The Free Dales are an alliance of seven small but fiercely independent towns set near the border of the Eldeshae Forest and the Winding Wood. As they are not a kingdom (or a principality or even a duchy) the Free Dales are not beholden to the Northlaw, though they are in good standing with many nations including Cymry, Gault, Danthrane, Flandre, and (to a lesser extent) Palador. They are ever at odds with Vertaes, however, as the Free Dales sit squarely within Vertaen-claimed territories. As of now, the Vertaen monarchy has been unable to drum up enough support from their neighbors to launch a military strike against the Dales, and nothing short of that would be sufficient enough to force any Dalesman to pay Vertaen taxes… so for the time being, the Free Dales remain free.
Locale: Set within the northwestern portion Vertaes’ declared territories in Freeman’s Forest; borders Cymry (north), Danthrane (northwest) and Flandre (southwest) if Vertaes’ claim remains ignored.
Banner: A black huntsman silhouetted on a field of olive green bordered in brown walnut bark (brown hare for banners)
Role: Freedom-fighting collective of seven dales obstinately attempting secession from Vertaes
Theme: Forested freedom fighters and farmsfolk! Who doesn’t love freedom fighters and farmsfolk?! All that running about the woods willy nilly with bows and arrows. To dislike the Free Dales is to hate America!
Ruler: The Free Dales have no ruler; each dale sends a representative to annual gatherings. Or not.
Duchies: The Free Dales are the Free Dales, there is nothing else.
Capital: None
Cities & Strongholds: None
Notable Towns: The seven Free Dales are: Badgerdale, Bogdale, Clovendale, Delvingdale, Haverdale, Riverdale, and Sunnydale
Landmarks: The Badger Hills, Burberry Hill, the Ghoul Mire, the Long Lake, Marksman’s Vale, the Moorbach Fen, the Rising Lake, Scar Ridge, the Stygian Hills, Vanh Öven (Old Gate), the Winding Wood, the Wyvernmist Mountains, the Yaeli River
Exports: Lumber, pelts, coal, freedom
Internal Factions: The Cloven Men, the Company of the Scar, the Ghoul Mire Militia, Druids of the Sylvan Shield, the Seven Dale Swordsmen, the Sword of St. Calan, the Unfettered Fellows
Old Tongue: Keil (known more to be the old tongue of Kalvala, in Midgardr, and is likely derivative of 17th century Finnish, but is rarely used nowadays)
Nobiliary: None (Old Jeffers Moch once put forth “ol” as a potential nobiliary, but it was voted down six to one and was never brought up again)
Noble Houses: Dell (transplanted from Flandre)
Faiths: Illumination Reformation (40%), Deith Diadh (30%), Vanhoja Juma (20%), Wakhan Shakoi (8%), Zvystni Bohova (4%), Aegyr Udoen (2%)
Oldest of the Dales, Badgerdale was once little more than a few dug-in hovels affixed to the Badger Hills. In time it grew into a bustling hamlet called Songdale, it once had a reputation for its cheery, forward-thinking folk. But no longer; the Dale has clearly fallen on hard times, and is known to the rest of the world by its original name. Badgerdale was once a haven for elves—back when humans, elves and faerie lived peacefully amongst one another. Stout piks still reside amongst humans there, and it is not a strange thing to see Shae traders come up the nearby Yaeli River to do business with Badgerdale’s hardy folk. Half-elves have been known to frequent Badgerdale’s infamous Old Badger Inn in the dark of night. Recently, a half-elf Invoker named Erenstar (a mysterious wanderer said to hail from distant Avalonia) has taken up residence in Badgerdale in hopes of studying the lost secrets of the elves.
Oft forgotten and ill-regarded by most, Bogdale rests splat-dab in the middle of Moorbach Fen, a stone’s throw from the treacherous dangers of Ghoul Mire. Half of Bogdale is a stilt town—and the other half is a constantly shifting mass of barge hovels. Strangers are rarely welcome. The folk of Bogdale are accustomed to difficulty and hardship—not to mention snakes and giant insects—and very rarely does anything succeed in breaking the stoic demeanor of a Bogdalesman. The local healer is a druidess named Riolana, who can usually be counted on for her healing expertise, though rumor has it she is quite mad. Most people avoid Bogdale altogether.
Tucked in the Scar Ridge, Clovendale seems at first a small collective of hillside hovels… but in truth over 80% of the Dale is beneath the ridge and out of sight. Clovendale is a fighter’s town inhabited by combative (and often overly aggressive) men and women. Its history is rich with combat, as it was one of the first Dales to actively take the fight to the oppressive Vertaens, and it remains the Free Dales’ best source for quality fighters and soldiers. Clovendale’s hidden streets are lined with bars, brothels and fighting guilds. Laws are loose; very little is outlawed, in fact, except for thievery. Even murder, if deemed justifiable by the Dale’s Chief Judicer, a grim warlord named Malik the Merciless, is an acceptable form of “just retribution”. Thieves are dealt with harshly; rumor has it that a local fence, “Weasel” Skrum, has just worn out his welcome, and a not-so-small sum of gold has been offered for his head on a pike. Clovendale does not generally welcome visitors. Clovendale is famed for its defensible canyon walls, its massive, retractable bridge that girds the heart of it from invasion.
The only known mining dale, Delvingdale is hardly picturesque. It squats against the Stygian Hills, and most of its inhabitants work the mines—or are married to or involved with the people who do so. “Drab as a Delving dinner” is a known Dales adage, and it’s generally true. Delvingdale is said to be guarded by the ranger Padavan, himself the son of a Delvingdale miner, though some say whiskey has dulled his reflexes over the years.
Freeman’s Forest (called Vapakansa Metsha by the rare Kieli-speaker) is the older name for the Free Dales
The second-oldest Dale, Haverdale is a picturesque hamlet steeped in mystery. Long a haven for weird cults and odd religious factions, it has only just recently allowed the Illumination Reformation—the open worship of the Church of the Immortal Light—within its territory. Haverdale used to welcome the occasional adventurer to town in order to clear out nearby caves of goblin filth, but goblins are rare-seen these days, so that pursuit seems to have dried up. Haverdale was once called Towerdale, named for an old wizard’s tower set on a hill and overlooking the Dale proper—once the home to a mad sorcerer, it is now the home of old Byrne, a sage of some renown. The infamous Byrne has a live-in man-at-arms named Rufus the Ever-Grim, and has of late, decided to clear out a nearby moat house and build a militia.
The Yaeli River flows slowly but surely towards the Long Lake, and from there to the far-off Storming Sea, but first it meanders along the shores of Riverdale, a seemingly picturesque hamlet that actually harbors a dark secret. Called “The Perfect Dale”, Riverdale is a place of tranquil beauty and peace—a peace hard-kept beneath the stern eye of Patriarch Archibald, a no-guff cleric of the Light, and faithful adherent to the teachings of St. Calan. Riverdale prides itself in its many years of peace and its friendly reputation, and it sees no equal amongst the other Dales. Indeed, most Riverdale inhabitants make their opinions plain where other Dales are concerned: Badgerdale is too wild and unkempt; Haverdale is always under the sway of one mad wizard or another; Sunnydale is a haven for ghosts and other undead; Delvingdale is full of rough, unkempt miners; Bogdale has poisonous snakes and giant insects; and Clovendale is far too close to the Vertaen border to Riverdale’s liking. It is no shock that the other Dales return Riverdale’s
Located in the lower foothills of the Wyvernmist Mountains, Sunnydale long cultivated a quiet, rustic image for tourism purposes, painting itself as a quaint, out-of-the-way crossroad between the Free Dales and the west. Sunnydale’s central fixture is the large Church of St. Calan, that includes a beautiful temple and huge monastery. The Sword of St. Calan is the Free Dales’s only active knighthood, and it is run by Sunnydale’s leader, the Patriarch Bannon ven Dell—a retired paladin. Bannon’s own daughter, Leanna ven Dell is a high-ranking knight in the St. Calan clergy. Of late, rumors of increasing attacks by undead have kept visitors to a minimum, but Sunnydale always puts its best foot forward and insists everything is fine.
The small mountain range that the Free Dales are tucked up against; the Wyvernmists also separate Vertaes and the Free Dales from Flandre and the western shores of the Northern Kingdom.
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