Caer Tewdrig, City of Sages

Located in a small wooded valley near the southern coast of Glywising, Caer Tewdrig is certainly the most well-known school in Ynys Prydein and possibly one of the greatest schools in the post-imperial world. When the Empire first came to Albion in CY 62, an imperial station was built near the Strata Iulia on the site of a Cymbrian center of learning that was at least five hundred years older. Even when the Empire constructed its own buildings atop the ancient ones, such was its reputation that neither Eriuish pirates harrying the coast nor Cymbrian chieftains looking for loot troubled the town. It features a Grand Temple of Illtyd the All-Knowing, complete with a legendary library only accessible to those who have been admitted to the school.

Government

The town is maintained to see to the needs of the Order of Illtyd the Wise but order is maintained primarily by the city guard.  All offenses are adjudicated through local magistrates who technically command the guard but in practice need to curry favor with these mercenaries if they wish to enact justice.  A town council consists of representatives from the craft guilds-a unique idea in the Cymbrian Kingdoms and said to have been derived from the imperial collegia.
The fishermen and farmers supporting the town also pay hefty food taxes and sometimes labor.  But the soil is rich and both sea and rivers team with fish so the tribute is less burdensome than it would otherwise be.  Nonetheless, the town employs tax collectors and strong-men to make sure the locals pay what they owe and greed may overtake these officials more often than it should.

Defences

The town is surrounded by a wall built in imperial times and reinforced with four gates and four towers.  A small flows west of the town, and a natural bend in the river affords even greater protection.  The north, west, and south gates open directly onto the river and are protected by drawbridges.  A canal dug to the east of the town completes the defenses, creating an island-like feel to the school.
Walls are 20 feet high, with towers and gates at 40 feet, monuments to the building skill of the fallen empire.  A permanent mercenary force drawn from Eriu, Albion, and Bertaèyn acts as city guard, amply supported by the magical skills of the sages who dwell therein.

Industry & Trade

Most of the industry of the town revolves around the school. Local shops focus on making inks, parchment, musical instruments. Although the Grand Library employs a number of scribes, there are many scribes who work independently, or as record-keepers for the town and its dealings with the outside world.
Outside the town walls, local farmers and fishermen work the land and the sea.  The fruits of their labors can barely support the permanent residents let alone the thousands of students who come here, so cattle drovers from Y Bont Faen and grain and wine merchants from Caerdyff bring in much needed food and drink.  Iron, precious metals, and finished implements come to the town from the hills and mountains to the north as well.
The chief commodity of the town, of course, is knowledge.  Caer Tewdrig largely survives because of the coin local uchelwyrs are willing to spend to educate their sons and daughters as well as the many grants they are given by princes from all over the isle and beyond.  Cymbrian, Eriuish, and Bertaèynian students are the most numerous, but one may find Saxon youths sent to study here, some from the far-off Merovingian kingdoms, and even a few from the distant lands of Araby.
Additionally, Caer Tewdrig contributes to the book trade, copying sacred texts for far-flung monastic libraries or occasionally gratifying the desires of an individual collector. The trade involves leather workers, parchment makers, ink makers, goldsmiths, and scribes.
In addition to these important tradesmen are all the supporting trades of shoemakers, weavers, dyers, butchers, bakers, and fishmongers, makers of candles and lamps, purveyors of oil, and of course dozens of tavern-keepers to provide shelter and food for the army of students that swells the population of the town.

Infrastructure

There are a number of great monuments in the city, all built in the old imperial style that is the hallmark of the most important locations in Gwent. These include:

• The Grand Temple of Illtyd the Wise: This impressive temple is tall and spacious, decorated by thin, tall windows with stained glass, and lit by thousands of candles bought by those who would seek the god's favor. The Temple has the capacity to produce 10 vials of holy water per week, reserved for distribution to clerics of the order and others who serve there. Normally, there will be 10-30 vials of holy water on hand.
• The Monastery of Illtyd the Wise: Those who serve Illtyd directly follow a rigid monastic order. The cloisters and dormitory are connected directly to the temple, while the Great Library lies across the temple compound. The clerics and lay monks of Illtyd normally do not interact with the general populace; instead a small army of bureaucrats is on hand to conduct temple business with the outside world. The abbot is high priest of the temple, so normal monastic business is conducted by the prior and sub-prior.
• The Great Library: The Great Library is one of the tallest buildings in the Cymbrian Kingdoms. The ground floor is spacious and filled with marble busts of the great minds of the past, as well as an interior fountain and stone benches for private meditation. A broad set of stairs leads to the first story, a great open gallery with workbenches and stools for dozens of scribes who are engaged in copying important manuscripts. A door leads to another set of stairs that leads to the library itself, but access is limited to those who are actually members of the school and the assistant librarians never allow any but associated sages to go into the library. Instead, they retrieve any books requested. Even sages must obtain permission to enter the library proper, and this can only be gotten from the head librarian, a man of middle years but youthful energy who is known as the Bookworm.
• Harper's Square: Located to the north of the Grand Temple of Illtyd, this spacious and elegant square is dominated by the statue of Taliesin, the greatest bard of the Cymbrian world. That statue faces Harper's Hall, the abode of the Bardic Council, which exercises its authority over all true bards in Eriu, Albion, and Bertaèyn. The finest instrument-makers in the Cymbrian Kingdoms are also to be found here-makers of harps, lutes, whistles, pipes, and drums.

Guilds and Factions

The following guilds and factions are among the most influential in the city:

• Guild of Sages: The chief commodity of Caer Tewdrig is knowledge, and those who are not able to use the library may nonetheless come here to consult one of the many sages who have made this place their home.
• Guild of Ink Makers: Those who make their living producing inks of various color both for writing and illuminating. Inks made from rare or arcane ingredients suitable for making scrolls or other forms of magical writing may be obtained from craftspersons skilled enough to produce them. 
• Guild of Parchment Makers: Members of this guild specialize in the making of different kinds of parchment, from the papyrus imported from Araby to parchments made from more exotic sources.  Pages for spell books and traveling spell books may be obtained by the craftspeople in the trade.

History

In pre-imperial days, the location that would later be called Caer Tewdrig was a center of learning second only to the sacred isle of Ynys Môn northwest of Gwynedd.  When the Empire destroyed the old druidic order, scholarly hermits still dwelt in the wooded vale where they began writing down their histories in books after the imperial fashion and it became well-known as a place of learning.  Later, the Emperor Theodosius established a formal school there, names after himself.  Côr Tewdws, or the College of Theodosius, soon attracted scholars from all over the Empire.  Continued raids by Eriuish pirates caused the Empire, in conjunction with the local lords, to fortify the location.  One local warlord, known as Tewdrig of the Bloody Eye, adopted the town as his headquarters, and after he had delivered a crushing defeat to the pirates, the place was called Caer Tewdrig, or Tewdrig's Fortress.
After the Empire had fallen, the place was still maintained by the Bardic Fraternity and the Order of Illtyd the Wise.  The Order of Illtyd had taken charge of the imperial library and built a monastery around it (supposedly with the support of Tewdrig).  As the Empire grew in power once more from its new capitol in Byzantios, new and more varied merchant vessels came to Albion and to the ports of Gwent.

Geography

Caer Tewdrig is located in a wooded valley just a mile north of Glywising's coast.  The area is watered by two small rivers whose confluence just south of the town swells into a short but broad river that flows into the Saffron Sea.  The northern road goes to Y Bont Faen, and is the most heavily travelled (partly because of the cattle drovers who make their way down to the town to sell their beasts at market).  Roads to the east and west follow the old imperial shore route, east to Caerdyff and west eventually to Nedd.  The river flows out onto a sandy beach, with a steep escarpment overlooking it from the north.  Here is a small port that controls river traffic heading northward to the town.

The Blue Maiden

This tavern and brewery is run by Hedda the Ale-Wife, a grumpy, barrel-fisted, no-nonsense woman of 40 or 50 years. The years have not mellowed her disposition, and she tolerates no shenanigans in her establishment. Despite its elegant-sounding name, it is run-down, the blue color of the weeping maiden in the sign faded, the interior shabby albeit clean. The students who room with Hedda tend to be poor, and even they don't stay long. Hedda brews her own ale, which allows her to sell it more cheaply than her competitors. But she will not water it down, because despite her rough exterior, she takes pride in her work.

Founding Date

395 CY

Type

Town

Population

1000 (permanent) 6000+ (students and visitors)

Owning Organization

The Kingdom of Gwent-Glywising

The Inkwell

This popular tavern is run by Hari ap Cynan, known to those who frequent the place as Bald Hari. His head is not shaved, but as bald as if no hair had ever grown upon it. The tavern is popular with students, who gather there to carouse, complain about their teachers, and sometimes trade secrets.