Xhurekal Ideas

Traditions
+15% Goods Produced Modifier
+15% Global Trade Power

Heirs to the Three KingndomsHuddling against a dying fire, hoping, praying to not hear a cackle in the night. The Bulwari have feared the gnolls for as long as there’s been a Bulwar. Yet in their millenia as inhabitants of these lands, not all have stuck to such ways. The vicious Castan Beastbane swept away many of the gnolls in Bulwar, but over the years many poured back in. When gnolls took the great city of Azka-sur in the year 200 BA, it brought about a remarkable change. Over the next four hundred years, some of those gnolls who returned to Bulwar became more and more like their subjects, even going so far as to adopt the human faith.\n\nThus the Suncrown Gnolls were born. Proud champions of Surakel’s light, creatures of darkness who had seen a path away from the malevolent and vile gloom which birthed them. Only fools and the ignorant would claim that these pious faithful weren’t as loyal to the Light as any other, and they soon came to rule over vast swathes of central Bulwar, with a network of loyal human vassals below them. Perhaps this can be the case once more.
+100% Vassal Force Limit Contribution

Carriers of the Red FlameThough more familiar to the Bulwari, the Suncrown Gnolls still harbored with them unpleasant associations of a terrible, flickering green flame, devouring any and all souls fed to it. Over time, as a counter to the lingering memory of the hellfire which plagued the Bulwari, many Suncrown cities would construct a temple with a Red Flame within it, burning in glorious praise to Surakel.\n\nDemons, however, are cruel and loath to let such opposition stand unchallenged. When the Red Xhaz rose, they took the Suncrown’s precious Red Flame as a symbol, once again threatening to poison the chalice, to tear away another symbol of the Sun Cult’s unity and piety. But many brave Suncrown Gnolls refused, fighting with fury, charging into the flames of hell itself, for the fire in their souls burnt brighter than any a demon could muster.
-10% Morale Damage Received

Suncrown PatronageBy the year 600 AA, the Suran plain was in the full grasp of the Suncrown kingdoms, in what would come to be known as the Merchant Matriarchs period. Even now it is fondly remembered for the great works of music, poetry, art, theater and - perhaps most notably - architecture it inspired, often funded with Suncrown gold and their vast networks of commerce. To this date, many of the buildings that survive from that era are regarded as some of the most beautiful that the garden of Surakel has to offer.\n\nThe most recognizable feature of this era of architecture is its grandeur and ostentatious flair with its dramatic and awe inspiring temples. The most famous of these that still exists is the temple of Sareyand, the old Suncrown city of Raxaklu, which still stands despite massive damage suffered throughout its long history. Its ruins prove a popular sight for archaeologists, theologians, and Suncrown tourists alike, a faded symbol of a forgotten glory.
-10% Construction Cost
+1 Merchants

Vanquishers of the Third XhazA historical anomaly. That is how many refer to the Xhazobain. A male Xhazobine, a powerful and cunning leader, but one who’s victories proved precious little in all but the devastation they caused in the long term, scarring the face of Halann forever with Darvan’s Folly.\n\nBut before the Xhazobain’s eyes turned to Dostanor, its gaze rested firmly in the rich and powerful Suncrown kingdoms to the south, which he tried to take in a furious and violent campaign of terror and pain. However, he was soundly defeated, unable to breach the red iron gates of indomitable Xharrarzax, and was expelled out into the Šad Kuz. In a flight of rage, his rampage turned to the north, pushing into Bahar and then into Dostanor where Daravan’s magics rendered large sections of once bountiful farmland a hellish nightmare.\n\nTo Dostanor, it was a tragedy and a folly. To Xharrarzax, it was one of the most hilariously wonderful comedies they had ever yet seen. The queen called for three days feast: one day to mourn the dead, one day to mock the Xhazobain, and one day to ‘thank’ the Cannorians that made it happen.
+0.5 Yearly Army Tradition

The Shining Shields“Hold, Shining Shields!”\nWas there a gnoll disheartened?\nAll though the gnolls know\nThey would all be brought low\nTheirs was not to flee or cry\nTheirs was but to do or die\nThough all knew where their fate lied.”\n- Stand of the Shining Shields. 1500.\n\nOnce the Shining Shields were the Royal Guards of the Resplendent Gnollish Kingdom of Raxaklu. For centuries they gave their service fighting alongside Jaher in Rahen and Haless, then in uncountable conflicts with the kingdoms of Dalarand and Varamhar across history and the Suran Plain, until their time too came.\n\nA charge. An ill-prepared defense at the battle of Traz-Buranum against the encroaching Jaddari, ending with the obliteration of almost all of the Shining Shields, and an end to their sage. Commemorated forever in poetry and verse as they stood against the tide of the new world with all their might. And, for just one moment, it looked like they might have won.
-10% Leader Cost
+1 Land Leader Shock

Way of the SuncrownThe Suncrown adoption of the Bulwari Sun Cult required quite some theological debate. Bulwari theologians held that they were creatures of darkness, created by the corrupted deity Amaštu - a goddess of nature and the hunt - as a perversion and taunting mockery of humanity, which Surakel so dearly loved. Thus, why were they allowed to survive and prosper in his garden?\n\nThe answer they came to was simple. When the Dark Forest of Amaštu was burned into the sands of the Salahad, Surakel spared them for they had a part to play. A great battle of Two Flames: the Suncrown’s and their proud Red Flame against the green Hell Fire of the Xhazobkult.\n\nFor a time, it seemed that this prophecy was true. When Jaher - believed by the New Sun Cult and Jadd to be Surael reborn - struck out against the Red Xhaz when he landed in Bulwar, he was joined by many hundreds, if not thousands of Suncrown Gnolls. They stood with Jaher against the forces of the hells themselves, thinking only of the god they loved.
-10% Shock Damage Received
+1 Tolerance of the True Faith

Merchant QueendomsAs the Bulwari Renaissance came to an end with the Akalšesi civil war, the Suncrown Gnolls grew to control huge areas of Bulwar, particularly central Bulwar. The massive explosion of trade between Haless, Sarhal and Cannor, almost all of which flowed through the garden of Surakel, fattened the coffers and coin-purses of the Merchant Queens greatly.\n\nThis wealth had cascading effects on the Merchant Queendoms. For starters, it saw a great reduction in the use of slave labor by the Queendoms. There was also a lull in wars, as the Queendoms proved more interested in trading with each other and hashing out their issues in diplomacy, with most wars being but minor skirmishes. Precious little does the Garden know peace, but when its flowers are allowed to bloom, they proved the most beautiful and bright in all of Halann.
+10% Improve Relations
+15% Trade Efficiency

Ambition
+2 Diplomatic Reputation