Cardend

Cardend is a town in the Kingdom of Balthonir, a part of the greater Duchy of Lavidia in Gernaris.
== Description ==
Cardend is a simple settlement with a population that by and large lives in outlying hamlets, farms, and estates, rather than within the town proper. The town is very rural and rustic and the streets are not densely populated. After the end of the Wizards' War, many existing buildings in the town were refurbished and many more new ones built. The roads are primarily unpaved and there are still ruins from the aftermath of the war that ended eight decades prior.
== Geography ==
Cardend is a small town set amidst rolling hills, fields, and woods on a network of streams that branch off the Balthonir River. The whole of Cardend sits in the shadow of Mount Balthonir to the north, which is the source of the river. A palace for House Balthonir is built up the mountain, beyond a palatial dam to the river that offset the tributaries up the mountain's random outflow and sometimes unsteady course that has lead to flooding in Cardend, specifically in Marshtown. South of Marshtown is the newly established Fort Butcher, a military fort for the Kingdom of Balthonir. South beyond that are the Empari Wilds with paths leading to the coast. To the east of the town is the Stout Wood with Black Spear Mountain at its center. To the west is the Osnier Fields, a vast open wild plainland that has had some folks attempt to build farms upon it but the lurking predatory beasts such as owlbears and displacer beasts makes it hard for the common folk to form roots in the area. Beneath the town is a maze of tunnels and structures of older civilizations comprising unused sewer systems and networks that are a hive for folks avoiding the surface as well as horrendous monsters. The town has a direct connection to the Foul Deep as well, with a massive hole in the earth that swallowed up a lord's home upon his death. It is believed by some to be a portal to the Abyss itself, but for many others it has proven a massive sprawling unexplored dungeon with riches untold hiding in all of its nooks and crannies. 
Regarding cosmological geography, Cardend is on a number of leylines to other planes of existence. Its most prominent connection is to the Shae'zhas (or Feywild) and to its sister town of Einkarad. There are gateways that allow access to the fey town, but in recent years these gates have been mysteriously closed. In the Stout Wood, there is a misty area of the forest that is believed to be a link to a Dread Realm. Small planar holes in the Material Plane allow access to the Elemental Chaos at a number of points as well leading scholars to believe motes of pure elements might be lingering in the town. Finally, a drow enclave is presumed to be in the Foul Deep beneath the town due to the massive evidence of a Dreaming present. 
== Government ==
The town of Cardend is a part of the Kingdom of Balthonir and serves as a fortified location at the base of the mountain the royal palace sits upon. The Kingdom of Balthonir has rule over a small bit of land that was called Inundia during the Wizards' War but is now referred to as Western Lavidia. The current monarch, King Mason Balthonir, primarily focuses his attentions on the Academy Town of Hisrech at Mount Balthonir's summit. Towns like Cardend in his kingdom are governed internally. Cardend's mayor is a representative of the Conglomerate named Kaysi Emoh who functions out of Tarn Keep. The town's watch works in league with the royal military as well as with the palace guards, but is loyal to the town primarily. 
== Trade ==
Cardend has established trade with a number of other settlements in the Kingdom of Balthonir. The academy town of Hisrech receives most of its goods and many of its services from people in Cardend. The dwarves of Black Spear meet with merchants from Cardend in the Stout Wood, but rarely are any surface dwellers allowed into the mountain and down to the dwarf city of Blazehatchet. Tradelines between Cardend and the coastal town of Uostas to the south allow for trade with the other coastal settlements in the region as well as the world writ large, albeit indirectly. A number of smuggler pathways have been established underneath the town, allowing for materials of an illicit nature to be traded in and out of Cardend. 
== Defenses ==
Cardend's primary defensive structure is Fort Butcher to the south. It hosts three hundred royal soldiers and in times of great need can raise a call to arms to draw in another five hundred militia men from the town and is surrounding farms. The natural defenses of the hills, rivers, marshes, and forests are utilized by the town's people. A number of fortified manors and keeps have been built in the town or maintained from the Wizards' War or before by the town's nobles and well-to-do merchants. 
== History ==
=== Founding ===
The town of Cardend was built in 1010 CA by a group of commoners from the city of Lavidia. 
=== Wizards' War ===
Cardend fell under Denisatvan control after a handful of bloody battles on the Osnier Fields in 1045 CA. Occupation was an attempt to maintain current agricultural processes of the town's citizenry but for the benefit of the town's new leadership. The lord that was made to be the town's mayor was Lord Lykoi, a tabaxi merchant lord that proved loyal to the Denisatvans during their efforts to overthrow Tarn Keep and remove the town's established ruling body. Due to the oppressive nature of this occupation, many rebellious factions began to form in hidden rooms across the town during the next decade. The counter-offense against the Denisatvan invasion and occupation began in 1056 CA and was primarily a rebel effort called Albrecht's Agitators. During the Wizards' War, Cardend served as a pivotal location and was the site of three major conflicts: the Escape of Magier Fleur, the Battle at Balthonir, and later the Routing of Inundia. Eventually, the alliance between the ruling house of the city-state of Ordris and the War Magier of the Conglomerate allowed for Lavidia to push forces by sea and air into the heart of Denisatvan-controlled Inundia.
== Rumors & Legends ==
== Notable Locations ==
=== Balthonir Palace Road ===
=== Delguhn ===
=== Einkarad ===
=== Forester's Ham ===
=== Fort Butcher ===
=== Helgate ===
=== Hisrech ===
=== Lykoi Keep ===
=== Marshtown ===
=== Midtown ===
=== Stout Woods ===
=== Tarn Keep ===
=== Valley of the Queen ===
== Inhabitants ==
== Appendix ==