Sidacin

Sidacin is a Tudor/Eastern European inspired kingdom with a focus on loyality, supremacy, and hero worship.   Former throne of Geofri Dalca, The Usurped and capital of the Golden Expanse. It is now a breeding ground for warriors, loyalists and the birthplace of heroes.

History

Formally the seat of power in the Golden Expanse, Sidaca was home to the king Geofri Dalca, The Usurped before The Golden Divide.   After the coup, the house of Ghika, already having most of their influence and military present, claimed the throne for themselves. They quickly announced their eldest son, Miron Ghika, as the new king of the whole expanse. The other noble houses however refused, claiming each of their home cities was the new seat of power, and that each of them had the right to the throne and rulership. As a result, Sidacin was formed in 8 FAE alongside the 4 other petty kingdoms, breaking the Dalca family lineage rulership for the first time in 11 generations of kings.   To help promote their public image and rally the common people behind them, House Ghika quickly established a constiution promising that no weak willed king would ruin the future of the people like Geofri Dalca had, and that the best of the people would have direct say in how the kingdom would function. After being signed by nearly 400 induvials ranging from local shopkeeps to minor noble heads, the constiution was put into place, and Miron was offcially given the title of King-General Miron Ghika and the Crown's Ward Council was put into place.    

Geography

Sidacin, as the heart and former throne of the Golden Expanse, is of course mainly golden rolling hills of long grasses and grains with irregular bundles of trees and smaller land formations like the occasional craggy hill.   To the west lie the Suncrest mountains, which where orginally called "The Stonethrone Expanse" before the more hopeful name quickly caught on thanks to the residents of Roxney within the now country of the same name. This change was mostly a result of traders slowly spreading word, as well as the overall failure of the Golden Expanse to stay together thanks to The Golden Divide, many considered the "Stronethrone" name of a shattered country to be improper.   Along the northern edge of Sidacin lie two large bodies of water that share the border with Kalzarum and Windari, both generally neutral forces in relation to Sidacin. Large rivers, The Gecko Stream and Pine river lie just on the other side of the borders, leading up towards both previously mentioned nations.   The vast majority of the nation however is vast, rolling hills covered in a variety of golden, white and brown grasses and grains ranging anywhere from 1 foot to 5 feet tall, and was the orginal source of the Golden Expanses name. Often caught in blustering rolling winds with very few terrain features to slow the winds, Sidacin is amazingly cool compared to all but the northern nations it tends to get it's winds from.   Splitting the landscape of the country is the Lord's Crossing, a massive river that comes flowing up from underground in a sort of reverse waterfall, feeding southward into Lake Hay on the edge of the petty kingdom of Luseholm. The river itself is considered extremely dangerous due to constant contaminations that seem to flow from the underground. mushroom spores, hostile water creatures unaccustomed to daylight, bodies, and industrial-like runoff often has the river murky and dirty. As a result, despite it's width and slow rate of flow, it is rarely used for travel or by merchants.  

Politics

Fiercly loyal to the house of Ghika, the people of Sidacin believe in the idea of hero worship, an idea planted into their culture during the signing of their constituion that promised that no weak leaders would be in charge of any man. The ideals of hero worship was heavily pushed, and the Crown's War Council commissioned artwork, statues and designs of promonate figures from the Golden Expanse's past and present. As a direct result, dozens of statues of important members in military, government and individuals that progressed Sidacin's values of strength, supremacy and patriotism were quickly constructed and raised in public places. Using these individuals as proof of Sidacin's right to rule, popularity and shows of morality quickly became a defining feature of many residents.   Using these well known names and feats, Sidacin often seeks to intimidate others during diplomatic meetings and on battlegrounds. Believing in the power of presence and strength, Sidacin's main method of progression is a mix of brute force and instilling fears in others with a blade in one hand, and promising a better, safer future with bread in the other.   Seeing as the country is run by a constitutional monarchy, in which the royal family of House Ghika claims the throne, as well as the actual election process of the council, it is generally considered to be a stable system lacking the backstabbing, trickery, and bribery that other former Golden Expanse nations may currently be suffering. Without taxation, the military can't be funded, and without the King's presumably loyal military, no major grabs of power are possible.