Paurgiliath Peacekeepers Outpost PK#7
Map: Q12
The Paurgiliath Peacekeepers Outpost PK#7 is a bit of a historical puzzle, built on what should be Numenorean ruins. It is also the Northwestern screening fort for Thalion Paurgiliath Arch Duke of Eltán's hidden Western Fortress city of Sîrnan, and an important link in the pacification of the Western end of the Great Inland Waterway Initiative. It is the site of the largest school and largest orphanage West of Nexus Prime.
Once known as Zadan-An-Adun, or Kharad Karadûn, all sources agree that the original ruins here are of a Númenórean outpost. Several maps and drawings exist (see below), however they are mutually contradictory. In the intervening tens of thousands of years, waves of reconstruction, decay, resettlement, new construction, and more decay have been layered on top of whatever remnants the original builders left behind. It is also the site of the largest school and largest orphanage West of Nexus Prime.
When the area was first scouted in the Age of Return, the prominent layer most resembled the third of the preserved drawings, but differed in several particulars (leading to speculation that it may be a later fortress, built in imitation of the city portrayed in this drawing, rather than being the actual construction pictured in the drawing), and with several crumbling less durable refits atop it.
Our best geologists assure us that the cliffs in the elegant second drawing must be apocryphal or misplaced, as the low hill commanding the river fork has grown, not decreased, for time unimaginable.
Why the first painting shows no fork in the river is a mystery, as all histories agree that the outpost was originally built to command the confluence of the Aron Dùin with the Norpul River.
The existing ruins have been rebuilt yet again by the Paurgiliath Peacekeepers as Outpost PK#7 in alliance with local tribes. Their construction is a strong modern Free Imperia fortress, but is influenced by the attached documents, as well as by the existing structures.
When the Inland Waterway project arrived, some rather nasty cannibals ruled the surrounding forest tribes from the ruins. The Peacekeepers were contracted to bring stability to the area, and the forest dwelling tribes in the area were delighted to be out from under the cannibals' autocratic yoke. With the cannibals removed, the forest tribes needed the Peacekeepers to stay to protect them from more militaristic cultures in Anbalukkhor and the Thanihazad.
As the Great Inland Waterway Initiative was being constructed, and Eltán's new hidden Western fortress city Sîrnan needed screening outposts, the Peacekeepers claimed the outpost, which none of the forest tribes wanted, and built a fortress with a large branch of their orphanage and school.
Many of the local chieftains send their children to the school, and some important folk from further afield have sent children as well. In addition, the orphanage takes in children from large areas of the Thanihazad and Anbalukkhor, even working with the WATC to rescue foundlings from surrounding regions. A remarkable number of the first generation of these foundlings are nearing graduation and training hard to join the Peacekeepers.
The forest tribes meet in a tribal council hall at the outpost to settle issues relating to their self governance with a guarantee of peaceful outcomes (guaranteed both by tribal oath and by superior force). Small units of tribesfolk assist the Peacekeepers as auxilliaries, both aquiring training and sharing their local knowledge.
The rebuilt fortress is a mix of the original styles and the pictured construction, adapted to sound defensive practice from Free Imperial standards. It nicely commands the fork in the river, which has been enlarged for occasional Skylock usage, not as part of the Great Inland Waterway Initiative, but for special shipments to and from Sîrnan.
Historical Documents
- 'In memory of Arda', Paurgiliath Family Library. This painting is believed to be 800 years old, by a nameless Harnic artist. The 600 year old volume in which it was bound for Thalion's grandfather claims that it is a faithful reproduction of a crumbling older work. If this river is indeed the Norpul, the confluence of the Aron Dùin is not shown.
- Unbound, copied from a copy in the archives of the Library of Gondor. The hill at the confluence of the Aron Dùin with the Norpul is lower than that pictured here, and the depth of layering of construction attests to the long timespan of the hill's historical enlargement.
- Unbound, lanuage unkown, copied from a copy in the archives of the Library of Gondor. This drawing closely enough resembles the ruins here that they might have originally been built in imitation of the city portrayed.
