One of the great cities of the Weil River, in the heartlands of modern Orror.

History

Ancient Remel

The ancient city-state of Remel lay in a wide, swampy jungle valley, at the confluence of the Great Weil and the Silt River (here called the Teen). The region is dominated by water, but gets little direct rainfall and was historically subject to annual floods. These waters were held in huge reservoir lakes, stopping the city from flooding excessively, whilst supplying the temple city with water in the drier months.

The city was a planned metropolis of markets and temple palaces, laid out in squared grids of canals, creating markets and plazas. River access was controlled by dams and locks, which not only allowed the water flow to be regulated, but controlled shipping access in and out of the city. The land was swampy and roads difficult to maintain, so most trade and military transportation was carried by barge.

Rise and Fall

Remel was a great cultural centre in antiquity, with a trading empire extending up and down the Great River that last hundreds of years. Stone for its temples and palaces came from as far as the Siltorn Hills 1000 km away, and its temple architecture influenced Seqal far to the south, both its ally and cultural rival.

However, Remel was never militarily vigorous, and by 300 IC (approx 1500 HM) the sprawling city had entered a terminal decline. As the Empire of Dor-en-Sann grew inexorably, its trade routes along the river were gradually eroded, and eventually cut off on all sides.

With little funds to maintain the city's waterways, the markets became quiet, its warehouses emptied, its population declined, and ancient Remel was eventually conquered by the EnSanni.

Culture and Religion

Most famous in pre-Imperial Remel were the conical-domed temples, shaped like breasts, dedicated to the numerous Goddesses of local religion. There were also phallic towered temples, dedicated to the gods of the masculine virtues. In springtime phallic idols were carried in processions to the central temple of the Mother, as a rite of fertility.

Each temple was dedicated to a deity who represented a different aspect of life. For example, there were goddesses for fertility and childbirth, where pregnant women served as priestesses and gave birth in its sanctum. There was a famed temple of sexual love, where priestesses prostituted themselves as acts of worship, in return for gifts and endowments to the temple.

Marriage and the Veil

Another famous temple was dedicated to marriage, and the Veiling of Women. Sexuality was fairly open in Remel society, but in marriage, families wanted to ensure that their heirs were without doubt the offspring of the father.

So traditionally, in the six months of engagement before marriage, the woman would don a veil and either reside in the temple precincts, or remain closeted at home, only visited by female friends and close male relatives. In the temple, a tradition of chaperoned visits with the husband developed, in rooms separated by a narrow partition through which the lovers may touch and kiss, but not consummate their relationship.

The wife retained the veil in early married life until she conceived an heir. Once confirmed in her pregnancy she visited the Birth temple, where her veil was publicly burned and cast aside, pregnancy being a divine state that was publicly professed.

Three traditional forms of marriage developed in ancient Remel. In the first and most severe form, the wife was permanently veiled. This happened in the highest class families, where the women lived in a segregated part of the house, only visited by close male relatives and other women.

A second form was most common. The wife was veiled before marriage and while fertile, and unveiled while confirmed to be with child. This encouraged women to have children, because only whilst pregnant were they able to take part in public life.

In the later period a third form developed, where the wife remained veiled whilst fertile, until she produced a suitable male heir (or latterly even a legitimate female). The problem with this for Remel society was that the paternity of subsequent children, conceived when she was not veiled, could not be guaranteed by society. 'Natural' children were not permitted to inherit rank or titles, or take high office, and so most husbands demanded at least one two children to be "conceived in the veil" to guarantee succession.

This lack of 'legitimate' offspring led to the degeneration of the Remel state. Women did not want to be confined by the traditional forms of marriage, but eventually not enough suitable heirs were produced to properly run the army and government. It caused a crisis between the dwindling old guard and the lower classes and foreigners, who increasingly demanded a role in government. As the old guard held on, the state's powerful and influence haemorrhaged away, and it was easily conquered by the Ensanni.

Garnarré Remel

After conquering ancient Remel, the EnSanni built a new city on drier ground a little to the west. The new city became the centre of the new Imperial kingdom of Garnarr, a largely benevolent transition which saw the rebuilding and reconsecration of the old city as the Temple District. Tied into the imperial system, Remel once more became a centre for trade, and the region entered a new age of prosperity.

Siege of Remel (3041 HM)

The most famed tale of Garnarré Remel was its siege and downfall against the Holy Prophet Therion. Remel was the first great imperial city to be besieged by the Mother Army, and the Prophet intended its conquest to be a lesson to the Empire as a whole.

As the Army attacked, Garnarré troops engaged in urban war in the New City whilst garrison troops razed the middle ground, demolishing streets to form barricades and defenses. While the city burned the invading troops withdrew and there was a lull in battle. As the sun set in the east, women flocked to the Temple District to pray to the Lady of Salvation.

According to legend, as the light fell, the great golden statue of the First Mother, in the greatest and most holy temple in the city, stood up with a grinding of metal. The statue cast aside her priestesses, broke down the doors of her temple and stalked across the city, smashing open the barricades and collapsing at the feet of the Prophet.

This was the First Great Miracle of the Prophet. Word of his divine right burned across the empire, and sapped the heart from defending troops, many of whom flocked to the Prophet's banner.