Life is not easy in the arid wasteland the Eglain inhabit. For food they rely on scavenged roots and berries, though some have managed to cultivate tubers in the western reaches of the Lone Lands. They also hunt, for despite the general lack of game in Talath Gaun they only have to cross the Mitheithel to find a wilderness thriving with deer and boars. They keep, however, no domestic animals but for the ponies that bear them and the dogs that aid them in the hunt. Water is even scarcer than food, its only real sources being the Mitheithel and a few wells, the water of the Red Swamp causing a terrible sickness. Timber is also something the Eglain are lacking since their foresters must venture into Chetwood or the Trollshaws to find it in abundance. Indeed, because of the lack of tree-cover, the Lone Lands experience harsh extremes in terms of climate, with infants regularly perishing due to the cold. The tents most of the people sleep in are obtained through trade with the Men of Bree, as are most of the materials that are unavailable east of the Weather Hills. I hear you ask how the Eglain obtain the coin to purchase such goods. They do so by selling the artifacts they find amongst the ruins they dwell in. Elves and Dwarves may sometimes buy these items for academic reasons, though most customers tend to see them as mere trinkets. Though it may come as a surprise, this way of life can be somewhat idyllic; as the Eglain hunt or forage they know they are not merely working for their own enrichment, but for their people's survival. Perhaps this is why so many Bree-landers have chosen to live among the Forsaken.
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Observations on the Eglain: A Hard Land
Submitted by Hithenair on October 17th, 2014
