Siangwaanians

The **Siangwaanians** are an ethnic group of humans who mostly live at the mountainous country of Siangwaan, at the eastern parts of Palkyras.

## Characteristics

The Siangwaanians have tan skin, with thin eyes and straight black hair.

The Siangwaanians were descended from people in southern Daizhou, of mixed Daizhouvian and Daili origin. They also have ancestry from the nearby Josolchir and Sakautari natives.

## History

The ancestors of the Siangwaanians, the Keihong, thrived at the southern coast of Daizhou near Iozae and Sai La. Occasionally, they revolted whenever Daizhou crumbled due to instability.

Many Keihong prisoners were taken during the Vozonid Empire's wars against the Esamian continent. The Vozonid emperor, Maudolinnir, relocated them at the lands to the north of Mount Mandil, against the advice of his astrologers and priests who warned that it was an inauspicious location due to being near the holiest of mountains. There, they and other slaves were forced to mine precious minerals and metals for the war campaign.

Years later, the Vozonid Empire also became weak. The Daizhouvian slaves revolted under their leader, Zio Do, who founded his own monarchy as "Siangwaan". It later became closer to Vozolaz, and distanced itself from its ancestral homeland, whom it denounced as backwards. Three thousand years after their nation was founded, the invasion by the emperor of Bok Yan worsened the Siangwaanians' contempt against their ancestral homeland; even more so, when the Bok Yanian lord condemned them for being less like Daizhou.

At times, the Siangwaanians and their leaders adopted Sarmelonid customs, similar to those used by their former enemy and oppressor. They explained it as their country being the worthy successor to the Sarmelonid Empire, as a better society than its enemy.

The Siangwaanians are a resilient people, having survived for thousands of years in their strange new home, and fending off various threats ranging from alien invaders to warring empires and even the undead hordes that plague the land. Together with the native Sakautari kindreds, they build thriving societies renowned throughout the region.

## Culture

The Siangwaanians' culture is mostly derived from the Keilong variety of the Daizhouvians. It also has a heavy Vozonid influence, which led to their desire to make themselves distinct from their homeland kin.

Certain traditions include:

* veneration of dragons
* wooden buildings
* a lot of rice and noodle dishes
* dim sam (a sort of breakfast)
* veneration of gryphons and spinels (Vozonid)

## Regionalisms

There appear to be four main cultures among the Siangwaanians in their homeland:

### Northerners

Northerners tend to be more urban.

Ei Kavians, the denizens of the capital city, are more independent than other Siangwaanians, but they are so caught up in their luxury and affluence that they look down on their fellow kin. They are also very futuristic, which has the unfortunate connotation of losing their culture to a shallow Ardeschen form.

### Southerners

Southerners tend to be robust, gruff, and tough, whether from their farm work or their jousting. They tend to be jovial and humourous, preferring to enjoy life as it is even as they try to improve it.

They love jousting, calligraphy, riding horses, and heavy metal.

### Westerners

Westerners retain much of the Sarmelonid traditions of the Vozonids, to the point that aside from using dialects of Josolchir or Sarmelonid, they tend to wear archaic-looking clothing in everyday life. Most Westerners are not Buddhists as in the rest of the republic, but Vozonthanaudoppo (worshippers of the Vozonid gods).

It is one thing for the Buddhist-majority Siangwaanians to use holy spinels and pray to gryphons. But it's considered another excessive thing for them to became too Sarmelonid, like the westerners.

## Regionalisms 2

Siangwaanians also enjoy mocking each other's regional traditions:

### North and Ei Ka

* drunks
* drunk brawlers
* flying cars
* materialistic snobs
* overspending on fashion, expensive videogames, rock music, princess fashion (for women) to compensate for everlasting m i s e r y
* more drunks
* grimy train stations
* the most modern™ part of Siangwaan, so modern, it's a very drunken parody of cyberpunk
* ferris wheels
* burning ferris wheels
* very rude

### East

* superstitious
* tech junkies
* they speak funny, is that even Siangwaanian?
* so many temples
* real keilins everywhere

### South

* jousting hooligans
* superstitious peasants
* worships stars and mountains
* uncouth farmboys
* unruly gits
* heavy metal music, 24/7
* drunk metalheads
* spends *over 1900 yuenya* a year on jousting equipment or high school supplies
	+ That would be enough money to become rich as a middle-class shop worker.
* horses everywhere
* they pretend to be knights when none of them have ever joined a knighthood
	+ This is the stereotype that represents Siangwaan in other countries.
* "go chew a lance"
* mall rats
* clean train stations
* university hooligans
* "go to hell"
* "git"
* rude
* shirtless guys everywhere, brawling, jousting, and drinking
* "New Heronoja" (due to so many blonde people)
* "Kolobnik Zemlja" (Hooligan Land)

### West

* arrogant snobs who behave like royalty
* more like Vozonids
* "aristocrats"
* do they, like, own a gryphon?
* do they stay poor by feeding much of their yearly wealth on those stupid symbols of ignobility?
* why are they wearing fancy robes every day?
* "Rapscallion, where's my palanquin?"
* drinks grape beer to project an illusion of high-class
* Little Vozolaz

## Language

See also: Siangwaanian language, Josolchir language

The Siangwaanian language was derived from a southern dialect of older Daizhouvian. It has become more different from Daizhouvian as later rulers used dialectal terms as its new vocabulary.

## Religion

See also: Siangwaanian mythology

Most Siangwaanians are Buddhists. Their ancestral homeland in southern Daizhou was a bastion of Buddhism, so they are used to it. However, they use Taoist rites to worship their many gods, and they gradually syncretised Vozonid and Sakautari aboriginal deities into their daily lives.

Some Siangwaanians, especially those who live at the western and southern parts of the country near the mountain-borders, have converted to the Vozonid religion. Among their customs include the usage of spinel gems as holy talismans; veneration of gryphons and mountain deities; invoking gods like Pjosaroz, Zomjonor, Tarhunz, and Sammakari; and cremation rites where priests dress as berzatri (heralds of the dead) to carry the body, and gryphon-saints to read the deeds of the deceased before the Gods.

Two other religions developed in Siangwaan include Moklei Gio in the north, and Gao Sheng Gio in the south. Moklei Gio is an esoteric religion influenced by Taoism, using the jasmine blossom as a symbol. It is popular among gentlemen and educated people. Gao Sheng Gio is a folk religion that venerates the Nine Stars, nine stellar gods.

Some Siangwaanians have also converted to Atenism, especially in the cities, while others have became Hindus.

## Notable Siangwaanians

### Unicorn Farmhand

* Chang Gao
* Chang Shong
* Chang family
* Chang Mai
* Chang Yau
* Chang Lai
* Ang Yeung
* Liaocheng
* Ruobineloz
* Yao family
* Yào Zong

### Historical

* Zio Do
* Zieu Mengdo

## Trivia

* While the Siangwaanians were largely based on Tang Dynasty Chinese and Cantonese people, they were also influenced by Malaysian society and football hooligans.
	+ Another influence for the Siangwaanians is the author noticing how differently his people were portrayed in Hong Kong dramas, as opposed to American media.
	+ A third, especially for southern Siangwaanians like Chang Shong, were the author's own classmates and friends, some of whom pretended to be gangsters known as "Ah Bengs". The result are farmboys and sports hooligans who behave in a rather vulgar, mobbish manner.

### Breaking stereotypes

The author intended for the Dok Saau's keepers and their country to be East Asian to subvert stereotypes of his Chinese people, after he noticed how differently they were depicted in Hong Kong dramas and American movies.

* "Chinese force their children to be too successful" - Siangwaanians are more relaxed. In spite of their technological advancement or industrial strength, Siangwaanians are not so focused on studies. They prefer sports and entertainment.
* "Chinese are skinny and weak/all Chinese know kung fu" - Because sports are very popular in Siangwaan, they tend to be more athletic and stocky. Furthermore, not all Siangwaanians know martial arts, so they instead beat up, brawl, or use pistols and rifles like neighbouring countries.
* "Human waves" - The smaller numbers of Siangwaanian people and their country's smaller size (compared to their enemies) made them rely on fortifications and artillery to destroy masses of invaders. It is also influenced by the mountainous terrain and jungles of their homeland.
* "They eat dogs and cats" - Siangwaanians, like their IRL counterparts, find pets as food to be disgusting.
	+ Because they often regard cats and dogs as more like siblings or children.
* "Dragon Lady", "Asian doll" - Siangwaanian woman are not *that* submissive or seductive. They have better things to do, lots of hobbies, like jogging, reading, art, and sometimes engineering and sports.
* "Triads and tongs" - Crime gangs are not so powerful in Siangwaan, due to alliances formed by vigilante militias, government agencies, and the police forces suppressing their existence. With an improving economy and better social mobility, people in most of the east coast are less dependent on criminal gangs.
	+ However, southern Siangwaanians are very notable for their love of vulgarity, crowds, sports, and hooliganism. Many males, even young lads as young as 11, love to go shirtless!

## See also

* Sakautari, the native people of Siangwaan.
* Heronoi
* Josolchir people