Llewdor

The Land of Llewdor, taken from the King's Quest Companion, 4th edition.

The Land of Llewdor (aka the Countryside of Llewdor) is the land seen in King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human. It is one of the two main lands on the continent of Tanalore, along with Tamir.

More specifically Llewdor refers to the land in between the sea and edge of the desert. While Countryside/Land of Llewdor refers to the regions including the sea, and the desert. There is of course overlap with the terminology.

Llewdor may also be the name of the town (according to some sources), but that is also known as Port Bruce.

Background

Llewdor is land on the eastern part of the continent of Tanalore, where until recent times, the evil sorcerer Manannan ruled the countryside through terror and magic. He kept his home atop the highest mountain there, living alone except for a single boy slave. Through a long looking glass, the wizard was able to spy on all parts of the unfortunate realm, killing all who dared opposed him. After his defeat at the hands of Alexander, Derek Karlavaegen made his home there in Manannan's place.

Llewdor is a compact land bordered by ocean on the east and deadly desert to the west. No one, residents claim, can walk far into the desert and live. Medusas dwell there--gruesome creatures with the ability to turn any who stare upon them to stone. At times, after that Manannan was gone, people would sneak into the sands in search of statues that were once people. It is a risky business, but the merchants who do this are known to turn a great profit for their efforts. Some folks disapprove of the practice, seeing it merely another form of grave robbing. If the medusas don't claim victims, however, the desert does. The sun, heat, and shimmering horizons conspire to rob traveler's of their sense of direction. Lost, a person can perish quickly in such a place.

The bulk of the country is pleasantly wooded and dotted with occasional cottages. Other than bears and the seldom-encountered giant spider of Llewdor, it is altogether entirely pleasant, if unspectacular, place. Its one major city, Port Bruce, is a health sea-trading town, where ships from all parts of the known world visit. Llewdor's chief products are rare ingredients for magic spells, such as toad spittle, stones of amber, nightshade juice, and mandrake root power. There is an attempt being made by the merchants of Llewdor to export the desert statues, but the sailors who might transport those items refuse to accept the cargo at present. They claim the bad luck of the stone people might somehow rub off on them. They might be right; stranger thing than that are commonplace there.

Because Port Bruce freely welcomes all ships that visit its harbor, the pirates who roam the Western Sea are no problem to people on the coast. Other than the brawling, cussing, and drunkenness that seem to be as much a part of the pirate's code as shipboard cats and captain's parrots, they are more colorful than dangerous and provide needed gold for the local economy. Bandit's on the other hand, are a different story. These brigands, numbering in the dozens, prowl the woods beating, robbing, and sometimes killing those they can waylay. They were encouraged and supported by Manannan while he held sway in Llewdor for all those years, and efforts to get rid of them had been only partially successful. The problem was expected to be under control, however.

Notes

• Llewdor was the land where Gwydion was forced to be a slave to the wizard Manannan. The main city in Llewdor is known as Port Bruce, and it includes a bar/pub/restaurant, a general store, and a dock. Bandits reside in Llewdor, as does Medusa in the desert to the west, and the Three Bears. It is here that Gwydion partially discovers who he was and is captured by pirates on his way home to Daventry. Sir David of Bruce came from this land. Derek Karlavaegen moved to this land and moved into Manannan's house not long after events of King's Quest III.

• The magical law of "containment" occurs in the land, causing the north and south to bend back upon itself, so that anyone traveling north, will end up coming up from the south, or vice versa. This has a strange affect on the land, for example although city of Port Bruce lies to the southeast of the lone mountain in Llewdor (also stated in the Companion), and the Three Bear's House lies to the south of the mountain. But strangely both landmarks can be seen to north (and northeast), from the top of the mountain. At the base of the north side of the mountain a stream can be seen coming from the north, the stream appears to meander into a distant line of trees. But an individual who tries to follow the stream north finds that the river simply vanishes, and the individual ends up back to the south at the Three Bear's House.

• The Oracle Cave lies to the north of the mountain.

• Llewdor is made up of 16 map screens, corresponding to quadrants on the magic map.
• Alexander once returned to Llewdor, to Manannan's House to see Derek Karlavaegen, not long after seeing Cassima in Merlin's Mirror. He went there to learn more about the Green Isles from Derek Karlavaegen, while his ship was being prepared for the journey to the islands. He received a copy of the Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles from the scholar. Then he began his three month journey to find the island's shores.
• At the time of KQ3 and KQ6, Llewdor appears to not be more than a day's journey from the continent of Daventry in good weather as stated in the TKQC.
• Llewdor is sometimes described as being a land a far away from Daventry, however many sources describe it only being about a day or less from Daventry. At least he had enough time to get back to his receny kidnapped/sacrificial sister.

Landmarks

• Llewdor College
• Forest Land

West Llewdor

• Medusa Desert
• Great Western Desert (Great Desert Maze)
• Manannan's House
• Three Bear's House
• Hideout (Oak Tree)

East Llewdor

• Oracle Cave
• Port Bruce (Town)
• Pier
• Western Sea (Ocean Maze)

See also

• Llewdor (KQGS)

Gallery

(KQ3 era)

(KQ4 era)

(KQ5 era)

(KQ4 era)

(KQ5 era)

(KQ6 era)

Port Bruce

Port Bruce

Banner of Llewdor

Behind the scenes

Llewdor appears to be derived from Welsh language. Llew is 'lion' in the Welsh language. A character named Llew or Llew Llaw Gyffes ("Lion with a Steady Hand") was associated with the myths of Manannan and Gwydion and was a sun deity, and was a hero in his own right.This may tie into the fact at the time of the game it is set during the hot summer sun.

Llewdor as a name does appear as an Irish poet from about 1912., although its unclear if this mere coincidence.

Llewdor (unofficial)

Llewdor appears in the fan games, see Llewdor (unofficial).