Taglios

Taglios
Taglios by Didier Graffet
Background information
Location	Southern Continent
Type	Unwalled river harbor city
Geography	Inland, on the Main
Additional Information
Other Names	Trogo-Taglios
Rulers	Prince Prahbrindrah Drah Soulcatcher (Protectorate) Mogaba (briefly) Aridatha Singh/Radisha Drah
Noteworthy Inhabitants	Characters affiliated with Taglios

Taglios (formally known as Trogo-Taglios, or Troko Tallio according to the maps at the Temple of Travellers' Repose) was a sprawling city in the Southern Continent, almost 7,000 miles south of the Sea of Torments. It was the largest city the Annalist Croaker had ever seen. The people of Taglios were peaceful and were not very skilled in warfare, their warrior caste having been pacified and extinguished during the Khatovar Wars 400 years ago. Their only protection was the surging Main river, as the city was unwalled.

Taglios was officially ruled by its Prince, the Prahbrindrah Drah with the help of his sister, the Radisha Drah. They were forced to share an enormous amount of power with the head priests of the three major cults: the Gunni, the Shadar, and the Vehdna.

Before the Annals

With the coming of the Shadowmasters, the prince and the priests of Taglios assembled a rabble led by three veterans from the north – Willow Swan, Cordy Mather, and Blade. In the first Shadowmaster conflict, the trio enjoyed a lot of early success holding off the Shadowmasters due to Mathers' orchestration. He permitted the Shadowlanders to cross the Main, drawing them with no resistance, where they spin-off into many small, easily-crushed raiding parties. Following the successes of General Swan, the priesthood rose up their own rabbles.

Map of the area around Taglios.

Shadow Games

The Prahbrindrah Drah, over the protests of Taglios' powerful priests, hired the Black Company to defeat the Shadowmasters, whose armies had returned to threaten Taglios directly. The Company's Captain, Croaker, would come to be hailed as the Liberator among Taglians. He reformed the Taglian military to be modeled after the Legionaries found during the ancient times of the Jewel Cities. The army consisted of 30,000 infantry in total, divided into 3 legions, each lead by a Nar general.

However the priests, the most influential being the Shadar Jahamaraj Jah, still commanded a sizable army themselves. Jah's forces would dissolve following the Battle of Ghoja Ford, when Croaker drafts the Shadar priest's army into the Legions forces. The Taglians briefly liberated Stormguard (Dejagore) at the start of the Battle of Dejagore, but were forced into the city after the pitched battle was lost.

Dreams of Steel

Taglian soldier

The Prahbrindrah Drah's Taglian armies were trapped during the Siege of Dejagore by Shadowspinner's siege line. With Croaker missing and presumed dead after the Battle of Dejagore, there were two claimants to the Captaincy of the Black Company: Mogaba, who was trapped with the Taglians inside Dejagore; and Lady, who was outside the city. The Taglians, with the Prince's explicit permission, supported Mogaba's claim to the Captaincy. Under Mogaba's direction, Pal Subhir's Taglians committed mass murder against the Nyueng Bao population within Dejagore, wiping out two thirds of the tiny minority race. The remainder of the Nyueng Bao fled Dejagore with Old Crew (non-Nar) Black Company faction.

Back in Taglios, the priests made an attempt on Lady's life. In response, she organized a purge, and over 1,000 priests were executed in the Massacre at Khadi Junction.

The situation for the Taglians trapped in Dejagore remained relatively unchanged even after the Lady assassinated Shadowspinner. She simply took control of the Shadowlanders and had them maintain their siege line to support her claim to the Captaincy over Mogaba. However the Taglians were encouraged to surrender and their safety was guaranteed, unlike before. The situation was finally relieved when Croaker the Liberator returned, entered Dejagore, and peacefully retook command from Mogaba.

She Is The Darkness

Eventually Croaker became a military dictator and assumed full control over the city in order to fulfill the Company's contract with the Prince. Taglios remained committed to liberating the Shadowlands and defeating the last remaining Shadowmaster, Longshadow. Croaker and the Company led the Taglian armies in battle southward, including two dramatic victories at the Battle of Charandaprash and finally the Siege of Overlook.

Water Sleeps

With the Black Company having "gone to Khatovar" (believed wiped out) following the Kiaulune wars, the city of Taglios was captured by Soulcatcher, who established her own dictatorship, the Protectorate. She built a wall for the metropolis, but with no threat in sight, the size of the Protectorate's armed forces shrunk drastically. She assigned Mogaba as the city's "Great General" but ignored most of his important military advice.