Sakidia
The Long Sea V Mountains have many small kingdoms and chiefdoms along its length but the kingdom of Sakidia is easily the strongest.
Sakidia's center of power is based on the bottom of the V of the V mountains. With a fairly large population and a steady supply of Virdilut and other resources, Sakidia is far stronger than of their neighbors but they aren't strong enough to conquer the V Mountains with naked force. The V Mountain locals are a fiercely independent lot and are not apt to submit to outside conquerers easily.
Demographics
The demographics are predominantly merfolk though there is a large astalakians minority representing the largest concentration of astalakians within all of the The Long Sea where Astalakians generally are unlikely to travel or settle here.
The army is supplemented by Isuran karakhai mercenaries but very few of them are permanent residents.
Government
Sakidia has a hereditary merfolk monarch. Upon the monarch's death, the title passes to previous monarch's eldest living child, regardless of sex. Currently the realm has a queen and she is middle aged. Her heir apparent is her son.
Every administrative, mercantile, and military position of authority is by the queen's direct appointment. She can fire and replace any subordinate at any point for any reason, but local custom is not to replace lieutenants lightly.
Industry & Trade
While Sakidia has decent natural resources, their true power is from their strategic location. Many trade routes between the Oshamni Empire and the Haiyang Empire, so this means that Sakidia get a percentage of all trade between these two powers, so Sakidia has a small but steady supply of exotic treasures and luxury goods from both directions.
Guilds and Factions
Sakidia has a substantial standing army but it is supplemented by many Isuran karakhai mercenaries.
Sakidia has begun co-opting small auxilery troops from certain especially loyal tributory states. With their increasing reliance on foreign troops, some of the queen's advisors fear that Sakidia is asking for trouble.
History
Sakidia has long been the most resource rich and most populous region in the Long Sea V Mountains, but they only become a true political power recently.
In generations past, Sakidia tried conquering other nations outright but this cost as resistance movements and rebels bled them dry and forced them to withdraw from their previous annexed territories in defeat.
The current queen of Sakidia and her father the previous king have changed tactics. Rather than trying to conquer and hold the territory of the V Mountains, they will instead stage quick raids. Once Sakidia had a reputation for effective raids, they would then extend the offer that "If you pay us tribute, we won't attack."
Now, Sakidia gets tribute from most of the southern half of Long Sea V Mountains, and they can also dictate trade terms with their neighbors in the V while barely every fully comitting their military, only mobilizing if someone tries to defy them which few do though whispers suggest that Sakidia's downfall will not come from external enemies but from divisions within.
Architecture
Despite having more building materials than any other group in the V Mountains, they still don't exactly have abundant building materials, so their buildings are fairly simple like most of those constructed by and for V mountain merfolk.
Natural Resources
Sakidia;s most valuable natural resource is their steady supply of Virdilut.
Virdilut is made out of a combination of caerulut and flavalut and Sakidia is the only V Mountain power to control a major quarry of both these components. Most of the other V Mountain states have one of these components and have to trade for the other (if they are lucky enough to even have one) so the Sakidians can have adequate building and crafting materials without relying on outside trade.
Sakidia has ample territory for growing cereal crops, feeding livestock, and they have territory where they can fish/hunt wild seafood so Sakidia does not have to worry about food supplies, though this hardly unusual for any of the regional powers in the V Mountains.
I'm basing Sakidia loosely on real world Ancient Parthia, at least in regards to the Parthians role as middlemen on the Silk Road.
The Oshamni Empire is a loosely based on Ancient Rome and the Haiyang Empire is loosely based on Ancient China.
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