Cynulf
Town in the Clouds, Color Town
Cynulf, sometimes called the Town in the Clouds, or Color Town, has a population of 6,500, and its crest is a gargoyle erased and affronte, gris, on a field of sable. The town was officially founded in 830, and it was awarded its charter in 1101.
It is located high in the Lower Aendril Mountains, and it is landlocked and only accessible by one secondary road. Politically, it is found in the Royal Duchy of Urgholt, the Kingdom of Gwyfned, in the High Kingdom of Myddum, and the royal duke usually is the current Gwyfnedi King’s second eldest brother. If there is no such brother, a royal steward manages Cynulf until such a time that an appropriate prince is born.
The scenery here is among the most beautiful in Gwyfned, if not the whole of Aorlis. Well up the mountain’s slopes, Cynulf is constructed on a series of terraces or steps. The buildings are three-to-five stories tall, making up for the limited ground space, jettying, and they are made of half-timber and stone and each painted in vibrant colors.
The town is defended by a stout gate and concentric walls on the side facing the road, and the settlement’s back side is inaccessible because of its steep rise. The royal duke’s residence is a palace, not a castle.
Cynulf’s market in a wonder, because it has been roofed and built into an extensive plaza full of bewildering twists and turns and innumerable venders stalls. The roof makes the market useable all year long. The town is mostly paved, with a goal of finishing within the century.
Madowin One-Legged is Cynulf’s patron saint, and St. Madowin’s Cathedral is a medium-sized but elegant church. It is a royal peculiar to the royal duke. There also is a mix of satellite monasteries, friaries, churches of convenience, and shrines here too.
Cynulf is said to be closer to Heaven because of its elevation, and that an angelic choir may be heard from above on quiet evenings. This effect is widely documented, but only religious explanations have surfaced.
The only way in or out of Cynulf is a secondary road, Farer’s Trace, to Farer’s Point in a northerly direction, and the trace continues on to Gwyfned City.
The people of Cynulf are withdrawn and disciplined, and some say they lack a sense of humor. This is untrue, because they relish good jokes, and they pull from a pool of very dry humor. They have a tradition of painting each building a different color to stand out from the surrounding buildings. Cynulf is known for its fine tapestry production, iron mining and wire drawing for Gwyfnedi maille. While there is no university here, several freelance professors live here and teach unofficially.
Cynulf is under royal forest law, being in the Kingswood District. The Kingswood District Forest Warden Maheu Pernelle, the Hunchback, keeps his administrative offices here.
Ebenezer Hackleford led an attempt at the Sweeping Veil Working in 1220, attempting to make the invisible, spirit world coterminous with the physical world. It failed, as this working always has.
There is a near suburb of Cynulf where the civilized cynocephalus that inhabit the Lower Aendrils gather, and their alpha Boward keeps house here.
Cynulf is where Millicent Pernelle introduced paper-making to Aorlis in 1033. Also, Ballard Sweet developed the horizontal loom here. Bertram Flecheman is the famous local author of The Camel Leopard’s Uncle and Other Poor Decisions, bookW that gained popularity across Aorlis. This town is where the Miracles of the 4th Seal in 1113 was witnessed by Amicus deSeranne Dcn., and later where the Miracle of the 5th Seal was witnessed in 1139 by Fr. Balfour Cooper.
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