What's the culture like on the eastern side? Are Ai and Shah Alam trade partners or anything like that? Do they share traditions?

Great Qs. Shah Alam (which I need to rename as it has some orientalist connotations) originated when the Empire of Rama was much larger, and became a place for refugees, dissidents, and various people-groups persecuted by the Empire. Partly as a result of a concerted campaign on their own part, 1/

and partly as a result of Orwellian imperial propaganda denying its existence, it eventually became regarded by outsiders as a myth, or at least as a formerly existing place that vanished long ago. (It's based loosely on real-world "Zomia," a contentious historical term for parts of 2/

SE Asia that have historically been difficult to govern.) Ai is much older, and similarly has mostly managed to exist outside direct imperial influence. The two tend to stick together culturally and economically as the southern portion of Ambina has been pretty thoroughly colonized. 3/

The eastern portion of the continent is v diverse, with a lot less of the interspecies tensions seen between Rama and Raylia. It's also the only part of the world whereWaterbearers (my version of tortles) are common, who carry a lot of culture across the sea to and from the southern continent. 4/4