Gilead

City of Gilead

Gilead was the capital of the Barony of New Canaan and was ruled by the gunslinger descendants of Arthur Eld. Gilead fell to John Farson's forces when Roland Deschain was 16. It had a population of around 10,000 people with its major exports being apples, honey, milk and textiles. The city had an outer wall which protected it from external attack and an inner wall which protected the city's palace.

No doubt, as with much of Mid-World the people here know about and tell the tale of Lord Perth.

History

The ruling seat of Gilead conforms to the old forms of leadership with the elite gunslingers inheriting positions of power; unlike other baronies which are ruled by mayors and other elected officials.

Originally, it was a major city of the Old Ones, falling into ruin after the Great Cataclysm. However, it remained a symbol of Mid-World's former fertility and glory and was one of the first places to start to recover after the cataclysm which is why Arthur Eld chose it as his city and why it became a symbol of hope to the people.

Many people travel to the city to witness its diverse culture. But more so it is visited for the high amount of threaded stock it produces, from horses to cattle, and even bees.

West-Town and Old Quarter

Found in the western part of the city, this is Gilead's merchant district, home to the city's most respected citizens. The streets are lined with businesses, with metalled, paved or cobbled streets shaded by trees. They have a central market square where merchants came from across all of Mid-World to trade.

Lower Town

This area is filled with the less reputable members of Gilead's society. The labyrinth of streets are filled with saloons and brothels and is the site of a lot of fish trading, giving the district its characteristic smell. In addition, fresh popkins and dried figs are also sold here. Even though this is the location of the poorest members of the city, most here are respectable merchants and craftsmen.

Castle Complex

The palace acts like a town within a town, the dinh and his family live here as well as many of the noble class. The Baby Forest is seen as part of the castle complex. The entire palace, with its seven hundred rooms is centred around a central courtyard, and along the stone turrets are carving of Arthur Eld's horse Llamrei. Behind the palace are the back courts where noble women will often be found playing points, but beyond that are the green swards where gunslingers practise the art of war with Cort. A horse doctor is said to have had rooms behind the palace and there is also a morgue in the castle.

The Great Hall, also known as the Hall of Grandfathers or West'rd Hall is found here and is well-renowned. It was a huge space with balconies, electric lights, and a large dance-floor where the Fair Days would be carried out when dances such as the Sowing Night Cotillion were carried out, as well as other events such as feast for a gunslinger's coming of age in which a Riddling contest is held.

The most famous part of the entire castle complex was the Square Yard, where a gunslinger would fight their tutor to earn the right be a full gunslinger. If they failed they were sent west in exile, if they succeeded they were given the key to the armoury where the guns of the gunslingers were kept.

The fields around the city became known as the Gathering Fields.

After the City fell

After Gilead fell to Farson's forces a group of slow mutants took up residence in the west kitchen, the kitchen where Hax had worked.

Parts of the ruined city are further destroyed by a Beam-Quake seven years after the city's fall as it sits along the Eagle-Lion beam. Roland and his fellow Gunslingers as well as Marten Broadcloak witness the city crumble when the Beam-Quake strikes.

Gallery