Dougan's Hole
An insular family town where life is truly nasty, brutish and short.
Dougan's Hole is the smallest and most insular in Ten-Towns. Its residents aren't fond of visitors, and inbreeding has caused the population to dwindle in recent years. It is a small cluster of dwellings perched on the edge of Redwaters that is too small to support any major industry—not even scrimshaw, with only a subsistence economy. It is more a family home of the Durmoot clan than a true village, and was once part of the Barony of Good Mead in the Alagonid era.
Politics and Economy
Family Town
The dominant family in town is the Durmoot family, descended from the original founder of the hamlet in the early Mannish Age. The only other family with some limited influence is the Dubrace family. However, the village is closer to an extended family than a true village.
The government of Dougan's Hole is a Speakership like the other communities in Ten-Towns, at least nominally. While the Speaker is technically elected, and semi-regular elections are held, the role almost always goes to the patriarch or matriarch of the Durmoot family and is held until death. The speakership functions more like a family meeting than a true government, with no truly defined roles beyond the degree of favour each member of the community has with the Durmoot patriarch or matriarch.Subsistance Economy
Dougan's Hole is located at the slope of a small run of hills abour 14 kilometres south of the Eastway crossroads. It has a small pier in poor repair and a small warehouse for communal goods. Its distance from Easthaven and Bryn Shander means it only receives occassional traders.
Dougan's Hole itself has no real industry to speak of. Fishing and hunting are done on a subsistence basis and the little scrimshaw work that is done is mostly personal, with some members of the community rarely venturing into other towns to hawk the few sale goods that can be gathered. Wood is gathered from the sparse trees around Redwaters or acquired as aid through lobbying or political favours by the Dougan Speaker on the Council of Speakers.
The Twenty Stones of Thruun
The only truly interesting feature in Dougan's Hole is the ring of megaliths known as the Twenty Stones of Thruun. Standing at the southern edge of town, nineteen of these crudely fashioned granite menhirs are arranged in a rough triangle, with a single stone at the formation's center. No one knows who built this structure or why; the townsfolk maintain that the stones were there when the town's founder, Dougan Durmoot, arrived. Alagonid scholars have tried to research the origin of the structure's name, but all they have found are allusions to a creature named Thruun in the oldest legends of the northern folk. Some speculate that Thruun was a Feylord, while others believe it's a destructive elemental spirit bound to this location by ancient druidic magic.History
Dougan's Hole was founded by Dougan Durmoot, who stumbled upon the ring of megaliths known as the Twenty Stons of Thruun. Believing the megaliths to be erected by some ancient Fey creatures, Dougan brought his family to settle the spot.
During the Kingdom of Icewind, Dougan's hole was incorporated as part of the Barony of Shorewood, much to the dismay of the Durmoot family, which constantly resisted the Barons' efforts to increase their control over the hamlet. This dynamic persisted through the Alagonid period, even after the Barony was renamed to Good Mead. Nevertheless, this was a period of growth for the village, which reached a peak population of some 200 near the end of the Mannish Age.
After the Occupation of Icewind Dale, the Barony of Good Mead was disbanded. The Durmoot family chose to make a clear break from their northern neighbours, and began to forcibly seize fishing grounds. This triggered a wave of conflicts between the two settlements, the bloody nature of the fighting giving Redwaters its iconic name. The conflict has periodically flared up since, most recently in 423 NE.
Contents
General Information
Nalemonic Empire
Cult of Auril
Other
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