Wydmoor City

Wydmoor City
Country/Region	Dutchy of Wydmoor
Size	Large city
Demographics	Majority Humans but with a larger Halfling population than most cities and probably the largest population of Half-Elves of any city since antiquity
Government	?
Economy	Large markets, low level scrolls available and potions easily available, Red Iron weapons available

Wydmoor City (or New Wydmoor) is an independent city located at the meeting-point of Ubrekt, Odessa, and the Free Cities. Despite being surrounded by much larger empires, the city of Wydmoor has long been a highly autonomous city. This is in part due to its strategic location--the Wydmoor Swamp to the east and the Bloodmane Hills to the north and west allow for strong defensive fortifications. Wydmoor lays claim to being the most significant and widely recognized Tragidore Shrines in the mainland, and draws a great many pilgrims throughout the year.

Since The Restoration, Wydmoor City is the administrative center of the Dutchy of Wydmoor. It is controlled by the Othelio family, who are loyal subjects of the Meade family.

History

The City of Wydmoor was an autonomously governed city-state after it was occupied in 701 FI by Ubrekti heretics during the disunity of the Third Interregnum, who cleared much of the swamp and quickly picked up productive agriculture. When besieged by the forces of Odriss Rockheart several years later, the city was already able to hold out the six years it took Rockheart and the heretics to truce. The leader of the heretics renounced the heresy and accepted the Hadriarchy of Wydmoor Free City. In 712 FI, when Rockheart assumed the Arch-Wardenship, he granted Wydmoor its autonomy in recognition of its support.

It maintained its independence until late 1401 when it was was destroyed by the invading army of Odessa at the end of a protracted siege and an 18 month campaign. It was abandoned and then overran by hobgoblins, wererats, and the undead until it was re-established in Spring of 1403 (?). In the years following The Restoration, Wydmoor became a haven for the many refugees displaced during the wars and disruption of the early 1400s FI. Canny leadership and strong planning allowed the city to absorb the refugees with relatively smoothly, and fully half of Wydmoor City's old population had been restored by 1405 (?), and within ten or fifteen years the city of New Wydmoor boasted an even greater population.

Politics

Wydmoor Factions & Subfactions

1. First Families
   1. Meade
      1. Meade Loyalists
         1. Lyannia Othelio
      2. Meade Pretenders
   2. Wydsomme
      1. Wydmoor Wydsommes
      2. Ubrekt Wydsommes
   3. Riddermark
   4. Tell
   5. Othelio
   6. Anser

1. The Collegia
   1. Alchemists
      1. Founded by Gokar the Wise
   2. Bards

1. Azure Geese
   1. Independent, but work closely w/Meade

1. Moyria's Crossing (Electoral Barony)
   1. Baron Faction
   2. Duke's/Dutchess' Watch

1. Thieves' Guild
   1. Ratling Faction
   2. Beggar's Guild
   3. Racketeer Faction

1. Religious
   1. Western Alexandrian Hadriarchy
      1. The city's Hadriarch of many decades was Edi, who passed away in 1514. While beloved by the residents of Wydmoor, other factions within the church considered his treatment of orthodoxy lacking (bordering on heretical). The Western Hadriarchs made sure to raise a traditionalist to the position, and the incoming Hadriarch has made little secret of his desires to return Alexandrianism in Wydmoor back to the fold and works to discredit organizations that flourished under Edi's presence in order to further those gains. This has been received differently by different segments of the community, although the halflings of Wydmoor take a very dim view of the policy change almost universally.
      2. Church of the Open Road - a small but old church to the northeast of the walls. Ran by and caters to the local Road Halfling community
   2. Eastern Alexandrian Bishopric
      1. The Bishop of Wydmoor is an aging dwarf, Lolok Ubbulzasit. She is a veteran of the Scism Wars and has held the position since its inception. In the century or so of her Bishopric, she's earned the respect of Wydmoorians and works hard to remain aloof too and neutral regarding local controversies, be they ecclesiastical or political.
   3. Petaran Temples
      1. Petaran missionaries have seen a great deal of success in Celstia. Still a banned faith in Odessa and Ubrekt, a humble Petaran church has somehow appeared in Wydmoor. It is the most remote of any Petaran temple.
   4. Protester Faiths
      1. Couriers (Open)
      2. Wytchfinder Family (Underground)
         1. Rumors swirl about the presence of any number of sinister cults operating in Wydmoor. Occasional murders or arsons are sometimes tagged with Wytchfinder symbolism, but some believe these mere Guild crimes and the symbology is a smoke screen.
   5. Cults
      1. Demi-Pantheon Cults
         1. Most Warlocks are a member of some Demi-Pantheon cult or another. They operate in secret as they despise and are despised by the church.
      2. Neo-Alexandrian Cultists
         1. Have only been encountered by a select few in specific contexts. There is no formal Neo-Alexandrian presence in Wydmoor. (Presently, anyway)
      3. Ghost Halfling shrines and idols
2. Halfling Communities
   1. Wydmoor Landing [Boat]
   2. Hubtown (on paper it's the "Hamlet of the Open Hand" but commonly just referred to as Hubtown or the Hub) [Road]
   3. Sigilkenning [Mixed, local agriculture, farmer and herder hicks mostly]
   4. Southside [Ghost, ramshackle tents and swamp traders]