Swanlynn

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 Cardolani 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.