JohnB's Games

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====== Melmond ======

===== Overview =====

Melmond is a small town built around the entrance to a large Dwarf Mine-hold  (technically Holfruum) and is one of the few developed areas in these mountains.  The Dwarves find it amusing, as Melmond is a corruption of Bad Land / Bad World in an old language, and they often describe themselves as ‘From Melmond’ when taking to non-dwarven races.  The town is a mixed bag, although most are wanderers who have settled here, or renegades, exiled from their own lands, but now given a second chance.  While the population are mainly human, you can find other humanoids, including a few Tengu,  while even orcs and hobgoblins are given a chance here.  You may also, meet Aarakora, Strix and Wyvaran or the occasional giant, as they come to trade.

The town’s residents make a living by providing services to the dwarves.  Hunters bring in sheep and goats, a few farmers grow hardy strains of barley and oats in protected valley fields.  Other run the inn, make leather work, run other craft businesses or look after the trade caravan animals. Some act as agents for the dwarves, the Strix and Aarokora are more comfortable dealing with the Tengu than with wingless species.  All in all, it is a busy (if small) frontier town with its own Mayor and administration.

Outer clothing is often home spun wool, dyed in greys or browns that blend well with the mountain scenery, often supplemented with leather patches and edging to reduce wear.   Good solid boots, locally made, adorn the feet on most residents. The diet is meat heavy -  even the poor quality food is liable to be a broth made from animal bones and scraps.  Vegetable are  expensive – as most are imported.  Oats, Barley and some mushroom (cave Funghi from the dwarves) along with the few plant foods that can be forages in the mountains – are the main source of local ‘veg’.  It is an unconventional place to live, but it isn’t a bad place -  if you have to live in the middle of nowhere.

===== Trade =====

The annual Berhof caravan is the big one, heading to the Hall Bridges Summer Market, where they trade with merchants from The Tannery States, Berhof and Holden.   Smaller caravans head out to Teril and Degal during the spring and autumn respectively.  Other than that, it is incidental trade  from the mountain races, or small traders heading up to Melmond in the hope of beating the markets.

Below ground, there is a similar arrangement, with a village sized outpost for underground trade partners  (Which houses representatives from non-evil, non-chaotic races), that receives smaller, less regular, trade caravans heading deep into the underdark.

===== The Mine-Hold =====

Known to the dwarves as Holfruum, the minehold at Melmond is renowned as one of the largest and wealthiest. Dwarf settlements -  although few non-dwarves get to see inside.  It has access to minerals and gems of all sort, via its link to the underdark and extensive mine tunnels.  It sells mushrooms (actually a variety of underground Funghi) to the surface community, and exports both Nubbe Paste and Keep-All to mane Ex-Pat dwarven  communities.  While there are small areas reserved for dealing with important visitors, most of their trade is conducted via their surface and underground outposts – unless you are powerful enough to teleport into their courtyards, or hold some sort of (serious) noble rank, and appear with an escort) you are unlikely to get even that far into the mine-hold here.  Inside, it is rumoured to contain everything that you would expect to find in a large town -  completely populated by Dwarves.  The Dwarves here are followers of Torag.
 
===== Region =====

Telidan Mountain Spine is composed of several mountain ranges that nestle together.  There are technical differences, passes, gaps and valleys between ranges, but as far as most people are concerned there is one massive range of mountains.  Across ‘The Spine’ there are many races, but Aarakora, and Strix are common, and with other (benign)  intelligent arial species  (such as Giant Eagles and  Wyvaran)  they form an informal mountain top community.  Their small communities (village size at most) know of each other, and there is communication between them.  If the eagles (for example) know something, it doesn’t take too long to spread along the local gossip chain).  There isn’t all that much trade between the communities, they are fairly self-sufficient, but there is an element of good-will and self-protection.  After all, who will move in, if a Wyvaran village is defeated?

Lower down Annish, Mongrel-Men and Tengu can be found in small communities, although there is less interaction between their different communities.



===== Annish =====

The Annish believe themselves to be the descendants of the earliest Hann people, they still live in small mountain villages, revere The Old Lords and follow the old ways.  Treat their settlements as small isolated communities  (Thorps and hamlets, with the occasional village)  that live in a simple, green, way.