Caledwich

***I could see the air quotes out of the corner of my eye.***

*The following is an extract from* Worth the Candle: A Brief Description of Aerb*.*

The city of Caledwich was one of the largest in the time of Uther Penndraig, and has only grown since then. Caledwich was the seat of the First Empire during Uther Penndraig’s time, though he was careful never to place his home country in a place of prominence above the others. During the Second Empire, Caledwich was a stable and stalwart ally of imperial interests, and despite that, at the fall of the Second Empire, it was able to swiftly recover as many other places did not. There is a common saying, less true in the days of the EoCC, that ‘as Anglecynn goes, so goes the Empire’, and Caledwich, the largest city in Anglecynn by far, is often seen as synonymous with the country as a whole.

The layout of Caledwich was designed by Uther himself following major destruction during the time of the Apocalypse Demon, and put into place once the Wandering Blight had been defeated. It was considered the first and greatest feat of urban planning, with a foresight that was utterly unrivaled, though critics will often point out that this redesign was essentially only possible because of the enormous political capital that Uther wielded, and even then might not have happened without half the city being razed to the ground. Of the major structures left from before the Dark King’s only Caledwich castle remains, with numerous additions that dwarf the original structure. Rather than being built around the castle, Caledwich is built around its port, with radial avenues coming out from that section of town, making the city look, from above, like a sunrise.

Much of what was done to Caledwich by Uther was practically prescient, with a great deal of work and care put into the underground, specifically in terms of places for pipes, wires, and the subway system that was nothing more than a drawing when it was planned. Uther strongly believed in designing for the future and looking at every angle of that design, especially as it related to keeping a city happy, healthy, and clean. To that end, many of the neighborhoods of Caledwich were rigorously planned, and a large focus was put on combining tall, densely packed structures with wide green spaces, which Caledwich has more than in almost any other city. Over time, several structures have aged poorly, especially those not made by Uther, and have been torn down and replaced at great expense, usually with a different design. Many of the planned green spaces have also been carved out in favor of using the land for more fruitful purposes, which was especially true during the Second Empire. Nevertheless, the core of Uther’s vision remains, and many of the changes he anticipated were able to slot directly into the city with very little cost to retrofit.

Caledwich is home to the Lost King’s Court, the fractious governmental organization that exists as the result of many generations of familial infighting in the wake of Uther’s disappearance. After the fall of the Second Empire and the brief civil war that passed over Anglecynn, the political capital of the country was briefly moved, but it returned to Caledwich fifty years later. The political situation of Anglecynn is complicated, but the princes and princesses (as they are styled) congregate in Caledwich, and generally keep to either a cluster of several buildings downtown, or to their estates on the edges of the city.

For everyone else, Caledwich can be a bit of a backward place in some respects. Uther’s focus on humans might be understandable given the demographics of Anglecynn during his reign, but combined with the impact he had on the city’s design, some aspects of the city can seem inhospitable or antagonistic toward non-humans. The much vaunted subway, for example, was built on a scale that makes it difficult for the taller or wider species to use, and the cost to expand is so high that it will almost certainly never get done. The same things are true for dozens of other aspects of the city’s design, making it appear old-fashioned to imperial citizens, and not in an endearing way.

*Extracted text ends here.*