Tor Alessi was a great High Elven city that served as the capital of the Asur colonies in Elthin Arvan, the Old World, in ancient times. Tor Alessi was besieged fourteen times during the War of the Beard, and it was razed by the ultimately victorious Dwarfs, with only a single one of its formerly proud towers remaining.[5a]
Centuries after the city's fall, the site was resettled by the Human tribe of the Bretonni. Today, the Bretonnian city of Castle L'Anguille stands where Tor Alessi once stood.[6a]
History[]
Tor Alessi was one of the teeming ports founded in the Old World or Elthin Arvan as they called it, by the High Elves of Ulthuan, along with Tor Kathyr and Athel Toralien.[4a] Tor Alessi was founded by settlers from the Ulthuani kingdom of Tiranoc and thus enjoyed the patronage of Phoenix King Bel Shanaar. [4b]
After the Elven civil war of the Sundering, Tor Alessi became the capital of the High Elven colonies in the Old World. During the War of the Beard between the High Elves and the Dwarfs of the Karaz Ankor, the High Elves originally focused on protecting the capital of their colonies. The First Siege of Tor Alessi ended in a High Elf victory and forced the Dwarfs under Prince Snorri Halfhand to retreat.[1b] When High King Gotrek Starbreaker resumed the siege, the city managed to hold out for fourteen days, despite the might of five major Dwarf holds being amassed against it. The Dwarfs retreated when the fleets of Ulthuan were seen on the horizon, bringing reinforcements for the Asur.[1c]
The Fourth Siege of Tor Alessi was led by Morgrim Ironbeard, the cousin of Snorri Halfhand. After parleying with the High Elf Prince Imladrik, who had been sent to the colonies by his brother the Phoenix King Caledor II, for two days, the talks broke down when news arrived that a Dwarf convoy from Karak Varn had been attacked by a Dragon rider.[2f] Using amassed war machines, Morgrim Ironbeard's armies managed to inflict great damage on the city and breached the first ring of walls.[2g] Imladrik managed to end the siege by unleashing six Star Dragons, who wreaked terrible destruction on the Dawi host and dispersed them again.[2h]
After the unsuccessful Sixth Siege of Tor Alessi, King Ironhandson of Karak Varn found his end in Bryndal Vale. [7b] Following the Seventh Siege, the outer wall was constructed.[3d]
In the Fourteenth Siege of Tor Valessi, during the Battle of Three Towers, Tor Alessi fell, with Caledor II perishing under the axe blade of High King Gotrek Starbreaker. The city was then torn down by the Dwarfs, with only a single tower left standing. Yet even without the destruction the Dwarfs unleashed, the magic of the High Elves that had been invested in the city faded, with the beauty of the palaces and pavilions wilting. [3f] From the stones of the city, the Dwarfs would construct the vault they used to house the captured Phoenix Crown of Caledor II that they later constructed in Karaz-a-Karak.[7a]
Geography[]
Tor Alessi had been built to maximise its defence by the original High Elf colonists, with three concentric rings of walls and bulwarks designed to defend itself. It was more rustic than the Elven cities in Ulthuan, yet more luxurious than most other Elven colonies in Elthin Arvan.[2a] It used the cliffs and the sea as its primary defence, forcing any enemies to attack only from one side.[1b] For those raised in Ulthuan, the city appeared shabby and crude, but for those born in the colonies, it surpassed all other colonial cities.[3c]
The streets of Tor Alessi were lined with ashwood lampposts topped by bronze lanterns. [3c] Lesser citadels and minarets arose beneath the three large towers that dominated the city. A large keep stood at the port, protected by yet another defensive wall with only a single gate.[1b] Tor Alessi was protected by large Eagle Claw Bolt Throwers, carrying darts hewn from tree trunks and bowcords the diameter of a clenched fist.[2f]
Originally, three great rings of walls surrounded the city. Three gates, emblazoned with the emblem of an eagle, a Dragon and a Phoenix, allowed entry through these walls.[1b] Runes in emerald and gold were engraved into the walls that shone even from great distances.[2d] After the Fourth Siege of Tor Alessi by the Dwarfs during the War of the Beard, another wall was raised to create a killing field specially designed for striking any Dwarf that managed to penetrate the first wall.[3b]
The ruler of Tor Alessi was Lady Aelis of House Lamael, yet the rulers of the other major High Elf colonies in the Old World convened in the Tower of Winds to form a Council of Five that would give voice to the concerns of all the colonies.[2a]
- The Old City[2b]
- Founder's Square - Founder's Square was where the first stone used to construct Tor Alessi by the High Elves had been set down.[3e]
- Fountains of the Gods - The Fountains of the Gods were enchanted fountains depicting the gods of the Elven Pantheon, the water coloured to match the sacred colour of the respective deity.[3e]
- The High Library[3e]
- The Founding Obelisk- The Founding Obelisk commemorated the arrival of the first High Elf settlers of Tor Alessi. [3c] Originally, the Dwarfs who aided them in constructing the city had been honoured as well, until their names were effaced after Prince Imladrik had been slain in the War of the Beard.[3e]
- Eliamar Quarter[2c]
- Merchants' Quarter[2e]
- Royal District[3d]
- Shrine of the Dead- The Shrine of the Dead was a place where the ashes of the fallen High Elves of the Fourth Siege of Tor Alessi were interred. [3b]
- Tower of Winds - The westernmost of Tor Alessi's three iconic towers, the Tower of Winds was located where the walls ran up to the sea. It housed the Council Chamber, where the Council of Five that governed the High Elf colonies in Elthin Arvan would convene.[2a] It was the only tower that survived the Fourteenth Siege and its ruin is now used as a lighthouse by the Bretonnians of Castle L'Anguille.
- Tower of the Dragon - The tower once used by Imladrik when he resided in the city was renamed as the Tower of the Dragon after Imladrik's death. [3b]
- Tower of the Sea[3c] - The third of the three great towers that once dominated the heart of Tor Alessi.
- Dragons' Lament - Dragons' Lament was a rock that jutted from the bay of Tor Alessi, where the Dragon Draukhain made his lair after Imladrik had been slain. [3a] A singular obelisk from fallen Oeragor chiselled with Imladrik's name had been taken by the Dragon and placed there amidst scorched Dwarf armour. [3b]
Sources[]
- 1: The War of Vengeance: The Great Betrayal (Novel) by Nick Kyme
- 2: The War of Vengeance: Master of Dragons (Novel) by Chris Wraight
- 3: The War of Vengeance: The Curse of the Phoenix Crown by C.L Werner
- 4: The Sundering - Malekith (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- 5 Warhammer Armies: High Elves (7th Edition)
- 5a pg. 25
- 6 Warhammer Armies: Bretonnia (6th Edition)
- 6a pg. 9
- 7: Warhammer: Grudgelore (Background Book)