South Pole Cradle

undifferentiated point to cultural

2 cultural point to centralization:
Andikan was the Tantanari warchief of the community in the Happataran city-state of Xosa who de facto seized control of the city and then initiated the series of events that would begin the war of the Silted Shores. He would then use the war and the prestige he gained from participating in it to permanently seize the reigns of power and found a dynasty that would rule Xosa. Due to its importance and size, the city state has long been an important part of political affairs in the region, and the rulers of Xosa are trying to build on their city's wealth and power and their dynastic prestige to style themselves as the kings of the Tantanari on the eastern shores.

2 cultural points to complete quest:
Due to Xosa's growing prominence and sway as well as its dynasty's active efforts to improve its prestige, it's version of Nariyaga begins to gain prominence

1 military point
The Tantanari continue their momentum, launching attacks on left bank settlements in Tantara
 
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Wiet-yrisi Syrisil Faith


Ideology:
Shamanistic, the faith is based on veneration of the spirits that inhabit regions or landmarks. An island or mountain, volcano, or lake might all have a spirit associated with them. ‘Witches’ intervene on behalf of mortals to seek their blessings and avoid their wrath.

Symbols and Associated Imagery:
unknown.png
· the moon
· pearls
· the sea
· tides and currents
· dreams
· threads, embroidery, and light, spider-silk scarves
· footprints

Organization:
Matriarchal, the priestesses of the faith are commonly known as ‘witches’ and their groupings as ‘covens’. The witches guard their faith and their secrets closely, meeting in isolated and out of the way places of natural beauty (and never in villages or inhabited areas). Here they teach their selected apprentices and write to one-another using a system of secret knot-based writings to spread their teachings without others learning their secrets. While a witch's embroidered spider-silk scarf may appear as a beautiful ephemeral accessory to others, to them it is a treasure-trove of knowledge, history, and personal stories.
Despite the secrecy of their teachings, the witches serve the people. Their primary duty is to intercede with the spirits of an area on behalf of men and women. Witches travel to the spirits’ dream realm by preparing potions from hallucinogenic plants and communicate directly with spirits. Otherwise witches, often operating with lay-people offer sacrifices of trade goods, food, livestock, or very rarely, blood. They also serve in more material ways, being the primary medicine-women and midwives of the tribes, acting as a repository of history, teaching others about nature and plants, and generally acting as ‘medicine women’, guides, and healers.

The Moon and Sea
The faithful believe that the most potent of the great spirits resides in the moon and that she in particular guides the faithful and mankind, bringing them dreams and through her command of the sea and tides, food and treasure.

Pilgrimages:
Because spirits are tied to particular regions or landmarks, pilgrimages to the various sites and especially to unique ‘holy sites’ is very important to the Wiet-yrisi Syrisil faith. The faithful believe that visiting these sites and making a sacrifice can bring the blessings of the local spirit upon them and particularly faithful practitioners will travel to many sites during their lives to gather greater blessings.
Witches use the pilgrims as messengers, sending scarves from one coven to another through these religious wanderers and in this way maintaining tight bonds with even distant covens.
Well-known holy sites include the gently bubbling mudbaths of Es'el-jat where the spirit of the realm is known to heal those who offer fruit and bath in the soothing ooze. The place of the cinder rain, Ash-han-aut, is inhabited by the spirit of the fire mountain who is known to accept sacrifices of burnt incense and sweet-smelling flowers and answer prayers of anger or violence. The mushroom forests of Cysid-is-syv is known to be a place where the spirit of the realm will help dream-walkers brew particularly potent potions and guide dreamers to insight and wisdom.
While natural areas may have spirits associated with them, the lands of men (and women) are usually avoided by the spirits as the faithful believe mortals smell bad to spirits.

Associated Quest:
Tapestry of the Moon and Sea
Description:
This represents the great pilgrimages made by the faithful as they cross and cross and cross and cross again the lands of the Wiet-yrisi Syrisil and even the lands of their neighbors to visit the great holy sites and offer sacrifices to the spirits who inhabit them. Most of these pilgrimages are made by boat but some, especially inland are by foot, hence the footprint being a holy symbol of the faith.
Quest Effects:
Increased comity (due to sharing of culture)
Increased intellectualism (due to sharing of ideas)
Increased spiritualism (due to sharing of faith)
Requires:
Spiritualism
Seafaring
 
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Continue the Quest.

Use spiritualism to influence Chorok Enamans.

Use Mercantilism to influence Monite Enamans.

Dedicate 1 comity to quest completion.
 
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Quest Effects:
Increased comity (due to sharing of culture)
Increased intellectualism (due to sharing of ideas)
Increased spiritualism (due to sharing of faith)
Just for everybody's awareness: this is not how quests work. They don't up the Civilization Profile. They only can provide additional points, Prominence, or Centralization/Conformity.
 
So then I guess I'd like my quest to give bonus culture points and a tiny bit of conformity since it's about tying us together and sharing ideas and faith but then a small centralization mallus since it acts as a secondary quasi government perhaps undercutting some of the authority of the council of tribal leaders.

+2 culture points
+2 prominence points
+X conformity
-Y centralization
 
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Update 25 (Years 2400-2500 Post-K7)


The Shadb Trasque civilization proves its resilience even at the face of adversity, while the foreign onslaught against its holdings continues being a major threat. The Choroque Wars, as the Chorok Enaman incursions are known in Roque-Esh and its allied cities, rage throughout the century, with their key event being captured in runic writings on walls of several Shadb Trakkan temples. After some hope-raising victories against the invaders, the armies of Roque-Esh finally move the war zone back into Masque-Una-Eshal, but there the campaigns descend back into a bloody stalemate. Still, it buys the besieged civilization some breathing room, during which the cooperation between the cave megapolises of the First Tall Ridge reaches new heights. Intercity barter reaches new heights, and with it spiritual ideas spread and mature. The existential threat experienced by the Shadb Trasque gives birth to the first version of primitive polytheism, outlining that people’s isolationist, self-centric worldview. The Underworld deity (and past spirit) of death, peace, time, and wisdom Da-Zhadn becomes the head of the emerging Shadb Trakkan pantheon, which is populated with godlings that contain an interesting combination of corporeal (some would say monstrous) presence and wide-ranging, highly diverse or even paradoxical portfolios. Sacrifices to them become common, and different cave cities start developing cults of particular deities associated with specific cave complexes. Sacrifices to these symbolic patrons of cave cities become another driver of local barter and commerce, as a single city rarely has all materials or gifts their deity would desire. (Shadb Trasque: +1 Mercantilism, +1 Spiritualism)


Eshan-Ro League:
Perhaps, counter-intuitively, the sense of shared threat and not the proto-imperialistic glamor provides what it takes to cement Roque-Esh as the leader of a major Shadb Trakkan city league. Under the violent pressure from the Shaln Trasque and Chorok Enaman people, many cave cities gather around the still powerful city-state and accept it as a semi-formal leader of this first true state in the history of the Land of the Shining Skies. The century of victories and occasional defeats forges a new form of loyalty among the citizens of the Eshan-Ro League, which is based not only on the familial bonds or one’s place of residence, but also on a shared sense of unity before external threat. While the cave cities within the league retain a great degree of autonomy, Roque-Esh is indeed accepted as the first among equals, which is reflected in the spiritual changes taking place within the Shaln Trakkan spirituality. Da-Zhadn is the patron deity of Roque-Esh, and so every member town of the Eshan-Ro League features a small sacrificial chamber of Da-Zhadn next to their main one, dedicated to their own patron spirit. (Bonus: Conformity +10%, Centralization +20%, MP +2; Attribute Demand: Comity 2/2, Conquest 1/1 (Completed); Length: 6 turns)


Spoiler :

Underground sacrificial chamber in a Shadb Trasque cave city

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Despite some military successes, the Eshan-Ro League can’t win everywhere. The cave city Shlanathaln cements its reputation among the people of Shaln Trasque by defeating the Roque-Eshan push into the Second Tall Ridge, aiming to liberate the Shadb Trakkan cities conquered by the Shaln Trasque earlier. Closer to the end of the century, the Shlanathaln hosts are even led into a conquering campaign in the First Tall Ridge by a warrior-prince Roodzhod, who takes advantage of the Eshan-Ro League’s forces being distracted by the war in Masque-Una-Eshal. Roodzhod’s success firmly crushes the last hope for the Shadb Trasque settlers in the Path-Shan valley of the Second Tall Ridge to be liberated, and after several decades of oppression many of them accept the Shaln Trakkan ways, contributing greatly to the development of the Shaln Trakkan oral and intellectual tradition. However, this absorbance comes short of a complete assimilation, as the settlers of Path-Shan do posses a significantly different culture and worldview. Their language being a mix of the Shaln and Shadb dialects, the Path-Shan take upon the Shadb Trakkan communal spirituality and tie it to their valley’s local geologic phenomenon: geysers. Their cult of Ga-Choque, the Spitting Mother, emphasizes the retreat of the People of the Ridge from their underground dwelling and embracing a peaceful, idyllic existence under “one sun, one moon” - although their splinter civilization remains but a small peculiarity in the Trakkan world. Meanwhile, continuous victories over the Shadb Trasque force greater cooperation among the Shaln Trasque, and the size and complexity of their cities in the Second Tall Ridge keeps growing through the century. Meanwhile, in Astinanana (or Ash-Ina-Unal, as it’s called in the Trakkan languages) the domination over the Hazo tribes slowly vanishes when many of them locally migrate further into the lowlands in response to overhunting. The Shaln Trasque people react to this by finding even more habitable places in higher mountains - something that doesn’t solve the overhunting problem completely, but makes it less urgent. (Shaln Trasque: +1 Intellectualism, 1 Population Center of Shadb Trasque is oppressed; 1 Population Center of Shadb Trasque is occupied by Shaln Trasque for 1 turn (occupying player has the first choice of Demographic or Economic Power Point to use); Region 24: +1 Max Capacity, -1 Wilderness, Region 25: +1 Urbanization; Shaln Trasque civilization splinters into Shaln Trasque and Path-Shan (1 Population Center) (friendly to Shadb Trasque))


Spoiler :


Cave city recruit of Shlanathaln

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Despite the changing fortunes of their wars with the Shadb Trasque, the Chorok Enaman people find their civilization’s heart shifting from the pampas of Chorokpan to the forests of Mask ui Sha. There, their wooden cities grow in size and number, and logging and mining activities expand to support their hunger for building materials. These changes are enabled by generations of Shadb Trasque workers from the previously conquered cities of Mask ui Sha. Totem temples and mixed stone-wood constructions become commonplace, and this century leaves a prominent Chorok Enamani mark on the regional landscape. (Chorok Enaman: +1 Prominence, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 26; player must choose type of new Power Point; Region 26: +1 Deposits, +1 Urbanization)


Spoiler :


Totem poles at the entrance into a Chorok Enaman city in Mask ui Sha forests

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This shift of Chorok Enamani civilizational focus leaves the overpopulated pampas (especially on the left bank of the Chorok river) to another century of internecine warfare between the relative newcomers. The unsophisticated Lowland Ankarne find themselves hunted once again by the genocidal bands of the Highland Ankarne, spearheaded by the horrifying (for the disorganized tribals, at least) chariots. (Lowland Ankarne: -1 Population Center in Region 27)


Spoiler :


Highland Ankarne clash with the lowlanders

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This plethora of human suffering and growing anxiety of overpopulation makes the Ankarne people prime targets for proselytization by the merchant-priests of Mona. The Monite Enaman people of that century find themselves under pressure from the Hill Enamans, and many of them have to look for better trade deals at the far end of their caravan network, in the pampas rimmed with the high slopes of the Nue Tyekye mountains. The relatively successful highlanders predictably resist the conversion, but many lowlanders, brutalized and desperate, seek refuge in the increasingly sophisticated stories of Forebearer Mona and her promised Sweet Rest. They have little to trade to the Monite Enamans, but their mass conversion does grow a bigger society of Mona-worshippers at the fringes of the Enaman world. (Monite Enaman: +1 Intellectualism; 1 Population Center of Lowland Ankarne convert to Monite Ankarne)


Spoiler :


Monite Enaman preacher in Chorokpan

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With their numbers swelling with the new converts, the Monite Ankarne clans continue spreading across Chorokpan (or the Chokye Pue plain, as they call it). Ironically, their attempts to escape the perpetual violence of raids between the lowlanders and the highlanders actually brings the pampas to the brink of overpopulation. (Monite Ankarne: -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 27; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Female Monite priest of the Ankarne converts

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Back in the hills rimming the savanna of Mona yi Hu, the Hill Enaman people take advantage of their dominance over the fringe Monite Enamani settlements and learn from them their bartering styles. They also find new grazing lands in the high ground bordering a vast western desert, as the population density in Mona’s Rest keeps on exhausting the good pastures for the moa herds. (Hill Enaman: +1 Mercantilism; Region 29: +1 Max Capacity, -1 Grazing)


Spoiler :


Earth house of Hill Enamans

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What forces the Hill Enamans seek better pastures at the edge of the desert is yet another population boom experienced by the Lakeshore Enaman people in the lowlands. Some signs point out at the growing contact (both spiritual and mercantile) between the lakeshore dwellers and their Choroki kin, but these contacts don’t lead to any developments either within the lakeshore culture or among their neighbors. (Lakeshore Enaman: -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 29; player must choose type of new Power Point)


The Mission of Mother Mona:
However, a true transformation does occur in an earthhouse city of Ai ta Loda located on a peninsula in the southern edge of Mona’s Lake. There, an exalted woman named Mona shi Mahu (Mona’s 25th Vision) uses her spiritual influence to maneuver herself into the council of elders and eventually shift the most of the political authority to Mother Mona’s mound temple located near a large seasonal fairground. Various versions exist about the exact nature of her rise to power (some demonizing her and some praising), but soon her authority spreads beyond the city of Ai ta Loda. Similar temple mounds start being erected in many earthhouse cities of Mona yi Hu, probably acting as seasons residences of the travelling avatar-ruler. This marks the emergence of the Mound Realm among the Lakeshore Enaman people, marked by the presence of Vision Rulers as authority figures among the lakeshore tribes. These figureheads act as primitive priest-queens, but their power is more informal and grounded on shared spirituality rather than loyalty to a single political entity or location. (Bonus: +20% Conformity, +20% Centralization; Attribute Demand: Spiritualism 1/1, Comity 1/1 (Completed); Length: 5 turns)


Spoiler :


Mound temple-palace of Ai ta Loda, the 25th Vision of Mother Mona

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The marshes of Syo-Ke Ao, in the meantime, are haunted by the same problem as the rest of the Enaman world: looming overpopulation. To escape from this, the Saltmarsh Enaman tribes continue showing miracles of ingenuity by building floating villages out of reed closer to the Chorok river delta and using some of these mobile islands for fishing in the salty waters. (Saltmarsh Enaman: Region 28: +1 Max Capacity, -1 Wilderness)


Spoiler :


Floating village of Saltmarsh Enamans at the edge of the marshlands

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Far in the highlands of Pulete, the Nekenee civilization seemingly reaches its peak. Propelled by the growing knowledge of mathematics and other related exact sciences, the Nekeni philosophy and intellectualism flourish, and the end of the centuries-long rivalry with Dyesynil (combined with repopulation of the ruins of the hated city) increase population density in the highlands and grow the local cities to a previously unseen size, when even a regional small town would easily outshine the vast majority of Enamani, Syrisilian, Nari, or Happataran cities. The booming of trade also allows the glorious civilization gain outsized influence in many lowland cities of Fee Shenete, and this expansion of the trade network to the floodplains necessitates the development of primitive canoe boats to transfer the goods. At the height of their power, the merchant princes of Kineka even outfit massive expeditions of well-armed retainers into the wild shore of Zahnenee, where they loot and destroy the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian colony centered around the local copper and gem mines. This relatively insignificant event gets disproportionate coverage in various stellas and bas-reliefs, as the merchant princes of that age seek to cement their legacy by funneling their growing wealth into megaprojects that would leave their name in history alongside the unquestionable heroes of the Dyesynilian wars, such as Merchant Prince Lekinam himself. Dangerously for the Nekenee, however, this glorious facade hides a power structure that is soon to come under attack from within and without. (Nekenee: +1 Intellectualism, +1 Seafaring, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 12; player must choose type of new Power Point; 1 Population Center of Sheneti Syrisil is influenced by Nekenee for 1 turn (influencing player has the first choice of Cultural or Military Power Point to use); Region 12: +1 Urbanization)


Spoiler :


Kinekan urban militia arrayed for a raid against the Wiet-yrisi people of Zahnenee

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It’s tempting to look at the period of the Nekeni history known as the Rivalry of the Moon and the Sun from a much dramatized pseudohistorical accounts of the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian chronologists. However, the fact is that the events building up to the split within the Nekeni society was long in the making and has a big internal component. The power of merchant princes (and, above all, the Great Princes of Kineka) has been long tied to the spiritual authority of Xamaneha the Sun Spirit. Often, the steep pyramids of Xamaneha are built on the merchant princes’ money (as they tried to outdo each other architecturally), and this not only cements the alliance between the Sung Spirit’s priesthood and the plutocrats, but also alienates other primitive cults. In the highly advanced, but spiritually poor urban society of the Nekenee, these spirit cults mostly act as primitive corporations of mutually aligned people, often based on their shared profession (such porters, masons, irrigators, etc.). With the advent of golden coinage, the element of financial wealth is added to that measure of identity, which coincides with a growing wealth gap between the haves and have-not’s. Naturally, the less fortunate members of the Nekeni society who lack the connection to the strictly pyramidal social hierarchy of the merchant houses find their faith more firmly associated with the Moon Spirit, Nakaxu. With the months-long polar night and day, the Xamaneha-Nakaxu spiritual faith is strongly dualistic in the Nekeni tradition, but the social changes brought by the rise of the merchant princes breaks this equilibrium, turning the Sun priests into de-facto administrators serving the merchant princes, while the Moon faith remains widely shared, but rather proletarian in nature.


Into that stage, come the people of Wiet-yrisi Syrisil. Already rather cultural and sophisticated, they enter the Pulete highlands as a result of natural migration (although some arrive as merchants and start living in dedicated merchant quarters centered around Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian emporiums). Their spiritually and politically developed culture quickly takes root among the Nekeni underclass, and the head of the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian pantheon, the Moon goddess Alignak quickly grows to be associated with Nakaxu the Moon Spirit. Importantly, the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian society is much less pyramidal and more egalitarian (outside of the witch covens, anyway), and it’s another attractive factor for the urban proletariat of the Nekenee. Thus, the end of the century sees a series of events dubbed by later historians the Moon Revolution or described in the Syrisilian chronicles as the Rivalry of the Moon and the Sun. In fact, it’s a series of popular rebellions and political misalignments that originally have very little to do with religion. Instead, some populist leaders (or opportunist merchants) align themselves to the moon temples of Nakaxu-Alignak. Most of these realignments are intracity events, although some of them escalate, when entire towns (with the most prominent of them being the massive Tenankan) cast away their merchant princes, redistribute the sun temples’ property, and instead build equally massive (but much less elevated and steep) temple complexes of the moon spirit, often featuring the ever-present Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian emporiums in them. (Wiet-yrisi Syrisil: -1 Population Center in Region 11; -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 12; player must choose type of new Power Point; 1 Population Center of Nekenee is influenced by Wiet-yrisi Syrisil for 1 turn (influencing player has the first choice of Cultural or Military Power Point to use); Nekenee civilization splinters into Kineka and Tenankan (3 Population Centers) (friendly to Wiet-yrisi Syrisil))


Tapestry of the Moon and Sea:
The importing of elements of the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian faith to the Nekenee takes place hand in hand with a development of a new spiritual tradition inside the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian culture as well. The rise of the authority of witches’ covens naturally necessitates a greater spiritual role they would play in addition to herding knowledge and power. This sees the old elemental spirits being elevated to the level of deities, the most prominent of which are the Goddess of the Moon, Tide, Pearls, and Fertility Alignak (the head of the pantheon), the deity of Cinder, Ash, Fire, and Ores Av'sil'nik, the deity of Dreams, Forest, Hallucinations, and Mushrooms Mon'dyvi, and, finally the Mud God and protector of healers Vas’ylis. To behaviorally cement their power, the coven matriarchs instill upon their flock a tradition to travel to the arbitrarily chosen (usually, elementally impressive) sights, such as the volcanic mountains of Ash-han-aut (Zehnenee) or the mushroom-rich fern forest of Cysid-is-siv. (Bonus: +2 Prominence, +2 Culture Points, +10% Conformity, -20% Centralization; Attribute Demand: Spiritualism 0/2, Migration 0/2, Seafaring 0/2; Length: 9 turns)


Spoiler :


Temple complex of the Moon Goddess Alignak-Xanaku in the Nekeni city of Tenankan

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Down in the Fee Shenete lowlands, the Sheneti Syrisil people remain nested between the rising civilizations to their south-east and north-west. Local textile manufacturing expands further, as new fishskin caps and jackets start being produced, and the Sheneti Syrisilian wooden vases of that period are particularly priced. (Sheneti Syrisil: +2 Prominence)


Spoiler :


Prised Sheneti Syrisilian vase

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The remnants of Dyesynil continue rebuilding in the Fee’nak river delta in the lowlands. Despite the Nekeni attempts to re-establish trade contacts with the exodites and open emporiums in their lands, Dyesynil aLytu and its satellite towns keep their gates closed to the “Nykenil” highlanders. (Dyesynil: -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 9; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Dyesynilian villagers during a religious festival

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Off the continent, the Nadelis Turape people go through a period of peaceful prosperity and cooperation. The fragmentary chiefdoms of Nadelis-Sagulan during that century enjoy a period of particular political amiability, and dynastic marriages propel greater cultural unity among their subjects. On the more ominous side, the rainforests of Nadelis mountains are starting to exhaust their wildlife, as overhunting becomes a problem, and many villages shift to partially sustaining themselves through primitive agriculture - also to the rainforest’s detriment. (Nadelis Turape: +20% Conformity; Region 6: -1 Wilderness)


Spoiler :


Yam gardening in a Nadelis Turapan village

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The less developed kin civilization of Sagulan Turape on the other side of the island also uses that peaceful century to grow close to their Nadelis cousins. While still far from developing their own rope script, the Sagulan Turape do start catching up on the oral telling tradition and develop their own brand of practical engineering and slash-and-burn forest clearing (so far, not very transformative on the regional scale). This sets them well to economically dominate the relative isolated fishing colonies of the Wiet-yrisi Syrisil on the shores of Nadelis. (Sagulan Turape: +1 Intellectualism, +1 Innovation, 1 Population Center of Wiet-yrisi Syrisil is influenced by Sagulan Turape for 1 turn (influencing player has the first choice of Cultural or Military Power Point to use))


Spoiler :


Okra farming in Sagulan

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A similar development of the oral telling and intellectual tradition takes place among the Bolevel Turape people - partially thanks to their intermingling with the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian colonists. Simultaneously, their basketweaving operations expand during that period of time, most likely to fit the needs of the growing population in Asagan (as the Bolevel Turape call the north-eastern part of the island, or Es’al-jat as the Wiet-yrisi Syrisil know it). (Bolevel Turape: +1 Prominence, +1 Intellectualism, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 2; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Volcanoes of Es’el-jat that give the land its Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian name

-3jLQigwXEMUrStt8Zrhwr9WSOic5MoEy9t09g9Hqcwdbysmn90YR8mWrRlRJ5Fwptup467l4SgJn4NsMScFIIGzSxSOFlx4vJC0wvPQg4lf5TUip4YTArideq_Q9v-8Gxhr6xyI





In the Maranmapa archipelago, little change takes place, except the population boom among the Maramapi natives. (Maramapi: -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 4; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Shores of the Inner Sea in the Maranmapa archipelago

IaUBe-iyyMOOSEkBzBM-9gv0DQU3pHK04X65Nw0w3AQFqnHrIrR0AX880H6acyPoqwj4E-ovF7d5cyqAKoDVNL6ld1WhwPvCZRGSt3jjrtCW79yA26aSYOqoDgaTOtVTM1i4D_j1





A population boom occurs also among the Continental Aghak people of Obarer, following an expansion in their proto-herding of local short-snouted kangaroos. This also provides them with material for primitive leatherwork. Meanwhile, the Insular Aghak people experience little change over the century.(Continental Aghak: +1 Prominence, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 37; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


A group of Continental Aghak semi-nomads during a seasonal migration into the outback of Obarer

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In Nantara, a new dynasty is rising - a Tantanari dynasty. Its founder is the famed mercenary warchief of the previous century, named Andikan, who claimed and took control of a city-state of Xosa. With the city’s growing influence among the Tantanari tribes, the Andikanid dynasty quickly gains importance and starts collecting loyal allies around itself, much like the Padatid dynasty of Tahtarapa did among the Happatara people. (Tantanari: +10% Centralization)


The Epic of the Nariyaga: In the meantime, the cultural influence of the Nariyaga epic keeps growing, as the oral tellers start agreeing on the canon of the heroic and mythological past of the Nari people. It’s believed that ruler of Xosa Andikan and his successors are the ones to contribute to it the most, by hiring poets and musicians to sing the early versions of Nariyaga at their court, simultaneously hoping to cement their legacy as some of the Tantanari heroes. (Bonus: +2 CP, +20% Conformity; Attribute Demand: Intellectualism 2/4; Length: 12 turns)


Spoiler :


River canal in the city of Xosa

o2YEHb2NHzPYkdLIfm-_BCgY5BohuDkMjNEQrkWEHStkWE2QzaOESQCt2iuZx2cK2Zi0oJDedfx2u39X_pT34hV5BSYtSs_z5RuSdI9_GpRVtN1xwoPFXK6rffiQJD5H1fo9Y6-Z





Farther east, the Happatanari elites secure their role as indispensable intellectuals and facilitators among the urban civilizations of Happatara. Their growing influence as scribes, administrators, and diplomats naturally helps them accumulate wealth and become the profiteering middlemen in the blossoming urban trade. Meanwhile, they also are believed to be the main contributors to the growth of the irrigation canal network across the alluvial plains of Nantara, just when the soils start showing signs of degradation. (Happatanari: +1 Mercantilism, Region 23: +1 Max Capacity, -1 Soil Fertility)


Spoiler :


Barter inside a Happatanari emporium

TOK4-XCe9Z8kDtbaJvEq4vTfYbNVoV2hHAcXKmY2aD-txiJM2GIT0aYadZgdpiq2RD8_TH7tQM7zKhZfk8UAWgVGTLNaLvg0WVvVMRMWFDybr-SVuGNutVGJGsqD0xCD3klkqmO8





The Left-bank Happatara civilization keeps on moving toward the dominance of the city of Tahtarapa. During this period, a distant branch of the once powerful Pahdatids experiences a brief resurgence in influence, partially thanks to the other city-states gathering to their banner against the Tantanari and right-banker onslaught. The overseers behind the Happatanari irrigation projects, the Pahdatids found many village and town communities in the previously unarable patches of the Nantaran ocean shore. (Left-bank Happatara: +5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 23; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Regular day on the streets of Tahtarapa

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The triarchy of city-states of Jaratta, Tartapad, and Gattaka doesn’t lead to a similar type of centralization among the Right-bank Happatara cities. Some might argue that this lack of exploitation of their victories in the Water Wars may be related to the said cities’ overreliance on the Hazoan mercenary bands, letting the native urban militias degrade and lose military tradition. Instead, the cities of Tartapad and Gattaka try to outdo each other in improving and reinforcing their colony towns in the mountain country of Hattara. (Right-bank Happatara: Region 33: +1 Urbanization)


Spoiler :


Villa of a rich Happataran noble

ShyoYrLRLKtUt72FHUYNnXchNfvH8BgjWsBTs8JGm7su2oHJ5UCBpTcXDQLqS80dFWMEkE6ZLNEduu1gFxfMRxTYhaoQ1Ttm2TbJPHe_wKosMai8dQ2lZ_mkOb0lPqFMhBDw8dwB





The Tartapadi and Gattakan reinforcement of the Hattaran frontier could be explained by the growth of the Hazoan settlements in that mountain country. Besides, the Hazo demonstrate that they’re no longer a disorganized constellation of clans, but a powerful and surprisingly centralized tribal kingdom. This becomes particularly obvious when Laholona Nakalora III organizes a series of campaigns against the Shaln Trakkan colony towns in Astinanana, notably defeating a levy of Shlanathaln’s allied city-state after luring it into the low valleys. (Hazo: -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 33; player must choose type of new Power Point; 1 Population Center of Shaln Trasque is occupied by Hazo for 1 turn (occupying player has the first choice of Demographic or Economic Power Point to use))


Cult of Mother Nany and the Second Laholona Dynasty:
A different development takes place in the cultural plane of the Hazoan world. Despite Laholona Nakalora III’s morale-boosting success, the 25th century post-KT can be seen as a low point of the Hazoan civilization, with the male population much reduced due to centuries of mercenary warfare in Nantara, simmering conflict with the Bashtunari natives, and incursions from the Shaln Trasque. This eventually sees degeneration of the First Laholona dynasty as well, as the Laholonas are being blamed for the perceived imbalance between the male and the female “elements” among the Hazo. While the First Dynasty keeps holding its own, a new demand is put forward to rethink and reorganize the leadership of the vast tribal realm. Valaohani priests of Nany, the Fertility (and Forest Nature) goddess represent that movement the most, with the forces of settled villages using them as the voice of the new social contract. (Bonus: +1 Prominence, +1 DP, +10% Conformity; Attribute Demand: Spiritualism 0/1, Comity 0/1; Length: 9 turns)


Spoiler :


Nakalora III, one of the last Hazoan rulers of the First Laholona Dynasty

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The temporary exhaustion of the Hazoan manpower gives a chance for the Bashtunari natives to rebound and find more alpine woodland clearings for establishing self-sustainable settlements. (Bashtunari: Region 21: +1 Max Capacity)


Spoiler :


Mountain peaks of Bashtun

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Farther west, the Agomai civilization shows signs of a primitive craftsmanship boom, as tributary Yonike villagers are extorted for food and precious craft materials. The Yonike also contribute to the greater spread of the Agomai settlements through Agoru, helping them build villages in previously unreachable places (much like some canyon settlements of Aoni-chehek) when the local wildlife seems to be shrinking due to overhunting. (Agomai: +2 Prominence; Region 17: +1 Max Capacity, -1 Wilderness)


Spoiler :


Artifacts of the Agomai people

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GM's notes:
  • The stats are still being updated.
  • The map update is well behind the schedule - I do realize that. Thanks for your patience.
 
Last edited:
Another GM note that I forgot to add.

Since civilizations are now coming into conflict here and there, I'm letting players to use contingency orders

Examples:
- if X points (of specific type) are taken by the occupying or influencing civilization, user Y points for such and such; otherwise, do such and such;
- if X people try to migrate into or settle in Region Y (populated with my people), use Depredation/conquest/etc. to prevent that;
- if another nation performs spiritualism/mercantilism/conquest/depredation/etc. action against my population, use up to X points (of specific type) to counter it; otherwise, use these points for such and such.

Basically, you can use your points as active defense - with no guaranteed results, of course.
 
Trasque En Ettin Shadb (6/6 CP, 0/1 DP, 1/3 EP, 3/3 MP)
- Intellectualism (Cultural/Intellectualism on Comity): The ongoing political unification of the Trakkan tribes has led to the development of people who's focus is on understanding culture and politics in a meta-sense
- Intellectualism (Cultural/Intellectualism on Mercantilism): The increasing trade between the Trakkan cities and with their neighbors has sparked interest in a dedicated merchant class, who's purpose is to facilitate such trades.
- Spiritualism (Cultural/Spiritualism on Region 25 x2, Region 26 x2): The increase in strife between Shaln and Shadb has led some spiritual leaders to attempt to reconcile doctrinal differences between them.
- Mercantilism (Economic/Mercantilism in Region 26 on Shaln): Trakkan traders begin expanding aggressively into Shaln lands in Masque-Una-Eshal
- Invasion (Military/Conquest on Region 26 (x2 on Shaln) and 34 (x1 on Shaln)): Having unified the other city-states behind it the Eshan-Ro League begins flexing its military might.
- One Demographic unused due to low Conformity
- Two Economic Points unused due to low Centralization
 
Hazo (Turn 26) [3 Demographic, 4/5 Culture, 0/1 Economic, 2 Military]
-1 Undifferentiated Point into Military
-1 Occupied Point into Demographic
-2 Demographic Points into Survival in Region 33
-2 Cultural Points into Comity into Centralisation
-2 Cultural Points into Spiritualism/Comity into the Quest
-1 Cultural Point unassigned due to Conformity
-1 Demographic Point (Occupied) into Survival in Region 33
-1 Economic Point unassigned due to Centralisation
-2 Military Points into Depredation against Bashtunari in Region 21

Narrative Orders: Successive Laholonas once again attempt to purge the Bashtunari in order to strengthen their waning spiritual and temporal authority during the difficult period in the transition between the First and Second Laholona Dynasty.

Local Mpik-Ady rulers performed aggressive and continual raiding on the now undefended Shaln Trasque colonies in Hattara, as the Shlanathaln allied city-states were unwilling to raise their levies again after such devestating losses. These small colonial Shaln Trasque cities quickly agree to the Mpik-Ady’s terms - the Hazo would be given exclusive right to hunt in the best hunting grounds known to the Hattaran Trasque. While this agreement eroded after a few generations, it enabled yet another Hazo population boom in Hattara.
 
Last edited:
Wiet-yrisi Syrisil orders:

organized religion (supports spiritualism using urbanism)
natural philosophy (supports innovation using urbanism)

free point into economic

contingency for if Boleval Turape influence a point of culture:
Spoiler :
D1: survivalism to 11 (rebuild the holy site!)
D2: lost to lack of conformity
C1: comity to conformity
C2: comity to conformity
C3: intellectualism to survivalism
C4: intellectualism to mercantilism
C5: intellectualism to seafaring
C6: lost to lack of conformity
C7: lost to Bolevel Turape influence
E1: urbanization of 5
E2: E2 used as mercantilism on active defense. if unnecessary, mercantilism on Bolevel Turape
M1: conquest on active defense
M2: lost to lack of centralization

influenced Kineka cultural point: material culture to prominence


contingency for if Bolevel Turape influence a point of military:
Spoiler :
D1: survivalism to 11 (rebuild the holy site!)
D2: lost to lack of conformity
C1: comity to conformity
C2: comity to conformity
C3: intellectualism to survivalism
C4: intellectualism to mercantilism
C5: intellectualism to seafaring
C6: lost to lack of conformity
C7: intellectualism to material culture
E1: urbanization of 5
E2: E2 used as mercantilism on active defense. if unnecessary, mercantilism on Bolevel Turape
M1: lost to Bolevel Turape influence
M2: lost to lack of centralization

influenced Kineka cultural point: material culture to prominence


contingency for if Kineka use spiritualism, mercantilism, conquest or depredation on me:
Spoiler :

do not initiate aggression against these people, but do not put up with any effort to degrade us whatsoever
Spoiler :

D1: survivalism to 12
D2: survivalism to 12
C1: spiritualism to Kineka in 12
C2: spiritualism to Kineka in 12
C3: spiritualism to Kineka in 12
C4: spiritualism to Kineka in 12
C5: spiritualism to Kineka in 12
C6: lost to lack of conformity
C7: lost to lack of conformity
E1: mercantilism on active defense to intercept economic and military points first, and cultural points second
E2: lost to lack of centralization
M1: depredation on active defense to intercept economic and military points first, and cultural points second
M2: depredation on active defense to intercept economic and military points first, and cultural points second

influenced Kineka military point: depredation on active defense to intercept economic and military points first, and cultural points second
 
Last edited:
Pur-tee
 
Just reminding y'all that the update will proceed once I get more orders. The faster those come in, the faster the updates will be coming along.
 
Nadelis Turape Orders
-Survivalism to populate region 7
-Intellectualism to improve Material Culture
-Intellectualism to improve Innovation
-Comity to improve Centralization
-Industry to urbanize region 6
 
Nekenee Orders
  • New point to economy
  • Influenced Culture point to use spiritualism on Dyesynil.
  • Intellectualism on Spiritualism
  • Spiritualism on Dyesynil X 4
  • Assimilate the influenced Sheneti settlement
  • Mercantilism on the 3 Tenaken Cities.
  • Depredation on another Dyesynil settlement
 
1. Use mercantilism to influence Chorok Emanans
2. Use intellectualism to boost intellectualism.
3. Use intellectualism to boost intellectualism.
4. Use intellectualism to boost spiritualism.

Devote one unassigned point to Economic
 
Last edited:
Use 3 cultural points to complete the Nariyaga: a more complete narrative is fleshed out and the style of the story is finalized
Use 2 cultural points to perform an intellectual action on intellectualism

use 1 military point to perform depredation on left bank happatara settlements: The Tantanari people continue to skirmish with the left bank Happatarans
 
Updated Description

Civilization: Wiet-yris Syrisil

Civilization's endonym (self-name): Syrisil meaning Reed-Weaver
Origin: Amerindian
Economic Base: Communalist villages based on fishing, pearling, medicinal foraging, textiles and dyes, carpentry, and trade
Cultural Highlights: Story-telling, song and instrumental music, organized religion of ‘wise-women witches’.
The Syrisil are a boisterous people, valuing laughter and (primitive) music (mostly voice and drums) and making use of bright dyes and colors as much as they can. They are lovers of beauty and aesthetic and craftspeople are highly valued in their society.
Government: Matriarchal tribal confederacy ruled by elected chieftesses. These meet regularly during the long polar night on an annual basis.
Religion: Matriarchal shamanism. The Wiet-yris ‘witches’ form a parallel, and occasionally subversive organizing structure that operates independently of their elected tribal chieftesses’ council.
Family organization: Multi-generational extended families ruled absolutely by an elder matriarch. Marriage is unknown; the Wiet-yris are poly-amorous and men remain part of their matriarch’s households the entirety of their lives.
Homes: The Wiet-yris primarily live in longhouses shared by extended families. They are made of woven reed elevated over rivers and lakes so they can be near their boats and livelihoods.
 
Update 26 (Years 2500-2600 Post-K7)


The rise of the Eshan-Ro League coincides with the end of the troubled years of the Shadb Trasque civilization. While the eastern frontier in Masque-Una-Eshal is still under siege, the armies of Roque-Esh and its Eshan-Ro allies deliver a series of overwhelming defeats to the advancing hosts of Shlanathaln and other Shaln Trasque cave cities, eventually venturing into the Second Tall Ridge and conquering some of the local towns. The breathing window it provides to the urban communities of the First Tall Ridge gives the local cave cities a chance to re-establish their mutual ties through trade and politics. Small, local leagues arise, and the cave cities develop networks of surface village communities contributing to their mutual survival and defence, while merchants start more actively travelling between the megapolices via the rock-cut roads and rope bridges. Unfortunately, this blossoming coincides with the evidential deplition of many mines and quarries of that once rich region. (Shadb Trasque: +1 Comity, +1 Mercantilism, 2 Population Centers of Shaln Trasque are occupied by Shadb Trasque for 1 turn (occupying player has the first choice of Demographic or Economic Power Point to use); Region 34: -1 Deposits)


Spoiler :


Eshan-Ro League warriors in summer gear

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The military defeats prove to be a big upset for the rising power of Shlanathaln and other cave cities of the Shaln Trasque. As the promised golden age briefly ends, the Shaln Trasque culture faces an identity crisis, with many cave city dwellers turning for the Ga-Choque worship and choosing a surface-dwelling lifestyle instead, migrating to the geyser valleys of Path-Shan. (Shaln Trasque: 1 Population Center of Shaln Trasque converts to Path-Shan)


Spoiler :


Second Tall Ridge in late spring

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Already swollen with new cultural converts and migrants, the Path-Shan herders and hunters spread across the Trasque-Ettin massif, growing to dominate many alpine grasslands previously ignored by the Shaln and Shadb Trakkan villagers. (Path-Shan: -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 25; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Megalithic dolmen burrial of the Path-Shan people

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The Eshan-Ro League might be victorious in the south of the Shadb Trakkan world, but in the forested highlands of Masque-Una-Eshal the tribal armies of the Chorok Enaman still rule supreme. In fact, the conquest of the eastern cave cities of Eshan-Ro gives enough legitimacy for one of the Chorok Enaman tribes, the Ui-ta Nam, to establish itself as a regional hegemon, dominating the rich region from its wooden fort-city of the same name. With the Ui-ta Nam hegemony established, the Chorok Enamani urban craft becomes more prolific (partially boosted by the loot from the wars). In the meantime, in the cradle of the Chorok Enaman civilization, the pastoralists of Chorokpan start gradually borrowing some domestication techniques from the Highland Ankarne people, albeit they so far apply it to the moa birds they traditionally herd in the pampas. (Chorok Enaman: +1 Prominence, +1 Pastoralism, +1 Comity, +10% Centralization, 1 Population Center of Shadb Trasque is occupied by Chorok Enaman for 1 turn (occupying player has the first choice of Demographic or Economic Power Point to use))


Spoiler :


Life in the fortified town of Ui-ta Nam
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In the heartland of the Enaman cultural family, the mound cities of the Lakeshore Enaman people become centers of the local cultural tradition. Still far behind from the more advanced urban civilizations of the Land of the Shining Sky, the lakeshore dwellers do start developing more complex oral telling traditions, and their worldview sophisticates as a result. This cultural development is arguably a result of the growing unity under the Vision Rule of Forebearer Mona’s avatar-priestesses, or a direct consequence of the Lakeshore Enamani domination of the salt trade with the northernmost Chorok Enaman tribes, from who the Trakkan tradition trickles up north. Perhaps, on the darker side, this idyllic period is underlined by a drop in biodiversity in the Mona yi Hu valley. (Lakeshore Enaman: +1 Intellectualism; 1 Population Center of Chorok Enaman is influenced by Lakeshore Enaman for 1 turn (influencing player has the first choice of Culture or Military Power Point to use); Region 29: -1 Wilderness)


Spoiler :


Mouthpieces of the Avatar-Priestess

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Similar processes take place among the Hill Enaman tribes that oversee maturation of their intellectual tradition, which is still in its infancy compared to other parts of the continent. (Hill Enaman: +1 Intellectualism)


Spoiler :


Statuettes of the Hill Enaman production

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The floating reed villages of the Saltmarsh Enaman people continue spreading through the less easily reachable parts of the Syo-Ke Ao region. Many of these draft-like platforms turn into proper floating islands with time, capable of supporting settlement for generations. (Saltmarsh Enaman: Region 28: +1 Max Capacity)


Spoiler :


Salt marshes of Syo-Ke Ao during high tide

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The Monite Enaman culture rips benefits of its spiritual awakening. As the missionary activities take the Monite elders farther and farther from their oceanshore homes, their proficiency with trade and barter gradually grows. Simultaneously, their ability to culturally export their values and mentality along with the material goods grows as well. (Monite Enaman: +1 Mercantilism, +1 Assimilation)


Spoiler :


Enaman priest of Mona and wandering trader

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Back on the left bank of the Chorok river, the pampas of Chorokpan are still soiled with blood of the Lowland Ankarne people. Killed en masse by the chariot-riding highlanders, they do prove that their culture is hard to extinguish, as fewer of their refugees try to escape north into the exodite communes of the Monite Ankarne, and many families simply survive thanks to an unusually high birth rate. (Lowland Ankarne: -1 Population Center in Region 27, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 27; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Earth dwelling of Lowland Ankarne

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The bloody raids against the lowlanders aside, the Highland Ankarne people experience a spiritual awakening of sorts. Not nearly as sophisticated as the Monite Enaman wandering preacher-traders, the highlanders develop their own primitive cult centered on ancestor worship, in which butterflies of Neu Tyekye mountain forests are viewed as the spirits of the dead and unborn. (Highland Ankarne: +1 Spiritualism)


Spoiler :


Highland Ankarne hunters in giant llama pelts

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Farther west, the Xamaneha-worshipping city of Kineka keeps its position of a hegemon of the Nekenee civilization, despite the political split of the 25th century. Still an economic powerhouse, the city and its clients easily take over the markets of several Nekeni cities of the Pulete highlands that have been dominated by the populist cult of Nakaxu-Alignak. The need for spiritual and cultural unity does alarm the Kinekan oligarchic elites, and the Xamanehite temple hierarchy and political roles start changing toward greater maturity and sophistication. Meanwhile, the forested slopes of Cooleweer continue attracting Kinekan settlers and colonists that seek to escape the political and social turbulence of Pulete. (Kineka: +1 Spiritualism, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 14; player must choose type of new Power Point, 1 Population Center of Tenankan is influenced by Kineka for 1 turn (influencing player has the first choice of Cultural or Military Power Point to use))


Spoiler :


Sun God Hamaneha worship in Kineka

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This story of the Kinekan resurgence doesn’t end there. While still relatively primitive and decentralized, the Xamanehite cult of Kineka starts playing a bigger role in the geopolitical ambitions of the Merchant Princes. One of them, Tnankadu IX, uses the Sun God’s will as a premise for his continuous campaigns against the remnants of the Dyesynil civilization. The settlements of Dyesynilian exodites have been existing for centuries in the two major deltas of the Fee Shenete region: the Fee’nak and Sheneti delta. Tnankadu IX is the one to recognize the Dyesynil people of the Shenete delta as the most vulnerable and potentially more dangerous neighbors for the Nekeni mining colonies of Zahnenee. He, therefore, outfits aggressive military expeditions into the “eastern lowlands” to eradicate the Dyesynilian exodite settlements once and for all. The resulting war proves to be rather intense, as this cluster of the Dyesynil culture faces a threat of nearly complete extinction. In the end of fifteen years of unending warfare, the Dyesynilian towns of the Shenete valley agree to accept the Sun priests of Xamaneha as their spiritual guides, essentially embracing the status of semi-free clients of the Kinekan league. This, however, doesn’t signify the capitulation of the Dyesynilian civilization in the least. The western city of Dyesynil aLytu (Lyt’s Dyesynil) uses the defeat of the Shenete valley towns as a way to solidify its status (if not leadership) among the fiercely independent exodite cities of the Fee’nak delta. Under a talented chieftain Tylythel, the city and its allies outfit successful conquest of some of the Tanankan-aligned Nekeni cities. Tenankan itself at some point is threatened, as its horizontally organized elites fail to mobilize the urban militias to a proper defence. To evade capture, the rich megapolis pays off the invaders and agrees to one-sided “trade pacts” with Dyesynil aLytu. (Dyesynil: 1 Population Center of Tenankan is influenced by Dyesynil for 1 turn (influencing player has the first choice of Cultural or Military Power Point to use); 1 Population Center of Tenankan is occupied by Dyesynil for 1 turn (occupying player has the first choice of Demographic or Economic Power Point to use); Dyesynil civilization splinters into Dyesynil aLytu and Xamanehite Dyesynil (2 Population Centers) (friendly to Kineka))


Spoiler :


ALytu-Dyesynilian warriors

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It’s not all gloomy for Tenankan and the Nekeni Moon cult of Nakaxu-Alignak. Terrace agriculture reaches new heights among the Tenankans, and many of their satellite villages start to climb up higher into the Pulete highlands than was previously considered feasible. (Tenankan: +1 Agriculturalism, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 12; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Tenankani terrace farmers

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Farther in the Fee Shenete floodlands, the Sheneti Syrisil people continue growing more accustomed to the bustling trade happening in this part of the Land of the Shining Sky. Their better commercial knowledge is reflected in the dominence their agricultural communities have over the isolated fishing villages of the Wiet-yrisi Syrisil. (Sheneti Syrisil: +1 Mercantilism, 1 Population Center of Wiet-yrisi Syrisil is influenced by Sheneti Syrisil for 1 turn (influencing player has the first choice of Cultural or Military Power Point to use))


Spoiler :


Sheneti Syrisilian farmers

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A similar pattern can be observed on the Bolevel island, where the Bolevel Turape, unsophisticated as they are, once again make many Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian colonies dependent on their food production during the storm seasons. This continues the once established trend, in which the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian traditions and technology trickle into the island’s outback, this time increasing the sophistication of natives’ worldview and toolmaking techniques. (Bolevel Turape: +1 Intellectualism, +1 Material Culture, 1 Population Center of Wiet-yrisi Syrisil is influenced by Bolevel Turape for 1 turn (influencing player has the first choice of Cultural or Military Power Point to use))


Spoiler :


Bolevel Turapan religious statuette

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Almost identical processes take place in Sagulan, where the Sagulan Turape yam farmers prove to be surprisingly capable of overcoming the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian shrewd approach to trade - possibly, by a fluke of economic luck, but also due to the extremely wide spread of the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian colonies across several separate regions hungry for their lore and goods. In the Sagulan Turape’s case, this period coincides with the development of first electoral chiefdoms with matriarchal hierarchy. But most importantly, the Sagulan Turape adopt their new rope script, based on a merge of spider silk writing of the Wiet-yrisi Syrisil and the circular rope knot writing of the Nadelis Turape. (Sagulan Turape: +1 Intellectualism, +1 Comity, 1 Population Center of Wiet-yrisi Syrisil is assimilated by Sagulan Turape)


Spoiler :


Sagulan Turapan town during a youth initiation ceremony

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The Nadelis Turape also experience a number of developments, mostly reflecting the population boom, as well as the ongoing urbanization of Sagulan and first steps at town-building in the Nadelis rainforest itself. This period also seas new techniques at forest clearing and well-building necessary to support such an urbanization development. On the political side of things, the Nadelis Turape people, traditionally rather independent and fragmented, start gradually forming first trans-tribal entities that are demonstrably patriarchal, possibly in spite of the influential (and influenced) Wiet-yrisi Syrisil. (Nadelis Turape: +1 Innovation, +5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 7; player must choose type of new Power Point; Region 6: +1 Urbanization; Region 8: +1 Urbanization)


Spoiler :


Nadelis Turape during a chieftain inauguration ceremony

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Some researchers argue that the 26th century is so harsh on the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian colonies across the Inner Sea due to a sequence of massive hurricanes that destroy a lot of seaborne infrastructure and isolate the settlers from their metropole towns. Whatever causes this episodic weakness, it doesn’t seem to be able to stop the pace of progress of the core Wiet-yrisi Syrisil people. The urban craft and textile of their making are still widely valued, which only contributes to the size and complexity of cities in the Wiet-yrisi flood forests. Still fairly small compared to the megapolises of Pulete and Trasque, the trade towns of Sylla and Yulup develop into bustling port towns organized around stilt streets and periodically flooded canals. The cult of Alignak and associated minor deities gains a lot of prominence at this period, the cohesion of its faith only improved by the wider spread of spider silk rope writing. However, the most revolutionary development comes from the temperate islands of Cysid-is-siv. There, the locals venture from the spider silk farming toward hunt for exodic goods and animals the islands are known for. The hallucinogenic mushrooms, exotic birds (or outfits of their feathers), flower nectar-based fragrances, and several types of spices all become highly valued among the Turape, Nekenee, and Syrisil alike, giving a chance for the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian traders to become rich overnight. (Wiet-yrisi Syrisil: +1 Prominence, +1 Survivalism, +20% Conformity; Region 5: +1 Urbanization)


Tapestry of the Moon and Sea:
The pilgrimage tradition of the Syrisilian faith fails to develop outside of a very few trips, mostly committed by influential witch matriarchs as a demonstration of their spiritual status. (Bonus: +2 Prominence, +2 Culture Points, +10% Conformity, -20% Centralization; Attribute Demand: Spiritualism 0/2, Migration 0/2, Seafaring 0/2; Length: 9 turns)


Spoiler :


Trade station of the Sylla-Yulup diarchy

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The Maramapi people continue enjoying their blissful isolation after an episodic invasion of the Wiet-yrisi Syrisilian adventurers several centuries ago. Perhaps, driven by the desire to stay just as isolated, they start developing primitive attempts to clear forests or dig spring water wells to expand their livable space on the Maranmapa islands. (Maramapi: +1 Innovation)


Spoiler :


Deep in the Maranmapan forest

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Far on the other end of the Land of the Shining Sky, the Continental Aghak pastoralists form their own oral telling tradition, uniquely separate from the moralistic stories of their insular kin. This goes along with the ongoing population boom. (Continental Aghak: +1 Intellectualism, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 37; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Wild planes of the Obarer coast

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The Insular Aghak natives also continue to spread along the shores of Hattara, simultaneously becoming known for the production of various fishing equipment and naval supplies that find their way to the markets of Nantara towns. (Insular Aghak: +1 Prominence, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 33; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Burial of a chieftain’s mummy on the Aghigbro islands

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The main drivers in this commercial exchange with the Aghak civilization are the Happatanari urbanites. These ethnocratic experts continue spreading across the Happataran world, as their class of learned scribes and administrators necessarily finds its way into the hierarchy of Happataran towns in the eastern frontier. In the process, their familiarity with trade and various forms of land clearing and harbor building improves as well. (Happatanari: +1 Mercantilism, +1 Innovation, -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 33; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


The household of a high-ranking Happatanari administrator

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This rise of the Happatanari as the sub-ethnos within the Happataran urban civilization leaves the rest of it surprisingly stagnant. One exception to this is that some of the pro-Pahdatid urban dynasties of the Left-bank Happatara mostly respond to the rise of the Happatanari experts with their own brand of nativism, promoting through the urban ranks pureblooded Happatara people who could one day, perhaps, replace the clay scribes of the Happatanari. (Left-bank Happatara: +1 Intellectualism)


Spoiler :


Pahdatid dynast entering a left-bank city

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Even fewer news come from the right bank of Nantara. There, the Right-bank Happatara civilization is mostly known for a century-long craftsmanship boom, driven by the influx of timber from the woods of Hattara. (Right-bank Happatara: +1 Prominence)


Spoiler :


Happataran settler of the Hattara forest

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In the west, the Tantanari civilization is left to its own devices - a welcomed change after centuries of friction and conquest. A few low-energy military expeditions are still outfitted by the Tantanaran rulers of Xosa against the Pahdatid clients, but these endeavors are rather inconsequential. On the positive side of things, this gives a chance for the first small towns to appear in the Tantara woods. (Tantanari: Region 22: +1 Urbanization)


The Epic of the Nariyaga:
The development of the Tantanaran national epos of Nariyaga continues throughout this period. Several more canons are established around the heroicized events of the great migration into Nantara and clashes with the migrating Hazo, pushing the poem rather close to becoming a cultural milestone in the history of the Land of the Shining Sky. (Bonus: +2 CP, +20% Conformity; Attribute Demand: Intellectualism 3/4; Length: 12 turns)


Spoiler :


Tantanari ruler of Xosa on his throne

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The wide-spread Laholona monarchy of the Hazo enjoys surprisingly few social innovations and developments in that period. However, in the forested valley of Hattara the Hazo colonists quickly outpace the more established Happataran and Aghaki settlers at the speed of their spread through the land. (Hazo: -10% Centralization, -10% Conformity, +2 Population Centers in Region 33; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Cult of Mother Nany and the Second Laholona Dynasty:
The cult of Mother Nany doesn’t seem as resurgent as it looked barely a century ago. Where some people predicted the imminent rise of the Second Laholona dynasty, many now see the lasting rule of the once again dominant successors of Laholona I - perhaps thanks to the military successes of the previous century. (Bonus: +1 Prominence, +1 DP, +10% Conformity; Attribute Demand: Spiritualism 0/1, Comity 0/1; Length: 9 turns)


Spoiler :


Ritual combat at the court of a Laholona ruler

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One of the exercises that keeps the weak rulers of the First Laholona dynasty still in power among the Hazo is a series of seasonal raids into Bashtun, where the local Bashtunari people continue being hunted down. Those who survive, search (and find) better life in the hillocks of Hyagothia. (Bashtunari: -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 20; player must choose type of new Power Point; -1 Population Center in Region 21)


Spoiler :


Bashtunari shaman

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Farther west, the Agomai people start trickling into the plateaus of Aoni-chehek, establishing villages not too far away from the canyon settlements of Yonike. (Agomai: -5% Centralization, -5% Conformity, +1 Population Centers in Region 15; player must choose type of new Power Point)


Spoiler :


Seasonal hut of Agomai hunters

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The Yonike canyon dwellers also participate in that mutual cultural mix, as many of them found peaceful fishing villages in the upstream of the Agoru river, although for them it doesn’t come in addition to the population boom. (Yonike: 1 Population Center migrates to Region 17)


Spoiler :


Yonike rock carvers

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GM's notes:

Stats are in progress.
 
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