BREE-LAND
Welcome to Bree-land, one of the few enclaves of civilization and common sense left in the wilds of Eriador. Have a pint with me in the Prancing Pony while I tell you about the area. The Butterburs have been running this place for generations but I'm not sure if young Barliman's quite ready to take over when his time comes. There I go prattling on, where was I? Oh yes, Bree.
For starters, we are a community with a long history. The town is certainly older than the long-vanished Kingdom of Arnor and it's offshoots. Some of the more book-wise, like Gandalf, say that men settled here over six thousand years ago, or something like that. Who cares about the details? It's old, that's enough for me. Bree is the certainly largest and most important of the settlements but it's not the only one. We also have Staddle on the other side of the hill, Combe a bit further east down the road, and Archet on the edge of Chetwood to the North-East. What's the Chetwood you say? Why it's a forest on the edge of Bree-land, full of brigands it is though so I would stay away if I was you.
Our community lies at the intersection of the Greenway, that's the North-South Road, and the East-West Road. We used to get lots of trade here, that's why folk settled here as a matter of fact, but there's not as much traffic on the roads as there used to be. We still get visitors and business from the Shire, you do know what the Shire is don't you? It's the land on the other side of the Brandywine where most of the Little Folk live.
The Little Folk, or Hobbits as I'm sure you know them, No? How about Halflings? Alright, though there's a significant portion of Hobbits in Bree, and especially Staddle, most live in one of the four counties, or Farthings as they call them, of the Shire or in Buckland, just this side of the Brandywine but still generally considered part of the Shire. The Hobbits of the Shire are generally pretty decent though they are prone to claiming credit for things that others have done first. The best example of this would be pipeweed, which any decent person knows was first grown in Staddle. There I go, rambling again. Anyway, I suppose we'll have to put aside our differences and work together.
These are dangerous times, with strange folk abroad. Take the Rangers for example, they're mysterious folk that wander the wilds but never seem to be going anywhere in particular. They even go to Dead Man's Dike if you can believe that. What's that? Oh, they say it used to be the capital of.....Arthedain I think, called Fornost or something like that. It's haunted now days they say. Still they keep to themselves and haven't caused any trouble so far as I know. There's been some rumors of goblins in the far north in the old land of Angmar but I haven't met anyone that's actually been there so it's probably just old wives tales. To the south, the woodsmen and brigands of Enedwaith and Minhiriath have always envied our relative prosperity and may decide to try to take some for themselves. They seem to be getting more aggressive these days and could be troublesome.
There's dwarves in the mountains to the northwest but they've never caused any trouble, indeed they're some of the only folk still travelling the roads these days. I've heard stories that elves live by the Sea on the far side of the Shire though once again, that's only something I heard second-hand. I've no idea if it's true. Well now, that's all I have to say about that and you're still here! Either you're a very polite listener or I actually had some interesting information for you. You must be very polite. Anyway, if you want to help out, I suggest you stick around for the meeting tonight at the Pony. We'll be making a lot of decisions then....
Welcome to Bree-land, one of the few enclaves of civilization and common sense left in the wilds of Eriador. Have a pint with me in the Prancing Pony while I tell you about the area. The Butterburs have been running this place for generations but I'm not sure if young Barliman's quite ready to take over when his time comes. There I go prattling on, where was I? Oh yes, Bree.
For starters, we are a community with a long history. The town is certainly older than the long-vanished Kingdom of Arnor and it's offshoots. Some of the more book-wise, like Gandalf, say that men settled here over six thousand years ago, or something like that. Who cares about the details? It's old, that's enough for me. Bree is the certainly largest and most important of the settlements but it's not the only one. We also have Staddle on the other side of the hill, Combe a bit further east down the road, and Archet on the edge of Chetwood to the North-East. What's the Chetwood you say? Why it's a forest on the edge of Bree-land, full of brigands it is though so I would stay away if I was you.
Our community lies at the intersection of the Greenway, that's the North-South Road, and the East-West Road. We used to get lots of trade here, that's why folk settled here as a matter of fact, but there's not as much traffic on the roads as there used to be. We still get visitors and business from the Shire, you do know what the Shire is don't you? It's the land on the other side of the Brandywine where most of the Little Folk live.
The Little Folk, or Hobbits as I'm sure you know them, No? How about Halflings? Alright, though there's a significant portion of Hobbits in Bree, and especially Staddle, most live in one of the four counties, or Farthings as they call them, of the Shire or in Buckland, just this side of the Brandywine but still generally considered part of the Shire. The Hobbits of the Shire are generally pretty decent though they are prone to claiming credit for things that others have done first. The best example of this would be pipeweed, which any decent person knows was first grown in Staddle. There I go, rambling again. Anyway, I suppose we'll have to put aside our differences and work together.
These are dangerous times, with strange folk abroad. Take the Rangers for example, they're mysterious folk that wander the wilds but never seem to be going anywhere in particular. They even go to Dead Man's Dike if you can believe that. What's that? Oh, they say it used to be the capital of.....Arthedain I think, called Fornost or something like that. It's haunted now days they say. Still they keep to themselves and haven't caused any trouble so far as I know. There's been some rumors of goblins in the far north in the old land of Angmar but I haven't met anyone that's actually been there so it's probably just old wives tales. To the south, the woodsmen and brigands of Enedwaith and Minhiriath have always envied our relative prosperity and may decide to try to take some for themselves. They seem to be getting more aggressive these days and could be troublesome.
There's dwarves in the mountains to the northwest but they've never caused any trouble, indeed they're some of the only folk still travelling the roads these days. I've heard stories that elves live by the Sea on the far side of the Shire though once again, that's only something I heard second-hand. I've no idea if it's true. Well now, that's all I have to say about that and you're still here! Either you're a very polite listener or I actually had some interesting information for you. You must be very polite. Anyway, if you want to help out, I suggest you stick around for the meeting tonight at the Pony. We'll be making a lot of decisions then....