"It is not enough for a prince to simply destroy his enemies. If a prince would sleep soundly in his bed -- friends, allies and especially family -- must be crushed without mercy. Always remember: you have more to fear from the vengeance of the living, than the remorse of the dead."
- —Attributed to the Tilean statesmen and philosopher Marciavelli[5a]
Borgio the Besieger, one of the most famous merchant princes of Tilea.[1]
A merchant prince, sometimes simply given the formal title of "prince," is a powerful merchant or financier involved in commerce and banking whose fantastic wealth has provided them with the means to exercise political power over one of the city-states of Tilea.[2a]
The most powerful of the merchants comprise the Great Merchant Houses, ruled by merchant princes who wield power nearly equal to that of kings and other noble lords. They have the power to deprive a city of any resource in order to drive the prices up or inundate it with surplus goods to hedge out their competition..[14b]
With offices in several cities, the Great Merchant Houses have large networks of lesser operatives who negotiate prices with local finishers or farmers to get the best price and relocate the goods to markets with large demands. While powerful locally, most merchant guilds can't compare to the power of merchant princes and the Great Merchant Houses.[14b]
Every merchant prince looks to themselves and their own wealth to exercise their power, and most are amoral rulers who seek only to stab and poison their rivals while publicly extending the hand of friendship.[2a]
Rapacious fashions of clashing colors dominate the various courts of the Empire, Bretonnia, and especially Tilea. It is not for nothing that Tilean merchant princes are often known as "peacocks."[7a]
Merchant princes are not the only individuals who hold political power in Tilea, as Tilean towns and city-states are often managed by a vast array of nobles and powerful men with varying titles, including dukes, doges, and duci.[8a] But even there the real power lies often in the hands of wealthy merchant princes who plot and scheme against the tax-gathering authorities and each other with almost equal enthusiasm. Indeed, such is the tradition in Tilea, that all armies of any size are mercenary armies -- paid for by a wealthy prince, a devious merchant or some ambitious tyrant.[15a]
Tilean merchant princes like to employ wizards of the Celestial Order,[9a] as Imperial astromancers are a fashionable fixture of the Tilean high noble courts.[10a]
The common Tilean gold crown features the profile of various famous merchant princes on the front and a merchant's scale on the back, similar to the Estalian duro.[14a]
History[]
Prince Marco Colombo of Remas, the explorer who "discovered" the continent of Lustria for the people of the Old World.[1]
The Tileans became involved in trade from the earliest times, soon after the old Elven ruins of the region were settled by Human tribes and gradually rebuilt as Tilean cities. Because of the location of Tilea, it could be reached by High Elf ships by sea and Dwarf traders over land. The Tileans were therefore in the ideal position to act as middlemen in the exchange of goods between these two Elder Races. Such was the animosity between Elves and Dwarfs ever since the War of the Beard that they preferred not to deal with each other directly if they could avoid it![1a]
Of course the Tileans made sure they took a respectable share of the profits. Merchants thrived in all of the city-states of Tilea, and the profits of trade enabled them to become more and more powerful. Naturally they took an active part in the government of their home cities, either as sole rulers or by sitting on the ruling council.[1a]
In most cases a single merchant family is pre-eminent in each of the Tilean cities at any one time. In those cities governed as republics the power is shared more or less equally between several merchant families, to avoid unnecessary bloodshed in the streets! Often where one household is more powerful and respected, the head of the family becomes the ruling prince of the city. Such rulers are also known as merchant princes.[1a]
There is no concept of hereditary right to rule in the Tilean city-states and so every merchant prince must watch out for rivals making a bid for power. It is quite usual for the ruler to be toppled from power by a rival contender from another family or even from among their own relatives. Such power struggles usually take the form of violent street fights between warriors hired by either side. Sometimes an ambitious pretender to the princely throne will go as far as hiring an entire army to oust his rival. It is a Tilean custom for anyone whose ancestor ever wielded political power within one of the cities to claim the title of merchant prince. This alone can lead to political rivalries and never-ending vendettas.[1a]
Anyone who rises to power in Tilea, whether by intrigue, assassination or force of arms, is certain to make enemies on the way. In Tilea the tradition of getting even with your enemies is strong. This has given rise to the notorious custom of the vendetta. Unlike Dwarf grudges, which are struck off the book when resolved, vendettas are permanent. They are not written down, but instead are remembered and cherished for generations within a family, to be set aside or renewed as occasion demands.[1a]
Anyone who is looking for an excuse to topple the ruler and usurp their position, or for that matter, any merchant prince looking for a reason to make war on a rival principality, simply has to dredge up some long-standing vendetta. On the other hand, if reconciliation or a political alliance is in order, vendettas are conveniently put aside for another day.[1a]
Beyond Tilea[]
Humans[]
"While travelling to the lands of distant Cathay, I first passed through the strange land of Ind. What wonders I've seen! Fabulous temples, great white beasts with trunks and tusks, and that walk on four legs, birds of every colour, and the cuisine... It takes my breath away just thinking about it. Anyway, while in Ind, my company had the misfortune of being attacked by an odd race of creatures. I believe they are somehow related to our own Beastmen, as they combined the features and form of both Man and beast. But these vile creatures were different. They had the heads of great cats -- larger versions than the ones stalking the night streets of our grand Empire -- mounted on a naked Human body. Stranger still, while we fought for our lives, our native guides just dropped prostrate to the ground, ignoring our cries for help, unmindful of the beasts as they tore through us and our guides alike. Luckily, through my own skill with the sword and the pistol-fire from my companions, we beat back the rude host, sending them scurrying into the woods. After, I flogged our guides, remonstrating them for their cowardice, as any master should. Weeks later, I learned that these creatures are something akin to holy spirits to the natives, and that if we injured any, we should be on the lookout for an attack. Thankfully, I ended their service when we returned to town. It's odd though, I've been experiencing stomach distress...probably caused by this infernal fare they pass for food."
- —Leopold Riogillo, Merchant Prince of Magritta[3a]
Other Human cultures of the Old World, such as those of the Empire,[12a] Marienburg, Estalia[3a] and Araby, also have merchant princes. These master merchants may have operations in multiple cities, including warehouses and sales offices. Many merchant princes branch out into other businesses related to trade, such as banking, moneylending, and investing in land and craftsmen.[6a]
But the first Human merchant princes were probably those of the forgotten ancient empire of Nehekhara. The princes of Bel-Aliad, the smallest city worthy of the name in all of Nehekhara, spent a fortune maintaining a standing army of sell-swords and hired thugs. This army was used to defend the city from desert raiders and to protect its numerous merchant caravans. Their bowmen were drawn from the fearsome sea archers of Zandri, and their two large city companies were bolstered by four thousand northern mercenaries, hired from the barbarian tribes of the Old World and brought south aboard chartered merchant ships to take up arms under Bel-Aliad's banner.[13a]
The barbarians were huge, stinking, hairy brutes, clad in matted furs and long, oily tunics cinched with wide leather belts around their waists. Though primitive and ignorant of the proper arts of war, these mercenaries were fearsome fighters with shield and spear, or wielding deadly, leaf-shaped bronze swords brought from their rugged homeland.[13a]
Leading the army were the merchant princes of Bel-Aliad and their retainers, who disdained the cavalry tactics of their ancestors and instead fought from the backs of light, swift chariots like other civilised armies. In battle, they were led by the merchant prince Suhedir al-Khazem, the Keeper of the Hidden Paths.[13a]
High Elves[]
Sea Elves and High Elves, especially those from the kingdom of Lothern on Ulthuan, have always greatly prospered from trading and other commercial activities. For centuries, the seas have granted them access to the markets of every major port of the Old World and beyond.[4a]
Their merchant princes maintain their own regiments of soldiers to protect their ships and havens at home and abroad. They are always well-armed and uniformed in the colorful livery of their lord.[4a]
Dwarfs[]
Even the wealthiest Dwarfs can carry the title of merchant prince. A simple ale merchant can grow to be wealthy enough to wear jewelry in the manner of the richest merchant princes and to sit by the side of a king, as in the case of Drumnok, a Dwarf trusted by King Byrrnoth Grundadrakk of Barak Varr.[11]
Notable Merchant Princes[]
- Borgio the Besieger - Borgio is a Tilean mercenary general who was the former Prince of Miragliano. During his life he fought against every major principality in Tilea. He established Miragliano as the most powerful principality in Tilea following three great, decisive victories. After these, his enemies usually avoided open battle and shut themselves up behind the walls of their cities, only to succumb to Borgio's siege techniques. He was equally astute as a politician, but rather tyrannical. His opponents and rivals rarely troubled him for long.[1b]
- Marco Colombo - Former Prince of Trantio, Colombo was a famed explorer who rediscovered the continent of Lustria in 1492 IC.[1]
- Meldo Marcelli - A merchant prince who liberated Tobaro from a Skaven invasion with the aid of the High Elves.[1]
- Omilio Mondo - Mondo was the self-proclaimed Prince of Remas.[1]
Trivia[]
The merchant princes of Tilea are based on the power struggles of the Italian noble families in the city-states of Renaissance Italy. This inspiration is especially based on the struggles for power within the Venetian Republic and the Florentine Republic.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War (5th Edition)
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Battle: Rulebook (6th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 168
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Corruption (RPG)
- 3a: pg. 98
- 4: Warhammer Fantasy Battle: Warhammer Armies (3rd Edition)
- 4a: pg. 49
- 5: Warhammer Monthly Comic 58
- 5a: "The Remors of the Dead" by Mitchel Scanlon
- 6: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 6a: pg. 65
- 7: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
- 7a: Estalia Dye Production Level 3
- 8: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Tribes and Tribulations (RPG)
- 8a: pp. 62-64
- 9: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition: Winds of Magic - Advanced Magic & Wizardry (RPG)
- 9a: pg. 25
- 10: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition: Tome of Mysteries - A Guide to Wizards & Magic (RPG)
- 10a: pg. 21
- 11: Gotrek and Felix: The Reckoning (Short Story) by Jordan Ellinger
- 12: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Enemy Within Campaign Volume 1 Enemy in Shadows (RPG)
- 12a: pg. 118
- 13: Nagash The Sorcerer (Novel) by Mike Lee
- 13a: Ch. 13
- 14: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Old World Armoury (RPG)
- 15: White Dwarf 225 (UK)
- 15a: pg. 8