Locations - Nördlingen, the Faerie-Free Town

Nördlingen

The Faerie - free town.

 

 The Town’s Coat of Arms.

Nördlingen is a Bavarian town, 75 miles north-west of Munich. It has a population of some 6,700 souls.

Near the centre of the town is fifteenth century Saint George's Church with its 98 yard high steeple, called  the "Daniel Tower", which according to Natural Historians, is made of a “suevite impact breccia” that contains both tiny diamonds and pieces of Cold Iron.

Around two miles in circumference, the town’s medieval wall still has its covered sentry’s walk. It is constructed from local stone which also includes small quantities of Cold Iron from the meteorite.

These two things have formed a rare phenomenon - inside its walls, Nördlingen is entirely free of Faerie of any kind.

Centuries ago, the townsfolk made a special agreement with powerful Faeries. This document states that anybody living within the walls is not only protected by Cold Iron, they are also safe from more mundane attacks that might be instigated by any Faerie using Human or other agents. Of course, once they set foot outside, they are fair game. In return for this Right of Sanctuary, the locals have sworn never to allow any of their store of Cold Iron to leave the town. 

Several battles in the Thirty Years’ War (mid-17th century) and the French revolutionary wars (late18th century) were fought outside the medieval walls as different nations attempted to gain control over the Cold Iron. Faerie allies, cunning diplomacy and the local militia have always managed to keep it safe.

Many of the original inhabitants of the old town now live in the suburbs outside the walls having sold or rented out their homes to those seeking sanctuary. They often have large holdings as even a tiny house there can demand a very high price from someone fleeing the wrath of a Faerie Lord.

Anyone heading to Nördlingen to escape the Faerie needs to have sufficient funds to pay for lodgings for at least one week. Its unique circumstances means that even a cold, ill-furnished garret room is likely to cost the same as a suite in a hotel in a city elsewhere. The local Police are quite zealous in checking this.  Those found without the necessary resources will end up spending a night in a cell and be ejected from the walled town, to meet their fate, in the morning

Aside from this, Nördlingen is noted for its carpet and rug weaving, and for its geese and excellent sausages.

Host’s Notes:  Faerie require at least Great Courage to remain in the suburbs and are completely unable to go inside the walls.

Nördlingen is actually in a large crater (15 miles across) formed 14.5 million years ago by a meteorite impact. In our universe, 19^th century scholars believed that the circular geological feature of the crater was of volcanic origin, it was only in the 1960s that the real cause was discovered.