"It is mere politics. The Averlanders, they wish to squeeze us, and they will—a little. They must be seen to act. It is all a show, for the other princes. Prow-faced Jurgen will pursue his siege for a season, at the most. When he finds our shells harder to crack than he expected, he’ll declare his objectives met and he’ll withdraw. Sooner or later, the bright light of reason will crack through even his sturdy Imperial skull. -- We have stores in abundance. Those who now flee, to be fleeced by the black and yellows, they will learn that they were fools. Even the Kopfs aren’t mad enough to waste men and munitions, with the orcs about to come steaming up from the south. It is surely a bluff."
- —Prince Davio Maurizzi to Angelika Fleischer[1]
Castello del Dimenticato is a walled town in the middle of nowhere in the Border Princes. It is populated by people for whom anything was a step up in life. It is located just inside the gullet of Black Fire Pass, south of Averland.[1]
The founder is a former mercenary named Davio Maurizzi, a self styled "border prince" from Tilea, which explained his town's foreign name, which meant "Fortress of the Forgotten."[1]
Castello del Dimenticato is hidden in a nearby basin where a quartet of lesser mountains met. An ancient cut in the rock, about twenty feet wide and at least forty high, looms near the entrance of the castle, sheltering the trail. Eroded crisscrosses from an ancient excavation mark its rocky surface, clearly made by Dwarfs. Perhaps there had been diamonds or gold in the rocks, thousands of years ago, giving the Dwarfs good reason for their excavations. They were long gone now, at any rate, as were any traces of riches in the nearby hills.[1]
The founders of the Castello, however, had reason to appreciate the old handiwork. The cut provided the town with an easy approach to the pass, hidden from the view of any Orc armies that might happen to rampage their way up to the Imperial border, which lay less than a week's ride north. Several residents of the Castello were sure that Orcs had never spotted the Castello, and would continue to miss it in the future.[1]
The town sits flush against a cliff face on the opposite side of a muddy basin that connects with the gates of the town after half a mile of wet earth, denuded except for weeds and hardy grasses.[1]
The Castello's walls are twelve feet high and made of salvaged wood, reinforced on the inside with bands of rusted steel -- also salvaged. They are grey from weathering and their planks are uneven so that the tops of the wall reminded one of an Orc's jagged tusks and teeth. Large boulders had been arranged on the field to direct enemies toward the front gate. Towers stood on either side of it, so that defenders could fire bolts from crossbows and ballistae on any Orcs, Skaven or bandits who might try to overrun it. It seems that the Castello had never been seriously threatened. But in truth, it looked stronger than it really was. If a general were given the task of breaking it, they would do so probably by setting it on fire.[1]
History[]
Recently Castello del Dimenticato has been severely damaged by a siege perpetrated by an Imperial army from Averland. The cliff that was supposed to provide protection in the end trapped the defenders inside. The town was reduced to ruin as many cottages and hovels past the Castello walls were flattened by cannon fire.[1a]
The prince's palazzo was gutted. Its roof destroyed, along with much of its front wall. The metal fence around the grounds had been uprooted -- concrete moorings and all -- and carted off, leaving behind a trench of moist earth.[1a]
An assortment of refugees from the Castello emigrated to the Imperial side of Black Fire Pass, where they huddled, shivering against the wind. Eventually, they reached the walls of the large town of Grenzstadt in Averland.
The Town[]
To the settlers of the Castello del Dimenticato, the notion of a straight road is nothing but civilised frippery. They are clustered in shacks, sheds, and hovels placed haphazardly together. If a space between buildings continues for more than fifty feet, the locals call it a road. Homes rest on poor foundations or none at all. Roofs slump in the middle. Doors rest uneasily on yawning hinges. Most of the houses are made of hardened mud, reinforced by scraps of timber, but a handful of larger cottages are built of stone.[1b]
The town's vendors are all clustered by the gates, so no one entering or leaving could avoid them. Food sizzled on iron plates, heated by coals, or boiled in pots suspended over logs whitened by low flame. There are always exposed to the open air soups, bratwursts, schnitzels and noodles (both northern and Tilean-style) and charred medallions of meat that were supposedly beef.[1]
Dolorosa La Bara[]
The tavern called Dolorosa La Bara shudders at the end of a lane, its dirt-grey timbers leaning slightly to the west. It is a one-story structure large enough to accommodate a hundred drinkers, provided that they were willing to cluster togther a little. A faded sign hung above its creaking double doors; on it was a painted image of a coffin, its lid closed over the vociferously protesting form of a mercenary, clad like a jester. His wailing head, clawed fingers, and shoeless feet protruded from the casket, which was pierced through by a mammoth spike. Droplets of red bloodshot from the point of impact -- the artist had obviously relished this gruesome detail.[1]
Later hands had touched up his work, so that the blood stayed fresh, even though the rest of the cartoon had faded. Visitors had heard various translations of its name from the Tilean tongue, ranging from the "Not Quite Dead Tavern" to "Painful the Coffin." None of them seemed exactly right, and the Tileans in town never deigned to provide an accurate rendition, so many of the inhabitants simply stuck with the foreign name.[1]
Giacomo, the proprietor, sat on his high wooden stool behind the bar, one eye always open. He was in his late sixties, an age few in these untamed parts had any great hope of reaching. He had thin bones and a large, round head, adorned by a meagre spread of silver hair. A snow-coloured moustache, kept trimmed to a strict minimum, dwelled above his narrow upper lip. Like many of his fellow citizens he met his death during the recent siege of the town.[1a][1b]
Prince Davio Manor[]
Prince Davio Manor is a large palazzo, jutting out from the rock face that formed the Castello's only impenetrable wall. The manor of Prince Davio Maurizzi teetered three stories high; it was built of black and weathered timber. Wooden steps led up to a large porch, decorated with railings of thick and crudely worked iron. Plaster gargoyles, their once-hissing faces chipped and flattened, sat together in peevish disarray, piled in a far corner of the porch. A roughly stitched ensign hung from an awning; it depicted the walls of a fortress silhouetted by a setting sun.[1]
Wrought-iron gates separated the prince's manor from the rest of his town; they encircled a dismal expanse of dead grass inhabited by a broken fountain, and by a quartet of old statues, which depicted naked ancients, seated on plinths, bereft of heads, arms and privates. Some say that down inside the main structure the prisoners of the prince are tortured by his troops.[1]
Schreber's Cottage[]
A cottage of Dr. Victor Schreber, the noted doctor of philosophy.[2]