Zaibuto was directly related to the authority the Daimyo wielded.