Buckland

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Buckland is a small folkland sandwiched between the creepy Old Forest & the Brandywine River. OOCly, Buckland is part of the Shirefolk culture and is staffed by the same +ruler and LA group. However, ICly, Buckland is an independent sovereignty, separate from the Shire. Regardless of whether you wish to live in Buckland or the Shire, there are some things you ought to know.


Buckland is governed by Saradoc Brandybuck, Master of Buckland (or Master of the Hall), and his wife, Esmeralda. These are Merry's parents, and their seat of power is the gigantic smial of Brandy Hall. If you want to live in Buckland, you should be a member of one of these families: Brandybuck, Drinkwater, Goldworty, Goold, Hayward, Headstrong, or Hogpen. Saradoc's influence reaches well into the Shire's Eastfarthing, into that marshy district called The Marish where Farmer Maggot lives.


Hobbits that live in Buckland are a bit different than those from the Shire. Consequently, Shirefolk think that Bucklanders are extremely strange and not altogether hobbity, and this should be RPed. Bucklanders often wear shoes or boots, which is unthinkable to the Shire hobbit. This is because the Buckland-Marish area is very marshy, soft and cool. Some Bucklanders also have an affinity for boating; fear of drowning is a strong form of paranoia in the Shire. Since Buckland is precariously located, smial doors are often locked at night. Obviously, as hobbits, they aren't really tremendously different from their Shire kin, but these small differences make them worlds apart in hobbit minds, which are extraordinarily xenophobic.


Keep in mind Tolkien's portrayal of Shire attitudes about Buckland hobbits - for example, the discussion in the Ivy Bush in Chapter One ("A Long-Expected Party") of The Lord of the Rings includes a remark by the Bywater gossip Old Noakes that " 'It beats me why any Baggins of Hobbiton should go looking for a wife away there in Buckland, where folks are so queer.'" Reading or re-reading this chapter may help a great deal as you RP, particularly concerning relations between Shire and Buckland hobbits.

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