Tilea

The Rebellious Republic Of Remas

Remas (taking its name from Remus, the brother of Romulus, the founder of Rome in Roman mythology) is a great and old city located on the coast. The huge circular harbour of Remas was built by the High Elves for their trading ships, although the Tileans themselves believe that Romas, one of the twin sons of Marius, was the sole founder after slaying his brother Ramalus. Now, even though it is ruined and colossal chunks of masonry lie half submerged in the sea, it still shelters the large and powerful fleet of Remas. The narrow entrance to the harbour is spanned by a mighty bridge resting on great stone piers. This bridge not only carries the road linking the two sides of the city, but bears the weight of many fine houses and palaces of the Consuls on both sides of the street. These rise up in three, four and five storeys with overhanging balconies. There are towers at either end and in the middle of the bridge and, being Tilea, some of these are leaning at gravity-defying angles, supported by numerous colossal buttresses.

The rest of Remas is laid out on a grand scale within a long circuit of defences. The city is very populous and is famous for its strong army, most of which fight as legionaries. These are supplied by the retinues of the State Leader currently ruling the state. The city state of Remas has been a relatively stable republic for several centuries thanks to these troops, who have resisted tyrants and would-be conquerors on innumerable occasions.

Remas became a republic during the long period of famines which beset the whole of Tilea. These famines were caused by plagues of rats and mice which ate the corn in the fields and the grain in the storehouses. The situation became so bad that grain had to be imported from wherever there was a surplus, but thanks to Tilean mercantile expertise, and Tilean seafarers, deals were done and grain was shipped in from such places as Bretonnia and the Empire and bought from the wandering Merchant Princes.

Some State Leaders were tempted to hoard the grain to sell at a high price. Needless to say there were popular reports and these rulers were overthrown, which is what happened in Remas and Verezzo.

The worst event to befall Remas was the Dark Elf raid in 1487. The fleet of galleys that would usually defend the approaches to the harbour were all at sea, and the Dark Elves took advantage of an unseasonal mist to reach the harbour entrance. However, their ships were stopped at the terrible 'Battle of the Bridge' in which a large part of the bridge was sacked and burnt by the Dark Elves, who also took away many people as slaves. Remas' garrison of Legionaries and Praetorians was able to hold either end of the bridge until the enemy, satiated with destruction, decided to leave. This attack angered all of Tilea and the bridge was eventually restored to its former glory. The citizens cherish a deep dislike of the Naggarothi to this day and are very happy to provide mercenary soldiers, Scorpion artillery batteries and war galleys at a discount price to anyone who happens to be at war with them.

Because of its central position, Remas is often in a state of hostilities with its great trading rivals Miragliano, Verezzo and Luccini. There have been many sea battles between the fleets of Remas and Luccini and also against the pirates of Sartosa.

It is worth examining how the Republic of Remas is governed, since it is one of the least corrupt and longest lived republics. Each of the powerful families is represented on the senate, a council of the fifty Consuls, or representatives of the families. This assembly debates every issue and makes decisions and laws. One member of the senate is chosen every year to rule as its State Leader. The policy of the republic for that year becomes whatever the special interests of the State Leader, or his family, may be. So if he or one of his relations happens to be most concerned with merchant ventures, the republic will probably finance a trading venture in that year. If he or a relative is a patron of the arts, the republic can expect to gain a new public edifice decorated by the finest stonemasons in Tilea. If the State Leader happens to be a noteworthy commander of the Legions then the neighbouring states will become rather alarmed and start renovating their defences.

Occasionally, one of the Leader's power-hungry relatives may try to seize power from him, through assassination or otherwise, and if this attempt to remove the current Leader fails, the state will expect to be divided into two, as the Legions loyal to the usurper and those loyal to their leader take sides and war for their commander's right to rule. This proves to be the most notable weakness of Remas' governmental system.

The Ancient Principality of Luccini

The city of Luccini stands beside the Tilean Sea at the southern tip of Tilea, opposite the island of Sartosa. Luccini is almost continuously at war with the pirates of Sartosa and has a very strong fleet of galleys. Luccini is in fact one of the strongest military powers in Tilea and many generals of repute, including Curius Gaezar, have learned their trade there.

The city is very old and clustered around a high rock called the acropolis. Like the acropolis in Tobaro, the nearest Estalian settlement to Tilea, this was the centre of an ancient Elven colony. There is a legend that Luccini was founded by the twins Lucan and Luccina who were king and queen of a pastoral tribe who settled around the ruin-strewn acropolis. On its summit they built their palace.

The city was named after Luccina who is regarded as a sort of patron goddess. Lucan is also venerated as a deity and there is a fine temple to the divine twins on the acropolis. The State Leaders of Luccini usually claim descent from these two legendary figures which means that there are often two rival factions: those claiming descent from Lucan and those claiming Luccina as their ancestor. Not surprisingly, the principality has changed hands between these dynasties more times than anyone can remember, and not without blood being spilt as abundantly as wine in the notorious revels for which the city is famous!

The Leaders of Luccini are noted for their often bizarre sense of humour, a family trait said to go back to their ancestors. If anyone claiming to be a State Leader, or even a mere Consul, seems to be rather dour or miserable he is soon assassinated or banished into exile by a more jovial contender. Indeed, an aspiring State Leader often strengthens his claim before the citizens by assassinating or overthrowing his opponents in a particularly humorous manner! So it is said that "The Leader of Luccini is most dangerous when he is laughing!"

The Turbulent Principality of Trantio

Trantio is rather an upstart city. Many centuries ago it was not very powerful at all. Situated inland in a hilly area, it was a bit of a backwater and did not prosper greatly from trade. It was the first city to support the overthrowing of the last king of unified Tilea, Tarquinio III, the rise of the republic. The unified republic lasted a long time, but eventually became decadent after the fall of the Tilean Empire and its division into the various city states. All attempts to capture the city by armies from Remas and Miragliano were thwarted by the garrison of Trantio suddenly changing sides at the right moment. Trantio became notorious for playing off rivals against each other in order to keep its independence.

This all changed when Marco Colombo, the famed Estalian explorer, returned from Lustria with enormous wealth. Taking over the mercenary army of his patron, Orlando, the State Leader of Trantio, he succeeded in capturing the city and becoming its Leader.

Marco was an exemplary State Leader, and was clever enough to keep his gains and establish his family securely as the ruling bloodline of Trantio, despite being from Estalian background. The city soon began to prosper from trade and exploited its position to trade westwards across the sea and eastwards over the mountains. Thus Trantio has become one of the most cultured and beautiful of all Tilean cities. Dwarf workmanship and skill travels westwards along old trade routes through Trantio, into the rest of Tilea, and further on towards Estalia and Bretonnia. This shows its influence in the quality and ambition of the buildings, raised using many Dwarf techniques of construction. The fortifications, gatehouses and towers are particularly massive. Vast quantities of marble were brought down from quarries in the Apuccini mountains as well as the exotic pink-veined Trantine for which the city is famous. This stone was used for Grottio's huge sculpture 'The Five Graces' which adorns the piazza in Verezzo.

The Perfidious Principality of Pavona

The small city of Pavona quickly rose to become a serious rival to Trantio for the eastern trade into the Dwarf realms, Border Princes and beyond. So intense was this rivalry that the territory between the two cities became a famous battleground for the legions of the two states, and the mercenary armies of the Merchant Princes also found plenty of employment. Not only were there many wars, but also many attempts at reconciliation. This led to the princely families becoming entwined through a succession of marriage alliances. The pacts were often short lived, with the marriages ending in poisoning or some other form of assassination.

Trantio and Pavona are usually at each other's throats, their intense rivalry often seeming to others to be a fatal weakness. However, as soon as a hostile army from any other city appears on the scene, the two cities promptly forget their quarrel and join forces to beat up their common enemy. In this way Luccini, Verezzo and Miragliano have all experienced humiliating defeats in the hills around Trantio or Pavona.

The city of Pavona itself remains small in comparison to other Tilean cities. The city is noted for its many bridges which are not over rivers, or canals, but high above the narrow streets, enabling the Consuls and members of the ruling family to go from one house or palace to another, without having to descend into the bustle of the streets below.

The Serene Republic of Verezzo

Verezzo is also a republic, but of a completely different kind to Remas. Verezzo lies inland, dominating the fertile plain with its walls and many bastions. The city is very compact and crowded with people. The streets are very narrow and winding and the houses are built very tall because of the lack of space. Some have risen so high that they have become towers which have been built into the defences. The reason for this is that the walls are so strong and occupy such a good vantage point on the only rising ground for miles around, that the citizens are reluctant to change them and build a wider and less formidable circuit.

Like Remas, Verezzo became openly riotous as a result of the great famines. The State Leader, Vannius Brutio, hoarded up grain and tried to sell it to the citizens at an extortionate price. He was soon toppled from power with the help of mercenaries from the Merchant Princes, and a less corrupt ruler was proclaimed. The republic of Verezzo is much more democratic than that of Remas, probably because there are so many Consuls, and anyone with aspirations to great power is likely to risk assassination from several quarters.

In Verezzo there is an elaborate voting system in which the Consuls and their families are divided into factions distinguished by voting colours (the reds, greens, blues and yellows). The colours are associated with particular methods and policies, so after the voting in Verezzo it might be said in Remas or Luccini, "the reds are in Verezzo, we are in for trouble!" or "don't lend Verezzo any gold while the yellows are in", and so on. The colours are also used to designate teams in various rowdy games played in the cramped piazzas of the city. Naturally, these games are flavoured with politics and intrigue!

The Decadent Pirate Principality of Sartosa

Sartosa is the largest island off the south coast of Luccini. In the past it was inhabited by the Norse, who engaged in frequent raids against the fleets of Luccini. These raids were ultimately stopped when the State Leader at the time hired the Norsemen to fight against the predations of the Dark Elf corsairs who were active in the area.

This arrangement was soon ended when the forces of Jaffar of Araby began a protracted war against the nearby lands of Estalia. The Dark Elves, capitalizing on the confusion in the region, were able to overthrow the Norsemen and take the island of Sartosa for themselves. Later, with the war between Estalia and Araby ended, the combined forces of the State Leader of Luccini, the Norsemen and pirate fleets defeated the Black Ark Corsairs on Sartosa and took it back.

Today the island is ruled democratically, with a Pirate King periodically elected from among the captains of Sartosa. Though occupying the seat of highest authority, the Pirate King will only exercise his powers in the most extreme situations, preferring to allow the free-spirited culture of Sartosa to go unmolested unless a situation becomes too bloody. The current elected ruler of Sartosa is the notorious Pirate Queen Cornelia. Her reputation for being ten times more cruel than any of her predecessors is no exaggeration, and she has been the longest lasting ruler to date.

The Once-Mighty Principality of Miragliano

Miragliano was a bastion against the Skaven. Because of its position near the Blighted Marshes, which are foetid and ridden with disease, Miragliano has often been victim to outbreaks of plague over the centuries. The Red Pox of 1812 was the worst pestilence, wiping out three quarters of the population of the city. An infestation of large rats was blamed, and since then the city had employed professional rat-catchers among its ranks of Velites. As well as exterminating rats, the rat-catchers fought running battles against Skaven Gutter Runners. No one knows exactly where the Skaven come from, except that there are many of them in and around the fringes of the Blighted Marshes. A high price was placed on their heads, dead or alive. Since the Red Pox, large parts of the old, squalid city had been rebuilt by the rulers of Miragliano.

The Leaders of Miragliano had always been patrons of learning and science as much as art, if not more so. Being so close to the mountain passes, and in past centuries under some threat from Bretonnia and the Empire, the State Leaders had been especially concerned with warfare and defences. It is no surprise that not only Leonardo de Miragliano, but also Cassius the Besieger began their careers in this city.

The defences of Miragliano featured several tall towers which were built to give a view far across the flat landscape. Unfortunately, because of the unstable nature of the ground, most of these were leaning at awkward angles. However, thanks to the exceptional engineering skills of the architects (Leonardo among them) these towers did not fall down. Indeed, Miragliano had set a fashion in architecture which has been copied in other cities, especially Luccini where the State Leaders and Consuls are renowned for their great sense of humour. Now every city either boasts its own leaning tower or aspires to have one. Only in Tilea could such a thing happen! Cassius once commented that executed men look so much better hanging from a leaning tower. He should know! He would often execute his opponents a dozen at a time. It is said that the weight made the towers lean over a couple more degrees during his rule.

Architecture

The city was not originally an Elven colony and grew up in a rambling way over many centuries. The Leaders had gradually imposed an orderly plan on the city. This was initially drafted by the great Leonardo de Miragliano who was commissioned with this task by Cosmius Noctius. It had taken many centuries since then to bring the plan to fruition. Each subsequent Leader and many of the Consul families endeavoured to beautify the city with palaces, plazas, fine bridges and sculptures.

Miragliano is bisected by several broad and elegant canals and many other narrow ones. The populace used these as streets and so there was a constant flow of traffic, with ornate trading galleys going to and fro through the city, under its many bridges. However, these canals could become smelly and make the city vulnerable to plagues. Besides this, the canals do, of course, make easy ways into the city for Skaven agents. To guard against this there were canal gates, each blocked by a huge iron portcullis and guarded by rat-catcher Velites.

The defences of Miragliano were strong and utilised the marshy nature of the countryside. The moat is very wide and the walls were specially designed to give maximum advantage to artillery. This was all the work of the genius Leonardo, before he entered service with Emperor Karl Franz.

The Fall of Miragliano

The good fortune of the city was not to last, however - a massive Skaven force from the Blighted Marshes crushed a Faun army raised from the many Fauntowns around Miragliano, and sacked the city in 2522IC. The disgraced former Imperial Count Leopold von Stroheim - once an aspirant to the chiefdom of the fledgling town of Neuland on the island of Albion - led the remnants of the defeated force through the Blighted Marshes until cornered and destroyed by a force led by Warlord Quickpaw and Grey Seer Squelch. While it is likely that the great city will eventually be rebuilt, further information has not yet been revealed as to its fate.

Religion

There are four common gods of the Tilean city-states. That is not saying that there are not other cults in the cities, and it is not uncommon to have more than one major temple in any of the city-states.

Mercopio, the god of Merchants, Prosperity and Trade, also known as Haendryk in the Empire, is a fairly popular god in the city state of Trantio. This is because Trantio is so reliant on trade in order to stay the thriving city it is now. Mercopio's temple takes the form of a giant walled marketplace with goods from all over the Old World and beyond.

On Marketag, the first day of sailing season, a huge festival of Mercopio is held near the acropolis at the centre of the city. Merchants from the Empire, Estalia, Bretonnia and the other Tilean City-States make the long journey to Trantio each year to attend this festival, to sell their wares and other goods. Many mercenary and adventurer warbands sent by the Merchant Princes often make the journey to the Marketag Festival to purchase new weapons, equipment, and other necessities, like new standards, maps, and fine crafted Imperial pistols. Also mercenaries often sell their skills at this festival as well.

Myrmidia, Goddess of Peace, is the most prominent god in all of Tilea, much like Sigmar is in the Empire. Many of the Tilean soldiers worship Myrmidia, and several regimental standards have different aspects of her on them. There are lesser temples all over Tilea, but there are major temples in all of the city-states.

Marius, the Tilean God of War, is claimed to be the father of Ramalus and Romas, the twins who founded Remas, and has been venerated as a god since Tilea was first founded. When the Tilean Empire rose to its full prominence, holding territories as far north as Kislev, Marius was the most popular god, as it was he who was the patron god of Remas and of course the Tilean army, but now, after Estalian, Bretonnian and Imperial rebels reclaimed their homelands and Gitilla da Hunter ensured the fall of the Tilean Empire, Marius is no longer worshipped in any of the City States, save for Luccini, the most militaristic of all the States, and Remas, the city of which he is patron god.

Morr, the God of Death, or Mortis Maximus as he is known in Tilea, is probably one of the most well known gods in the Old World, and every major city has a temple to the death god. Remas has one temple in the city, and two lesser temples in the lower city. The two lesser temples are mostly for regular worship and services for those who cannot afford to go the larger temple in the upper city. The large temple handles the largest part of the funeral ceremonies for the city and is the dormitory for all of the priests of Morr in the city.The deceased Consuls and Leaders of Remas are laid to rest in the catacombs beneath the larger temple. The rest of the city's dead are buried in the Field of the Dead. Once again here money takes a big part as well, the people that could afford it are placed in a coffin and is put in a plot, while those who are poor are placed in a mass grave, which is marked by a stonewall with the names of all of the people put to rest there. There are several of these walls in the Field of the Dead, since plague and fires take their toll on the poor. The Field of the Dead is surrounded be a huge black iron fence designed to keep things in. Like many other cities in the southern part of the Old World, Remas has a small problem with ghouls, necromancers and the walking dead. Because of this it has hired a regiment of expendable mercenaries to patrol the field and do away with any unpleasantness they come across, and since the mercenaries they hire are loyal to Morr, someone bribing them to look the other way is not an issue.

Other notable locations

Timeline

All dates given in the Sigmarite Calendar.

Archaic Age

Classical Age

Tilean Dark Ages

Era of Araby Wars

Age of Exploration

Era of Enlightenment