Metraith

Metraith
Metraith in Third Age 1643 (MERP)
Location of Metraith (MERP)
Type	(Small) City/Town
Region	Minhiriath, Eriador
Realm	Arnor; later: Dol Tinereb, Cardolan

Metraith (S. "Streets'-end"): Often considered the capital of Cardolan, Metraith was a strategically-located town in central Cardolan. It stood at the crossroads of the Greenway and the Redway, by the royal hold at Thalion (Metraith was also known as Thalion). Later, after the division of Arnor, the Kings of Cardolan had used the city as a summer retreat called Thalion (S. "Steadfast").

Also known as Thalion, Eriadoran villages had stood on this site along the old Len Caraug since the early Second Age. It fell to a Dúnadan Baronet in the 26th century, but never became a center of Dúnadan settlement. King Tarcil of Arnor built a summer residence here in T.A. 514, after the baronial family died out, and gave Metraith a royal charter. Thorondûr of Cardolan took the old summer palace, named Thalion, for his royal seat in T.A. 861. Metraith had weathered the storms of civil war fairly well. The Princes of Dol Tinarë, always the feudal lords for Metraith, had dwelt in the palace since the destruction of their other keep at Andrath in T.A. 1639.

Metraith about T.A. 1640

Metraith ca. Third Age 1640-1650:

• Type: Town
• Inhabitants: 70% Cardolandrim, 30% Eriadoran
• Population: 340
• Origin: Founded by Tarcil of Arnor as a summer residence, T.A. 514
• Purpose: Seat of the Lords of Dol Tinereb; a supply-center and minor market for traffic on the Greenway
• Symbol: A Golden Pitcher on a Black Field

During the height of the wool trade, Cardolan was the home of over twenty substantial towns, giving it a far larger population than Arthedain and Rhudaur combined. The towns in all three successor kingdoms grew less viable as the economy declined. However, the main problem in Cardolan and southern Rhudaur was that the settlements posed excellent targets for the many forces that ravaged the realms. There were now only six towns in Cardolan of any note, and only one in Rhudaur. All of these had been sacked several times. Metraith, located at the junction of the Redway and the Old North Road, near the center of Cardolan, is representative of what remained. The Princes of Dol Tinereb inhabited a large and crumbling mansion in Metraith. As one of the few remaining viable towns between Bree and Tharbad, Metraith had become an important supply center for caravans, as well as a base for the rougher types that the trade along the road attracted.

Refer to the city-plan above right:

1. Dike of Metraith. Not a serious defense, it is 6' tall, topped by hedges at intervals, and possesses enough of a ditch and rise to stop horses and slow down wolves. Local mercenaries and the town watch patrol it when they can find the time.
2. Southern Gate. Here the Iaur Men Formen, the Old North Road, enters Metraith from Dinach and Tharbad (it is one day's ride to Dinach and two to Tharbad). Built by the Tinereb after the fall of the kingdom, this great two-story stone archway is the only true fortification on the North Road between Tharbad and Fornost. It serves as the frame for swinging wooden gates and the support for a great steel portcullis that drops onto the stone-paved road from above. It is garrisoned by one of the less-ragged units of Harran's Death Brothers. The Death Brothers have been commissioned by Lord Barahir o Tinereb to improve Metraith's defenses, but the towers are run down and not designed for serious defense, and work is progressing very slowly. The townsfolk believe that the Prince's funds are being embezzled, and many suspect treachery. In reality, the Death Brothers are not yet sophisticated enough for these crimes; they are only guilty of incompetence and laziness.
3. North Gatehouse. A steel and wood gate is swung down across the Men Formen here one hour after sundown each day. Three-and-a-half days of wilderness travel on this road will bring the wayfarer to Bree. No towns remain along the route, although the small village of Gamuthill has a real inn and stables about three days into the Barrow-downs.
4. Redway Gate and Northwest Gatehouse. Two days ride along the Men Ceren will take the traveler to Sarn Ford, if the Orcs and brigands don't get him first.
5. Valley Gatehouse. The "Valley Road" runs for three miles through the estates of the Tinereb down to the ford over the Sindiel. The ford is at the bottom of a pretty river valley that provides most of Metraith's food and timber. The road is known, beyond this point, as the Men Neven, and it runs along the edge of the Gwathló valley all the way to Creb Durga and Sunthra Unsar. During Prince Hallas o Dol Tinereb's campaign against the Warlord, his men and supplies are organized in staging areas around this gatehouse, and sent from here down the Men Neven towards the fighting.
6. Traders' Square. Once a center for the trade of merchants from all of Cardolan, it is now a somewhat dangerous place on the poorer side of town, the haunt of mercenaries and caravansaries. Trader's Wood, on the east side of the square, is a caravan camping ground and the best place in town to make illegal purchases and sales. Panderers camped here daily go forth to recruit new prostitutes among the refugee families crowding the alleys and abandoned buildings in the poorer sections of town.
7. Rath Anor. A great boulevard, created by Thorondûr by razing a row of buildings to widen the Men Formen. Most of Metraith's larger businesses and inns are along this street, the quality improving as one moves north.
8. Town Square. Actually a circular plaza. The center of local commerce and festivals, it has seen better days, but is still busier than most such places in Metraith. It is a depressing place in this season, since refugees and displaced peasants wander through it all day looking for work or begging for food. It is crowded with tradesmen and vendors each morning, most of them resenting the refugees, but many doing what they can to help. The pond at the center of the square is surrounded by three-hundred year old chestnut trees. Anyone despoiling the pond will be flogged; anyone harming the trees will be flogged or hung.
9. The Hill. Also called Dunnish Town. This Dunmen's ghetto is on a hilltop defended by an earthen wall and a wooden tower. Once the mayor of Metraith was wealthy enough to have a house and gardens on the hilltop. As Cardolan declined, Dunnish serfs moved into Metraith and were given a defensible place to hold against the various armies trying to take the town. The Magone, chief of the largest of the clans who moved in, dwells in the tower at the west end of the hill with his wife, two sons, and comely, spirited, red-haired daughter, Coeshay. The miserable huts crowded along the crest of the hill are low enough to the ground that the commoners in the central town don't have to look at them.
10. The Row. Hobbit smials and burrow-homes, dug into the side of the Hill. Metraith is the last town in Cardolan with a population of Hobbits, but their numbers are quickly dropping as more and more families move to the Shire.
11. The Fattened Ewe. A pricey inn, famous for its stocks of Usquebaugh, an extremely potent distilled beverage recently invented in Saerlann. Most road-wise travelers stay here, though the price is not worth the service, and few secrets are safe.
12. Shops. A collection of small shops lines the town square, including herbalists, an armorer, general stores, coopers, and wheelwrights.
13. Shop of Kuball. Kuball the Trader is a dealer in assorted goods. Rugs and herbs number among his important commodities. He extends his hospitality often to one Samdir of Osgiliath, a rug merchant, herb dealer, and information broker from Gondor. The Elves know Samdir as Saruman, the White Wizard.
14. The Barrel Shop. Thramir the Cooper is a paid informant for Angmar and an amateur mystic. He has cast spells that accidentally gave him an inkling of how much power Samdir the Rug merchant actually possesses, and is in an agony of fear that the spying he's been ordered to do in Metraith might put him in the Wizard's path.
15. Ridgetown. Along Sunrise Street, which ends at Oget's House on top of the ridge. This is the poorer quarter of Metraith, with a goodly number of brothels and muggers.
16. Oget's House. A fairly respectable brothel for travelers. With the influx of soldiers into Metraith, Oget can afford to be choosy about her customers, and prices have sky-rocketed. Amateurs and transient workers in other buildings and tents in town are taking up the slack. Three stories high and located at the end of a major street, it is the most prominent building on this side of Metraith.
17. The Villa. The townhouse of the Lord of Metraith in the old days, this is now the home of Harran's Death Brothers. They are a less-than-well-reputed mercenary company hired to defend the town and upgrade its fortifications against expected future trouble. Captain Harran, their leader, is a sloppy, rough-hewn sort, with barely enough military education to direct the reconstruction of the dike and gatehouses. Harran takes a simple view of life and is enjoying the lush accommodations of the villa, barely keeping track of how much money he's wasted in the past few months. His chief lieutenant, a short, insincere Dunman named Eagan Tooth, is taking a longer view and wondering how much longer before one of the Tinereb performs an inspection and has his captain hung. Against that day, he is befriending the Magone and looking for a way to turn Harran in before someone else notices the obvious.
18. House of Healing. Maintained by the Sisters of Niesse, it is full of casualties due to the raiding and fighting. The Tinare have provided money for this good work, but can spare little for the civilians harmed by the wars.
19. Refugee Farm. In other times, this burnt-out barn and house would have been rebuilt soon after its destruction during the chaos caused by the Great Plague. Instead, their shells stood abandoned for four years until refugees from the north and west moved in seeking shelter. The Sisters of Niesse have since scavenged supplies and scrap lumber and converted the buildings into a make-shift hospital and shelter for those refugees too poor or ill to sustain themselves in Metraith proper. It is now desperately overcrowded; another fire or a really severe cold snap would probably kill half or more of the three hundred or so people trapped here.
20. Guildsmen's Club. An inn maintained for the use of the wealthy merchants who trade regularly on the roads. One can enter only by being recommended or accompanied by another member of the club. Heavily fortified as inns go, it is the safest building in Metraith, after the Palace itself, and an excellent place to meet important people. A rear entrance is utilized by servants and hired female "entertainment" provided by Oget, who consequently knows much of what goes on here.
21. Mayor's House. If he weren't scared to death of mercenaries, he'd have run the Death Brothers out of town already.
22. The Mithril Earring. An extremely fine and elegant inn that caters to the elite who still pass through from time to time. The service and lodging are excellent, but the prices are unbelievable. The innkeeper's daughter is secretly competing with the ladies from Oget's Place, trying earn enough money to leave town; if her father finds out the truth, he will probably beat her to death.
23. Gallan's Folly. A newly opened inn, hence the name. Gallan provides simple but homely service at reasonable prices. The inn is quiet and as safe a spot as will be found in Metraith. The enterprise will likely fold as soon as the war ends.
24. The Rabid Cow. A seedy inn that prefers Dunnish guests. A good place to find a brawl.
25. Large Stone House. Once the residence of a retired Tarkil soldier, the building is now owned by a Tharbadian Dwarf who keeps it locked up and trapped when he's not present. It is undistinguished save for the fact that the traps have claimed the lives of some of the local thieves and the more desperate refugees. Neither group is organized enough to retaliate by burning the place down.
26. Barracks. Formerly a rather pretty farm on the banks of a stream. The owner fled south last year. The buildings were confiscated by Ernil Hallas and used to house his soldiers in the opening stages of his campaign against the Warlord. The Grey Company, a newer mercenary outfit, is barracked here until such time as the Tinare army's attrition rate from skirmishes and illness creates a need for them closer to the front.
    The Hiri, and the mercenaries as well, are worried about the security of Metraith; they know that Orcs from the northern highlands have patrolled almost as near Metraith as the refugee farm, just across the stream to the west. The once-decaying farmhouse used by the officers of the Grey Company as their headquarters is now cleaner than when the farmer lived here; the outbuildings are sealed against the wind and somewhat fortified, and there are rows of stakes covering the gaps between the buildings and the stone walls around the gardens. The perimeter of the farmyard is continuously patrolled by tall, stern men, protecting both themselves and the stores of food and bedding their thoughtful officers have been hoarding ever since the company left Tharbad. Their leader, Captain Belegund Grey, cuts a fine figure as he walks about the town; some mistake him for one of the stiff and efficient Arthadan military men who pass through Metraith so rarely these days. The amateur Loremasters of the town, however, notice his southern accent and the curious coincidence that his name and those of all his officers are all drawn from the same legend: Belegund, Dagnir the Bane, Dairuin of Dorthonion, and Gorlim the Unhappy were all members of the Outlaws of Dorthonion, the companions of Beren Ercharmion, the greatest of the Adan heroes of the Silmarillion. Belegund and most of his company are actually Gondorians, all ex-soldiers of the Maethyr-en-Aran, the Royal Army, driven into exile for reasons that, while good and sufficient, are not so baneful that they could not be trusted to serve honorably in a company of fellow exiles. They are honest and trustworthy, men of a breed rare in modern Cardolan.
27. The Mill and Millpond. The largest in this part of Cardolan, its owner is Mirnidar the Miller, a Targil ex-soldier who is a personal friend of the brethren Elladan and Elrohir of Rivendell. The country lane running over the mill-dam is probably the weakest spot in the town's defenses.
28. Village. Farmers from west of the stream have come to prefer making their homes on the east bank, closer to Metraith. They look to Mirnidar the Miller as their leader.
29. Old Training Grounds. The Cardolandren Royal Army once barracked and trained south of Metraith, but the buildings are now ruined and the home of petty fugitives from the law. Among these are several mannish and Half-orcish scouts working for the Warlord.
30. Thalion Palace. Since this stands at the outskirts of Metraith, the two are often considered synonymous. Formerly the residence of the Kings of Cardolan, Thalion has been used as the Princely seat of the Tinereb on and off over the last four hundred years. Since the sack of Andrath in T.A. 1639, it has been the only residence left to the family; they are trying to upgrade its fortifications and appearance, but the Tinereb are nearly broke, and the Palace is no more designed for a serious defense than is Metraith. Barahir o Tinereb, the grandson of Prince Hallas o Dol Tinereb, is the only member of the family in residence at Thalion. His part in the war seems to be limited to providing supply to the companies in the field, and he resents this. The palace itself is a large, handsome building – if somewhat squat in appearance – and it sits on a large, artificial mound to increase its prominence and give its inhabitants a fine view over the vale to the southwest.
31. Stone Wall. Extends around the Palace Grounds. 12' tall, but rather thin. Without a fighting step on the inside, to allow it to be continuously manned by soldiers, it is nearly useless for serious defense. Timbers and earth have been gathered for this purpose, but all is delayed while Hallas' war against the Warlord continues.
32. Watch-Towers. Four very small two-storied wooden towers are placed at strategic points along the outer wall of the palace. Bow fire from these towers is the wall's only defense against storming ladders.
33. Palace Gates and Processional Courtyard. Small guard towers protect the gate at the north end of the courtyard. The lane leading towards the palace is lined with trees that bloom at odd moments of the year. There is a chance that a bloom or leaf that appears in the wrong season will have some magical blessing or bane attached to it; the effect is completely random, save that it will be connected to one of the hundreds of poems recited in this courtyard over the years.
34. Festival Court. This flower-edged lawn provides a fine vista for anyone standing on the front steps of the palace. It is surrounded by shallow reflecting pools. The images of long-dead Cardolandren lords can occasionally be seen reflected in the water. These visions are said to be portents of dramatic events, but they are harmless in and of themselves. Most of the older inhabitants of the palace, particularly those in poor health, make it a point never to look directly into the pools.
35. Servants Quarters and Outer Barracks. The guards based here patrol the grounds and walls.
36. Stables and Barracks. Cavalry mounts and the Prince's horses are stabled here.
37. Storage and Supply. A tunnel from this building is the only known entrance to the Palace aside from the front doors.
38. Garden of Contemplation. A pond, trees, flowers, and shrubberies. Unknown to anyone living, one of the trees is a Huorn, bound by a spell in the time of Thorondûr. He is not evil, and has been pondering escape for many centuries. He casts minor spells that make people wandering among the trees feel peaceful and romantic, a habit which has caused both good and bad results. The folk of the court know the reputation of the place and refer to it as the "Garden of Risk," only partly because of the chances of being spotted while trysting among the foliage.
39. Western Gatehouse. The tower is considered too important to be trusted to Harran's Death Brothers. It is garrisoned by Tinereb household troops, who also provide security for the adjacent royal village. The commander, Lieutenant Eradan, is a likable fellow who dearly loves his wife and two small children (who live with him in the tower). He has been promised money and land in Gondor if he can arrange for the deaths of one or more of the Tinereb; he is seriously considering the offer to get his family out of Cardolan.
40. Royal Village. In the days of the Royal Court, important ceremonies were held in and around this plaza, and knights and lords of Cardolan lived in the townhouses. Now the bureaucrats of the Tinereb have moved into most of the houses, which are not as fine as they once were. The better abodes are reserved for the occasional delegations from the other Princes of Cardolan. The very best is reserved for the exclusive use of Prince Arvegil of Arthedain (5% chance of his being present during a given week). This is also the one with many secret listening tubes built into the walls. The Prince has caught on to the trick and is planning to surprise the snoopers in the tunnel under the house, using some gas pellets and fireworks that Gandalf the Grey prepared for him on his last visit to Fornost.

In Later Years

The Town of Metraith in later times (MERP)

The departure of the last of its Dúnadan nobility in the late 17th century marked the end of Dol Tinereb as a political entity. A few settlements persisted along the roads through the centuries after the fall of Angmar, but by this time the Tinereb estates and steadings were merging with the hills of Mindornath, and the name itself was fading from mannish memory.

Notes

• In the 2017 version of his article Population and Urbanisation in Eriador, Thomas Morwinsky renames the location previously identified as "Metraith" as "Arading" while assigning the name "Metraith" to the location previously identified as Gwaelin. (published in Other Minds Magazine Issue 13)

References

• MERP #3700: Lost Realm of Cardolan
• MERP #2005: Arnor
• MERP #2023: Arnor: The Land