Kingdom of Siashi

The Kingdom of Siashi is a prosperous trading kingdom on the Eastern edge of Samvara. It is the gateway to the East, to Desmia and Izekra, and its ports are friendly to merchants and travelers from around the world. Much show is made of "freedoms" and "justice". Much show is made of prosperity and innovation. But make no mistake, this is no land of libertines or pluralists. This is a deeply faithful, militaristic kingdom. And should you wander beyond your designated areas of freedom, you may just dissapear. 
Despite the danger for foreign travelers, many risk leaving the ports anyways. The land is just so beautiful: the coastline, covered in mangrove trees and white-sand beaches; the sweeping fields and dramatic plateau views. Even the mountains, which spew smoke and smog from the Kima Cities below, have a beauty to them. As long as you keep your head down and your holy symbol on, such sightseeing isn't even that dangerous. The people here are friendly to pilgrims, if a little judgy at times. The casual shrug with which Siashi can drift between welcoming and oppressive is scary like that.

Structure

Siashi is a religiously charged monarchy with a plutocratic constitution. The monarch must be of the greater Lilivar tribe (a descendant of Lily of Red ) and must be of the Dakaviri sect of Halikvar and approved by the Archdruid of Halikvar. The monarch has great legislative and executive power, but cannot infringe on a number of culturally-enshrined liberties: a right to property, a right to jury trial, a right to elect local tax overseers. The current monarch is King Sevim I, a popular and principled monarch that has been carefully trying to emphasize commerce and industry over raiding and militarism. Sevim's cool temper and focus on infrastructure and ethics has not made him a pacifist, though, and his speeches betray a deep hunger for glory.
A mixture of bureaucrats and rural aristocrats manage the lower level administration. The nobility has been decline for centuries, ever since serfdom was abolished by the Republic, but clings to life in the less-connected corners of the country. The Ministries of Commerce and Works manage trade, taxes, and infrastructure. Local noble titles are often rented to military officers and notables for spans of around five years. These title rentals are renewable, but do make for a very impermanent kind of psuedo-feudalism led by the merchant-military elite.
The Kima Cities of Siashi's Southern mountains have a constitutional right to self-government and autonomy, but still nominally recognize the rule of the monarch. A special government position, the Master of the Depths, acts as the manager of Kima City policy.

Culture

Cultural Quirks and Customs

Siashan culture is vibrant and colorful, with an emphasis on traditional rituals and aesthetics. Humans, for example, are encouraged to dye their teeth black at a young age as a standard of beauty, and teeth blackening is a right of passage in nearly all Halikvar communities. Many point to how blackened teeth look more dryad-like, but it does come with some often-underappreciated health benefits such as improved tooth insulation and durability. It does lead to a different breath-smell though that can be disorienting for those unfamiliar with the practice.
Another quirky Siashan practice is that of Ocean Bleeding: as blood is a profane and taboo substance in Halikvar, butchers and bloodletters tend to hide their identities and undergo extreme purification rituals after work. But in Siashi, there is a weird cultural loophole. The land and the heavens are Halcyon's domains and are bound by the law of the 'Covenant of the Heavens', but the sea and the underground have their own Covenant Laws (those of Selkies and Kima Cities). So, what is profane on land isn't necessarily profane on the water. So butchery and animal processing is done onboard ships, docks, or large floating buildings. Human surgeons tend to operate at the docks for similar reasons. Halikvar theologians are quick to critique all this for being theologically nonsensical (you don't switch Covenants by sailing or going into a mine), but these nitpickers are ignored by the courts and state.
Siashi has a far meatier diet than other Halikvar lands, so it makes sense that they would obfuscate the laws of blood like this. Fish, lobster, oysters, squid, and crab are all big foods here, even for dryads (who have developed a local taste for fermented fish). Rice noodles, often in soup, are a staple of the region's cuisine.
As for Horoscopes, Siashi takes them less seriously than other Halikvar states. They still are important in religious spaces and they are socially important, but it isn't as important to wear one's horoscope in public or rank people by their sign as it is in other lands. 

Spaces, Rights, and the Individual

Just as certain taboos can be violated without problem in certain spaces in Siashan culture, the way one interacts with just about every social norm is defined by space. For example, when in commercial spaces, religious spaces, certain urban centers, and aboard vessels, Siashi affirms the importance of the individual above all. A person's individual rights and responsibilities are emphasized, and one's family name is considered fairly unimportant. In those spaces, one's personal emotions, beliefs, and speech are considered important and protected. Free speech, for example, is considered a right when in the market square. And yet, outside of those spaces, one's relationships and rights change. The family unit becomes far more important than the individual, and one's rights are primarily to belong to and serve a clan or extended family. Arranged marriages are extremely common, and marriages and funerals are big family occasions that focus on the clan's gain or loss rather than the individual's. While it may seem weird to flip one's values depending on where you physically are, the idea that the rules of the world fundamentally change based on where you are standing is entrenched in Siashan culture. This also helps explain how they can commit such heinous acts in the Kima Cities and abroad while pontificating about peace and freedom at home.
These values - individual rights and clan obedience - are quietly in conflict at all times. Young people flee from their villages to ports to escape arranged marriages; people remember disobedient speech said at market even when they leave the square. Its a curious dance, but its contradictions are perhaps what make it stable. The repressiveness of the clans and the isolation of the ports both can be escaped by moving. If you don't like one world, simply go to the other.

History

Siashi before Unification (0 - 720 ME)

All through the Divine Era, Siashi was a land of low-level agriculture, nomadic tribes, and big extended families. Conflicts broke out on occasion, there were peaces and heroes and feasts and dramas like anywhere else, but there were never large permanent cities or formal states. Religion was fluid, the countryside was densely populated, and the groups avoided intense social stratification. In the early Modern Era, that began to change with the arrival of the Halikvar druids. They promised healing and protection and divine guidance in exchange for the locals accepting their 'Divine Law'. These early converts began rising as dominant powers, with a permanent priesthood and military that could organize their peoples and bully the others. A number of Halikvari settlers and merchants began moving into these cities as well, and they brought weaponry and magic with them. By 400 ME, the land was thoroughly infused with militaristic Halikvar theology - but the cities had actually struggled to project power into the tribal countryside. 
The new religious and priesthood didn't make Siashi an obedient land of subjects by any means - if anything, the tribes had aggressively militarized and were ready to pick fights with just about anyone. In the 400s ME, they even launched an invasion of the largest Halikvari empire. And in the 500s and 600s, the rural tribes began adopting localized variants of Halikvar to avoid having to pay tribute to the cities. Lily of Red had to intervene to avoid the tribes from uniting to destroy the cities entirely but providing a common enemy: non-converted peoples to the West and North. 
In 710 ME, this feeling of unity peaked with the Great Expedition: a united invasion Northward, to try and force the Pratasam of central Samvara to submit once again to Lily's uncontested rule. The Grand Expedition failed, but did reward all involved with great loot and lands. Siashi thrived, with mass building along the coast. The tribes and cities agreed to not only lasting peace, but a lasting alliance. The alliance's leader, Su-Alkoa Erila Swepeja, who was a  paladin of Lily, scion of her holy line, and a charismatic general, ultimately became the Queen of the first united Kingdom of Siashi. While the tribes were still free to run their own affairs, the region's elites were united under one flag for the first time. The region had the potential to become a backwater, but the 700s saw Siashi suddenly ascendant. 

The First Kingdom (720 - 1130)

The early Kingdom of Siashi encountered an interesting complication right off the bat: a mass arrival of Akadist exiles from far West, who arrived in the Southern mountains of Siashi seeking to build their own Kima Cities. These Akadists were not militant isolationists like their cousins, but sought to trade with the surrounding peoples. The monarchs cautiously welcomed them into the mountains but soon became close allies and trading partners. There were some complaints of mountain-folk being dragged into the Kima Cities, but the cities and monarchs were willing to look the other way if it wasn't egregious. The tribes were not too fond of these newcomers, though, nor were they fond of this leniency towards kidnapping. When the monarchs began mustering for forces for another great push against the Eastern Pratasa in 890, they had to start restricting the rights and expansion of the Kima to appease the tribes. 

The push did successfully shatter the Empire of Shenerem, allowing Halikvar (and Siashi) to make major territorial gains. All the while, though, the Akadists stewed in resentment. The monarchs began interfering in Kima City internal affairs in the 920s, provoking even more resentment. The Akadists finally interfered back by assisting with a government coup in 940. The new government managed to de-escalate some, but again they turned to foreign adventures to unify the country. In 948, they provoked the Kingdom of Kiami (the state to the South) into invading, and used this as a rallying point for all of the major factions. This war dragged Siashi into a larger war over the leadership of the Halikvar faith, one in which Siashi accidentally stumbled onto the winning side. Siashi did not gain control of the faith as a whole, but it did end up on very good terms with the country that now did.  
In 960 ME, the leading Akadist representative in government (and Paladin of Jade ) was assassinated, and another coup pivoted the government against the Kima Cities. This new government was also firmly against the tribes: it sought absolute unity, and the tribes and Kima alike had no place dividing their kingdom. This new centralizing regime turned the Kima and tribes from enemies to allies, and the two brokered a very close new trading partnership. 
In 1050, a succession crisis provided a chance for every group that hated the centralizing policies to rebel at once. Tribes, Akadists, Holy Orders, merchants, and ethnic minorities all broke free at once in a great storm. Local elites squabbled in a massive civil war that dragged until 1075 - only to restart in 1080. And then restart again in 1100. With each war, Siashi fragmented further. The conquered lands to the North seceded, Siashi fell from being a regional power, and many wondered if the core of Siashi would fragment as well. 

Wars for the War Goddess (1130 - 1400)

In the middle of this deathspiral, Lily of Red reached down to end the feuds of these petty princes. They had a greater divine purpose than fighting one another: they were needed to invade the profane land of Desmia to save millions of innocent dryads from slaughter. With a little help from The Muse-God Hiku, Siashi reformed and restabilized in record time. And in 1150, they were ready to set sail for Arvea, to destroy the wicked foreigners and win gold and glory. 
From 1150 to 1400, Siashi pivoted between fighting in Izekra and heading North to attack the heathen temples of Areto and Ayshanism. But even with decades-long periods of recuperation between attacks, the jingoistic spirit slowly faded into exhaustion. Attacking was something they could do, but holding land was proving to be a miserable slog on every front. Through the 1400s, more and more warriors chose naval holy orders over the formal military. These Holy Knights of the Sea were basically religiously-motivated privateers that raided the shipping lanes and coastlines of heathen lands. All the social prestige of a holy warrior, all the fair division of stolen loot of a pirate. 

Republic of Brethren (1400 - 1700)

From 1400 to 1500, privateering almost completely overtook formal military service. More internal disputes also began rocking the country - rebellions were back in style. The privateers even joined in, and joined a merchant's coup of the government in 1532. After much squabbling and debating, a Paladin of growing prominence emerged to broker a peace: Etsaba the Walking Temple, an awakened treant that had entered the service of Lily of Red. Estaba had sworn off rulership themselves, but proposed a novel solution: a Merchant's Republic, where the wealthy elites across the country could all have a voice in who would be elected monarch. The new Republic consecrated itself like Siashan regimes always do - invading somewhere else! New shipping technology had opened up a new route to Desmia to the North, to the realm of Lusaya. Privateers had begun sailing and raiding there decades ago, but no formal warparty had taken advantage of the route to fight a proper war yet. Etsaba wished to change this.
From 1532 to 1555, Siashan armies and privateers alike poured through Lusaya (which was bribed into an alliance) into the region of Esken. Desmian crusading supply trains were harassed at sea, coastal villages were looted, and a Siashan colony was even founded on Desmian soil. To maximize profits, the Republic of Siashi arranged a deal with the Kima Cities that many consider unethical: Desmians would be kidnapped from their homelands and traded to the Kima Cities in exchange for goods. The Kima Cities would then "re-educate" the Desmians and erase their culture by force. This re-education coincidentally involved a lot of very dangerous mining work. A recent technological innovation, mercury amalgamation mining, had allowed for very efficient processing of lower-quality ore into higher-quality ore. But this process was very brutal on the bodies of those involved, with staggering lethality rates than only soared higher when closed quarters were involved. There were other more efficient ore extraction techniques that not caring about your worker's bodies or lives allowed. Taken Desmian children were taken back to Siashi for adoption, though these adopted children were often closer to servants. Theian cults and paladins began to target the Republic, but ultimately were unable to stop this war machine. 
It was the Ishkibite Kingdom of Lusaya, which was allowing Siashan fleets through its waters, that ultimately stopped the war against Esken. The Lusayans stopped offering safe harbor and banned warfleets in their waters in 1555. Siashi tried bullying Lusaya into allowing them through, but shipping technology was not quite at the point where that was viable yet. 
Siashan raids into Desmia and Izekra, modern and historical routes

From 1555 1700, Siashi pivoted away from Esken back to its traditional targets: Ayshans, Izekrans, and Aretans. At first, they continued their kidnapping in these new wars, but a visit from the God Haru led to them de-escalating that. The Kima Cities had to start being more careful with its labor, but nearly a century of mass kidnapping had given them a large captive population to do a little nightmarish industry. 

The Republic is known to modern Siashans as a golden age of building, settlement, population growth, and technological innovation. It collapsed when the Wars of Halikvari Religion broke out across the region in 1700. 

The Current Regime (1700 - Present)

From 1700 to 1830, Halikvari sects brutally killed each other across Samvara. While the Dakavar and Asivar sects had previously been on great terms in Siashi, the wars of religion in neighboring Kiami disturbed this harmony. And so the sects turned on each other, and the Republic quickly collapsed. The Asivar, associated with the ancient tribal identities, were butchered, exiled, forcibly converted, or sent to the Kima Mines. The centralizing Dakavar won, and in 1770 a Dakavari-Halikvar regime took power. 
Since 1770, the new monarchy has fostered close alliances with countries of the same sect and generally tried to go back to business as usual. In 1830, they were even able to renegotiate passage back into Desmia for piracy. With acceptable targets back on the menu, they renewed covert deals with the Kima Mine. A second invasion of Esken was even planned in the mid 1900s, but a major Desmian naval victory in 1966 spoiled those plans. The piracy has not stopped, though; Siashi has been exploring new routes around Desmia, and have used this booming piracy business to monopolize on the trade through the Northern Desmian passage. 
Over the last century, wise investment and good fortune has allowed Siashi's economy to boom. Having two trade routes (to Desmia and Arvea respectively) has not hurt, but Siashi has really capitalized on its advantages. Where other Halikvar states have struggled in recent years, Siashi is rising meteorically. Who they go attack about it next is anyone's guess.

Demography and Population

11,000,000 humanoids live in Siashi, as well as numerous cats. The humanoids are 50% Dryad, 30% Human, 15% Prism, and 5% Other

Territories

Siashi is 596 miles across, and 205 miles across. Much of its borders are defined by the Rejvala mountains, which rise to about 5000 feet above sea level. There is a large, raised plateau in Eastern Siasha, next to the Rejvala, and this plateau is cooler and drier than the surrounding land. Quite a few islands line the coasts, especially around the Eastern peninsulas.
The Serevnar river, 90 miles long, is at the center of the Northern region of Sereva, which is contested by a number of lesser princes in the region.
Siashi sits at the closest point to both Desmia and Arvea, and the winds make travel to both locations convenient. Leviathan attacks are not unheard of along the way, though.

Military

Siashi has an excellent navy and a robust army. Much of the navy contract as merchants and privateers when off-duty, though a core standing navy stands guard over the main ports at all times. A large chunk of the army contracts out with these merchants and privateers as marines and guards. The army, like the navy, is composed of a core standing army and a number of semi-mercenary warbands and regiments organized by local merchant-bureaucrats. 
The warriors of Siashi focus on mobility over line strength. Siashi's archers and crossbowmen are quite skilled sharpshooters, and are often armed with large shields bearing the full moon symbol of Lily of Red. Highly mobile infantry armed with axes and short swords are common as well and often are quite skilled at boarding vessels. 
On land, the Siashian strategy is to divide, wear down, and confuse the enemy, ideally separating their forces across the battlefield. Once the enemy is divided, a strong central force of mixed infantry and heavy-hitting specialists can target the most threatening group of enemies, and the foes can be surrounded and destroyed one by one. These specialists tend to be holy orders of some kind or another: cavalry or heavy infantry, oftentimes.
The most famous specialists are those of the Wargrove. The Wargrove are a group of Treants (druidically awakened trees) that have dedicated their long lives to fighting for the Halikvar cause. Founded by the ancient Oak-paladin Etsaba the Walking Temple, the Wargrove is a mixture of paladins, druids, berserkers, and sharpshooters armed with specialized ballistae. They are extremely controlling of their members and relentlessly indoctrinate all who join. They train endlessly to better awaken more trees to enlist in their cause, so that they may one day be a great army that walks as an armored forest.

Religion

Siashi is majority-Halikvar and considers it their state religion. The courts are Halikvar, all officials must be Halikvar. The official state sect is Dakavar - a group who preach total dedication to Lily of Red and her direct bloodline. Members of the other sect, Asivar, are tolerated as visitors but banned from permanent residence.
In the ports and cities, religious tolerance reigns. Visitors, merchants, and even city residents can practice whatever religion they care to, as long as they keep all preaching, ritual, and worship within their designated zones. Beyond the designated areas of worship, and religious tolerance turns to active persecution. Even private worship of foreign religions is illegal in the countryside. 
The big exception to this rule is Akadism. Within the mountains, Akadism reigns supreme, and displays of Akadist faith are legal throughout the land. Those who wish can leave their homes to join the Kima Cities, but they often find it more difficult to leave than to enter.
Within the cities and parts of the countryside, one illicit sect is particularly hated by the state: The Old Blood Ishkibites. This sect is a cultural group as well as a religious one - they are the descendants of the unassimilated Orthodox Desmians and Ishkibites seized from their homelands as children and used as servants by wealthy clans in Siashi. Their ancestors were not slaves and were recognized as equal residents when they grew up, and many of the other stolen children joined their adopted clans when they came of age. But these children did not; they sought out other children like them when they came of age, and they tried to form their own communities. They kept bits of their cultures alive, though they were often more aesthetic than anything. Missionaries of Ishkibal and paladins of Theia approached these communities and supported them, and from this fusion of influences the Old Blood Ishkibites were formed.
As the Old Blood Ishkibites are generally anti-Kima-City and resent the Halikvar priesthood, they are enemies of the state and had to hide their culture and faith centuries ago. They are one of the few religions whose rights to religious freedom are infringed upon in the cities, but they have managed to hide behind the foreign Ishkibite temples for protection there.

Foreign Relations

Siashi's foreign policy mixes the approach of a pragmatic trader and a defender of the faith: enemies of the Halikvar faith shall be destroyed, but neutral parties are to be approached with friendliness. 
Siashi holds a close alliance with all Halikvar nations, particularly those of their sect (Dakavar). They have many close Halikvar allies on the island of Arvea as well, and they prop up as many allied regimes as possible. 
Heathens such as Ishkibites and Aretans can be traded with unless they are actively threatening the faithful. Ishkibite kingdoms in Desmia, such as Lusaya, are allies and trading partners. 
In order to project influence through the area, Siashi has also been a major supporter and ally of the Healing Church - a multi-religious body of healers and Dhampires that have a monopoly on healing potions.

Agriculture & Industry

The countryside is extremely agrarian, as to be expected. Wet-field rice is most common, as if dryad fodder. The inland plateaus farm wheat. Cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, and sugar are also grown. Lumber is forested. Giant Lobsters are ranched along the coast, and fish and oysters are farmed in the shallow waters.
The Kima Cities provide the other side of Siashi's raw resources: gold, silver, iron, stone, concrete, and asphalt are all produced in staggering amounts in the mountains and shipped to the coast for trade. Artisans in the Kima also create tools and mint coins.
Coastal cities are alive with trade, but also have a manufacturing angle. Textiles are woven; guilds produce various goods. Ships are built and repaired.

Trade & Transport

Siashi sits at the perfect trading crossroads. Any sailor who wants a quick passage to Arvea or Desmia with the least time over the deep ocean (and given the nature of Leviathans in deep waters, that is important) will need to go through Siashi to do it. 
Trade policy is managed by the monarch and balances free markets with protection of local industries. Bad monarchs can really put a damper on continental trade; good monarchs can do the opposite. 
Guilds manage most of the urban commerce and production.

Education

Education is mostly managed by the Halikvar temples and local apprenticeships, though it tends to be fairly bare-bones and trade oriented. Four colleges operate along the coast, three of which are exclusively for priests and magicians. The last is funded by a combination of guilds and local merchants, and tends to be favored by the wealthy and eccentric.

Let No Wicked Heart Lie Calm

Founding Date

1770

Type

Geopolitical, Country

Demonym

Siashan

Government System

Monarchy, Constitutional

Power Structure

Feudal state

Currency

Ekedian Gold Suns, Silver Moons, and Copper Bats

Major Exports

Lumber, steel, gold

Major Imports

Captives, spices, alchemy supplies

Judicial Body

The Elder Druid's Court

Official State Religion

Halikvar

Location

Samvara

Controlled Territories

• Ajavet

Neighboring Nations

• Aquatic Domhulin
• Kingdom of Ashakahd
• Kingdom of Ashavat
• Kingdom of Kiami