Hrueset: Gateway to the Frontier

The Worlds of Aihrde (Erde), Inzae, their history, game play and more.
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alcyone
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Hrueset: Gateway to the Frontier

Post by alcyone »

I know lots of people running the A series have had to flesh out Hrueset, since there is little information to be found, at least up until A6. Beyond, I don't know, but the action seems to be moving NW to Aufstrag.

I did a little sketch of my idea of it, of which I shall spare you the eyesore, but it was helpful when someone actually arrived there.

I have it as it looks on the A0 map; it's just west of the Hruesen River. This suggests a bridge, and probably the only such bridge for a long while. I used to live fairly near the Mississippi, so sort of pictured that for width and scaled down by about half; the Hreusen here is about 1/4 mile across, and because of its importance, it has a well-maintained (better during the War) stone bridge, supported from beneath by 50' arches, large enough to let most traffic through. It is unguarded from the east bank.

The bridge is the main way to get to Ascalon from the Blacktooth Ridge area. While it may be simpler to head southeast from Malforten as the crow flies, it's simply too foolish and dangerous to not ride a few days west to Hrueset to take a proper road.

Beyond it is a wall of rocky hillside, which has been excavated into a valley. Between the hills is a high, strong timber wall, with a gate set in the middle. Above it flies the banner of New Aenochia, and the coat of arms of Duke Huw Bengrisse.

During the day, the doors are open to travellers, but guards stationed near the bridge charge a 5 sp toll for east to west traffic. In keeping with the wishes of Pryzmira to expand eastward, west to east traffic is not currently taxed.

The town itself is just large enough to accommodate its 4,000 person population. Most of the town is represented by one- or two-story buildings built along the sides of the valley, flanking the last stretch of the West Way. The town is small enough that one may see its end; a similar but somewhat longer timber wall which opens out into the River Road.

A few houses are built higher up on the steep hillside. The predominant style of home is made of stout, dark, unfinished lumber, with X-shaped cross-beams and slightly concave, clay tiled roofs which culminate on the ends with little Xs where the fascia extend slightly beyond the peak.

The road is wide enough for two wagons to travel side by side, but the vendors and pedestrians tend to encroach enough that only one is practical. The city widens a bit on the western end, and there is a common area where festivals are held, a particularly important and well-attended one occuring during the Feast of the Unmaking.

A church of Ore-Tsar is along the roadside, with a smaller temple to Toth at the end of a winding path up the hillside.

Just to the right when entering from the bridge side is a long building with a small stable beside. The swinging wooden sign proclaims it to be the Bloody Unicorn, and pictures a a unicorn with crossed out eyes, on its back, with a broken horn stuck in its side. The proprietor is Getthin, a ruddy-faced, merry human who is missing his two front teeth, which he lost in a fight with an Ogre (though if his wife Eilonwy is around, she'll tell the whole embarrassing story about the mule that actually kicked him.)

Usually during the mornings a few enterprising lads are yelling and holding copies of the Hrueset Gazette, a broadside detailing important events, a story or two, and information interesting to farmers and merchants. An advertisement at the bottom usually displays a couple of specials on mundane items at Rhys' Useful Goods. A blacksmith named Owen Smythe knows how to create weapons and armor, but generally can't be bothered to do so without incentive; his bread and butter is in horseshoes, buggy springs, and plowshares. Still, ready-made items can be had at Imperial Surplus, where Chigaru-af-Hotep, a veteran of the Winters Dark War, sells used and outmoded arms and armor. I roll dice from the excellent Arms and Armor guide to determine availability, and require 1d4 days for armor fitting (for humans and elves; other races may require longer).

That's all the detail I've needed so far. Anyone want to extend or supplant with their own interpretations? Or maybe some of you have actually visited the Trolls' Hrueset and have some stories.
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Tadhg
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Post by Tadhg »

Very nice.

I'll assume you extracted and utilized info from descriptions of Botkinburg and Ludensheim.

Any thoughts on how you perceive the Duke's keep and the central area of the city?

Also, The Codex of Erde contains mucho info about various cities and how they are structured and laid out with great info on administration and rule.

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Post by alcyone »

Rhuvein wrote:
Very nice.

I'll assume you extracted and utilized info from descriptions of Botkinburg and Ludensheim.

Any thoughts on how you perceive the Duke's keep and the central area of the city?

Also, The Codex of Erde contains mucho info about various cities and how they are structured and laid out with great info on administration and rule.

:)

Yes, I am using every resource available, though nothing really references Duke Bengrisse or Hrueset by name that I've seen aside from Rising Knight, and that only briefly. I wish I had the original Codex in PDF so I could search it easily, but I consult the paper version often.

I have it in my head that the Duke is an absentee ruler, though of course he must have some seat of power in the the central city area, probably in, on, or under the hills surrounding the buildings that make up the main street. Maybe he is adventurer himself, could be interesting when he returns.
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Post by Troll Lord »

Wow! Very nicely done. That is a great description of that town.

for the politics: It lies upon the very edges of the lands of Duke of Aesperdi. Beyond that are the wilds and small little fiefdoms of knights, adventuring parties, and mercenaries that have sworn allegiance to the Empress and own their lands from her. The towns of Hrueset and Elmast are part of the Duchy and hold their writs from the Duke of Aesperdi, but the town of Malforten is not, it holds its writs from the Empress and as such cannot openly call upon the Duke or his people for aid.

Duke Huw Begrisse is indeed an absentee landlord. He is one of the Dukes of New Aenoch; the Duke of Aesperdi, his capital home lies in the large walled berg of Aesperdi which sits upon a horse-shoe lake called Lake Drunderry Lake (the map in the umbrage saga is a little mis-leading as Drunderry Lake is where the drunderry used to flow, but various cataclysms shifted it to the east. also, i just noted the Hrueson is flowing into the lake not the river, and it should be flowing into the Drunderry River).

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Post by CKDad »

I'm kicking off the Umbrage Saga this weekend and am putting together a map of Hrueset based loosely on this description in Campaign Cartographer 3. Once I've got a decent draft I'll find a place to post it.
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Post by alcyone »

Awesome!
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alcyone
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Post by alcyone »

Awesome!
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