Tara

Tara is the only Tharshi colony outside the Mediterranean, a grim fortress on Iber's southwest coast founded to exploit copper and iron ore deposits along the shore. A large slave workforce mines the ore, which is shipped home to Tharshesh every other month. Merchant ships in northern waters also stop here, though Tara has little chance of displacing Ys as the chief port of the north.

It is a dangerous post and the least respected of the colonies. Picts from Iber's interior raid it often, and Cymbrian and Skye corsairs roam the sea lanes, so at times it feels like a city under siege. It is accordingly one of the most heavily fortified colonies: its walls are massive, and 100 of its roughly 600 mercenaries are on duty at all times, with 6-10 warships always in port. Four outlying towers of about 50 men each guard the mines and the fields that grow part of the city's food, joined by a low wall meant to shut out the Picts entirely, which has worked only partly. The Picts are a constant threat, though quieter in winter than summer. Because men come and go so fast, mercenaries and ship captains are always wanted, and the hazardous duty pays 5-10 times standard wages.