Castle Gisoreux, also simply called Gisoreux, is a Bretonnian fortress-city and the capital of the Dukedom of Gisoreux. The city of Gisoreux is a busy place filled with traders and travellers stopping on their way along the River Grismerie. There are more Imperial merchants in Gisoreux than in any other city in Bretonnia, and it may be the only place in the mortal world where people do not immediately think of sailors when they think of Marienburg; a number of overland traders come from the Wasteland through the Gisoreux Gap.[1a]
The city has fine merchant houses pressed right up against decaying slums, many of which themselves used to be fine merchant houses. For some reason, merchant families in Gisoreux rarely maintain their prosperity for more than one generation.[1a]
The city is dominated by Castle Gisoreux, an enormous, sprawling complex that runs along a ridge located in the eastern region of the city. There is only a single curtain wall, but it is over a mile long and encloses two large keeps as well as many other buildings. Since the Duke of Gisoreux began spending most of his time in Couronne, most of Castle Gisoreux has been shuttered.
Lord Hincmar, the duke's steward, lives in one of the keeps, but the other is now deserted. The area of the city nearest the castle is reserved for the town houses of the nobility. There is quite a lot of empty space here, as the city has never attracted nobles in the numbers one would expect. Gisoren lords seem to prefer the countryside.[1a]
The city has been much fought over by warring armies. The Empire of Man, the Undead, Orcs and Skaven have all attempted to conquer Castle Gisoreux, but none have ever managed to overthrow its valiant knights.[2]
Notable Locations[]
University of Gisoreux[]
The University of Gisoreux is a respected institution where Alpheus Kalispera, high priest of the Cult of Verena, holds the seat of its governing magister.[3]
Canon Conflict[]
Before the publication of Warhammer Fantasy Battle 4th Edition, Bretonnia was a corrupt, decaying kingdom prone to Chaos corruption that suffered under the rule King Charles III, who reigned from the capital city of Oisillon. With the 4th and later editions, Bretonnia was reimagined as a more romantic, Arthurian-style high medieval realm led by Royarch Louen Leoncoeur from the capital now at Couronne. This version of Bretonnia was less corrupt, yet still suffered from tensions between its nobility and oppressed peasant class.
In the older, now superceded lore, Gisoreux was the largest city in Bretonnia, with a population of eighteen thousand. The vast majority were poor, disabled, diseased, and politically volatile -- indeed, the "Gisoreux Mob" is a much-feared entity, which frequently takes to the streets in orgies of theft and violence.[4a][Note 1]
The city itself is a strategically important river crossing, controlling the seventy-five-mile gap between the northern edge of the Grey Mountains and the Pale Sisters. It was from here that Gilles le Breton set out to conquer the surrounding states and thus lay the foundations of contemporary Bretonnia. A huge statue of this mighty warrior towers above the heaving throngs of the central market square.[4a]
Yet, in spite of its illustrious history and special place among the annals of Bretonnia, the filth and decadence of all Bretonnian cities is especially manifest here. Thieves and agitators are the least dangerous of the creatures that roam the countless miles of disused tunnels and drains beneath the city streets. These "bowels" of Gisoreux in many ways reflect the society that thrives above. Here, the darkness of forgotten and crumbling passages hides the doings of Chaos Cultists -- usually thrill-seeking nobles who have become corrupted by their constant pursuit of new experiences, power, and exotica.[4a]
There are many amongst the rich whose tastes for the bizarre extend to the worship of the Dark Gods, and the delvings beneath Gisoreux offer them shelter and seclusion. The labyrinthine passages are also home to many dark and noisome creatures who seek refuge in the blackness, living upon the discarded waste of the city above or sneaking out by moonlight to prey upon the weak and helpless. Although the worship of the Chaos Gods is not openly tolerated even in this pit of decadence and decay, their opposition is sluggish and languid.[4a]