Castle Gwynwall

**Author** | Tweets

**Castle Gwynwall** is a mobile city-state in Morisia, which currently maintains a semi-permanent position on the eastern edge of the Hellfront, the border of the war between Castle Gwynwall and Velouve, in the lands formerly associated with Athia.

## History

Founded in 564CF by Avalonian priests in an effort to offer literacy and medical aid to Yuvan tribes akin to the local Alan Ghoa, the *Temple of The Lady of Fair Waters* remained a nondescript monastery for approximately 50 years before the Yuvan love for technology integrated with the Avalonian desire to lend aid.

Thus it was that a plot was hatched by the monks of the *Temple of the Lady of Fair Waters*, that if they could correctly harness technology and magic in the unity so common in Yuve, they could cast a far greater net by launching aid to wherever the need was greatest. Through a great many iterations, a rudimentary system by which medical teams and their escorts could be launched into the skies and safely land was developed, allowing the monastery’s Clerics to quickly reach battlefields and spare the combatants from needless death.

When word of this began to spread, the temple quickly became an Avalonian icon, attracting yet more volunteers among Clerics and Paladins, as well as engineers intrigued by the seemingly-reckless use of technology. Between the growing fervour and hare-brained ideas these two groups brought with them, the capability to launch medical teams quickly morphed into a proof-of-concept asserting that the entire temple - which by this point was more akin to a bustling town - could be launched.

Such an endeavour required yet more work, however, between the development of far more powerful thrusters to allow for take-off and the employment of the magically-enchanted marble walls and foundations to allow it to land safely, these gleaming white walls going on to earn the city its common name: Gwynwall, believed to be derived from Druidic.

By 638CF, Gwynwall had become a bustling city, though highly compact given its inability to become a true urban sprawl. It was at this time that the city turned from a mobile hospital into a travelling knightly order, with the Paladins forming its first Council of Knights Most Heavenly deciding to declare a crusade against the colossal Titan that threatened Yuve’s northern border. This marked the beginning of Gwynwall’s willingness to move beyond the borders of Yuve and begin facing threats to innocent life across Morisia.

While maintaining generally-positive relations with other nations and respecting their nationhood - going so far as to register as a trade caravan with those nations that exercise border control, and avoiding interference with national matters beyond escorting bystanders and tending to wounded as a neutral party when conflict arises - Gwynwall’s relations with Velouve were ever hostile at best, only tolerating the openly-diabolic nation’s existence out of a matter-of-fact acknowledgement that they lacked the manpower to oppose such a large nation, and the belief that a frontal assault would lead to further harm coming to innocent inhabitants.

This tension reached a breaking point when Velouve opted to assassinate the leaders of their neighbour Athia and march on the unaware nation in 819CF. When news of the assassination reached Gwynwall, they immediately condemned Velouve’s underhanded tactics and leapt to the aid of Athia, hoping to stabilise the situation and deter Velouve’s advance in order to spare the Athian people from life under Velouvian rule.

Unfortunately, what was originally intended to be a reinforcement of Athian military quickly turned into Gwynwall standing as the only defence against Velouve’s diabolic armies, with much of the Athian military suffering poisonings, bombings, or simply being routed by Velouve, while the rest either fled or came to reside within Gwynwall itself. Thus, the original plan of overwhelming the Velouvian army long enough for Athia to reassemble became a protracted war of attrition, in which Gwynwall is occasionally forced to cede ground to Velouve, but only after evacuating those present, salting the earth, and scorching it bare to slow the Velouvian advance. The results of this tactic gave rise to the region’s common name - the Hellfront, so named due to its resemblance to ancient legends of the lands from which Devils hailed.

Today, life in Gwynwall is hard, with its citizens either holding out hope of prevailing, or keeping a pragmatic attitude and focussing instead on how to spare the most lives before being forced to retreat - or worse, being overwhelmed entirely. Every citizen does their part for the war effort, either through martial action or ensuring the city’s continued running. Whether they be a soldier, an engineer, a baker, a chirurgeon, or even a secretary; every man, woman, and child is believed to play a critical role.

## Government

Gwynwall is governed by an elected council known as the Council of the Knights Most Heavenly, a group of men and women selected for their aptitude in their duty and the perceived goodness of heart. The members of the Council take on pseudonyms passed down from one bearer to the next, symbolically casting off their original life in service of Avalon and the cause of Good as a whole; even a criminal who has shown sincere repentance can be elected and their prior crimes forgiven, as can be attested by the current Ser Llan Saillot, who was at one point a renowned pirate before having a change of heart and donating every ounce of stolen treasure to charity.

Each member of the Council has a specific purview for which they are responsible - the seat of Ser Persevere is tasked with defence of the city against direct attack, Ser Moore with rooting out corruption and Evil within its walls, while Ser Llan Saillot is the city’s head pilot and engineer. Ser Beddishare maintains the city’s hospital, asylum, and is head priest of the *Temple of The Lady of Fair Waters*, while Sers Boars and Gevyn act as generals of Gwynwall's cavalry and infantry units, respectively.

Each member of the Council is considered a knight, regardless of the stature of their birth, their gender, or even their prowess in combat. On the occasion that a new seat at the Council is needed, the first occupant of that seat is immortalised by having their name live on through later generations. Membership of the Council is lifelong, unless the member opts to resign, is removed by council vote, or dies, and once the seat is vacated, a new member is selected and invited based on merit rather than being inherited hereditarily.

For matters of lesser importance, each district of the city has an elected representative to which any person may seek audience to voice their concerns, who may then either resolve the concern with the administrative authority granted to them by their station, or defer the decision up a bureaucratic chain that ultimately ends at the Council themselves. The Council also serve as judges, though the majority opt to appoint ministers to act in their stead, who in turn appoint magisters to attend to low-level disputes.

The city is largely policed by Paladins and Clerics who are unable to take part in armed conflict, whether because of their age, long-standing injury, or simply trying to balance their desire to see good done in the world against more worldly matters such as a desire to have a family. Such folk are offered a modest stipend by the Council as thanks for their work in maintaining order within the city, allowing them to perform this work as an occupation.

## Geography

Given its nature, Gwynwall has no natural geography to call its own - the entirety of the city is man-made, and its impermanent nature means it has no permanent landmarks or terrain.

However, due to its sedentary state since Velouve’s attack against Athia, the Hellfront created by the conflict has served as a constant geographical feature of the nearby landscape. There is a clear point at which the former Athia-Velouvian border resided, visible as a large stretch of savannah, but east of this point begins the Hellfront, scorched earth where no plantlife grows, peppered with broken technology, spattered with blood, and littered with craters, either from explosive blasts, fast deployment of Gwynwallite squads, or former places the castle itself stood before being forced to retreat.

Further to the east of Gwynwall lies what remains of Athian land, made up of peaceful meadows and lush forests, with small agrarian communities eking out a living while the Hellfront slowly expands toward them.

## Inhabitants

Given its mobility, relatively short history, and the fact it is not a true nation, Gwynwall has no native people. Instead, it is a jumble of many races and peoples, united primarily by their desire to make the world a better place. Those who call the city home tend towards Good, Lawful Good in particular, though practically all are welcome within the city's walls, provided they are not serving the cause of Evil.

Despite the general policy of acceptance, Tieflings face some unavoidable stigma given the nature of their heritage, being allowed within the city but typically given closer scrutiny  than a typical traveller, and few Tieflings integrate and come to call the city home in the long term.

In contrast, Aasimar are often viewed as blessed, affording them a measure of special treatment. Similarly to their fiendish cousins, some Aasimar find themselves uncomfortable with the special attention, though for opposite reasons, and end up making a home elsewhere.

Gwynwall features a remarkably-high Paladin population, due in equal parts to its nature as a militant force of Good, and being the primary holy site of Avalon, the deity responsible for empowering the most Paladins. These inhabitants tend to naturally gravitate toward the city's military, with the city's mobility and ultimate cause resonating easily with them. Further, many find working alongside an army to be a good use of their divine gifts, tending to wounded squadmates, shielding them from harm, and inspiring them in battle.

Not to be outdone, however, the city also features a significant number of engineers. These people typically either devote themselves to maintaining the city's defences and mobility, inspired by the hare-brained scheme of launching an entire city skyward, or else focus their efforts on researching, improving, and building technology with which to push back against the forces of Evil, particularly in recent years, in the wake of the entrenched war against Velouve.

While greatly varied, the people of Gwynwall remain united in support of the cause of Good, using it as the anchor around which their lives revolve.

## Religion

The foremost religion of Gwynwall is dedicated to Avalon, the Lady of Fair Waters to whom the founding monastery was dedicated and to which the city remains formally allegiant. The city, through the temple,  funds schools that all children may attend without charge, which teach basic skills as well as attempting to instill virtue, while gently encouraging faith in Avalon.

Avalonian faith coexists almost symbiotically in the city with the Machine Faith, with some viewing the city's complex technology as divinely-inspired and synthesising the two faiths, while others consider the marvel of mortal engineering akin to the Batteries in their wonder, but all the more interesting for the fact of them being built entirely by mortal hands, their their workings fully understood and able to be disassembled, tweaked, and rebuilt if necessary.

Other religions coexist within the city - some Paladins or Clerics joining the cause while remaining in service to another deity, though no single group comes anywhere close to rivalling either of the primary faiths of the city.