Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #246

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #246 

September 4th, 2023 

• Number: 246 

• Name:  Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: Cerdmouth in Noldrune – Part 1 

• Location: North coast of Noldrune along Staplefish Bay 

• Population (approx.): 1413 

• Brief:  The four City-States region is home to hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of small thorps, hamlets and villages. Cerdmouth, at the mouth of its namesake Cerd River, is one of those such settlements. Founded perhaps 12-13 centuries ago as the Houses of Noldrune came down from the far north to make a new home in the Narrows, Cerdmouth began as a pair of small manors on either side of the Cerd River. The ruling knights fueded over fishing rights and trading routes from the shared inlet onto the Staplefish Bay, until the greaters powers of the time put an end of the squabbles by merging the two settlements into one village, Cerdmouth. It has slowly grown over the years, managing to survive the occupation of the Ta’arnan Empire with a spot of notoriety for 7 centuries ago, Emperor Gregorus Trixtus of Ta’arna chose to winter in Cerdmouth for several winters until he was deposed by his sister, Empress Elebeth.  

• Geography: Cerdmouth (location 1 below) can be found in the northwest corner of Noldrune in County Claid about a day’s travel east of Port Lostfort (#2). The village is ruled by a Lord Mayor whose liege is the Viscount Dorch, a vassal of Count Claid. Cerdmouth sits where the Cerd River turns east to a small inlet (location 2 below) on Staplefish bay. That inlet features a harbor on the north side of the river and a long beach and boardwalk to the south. It is enclosed by a breakwater slowly expanded by generations of residents. Just to the north of Cerdmouth, the land narrows to a point and a channel separates the mainland from Harbwater Isle to the north. Connected by a stone bridge, Harbwater is about 4 miles long (south to north) and a couple wide, with a fortress (location 3 below) on the south side, on the harbor, and an Old Decree lighthouse (location 4 below) on the northernmost point.  

• Next Article: Over the course of this week, we’ll present some of the notable peoples, happenings and plot threads of six notable sites of the Cerdmouth.