The Ports

The only towns big enough to be called cities are the ports, since trade with other lands brings in foreign merchants and provides a living for many poor Bretonnians who for some reason or other abandon the land. The Bretonnians, both nobles and peasants, are at heart a rural people who do not like living in cities. Towns are regarded as distasteful places and living in towns is regarded as unnatural and rather dishonourable. Quite a lot of Bretonnian townsfolk agree and take to seafaring as sailors aboard Bretonnian warships to escape the hovels of the ports

The root of the problem is that Bretonnians stick stubbornly to their country ways, and refuse to adapt their way of life when they live in towns. They persist in building their houses out of wood and thatch rather than stone, and let their pigs and chickens run free in the narrow lanes as if in a farmyard. Houses are built as close to the walls or the castle as possible for protection. Whereas this is no problem in a rural village with only a few houses, in a town there may be hundreds of houses cramped together.

L'ANGUILLE

This port, whose large fleet guards the mouth of the river Sannez. is frequently under attack from sea raiders from the north and east. Consequently its walls are very formidable, with bastions jutting out into the sea. L'Anguille is famous throughout the land for its great light-house, an ancient fortress of considerable dimensions and unrivalled height. It is the tallest construction in the Old World being some 1500 feet high, formed in the shape of an octagon 150 yards wide at the base rising to an octagonal platform 50 yards across at the top. The Elves many aeons ago built the original structure, as only the Elves probably could. The great fire from the light-house can be seen blazing across the Middle Sea from distant Albion. This must have been used as a guide for the High Elves when their fleets dominated the waves. The edifice of the fortress-light-house is also the administrative heart of L'Anguille and the Duc de L'Anguille has his palace here together with many soldiers and Knights.

The remainder of the city lies tightly packed within solid walls, neatly divided by the river Sannez. The river banks are formed into solid quays for the large ships that pass through on their way to Couronne. L'Anguille is a trading port of some importance, although overshadowed by Marienburg, whose position on the Reik affords easier access to the heart of the Old World. Like all Bretonnian cities, it is poorly maintained, and life for the majority is hard and squalid. Work, however, is easy to find - the wharves and quays shelter dozens of inns where sea-captains and river traders look for a sturdy crew or hired-swords.

BRIONNE

Brionne is possibly the thieving capital of the Old World, with some stiff competition from Sartosa perhaps, and such is its reputation that most Bretonnians refer to it as 'the City of Thieves'. Even the Duc de Brionne thrives on crime. It is rumoured that he has a personal fleet of smugglers that he uses to avoid paying tax on exported cargo throughout the Old World. The Duc de Brionne also imposes tax on harbouring ships and warehouses. In return for their donation to the city coffers, contributors are left to their own devices, and wharfside warehouses are crammed with loot obtained in every conceivable manner.

The Watch and local militia also dabble in crime be it protection rackets, smuggling, or much, much worse. Pirates regard Brionne as a safe-port where the dock Watch wave them through to the governor's warehouses, no doubt to conduct 'business'. As long as the pirates are mindful not to come into open conflict with the Duc de Brionne's men the pirates are free to go about their business.

The port of Brionne is built on top of and among the ruins of Elven towers. Its battlements stand on top of Elven foundations. Here is to be found the castle of the Duc de Brionne who serves the king by guarding the frontier with Estalia and watching the western shores for raiders. To do this not only does he rely on his barons holding frontier domains between the great river Brienne and the Mountains, but also on a fleet of warships. Like other ports, Brionne has a poor quarter around the quays which is vulnerable to outbreaks of plague. It is settlements such as these which are most at risk from Skaven infiltration or seaborne raids from Settra's fleets.

BORDELEAUX

The port of Bordeleaux, like Brionne, is built upon Elven ruins, but here they are bigger and more extensive. The town is the biggest port of Bretonnia and the nearest thing in the realm to a city, although it is still huddled within a great circuit of high walls and dominated by the keep of the Duc de Bordeleaux. This port has the biggest fleet of warships since it is the port for trade with the Elves of the west and many other places.

The town has various quarters for Elf traders, Dwarf craftsmen, Estalians and Tileans and even the odd few Norse. Consequently there are a few bawdy taverns and the occasional brawls on the quayside. The Bretonnians have walled off the upper city from this squalid area near the quay and guard the portcullises with men-at-arms so that the noble Bretonnian chivalry need not be troubled by these ruffians. The Duke will exploit any opportunity to tidy up this pan of the town and if plague breaks out, he will order the area to be summarily burnt to the ground, thoroughly cleansed and rebuilt.

Bordeleaux is a wine town. Its wealth comes almost entirely from the Morceaux valley. Even the peasants of the city can manage to get their hands on some poor quality beverages, usually thrown out by merchants that think their quality is not good enough to be traded. It is claimed that no-one in Bordeleaux has never been drunk such is the wide availability of wine.

As one can imagine, Bordeleaux is home to many rich merchants. The wealthiest people in the city live on two hills called Towerhill and Execution Hill. The Duc de Bordeleaux lives in a palace on Towerhill and the city's biggest keep sits, looming over the city like a giant, on Execution Hill. Rival merchants build their huge abodes, some like castles, on either one of these hills. Between the two hills lies the great Bordeleaux Bridge, spanning the width of the river Morceaux and marking the point beyond which large vessels cannot go.

Below the Bordeleaux Bridge lies the sprawling docklands where ships unload cargoes into the numerous warehouses. The sales of the many kinds of cargo are also held here so there is little room for the poor who constitute the majority of the population and whose hovels sprawl along the outskirts beyond the two hills and well out of sight of the 'high town' (the wealthy rich area of the hills). Because of the two hills, the rich are spared from the filth of the effluence that drains down into the poorer areas below. In the poorer areas murder is rife and seldom punished.

MOUSILLON 'The City of the Damned'

Mousillon is situated in the marshy valley of the River Grismerie and originated as a trading port. The settlement rapidly grew into a big town, especially during the Dark Age of Bretonnia when refugees from Settra's raids huddled within the walls. Eventually so many people sought refuge here that their hovels clustered around the outside of the walls as well and extended along the banks of the river. Their descendants were to remain as the city's poorest inhabitants finding work at the quays or as sailors on board Bretonnian ships. Needless to say, the lower parts of the city suffered badly from the frequent flooding of the river causing conditions to became unbearably squalid. The poor state of the city at this time attracted Skaven and Settra's raiders. Elements of the latter managed to gain hold in the crypts of the city setting up a persistent presence.

Many of the kings of Bretonnia have desired to cleanse and rebuild Mousillon, but despite every effort the city tended to revert back to squalor. For centuries the dukes of Mousillon have been trying to hold back the decay, but the battle is now lost for the time being. Like other port cities of Bretonnia with similar poor areas.

Mousillon is the only city of the Old World where mutants openly walk the streets; such is the sorry state of this once thriving city. It is such a place of squalor, disease, and death that Mousillon is sometimes referred to as 'The City of the Damned' and repetitive attempts to rebuild the city have failed. The reasons for Mousillon's decline are several...

Over fifty years ago an earthquake reduced much of the city to crumbling ruins and not even the nobility were spared as their houses also fell. Also it was discovered by relief workers from Couronne that the city was slowly sinking and they did not linger long as pestilence swept through the population. Worse still the city suffers from frequent flooding which only makes the situation in Mousillon even more terrible. It is without a shadow of doubt the unhealthiest place to live in the Old World.

With the miasma of pestilence ever hanging over the city it attracts evil in droves. Well-meaning wizards that have visited Mousillon say that evil magic pervades everywhere. This has attracted Necromancers, and worse people, to practice their foul arts there, unhindered and in security. There is no law here and mutants walk openly through the streets amidst the chants to the Chaos Gods in the sickening air.

The poor people of Mousillon haggle over rotten fruit and vegetables at the sorry excuse for a market in the town square, even the nobles wear filthy clothes. Occasionally merchant ships may arrive from time to time and look in horror upon the state of the city; they never return. All those that can will avoid Mousillon at all costs.