Rattan
To the south of Daqin is the kingdom of Rattan, where the rivers overrun their banks and cause the soil to run as mud throughout the year. This is a land of marsh, jungle, and flooded paddy fields.The people build their houses on wooden stilts or on the hulls of boats to survive floods and mudslides.
Structure
Rattan is a feudal kingdom based around river forts and natural harbors, each assigned to a different regional duke. The king of Rattan is not a strictly hereditary position. Instead it is the title taken by the husband of the eldest daughter of the previous king and queen. This is reflective of inheritance law at large in Rattan, which is passed down matrilineally but ownership is still held by a male head of household. Though a woman is given some measure of choice in her husband, the options are almost always arranged by her parents to protect the family holdings.
Parallel to the nobility are the priesthood of Rattan who worship both their ancestors as well as the many gods in heaven above. There are both organized temples within every major cities and a society of wandering shamans who are tasked with instructing the religious lives of more rural Rattans
Public Agenda
The Rattan royal house is currently happy to maintain the status quo and somewhat surprisingly are the Daqin's emperor's most loyal subjects. The Daqin hold over Rattan has weakened to the point that it is functionally fully independent. Thus the worst possible result for Rattan would be a Daqin civil war that ends with a stronger noble house in charge of the lands to the north. So whenever possible the Rattan work to cut off potential insurrections against the Emperor.
Assets
Rattan is home to the forest elephant, a breed which rarely exceeds 7.5 feet in height but provide a great bounty of animal labor and ivory to the human inhabitants. Aside from elephant products most of the region's wealth comes from its exceptionally productive rice and poppy fields.
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