Barony of Westend

**Ruler**
 **Ruling House**
 **Resident Houses**
* House Carlyle
* House Farqhuerson
 **Seat**
 **Establishments**
* Townsend Sweet Shoppe
* Silverstone Mining Industries
* Townsend Market Square
* Braiden's Butcher Block
* Quincy's Saddler & Farrier
* Mountainview Tavern & Inn
* Townsend Hall
 **Beliefs**
 **Founded**

*"Eternal and Just."*

The **Barony of Westend** is located in the southwest region of the Duchy of Avercroft. It is the second largest land holding within the Duchy and was been gifted to Lady Lysenia Baudelaire as a token of friendship and loyalty.

It started off upon establishment as a small mining community in the year 588 K.Y. to eventually be made into a Barony by the year 592 K.Y., as it is one of the wealthiest regions in the Duchy. Leaving none within its borders to suffer a poor life no matter their station.

To the east of the Barony’s main township, Townsend, the Slate mountains rise to the skies creating majestic views but cutting the Barony off from the rest of the March. One must travel south to Port Staverton or north, which leads them through the Duchy’s primary holdings. There is the mountain pass, but it is froth with many dangers as the passage is shoddy and narrow making winter passage perilous.

## Culture

The Barony of Westend is a place where the folks are hardened but friendly people. As a community of miners, they are a tight-knit bunch despite having a population of nearly 650 people. Fiercely loyal and hard workers, they are also open and friendly to travelers who have made their way there. Nestled near the west of the Slate Mountain, its main town,

Townsend, harbors a good sixty percent of the population with a spattering of homesteads and smaller communities filled by the rest. The primary source of employment here is that of a miner to work the two mines cut deep into the mountain range. Though it does have a number of shops and amenities available such as the Ancient Anvil, Braiden’s Butcher Block, and the Mountainview Tavern&Inn.

### Religious Beliefs

All residents are devout followers of the Church of the Holy Light, nearly every one of them make the weekly trip to Halton and join together in sermon and prayer, held in the small Halton Chapel.

### Local Holidays

Citizens of Westend attend the annual Celebration of Life and the annual Family Feasting which are both held in the County of Halton.

Once a year, Westend holds its annual Highland Games, a contest meant to test the physical strength of those who enter as well as the strength of their hearts and wills. The first game took place in the year of 589 K.C. as a way for the, then-small community, to celebrate life as there had been a collapse in the mines that miraculously didn’t take a single life. The games celebrate the strength of their people and continue on as a tradition even today.

## Economy & Resources

Westend is the primary source of Iron, Coal, and Copper within the County and Duchy alike. As such it is also wealthy enough that no citizen within its borders is left wanting. With the plains to the left, there is plenty of soil rich in minerals where small, but wealthy, farmsteads and orchards have cropped up which provide the essentials fruits and vegetables, along with cattle for meat.

## History

### Founding

Westend started as a small mining community sent over the treacherous Slate mountains in search of mineral resources in 588 K.Y. It was quickly discovered that iron and copper were rich in the west-facing cliffs of the mountain range hence the moniker, Westend. Within five years, the community grew in size and wealth and it was officially named a Barony in 592 K.Y. with the brother of Lord Michel De Vere as its ruler – Baron Rhys De Vere.

### Destruction

As with the rest of the county, Westend suffered a grievous loss when the orcs invaded Stormwind during the first war. The town was razed to the ground with a loss of about twenty percent of the population where the rest had managed to take refuge deep in the mines and escaped later. Once Stormwind was liberated by the Alliance of Lordaeron, the rebuilding began alongside the rest of the County and Duchy with a steward assigned to oversee the welfare of the Barony as its Baron and his childless wife had been killed in the sacking.

### Present Day

The Barony was gifted to Lysenia by her brother, Viscount Daevren Tarrenhol and his wife, the Marchioness Liva Tarrenhol in the year 634 K.Y. While new to leadership, she proved adept at the task and the Barony continues to prosper today beneath her leadership by way of the steward she established, one Lord Tommas Carlyle.

## Gallery

The Tarrenhol ShieldMap of WyndamereThe Baudelaire ShieldHouse Baudelaire Coat of Arms