Welledge
| settlement name | duchy | district/province | type | population | founding year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welledge | Toreen | — | village | 2,409 | 4540 |
Welledge is a coastal village on Coth-Rom Sound, 26 km south-west of the city of Coth-Rom. It lies just off the Royal Road, along a rough track passing through farmlands, at the mouth of the Eelbeck.
It started life as a fishing village, and fishing is still the settlement’s primary activity. Its been known for a long time that the sheltered harbour is exceptionally deep, but this is of no concern to small fishing vessels. Recently, because of the sharp increase in ship traffic at Coth-Rom, Welledge’s harbour is being extended to provide berthing for large ships. The new harbour, docks, and warehouses are expected to be ready in 4696.
As of this writing, large vessels are regularly anchoring just off the harbour wall, and goods are transferred by barge to temporary warehousing for later transport to Coth-Rom and elsewhere. The scholar Emilanus Biggs manages the storage and warehouses, which are often in high demand during the mercantile season.
The Eelbeck starts 120 km away in the highlands of the Seven Guardians. About halfway along its course lies Pilton, a logging village that supplies building timber to Welledge for distribution. The arrival of the logs, with their boisterous tree riders (who manage and steer the floating logs), is sometimes the cause of consternation, as boats and barges need to avoid the water-borne projectiles.
Beach rice and sand nuts are cultivated along the shore, while along the banks of the Eelbeck, milkworte is grown, as well as small stands of malmberries.
The village elder, Alyce Bull, is a retired naval officer and manages the harbour with great skill. She co-owns a shipwright, with Emilanus Brigg. Councillor Lynardus Streems, a devout Oohmian, is an expert bowmaker.
The local weaponsmith, Jaeremiah Wineman, maintains a fane to D’Aad near his workshop. The wizard Amelya Peppers, a follower of Sahir, lives in the village in a large mansion where she experiments with, and produces, colourful cloths and fabrics, with intricate patterns. She incorporates the colour purple in all her designs as a signature. The village is famous for these brightly-patterned textiles.