Agra: Risu's Strongest Nut
Table of Contents
Basic Information
Formal Name: Serene Principality of Agravana
Capital: Agra
Ruler: Prince Demetrius II
Culture: Tupai Agravana
Language: Agravani
Religion: Argavani Risuner
Motto: Mighty Agra stands above all!
Demonym: Agravani
Government Type: Semi-Absolutist Stratocracy/Thalassocracy
Government and Society
The Serene Principality is, effectively, a semi-absolutist stratocracy dominated by her nobles and merchant houses. There is no democratic intuitions nor any pretensions of such. The Agravani as a people believe that such things as "popular rule" and "voting" are methods to certain destruction and mob rule. Each of the main 6 islands is ruled directly by a prince, with the Prince of Agra being their overall ruler. Each Prince rules by divine right, and is expected to uphold the traditions of the ruling class and the citizens below them.
Despite being a non-democratic society, the citizens of the Serene Principality are entitled to great rights and all citizens can rise up to that of nobility via skill, and what brings citizenship is rather broad. Any male born to Free men of Agravani descent (which means anyone that is permitted to settle in the Serene Principality under an acceptable ethnicity and is not under slavery, or servitude of any form.) is a citizen. Those few that are allowed to settle as freemen hold less rights, but there is a bias based on profession for freemen, with artisans and those of the ID pantheon being held in high regard and demand. Immigration is heavily restricted. Mainland Tupai, for example, are forbidden to ever become citizens despite many of them being part of the mainland exclave and finding good work in it. Others like Lusitanian are greatly valued in contrast, with their skills being greatly desired.
Slavery is almost entirely race based, and the people that are slaves are almost exclusively mainland Tupai. Slaves of most races and ethnicities, in contrast, are rare and when they do exist it is non-hereditary. The two other races that share the same fate as the mainlanders are Deadbeats, and now Kronies; peoples who have proven themselves to be enemies of Agra and her people. There is a sizable minority of that exist.
Religion and Culture
Agra has long maintained itself to be independent of the rulings of the barbarians which now control the religious structure of the Tupai, and only through compromise, nominally accepted the Paus. This compromise was actually that the existing religious authority for Agra, the Patriarch of Agra, would be an equal to the Paus in authority for the islanders. It is also notable that the Argavani do not follow the same religious rites as the other Tupai, focusing much more on divinations, mysticism and omens. The Nut Tax is non existant, for example, and has never existed. Outsiders believe that the Argavani sect is much closer to the old rites than the present dominant form of worship.
Culturally, the Agravani also reject many of the fundamentals of the mainlanders such as egalitarianism, indecency, "elders", tribalism, and other practices as utterly degenerate and barbaric. To them, the mainlanders are cursed because of their barbarity by Risu and will never become civilized because what the Agravani believe to be Risu's curse upon them, which has made them into apathic, sex obsessed fools whose sins during the BTVE era granted this curse to them forever, which seems to anthropologists to line up with the beliefs of Moonmen as well. As a result, Agra is vastly different and some have theorized this is a result of this belief in the curse. It could also be true that the Islanders always held these ways to be true, considering cities like Julianus and Lamponia also state the same thing, and that seeing the fall of the mainlander Kingdoms lead them to this belief.
Agravani uphold the values of societal order, the harmony of chaos and peace, the belief that some peoples are of a "better stock" than others (Agravani being of the best stock by nature of Risu's divine blessing), the sacredness of sex, the glory of military service and the rejection of the values of the deadbeats, who are particularly despised, and the mainlanders. It is also a society of superstition, where it is believed that disasters, defeats, and plagues are the result of impiety and degeneracy among her people. For example, after the great defeat off Ceres, the Agravani self-flagellated themselves each day until their great victory 5 days later.
Religious and Culturally, the arts, science, and martial prowess are seen as great virtues and it is expected that a true Agravani man would be proficient in all of these fields.
Geography
The Serene Principality has 6 main islands (Agravan, Suratavan, Madhan, Kandin, Vijayan, Pulicatin), numerous smaller islands and one exclave on the mainland (Solakota). The warm sea winds, the fertile soil, and the moderate rain spells have left the islands as idyllic for the farming of sugarcane, coffee, and cocoa. Most of the islands are relatively flat, with some raises in elevation found on Argravan, Suratavan, and Pulicatin. Argavan, Madhan, Vijyan, and Suratan are also blessed with fresh water aquafers, and Agravan even more so with a small hot spring.
The mainland is dominated by the Sola hill, with its many advantages being listed below under Solakata. It too is good farmland as well thanks to the nitrate rich soil.
Cities
Agra
"Agra is a city worthy 1000 words and has 1000 tales... Truly a marvel, she is." as the traveling Oiseau poet, Louis Duplessis wrote 300 years ago upon his visit to the city. Out of all of the Tupai cities, there is none more famous than Agra, and there isn't own more proud of itself either. It is known as the City of Risu's Desire and Risu's Toughest Nut for a reason, for the city's beauty is shared with it's legendary fortifications.
Founded in 404 BVTE by the Legendary Prince Agras on top of a plateau she was an ideal spot for a great port city. According to her annals, she quickly rose to eclipse mainland cities that have been lost to time like Gondia, Balasat, Parimbat, Sokolato, and even challenged the city referred to as "The Queen of Risu": Jaffna. With the sudden and mysterious collapse of the Kingdoms of the Tupai from around 70 to 45 BVTE, Agra would assume the title as their successor, and would conquer the nearby islands of Suratavan, Madhan, Kandin, Vijayan, and Pulicatin by 200 VTE. At one point around 500 VTE, she controlled the northern islands that are now part of the Triple Alliance too before they were able to break the chains around 525.
In the time between the Great Collapse and the Kronies arriving in 1114, Agra stood unchallenged and made herself extremely rich off the slave trade. There is a strong reason to believe that some of the cities mentioned above as being eclipsed by Agra were plundered, and enslaved by this rapicious island stronghold given that she never allowed any major settlements to arise within her region until the Kronies came. The one exemption to this is Sabatangan, but from Agravani records, it is clear that the reason for this was because of the Serene Republic moreso than the people of that city itself. Nonetheless, Agra still stands as the dominate power in that relationship and no matter what the "Southern Barbarians" think, she is confident this will always be the case.
As a city itself, Agra is marble, sandstone, and brick, with luxuriant displays of wealth adorning all structures. It has many impressive structures, such as her great market, great slave market (which is in the process of being transformed itself into an impressive public garden and memorial to Agra's heroes), lavish bath houses, grand temples, the Palace of the Prince, the University of Agra (the oldest University in Risu, founded in 489 VTE), her luxurious merchant houses, her intricate sewage network, her grand harbour (that is the largest in all of Risu), and her great library (which stands as the most prolific in Risu by far and is the only place where information about the Kingdoms of the Tupai exist today.)
But as mentioned, Agra just as well known for her fortifications as she is her beauty and her display of the arts. According to her founding myth, Prince Agras was lead to the island with his exile followers from Jaffna by Risu to a place where "His people would never be conquered and where an opulent city would grow behind impenetrable walls." It appears that this was taken to heart, as Agra's walls extend across the whole plateau of the island, being built right into the Cliff facings themselves, and angling themselves out to the sea. According to a report from spy working in VII from around 1091 VTE
"It is impossible and completely unreasonable to assault the walls of the city anywhere but from its grand harbour at sea level. But even there, it is a near impossible task. The outerwalls extended into the sea itself and are impossible to land upon.... The Walls of the Harbour are even more complex as the Agravani clearly know that this is the only real spot where they can be attacked from. There is a series of three walls facing the seaside, and the entrance to the harbour is guarded by great forts that any attacking force would have to surpress to even get inside... This is disregarding Agra's enormous forts that lay on small islands outside it, Fort Anicetus at the island's north west, Fort Intrepid at the island's northeast, and Fort Ferox at the island's south east. All of these forts can be supported by fire from nearby bastions or the walls of Agra themselves. The southwest is the only true entry point for any attacker and it is no surprise that it is here that there, including the main western harbour fort, Fort Spes, that two other impressive fortifcations exist near the walls themselves known as Fort Anaxagoras and Fort Invictas... In conclusion, it is advised to avoid any direct assault on the city itself but rather resort to other methods such as blockading, which might not be that effective either."
Solakota
The city of Solakota is built on a large hill known as the Sola Hill, with its main port of Solapatnam lying in near Sealevel 300 meters below and having a natural aquifer inside its walls that is inaccessible from the outside. This has given the city a unique advantage in defense that the Kronies found out the hard way where the city can be supplied easily from its port below it that is naturally protected by cliff faces, while the city itself lays on top of a plateau that has to be assaulted directly. From the heights of Solakota, the region around the city is dominated and many farms are found down below.
The city itself is a fortress turned trade centre, where the Serene Principality conducts most of its business on the mainland from. It used to be the holding area for countless captured slaves, and this dark past is shown with its large slave market. Elaborate merchant houses surround this former slave market, along with the local artisan shops. The market now has turned into a proper market, where goods from the mainland are sold to enterprising merchants for either sale in Agra or around the world. The harbour of its port, Solapatnam, however is not large enough to support the city turning into an entrepot, so Solakota will never eclispe the islanders in wealth for that reason.
The defenses of what the locals call "The Rock" start out with a series of redoubts and breastworks, followed by 5 impressive forts at the base of the hill, then by smaller bastions on the way up the cliff face before the elaborate walls at the top that are considered to be nearly as strong as Agra's. During the Great Siege, the Kronies only managed to take the outer redoubts, and 2 of the 5 forts, with the main fort of Victoriae being unassaliable due to the dramatic rise in elevation it was built on, and the supporting redoubts that surrounded it.
Economy
The nation's economy has always been based on trade in some form, but this form has changed over time. Until the arrival of the Kronies, it was slavery that drove the economy and the selling of captured slaves in particular, but now it is cash crops, and their refined forms that drive it. In some ways, this change has been for the better as the Argavani have adapted well to this by greatly increasing their merchant marine and their natural competitive spirit has made them quite successful in that regard. The destruction of their slave trade, however, has hurt them in the short term greatly and only now is the national economy starting to fully recover. Unfortunately, in this time of recovery, her rivals have grown greatly with Sabatangan now being her equal economically. This is unacceptable to the Agravani and it is very likely a trade war will commence soon between the two mortal enemies.
Military
Basic Ideas:
- Citizen Army that used to be focused on raiding but now is based upon defense.
- Some of the best fortifications in the entire world, not just in Risu.
- Most powerful navy in Risu.
- Rocket Artillery
Army
The Agravani Army is a citizen army that has changed greatly in recent years. For nearly 1000 years, it was an aggressive force that relied on Cavalry to crush any opposite while their fleet would lay waste to any stronghold in their way. Things however changed with the arrival of the Kronies and the near massacre of much of the army, including Prince Anaxandridas VII at Korak in 1116. This defeat resulted in a major reform of the army by Prince Demetrius II that saw it transition away from it's aggressiveness and more to an extremely defensive nature. It was fortunate that the nation already had both extremes in practice already, as when the Kronies came to siege Solokota 3 times, each time they were repulsed. The third time, known as the Great Siege, lasted 4 whole years (Sept 1st, 1120, to November 11th, 1124) and saw countless losses on both sides. It was a case of an unstoppable force in Kronie artillery meeting an immovable object in the defenses of Solokota, but ultimately would result in the Kronies taking the worst of it. The aftermath also saw the complete destruction of the 121st Infantry Battalion (November 23rd, 1124) by a surprise Agravani Cavalry strike during a downpour along the road to Ceres. This was a result of the Prince taking the new Cavalry, made up totally of nobles and patricians from Agra to raid the countryside, only to find the 121st completely unprepared for their coming doom. Pouncing on them on them as they were trudging on, their annihilation and the capture of their modern weapons, and battle standard was a complete shock to the Kronies and was one of the major factors in the opinion of scholars for the protectorate ending 5 months later.
As of now, the army has accepted its role in a defensive stance while also maintaining same aggressive nature ready to be unleashed when ready with the cavalry.
Fortifications
The City of Agra itself is known as "Risu's Toughest Nut" for a reason. The size of its wall and the scale of its defenses are arguably some of the best in the world and there has never been an enemy that has ever breached them or managed to even succeed in storming a small part of them despite many attempts. Not only are the city walls massive and well-fortified, but the city has various forts built on smaller island outside of it that have made almost all attempts to even break through to the inner walls completely useless.
But it's not just the City, its island and the supporting islands that reinforce the title of "Risu's Strongest nut" but also the other possessions Agra controls also being extremely well fortified. Solokota itself is also legendary in this regard, especially after the Great Siege by the Kronies where countless rounds were fired into it, and despite the extensive damage, the walls remained standing and the Kronie assault against the city and its outer forts were unsuccessful, with only two of the 5 outer forts falling during the siege.
Siegecraft and engineering is an artform to Agra, to little surprise of anyone who can build such great fortresses. They quickly have adapted to cannons and placed them in their fortifications while also using the devastating rocket artillery known as the "Agravani Death Organs" to great effect.
Navy
Agra is the most powerful naval state among the Tupai and have been since time immemorial. There is an old legend amongst the Argavani that one of Agra's legendary figures, Cleander, fought and killed several enormous sea monsters as a test of courage, and in exchange ensured that the Agravani would always be the most powerful naval power amongst his people.
Whether or not this myth is true, it has held up over time despite of many setbacks over the years. Defeats against the Black Fleet, the Kronies, Watamelons, and even those villains in Sabatangan have only ever been temporarily reversals that have never endangered the city. This is in large part because the Navy never full commits all of its assets to any attack and furthermore all of these defeats came away from the city. Most powers like the Black Fleet and Watamelons wouldn't dare strike Agra itself, as the Kronies found out the hard way. The combination of the fleet near the cities great fortification is far too great of a risk to try. A Moriji Admiral when asked about the possibility of assaulting Agra after the Black Fleet beat the Agravani once replied sarcastically "Sure, we can take the city. Just give us 40 ships of the Line, many frigates, and many mortar ships. That should be enough..."
As of now, the Fleet is in an era of transition. As proven by its failures against the Kronies away from Agra, and against the Black Fleet and Watamelons, the tradition Galley combat is totally insufficent now and the fleet needs to modernize in its own way. The capture of a Kronie Steam Frigate intact has open many opportunities but the overall change thus far has been adopting larger sailing vessels that are capable of using cannons and rockets both in some way. However, this steam frigate is in the process of being reversed engineered with the help of the now captive Kronies and with assistance from Lustianian black smiths and engineers. The new ship, Prince Demetrius II was just launched in 1133 and it is predicted it will be completed in 2 more years.
Diplomacy
For centuries, Agra maintained itself proudly as a nation that needs no allys or friends, but the changing times have dictated otherwise. The start of this war the forming of the Triple Alliance with the even more imperiled cities of Julianus and Lamponia on January 4th, 1120. Both of these cities had suffered major problems thanks to the Black Fleet, their destructive former rivalry and the ending of the Maitoyl friendship which had so helped them. Agra, in a turn of perception, now saw these cities as her sisters and was able to talk them into the Triple Alliance over the course of 3 years before it was formalized in 1120. Agra herself dominates the alliance because the two have pretty much accepted being lesser partners out of necessity for their own survival, and given their distance from Agra, have control over their affairs in the north while Agra does in the south. In the event of a war against a major power, all three will unite. Agra represents the Triple Alliance at the Council for better or worse.
Agra also has tied itself to Shrivastava Empire and the Kingdom of Sugauna, with the former being a result of Joyo Cahya's manevourings at Rajabasa and his role in getting the Triple Alliance concessions and the latter being a natural ally that Agra has always considered to be somewhat worthy of friendship despite never truly being friends with them.