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 silver veins had long since dried up when men arrived, but a few generations after the founding, a far greater treasure was found here: Esperite.

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 Mist Cataclysm came, Winterburg's army was nowhere to be seen, and the townsfolk had to fend off the inevitable monster invasion themselves.

The War of the Mists consumed much of the keep's resources, leaving it with less than a true garrison. And yet, not long after the cataclysm, the Dragon War began, bringing terrifying new threats to the village. In 350 GC, when a small dragon army sought to take the keep as a springboard for a seige of Winterburg, the keep held firm, its dwarven masonry rejecting the flame of the dragons. They delayed the dragon assault until Menendras could field its reserves to win the day. This was known as the Battle of Chedon; it 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.

When the Kurnish Invasion swept through, the village was entirely pillaged, leaving not a single man alive. None would permanently settle in Chedon for centuries.

In the 9th century, the Church of the One God rediscovered the site. The Knights of St. Arja had been battling a demonic horde throughout Obrith, and traced its origins to the Mines of Blood near Chedon. In the Second Battle of Chedon, their forces, led by Dolph Baron, triumphed over the demons, sealing the mines against any further incursion. Baron would later settle in the village of Chedon, and his family would remain its own local "nobility", though as a Knight of the Church, he held the lands only in their name.

The Brotherhood of St. Kord, having aided in the battle and the sealing of the mines, took residence in the ruined keep, toiling arduously to restore it to its former glory, 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.

Within a generation, the town had swelled in population, attracting many laborers in the construction of the Cathedral of St. Elys (completed in 882 GB), then traders to serve those laborers, and all the while farmers to work the Church's fertile lands. With the completion of the Cathedral, and the installation of a chapter of the Ordo Valentia, the core of the village became known as Chedon Abbey, the union of the cathedral, the rectory, and a barracks for the Knights of St Arja (though not the keep/monastery).

Today, three centuries later, the cathedral, the monastery, Baron House, and other fixtures of that era stand proud as reminders of the little village's storied history. The people of Chedon gladly work the Church's land, and seem happy to serve as a model community of the faithful--without a secular lord. Of course, the Earl of Winterburg disputes their status, causing no end of political trouble for the villagers.

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.