Swanlynn in the Faynereach
A Riverman "port" on the Brandywine, at the mouth of the River Reedly. Not the most pleasant location on the river, it provided a home to swarms of mosquitoes, gnats, and neeker-breekers. Most of the village's population lived on barges and boats anchored inshore of the mud bar at the mouth or "nape " of the Reedly, where it entered the Brandywine. The Calamity was the oldest of the barges anchored in the Nape. Its actual age was a matter of some dispute, as the vessel had outlasted any number of owners. It was reputed to have once had a charm placed on it to ward off worms, rot, and leaks. Vengaree, the last owner, dealt in smuggling , gambling, slave-trading, and any number of other vices. Attempts to raid the Calamity invariable failed, as the Rivermen hired by the Cardolandren or Arthadan authorities to guide and row their boats routinely tipped off Vengaree. This allowed him to hide evidence, and , if necessary , disappear into the marshes for a time. Unknown to anyone living, the hull of the Calamity was made of magical dirwood cut in Beleriand during the Elder Days. Part of the spoils from the sack of Menegroth, it was salvaged from the ancient battlefield of Sarn Athrad by Sinda refugees and carried east to build the doors of an Elvish frontier keep in the early Second Age. Just how the wood came to be used for hull timbers on an eriadoran river barge was obscure, but the decisive events occurred in S.A.1694 during the war between the Elves and Sauron. What remained was a virtually unsinkable watercraft with a curious escape hatch. The existence of this "Elf-door " was masked by the filth and debris that littered the floor of the barge's hold. Picking up the door by one of its two carved handles caused the debris to recede from its edges; it returned when the door closed. Vengaree and Idris, his wife, both knew of the portal's existence, although they understood few details of its varied functions or its past. They used it to cross to other boats in the area and occasionally to escape to land when legal harassment got too intense.
Anyone in the hold of the Calamity who had sailing or similar skill could notice that there was almost no seepage in this hold. The debris on the floor was dampened by condensation alone. If the Elf-door was located, a similar perception should note that the uncovered hatchway was in the bottommost hull of the barge. It should, therefore, open directly into the river and sink the boat. The Elf-door was quite invisible from beneath the barge; the bottom of the Calamity's hull was draped with mold, scum, and barnacles just like the other vessels anchored here. There were actually two ways to open the 3'x 3'Elf-door, since two of its sides each had a handle formed by notches carved into the wood. Which passage one opened depended on which handle one pulled. Neither of the two passages existed on the natural plane; both led through realms of spirit and shadow. Northern Handle—(Forden ) The door opened into a damp earthen tunnel. It led, with each new opening, to different locations roughly 400-4000 yards away on the east bank of the Brandywine. If the tunnel walls were chopped at, the digger would discover only saturated mud no matter how far he got. At its far end, the escape tunnel opened under a rock slab, a matted mass of roots, or a section of sod. When the last person left the tunnel and closed the escape door, it disappeared. If it was left open more than 10-100 minutes, it collapsed and resealed itself. No bodies of anyone thusly trapped would ever be recovered. Southern Handle—(Harden) Opened on a constructed passage of leather supported by hardwood slats. The lattice of slats appeared to be holding back considerable water pressure. If anyone pierced the leather of this passage, all within IO' feet would be struck with a water bolt in time it took the passage to reseal. This leather passage led into the neighboring boat of the opener's choice.
Idris , Vengaree's wife, ran the family business whenever he was away, particularly when he believed, rightly or wrongly, that he was in trouble with the law. She had such a docile, domestic nature, that no one had the nerve to confiscate the barge with her on board. Idris was, of course, tough as nails under her tame, motherly exterior; indeed, as her many deeds suggested, she was rather a wicked thug.
Swansong Nape in TA 1640[]
The folk of Swansong Nape are just becoming aware of the existence of Muddling Annis, a dread spirit, female in form, who drowned men in the Overbourne Marshes. The spirit itself was real, but its name and theoretical history derives from Eriadoran mythology, for the inhabitants of Swansong Nape through their own foolishness, devised a legend to explain the creature's existence. The legend suggested that a group of local young girls had been kidnapped by Vengaree and his band, who hijacked the boat, and sought to sell them as slaves, but hunted by Dúnedan authorities and the folk of the girl's villages, they drowned the girls in the river. In fact, no children were slain, but rather their property stolen; for in truth, Vengaree's band of his wife and their henchmen Handir and Urvalt, corsairs of a sort, kidnapped several Dúnadan children, hoping to sell them as slaves in Umbar, but finding on one a cursed talisman, gifted to her by her father, they released their prisoners in fear, dropping them unconscious in the waste, and leaving them for dead. The girls survived, coming by hard ways to Tharbad, where their terror drove them to form the legend to flee from their pasts; but in the hands of Vengaree, the talisman turned to mischief, and he cast it into the river, speeding down the Brandywine and hoping never to return; and there it summoned an evil spirit, a Faedagun. This was the Annis, which manifested at once into a twisted, corrupt maid-child-form, as an insult to its former owner. The Annis still dwells on the Brandywine river-bottom near Swansong Nape, fearing and hating mannish life, for it considers itself a prisoner of men, both the children who once owned it as property and the ruffians who stole it. Three people have gone missing in this area, murdered because they went out into dark, muddy areas at night, and happened to reseble the talisman's thieves. The Annis remembers the name of Vengaree, and has watched and hated him from a distance—inducing in his corrupt mind visions of terror and dark nightmares. However, it has not attacked him, watching and waiting only. Vengaree, Idris, and their two henchmen Handir and Urvalt, are coming back to Swansong Nape sometime this season. The power of the demon's hatred has left him a recurring nervous twitch; of late, it has even caused him to start suddenly in conversation, thinking that someone has whispered his name while thinking of pain and death.
Swanlynn about 3019[]
Conflict with the Shire Hobbits eventually drives most of the Rivermen away from Swansong Nape in the centuries following the fall of Arthedain. However, industrious Hobbits from the Southfarthing are able to start a true port at the river mouth and eventually build a town, called Swanlynn, on dikes and banks high enough to avoid the worst of the spring floods. Swanlynn prospers after a fashion. Hobbit boatmen run small barges and boats from here south to Sarn Ford; north to Haysend, Bucklebury, Stock, and Bridgby; and east up the River Sarig into the Red Hills. A few Riverman barges remain anchored in the Nape, a last outpost of that people on the western side of the Brandywine. The Calamity, renamed many times, lasts through the centuries. No owner or other local lives long enough to realize how indestructible it is. In the 31st century of the Third Age, the barge is called the New Venture. The vessel pays for itself by serving as a trading post for the steady trickle of river traffic. However, it still draws loose-living folk from all directions and also sup port s questionable card and dice games. Its owners supplement their gaming income by trafficking in bad liquor and narcotic herbs. The Brenthaws, the wealthiest Hobbit family in the Faynereach, the area around Swanlynn, get a "rent" from Arteveld Holman, the owner of the New Venture. Both are actively involved in trafficking with Sharkey's minions during and after the War of the Ring.
Inhabitants[]
mid Third Age: Handir Idris Muddling Annis Remlis Helmsdottir Urvalt Vengaree
late Third Age: Arteveld Holman
References[]
- MERP:The Shire