Rohen’s Fence

SIMPLE FENCE STRETCHING ACROSS THE HEART OF THE CROWLANDS

A long unbroken fence stretches across leagues of farmland north of the village of Ninestone Ring in the Crowlands. Rows of simple wooden stakes held together by a haphazard gridwork of wire, both barbed and unbarbed, mark the extent of land once held by Rohen, the fabled Peasant-King of the Crowlands. When the nearby kingdom of Auld Lochnora began to encroach on the fields grazed upon by Rohen’s cattle herds, the bull-headed farmer resisted their efforts to buy off parcels of his land. Angered by his refusals, Glangevlin, the Sotaherra of Auld Lochnora, sent his soldiers to cut down Rohen’s Fence and forcibly claim his pastures. Rohen roused his prodigious family members, peasants living in the small hamlets within his borders, neighboring farmers, cowherds, shepherds, and goatherds to push back against the invading troops. For a fortnight, Rohen and his ragtag army fought against the seasoned knights of Glangevlin, striking under the guise of fog and darkness before sinking back into the brush, until the Sotaherra finally relented and withdrew his men. Out of respect for his defiance, the Rook of the Crowlands named Rohen the Peasant-King and declared that no other  shall hold his lands until the last of his descendants have died. The miles upon miles of irregular wooden posts stand to this day, centered around the nearly deserted hamlet of Auld Rohena, weathered by time and decorated with all manner of gimcrack and finnimbrun.

Tales whispered around campfires throughout Auld Lochnora claim that Rohen not only relied upon his neighbors to resist the Sotaherra’s advance, but that he had also made a pact with the God of Hell, Delbaeth, who conjured an unseelie army to help the farmer defend his lands. Lochnoran children are told not to stray too far into the Crowlands or packs of cat sith will capture them and toss them into a pot of stew.

Hero's Grave is © MMXXI Shane Henderson.
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