Valemead
| settlement name | duchy | district/province | type | population | founding year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valemead | Toreen | — | village | 2,177 | 4593 |
Valemead is a coastal village in south-western Toreen, at the mouth of the Dark River on the Gulf of Kalder. It is the last settlement on the Royal Road leaving Toreen, and the first to welcome travellers from Krethes. Several travel lodges and inns are dotted along the main road of the village.
A very impressive chapel to Razim – about the size of most Temples – overwhelms the village’s other buildings. It occupies the village centre, and can essentially function as a small castle. It is maintained by her eminence the Lord Paladin Amelya Towns. The chapel is heavily fortified and has seven magnificent towers. The archmage Rianna Glass has her stronghold in the northernmost tower. A large military contingent is also housed here, commanded by the cavalier Maeson Blacktide and his lieutenant, the scout Romanus Seasalt.
Villagers tend to the croplands that spread out along the course of the Dark River (where duckbell, resiyen, and various vegetables are grown) and along the Royal Road to the south (barley, wild flax, and brown cotton). In the ocean shallows, ocean melon is cultivated.
The Senior Councillor of Valemead is Kayla Pollin, a retired Commandant of the Royal Fossary of Kalderesh. Pollin is consulted on occasion by sages and scholars because of her expert knowledge of rejuvenation. She sometimes lectures at the university in Coth-Rom, and delegates her duties to First Councillor Aarus Kneadman. Kneadman is himself ex-military, having served as a sky helm officer in the Sky Cavalry. His griffon is a popular attraction for the children of the village.
Another retired military man, Aeli Ferrimen, has turned his family business as tanners and leatherworkers into crafters of the finest leather gauntlets and bracers in the land.
The magical bracers Ferrimen and Archmage Glass make, are rare and highly sought after. Their trademark glyph, carved into the black leather, is a status symbol amongst elite warriors.