The Sicc'orax Republic, also known as the Sicc'orax Tribe, was a nation encompassing the Sicc'orax people on the planet Mors, as well as being the major rival and enemy of the Morsian Kingdom and later successor governments, the Morsian Military Dictatorship and First Morsian Republic. Initially, the Sicc'orax Tribe was much like any other tribal nation on Mors, led by a chieftain in a loose collection of clans which formed the larger tribal nation. However, they began to civilize and amalgamate into a unified democratic state led by a parliament with, eventually, a Prime Minister. While not a full democracy, as it retained many of their old tribal values, it was far beyond anything their neighbors had.
Taking over much of central Virconis, their home continent, the Sicc'orax became the dominant power of the age and one of the global powers, not that they had any contact with the outer world. They established a vassal state in the form of the Xikk'lac Tribe and began to island hop beyond the southern end of the continent with the Sicc'oraxian conquest of the Pedeatic Islands. Following this, they established Sicc'oraxian Pedetes and even managed to reach Magnum Spatium, establishing a colony on far away lands.
Their first run in with the Morsian Kingdom came in the form of tribal raids against the closest Morsian settlements. Prompting an armed response, they quickly found out that the Morsians were prepared to take up arms to defend themselves, culminating in the Siege of Favarae. The following First Morsian-Sicc'orax War became a stalemate with nothing much gained for either side except the foundation of a long-running rivalry and mutual hatred.
After a period of peace, in which they focused on gearing up for a better planned war with the Morsians, they launched their attack and made swift gain against their number one enemy. With spies infiltrating the Morsian Senate to stir up dissent they hoped to cause the military dictatorship, as it was now known, to break into a civil war during which they could annex land off them and create a puppet state. However, despite early gains, they came to a halt from stiff Morsian resistance and were pushed back, losing their colony on Magnum Spatium as well as having their puppet state invaded. With a lengthy siege of their capital and failed counterattack, they surrendered to the Morsians before being placed as a puppet government themselves.
Under a close Morsian eye, the republic helped their new overlords to recover from their civil war which saw the rise of the First Morsian Republic. From here, they were powerless to do much by themselves. Having lost much of their own land, all their colonies as well as their automation, the Sicc'oraxian people were infuriated but powerless to act. The republic built infrastructure in their lands, founded settlements, pushed their culture and religion as well as monitoring their every move.
The eventual end of the republic came in the form of radicals who had managed to make their way up the Sicc'oraxian chain of government. By feigning loyalty to the Morsians, they gained positions of power. These individuals had seen the anger of the Sicc'orax people and planned a coup to hand power over to them. Executing this manoeuvre while the Morsians were busy and bogged down in the Second Morsian-Sparti War meant there was little Morsian opposition, as their armies were busy attempting to make a landing against the Sparti. With the end of the Sicc'oraxian Civil War in 16,083 BBY, the republic was re-organized into the People's Democratic Republic of Sicc'oraxia.
History[]
Formation[]
The Sicc'orax formed from a collection of tribal peoples who settled down in a small tribal state. A warlike people, they quickly spread and conquered or colonized their surrounding lands, becoming a dominant power on their continent, stretching from sea to sea. They established a vassal in the form of the Xikk'lac Tribe and reformed into a partially civilized republic, though still retaining many of the tradition tribal values and standards that had carried them through their expansion.
First contact with the Morsians[]
The Sicc'orax first came into contact with the expanding Morsian Kingdom as they founded more settlements along their stretch of coastline towards the borders of Sicc'orax territory. The Sicc'orax, being a warlike, raiding nation, mounted punitive expeditions against their new neighbors, burning and looting several undefended settlements before the Morsians could build their strong defensive walls and guard towers to dissuade the Sicc'orax raiding parties.
Initial skirmishes and escalation to war[]
Thanks to earlier successes, the raiding parties got larger and bolder, culminating in a penetrating raid into Morsian lands on a fishing village, wiping it out. This caused the Morsians to form militia forces within their settlements and in the following Sicc'orax raid, they were met with armed opposition in the Battle of Malagus and defeated, despite heavy losses to the Morsian militia. Embarrassed and angered by their defeat, the Sicc'orax amassed larger forces and dispatched them against the Morsians once again. However, the Morsians had also been rapidly militarizing, forming the Royal Morsian Army, who positioned them in one of the outer settlements and tempted the Sicc'orax forces into the Siege of Favarae. Despite heavy losses, it was a military victory for the Sicc'orax, who swiftly looted what they could and retreated.
Shortly after this, the current Morsian King, Caesar I, was assassinated, and the blame placed on the Sicc'orax, causing the outbreak of the First Morsian-Sicc'orax War.
First Morsian-Sicc'orax War[]
The assassination of Caesar I brought open war to the two nations and the Sicc'orax mobilized what they could against the approaching Morsian legions. At the same time, the next Morsian King, Pompinius IV, was poison and swiftly died without an heir, causing some powerful Morsian senators to make a bid for power, causing the First Morsian Civil War. This put a halt to Morsian war efforts against the Sicc'orax, however it did not stop them from defending against Sicc'orax raiding parties while the civil war was raging.
As they could not push through the Morsians, the Sicc'orax instead attacked the Morsian neighbors, to open a new front against them, attacking the Fakk’ar Tribe and Tenarr’brii Tribe. This lasted for several months while the Morsians ended their civil war, flipping to a military dictatorship and raising new legions to fight the war. The two tribes the Sicc'orax were fighting appealed to the Morsians to fight, who marched to their aid, while a concentrated push was made against the Sicc'orax on the other front and pushed back the Sicc'orax through their outer settlements, constructing fortifications to cement their gains.
At the same time, the Morsians reached the front lines in the Fakk’ar and Tenarr’brii lands and were mounting stiff resistance against the Sicc'orax forces, stalling their advance. At the same time, they were making slow against on the other front. In addition, despite early successes against the Morsian navy, the Morsians had managed to capture several Xikk'lac ships and copied their designs, contesting the previously unmatched Xikk'lac naval supremacy.
The stalling of the Sicc'orax advance against the Fakk’ar and Tenarr’brii allowed them to divert forces against the Morsian advance on the other front and push them back to the mountain pass, resulting in a stalemate on both fronts, as the Morsians couldn't push against the overwhelming Sicc'orax forces and the Sicc'orax couldn't break through the strong Morsian defenses.
Shortly after this was realized by both sides, a peace deal was reached which ended with a non-aggression pact, war reparations from the Sicc'orax and Xikk'lacs as well as minor territory concessions to the Morsians.
Interwar period[]
Following the end of the war in 16,697 BBY, the Sicc'orax were left battered but for the most part neither side had gained much of value in terms of land. The war was fought to a stalemate, the Sicc'orax lost a little territory and the two lost a considerable amount of manpower for the time. They also had a new government on their border in the form of the dictatorship who would prove to be highly expansionist in their policies. Despite the war not being too bad in terms of losses of territory, it only served to build up resentment in the Sicc'orax Parliament against the Morsians.
The 500-year long peace treaty allowed both sides to gear up for another war, as it was inevitable that it would happen, it just came down to who would kick it off. For their part, the Sicc'orax vastly increased the size of their army and made some changes to it, with some better light armor, better weapons and shields, as well as some new tactics. They made plans to expand their territory both to the east into tribal lands as well as a two-pronged attack against the Morsians and their allies, to make it a two front war to split their manpower.
Outside of the military, the Sicc'orax built infrastructure and focused mainly on integrating their vassal state the Xikk'lacs into their nation. They federated the tribe to begin their formation into a civilized nation, which is when they would integrate the tribe into their land. They also attempted to focus on expanded their infrastructure, particularly with their overseas colonies on Pedetes and Magnum Spatium.
Second Morsian-Sicc'orax War[]
The opening moves of the Second Morsian-Sicc'orax War were very much in favor of the Sicc'orax, with a heavy push in the north which overran several Morsian positions and made good headway into the now annexed tribal lands that the Morsians were owning. Elsewhere, however, the Sicc'orax were not doing as well. On Magnum Spatium, the 3rd Legion was brushing aside Sicc'orax forces and quickly occupied all their colonial land on the continent, while in the south the legions were making steady progress into Sicc'orax land. Their puppet of the Xikk'lac were also under attack from a naval landing by the Morsians, which opened up a new front and distracted some of the Sicc'orax army.
Post-war[]
Following their ultimate defeat at the hands of the Morsians, the Sicc'orax found themselves as a new puppet state to the Morsians. Their old government was removed and all those in a position of power were executed and crucified, their bodies displayed at the entrances to the capital. Under a newly installed democratic government, they were powerless to intervene in the Third Morsian Civil War but were called on to provide aid to the newly created First Morsian Republic, sending food and support to ease the famine that the Morsians were experiencing.
After the republic was stabilized, the Sicc'orax had no choice but to do what the Morsians told them due to the Morsian instated heads of government, albeit as reluctantly as they could. The army was highly unruly, requiring a large amount of threatening to move and help the Morsians when called for, and civil unrest was constant across the remaining lands held. They reluctantly helped as the Morsians conquered the rest of the island of Pedetes, uniting it under their stolen colony with the Morsian conquest of Pedetes.
Revolution and overthrowing[]
The Sicc'orax time as a Morsian puppet state wasn't destined to last for long, as in 16,085 BBY the Morsians began the Second Morsian-Sparti War which diverted a lot of their troops and attention away from the Sicc'orax. With this lack of overseeing, a party began gaining a lot of support in the Sicc'orax parliament. The party promised to overthrow the Morsian government in charge and give the republic back to the Sicc'orax people. The current government appealed to their overlord for help, but most of the Morsian resources were being put into the war with the Kingdiomi Di Sparti which was going badly for the Morsians. With little help coming from the Morsians, and no help appearing from the Sicc'orax people themselves, the nation broke apart into a short civil war. By the end of the war, the Morsian-backed government was overthrown and the People's Democratic Republic of Sicc'oraxia rose in its place.
Government[]
The government of the Sicc'orax was a tribal democratic republic, a type of hybrid government that was a democratic republic with heavy tribal influence still moulding and building the framework around which the republic was built. It was for this reason that some nations, particularly the Morsians, would still refer to them as a tribe rather than a republic, as they were still very tribal in nature. The republic was headed by a prime minister while a large parliament made much of the decisions and debating, not unlike the Morsian Senate.
Language[]
The Sicc'orax spoke their native language of Sicc'oraxian, something they attempted to force on their colonies and squash the native tongue in the lands they conquered. In certain areas, such as much of their colony on Pedetes, they were markedly successful. Elsewhere, such as their other colony, they struggled far more. Within most of their continental holdings, Sicc'oraxian was dominant with some small pockets of native languages spoken elsewhere.
Economy[]
Despite their size and being one of the first nations on Mors to civilize, the Sicc'orax never built an economy on currency. They prefered to keep the bartering economy of their tribal predecessor, which placed value on equivalent exchange of goods rather than coins. The lack of a currency economy baffled later historians and much discussion was made about why the Sicc'orax never progressed past the bartering state of an economy while many other civilized states switched to coins even prior to their reform.
Military[]
The army of the Sicc'orax was numerous, though not without flaws. Thanks to the size of the republic at its greatest extent, it had the manpower and resources to field one of the largest armies of the time across all of Mors. However, army reforms had not occurred to the Sicc'orax by the time they met the Morsian Kingdom, as they had only been fighting other tribes who used much of the same equipment and tactics as the Sicc'orax. As such, they did little to progress from a tribal state of warfare, where numbers and ferocity triumphed over equipment and tactic. They did something to rectify this after their first war with the Morsians, however despite some change to their tactics and equipment, they still valued size and bravery over anything. As such, while the Morsians had a more difficult time in the second war due to the sheer weight of numbers, they ultimately defeated the Sicc'orax due to superior training, tactics and equipment.
Notable members[]
- Severix Celt'arum, a great general who earned both fame and notoriety during the Second Morsian-Sicc'orax War.