• Added missing Spanish translations, courtesy of Ferchu
  
• Reduced how often AI rulers do Sicilian grain character interactions
  
• Implemented a hidden timer that will prevent AI rulers from spamming you with grain-related interactions too soon after each other
  
• Slightly buffed the amount of special event troops Sicilian Muslim rulers get at game start in 1066
  
• Reduced the chances AI will pick Experienced Whalers tradition
  
• SwedishGuy360’s easter egg character is now cynical instead of stubborn
  
• SwedishGuy360’s easter egg character is now heterosexual
  
• Cybrxkhan’s special easter egg characters are now heterosexual
  
• Fixed missing loc for the Sicilian struggle game concept
  
• Fixed Sicilian struggle happening when playing with Fallen Eagle
  
• Miscellaneous fixes

I have seen the world map
And the navigational chart,
But Sicily seems to me
The most beautiful in this world.
- Ayo visto lo Mappamundi, 15th century Sicilian folk song

Please note some changes only take effect with new games.

• Added new flavor pack: Sicily: Between Three Worlds
  
• Added 10 new European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern themed soundtracks
  
• Added new activity option for all local pilgrimages: Votive Offerings
  
• Added new travel option to Venerate at Local Shrines
  
• Added a lot of French translations by various translators from Paratranz
  
• Added Makhazen and Siba tradition to Baranis, replacing Granary of Africa
  
• Added Khalaj culture, a divergent culture of Turco-Hephthalite, around Afghanistan and events to spawn in if playing in early start dates
  
• Added Elamite namelist for Elamite and Elymaean cultures
  
• Added Gissur, the father of Isleifur (Icelandic “duke” in 1066), in character history
  
• Added a game rule to remove easter egg characters at game start
  
• Added Swedishguy360’s easter egg character in Benavert’s court (for correctly guessing Sicily)
  
• Local Pilgrimage activities are no longer allowed for faiths with the Pilgrimage Forbidden doctrine
  
• William the Conqueror only requires the Early Medieval rather than High Medieval era for completing the Normandy struggle
  
• Changed Tajik culture’s name to Khorasani
  
• Kashmiri culture’s Equal Inheritance tradition replaced with Caravaneers
  
• Darada culture’s Frequent Festivals tradition replaced with Equal Inheritance
  
• Malagasy moved to Malayic heritage
  
• Malagasy made a hybrid of of East African and Malayic cultures
  
• Burman heritage renamed to Irrawaddy heritage
  
• Rasht is now Pamiri culture at game start
  
• Abdul-Hasan Al-Muddabir starts with decent stewardship and learning in the 867 start
  
• Reward troops from completing Vijayabahu’s aspiration are now inheritable and subject to supply limits
  
• Struggle ending events for older struggles will now have a more appropriate sfx sound play when the option is selected
  
• Tweaked language of the Vinland Realism game rules for more clarity
  
• Nerfed the Founders of Normandy and Norman Conquest modifiers again by changing their Dynasty Prestige bonus to a legitimacy bonus
  
• William the Conqueror (AI or player) has easier requirements to end the Normandy struggle
  
• William the Conqueror AI will now generally try to end the Normandy struggle
  
• Afro-Roman now has Cosmopolitan ethos
  
• Afro-Roman now has African Tolerance tradition instead of Philosopher Culture
  
• Decision to adopt Arctic Adaptations now has a warning about losing culture tradition if the culture is at the tradition limit
  
• Increased likelihood AI will take the decision to Convene Iceland’s First Althing after time has passed
  
• Made it easier for the AI to take the Historia Normannorum decision
  
• Historia Normannorum now has an alternate trigger with having a high diplomacy skill
  
• Fixed annual catalysts not triggering for several struggles, particularly the Normandy struggle
  
• Fixed potential CTD from several activities due to being able to select wasteland as a destination
  
• Fixed missing legitimacy effects for Norman adventurer and border raid CBs
  
• Fixed loc error for the Free Range Pastures culture requirement
  
• Fixed loc for reformed Shamsi paganism using Vedda paganism text
  
• Fixed event for the Destroy the Sangha ending of the Sri Lankan struggle not triggering for other rulers
  
• Fixed Iceland geyser event triggering outside of Iceland
  
• Fixed some text in the Bamian Pilgrimage activity referring to Sri Pada
  
• Fixed missing loc concerning building requirements for Alhambra and Santiago decisions
  
• Fixed missing loc for NOT_RICE_maritime_silk_road_geographical_req
  
• Fixed Oromo culture having wrong traditions for the RICE+EPE compatch
  
• Fixed random event chances for Tarim Basin entertainer event being visible
  
• Fixed localization issues with some god names for Omotic and Sidamic faiths
  
• Fixed Terek Pass not being given to al-Kashgari when playing with ROA
  
• Miscellaneous bugfixes and tweaks

Please note some changes only take effect with new games.

• Various decisions related to the Greenland struggle and Vinland are no longer blocked off if you have a major illness
  
• Wendish Confederations and People of Boika now unlock tribal elective
  
• Changed localization for Buddhist afterlife
  
• Changed Rollo’s difficulty level in the bookmarks to Easy
  
• Slightly buffed the Marc’hegion MAA for Bretons
  
• Fixed Nile Repentance decision still existing after it was already adapted to be an activity
  
• Fixed Sinicize as a West Asian decision being available to other East Asian cultures
  
• Fixed decision to change Xwedodah to cousin marriage leaving you with only two tenets; third tenet will now be Religious Law
  
• Fixed possible cause of a gamebreaking/freezing event that pops up without options due to Norman code (thanks to user SpunkyGamer1900 for helping me investigate this!)
  
• Miscellaneous bugfixes

“Dioscorida [Socotra] is very large but desert and marshy [...] The inhabitants are few and they live on the coast toward the north, which from this side faces the continent. They are foreigners, a mixture of Arabs and Indians and Greeks, who have emigrated to carry on trade there.”
- Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Greek navigational aid from the 1st century CE

Please note some changes only take effect with new games.

• Added new bookmark character in 1066: Bekele of Damot
  
• Added improved bookmark map art (courtesy again of Nezaros, lead dev of the Rajas of Asia mod that expands the map into Asia)
  
  • Added 12 legends:
    
  • The Greenland Colony Succeeds
    
  • Sunset Invasion
    
  • Settlement of Vinland
    
  • Reformation of Tambapanni’s Sangha
    
  • A New Socotra
    
  • Return of the Hephthalites
    
  • The Khuzi Renaissance
    
  • The Great Saharan Empire
    
  • Revival of the Tuyuhun
    
  • Songs of Holy Mary
    
  • Guardians of the Diamond Throne
    
  • Gateway to the Sahara
• Added additional ethnicities for some of the new East African cultures for RICE+EPE
  
• Expanded extent of Darada culture (per suggestions by Soraya, Rajas of Asia modder and researcher)
  
• Tweaked religious setup in south Armenia and north Mesopotamia (also per Soraya’s suggestions)
  
• Tweaked Kasdanianism spread in 867 (Soraya strikes again)
  
• Kasdanianism, Gayomarthianism, and Behafaridism are now also involved in the Persian struggle by default
  
• Moved Finnic/Uralic religion localization file to the replace folder to repress a lot of false alarm errors
  
• Reduced prestige requirement for completing the Greenland struggle with the Regional Integration ending
  
• Cao Yijin’s aspiration now requires him to hold the kingdom of either Guiyi or Xi Xia (as a workaround for vanilla weirdness with succession and titles)
  
• Replaced Sami holy site of Hiiumaa with Akkel
  
• Removed Concubine tradition from Kinh (Vietnamese)
  
• Fixed the Polabian princes’ Budivoj and Henry’s alliances with King Magnus and Duke Ordulf autocancelling after a day in the 1066 start
  
• Miscellaneous bugfixes

• Updated RICE+EPE Compatch
  
• Changed African Latin language name to African Vulgar to be consistent with vanilla
  
• Ukonusko (Finnic pagan) is now called Väenusko
  
• Fixed missing ruler designer cost for Cattle Owner traits
  
• Fixed all of RICE’s heritages being selectable when diverging cultures
  
• Fixed missing audio parameters for RICE’s heritages
  
• Miscellaneous bugfixes

Omotic is a language family in southern Ethiopia that is controversially considered by some scholars to be a highly divergent branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages, which include many languages across the Middle East and Africa.

Please note some changes only take effect with new games.

• Added South Ethiopia Flavor Pack: The Highland Kingdoms
  
• Added 3 African themed soundtracks
  
• Added Magadhi culture
  
• Ancient Egyptian culture now gets the Children of the Nile tradition
  
• Oromo culture now has the Noble Adoption instead of Quarrelsome tradition
  
• Changed tradition setup for Oriya and Kamarupi cultures
  
• A few traits now boost legitimacy
  
• Renamed Bengali culture to Gaudi
  
• Renamed Bengal and Bihar to Gauda and Magadha
  
• The timer to prevent Yazidi and Yarsani emergence from happening too early, under default rules, is now somewhat randomized between 50, 100, and 150 years for more variety
  
• Shughnan and Karran are now Khurmazta in 867
  
• Wakhan is now Vajrayana
  
• Disabled Svetovit content if running with TFE or earlier start dates
  
• Removed duplicate CBs for struggle, as the workaround is no longer needed due to changes to vanilla’s struggle/CB code
  
• Fixed custom characters in Trondheim resulting in instant game over in 867 due to Rollo shenanigans
  
• Miscellaneous bugfixes

Nuraghes are megalithic monuments scattered across Sardinia, built and constructed during Sardinia's Bronze Age. They were occasionally inhabited during later periods, and are a modern symbol of the island’s past.

Please note some changes only take effect with new games.

• Added an alternate requirement for the Regional Integration ending for the Greenland struggle, to have high development in every county of your capital’s de jure duchy
  
• Added a hidden background effect where each county-less culture has a chance of getting a random innovation every year, so they can keep up with on-map cultures
  
• Added Khalluk, Khalaj, and Kanjina as divergent culture names from Turco-Hephthalite in Balkh, parts of the eastern Iranian world, and Khuttal respectively
  
• Added Kasdanian presence to more counties in southern Iraq in 867
  
• Nerfed development bonus for Norse and Norman settlers
  
• Revitalizing the Neoplatonic Academy can now also be done by non-pagans who have the Folk Syncretism tenet
  
• Replaced Roman surnames in the Afro-Roman namelist with some Sardinian ones since it’s probably closer to historical Afro-Roman names
  
• Removed some requirements for viewing the Diwan al-Lughat decision
  
• Changed Diwan al-Lughat decision for RICE when running with Cultures Expanded as a temporary solution to account for additional Turkic languages (requirement is simplified to only requiring Turkic heritage)
  
• Fixed duplicate Irrigation Tank decision when running RICE with TFE
  
• Fixed bug with the decision to Reclaim Hephthalite Homeland where the capital will move to the County of Balkh even if you don’t own it
  
• Fixed traditions text referring to the old Ancestor Veneration decision instead of the activity
  
• Fixed wording for activity log when mentioning rulers doing basic preparations for the Palio activity
  
• Fixed original Judicati tradition being available after you take the decision to Determine Sardinia’s Orientation
  
• Fixed Alp Arslan having two sisters named Safiya in the 1066 start date
  
• Fixed Sri Lankan monastery support decision giving errors related to capital_province
  
• Fixed missing localization for the Palio game concept
  
• Miscellaneous bugfixes

Eleanor of Arborea (1347-1404 CE) was one of the last independent judicati, or judges, of medieval Sardinia. She is known for resisting the Kingdom of Aragon’s attempts to exert greater influence over Arborea, and for the Carta de Logu, her legal code which was still in force in Sardinia until 1827.

Please note some changes only take effect with new games.

• Added Sardinian Flavor Pack: Reign of the Judges
  
• Added 3 Italian themed soundtracks
  
• Updated RICE’s Tuareg culture to make use of the new North African DLC assets
  
• Added Mount Damota (in the county of Damot) as a holy site for Omotic and Aksumite paganism
  
• Added Kasdanianism (South Mesopotamian paganism) (from my work in The Fallen Eagle, research by Soraya)
  
• Expeditions and discovering Greenland/Vinland now give a bit of renown for the expedition leader if they have a dynasty
  
• Greenland, Sri Lanka, and Nile river flood notifications now have their own unique message icons
  
• Amazigh pagan courtiers are spawned in Waddan at game start to represent pagans attested as late as the 11th century in Ghirza
  
• Waddan is now Amazigh pagan in 867
  
• Yazidism and Yarsanism no longer “emerge” if RICE is run with TFE
  
• Changed Adoricism to other tenets for various faiths (due to vanilla limitation where only Hausa and Akan faiths can reform while still keeping Adorcism)
  
• Nerfed Al-Umari’s MAA maintenance bonus
  
• Nerfed the Salterns of Guérande modifier in Britanny
  
• Nerfed renown bonus from the dynasty modifier rewarded for completing the Normandy struggle
  
• William the Conqueror’s Pope Alexander modifier now gives opinion bonus for Christians in general, rather than just Catholics
  
• Removed culture requirements for the Pilgrimage to Beverley pilgrimage activity to be consistent with other local pilgrimages not having culture requirements
  
• County of Bamian no longer automatically converts to Islam in 867 if the starting ruler decides to become Muslim
  
• Starting the Normandy struggle via the vanilla decision now also changes your dynasty and/or house name to “de Normandie” like with RICE’s decisions/interactions
  
• Allaqi now starts off as a castle rather than tribal holding if you are non-tribal, so that rulers can benefit from the Wadi Allaqi Mining Settlement as appropriate
  
• Xossism (Omotic paganism) now is polygamous rather than monogamous
  
• Reduced costs of some African activities
  
• Ruler of Jabal Quzlum is now turned to clan/feudal if they weren’t before so that they can properly use the Smaragdus mines special building
  
• Decisions to Patronize the Neo-Platonic Academy in Harran and Make Offerings to the Moon Temple are now also available to rulers with counties in the region even if their capital isn’t in it, but they’ll have additional requirements
  
• Fixed various activities’ participants having the horse riding animation even when they’ve arrived at the activity destination
  
• Fixed some decisions saying they require tribal government when they require *not* being a tribal government (it’s a vanilla loc bug but I did a little workaround for now)
  
• Fixed Whaling decision spamming error log messages about coastal counties for some reason
  
• Fixed requirement text for the decision to Collaborate with Indian Ocean Pirates showing the wrong dynasty legacy needed
  
• Fixed potential bug with Tocharian Animal Fight activity blocking access to other activities
  
• Fixed Goat Sacrifice activity not giving stress for certain traits depending on intent
  
• Fixed decision to build Christian buildings not giving renown if you built a large church or monastery
  
• Fixed decision to Reopen the Temple of Kalabsha requiring owning Aswan to view, instead of Kalabsha
  
• Fixed Turco-Hephthalites appearing early when using TFE
  
• Miscellaneous bugfixes

“To the north-east of the royal city [of Bamian] there is a mountain, on the declivity of which is placed a stone figure of Buddha, erect, in height 140 or 150 feet. Its golden hues sparkle on every side, and its precious ornaments dazzle the eyes by their brightness.”
- Xuanzang, 7th century Chinese pilgrim and monk, on the larger Bamian Buddha statue

Please note some changes only take effect with new games. As changelog is too big to list here, see the full changelog here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/changelog/2273832430

• Added Bamian Flavor Pack: Valley of Light
  
• Added 3 Middle Eastern soundtracks
  
• Added historical aspirations for 2 characters in 1066: Qawurd, the last Seljuk Prince, and Isleifur, the first bishop of Ireland
  
• Added Sher Bamiyan dynasty for the rulers of Bamiyan in 867
  
• Added Sa’id, ruler of Andarab in Tokharistan in 867
  
• Added Jewish courtier Siman-Tov to Ghaznavid court in 1066
  
• Added new struggle catalysts and effects from LoP’s struggle to RICE’s struggles
  
• Decision to construct a Qanat now grants you extra prestige and the county modifier lasts longer if you have the Irrigation Experts tradition
  
• Decisions to repair the watchposts of Wakhan and Karakorum will now continue to appear even when they are not normally available
  
• Removed unneeded RICE_sea_character_names, RICE_sea_dynasties and sea_religion_steppe localization files in non-English localizations
  
• Changed most Theravada in Afghanistan back to Mahayana
  
• Increased the chances of getting a Sephardi merchant when spawning Jewish Trans-Saharan merchants
  
• Switched out Mountain Homes for Pastoralists for the Turco-Hephthalites
  
• Nerfed Yaqub Saffarid and his brothers’ modifiers
  
• Yazidi head of faith is now hereditary
  
• Replaced all Tribal Government triggers with government flag triggers for improved compatibility with mods that add governments
  
• Nasir Khusraw content now uses PI’s new Nasir Khusraw character, rather than the old duplicate
  
• Disabled Tapama Djenepo character from spawning when moving Jenne (and adjusted pilgrimage to her tomb accordingly to mention her offscreen) to potentially reduce bloat/lag issues*
  
• Fixed several Polabian equivalent cultures in CE not getting the Wendish Confederations tradition when playing with CE
  
• Fixed edge cases where expedition leaders would be unable to do other activities if they became rulers
  
• Fixed a bug where Ali ibn Asad, the Badakhshanid ruler in 1066, spawns a random extra son
  
• Miscellaneous bugfixes

* This is just one possible cause of late game bloat based on some investigation with help from various users – this does NOT prevent all possible causes of the bloat issue, nor does it mean that this issue overall is or isn’t caused by RICE per se (for instance, it could be a vanilla issue that interacts badly with RICE), merely that this was one repeatable instance of the bug.

• Updated RICE+EPE Compatch
  
• Added French translations for the Siwa Flavor Pack (credits to Castorjunior on Paratranz)
  
• AI is now more likely to take the decision to Commission Historia Normannorum
  
• The Commission Historia Normannorum decision is now available outside the Acculturation phase if you have a high enough prestige level and learning
  
• Drowning of Morana/Marzanna activity now costs prestige and piety for non-pagans, rather than giving prestige
  
• Default name of the Drowning of Marzanna activity changed to Drowning of Morana, and it will only be called Marzanna for Lechitic cultures in later eras
  
• Several characters in Persia now retain their personality traits assigned by vanilla that RICE previously changed
  
• Reduced the chances AI will adopt Kala Settlements and Akhtarveniks traditions for their culture
  
• Increased the chances AI will adopt the Wewa Systems and Stepwell Builders traditions
  
• Implemented a workaround for an odd bug where Clan Unity interface won’t appear until a month passes after game start for some Clan government rulers added by RICE
  
• Fixed RICE cultures not wearing Iranian clothes as appropriate (like the Hephthalites and Pamiris)
  
• Fixed Firuz (the last Zunbil) being both secretly Zunist and Zunist at the same time for a few days at game start
  
• Fixed loc error with the high god name for the Shamsi pagans
  
• Fixed Munya group vacation activity ending earlier than it should
  
• Miscellaneous bugfixes