Wessem
Situated on a lone hilltop near the center of the Brodchek Earldom stands the fortress city of Wessem, where Earl Brodchek and his close family make their home. Its walls are thick and strong, its architecture dull and practical. In all but the wettest and coldest months, the cheerful tents and stands of farmers and craftspeople, merchants and entertainers cluster near the city — scattered around the walls, especially near the lone front gate — all offering their goods and services to any who pass though their throng. The area is well-peopled by the Brodchek-allied Loreclans who sell cattle, horses, and leather goods.
These brightly-colored tents and often-aromatic stands are still a very welcome sight to the citizens of Wessem and surrounding settlements. It is only in the last two years, since young Relm Brodchek’s wedding with Lusea Mercier, that Earl Evrus has once more allowed his people to hold their outdoor markets beside the city walls. During the long civil war, the dour fortress walls stood bare and forbidding year round, and the majority of the region’s commerce ground to a halt.
The Brodchek lands extend from the southernmost edge of the Green Mountains in the north down to the Aciier River in the south. West to east, they stretch again from the Green Mountains foothills eastward to the Quail River. Nearly all of this land is among the most prized farmland in the entire Westmarches, with excellent soil, largely predictable and beneficial flooding, and only the gentlest of rolling hills. For this reason, it is something of a relief and a boon to all of the Westmarches that the Wessem markets are once again running at peak capacity. It is through Wessem that much of the duchy trades for the food its people need to survive.
Inside the Wessem walls, however, only the locals can even tell that the war has ended. They know that far fewer soldiers are now seen parading in the streets, and that far fewer young warriors are being brought home dead or dying. They know also that they are once again able to purchase fine goods and even luxuries from neighboring counties. Things have improved. However, the earl has been in a foul mood for some months and makes no attempt to hide this from his people.
Thus, to an outsider, the city streets of Wessem seem tense and hushed, lacking in all cheer or even artistry. Loud performances, bright colors, or even excessive laughter might provoke the lord of the land, and he is not particularly known for his mercy or restraint. Oh, he isn’t truly evil, and his fits of temper rarely lead to bloodshed (at least, not the blood of his own citizens), but many a family income has been destroyed, many a reputation shattered, and many a property confiscated in the name of the earl’s foul moods.
Few speak aloud of what they fear the earl to be angry about, but everyone knows that his new Mercier daughter-in-law gave birth just a bit early after her marriage to his young heir. Relm Brodchek is known to have an entirely different temperament than his father and is keeping his feelings on the matter to himself, appearing publicly, at least, to still be committed to his new wife and their baby son. Servants, however, have heard raised voices on the subject between Relm and Earl Evrus, and report also that relations between Relm and Lusea have grown awkward and tentative.
Everyone fears what will happen if Evrus Brodchek discovers (or invents) some sort of proof that Lusea’s child is not Relm’s son. Despite the pretty tents and cheerful market outside the city, inside the city, Wessem’s populace is walking on eggshells everywhere they go, taut with the fear that they may soon be going back to war. Unpopular as the Merciers (and Harrings, and Fenrith-Draguls) have always been with the common people of Brodchek lands, these same common people have found over the last decades that they loathe war even more.
It is true that only Duke Wylan may keep a large standing army in the Westmarches at the moment, and that Earl Brodchek therefore cannot simply sally forth to begin a new conflict, but many suspect that their earl yet harbors armed forces in secret or that he might even hire mercenaries to attack the Merciers from the sea. If such a thing were to take place, no one in Wessem knows how Duke Wylan would respond or how it might ultimately impact the lives of Wessem’s people.
This growing fear among the populace — of any sort of return to violence — has led to an aura of intrigue and counter-intrigue among the city’s wealthy and powerful, and rumors whispered in the shadows speak of possibilities as dire as even assassination. After all, everyone knows that Relm Brodchek has a cooler head and a kinder heart than his father. Surely he would sue for peace regardless of what his new wife may or may not have done before their marriage. Would it not be better to trade the life of one earl for the lives of however many people might be killed in his inability to let the past be past?
The earl is not widely hated, however, despite his mercurial temperament. His father was worse, so the old folks say, and his grandmother as well. Besides, centuries of loyal tradition stand between the people of the Brodchek lands and any kind of treachery against their lord. If cooler heads prevail, it is likely that all these murmurings will die away and be forgotten, and in the end, that’s what everyone would prefer.
And so the people of Wessem go anxiously about their business and wait to see what the future will bring.
These brightly-colored tents and often-aromatic stands are still a very welcome sight to the citizens of Wessem and surrounding settlements. It is only in the last two years, since young Relm Brodchek’s wedding with Lusea Mercier, that Earl Evrus has once more allowed his people to hold their outdoor markets beside the city walls. During the long civil war, the dour fortress walls stood bare and forbidding year round, and the majority of the region’s commerce ground to a halt.
The Brodchek lands extend from the southernmost edge of the Green Mountains in the north down to the Aciier River in the south. West to east, they stretch again from the Green Mountains foothills eastward to the Quail River. Nearly all of this land is among the most prized farmland in the entire Westmarches, with excellent soil, largely predictable and beneficial flooding, and only the gentlest of rolling hills. For this reason, it is something of a relief and a boon to all of the Westmarches that the Wessem markets are once again running at peak capacity. It is through Wessem that much of the duchy trades for the food its people need to survive.
Inside the Wessem walls, however, only the locals can even tell that the war has ended. They know that far fewer soldiers are now seen parading in the streets, and that far fewer young warriors are being brought home dead or dying. They know also that they are once again able to purchase fine goods and even luxuries from neighboring counties. Things have improved. However, the earl has been in a foul mood for some months and makes no attempt to hide this from his people.
Thus, to an outsider, the city streets of Wessem seem tense and hushed, lacking in all cheer or even artistry. Loud performances, bright colors, or even excessive laughter might provoke the lord of the land, and he is not particularly known for his mercy or restraint. Oh, he isn’t truly evil, and his fits of temper rarely lead to bloodshed (at least, not the blood of his own citizens), but many a family income has been destroyed, many a reputation shattered, and many a property confiscated in the name of the earl’s foul moods.
Few speak aloud of what they fear the earl to be angry about, but everyone knows that his new Mercier daughter-in-law gave birth just a bit early after her marriage to his young heir. Relm Brodchek is known to have an entirely different temperament than his father and is keeping his feelings on the matter to himself, appearing publicly, at least, to still be committed to his new wife and their baby son. Servants, however, have heard raised voices on the subject between Relm and Earl Evrus, and report also that relations between Relm and Lusea have grown awkward and tentative.
Everyone fears what will happen if Evrus Brodchek discovers (or invents) some sort of proof that Lusea’s child is not Relm’s son. Despite the pretty tents and cheerful market outside the city, inside the city, Wessem’s populace is walking on eggshells everywhere they go, taut with the fear that they may soon be going back to war. Unpopular as the Merciers (and Harrings, and Fenrith-Draguls) have always been with the common people of Brodchek lands, these same common people have found over the last decades that they loathe war even more.
It is true that only Duke Wylan may keep a large standing army in the Westmarches at the moment, and that Earl Brodchek therefore cannot simply sally forth to begin a new conflict, but many suspect that their earl yet harbors armed forces in secret or that he might even hire mercenaries to attack the Merciers from the sea. If such a thing were to take place, no one in Wessem knows how Duke Wylan would respond or how it might ultimately impact the lives of Wessem’s people.
This growing fear among the populace — of any sort of return to violence — has led to an aura of intrigue and counter-intrigue among the city’s wealthy and powerful, and rumors whispered in the shadows speak of possibilities as dire as even assassination. After all, everyone knows that Relm Brodchek has a cooler head and a kinder heart than his father. Surely he would sue for peace regardless of what his new wife may or may not have done before their marriage. Would it not be better to trade the life of one earl for the lives of however many people might be killed in his inability to let the past be past?
The earl is not widely hated, however, despite his mercurial temperament. His father was worse, so the old folks say, and his grandmother as well. Besides, centuries of loyal tradition stand between the people of the Brodchek lands and any kind of treachery against their lord. If cooler heads prevail, it is likely that all these murmurings will die away and be forgotten, and in the end, that’s what everyone would prefer.
And so the people of Wessem go anxiously about their business and wait to see what the future will bring.
Settlement
Wessem, City of
Type
City
Owning Organization
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