Sidri

Lifespan: Average 50-80 years
Average weight: 60-80 Kilograms
Average height: 140-180 cm

Society

Despite what others may have you believe, the Sidri for the most part live fairly normal lives. Farms cover their island homes, while sprawling disorganized cities dot the landscape. These urban centers are nearly always on the coast- the more inland areas are reserved for backwater, rural settlement.

A key centerpiece of all Sidri cities are the vast slave markets. The farms, the noble houses, indeed all of Sidri society is reliant on slave labor to continue functioning. Most slaves are destined to be worked to death under appalling conditions, though some of the more lucky may find themselves laboring under the Sidri's lordship to clean their manors.

The Sidri run a market economy, and trade thrives under their control. Many of the most powerful Sidri are wealthy oligarchs from merchant families, and it is not uncommon for such individuals to rise to lordship of one of the disparate Sidri kingdoms. There is little law to the succession of these nations, and their short-lived dynasties rise and fall with little fanfare.

Biology

The Sidri are a stocky race, typically with thick, long, dark hair. Skin tones tend to range from tan to ochre.

Military

The core of the Sidri's power is their naval dominance. Large ships with many masts carry immense amounts of cargo on their long trade routes, between every island and coastal city on the western half of Auria. These ships are just as likely to engage in acts of piracy or slave raids as trade, and the Sidri make little distinction between these activities.

These great ships are backed up by numerous advanced technologies, not only maritime ones such as bilge pumps and complex rigging mechanisms, but more combative types as well: Rocket artillery is a common weapon used to intimidate their enemies into surrender. Despite their best attempts, the Sidri have failed to capture and reverse engineer the large cannons used by the Abryssians in the northeast.

On foot, the Sidri are still a fearsome foe. Commonly they wear heavy cloth armor under mirror plate or lamellar, and wield wicked axes, sabers, and other similar weapons well suited to close-quarters combat aboard the cramped confines of a ship.

The Sidri are more than capable of marshalling large armies for pitched battles, however, and during the early days of their invasion ranks of professional infantry armed with pikes and crossbows made up much of their forces. Such forces have not been seen in about a century outside of the Sidri's own territory however, since the last major push into Andovri territory.

History

The Sidri ventured across the sea to the western shores of Auria around 2,000 years ago, and since then have seen intermittent conflict with the Andovri. Though the sylvans in their forest would never admit it, it was the Sidri arrival from the west which ended the Andovri's southwards pushs and resulted in the largely stagnant borders which have lasted all this time. The heart of the Sidri's power is in the silver isles west of Auria, though they have some presence in Meditullium as well.

The Sidri are a coastal civilization, their massive galleons plying far away waters in search of trade, raiding, and the most important resource of all- Slaves.

The actual origins of the Sidri are clouded in myth. According to one of the two major religions, the Sidri were native to Auria in the distant past and were thrust out to sea by a great cataclysm, wandering the oceans for years until settling on the Kovrad Archipelago where most of their civilization rests today. Some historians, conversely, believe they hail from far away Oremundi in the west.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the Sidri have been the terror of civilization since their arrival. Nowhere on the western shores of Auria are safe, from the desert ports of Eyr's Land in the north to the scattered Sylvan colonies in the south. The only nation to contest the Sidri's naval dominance is the Kao, with their smaller but far quicker ships.

Technology

The Sidri are an advanced society, though much of their technology is employed haphazardly or not at all. The merchant guilds commonly offer patronage to artificers and inventors, so different cities may have different bizarre devices.

Their most notable accomplishments are the construction of their massive galleons, and their devastating rocket artillery. Though perhaps 'advanced', the Sidri are not well known for their individual craftsmanship in the same way that the Dwarrow or Dragari are, and their metallurgy is lacking compared to the Andovri.

Government

The Sidri live in a cluster of short-lived kingdoms and oligarchies, where dynasties rise and fall with little fanfare. There is little rule or law to these governments, and as a result whoever can retain control over the militaries tends to retain control of their kingdom.

Despite this, the Sidri are oddly resilient in the face of foreign powers. Though the rulership of their kingdoms might swap hands easily enough, the core administration remains. Indeed, it might be considered by some that the bureacracy is where the real power lies, as the old families of the cities control most of what goes on in them, and few governments will last long without their blessing.

Many Sidri bureacrats and oligarchs came to power either in teh merchant families, or originated as admirals and commanders in the military, though certainly some merely inherited their position.