Xiansai

Xiansai (pronounced "shyan-sai"), otherwise known as the Great Isle, is an island in Sanctuary's northern hemisphere&mdash;west of the Frozen Sea and north-west of Scosglen. It is the home of the Xian.

Lore
"The people of Xiansai worship fifty-nine gods, but few are more revered than Zei, the exiled trickster god who travels the face of the world, disguised as a humble merchant. Tales of his adventures range from ingenious thefts and practical jokes to more... lurid exploits, none of which I am comfortable recording here."

- Abd al-Hazir

Xiansai is Sanctuary's northernmost nation. Its mountain ranges are littered with arcane repositories and an untold number of magical artifacts, leading some to suggest that Xiansai's people have practiced magic for millennia.

Arts practicioned in Xiansai include the legal making of poisons. The island has a rich fishing industry.

Mages from the Yshari Sanctum visit Xiansai every few years in search of prodigies that they can train in their specific vocations. The Xian who return to their homeland as full-fledged mages are highly sought after by the Great Families to fill the ranks of their personal armies.

History
The time before Xiansai's unification is referred to as a time of legends. The Mage Woh and his companions herald from this age.

Xiansai was ruled by kings in antiquity. Reference has been made to emperors within Xian history.

Xiansai distanced itself from the Sin War, Mage Clan Wars, and other notable conflicts that plagued Sanctuary. However, the island has seen its share of civil strife. Many of its internal wars originated from the political maneuverings of the Great Families.

Diablo II
Xiansai technically appears in the world map in the manual for Diablo II, but is unnamed.

Diablo III
The Wizard class and Covetous Shen hail from Xiansai.

Landforms

 * Guozhi Mountain Range
 * Heron River Valley

Towns

 * Xiansai (capital city)
 * Zhou

Trivia

 * The name Xiansai seems to come from the nomenclature system of Chinese cities. In China, "Xi'an", assuming there are two syllables, is a capital city which means "Peace in the West". The pronunciation of the word "Xi'an" in Mandarin Chinese, written as "西安", sounds like "see-anh" in English. However logically, "Xian" ought to be shown as only one syllable and should be pronounced like "see-ann" in English. Quite possibly, the syllable "Xian" refers to the Chinese Character "仙", which means an immortal or being mysterious if it is an adjective. The syllable "sai" means fortress, written as "塞" as a noun. Therefore, the word "Xiansai" means "The Fortress of the Immortals" or "The Mysterious Fortress".


 * "Xiansai" is perhaps an anagram of the word "Asian" plus the letters "x" and an additional letter "i"; this is not related in Kingdom Hearts which has Organization XIII to have anagram with letters x added.