the Belhoden Well

Location

The town of Belhoden is situated on the western shores of Loch Don in the northern region of Farden. It is linked to the keep of Clan Deerwolf, Denholm, by a series of small islands and crags that formed a causeway across the lake. On the largest islands, in the middle of the lake, is The Craig : a small hamlet of 10 houses or so.

Due to its proximity to the clan keep, Belhoden has strong ties to the Deerwolf chieftains and their family. Many town craftsmen and artisans work for the keep. The causeway is also the main way to the castle, and goods take The Water Road across the loch to reach the keep.

Lake-Town by John Hodgson

One of the main features of the town is the huge well built just outside the entrance of the town on the edge of The Sevenoak Wood . Many legends are attached to the unusually large and ancient well. Most of the tales speak of a 'giant hag' who is seemingly trapped in an underground cavern at the bottom of the deep well.

The Well

The well is simple in design: a rather high wall of jagged stones surrounds it. The stones are well weathered at times polished in a very dark color. To this day, no one knows where the stones come from. Another strange particularity of the black stone wall is that whatever the weather, the stones are always cool to the touch and never warm up.

The depth of the well has been a subject of hot discussions among the town dwellers for generations. You could still find old codgers in the town's most traditional inn, the Black Well, telling stories of the many failed attempts to climb down it and find out about its actual depths.

Theories and tales abound about the true nature of the abyss in the town's back garden. All agree that the well waters have never tarried or soured even in the worst droughts known to man over the centuries - and to be honest, for the villagers, this is the main thing after all.

The Legend

The well has several legends attached to it, but the often-told story is that of Greenjen, one of the seven The Storm Hags. She displeased so much the goddess Callie that the goddess sealed her inside her home at the bottom of the well never to roam the land again.

The sun was fairly new in the sky and was setting for the first time over Alven, the goddess Callie created the Storm Hags to help her mould the heights and the depths of the land. The seven Storm Hags unleashed their powers and through ferocious storms of snow, ice, and rain, mountains were sculpted and lochs created.

Greenjen was the prettiest and youngest of the Hags and the most foolish of them all. Callie said: 'Greenjen, Grenjen, blow your might over these heights so green valleys will be'. Greejen answered: 'I will blow and I will rain. Ice will course through my vein. See the valleys grow under my mighty train.'

Greenjen was so confident in her might that she did not look at what she was doing, and instead of gentle, sheltered valleys created the deep abysses of the world where monsters hide and dark creatures thrive.

Callie was so incensed by Greenjen's carelessness that she sealed the Storm Hag's door and Greenjen was never seen on the surface of this world again. It is said that Greenjen will be let out once she erases the deep gashes she created in the world.

'Greenjen, Greenjen
Ice and rain might be your train
But darkness and stillness
Shall be your stay
Until the earth is one again
At the End of Days.

Many are the stories of handsome young men falling to their death, driven to their end by a beautiful maiden by the margin of the well. It is for this reason that many superstitious men will come near the well as they believed it to be haunted by the beautiful hag.


Others tell the story that Greenjen will be let loose again when the End of Days are near and she will use her might to finish up the job she started eons ago, gouging and destroying the world with her icy train.

FOOTNOTE

See also the Denbeich Caves and The Secrets of Farden 

Sea Caves and Tunnels
There is an underground tunnel from one of the coastal cave of Farden that crosses the whole peninsula and comes through in the Farden mountain - this would have been dug through magical means - it is very old and in bad repair: from Denbeith to Belhoden. Known to no one at the present only the Ferians of Loch Den.

The only visible part are extensive an extensive sea cavern network at Denbeith - one of the exit is The Belhoden Well

Type

Abyss