Chapter 803 [0791] Rebirth in Chaos

What is the situation in Shurima? This is a very interesting question.

You know, Shurima is a whole continent. Even if we talk about Shurima in a narrow sense, it is at least a huge area from Mount Targon in the west to Ixtal in the east, and its area has exceeded the sum of Demacia and Noxus.

In addition, Shurima is not in a unified state now. Each city-state and port is under the banner of orthodoxy, but in fact they are fighting each other. In general, it is more than just a mess.

However, if we look further, this chaos can actually be traced.

After the magic network waterway that once supported the prosperity of the Shurima Empire completely failed, due to geographical isolation, all the cities in Shurima can be roughly divided into three horizontal areas.

These three horizontal areas are North Shurima, the Shurima River and South Shurima from north to south.

If the situation of the entire Shurima is viewed from these three horizontal areas, then in addition to the chaos, there are also some parts that can be talked about.

First is the northern Shurima part bordering the Valoran Strait.

There are a large number of well-known port cities here, such as Vazuan, Kumangla, Beljurn, Telishni, Nashrameh, Uzeris, Kalamanda...

These areas were not considered to be very core locations during the Shurima Empire, but at the same time, this also means that they are least dependent on the Sun Disc and the Magic Network Waterway. Therefore, after the collapse of the empire, they quickly found a new way out with their own characteristics and superior geographical location.

However, due to various factors such as limited population and different degrees of magic utilization, these cities are actually the most "spineless" places in Shurima. Except for Kumangla and Kalduga, most other northern Shurima cities claim to adhere to the orthodoxy of Shurima, but in fact they often cooperate with outsiders actively or passively.

When the Noxian Empire was strong, many northern Shurima cities would fly the Noxian flag.

After the collapse of the Noxian Empire, the current Nashrameh is still under the control of Demacia.

In the case of relying on water, although it seems that there is not much development except for Vazouan, the strong business atmosphere makes the life of many port cities in North Shurima pretty good.

In addition to these ports, North Shurima also has some inland cities including Zurita, Keneser, and Bumang. Although these cities are not close to the Valoran Strait, they are at least not too far from the coastline and are also within the scope of North Shurima's trade.

Compared with port cities, these inland cities in North Shurima are more closed. They often have their own unique specialties, or occupy certain key positions. Relying on the prosperous trade along the Valoran Strait, although it is a bit difficult, life is still acceptable.

In summary, it is not difficult to see that the current North Shurima region, on the whole, relies on the maritime trade of the Valoran Strait to survive. Although everyone talks about the empire, they actually rely more on the Valoran Strait to make a living. In many cases, slogans are just talk.

The situation is completely different from that of North Shurima, which is the Central Shurima along the Shurima River.

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Central Shurima is the second horizontal line of the Shurima continent, that is, the coastal area of ​​the Shurima River and its tributaries.

Nerimaj, Garden City, Faraj, Shurima City, Vikora, Marrow Seal City... These cities along the Shurima River and its tributaries are the places with the strongest flavor of the Shurima Empire in the entire Shurima continent.

Although Mr. Black Sword, the former port governor of Nashrameh, who is now in exile in Kalduga, shouts the loudest about the Greater Shurima strategy and the Shurima circular trade, if we really want to talk about Greater Shurima and Shurima circular trade, we have to look at Central Shurima.

Although the sun disc has fallen, the Shurima River waterway, which took a lot of effort to organize during the Shurima Empire, still plays its role today.

Starting from the diversion of thousands of rivers in Nerimaj in the west, to the confluence of three rivers in the west of Shurima City, to the deep river arc and the diversion pond of the Great Sand Dune, and the confluence of the water in Vikora, relying on the abundant snow melt water on the Targon Peak, many water conservancy projects on the Shurima River still play their important role today.

The diversion of thousands of rivers made Nerimaj the source of the Shurima River, and also deepened the river channel of the Shurima River in the west, laying the foundation for the water conservancy of the Shurima River.

The confluence of three rivers was once part of the magic network waterway. With the fall of the sun disc, it has completely become a water conservancy project. The three rivers of Shurima River, Rek River and Yuanliushui River meet here, which not only enriches the water volume of the Shurima River, but also promotes the prosperity of trade around Shurima City.

As for the bend near the big sand dune and the deep river formation and the sand diversion pond, it is a mid-course purification project specially built in the middle section of the Shurima River based on the terrain conditions. It aims to keep the silt carried by the Shurima River near the big sand dune through the bend of the river channel and the specially built sand pond and water diversion nozzle, so as to reduce the amount of silt carried in the lower reaches of the Shurima River.

Finally, the water confluence project of Vikora is a return flow project where the Kahali River merges into the Shurima River. Through the Kahali River, the water transportation of the Shurima River has expanded to the vicinity of the Marrow Seal Market, and the entire trade network along the Shurima River almost completely covers the entire Central Shurima region.

Compared with the bulk trade in Northern Shurima, the trade in Central Shurima is more unified. Although the city-states still dislike each other, their relationship is closer because they are more dependent on each other.

Unlike the remoteness of the Northern Shurima region in the imperial era, the Central Shurima area had a large number of systematic industries during the Shurima Empire. For example, the wool textile industry of the wild sheep of Narimaj was concentrated in the downstream city of Faraj.

In addition to the textile industry of various animal woolen cloths, Faraj also has special bone meal processing workshops, leather processing workshops, brine recovery pools and other supporting facilities. Relying on the unique local brine resources, the source of the water is introduced through the canal, and after various uses and purifications, it is merged into the Shurima River. On the one hand, it improves the utilization rate of water, and on the other hand, it relieves the pressure at the intersection of the three rivers after the loss of the magic network regulation.

The finished products of Faraj City will be distributed upstream and downstream. The ships carrying woolen products will go upstream, and the ships carrying bone meal fertilizer will go downstream to the next link.

Similar systems can be said to be everywhere along the Shurima River. As the area where the Shurima Empire has been deeply cultivated, even without the magic supply of the sun disk, many industrial systems along the Shurima River have remained intact. However, after losing the source of magic, the production level has shrunk significantly, and it has changed from large-scale production to handicraft workshops.

If the cities in Northern Shurima are "commercial cities with special products and ports", then the cities along the Shurima River in Central Shurima have retained the shadow of the Shurima Empire era to a great extent, and each plays a production and processing link in a once glorious and complete system.

In a sense, this legacy from the imperial era has always maintained the unity of the Central Shurima region. The industries of each city are intertwined, which can be regarded as integration in a broad sense.

Moreover, due to the existence of Shurima City, although the cities in Central Shurima will also raise the banner of Shurima orthodoxy, when conflicts arise, at least there is a peacemaker to arbitrate.

Therefore, this state of "saying peace but not peace, about to break up but not yet broken up" has been maintained since the complete collapse of the Shurima Empire, forming the unique natural and social landscape of Central Shurima.

If the cities in Northern Shurima are the confused people who have risen from the disabled wasteland after the collapse of the Shurima Empire and have a cosplay mentality for the old glory, then the cities in Central Shurima are the old people who stubbornly retain the most shadows of the past, and still retain the most customs and habits of the Empire era.

However, no matter whether it is Northern Shurima or Central Shurima, no force seems to have the potential to rebuild Shurima after rising.

Although after the collapse of the empire, many former Ascendants and Darkin have hidden their identities, their identities are often special, and some of them have inherited some of the "last wishes" of the empire.

Just as the cities in Central Shurima are closely connected, these wishes also have their own similarities and differences.

The weavers active in the southeast of Vikaura and Kohalise are the inheritors of Azhi. They have always been committed to maintaining the precious wealth left by the empire. Every few decades, they will send the best weavers as messengers to travel along the Shurima River to repair water conservancy projects.

Although the elders of New Shurima City represent extreme conservatism and backwardness in the eyes of Kalya and Xerath, they also have their own political propositions. They are the maintainers of the regional situation and the arbitrators who give some face to the cities.

And many organizations in Faraj and Garden City that are inherited from the Darkin are rare organizations that advocate good relations with Targon. Although it sounds like they have betrayed the Shurima Empire, from a practical point of view, maintaining relatively good relations with Targon and the Rakkor people is also positive.

In addition to the traditions of the Shurima Empire, Central Shurima shows a subtle trend of diversification, and the diversity here is not spontaneous diversity, but different aspects left over after the collapse of the Shurima Empire.

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Compared with Northern Shurima and Central Shurima, the Southern Shurima region located south of the Southern Range of the Targon is often overlooked due to its unique geographical environment.

To the north is the Southern Range of the Targon, which stretches for thousands of miles. There is only one large tunnel that can be passed through. If you don't take this tunnel, you have to climb the mountains.

To the south is the rarely visited Misty Sea, with a tortuous coastline and dense reefs. Legend has it that there are dangerous Vastaya people in the sea.

To the west is the unrecovered Ekassia, where the Gobi, the Hernia, and the Voidworms form an isolation zone, which can be said to be rarely visited.

The unique geographical environment makes Southern Shurima almost in a state of natural isolation. In the era of the Shurima Empire, Southern Shurima was a region with very little sense of existence.

After the collapse of the Shurima Empire, the economy of the entire Runeterra moved to the Valoran Straits, which made this place even more desolate. It seemed that from any angle, Southern Shurima had nothing to do with the Shurima orthodoxy.

But in fact, this place was nurturing the seeds of the revival of the empire.

Although Azir was not fully resurrected, at least a team that seemed quite reliable had been established around him.

With the assistance of Nasus and Xerath, a brand new Shurima is expanding step by step with Antasil as the center. Although Azir, Nasus and Xerath all complained privately that the people of Southern Shurima are "not Shurima at all" and have completely lost the traditions and heritage of Shurima, in Karya's view, this way of survival that adapts to local conditions is actually the most Shurima heritage.

There is no doubt that Southern Shurima is the place that Karya pays the most attention to and the hope for the future of Shurima.

In the absence of other variables, the "Shurima Empire" in Southern Shurima may be the key to the revival of Shurima.

Therefore, when Karya began to seal the void rift and Shyvana was planning to take Jarvan IV out for a walk, he specifically suggested that they go to Antasil to take a look.

Going out for a walk would not prevent them from collecting some information!

And the "Shurima situation" that Karya asked mainly refers to the situation in Southern Shurima and the construction of Antasil.

Facing Kalya's question, Shyvana and Jarvan IV's expressions were very subtle.

Seeing this scene, Kalya couldn't help but raise his eyebrows - is there something going on here?

"In fact, the situation in Antasil looks pretty good." Shyvana sighed softly, "The development of that city has even completely exceeded my imagination. In the port of Antasil, I saw many merchant ships."

"This is a good thing." Kalya nodded, "The presence of foreign merchant ships proves that Antasil also has its own trade system."

"But the problem is that those merchant ships are from Kamavia." Shyvana continued, "And along with the merchant ships, there are also some Kamavia envoys."

"Politics and economy are always connected, which is understandable." Kalya continued to nod, "But, from what you said, it seems that these envoys are wrong?"

"Very wrong." Shyvana nodded, "Although I don't know the past and history of Kamavia, no matter from which angle you look at it, a group of empires that come up and demand a comprehensive political, economic, and military alliance and cross thousands of miles to divide Noxus are not normal."