Tymoris

Authors: Flosha, Ben
Written: 09.06.2024

Like the Westfield it is only known from an ingame text in the document (Urkunde) that Lester seeks. The original says:

Ich, Bergmar Burggraf zu Westfeld und meines Herren zu Tymoris Landrichter über das Gut in dem Gebiet um Khorinis gelegen, … tue kund, … daß ich … dem Besitzer dieser Urkunde … und dem Innoshaus daselbst das Lehen auf der Bergfeste (mitsamt weiteren Zehenten und allen dort befindlichen Minen) aufgegeben und verkauft habe um 400 Pfund Gold.

Translated to english by us:

I, Bergmar burgrave of Westfield and my Lord’s of Tymoris judge of the property seated in the area around Khorinis, … proclaim, … that I … have relinquished and sold the fiefdom on the Mountain Fortress (along with other tithes and all mines residing there) to the owner of this document … and the house of Innos thereat, to 400 pounds of gold.

From the text we can deduce that Tymoris was the residence of the mentioned lord (Herr) at the time of his ennoblement (and most likely still is his residence now).

It is important to note that the german text does simply write of a “Herr” (engl. Lord). It does not write of a “Duke” or prince or the like. In that case the text would rather use the words “Fürst” or “Herzog” - although it is reasonable to assume that he may also be a “Fürst” or “Herzog” at the same time. But Bergmar mentions him as his “Herr” (lord), which connotes an owner of a “Herrschaft” (lordship), owner of a specific territory of villages and cities. He may be a greater nobleman than Bergmar (who is his land judge in the “property” (“Gut”) around the city Khorinis, suggesting that he has several other land judges in other areas), but he is unlikely to be compared with a ruler of an entire realm like Myrtana or Varant; rather of a dukedom (Herzogtum) or a principiality (Fürstentum) within Myrtana.

In the same context it is also important to note, that the original text does not write: “Herr von Tymoris”, but “Herr zu Tymoris”. In english both cases translate identically to “Lord of Tymoris”. But the meaning is not entirely the same. If he would be the Lord “von” Tymoris, this would suggest that he is a ruler over something called Tymoris. While what is actually written (“zu Tymoris”, literally “to Tymoris”) is more specific and means that he is the owner of a lordship, residing at a domicil called Tymoris and ruling over a territory that Tymoris is a part of. Thus, “Tymoris” indicates a specific locality such as a Castle or a City as the seat of the lord.

We can rule out that “Tymoris” is an older name of “Khorinis”, since Khorinis is mentioned in the same document, probably a city within said lordship. Therefore Tymoris is most reasonably imagined as another, bigger city or as a mighty fortress from which the lord rules over a territory of whatever kind. This is all we can deduce from the sources.

It could be imagined that the territory that the Lord controls may have a similar name like his residence Tymoris, from which he controls it. This is entirely speculative, as the name of the territory can be anything, but since “Tymoris” is the only thing we know of it and since it was the seat of the lord of said territory at the time of his ennoblement (and may still be at the present), Tymoria is a reasonable deduction as the name of that territory.

This territory “Tymoria” may be a duchy, a principiality or, to use the name that is commonly used in the novel, one of the provinces of the kingdom. In the novel it is written of “the western provinces”, hinting at a western part of the realm structurally divided into provinces.

As we assume Khorinis to be part of the lordship or at least being located at the same region (the city Khorinis could still be some sort of an independent city), and since we have localised Khorinis far away in the north-east of the realm, we consider “Tymoria” to be a north-eastern province of Myrtana.

Etymological Reflection

Our ingame etymology of Tymoria is that it is comprised of Tyr and Mor and was once called “Tyr-Moria”. Tyr is a rune and the name of an old god of war in the Edda. And the Romans associated Tyr with Mars (see Myrtana, old name Martiana, land of Mars, Land of war).

TODO: Analyse the words more. Also analyse Tymor/Timor etc.

Tymoria could once have been the name of a realm that perhaps covered the entire east of what we now know as Myrtana. In course of time this realm was succeeded by Myrtana, which partially reminds of the old name just with a different connotation and today only a province of the same name remains, with Tymoris as the former capital of the fallen Tymoria, which some of the old Tymorians are not accepting, still holding on to the old idea of their realm that they would like to reestablish.

Summary

• Tymoris is a city and the (former) residence of the lord of Tymoris.
• Tymoria was once a realm covering parts of Myrtana with Tymoris as its capital; today it is just a province in the north-east of Myrtana.
• The city of Khorinis and the colony are a geographical part of this province, not a political part, as Khorinis, being a “closed city”, has a special status.
• Westfield is a part of Tymoria and lies somewhere in the West of the Colony and Khorinis, which are located in the outmost northeastern corner.
• Only some counter-revolutionary tymorian insurgents are still tangled up in the idea of old Tymoria; since the weakening of Myrtana they seem to strengthen.