Briary of Woodam
The Briary of Woodam is a political division of the larger Barony of Dunrick. It is slightly less than 90 square miles of the extreme northeast of the Barony, stretching from the Village of Ditchfield at the headwaters of the Sweet Water River and follows the river northeast to the Wessloth River near the City of Cyell, and then to the west as far as the Town of Dunwood. The Briary seat is in the Town of Woodam and the Briar is Marsten Forster.
Structure
The Briar is the hand of the Baron and is the Justiciar from the Sweet Water River to the Town of Dunwood. He answers only to the Baron himself, and acts as administrator, judge and tax collector for the region.
Demography and Population
Territories
The Briary boasts just less than 90 square miles, with the largest settlement being the Town of Woodam with a population of 1,500 souls. The only other settlement large enough to be called a town is Dunwood, which has a population of 1,100. There are three walled villages within the Briary: Ditchfield in the southwest, Beech Cross just five miles upstream of Woodam, and Wood Cross four miles downstream of Woodam.
Much of the Briary is thickly wooded hills and dense hardwood forests, collectively known as the Dragon Hills. The Sweet Water River is the southern boundry of the Barony and the Briary, and its valley is the most fertile farmland to be found in the area.
Agriculture & Industry
Many farms and ranches can be found in and around the Sweet Water Valley, and a few cattle and sheep operations can be seen along the Dunwood Road, but the fastest growing industry in the Briary is the harvesting of old-growth hardwoods in the forest of the Dragon Hills. Since the end of the Second Great Orc War 83 years earlier, no measurable farming or timber harvesting has been attempted here at all, and the forests have had decades to mature and spread.
There is much speculation that vast untapped mineral resources are also hidden in the hills and forests.
Trade & Transport
The road that transects the Briary from Old Bridge to the City of Cyell is the best laid and maintained road in the entire eastern half of the Brairy, but in the dryer seasons of the year, the Dunwood Road from Woodam to Dunwood is more than adequate for heavy wagons of rough timber loads. The Sweet Water is also navigable from the Beech Cross to the Wessloth River, and from there all the way to the Caldar River.
