Widden
Widden the Tall, Widden the Vigilant
Widden, called Widden the Tall, and Widden the Vigilant, has a population of 6,000. It was founded in 949 and was granted its community charter in 1099. Its crest is a clarion, or, on a field of lozenges seededs, argent, on a field of gules.
It is located in the County of Khellidor, the Kingdom of Gwyfned, in the High Kingdom of Myddum, on the Oe-Widden Cut, the only road out to Allyn and into Gwyfned. The Cut connects this settlement to Gwyfned City to the South, Chaussane to the east, Litton (in Allyn) to the northwest, and Bellton (also in Allyn) to the north-by-northeast.
Widden is nestled on a ridge between Olle Taern and Enulf Taern in the Lower Aendril Mountains. The position grants Widden complete control of this road from both directions. While not called a marcher town, per se’, Widden has the extra authority to defend Gwyfned at all costs from its neighbor to the north.
The mountains here are particularly majestic. The town’s physical footprint is limited, so Widden has grown taller than most other towns, with standard buildings often being four of five stories high. These structures are all brightly painted, giving Widden a “doll house” air. Widden is noteworthy for its high walls, many towers, and well-developed and maintained defenses.
(Most defensive structures in the mountains have relatively thin walls, and this town is no exception, so recent armaments like cannons and mortars would be sufficient to knock them down.)
Widden has no moat, because the taerns on its flanks fulfill that purpose. All the streets in town are paved. There are small, general markets in town, and outside the north gate there is a larger periodic market for trading with Auldic merchants.
When the lord (usually the king’s next oldest brother) is in residence, he owns a fancy town house with an auxiliary great hall attached. One recent prince, Oliver Osrick, also added a series of comfortable apartments for his mistresses and their children. Now, some years after Oliver’s death, more than half of the town’s officials are his royal bastards, all well educated and provided with good livings.
Maschia the Merciful is Widden’s patron saint, and her church, St. Maschia’s, is a genuine wonder. Because of limited real estate, it is about half the size a church of this stature should be, but it more than makes up for that with the lifelike, exquisitely carved saints that line its walls, all so beautifully painted that tricks of the light make them seem alive. Furthermore, the altarpiece is made of purple porphyry of the highest workmanship. This was a give from King Bingum to his brother, Prince Oliver, and he bequeathed it to the church. Lastly, this church is the site of the Miracle Delivery of St. Maschia’s, as witnessed by Si. Tamsin Bloutan in 1002. There is one small satellite monastery in town, and a few friaries.
Widden citizens are characterized by panache, pragmatism, and diplomacy. Some of them only live in town part of the year, because Widden’s mountainous climate isn’t the most comfortable in Gwyfned. Local industry centers on high quality Gwyfnedi maille production and cloth weaving.
The town is under forest law and lies in the North Forest District. The Forest Warden is Clement Moody of Koerr (Trimon), and he keeps his administration here. This is not a place known for great magical workings or magic inherent in the environment. As for inventors, Auldic born Amflis Tait invented the astrolabe here in 579, and local-born Maurice Lister invented the orrery 1109. Widden’s lone literary star is Digby Kilner, 10th century author of Eagar and the Forbidden Horde, and this book is still in print.
Adventurers and searchers can hire guides here to the Howling Pyrell Forest, haunted by dangerous orbs and will-o’-the-wisp beings.
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