Catref y Gwealod

Catref Y Gwealod is a Legendary Fallen Kingdom off the coast of PyeMcGowan, in the Auraid Bay. The Legend originates from a Welsh Chwedl from the early Middle Ages, around 910-920, in the spring.

The Story

As the story says, Catref y Gwealod was a Legendary Kingdom around the size of Ferguson Island, Leverne Islands. The Land was very flat and had to have a dam of earth surrounding it to stop the waves from flooding the lands below. The Kingdom was ruled by King Gwyrddnos who had a daughter, Princess Mererdid. One of the noblest titles in the Kingdom was a watchman of the waves, these people would use a network of towers to alert the cities of an impeding flood and to get the nobles to safety. A Prince, named Saithynyn of the Kingdom of Anderson went to the royal court one day to promote trade between the Kingdoms, The King was so impressed by his confidence that he made him Chief of the Watchmen.

On Princess Mererdid’s Birthday many of the nobles were drunk, along with Saithynyn, but outside was a raging storm crashing against the mound making it weak. As Saithynyn’s deputies found that major breaches were forming in the dam, they immediately went to find Saithynyn, but he was in the palace, drunk and asleep. As the breaches grew larger, tsunamis formed, destroying the villages as it headed for the Capital. When a Watchman found the banquet hall, he immediately blew his horn and shouted, “There has been a breach in the wall! Villages and towns have been drowned, and here is next!” As he shouted, people began to wake up and panic. And as the king headed for the exit, he found Saithynyn and put him in the dungeon, where he would drown beneath the growing waves. As the Tsunami grew nearer, the royal family began to flee via horse to the Mountains.

In the morning, as legend has it, The King and princess watched the largest watchtower collapse into the sea in front of the blinding morning light.

Historical accuracy

The story said that after the floods, all the survivors formed the Kingdom of Dawson, a city-state and home to the modern day City of Dawson. There is much writing about this in the Book of Charlesburg, where the writer adds that the disaster was predicted by a mistiming exactly 6 years before the flood. Experts assume that this was exaggerated quite a bit: there are traces of forests and small buildings, no major ‘cities of’ towers have been discovered. Therefore, they assume that the Kingdom was a mere city-state, not the flourishing kingdom the story leads us to believe.