Nordland Map - Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Salzenmund - City and Silver

Recently Salzenmund author Simon Wileman provided us with a brand new and thoroughly detailed map of the Grand Barony of Nordland, which can now be found decorating the endpapers of an updated version of Salzenmund: City and Silver. Simon offered to discuss why he had been keen to work on a book detailing the capital city of one of the Empire’s more obscure provinces.

Purchase the physical version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Salzenmund - City and Silver and receive the PDF version immediately. The PDF-only version is also available to purchase.


The Grand Barony of Nordland – map by Simon Wileman


‘Mark my words! The people of Altdorf, Middenheim, the Empire and the whole Old World will see the mettle and vigour of Nordland. Salzenmund shall once again ascend, our navy shall rule the waves and I will reclaim the lands that were once our own!’

— Elector Count Theoderic Gausser, Grand Baron of Nordland, Prince of Salzenmund


‘Salzenmund? Is that the one with the pig-hurling tournament? It’s in Ostland, I think… or maybe Ostermark. All those backward provinces blur into one for me. More port?’

— Lord Sebastian von Plotz, Altdorf University student


Last year, Cubicle 7 released ‘Salzenmund — City of Salt and Silver’. It’s a sourcebook for 4E WFRP and I wrote the city and Nordland sections, based on notes, ideas and the games that I’ve pulled together over the last 20 years or so. I expect quite a few people are surprised that there’s a sourcebook for a relatively obscure city rather than Nuln or Talabheim or Marienburg, and I wanted to explain a little why I thought it a good idea to write about a peripheral location like Salzenmund.


First — it’s never been detailed before. Nuln, Talabheim and Marienburg have all been covered in previous editions — all that source material is great (Marienburg is a personal favourite) and readily available as PDFs from Cubicle 7 on Drivethrurpg. If a GM wants to run a game set in those cities, there’s source material they can use with a little modification. In contrast, Salzenmund’s prior background amounts to a handful of references — believe me, I’ve combed through everything from official WFRP, WFB material from every edition, Black Library novels, comics, CCGs, video games. The result is something brand new for the setting which respects what’s been written before, no matter how meagre. Needless to say, I can be exhausting on the subject of Nordland or Salzenmund if someone doesn’t interrupt when I’m in full flow.


A merchant holds forth on the docks by the Ormsdeep – art by Sam Manley


I also relished a chance to develop a different kind of city. Salzenmund is a minor provincial capital, relatively peripheral to the Empire. It’s a seat of power for an Elector, which was, until recently, subservient to Middenheim. With the end of the Enemy Within, we could show for the first time what happens when a minor power begins to assert (and eventually over-reach…) itself. It’s a city that’s desperate to prove it matters. 


I’ve always been fascinated by Nordland — it’s on the edge of the Empire, the heart of the province is an independent Wood Elf domain and there’s a long coastline which brings a desolate maritime flavour to the setting. While developing the book, we wanted to provide a metaphorical bridge to the sea — to give parties reasons to travel north, spend time adventuring amongst unsophisticated Nordlanders and then maybe travel over the waves. Salzenmund is the first step on a path which leads to the Sea of Claws book, the forthcoming Lustria supplement and then maybe more to come…


We wanted a nautical atmosphere to inform the tone of the city and the visual aesthetic. Very early in development, we got together as a team of artists and writers to discuss the tone and imagery. The result was some of the incredible art in the book. I particularly like the cover illustration, which was one of the first pieces from JG O’Donoghue. It uses the lake and fading sunlight to evoke the coast and the far horizon. This image influenced how I described a typical day in the city and helps show a location that feels distinct from other Empire settlements... steep hills leading down to a lake, a visual echo of the coast that defines Nordland’s character.


The book was also an opportunity to show how centuries of Norse settlement and invasion influence the culture of Nordland. There are benevolent elements — Nordlanders have an unusual (and perhaps suspicious) desire for hot baths and cleanliness, they do fur and beards particularly well, and their storytelling is masterly. 


Then there are the sinister, insidious influences of the Ruinous Powers on everyday life. Tucked away in the backstreets are shrines to dubious spirits and minor gods. There’s a popular fighting pit where the sport is far bloodier than your typical violent combat entertainment. I dug around for a few very old references from the early days of Warhammer to hide these factors in plain sight… try researching ‘Horvenghaast’ or ‘Heinous Suth’ if you want to know more.


In particular, I wanted to do something new with Khorne. I wanted to make him subtle. Everyone knows the cults of Tzeentch, Slaanesh and Nurgle gnaw at the edges of civilisation, but Khorne is more about ‘frothing battlefield maniacs’ than sneaky cultists — ideal for the battle game, not quite as inspiring for the roleplaying setting. I decided that the answer wasn’t more cults. Instead, my start point was an incident from the Warhammer ’Daemons of Chaos’ army books. Over 1,000 years ago, a daemonic horde of Khorne levelled the city. They left behind a faint air of violence which simmers below the surface, an undercurrent which manifests in troubling brutal dreams, citizens quick to anger and a bloodthirsty appetite for trial by combat. 


Of course, there’s more to the book than Salzenmund and Nordland. Sam Poots’ and Anthony Ragan’s sections on forest spirits, smuggling, mining and the magnificent Shiny Moon tribe provide GMs with inspiration and tools which go well beyond the confines of Nordland.


Da Shiny Moonz – art by Andreas von Cotta-Schønberg


Over the years, I pieced together a scrappy map of Nordland and Salzenmund for my own reference. I pulled in locations from official material, the work of the brilliant ‘Mad’ Alfred Nuñez and my own inventions, including heraldry for my Warhammer and Warmaster armies. I love the county maps in the Atlas of Great Britain by Tudor cartographer John Speed, so once I’d finished writing my part of the book, I decided to hand draw Nordland in a similar style. After getting serious cramp from drawing all the trees for the Laurelorn Forest, I had a map which works as an in-game artefact. It comes from the Bergsburg workshop of the bad-tempered cartographer Kurt Brombeer, although you’ll see from the cartouche that he takes no responsibility for misplaced borders or villages.


So… why Salzenmund? Where else would you find such a heady mix of a belligerent new Elector with a chip on his shoulder, Elven frenemies, a seaport miles from the sea, a silvery being that may be an Incarnate Elemental, a Smuggler Queen, goblins who worship a reflection, warring salt merchants, Dark Elf spies, a secret undead council of advisors, and the Doomlord Dieter Helsnicht?

Purchase the physical version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Salzenmund - City and Silver and receive the PDF version immediately. The PDF-only version is also available to purchase.