Thyatian Senators

(or - “After this I’ll never need to think of a Thyatian NPC for my Campign again”)

Dear readers, it is with pleasure that I introduce you to the second part of the gallery of Thyatian Senators and their families, relatives and allies, continuing the article that you can find in Issue #3 (Thyatian Senators pg 209). In this second part, we will continue the list of Constituency Senators, i.e. the chosen representatives of dominion rulers and the Senators elected by the Thyatian citizens all over the Empire. In the first part of the article we described Senators from Actius to Kerendas; here we continue our journey from Lucinius, on Mainland Thyatis, and we will lead you over land and sea through many dominions, including the Grand-Duchies of Ochalea and of the Pearl Islands, ending our voyage in Westrourke on the Isle of Dawn.

In the next installment of this series we will move to describe the forty aristocratic families who have a Senatorial seat reserved for their head-of-the-family, and we will then end with the Conscripti, the Senators that have been permanently raised to the seat through their merits, and with the ecclesiastical senators, that include priests of the Church of Thyatis, diviners, sages and prophets from all the corners of the Empire.

Constituency Senators Continued

LUCINIUS

A region of grassy plains and forest-covered hills, the capital of which is Port Lucinius, the seaport that hosts the Thyatian Navy training school. The people of Lucinius are incessantly proud of their seamanship.

Population: 120,000

Dominion ruler: Count Baldassarre Patrizio.

Senators:

Irene Pallathakis (ruler representative), Gens Sergia.

Appius Glantri, (first elected), Populares; Tribunus

Scribonio Fratojanni, (second elected), Populares

The Count of Lucinius is Baldassarre Patrizio (C15), a descendant of the first Count of Lucinius (the county was separated from the Duchy of Thyatis by Emperor Gabrionus IV only at the turn of the 10th century). Patrizio is not especially fond of Thincol, since his family has a great love for the Gabrionus family and they disliked the way Thincol dealt, and deals, with his wife.

Irene Pallathakis (born 954, W9, NG), a trusted friend and advisor to the Count, and a skilled wizard, is his appointed representative at the Senate. She is a tiny, common-looking woman, with dark blue eyes and a mane of black hair, with courteous manners and a low, pleasant voice. She seems about fifteen years younger thanks to potions of longevity.

Appius Glantri (born 958, Bard 2, TN) is a direct descendant of the famed knight Darius Glantri. His branch descends from a cousin of Lord Tiberius Glantri, who led the Thyatian colonists to the current Principalities. Appius also descends from Senator Claudius Glantri, who was stripped of his senatorial family rights because of his involvement in the Conjuratio Lusciniae, the conspiracy of the Republican subversive Fabritius Luscinia; the family seat was given to the Patrizio family, a major enemy of the Glantri since. Appius’s father Canius was the first of the family to return to the Senate as an elected senator in Kerendas, where they have most of their estates, but he was killed after three years in service and the killers were never caught. Appius has been quietly investigating the matter for years and is convinced Magist Demetrion had something to do with it. Appius is an idealist and is a well-liked Populares, and although he refuses ideas of revolution and violence, he is friendly to Lentulus and the Republicans, and thus many Senators and Army officers think of him only as a Republican-in-Populares-clothing. Appius started as a Kerendan senator too, but during the last elections he earned his seat in Lucinius, where he stayed most of the time in his second term as a Tribunus, travelling to monitor justice and trials and to listen to the appeals of common citizens. Appius’s mother is Mariela Poggi (born 939, NW, TN), an embittered Kerendan noblewoman that counts among her ancestors Alexander Glantri himself, through the expelled Archduke Alexius Glantri. Appius is married to Deianira Ghio (born 961, NW, NG), a member of a prominent Kerendan family. Their eldest son, Publius Appius Junior (born 980, F1, TN), is also set to become a politician. The Glantri family wholly supports Appius. The most important members are Titus, Appius' younger brother, and Philodemos, a second cousin. Appius' cousin, Alexandra, is married with Octavius Marcianus, a prominent politician in Thyatis City.

Scribonio Fratojanni (born 960, NM, NG) is a friend of Appius and acts unofficially as his representative in Thyatis City. He is a secretary of sorts, and keeps Appius informed during his travels of important sessions or votes that may be relevant to Appius’s interests. Scribonio is a former naval officer and naval engineer, and has often worked closely with Archduke Derentarius and Count Actavius in matters that regard the Navy and naval arsenals.

MACHETOS

Machetos was once the wealthy homeland of the Karameikos ducal family. Thirty years ago, Duke Stefan III traded his lands for Traladara and moved west with the whole treasury, while Emperor Thincol sold all the wealth, livestock and slaves and ruined the duchy’s economy, depopulating it as a result. The new Duke, Callastian, paradoxically thanks to improving trade with Karameikos, has since rebuilt Machetos into a self-sufficient dominion, with a thriving grain farming and lumber industry. As a consequence, Duke Callastian is the most popular figure among the population, while Emperor Thincol is thoroughly despised. The capital, Machetos (pop. 2,500) is a picturesque small town built quite close to the Duke’s Castle.

Population: 30,000

Dominion ruler: Duke Callastian Jowdynites.

Senators:

Duke Callastian Jowdynites, Populares.

Urban Sakigenetos (ruler representative), Populares.

Aulus Livianus, Populares (first elected)

Rufinio Quaerulus, Gens Sergia (second elected)

Sergius Timens, Republicans (third elected)

Callastian Jowdynites (born 933, F11, LN) is the Duke of Machetos and a Senator of the Empire. He became Duke by royal appointment when the previous Duke, Stephan Karameikos, traded his lands to acquire Traladara. Callastian, then one of the best generals of Thyatis, thought he was being rewarded for his brilliant military services. Unfortunately, Thincol had stripped Machetos of its wealth, livestock and slaves, ruining the duchy’s economy and forcing Callastian to rebuild the land from scratch. Since then, Callastian has become a silent enemy of the Emperor and a precious ally of the Populares. He is a bitter, tired man without heirs and with few friends.

One of them, Urban Sakigenetos (born 953, NM, NG), is the son of his previous seneschal, Adrian (born 921, F3, NG), and is also his appointed Senator of the dominion. He sees the bitterness in Callastian and would like to soothe it somehow, as he thinks Callastian has been a great ruler for Machetos. Urban is married to Helena (born 970, NW, N), a skilled painter much younger than himself, and they have a small son, Aristides (born 996), and an infant daughter, Clelia (born 999). His previous wife, Massentia, died several years ago, childless.

Aulus Livianus (born 958, NM, TN) is the veteran Senator of Machetos. After having lost his mother when he was 8, Aulus inherited his fathers’s timber industry after he killed himself, almost ruined by debts, in 981. He managed to rebuild his family fortunes - his is a typical Machetan story of trial and rebirth, that has won him many sympathies as a candidate, not least because of the attitude he showed towards his employees. Livianus has a great respect for Duke Callastian, since he considers the Duke the main person responsible for the recovery of Machetos. As most Machetans, he strongly dislikes the Emperor - but even more so Stephan Karameikos, who condemned ten thousands of citizens to ruin just on a whim.

Rufinio Quaerulus (born 967, T(Rake) 3, LG) is a renowned watchmaker and jeweller from a small village close to Machetos. He has performed well in the past both as a judge and as an investigator, solving a few crimes and even more than a homicide. His wife Petronia (born 971, NW, CG) harassed him to take up a political career and in 997 he stood up for election, and was chosen, much to his own surprise. He doesn’t like the Senate, doesn’t feel like he has anything interesting to say, and has joined the backbenchers of Gens Sergia, where he dreams of being home repairing clocks or solving a local mystery. Rufinio and Petronia have two daughters, Gabriela (born 992) and Stella (born 996).

Sergius Timens (born 970, F3/T(Rake)3, LE) is the first Republican Senator in Machetos - he managed to obtain this position through violent rants against the Emperor, calling for a revolution and to throw down the Empire. Actually, he’s an Alphatian spy. He was ordered to spy on the Republicans and see whether they could be of any use to undermine Imperial and/or Senatorial influence. He is a gloomy man and found it extremely easy to morph into a Republican orator, something that the other Alphatian spy in the Senate, his boss Cabirio Nasica, is increasingly worried about.

MOSITIUS

Mositius is a long, narrow island due east of Hattias. Once little more than a grassy lump of stone with a bad reputation, it was changed into a travel resort by her first ruler, Triella Tien-Tang, appointed to the position by her friend Emperor Thincol. Triella discovered and learned to control the Censer of the Mists, an artifact which releases emotion-inducing mists all over the island. She promptly turned Mositius, then a sparsely inhabited land, into a rich vacation resort, allowing her to purchase herself the status of Duchess.

Population: 15,000

Dominion ruler: Duchess Triella Tien-Tang.

Senators:

Duchess Triella Tien-Tang, Gens Zendrolian.

Dominica Assenzio (ruler representative), Gens Zendrolian.

Polibia Stateritis, Gens Zendrolian (first elected)

Alceste Sardi, Free Thinkers (second elected)

Memmus Theofilos, Free Thinkers (third elected)

The first dominion ruler of Mositius, Triella Tien-Tang (born 928, W20, N) and her cursus honorum are despised heartily by many Senators (one of them is, unsurprisingly if you think about it, Duke Callastian Jowdynites, another ‘upstart’ of Thyatian aristocracy; most of the others come from Gens Aemilia and Aurelia). Triella, an Alphatian/Ochalean mix born in West Portage, spent a hard life on the Isle of Dawn and came to study magic quite late in life (at age 28) thanks to a traveling Thyatian wizard who discovered her talent for it. An accomplished mage and adventurer, Triella helped Thincol to regain the Thyatian imperial palace during the Alphatian Spike assault and, since becoming a Senator, has always been a staunch supporter of the Emperor, even though she isn’t overly fond of many of his supporters in the Senate. With green, almond-shaped eyes and the red skin of Alphatian commoners, Triella looks like a young woman in her twenties, although she is much older. She prefers to dress in ornate green gowns of Alphatian spider-silk.

Dominica Assenzio (born 940, W20, N) is a close friend of Triella, and a former lover. Triella is a closet bisexual, and keeps it secret as she doesn’t want to bring more trouble to herself than she already has. Dominica is a good friend and a trusted counselor, their relationship ended several years ago and Dominica is married with adult children, and totally loyal to Triella, so there shouldn’t be possible room for scandal. Dominica, originally from Kerendas, was the first wizard to be trained by Triella, and has shared many adventures with her. Dominica too keeps her age much younger through magic.

Polibia Stateritis (born 951, F13, LG) is another famous Mositius resident. A strong-willed, former General, she decided to buy a villa in Mositius and run as a Senatorial candidate a few years ago. A moderate supporter of the Emperor, she is sympathetic towards the Duchess and Dominica Assenzio, and she wonders whether she should ask them for magical help to become younger and be able to build the family she neglected to pursue in favor of her career - but at the moment, she is too ashamed to ask. She is into her second term.

Alceste Sardi (born 975, T4, CN) is a young, rich heiress with too much time and money on her hands. She moved to Mositius five years ago and bought her way into the Senate at the 997 elections with bribes, promises, and a glamorous electoral campaign, with spectacular fund-raisings through flashy parties on the island. She has quickly risen in popularity in Thyatis too, where she is known for her expensive parties, socialite skills, and flamboyant and much-talked about flirts with, to name just a few, a gladiator, an Archduke (Maldinius Kerendas), an army officer, and a young Patriarch of Valerias. She is a master in disguise, and has several aliases in the city that she uses mostly to make fun of people she dislikes (for instance, she has repeatedly broken into the house of the Ochalean Senator Yang Lao-Ye just to steal a few books or move things around when he is absent from the city). She tends to vote on a whim (when present at all). The Duchess, Dominica Assenzio and Polibia Stateritis loathe her, as they think Alceste gives a very bad repute to the status of the Duchy and, more in general, to women Senators, that already face a hard time enough getting respect in Mainland Thyatis.

Memmus Theofilos (born 956, F3, NE) is a rich merchant Senator who has a stake in many commercial activities on the island. In fact he is a member of the Shadow Hand and is a good friend of Maria Evergetes, the Shadow Hand’s main political representative. Theofilos holds contacts between the Shadow Hand and several corrupt Senators like his fellow Free Thinkers Osteropolous and Canolocarius, and unscrupulous Gens Zendrolion leaders like Rufus Aenobarbus, to keep Maria Evergetes out of having to deal directly with them. He was already Senator in Kerendas, where he comes from (and where his family has worked as local bosses for the Shadow Hand for decades), before moving to Mositius to put the Shadow Hand in the business there about ten years ago. He was elected to the Senate as a Mositius Senator in 997.

OCHALEA

Settled in the centuries after Alphatian Landfall by a group of Alphatian commoners, Ochalea is a hilly island, not pretty but agriculturally productive. Ochaleans are very reserved, scholarly people devoted to honoring the Immortals. Contrarily to other dominions of the Empire, Ochalea is divided in five areas, each of which separately elect one Senator.

Population: 125,000

Dominion ruler: Archduke Teng Lin-Dieu

Senators:

Archduke Teng Lin-Dieu, Philosophers.

Ling Tzu-Chen (ruler representative), Philosophers.

Yang Lao-Ye, (elected senator for NE Ochalea), Philosophers

Song Yun-Wu, (elected senator for NW Ochalea), Philosophers, Praetor Peregrinus.

Quintus Chen Lao-Wai, (elected senator for Bohan, Chi and Shun), Gens Aurelia

Wen Zi-You, (elected senator for Cao, Chung, Daisun and the Celestial Territories), Free Thinkers

Chong Li-Yi, (elected senator for Kiang, Wang and Shou), Gens Aemilia

There are eight Senators from Ochalea, including of course Archduke Teng Lin-Dieu himself, Abbot Teng Lee-Dai (see below) and High Priest Ling Tzu-Chen, high-ranking members of the Jade Temple who have been chosen by the Archduke to fill the seats that are assigned to the Teng family and to the governor of Ochalea, as well as five additional elected representatives. Aristocratic Senator Ran-Wen Zenobius and Duchess Triella Tien-Tang are also of Ochalean origin. Senators Teng, Ling, and Zenobius belong to the Philosophers faction (headed by Archduke Teng), while Duchess Triella is a member of the Zendrolian faction.

Abbot Teng Lee-Dai (C14, LG) is an abbot of the Jade Temple, and a distant relative of the Archduke. This 50 years-old scholar is a master of defensive martial arts, as well as an expert in Ochalean history. He currently represents the Teng family (see below) in the Imperial Senate, a duty that keeps him in Thyatis city most of the time.

Ling Tzu-Chen (C11 (of Koryis), LG), a High Priest of Koryis in the Jade Temple of Ochalea, is the representative Senator for the Ochalean government. This aged scholar and priest follows Archduke's Teng directives unfailingly, and is possibly even more committed to the Philosophers' pacifist stance than him.

Chong Li-Yi (F7, LN), holding the senatorial seat for the Central Ochalea region, is a member of the Gens Aemilia, and of the Society of the Blue Flower, a semi-formal political organization sharing similar goals to the Gens Aemilia, but limited to Ochalea. The main political goal of Chong and his associates is the establishment of local legislative assemblies modeled on the Thyatian Senate in the Grand Duchies (the Society campaigns for the establishment of an Ochalean senate, and Chong adapts this into a more general policy for the Empire).

Song Yun-Wu (Pr5 (Pantheist), NG), an elderly priest of the Eight Immortals, Song Yun-Wu has been Senator of the North-Western region for five times in a row. A very popular man, he is a member of the Philosophers faction, preaching moderation in all things. Contrary to many priests, he worships all of the Eight Immortals equally, since he believes that the Immortals each emphasize a particular trait or virtue, and only a good balance of all can lead to perfection. He is one of the few Ochalean Senators to be popular in Thyatis, thanks to his extremely good standing as a Praetor Peregrinus, a position he holds also in this legislature, as well as in his homeland.

Senator Quintus Chen Lao-Wai (T5, TN), a middle-aged merchant of mixed Ochalean and Thyatian descent, Chen Lao-Wai (Quintus Chen to the Thyatians) has bought his way into the Senatorial seat of the South-Western region, by financing the building of the new Cathedral of Wumingdou - and distributing money to many of his supporters, in pure Thyatian style. A member of the Gens Aurelia, Quintus supports the Church of Thyatis in its efforts to control the government. He is not a fanatic, though - he just sees the church as his ticket toward a permanent Senatorial seat, and perhaps even higher.

Yang Lao-Ye (Pr8 (Philosopher of Law), LN), recently elected Senator of the North-Eastern region of Ochalea, is a member of the Philosophers faction. He is a somewhat boring scholar and researcher in natural and human law. His considerable magical powers derive entirely from his faith in the power of Order, not from worship of any Immortal. Yang Lao-Ye is a member of the Mystic Way of Order. He keeps his head completely shaved, and strictly respects a number of taboos, including not eating meat, not drinking alcohol, and bathing in cold water only. He is dressed in formal priestly robes at all times. Perhaps not surprisingly, he is not at all popular with the society of Thyatis City - not that the fact concerns him: he only accepted being elected to the Senate so that he could travel to Thyatis City and consult the library there. However, being extremely respectful of his role, he is present in the Senate for every debate or vote, which actually prevents him from spending as much time as he would like in the libraries.

Wen Zi-You (NM, NG), a weak candidate for the position of Senator of the South-Eastern region of Ochalea, was, to his own surprise, elected thanks to a combination of low number of voters and the Shadow Court managing to converge all its voting power on him - as well as eliminating several other candidates. A member of the Free Thinkers, Wen has no contact whatsoever with the Demon Cults, but some elders consider him weak enough to be manipulated through threats, blackmail or magic. Prior to his election, Wen worked as a medium-ranked bureaucrat in the provincial bureaucracy of Daisun. His prime interest in the Senate is currently to obtain some funding for his home province.

PEARL ISLANDS

The homeland of the black-skinned Nuari, the Pearl Islands have freely been a part of the Empire since the time of Empress Valentia. Nuari are over-achievers: a race of scholarly warriors and widely-read peasants, contemptuous of laziness and lies, who strongly believe in sexual equality. They live scattered in small villages through the five main islands that constitute the archipelago (Nuar, Kuir, Dwair, Puir and Tuar). The only major community is the capital Seagirt, on Nuar, the biggest and easternmost island. A thriving trading point, Seagirt hosts the Archduke’s palace and a major Thyatian Navy base.

Population: 100,000

Dominion ruler: Archduke Nurokidu Nuar.

Senators:

Archduke Nurokidu Nuar, Philosophers.

Baralidu Nuar² (ruler representative), Philosophers.

Tanarobi Nuar, Philosophers (first elected), Tribunus.

Ejo Quaye, Free Thinkers (second elected), Praetor of the Pearl Islands.

Samuela Kuir, Philosophers (third elected)

Abeeku Dwair, Populares (fourth elected), Quaestor of the Pearl Islands.

Yara Mensah, Gens Aurelia (fifth elected)

The Archduke of the Pearl Islands, Nurokidu Nuar (born 950, T(Rake)36, LG) is one of the most present rulers at the Senate sessions, since he insists that “my islanders rule themselves well enough, they need me more in the City than they do in the Islands”. Nurokidu, a descendent of the first Archduke, is an adventurer, explorer and scholar. His wife Venus died many years ago, and he was never able to father children. His heir presumptive is his sister Kiana (born 952, T(Rake)18, LG). Kiana is an adventuress and is married with Bursi Dwair, a Nuari sailor, and they have three children: Ameera, a girl of 19; Lando, a boy of 16; and Diulanna, a girl of 13.

The honest and trustworthy Baralidu Nuar (born 959, T(Rake) 4, CG) started as an elected senator fifteen years ago, but after two terms at the Senate he was inclined to retire, tired of the corruption and hostility experienced daily. It was the Archduke who insisted that he remain at the Senate as his right hand man. Baralidu is very popular among his fellow Pearl Islanders and respected by many citizens in the City, although he still thinks of himself as a back-row senator, and is always surprised when he is recognized and appreciated by third parties. Baralidu is a brooding, frownful Nuari, quite unlike his fellow merry, positive and optimistic islanders. Baralidu is hostile towards Helenites Osteropolus, Angelarian Canolocarius, the Free Thinkers, the Hattians and nationalists. On the other hand, he has a great love for Emperor Thincol, who he tends to perceive as a mythical figure since hearing tales as a child of Thincol and the Spike Assault from his uncle Augustine Nuar (born 936, F11, CG). Augustine was a gladiator and fought with Thincol in the battle, and then took up a position as military officer in the Army; today he is an aged, retired man happy to stay at home in Nuar.

Tanarobi Nuar (born 950, T(Rake) 6, LG) is the most famous Nuari in Thyatis City, and has acted as Nuari Envoy in the City for the last 20 years, since he moved there after the death of his younger brother Bolotobi after being duped by a gang. Tanarobi changed the nature of the Pearl Islander Consulate, having made sure that all Nuari arriving at Thyatis City go to the Consulate to get advice that can help them - and other foreigners - to learn precious advice so as not to have problems in the Mainland. Tanarobi has a great sense of duty, and has worked hard for the last twenty years for his people in Thyatis, something that earns him always the first place in the Senatorial elections. He is full of advice and recommendations for young travelers and visitors, and is an entertaining storyteller capable of putting advice in short interesting anecdotes. He is a middle aged Nuari, fit, with greying black hair and black eyes - he dresses as a Thyatian and has an immaculate urban pronunciation, with no Nuari accent coloring his speech. Tanarobi has a wife and four adult sons and daughters on Nuar.

Ejo Quaye (born 948, Bard 9, CG) is an expert politician that hails from Puir, one of the smallest Pearl Islands. She has slowly risen in popularity through all the Pearl Islands and at the last election she was the second most voted Senator on the Islands. She stays clear of petty faction squabbling and considers herself a Free Thinker. She has been elected for three terms and spends most of her time in the Pearl Islands, traveling from island to island to administer justice in her role as Praetor. Although a mature woman, she is still naive in regards to the Thyatian way of life - maybe that’s why she has no problems with being associated to Helenites Osteropolous and Angelarian Canolocarius, whom she considers good friends, to the astonishment of Tanarobi Nuar and Baralidu Nuar, who have both tried to warn her more than once about the nature of her Free Thinker colleagues.

Samuela Kuir (born 953, T(Rake) 3, NG) is a mixed Dunael/Tanagoro with fiery red hair (now showing streaks of grey), light brown skin and sympathetic, slightly mocking green-amber eyes. She is a lawyer and is especially concerned with the plight of poor non-Thyatian citizens, from people of the Pearl Islands to Alphatians and Dunael from the Isle of Dawn, and more recently with Thratians from the Hinterlands. She is a very good friend of Tanarobi Nuar. Her mixed ancestry and her work has made her a favourite target for racists, Thyatian supremacists and Storm Soldiers.

Abeeku Dwair (born 971, F6, TN) is the Quaestor for the Pearl Islands. An energetic young man, Abeeku has adventured on the Thyatian Mainland, where he grew to like the more pragmatical and aggressive Thyatian culture. Abeeku is somewhat annoyed by the attitude of his fellow islanders. However, he intends to exploit what he perceives as the weaknesses of the Nuari culture for his political profit. He knows what Nuari expect from him and what the Empire will consider a wothy service, and he intends to work in the middle ground.

Yara Mensah (born 967, C9 (of Korotiku), CG) is a traveling Matriarch of Korotiku and an adventuress. She has travelled mainly on Ochalea and in the Pearl Islands, and although very much a Philosopher in her political beliefs, she spends most of her time in the company of the clerical Aurelii Senators, as she thinks it is more important to bring her influence on that faction than on ‘preaching to the believers’ among her fellow Nuari. She has been elected for the first time in the 997 election.

REDSTONE

Redstone (Saxa Rubra in Thyatian) is a large military town run by the Thyatian Army, with about half the population being civilian.

Population: 20,000

Ruler: Commander General Harantius Lycandronion

Senator: Ulpius Nasica, (elected), Gens Zendrolian

Ulpius Nasica (born 953, F19, NE) is a former Lieutenant General in Redstone. He is a cruel and violent man with crude passions like cestus-fighting, gladiatorial games and most violent chariot races and horse racing - and he is a master at them all. He spent most of his life fighting on the Isle of Dawn, where he is popular for his heroic deeds. His relationships and marriages have been hot and violent like he is, and rumors say he killed his last lover when he caught her with another man. Ulpius got elected more because he is infamous than because he is popular, but he didn’t spend much time in the Senate during his first two terms anyway. His ambition is to become Praetor of the northern Isle of Dawn, but at his second term in the Senate he hasn’t managed to begin the cursus honorum yet. He has grudgingly accepted the idea that he has to spend time in Thyatis City to get to his goal.

Two other distant relativs of Ulpius are Senators: Antonius, the elected representative of Sclaras (see below), and Antonius’s second cousin Cabirio, a meritory senator.

RETEBIUS

A land of watered grasslands stretching from the sea to the northern hills, home of the two great orders of Thyatian airborne knights, the Retebius Air Fleet and the Knights of the Air, Retebius sustains itself with cattle and horse herding. The City of Retebius (15,000) is a broad city, whose north-western half is owned by the Duke, who uses it as landing-fields and beast-quarters for the two orders.

Population: 200,000

Dominion ruler: Duke Callastian Retebius

Senators:

Duke Callastian Retebius, Gens Zendrolian.

Libonia Aeris (ruler representative), Gens Zendrolian

Scipio Caeculo, Gens Zendrolian (first elected); Consul.

Sixtus Viribono, Gens Zendrolian (second elected)

Mars Gabronica, Pure Ones (third elected)

Duke Callastian Retebius (born 969, T12, LG) is an experienced adventurer who just recently came to the ducal throne on the abdication of his mother Polibia (born 940, NW, NG). He posed as a common-born acrobat and made his living as an entertainer for many years of traveling and adventuring, meeting his future wife Mitasula on his journeys. He is a humorous man fond of story-tellers and actors; in defiance of his ancient family tradition he is not in the Retebius Air Fleet, but in the Knights of the Air as a pegasus-rider. And he is one of the peopel that provide a good reputation to the followers of Thincol - something that the Emperor is well aware of, and makes very good use of. Callastian is a typical Thyatian with brown hair and beard, brown eyes, who likes to dress in theatrical black trousers and cloak and a flowing black silk tunic.

His wife Mitasula Nuar-Retebius (born, 973, M11, LG), the daughter of a Nuari seaman-warrior of the Thyatian Navy, studied magic with a naval wizard and became an expert adventurer. She too is a pegasus-riding Knight of the Air. She likes to dress in knee-length, long-sleeved white silk tunics and white belt and boots.

Libonia Aeris (born 971, F10, LG) was part of the adventuring group of Mitasula and Callastian - after they had married, but before they got back to Retebius. She has the complete trust of the ducal couple. A fierce woman, tall and muscular, she’s considered a bit of an aberration in the Senate and among many Thyatians. She has become friends with several of the other elected women of the Senate suffering the same snickering remarks from men - among them, Tanja Bendaoud, Flavia Metonenzes, Delphina Koteas, Samuela Kuir and Yara Mensah. She supports Gens Zendrolian mostly because of Callastian, but has no special liking for the Emperor, whom she thinks belongs to the same chauvinistic bunch as most of the ethnically Thyatian Senators. Libonia has fallen hopelessly in love with the courteous elf Linfarillien Greenheight, ruler representative of the Count of Vyalia. She has bought a love potion from the Hag of Hillfork, a famous prophetess who hides in a cave near that city, and is wondering how to make the elven Senator drink it.

The presence of the Air Fleet and the Knights of the Air has made Retebius a progressive conservative steadfast, with Gens Zendrolian reaping most of the electoral harvest for the last century.

Scipio Caeculo (born 960, F16, LG) is one of the two current Consules - it is his first term as such, and it is considered a great honor for the city and the Duchy of Retebius, who has voted him as Senator for four terms in a row - terms in which he held the posts of Quaestor, Praetor (twice) and lastly Consul. After becoming Consul he resigned from the command of the instructors in the Retebius Air Fleet - while his previous posts enabled him to keep both positions, being Consul required from him to spend too much time in the capital. Caeculo and Thyarius Palykratidius are rivals for a number of reasons, chief among them the eternal debate on what attitude a good teacher should have with his students - even more than the rivalry between Cavalry and Air Fleet.

The jovial Sixtus Viribono (born 948, NM, LG) managed to be re-elected after his stunning performance as Tribunus during his first term in the Senate. A merchant with a solid food transport business, former mayor of Hillfork and sometimes judge, he was elected only after the third Senator died during the election night, poisoned by a plate of bad mushrooms, and somehow found himself Tribunus and spent his time traveling in central Thyatis. Although he was not elected Tribunus again, much to his dismay, he intends to spend his time traveling through Retebius and listening to his countrymen, and not gathering dust in the Senate.

Surprisingly, Mars Gabronica (born 965, F9, TN), a Knight of the Air, got the third Senatorial position in Retebius. Mars is, like Alkybiades Nemeicus, one of the few Pure Ones who is not of Hattian origin. Mars doesn’t share their racial prejudices, but is concerned about the Thyatian way slowly losing ground as the main philosophy of the Empire. He blames Thincol for not having been able to root out the Empire’s chronic corruption - and he implies that one of the reasons is that Thincol himself is corrupt in the first place. The election of Sixtus is considered a shame by Duke Callastian, and although few Retebians admit to having voted for him, many a citizen of the Duchy has been heard muttering ‘well, he’s a bit excessive, but, he has nailed it, hasn’t he?”

SCLARAS, CARYTION & BORYDOS

These three islands are Protectorates in the Sea of Dread which elect one Senator. Sclaras is an island made of estates reserved for wealthy wizards. Carytion is an island which hosts a naval base and some scattered villages; most of Carytion, however, is made of wealthy estates and the island is the “non-wizardly” equivalent of Sclaras. Borydos is a prison island.

Population: Sclaras 5,000; Carytion 5,000; Borydos 5,000 (4,500 prisoners)

Rulers: Sclaras is officially ruled by the throne, i.e., Emperor Thincol, but is in fact left to the powerful wizards that live on it. Carytion has no official ruler, so the highest authority on the island is Archduke Derentarius, Praetor of the Mainland Islands. Borydos is ruled by Prison Director Decio Tertullianus.

Senator: Antonius Nasica, Gens Zendrolian.

Antonius Nasica (born 930, M20, LN) managed to win the elections by combining two important aspects of these island protectorates’ features: he’s both a former Prison Director on Borydos, and a skilled wizard who owns an estate on Sclaras. A stern, uncompromising man, he left the post as Director in Borydos only a few years ago, and his memory is still fresh among the 500 army personnel. The wizards of Sclaras decided to vote for him instead of for his chief rival candidate, an Army official in Carytion.

SHADOW COAST

This area is divided into two Provinces, Septentriona and Meridiona. They are almost entirely untamed wilderness, largely left to its own devices. Most of the sparse population consists of Dunael-descended people, with a few Thyatian colonists from the Mainland especially in Septentriona, a land of thick woods, while Meridiona is more a collection of highlands and bogs.

Population: more than 10,000

Ruler: Septentriona is officially ruled by Commander General Deitica Baralius. Meridiona has no official ruler. The highest governmental officer is Quintus Fabius, the Praetor of the Southern Isle of Dawn, whose seat is in Redstone.

Senator: Scott Minnear; Tribunus.

Scott Minnear (born 963, C10 (of Asterius), CG) is a traveling bard and priest who has been elected three times in a row to the Senate, where he is almost never seen. He has also been Tribunus thrice in a row and spends all his term wandering throughout the Shadow Coast, and occasionally to the main cities of the Isle of Dawn, to perform duties as judge or lawyer, and to administer justice, teachings, exorcisms, healings and blessings. A gaunt man with red hair, freckled pale skin and sea-blue eyes, Minnear is a popular figure in the Shadow Coast.

TEL AKBIR

The Duchy of Tel Akbir is grassy in the south, turning arid to the north. Its population is more of Alasiyan than Thyatian descent - and shares a bit of the Alasiyan attitude towards women and wizards, although believers in the Eternal Truth are quite rare here. The beautiful capital Tel Akbir (20,000) is a harmonic blend of sea-port, fishing and farming community, and military base.

Population: 150,000

Dominion ruler: Duke Tarik ben Nadir.

Senators:

Duke Tarik ben Nadir, Gens Aemilia.

Farid ben Nadir (ruler representative), Gens Aemilia.

Hassad Fatnoussi, (first elected), Gens Zendrolian; Tribunus.

Laakkad Abdelhadi, (second elected), Gens Aemilia

Abderrahim Essaidi, (third elected), Free Thinkers

Sheik Tarik ben Nadir (born 937, F12, N), formally a Duke, rules Tel Akbir. He is a great trader and keeps a knowledgeable eye and hand on the merchant guilds of the city. A subtle man, very polite and civilized, he is nonetheless capable of great and treacherous revenge when crossed. Exceedingly proud of his Alasiyan ancestry, he has a bit of an old-fashioned view about women. He is also brother of General Leilah ben Nadir (born 939, C20 of Tarastia, LN) military commander of Raven Scarp in the Hinterlands, and it doesn’t come as a surprise that he has not exchanged a friendly word with his sister in forty years. Leilah ran away from home to join the Order of Tarastia and then the Army of Thyatis. She distinguished herself during the Alphatian Spike assault, has been twice married, and survived both adventurer-husbands. She is a capable but not inventive garrison commander, and does not allow for wartime atrocities. She uses potions of longevity to look about 30 years younger.

Tarik has many sons and daughters. His third child, Farid (born 974, F3, NG) is his appointed heir and representative at the Senate. His youngest daughter Jamila (T1, CN) seems destined to follow her aunt’s footsteps, much to the chagrin of her father.

The most popular Senator in Tel Akbir is Hassad Fatnoussi (born 950, F7, LE). A shrewd politician, a lawyer and an occasional judge, Fatnoussi, who began as an army lawyer in Fort Nikos, has been twice a Quaestor and once a Praetor, and is set to become a Consul before he reaches fifty. Fatnoussi is a legal expert, with ties to the most wealthy families of the Duchy that he has exploited to get elected in five elections in a row through their web of relatives, clients and associates. He is careful to stay perfectly on the right side of the law - his conscience is satisfied by ‘playing the game by the rules’, without taking too much into account the suffering that might cause.

Laakkad Abdelhadi (born 954, T(Rake) 10, TN) is a follower of Sheik ben Nadir. He has fought in the Thyatian Army since he was eighteen, as a spy and scout on the Isle of Dawn, and has a good knowledge of the Alphatian culture and language. He left the Army about twelve years ago and rose quickly in the ranks of the Duke’s collaborators. He has often administered justice in the name of the Duke and is known as a serious, balanced and objective man - qualities that are taken into great account by Tel Akbiran voters.

Abderrahim Essaidi (born 968, C11 (of Protius), CG) is a priest who has traveled and adventured especially in Ylaruam and the Northern Reaches, sailing north up as far as Oceansend and Alpha, and has even been to Hule and the Savage Coast once. He is a well-read man who speaks several languages and has a gift for music (he plays a variety of string and brass instruments). A moderate conservative who shares many ideas with Aemilii and Aureli, albeit in a less confrontational manner with the other factions, Abderrahim prefers considering himself a ‘Free Thinker’, as he is opposed to the concept of the factions itself (and thus even more the concept of a true ‘party’ like the Republicans). He is friendly to several of the moderate conservative and/or seamen in the Senate (from Archduke Derentarius and Count Geraldan Actavius to Scribonio Fratojanni). He is a close friend of Corus Viator.

TERENTIAS

The greatest bone of contention between Thyatis and Minrothad, Terentias has been in control of the Mactator family for the last two hundred years - but bad feelings take a long time to die, especially among long-lived Minrothad elves.

Terentians are traders, sailors and pirates; Crossbones (pop. 5,000), the island’s capital and home to the Archduke’s fortress, is a lively trading port that many a thinly disguised pirate vessel calls home.

Population: 25,000 (60% humans, 40% elves)

Dominion ruler: Archduke Derentarius Mactator.

Senators:

Archduke Derentarius Mactator, Gens Aurelia; Praetor of the Mainland Islands.

Aegus Noceti (ruler representative), Gens Aurelia.

Maximus Cosmatos, Gens Aurelia (first elected)

Corus Viator, Populares (second elected)

Marius Honoribus, Populares (third elected)

Delphina Koteas, Gens Sergia (fourth elected)

Sindarin Miele, Republicans (fifth elected)

Archduke Derentarius Mactator (born 964, T23, TN), Praetor of the Mainland Islands and former Consul of Thyatis, is one of the most important politicians of Gens Aurelia. The fierce Archduke is a skilled fighter, an adventurer and a former Army officer. Derentarius is a religious man, although in his very personal way. He is a follower of Protius, the Old Man of the Sea, a bold, brave sea-fighter who respects valor, personal integrity and isn’t above using menace and force to get his way - after all, the spell and the sword are the way of the man of power and man has to fight his way in the world to get respect in the eyes of the Immortals - and this also explains how a supporter of Gens Aurelia can also be an endorser of piracy. The man has no patience with cowards and legal pettifoggers, and has a hearty dislike for the Philosophers, for Gens Sergia, for the Republicans and for the Pure Ones. He is not overly fond of the Emperor, but thinks Thincol is sufficiently worthy to fill the role. He has a strong personal magnetism and is very egalitarian for a Thyatian aristocrat, something that brings him close to Duke Leonidas Ruggiero.

Archduke Derentarius and Duke Maldinius Kerendas are arch-enemies, driven by a love-and-hate relationship towards each other that is growing to legendary status in the Empire. They are often rival orators whenever their faction needs to provoke the other one’s faction; they have duelled more than once; and even fought for the same women, more to outplay each other than for real interest. While Maldinius is cold, calculating and smooth, Derentarius is all controlled fury and his violence is natural, and not calculated, to him, although he has learned over time to control it. Like Maldinius, Derentarius isn’t married but has fathered more than a son and daughter all over the Sea of Dread and the Sea of Dawn.

The Mactator family received their surname (which means “butcher”) because of the fierce way the first Mactator Archduke wrestled away the islands from Minrothad, but they resent the name, and never use it if possible - a sure way to enrage Derentarius is to call him “Archduke/Senator/Quaestor Mactator”. The Mactators are respected and admired in Terentias, but not overtly loved. Derentarius’s parents both died a few years ago during a naval incident, along with his younger brother. Derentarius has no other close relatives, and isn’t in a hurry to choose a heir.

Derentarius has more than an ounce of Elven blood in his veins: two of his grandmothers, one on the father’s side and one on the mother’s, were half-elves (making him ¼ Elf). He is about 5 feet 9 inches tall, lean, with slightly pointed ears, honey gold eyes, blue-black hair, and a healthy, sun-tanned golden complexion. He has a short-trimmed beard which already shows hints of grey, but otherwise doesn’t look one year older than 25, something that is a clear advantage towards enemies who underestimate him.

Derentarius has chosen, as his senatorial representative, the raider-priest Aegus Noceti (born 955, C11 (of Protius), CN). A former pirate, Aegus became a cleric of Protius under the patronage of a battle-seapriest with whom he had fought raiding ships from Minrothad and Ierendi in his late twenties. He is a respected and well-known figure in Terentias, and even now occasionally sails as a priest on raids and is known to invoke the blessing of Protius and of the Immortals on pirate and mercantile ships alike. Married thrice, with a score of sons and daughters who are mostly sailors, fishermen and pirates themselves, Aegus is obsessed with the sea and uninterested with matters in the Senate, where he attends only when Derentarius asks it from him, generally to vote on important matters - if he can be found in time.

Terentians are known to vote Populares candidates, with the occasional Senator with Republican or Sergii ideals - it can be considered a moderate left stronghold. The Archduke’s piousness has brought to the Senate some priests of Protius in the last years, that can be considered supporters of the Archduke and Gens Aurelia. The last of these Senator-seapriests is Maximus Cosmatos (born 969, C7 (of Protius), NG), a thirty-odd year old man with a bald head, black moustache and beard, and fiery, dark eyes. An enthusiastic follower of the Archduke, Maximus doesn’t feel at home in the luxurious City, constrained by the maze of alleys and the amount of people. He has befriended Gawain McLeod, another confused Senator new to the city.

Two Populares Senators were elected in Terentias. Corus Viator is a merchant who has travelled over most of the Sea of Dread. He has the support of Terentian merchants who would like to boost trade with Minrothad (and are not into piracy) and sees Derentarius as a bit of a bore. The merchants don’t want to cross the powerful Archduke, but they want the Senate to fight piracy and encourage diplomatic missions to the west with Minrothad, Ierendi, Karameikos and the Five Shires. The smooth-talking, nice, reassuring and confident Corus has been the right man for that for two terms now. Corus travels often with his adolescent son Favonius, while his wife Helena stays home with a younger son and daughter.

His colleague Marius Honoribus (born 956, T5, NE) has been bought up by Maldinius Kerendas. Marius plays the role of a humble Populares Senator, but in fact he keeps an eye on Derentarius for the Duke of Kerendas, at the same time trying to use forged reports and paid witnesses to provide evidence against the Archduke and push Corus Viator or Sindarin Miele to some more or less open political action that can harm Derentarius.

Delphina Koteas (born 962, T8, CG) is the Sergii Senator of Terentias. Although Terentians, especially because of the elven settlers, are not as chauvinistic as other Mainland Thyatians, it was not easy for Delphina to be elected here, the second woman to achieve this feat in the last 20 years, mainly because of her fame as a clever sailor and tradeswoman. She is an intelligent, perceptive woman who resents the way her fellow Senators treat her, especially the aristocrats. She is fond of Derentarius, who seems to her much better than the other aristocrats, but she cannot accept his theocratic views of Thyatian society, so she has found herself to be closer to Gens Sergia. Delphina is a beautiful widow with sun-tanned skin, light brown hair and hazel eyes. She has two children (Melissa, born 990, and Demetra, born 993) from her late husband, and is extremely discreet but very liberal in her affairs with men.

Sindarin Miele (born 860, T6/M9, CG) is an elf, and a Republican. He is the most vocal opponent of Derentarius on Terentias, whom he considers a reckless brute who hides behind the faith in Protius. Miele takes great pleasure in calling the Archduke ‘Lord Mactator’. Miele realizes that without the Empire of Thyatis, most cultures of the Known World would risk their independence and, ultimately, destruction at the hands of other powers like Hule or Alphatia. That doesn’t prevent him from dreaming of turning the Empire into a Confederacy of truly independent dominions - not like the pharce those Philosophers like to believe about Ochalea and the Nuari islands.

THYATIS

The sprawling center of the Empire, the Duchy and City of Thyatis is the most populous and wealthiest dominion in the Empire. A thriving center for trade and warfare for a thousand years, the City features the Empire’s largest seaport, broad streets of concrete, huge public works and buildings, but also degenerated sprawls and ghettos, and more corruption than any other part of the Empire. Thyatis elects three Senators from the Duchy, and two extra Senators as representatives of the City itself.

Population: 1,500,000

Dominion ruler: Duke Eusebius Torion.

Senators:

Duke Eusebius Torion, Gens Zendrolian, Censor.

Sullianus Pica (ruler representative), Gens Zendrolian.

Angelarian Canolocarius³, Free Thinkers; Tribunus.

Helenites Osteropolous⁴, Gens Aemilia

Aesculapius Lupercalis, (third elected), Populares

Flavia Metonenzes, (fourth elected), Gens Zendrolian; Tribunus.

Dexter Femurlongum, (fifth elected), Populares

The nominal ruler of Thyatis is traditionally the Emperor’s heir - in this case, Eusebius Torion, the son of Emperor Thincol. As a Duke, Eusebius is also a Senator of the Empire⁵.

Sullianus Pica (born 966, C7 of Solarios, LN) has been chosen by Eusebius Torion as his representative in the Senate. Pica is only slightly younger than Eusebius, and is his spiritual advisor. Pica is an ambitious priest, who sees in Eusebius the chance to restore Solarios’s clergy to prominence in the Empire - instead of being lickspittle dogs subjected to the whim of the arrogant Church of Thyatis. His opinion is not shared by the majority of Solarios’s clergy, who is supportive of the Church of Thyatis and see themselves (probably deluding themselves a bit) as equal partner in Gens Aurelia.

Helenites Osteropolus (born 947, Normal Man, CE) is one of the most corrupt and greedy senators of the Empire. He has served as Senator of the City for about thirty years. His great skills and charisma (Ch 18) allow him to retain an air of innocence that makes him seem more naive than guilty and allowing him to pass wrongdoings as mistakes. He has ties with the Shadow Hand, with the zzonga drug trade, with rigged games at the Coliseum and with illegal gambling. Politically, Helenites is on the conservative side of Gens Aemilia. He is a subtle enemy of the Emperor, using his ties with the Aemilii to present himself as a champion of the Senators and of the Thyatian population. He is also subtly playing with the xenophobic ideals of the nationalists and Hattian suprematists to undermine Thincol’s support by trying to use his ethnic background against him; he has also used his current position as the Prefect of the XIVth Cohort of the Imperial Legions (stationed in Hattias) to do so.

His late father Marius (918+976) was also a Senator before him. Helenites has recently been at odds with his son Pulcher (born 978, Normal Man, CN) because of his relationship with the decadent, zzonga-addict Alphatian wizard Elemaledai⁶.

Flavia Metonenzes (born 965, Normal Woman, LG) is one of a handful of elected women to the Senate in Mainland Thyatis. She is devoted to the Immortal Tarastia, patroness of Justice and Revenge. A wise and experienced woman, she is publicly recognized as a just and honest figure in a world of corruption - although she too has retorted to the “occasional indiscretion”, as she might put it.

There are two Populares Senators elected in Thyatis. Aesculapius Lupercalis (born 944, T(Rake) 2, TN) is a merchant. He has travelled all over the Empire since he was 16, in the company of his father Marcus (born 920, NM, TN) and his uncle Adrian (born 922, NM, TN). When he reached forty, wealthy and happy, with a young, beautiful wife (Michaela Callicratis, born 960, NW, NG) and two small daughters (Patricia, born 982, NW, NG, and Aristeia, born 984), he decided to enter politics. Since then, he managed to rise slowly in the eyes of the Populares, and he managed to enter the Senate, where he is serving his third term. The work in the Senate has affected him much: he had always perceived some corruption and treachery as a natural and non-harmful part of the Empire, but having witnessed the enormity of the problem (from the City districts, the corrupt clientes of politicians and men of power, to the influence of the Shadow Hand and the corruption among the ranks of the Senators), he sees his old self as a naive fool. Although he is a decent, quite honest man, he hasn’t still found a way to use his skills to make an impact. His loving wife is worried for him, as he has become increasingly brooding in the last few years.

Dexter Femurlongum (born 963, T5, NE) is yet another Shadow Hand man in the Senate, who gets most of his votes from the slums of the City in exchange for money or because they fear him (or the people he represents).

VYALIA

Located in the westernmost part of Mainland Thyatis, this County is heavily-wooded and lightly populated by the Vyalia elf clans: Blueleaf, jewellers, painters and sculptors; Diamarak, forest-wardens and rangers; Etheredyl, philosophers and mystics; Greenheight, outgoing and boisterous friends of humans and halflings; Hierydyl, scholars, genealogists and naturalists; and Treeshield, soldiers and adventurers. The main settlements of Vyalia are the capital Greenheight (pop. 1,000) and the human/halfling/elven community of Foreston (pop. 5,000), the main center of training for the elven-sponsored elite human rangers called Foresters.

Population: 20,000 (74% humans, 25% elves, 1% halflings)

Dominion ruler: Count Yldrisyl Greenheight

Senators:

Linfarillien Greenheight (ruler representative), Philosophers.

Ralynna Blueleaf, (first elected), Gens Sergia

Diatres Imlacris (second elected), Philosophers; Tribunus.

Count Yldrisyl Greenheight (born 496, F10/W10, LG) rules the County of Vyalia and the city of Greenheight. The son of Yntherin, who first agreed to sponsor the Foresters some 800 years ago, he is fond of human cultures and a scholar of Thyatian ceremonies and entertainments. He is a pale elf with black hair and eyes, who likes to dress in comfortable forest green tunics and black boots. The merry, life-loving Yldrisyl has never married, but he has fathered a dozen sons and daughters through a score of human and elven partners. His heir presumptive is his firtsborn Anthelion Greenheight (born 619, F12/W8/C4 of Ilsundal, NG), a retired adventurer and now a Treekeeper and priest of Ilsundal. Anthelion’s mother is Evelina Longfingers (born 504, W5, NG), a master woodcutter and painter well renowned in Thyatis. Anthelion grew up with his mother and her family, and he is on excellent terms with both parents.

Linfarillien Greenheight (born 754, W10, CG), a member of Greenheight clan, not related to count Yldrisyl, is the ruler representative of the Vyalia clans. Although formally nominated by the Count, the representative is actually chosen by a council of the elven Clans of the County.

Ralynna Blueleaf (born 910, Bard 9/Wizard 4, CN) has been elected for her first term as a Senator. She wanted to try it more out of curiosity than any other reasons, and since there were no strong candidates, she arrived first in a fairly close election. She is a sculptor, actor and dancer, and is thinking of using the rivalry between Maldinius Kerendas and Derentarius Mactator as the subject of her first play, “The Duellists”. At the moment she has written only the title and the first act. A reckless young elf, she is also toying with the dangerous idea of seducing both men, known womanizers, to learn more of their characters and maybe to stir things up to a worthy finale. She ‘hides’ herself among the Sergii - because she considers them the least interesting people in the Senate (bar the Philosophers) she thinks she will get less trouble from them than if she joined other factions.

The elected Senator Diatres Imlacris (born 961, NM, NG) is a human who represents Foreston, its environs, and many of the non-elven inhabitants, though he has definitely a Vyalian point of view on things. A respected political figure, fairly neutral, he owns a well-kept estate in northeastern Thyatis City.

WEST PORTAGE & Central Isle of Dawn

West Portage (pop. 2,000) is a city of thieves, officially ruled by a Guild of Merchants that are in fact the local thieves’ guild, guided by Lareth Kubek (born 969, T12, CN), its guildmaster. It is the terminus for a 100-mile portage trail where goods and even some ships are carted across the island at its narrowest point, over to the Alphatian-controlled East Portage. The population here is mostly of Thyatian and Alphatian descent. West Portage is the most important non-dominion city in the Central Isle of Dawn, and it elects a single representant along with the other free cities and villages in the area.

Population: more than 10,000

Ruler: Guildmaster Lareth Kubek rules over West Portage. The other non-dominion settlements of this area have no official ruler. The most important governmental officer is Archduke Donegal Firestorm, the Praetor of Northern Isle of Dawn.

Senator: Periandra Docerius, Gens Zendrolian (elected)

Periandra Docerius is an enemy of Julia Kendasius of Kendach, as Periandra is trying to lobby to become the independent Baroness of West Portage, something that would close expansion in the area to the ambitious Countess. Periandra is the daughter of Senator Docerius’s sister Diulanna.

WESTROURKE

A Thyatian Grand Duchy, it was founded over 500 years ago and granted Grand Duchy status in 970. Newkirk (pop. 25,000) is the capital, a heavily-fortified and well-defended city. Archduke Firestorm maintains a series of signalling stations stretching from Newkirk to the Finnegan’s Watch in the north, to warn of oncoming armies or fleets.

Population: 50,000

Dominion ruler: Archduke Donegal Firestorm.

Senators:

Archduke Donegal Firestorm, Gens Zendrolian, Praetor of the Northern Isle of Dawn.

Thrainkell Firestorm (ruler representative), Gens Zendrolian.

Mark Craig, Populares (first elected)

Alysandra Mori, Gens Zendrolian (second elected)

Gail Strachan, Populares (third elected)

Maurus Spica, Gens Sergia (fourth elected), Quaestor of the Northern Isle of Dawn

Gavin Burnie, Republicans (fifth elected)

Donegal Firestorm (born 950, F20, TN) is the ruler of Westrourke on the Isle of Dawn. He is the nephew of Thincol on his mother’s side, and is intending to carve his own domain in Westrourke just like Stephan Karameikos did in Traladara.

His son Thrainkell Firestorm (born 976, C6 of Vanya, LN) is his heir and his father’s appointed representative in the Senate, where Donegal shows up very rarely. Thrainkell is a bit appalled by his father’s attitude, since he thinks it will be much more difficult for him to obtain independence if he doesn’t work politically for it in the Senate.

Donegal’s mother Beate Torsdatter (932, NW, TN) is an older sister of Emperor Thincol. She married Donegal’s father Kerry Firestorm (920+975), Count of Westrourke, as he had fallen in love with her after several trips to Oceansend. Her relationship with the Emperor allowed Westrourke to rise as a regional power, from a mere County to a Grand-Duchy, something that is resented by the other rulers of the Isle of Dawn - and putting ideas of ambition in the heads of more than one person, like Periandra Docerius and Julia Kendasius, for instance.

Alysandra Mori (born 960, F7, LN) is a Gens Zendrolian supporter at her second term as elected Senator of Westrourke. There are quite a few of them, especially in the city of Westrourke, that benefited most from the rise to Grand-Duchy, and that are thus grateful to Emperor Thincol and look with favour on Archduke Donegal. Alysandra is a supporter of the Emperor, and doesn’t like Donegal’s (and Thrainkell’s) ideas about a possible independence. After what happened with Stephan Karameikos, Thincol has contacted her and she is his person of trust in the Grand-Duchy. Alysandra is of mixed Alphatian and Thyatian descent.

The first elected of the local Senators is Mark Craig (born 948, NM, CG), a Populares. A popular, wealthy merchant, Craig was born in Westrourke and has seen the great benefits that Westrourke reaped from their relationship with Thincol, and now sees two very dangerous threats to the stability and happiness of his fellow citizens - one is Thrainkell’s desire for independence, that he sees is destined to incur in the wrath of the Torion family; the other is the Torions’ attitude towards the Alphatians and what he perceives as their appetite for war on the Isle of Dawn. Thus he is an outspoken pacifist Populares in the Senate, and he spends much time in the capital lobbying with like-minded Sergii and Philosophers.

Gail Strachan (born 971, C9 (of Diulanna), CG), a Populares woman from the northern part of the Grand-Duchy, elected for the first time in 997, is a popular adventuress in the north and at the eastern borders of the Grand-Duchy, where she fought against raiders and humanoids, and has also traveled south towards the Shadow Coast, where she is considered part of the ‘dhampirs’, a loose group of vampire-hunters. Gail is friendly towards Maurus Spica, with whom she has worked on-and-off in the last five years and who convinced her to try running in the last elections. She thinks that both Mark Craig and Gavin Burnie have good points about Westrourke’s present and future status, and at the moment she hasn’t decided on which side of the Westrourke independence debate she is.

Maurus Spica (born 966, F9, LN), elected for his second term in 997, is not very concerned with senatorial politics, and prefers doing his duty as a Quaestor in Westrourke, West Portage and Kendach. He is spending increasingly more time in West Portage, something that the Thieves’ Guild there doesn’t like at all. To get him away from there, the Thieves’ Guild has started paying brigands and humanoids along the border to sack and raid farms and villages, so that in the last two years Spica has spent a lot of time there with his men to prevent and respond to the new threat. Marcus is in love with Gail Strachan, although he is married with three children, and tries not to think about his sentimental troubles by overworking.

Gavin Burnie (born 970, F3, CN) is a member of the Republicans. He gets many of his votes from Westrourke separatists, as the Republican Party has given its support to the independentist cause in the hope of breaking new ground and building here the first example of their new form of government. Gavin is a smith and armorer and has many friends among the adventurers and common soldiers in Westrourke.

1 Sources are: “TSR1037: Dawn of the Emperors”, A. Allston; “DDA1: Legion of Thyatis”; “DDA2: Arena of Thyatis”; “A History of Thyatian Literature”, G. Caroletti and J. Ruhland; “Thyatian Variant Government”, J. Ruhland; “Ochalea Gazetteer”, G. Agosta; “The Thyatian Senate”, G. Caroletti and G. Agosta.

3 “Dawn of the Emperors”, Book 1, page 30, says there are 2 city representatives, to sum to the three duchy representatives they make five.

5 Emperor Thincol, Duke Eusebius and the Torion family will be detailed more fully in an upcoming issue of Threshold, along with the Conscripti, or “meritory senators”. Fore more on the “meritory senators”, see also “Patres and Conscripti”, in Threshold #2, pp. 148-164.