Ethnogenesis
History
Who Were the Chams?
The Chams of this era had transformed from the raiders of Linyi into the rulers of Champa — a confederation of coastal principalities united by language, religion, and maritime culture. Their brick temple towers rose above the jungle at sacred sites like My Son, honoring Shiva with ceremonies that blended Indian ritual and indigenous tradition. Their war fleets dominated the South China Sea, raiding when opportunity offered, trading when profit beckoned. Champa was never a centralized empire but a shifting constellation of port-cities and sacred centers, sometimes united under strong kings, often fragmenting into competing mandalas. This flexibility proved both strength and weakness — allowing survival through centuries of conflict while preventing the concentration of power that might have resisted Vietnamese expansion.
Homeland and Way of Life
Champa stretched along the coast of central Vietnam, a ribbon of settlement squeezed between the Annamite Cordillera and the South China Sea. The geography created natural divisions — river valleys separated by mountain spurs formed distinct regions, each with its own center and identity. Indrapura in the north, Vijaya in the center, Kauthara and Panduranga in the south functioned as semi-autonomous units that acknowledged common Cham identity while pursuing separate interests. Unity came through shared religion, language, and the maritime networks that connected all coastal settlements.
The sea remained central to Cham life. Fishing fed coastal populations; trade enriched them. Cham sailors knew the monsoon patterns that governed Asian maritime commerce, timing voyages to ride seasonal winds between China, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean. Their junks — sturdy vessels suited to both commerce and combat — carried cargoes of aloe wood, ivory, and slaves northward, returning with Chinese silks, ceramics, and metals. Piracy and trade blurred together; the same ships and skills served both, and foreign merchants who refused Cham terms might find their vessels seized and their crews enslaved.
Warfare, Power, and Limits
Cham military power projected primarily by sea. Their war fleets could strike distant targets — raiding the Chinese coast, attacking Khmer territories, intercepting merchant shipping — with speed that land-based enemies could not match. Naval expeditions carried warriors to distant shores; coastal fortifications protected home territories from seaborne assault. The Chams excelled at amphibious warfare, combining naval mobility with land forces that could seize objectives before defenders mobilized.
On land, the picture was more mixed. Champa lacked the population and agricultural base of its neighbors — the densely settled Vietnamese deltas to the north, the Khmer rice lands around the Tonle Sap. When Vietnamese armies marched south or Khmer forces pressed from the west, the Chams could resist but rarely prevail decisively. Their capitals fell repeatedly to foreign conquest; each time they rebuilt, sometimes in new locations, but the pattern of vulnerability persisted. The confederation's loose structure meant that defeat of one principality did not destroy the others, allowing recovery — but also preventing the unified response that might have ended threats permanently.
Beliefs, Customs, and Society
Hinduism reached its fullest Cham expression in this period. The temple complex at My Son became the spiritual heart of Champa, a forested valley filled with brick towers dedicated to Shiva under his local aspect Bhadresvara. Kings sponsored temple construction as acts of merit and demonstrations of power; each reign added new structures to existing sacred sites. The towers themselves — tapering brick structures with elaborate carved decoration — developed into distinctively Cham forms that influenced architecture across maritime Southeast Asia.
Religious practice centered on royal cult and temple ritual. Brahmin priests conducted ceremonies in Sanskrit; inscriptions recorded royal genealogies, donations, and victories in the sacred language. Yet indigenous elements persisted beneath the Indic overlay — local spirits received offerings, matrilineal traditions influenced succession, and Cham identity remained distinct from the Indian models that provided religious vocabulary. Buddhism also found adherents, particularly Mahayana forms arriving through maritime contact, creating a religious landscape where multiple traditions coexisted.
Society organized around maritime pursuits. A warrior-merchant aristocracy dominated, their status deriving from success in trade and raid alike. Skilled sailors and craftsmen — shipwrights, metalworkers, weavers — formed essential populations whose products enabled both commerce and war. Slaves, many captured in raids, provided labor for agriculture and construction. Women held significant roles; foreign accounts noted female traders and the importance of maternal lineage in determining status.
Contacts, Conflicts, and Legacy
Champa's position on the maritime route between China and Southeast Asia brought constant contact with the wider world. Chinese records document embassies, trade missions, and complaints about Cham piracy. Khmer inscriptions record wars in which Champa sometimes triumphed, sometimes suffered devastating defeat — including a Khmer invasion that sacked the capital and carried off the royal linga from My Son. The Vietnamese, pressing steadily southward, represented the most persistent threat; each generation saw new conflicts, new losses of territory, new attempts at reconquest.
By the late tenth century, Champa had weathered repeated crises but remained a significant regional power. The Vietnamese capture of the northern capital in 982 CE marked a turning point — not the end, but the beginning of a long decline that would continue for five centuries. Yet Cham culture proved remarkably resilient. Temples continued to rise; trade continued to flow; Cham identity persisted even as territory shrank. The towers built in this era still stand — weathered brick monuments to a maritime civilization that fought for survival along one of Asia's most contested coasts.
Abilities
These abilities reflect a maritime civilization defending sacred territories through naval power and religious devotion. Junks with strength bonuses from adjacent sea hexes capture Cham naval dominance in coastal waters. Peasants gathering extra resources near active relics represents the temple economy where sacred sites generated agricultural prosperity through religious patronage and organized labor.
Transferring market cubes to the battle bag when fighting within religious communities reflects holy war — the mobilization of commercial resources for defense of sacred lands. Starting experience from recurrent achievements represents accumulated expertise from Champa's centuries of maritime trade and temple-building traditions.
Chams II
4 | 
1 | 
1 (1-2)SB: +1 per adjacent sea hex
Cost: 1
1 
4 
| Dockyards
, each of your 
adjacent to your active 
gathers +1
is engaged in a battle within your 
, you may transfer all action cubes from your Market area to the bag
FAQ
For the battle bonus within religious communities, does the enemy target also need to be in my community?
No. Only your engaged army needs to be within your religious community to trigger the ability. The enemy's position relative to your religious communities does not matter.
How do I gain experience cubes from recurrent achievements?
During the development phase, you gain 1 experience cube for each affiliation cube you have on recurrent achievement cards. Affiliation cubes are the cubes you place on achievements when you claim them. Achievements you might claim at the end of the current round do not count — only those you have already claimed in previous rounds.
Does a Junk on a sea hex gain +1 strength bonus from that hex?
No. The Junk gains +1 strength bonus for each sea hex adjacent to it, not the hex it occupies. Only neighboring sea hexes count toward the bonus.
What does transferring action cubes from the Market area to the bag accomplish?
Your used action cubes from trading become cubes in the battle bag, improving your chances of dealing damage and reducing damage received. Additionally, this clears your Market area, making your next trade action cheaper for action cubes.