Miragliano (WAR Lore)
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Miragliano is a city in Tilea in The Old World, just east of Estalia.
The glory and the tragedy of Miragliano has always been its location, right at the mouth of the Golfo di Mirgaliano, and bordering The Blighted Marshes, directly in line with the great vileness that is Skavenblight. This chance of geography has meant that the people of Miragliano have been forced to become the greatest warriors of Tilea, pushed by circumstance to take on all comers and build one of the grandest cities the Old World has to offer. Unfortunately, disease has often laid this city low, as in the Red Pox of 1812 IC, which wiped out three quarters of the city's population and left much of the city a ghost town. But Miragliano rebuilt. It always rebuilds.
The city of Miragliano is known for its strong defences and its even stronger defender. As it is one of the few Tilean cities not built in the ruins of an ancient elf-city, Miragliano grew up naturally on a low alluvial plain, its construction guided by the whims of fashion and the dictates of defence. Tall towers rising from the earth provide Miragliano's defenders with a firm vantage point, and link the great wall that encircles the city; however, the instability of the marshy land has given these towers a decided lean, which to the great surprise of the great Miraglianan inventor Leonardo di Miragliano has caught on in fashion, such that every city in Tilea wants its own leaning towers.
Beyond the walls of the city lie a grand city, laid out by the great Leonardo, decked with beautiful piazzas, palazzi, bridges, and elegant sculptures. Bisecting the city and bringing the merchant ships right into the heart of the city are a series of grand canals, the watery boulevards of the metropolis, which are guarded against Skaven invasion by a professional army of rat-catchers who maintain an elaborate system of canal gates. In the event of invasion by human forces, all that needs to be done is to open the floodgates to the city, turning the metropolis into a lagoon of fortified city-islands.
Famed for its mercenaries, the greatest of these was Borgio Braganza the Besieger, who ruled as Prince of Miragliano for fifteen years. Under his rule, the city of Miragliano founded some of the most renown regiments in all of Tilea - in addition to the famed Marksmen of Miragliano, masters of the crossbow, he added Braganza's Besiegers and the Galloper Guns of Bronzino. Under Borgio's command, Miragliano took on all comers - defeating Remas in 2489 IC at the Battle of Villa Vennia, Verezzo in 2495 IC at the Battle of Via Vedia, and Trantio in 2497 IC at the Battle of Vittoria Viccia. Unfortunately for the city, Borgio was assassinated with a toasting fork in his bath in 2503 IC, which left the city vulnerable.
Sadly, the glory and might of Miragliano could not last forever. Its inventor gone to The Empire and its general dead, the city was left wide open for a massive Skaven invasion that sacked the city completely in 2522 IC, razing it to the ground. The survivors managed to flee to nearby cities, and vow to return, but it remains to be seen whether Miragliano can rise again against the ratmen or whether the Blighted Marshes have finally triumphed over the indomitable spirit of the city.