Population: 80,000
Country: The Empire
Province: Gad
Flag: A palmetto against a bronze field.
The patron god of the seaside town of Bregantium is none other than Bregedo, lord of money, trade, and the metals gold and silver. By any measurement, their patron god has blessed them. The white-pillared houses of wealthy merchants overlook the steep, rocky cliffs on the eastern quarter of the shoreline. Lining the sandy western side of the city are docks, where spices, perfumes, exotic goods, and sacks of grain are unloaded throughout the day, and freights full of timber depart for less wooded provinces.
HISTORY
Bregantium (originally Bregantion) was founded by Eloesian colonists from the city of Thénai in the 500s Y.B.E., and expanded rapidly. In 396 Y.E., after the Imperial conquest, Bregantium was made the capital of the new province of Gad. During the Eloesian-Imperial War from Y.E. 451 to 460, the city was severely damaged and burned by the Eloesian general Nikos. Following the defeat of the Eloesians, a new Governor’s Mansion was built, which still stands to this day. During the widespread rebuilding period into the early 500s, Bregantium served as a major port transporting wood from the northern lumbering town of Brill to abroad. Its function as a major port to and from Gad continues to this day.
GEOGRAPHY
Bregantium is located on the southernmost part of the province of Gad, and the northernmost region affected by the temperature-moderating Imperial Sea. Bregantium is blessed with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. A few miles north, the summer weather grows sticky and hot and the winter weather far colder. Throughout Bregantium’s impeccably-clean streets are palmettos and myrtles, causing some provincials to call it a “southern paradise.” However, there exists a darker side as well.
SLAVE TRADE
Bregantium, as other parts of the Empire, is affected by an extensive slave trade. Slaves living in Bregantium are comparatively lucky; most spend their lives as house attendants to the wealthy Imperials. However, Bregantium is a major trafficking center and mass slave sales are held on a daily basis at the Grand Slave Market in the center of the city. There, slaves of all races—human, ratling and more—are auctioned off to the highest bidder. Many purchased slaves end up at the massive farms outside the city, where they toil in the hot sun for the duration of their short lives.
The lot of poor freemen isn’t much better; many live on the streets, keeping themselves alive by stealing bread or (less successfully) begging for it. Other poor freemen live in a West Bregantium neighborhood known properly as Olphio (named after famed general Olphio Magnatus). Crime there is very common.
THE UPPER CRUST
Bregantium, being the capital city of Gad, houses the huge, bright-white Governor’s Mansion lined with colonnades and marble statues. The current governor, granted power by the emperor himself, is a man named Felix Myrtles. Some of the provincials believe Felix governs without them in mind and never leaves the gubernatorial city, but he argues that he undertook a province-wide tour three years ago in Y.E. 1148.
Other members of the elite live in the quiet, gated East Bregantium neighborhoods. Some of these include the famous pastel-colored houses of Rainbow Road; the expensive townhouses surrounding Fair Garden; and the white-pillared houses of Cliff Street.
