The Nuem Settlements
In 624, Lodros ordered the building of Racyn, Cundras, and Fosumo keeps. The stated purpose of this was to allow for the resettlement of surplus population from Melderyn. The keeps were built in what had been, until then, thinly populated wilderness on the edge of the Solori tribal range. The fourth Nuem settlement, Yael was built is 645 when Shelir II granted a license to crenellate to Halat Duathane. Since settlers to the area were voluntary and there was never any attempt at forced relocation, the population of the region has remained small.
Lodros may have hoped that civilization would rub off on the Solori. If so, he must have been disappointed. The tribal reaction was generally disinterest, after a few half-hearted and abortive raids on the the builders. They showed little inclination to trade and made no attempts to abandon their traditional lives.
Lodros also reorganized the shire system of Melderyn. The earlier shires were based on the old Five Kingdoms and the borders of Elorinar. With the passage of centuries and the steady growth of population, the system had grown unwieldy and was badly in need of streamlining. The Shires Edict of 630 established the modern shire boundaries with the exception of Dyriamarch, which was added in 691 when the Earl of Elorin claimed the region. The only border that remained untouched was that of Ikoshire.
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