Kingdom of Sikrek

Sikrek is the kingdom between worlds. Based out of a massive valley in the middle of the Adira Mountains, Sikrek is the stop between Inahng and Suneka, not quite Adiran and not quite anything else. Sikrek has always done things their own way, though they've been happy to take pieces of other land's institutions. They are the gatekeepers, after all: they have always seen themselves as the doorway between worlds, mystical and political.
In the last century, Sikrek has fallen to outside invasion at the hands of Calazen and has been thoroughly infused with their culture and systems of power. Even now, a Calazan queen sits on Sikrek's throne. But even as the massive influx of Calazan influence has shaped Sikrek's leadership and a large number of Stildanian and Sunekan lowborns have intermingled in areas, Sikrek has mixed and adapted as always.

Structure

Sikrekan society is divided between four legal classes: Godblooded, Free, Faidra, and Bound. 

• Godblooded families are those which can trace their lineage in some way to one of the ancient demigods of Inahng. While all Divine-blooded sorcerers can attain this status, not all do - this status requires a recognized family tree or pedigree of lineage, which can be expensive to obtain or fabricate
• Free families are simply that- they are free subjects of the monarch. Merchants, lower gentry, and the middle class occupy this tier
• The Faidra are unique to Sikrek. They are Bound, born into obligation, but not to any individual or family. They are instead bound to the state and to Sikrek itself. They are indentured to the realm, and therefore have special claims to government jobs as well as special obligations and restrictions. They are often employed as state merchants, warriors, and clerks. They have their own organizations and hierarchy, and cannot own property directly.
• Bound families are those who are born to serve. They are rarely slaves, but neither are they free. The best of this lot are the Client Families, essentially artisan or upper-serf families that act as vassals for a more important free or blooded family (or even a faidra clan). Below these are Serfs, groups tied to land or communities with limited rights. Below these are Indentured- debt-servants with limited rights that are in many ways treated as property. The difference between them and slaves begins to dissapear when debt is transferred from parents to children. 

The Sikrekan government is extremely centralized and stratified. 

• The King or Queen rules Sikrek with near-absolute authority. They must be of the blood to qualify
• The Small Council are extremely important leaders of the royal court, and assist the monarch in running the country
• The Magisters manage the land and the bureaucrats. They are of the Blood, but they are not full nobles- the monarch grants them temporary leases over land to raise money for government operation. Underneath them are armies of clerks, military officers, lower-gentry, and Faidra leaders that do most of the actual work

Culture

Rituals of Simplicity

Sikrek is unique from the rest of Inahng in that it greatly values asceticism and iconoclasm in ritual. Ornamentation tends to be plainer, Temples avoid complex art and art that depicts humanoids, and the upper classes tend to have simpler fashion. Sikrekan art, when it does portray humanoids, keeps their forms as vague and unrealistic as possible. In ancient times, it is said that there was a belief here that to represent a person too accurately would trap them in that state forever and make it more difficult for them to escape the baggage of this world. Realism was said to attract ghostly hauntings and disrespect the dead. While those beliefs are no longer socially acceptable, the practices and styles remain.
This is not to say that Sikrek is an ugly place. Temples are simply grand here in other ways, and fashion tends to prioritize luxurious (if subtle) materials and comfort over aggressive displays. And while the art of Sikrek is mocked in Calazen as incompetent or crude, it holds its own beauty and has come to be increasingly popular in the Suneka. 

Food Culture

Sikrek loves soup and tea. Hot drinks with salt and spices are something that every species can enjoy, especially when the winters are so frosty. While the love of hot drinks is common across the Adiras (cold mountains do that), Sikrek's more fertile land means that there is more diversity in soup content. High altitude rice, buckwheat, and potatoes all grow well here, and make for excellent additions to the soup culture. On top of soup and rice, cheese and yogurt are beloved in Sikrek. Cheese and chicken dumplings or flatbreads are common, as are baked potatoes.

History

Early History

The Sikrek valley is easily the largest of the Adira Mountains and sustained a small human population even before the Architects arrived. These early humans had adapted to the high elevations, and were remarkably sedentary compared to the average hominid band. They were fairly isolated for most of this time, until the sudden arrival of Prisms, made in large numbers throughout the Adiras by Halycon. Some Prisms joined early Sikrekan communities that gathered salt from salt-crusted Adiran caverns, while others isolated themselves and burrowed into the stone in semi-underground communities.
The arrival of a sudden new population more suited to the environment proved to be both a boon and a threat to the original inhabitants. Prisms brought outside trade, shared ore, and helped innovate in the realm of metallurgy. Some Prisms also began invading human salt mine settlements as the centuries went on. The Salt Wars ensued- a long stretch of low-level conflict between Sikrekan valley communities and High Adiran communities. While not specifically along species lines, that one side was more Prism did not go unnoticed- it was on its way to becoming something darker.
The arrival of Half Prisms from the North, brought from Greater Calazen helped de-escalate things. Communities began to mix, as increasingly hybridized merchant classes on both sides helped fund new inter-species kingdoms and cities. Peace was brought to Sikrek, but while species-war was averted near-permanently, the new order began to socially stratify in imitation of Calazen.
While some peoples kept to their older traditions, one kingdom known as Echekethil in the North most effectively appropriated Calazen's norms of power and military structure. Its Half-Prism sorcerous regime rose from 100 ME to 190 ME, finally uniting the valley in 191. Sikrek was united, cultures merged, and the Cult of Heroes were imported from the North as the regime's religion. The united kingdom of Sikrek was a brief moment of unity in a history marked by division and regionalism. It briefly flourished through the 200s and began to decline in a series of dynastic civil wars in the mid 300s. It would be many centuries before another uniting empire would match this early kingdom of Sikrek.

Days of Division

From one kingdom came three in 375. Three became seven, became eight. This fragmentation meant smaller cities, but more towns and sedentary villages. The old imperial traditions inherited from Calazen were mutated and mixed with the local Sikrekan warrior traditions, and began to disseminate through greater culture. This settled way of living spread through and out of the valley, tying more and more communities together into a broader trading and political network.
But not all peoples wanted to live like this. While less nomadic on average than non-mountain tribes, some Adiran peoples were not compatible with the new Sikrekan way: its hierarchy and rules included. Some fought to retain the old ways; others operated as merchants; others turned to mercenary work. Mercenary work became particularly appealing and popular in the 600s and 700s, with the rise of Prism-leader Dyan Zirta. Dyan was a famous warrior that led their people - the Kidekids- to victory as an army for sale. Dyan welcomed many exiles, outsiders, and wandering bands into the Kidekid army and trained them into a viable mercenary force. Dyan's forces decided wars, outclassing the temporary militias and smaller professional forces of the Sikrekan kingdoms.
When Dyan was done, three kingdoms had united the others- and replaced most of their forces with mercenaries. Other mountain nomads or holdouts were sought out, and mercenary-clans became an alternative to settled society. Ever-hierarchical Daripar (the now-dead religion that had crystallized classified the mercenary-clans as the "Faidra" ("People-Leopards")- institionalizing their way of life.

Trade Era and War Era

The Faidra became a tool for expansion as well as inter-kingdom warfare; they also brought constant instability. The three kingdoms expanded aggressively from 800 to 1200; occasionally they splintered, but they were usually replaced. The new conquests allowed for new trade routes into Suneka, which were broadened through the construction of bridges and road networks. The Faidra were employed to build these during peacetime, and slowly became absorbed into the state as a kind of administrative and commercial class. They developed their own religious traditions, known as Tishkojil (or "the all-wheel"), to explain their role in the constrictive religion of Daripar.
The growing abundance also created new rivals. In the South, along the trade route to Ikatlan, the Marasan state of Rofika conquered a great deal of Sikrekan land; in the East, tribes intermingled with Calazan exiles began raiding and conquering. The states of Sikrek slowly realized that their era of dominance was over. Much of this was blamed on the "decadence" of the Faidra, and campaigns of conquest targeting previously peaceful mountain tribes began to get new Faidra. One of the greatest Faidran communes, Zirazik (a religious commune dedicated to hero cult and bardic magic) was sacked by furious reformers, and the old order went to war with the new. The Faidran communities fled, fought, or hid. Their monasteries were looted, their scriptures burned- their religion was utterly dismantled. One of the greatest bards of Sikrek, Ateki-Ziraz, used the opportunity to lead many of Sikrek's greatest magicians and mystics out of Inahng entirely, into modern-day Gwalan. It is said that these exiles descendants, the Masrika, carry on elements of the Sikrekan religion to this day.
This only spread the chaos, which rebounded in the form of invasions and coups internally. This chaos came in surges, but generally prevented any political order from keeping stable from the 1200s to the 1500s. By the 1580s, the Southern Adira finally stabilized. Many small states were left in the wake of all this, though a largely independent and highly mobile Faidra caste-class was left behind. Nedira was imported and became popular as a peace-keeping religion. All seemed settled, though war still appeared in brief bursts. Eight kingdoms again ruled most of the Sikrek valley, with the empire of Rofika to the South and the many microstates of the regions of Athatlan and Lashokadra still feuding in the West.

Modern Sikrek

In the 1790s, Lashokadra went from being the hinterlands of Sikrek to being a wealthy cauldron of innovation. Part of this was due to a wave of Stildanian refugees, which brought wizardry and cheap labor into Lashokadra. Part of this was also due to the rise of early industrial steel production in the Sunekan march of Gatrev- Lashokadran states would rent out refugee laborers to Gatrev's factories and would hire out their armies to work as mercenaries against Ederstone monsters. These microstates formed into an economic league after almost losing these arrangements in a costly war in 1805. Money flowed into Sikrek.
1820 saw a truly unusual find as well: a small meteor landed in Sikrek, believed to be Starmetal. While it was not actually starmetal, it did lead to the discovery of an old starmetal deposit left behind in the late divine age. The new meteor was seen as a sign, a herald of a new age. It certainly did, though it was no age of peace. From 1822 to 1828, Sikrek once again was united under a single ruler- and not long afterwards entered into a destabilizing war with the empire of Rofika. In 1833, the Calazan Emperor Esam launched a coup of Sikrek, followed by a rapid conquest of Rofika and the Lashokadran league. And then, as quickly as Esam descended, he left to conquer elsewhere. Sikrek was left largely to its own devices for decades, before it was finally used as a staging ground for the invasion of Suneka almost 40 years later. The invasion was not successful, but it greatly enriched Sikrek in the process.
In 1955, the legendary emperor finally retired. He divided his empire into manageable pieces, with the newly minted Kingdom of Greater Sikrek left to his nephew Obiel. Obiel was a peaceful and content soul, who mostly focused on making the government more familiar to him and retaining the peace. Obiel retired in 2000 to allow his child, Daivora, to take the reigns. Peace has reigned, though this new queen has made it clear that the military is her first priority. What she intends to do with it is unknown so far.

Demography and Population

1,200,000 humanoids; 48% Prism, 25% Human, 20% Half Prism, 5% Kobold, 2% Other

Military

Sikrek's military is composed of two main bodies: The Adiran Skirmishers and the Main Body soldiers. The Skirmishers are light infantry, sharpshooters, and berserkers trained in traditional Adiran warfare. They are excellent raiders, skilled climbers, and great at ambushes. Skirmishers are traditionally Faidran, preserving ancient forms of warfare (or reimaginings of ancient warfare). 
The main body soldiers are heavy infantry. While heavy infantry is common for Adiran peoples, Sikrek is famous for its pikes and halberds (rather than hammers, swords, or picks). The emphasis on pikes pairs particularly well with Sikrek's other traditional specialty: bows and crossbows. The wars with Suneka have seen the adoption of musket-troops as well, though firearms are not produced in particularly large numbers and typically are paired with crossbows and composite warbows. 
Backing up these "pike and shot" divisions are sorcerers and chemical specialists. The Adirans have a long history of alchemical meddling, and the use of liquid fire in war dates back many centuries. These flamethrower soldiers work to break up enemy infantry formations by launching streams of burning chemicals- though the actual mechanisms for these flamethrowers are themselves infamously dangerous and finnicky. There has also been a slow adoption of Sunekan-style field cannon as a kind of specialist backup.
Sikrekan combat typically revolves around skirmishers controlling the greater battlefield and raiding enemy supply lines, while heavy infantry and ranged specialists fortify chokepoints. If there are no chokepoints, it is a matter of slow-moving battle lines and defensive maneuvers. This is less effective in non-mountainous terrain, particularly against highly mobile enemies. 
The prior Calazan monarchs have attempted to introduce cavalry to Sikrek's army, but a lack of plains or swamplands makes horses or Sudraco difficult to breed in large numbers.

Religion

The government is fairly strictly Nedira-led in Sikrek, but it allows for a number of religious groups to exist in contained congregations. These contained congregations are for the most part being assimilated, but some groups retain their separate identity. The government is also fairly hands-off in regulating local belief, so lots of ancient or foreign-influenced beliefs remain within Nediran communities on the ground level. 
Prevalent along the main trade routes are the old Faidra monasteries, left over from the Great Wheel movement of the 1100s. These monasteries were forcibly converted to the now-defunct religion of Daripar and then again to Nedira in the 1500s, but certain philosophies have always remained. The Great Wheel movement was based around the cycle of life-attachment: the idea that while one's soul and identity goes to Paradise or Purgatory, that one's life energy re-enters the ecosystem and universe. The soul, as a transcendent reflection of life, is tied to that life energy- and so the soul can never know true peace, as the life it reflects is still growing, suffering, and dying. The Great Wheel movement taught one to rediscover the universal truth of the whole and to learn to master suffering, so that the soul might reconnect with the universe in the afterlife instead of decaying in anxious suffering.
This is all to say that the monks of the road, who operated waystations and helped govern trade routes.

Foreign Relations

Sikrek is a dynastic partner of Calazen - ruled by one of the same family and deeply intertwined with Calazen's government. As Calazen is far larger and richer than Sikrek, this is something of a vassal-esque position. 
A map of the dynastic union states:

Outside of dynastic affairs, Sikrek has mostly focused on peaceful trade relationships with its surrounding states. The newest monarch has grown restless, though, and many worry that she will plunge the state into needless wars of conquest.

Agriculture & Industry

Mining and agriculture are the main trades of Sikrek, and both are in comparative abundance. The salt mines of the valley fringe are extremely productive, and the valley itself is covered in rice, buckwheat, and potato farms. Yak, sheep, llama, chickens, and goats are all extremely common livestock, and the hilly areas unsuitable for crops are covered in them. 
Aside from food production, mines also produce stone, lead, tin, lapis lazuli, coal, and other important gems. Minerals are also processed into dyes. Lumber forests are also carefully curated and worked according to strict schedules to avoid depletion. 
All of these industries viciously compete with one another for one vital shared resource: water access. With no major rivers or lakes, the center for Sikrek's economic expansion has been a series of reservoirs that gather the snowmelt that typically floods each spring. A massive irrigation and aqueduct network controlled by the government and Faidra then rations this between the farmers, miners, manufacturers, and towns. It is through control over this water management system that the monarchy rules the trades with an iron fist. It is also a careful needle to thread. The government has focused a great deal on expanding the water system in the last two centuries, and magisters have imported large amounts of cheap foreign labor (often indentured) to most cheaply fulfill these grandiose projects.
Managing this extra labor pool can be difficult- many of these workers are contracted through wealthy families rather than directly by the crown. Local laborers resent this cheap labor, poorly managed indentured communities are prone to rebellion, the Lunar Pantheon isn't very fond of the practice, and after a major project is complete they are often superfluous. To quickly dispose of unwanted cheap laborers, they are often rented to Akatlan. This has proven lucrative enough for some magisters to actually begin selling their own citizens to Akatlan by using "anti crime campaigns" with ludicrous fines to press criminals into servitude and eventual sale. While the government has sought to discourage this trade, it has been ineffectual.

Trade & Transport

The fiercely competitive industries of Sikrek organize themselves by guild- even farming communities often send representatives to farmer's associations. These cutthroat guilds have formed coalitions along industry lines, known as Cartels. The Sikrekan Cartels are quite powerful but also internally factitious and often focused more on internal intrigue than market control. 
Private merchants and State merchant companies act as interfaces for the cartels to deal with. There is a fair amount of cross-pollination between private merchants and public companies. Even though the state merchants are forbidden from holding private property, they often associate with private merchant companies interconnected with the state companies to do commerce by proxy. 
Thanks to the direct state control imposed on state merchants, the government is able to exercise great control over trade when it wants to.

Education

Education in Sikrek is messy to say the least. Families of the blood are expected to use traditional Calazan education through elite schools that teach the Four Pillars of Divine Tutelage: writing, rhetoric, administration, and magic. This traditional education is extremely conservative in its curriculum and still uses texts and language from over 1000 years ago.
Below the elite schools of the blood are two competing school systems: traditional Faidra monastic schools, which teach discipline, swordfighting or archery, math, etiquette, and writing, and the Calazan Imperial Schools, which teach more with clerkship in mind. The monastic schools tend to recruit conservative Faidra clans and rural free-folk, while the imperial schools cater more to large towns. As well as Faidra and Free Folk, successful client families can also receive patronage to send a bright child up to one of these schools.
Rather than simplify this system, the most recent monarch has only complicated things further. Her royal highness Shomka I, in her desire to train a more competent and technologically flexible officer corp, created the War Schools and War Colleges: a third branch of education aimed at Faidra, Freefolk, Client Familiy, and Divine Blooded children alike. This system is a heavily modified version of the Sunekan school system originally built in the early 1900s by Nediran refugees from Akatlan. This private Sunekan system grew quietly in the 1900s and was briefly suppressed in the 1970s- but where others saw sedition, Queen Shomka saw potential. She seized control of the school system in 1992 and restructured it to be more military oriented. While the lower schools for younger children remain classically Sunekan and are less popular, the War Colleges (which accept children from all four lower education systems) for graduate education are increasingly popular. As Shomka herself is known to go so far as to attend lectures and discussions there, many ambitious families see it as a path to the royal court. While many rightfully bemoan the horrible inefficiency of tacking on yet another school system (and an opulent pet project of the autocrat, no less), it has actually produced a more innovative and meritocratic officer corps.

"Bridge to Heaven and Earth"

Founding Date

1955

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Demonym

Sikrekan

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Unitary state

Currency

Calazan Gold Dragons, Silver Shells, and Copper Eyes

Major Exports

Lumber, stone, tin, lead, salt

Major Imports

Kilusha, food, gunpowder, spices, silk

Official State Religion

Nedira

Location

Adira Mountains

Neighboring Nations

• Empire of Calazen

Related Plots

• The Chimera's Law

Dynastic Union

Kingdom of Sikrek

95

Empire of Calazen

95