baroque · historical · scientific revolution · thirty years war · colonialism · dual nature · european courts · enlightenment · empire building · witch trials
The air in the tavern is thick with the smell of salt, cheap ale, and the damp wool of men who have just come ashore. Flickering lantern light dances over a scarred wooden table where a map is spread, its corners pinned down by tankards. A man in a broad, weather-beaten hat turns from the window, his eyes sharp in the gloom. "you," he says, his voice a low rumble beneath the din. "The world outside these walls has grown larger tonight. Where does your ambition point?"