Viden was the town where the Bard Leslac finally caught up to Tarma and Kethry and encountered the pair for the first time. It was nominally ruled by Lord Kendrick Gorley and his band of hired thugs, who robbed any travelers who stayed the night. This lead to travelers passing through and staying in nearby Lyavor or Grant's Hold.
Though Gorley was the lord of the town, in reality he was so far gone in drink that his wife had been running the town for many years. She took over in name as well as fact after Tarma accidentally killed Lord Gorley. Leslac enshrined the encounter in song in "The Leslac Version." The actual events were recounted in "The Making of a Legend."