Refugee Medvos



The Refugee Medvos (Del."Medes" or "Vins") were a group of settlements originally built as camps of refugees, mostly Gramuz or Lake-Men, who sought to escape the Great plague.Most Verar had  defensive ditch-and-mound ar- rangements and woven withy boundary fences. The region of refugee settlements was a rugged series of hills forming the eastern scarp of the upper Nan Celduin. Exposed shale outcrops were common amidst both the steep inclines and frequent gorges to be found in the area. Most of the uplands were lightly wooded, with tall oak, elm and hickory predominating and a heavy undergrowth of thorns and woody shrubs (in contrast to the copses further east on the Gramuz-inhabited oak savanna). Growing nearer to the scattered ravines and gullies, ash and several varieties of conifer were abundant, along with rhododendron and mountain laurel. Cross-country off-trail movement was painfully slow and tiring.