Kingdom of Torlan

The **Kingdom of Torlan** was a Breton principality in central High Rock.

## **Torlan in 3E 300**

At the close of the third century of the Third Era, the Kingdom of Torlan was at its zenith. Under the regime of Engelard of Morfa, the kingdom wielded immense *soft* power as the arbiter of the Peace of Torlan. Its influence and prestige in High Rock, and indeed the Empire, was never greater before or after this period. Paradoxically, this golden age occurred during the reign of Torlan's weakest king, the *roi fainéant* Elzear VII.

The cost of ascendancy was high. Beneath its magisterial façade, the kingdom was beleaguered by financial ruin and a malcontent aristocracy.

## **Torlan City**

The Kingdom of Torlan was ruled from its eponymous capital city, located in the heart of High Rock. Its domain was the river valley of the Cygnus River, which flowed northwest from its source in the Ucheldir Mountains to its estuary (although the kingdom did not extend as far to the sea).

At a meander roughly halfway on the river's course – known as the Swan's Neck – stood the city of Torlan itself. It sprawled across both banks of the river, connected by two bridges (one built from stone and another from wood). The two districts were appropriately named the North Bank and the South Bank.

The city was encircled by tall stone curtain walls connected by towers. By land, Torlan could be entered through three gates – two in the North Bank and one in the South Bank. The city was otherwise accessible through its wharfs via the river. A boom (or chain) attached to towers on both sides of the river was capable of blocking the entire Cygnus. Within the city stood the castle named the Torlan Castle.

The South Bank was considered the more affluent district of the city; it was here that the royal palace stood. Nobles and wealthy merchants also owned large townhouses here. Its streets were wide and clean, and its inns respectable. Landmarks included Engelard's Square, where guildhall of the Mages Guild and the city's university stood.

The North Bank was comparatively squalid. It was a gallimaufry of slums and markets, twisted into narrow and uneven alleyways. Innumerable workshops, in which cloth was manufactured and dyed, operated in the district. These goods were exported downriver from the wharfs. The North Bank's taverns and brothels were considered unsavoury. Its only notable landmark was the cathedral, noteworthy for its beautiful stained glass windows.

### **Landmarks**

* Corsen Palace (residence of the Dukes of Corsen)
* Engelard's Square
	+ Chapel of Julianos
	+ Mages Guildhall
	+ University of Torlan
* Torlan Cathedral
* Torlan Castle

## **Government**

### **Royal Power**

As per feudal custom, rule of Torlan's fiefs was devolved to the nobility, who jealously guarded their rights and privileges. Any interference, however negligible, by the king or his agents was met with protest and even rebellion. Only by confiscating a fief (a rare occurrence) could the king excusably meddle in its affairs.

The royal demesne – the lands *not* enfeoffed to vassals – was ruled by the king directly. This included the city of Torlan itself. It was here that the royal prerogative, namely the dispensation of justice and the collection of taxes, could be exercised to its fullest extent. The Kings of Torlan were not itinerant: their household and court was permanently established at Torlan Castle. It was here that the royal council met to advise on and assist in matters of state. The composition of this council was determined by the monarch: its members included family members, powerful nobles, ministers and favourites.

### **High Officials**

* Chancellor
* Chamberlain
* Constable
* Justiciar
* Steward
* Treasurer

### **Taxation and Income**

The income of the Kings of Torlan was derived from various exactions, the collection of which was superintended by the Lord Treasurer. The ordinary income of the king – which is to say *not* episodic funds granted by parliament or other sources – included:

* Duties on cloth exported from Torlan City (the duty on unfinished cloth was higher than finished cloth, to encourage cloth manufacturing within the city)
* Duties on wool imported to Torlan City (intended to encourage the purchase of wool from Torlanese shepherds)
* Fees on charters and other documents issued by the royal chancery
* Fines paid to the judicial courts within the royal demesne
* Rents from the royal demesne
* Tolls on goods entering Torlan City through its three gates
* Tolls on river traffic passing under Torlan Bridge (pilgrims journeying to and from Glanfa Abbey were exempted)

## **Economy**

The land ruled by the Kingdom of Torlan was frequently flooded by the Cygnus River. Whilst this often proved calamitous for crop cultivation, these were ideal conditions for sheep husbandry. Shepherds sold the wool they sheared from their flocks to the cloth merchants of Torlan city, who were organised into guilds. These merchants then sold the fleece to the workshops for sorting, washing, combing, spinning, weaving, fulling, shearing, teaseling and dyeing. The finished cloth was then sold back to the merchants, for sale within and without the kingdom.

In the Third Era, Torlan was one of the largest manufacturers of finished cloth in the Empire. A large percentage of the city's population were employed in its cloth workshops, regulated by numerous guilds (namely the Spinners' Guild, the Weavers' Guild, the Dyers' Guild and the Clothiers' Guild). The city proudly claimed that it clothed kings and emperors.

Duties on the export of cloth was the principal source of income for the Kings of Torlan.

## **Religion**

The Bretons of Torlan worshipped the Eight Divines. The capital featured numerous temples and shrines dedicated to the Divines, the greatest being the towering Cathedral with its shimmering stained glass windows. The cathedral clergy were led by a Bishop, regarded as the kingdom's foremost ecclesiastic who traditionally crowned the monarch at their coronation (thus conferring the requisite *Grace of the Divines*).

Worship of Talos, rare among the native Bretons, was largely confined to the the capital's Imperial residents and merchants. The city's temple of Talos was nevertheless lavish, only less splendid than the cathedral. Minor cults devoted to Direnni-era deities (Magnus, Y'ffre and Phynaster) endured in the countryside during the Third Era despite Clerjus efforts to suppress them. Glanfa Abbey, on the isle of Ynys, was the kingdom's largest monastery.

During the regime of Engelard of Morfa, Julianos was promoted at the patron deity of Torlan (at the expensive of the traditionally popular Zenithar).

## **Notes**

1. ↑ Numerous kings issued legislation which attempted to crackdown on merchants disguising themselves as pilgrims.