Chedon Abbey is a village in the Duchy of Menendras, in the realm of Obrith. It is 16 miles' walk from Winterburg on The King's Road. The village and surrounding countryside are often referred to as simply "Chedon", but most outsiders know it for its abbey, if they know it at all.

The Abbey is the property of the Church of the One God, but the village itself is somewhat disputed; the Earl of Winterburg claims that the village owes him fealty, and extracts it through his appointed Sheriff. The needs of the earldom and those of the church often conflict. Either way, the village's ultimate loyalty lies with the Supreme Potentate, who is both church and state.

The Abbey of Chedon has a long history. It began as a keep built in the early Obrin period (circa year 2 GC). The keep was built to claim and defend the region, taken from the Brunhamr clan of dwarves. While the surrounding countryside is quite beautiful and fertile, the true treasure were the rich mineral veins below. The mines have long since fallen into disuse, but in more recent times, an even greater treasure was found here: essentia.

It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to draw attention to the one-horse town, and it soon became a region of fierce contention. The Earl of Winterburg used his political connections to make claims to the resource, and he and his lands were quite enriched. When the cataclysm came, Winterburg's army was nowhere to be seen, and the townsfolk had to fend off the inevitable monster invasion themselves.

The End in Fire consumed much of the keep's resources, leaving it with less than a true garrison. And yet, a few years later, when a small dragon army sought to take the keep as a springboard for a seige of Winterburg, the keep held firm, delaying the much larger army until Menendras could field its reserves to win the day. This brought the town some fame, but not so much fortune, and they had not the resources to reconstruct the ruined battlements.

With the keep's defensive value ruined, it soon fell into disuse. Chedon grew smaller, losing much of the swell of would-be essentia miners. Several generations later, the keep was in ruins, and the hillside was criss-crossed with the shanties and lean-tos of a transient swell of miners, long given up on the increasingly arduous task of wresting the remaining blood crystals from the mines.

Then came the Church of the One God. They had experienced a surge of popularity, and had recently overtaken the older, pagan faiths. They sought to spread their mission across all the lands of Obrith, and the ruined keep suited their purposes well.

The monks came, and toiled arduously to restore the keep, but this time for use as a house of God. The once sad husk of the keep became an artful, if simple structure dedicated both as a monument to God and to the keep and town's rich history. Its fields were reclaimed from the fallow, and turned to beautiful gardens and orchards by the tireless monks.

They even began to restore the town, fashioning covered bridges and rustic fences from the disused planks of which the mining shanties were built. The One God surely smiled upon their efforts, because the town's own crops soon began to swell, and plenty and beauty were restored to Chedon's land.

For all this, the people of Chedon have embraced the Abbey, and it has, in generations since, become a fixture and symbol of the town. Though they still entertain many pagan ways, the town is a model community of the Church of the One God.

The Abbey, or more specifically the Ordo Valentia, own most of the lands of Chedon, and all of the structures on abbey grounds. However, there are non-clergy working their lands, and selling goods on their streets--many from families hundreds of years old. To that end, the Earl of Winterburg feels left out of the economic loop, and has, from time to time, demanded tribute and service to some extent. None have done more so than the current earl, Guyan Soval.

The executor of the Earl's will is the Sheriff; the man who currently holds the position is Kaul Rennar, a man hated by most of Chedon. He arrives when he will, often in the company of men-at-arms (putting it nobly; they are more like hired thugs), demanding taxes or men to aide in the Earl's various military efforts. The Abbot is often able to deflect or defray the Earl's advances, but his ability to do so seems to wax and wane with the favor of the Archbishop of Menendras, which, when it wanes, necessitates long trips to the ducal seat to reestablish favor.

For all intents and purpose, all powers temporal and spiritual in Chedon ultimately reside in the Abbot, currently Abel Beorn, or "Father Abel" as he is known to most townsfolk. He is widely loved and respected, and considered a fair and virtuous judge. His sermons draw hundreds on Soroday, and his administrations maintain the prosperity of the village and the surrounding vale. On multiple occasions, his decisive and insightful decisions have spared the village from unfortunate fates at the hands of the greedy Earl and his pet Sheriff.

That is, at least, how most see it. There is another side to the Abbot; in ecclesiastical circles, he is known for his silver tongue. Despite eminent humility in all matters, he has much wealth for a simple monk, and has risen far in his clerical career. Few ordinary folk disparage this, however, feeling he has earned any accolades and mortal rewards tenfold for his devotion to God's Work.