02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

108.1.141.197
Wessina (occupied)
Wessina includes Elsinberg and a number of
farming villages near the fertile Black River, which
marks its eastern boundary. This duchy once bordered
Khador and saw its share of bloodshed during the
invasion.
Resources: Consumer crops, grazing land
Industry: None
Ancestral Ruler: Archduke Wyle Cherydwyn
(surrendered to Khador, retained titles)
Occupation Ruler: Kommander Negomir Tarovic,
Posadnik of Elsinberg
Notable Cities
Elsinberg
In Power: Kommander Negomir Tarovic
Population: 74,000 (humans, mostly Ryn with a
large Umbrean minority and a few hundred gobbers)
Military: A heavy contingent of Winter Guard
supported by a small detachment of Widowmakers
under Kommander Negomir Tarovic garrisons
Elsinberg. Thousands of additional forces regularly
move through the area on ongoing operations, for
Elsinberg is an important supply point between
Laedry and Merywyn. A small force of local militia
remains for law enforcement under the watchful eye
of the Khadorans.
Imports: Leather, manufactured goods, textiles
Exports: Scholarly texts, marble, sculpture, wool
Elsinberg, the City of Memory, is drenched in
history. Each past century has deeply engraved its mark
in the very fabric of the city. Marble statues and stone
markers commemorate battles, glorify great heroes,
and vilify old enemies. Every month, Elsinbergers
hold at least one holiday or festival to commemorate
a significant historical event, and once a year the
city’s population nearly doubles when visitors from all
around come to see the most famous of these events:
the March of the Dead.
Every autumn spectral soldiers from Elsinberg’s
past begin manifesting in the streets of the city. Several
generations ago these shades simply appeared on
a cold early morning, visible to some residents but
invisible to others. Enough witnesses corroborated
the sightings that magical authorities confirmed the
appearance as a true phenomenon. They walked
through the streets, formed into neat ranks and files,
marched out toward Ravensgard, and vanished. The
first manifestation of this spectacle caused panic and
confusion among those who could see them, and it
generated controversy in local churches. Given the
apparitions harmed no one and their arrival was not
linked to necromancy, people accepted the annual visit
and eventually turned it into a major draw for visitors.
With each passing year these phantasms appear earlier
and earlier allowing the Elsinbergers to witness more
of their pre-battle preparations: repairing armor in
smithies, stowing gear in packs, sharpening swords,
and sparring with each other all without making a
single sound. In each appearance the spectral army
gets closer to Ravensgard before fading away for
another year. Recent years have seen the soldiers
saying farewells to spectral families and loved ones and
settling their affairs until a silent alarum sounds and
calls them to war.
The peculiar march took on special significance
last year after Elsinberg had been captured by stirring
patriotic sentiment in the citizens and serving as a
reminder of their own casualties. Most Khadorans had
never seen such a thing, and it prompted superstitious
fear. Turmoil erupted when the Khadorans were not
prepared for the influx of visitors to the city. This
worsened when several high ranking officers could not
see the ghosts and were convinced their own soldiers
were drunk or hallucinating. Khadoran priests of both
Menite and Morrowan faiths tried to lay the phantasms
to rest but with no more success than earlier attempts
by the Merywyn Vicarate Council.
This year locals expect the phantoms to appear
during the last four weeks of autumn and the first
week of winter at which time Elsinberg’s population
will grow by 4,000 silent spectral soldiers, their ghostly
families, and thousands of tourists coming to witness
the apparitions. The ghosts seem oblivious to the living
citizens around them. Some scholars have said that
these specters are simply echoes from the past while
others say they are cursed spirits doomed to repeat
their last days. Whatever the case, they obviously move
through an Elsinberg that “was” rather than “is.”
World Guide 247