[Fan Supplement] A Guide to Dale (WIP) - Ideas Welcomed!

[Rich H]

Hi All,

My TOR campaign is on hold for the next two weeks but the companions are returning to Dale for the celebrations at Dale commemorating the free peoples' victory at the Battle of Five Armies. As part of this I'm collecting together as much information as possible with regards to Dale and it's surrounding lands but while doing this I thought I may as well produce a pdf supplement for people to use.

On the old forum, Tensen01 had produced a map of Dale and people had contributed places of interest within it: http://cubicle7.clicdev.com/f/index.php ... =3629&st=0 . Unfortunately Tensen's game collapsed and it killed his enthusiasm to continue the project.

Although I'm going to create my own map based on information collected so far I'm happy to make this a collaborative effort and use bits from the above thread. I thought I'd therefore start this thread for people to post ideas they've had for Dale that they'd like to share and where possible I'll add them to my information and publish the supplement in a week or two.

Outline of supplement so far is as follows:

• Introduction
• History of Dale
• Dale and Surrounding Lands - including a map
• The Town of Dale - including a map and descriptions of interesting locales
• Personalities - stat blocks and summaries of individuals (eg, King Bard) and groups (eg, Kings' Guard)
• Things to Do in Dale - ideas for adventures presented as rumours, etc as well as maybe some Fellowship Undertakings and just general opportunities that exist within a town (eg, visiting the market, etc)
• Appendix: The Gathering of Five Armies - information on the festivities (ie, what visitors can expect) along with a write-up of the festivities and events that take place at the festival of 2946. I appreciate that the TfW adventure, "The Crossings of Celduin", is presented as possibly taking place in 2946 but I feel that year is far too early in peoples' campaigns considering it's the sixth adventure in that book

Thoughts?

... Feel free to post ideas, links, etc. I have a fair bit already but you can never have too much!

[Beleg]

You certainly don't do things by halves Rich!

Personally I always envision Dale as having four gates, one at each cardinal point, with the River Running flowing through the centre of the city, through a market square and past Bard's Keep/Castle/whatever he has. In my campaign I included a firework shop, though that may not be to everybody's taste, and I did it mainly to shut up my players
While his approach to Dale is based more around the Dale presented in Peter Jackson's latest film, there is a guy on youtube attempted to build Dale (and in theory Erebor) in minecraft: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU_BpHbo ... 0ixlW_NHUl
Thought it might interest somebody, even if it isn't massively useful (or it might be, I don't know)

Also, I'm wondering, would you be including the people mentioned in Tale from Wilderland in your stat blocks and such? Or merely alluding to them due to copyright and all that?

I look forward to seeing where this goes

[Eluadin]

From the old forum I seem to remember a post by Francesco of a Viking age settlement - (?) Aarhus - and a link he posted to a picture or reconstruction. The context for his post was Dale if memory serves me right, and that might serve nicely as a beginning model for the visual setup.

Regards,
Scott

[ThrorII]

History of Dale

The History of Dale is the history of the Northmen of Rhovanion and the history of the Dwarves of Durin’s line. It is the story of the rise and fall of great kingdoms, and their eventual rebirth. As the Northmen of Rhovanion were not learned in lore, no written records survive of those early days. What is known of the early kingdoms comes from half-remembered rhymes, records from the Gondor, and the records of the Dwarves.

The Fall of the Northman Kingdom
Nearly fifteen hundred years before Smaug descended on the Lonely Mountain, a great kingdom of Northmen formed in Rhovanion. Their kingdom stretched from Mirkwood in the west to the convergence of the River Running and the Redwater River in the east, and from the Running River in the North to the Brown Lands in the south. The heart of the kingdom lied in the East Bight of Mirkwood. The Kingdom of Rhovanion held sway over the region for half a millennium, and was a strong ally of Gondor. After more than six hundred years of strength, a series of disasters destroyed the Northman realm. First came the Great Plague, which killed half of the Northmen. The Kingdom of Rhovanion survived, but never truly recoverd. The kingdom fell two hundred years later, when Easterlings from beyond the Sea of Rhun invaded Rhovanion, killing or enslaving the Northmen. Those that survived fled west towards the Vales of Anduin, or north across the Running River.

The Union of Dwarves and Northmen
The Dwarven Kingdom of Khazad-dum (Moria) maintained a great empire, and held sway over the Grey Mountains, the Lonely Mountian, and the Iron Hills with lesser holds. When Khazad-dum fell, many of Durin’s line fled to their lesser hold at Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. A strong friendship developed between the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and the Northmen surrounding it, as had not been seen between them in an Age. The Northmen grew foodstuff for the Dwarves, and the Dwarves in return armed the Northmen with the finest arms and armor. For nearly two hundred years the Northmen prospered, and it is possible that the first town of Dale was built at this time.

The Decline and Rise of Dale
After two hundred years, the Dwarf-king at the Lonely Mountain moved his capital from Erebor to the Grey Mountains. During this time, the Northmen surrounding the Lonely Mountain’s importance would be lessened, as the Dwarves would also likely have traded with the newly arrived Eotheod, south and west of the Grey Mountains. Discord between the Dwarves and King Fram of the Eotheod would sever any trade between those two realms, and once again Dale would become the chief trade partner of the Dwarves.

After an absence of three hundred years, the King Under the Mountain returned to Erebor. Dale experienced a rebirth that eclipsed its former glory and issued in an era for the Northmen, the likes of they had never seen. Dale was expanded, built of stone, and wealth flowed down the River Running in to the markets of the city. For two hundred years, the Kings of Dale held sway from Mirkwood to the Iron Hills, and south to the convergence of the Running River and the River Redwater.

The Desolation of Smaug
No doubt it was the wealth of Erebor that attracted the dragon. Smaug burned Dale to the ground before sacking the Lonely Mountain. King Girion of Dale was killed, along with most of the people and armies of the city. The fertile lands around the mountain were charred and destroyed—they became known as the Desolation of Smaug. The Northmen fled the region of the mountain and retreated south, to the Long Lake. For 172 years, Dale lay in ruin, and its kingdom dissolved.

The Return of Dale
When the dragon Smaug was killed by Bard the Bowman, and Erebor was reclaimed after the Battle of Five Armies, thoughts of reclaiming Dale began. Bard the Bowman was of the line of Girion, and claimed kingship over Dale. The city was rebuilt with Bilbo’s one-fourteenth share of the dragon-treasure, and Dwarven artisans. With the death of the dragon, the rebuilding of Dale, and the return of the King Under the Mountain, gold once again flowed down the river like water. The Markets of Dale prospered, and the kingdom of the Bardings (as they now called themselves) once again stretched from Mirkwood in the west to the Iron Hills in the East, and as far south as the convergence of the Running River and the River Redwater.

[Rich H]

From the old forum I seem to remember a post by Francesco of a Viking age settlement - (?) Aarhus - and a link he posted to a picture or reconstruction. The context for his post was Dale if memory serves me right, and that might serve nicely as a beginning model for the visual setup.

Regards,
Scott

Don't suppose you have a link?

[Rich H]

... And a great post, ThrorII. That's the history chapter pretty much sorted in its entirety and saves me pulling together info from all the disparate sources. Thanks.

[Rich H]

You certainly don't do things by halves Rich!

No rest for the wicked. And I am *very* wicked, muahahahahahahahahaha! *ahem*.

... with the River Running flowing through the centre of the city, through a market square and past Bard's Keep/Castle/whatever he has.

I had an idea of doing something like this but in relation to 'Old Dale'. The new town has only been rebuilt on the western side of the river. The two sides of Old Dale used to be connected by two dwarven bridges; one of them has now crumbled, a large gap in the middle of it, whereas the other is whole but has fallen in disrepair. The old eastern side has been flooded numerous times and is largely abandoned with buildings on lower ground and its walls having fallen into ruin. Rumours abound about Eastern Dale and at night lights can be seen flickering in the old south-eastern watchtower but when visited during the day no sign of life can be found.

In my campaign I included a firework shop, though that may not be to everybody's taste, and I did it mainly to shut up my players

I think that's perfectly fine!

Also, I'm wondering, would you be including the people mentioned in Tale from Wilderland in your stat blocks and such? Or merely alluding to them due to copyright and all that?

That's an excellent idea. I'm sure the guys at C7 will be alright if they are used as a reference and built upon rather than any repeated information.

I look forward to seeing where this goes

Me too. Will hopefully start pulling together the information tomorrow night and will start drawing up the map at the weekend. I'm going to hand-draw it at A3 size, then scan it and add numbered references to building/places of interest to the scan/e-copy. I'll then colour/paint the original and scan that at high resolution so that the supplement will have a black and white LM copy with the references on it and a larger version to print out and provide to the players as a play aid.

[Rich H]

... All that I'm worried about is Francesco and the guys announcing an official Dale supplement!

[Osric]

Nice post, ThrorII!

[...] The Union of Dwarves and Northmen
The Dwarven Kingdom of Khazad-dum (Moria) maintained a great empire, and held sway over the Grey Mountains, the Lonely Mountain, and the Iron Hills with lesser holds. When Khazad-dum fell, many of Durin’s line fled to their lesser hold at Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. [...]

I'd like to draw attention to the fact that Thrain I discovered the Arkenstone the year after moving to the Lonely Mountain. This argues against there having been much mining development of the Mountain before that -- but only weakly, in that it more strongly points to the discovery having been due to Thrain himself, consciously or unconsciously benefiting from the power of the Dwarven Ring.

I really welcomed Tensen01's map, which was invaluable for my A Murder of Gorcrows adventure. Big thanks to you, T, and everyone else who contributed. But forgive me if, having missed the party, I make some belated comments now.

I don't remember whether it was stated in the discussions leading to the final version, but there must be side streets and alleys not depicted on it.

I'd welcome there being more than four quarters. No one ever interprets that use of the word literally, do they?

It seems odd that Dale-town should sit back 100 yards from the main course of the River Running, and be linked to it only by canals. Even though we know no large vessels can navigate so far up the River, and I do love the canals thing, I still can't let go of the idea that the main docks should be on the riverfront itself.
I said (or borrowed) that the Docks area and river trade services in general were dominated by folk hailing from Lake-town.

I'm not sure whether the walls themselves would have been completed by TA2946, even with assistance from the dwarves (who did have plenty of reconstruction of their own to do within the Mountain itself). Would Bard really have finalised his town-planning right at the outset -- and, quite literally, set it in stone -- before he even knew how many people were going to materialise from the countryside and move in? Apart from a known contingent from Lake-town, we have to presume that Dale's population mostly comes from 'hidden folk' previously living in isolated steadings (not on the map) in the lands that were generally accounted empty.

I also doubt that all the space within the walls would be fully developed in five years. I described it as being dominated by ongoing building projects, with many 'blocks' of Dale-town actually still being of temporary wooden construction, and others being shanty towns housing labourers and their families just newly moved in from the countryside to become a part of Bard's newly founded kingdom.

But the wackiest thing about the map is that it shows canals completely cutting off the outer walls from the streets of the city. Judging by the presence of towers every 25 yards, the walls appear to be designed to withstand sieges (not just to funnel traffic through gates where taxes can be collected on it) and yet these canals would prevent the access of reinforcements, repair crews etc.
Like I said about the docks, shouldn't Dale-town follow the usual practice of having its walls on the banks of the river to benefit from it as a natural defence?

Having only two gates in these walls -- one for the mountain road up to the Dwarf-kingdom and one for all other traffic -- might make perfectly good sense, depending on the amount of congestion arising on market days...
But it proved quite a constraint on the logistics of my adventure. Any bad guys that seem to have escaped the PCs when they were watching the only gate (that didn't lead straight to the dead end of the Lonely Mountain itself), had to have swum a canal gate or sewer outlet. That's a nice bit of drama to use once in a while, but would quickly lose that if overused.

Cheers,
--Os.

[Rich H]

Here's a teaser of the introduction and history chapters to whet the appetite:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/795 ... ple%29.pdf