Player name(s) : LordOfThePings
Player rank : Builder
Private or Public : Private
Location name : WEH1
Lore : The plains of Rohan west of the river Entwash; borders the Fangorn forest on the north. Lands north of the Folde described as “a grey-green sea” of “endless miles of grass” containing “hidden pools and broad acres of sedge waving above wet and treacherous bogs.”
… a little while [after leaving Fangorn] he turned suddenly, and choosing a place where the banks were lower, he waded the [Entwash], and then led them away due south into a flat land, treeless and wide. The wind went like grey waves through the endless miles of grass. There was no sign of road or track…
‘He is steering a straight course now for the halls of Théoden under the slopes of the White Mountains,’ said Gandalf. ‘It will be quicker so. The ground is firmer in the Eastemnet, where the chief northward track lies, across the river, but Shadowfax knows the way through every fen and hollow.’
For many hours they rode on through the meads and riverlands. Often the grass was so high that it reached above the knees of the riders, and their steeds seemed to be swimming in a grey-green sea. They came upon many hidden pools, and broad acres of sedge waving above wet and treacherous bogs; but Shadowfax found the way … Looking out over the great plain, far away the riders saw [the sun] … sinking into the grass. Low upon the edge of sight shoulders of the mountains glinted red upon either side. …
‘There lies the Gap of Rohan,’ said Gandalf. ‘It is now almost due west of us. That way lies Isengard.’
The Two Towers , LoTR Book 3, Ch 5, The White Rider
‘Come now!’ said Éomer. 'The Heir of Elendil would be a strength indeed to the Sons of Eorl in this evil tide. There is battle even now upon the Westemnet, and I fear that it may go ill for us.
The Two Towers , LoTR Book 3, Ch 2, The Riders of Rohan
Overhead plan :
This homestead will revolve around the bog-iron extraction. Bog-iron is iron that is ‘farmed’ from bogs. I will not go over the details how the iron is formed in the bogs, but what you should know is that due to some natural processes clumps of stone get formed in the ground around bogs with iron ore in them. For the largest part of human history bog-iron was the cheapest way to obtain iron and even in the late middle ages bog-iron was more used in Scandinavia than mined iron. To get clumps of bog-iron peasants would walk in a bog and poke a stick in the ground everywhere they walked until they hit a stone, they would dig up the stone and if it was a clump of bog-iron they would take it with them. This was a very laborious job so only the poorest peasants did this. When they had multiple clumps they would make a bloomery furnace and put the clumps in it.
This image shows quite well how a bloomery furnace works. You have to constantly add charcoal and ore at the top and over time the charcoal breaks down and the ore falls slowly down and gets hotter and hotter, eventually you can find slag under the fire and that is the raw iron. After this they would most of the time make the iron into an ingot and sell it off.
The houses will all be of the poor class and will be build in the style of WEV1
Reference Imagery :
In Game Guide:
Reference (Links used):
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/bog_iron.htm
