Hides Industry
4 levels, each replacing the one before it: you upgrade in place rather than building alongside.
Tannery (Urban) → Leatherworker (Urban) → Parchment Maker (Urban) → Parchment Exports (Urban)
Levels at a glance
| Level | Cost | Build time | Minimum settlement | Upgrades to | Level | Cost | Build time | Minimum settlement | Upgrades to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tannery (Urban) | 800 | 2 | large town | Leatherworker (Urban) | Leatherworker (Urban) | 2,000 | 3 | city | Parchment Maker (Urban) | ||
| Parchment Maker (Urban) | 7,500 | 6 | large city | Parchment Exports (Urban) | Parchment Exports (Urban) | 12,500 | 10 | huge city | — |
Costs in denarii, build time in turns.
Tannery (Urban)

Turning hides into leather and holding our noses.
The Tannery, a place of mysterious alchemy where raw hides transform into the leather that soldiers, citizens, and craftsmen prize.
The process may be laborious and smelly, but the results are steady. Indeed, it's not for the faint of nose, the tannery is home to the toughest workers, who endure strong smells and even stronger personalities to deliver leather that’s both supple and durable.
This is where hides lose their former life and gain new purpose.
| Cost | 800 denarii | Build time | 2 turns | Minimum settlement | large town | Upgrades to | Leatherworker (Urban) |
Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.
- Local Barter or a higher level is built here
- The region has Livestock
- Only one urban industry building allowed
- Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
What it does
- +8 taxable income
- -1 public order (happiness)
Leatherworker (Urban)

Armour so flexible, you might forget you’re at war.
In the Leatherworkers shop the leather produced by the tannery gets made into usefull goods, like clothing, boots, and the sturdy straps that tie everything in ancient life together.
Here, artisans balance strength and flexibility, fashioning armour that can withstand a blow but still allow a warrior to dash, dodge, or (ideally) parade in victory.
Every suit of leather armour is a testament to craftsmanship and the notion that speed beats heavy metal.
| Cost | 2,000 denarii | Build time | 3 turns | Minimum settlement | city | Upgrades to | Parchment Maker (Urban) |
Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.
- Local Market or a higher level is built here
- The region has Livestock
- Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
What it does
- +12 taxable income
- +1 trade income
- -1 public order (happiness)
Parchment Maker (Urban)

Where hides and history meet in thin sheets.
At the Parchment Maker’s, hides are transformed into delicate sheets upon which history is written.
This is where cows and goats make their unlikely contribution to knowledge itself.
The process may be laborious, but the results endure far beyond leather sandals or wine skins, becoming pages that record the wisdom of philosophers, the commands of generals, and the scribbles of lovestruck poets.
| Cost | 7,500 denarii | Build time | 6 turns | Minimum settlement | large city | Upgrades to | Parchment Exports (Urban) |
Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.
- You play a Phoenician, Caucasian, Anatolian, Egyptian, Iranian, Indian, Greek, Western Hellenistic, Eastern Hellenistic, Roman, Ethiopian, Arab, Libyan or Iberian faction
- Forum or a higher level is built here
- The region has Livestock
- Small School (Civic) or a higher level is built here
- Government Building (Dependency, Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
What it does
- +18 taxable income
- +2 trade income
- +1 public order (law)
- -1 public order (happiness)
Parchment Exports (Urban)

Where thoughts become scrolls and wisdom lives on (for a price).
As there never seems to be enough papyrus available, scholars and scribes have been gathered to turn parchment into the repository of civilization’s brightest (and sometimes strangest) ideas.
Scrolls crafted here hold the decrees of kings, the philosophies of sages, and sometimes the gossip of the streets. Whether it’s recording victories or translating epics, the Parchment Complex ensures that fleeting thoughts are preserved, just as long as the ink doesn’t smudge. As
| Cost | 12,500 denarii | Build time | 10 turns | Minimum settlement | huge city |
Requirements: all of these must hold before this level can be built.
- You play a Phoenician, Caucasian, Anatolian, Egyptian, Iranian, Indian, Greek, Western Hellenistic, Eastern Hellenistic, Roman, Ethiopian, Arab, Libyan or Iberian faction
- Large Forum or a higher level is built here
- The region has Livestock
- Academy (Civic) or a higher level is built here
- Any Government except Dependency (Indirect Rule, Direct Rule or Homeland)
What it does
- +20 taxable income
- +3 trade income
- +1 public order (law)
- -1 public order (happiness)
- (Faction) Law courts (tier 2-3) and Academies (tier 2-3) gain bonus law (local livestock does not give this bonus) (does not stack with papyrus bonus)
