# Wenlow — The Agricultural Duchy

The western duchy of Corvel. Grain heartland, wine country, livestock. The richest duchy per acre, the most guild-entangled noble family, and the one with the most obvious economic stake in the kingdom's stability.

## Position
West of the Crownhold, south of Aldermere, north of Sudermere. Rolling farmland, river valleys, terraced vineyards on the western hills. Rainfall is reliable; soil is good; the roads are well-maintained.

## Ruler
**Duchess Isolde Merrenwood.** Early 60s. Old family, long line. Pragmatic to the point of bluntness. Widow of a prior duke, now ruling in her own right for over a decade. Maintains unusually close working relationships with the major merchant guilds — closer than most nobility find comfortable — because her duchy's wealth depends on trade.

See `characters/duchess-merrenwood.md`.

## Seat
**Wenlow.** A market city built at a crossroads between grain country and wine country. Larger than Aldermere, roughly comparable to Drenwick in population. Houses the kingdom's largest grain exchange and one of the two major wine auctions. The ducal residence is in the city rather than on a country estate — a Merrenwood tradition going back generations.

## Character
Wenlow is the duchy where old land-wealth and new merchant-wealth shake hands without pretending to like each other. The Merrenwood family built its fortune first on grain rents, then on grain trade, then on grain banking — and the family has learned to treat merchants as colleagues rather than as social inferiors, which is unusual among Corvel nobility.

## Compact relationship
Merchant-guild-entangled means Compact-entangled. Wenlow pays the most Compact tax of any duchy and gets the most Compact service in return. Duchess Merrenwood is not an ally of the Compact, but she is also not about to deflect delegations the way Pamira does — her economy requires the arrangement.

## Book 3+ relevance
- **Economic pressure on the Compact** flows through Wenlow. Any Book 4+ arc where the crown pushes back against the Compact will need Merrenwood's grain trade on the right side.
- **Political counterweight to Pamira.** Merrenwood respects Pamira but finds her politically precious. A later book where Pamira needs Wenlow's help (or opposition) writes itself.
