Therolan, an Elven Village
Table of Contents
Points of Interest
General Information
Points of Interest for Therolan, the Elven Village
1. Tree-top fletch guard post
2. Town glade
3. Bower of Tal-Allustiel
4. Bower of House Thalandwire
5. Guardian Griffins' cave
6. Stables
7. Bower of House Aldaval
8. Smithy
9. Boat Launch
10. Fletch of House Wertanthir
11.Fletch of House Tifwing
12. Bower of House Taltaur
13. Provisions and store
14. Militia meeting house
15. Hall of poetry and art
16. Guarded Trap
General Information
Who rules: A council consisting of the heads of the five Houses of Therolan. The council is headed by Windeltha of House Thalandwire; the council has little to do with managing the inhabitants and mostly concerns itself with outside threats.
Money Limit: 200
Population: 593 elves.
Major products: Boats, textiles, game, wine.
Armed Forces: Therolan has 10 full-time guards led by Belost of House Thanlandwire and Padavorn the ranger, a low-ranking Shadow Walker. These guards spend their time secretly watching the entrances to the town and the entrance to the Bower of house Thalandwire, as there is little to no crime in the town itself. In times of trouble, 40 very capable elves can be called up as a militia. Finally, House Thaladwire has two pet griffins that serve as steeds and as guardians.
Therolan is an ancient elven village of the Belendale that watches the peoples of the kingdom of Kale to the South. Therolan, although not a large village, is a particularly well-guarded one, owing to its naturally defensible position, its powerful defenders, and its deadly traps. In fact there are several log dead-fall traps that guard the two southernmost roads into the village. These traps have been hidden with all the skill of the elves and are very difficult to detect. Finally, the bridges across the Aeglir River and the Amlon River are simply narrow and slippery logs. A non-elf crossing this bridge has to succeed at a DC 12 dexterity check or fall into the river; this crossing becomes much more difficult in the face of the arrows from the guardians who hide in a tree-top platform, or fletch, on the village side of the river.
The buildings in Therolan are bowers (made by skillfully planting trees and tending them as they grow until they interlace overhead to form a watertight ceiling) or fletches (tree-houses). Physically the bowers are much like longhouses in shape, with leafy screens that separate the different rooms, of which there are generally only two or three. Two large fletch-compounds are located near the center of town. There are also some wooden and stone buildings in Therolan, notably the compound of house Thalandwire, of which only the front portion of the house is a tree-bower.
Almost all the inhabitants of the village belong to one of five Houses. These Houses are loosely ranked by prestige, based on the age of the house and whether or not its elders have spent time in the Summervale and seen the Great Swan. This prestige is almost never outwardly exhibited and few elves feels personally denigrated by the rank of their House.
The atmosphere in Therolan would be described by a non-elf as "magical," although this effect is created by careful and patient attention to the aesthetics of the surrounding area; the ever- present music, song, and lights add much to this effect. Although the elves of Therolan are merry folk, they are ever vigilant, always aware of their position as a frontier town.
