Sirtzite (Seert-zite)
Basic Outline
Appearance
All shades of black and brown, some tan and some olive to the south. They favor loose-fitting, light, breathable clothes that provides cover for their skin to protect it from the sun. The men wear long sleeved shirts, pants, and boots that tie up above the calf. Women wear light dresses (more similar to arabic/indian than european if that helps visualize) and other decorative fabrics.
Common Habits
Mores
- Dedicated mages are women and priests
- Peasants swear fealty to their lord and must follow their orders
- You respect god by respecting the land
- Scribing is a woman or priest's role
- Cowardice is heinous
Folkways
- You should treat animals well if you can
- Combat/strength is how you show your dominance (Duels)
________________________________________________
History
Ashfall
Sirtza has some of the most fertile farmland and best pastoral ground in the entirety of the region. However, there were also a lot of people that they were feeding both locally and not. After the crop yield was much poorer than usual, people hunkered down for the long haul and kept the food for themselves.
The land was invaded by people from all over the region. It was a time of nigh constant bloodshed. Cities would exchange out rulers in the matter of days as powerful people tried to take control. The squabbling of these people eventually settled when everyone broke out into their individual kingdoms. They clashed constantly, but didn't make too risky of plays while the sky was still dark and food production was still not great especially from the constant fighting.
Unification
A particularly battle hardened group near the "fertile crescent" of the region started to expand quickly as they overwhelmed other kingdoms with numbers and strategy. They were led by a king named Rir Sertz who eventually conquered the whole region under his reign.
Sertz would allow people who surrendered to him to join the empire and keep their jobs as well as their lives. Any resistance and he would slaughter their entire family. His reputation grew and he eventually was able to conquer the region through intimidation.
After his death, the ruling of the kingdom went to his eldest son while his other sons were given their own fiefs to rule. This meant that the nation was essentially just a bunch of squabbling, angry nobles who've sworn loyalty, but need to be rangled.
Complex games are played; essentially, the lords need to be busy squabbling with their neighbors more than upset with the king. The king still has a very large military after all and controls a lot of the best farm land.
This leads to more expansionism where they eventually border with Beshnom and the Myr Republic. There's not a great route to attack Myr except by sea, and the Sirtzites aren't great sailors, so they largely leave them alone except for the occasional skirmish around Myr's northern-most river. Beshnom on the other hand, they claim for themselves.
Beshnomic Wars
Myr sailed from across the sea and established their territory along the coast. The Beshnomi in the areas would help them. The first campaign went on for a few years until Myr was eventually able to force Sirtza back and nearly out of Beshnom.
After a few years, the Sirtzite lord who initially expanded on his own begged for aid. Most of the other lords liked the idea of adding Beshnom to their territory as well as testing their might against Myr.
With the combined forces of Sirtza against Myr, they recruited the local populace into their armies to fight but found them ineffective, so they stationed more of their people inside of Beshnom.
The Nation
Government
Very standard monarchy. Think Holy Roman Empire. The only difference being that Sirtza is influenced by the Vowg instead of the Catholic Church, which influences more cultural aspects rather than the government itself.
Society
Mages that specialize in any other magic other than physical enhancement are exclusively women and some priests. Mages do get a fairly decent place in society, but aren't respected by the nobility and the common folk fear them.
Nobility are the rulers of Sirtza. They're split up into different ranks depending on the amount of land they control. The royal family holds the most power and have the largest amount of land they directly control.
Priests have a lot of the people's respect as well as the nobles. The nobles don't want to get on their bad side because of their power.
Peasants have the worst of it. Low status, hard labor, and no real freedom. They have to follow the orders of their lords or be punished.
Women and priests are the people with any real education in Sirtza. They are the scribes and teachers.
Culture
War is a huge propenent of their culture. They fight with others and even each other constantly. Shows of bravado, dominance, and the like are common amongst the nobility and has even gone down to the peasants.
Honor is a core value to all Sirtzites, high and low born. Straight forward fights, religious crusades, etc. (chivlary with a twist). Duelists will wear their hair up in a sort of top knot that displays their dueling record (wins and losses) with different colored beads (gold and red respectively).
The Vowg religion is a big part of their culture. They believe that the land is God. There's very little in the way of doctrine and documents, so it's very different depending on the priest and their sect. Burials are incredibly important and they believe that blood spilt honorably is an offering to God.
Scribing is thought to be a woman's or a priest's role. Women and priests are free to educate themselves and become any type of mage.
Military
The Sirtzites have military petty officers and higher ranks split up along social hierarchical ranks. A peasant has a slim chance at best of rising through the ranks to any officer's position besides Sergeant, but that doesn't stop some from dreaming about acquiring land and title through battle. Noblemen, on the other hand, are immediately put in officer's positions and find that listening to commoners is usually beneath them.
To join the military, their usually needs to be a demand for soldiers. Sounds obvious, but it's really expensive to have a standing military unless you need to use it. Peasants are usually demanded by their noble lord to serve as soldiers for whatever minor purpose they may have. From there, a peasant can choose to become a sergeant or corporal of a standing squad in the lord's army or join the king's army. The squad will usually serve as guards until deployed somewhere in their lord's land or be trained further in the king's army. To join the military as a noble, you can either make your own army that you lead, or apply to be an officer in the king's army. This brings in a lot money.
People who can't serve, but have some money must pay or be thrown in prison. The disabled are treated especially harshly and generally can't even make it into the "free" class of people.
The Sirtzite navy is nowhere near any other power in the region; however, their army strength is unprecedented in both number and strength.
General Military Ranks
Economy
Sirtza's economy is mainly agricultural. They have a lot of farmland and even more pastoral land. They have some mines along the skeeln infested Deqese. The mines are heavily defended by the lords who control them and account for much of the wealth of the nation despite the raids.
Sirtza has barred any traders from Aleirun to come across their land so as to not let traders easily travel to Khairae. Khairae and Myr both are willing to trade with Sirtza for various valuable metals and gems, but not much else.
That was until Beshnom, where Sirtza has been cutting into the Khai opioid and spice market. Beshnom has been able to breathe new wealth into the Sirtza, but they are still falling behind in comparison to either of the other major economic powers in the region.
Sirtza Savanna
Sirtza is dominated by its savanna landscapes. It's hot and wet in the winters and very hot and dry in the summer. This pushes them towards looser clothes that can breathe while covering most of their body to protect them from the sun.
