The City of Andrassos: Region Maps of the City

The City of Andrassos has the physical infrastructure to contain over 100,000 people comfortably, which it did in its heyday. But since the fall of mighty Vanor, the city has dwindled considerably while still being able to hold the core functions of the various neighborhoods in the city together. The images below are close up maps of each Andrassan Regio, with a short narrative description and several keyed locations.

Next time: The Character Creation Rules and Hacks for the Magisterium Campaign

The City of Andrassos: Maps, Demographics, and State Bureaucracy

The Government and Bureaucracy of the Exarchate

Andrassos as a political entity has been in continuous existence for hundreds of years, dating back well into the heyday of mighty Vanor. As a Vanoran exarchate that survived the fall, it has inherited many institutions, habits, and methods from ancient Vanoran practice, but has also, in the four hundred years since Vanor’s end, begun to develop its own approaches and traditions. Thus, the state apparatus is a curious mixture of old and new.

The Exarch
*An appointed position voted on by the Curia of State, held usually for life or retirement
*Has overall control over the policy and direction of the Andrassan polity, in matters foreign and domestic
*There is no inherent or legislated hereditary principle for succession, but increasingly exarchs are able to influence and even at times dictate the selection of a successor

The Curia of State
*Developed out of the old Vanoran town council for the city of Andrassos itself
*Manages the day-to-day activities of the Andrassan polity through the various administrative Sekreton (bureaus) of State
*Provides advice and counsel to the Exarch on all matters
*Positions appointed by the Exarch and are at-will offices; members of the Curia can be removed from office at the whim of the Exarch

The Legacy of State (The Legates)
*Consists of those appointed offices connected to the Andrassan military and the regional Thematic system
*Officers serve at the will of the Exarch

Church of the Unconquered Sun
*While not an official entity of the state, the Church bureaucracy has become increasingly intertwined with that of the Andrassan state, often sharing personnel
*The Tetrarch of the Great Humanitarium serves as a non-voting member of the Curia of State

The Honors List
*Prestigious titles and awards given out by the Exarch, part of the complex system of hierarchy and ranking that has been developing in Andrassos since the fall of Vanor
*Usually results in higher monetary bonuses during the Roga Donative Ceremony every year

The Exarch’s Household
*Offices that manage the day-to-day affairs of the Exarch and the activities of the Grand Magnaura Palace
*Paid by the state and vetted by the Curia, although exarchs do have decision-making authority over who holds these offices

*Notable Offices: High Chamberlain (Parakoimomenos), Grand Master of Ceremonies, Comes Domesticorum (head of the Domestici, aka the Palace Guard), First Master of the Wardrobe (Protovestiarios)

Key State Offices (Dignities by Proclamation, in order of prestige)

The Grand Logothete	Curia; chancellor in charge of diplomacy, high admin, and postal
The Genikon of the Public Chest	Curia; collects taxes and manages state enterprises
The Stratikon of the Military Chest	Curia; military pay and supply, manages military arsenals
The Eparch	Curia; home affairs, police, fire, regulates trade guilds and foreign merchants
The Quaestor	Curia; justice, appeals courts, wills and testaments
The Sakellarios	Curia; chief financial officer, budgeting, audits
The Magister Officiorum	Curia; head of the Magisterium, spymaster
The Grand Domestic of the Army	Legacy; top ranking general of the standing army
The Grand Duke of the Navy	Legacy; top ranking admiral of the standing navy
The Four Strategoi of the Themes	Legacy; military and administrative commanders in the Themes
The Akolouthos of the Varangoi Guard	Legacy; head of the Varangoi Guard

Honors List (Dignities by Award, in order of prestige)

President (Proedros) of the Curia	Singular honor; presides over all meetings of the Curia of State
Magister (Magistros)	Old Vanoran title for Master
Vestarches	Old Vanoran title for Master of the Wardrobe
Vestes	Originally a lesser Vanoran wardrobe office title
Proconsul (Anthypatos)	Old Vanoran office
Patrician (Patriklos)	Old Vanoran distinction
First Sword Bearer (Protospatharios)	Andrassan noble household title
Sword Bearer (Spatharios)	Andrassan noble household title
Consul (Hypatos)	Old Vanoran office
Groom (Strator)	Andrassan noble household title

Exarchate of Andrassos Demographic Information

Total Population: 235,000
Total Urban Population: 47,000
Andrassos City Population: 24,500

Other Urban Centers
Berutos, Pop: 3,220
Bourla, Pop: 3,250
Eruks, Pop: 3,130
Marash, Pop: 3,125
Philea, Pop: 3,263
Rusion, Pop: 3,262
Skopelos, Pop: 3,250

State Governmental Structure: 1 Exarchate, 4 Themes, 16 Prefectures, 64 Kastra

City of Andrassos Demographic Information

Andrassans - 49% - 12,005
Lemurians - 14% - 3,430
Iotar/Varangians - 10% - 2,450
Atlanteans - 8% - 1,960
Stygians - 7% - 1,715
Acherians - 6% - 1,568

Others (Vanoran, Rothari, Ughor, Kalingoi, etc) - 5% - 1,225

Next Time: Close-up and labeled maps of all eight regiones in the city.

Xiras: A City in Stygia

Last week, I tossed up a quick post showing off the city map for Kharazim that I hand drew. As first efforts go, it wasn't too bad, especially considering my distinct lack of artistic talent. One of my friends made the comment that it was pretty close to a publishable piece (that is to say, when looking at it, you could almost think it would fit in the back of a published RPG book -- high praise from someone not known for offering empty compliments).

This week, I have another hand drawn city map, this time the Stygian city of Xiras, former capital of the old Stygian Empire. Chief religious center for the Stygian Immortal cult of Mazda, Xiras is a sprawling city of canals, hanging gardens, and nefarious merchant princes squabbling over the remains of a dead empire. Enjoy!

  

Kharazim, A City of Stygia

I'll do a more sustained write up Kharazim, a Stygian city known for its agricultural bounty, lacquered pottery, and cult of the Stygian Immortal Zamarmatay, some other time. Right now, I simply want to post the map, which I have just finished.

It's my first attempt at doing an urban map in a style ala Dyson of Dyson's Dodecahedron (you can find more of his urban maps here). I think it turned out all right, considering I'm not an artist at all.

Vanoran Sites: The Portico of Borea

The tiled floor mosaic map of the world in the Portico of Borea.

In Regio.IX.Overlook about four hundred feet east of the Via Lata, in a semi-ruined neighborhood called the Campus Tullius, stands the Portico of Borea. Recently discovered again by delvers operating under the auspices of the Diggers College, this ruined double columned portico was supposedly built as a monument to the world-striding power of the Sixth Vanoran Witch-King, Sextus Tullius Incantator, known chiefly as the Servator ("To be loved or feared is immaterial; one only needs to be obeyed.")

Although much of the Portico has fallen or been looted for building stone through the years, its crown jewel remains somewhat intact: a 75x50 foot tiled floor mosaic that displays an ancient but complete map of the continent of Borea. Despite being outdated in its details, the great floor map remains an astounding work of art that will perhaps again serve as a focal point for Overlook regio once delvers have reclaimed the area from ruin.

Mapping Vanor: The City

The following post contains the neighborhood capsule descriptions I sent to my players before the Ruins of Vanor campaign started properly. All neighborhoods (or regios, as the Vanorans call them) refer to locations on the Big Board map to the left, which is mounted on a piece of poster board 3ft x 2ft in size. At this early stage of the campaign, some areas are more defined than others, hence the abundant white space for most of the map. We'll add more to the Big Board as the campaign goes on. 

Oh, and three guess which historical city I have based Vanor on...

***

The ruined city within the outer Marcian Walls consists of ten districts. Of these ten, only four have settled habitation; the remaining six are in ruins and teeming with beasts, kalingoi goblins, and undead. As residents of Vanor, you know much about the settled districts and significantly less about the ruined ones.

The Settled Districts

Regio I. Campus Marcianus
This district (the "Fields of Marcian") is the second most populous area of the ruined city. Originally a marshy plain outside the walls of the original city, the Fourth Witch-King, Marcian the Reclaimer, had the marsh drained and used as a staging area for his wars of expansion and conquest. Eventually, the fields became a built up area of grand public buildings, temples, and theaters; refined boulevards and columned porticoes; and dense urban apartments clustered in between. Bordered by the Basana River in the west and the Via Lata (aka The Broadway) in the east, the current district is anchored by the great and still functioning Baths of Tullius and the massive but crumbling Stadium of Marcian. Retaining walls along the Basana have fallen into disrepair, and repeated flooding has turned part of the district into ruined marsh, which now serves as a den for thieves and criminals. Closeness to the neighboring Regio IX. Overlook district has meant repeated monster, undead, and vermin incursions, threatening the stability of the Marcian Fields. It has seen better days.

Regio II. Campus Vaticanus
This district ("Vatican Fields") is the smallest, newest, and most orderly of the ancient ruined city's districts. Anchored in the west by Vatican Hill and the massive Solarium of the Unconquered Sun at its base and in the east by the looming Barbican fortress, Vatican Fields is a planned district of detached villas, domus residences, marble porticoes, and religious statuary. Isolated from the ruin sprawl by the Basana River, Vatican Fields suffers little of the monstrous incursions that trouble the Regio I. Campus Marcianus district directly across the river. Silver and gold-clad sun priests stroll along the Via Cornelia on sunny days. Country gentry visiting their urban villas move through the streets on covered litters. Street vendors hawk their wares from tabernacle shops. And at night, the streets are lit by the soft blue glow of lumin lamps. Life in Vatican Fields is truly touched by the Sun.

Regio III. Transbasana
This district is the largest and most densely populated of the ruined city's districts. When access and services fell away from other districts as the city collapsed, Transbasana across the river retained key water and infrastructure services, so people poured in. Today it is a teeming slum and manufacturing district that completely covers the summit and slopes of the Janiculum Hill. It is home to the great basilica known as the Hall of Work, headquarters of the powerful Labor Collegium; the looming and twisted Tower of Mysteries, holding the secrets of the Arcanum Collegium; and the Naumachian Pits, a former artificial lake that's been converted into gladiatorial arenas.

Regio IV. Aventinus
This district was once the key port of entry into Vanor for river trade and commercial traffic, with its river banks converted into long, porticoed quays fronting row upon row of storage warehouses that reached all the way back to the slopes of the Aventine Hill. Today, commercial traffic is fairly limited, and most of the quays and warehouses have been converted for other purposes or left to ruin. Instead, due to its direct border with the ruined Regio V. Via Interius district, Aventinus is the key staging area for explorations into the city's ruins, centered on the Delver's Porch, a portico along the river serving as the key mercenary market; the Emporium, the largest quay and chief docks; and Northmen's Landing, the quay and warehouse compound taken over as a Varangian holdfast. And adding to the district's dangerous character are the two witch king tombs squatting on the Aventine's twin summits.

The Ruined Districts

Regio V. Via Interius
Sparsely built and serving as the chief overland entrance from the ports of the Inner Sea, this district is dominated by ruined caravan posts, religious shrines, and a large bath complex overrun with kalingoi goblins.

Regio VI. Celian Heights
In its heyday, this was a fashionable residential district, dotted with wealthy homes and villas, recreational baths, and opulent basilicas. Today, delvers target the family crypts dug deep into the Celian Hill's north slopes and beneath the ruined villas as sources of lost wealth.

One small section of the Imperial Necropolis on the Esquiline Hill

Regio VII. Esquillae
Largely made up of the Esquiline Hill and the upper greenbelt ridge that divides the eastern Marcian Walls with the summits of the Quirinal, Viminal, and Cispian Hills, Esquillae is a dangerous regio dominated  by the tomb of the evil Third Witch-King (remembered only as the Anti-Pater) and the imperial necropolis contained behind it, which serves as the chief source of all the undead in the ruined city.

Regio VIII. Alta Semita
Containing the Quirinal, Viminal, and Cispian Hills and the upper summit behind the hills, Alta Semita was a rich and sumptuous district of villas, basilicas, schools, and temples affording excellent views of the lower regios of the city. Today, it is perhaps the most dangerous and overrun ruin in the city, due to the presence of two witch king tombs on the lower summits of two hills and one witch king tomb built beneath a massive and ruined bath complex on the upper summit.

The old Temple of Sol Invictus

Regio IX. Overlook
Dominated by the long ridge of the Pincian Hill, Overlook was known as the Hill of Gardens due to the overabundance of pleasures gardens and recreational complexes. Bordering with the Regio I. Campus Marcianus district, this densely built district is a key focus for exploration delves and holds the ruins of the first Temple of Sol Invictus, rumored to be filled with great wealth in its hidden lower vaults.

Regio X. Velabrum
Once the political heart of the mighty city centered on the Capitoline and Palatine Hills, today the Velabrum is littered with ruined forums, crumbling market porticoes, overgrown horse tracks and amphitheaters, and, at the heart of it all, the dangerous and deadly tomb of the First Witch King, Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, perched atop the Palatine Hill.

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Image Credits:

Images #1-#5: Map by author, working from the public domain image "Plan of the Hills of Ancient Rome," engraved by C. Smith, Strand (link).

Image #6: Roman Graveyard Image from Lapham's Quarterly (link).

Image #7: "Model Temple of Aphaia Glyptothek Munich" (link).