Siri Ideas

Traditions
+1 Diplomatic Reputation
-20% Mercenary Maintenance

Legacy of KetayanheITEM: Coin from Ketayanhe, c. 82 BA during the reign of Emperor Dubufa "The Scarred"\n\nPROVENANCE: uncovered by archaeologists in Chatzin, where the rivers Beiklinhe and Yanhe once merged. Repatriated from the Dragon Command under the Senbonzakura grant for the arts.\n\nDESCRIPTION: dimensions measuring 3 cm x 2.8 cm x 1 cm, approx. 7 grams, shape approx. round, composition approx. 80% silver, 10% copper, 10% other. One side bears the seal of the Rahenraj, and on the other is the head of the monarch Dubufa—identified by his prominent chin and scar above his left eye. The words "Saravauca’s Sword" appear alongside the signet and Dubufa's family motto "Obedience and Humility" ring his portrait.\n\nCOMMENTARY: While the coin was minted in the Ketayanhe capital of Sir, materials appear to be sourced as far away as Phungoen, bespeaking a continent-spanning network of trade. The Ketanyanhe, one of many successor states to the Rahenraj, held no hereditary claim to the Rahenraj's lands—the brazen display of the Peridot Lotus is a shrewd attempt to build political legitimacy. Interestingly, the sediment layer this coin was found in implies that it was still in circulation several hundred years after the conquest of Ketayanhe by Harimar the Great.\n\nCurrently stored in Siri Museum of Local Interest, catalogued shelf 15 box A33.
-15% Province War Score Cost

The Ekata System"Article 1: At the heart of Sir Ekata must sit the Balance, which shall be constituted equally of Left, Right, and Center. (a.) Within the Balance, nine Mayors shall be divided between two Hands and one High with identical apportionment for each.\n\nArticle 2: To the Balance shall be delegated the obligations and responsibilities of (a.) maintaining and expanding the temples of all three faiths (comprising the Lefthand Path, the Righteous Path, and the High Philosophy), (b.) providing a force of levies which must protect Sir and its Ekata in times of great strife, (c.) adjudicating disputes between the citizens of Sir, and (d.) protecting the flow of trade on the Yan river."\n -Excerpt from the Siri Constitution (est. 951 AA), Articles 1 and 2, 37th revision
+0.3 Yearly Republican Tradition

First Port of the Yan"Seeing Siri spires"\n -Halessi idiom meaning "to be near the end of a difficult journey"\n\nThe city of Sir sits on a fortuitous location: it is the convergence of two rivers, the Yanhe flowing from the west and the Halkawta flowing from the North. For merchants arriving from both these directions, it is the first large city they will encounter on their route. Raheni merchants bring silk and porcelain on their way to Yanshen, while Beikling climb down the peaks of the Demon Hills to trade in gems and spirits. Pilgrims here arrive on their way to both the monks of the Xia and the Oni of the hills, resting and stocking up before their final push to these holy destinations. From all directions do the people of Haless come, and in all directions do they go. If people are the lifeblood of a region then Sir is the heart, beating and pounding and moving the great masses.
+15% Trade Efficiency

Betwixt Dragon and Tiger"...Ultimately, Miss Runji's life story told through this lens is nothing less than a scathing indictment of the caste system. The author paints pastoral, nostalgic scenes of her life in Sir, where a harimari is, in her words, 'neither conqueror of Rahen nor invader of Yanshen, neither enlightened king nor autocratic tyrant, neither moon nor sun.'\n\nThe advantages provided to her upon joining her extended family in Sharaajagal, the social benefits of being in the upper castes, are accompanied by certain expectations of behavior that 'make impossible the life of harimari such as I.' Here Miss Runji may have been alluding to her 'girlhood attachment' with a human girl and lifelong letter-friend, but it need not be for such reasons that she felt irked by the inability to act except in certain prescriptive ways, to treat others in no manner except that dictated by the precepts of the castes, to—in her words—'live in a gilded cage.' While Miss Runji proclaims her support for the caste system as an 'instrument of order,' we cannot but interpret her own evidence differently. The harm that the caste system causes to even those of its upper levels is…"\n -Excerpt from a book review of Life on Two Levels, an autobiography by Runji of the Lunar Glow. Published in Collectivism Monthly by Sahib Mirrani, 1905 AA.
+2 Max Promoted Cultures

A Man in Every MarketThere's a man from Sir in every market, from Sramaya to Tianlou. He'll speak the language haltingly but dress appropriately, and he worships in private so as to not offend the locals. There's a man from Sir in every market, and he takes very good notes on the prices, and quality, and quantity of the goods too. He'll sit in the market square some days, just marking down how many people stop by each stall. There's a man from Sir in every market, and it's not always obvious what he does, exactly, but what is known is this: every month he meets another man—also from Sir—just outside the city limits, where he passes off this information and in exchange receives payment.\n\nBack home in Sir, there are massive tables demarcating supply and demand, price and produce, deciding the rate of tariff on each item and the number of merchant licenses to hand out. The creation and maintenance of these tables is expensive, and their existence is nearly secret, but if the three factions of the Balance can agree on anything, it is this syllogism. One: for Sir to survive, the flow of trade must never stop. Two: markets are fickle things, prone to failure and inefficiency. Three: ergo, the markets of Sir must never fail, and never be inefficient. And so the man from Sir.
+10% Global Trade Power

Shasaaksa of the River"Article 3: The Shasaaksa, protector of Sir and its Ekata, must be elected by the Balance every three years in rotating assignments. (a.) In years ending in 3, they shall be elected from the clerics of the Right; in years ending with 6, the Left; in years ending with 9, the Center. (b.) No elections shall take place in years not ending in 3, 6, or 9, including in cases of vacant positions, as to maintain the Balance.\n\nArticle 4: To the Shasaaksa shall be delegated the obligations and responsibilities of (a.) maintaining the proportional balance between Left, Right, and Center within the Sir Ekata, (b.) leading the force of levies provided by the Balance, (c.) adjudicating disputes within the Sir Ekata, and (d.) protecting the flow of trade on the Yan river."\n -Excerpt from the Siri Constitution, Articles 3 and 4, 38th revision
+1 Yearly Prestige

Rambunctious SirThe Fall of Sir signaled the beginning of the end. The city of Sir had meant many things to the Great Command, being both thorn and treasure, bastion and backstabber. It had risen up once before in 1445, but that attempt had seen the members of the Ekata beheaded and their Xia collaborators conquered. It was the second fall of Sir in 1810 that proved a decisive blow against the Great Command, however. Already weakened by months of siege by the Dragon Command, and being the victim of an unpopular war, it took only the work of a small band of Siri dissidents to purge their loyalist leaders and hand the city over to the waiting claws of the Dragon.\n\nThe Fall of Sir shattered the confidence of the Great Command and gave the Dragon Command a solid foothold in the upper Yanhe. Ultimately, the Command would splinter into a half-dozen successor states, and the hobgoblins would find themselves once more at the foot of the Serpentspine. When the Command conquered Sir those centuries ago, it buried Siri dreams under a mountain of blood. It was with the bitterest taste of revenge that Sir returned the favor.
+10% Morale of Armies

Ambition
+20% Trade Steering