The holy Swedish month of July is over and our workforce has been steadily trickling back into the office, resigned to the fact that sunlight is a luxury we won't be seeing for another 11 months. With that lovely thought in mind, let's return to our weekly dev diaries and talk about a new feature for our upcoming yet unrevealed expansion for Europa Universalis IV: Coptic Holy Sites.Copts have had a rough time. Way back in EU's history they were simply represented as the Orthodox faith before getting their own religion within the Christian group, but even then they lacked their own flavour, destined to be left in the Horn of Africa and Armenia with hungry neighbours and their Patriarch being locked up and bullied in Mamluk-held Alexandria.Well no longer! A feature in the upcoming DLC is a Holy Sites system unique for Coptic nations. Any nation which follows the Coptic faith will have access to a screen showing their Holy Sites. There are 5 in total, detailed with who is currently controlling them and the faith followed by the province. It is the Copts' holy mission to see these restored to Coptic control.As shown above, Armenia (Who I released&played as from QQ) can open their Coptic menu and see the state of their Holy Sites. If a Holy Site is held by any Coptic nation and the province itself follows the One True Faith™ then all Coptic nations will be granted a blessing from the Patriarch. You are able to pick from the 5 available blessings but be sure that you or your Coptic friends hold onto your possessions tightly, as losing ownership of a Holy Site to a nation of another faith will lose you the blessing until it is returned to Coptic hands.In 1444 the only Holy site in control of the Copts is Aksum, in the far north of Ethiopia. This will allow all existing Coptic nations to pick one blessing of their choice from the above list.Legitimize Government: +0.5 LegitimacyEncourage Wariors of the Faith: +10% manpower recoverySend Monks to Establish Monasteries: +1.5% missionary strengthPromote Territorial Rights: -10% Core creation CostWill of the Martyrs: +5% disciplineUnlike other religious mechanics, the Coptic Holy Sites will collectively make all followers of that religion stronger. It makes no difference in the available Blessings if your nation or another Coptic nation holds the Holy Sites. Should the Copts fight back from their perilous position in 1444 and secure their Holy Sites, they will be that much stronger. Co-operate with other Coptic nations and share the Patriarch's blessingsAlongside the Holy sites and Patriarch Blessings, Copts will have a healthy dose of unique flavour events and missions to drive their liberation of the Holy Sites. Coptic Holy Sites will be ain the upcoming DLC, which will be released alongside the free 1.18 patch.Next week I'll pass the reins back to Johan, as we return to see what changes have been going on in the Throne Room