11.03.2025

• Compatibility update for 1.18.x.
  
• Very few changes have been made, most of them small. For example, it is now easier to pass female-favored succession laws in any non-administrative realm if your dynasty is matriarchal. You only need tribal authority 2 for tribal, and any other government doesn't require any particular authority law.
  
• Heraionism and Tabitism have the Polytheist doctrine.
  
• Somewhat changed the administrative decision where you ask your top liege for matriarchal succession; it no longer requires you to be the top liege's direct vassal, and the requirements are a bit less strict. However, it now has a scaling influence cost based on a variety of factors, mostly the top liege's opinion of you, whether or not you have a hook on them, and whether or not they're have a hegemony title.
  
• Speaking of hegemony-tier titles, the Matriarchy modifier will give 300 renown whenever a woman of your dynasty takes a hegemony title for the first time in her life.
  
• If you take a civil service exam as the wrong gender, you will be refunded some prestige at the end of the exam (as you lose 150 just for attempting).

Attempted a fix for the "Reforge Scythia" decision; it should no longer become invalid if you are allied to a vassal that holds land in the area.

Tentatively updated for 1.17.x. New faiths have been given the no anointment doctrine. No other real changes have been made, this is simply a compatibility update. If you encounter any issues, please let me know.

Minor update to restore event for custom Amazon characters at game start.

Minor update in an attempt to reduce decision menu lag.

Minor quick fix for the third Matriarchy legacy not applying the herd bonus. Amazonian Envoy now required to rank up your alliance.

Small update:

• "Recruit Amazon Adventurer" decision removed. Adventurers now use the same "Recruit Amazon Warrior" decision as landed rulers, but it has much more limited options, and a longer cooldown. You can still recruit two adventurers at once instead of one if your Second is an Amazon Warrior.
  
• Rebalanced bonuses from the Legacy of Defiance house modifier.
  
• Minor localization fixes/adjustments.

• Bookmark character "War Rider Taumuriya" now begins as Alan culture and Tengri faith, but will receive an event at the beginning of the game which allows her to change to Scythian culture/faith, or remain as she is and establish a partial alliance with the Amazons.
  
• Amazonian warriors that are generated by the code should have lower stats in non-martial areas, and are a bit less likely to have good genetic traits.
  
• "Reforge Scythia" decision no longer available at dominance level 2. Changed how it works: you still have the choice between tribal and feudal, as well as clan if your culture/faith is correct. If you choose tribal every Scythian culture vassal will become tribal, even outside of Scythia. You will also retain all of your old territories. If you choose feudal or clan you will lose control of any counties outside of de jure Scythia, and vassals/tributaries outside of the region will become independent. Any former vassals that border your new realm will become your tributaries.
  
• Passive "Amazonian Training" events are being moved to a task done by the new Amazonian Envoy court position.
  
• The Amazon training regimen will now be for the ruler only, not their knights. It's somewhat decoupled from the passive Amazon training events.
  
• The Amazonian envoy passively gives you opinion and cultural acceptance with the original Amazonian culture. If you have the original Amazonian culture or a descendant, the envoy improves acceptance between your culture and other cultures of interest to you (picking from a pool of other cultures in your realm, those of your patrons if you're an adventurer, your vassals, etc.). It's possible to receive both effects if you are an Amazonian culture that is not the original Amazonian culture, such as Scythian or any other hybrid/divergent culture.
  
• The envoy also has a task to passively give you a monthly chance to increase your dynasty's Amazon favor if you are building an Amazonian alliance. Not shown if you have no "contact" and are of an Amazonian culture.
  
• Passive chief eunuch events are being moved to a new task for the chief eunuch.
  
• "Straighten Out" scheme being replaced by a simpler "Chasten Descendant" interaction which costs piety and almost instantly has the effect. Still not a guaranteed success chance, but you can boost it with a hook.
  
• Recruiting amazon warriors now requires you to have an Amazonian Envoy assigned. If you don't have one, the decision will instead send for an envoy to appoint (the envoy will use a template with fewer good traits and more diplomacy, less martial/prowess).
  
• Beginnings of the Amazon Defiance mechanic. You can get the original trigger in a few ways, like being targeted by certain wars (like humiliation, forced tribute, forced vassal) from male rulers, or simply taking the "Adopt Scythian Nomadic Ways" decision and refusing to become tribute to a man. This will give you a character modifier that lasts for a while which makes it cheaper to upgrade your horde regiments. It also unlocks a special "war of defiance" where you can challenge powerful male rulers.
  
• The Amazon War of Defiance can only target male rulers of king/emperor tier with a higher dominance level than you. Success has the effect of a Humiliation war, but also destroys all of the target's top-level titles and causes some of their vassals and tributaries to break off.
  
• The first time you use this war, you will get special troops to aid in the war. You will continue to receive these troops when you fight defensive wars, but only the first time per character will you be able to receive these troops for an offensive war (these troops stand down at war's end).
  
• Winning a War of Defiance also gives your house a permanent modifier which permanently unlocks the war for all house members, and gives you natural dread and bonuses to resources from intimidated vassals.
  
• Defiance mechanics may change slightly in the future. I am not completely satisfied with them but they are workable.
  
• Some basic flavorization for Amazon titles, i.e. Themiscyra/Scythia will be referred to as a Queendom, unless the owner has the Way of the Nomad trait, at which point will be known as a Kanumate. And other similar rules (not complete, but a start). Due to the way flavorization works I am hesitant to put too high-level effects on cultural titles, so I'm putting it specifically on the titles created via decision so it doesn't accidentally affect or overwrite non-Amazonian cultures. That may change if I figure out a better way to do it (I have some things in mind but haven't tested them yet).
  
• Tabitism now has Mummification as a funerary doctrine. It's not a perfect one-for-one but it seems that Scythian kings were often embalmed and buried with their treasures, servants, and at least one wife, so the increased cost is appropriate.
  
• Additional invite rules were added for the Sapphic Debauch, allowing you to invite tributaries, potential lovers, etc.
  
• Some new/adjusted icons.
  
• Various small tweaks and fixes, such as addressing missing/erroneous localization for the Tabitism faith.

A few small fixes:

• The Sharing your Revelation decision should now properly give the chosen doctrine to Tabitism if it is your faith (instead of Heraionism).
  
• When a defender's ally dies in the Great War for Scythia, their successor should now rejoin the war if they still hold land in the Western Pontic Steppe region (the war has "defender_allies_inherit = yes", which I assumed would work, but didn't seem to, so I've tried to fix the situation via an on_action).

Small upload to re-add non-English localization.