Wulfenburg, Steelshod Fist of the North, Capital of Ostland [Circa 2339]
Wulfenburg
"Wulfenburg is loud, it is dirty, and it is violent. But what else could you expect from a people who choose to live in the north like that, constantly fighting off everyone and everything over their chosen plot of land. But we must be thankful for them, for all that we sneer at them and their uncouth ways, their barbaric tendencies, their coin-pinching, their stubbornness, and so on. They will make anyone that happens to come upon them with violent intentions fight for every bloody inch, and the minute they are left alone they'll just build their homes back up again and get ready for the next go around. So be thankful, lad, that they are they way they are. But don't let that keep you from making some money off of them!" - A Reiklander merchant to his sons"Jewel of the North? What idiot called it that? She ain't some jewel, she's a bloody steel-shod fist, she is! Beautiful and brutal! And I'll fight anyone who says otherwise!" - Heard shortly before a brawl broke out in a tavern in Nuln.
"Where else can a man get a keg of Bugman's Best, the finest Mootland meat pie, with Estalian silverware, on top of Imperial pewter plates, with some nice Kislevite chak-chak, all in one meal? All while going hunting in the afternoon with a freshly made handgun and dwarf-made sword, atop an Averlander horse, passing by a smiling priest of Morr in totally amicable talks with a ogre priestess of Esmeralda in front of a Shallyan orphanage? Nowhere else, I tell you!" - A visiting noble from Ostermark
Wulfenburg is the ancient ruling seat of the Hohenzollern Dynasty of Ostland, one of the most ancient settlements known to the Empire, and is considered the largest in the whole of the Northern Trident - a formal bloc formed by the three northernmost provinces of the Empire. In the decades since the ascension of the Emperor Magnus the Pious, it has become a close rival to the city of Nuln in the south in terms of manufacturing and exporting of various munitions and blackpowder weaponry throughout not just the Empire but beyond its borders as well. In terms of placement, it sits upon a somewhat raised hill that provided a tactical advantage and is surrounded by heavily forested lands on all sides save for the roads painstakingly carved through over dozens of generations. This was a harder task than it sounds, as it has long been acknowledged, if not openly discussed, that the forest of Ostland whatever its name can shift itself about to obscure old paths or sometimes even directly lead to the deaths of those that anger it. The current Grand Prince of Ostland, patriarch of the Hohenzollern Dynasty, and wielder of the Runefang Brain Wounder is Frederick von Hohenzollern.
History:
Wulfenburg began as a small and tightly defended settlement in the era of the ancient tribes. Nowhere in the Middle Mountains was a mountain cleaved by the Wolf God himself as He had done for His chosen. Instead, stubborn, angry, and warlike the Udoses simply claimed an area where some minor farming might take place, where a strong river ran for water, and a hill that they could at least see their enemies coming with. Almost all major settlements in Ostland can be said to have been founded the same way; a group of Udoses ventured as far as they dared into the forest before they could go no further, then stubbornly refused to leave or even admit that they would want to go elsewhere. Even in those days, the infamous pride and stubbornness of the modern-day Ostlander could be found, as well as a tendency to look down on those who would complain of hardship amidst continual raids by the Norsii, greenskins, giant spiders, bloodsedge migrations, beastmen, and other tribes. That which would become Wulfenburg proper began as a nameless castle, built as a defense against a variety of threats but most deadly amongst them were in truth either Norsii or Teutogens. It would go through a variety of names, usually simply just after whatever chieftain happened to be alive at the time. While the Udoses, and in truth the majority of the other tribes, fought against the Norsii, it was the treacherous and Ulric-devoted zealots of the Teutogens that raided the other tribes while they were distracted. Thus, Wulfenburg received its true name as a defiant gesture to the Teutogens, a castle literally meant to defend against the wolves, and would face many attacks from the Teutogens afterwards before the coming of Sigmar mostly ended inter-tribal warfare. It was named as such by the Udoses which held it, the Hohenzurn Clan and the Rakov Clan, a fierce pair of the greater tribe who were perhaps ironically similarly devoted to Ulric, Taal, and a bull God named Guvaur - a literal God of stubbornness. Both clans would contribute warriors to the cause of Sigmar when he managed to debate Wolfila into agreement for the legendary battle of Black Fire Pass. Others would say that the city was named Wolfenburg, in honor of King Wolfila. Still others say that the capital was named for the personal friend of Sigmar, Wolfgart Krieger, who founded the Order of the Silver Hammer there to protect Sigmar and his followers - and eventually the rest of the Empire - from magic in all of its many terrible forms. Even now, one can find stubborn Ostlanders debating the spelling, with years of precedent supporting either one of the spellings and their origins depending on where one is in Ostland and the Empire. Whatever the case, modern Wulfenburg is spelled as such in all legal documents produced from the city's masters.
The capital of the Udoses as a tribe during this period would be based around a massive granite castle built atop a cliff overlooking the Sea of Claws, and it was from there that King Wolfila ruled his people.
Bloody Beginnings [-????-55 IC]
In time, Wulfenburg would grow in size, finally given the opportunity with the Norsii pushed far enough back that Udoses could begin resettling the coastline properly in bits and pieces and the Teutogen kept in check. The original castle, known still today as Wulfenburg Castle, would remain at the highest point on the hill as the rest of what would eventually become a sprawling city grew all around it. The people would slowly begin to hold more and more reverence for Taal, Rhya, Ulric, and eventually Sigmar over their older and more personal gods. Older gods which, while still present in the modern day, are minor at best. But Wulfenburg itself as it exists today is only but the latest of its many incarnations. For the original castle Wulfenburg was sacked multiple times by the Teutogens whilst the Udoses were away fighting the Norsii. After Sigmar was crowned as Emperor, the emergent settlement would nearly be pruned into extinction by greenskin and beastmen over a dozen times, yet the Udoses persisted. Then, the entire settlement and castle were razed past the foundations and its entire populace burned to ash and cinders by the dragon Calamithaxis who awoke in the Middle Mountains. Yet it is told orally in bedtime stories and remarked upon in the most crumbling of notations that it was literally but twelve hours after the fearsome dragon moved on to other settlements in Ostland that the remainder of the Hohenzurn and Rakov began building their homes back up again. It is also around this time that first recorded instance of transition from the tribal Hohenzurn to the more modern Hohenzollern nomenclature appeared, apparently as a result of the survivors being from a further branch of the original Hohenzurns who were but ash and blackened bones. A similar instance would lead to the Rakov becoming the Raukov, though this is also thought to be partially related to far-ranging couplings between Ungol and Udoses. It would be King Wolfila who fought alongside Sigmar himself to slay Calimithaxis, a deed which those primarily faithful to Sigmar say is one of the greatest reasons for devotion to the Heldenhammer in Ostland. Yet not even Sigmar would be able to find and slay Zacharias the Everliving, a supposed terrible creature of darkness that resided within the darkest depths of the forest.
Eventually, however, King Wolfila died as all men must do, and with his death the possessor of the Count position was to pass onto his children. Or, in his case, child. A young woman whose name is lost to time was courted by both Hohenzurn and Rakov, and her choice was, as it turned out, was the Hohenzurn. Thus, the clan that would eventually become known as the noble family of Hohenzollern managed to gain the coveted position of authority. Only hearsay and myth speak to the exact nature of this time, but what is known is that the tribal rivalry between the two families Hohenzollern and Raukov grew violent, leading to the expulsion of the latter from Wulfenburg. To further cement their authority, the Hohenzollerns would make Wulfenburg the new capital of the Udoses, the granite castle of Wolfila eventually lost to time and raids from the north both. Instead, Wulfenburg Castle would be rebuilt larger and more grand than before, inspired perhaps by the legacy of King Wolfila and the memories of his daughter, now married to the Hohenzollerns. By the time of Wolfila's death, the Emperor Sigmar had already left to the east, and the very first Imperial Election had taken place. Then, shortly after the death of Emperor Siegrich I a single year afterwards, the second Imperial Election as well.
Stubborn Foundations [55-500 IC]
After the disappearance of Sigmar, and the later ascendance of his Cult, the Empire could do nothing more than forge ahead. Ostland, Nordland, and the late-founding province of Ostermark, would become the oft-punctured and bloodied bulwark of the north. For despite the many victories of Sigmar, the Norscans still lived. The servants of Chaos still worked against the tribes. And so the raids became a daily fact of life. Only the absolute most stubborn of the Udoses, who would in time come to name themselves Ostlanders, would remain on the coast, while the rest of the tribe began to retreat to the scantly less deadly landscape of the Forest of Shadows. So reviled were the Norsii by the Udoses that many would rather strive for survival amidst the Forest of Shadows and its terrible inhuman denizens than have to deal with their ancestral foes. The business at hand from that point on, then, became simply surviving as they had while advancing fractionally for generations upon generations afterwards. Every few years, some settlements would grow larger and more secure, while others were wiped out entirely with only occasional survivors. Trade would pick up, as would the sophistication of the goods involved, while the secrets of the dwarfs would provide better arms and armor, but for the most part the bountiful growth and expansion of the Empire's south would not be repeated in the north. To be fair, Wulfenburg would in time become a city along with other settlements in Ostland, but never to the extent of Middenheim, Talabheim, or Reikdorf. Without being a major location of religious devotion for any of the Cults meant that support and pilgrimage were scant compared to the birthplace of Sigmar or the places granted by the favor of the Gods themselves.
Nevertheless, the unification brought about by Sigmar ensured that there were opportunities for wealth and growth, even if lesser compared to the rest of the Empire. Roads would grow more permanent, thin walls of wood would become thicker, and more homes would be built to accommodate a slowly growing population. Much like how the Teutogens had discovered their holy flame and built the city of Middenheim around it, the Talutens had discovered the massive crater within which they would build Taalheim, which would in turn eventually become known as Talabheim. And after Sigmar's rule was solidified, Averheim was built by the Brigundians, and so it went. The Cult of Sigmar would rise, and shrines and temples would begin to be built across much of the Empire, including within Wulfenburg itself though much of Ostland remained obstinate in their faith to Ulric and Taal. The introduction of the legendary Runefangs would only aid in such matters, the incredible weapons letting the Electors lead their people in battle against all who might threaten them.
Ragged Growth [500-1000 IC]
In the era known as the 'Drive to the Frontiers', such was the vigor within the Empire, even in the north, that the folk of the Empire were driven to rampant expansion and conquering. Thus, the people of Ostland competed with those of Talabecland to conquer the lands of the north, in Kislev. Rather unfortunately, however, these settlements were incredibly difficult to maintain, and cost much in coin and blood alike. In time, Talabecland would give up such attempts instead turned to subsume much of modern-day Ostermark, renaming the lands conquered more simply as Talabecland's 'East March'. To the south, Averland and Stirland would come into conflict with the dwarfs as they expanded east, running into dwarf-claimed foothills while also subsuming the tribes of Sylvania. Elsewhere, Emperor Sigismund the Conquerer managed to lay claim to lands west of the Grey Mountains, to incorporate the Westerland, and even formed Lichtenberg to the south of Black Fire Pass. In Ostland, however, what resources the Hohenzollerns did not spend on trying to stubbornly hold onto their Kislevite claims was spent on expanding internally, carving out new roads and settlements alike. Multiple attempts were also made for the Middle Mountains, only to clash against the massive beastmen and greenskin hordes that resided there as well as parties from Nordland, Middenland, and Hochland, the latter of which was already a rival to Ostland by way of their tribal heritage. More than once had the Cherusen melted into the trees while the Teutogens rampaged past into Udose territory, only to emerge later and pick amongst the wreckage left behind. Even if they were Ostlanders and Hochlanders rather than Udoses and Cherusen, arguments and conflict had only continued, to the point that over time even the old wounds left by the Teutogen - now Middenlanders - would heal over while the scab between the two close neighbors would never stop being picked at.
Twice was Wulfenburg overrun and sacked during this period, once by beastmen, once by greenskins, while the majority of Ostland's military forces were struggling to hold their Kislevite territories, leading to the first major split amongst the Hohenzollern family. One section, led by Siggurd von Hohenzollern and wielder of the Runefang, was rebelled against by his younger brother Artur. Artur believed that Siggurd's ambitions for Kislev and the Middle Mountains were leaving their home vulnerable - as evidenced by the two sackings within as many years. Siggurd denied it, and said that it was Artur's failures at holding the ancestral seat while Siggurd was occupied in the north that saw the capital sacked. The two came to blows, and for a time the whole of the province was uncertainly split in half, south to north, both men managing to marry and produce children to make different families. It was the Ungols who put an end to it, filling Siggurd with arrows as he rode to defend one of his conquered towns, with only the Runefang recovered while the Oblast would take the body. This would leave Artur to take up the blade, and acknowledged position of Elector Count, but with Siggurd's branch remaining in existence. These furious Hohenzollerns would remain largely based out of their Kislev colonies, only accepting Artur's authority under protest. In time, they swore they would reclaim their legacy. Massive bribes from the Drakwald Emperors to maintain their tenuous position allowed Artur to rebuild Wulfenburg even larger than before, with greater stone walls than in the past.
An Age Of Spite And Strife [1000-2304 IC]
The years following Artur von Hohenzollern's claiming of Brain Wounder were not kind. For all that he managed to weasel out substantial bribes from the Drakwald Emperors in exchange for support, he largely spent his funds on mundane things. Forts. Castles. Better equipping his armed forces. The explosion of decadence which marked much of the Empire at the time was mostly ignored in Ostland, and Wulfenburg in particular. While Ludwig the Fat was granting the Mootland status as an Electoral power as well as the Cult of Sigmar, the Hohenzollerns fought beastman, greenskin, Norscan, giant spider, and Ungol. The massive amounts of noble patronage to the arts was virtually non-existent in the north save for a few specific families. In Nordland, the famous silverworks of Salzenmund became ever more intricate and ostentatious. In Ostermark, as elsewhere, dyes and paints became ever more extravagant in their vibrancy and usage. Artur, already aging, left it to his sons and daughters to partake of the noble culture of the time, adding to the oddities of the 'naturalistic' movement in rewritings of histories and more. It is a result of such things, with Artur distracted by more grounded matters, that has led to immense amounts of confusion amongst scholars across the Empire with regards to the early histories of the nation and the noble families within. Paintings and murals of currently living nobility were inserted at Black Fire Pass, outrageous rewriting of past deeds and acts, 'idealized' sculptures, and more became the norm. The Hohenzollern family was not immune to this. It is rumored that, at times, a different family or another might have held the Runefang for a generation or two, as well as the Elector's Seat, but the truth is quite literally impossible to tell at this point in time due to the scarcity of records - and the clear alterations and/or bias said records possess. Coloring and fixative advancements meant that even in dreary Wulfenburg could small splotches of blindingly bright colors be found, entirely within the homes of the nobility and their dress. All in the nobility's interest in finding the even brighter blues, truest whites, darkest blacks, and so on. Never in Ostland to the point of others, though this may in fact be a result not of stoic refusal towards decadence out of pure moral fiber, but of angry rivalries manifesting in new ways. Scholars of this time period point to the year 1023 as possessing the starkest example of such. For it was in that year that Baroness Auerbach of Hochland is reported to have paid the absurd sum of 120,000 crowns for a pearl-based pigment of paint that would exactly match her own teeth for a single portrait to be held in her own bedroom.
Rather than try and pony up similar funds for a similar feat - funds that Ostland frankly did not possess - the Hohenzollerns would turn their noses up at such things. Perhaps a tad prideful, yet unlike Nordland they possessed no major silver mines, and unlike Ostermark they could not partake of the incredibly lucrative dye and pigment trade. Objectively, Ostland was the absolute poorest of all the provinces at the time. Their troops were, while hardy, not nearly as well equipped as the much richer southern provinces, nor were they as brutally elite as the soldiers of Middenland or Reikland. The main funds that the province received were bribes from the Drakwald Emperors, or loans purchased from the Cult of Sigmar - possibly one of the main reasons that Wulfenburg grew so 'faithful' to Sigmar while the commoners remained devoted to Ulric.
Then, of course, came the plagues. Erupting in multiple cities and settlements, the colonies within Kislev were left dead in their homes at a shockingly fast pace. Even all animal life ceased to be. Thus did the long-sullen branch of Siggurd come home on a tide of dead. Plagues would strike the concentrated urban areas of the province, and thus Wulfenburg itself was left largely abandoned save for the scavengers who dared the plague-ridden ruins, the populace that still lived fleeing into the Forest of Shadows. Most would not return, but perhaps ironically, due to Ostland being a poor backwater compared to the far mightier provinces elsewhere, other than the plagues there was little effort on the part of the skaven in any antagonistic manner there. Artur, already dead by that point from an infected wound he'd taken in a greenskin raid, left the rule to his child Theodore von Hohenzollen who would in turn leave matters to his eldest child, Alyssa von Hohenzollern. It was Alyssa who welcomed her estranged family back to Ostland, yet it was also Alyssa who accepted Emperor Boris the Incompetent's invitation to Carroburg, bringing her children and immediate family members with her - without including those descendants of Siggurd von Hohenzollern. While plagues wiped out seven tenths of all human life in the Empire, Alyssa von Hohenzollern danced and caroused with many other Electors, all waiting for the plague to die down. It is thought by those being charitable to her that Alyssa von Hohenzollern intended to persuade Emperor Boris to lavish Ostland with wealth, titles, and the like when the plagues died down. Others think that the only reason she welcomed Siggurd von Hohenzollern's descendants was because she did not wish to be known as the one who let her own blood die from the plagues. In the end, no one can know for certain, as Alyssa von Hohenzollern, and indeed the whole branch of Artur von Hohenzollern's family, was wiped out along with all the others when plague breached the palace in Carroburg.
Information of this spread slowly, due to the skaven invasion across the Empire boiling to the fore in truth. It would not be until Graf Mandred rallied the people of the Empire that the truth would become more fully known. Upon promising the return of Brain Wounder - recovered from Carroburg - in exchange for fealty, a new Hohenzollern took up the weapon and would fight alongside Mandred. Ludmila von Hohenzollern, her blood clearly mixed with that of the Ungols due to the generations of residing in Kislev, became known as the Red Banshee due to her particularly horrifying war cry during the fighting, a screech said to be similar to the scream of the Oblast itself in deepest winter. She would rule as Elector Countess under Mandred Skavenslayer throughout his rule, and worked tirelessly to restore what lands she could within Ostland and its territories within Kislev, as with so many dead much had returned to wilderness with startling rapidity. Yet there was a great bitterness to her, and indeed to all of the Hohenzollerns, for so long they had been living essentially in exile before returning home just in time to watch as all died to the plagues and ratmen alike. Too many grudges piled up in the chaos after the fighting, and so she agreed to vote for a weak Emperor, so that the Electors could squabble as they desired without issue. So it was that, after one-too-many insults from the province of Hochland, a particularly violent debate over the Gate of the East Bridge ending in the death of an Ostlander nobleman, that Ludmila von Hohenzollern invaded Hochland, sacking Hergig before returning home.
She was not alone in this, however, as the 'Age of Wars' was participated in by every province. Nordland, Hochland, Middenland, and Ostland would all come into conflict over the Middle Mountains. Stirland and Averland would invade each other and the Moot. Sylvania tried to break away from the Empire entirely. Westerland did the same, both independently and while under control by the Norscans. Wulfenburg would be sacked by Talabecland and Hochland, twice each, with the latter of these seeing to the death of Ludmila and rise of her son Wolfram von Hohenzollern, who in turn would die by Hochland spears just a year after Ludmila was torn apart by an overgrowth of bloodsedge in one of her favored hunting grounds. In return Wolfram's son, now-Count Albert von Hohenzollern, drew and quartered the ironically named Count Albert Ludenhof before burning the body and pissing on the remains. He would die strangling Adriana Ludenhof to death while she stabbed him in the stomach over thirty times with a knife as he was accepting her surrender before the gates of Hergig. Which, then, would burn again and be sacked by vengeful Ostlanders. All the while, the Hohenzollerns would struggle to hold on against the myriad threats of the Forest of Shadows while even then trying to maintain their Kislevite colonies despite the costs bleeding their treasuries dry for essentially no return. A smattering of lesser branch families were created over time, with Count Albert's two sons beyond his direct heir setting themselves up across the province - his son Wilhelm near Salkalten so that he could kill Norscans every raiding season and Prince Ludwig at Wurzen to keep an eye on Talabecland. Otto von Hohenzollern would rule after his father's death, and continue the main line with satisfactory fertility.
Yet throughout all of this, the position of Emperor remained as a strong symbol of unity. Despite the fighting, the Empire as it was remained vaguely connected to itself. Trade still flowed up and down the roads and rivers, with disturbingly seasonal breaks for war and skirmishes. In truth, actual city sackings were rare, with skirmishes and minor amounts of bloodshed between small smatterings of soldiery numbering in the hundreds were more common.
Until, that is, the Era of Three Emperors began.
In 1359 IC, Count Gustav Oberreuth of Stirland was elected Emperor against the other proposed candidate of Grand Duchess Ottilia of Talabecland. The former was openly a pawn of the Cult of Sigmar, while the latter was of the open opinion that Sigmar was not a God at all and was furthermore a longstanding opponent of Stirland in general. A year later she proclaimed herself Empress without election, the Cult of Ulric had moved from its heart in Middenheim to Talabheim due to conflict between Middenheim and Middenland, and Ottilia had gone further as to provide supposed proof of Sigmar's lack of divinity. Thus, a new war began, one greater in scope than the inter-provincial skirmishes of the past. More resources would be demanded by both sides for those who supported them. Ostland itself was conflicted, as while the Hohenzollerns had elected Count Gustav the vast majority of Ostland itself including many of its nobility were Ulrican. Initially, Ostland would support the elected Emperor in Nuln, but their absolute nearness to Talabecland would mean that they were rather severely threatened close to home to the point that lesser families discreetly supported the Talabheim Emperors out of fear as much as out of Ulrican devotion. Things only worsened as the fighting took on a far more religious tone, with Ulrican provinces combating Sigmarite peers, with short-termed power plays and manipulations increasing with abandon. The Witch Hunters in particular became a worrisome issue, devoted to Sigmar as they were, yet so too was the Order of the Silver Hammer founded in Wulfenbug in ancient days past. More than one Ulrican village burned due to 'heresy', while just as many if not more Witch Hunters found angry devotees of the Wolf God refusing them their ancestral powers and respect to the point of violence. In the year 1547 IC, unification would be attempted by the Grand Duke Heinrich of Middenland. Reasoning that he possessed the votes, he attempted to bring an end to the fighting, only to find that the provinces loyal to Talabheim and Nuln quite disagreed with him. Wulfenburg would support the Grand Duke against Emperor Frederik V, of Talabheim and Emperor Eldred of Nuln, mostly due to the fact that unlike the latter two Middenland had not been responsible for any raids into Ostlander territory for at least two whole generations. Infuriated at the results, enforced with crossbows pointed at his person, within the year Grand Duke Heinrich had proclaimed himself Emperor Heinrich of Middenheim. The overall desolution of the Empire increased rapidly in pace as a result, with Count Dominik von Hohenzollern finally surrendering the Ostland colonies within Kislev as the Ungols fought harder than ever to reclaim their lands. Instead, those forces were recalled to protect Ostland against a Talabheim-aligned Hochland and Talabecland itself.
Such was the way of things for centuries to come. At different points, Wulfenburg would support one Emperor in exchange for support in money or favors, and at other times they would support a different Emperor. The same could be said of the nobility, with different allegiances sparking up depending on which noble family one is discussing. The Freud family could be supporting the Wolf Emperor at the same time as the Raukov family was supporting the Talabheim due to their hosting of the Cult of Ulric, all the while the Hohenzollerns were possibly supporting the Nuln Emperors. During the Crusades, Ostland did not participate, already busied with their own internal problems, among them the ravaging by the infamous Gorthor the Beastlord, greatest and most dangerous of all their kind then and since. It was Gorthor who nearly exterminated all life within Ostland and Hochland alike with a bray-herd unmatched in modern times, Gorthor who razed Wulfenburg to the ground along with many other castles and settlements, and Gorthor who more than any other foe in recent history that nearly permanently destroyed the province. It was only the efforts of Hochland that saw an end to Gorthor and his Middle Mountain-based bray-herd, and it would be many years yet for Ostland to even begin to recover from the damage dealt by Gorthor and his legacy. Luckily some Hohenzollerns survived, having performed a fighting retreat ironically in the northeast towards Kislev, holing up at Bohsenfels and returning soon after Gorthor was defeated. To some, beastmen are a menace, but to Ostland beastmen are regarded even worse than greenskins, for no WAAAAGH! has ever come as close to ending the province outright as Gorthor came.
At one point, during some of the fighting between the two westernmost Emperor seats, the Hohenzollerns found themselves in a dangerous position, with Count Luthor von Hohenzollern disappearing on a ride through the Forest of Shadows, his carriage and caravan found destroyed with all the bodies missing - an act blamed supposedly on Zacharias the Everliving due to evidence suggesting that the bodies got back up again and trudged into the forested depths. Count Luthor left behind him a daughter, Johanna von Hohenzollern, but had left no instructions for regency. It would be the Raukovs and Freud families that would attempt to take advantage of this, with both sending representatives to the capital to rule as regent. Clashes would occur between both families as they struggled for power, with young Johanna - unfortunately simple of mind in the extreme - unable to provide much in the way of leadership at all. As Countess Johanna drooled on the seat, the Raukovs and Freuds declared support to different Emperors, dividing the province's resources accordingly. Both were unified in only one manner, in which they used their supposed authority granted by Countess Johanna to prevent the Hohenzollerns of Wurzen and Hohenzollerns of Salkalten from returning. Decades later, however, things would come to an end as Countess Johanna died from one of her regular seizures, and still the Freuds and Raukovs remained in power - even to the point of openly wielding Brain Wounder at different points. Wurzen had been sacked at around the same time by Talabeclander armies, and another branch of the Hohenzollerns was wiped out.
But where others had died out or been slain by the circumstances of the age, the descendants of the warlike Prince Wilhelm von Hohenzollern had somehow thrived.
Fed on a diet of generational warfare against Norscans, sea-beasts, raiding Druchii, marauding greenskins, and even the occasional corsair from far to the south, the Hohenzollerns of Salkalten looked with disdain upon the infighting that had been taking place throughout the rest of the Empire for so many centuries already. When news arrived of Countess Johanna's death while leaving no heirs, the destruction of Wurzen, and the insult of the Freuds and Raukovs daring to bear the sword, the bloodied sons and daughters of the Hohenzollerns could bear it no longer. Giving up their favored enemies, their satisfying life of warfare against true foes, and the oxymoronic 'peace' of the Sea of Claws, the Hohenzollerns returned to Wulfenburg with fire and steel. The city would burn again, this time as its rightful rulers by blood returned home, only to be rebuilt once more once both Raukovs and Freuds had been suitably chastised and ejected. From here, Ostland would take advantage of their relative lack of resources and importance and generally recused themselves from the ongoing fighting other than defensive or retaliatory acts. Lip service would be paid to whichever emissary happened to pull the worst lot to be sent to the northern backwater, but little would ever be truly promised or given. This was direly required, as the constant infighting had taken its toll on Ostland, and they would require many years to rebuild in every sense of the word. While Sylvania forced itself free of Stirland, and the von Bildhofen family took up the Drakwald Runefang and declared independence for western Middenland against the Wolf Emperors in Middenheim, Ostland worked to rebuild. When Warboss Gorbad Ironclaw destroyed the province of Solland, Ostland worked to rebuild themselves, the greenskins repelled without a single Ostlander traveling south against the greenskin's forces. In truth, outside of the Vampire Wars - with only a small smattering of volunteer regiments - the only major action of note involving the Hohenzollerns was their discrete support of Ostermark in rebelling against Talabecland to form the League of Ostermark still existing in the modern day in the years of 1900-1905 IC.
Wulfenburg, in this time, had been rebuilt and improved, its thick walls of stone stout and Wulfenburg Castle crafted of expert dwarf artifice at extreme cost. By that point, enormous bridges of stone had been built to allow the city further growth potential, expanding west over the White Fang river.
For centuries afterwards, Ostland stood awkwardly present at the table, with no worth or value to its name other than its people as mercenaries for one claimant or another. Simply to give themselves some peace of mind, the Hohenzollerns would give allegiance to Talabecland, as the Ottilian Emperors were far too close for comfort, and frankly the Middle Mountains and Forest of Shadows provided enough defense from furious Wolf Emperor supporters that the matter was considered settled. Internecine warfare would continue throughout the Empire, until the coming of Asavar Kul, Everchosen of Chaos, and the heroic Magnus von Bildofen of Nuln who rose to oppose him. Shortly, another section of Hohenzollerns were slain by the forces of Chaos, either openly on the field of battle as Count Joseph von Hohenzollern died or daggers and poisons from a cult of Chaos worshippers who saw to the death of all other Hohenzollerns alive. All alive, however, save one - young Frederick von Hohenzollern, a noted irritant at court who had been banished to the small town of Jegow for insulting the Cult of Sigmar while in the presence of said priests during a meeting where Count Joseph was attempting to elicit a loan from the cult for the threadbare Wulfenburg treasuries. For all that young Fredrick had been a child at the time, his thoroughly devout father nonetheless banished him - perhaps to also make a statement to the priests present. It was that banishment that saved Frederick from the cult's machinations.
After Frederick von Hohenzollern took up the Runefang, the next few decades would show themselves to be a time of great change and renewal not just for Ostland, but for the Empire as a whole. With Magnus the Pious at the helm, elected with total support as Emperor from the common folk, the cults, and the nobility alike, the immense corruption and infighting that had characterized the last few centuries began to be peeled away and burned out. The Witch Hunters were formally turned from the disorganized and cell-like Cult of the Silver Hammer into a sweeping organization with actual oversight, the Magic Colleges were formed, and trade and peace largely returned to the land with only a few upsets in the time since. Wealth and importance would begin to flow into Ostland at the literal tip of the sword, the gritty martial nature of the province working in its favor in such an era, with contributions in battle leading to the formal creation of the Ostland School of Gunnery and Engineering in Wulfenburg, the granting of the stewardship of the 3rd Imperial Navy to Salkalten, a massive dwarf quarter, and more. The near destruction of the province during the Vampire War of 2315, known to some more simply as the Fourth Vampire War, saw the death of the infamous and near-mythical Zacharias the Everliving, the acknowledgement of much of the Empire towards Ostland, and a further set of redesigns to Wulfenburg proper. Strongly evident in this is the immense amount of influence Morrite aesthetic has come to have in the aftermath of the Vampire War, with shrines, decor, artistry, and temples springing up across not just Wulfenburg but all of Ostland.
Present Day [2304-???? IC]
Multiple expansions to Wulfenburg have occurred since Frederick von Hohenzollern claimed his position as Elector Count, with massive new walls going up, a population swollen by immigrants in odd concentrated bursts due to past acts and efforts, all the while the city grows wealthier due to new trade and general prosperity in the new era of a once-more unified Empire. An outbreak of temples dedicated to multiple Gods have spread across the city, while Shallyan institutions have grown larger and more capable than in many cities due to the sheer wealth regularly donated to them. The Cult of Morr, so often in the past kept distant, is strong in the city, with ravens and black roses scrawled at every street corner. In few places could one see so many priests of Morr in one place without there being a massive amount of bodies requiring burial. It is a city at once modern and archaic, bones of the past evident in street layout and certain surviving buildings, different eras blended into one. In some locations, buildings appear vaguely Kislevite, due to the influences of the Red Banshee's branch of Hohenzollerns returning to Wulfenburg. In others, efforts have clearly been made to copy the architecture of Middenheim, Talabheim, and even Altdorf and Nuln to pay homage or otherwise. The squat Dwarf Quarter is at once uniform and fantastically unique, each building built by one clan or another with their own design and aesthetic philosophies involved. Thus, the general silhouette of Wulfenburg is a curiously diverse one. There are classical Imperial structures, Kislevite-influenced buildings, towering temples to the various Gods of the Empire, smog-choked and concealed foundries and smithies, and so on. Its western third, across the White Fang river, is lit up at all hours due to the works taking place there, while a dozen different chants and songs to the Gods can be heard throughout all the streets. There are also more bars, taverns, and drinking holes in Wulfenburg than in any other city in the Empire, a custom brought about from thousands of years of fear of the Forest of Shadows, the surety of death from too many threats, and lack of much else to do for many folk. The size of the Dwarf Quarter, the introduction of the Cult of Esmeralda and the Grand Kitchen, the bringing over of so many halflings, Estalian refugees, Kislevite expatriates, and the largest ogre population in the Empire by province has ensured that the modern-day Wulfenburg is a bewildering place of peoples and cultures. It is a place of battle, of industry, of trade, and has expanded greatly from the scrabbled together group of buildings built long ago in the times when Sigmar walked the world.
Government
Unlike numerous other cities of similar or greater size, Wulfenburg has not, nor has it ever been, a city-state. After being the provincial capital for so long, however, it is undeniably the center of political power for all of Ostland and is attended thusly. At any given day throughout the year one can find representatives from dozens of noble families, though whether or not they actually manage to bring any issue to court is another matter entirely. Said representatives might be trusted vassals, who are in turn themselves nobles from lesser families, actual members of the original family in question, or just trusted individuals sent forth as emissaries. Also present are all a manner of merchants, not just from native guilds but from from outside of the province as well due to the growing economic strength of the city and the province it governs. Due to its relatively recent growth in mercantile power, the burgher class does not hold nearly the amount of power that it can usually be seen to do in southern cities more established as economic powerhouses. While the guilds still hold power in certain manners, a vast amount of industry and trade in the province lies strongly and uncompromisingly in the hands of the nobility - either under the Hohenzollerns directly or by closely allied nobility following their example. Frederick von Hohenzollern regularly holds court in Wulfenburg Castle, itself an imposing structure with little ornamentation save for a few massive banners that hang from the walls and pennant which blow in the breeze. Often, however, the Elector Count himself - having proven in his early years to be an abrasive and overly direct individual without much in the way of tact - deals with other matters while his wife, the Countess Natasha von Hohenzollern, sits in his stead. Despite being a foreign priestess, the past three decades have made it quite clear to all but the most unintelligent that she is the vastly preferred choice to bring courtly matters to. It is said that Count Hohenzollern demanded all matters be brought to a trial by combat, by the ancient laws and traditions of Ostland, no less than three hundred and forty two times in his first two years as Elector Count, greatly disliking usual courtly manners and politeness rather than simply admitting the problem at hand or at least dealing with it with rapidity. It is regarded as one of the finest works of marital diplomacy in recent northern Imperial history that Countess Natasha has managed to greatly smooth away the abrasive nature of her husband. When it comes to governing the rest of the province beyond the immediacy of court, a council of advisors attends to the Count, of which the Countess is also a member. Said council is made of exceptional and trusted individuals, whose authority granted to them by the Elector Count allows them to act upon matters of various type across the entire province; military, diplomatic, economic, and otherwise, up to and including an extreme level of direct control over the scholarly facilities of the province as well.
Guilds
Just as in any city in the Empire worth the name, there are guilds, though they are obviously unique to the province they are native to, just as with any other province in the Empire. An aftereffect of the Vampire War which so savaged the province was that, for a desperate time the vast majority of the populace that survived the initial onslaught of undead were forced to hole up alongside one another. Nobles rubbed elbows with peasants who rubbed elbows with merchants, mostly because all three were huddling in a secure basement while an undead mob terrorized the town above. And so it went. While some nobility refused to allow any inside their gates, they were soon surrounded and under siege without nearly as many hands to lend to defense than others, and many such uncharitable individuals died screaming. Thus, for the most part, the guilds become oddly concentrated at first out of comraderie and then out of inertia as time went on, many lesser guilds outright combining themselves due to the fluctuations in membership and general need for staying organized amidst the anarchic aftermath. For instance, than an individual Carpenter's Guild for each settlement, there is the overarching Ostland Woodworker's Association, which combines woodcutters, carpenters, hoopers, coopers, and so on all within a labyrinthine yet collective organization with all the fees and apprenticeships associate with Imperial Guilds. It is rare for Guildmasters to attempt to bribe or court favor from the Count Hohenzollern, unlike in other places, for while he would surely accept outright donations attempting to curry favor in such a manner is looked down upon. Instead, the guilds are largely left to their own devices, competing with one another as they always have and likely always will. It is rare for such discourse to raise enough ruckus to gain the ire of the Hohenzollerns, however, as much out of fear than a desire to keep their freedoms without too much noble attention. At the same time, many Guildmasters and Guilds in general are considered unduly influenced by the Hohenzollerns and their desires, an odd reversal to the way of things elsewhere in the Empire. It is undeniable that, despite everything, the culture of Ostland remains frugal. The mocking songs about 'Stone Soup of Ostland' hold grains of truth, and while the Ostlander accent has been for thousands of years been associated with poverty, this is changing.
Inhabitants
"Old Soldiers!" - A common drinking toast.
"Bohsenfels, bloody but unbowed!" - A fashionable drinking toast.
"In the mud, with the blood and the beer!" - An old Wulfenburg toast.
"Stubborn as all get out. Be wary if you make one your friend, he'll hold on tight until you'll think you're about to suffocate!" - Unknown Speaker
"He's singing. We just lost ten men and he's singing into his beer. What's wrong with him?"
"He's an Ostlander. He's laughing because Morr'll see to our dead, and he's still alive to take revenge for them." - Overheard exchange between mercenary soldiers in Tilea
It is not wrong to say that Wulfenburg is one of the most diversely populated cities in the Empire. While the total census numbers, unreliable as those are, show a total less than places such as Marienburg, Nuln, or Altdorf, the fact remains that Wulfenburg possessed a wild assortment of folk who regularly visit and remain there. While there are a great number of native-born, generational Ostlanders whose families have been present since before recorded history, there are a great many others as well. Ostland, for some reason or another, holds the largest concentrated ogre population out of the whole of the Empire, to the point that some are second or even third generation at this point in their living, who have integrated remarkably well with Imperial society. Ogres can be found in almost every walk of life, from farm labor, to woodworking labor, to the armed forces, guards, and so on and the like. There exists the Dwarf Quarter, one of the largest in the Empire and populated by thousands of dwarfs, most recently with the near entire settling down of the Goldeneye Clan, an essentially retired throng of mercenary dwarfs and the various hangers on that a large army might have following just behind it. The nearness of the newly established Bugman's Brewery has created a steady flow of dwarf immigrants and tourists yearly. Also in the city are a number of Kislevite expatriates, who for one reason or another chose to remain there rather than returning to their native country. Throughout the streets are also Estalian refugees, rescued from the chaos of their homeland coming under assault by the forces of Chaos, who have taken up new lives in Ostland with a stunning amount of passion to forge new paths for themselves. In addition, a massive amount of halflings can be found, in greater concentrated number than anywhere else but the Mootland, themselves having evacuated due to political pressures from the southern province, many of whom have taken up new lives with vigor in all a manner of occupations.
The following can be said of most native Ostlanders:
At their best, Ostlanders are considered to be coolheaded in crisis, practical, and not given to airs and graces. They are proud survivors, and teach their offspring to hold their heads high, no matter the circumstances. At their worst, however, Ostlanders are overly stubborn in the extreme, irrepressibly proud, and intolerant. They hate waste of all sorts, as well as "needless ostentation." There is a tendency towards jealousy for many towards the breadbasket provinces, among them Reikland, Stirland, Averland, and the Moot, with more than one sullen drunken rant or rage occurring within an individual's month. Such things are somewhat lesser now, depending on who one is speaking to, and for others it is magnified. The recent influx of Mootland immigrants has seen the latter reduced, or at least transformed, as now the muttering is towards Mootland halflings being untoward to 'Ostlander' halflings. In general, there is a curious sense of tribal acceptance in Ostland in these days, as those who kept themselves divided died during the Vampire War. Racial and political divides, and to a lesser extent religious ones, were blurred by absolute necessity. Those that are 'of Ostland' are regarded as such regardless of being human, halfling, dwarf, or ogre, while others are watched warily. In time, new arrivals are either accepted or rebuffed, depending on whether or not they are able to adapt to the environment. One particularly confusing aspect is the general pride of Ostlanders, yet the disdain with which they regard too-proud arrivals with - yet depending on the circumstances of one's arrival that same disdain might become grudging acceptance or tearful embrace depending entirely on the Ostlander in question. Outsiders find the native inhabitants of the city frustratingly unwelcoming to new arrivals except for when they are to overly familiar extent, and more than one entrant from another province or nation has been confused how after one night of quietly drinking in a corner at a bar that those who were also present at said bar are willing to get into fist fights to defend them from those who disparage them. Depending on the neighborhood, one could find themselves surrounded by cheerfully drunk singers holding each other up by the shoulders or a dozen men and women beating each other into the cobblestones and dirt, sometimes with each group only a few feet away from each other. The culture, in truth, lurches from one extreme to the next before settling into the middle ground, and it is nearly impossible to tell what part of the city might hold citizens of each at any given time of day. The animal most often associated with Ostland is the bull, and it represents the people quite well, in their protection of whoever they regard as part of their herd and their near-bestial fury at those who would threaten them.
Ostlanders are a significantly pious people, usually choosing one God over all others to worship as is common in the Empire, but just as in the rest of the Empire they are willing to call upon other Gods for aid depending on the situation. Only the greatest zealot or fool would beg Ulric for aid on the high seas in a storm, for instance. But unlike elsewhere, the God of the Dead Morr features heavily here, even more heavily than Stirland, to the point that even the most devout Sigmarites or Ulricans or Taalites and so on hold a very high second place in their hearts for Morr. The gesture known as 'Morr's Shroud', most often normally used by cultists, has become far more common in casual gestures amongst nobility and commoners alike. The normally fearsome thought that using the gesture is extremely bad luck has been rather reversed in Ostland, as if the gesture should in fact draw Morr's attention to you, in Ostland this is considered an incredibly good thing. If Morr's attention is on you, hopefully you will be therefore better protected from necromancers, the undead, and the possible threat of being raised yourself, right? Either way, this tendency has yet to spread beyond the Northern Trident, causing no small distress on those from other provinces when faced with such things. Also oddly omnipresent is worship, if it can even be called that, to the halfling Goddess Esmeralda, Goddess of Hearth and Home. All things considered, more prayers are given to Esmeralda than even Sigmar, Ulric, Taal, or Morr, due to the simple fact that it is Esmeralda that one asks for the hearth to keep them warm and the the food you are about to eat to taste good and be filling. Rhya is thanked for the harvest, but it is Esmeralda that every mother, every cook, every chef, every woodsman alone with naught but his cook pot, a rabbit, and a fire mutters a prayer to on the daily.
Layout
Wulfenburg could be considered split in multiple ways. There is Old Wulfenburg, and the extremely recent New Wulfenburg, the latter being the result of the latest expansions in population requiring a new set of stone walls to be set up at a considerable distance from the original borders of the city. Old Wulfenburg is a chaotic mishmash of clashing design philosophies generations apart from one another. In certain areas the buildings are crushed together, so tall and dangerously capable of leaning that they are forced to lean on each other lest they collapse. In others there are large open public spaces with small single or two-story buildings that act as marketplaces surrounding them. Guard houses and stately manors for nobility are crushed against smaller houses and places of business, but there yet exists certain areas of the city that seem singularly dedicated to one purpose or another. As a result of its many rebuilds, the city has many areas which are distinctly different in age when one glances at the stonework and design of the buildings around them from different eras stretching back hundreds of years. Statues to past Hohenzollerns and the Gods are present throughout the city, with small corner shrines evident at every single intersection, as well as alleyways and longer stretches of road. In addition, no matter where one is in Old Wulfenburg, from Wulfenburg Castle to the gates at the walls, there are the signs of Morr. The Black Rose, the Watching Raven, the Open Portal, these three symbols are omnipresent from the streets to the walls to the roofs of many buildings. In many places there are simply stenciled in, while in other places they have been carefully carved into the stones. On counter tops for grocers and on the bottom of bar stools, the symbols can be found.
New Wulfenburg, on the other hand, was built with clearly defensive intentions in mind. Certain streets are wide, others are narrow, with natural choke points and defensive hubs literally built into the construction. When viewed from atop the high walls, this is obvious, but when living within it is easy to miss save for the various portions of areas where thick iron-wrought gates are ready to be shut and barred. The increase in city size also allowed for the recapture, or perhaps overdue addition, of the pensively regarded Greatbellow Academy, a supposed scholastic institution built around the education of ogres new and old to Ostland. Previously constructed outside of the city limits - limits that have since expanded past it - the Greatbellow Academy is a monstrous looking building, one closer to a castle than a school, all built with the dimensions of ogres foremost in mind. Also present, as they are in Old Wulfenburg, are the fighting pits, institutionalized bloodsport like nowhere else in the Empire, with the interesting caveat of being legally constrained if participated in. The newest set of city walls of Wulfenburg are a uniformly twelve feet thick, which is no small accomplishment when considering that Altdorf has walls which are fifteen feet thick in some places. There are a number of massive gates of steel and wood, each of which exits onto one major road or another - a southwestern gate towards Ristedt, to the southeast towards Grünackeren, one to the east towards Levudaldorf, and one to the north towards Dassel. However, two more gates exist, but are instead perched above the White Fang River rather than atop the land. Northwater Gate and Southwater Gate are meant to accommodate not just the runoff from the western third of the city, but also to receive incoming river barges for trade and so on. They are almost always open, but can be closed in case of water-borne invasion, cleverly wrought bars in their lower halves letting water flow through without letting ships have passage. Should the gates fail, enormous chains are maintained and ready to be dropped at any required moment. Only two areas are infrequently traveled, and for good reason: Castle Wulfenburg, still perched atop the highest part of the city, with but two paths leading up to it that forces any who take said paths into full view of those on the castle walls, and the Garden of Morr - itself the largest of its kind in the Empire.
Overall, Wulfenburg is not necessarily a beautiful city, though that is of course a matter of perspective. There are certainly beautiful manors, small gardens within larger properties, and of course the many temples are shining examples of their kind. Yet these are contrasted with heavy gates, marching soldiers, cramped spaces and alleyways, and buildings five stories or more piled next to one another due to a premium being placed on space before the most recent expansion. A variety of ugly gargoyles keep watch from rooftops and archways, but for some reason their angry gazes seem perched on the horizon rather than the streets below, their clutched spears or bared claws ready not to attack those who walk beneath them, but those who might dare threaten their charges. But she is, undeniably, a strong city, and has been described by more than one maudlin would-be-poets deep in their cups as a weathered pugilist who simply refuses to lay down and die no matter how bloodied and scarred. Cannons ring her walls, and caches of handguns and crossbows are readied in case of siege. At any given hour, a detachment of the state troops are marching in or out of the city, sometimes carrying wounded, sometimes not. It is a city that does not sleep, at least in the western third, as engineers and smiths work on an endless quad-rotation of shifts. Outside of the gates are farmlands that stretch out wards towards cleared forests, to provide vital foods back into the city, and it is not uncommon for farmhands to drink till the crack of dawn in the city before trundling back down to the farms to work. Underneath Wulfenburg is an increasingly sophisticated and intricate sewer system, all the better to reduce smells and waste issues for an increasingly populated city, as well as certain underground buildings constructed by dwarfs for various purposes state-sponsored and personal.
Mercantile Areas
While smaller grocers and the like exist in individual neighborhoods, there are two locations which are purely devoted to all that and more. Known as Nortmarket and Sudenmarket, these two sibling marketplaces are enormous, featuring products and sellers of all shapes and sizes. From food, to trinkets, to dyes, and more, many things can be found in Wulfenburg these days if one knows who to talk to and for the right price. Both benefit from their locations, traders coming south from Kislev or Salkalten proper coming to Nortmarket while river traders coming up the White Fang River are able to sell their goods at Sudenmarket where traders taking goods from Wurzen and elsewhere can also be found. In either, however, one can find themselves haggling with men of many provinces and nations, halflings, and even the occasional dwarf. Fish, vegetables, and fruits are displayed on stands across from religious curious, where dirtied priests offer to bless items on one's person for a small fee. Nortmarket is in fact the very first thing one sees when coming through the northern gate, while Sudenmarket lies at a middle point between the docks on the western river and the southeastern gate. It is said that the truly capable will visit both in one day, as the deals and items on offer can radically change from one hour to the next, but more often than not those with business in mind have to chose one or the other due to the sheer breadth of items and services offered.
The Smokelands
The Smokelands refers to the western third of the city where two of the most famous institutions of Ostland reside: the Ostland School of Gunnery and Engineering and the Street of Steel. It also refers to the fact that due to the constant work ongoing here, there exists a permanent cloud of dark smoke and smog which hangs over the western third of the city. In the Ostland School of Gunnery and Engineering are offered classes and jobs, often connected, towards becoming one of the infamous Engineers of Ostland. Within the school are a variety of war machines tested, but so too are handguns and cannons, requiring testing and manufacturing at a relentless pace. Under the exacting and emotionless pace set by Anna von Hohenzollern, currently the Grandmaster Engineer of Ostland despite her age, the school functions on a quad-rotation basis, with each 'shift' of working, creating, testing, teaching, and learning taking place over the course of six hours each. Thus, the latter two shifts, known to those who reside in the Smokelands on a long-term basis as the 'night shifts', take place into the depths of the night and very beginnings of the morning. Here, men and women, humans and halflings, who show the aptitude to learn are made to choke down a punishing curriculum in mathematics and literature, with those studious enough to graduate able to take up the Ostland Mohawk, a hairstyle, grave remembrance, and mark of rank all in one. The sides of the head are shaved, with only a strip in the middle from front to back remaining, which is then grown out and stuck upwards with oils and grease to become an outwards sprout of hair - then dyed black and white in alternating bands. The more bands one possesses, the higher one's ranking amongst one's fellow engineers - with many master engineers being radical dwarf engineers or experienced humans and halflings with a great many bands in their hair. Said hairstyle was inspired by the dwarf engineer Valma Bronzeheart, who helped create the school at all, and institutionalized by her two direct apprentices - Helga Weir and Anna von Hohenzollern. What began as a small single building facility has massively expanded as the decades have gone on, with the school now resembling a sprawling complex of dormitories, manufactorums, storage areas, testing zones, and so on and so forth which stretches up and down the western third of the city. The massive waterwheels of the School, all slung along its eastern side, plunge directly into the White Fang River, all to power certain hammers and devices within the school. Above the main entrance to the school, which itself looks more like a guardhouse of a castle than the entryway into a scholastic institution, is a single well-polished and cared for cannonball, beneath which is a large bronzed sign engraved with the school's motto: To Hell And Back. Supposedly the name comes from the cannonball itself which was fired - inadvertently - into a portal opened by a Sorcerer of Chaos after being blessed by priests of Sigmar...and later emerged from a different portal, killing a different Sorcerer. Though many would claim the tale apocryphal, many eye-witnesses proclaim its truthfulness, from the Steel Bull himself, to Captain Urgdug Greatbellow, to various other soldiers and of course the priests of Sigmar who blessed it in the first place. By that alone, one might think that the Cult would desire it as an example of holy Sigmar's might, but its current position and the story fulfils that purpose well enough it seems.
Also present is the winding Street of Steel, a place dedicated to the art of metalworking in its many different forms. Humans and dwarfs work at a variety of hot glowing forges to craft their latest orders, which depending on which part of the street one is in can be a fine sword or suit of armor or simply finely made utensils for a noble's summer home. Nails, horseshoes, spear tips, screws, axles, and so on are made here on a daily basis, all the while different smiths argue with the others about just who is better than the others. Estalians argue with Bretonnians who besmirch Imperials who arrogantly challenge chuffing dwarfs, all over who possesses greater expertise at the art of smithing - often just as a potential customer arrives on the scene. But so too here can the most intricate and delicate works take place, and there are numerous shops who craft fine silver and gold jewelry with sparkling jewels that exist along the Street. The Street of Steel actually stretches and bends, to the point that anywhere else in a city it would have been regarded as multiple streets entirely. Here, too, smoke pours forth into the sky, and while the schedules are are far more individualistic due to each shop being owned separately, sheer competitiveness ensures that often there are many forges burning even past midnight.
There are many who live here as well who are not specifically smiths or engineers themselves, but such folk still require a variety of services as all living beings do. Despite the constant cacophony, there are many who say they can't sleep anywhere else after a few years of living in the Smokelands. Those who work in restaurants elsewhere in the city, clothiers, more well off dung collectors, and the like all live here, as do those who maintain custodial duties elsewhere throughout the city. It is a simple grimy truth that rents are much lower in the Smokelands, and the poor are willing to deal with the noise in exchange for paying less for their living quarters all the same.
Dwarf Quarter
Laying just across the river from the Smokelands, and to the northeast of the Sudenmarket, the Ostland Dwarf Quarter is home to quite possibly one of the top three, if not the highest, concentrated population of Imperial Dwarfs in the Empire. This is due to two main factors. The first factor is the nearness of Bugman's Brewery near the River Eiskalt and thus the incredible availability of the finest of dwarf brews in the Empire for the cheapest possible prices (while still being considerable) drawing forth Imperial Dwarfs who wish for a glorious taste of the old days without actually returning to the mountains. Immigrants who have come to the city to settle down rub elbows with tourist dwarfs just 'visiting' for the third time in one year, with lodging available for both in dwarf-run taverns and inns. Due to the nearness of Bugman's Brewery, large numbers of brewing clans are also present, for all a manner of possible reasons, having settled in for the long-haul. The second factor is a result of the reclamation of Karak Ungor, and the resettlement of the entire Goldeneye Throng and their camp followers. The Goldeneye Throng, once a powerful mercenary dwarf throng run by the princess-in-hiding Kazul Goldeneye, sole child of the presumptive King of Karak Ungor - and now proper Princess - has settled quietly but thoroughly into the Dwarf Quarter of Wulfenburg. A throng, of course, is the dwarf phrase for army, and so the Goldeneye Clan was, and still possibly is, if loudly declarative of their retired status. Once gathered from dispirited dwarfs from the mountains and Imperial dwarfs alike, the Goldeneye were brought together by their princess-thane and told to retire by her. With remarkably little desire to settle in the mountains, having spent centuries outside of them, they have becoming a major portion of the Dwarf Quarter by dint of sheer numbers not just of their own throng proper but all the camp followers that would normally accompany such a force - all of them dwarfs. The Dwarf Quarter proper does not have walls out and out dividing them from the rest of the city, but the squat and stoutly built buildings with gaps less than a finger wide work just as well outside of a series of gates which could be closed on the dwarf-side of things should the worst occur. An extraordinary number of dwarfs who live in the dwarf quarter have their places of employment in the Smokelands, but a number of Goldeneye dwarfs have found employment as bouncers, toughs, and escorts throughout the city, never having actually given up their weapons they once wielded as an entire mercenary army. The Dwarf Quarter also holds the representatives of the various Dwarf Guilds who do business in Ostland, the two largest guildhalls being given over perhaps predictably to the Brewer's Guild and the Engineering Guild. Also present are a number of dwarf-owned granaries, for dwarfs no matter the place understand just how quickly siege conditions can occur and how much damage they can do.
Orphan's Row
It is an unfortunate fact of life that people die. Many do. All the time. That is the Old World. In Ostland this is true as well. While the dead are interred in the Gardens of Morr set up throughout the province, those left behind must make something of themselves, must be taken care of. Thus, Orphan's Row, a street of Shallyan orphanages and temples set up across and alongside one another just south of the Temple District. Funded heavily by Count Hohenzollern, the Shallyans have taken on the unenviable task of caring for a vast number of orphans, either those brought to them due to the death of their parents, or just street rats that require homes, care, and a strong hand to keep them in-line. For all that it is called Orphan's Row, the greatest concentration of Shallyan healing houses exists here also, so while there are a number of orphanages present taking care of their charges, there are a number of wounded or diseased folk who are being taken care of just as well. Here, even the most hard-drinking Ostlander does his best to keep a bit quieter, out of respect for the Dove of Mercy and her works. Though most orphans taken care of at Orphan's Row are not adopted, a great many of them are filtered into various priesthoods, assisted by the Shallyans into gaining apprenticeships with the guilds, or regretfully released should they reach adulthood without either of these two options taking place. A pair of large granaries are present here, carefully watched over, so that food can be properly provided at regular times.
Temple District
In the east of the city, closer to the gates than to Wulfenburg Castle at the center, lies the Temple District. Here, enormous soaring temples to Sigmar and Ulric are present near one another - ensuring that arguments ensue just about daily between opposing priests. In fact, there are temples to nearly every God of the Empire, those not proscribed at least. There are two major temples to Sigmar and Ulric, yes, but there are smaller satellite temples as well. A vast Shallyan Temple exists with high walls of marble and smooth stone, as well as large chambers for the sick and needy to rest and be taken care of, and even numerous lower cells for those whose minds are simply broken by the hardships of the world. There are a small number of Myrmidian temples, large enough for a small amount of priests and those willing to listen to them speak. There is even a temple to Manann, for he is the God of Rivers as well as the Sea. Small shrines exist with dedications to the lesser Ostland gods, just as Urash, God of Bear Hunters, Kakoral the God of Horses, and Guvaur, God of Bulls. There are no temples to Narlog, but a few ramshackle shrines exist in out of the way places. Somewhat more present than any of these other lesser Ostland Gods is Skalor, God of Bartering, though there are no temples to him either. Curiously, as of late there appears to be a small but strong movement dedicated to convincing others that Skalor is just another name of Handrich, the God of Merchants, though like Ranald there is no temple or shrine known for either as of yet known in Ostland. The final and most imposing part of the Temple District is neither the large Temples to Sigmar or Ulric, but the Garden of Morr. Both temple and graveyard, the Garden of Morr is an enormous place, combining multiple aspects of the Cult of Morr under the newly formed Order of the Garden. There are augur chambers, preaching areas, counseling rooms for those disturbed by their dreams, all the while the dead can be assured to rest peacefully in the massive area dedicated to them. Those who die without any way of identifying them are ritually cleansed and reduced to bone, these then stored in the Unknown Ossuaries beneath the temple. Due to the rather martial aspect of Morr being appreciated in Ostland, the Wulfenburg Garden of Morr is in fact walled and towered as if it were a Temple of Ulric, a possible bastion of safety should the city come under siege - or, perhaps more disturbingly, to defend against any individual with necromantic tendencies desiring fodder. The Black Guard patrol the gates and walls of the Garden in absolute silence, as is their way, but nonetheless are appreciated by those who still remember the Vampire War. It is said that the psyche of Ostland was irreparably scarred by the onslaught of Zacharias the Everliving, and the people latched onto Morr more strongly and actively than anywhere else in the Old World out of desperation - and being Ostlanders, mullish as they are, once they've decided to worship someone, they truly worship them. Though it is unlikely that another vampire war will ensue so quickly, the legendary conservatism of Ostland has ensured that 'just in case', they've thrown their lot into Morr's hands rather quickly. Priests of Morr, and the Black Guard, are bowed to, smiled at, and welcomed in a manner that a Tilean or Estalian priest would be utterly stunned by - something that has occurred more than once. It is here, in a Garden of Morr crafted of black stone, that High Priest Arthur von Hohenzollern preaches in the name of Morr, for the living and the dead, whilst performing other priestly duties. Also present, in the fashion of strangely new faith, is the Cult of Esmeralda, with their Grand Kitchen - a restaurant and temple both - being located on the northern edge of the Temple District. It is here that the new Cult of Esmeralda stretches slightly flour-covered fingers outwards, and for a wonder there is little to be said against them. They are a faith with little to no friction whatsoever with any others, and synergies with some like the Cult of Shallya, providing food for the hungry while also pocketing a bit of profit from donations and from regular business hours.
It is also rumored that the Witch Hunters are headquartered here, though the exact location is obviously kept secret.
Wulfenburg Quick Data
Status: Provincial Capital of Ostland, Seat of House Hohenzollern, Stable and Growing
Exports: Trade, Timber, Government, Pewter Wares, Alcohol, Firearms, War Machines, Soldiers
Imports: Food, Stone, Raw Ores, Various Raw Materials
Titles/Nicknames:
Last edited:
