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==Layout== |
==Layout== |
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| − | Talabheim is a distinctive city, and those who explore its streets and shops always leave impressed and a little poorer. Constructed inside a great crater formed from some ancient catastrophe, the City of Talabheim is but one settlement inside Taalbaston. Talabheim has long struggled against its city bounds, and every inch of available space is used by the people living here. |
+ | Talabheim is a distinctive city, and those who explore its streets and shops always leave impressed and a little poorer. Constructed inside a great crater formed from some ancient catastrophe, the City of Talabheim is but one settlement inside Taalbaston. Talabheim has long struggled against its city bounds, and every inch of available space is used by the people living here. Talabheim is crowded with people. There is always something going on, some activity or spectacle to lure the attention of travellers. This is true even in the more sedate districts, for there are more people here than what the living space should allow, at least in the heart of the city. The streets, rarely wide enough for people to walk side-by side let alone accommodate a cart or wagon, are always congested with merchants, beggars, labourers, and nobles all scurrying like ants to their next pressing engagement. Such traffic slows movement, and Talabheimers always give themselves extra time when they need to be somewhere. |
| − | |||
| − | Talabheim is crowded with people. There is always something going on, some activity or spectacle to lure the attention of travellers. This is true even in the more sedate districts, for there are more people here than what the living space should allow, at least in the heart of the city. The streets, rarely wide enough for people to walk side-byside let alone accommodate a cart or wagon, are always congested with merchants, beggars, labourers, and nobles all scurrying like ants to their next pressing engagement. Such traffic slows movement, and Talabheimers always give themselves extra time when they need to be somewhere. |
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| − | Like everywhere else in the north, Talabheim struggles in the Storm’s aftermath. Between the constant influx of refugees from Ostland, Hochland, and even Kislev, and the city-state’s prohibitive prices and taxes, this community faces an uncertain future. Swollen as it is, the clash of cultures is creating tension, and the people are becoming discontent. The streets are alive with Agitators and Demagogues who invoke the people to rise up against the immigrants, the government, or even each other. And when the law captures one of the malcontents and string them up from the gibbets, riots sometimes break out, lasting for days on end. And so, whilst a dangerous place, Talabheim is energized by the interactions of outlooks and cultures, making this city, if anything, exciting. |
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==Military== |
==Military== |
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Revision as of 07:43, 8 February 2017
"Though all the Old World should fall, Talabheim will resist to the last."
- —Countess Elise Krieglitz of Talabheim
Talabheim, known in ancient times as Taalheim, which means Taal's Victory, is the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Talabecland. Talabheim lies deep within the Great Forest of the Empire of Man, and as such earned its name as the Eye of the Forest, like the eye of a mighty storm, all is calm amidst the surronding danger. The city itself is built within a huge shallow crater, many miles across, whose outer edge formed a large rocky rim and a natural wall. This wall has been built up and fortified with many tall gun towers and effectively marks the boundary of the city itself. The land inside is extensive and includes fertile farmlands as well as the grand city itself. The River Talabec flows around the outside of the crater, and where it flows past the north-eastern edge of the wall, there is a fortified Imperial town known as Talagraad and a deep harbor from which lies the river fleets.[1a]
From the fortress of Talagraad, a narrow road climbs the ridge of the crater and enters the city via a tunnel carved through the rock of the ruined wall. This tunnel is the only entrance to the city, and a massive, fortified gatweay at each end of the passage makes Talabheim one of the strongest and most fortified city within the Empire, perhaps second-only to the great fortress-city of Middenheim itself. However, this proteciton is bought at a high cost, for the city's civilian populace lives in grim poverty to support Talabheim's demanding military and an unforgiving martial law is in force at all times. Despite this, Talabheim as served as the greatest bastion of light within the dark forest of the Empire.[1a]
History
After Taal gifted his brother Ulric with the flat-topped mountain that would one day become Middenheim, he ventured deep into the woodlands to the east in search of a place where his own worship could flourish and thrive. The legends say Taal encountered a gigantic Wyrm as he searched, and the enraged creature attacked him. The two fought for several weeks, their battle shaking the foundations of the world. At the very last, Taal grabbed the beast by its tail and lashed it against the ground again and again, carving out the western reaches of the Talabec River as he did so.[2a]
With a mighty heave, he flung the dragon high into the air and watched its fiery corpse plummet to the ground. When it struck the earth, it formed a great crater several miles across. Taal came to see what had become of his enemy, but he found little remained. The Wyrm’s flesh had spread across the crater bottom, mixing with the earth and making it incredibly fertile. In addition, the scales of the creature found their way into the soil and rock of the crater. Pieces of this magical material are occasionally found by Talabheim’s farmers as they plough their fields, and it is much prized by blacksmiths in the creation of weapons and tools.[2a]
Taal saw the crater and was pleased with his work. He called it Taalahim, “Taal’s Victory,” and proclaimed that, in time, his faithful would come and make the land their own. He bore a great tunnel through the crater wall to allow his people access the fertile bowl within. After hundreds of years, Taal’s prophecy came true. The Talabec, descendants of the ancient Taleuten tribe, happened upon the crater and the tunnel that led within. Kruger, chief of the Talabec, ordered his folk to venture within the crater and construct a great city to honour Taal. The city of Talabheim was not realized within Kruger’s lifetime. Instead, in I.C. 40, Kruger’s son, Talgris, founded the city his father had demanded built. It would carry the name Taalahim for centuries, but over the years, the place came to be called Talabheim, and it is now known as one of the most defensible cities in the Old World.[2a]
Sigmar and the Taleutens
As is well known, Sigmar left the throne and travelled into the east. Before he reached his final destination and dismissed what remained of his retinue, Sigmar chose to pass through Talabheim. It is said he rode through the Wizard’s Way upon his white stallion and looked out upon the budding city below him in wonder. In a loud voice, Sigmar proclaimed, although it would weather many storms, Talabheim would never fall so long as it remained true to its patron deity, Taal. Sigmar and his men only remained in Talabheim for a day, but they left their mark on the city’s founder. Sigmar dined with Talgris, son of Kruger, and the two shared tales of their youth. Talgris was impressed with Sigmar, who had known and fought alongside his father. Though he asked Sigmar to remain for a few days longer, Sigmar declined.[2a]
Instead, the Emperor granted Talgris his white horse in exchange for his hospitality. With a fraternal nod, Sigmar left Talabheim behind, leaving Talgris’ lands, never to return. About 20 years later, a new religion bloomed in the Empire. A mad preacher in Nuln proclaimed he had a vision of Sigmar being crowned by Ulric himself, thus implying Sigmar had risen to join the Gods. Whilst the new Sigmarite faith spread north into the Reikland, the people of Talabheim remained staunch adherents to Taal. But Sigmar’s Cult caught fire, gaining legitimacy and attention from the new Emperor, and Sigmar’s proclamation—or as some said prophecy—that Talabheim would not fall began to carry more weight, and the people feared this upstart new religion. The Talabheimers largely held to the worship of Taal, and though the Sigmarites founded a temple in their city, Taal remained the dominant religion.[2a]
The Ottilian Dynasty
Though the Cult of Sigmar would grow unchecked for centuries, with it came an increasing resentment from those in the Empire who believed and followed the older Gods. Those who followed Ulric and Taal saw the burgeoning Sigmarite movement as a threat to their way of life. The situation only worsened when the question of religion entered into the political arena. In I.C. 1359, the Grand Duke of Stirland, a staunch apologist and puppet for the Cult of Sigmar, was elected Emperor. This was the final straw, and the Grand Duchess Ottilia of Talabecland refused to recognize his title. To make matters worse, The Elector Count of Stirland imposed a series of taxes upon the Cult of Ulric. In response, Ottilia crowned herself Empress in I.C. 1360 and banned the Cult of Sigmar from Talabecland.[2a]
Religion, now used as a political tool, had come to be central to the wars of the Empire. The Cult of Ulric in Talabecland, supported by the worshippers of Taal, took up arms against their Sigmarite enemies. For two hundred years, the squabbling continued, one Emperor in Talabecland and the other in Stirland. In 1547 IC, Grand Duke Heinrich of Middenland sought to garner enough votes to legally establish himself as Emperor. He took his case to Frederik V of Talabheim, the so-called “Ottilian Emperor,” who soundly rejected Heinrich’s claim. Heinrich returned to Middenheim in a rage and pronounced himself Emperor nonetheless. He then declared war on Frederik V, as well as the whole of Talabecland, in I.C. 1550. Frederik, not one to be undone, declared his own war against the self-proclaimed Emperor in Nuln, while simultaneously defending his own province from Middenheim’s armies. In I.C. 1557, Middenheim sent an army to destroy the city of Talabheim, but the crater wall was never breeched by the invaders. However, the port of Taalagad was razed and subsequently occupied by the invading army. An abysmally unsuccessful siege of Talabheim, which lasted almost twenty years, followed.[2a]
Talabheim felt few repercussions from these incidents. Because of the verdant interior of the Taalbaston, the city was able to support itself almost indefinitely. Whilst times were often tight for the citizens of Talabheim, they rarely suffered. The results of these wars were to have a lasting effect on Talabheim, especially in regards to its complex series of laws and edicts. As the rest of the Empire seemed to slide ever deeper into confusion, the Lords of Talabecland rejected the growing anarchy by implementing an overabundance of stringent regulations and rules. Talabheim came to show its own penchant for independence during the Age of Wars. In 1750 IC, the Emperor of Talabecland, Horst the Cautious, was asked to help repel an invading army that was approaching Talabheim. When Horst refused to send his troops to the city’s aid, the city revolted, seceding from Talabecland entirely. Talabheim went so far as to crown its own Emperor, Helmut II. Unable to assail Talabheim’s walls, Horst could do little but issue idle threats. The estrangement of Talabecland and Talabheim would continue for several hundred years, until Emperor Magnus of Nuln acceded to their formal reunification in 2304 IC.[2a]
The Great War against Chaos
When the Kislevite Tsar sent requests for help to the provinces of the Empire in I.C. 2302, none returned to him with the aid he had requested. Talabheim’s response was no different than any of the other provinces or city-states. It had managed to gain a great many enemies since the Age of Wars, and the city parliament was more concerned with the city’s own defence than with that of Kislev. Chaos Cults surfaced in Taalagad, revelling in the imminent arrival of their twisted masters, but these were quickly and fiercely rooted out and destroyed.[2a]
It took the actions of Magnus of Nuln to reunite the Empire after centuries of distrust and war. As Praag fell to Chaos in the north, Magnus came to Talabheim to request the city’s aid. Just as an apparent miracle had earned Magnus the loyalty of the Ar-Ulric of Middenheim, so too did Magnus convince the leaders of Talabheim to join his cause against Chaos. Upon Magnus’ arrival in the city, it is said the wolves of the Sacred Forest loosed a howl that echoed between the crater walls like thunder, and that a single stag with a hammer-shaped mark on its forehead appeared at Taal’s temple in Talabheim. It seemed the God of the city had spoken in support of Magnus.[2a]
Talabheim mobilized its troops and joined Magnus’ formations. They marched to the north, and the armies of Chaos fell before them. The Talabheimers, at home in the forests, proved to be invaluable to the war effort, using their woodland skills as trackers and scouts to maintain the security within their own ranks, as well as to harass the Warherds of Beastmen roaming the countryside. Following the war in the north, Magnus was unanimously declared Emperor in 2304 IC. Talabheim’s Elector Count surrendered his own Imperial crown, and the line of Ottilian Emperors came to and end. Plague and pestilence descended upon Talabheim. Brought by Skaven in the wake of the war, the diseases decimated the people of Talabheim. Taalagad was especially hard hit by the virulent epidemics that spread through its poorest neighbourhoods. Plague-ridden refugees from the north did not help matters, and many were turned away from the city at the business end of a crossbow or pike.[2a]
Government
As an independent city-state, Talabheim possesses a unique method of ruling and a style of politics that can bewilder outsiders. It’s a huge city, and many different factions vie for power or simply struggle to keep it slowly moving forward on a day-to-day basis. The most prominent and obivious ruler of the city is Count Halmut Feuerbach, Lord of Talabecland and Talabheim.[2b] Alongside Count Halmut is a governing body known as the Parliament. The Parliament consists of the most powerful and influential nobles in Talabheim. New members are nominated by those already with seats in this esteemed assembly. As a result, most Talabheimers sneer that this institution is fraught with rampant cronyism and corruption.[2c]
The nobles represent a wide swath of the rich and wealthy—powerful landowners and merchant lords. Certain high-ranking members of the churches of Sigmar, Ulric, and Taal are allowed to make their arguments and sway the policies of the Parliament, but they are not allowed to vote. The Parliament meets in a separate wing of the Grand Courthouse of Edicts. Sessions are supposed to occur twice per month, though Talabheim’s numerous festivals, holy days, and secular holidays regularly interrupt this schedule. “Keeping a noble’s hours” is a common joke among the lower class about being lazy or absent from duty. One of the most prominent families is the Krieglitz-Untern family, whose leader, Countess Elise is most well known.[2c]
Layout
Talabheim is a distinctive city, and those who explore its streets and shops always leave impressed and a little poorer. Constructed inside a great crater formed from some ancient catastrophe, the City of Talabheim is but one settlement inside Taalbaston. Talabheim has long struggled against its city bounds, and every inch of available space is used by the people living here. Talabheim is crowded with people. There is always something going on, some activity or spectacle to lure the attention of travellers. This is true even in the more sedate districts, for there are more people here than what the living space should allow, at least in the heart of the city. The streets, rarely wide enough for people to walk side-by side let alone accommodate a cart or wagon, are always congested with merchants, beggars, labourers, and nobles all scurrying like ants to their next pressing engagement. Such traffic slows movement, and Talabheimers always give themselves extra time when they need to be somewhere.
Military
The Talabheim army is notable for its sizable proportion of bowmen to regular foot soldiers and its ability to move quickly through forested regions. The bulk of its soldiers are recruited from the woods and glens both within the Taalbaston and outside its reach. Footmen prefer the axe or spear to the sword. The army has a small contingent of cavalry, which are used for fast lightning strikes rather than massed charges—they leave that task to the Knightly Orders.[2c]