Regarding Tommen's Rest

A brief summation of the town in Ar'rin named in honor of the knight who founded it.

South of the Great River, and East of the Shimmergren, in the shadow of the mountain range called the Greenmont, lies a town. Across a bridge, flanked by two roads it was built, far from the villages of the Ael-folk and their elvish customs. First an inn and later a town, Tommen’s Rest has been a favorite stop of pilgrims heading south in the gentle springtime of the Seedling Winds on Ar’rin for hundreds of yiars.

Few know until they visit that the founder, Tommen, had served the nobles of the High Kingdom of Balinor after its fall. He had spent a lifetime fighting for honest justice, protecting the folk of the land from the deadly bands of zealots who served evil daemons. It was his last wish and final command, to seek a place to build a new community. A place where folk could build together a new life, and keep watch upon the journey north.

Those River-folk that learned of the task joined the company and sent for their families once the location was founded.

Sir Tommen had envisioned a need for refuge for those fleeing the burnt wastelands of the South, running from the reach of the daemonic hordes and evil cultists. When he came upon the rich soil and gentle fields that would become his final resting place. Commanding his rangers to patrol the lands, securing the frontier, and tasking his company of retired errants to build, it is said he sat under a large rowan tree taller than a castle wall. It was there he took ink to parchment and began setting about the Rules of the Rest.

The Rules of the Rest, Tommen’s Legacy

Rule 1: Hospitality is to be given and respected to all who visit peaceably.

Rule 2: Order is the sacred law, Harmony is the divine standard, and Love is the Purpose of all.

Rule 3: Harmony is achieved only through Truth, Justice, and Order.

Rule 4: Coin buys goods and serves, not the hearts and minds of folk.

Rule 5: Deeds are to be honored, Truth is sacred, and Life is precious.

Rule 6: Punishments shall never exceed the crime, atonement is always to be considered, and all folk should be valued upon their deeds, not their words.

With these 6 rules of guidance, Tommen set out to build a town of respect and community. For a dozen yiars he oversaw disagreements and wrote down his decisions and reasonings in three ledgers. One bound in blue leather, one bound in wax-coated canvas dyed red, and the final book bound from the wood of the rowan tree, dyed in the colors of the Harvest Wind. The blue book was an accounting of deeds, the red a record of reasoned rulings, and the last epitaphs for folk who passed on from the town.

Each mayor of Tommen’s Rest kept their own ledgers in blue and red, adding to the legacy and leaving behind inspiration for others to follow. But Tommen’s Great Book of Rowan Wood has been maintained in a single volume, for those born, dying, or moving on from the town, since it’s inception.

The Legacy of the Rangers and Mayors

As the town grew Sir Tommen sought allegiance with the Queens of the Greenwood and the Church. He had brought with him ten able-bodied foresters, scouts that had served him in his campaigns. These Rangers, as he called them, selected young students to pass their knowledge down to, and over the generations, the skills have never diminished, at times they even grew to be respected by the Ael-folk of the West.

The Rangers took it as their sacred duty to establish safe routes, hunting trails, and curate the dangers of the wilderness, all for the safety of others. This practice inspired other towns along the pilgrim path who recruited the trained youngfolk to their own domains, or sent their able-bodied hunters to learn for a season or two in Tommen’s Rest.

Before Tommen passed on from the world, he established an agreement between the Ael-folk and their Elvish Queens to have a voice in the appointment of the mayors to follow his example. Every brachyiar two children are chosen to become candidates. They spend a single season with the current mayor studying the Rules and Rulings in the books, then are sent to Greenwood to live in court for three yiars. There they learn the ways of law and ruling from the court patrons. Once they have completed this apprenticeship they return to Tommen’s Rest and may petition for future candidacy.

However, it is the Rangers that must swear an oath to the candidate before they can serve the mayor in official duties. Few complete this process, and a mayor often serves for dozens of years or decades before a challenger seeks appointment from the folk. If elected by the people, that candidate must return to the Queens of the Greenwood and swear fealty to protect and serve the townfolk, the sanctity of law, and the customary rules of Tommen himself.

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Tommen’s Rest is the town where the novel of Ar’rin, The Lorebook, is set.