Pelym
From Almeopedia
| • Pelym |
Pelym [ˈpɛ λim] is a small town located where the Tandora river flows into the Eärdur. It is also one of the three non-honorary duchies of Verduria province.
Etymology: Meť. Palɣumi ‘follower of Pal’, Caď. Pelgim, Ver. Pelym, Ismaîn Peȥî, Bar. Pelim, Kebreni Palhum.
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The town
The town today has just over 30,000 inhabitants. It is an important trade center, in part because the Great Western Road leads from Pelym to the Western Wild— though the river is 3 km wide at this point and must be ferried. It also has a strong manufacturing sector.
At it is only about 30 km south of Verduria city— a couple of hours' ride— it has always been a pleasant retreat for nobles and merchants from the city; the Vleteons have a palace there. As a corollary, there is a large colony of artists and musicians ready to provide visitors amusement.
The town was sacked by the Kebreni in 3266.
| Dukes of Pelym | |
| 2945-79 | Elubes |
| 2979-3011 | Opombes |
| 3011-39 | Elulón |
| 3039-46 | Oponoř |
| 3046-78 | Omëra |
| 3078-3102 | Ponvuran |
| 3138-73 | Caloton |
| 3173-81 | Efaristo |
| 3181-98 | Alunařo |
| 3200-27 | Cörlon |
| 3227-52 | Ďomeon |
| 3252-57 | Ořeon |
| 3257-96 | Estacalo |
| 3296-3332 | Kúbinor |
| 3332-59 | Eši |
| 3359-91 | Dënes |
| 3391-3426 | Ďomeon 2e |
| 3426-51 | Dënes 2e |
| 3451- | Evar |
The duchy
The Soley dukes
| PELYM |
In 2945 king Caleon named one of his allies and relatives, Elubes Soley, then a marquis, as duke of Pelym (šoh i Pelym or šoh Pelymei), extending his estate well into the interior of the province and adding extensive lands in the newly conquered Western Wild.
During the Usurpation of 3128, his descendant duke Caloton was well placed to restore order along the Eärdur and Svetla as far south as Šerian; the stability of his zone of influence won the support of Verduria city. This in turn allowed him to raise a large army, enough to dominate the rest of the province; he then called up the Biyetora, which named him king, in 3142. The Soley dynasty ruled Verduria for the next 56 years; Caloton was succeeded by his sons Efaristo and Alunařo.
The Soley family managed to retain its estates when Utu took over the kingdom in 3198. Utu had murdered Efaristo's and Alunařo's children, as well their sister Dënesa; the duchy thus passed to Dënesa's daughter Calonesa, or more precisely to her husband Cörlon Badbec. It was a bit shady that Cörlon and not Calonesa was recognized as duke by Utu, and shadier still that the family had any dealings at all with Alunařo's murderer, but shadiness was hard to avoid during the Gray Years.
The Divine Gift
During the Eleďe dynasty— once Tomao had already done the work of ousting Utu-On— duke Ořeon began advancing that claim that the dukes of Pelym were the rightful kings of Verduria, by donul aďië— a gift of the gods. There was no legal basis for this: the Biyetora had the right to choose the king, and it had clearly chosen Tomao; indeed, Ořeon's father Ďomeon (Cörlon's son) had cast his vote for Tomao. Nonetheless the claim served as a rallying point for the fairly substantial conservative opposition to Tomao, a group known as the Acorns.
Ořeon and his supporters talked and talked but got no closer to the throne, or even to a majority in the Esčambra. In 3257 he decided on direct action: killing the baron of Bilmán, leader of the royalists, and kidnapping Tomao. Ořeon's agents murdered the baron but were caught by his guards; the kidnappers were caught without getting near Tomao. Tomao put Ořeon on trial in the Esčambra, and he was convicted and sentenced to death, marking the end of the Acorns as a political force. Tomao pointedly assigned the duchy not to Ořeon's son but to Estacalo Badbec, a grandson of Cörlon.
The modern dukes
Estacalo's son Kúbinor turned to rebellion of a more aesthetic sort, founding the šohei menca or Ducal school of Verdurian poetry. Kúbinor was perhaps the first to fully divorce poetry from its traditional accompaniment, music; his poems were meant to be read, and featured a good deal of typographic experimentation. He also emphasized extreme repetition and the deliberate flouting of grammatical rules. His work has been greatly influential, but is also difficult— exciting other poets and confounding the average reader.
His daughter Eši served as prime minister from 3335 to 3339 under Ažerey 2e, the first female prime minister from the Caďin party. She was extremely conservative, with a particular animus against the Eleďî; though she was popular with the pagans, her provocations became a liability when the Abolinerons were squabbling; the party replaced her with the very able Tihom Berg.
The current duke, since 3451, is Evar, a man of whom the writer Dašcor Čurmey once said, "He had a thought once, but the crisis passed."
As city dwellers closely tied to trade and manufactures, the modern dukes have been consistent supporters of the Navirora party; they have also largely been zealous pagans, except for Kúbinor, who declared that he only worshipped Eši— goddess of Art.
