| rdfs:comment | - The Dukedom of Bordeleaux is a founding Dukedom that lies at the western coast of Bretonnia, just south of the cursed lands of Mousillon. Known as the largest exporter of wines within the entire Kingdom, Bordeleaux is a beautiful land filled with many farms and vineyards. Such is the Dukedom's reputation for wine that even peasants and nobles alike are given the luxury of drinking in on the fine liquor at a cost that is 1/3 its price in other lands.[1a]
- Bordeleaux's trade is in the life-blood of this city and it is based almost entirely upon wine from the Morceaux valley. Good wines are bought and sold - bad wines are bought and drunk (mostly by the local sailors). Even the poor enjoy a bountiful supply of cheap, rough wine. Indeed, "the sober man of Bordeleaux" has passed into folklore as an impossible or incredible being.
- Bordeleaux, like its southern neighbour Brionne, is built upon Elven ruins. Where Brionne might have once been a small High Elf port or watchtower, Bordeleux is built upon what was undoubtedly a larger, more extensive settlement. Its port is the largest in all Bretonnia, stacked with high walls and dominated by the central keep of the Duke. The city is somewhat cosmopolitan and Elves, Dwarfs, Estalians, Tileans, and even some Norse, maintain quarters within the merchant town. By the quays are a number of squalid taverns and inns. During the years of plague the Duke will summarily order that part of the city to be burnt down, cleansed and then rebuilt. The quays are separated from the upper city, where reside the noble population, by a wall and portcullis. Men-at-arms keep vigil from its ba
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| abstract | - Bordeleaux, like its southern neighbour Brionne, is built upon Elven ruins. Where Brionne might have once been a small High Elf port or watchtower, Bordeleux is built upon what was undoubtedly a larger, more extensive settlement. Its port is the largest in all Bretonnia, stacked with high walls and dominated by the central keep of the Duke. The city is somewhat cosmopolitan and Elves, Dwarfs, Estalians, Tileans, and even some Norse, maintain quarters within the merchant town. By the quays are a number of squalid taverns and inns. During the years of plague the Duke will summarily order that part of the city to be burnt down, cleansed and then rebuilt. The quays are separated from the upper city, where reside the noble population, by a wall and portcullis. Men-at-arms keep vigil from its battlements.
- The Dukedom of Bordeleaux is a founding Dukedom that lies at the western coast of Bretonnia, just south of the cursed lands of Mousillon. Known as the largest exporter of wines within the entire Kingdom, Bordeleaux is a beautiful land filled with many farms and vineyards. Such is the Dukedom's reputation for wine that even peasants and nobles alike are given the luxury of drinking in on the fine liquor at a cost that is 1/3 its price in other lands.[1a] Being one of the few coastal Dukedoms, Bordelaux has also a tradition of sea-fairing similar to their brethrens within L'Anguille. This has resulted in fierce competition over the sea trade and sea routes that link the large port-cities together, such as Marienburg and Erengrad to the north and Barak Varr and the Tilea city-states to the south. Its current ruler is Duke Alberic.[1a]
- Bordeleaux's trade is in the life-blood of this city and it is based almost entirely upon wine from the Morceaux valley. Good wines are bought and sold - bad wines are bought and drunk (mostly by the local sailors). Even the poor enjoy a bountiful supply of cheap, rough wine. Indeed, "the sober man of Bordeleaux" has passed into folklore as an impossible or incredible being. The city is dominated by great houses built by rival merchants, who, in a desperate bid to outdo each other, try to erect as tall and impressive a monument to their financial success as possible. The largest houses are almost castles and the two largest and most imposing buildings in all Bordeleaux stand here: the Governor's Palace on Towerhill and Bordeleaux Fortress on Execution Hill, each surrounded by lesser buildings seeking to emulate their grandeur. Between the two hills lies the great Bordeleaux bridge, spanning the width of the River Morceaux and marking the point beyond which large vessels cannot go. The south bank below the bridge is mostly dockland, where ships load and unload cargoes into the numerous warehouses. Impromptu sales are held here, whilst the riverside boasts countless inns, vice-dens, and other sources of attraction. Amidst the finery of rival merchants, gut-swollen aristocrats and dandied fops, there is little room for the poor who constitute the majority of the population and whose hovels sprawl along the outskirts beyond the two hills and well out of sight of the 'high town'. The twin hills of Bordeleaux afford natural drainage and sewerage, so that the mercantile districts are relatively clean. However, what effluence does not flow into the river flows into the shanty towns of the poor, where disease is rife and the air hangs foully around the decaying buildings. Here, human deprivation has reached its most disgusting nadir, where children may be bought and sold without question, where murder is rarely noticed, and where the strong rule the weak amidst a petty kingdom of filth.
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