Mulen
Mulen
Religion
Traditions
+10% Morale of Armies
-15% Cost of Advisors with Ruler's Culture
A New Salahad RulerThe Matriarchs of Siadanlén never favored the northern reaches of their empire: those that sat in the shadow of the Tree of Stone or reached to the sands beyond Çhórfo. The coming of Jaher and his Phoenix legions broke the Matriarchy, however, and left the Matriarchs of Siádan too weak to reassert their control over the northern flocks for many years.\n\nSince the Sundering of Siadanlén, the northern clans have remained aloof and resistant to reintegration with their sisters to the south. Instead, they largely govern themselves according to the teachings of Múla Swift-Sparrow, prophetess and granddaughter of the legendary Siadúna Flaming-Talon. Múla's teachings, which focused on cooperation, persuasion, and diplomacy were long derided as a weak philosophy of an impractical dreamer, but the sky matriarchs of distant Mulén do not see it this way. Carrying a reputation as fair but fierce negotiators, the Muléni philosophical leanings have made their matriarchy surprisingly cohesive despite its decentralization, and well skilled at haggling and negotiation, which they put to use in matters of trade as well as war.
-15% Province War Score Cost
Bulwark Against the Northern RaidersThere are few who are foolhardy enough to attempt to travel through Çhórfo, the winding eastern passage that separates the Forbidden Plains from Bulwar, for both sides of the pass are hostile to trespassers - Siadúnan Harpies to the south raid for mates and treasure, while the centaur tribes of the north slaughter those who are unfortunate enough to cross their paths. These two groups rarely fight with each other, but when such conflicts do occur it is the harpies of Mulén who war with the plains-dwellers and drive them back across the pass.\n\nTheir centuries of fighting against centaurs, swift and powerful warriors who could kill with one firm blow, have led to the warriors of Mulén favoring evasive and defensive techniques. Practicing a fighting style that focuses on the preservation of its warriors' lives and cautious behavior sets the tactics of Muléni flocks apart from most other harpies, but has served them well when fighting foes physically much stronger than they.
-10% Shock Damage Received
Trills of the PastThe high peaks of the Eastern Serpentspine are a place of vast glaciers, pine forests, and wild beauty. Where the air grows thin and chill, the shamans of Mulén gather to sing praise of the free sky and repeat the many legends that have been passed down since the days of Firanya. Their lilting trills echo from the peaks here, nary a trace of the harsh shrieking common in most harpy songs to be heard. The rugged lands of Mulén are often pierced through by this strange and ethereal song, a sound that seems to carry multiple notes reverberating with each breath. This signing technique is passed down to each new generation alongside the many stories and prayers that the shamans sing, and each daughter of Mulén carries these tales in her heart and mind.
-2 National Unrest
Influences Through the HighwayWhile our sisters in Siádan know only cruelty and care for nothing other than strength, we are not so far descended into monstrousness that we can learn nothing from the other peoples of the Salahad. The lives of our people are harsh in Mulén, but it is through cooperation, not savagery, that we survive - could it not be so with other peoples? The dwarves know of craftsmanship, the Ghankedhen techniques of husbandry, the Mašnsih the secrets of the harsh desert. Even the desert elves, who laid ancient Siadanlén low, have lessons to teach, for they espouse a message of tolerance and coexistence not unlike that of Múla Swift-Sparrow.\n\nThough we may not be trusted for the reputation our foremothers have built for us, the lure of these lessons is great. When we descend upon the caravans of the Golden Highway, the traders expect us to come as raiders, but we must be more than bandits if we are to grow as a people despite our isolation. Instead, we must learn what these peoples know - what it is that lets them make, not just take - if we are ever to be more than what we are now.
+10% Monthly Reform Progress Modifier
+2 Max Promoted Cultures
Boons From the MountainAs the dwarves of the Segbandal would attest, the mountains of the middle Serpentspine hold great riches, but the harpy flocks have not historically been effective at utilizing the vast riches resting beneath their talons. At the crux of the Middle Serpentspine and the Tree of Stone, a varied and valuable collection of metals and minerals can be found, and while many were not useful for harpies, they could be worth a great deal to those merchants passing up and down the Golden Highway. Though trade would at first be tentative and trust slow to come, the harpies of Mulén would prove to be willing traders and adept merchants, their descent upon merchant caravans not a sign of ill omen but instead good fortune and glad tidings, exchanging raw gems for worked materials and supplies for their miners, who could dig in cramped spaces that the harpies could not navigate. More and more, by the early 17th century AA, the sight of harpies winging their way across the skies of the Far Salahad was a sign of good fortune instead of ill, and though many still distrusted them, the appearance of the winged traders was a well documented phenomenon that few ignored.
+10% Goods Produced Modifier
Salahad Merchant MatriarchsHistorically, the status of a harpy in her society was determined by many things; prowess in battle, number of mates, physical beauty, but rarely if ever by their wealth in gold or number of foreign connections. As the Muléni traders became more successful and established permanent roosts near Baganaš, however, a small group of raid leaders began to grow very wealthy from trading with caravans passing to and from Rahen. These so called 'merchant-matriarchs' adopted techniques from the Raheni and Bulwari traders they so regularly conversed with in order to leverage their wealth into political power, and began to become a major force in the internal politics of Muléni flocks.
+10% Caravan Power
+10% Domestic Trade Power
Hanging Cities of the Siadúnan PeaksThe great wealth that flowed into the talons of the Muléni matrons in the late 1600s AA was channeled largely into the aggrandizement of their roosts, beginning a process of transforming the high mountain settlements of the Mulén harpies into marvels of architecture and engineering. Far above the plains of Ianviréri, Mermigán, and Tarnúthen, nestled on shoulders of mountains and undersides of vast cliff outcroppings, the roosts of the Muléni harpies would transform from small collections of nests and mud huts into true cities. Sculpted of brick and stone, the cities were oriented for harpy travel, and featured unique architecture that allowed walking as well as easy arrival and departure via flight, and the cities were planned with three-dimensional movement in mind. Beyond just the breathtaking vistas and vertigo-inducing drops, the hanging cities of Mulén featured baths, gardens, libraries, and great markets, and many a merchant made treks to these remote isolated towns, as much for the lure of the riches they contained as the experience of having witnessed the wonder of the Siadúnan Sky-Cities.
-10% Development Cost
Ambition
+10% Trade Efficiency
History
TBD
Strategy
TBD