Description
Combe lies in a deep, dark valley between hill and wood. It is always gloomy in the valley, and even the noonday sun struggles to penetrate the mists. The folk of Combe are stereotypically glum and dour, as if the darkness of their valley has leeched into their spirits. The main road to Combe is via a path that joins the East Road. There is a short-cut that goes through Staddle and then onto Bree, but that requires climbing the steep southern slope of the valley by the Stile of Combe, a staircase of steps cut into the rock.
The Stile was once quite safe, but floods in the spring after the Fell Winter washed part of it away and weakened other sections, and now it is treacherous. The folk of Combe prophesy darkly that the rest of the Stile will soon collapse and bury some unlucky traveller, but that’s just what a Combe-born fellow would say.
The village of Combe is the second-largest in terms of buildings, counting some thirty stone houses, but third in population. There is no inn or place for travellers to rest, other than begging shelter in a private house or barn. The folk are more Big than Little; perhaps if there were more Hobbits in Combe, it would be a brighter place. That said, the Hobbit family of Mudbanks come from Combe, and they are so direly dull they could make an Elf-child despair of life.
The valley of Combe is good farmland, and the high hillsides make for good grazing. If there is one thing that raises the spirits of the folk of Combe, it is their animals — they breed excellent sheep and cows, and keep a great many hounds. They have had need of these hounds in the past, as Trolls are drawn to the valley of Combe. To a Troll, Combe is a delight, with plenty of sheep to munch on and plenty of shadows and caves to hide in when the sun rises. The Rangers stop most of these Trolls, but still one or two creep down from the mountains every few years and must be driven off with fire and spears. If there are doughty warriors to be found in Bree-land, they live in Combe.
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