Dalenga Degannon - Magic Elven City on the Great River

Dalenga Degannon is the name of the Elven city that moves on the Great River.  It was built by a particular group of High Elves years ago, when they turned renounced their claim on living in the realm of Faery and decided that a permanent outpost was required in the world of the Valley.

High Elves actually have several hidden cities, in both the Holabrian and Destriel Moutains, but nothing in the central lands of the Valley, where the Westron Baronies are to be found.  They do, of course, cross over (from time to time) and have dealings with other types of elves that are within the valley.  This usually includes the dark elves (or deep elves), the drow elves, the wood elves (who semi-permanently maintain peace around the various arboreal gateways to the Faery realms), and the enigmatic Grey Elves.

Dalenga Degannon was built sometime after the settlement of the first Westron Baronies, but well over a thousand years ago (approximately the year 100 or so, after the start of the Westroner migration).  It was built by the High Elves, but it is believed to be based on secret knowledge they have of the construction techniques employed by the Old Ones, especially those of Ba'a Zarn the Builder.

High Elf city of Dalenga Degannon, on the Great River

The city is constructed on (and within) a large granite island.  The island appears, even under close inspection, to be a solid stationary island, made of a large rocky base, and extending high into the sky.  Upon it are built all manor of Elven towers, halls, and manors.  Within it exists a wonderful city, of underground streets and plazas, full of magical light and plants and animals - both from the Valley and from Faery.

The city moves, east and west, along the Great River.  It has never been seen moving, but once it has settled in a place for some time (it varies - the reasons for the timing are only known to the High Elves themselves), it will suddenly be gone, and have moved elsewhere.  The moves are always accompanied by the most dangerous and threatening of storms - lightning, thick fog, heavy rains and strong winds.  This may account for there not being any witnesses.  In fact, Archivists from Parn Tandalorn are split in decision over whether the city itself moves (as in - the island floats along the river) or if it magically just appears in a new location - some massive application of teleportation magic.

It has been long debated as to whether the city could appear in any one of the Nine Rivers, or if it is only feasible for it to move on the Great River.  Certainly no recorded instances of it being spotted in one of the other rivers have been made.  Smaller craft, and some of the "daughter islands" have been spotted on the lesser rivers.

In addition to Dalenga Degannon itself, there are a number of smaller islands that contain structures owned by the High Elves.  These move about in a similar fashion (moving during a horrendous storm, with no witnesses to the method of movement), but are much smaller.  Often times they are not much bigger than a castle and some outbuildings.  It is not known if there is a set number of such daughter islands, or if they come and go as required.  Certainly, the few travelers who have been lucky enough to spend time ashore/aboard one of the daughter islands describe ancient structures there - similar to the feel and age of the ancient structures on the main island/city itself.

The daughter island, Colatta Diel, having berthed near the Harp Woods

High Elves, which although not especially friendly to the human Baronies, are certainly quite friendly towards individual Humans and members of other races (other than the dark, or Goblyn, races - orcs, goblins, and their ilk).  Members of the race who have dwelt on Dalenga Degannon speak of the city as if it is a Woman, with a mind and will of her own.  They say she goes where she will, and no one - neither an elf of the Valley, nor a highborn elven sorcerer of the Seely Court - can control or predict when and where Dalenga Degannon will move herself.

Dalenga Degannon herself boasts a small navy of amazingly lithe elven long boats, each having a prow tipped with the head of a Swan.  These boats each carry scores and scores of the slim elven knights, wearing their curiously tightly fitting elven chainmail, long lances with tips made of a curious blue-ish metal, and equipped with bows made of living branches of Trow wood - a type of tree that only grows on the isolated slopes of Mount Nar Igew - at the mouth of the Stormwash River.  A High Elf city is there, and it is responsible for the tending of the Trow wood groves, from which the elven bows are made.

The Faery and the Goblyn

Two broad groups of intelligent species dwell in the Valley that predate both the Older Ones, and of course, the younger races that dwell there now.  These are the Faery and the Goblyn.

The Faery include all of the normal magical races one would associate with that group - leprechauns, pixies, fairies, etc - but also the arboreal magical races - such as nymphs, dryads, nyads, centaurs, fauns, and elves.

The Faery do not have gods or goddesses, as such, but rather have a number of very powerful beings who rule over the Seely court.  These are King Oberon and Queen Titania, among others.  The Seely Court is removed from this world, and exists in the Seely Realms.  How or when this split from the World took place, none now alive know.  It is possible that Oberon or Titania know, but they do not speak of it.

The most human like of the Faery are of course the Elves.  They dwell almost entirely in their forest realms, which are areas around where portals from the Seely Realms intersect easily with the world of the Valley.  As expected, time and distance in the Seely realms are very different from time and distance as measured between portals in the world of the Valley.  Because of this situation - that the Elves congregate around the Faery portals - it is rare that Elves in any number are seen outside of their own Fey glens and hollows.

Humans who encounter Elves often mistake the leading figures of the Seely Court as elven "deities".  This is not exactly true, but it is common enough for humans to believe so.  There are Elves who venerate the members of the Court in such a way, that they behave as Priests while in the world of the Valley, receiving powers and spells from the realm of Faery due to their loyalty and fealty to the Court.

When the Seely Realms were separated from those of the World, at the same time the Unseely Realms were also formed.  These were populated by the Goblyn races, mostly.  Those consist of the goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, ogres, trolls and other affiliated races.  The magics of the Unseely Realms are not nearly as well formed nor as well behaved as the magics of the Seely.  Because of this, it is much less likely that travel back and forth against the Unseely portals takes place.  Unlike the Faery, the Goblyn portals are almost all underground, some are very deep underground.  A number of powerful dark magic beings rule over the Unseely Realms, and these are sometimes venerated by the Goblyn races as their own "deities".  This is much less likely than with the Fey folk.

Two interesting outliers from this situation are notable.  The first are the Dark Elves.  These are a group of elves that, for unknown reasons, have chosen to ally themselves with the Unseely Realms.  They dwell mostly underground, and are consummately evil.  They are the most powerful, magically, of the Unseely folk, rivaling some Faery folk for power.

The second exception are the very mysterious Gray Elves.  There are, roughly, three distinct groups of Faery Elves (apart from the Goblyn Dark Elves).  The first two - the High Elves (who dwell mostly in the Seely Realms, but visit the world of the Valley from time to time) and the Wood Elves (who are more likely to remain in the Valley for some time, but always remain in the forests near the portals where they can remain in contact with the Seely Court) never remain forever in our world.  They travel back to the Seely Realm (some more or less frequently than others, but none remain here forever), and look to the Court for their guidance and allegiance.

The Gray Elves, on the other hand, are of the Faery sort, but they have decided to come to our world and dwell her permanently.  They often take up residence in parts of the world far from the forests, usually because they cannot bear the sadness that results from their decision not to return to the Seely Realms.  They Gray Elves often speak in enigmatic riddles when discussing the world, and why they dwell apart from other Elves.  It is possible that they may know about the reason for the split of the Seely and the Unseely from the world of the Valley.

One curious feature of the separation of the Goblyn and Faery from the world, there are occasionally babies born to both Elves and Orcs (the races closest to humans) that resemble a human being close enough to be mistaken for one at a glance.  There are mischevious members of both the Seely and Unseely realms who will bring such babies to Human communities and exchange them for human babies.  In both cases (the elf or orc child raised by humans, or the human child raised by elves or orcs) the results are referred to as Half Elves or Half Orcs.  Once their true origin is known, neither are ever fully trusted by Humans.  It is not known how the human counterparts are treated in the Faery or Goblyn realms.

Thieves in the Valley of the Old Ones

In a sword and sorcery setting like the Valley of the Old Ones, there are ample adventure and storyline opportunities for thieves.  In fact, they are a vital part of any large adventuring party.  But how do they fit into the setting?  In the Westron Baronies, there are of course thieves and outlaws of all stripes - as many as you would expect in any typical medieval setting - and there are also laws and lawkeepers at all levels who would seek to thwart them.

Before discussing outlaws, however, a brief word about laws and justice is in order.  Since the collapse of the Duchy at Narn, and even before, each Barony set its own laws and handed out its own justice.  In all but the most wealthy, there is little in the way of a prison - except for important notable prisoners (Gorrem, Ungams, Na Kram, and Huygen are exceptions with large prisons for criminals of all social levels).  Because of this, justice is usually quick.  Either execution, or mutilation, and the criminal is let go.  Thieves who have been at it for a long time, and who are not excellent at their trade, are often missing ears, hands, or have brands on their bodies.  Thieves who risk bold crimes who aren't very good at it, end up dead in one of the many gibbets that dot the countryside outside the larger cities and castles.  In many cases, determining who is guilty and who is not, is done by Ordeal.  This can vary from the very crude Ordeals by Fire and Water (just as brutal and horrible as they were in our own Middle Ages), to Ordeals by Combat and by Magic. In some areas, these Ordeals are handled by members of the Church, and in others by civic Judges or Sheriffs.

Thieves, or particularly the adventuring type, are often wise to avoid crimes in the larger cities (although not all follow this advice).  With the many adventuring sites, burial mounds, ancient ruins, and petty castles and towers scattered throughout the valley there are ample opportunities for thieves to get rich by removing the treasures of those who are either long dead, or who are living outside the law themselves.  Not too many will give more than an instant of pause to the legality or morality of a thief plundering the dungeon burrows of an orc chieftain, or taking the golden treasures in the tower of a long dead necromancer.

All of this is not to say that crime does not exist in the cities, nor are there outlaws who operate in the populated reaches of the Baronies.  Those criminals, however, are often a member of one or more thieves' guilds.  The guilds that have overlapping geographical reach often have secret signs and passwords to identify one another (after all, they can't go about with easily recognized outward signs of their membership), and are often at war with each other.  Being a member in a guild requires the thief to contribute some amount of his take (perhaps 10% per year) but provides a reasonable source for hiring "help" and also for learning the skills of the trade.

In almost any population center, there is some level of organized crime.  In the larger areas this guilds fulfill this role, but in smaller areas this could be a band of rogues (thieves to be sure, but also affiliated sell-swords and outlaw magicians) that practices a systematic (or highly random!) campaign of banditry.

Thieves, as with all others who live on the fringe of society, are as likely to be from an "alien" culture as from the native population.  In the hearlands of the Valley this includes members of the Storm King Tribes, the Sun King Tribes, and the many, many types of non-humans that dwell in the valley (including the somewhat friendly demi-humans such as Gnomes, Elves, Dwarves and Halflings).  Both Faery and Goblyn changeling children (commonly called Half-Elves and Half-Orcs) are often thieves, even in civilized areas.  Although the occupation seems to diminish any strong feelings of trust and honor amongst their fellow pursuers of the trade, there is a sort of kinship amongst thieves, as they are all together outside the law.