The Estates Immaculate: A Partial Hexcrawl

The Estates Immaculate: the province of Imperial immediacy, personal grounds of the Emperor. Where sit the Palaces, Chancelleries, Academies and ritual Colleges of the Empire. 

A thousand separate foundations and freeholds, ten thousand ancient charters, a hundred thousand stipends, sinecures and pensions. An Emperor yet to earn the name that will be awarded by his death. 

This is but one segment of the Estates. Two gates sit in the ancient walls, with their extramural settlements, barbicans, formal thresholds, and internal customs houses. At the base of the map, below 09, is the sanctum sanctorum. (Eventually.)

The walls themselves mimic military forms, but have lost all military function long ago, serving as a proclamation of imperial power and a boundary marker. Eclectic features bedeck the walls, most famously the great Pylons. 

Things to remember about the Estates Immaculate:

• Most laws, however ancient, are still in effect, and most laws have an exception.
• Most things here were built for what seemed to be at the time a very good reason, and as a matter of policy.
• Everyone has a better right to be there than you, and can back it up.
• Everyone has a right to appeal directly to the Emperor's Person. Legally, the Emperor has a very big person. Such appeals still take a long time.
• Everyone steps on everyone else's toes. Chances are, you're probably on somebody else's property.

It will be supposed (both by the author, and by gate-wardens asking for letters of transit!) that those entering the Estates have a good reason to be there, and will be heading for one destination in particular.

Map made using Hexographer.

00.00 Gate of Lawmaker IV

Those passing through this gate are taken immediately to 00.01. 

01.00  Wall

The Walls of the the Estates are maintained by hereditary clans - joint masons and small-holders. Those in this stretch go by the sign of a red trowel.

The wall here is well maintained, if ill-policed. The wall is studded with ornamental prows, some bearing absolutely no resemblance to anything a self-respecting sailor would ever take to the waters in.

02.00 Wall 

The Walls of the the Estates are maintained by hereditary clans - joint masons and small-holders. Those in this stretch go by the sign of a red trowel.

The wall here is well maintained, if ill-policed. The wall is studded with ornamental prows, some bearing absolutely no resemblance to anything a self-respecting sailor would ever take to the waters in.

03.00 Wall 

The Walls of the the Estates are maintained by hereditary clans - joint masons and small-holders. Those in this stretch go by the sign of a coiled green plum-bob.

This stretch of wall is less well maintained. It is easier to cross, but the clan know all the accustomed crossing points and make a pleasant living extorting wall-jumpers. The wall is covered in numerous ragged green banners.

04.00 Gate of Crusader VI

Those passing through this gate are taken immediately to 04.01

05.00 Wall 

The Walls of the the Estates are maintained by hereditary clans - joint masons and small-holders. Those in this stretch go by the sign of a coiled green plum-bob.

This stretch of wall is less well maintained. It is easier to cross, but the clan know all the accustomed crossing points and make a pleasant living extorting wall-jumpers.  The wall is covered in numerous ragged green banners.

00.01 'Taxed portal'

All goods passing through here are subject to a fee and a light inspection, in accordance with the present scheme of taxation.

Past the customs house, numerous officials, vendors, tastemakers and well-wishers jostle for the attention of travellers - especially those heading straight for the Court. Lawmaker Northgate is a key stop for those on imperial business.

01.01 Military Road

Built to support the Estate walls and move troops rapidly along them, those on this road not possessing the titles or documents of sufficient importance may be subject to the seizure of tools and building equipment and impressment into the Corps of Muraleers. 

The Estates Immaculate have not been threatened militarily for centuries.

Many of the Road encounters below would fit here.

02.01 Military Road

See 01.01.

03.01 Military Road

See 01.01.

04.01 'Untaxed portal'

Goods passing through here are subject to no formal exercise duties, but will be painstakingly inspected and a fee of indefinite size potentially levied by the Assayers of the Passage, in accordance with their ancient charter.

Fewer travellers pass by Crusader Tychogate; it is held to be somehow less respectable. Those who do are still targets for the townsfolk.

05.01 Military Road

See 01.01.

00.02 Sacred Cattle

In the pastures here are cattle descended from the herd blessed by an ancient saint. They have grown accustomed to their privileges, and do not have their horns removed or blunted.

The White Cattle of Chillingham, by Landseer

01.02 Road

See below.

02.02 Monastery

This Monastery has produced a fine crop of theologians and professors of the faith. It maintains a fine library and a busy scriptorium, and is accommodating for visiting scholars.

03.02 Folly

On top of this hill is a big statue of a heron, incorporating a many-turrerted tower within itself. A number of eccentrics re-enact ancient battles and religious tableau about its feet.

04.02 Road

See below.

05.02 Road

See below.

00.03 Wheat

Fields of wheat are maintained in an elaborate raised set of fields under conditions of ritual purity. Those who till the soil are quite willing to turn ploughshares into swords in order to maintain these conditions.

01.03 Road

See below.

02.03 Faun Commune

Fauns dwell here, living their mild, Epicurean lives. They are remarkably hospitable, especially to visiting noblemen after a taste of the Caprine life.

03.03 Temple

The shrine here was once a heathen temple. The uncharitable (and the enemies of the incumbent priest) say that it still is.

04.03 Horsebreeders

A notable stables and several paddocks dwell here. They rear and train patient, elegant horses for the Emperor's Household.

05.03 Cemetery hills

The hills here hide the ritual sites of the Enshrouded Order of the Eighth Aspect. Behind every spur, a graveyard, a barrow, a mausoleum.

00.04 Village

This village offers to the visitor the perfect vision of life in the Estates: the benevolent gaze of the Emperor, the rich fields, the comfortable homes. It's not quite a deception, but they do play it up for the tourists. 

01.04 Road

See below.

02.04 Citadel - The Custodian Knights of St Castrum

The crusader's Commandery here is less a fortress (for all that it has high walls and strong gates) and more a political outpost, to agitate within the Imperial Court for men, supplies and gold.

Beyond that, however, it is a posting for the exhausted, wounded and combat-fatigued to recover in the salubrious surroundings of the Estates.

03.04 Road

See below.

04.04 Road

See below.

05.04 Vineyard

This vineyard is mounted on the terraced slopes of a hill of alchemically enriched soil. The high terrace walls are arranged in an angular fashion, giving the impression of a lush ziggurat. 

The fauns from 02.03 are a source of occasional labour here, frequently taking their payment in kind.

00.05 Ruins

Within the ruins of an ancient town, the Order of the Steel Suns practice warfare. Surely the ghastly cries that come from within are only the sounds of the melee?

01.05 Road

See below.

02.05 Road

See below.

03.05 Elf Grove

These woods are a diplomatic enclave of Woodland Elves, who keep an ambassadorial facade with a 'more Sylvan than thou' attitude.

They are perennially bothered by missionaries from the Monastery at 05.06.

04.05 Memorial

A column here is set in memory of an ancient battle. The guardians of the site would love to tell you all about it.

05.05 Tower

Atop these hills, the Swift and Resplendent Order of the Fourth Aspect maintain a tower with numerous vaults and safe-rooms.

00.06 Monastery

This Abbey is a wealthy and well-appointed foundation, known as a favoured destination for the pious aristocrat.

01.06 Road

See below.

02.06 Pleasure Grounds

This is nothing short of a remarkably pleasant parkland. Walking on the grass whilst wearing armour is strictly forbidden: the turf here has been carefully kept for five centuries. Two hundred years more and it might start looking quite good.

03.06 Lake

A narrow lake, used more for boating than any given industry. Jetties, islets and other little features of passing interest line it.

04.06 Elf Grove

These groves are more private than the Embassy, and the place any Elf of taste would actually care to visit.

05.06 Monastery 

This monastery is known for the rigours of their chosen discipline, a fact reflected in the architecture of their cloisters and stark, square, carefully whitewashed cells.

00.07 Flowerbeds

Here are fields and orchards, producing flowers and blossoms of every hue to serve in the floral offerings and decorations for the rites and banquets of the Imperial Household.

01.07 Road

See below.

02.07 Reed beds

The edges of the lake are kept as reed beds to form a home for waterfowl. Hunters can be found here in season.

03.07 Lake

See 03.06.

04.07 Sculpture Gardens

Several statues sit in sculpted avenues here. A favourite meeting place for wizards, who enjoy contemplating art that has no magical origin whatsoever.

05.07 River

Beside the river is a beautiful network of marinas, holding pleasure boats that see on average one outing each year. Numerous sand paths on twining quaysides with trimmed grass verges. 

00.08 Proving Grounds

A series of parade squares and meadows, maintained for the training of the Imperial Cataphracts. 

01.08 Road

See below.

02.08 Questors' Stronghold

Questors of the Manifest Rite have a fortified manor house here for privately holding trials of the faithful. They do not appreciate having their deliberations interrupted. 

03.08 Reed beds

See 02.08.

04.08 River

The river here is clear of boats, flowing swiftly to the lake.

05.08 Village

A charming community of former Imperial intelligencers and inquisitors, all seemingly going by obvious aliases. The whole set-up is monitored and governed by an avuncular wizard, wearing many different faces and possessing a terrifying spherical familiar.

00.09 Proving Grounds

See 00.08

01.09 Village

The inhabitants of this village are rustic philosophers, who gather in the evenings to discuss the workings of the cosmos and the joys of country life. (They rely on the generous subsidy of a Prince of the Blood for their continued good fortune; he finds them amusing.)

02.09 Dormitory of the Scribes

This is less a village than a barrack-block: modern, planned complexes of stone buildings. Scribes, clerks and lesser secretaries of the Imperial Court dwell here, trudging from their offices each evening. It is utterly deserted during the day, but has a surprisingly active nightlife. 

03.09 Real Tennis Courts

A tight quad of tennis courts, kept in pleasant grounds for the benefit of the Imperial Court.

04.09 River

Beside the river is a beautiful network of marinas, holding pleasure boats that see on average one outing each year.

05.09 Villa-strewn hills

These hills contain numerous pavilions, lodges and getaways for denizens of the Court seeking privacy.

Road Encounters

1. A party of pilgrims
2. A travelling noble (and escort)
3. A convoy of petitioners
4. A troop of Imperial troops en route to an award ceremony
5. An urgent emissary
6. A ritual guardian demands that you face him in a joust before you may pass!
7. A clan of charioteers mimicking what one chronicler's description of the distant past demand meat, strong drink and entertainment from you.
8. A friendly man, eager for conversation. He is an Importer of Ideas, who looks to recruit by fair means or foul, fresh talent and novelties for the jaded palates of dwellers within the Estate.
9. A party of roadworkers, repairing the ancient highways in an immensely awkward but completely permitted fashion.
10. This is a party from the Ephorate of Conductors. A recently established group in the Estates Immaculate, unlike other guides, escorts or transit officials they are strictly permitted to only accept gifts or extort bribes from people when they have arrived at their destination. 

As from previously on this blog: 

The Estates Immaculate – The Imperial City, Pleasure Grounds, Centre of the Manifest Rite.

Surrounded by The Pylons of Macrobius. Boundary markers.  Gets weird inside. Ancient dynasties of seneschals, ancient rituals. Very Gormenghast.   

Inspirations include Virconium. Julie Taymor’s Titus - a city set about by ruins and ancient customs, where the past overwhelms the present.  Marco Polo in the Court of Kublai Khan. The Pillow Book. An edge of Warhammer 40K or The Book of the New Sun would not be inappropriate.

Ancient religious elements still exist. Rumours of infidel cults. Imperial Cults, &c. exist – spun off from ancient, less than entirely Church approved beliefs.

The Estates Immaculate are meant to be the size of a county (perhaps two), rather than the equivalent of Habsburg Austria within the Holy Roman Empire.

Sprezzaturra on the Breeze

The slowly evolving Enlightenment-inspired setting (White Hot Sparks, I suppose) includes, among other things, a desire to talk about magic and how it manifests in different ways, thus leading to theorising and speculation on the part of in-universe magicians. Thus, the appearance of magical prospectors and surveyors in recent posts: one is seeking for magic as one would search for a vein of metal, the other tracking ley-lines, assessing connections and distances. 

Part of me was concerned about running dry on ways to properly describe this sort of thing, but then I struck upon a useful source: the Winds of Magic in Warhammer Fantasy.

These are the most characteristic features of magic from Warhammer; a brief history of their appearance and treatment may be found here, courtesy of Joseph Manola. 

From The Empire army book from 2000, the 6th edition of Warhammer Fantasy. 

Image found via Lexicanum.

Men learned [from the Elves] how the raw power of magic blew from the northern realms of Chaos in the form of eight sorcerous winds that represented unique types of magic....

The magical energies of Hysh are the most effusive of all kinds of magic and quickly penetrate solid things and soak away even into the very rocks....

The magical energies of Ghyran precipitate like rain upon the earth, forming pools and eddies which only those attuned to the sight of magic can see....

The magical energies of Ulgu boil across the ground like a shifting mist.....evoking only a sense of mistrust and concealment to ordinary folk. It is the most affected by the mortal winds....rears into mighty clouds beneath the influence of storms and gales.

Aqshy.....gutters like flame in the breeze and runs wild over hot sands and sun-baked fields.

Well, that gives you some idea of the premise. These are the base sorts of magic, that some wizards combine. The Imperial Colleges of Magic teach only one each. In successive editions of Warhammer, the single-colour magics have become more prominent - to the point that Age of Sigmar, in its role as the successor to Warhammer Fantasy is characterised by the existence of eight realms, each named and characterised after a Wind of Magic.

***

Why do I mention this, other than to cite it as an example? Well, it struck me that there was something well-constructed about the Winds of Magic as presented by Warhammer Fantasy.

Firstly, it doesn't feel over-planned. It has established the themes and flavours of each Wind without worrying over much about fitting it all together perfectly. Yes, Life and Death are there, but conceivably Light and the Heavens could be the same thing, likewise Life and Beasts. They haven't felt the need to balance out Fire with water or ice or what have you.

Similarly the names of the Colleges: The Light Order, the Jade Order, the Celestial Order, the Grey Order. They didn't feel the need to name each for a colour, or even to be have the names of the orders follow any one given pattern: gemstones, colours and adjectives all mix together.

Sprezzatura is the Italian term coined by Castiglione's Art of the Courtier, referring to a certain nonchalance on the part of the courtier: whatever effort and artistry has gone into your speech or dress, however many hours you spent on those verses, are not to be reflected in their presentation. 

Some measure of Sprezzatura - or something like it - goes into the presentation of the Colleges. They do not look overworked; there is a pleasing variety to them. The very names - 'The Amber Order' - provide a greater implication of subtlety and variety, over the abstract image of a single colour. The base ideas - alchemists, druids, astronomers - are gently twisted into a distinctly strange image. None of them are trying too hard to convey the Grave Import of their work: magical study seems insular indeed - though we are aware through the context of a wargame that these wizards are called up to serve in the field and lob fireballs at Beastmen, Goblins and Chaos Marauders. WFRP 1st Ed's Realms of Sorcery lays out more of this, as Manola discusses in the above link (unfortunately, I cannot find any good images of the black and white illustrations - far better than the technicolour depictions of the Winds found from later editions). 

Image of an Amber Wizard, found via Lexicanum.
Not a man who cares how people look at him in the street.

Anyway, to contrast this with other grand arrays of magic or cosmic powers, this is quite unlike the bizarre conglomeration of ideas that were combined for the various Lantern Corps of DC Comics. Likewise, however beloved Avatar: the Last Airbender might be, the elevator pitch for it sounds moderately hokey. I suggest that Warhammer's Winds of Magic and Colleges are slightly more compelling (at least, in bare-bones lore terms) because of their relative 'artlessness' and ramshackle demeanour.

Consider the naming of institutions. Oxbridge colleges, founded over many centuries take on several different types of name. They are named for religious figures (St John, St Hilda, &c), places (Girton, Newnham, &c), founders and donors (Balliol, Downing, Queens', Queen's, &c) - or simply as University or New College. What is more, there is ample crossover between names. Cambridge sports not only Christ College and Jesus College, but also Corpus Christi College and Emmanuel College. Likewise, there is not only Trinity College, but also Trinity Hall. There is St John's College, but also Peterhouse...named for St Peter.

To take another example, see the naming of (Association) Football clubs. Certainly, they are named for their city or district but with various additions: City, County and United (Coventry City, Derby County, Leeds United) will be familiar enough, but see teams named for the day of the week their founders had off work (Sheffield Wednesday), occupations (Queen's Park Rangers, Bolton Wanderers), plants (Partick Thistle), works of fiction and fictional characters (Heart of Midlothian, Tottenham Hotspur).

The point being drawn is that for any fictional organisation or group of such to be too neatly symmetrical in its structure or conventions looks rather odd. The neat regularity of American Football team names strikes me, at least, as slightly comic and rather on the nose. 

Well, that's probably an opinion you can safely ignore, but ask yourself: is there any city in Christendom that named its first twelve Churches after the Apostles? (It sounds like something Umberto Eco might confect: the twelve districts of a medieval city are named for the Twelve Apostles, the four colleges are named for the Great Doctors of the Western Church, each gate into the city is named for an Old Testament Prophet....) But while I haven't gone so far as to check terribly hard, I would warrant that no such thing took place. However neat the scheme might be, other Saints loom larger in the Christian mind - the letters of St Paul cement his place above the lesser-known Apostles, the Virgin Mary has a status all of her own, and this leaves aside the appeal of local or national Saints. 

The point I'm driving at is probably clear by now. Overmuch uniformity can strain credulity, no matter how well-concieved it is. Consider including some redundancy or clutter in your world-building. Of course, planned cities or perfectly square-bordered states or revolutionary calendars have all been known. Further, the scientific marvels of the far future or visits to other planes of being could maintain such a state beyond human frailty or expectation: the very alien-ness of such a state could be apt, aside from the potential for GRAND COSMIC UNDERSTANDING. (In successful media doing this sort of thing, I always suspect that a certain amount of arbitrariness is the key: 'Look, old boy, there's seven of them and they all begin with D, just go along with it.')

But I'm acting under the assumption you want to include a human level of understanding and history and mess in your work. In this regard, the Colleges of Magic, being both evocative in name and irregular in nature are a fine example.

Tsoldiers of Tsymric

Returning to the project of a magic-Enlightenment setting, as started here, with reference to the Majestic Vision. The same emphasis is on interesting and characterful equipment lists, plentiful in their alternatives to Light Armour. So then, let us away to....

Tsymric: easterly Tsymric, vast Tsymric, wealthy Tsymric, cold Tsymric, Royal Tsymric, primitive Tsymric. 

Of the Diverse Realms and Kingdoms subscribing to the Majestic Vision, this is the most distant. They have little knowledge of classical Latonic, and even their alphabet makes use of several obsolete letters. But still Tsymric is counted fortunate among the nations, new in its wealth and strength. In the last century under King Filip IV, the principalities of the east were knit together under one ruler - by his personal union, by sacred pacts, by force of arms - that all Tsymric might prosper and rejoice.

But how many in this wide arc of lands consider themselves truly Tsymrikane? Perhaps Tompordy, under Filip IV to see the city of Tompord rise to preeminence as capital. Perhaps the old heartland of Hentzay and its acres of rich farmland. Certainly the western shores of Mszhinksy where westward-gazing Caspianstadt rises from the delta. 

This could not be said of those who dwell in the lakes and pine forests of northerly Suecomark. Neither does Choroff, clasped by the warm shadow of the southern mountains. Still less so the dense forests and  chilly, fragrant, ankle-lacerating garrigue plains of Myrchonog, whose people speak a dialect obscure even by Tsymrikane standards. 

Still, the several courts and assemblies of these lands are combined in the King's Joint Chancellery. So known is the Joint Chancellery that it is increasingly referred to in everyday speech as the Jointe. Tsymrikane political slang refers to both supporters and officials of the Chancellery as Jointers or Joiners. (A specialist woodworker can, of course, become a Joiner joiner). But the old Grandees and Dukes look poorly on the ebbing of their power, even as the Academicians of the Royal Schools begin to pen treatises on the benefits of autocracy.

And beyond Myrchonog? The mountains there were once the wall of the east. Utterly impassable - at least for men in any number. But then magesight and blasting powder carved a road through the rock, sending explorers and soldiers through, to subjugate the Terrace-Cities of the native Qacenoit and to send mine-shafts deep into the mountains. Gold and silver goes back to Tompord via the swift rivers of Myrchonog; newly minted Governors return, hungry for advancement and reward. 

Transmontane Tsymric has seen the toppling of the temples of the Crag-God and Chamois-God and great wealth for some in Tsymric, being the envy of those who hear of it. But those who speak so know little of the challenges of governance faced in this new land or the shame and struggles of those who live there.

Among other things, however, Tobacco has come over the mountains, and is being grown in Choroff plantations. 

***

How does the below intersect with a similar set of equipment lists from Datravia? Well, both Tsymric and the Prizelands have their ports. Even if some of the below are set up as having some characteristics as being particularly relevant to their homeland, a wide mix of the below is hopefully possible in Datresse or Caspianstadt.

***

Thank you, Wikipedia.

1. Royal Dimarchi /// Musket, Bardiche, Military Greatcoat (with cartridge-pouches), Optional: [Long beard, Willingness to interfere in dynastic struggles], 
2. Overseer of the Faithful /// Wide-brimmed hat, travelling vestments, Pectoral icon, Brace pistols and four blessed silver bullets, Extensive remit.
3. Tobacconist /// Selection of clay pipes, Delicate scales, Thin knives, Caddy (many compartments), Lightly enchanted fire-striker.
4. Alpine Expeditionary /// Close-fitting thick, warm clothing (as Leather), Iron-shod alpenstock (can double as gun-rest), 50' rope, Iron spikes, Carbine, Falchion.
5. River boatman /// Canvas jack (resists water), 50' rope, Hauling harness, Block and tackle, Jackknife, Fisherman's priest, Resigned expression. 
6. Transmontane Native Scout /// Spear, Bolas, Quilted Armour (Warm and breathable), Bone crampons, Medicinal herbs, Concealed idol.
7. Hidalgo /// Small-sword, Badge of obscure knightly order, Bottle of fortified wine, Gilt breastplate and bracers, Chose one: [Trimmed beard, Razor and Shaving basin] [Small mirror and Brief mantilla]
8. Myrchonog Plainsman /// Tough, knee-length boots, Billhook, Sled, Windbreak,  Bundle of fragrant plants.
9. Engineering Student /// Sturdy apron, Hammer, Yardstick, Plumb-line, Spirit level, Dividers, Callipers, Book of tables, Pocket watch.
10. Mage Prospector /// Thaumic touchstone (can Detect Magic, can't detect Curses/Types of Magic), Dowsing wand, Mapping gear, Stout boots, Auger. 

Tsymric is something like a blend of 16th Century Spain and 17th century Russia. 

I dimly recall one of the Young Kingdoms in Moorcock's Elric books being named Tsymric. That's not an inspiration.