Tharston
Captson Town
Tharston, often called Capston Town after its most famous son, has a population 9,000, was founded in 802, and attained its charter of incorporation in 1142. Its crest is a cinquefoil, or, on a field of vert.
Tharston resides in the Royal Duchy of Urgholt, the Kingdom of Gwyfned, in the High Kingdom of Myddum. It is in the Aendril Mountain’s foothills, and it is connected by secondary roads to Raldt in the near southeast, and to Thodheim and Ygarl to the north.
Tharston is the hometown of the mad composer, Br. Atticus Capston, who wrote Sol Triumphas 999 and Draco Paenitet 1011, two hymns that have become insanely popular over time for their driving, insistent melodies and crescendos. Capston believed that music was a physical place in the Realm of Form.
The local hills are romantic for first-time visitors, but less-than-inspiring for permanent residents. Tharston is built on a hilltop plateau, and enclosed on the summit with formidable walls and mural towers. There is no need for a moat here, letting the steep hillsides protect the town. The roads approaching the town conform to the landscape, making them long and curvy.
Within the town, green space is dwindling since there is no land for expansion. There is no castle here, per se, because the city itself is a fortress of sorts. The lord does have a great hall near the main church and a unified guild hall. High Street stretches from gate to gate, making for a drawn out but roomy general market. Parts of the market are roofed but open-walled. If the church is the heart of Tharston, then the market is her lungs. All the main streets in town are cobbled.
St. Alexis’ Church is titanic compared to most other Aorlisian churches. This is where the first regal-class organ was built in 1022, a monumental reed harmonium incorporated into the structure’s walls. Elemental sylphs are imprisoned within this instrument, powering its truly awe-inspiring sound. A squad of Morlite canons keeps the organ in good repair. This church is also the site of The Miracle of the Golden Lamp, as witnessed by Br. Digby DeEssoine.
St. Alexis is said to have multiple, forgotten chambers in its rafters left by the grand mason, Frederick Lathegow, that built the church’s current incarnation in 1001. Several small Ordinarite monasteries, multiple friaries and inset chapels in the city’s outer walls exist in Tharston. Alexis the Shovel is Tharston’s patron saint.
Tharston’s people are guarded, although they delight in gambling and cockfighting. Visitors have often commented on Tharston local’s predilection and talent for whistling. This town is a major center for metal punching and making brigandine armor, and it is also engaged in iron mining. The land surrounding the town is devoted to livestock and herding, as well as dozens of live, working mines and many more abandoned ones. There are a few doctors of Theology, most notably Br. Felix Atherton DTh., who offer paid lessons here, but no university as such.
Folklore relates that Tharston is built over a hollow hill, and within it is access to the realm of Keboldi. If so, no one has found a way in for well over a millennia. Other legends claim that the Mushroom King holds court there, but that is a local tale and not known outside of town.
The mad wizard Henri deBevoral is said to have led a magical working here in 1099 intended to summon the Chariot of Salearr from the heavenly dome, probably so he and his followers could hitch a ride and explore the seven planets. Henri burst into flames and expired on the spot, and his fellow wizards decided to speak no more of it.
As for literary lights, Wyndham Searles is author of The Saga of Merold the Confounder.
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