Toborr

Toborr [toe-BORR] is a historic port city at the mouth of the River Wiyel, the most important port in modern Ororr, and arguably the greatest shipping port in the world. Toborr City lies on an island in the river mouth, but now encompasses a conurbation which surrounds the whole estuary bay, including the city of Vailinn on the east bank of the river.

Ancient Toborr was a powerful city-state which at its height ruled a maritime empire stretching hundreds of kilometres along the coast, and as far inland as the borders of Ancient Remel.

Toborr sits on a strategic island in the mouth of River Wiyel, surrounded by tidal salt swamps particularly on the western side. The island has three main hills, the most important being the Natranorn at its northern end. In ancient times the Natranorn was the temple-fortress of the Roaring Man, the defender-god of the ancient city. Today it continues to be both a temple of the Mother Church and a military fort.

Founded by the ancient Issid people, Toborr was originally laid out with rows of Issid tower-houses, in a block pattern clustered around the Natranorn. The modern city roughly retains this grid of streets. Originally, rather than street names and numbers, each line of dwellings was given a name. Those running north-south were named for colours (Greenplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGreen

The Green Kingdom of flora and fauna includes humans, mammals, birds, whales, greenfish, and most green plants and crops cultivated by humankind., Blue, Gold) and those running east-west were professions or local features (Silk, Bridge etc). A building's address would be the intersection, so for example the most prestigious block in the city centre is Gold Silk. This pattern is retained in older parts of the city, but today it is the streets and districts that are so named.

During the Celadon Epoch, Ancient Toborr was a powerful city-state, which grew rich from its control of shipping between the Wiyel and the sea. Due to its position on an island in the river delta, surrounded by water and swamp, it remained nominally independent throughout the Dor-en-Sann imperial period, although in later years it was essentially a self-governing constituent of the empire. It was finally conquered by the Mother Army of the Prophet Therion, and as such is one of the Three Holy Cities personally conquered and converted to the faith by the Prophet himself. Since this time it has been one of the most important cities of Ororr, being the starting point for the faithful making the pilgrimage upriver to Foratuna.

The Mother Army of the Prophet Therionplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTherion

The Great Prophet Therion, founder of the Church of the Mother. had swept in from the far west, conquering Siltorn and the key Imperial city of Remel. Toborr was the next greatest target, being a wealthy trading city and a symbolic centre of imperial power.

The Mother Army laid seige to the city for seven weeks. It was well defended and difficult to approach unobserved. Several attempts to assault the walls and gates by boat failed.

The official tale of the conquest of Toborr is recorded in the Chronicle of the Mother Army, though this version of the siege of Toborr is exaggerated at best.

According to legend, the city was founded by one of the Godmen, worshipped as the Roaring Man, who prophesied that the city “could never be taken, by man nor God”. This came true, since the city was only taken by the power on earth of the Goddess.

The Chronicle depicts the Roaring man as a vast figure that towered over the island and commanded all its waters. (In truth the island is 12 miles from end to end, and it would have been impossible for the Man to defend more than the most vital northern approaches.)

However the Man acted as a symbol of power, inspiring terror and awe in all who dared approach or assault the city.

After the fall of Toborr to the Mother Army, the last assault led personally by the Prophet Therion, the Roaring Man was torn down by a mob of Toborrans, and thrown into the water. His priests were slain and the temple ransacked. Two “feet” of the Roaring Man stand in Toborr, said to be the sole remains of the statue: huge feet of black stone giving an impression of its former vastness. These feet were almost certainly constructed many centuries later, as an attraction for visitors and pilgrims: a symbol of the Prophet's and the Church's victory over heathen barbarism.

Toborr is connected to the mainland by the Bronze Bridge, the longest bridge in the Civilsed World.

The Natranorn is a fortified church-state complex consisting of a military garrison, administrative buildings as well as temples.

Toborr was the site of the “Third Miracle” performed by the Great Prophet, the last of the great miracles he performed before handing over command of the Mother Army to his generals and travelling upriver alone with his closest disciples. As such Toborr is considered a holy city, the starting point of the Shouft, the great Theristplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigMother Church of Ororr (Therism)

The Mother Church is the state religion of Ororr, which combines both religion and government in one institution. It is based on the teachings of the Great Prophet Therion, who in the early decades of the modern era raised an army that conquered much of northwestern OrorrOrorrOrorrOrorrOrorrMEMEOrorrMEMEOrorrOrorrHerHerHerHerHerHerHerHerHerher pilgrimage.