Harklum
Harklum
Religion
Traditions
-15% General Cost
+20% Land Force Limit Modifier
The Bulwari FrontierBulwar's civilization has always had a tenuous border, that liminal space plagued by gnollish raids and abducting harpies. Tribute payments are plentiful, as are monstrous raids, and everyone knows that the peace of a farming day might instantly turn to chaos and bloodshed.\n\nBut that is the space that, for generations, the Harklumi have made their lives in. It requires toughness — and the Harklumi are tough. It requires bravery — and the Harklumi are brave. Above all, it requires an indomitable will to persevere — something no Harklumi is born without.
-15% Land Attrition
Community NightwatchEvery scattered village in Harklum employs a similar system for common defence (those that did otherwise have since perished). Every member of the citizenry rotates through lookout duty, watching for threats and incoming raids. At times, this means a Harklumi citizen might go a week without ever seeing the sun, a daunting prospect for any Bulwari. It is considered a position of honor, however, for just as Surael's sun in the day is a symbol of the sacrifice He made to protect us from the Day of Ashen Skies, their keen eyes awake at night are a sacrifice for our common good.
+30% Garrison Size
Golden SpearsWhen Jaher landed in Bulwar and marched to free its people, he was joined by many native Bulwari in overthrowing their gnollish masters. To the bravest and most honourable among them, he presented golden spears, that they may strike with all the force and power of the light.\n\nThough many Bulwari states have adopted the practice — especially when recruitment rolls run low — in Harklum, the golden spears found are those given from the hands of Jaher himself. They have been passed from generation to generation, protected from gnollish raids with blood and bone, and are still borne by Harklum's best soldiers to this day.
+15% National Manpower Modifier
Roads and FieldsThe fields and valleys of Harklum are beautiful sights to behold when illuminated by the noon-day sun — though the vista is very much marred by the appearance of a gnoll's ugly face. But as the gnolls were pushed back in the late 15th century, with the slaying of Zokka Devourer-of-Suns and the death of Tluukt Cleaver-of-Realms, more and more came to appreciate the land's abundant beauty. By the Age of Witch-Kings, many prominent Sun Elves owned vast and palatial estates in Harklum, rivalling in grandeur any of Marlliande's plantations or the Wine Lords' vineyards.
-1% Prestige Decay
Trained from a Young Age.The third tenet of the Sun Cults is 'Keep the light of your children.' Whether it is wars or gnollish raids that leave a child parentless, to let them languish in orphanhood is a crime in the eyes of Surael. And so Harklum for centuries has given them a place in the army, the 'Childrens' Corps', so that they can find their purpose renewed and their light set ablaze. While this was traditionally constrained to Harklumi children, in the late 11th century an enterprising Akal sponsored orphanages across Bulwar, to ensure no child's light is dimmed for long.
+0.5 Yearly Army Tradition
The Sunlily BerrySome say that the greatest blessing Surael gives to us each day is the light in the sky. But the challenges of life in Harklum mean many instead look inward, and see the lifespark that keeps the heart pumping and lungs breathing his truly greatest gift. And this belief is only reinforced by the Sunlily berry, one of the more interesting and curious plants native to the region.\n\nWhen consumed, the berry grants a man the energy to go through an entire day, requiring no other food and only a small libation of water. No doubt this is a small emanation of Surael himself, all his life-giving energies condensed into one small ounce of creation. It is what ensures we can tend our fields with care, despite our dispersed population and strife-rife lands.
+10% Production Efficiency
Gunfire PhalanxWith the rise of smoke and guns in warfare taking precedence over sword and steel, the traditional Bulwari phalanx began to fall out of favor. But with the invention of bayonets in the 1600s, the tried and true Bulwari phalanx could once again decimate enemy armies — with gunfire as well.\n\nThe forces of Harklum put these to better use than most, especially at the 1621 Battle of Bulwar, when they led the vanguard of a pan-Bulwari force and dealt the Jadd Empire its first defeat on open plains.
+10% Infantry Combat Ability
Ambition
-10% Development Cost
History
TBD
Strategy
TBD