Introduction to Angrenost

Angrenost is an ancient city, built before the Fall of Numenor in the Second Age, well over 3000 years old. Its origins hearken back to a time when Sauron sent armies forth from Mordor and threatened to sweep down upon Eriador and the lands to the west. Angrenost and her sister Aglarond (Helm's Deep) to the south were constructed to face that danger. However, while armies may have passed by, none filled the thousands of chambers within the Ring surrounding Orthanc. Sauron was captured and taken to the Isle of Numenor, leading to its Downfall and the escape of the Faithful of Numenor who then formed Gondor and Arnor. Angrenost was given to Gondor and represents the very western point of its military claims. Beyond the Gap of Calenardhon the western lands are mostly deserted. Angrenost was never threatened again until now - in recent decades the strength of orcs and other creatures grows daily in the Misty Mountains and indeed several battles have taken place attempting to stop migrations of orcs and hostile hillmen into the White Mountains to the south. Not all have been successful, especially during the chaos of the Great Storm.

Angrenost then is home to a garrison of Gondorian soldiers under what has become a hereditary Commander. Fiercely Gondorian, nonetheless the Families and soldiers of Angrenost are brought up to remember the civil war and the role of the northlanders, in war after war, in maintaining Gondorian superiority. Indeed, the Commander's family roots trace back to the time of Eldacar, victor in the Kin Strife, when Angrenost stood firm against Castimir the Usurper. The Commander's troops are trained in the Gondorian manner and they are all hardened veterans - the families live in the Ring or in the settlements and there are bloodlines of soldiers going back hundreds and hundreds of years, with every member of the family serving Angrenost. Soldiering is a life choice here, with retired soldiers welcomed and expected to continue to assist with training and logistics etc. In fact those retired are invited to tend the inner gardens, orchards and fisheries within the Ring. This is very sensible as it means in an emergency, should the gates be breached or the walls scaled there will always be soldiers ready to defend Orthanc and the surrounds within the Ring.

Far more now that a military base, over the thousands of years without a large garrison or threat to warrant one, Angrenost grew to become one of the Wonders of Middle-earth, its sheer walls and incredible tower of Orthanc attracting sages and Lords alike. Travellers from far and wide came here to gaze in wonder and to wander the miles of corridors and chambers inside the Ring, including the great Libraries and Archives. Some never left, while others would bring their own heirlooms and wagons of books, rescued as the three kingdoms of the sons of Isildur fell. From a military fortress, Angrenost began to turn into a haven for knowledge and quiet study, with the Orthanc tower a focus for science and astronomy.

The Great Plague

Much changed in the West after the Great Plague. There were too few left to maintain all the farms and not enough to need the grain and livestock. The surrounding lands were reclaimed by Nature and the surviving Families grouped together to take the best of the farms and grazing land, forever linking their fate with the garrison of Angrenost ; from that time onwards at least one member of a family every other generation had to be sent to serve in the Garrison. In those time, when outsiders and enemies pressed to take advantage of the chaos, the Families and Commander fought together. Ever since the bond between them has been an oath of blood. Slowly, the people recovered in numbers sufficiently to raise a dyke and wall two miles south of the Ring and to reinstate a bridgehead on the western side of the Angren a mile southeast of the Gates. Trade resumed and merchants and travellers began to arrive once more. Still, the greatest times were long gone and Angrenost would stand untouched by time as Arnor fell and the Witch-king was driven from Angmar. It would do nothing as wars with Haradrim and Corsairs swept by. In its infancy it would stand and watch as Minas Ithil fell. More recently the empty and locked tower of Orthanc stared east as Osgiliath was destroyed. Some say that if Minas Tirith falls, it will be to Angrenost that the Steward will march, to make the last stand against darkness and all loss of hope.

Much like Osgiliath in its last days, Angrenost relies on its population being bolstered and renewed by arrivals of travellers and merchants, as well as those wanting to live within the walls and protected fields. Outsiders are never truly trusted until many generations have served here, but even so they are welcomed on the whole, as long as they offer skills or strength. There is plenty of land untilled and the Ring has a thousand unclaimed chambers and forgotten secrets. The scholarly pursuits that dominated Angrenost for countless generations continue, though the dwindling numbers and bloodlines of Numenor are no different here than in Minas Tirith; old men turn to dust and their knowledge remains penned in tomes that are pushed back on stone shelves in locked libraries, the keys lost. When Orthanc was locked by the Stewards and the keys returned to Minas Tirith, many left with them and took great stores of knowledge with them back to the capital of Gondor, yet far more remains still if it can be found.

The Ring-wall

Artisans, scholars, Fellows, all are welcome here, as much as soldiers and farmers and young families. While the skilled and literate are usually homed within the Ring itself, the landsmen and hunters gain vacant homes outside, with a press of houses and shops lining the roads of the Market directly south of the Ring. Dockyard workers and traders hold the Quay near the bridge over the Angren; miners live near the coal mines and trails up to the mountains; fishermen and hunters keep to their ponds and woods. The Gates divide those who wish to dwell inside the city and those who prefer to work the land, breed livestock, hunt, fish and raise their families outside of the Ring. The Market and the Ring contain their own entertainment and social gatherings, with taverns and halls segregating through choice of the inhabitants more than any spoken law.

While the life of seasons and early mornings dominate the Surrounds, within the Ring there is emphasis on paying your way and contributing to the maintenance of the city. Orthanc births twelve avenues from its lake to form spokes of a wheel that meet the Ring's inner circumference road. Between the points where the avenues meet the Ring, the twelve sections marked out are maintained by a military and civic governor, who is assigned a force of troops by the Commander and also is responsible for the non-military population. It should be borne in mind that the majority of these sections are entirely deserted and only hold soldiers and those who patrol the inner chambers and halls for treasure hunters and archive scavengers, as well as darker intruders. Only three of the sections are inhabited to any great extent and in these there are also Watchmen who serve the Governor, all reporting back to the Commander who lives above the Gate.

These southernmost three sections are the best maintained and repaired areas, as the duties of every inhabitant is to place a proportion of their earnings towards the provision of materials and the cost of repairs. Those with obvious skills to assist are usually put to work some days a month, rather than any payment gathered. None resent such a tithe of labour or coin, at least none who would speak up and expect to continue to be welcome here. Fellowships tend to have great lists of duties for their apprentices and journeymen, ranging from exploring the lower levels to dusting the miles of shelves, or replacing hundreds of wooden doors and iron hinges. A certain desperation hangs over the Masters of the Sages, who daily bemoan the crumbling knowledge turning to dust that they have too few and too little time to reach and save.

Three Tiers

All is not equal though in the city. The physical layout of the Ring with its thousands of windows and doors facing Orthanc shows there are three levels above ground, with a lower level that is usually barred securely. Socially, the top level is held by the Governors, Commander, higher Masters, plus any that claim clear nobility and can back it up with coin. The Commanders have always been practical - without coin and labour the fortress would be a false comfort, with none left to guard it, abandoned. Doubtless orcs, hillmen or rangers of the Chieftain would move in and take it from Gondor. The top tier of the fortress is thus expensive and earned by coin or by contribution. The ways up from the middle tier are by covered stone steps and arches, with gates and Watch guards.

The middle tier is more for the Fellowships and their homes, workplaces and shop fronts. Lesser nobles and richer families dwell here and socialise together. Some of the higher ranking soldiers find homes for them and their families here, should the Commander or Governor favour them so. Particularly respected veterans have more communal housing made available to them. The Middle tier is left open at all times outside of war, so that business can be done here. All Journeymen and Masters with shopfronts will have them on this tier, as will the richer and more successful Merchant Houses, though their stone warehouses keep to the lower level.

The service industry of cooks, servants, cleaners, traders, non-Fellowed artisans and travellers are kept to the ground level tier. Most Watchmen also live here. The usual mix of cultures, peoples, occupations and attitudes combine in the lower level to offer a rich tapestry of normal life for normal cityfolk, in an entirely abnormal city. While the inner road bordering the Ring is kept free of stalls, outbuildings and entertainers, the large archways stand open in each of the twelve sections and lead into wide hallways and multitudes of chambers that house all manner of classless occupations and entertainments. Each of the occupied twelve sections of the Ring have their own large drinking establishment offering food, alcohol and a place to stay the night - one per tier is the norm, though not the law.

The Watch and the Scavengers of Lore

There may seem no use for Watchmen, but such a mix of influences and visitors have led to a great deal of trouble in the past, with murders and kidnappings the worst, smuggling and trading outside of the tithes and laws the norm. A lucrative trade in rediscovered artefacts and stolen tomes still fetch good prices - only the Seers are allowed to legally seek and exchange coin, but the other Fellowships in other cities of Gondor frequently send their own cronies to attempt to purchase or steal knowledge for themselves and their own glory. Straightforward crime and lawbreaking is fairly common on the lower tier, especially as tensions rise with the press of war and the enemies to the north and apparently all around. For those of less virtue, the stealing of knowledge and selling it on can lead to easy riches.

The Angrenost Watch and its cadre of well trained officers and footmen help to maintain law and order within the city, and in times of crisis, help to provide further forces for defense. The Watches comprise almost exclusively of retired soldiers with no wish to tend the orchards and ponds surrounding Orthanc. The Watch holds the keys for the city jail cells and these exist on the lower tier only.

The Garrison

The Garrison maintains its forces on the top of the Ring where it holds vigil, but the soldiers dwell on the lower tier in spacious barracks, with sprawling armouries and training halls, most empty and dusty. From here they can quickly ascend to the top of the Ring should the need arise, as well as hold the Gates and other crucial points of defence. They can also issue forth for patrols and duties. A rotating force of soldiers protect the bridgehead, Quay and Millhouse, with others on the wall before the dyke to the south. Most though keep to the Ring and the strongholds that keep the orcs and others from streaming down the trails into the hills and farmlands below. There was never a possibility of maintaining cavalry here, so many decades ago northmen were invited to come and hold the empty stables near the Gates inside the Ring, living with the other soldiers and forming a cavalry unit they themselves maintain, with help from land assigned to a northland contingent in the Surrounds.

Mysteries

Inside the fortress, there is plenty of space and sometimes, inevitably, ghost stories and scares spring up and get worsened over the hundreds of years. Some wonder who profits from introducing enough mystery and wonder inside the Ring itself to scare off prying eyes and the wandering feet of the young who might explore too deeply and discover too much. However, it is well known that there have been people who wandered too far from the lights of buildings and paths both inside the Ring and outside in the hamlets. Dark creatures that are more shades than physical look out for those who wander in the darkness they say. The arcane knowledge stored in Orthanc and the Ring to a lesser extent draws those who should not be named like moths around a lamp. It is rumoured that there are certain parts of the Ring that are completely off limits due to the shades that have drifted in when the Gates were left open, slipping from dark pool to black corner until they found their way into long-deserted chambers.

Outside, the Surrounds encompass hills and farmland, with longhouses and hamlets, woods and grazing areas. Each of the seven Families has assigned land to work, along with one of the Sections within the Ring assigned to them. The most populous of these clearly favour the largest families, although each is then bound to supply the section of the city with its torches, supplies for soldiers to eat and drink, leathers, ingots and the like as needed. So the larger families are also the ones with the greatest demand on their resources. It is likely that the players will find themselves in one of the empty sections when they arrive and their own army units, farmers and cityfolk move into a new area to fill and supply themselves.