Wegloe
Named for a home grown hero from many years ago, the town of Wegloe is a small collection of homes and shops, sporting a single large inn called The Llank. The tavern at The Llank is the most popular public house for miles.
Constructed of the virtually endless supply of hardwood thereabouts, Wegloe is a town of log cabins with chimneys made of smoothed stones garnered during the process of clearing the land to build the house. Glacial stones there are aplenty, around Wegloe, deposited during some ice age long past. Glacial stones, and oak trees.
The town is rooted in a primeval deciduous forest dominated by massive oak trees that form a canopy over much of this part of Pax. Gathering food, and hunting the many animals that live in the forest, is how these people subsist...and they thrive. It is quite a different living from the farmlands to the south.
Demographics
About fifty-fifty humans and elves, living together not only peacefully but downright neighborly. The Odd Fellows loves to point Wegloe out as a shining example of "harmony amongst the peoples".
Government
The town is small enough that it can be governed effectively by a council of Aldermen, but big enough that it needs a police force.
Defences
Industry & Trade
The town of Wegloe is self sufficient for the most part, importing only the things that make life easier, such as bolts of cloth, and coils of cordage. But for the most part they make their own leather and fur clothing, selling the more exotic furs off for a handsome profit down in Hammingburg.
However, where Wegloe really shines is its cameo market. The large forest snails that grow thereabouts make a perfect carving medium for the jewelry, and many years ago an artist named Popiel Tang made quite a name for herself creating these works of striking pearlescent beauty. Usually depicting the beloved historical figure of Princess Jessica Grey, they are diabolically difficult to make, and have become treasured throughout the Kingdoms.
Infrastructure
The town provides a police force, town hall, and the courthouse-slash-jail. The roads are paved with cobblestones, and built so that they drain easily. All of the bridges in town are, likewise, paid for out of the local taxes levied by the town's Aldermen upon the populace.
The roads and bridges are all named for prominent town families of times gone by.
Districts
The town is too small to have any official "districts", although there are neighborhoods that the locals refer to when speaking with one another. Subdivisions such as "Oak Terrace", and "Birch Way", simply abound. People live closely, in these districts. Privacy is a hot commodity.
Assets
Several of the buildings in town are actually owned by the town, which charges rent to the occupants. There is snow removal equipment, a small temple to Eostre and a larger one to Chauntea, and a Kalashtar smith who is really quite a talented weaponsmith living incognito. There are two schools, several barns around town for equipment storage, and a small goat farm in the nearby woods. The goats are used to keep the grass and weeds to a manageable height in town. The city hall is owned and cared for by the town, as are the few small parks that dot the town's environs. They keep a store of five thousand arrows; and three months of salted pork, hardtack, and barley. They maintain fire towers throughout the surrounding forest, and watch towers upriver to monitor for flooding. There are town cryers, and plenty of equipment for the volunteer fire department.
Guilds and Factions
The Odd Fellows have a strangely universal presence in Wegloe, and (even more oddly) they seem to be the only real "guild" in town. The Hunters Exchange would be the next best thing to a Guild, but it is really a hunting club with connections to sell furs.
History
Founded as a hunting camp called "Derry", a lad was born and raised there after it had taken root into a fledgeling township. That lad was none other than Wegloe Llank, who went on to master Llank-Ryu under Col Arendarensai's tutelage. Wegloe became one of the heroes that helped save the Kingdoms from a devastating civil war, defeating the vile Beast of Cotnor at the very gates of Craysilt. Wegloe retired to live his later life out in town, which by then had been named "Gander Ferry". It was renamed to "Wegloe" after the hero's death over a century ago.
Points of interest
Tourism
Wegloe is a popular destination amongst hunters and city-folk looking for a rural getaway alike. Although there are never a lot of them at the same time, there is enough of a steady stream of tourists that there is a chamber of commerce, and a small but talented group of woodsfolk who hire themselves out as guides.
Architecture
The township's buildings are almost universally timber-frame construction, with sturdy cabins and buildings made of notched and fitted logs. The people's access to timber is unparralelled.
Geography
The town is split by the Derry river, built at the site of what was once called Gander's Ford.
Climate
Wegloe is firmly situated in a temperate zone. Not quite northerly enough to be called "taigha", it is still a cold, hard winter in that part of the country.
Natural Resources
While Wegloe may be small, they are a powerhouse exporting timber, meat, salted fish, leather, furs, mushrooms, and a specific jewelry piece called a "Cameo" carved from a native tree-snail's multilayered shell. This last has actually become quite popular amongst the nobility and higher classes, putting the tiny town of Wegloe on the map for guided tours and "jungle safaris".
Maps
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Stilton Head: Wegloe
The small, northwestern town of Wegloe, in the Stilton Head territory.
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