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Tuyuhun Flavor Pack Guide
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The turquoise waters of Lake Qinghai and the rugged Kunlun mountains beckon to you in the Tuyuhun Flavor Pack: Horsemen of Qinghai. Centuries ago, after the mighty Han Dynasty of China collapsed, the Tuyuhun people settled in Qinghai; they established a kingdom and won fame and riches by controlling strategic parts of the Silk Road and breeding the famed Qinghaicong horses. By Crusader Kings' timeframe, the Tuyuhun Kingdom is no more and its people are scattered like the wind. However, perhaps under your leadership, the Tuyuhun can rise to power once more, and send forth mighty armies of soldiers as well as bountiful caravans along the Silk Road, to reclaim their place as one of the preeminent kingdoms of the Silk Road.

New Features

Xianbei Scions

The Tuyuhun culture has its Dryland Dwellers tradition replaced with a new tradition, Xianbei Scions. The Xianbei were proto-Mongolic nomads whose descendants would later form several powerful states in the Sinosphere, including the Tuoba Wei and the Tuyuhun.

This tradition increases language learning cap, improves opinion between different cultures, and adds monthly control. It also unlocks two decisions, to attend the Nadun Festival and restore the Tuyuhun Kingdom, which are discussed later below.

Note that if you’re playing The Fallen Eagle or an early start date, this tradition is not given to the Tuyuhun.

Qinghaicong Horses

The subtitle of the Tuyuhun Flavor Pack is “Horsemen of the Qinghai,” which refers to how the Tuyuhun were famed in late antiquity for breeding the so-called Qinghaicong horses in the vicinity of Lake Qinghai (said to descend from a breed of Persian horses). These horses were said to have supernatural speed and endurance, and their history is represented in RICE in a few different ways. Do note that features discussed in this section are available to anyone who owns Fuqi and/or Gerqen, regardless of culture or religion.

Horse Herd Modifiers

The counties of Fuqi and Gerqen (on either side of Qinghai) will always have a special modifier, Qinghaicong Horse Herds, which slightly increases tax and levy reinforcement for those counties.

In addition, owners of Fuqi and Gerqen will always have a character modifier similarly called Qinghaicong Horse Herds. This improves diplomacy, cavalry toughness, retreat losses, and raid speed. This modifier is lost if you lose control of the counties, so do think twice about giving these titles to a vassal! You only need one of Fuqi or Gerqen to get this modifier.

Gifting Horses

If you own Fuqi or Gerqen, you gain access to a new diplomatic interaction with other landed rulers (including your own vassals) called Gift Qinghaicong Horses. Though similar to gifting gold, besides increasing the target's opinion, you also get some prestige and renown.

Beware, though, as the rulers you target will get a modifier for 5 years called Recently Gifted Qinghaicong Horses. This improves the quality of their cavalry, ability to retreat, and raid speed, so don't send them to someone you plan to go to war with. On the other hand, maybe you want to help out a friend or a relative who might need an extra boost in a war. Anyhow, this action can only be done every 3 years, and you can only send the horses to the same person every 15 years.

Nadun Festival

Any ruler of Tuyuhun culture can take a decision to Attend the Nadun Festival. This is a relatively simple festival decision, without much frills or special twists. You can hold it every ten years and get a little boost to prestige and piety, depending on what random events happen during the course of the Nadun.

In real life, the Nadun is a harvest festival held by the Monguor/Tu people, who are likely descended (at least in part) from the Tuyuhun. It’s famous for being one of the longest festivals in the world, lasting over a couple of months. Although it might be a touch anachronistic, I believe it is fitting nonetheless.

Restore the Tuyuhun Kingdom

Tuyuhun rulers can take a decision to Restore the Tuyuhun Kingdom that once dominated the Qinghai region for several centuries before it was dismantled.by the Tibetans. You'll need to be Tuyuhun culture (obviously) and completely control the Tuyuhun Duchy as well as at least two of these other duchies in northern Qinghai:

There are some extra bonuses to taking this decision (as otherwise one might as well just take the normal generic decision to form a new kingdom). First, it grants you some extra renown, and makes the duchies of Tuyuhun, Aksay, Malho, Qilin, and Xining de jure part of the Kingdom of Tuyuhun.

Another bonus is that a special modifier will be added to the counties of Fuqi and Gerqen for 50 years, called Redeveloping the Qinghai Route of the Silk Road. Though this Qinghai trade route is not as well-known nowadays, in the heyday of the Tuyuhun it served as an integral alternative to the better known route through Dunhuang and the Hexi corridor. The modifier thus represents this portion of the Silk Road returning to preeminence. In-game, it increases development and tax and slightly reduces build costs in these counties.

In addition, restoring the Tuyuhun Kingdom will permanently upgrade the Qinghaicong Horse modifiers in Fuqi and Gerqen to Thriving Qinghaicong Horse Herds, which doubles their bonuses.

Miscellaneous Features

There are a few new flavor events and some regionally appropriate music to go along with the new additions.

As an aside, if you played my CK2 mods, you may recognize that some of this stuff - particularly the Nadun festival - is derived from my Dunhuang Immersion Pack mod for CK2. I decided to split the Tuyuhun content into a separate update this time around, and expand on what I previously had.

Selected Sources for Further Reading