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I'm Cybrxkhan, creator of the Regional Immersion and Cultural Enrichment (RICE) mod for CK3, which adds simple "Flavor Packs'' to different parts of the world (Steam link here). In today's dev diary, I'll cover RICE's upcoming Sus Flavor Pack. I'm not just memeing - Sus is a region in southern Morocco and this flavor pack adds new content in southern Morocco, though some of it is available to North and West Africa in general. Please note everything here is WIP.
The next update will hopefully be a two-parter and also include a Guanche Flavor Pack as part of another collaboration with BlackEmperor's Africa Plus mod, but I'll cover that in the next dev diary.
Lastly, before I continue, feel free to check out the new official website for more info on my mods. Also feel free to check out the official discord for my mods if you haven't already.
Trans-Saharan Trade Dynastic Legacy
Like the Maritime Trade Dynastic Legacy introduced in the Socotra Flavor Pack to represent political involvement in the Indian Ocean sea trade (or the Maritime Silk Road), the Sus Flavor Pack introduces the Trans-Saharan Trade Dynastic Legacy, available to rulers in North Africa and the Sahel. Its five perks mostly have various economic bonuses (some are connected to the Trans-Saharan merchant spawn which I'll explain later):
- Ships of the Desert
- Gold and Salt
- Legacy of Syncretism
- Fortified Oases
- African Scholars
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Argan and Dates
Several counties in the Duchy of Sus as well as the Counties of Tindouf and Asfi now have a special building called Argan Forests. Argan is a species of tree endemic to southern Morocco, particularly the Sus river valley. It has had many practical uses over the centuries, though recently it has become popular worldwide as a source of cooking and fragrant oil. A peculiar phenomenon with Argan is that goats literally climb these trees to feed on the leaves, fruits, and nuts. It is often said argan nuts found in the goats' feces are easier to crack to access the valuable seeds, but apparently in reality goats' cud than feces are more conducive for this.
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Meanwhile, the County of Draa gets a county modifier, Date Farms of the Draa Valley, that slightly increases development. The Draa river valley is known as Morocco's "date basket" and is home to a number of date cultivars.
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Sijilmasa Flavor
Medieval Sijilmasa, which lies not too far from Sus (in-game, at least) was one of the most important cities along the western Trans-Saharan trade routes. Muslim travelers of the time noted its immense wealth; ethnically and religiously diverse, it was home to people of many creeds and origins.
A new series of decisions available to the owner of Sijilmasa simulates rulers supporting the city's development over the centuries. Each decision increases Sijilmasa's Prosperity, a unique county modifier, from Level 0 all the way to Level 3. Above Level 0, the modifiers give development and tax, but at Level 0, the modifier gives a malus to these as well as county opinion and control.
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In 867, Sijilmasa starts at 0 Prosperity, as it has gone through decades of unrest and fighting between partisans of rival factions of the ruling Midrarids. The strife may have been caused by between competing ethnic and religious communities in the city; as Sijilmasa was also a major refuge for various Kharijite groups, tensions between rival Kharijites may (or may not) have also been another factor. Anyways, you'll need to quickly take the decision to Resolve Sijilmasa's Long-Standing Conflicts to raise Sijilmasa's prosperity to Level 1 and remove the maluses.
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Doing that also unlocks two new decisions to increase Sijilmasa's prosperity that can be taken in any order. One decision is to Establish the Mints of Sijilmasa, available if your culture has the coinage innovation. Due to its proximity to West African gold, Sijilmasa served as a major minting center in the Islamic world for centuries. The decision adds a special building, Sijilmasan Mints, to the Barony of Tafilalt.
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The other decision is to Dam and Divert the Ziz River, available if your culture has the Communal Development innovation. Expansion of water resources was important to Sijilmasa's growth, and though it was a continuous process across generations, I condensed it into one decision for simplicity. Anyways, it nets you two bonuses. First, the ruler who took that decision (and only that ruler) gets a nifty character modifier for the rest of their lives. Secondly, Sijilmasa gets a permanent County Modifier that gives development and county opinion.
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Note that for the 1066 bookmark, all of the decisions except the Ziz River are already done, so Sijilmasa's prosperity begins at Level 2 in 1066.
Merchant Courtier Spawn
Periodically, merchant courtiers of diverse origins may spawn for rulers across North Africa and the Sahel, including in the Sus region.
Besides the chance to get a new courtier, the event also offers the opportunity to gain a temporary character modifier that boosts income, to represent you improving merchant networks in your realm. Depending on the origin of the merchant who spawns - Arab, Berber, West African, or Jewish - you can get a boost in other stats. You don't even need to recruit them into your court to get the modifier, though you'll still have to pay for investing in them.
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Now, waiting for courtiers to spawn can be very dependent on RNG. Several perks in the Trans-Saharan Trade dynasty legacy track help alleviate this. The first one, Ships of the Desert, increases the chances a merchant spawns. The second, Gold and Salt, lets you access a new decision, Network with Trans-Saharan Merchants. For 5 years after you take this decision, the chances of a Trans-Saharan merchant spawning increases significantly, though isn't 100% certain per se. Even if you don't find a merchant in the end, during these 5 years (or until a merchant spawns), you'll at least have a character modifier that increases diplomacy and stewardship slightly. The fourth perk, Fortified Oases, lets you take the decision more than once.
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Lastly, to go along with this all, a new Mizrahi culture has been added to the Israelite culture group, as a catch-all for Middle Eastern Jews. Ashkenazi and Sephardi merchant courtiers might still spawn, but currently Mizrahi are coded to be the most likely for Trans-Saharan traders. (In the future, after Royal Court, I may add other Jewish cultures as needed.)
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Guanche Preview
That concludes the dev diary for the Sus flavor pack! In a week or so, I'll talk about the Guanche Flavor Pack, which will accompany Sus and was done as a collaboration with BlackEmperor's Africa Plus mod as mentioned. It will include a new Guanche culture and pagan faith, and other goodies for the Canary Islands. For now, I'll leave you with teaser previews:
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Selected Sources for Further Reading
- History and Archaeology of the Emblematic Argan Tree in the Medieval Anti-Atlas Mountains (Morocco), Marie-Pierre Ruas, et al.
- Medieval Silver Production in Sijilmâsa City (Morocco), Sandrine Baron
- Sijilmāsa (Morocco): The urbanism of a medieval Islamic site as seen through its hydraulic system (8th-13th centuries AD), Thomas Soubira, et al.
- Sijilmassa: The Contours of a Medieval Moroccan Cityscape, Dale Lightfood and Dana Weatherford
- Sijilmassa: The Rise and Fall of a Walled Oasis in Medieval Morocco, Dale Lightfoot and James Miller
- Sous, Jewish Virtual Library
- The Ksars and Kasbas of Morocco: Examples from the Draa-Tafilalet Region in the South East of Morocco, Naoual Moutazakki
- The Last Civilized Place: Sijilmasa and Its Saharan Destiny, James Andrew Miller and Ronald A. Messier
- The Moroccan Drâa Valley Earthen Architecture: Pathology and Intervention Criteria, Eliana Baglioni, Luisa Rovero, Ugo Tonietti
- The Sufris of Sijilmasa: Toward a History of the Midrarids, Paul Love
- Trans-Saharan Trade and the West African Discovery of the Mediterranean World, Pekka Masonen
- Tree-Climbing Goats Disperse [Argan] Seeds During Rumination, Miguel Delibes, Irene Castañeda, José M Fedriani
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