All the PCs start play in the city of Thyrta. It's a settlement in the West of the land known as Brotomagia, traditionally a Thennalt region, and a buffer zone between Korantine to the north and Jekkarene to the South. To its East is the great wilderness of Sard, a region of mixed forests and wetlands hundreds of miles across. To its West is the Inner Ocean, to some an intimidating expanse of water, to others a gateway to the rest of the world.

Thyrta is very much a frontier town, full of tansients, close to wild lands and wilder seas, and even the local farmers are a tough bunch - most of them with military experience - literally breaking new ground to sow the seeds of future prosperity.

Here's what you know just by arriving in town, asking about the place, seeing it for what it is:

THYRTA - BASIC FACTS and Common Knowledge
This small city is a colony founded from Borissa, one of the more bellicose and acquisitive of the Korantine city states. Thyrta's progression to independent status has now reached a point when the time it should cut its dependency on the mother city draws near.  The colony is a key expression of Borissa's expansionist ambitions, and already the settlers here are pushing into the Forest of Sard or encroaching on land that Thennalt peasant farmers have been enjoying more or less peacefully for generations. It is also now a point of interaction between Jekkarenes and Korantines, a relationship that is mired in distrust even where routine interactions such as trade are concerned.

The Town
The settlement is right by the sea, on high bluffs with twisting ramps leading down to the water's edge. 50 years ago its earliest settlers earmarked a patch of flat open ground to form the heart of the city, and on two sides are situated the public temple complex where business of law and state take place. Right in the middle of that are the major construction works for the future temple of Thyrtan Orayna, and in the shadow of those works is a little shrine to Borissan Orayna who for now remains the tutelary goddess of the place. The streets fanning out from the city centre are dominated by well-spaced houses all standing in their own plots - some of them simple buildings with no more than three or four rooms around a courtyard and thatched roofs - others are impressive villas with tiled roofs. The city has a few taverns (wine shops) and eateries but only has one inn of any size: The Floundering Turtle is a large villa and gardens turned to use as a hotel, and some of the guests there are long term residents. It is the only place that can offer a level of comfort suitable to the better class of traveller.

A few streets contain some more run-down or modest buildings where Thyrta's poorest inhabitants can be found, many living three or more to a room. A few of these are citizens fallen on hard times - but the majority are either landless Thennalts from the indigenous population of the region, or refugees from the Jekkarid.

The whole city accommodates some 800 citizens and their families. Once you add metics, slaves and transients to the total, Thyrta has a population of some 6,000 souls.

Thyrta has a well sheltered harbour and a potentially fertile hinterland, however much of the territory is still untamed.

Thyrta has no need for a wall on the seaward side, although her first stone fortification is a tower overlooking the harbour entrance. To the land side there is a long ditch, rampart and palisade enclosing the settlement, inside which are the foundations for a dressed stone wall. The plan is to have wall and temple completed together in time for Thyrta's formal independence from the mother-city.

Territory
The territory of Thyrta extends out to a day's march (typically 10 miles) from the city centre. Any viable arable land or pasture within this area has been assessed and divided into lots for distribution to citizens, in plots large enough to sustain a family and generate surplus - in effect, to miantain the recipient in a minimum Social Status Characteristic of 10. In reality of course, some plots are better than others. Half the available land has already been allocated.

City Leaders
Rikalos of Vimaylo is a Borissan aristocrat who is leader of the colony under a lifelong appointment - an elective monarchy that is supposed to help see it through its formative years.

Kortano is local head of the Borissan Syndics - a guild-cult under the tutelage of trade god Sabateus. As a result Kortano controls all official trade passing through or changing hands in the city.

Aparinaon is Thyrta's military leader. He commands a small force of thirty publicly-owned slaves who act as a night watch and constabulary, but he also commands Thyrta's Patriotic Band, which is its volunteer militia.

Lord Sakrovar is a Thennalt Lord whose lands now straddle the territory of the city. He is an enthusiast for Korantine culture, and in his youth served the former Emperor as one of his paladins

Korantine Gods
Korantine states all have their own little pantheon of celestial deities, each of whom represents a section of society. So far as is possible every aspect of life in which the state takes an interest is regulated through a cult centred on the relevant deity. Participation in cult is required to pursue any respectable trade.  Example Korantine deities (variant spellings and names are common):

Anayo, The Ruler. Anyone holding public office must be an acolyte of this deity
Orayna - Queen of heaven. Anyone who is a citizen must have dedicated 1 POW to their local cult of Orayna
Kos - The Guardian, death god, enforcer. Those who protect the state, and those who enforce and implement its decisions
Sabateus - God of trade. his cult in each city maintains relations with their counterparts in other cities, and guarantee trade and exchange
Estrigel - The Herald, god of language, oratory, poetry
Lanthus - The Toiler, god of labour
Pyrolus - God of Navigation and Sailors
Torthil - God of Agriculture and War
Veltis - Goddess of War and Destruction
Lasca Veltis - Goddess of Wisdom and Divination
Taraskis - God of crafts, building etc