Santa Magritta is an Estalian colony founded by the city-state of Magritta that is located on Colombo's Island, to the east of the mouth of the River Amaxon and off the northern tip of the Scorpion Coast of the continent of Lustria in the New World.[1a][2a]
History[]
Santa Magritta is the jewel of the Estalian crown in Lustria. This beautiful settlement rivals the cities of the Old World, and boasts a thriving harbour where ships arrive and depart on the hour. Settlers from the Old World arrive every day, along with convicts, mercenaries, merchants and missionaries. Often there are powerful nobles coming here to check on their land holdings. One never knows who they will see in Santa Magritta.[1a]
Old Worlders drawn to Lustria are often regaled with tales of the success of Santa Magritta, being assured that it rivals the cities of the Old World in size, wealth, cultural achievement, and security. They purport that Santa Magritta is well-defended by a town guard who patrol the streets in groups of six, equipped with handguns and halberds, and that its markets are as bustling and as cosmopolitan as those of Marienburg.[3a]
Of course, in truth, the Estalian colony is actually a precarious, benighted place, dependant on shipments of food and arms from Magritta to survive. The town also relies on trade with sea captains who would normally fall afoul of Magritta's hatred of piracy.[3a]
The governor of Santa Magritta has been known to host Magrittan pirate hunters at his hacienda one day, and Sartosan pirates the next. This is not an arrangement that can last for the long term, for sooner or later his contacts in Magritta will learn of his reliance on pirates, and he will either have to sell out those corsairs he does business with or do without the patronage of Magritta.[3a]
Santa Magritta has a well-equipped militia to protect it from the raids of the Lizardmen and the accursed Tileans. The militia also maintains law and order within the settlement. The market area is a gaggle of local exotic and imported Old World goods -- everything can be found in the marketplace.[1a]
The watch patrols the streets in groups of six men, one of them a captain, and will intervene to stop fights unless bribed -- except of course when one of the involved warbands is Tilean, in which case they will help cleanse the city of that scum.[1a]
Adventurer bands residing within the city are taxed 10% of their income to help assist the local population.[1a]