Wick

**Wick** is the capital city of United Merion and is located in the nation's region of Closethrone.

## History

During the time of the Old Throne, the City of Wick was founded by the Wickish Empire, approximately 400 years prior to the Seven Great Years and the rise of the Candlebrooks. Around 300 years later (100 years before the Candlebrooks), Duke Alistair from the League of the Palisades was dispatched to determine the size and power of the Wickish Empire, the League's immediate western neighbor. Finding that the empire was surprisingly small and weak, Alistair and his six traveling companions managed to seize control of the city and effectively turned the empire into the Duchy of Wick (though Alistair chose to continue to rule from the Old Throne, not Wick). However, this action was done much faster than the League had originally planned, and both the city and the newly created Duchy quickly found themselves in a state of disarray. This led to Alice I seizing control of the Duchy, quickly moving to establish order, and separating from the League of the Palisades to create the Kingdom of United Merion, with Wick as its capital. Over the next eleven centuries, the Candlebrooks would continue to rule from and grow the City of Wick.

## City Layout

Wick is laid out in the shape of a semi-circle, with the Candlesee located to the city's back and with waterways running throughout the city, and is separated between "Old Wick" and "New Wick." Old Wick is ruled directly be the Candlebrooks and is comprised of six expanding, concentric "Rings" moving away from the center of the circle, while New Wick is comprised of the Twelve Wards, each ruled by a noble house. From the center of the city moving outward, the city's layout is as follows:

* The Candelabra, the Candelaria, and Finn's Isle - The Royal Castle of United Merion, the seat of power for the Six-Sided Church, and a mostly deserted island used by the monarch for a quiet getaway. The Candelabra and the Candelaria are connected by a slender onyx bridge, which only the pope and the monarch are allowed to cross; servants are expected to go by water and only when absolutely necessary. The island on which the Candelabra sits is connected to rest of the city by way of a main bridge, guarded at all times by the Keeper of the Moat (traditionally a Knight of the Gardens), across the Great Moat.

1. The Lieutenant's Ring - The Lieutenant's Ring is home to Alexander Hall (the meeting place of the Council of Graces, named after Duke Alistair's lieutenant), the Mews (the headquarters of House Wing in Wick, always occupied, typically be the heir to the house), the various homes of Councilmembers, important offices of laws, the Royal Mint, and royal armories. A skiff is on call at all times to bring the ruling Wing from the Mews to meet the monarch, either at the Candelabra or on Finn's Isle.
2. The Far-Seer's Ring - Separated into two, thin halves by way of the Grand Canal of Wick which pushes most of its buildings literally under bridges, the Far-Seer's Ring is home to a collection of strange and hermit-like people, including self-described mystics and sages. The ring is generally seen as a dark and mysterious place, and even the city Corps are loathe to enter it.
3. The Tower Keeper's Ring - Home to defensive structures, educational structures and places for storage. The Tower Keeper's Ring is connected to the Admiral's Ring by way of great bridges that span across the Grand Canal (under which the Far-Seer's Ring is located).
4. The Admiral's Ring - The location of the major shipyards, ports, naval facilities, and trading hubs of the city.
5. The Physician's Ring - A smaller ring mostly filled with apothecaries and churches.
6. The Tale-Spinner's Ring - The outermost part of "Old Wick," the Tale-Spinner's Ring is open to the public and is full of taverns, salons (both for discourse and for cosmetics), brothels, libraries, and various other places to relax and or have a party. Separating this ring from "New Wick" and the Wards is a rainbow-colored cobblestone street known as "The Rainbow."

* The Twelve Wards of Wick - Each ward is roughly its own neighborhood and is ruled by a noble house of the Twelvescore Ennobled. Beyond the wards are the outer walls of Wick known as the "Seventy-Sixers."

## The Corps and City Council of Wick

In addition to the Candlebrooks and the Ward Houses, Wick is partially ruled by the Four Corps of Wick, commoner-only organizations that are given effectively equal (though not exactly equal) power as houses of the Twelvescore Ennobled, with Corps leaders (Lord/Lady-Commander) being on par with Ladies and Lords of noble houses, though leadership of Corps is not hereditary. Similar in organization and attitude to gangs, the Corps act as a kind of city watch outside of "Old Wick" and are answerable only to the City Council of Wick. The Corps have been consistently overthrown, wiped-out, and replaced over the course of history, and while most Corps hate each other, they hate other groups that might replace them even more. Leadership of the Corps is done via election, wherein Corps members may have anywhere from one to 240 votes based on their status within the applicable Corps. You get one vote per year of faithful service, meaning leadership positions typically get more (20 votes for street captains, 100 for Ward Captains, 240 for the current or departing boss, etc.)

The current Corps of Wick are the Growlers, the Bricklayers, the Streetcleaners, and the Stonemasons.

The Wick City Council is a mostly powerless organization comprised of the Four Corps Leaders, the heir to Wing living in the Mews, and the Twelvescore Lords and Ladies of the Ward. However, the City Council does hold the final say on which on-the-rise groups will become a new one of the Four Corps, as well as the power to veto the election of any new Corps-Commander. The City Council is led by a mayor (also mostly powerless) whose position rotates between its members once a year.

The current Mayor of Wick is Lady Reed Gerring.

## Trivia

* The Main Gates of are considered mechanical marvels and have been consistently upgraded by various Knights of Water over the centuries.
* The Keeper of the Moat lives in a structure on the bridge he defends named the "Gilded Hovel."
* The Grand Canal of Wick is viewed as the dividing line between "Inner Wick" and "Really Inner Wick."
* Joining one of the Corps of Wick is considered one of the greatest achievements for a commoner, and some will travel across the nation to Wick just to attempt to be recruited.
* Wick's architecture is described as being Ancient Roman-like in Old Wick and Holy Roman Empire-like as you move outward through the city.
* More than 50% of all Corps members are from Closethrone and, more specifically, Wick.
* Wick has incredibly advanced plumbing for the generally medieval setting of the podcast.
* Citizens of Wick, especially those from the more socially-minded Houses, like party games, including a prototype of Pictionary and a wit-focused form of Apples to Apples.
* House cats are a common pet among families in Wick, regardless of social class.
* The Tale-Spinner's Circle has a large number of public clocks and clock towers that are never in sync, except during the major equinox/solstice festivals during, at which time the city's officials make sure they're in sync, resulting in really lovely bell-tower harmonies four times per year.
* A slang name for a group of people from Wick is "a bunch of John Wicks." This is a direct reference to the film of the same name, as well as the episode of the Film Reroll podcast that involved Andy Hoover, the creator of AMWNCTT, running a tabletop RPG version of the film.