Liam's Hold

A flat- topped tor of bare rock, about two acres in area, overlooks the road. It is ringed by a low stone wall, and at the south end stands a crumbling keep tower. The settlement is crammed onto the top of the tor, with its grazing and tillage fields to the east and a pasture for passing caravans to camp in just to the south, overlooked by the tower.

The Holdfast Inn
This inn consists of Liam’s tower, full of ornately carved stone stairs and arched windows. The tower has three two-story-high wings stretching out from it. Two stand along the parapet walls of the Hold, and the third (the kitchen and pantries) joins the stables, enfolding the inn’s entry courtyard. All of the inn is built of stone. The halls are carpeted against the chill with furs atop rushes, and the bedchambers sport floor furs, window hangings to keep out cold breezes, and curtained and canopied beds.

Service at the Holdfast is attentive, with warming pans placed in the beds on cold nights, a nightkiss drink at bedside without charge, plentiful wash water and towels, warming robes for guests, and generous, filling food. A stay at the Holdfast is an experience not to be missed. Many merchants specially arrange their travels so they can stop here and relax. Binndarak “Binn” Mystaryn the proprietor, is a kind and generous man who gets along well with most travelers.

Uktar 02, 1357

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Temperature:
Low: 20
High: 50

Winds: From tropics at 30 mph.

Precipitation: Moderate snow becoming rain or sleet

Relative Humidity:
Morning: Moderate
Evening: High

Dawn is at: 7:00

Number of daylight hours: 10.00

Selûne: 3rd Qtr

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As you make your way to the Inn to secure lodgings, there is no sign of the Uthgart that passed you on the road.

Celadhel regards the tor on which the crumbling walls Liam's hold is built.  "Such a fortress would have a commanding presence on the Trade Way.  Weal and woe could easily be visited on passersby and a lordship established--a new barony carved from the fringe of the degrading Duchy of Daggerford.  Sunder Halyndliam, my father's companion built this place in his youth, but the Dukes of Daggerford had a stronger will to rule then."

She sighs reflectively, "The people of that time seemed to be growing, waxing.  Always now it seems they wane. At least tonight we will be warded by the lingering dweomers of Sunder Halyndliam."

"Dweomers?  Is his tomb nearby?"  Edrie's interest was piqued by Celadhel's story.  The brunette scholar's misery seemed to fade in the presence of the prospect of discovery.  "It would be easier to build anew if we had the tools of a building age in our hands."

Celadhel looks icily at Edrie at the suggestion that the tomb of a family friend should be raided.

Olaf shrugs, "In the end, we all fall to the soil, and the plants use our essence to grow, and the animals devour our essence from the plants to thrive." He blows into frozen hands and comments further, "Why do the powerful try to take their treasures into death with them?  Have they no one to inherit such things?"

Once more nearing their destination, the mouse became the Half-Elven apprentice. Once inside and sampling the fayre.  This is a nice place, lovely and warm.  Why would anyone want to build something like this in the middle of nowhere though with very little in the way of woods around it, it needs more trees.

Listening to the others speak, he wonders if a mix of understanding is around? By you ancestors dweomer, do you mean he cast a spell over this place to protect it, maybe from the weather?

"Humans frequently clear away trees from their settlements--especially walls.  In some cases, this is merely practical--harvest the closest trees for the construction of a settlement and the trees around the town are naturally cleared.  But political leaders--the Lords and Knights charged with the security of the people--see to it that they remain cleared as far as eyes can see in order for watchmen to see enemies coming.  Many a cunning foe may use the tree canopy as cover to approach a settlement unaware." Olaf's words hold the sound of scripture, as if all of this is prescribed by the clergy of Chauntea for the orderly development and cultivation of the land and the thriving of the people that inhabit it.

In reply to Olaf Stoutsheaf (msg # 8):

Aghast at the wanton destruction of the trees just for a so-called safety net, worried Heluvianal.

What of the Elven population that would protect the trees and settlements?  What of the wildlife? Enemies can get lost in the trees, they are a good protection, especially if they are able to move around and a compromise is made with the woodland creatures.  I think some humans have got it all wrong

Olaf, If those who die take their things with them, surely those things would not be in the tombs and if they were, their spirits maybe didn't want them!

"We don't have such problems under the earth," Tolantra said. "Rock is rock, and it takes effort to clear it away. When you do, you need somewhere to put it. We've filled in more than one crevasse to the deep lower depths simply because it was a place to put slag. Why should you not transform your home and its environs to be most useful to you, and to provide the most protection?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:46, Thu 25 June 2020.

In reply to Tol (msg # 10):

I can see why you'd do that for safety, don't want to fall down any holes, you'd have visited them first though, to make sure you are not blocking your only access to water or a community for trading with!
You'd keep a pillar that holds the roof of the cavern up wouldn't you? This made sense to the Wild Elf even if not to the others.

"Of course," Tolantra said. "Though sometimes we raise a new pillar in a different location, or reinforce the roof in another fashion, if the original pillar is somewhere unhelpful."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:47, Thu 25 June 2020.

In reply to Tol (msg # 12):

I see. Trees are always helpful. They slow and confuse enemies, the shelter and hide allies, they provide shelter and food. They also protect the land from the elements.
He was certain of his facts just as the others were of theirs even if he didn't understand why they preferred a plowed field to a great Horse Chestnut tree. Who doesn't want a tree house after all?
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:29, Wed 27 May 2020.

"Interesting. It's a very different world, up here. I suppose there's one great similarity between tunnels and the forest: you can't always see the enemy coming." Tolantra leaned back in her chair and took a long pull from her mug.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:48, Thu 25 June 2020.

Uktar 3, 1357

Morning

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Temperature:
Low: 20
High: 50

Winds: From tropics at 30 mph.

Precipitation: No Precipitation

Relative Humidity:
Morning: Low
Evening: Moderate

Dawn is at: 7:00

Number of daylight hours: 10.00

Selûne: 3rd Qtr

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The party departs Liam's Hold bound for the Duchy of Daggerford a day north.  The dark gods of the late Fall give up their grip on the party and they begin the day in a frosty but dry chill that quickly warms to something much more endurable.