"What an amazing structure off in the distance. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen in these parts. Stay back at camp if you like, I’m going off to have a closer look."
- —Anonymous
An explorer, also called a trailblazer,[3a] is an individual who is afflicted by wanderlust and travels extensively across the Old World and beyond. They channel their great need to know what lies beyond the next horizon into finding new lands and new opportunities for trade.[1a]
Explorers regularly delve into the unknown, which either turns them into canny fighters and diplomats or makes them very short-lived. They are skilled in travelling by both land and sea. Explorers tend to be highly capable individuals. The variety of roles they are called upon to assume forces them to become very flexible, able to command troops or negotiate in tongues they barely understand.[1a]
For as long as civilisations have been carving out safe havens for themselves, there have been those daring enough to leave shelter behind and disappear into the wilderness. Perhaps they hope to discover a better place for settlement, a vital natural resource, or simply a cure for their pathological wanderlust. Most abandon their travels when confronted by an impassable obstacle. But others are too pig-headed to give up. Determined to find a way or make one, they persist in their travails until they reach their destination or perish in the attempt. In places like the jungle continent of Lustria, the latter is far more likely.[3a]
League of Merchant-Adventurers[]
"I already started filing the paperwork for death-in-service. Much more efficient than waiting for the inevitable."
- —Pessiminus the Economical, regimental quartermaster[3a]
The League of Merchant-Adventurers and Gentlemen Explorers, or simply "The League," is the preeminent organisation of explorers within the Empire. A society of map-makers, merchants, and adventurers, The League has grown to prominence and power within the Empire over the years, due to the treasures and knowledge amassed by its members and the interest it has attracted among the Empire's elite.[2a]
The headquarters of The League is located in the Imperial capital at Altdorf. Its façade is lined with ancient pillars from the deserts of Araby, obsidian plaques from the jungles of Lustria, and exquisitely carved statues of strange and wondrous beasts from across the Known World. Inside, the building is no less impressive, and there are rooms filled with treasures and artefacts brought back by its members. The most impressive chamber is the map room. Over a hundred yards in length, its walls are covered in maps of every conceivable location, trade route, and continent. The true treasure of the chamber, however, is its arched ceiling. It bears a huge painting of the Known World stretching from wall to wall, detailing locations known only to The League.[2a]
The League attracts all kinds of explorers, from unscrupulous private individuals seeking personal fame and fortune to altruistic wanderers desiring to expand the influence of the Empire. And while The League does not discriminate based on explorers' motives, they do maintain a strict membership policy.
First and foremost, a new member can only be admitted on the recommendation of an existing member. Then there is the not inconsiderable annual fee of 100 gold crowns. The most difficult task is the requirement that The League's members add at least one new location to their grand map every year, which must be verified by at least three other members.[2a]
The current president of The League is Faustus Coperium, a famed explorer and fearless adventurer trained by the equally famous Estalian explorer El-dora. A tall, dashing man in his later years, Faustus has travelled much of the Known World, personally mapping such places as the fabled Valley of Clouds and the Shrieking Pits of Ka-dar.[2a]
Despite his fame and prowess, however, no one has seen Faustus for several years. Though this is not uncommon among explorers, who may disappear for years at a time on their travels, it has presented The League with something of a problem. The League's charter states that only the existing president can name his successor. This has led to talk within the halls of The League of a new expedition -- to find Faustus.[2a]
Explorers in Lustria[]
The Known World has no shortage of murderous landscapes for impetuous explorers to explore. High Elf Shadow Warriors prowl the bleak wastelands of Naggaroth. Nomads persevere through the heat of the southern deserts. Dwarf Rangers brave the freezing peaks of the Worlds Edge Mountains, some even pushing north to survey the desolate Chaos Wastes.[3b]
Yet the continent of Lustria in the New World lures more explorers to its shores than anywhere else. Between its exotic array of lethal hazards, and the promise of gold for the successful plunderer, nowhere else so thoroughly captures the imagination of an aspiring adventurer.[3b]
The perils for a Lustrian explorer are frighteningly varied. The jungle is enchanted to repel would-be explorers, with diseases, insects, predators, and aggressive Lizardmen defenders spelling the doom of their expeditions. Whilst trailblazers have a reputation for recklessness, few are foolhardy enough to undertake an excursion without diligent preparation.[3b]
Wherever possible, they will supplement their travelling packs with maps, survival tools, and the very latest local knowledge. That said, Lustria's jungles are renowned for their shifting landscape, quickly obliterating trails and paths previously marked through the foliage. A Lustrian explorer expects that when they enter the jungle, they will be forging their own path.[3b]
Notable Explorers[]
"Who needs roads when we have machetes?"
- —Karl Ernst Bartus, self-proclaimed adventurer[3a]
- Bel Shanaar - Bel Shanaar was the Phoenix King of Ulthuan who started the Elves' great days of exploration. Ulthuani colonies were planted across the face of the Known World and contact was established with the Dwarfs and a great but unfortunately short-lived era of trade and friendship between the Elder Races began.
- Curious Geasar - Albion remained shrouded in the dark mists of legend until Geasar, a mercenary general from Remas, set foot on the island, leading his invincible army.
- Gino - Gino was an explorer who disappeared during an expedition to discover and map the Southlands.
- Luka Huarugoin - Huarugoin was a Tilean explorer who reached the Dragon Isles after crossing the Worlds Edge Mountains and the Dark Lands and descending the River Ruin, and then returned home through the Plain of Bones.
- Marco Colombo - Marco Colombo is an infamous Tilean explorer who was amongst the few to have successfully voyaged to the New World and survived to tell the tale. His chronicle of the venture has since garnered much respect and popularity across the Old World.
- Marco Polare - Polare was a Tilean explorer, who in 1247 IC reached Grand Cathay, and wrote of spying the Skaven under the great city of Weijin. His writings about Cathay included legends of immortal eunuch sorcerers that drank the souls of Men, who perhaps were the Jade Vampire children of Maatmeses or Harakhte.
- Nigel Francisco - Francisco was another Tilean explorer, and is the only man from the Old World who ever ventured into the fabled Kingdoms of Ind.
- Yin-Tuan - A Cathayan admiral who ventured to the Southlands. His original mission was to colonise it, but after he ended up being the only survivor of the expedition, he recorded his travels in a famed chronicle of the expedition.