Galend is a town of the Kingdom of Vlandia and the capital of the realm, held directly by King Derthert of House dey Meroc. The city rises above the wave-beaten Biscan Coast, overlooking the Perassic Sea where cliffs meet restless western waters. Winds scour the headlands, and salt spray carries far inland. From its high walls and watchtowers, Galend commands the western approaches of Vlandia, serving as both a political seat and a coastal sentinel.
The city draws its lifeblood from sea and hill alike. The Biscan fishermen who sail from Galend’s harbors are known for venturing far into the western ocean, returning with deepwater catch that supplies not only the capital but inland towns as well. Along the fog-covered green hills beyond the city, sheep graze in damp pastures, producing wool that feeds Galend’s looms and cloth halls. Wool and fish define the city’s markets, filling warehouses with salted barrels and fleeces bound for roads that carry Galend’s wealth into the Marches.
Galend’s importance is older than the Kingdom itself. The current line of Vlandian kings descends from the clans who settled this coast during the invasion led by Osric Iron-Arm. These clans established their power along the Biscan headlands, binding conquest to coastline and giving Galend its role as dynastic heart of the realm. Though the capital has shifted in function over generations, Galend has remained the symbolic seat of kingship, the place where lineage and crown authority are publicly rooted in the land.
The city is also the spiritual heart of the Vlandic Marches. Galend houses the largest church in the realm, a vast stone structure built upon the foundations of earlier sanctuaries. Pilgrims travel from across the Marches to offer prayer at the Old Golden Altar, the oldest altar in Vlandia, commissioned by the Church in the generations following Osric’s invasion. The altar is wrought entirely of gold and stands at the heart of the great sanctuary. It is less a display of wealth than a symbol of continuity: a declaration that the faith and the realm took root together in the wake of conquest. Offerings left here fund shrines, road chapels, and charitable works across Vlandia, binding the capital’s spiritual authority to the wider land.
Life in Galend balances ceremony with labor. Court officials, royal clerks, and noble households occupy the upper wards near the crown citadel, while dockworkers, fishermen, weavers, and shepherds crowd the lower districts closer to the sea and hills. The capital’s presence brings regulation and scrutiny. Harbor law is tightly enforced. Markets are taxed carefully. Royal patrols are visible. Yet Galend remains a working city, not merely a courtly façade. Nets are mended in alleys below cathedral walls. Wool is washed in streams beneath the towers of the crown.
Galend’s defenses reflect its dual role as capital and coastal stronghold. Sea walls and cliff fortifications protect the harbor approaches, while landward walls and gate towers guard the road corridors leading inland. The city garrison is larger and better equipped than those of most towns, drawn from professional soldiers and royal household troops. The crown citadel overlooks both sea and city, a visible reminder that royal authority stands above trade and faith alike.
Politically, Galend is a place where power is negotiated rather than seized. Noble houses maintain residences near the court to influence royal decisions. Clergy maintain a strong presence due to the city’s spiritual importance. Merchant families tied to wool and deepwater fishing vie for charters and harbor privileges. These interests collide in council chambers and private halls, shaping policy through persuasion and alliance rather than open conflict. Galend’s court is less violent than frontier towns, but far more dangerous to reputations and fortunes.
Across Calradia, Galend is known as the seat of the crown and the heart of the Vlandic faith. To pilgrims, it is sacred ground. To nobles, it is the place where lineage is acknowledged and charters are sealed. To fishermen and shepherds, it is the city that takes their labor and turns it into royal power. Galend stands where waves break against stone and prayers rise beneath vaulted ceilings, holding together crown, coast, and creed in a single, weathered crown of stone.