County of Salisbury

Salisbury is one of the most interesting places in Arthurian legend. It is one of the most densely populated areas. Many of the great events are going to occur here — the Battle of Badon, which will establish Arthur as king of Logres, for example, and the final Battle of Camlann, which concludes the campaign. Many interesting places are here, as well, such as Stonehenge, most famous of the ancient monuments; and Amesbury Abbey, to which Arthur’s mother will retire early in the campaign and to which Queen Guenever will retire near its end. Many interesting landmarks are nearby, especially the dozens of prehistoric mounds, stone circles, and the unusual White Horse. Camelot, the future capital city, is also nearby. Salisbury is thus a good place to start. Salisbury County, proper, consists of all the holdings of the Earl of Salisbury. This fief consists primarily of the city of Sarum and the large land area on Salisbury Plain around it. The fief is composed of good farmland, and provides other good forms of income for the earl — fisheries, taxes on merchants, and tolls from the bridges. Two maps are provided for the County of Salisbury: a two page map showing major features, and a smaller map showing

Travel Times Salisbury

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travel times, in terms of one or more days of travel. The county includes one large city, Sarum, which is described in detail below, three smaller walled cities (Wilton, Warminster, and Tilshead), and dozens of much smaller towns and villages that are not shown on the maps, but which are generally clustered in the river valleys around the cities. It has six castles. The one in Sarum is very strong, and is also behind the city walls; the other five (Devizes, DuPlain, Ebble, Vagon, and Woodhouse) are common motte-and-bailey castles. Note that Amesbury Abbey is not part of the county but is held by the Church. Several towns and cities are cited in this description as “local markets.” This means that the local farmers bring their excess grain and livestock there to sell, and also go there to buy goods or produce that they do not make or grow. Sarum, however, is the central market and is the only place at which some types of goods are available for purchase. These include good cloth, clean salt, and anything from outside of the county. The roads shown on the maps are nearly all hard-packed dirt roads, the best travel routes available. Thus, there is no real road from Tilshead to Warminster, even though they are but 10 miles apart. Rather, rutted tracks and hunters’ trails connect these. The good roads are more heavily traveled, and the only ones used by travelers passing through the territory. The poor roads are less used, mainly by locals traveling within the region. The Old Tracks have been known since the Bronze Age, and traverse high ground. Though they are usually dry, they are difficult for horses, which are reduced to traveling a mere 5 miles per day, hence, mainly peasants on foot use them. The King’s Road runs through the territory from Levocamagus to Sarum, and then onward towards Dorchester. This used to be a Roman road, and is both wide and paved, though overgrown at the edges and with many tufts of grass cracked through its surface.

Maps

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  Travel Times Salisbury

Type

Geopolitical, County / March

Leader

Sir Roderick the Earl of Salisbury

Leader Title

Earl of Salisbury

Family Leader

Sir Roderick the Earl of Salisbury

Parent Organization

Logres

Notable Members

• Sir Amig of Tilshead

Related Species

• Cymric