Estalia

"Estalia is different."

– Slogan frequently used by the tourism board of many of the Estalian kingdoms.

"Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen. I will not lie, the chances of your survival are small - some may even turn against your friends as living corpses... But you have my word that I will use my arcane gifts to ensure your bodies are given unto Morr's garden. This is the greatest reward, more than even gold, for the fate of your soul is an eternal concern! Now, come. Follow me, strike down the Undead that rise against us, allow me to find this eldritch amulet. I ask not for my own selfish studies, but for the good of the Empire!"

– Balthasar Gelt doing his 3rd tour of duty.

Estalia is (or was) one of the regions of the Old World in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Situated on the southwest side of the continent, it is the equivalent of the Iberian Peninsula, with most of its history, geography and politics closely resembling those of Iberia.

Geography

Estalia is located in the Southern Old World, a very mountainous peninsula to the southwest of Bretonnia. The Peninsula borders the Great Western Ocean to the north and west and the Southern Sea to the south (duh). Most of its surface is occupied by mountains, with the Irrana and Abasko Mountains to the north-centre and the east respectively. Going even further into the north, we find the two small mountain systems of Cefiro and Feroz Hills, and part of the western side of the peninsula is occupied by Miramar hills. The Irrana Mountains is the source for many of the rivers of Estalia, with Tagos, Eboro, Guadariz and Tamos being some of the most important, having quite a number of pòpulations around them. Most of the forests also grow close to the Irrana Mountains, most likely profiting from the high levels of humidity left by the winds that collide with the mountain ranges. The southern part of the Peninsula is full of plains that have allowed the growth of many important docks and sea cities around the coast.

Due to the extreme isolation of the Estalian Peninsula (it is geographically far away from threats such as Chaos), it enjoyed a lot of relief from most of the major threats of the Old World, which would come and bite the Estalians in their asses during the End Times.

Economy and demography

The population of Estalia is quite different depending on their location. By general rule, Estalians were hardy people, and many of their tales and legends say that they were the first humans to have settled in the Old World, a claim that is mostly ignored by the rest of humanity. The northern kingdoms of the Irrana mountains are hill-fighters, used to defend themselves from Bretonnia's attacks, the occasional Skaven plague and the frequent in-fighting between estalian kingdoms. As such, it is very frequent to see solid fortresses guarding the mountain passes pop up here and there.

The southern part of the Peninsula is much less militarized, although that doesn't mean infighting is less common there. Due to the conditions of the land, many cities were able to develop an economy based on craft, fishing and trade. Some of their cities have managed to grow enough to create colonies on Lustria, in the search of gold and conquest.

Estalians have had a long-lived rivalry with the Tileans, and it is considered a great offence to call an Estalian a Tilean, or address them in the Tilean tongue, and vice-versa. This isn't helped by the fact that both Tileans and Estalians affirm that they're the chosen people of the goddess Myrmidia & that she was born in one of their nations. The rivalry is deepened as Tileans claim to have not only their own birthplace of Myrmidia but that Estalia is nothing more than a colonial extension of Tilea. Outside of their comedic rivalry with Tilea Estalia is renowned for its Diestros, skilled duellists & mercenaries who sold their services across the Old World.

Politics and History

The kingdoms of Estalia have been fighting each other for a long time. The biggest cities of the region, Bilbali and Magritta, have a long and extended history of conflict between them, with Bilbali dominating a good portion of the northern peninsula and Magritta a good portion of the southern peninsula. Estalia was briefly conquered by the sorcerer Jaffar, who was trying to conquer the Old World from Araby, although it was ultimately driven back by a coalition of the Empire, Bretonnia and the Estalian and Tilean powers (who were also under threat of conquest).

During the End Times, the massive Skaven invasion utterly steamrolled the Estalian Estates, basically profiting from the chaos of the world at the time and the political divisions of the Estalian Estates.

On The Tabletop

Whilst Tilea sort of kinda got a tabletop presence with the Dogs of War, Estalia is similar to Cathay or Ind in that it never had an official army book (Nippon and Araby at least had fully fledged armies in 2e and 3e). Games Workshop was content to leave Estalia blank. Cue the Warhammer Army Project, which took it upon itself to correct this void, even creating an entire roster of special characters for a nation that had never been detailed enough to have one before.

But that's not really telling you anything useful, so let's try and break things down a bit, shall we?

Similarly to the Empire - and, since this is another European-based pseudo-historical [[human] faction, expect a lot of comparisons between the two here - the ultimate leaders of the Estalian forces are drawn from the vast and sprawling ranks of the aristocracy; as Estalia is basically the Border Princes with a coherent greater national identity, there are, in effect, hundreds of "kings" in Estalia, though how potent those "kings" are varies from place to place. The Hero-tier leader is called a Captain, answering to a Lord-tier Grand Commander.

The core of the Estalian army invites more comparisons to the Empire, consisting as it does primarily of regular human men equipped with specific weapons... well, that's kind of inescapable when you're doing a Low Fantasy human force. All are united, however, in their willingness to face the Skaven and the Undead with only strength of arms and a big set of brass balls. Pikemen, Crossbowmen and Handgunners are fairly self-explanatory, and little different to their Imperial counterparts to the north. But then we start getting into the realm of the semi-exotic.

• Rodeleros are the Estalian equivalent of Imperial Swordsman, specialized in the use of sword and buckler.
• Caballeros are the landless knights who swarm through the fractured, feudal landscape and make up the backbone of the Estalian cavalry forces.
• Genitors are their javelin-armed light cavalry counterparts, though even Caballeros prefer speed and mobility to the heavy armor of the Empire and Bretonnia.
• Almogavars are fearsome infantry skirmishars drawn from the ranks of the near-tribal hunter-gatherers from the monster-haunted Miramar Hills.
• Marines are the specialist troopers that support Estalia's considerable fleet.
• The Royal Guard are the elite arquebus-wielding warriors that protect the many petty kings of Estalia.
• Conquistadors are Estalian-born mercenaries, legendary for their love of adventure and loot.
• Grenadiers carry pistols and primitive frag grenades, as the name suggests.
• Mountain Bandits are a plague throughout Estalia, whose feudal society echoes some of the darker elements of Bretonnia, but they may be pressed into serve as scouts.
• Estalia has two Knightly Orders of its own; the Knights of the Righteous Spear are the largest and most widely spread, whilst the Knights of the BLazing Sun are devotees of Myrmidia.
• Diestros are elite sword-wielding master duelists, capable of using the sword to incredible effect.

The Cult of Myrmidia is even more prevalent in Estalia than the Cult of Sigmar is in the Empire; Sigmar is merely "First Amongst Equals", with Imperials freely worshipping an older pantheon, whilst Myrmidia's cult is the one true and accepted religion of Estalia, and likewise has its presence amongst the armies.

• The Myrmidian Inquisition is effectively Estalia's euivalent of the Empire's Witch Hunters, striving to root out the secret forces of Chaos and the Undead - true, the former is much rarer in Estalia, but as far as the inquisitors are concerned, that makes their job all the more important! That said, the Inquisition also serves as a tool for political control by Estalia's legion of petty kings. On the tabletop, they function much like Warrior-Priests of Sigmar, except they must purchase their holy miracles rather than having a small but defined miracle list.
• The Priestesses of Myrmidia, on the other hand, are basically female Warrior-Priests who focus more on holy magic than on cracking skulls. They have access to a trinity of standarized holy prayers, can dispel enemy magic, and may even go to battle riding a holy Altar of Myrmidia.
• The Sisters of Fury are Myrmidian nuns; in peace time, they administer to the sick, poor and needy, similarly to the Sisters of Shallya... but in times of war, they don armor and take up spears, following their goddess in her militant aspect.
• The Black Watchmen are the elite warrior-servants of the Inquisition, serving as its military arm and characterized by their blackened full plate and iconic halberds.

Standing apart from all the rest, there are the Battle Magi, the wizards of Estalia. Whilst many travel to Altdorf to study at the Colleges of Magic, others study in local schools. However, use of battle magic isn't as accepted as in the Empire; the Inquisition keeps a close watch on their resident mages (to the point it's a game rule you must have at least as many Inquisitors as you do Battle Magi), whilst Estalians utterly forbid the use of Shadow Magic, Death Magic or Beasts Magic - presumably, Estalian wizards attuned to these three Winds go to the Empire for their training and never come home.

Whilst Estalia hasn't embraced gunpowder and technology to the same level of the Empire, they have adopted the use of two lighter forms of cannon; the Culverin and the Mountain Gun.

Lastly, there are the exotic animals that may be fielded by an Estalian army. These range from the humble war dog, outfitted with armor to protect it in battle, to the use of pegasus and griffon as exotic steeds for the Estalian commanders, and finally the so-called "Fire Bulls", which are ordinary bulls attached to logs that are soaked in tar before being set alight, resulting in a terror-fueled stampede fit to squash enemies flat.

Threats to Estalia

Compared to the Empire or Bretonnia, Estalia is a largely peaceful realm, unmolested by greenskin WAAAGHs or Chaos incursions, which is one of the reasons why the nation remains a disorganized and fractious quilt of petty feudal holdings. Still, it's not all sunshine and sweet lemon wine, even here, and Estalia does have its share of threats.

The greatest threat is, of course, each other - Estalia is more prone to infighting than either of the Empire or Bretonnia, as a consequence of its highly divided status. Their neighbors in Tilea are a very close second when it comes to warring, with Imperial and Bretonnian forces far less of a threat. There is also a long and bloody history between Estalia and Araby, punctuated with many periods of peaceful trade.

As for the nonhuman threats...

Obiviously, Orcs & Goblins are everywhere, and whilst not as big of a threat as they are up north, they are still found here. Estalia has even been raided by Iron Orcs, a subspecies previously only seen in Bretonnia.

Like in Tilea, the Skaven are a known threat in Estalia who are openly acknowledged by its people. Strangely, skaven don't actually attack Estalia much, despite how much they fight the Tileans. It's generally accepted that skaven find tunnelling through Estalia's hard, rocky soil more trouble than it's worth.

Being so far from the Chaos Wastes of the north means that the creatures of Chaos, such as mutants and beastmen, are a true rarity in Estalia. Cults are still enough of a problem to keep the Myrmidian Inquisition on a constant look-out for them, and the mountains are widely known to be home to greater chaos beasts like minotaurs and Dragon Ogres.

The great fleets of Estalia are often attacked by Dark Elf pirates, though the nation's relatively good ties with the High Elves of Ulthuan helps protect them.

Estalians have been raiding Lustria for decades, which needless to say has greatly pissed off the Lizardmen and the Slann masters.

Their close proximity to Araby, and thus the blighted land of Khemri, means that the Undead are the great boogeyman of Estalian folklore; the forces of the Vampire Counts have taken on the prominence that Chaos has in the Empire, having repeatedly plagued the land in massive wars comparable to Chaos Incursions, and the Inquisition is as focused on rooting out necromancers and vampire servitors as they are Chaos cultists.

Tactica

• https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_Army_Project/Estalia

Notable Estalians

• Sienna Fuegonasus: Vermintide playable character, a Bright Wizard who has traveled the world and now finds herself as part of the Ubersreik 5.
• Sofia Fuegonasus: Sienna's sister, and a Necromancer.
• Isabella Giovanna Luccelli: High Priestess of Myrmidia.
• Juan Federico: Grand Master of the Order of the Righteous Spear.
• Santiago De Vivar: A legendary hero during Estalia's war with Araby.
• Grand Inquisitor De Hojeda: Grand Inquisitor and head of the Tribune.
• Francisco Cortez: Yeeeaaaaaahhhhh, totally not Hernan Cortez, destroyer of the Aztecs.
• Don Lomente: Don Quixote? Who's that?
• Alonso Diaz De Mirajo: A supreme Diestro.
• Maria De Salvo: A holy assassin.

Regions and Areas of the Warhammer World
Areas of The Old World:	The Empire of Man - Bretonnia - Albion - Estalia - Tilea - Kislev - Norsca - Border Princes - Worlds Edge Mountains - Karak Eight-Peaks
Areas of The New World:	Naggaroth - Lustria
Areas of The Eastern Lands:	Cathay - Nippon - Ogre Kingdoms - Dark Lands - Kingdoms of Ind - Khuresh - Eastern Steppes
Areas of The Southlands:	Nehekhara - Araby - Badlands - Marshes of Madness
Other Areas of the world:	Ulthuan - Athel Loren - Chaos Wastes - Skavenblight - Lost Isles of Elithis
Main bodies of Water:	The Great Ocean - The Far Sea - The Sea of Dread - Inner Sea of Ulthuan