Qin-Sija

"*The chiefest of valuables to the Qin-Sija is not gold or land, but knowledge, knowledge gathered into powerful scrolls by their wise Hajin masters. Practitioners of an ancient magic practiced chiefly by the Scholars of the Hajin, the Qin-Sija are known to use their ancient knowledge to improve every aspect of their lives--especially their homegrown tea gardens.*

*The advent of the Moonrise has brought the potential for new knowledge to be added to the ancient scrolls, new knowledge that the Hajin declare must be obtained through any means; even by way of war."*

-Tribe Description

The **Qin-Sija** tribe are the fifth of the fan tribes made by StressedKingMonolith, and specialize in conversion-capable Giants who grow in power based on technologies that are researched, and in rapid-fire weaponry. The Qin-Sija possess four unique technologies (**Ancient Scrolls, Naturalism, Moral Duty**, **Sea Texts**), one unique upgrade choice (**Jade Hall**), four unique units (**Scholar, Hwacha, Kobukson, Clipbow**), and one unique Giant (**Hajin/Wajin**).

Qin-Sija starts with **Ancient Scrolls**, a technology that enables the **Jade Hall**, the *Genius* task, and the **Scholar**.

## Resources

Qin-Sija have a bias towards Shallows (+), Fish (+), and Mountains (+), but have a disadvantage with Animal spawns (-).

## Appearance

Fruit: Freshweed (Cabbage)

Land: Light Green

Forest: Thinstalks (Bamboo forests)

Animal: Sneaktails (Nine-Tailed Fox)

Mountain: Fingers of Wisdom (Hunagshan)

City: Old Tea Houses, Traditional Homes, and Paper Mills all stacked upon one another. Think a blue version of the Xi-Xi coupled with variants of these types of old teahouses.

Helmet: A Chinese war helmet, similar to a Ming era infantry helmet.

## New Skills

Skills are what give all Polytopia units special abilities. For more on skills, see Unit Skills on the main Wiki page.

### Mind Guard

**Mind Guard** enables a unit to select and "tag" a friendly unit, protecting that friendly unit from being Converted for one game turn.

### Mind Power

**Mind Power** enables a unit to, if its health is not at maximum, heal itself upon successfully converting a unit.

### Rain Shot

**Rain Shot** enables a ranged unit to target more than one unit in an attack action. The initial unit targeted always receives the most damage. Only available for offensive (not retaliatory) shots.

### Plating

**Plating** enables a portion of damage taken to be inflected back on the attacking enemy unit.

## Special Technology

### Ancient Scrolls

Ancient Scrolls replaces Philosophy, and enables the *Genius* task, the **Jade Hall** upgrade choice, and the **Scholar**. Starts Researched.

### Moral Duty

Moral Duty replaces Free Spirit, and enables Disbanding, Temples, and gives a unit adjacent to a temple a defensive bonus.

### Naturalism

Naturalism replaces Spiritualism, and enables Grow Forest, Forest Temple, and [**Mind Power**] for the **Hajin/Wajin**.

### Sea Scrolls

Sea Scrolls replaces Aquatism, and enables Ocean Temples, defensive bonuses in water, and the **Wajin** variant for the **Hajin** Giant.

## Special Units

### Scholar

The Scholar replaces the Mind-Bender, and has [**Mind Guard**], and can heal or convert adjacent units. It can be produced for 5 Gold.

### Clipbow

The Clipbow replaces the Archer, and has [**Rain Shot**] for up to **1** additional target, and can be produced for 3 Gold. The Clipbow carries the Repeating Crossbow into battle, in place of a bow.

### Hwacha

The Hwacha replaces the Catapult, and has [**Rain Shot**] for up to **2** additional targets, and can be produced for 8 Gold. The Hwacha moves faster than the Catapult and has defense, but has less range. The Hwacha appears as a carriage with a rack of arrows, similar to the real life Korean Hwacha.

### Kobukson

The Kobukson replaces the Battleship, and has [**Plating**], with a bonus in reflecting damage against land units, and can be upgraded from a Ship for 15 Gold. The Kobukson has less range than the Battleship, but does double retaliation damage against attacking melee units. The Kobukson appears with a deck of armor and a dragon head at the forward section, just like a Korean Turtle Ship.

## Special Upgrade

### Jade Hall

The Jade Hall is the replacement for the treasure choice for a city upgrade, and provides 1 free technology that is within the current research range instead of Gold.

## Special Giant

### Hajin

The Hajin has [**Mind Guard**], healing abilities, and [**Mind Power**] when *Naturalism* is researched, and is the Qin-Sija's unique Giant. After *Sea Scrolls* is researched, the Hajin can transform into the **Wajin** when embarking onto Water tiles. The Hajin takes two conversion attacks in the same turn to become converted. Upon achieving the *Genius* task, the Hajin's conversion attack gains a range of 2. The Hajin is a non-flying dragon, based on the Chinese dragons of Chinese mythology.

### Wajin

The Wajin has [**Mind Guard**], healing abilities, damage resistance to naval attacks, and is the Embarked (aquatic) manifestation of the **Hajin**. The Wajin is available after *Sea Scrolls* is researched, and transforms back into a **Hajin** when crossing onto a land tile. The Wajin takes two conversion attacks in the same turn to become converted. Upon achieving the *Genius* task, the Wajin's conversion attack gains a range of 2.The Wajin is a swimming dragon, based on the Vietnamese dragons of Vietnamese mythology.

## Music

Calming meditative music, similar to the song at 8:48 in this Chinese music track.

## City Names & Language

Cities are named in accordance with the practices written of in the ancient, wise scrolls, namely for folkloric myths or the types of plants that grow in the area. Names such as **Zhang**, **Iydo**, and **Pouan** are common ones for regular cities, while capital administrative cities might bear names such as **Phia' tet** and **Huaseon**.

## Tribal Lore

*In some mountain villages, the right kind of tea leaves are accepted as a currency. Knowledge of tea leaves can therefore be a valuable for a tourist (or a poor merchant) as monetary & financial awareness.*

*It is said that the Hajin can venture upon an enemy army, persuade it to pause for peaceful discussion, and return with a new cadre of soldiers for the Qin Sija. Such feats speak greatly of the the innate wisdom and persuasive knowledge seen in these mystic serpents.*

*A newly learned fact is written down first in the Scrolls of New Knowledge, then after time has passed is fact-checked to ensure its accuracy before the fact is penned down in the Ancient Scrolls of Trivia Facts. If the piece of information is lucky, it just might be mentioned as a footnote in the Great Scrolls of Random Facts.*

## Gameplay Example

Below are some examples of tribe mechanics and units in (hypothetical) action;

### Example (Naval Combat)

* Setting, Qin Sija vs Tribe B: *A Qin Sija Kobukson, Hwacha, and Hajin are adjacent on a coastline, with two Battleships and two Ships from Tribe C within engagement distance.*
* Turn 1 (Qin Sija): *The Hajin moves to the coastline, but cannot embark as Sea Scrolls has not yet been researched. The Kobukson moves directly adjacent to the nearest Battleship, and attacks. It takes damage from the exchange, but is still in a condition to fight. The Hwacha targets the two Battleships and one Ship, crippling one Battleship.*
* Turn 2 (Tribe C): *Due to the Hwacha's reduced range, it receives retaliatory damage from both Battleships, and is destroyed by a Battleship this turn. The weakened Battleship fires on the Hajin, while the other Battleship engages the Kobukson. Both ships take severe damage. One of the Ships lands, revealing a Swordsman unit.*
* Turn 3 (Qin Sija): *The Kobukson approaches and sinks the weakened Battleship. The Hajin heals the weakened Kobukson. Sea Scrolls is researched.*
* Turn 4 (Tribe C): *The second Battleship attacks the Kobukson, which cannot retaliate because the second Battleship is out of range. The Swordsman attacks the Hajin. The second Ship makes landfall, revealing a Mind-Bender.*
* Turn 5 (Qin Sija): *The Kobukson approaches the Swordsman and attacks it at close range, killing the Swordsman with its [**Plating**] ability, plus its double defensive damage against melee attacks from land units. The Hajin uses [**Mind Guard**] on the Kobukson, protecting the ship from conversion for a full game turn.*
* Turn 6 (Tribe C): *The remaining Battleship fires on the Hajin*. *The Mind-Bender attempts to convert the Kobukson, but fails.*
* Turn 7 (Qin Sija): *The Hajin enters the water and embarks as a Wajin*. *The Kobukson moves toward the Battleship and attacks, severely wounding Tribe C's Battleship but becoming sunk in the process.*
* Turn 8 (Tribe C): *The remaining Battleship fires on the Wajin, and moves away from the Super Unit. The attack does little damage to the Wajin, as it is resistant to naval attacks. The Mind-Bender ventures inland, directly within sight of a Qin Sija Clipbow.* Qin-Sija Draw.

## Tribe Explanation

### Overall Idea & Concept Exploration

So I wanted to make a tribe based on Eastern cultures & mythologies, but seeing as the Xi-xi already exist I realized I needed to get kinda creative. So, I threw together a Korean-Chinese-Vietnamese tribe and gave it dragons that do not fly or breathe fire, but that can convert units and protect other units from being converted. Sort of like super-MInd Benders, if you will. Like a counterpoint to the Elyrion's Western-style fire-breathing dragon of death. I debated on making the Qin-Sija Hajin/Wajin's attack ranged, giving them a ranged giant Mind-Bender, but in the end I decided that was vastly too overpowered--unless the science-based side of the tribe was fulfilled, in which case the construction of the Eye of God would signal to all that the Dragons now have a ranged conversion attack. Is that too overpowered? Hm...maybe...

On to the rest of the Qin Sija's features. I really wanted to make a "science" based tribe that wasn't super Da Vinci like in nature, and I think this tribe hit the mark on that. Between the Jade Hall upgrade and the powers of the Giant being directly related to what is researched/achieved through technology, I think this tribe did a good job of emphasizing the "old wisdom" style of this tribe. I also think giving this tribe rapid-fire/multi-attack weapons also emphasizes the scientific "supremacy" of this tribe, at least in relation to the vast majority of its counterparts.

The entire battle-lineup of the tribe is also different, largely because of how many units have been tweaked and fiddled with, but also because of how the Giants are designed. The Qin-Sija focus more on holding the line, with Scholars and Hajins/Wajins keeping everyone healthy & on the same side, while Clipbows & Hwachas deal enough damage to water down the power of any attack force. Of course, this strategy isn't flawless or fixed into place, but I thought that having a tribe who's Giants largely were powerful because of their conversion/conversion protection abilities would lead to more interestingly defensive gameplay. Add the slow-burn of the Hajin/Wajin power increase via the tech system, and this seems like it could be a very interesting tribe it play as.

That's all for now! If you enjoyed what you just read, please leave a comment letting me know!

 Other Tribes by Me

* The Jurasa, a prehistoric-based tribe focused on dino-Giant breeding.
* The Gaelyc, a Druid-based tribe focused on forest management and unit-producing Giants.
* The Zaratha, a Persian-based tribe with a focus on wealth management and indirect warfare.
* The Sumar, a Mesopotamian-based tribe focused on Disbanding, Temples, and Siege Towers.
* The Vasca, a Iberian-based tribe focused on pay-to-fire weapons, exploration, and trade.