The History of Normead

Occasionally, I will sift through my older drafts for fun. Last week I was looking at this gem from an early draft of The Pilgrim Stone. It’s a narrative heavy recitation of the history Grenloch region. My writing group members told me to cut this out as it did a lot of telling and not enough showing. I still agree with them, but what do you think?

Would you like to hear more history about Amarant?

Normead was famously known as the “Last Town in Civilization”. This was for two reasons. First, because it was the last major town before one reached the Orc Gate and the Eastern Mountain Range, which stretched from the northernmost part of the continent to its center. This title also stemmed from the fact that Normead was within the region of Grenloch. Grenloch was the only territory in the North Kingdom that was not currently ruled by a collection of Lords or nobles. Instead, it was ruled by a board of governors – largerly comprised of wealthy merchants – from the major cities and towns in Grenloch.

It was in the year 524 under the rule of King Robert Drummel that the merchants and people of Grenloch rebelled against the ruling noble, Lord Gelas DuLain. Lord Gelas DuLain had inherited the region of Grenloch through marriage and was seen as a foreigner by many of his new citizens. A descendant of nobility and wealth, Lord Gelas was accustomed to an opulent lifestyle and his marriage to Lady Ellena Grenloch was a lavish affair.

Invitations were extended throughout the realms even to the Southern Kingdom. Oxen, hogs and wild boar were slaughtered for three weeks to feed the guests and celebrate the event. Fruits from the jungles in the Southern Kingdom were harvested from a garden grown in Grenloch a year earlier. Wine was purchased from the finest vineyards of the realm of Barcena. The ceremony itself took place a large manor completed only a month before the wedding in Dohrnale, the capital of Grenloch and the largest citadel within the region.

It was a well known custom in the Northern Kingdoms that the groom paid for the wedding. The expense was expected to nearly empty the DuLain family coffers and it surely would have had Lord Gelas not been so crafty. Several months before the wedding he asked his bride-to-be to levy a large tax on grain imported into the region and a tax for wheat exported to the other four realms of the Northern Kingdom. Beguiled by her fiancé and blinded by foolish romance, she agreed.

The edict drew protest from farmers and merchants alike whose livelihoods were directly affected by what was called Grain Tax. Farmers were forced to raise the price of the wheat that they sold to the merchants who sold the grain to the other realms and provinces. Homes and businesses were under duress unable to make ends meet. Their protests were met with a promise from the Lady Ellena that the Grain Tax would be repealed one month before the wedding. When the Gelas DuLain discovered that they had not only managed to pay for all the wedding expenses but had increased their own coffers he suggested that they keep the tax for another year.

One day after the wedding, an assembly of farmers and merchants were sent to castle in Dohrnale to express the deep economic concerns and the pain of the people in Grenloch. Lord Gelas ignored their plight and their pleas for compassion. He ordered the guard to escort the assembly out of the castle and when they refused to leave he had them imprisoned. When news of their new Lord’s actions of indifference reached the people of Dohrnale and neighboring towns, the region erupted into violent civil unrest.

Farmers, peasants, tradesmen and persons from all walks of life in the city burst past the gates of the castle, overtaking the guards – many of whom fled at the site of the entire city lunging at them. Lord Gelas and Lady Ellena fled the palace with a small company of guards and fled Grenloch only moments before the halls and corridors of Dorhnale Castle was filled with the outraged and furious commoners.

The news of the revolt spread throughout the Northern Kingdom. Nobles who had visited the realm of Grenloch only a few days ago were horrified at the thought that they could have been among the fallen or forced to flee like Lady Ellena and Lord Gelas. They now viewed their own citizens as potential insurgents. Nobility from throughout the Northern Kingdom demanded that the king respond to the uprising in Grenloch – preferably with force.

However, a merchant good standing named Frederick Kluge intervened as an emissary on behalf of the inhabitants of Grenloch. He assured the King that the citizens would return to their homes and the uprising and unrest in the region would cease. He further promised that the Lady Ellena and Lord Gelas would be able to return Dohrnale Castle.

“But let us determine our own taxes and economic principles,” Frederick asked. “As you know your Highness, nobles often raise the taxes of their citizens on a whim and on many occasions without reason or guidance from those who perhaps better understand it. Allow a board of merchants, tradesmen, and governors to determine the economic standards and you will see your tribute from Grenloch double in three years time.”

The King agreed to the terms presented to him by Frederick Kluge, allowing three years for Grenloch to increase their tribute before he turned the region back over to Lord Gelas. A Board of Governors was established quickly largely comprised of merchants from the region, Frederick Kluge himself among them. Before three years time the Board was able to reverse the economy but under their guidance and leadership they thrived, becoming the realms largest wheat producing region. So impressed was the King that he allowed the Board of Governors to be the ruling body in Grenloch – subject to him of course.

More than four centuries later the Board of Governors continued to meet annually in Dohrnale in the very manor that had been built for the wedding of Lady and Lord DuLain. The citadel of Normead stood several miles west from Dohrnale in a valley several leagues from the Eastern Mountain Range. The town had been originally been a village founded by farmers, a small community that prospered from the rich soil underneath them. It did not take long for the village to grow into a busy town after a mining company established itself in the hills only a few miles away.

With the rich ores being harvested from the mines tradesmen and blacksmiths soon migrated to the town and merchants followed. The towns growing population called demanded protection from the great orc threat that loomed just beyond the Eastern Mountain Range. The Board of Governors sent engineers to build a great wall of to protect thriving citadel and eventually a governor was elected by the residents of Normead. A century later the strength of that wall was tested when a large tribe of orcs poured through the valley of the Eastern Mountains and marched inland leaving ashes and corpses in their wake. The fortified citadel barely withstood the siege and would have fallen had current King not deployed the Knight Guard to drive the monstrous humanoids back beyond the mountains.

The Pig in the Pot Tavern was almost as old as the town of Normead. It had withstood the earlier raids of barbarians from the north when the town was but a settlement. Bobboh Glinhammer, the current innkeeper and elected Governor of Normead, was an absurdly tall man with a large girth. He was a half-giant, a seasoned warrior and modest cook. He had purchased the inn years ago after its owner had died.