"I remember her well — flowing black locks of hair, deep tanned olive skin, dark eyes that stared into my soul… For someone so included, she would have been considered very beautiful indeed. That is, right up until she tried to cut my throat."
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Warhammer Cultures: Tileans & Diaspora
The Warhammer World is full of diverse cultures, and their intermingling and antagonism is a core theme of the setting. Over the next while, I’m hoping to expand on the base cultures presented on
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition, page 24, to include this diversity for your games. Today, we’re going to look at
Humans (Tilean)!
Additionally, I’ve included rules for Characters from a cultural diaspora, to help accurately represent a world as close to Renaissance Europe — that Warhammer is based on — as possible.
Humans (Tilean)
Tilea is a fertile, mountainous region to the south west of the Empire, dotted everywhere with rolling hills covered in terraced farms, and walled city-states bristling with cannons and university spires. Tileans, like their country, are a fractious lot, overly focusing on honour and prestige, with the matters of privation less pressing due to their relative wealth.
Tileans are seen to be untrustworthy, money-hungry, loud, boisterous, aggressive, and overly passionate about the smallest matters. In truth, Tileans care deeply about tradition, art, familial ties, honour, and faith, and are more concerned with their principals than their lives, necessarily. These hard stances often place them closer in the minds of most Imperials to Dwarfs than other Humans — and not in a flattering way — though the mountainfolk would be loath to hear of this comparison.
Most Tileans find themselves in the Empire as scholars, merchants, or mercenaries, or the children thereof. Further, many come as pilgrims to the sacred sites of Morr and Myrmidia in the Empire, and often settle. Many Tileans intermarry with Imperial nobles due to the former’s propensity to arrive with vast wealth from their homelands, as well as preconceived romantic notions among Imperial nobles (Tilean men and women are often counted among the most attractive and eligible folk in an Imperial court, that is, when they’re not being scapegoated for whatever ills have occurred.) However, it is more likely that Tileans will bring their families, and will marry into existing diasporic Tilean communities which can be found in most cities and towns of the Reikland and Wissenland.
Human (Tilean) Skills & Talents
Skills: Art (Painting), Charm, Entertain (Comedy), Gamble, Gossip, Haggle, Intuition, Language (Tilean), Lore (Tilea), Melee (Polearm), Perception, Ranged (Crossbow)
Talents: Doomed, Sharp
or Suave, Tilean Rivalry
or Vendetta, 2 Random Talents
New Talent: Tilean Rivalry
Max: 1
Unlike the Empire's provinces, there is little to be made of a cohesive
‘Tilean identity’. Tileans tend to perceive themselves less in regard to who they are and are not, and more in terms of who their rivals are. Therefore, a Tilean’s rivalry is a core part of their personality, and drives much of what they do. You gain an additional Motivation called
‘Rivalry (Target)’ which grants a Resolve Point whenever you go out of your way to act contrary to, or to outdo, your rival. Your rival may be a Character, an organisation, or an entire nation (such as Estalia / Estalians).
New Talent: Vendetta
Max: 1
Dwarfs aren’t the only folk who hold grudges. Many cultures — specifically, but not exclusively those found in Estalia and Tilea — believe in the almost supernatural power of vendetta, whereby a blood oath is sworn to see an enemy slain for some past grievance. You have placed a vendetta on the head of a specific person, and will stop at nothing until they have been slain. You must use one of your Endeavours to pursue your target or prepare for your target’s demise — whether
Combat Training,
Study a Mark,
Commission, etc. If you do, you count as having an additional advance in the
Luck Talent until you next perform an Endeavour. If you do not, you count as having −1 Status with Characters aware of your vendetta.
Options: Diasporic Characters
The Warhammer World is vast, and much of it is isolated and insular. However, trade flourishes in the cities and towns all across the Old World and beyond, meaning that folk travelling from very far away are not an uncommon sight in the lands of the Empire. These folk, though not often, sometimes choose to relocate to the Empire — whether as wealthy business owners, to safeguard international trade agreements, as refugees looking for a better life, or as anything in between. And, like any other people, these folk often have children. As such, it is not uncommon for cities and towns of the Empire to have whole communities of expatriate and naturalised citizens of foreign descent and culture.
Folk who move, or are born outside of their native culture, are members of their culture’s diaspora. Sometimes, diasporic people are assimilated into their host culture — a Cathayan born in Altdorf, raised under Reiklander customs, is just as much a Reiklander as anyone else — but usually a degree of a person’s native culture is retained through family and community. Diasporic Characters may choose Skills and Talents from either their native or host cultures during Character Creation Step 4 — Skills and Talents, so long as at least one Skill, and one Talent (not including Random Talents), is chosen from each Species Skills and Talents list.
Diasporic Characters raised in the Empire are assumed to be fluent in Reikspiel, but may not understand their native culture’s language, unless they take advances in it from their Species Skills and Talents.
Note: Non-Humans can also become diasporic to Human cultures, as well — take Imperial Dwarfs, for example. Count these Characters as diasporic, above, though only regarding Skills. Talents are typically more innate, and most persist cross-culturally (though you may discuss with your GM to make some exceptions).
What Next?
Which culture should I focus on next? I'm currently tossing up between Araby and the Southlanders… If you have opinions on which I should tackle next, let me know in the comments!
