Kingdom of Dale

## Overview

**Dale**, the **Kingdom of Dale** or the **Kingdom of Dale and Rhovanion**, is a faction created by Lego\_Army to create a new power in the North. It is currently led by **King MrJollyHam**, who inherited the throne from OneCrusadingFish (December 2022).

## Lore Background

The City of Dale (alongside with other realms) was founded by Northmen from Rhovanion, who had fled north after the fall of their great Kingdom of Rhovanion 50 years earlier.

## Ranks

The Dalish rank system:

* **King** - The absolute ruler of the Kingdom.
* **Queen** - The wife of the King, or the ruler if there is no King.
* **Prince** - The Heir of the Kingdom and hand of the King.
* **Earl** - The noble lords of the Kingdoms waypoints.
* **Friherre** - The heirs to some of the Earls' Waypoints.
* **Marshal** - The Military leader of the Kingdom.
* **Build Master** - The construction expert of the Kingdom.
* **Quartermaster** - The organiser of the resources of the faction.
* **Thane** - Young nobles, often knights or friends of Dale.
* **Sergeant** - The the second-in-command to the Marshal.
* **Architect** - Builders and build designers of the faction.
* **Craftsmen** - The resource gatherers of the faction.
* **Smith** - The tool, weapon, and armour smiths.
* **Barding** -Players who have passed recruitment.
* **Serf** -Players who have not passed recruitment.

## History

The first Dalish state was founded by Mathyas504 and TTBone105 on November 21st 2014. TTBone soon disappeared, however, and Mathyas were offered rule of Erebor after connor7boss left the for Khazad-Dum, changed his name to Lord\_Ragna, and founded Mount Mathedras. Mathyas accepted and incorporated a stretch of land that included his cities of Dale and Lake-Town into the Kingdom of Erebor.

A year later, in early November of 2015, the Rohirric Lord Lego\_Army received permission from King Icefrone to travel east and establish the Kingdom of Rhovanion as a Rohirric puppet state. Thorin\_The\_King, who had inherited the Kingship of Erebor, including Dale and Lake-Town, agreed to give up the outdated and abandoned city of Dale to Lego. In turn Lego and Ice agreed to recognize Thorin’s continued rule over Lake-Town. With the support of the nearby Wood-Elves Lego soon consolidated his control over the northern Wilderland but came to blows with Dol Guldur regarding ownership of the East Bight. He fought aidansebastian, a famed warrior of Mordor, in a 1v1 over control of the Bight was slain, forcing him to withdraw.

Lego soon stopped taking orders from Edoras and declared its independence, signing an alliance with Dorwinion and even allying with Rohan, as Icefrone cared little about its small eastern vassal. Following the return of the warlike mewarmy to Rohan in early 2016, however, mew declared that he would reconquer Rhovanion. With the support of the White Council, including Erebor and the Wood-Elves, Rhovanion suffered two defeats but Rohan was unable to take Dale from it. Thus the war eventually came to an end.

Following the war Rhovanion became the center of the Council of Northmen and engaged in mainly bloodless territorial squabbles from the Misty Mountains all the way to the Redwater River and from northern Dale to the southern tip of Mirkwood. During this time Lego commissioned pancakeponcho to build much of the city of Dale. After pancake was banned for lying to the admins Lego and Pancake finished the city.

Dale was added to the mod on April 14th 2016 and Lego immediately renamed Rhovanion to the Kingdom of Dale. Lego, 0\_e, and erikmeteenk constructed Bardhaven while HogwartsCrafter built a primitive build at Running Ford, Dersky123 made a small fortress at Redwater Ford, and a number of players, most notably Ridge106, built a village at the Dalish Crossroads. Lake-Town remained in Dwarven control but Lego always honored his agreement with Thorin and never challenged the Dwarves for control of it.

Lego eventually grew tired of the constant struggle to maintain the council’s borders, especially as it began to implode from within over the course of late 2016 and 2017. After his invasion of the Easterlings in early October of 2017 didn’t occur he decided to leave and relax in the warm sands of Near Harad. Erik was seen as the obvious heir but Lego wished to make ChildWalrus, the server owner and mod developer, King in order to bring in more recruits. On October 30th 2017 he thus propagated a new constitution granting ChildWalrus the title of King but restricting his power to heading feasts and maintaining the palace. All executive power was invested in the Komander, a title taken up by erik.

ChildWalrus decided to leave the server and on December 22nd 2017 named Fiene22, the longtime Heir of Erebor, Queen. His goal was to strengthen Dalish and Dwarven relations, which were still strained, largely due to High King SquatchThunder constant belittling and insulting Lego’s ability to be King.

In the first week of 2018, however, Lego returned to Dale. Erik transferred the title of Komander to him and Lego abolished the constitution, naming himself King. This sparked the January Crisis as the Dwarven Council and Mordor, who backed the Dwarves in exchange for Dwarven support for their Dunlending puppet state, demanded that Fiene be reinstated as Queen. Lego, on the other hand, was unanimously supported by the Dale faction and held the backing of the Dark Alliance. The rest of the server, while allied with the Dwarves, refused to take part in the invasion of Dale and took a path of neutrality. The crisis was resolved when Lego defeated Fiene in a unanimous internal faction vote and the admins refused to give ownership of Dale to Fiene. The Dwarves continued discussing a potential invasion for months but this never occurred.

Lego was exhausted from the struggle and continued Dwarven harassment, especially as they targeted his recruits to put Dale on the brink of collapse. On April 29th 2018 he abdicated as King of Dale, leaving the kingdom with 0 active players. His last wish was that his long-time foe, the powerful Gundabad War-Chief and Dol Guldur General Grievous1138, prevent the Dwarves from taking over the Kingdom. This is considered the end of the old Kingdom of Dale.

Three primary claimants to the Dalish throne soon emerged. The first was the Woodman Chief jakub8899, who raised an army of Woodmen to march east on Dale with the backing of Grievous, and in effect the entire Dark Alliance. The second was Fiene22, who held the backing of the Dwarven and White Council and was preparing to march south at the head of the Dwarven army. The third was Martian\_Maniac, who was backed by the Avarin King Morwe\_Haldkan, a long time friend and ally of Lego. Martian began building a city in eastern Dale and aimed to earn the support of the inactive Dalish leadership before emerging as a compromise candidate.

A fourth faction emerged on May 8th 2018 when the famed Arnorian General, GajaHasFallen, was proclaimed King by the Gondorian General Laeonathan and the Near Haradrim General MandatoryPeanut. Shortly prior to this proclamation Gaja had won the support of the Umbarim soldier Black31, who was loyal to Mandatory, and the Forochel Thane PizzaKingOfPizza, who was an old friend of Gaja from the Mordor-Coalition War (the order of joining was Gaja-Mandatory-Black-Pizza-Lae.) These players established the "Crusaders of Uaathy", vowing to resist Dwarven domination over Dale.

On May 10th Ridge106, 0\_e, and HogwartsCrafter returned to the server and were convinced by Gaja that the Crusaders were the faction most capable of keeping the throne out of dwarven hands, causing Lego to endorse Gaja later in the day and hand him the keys of the city. Jakub8899, an old friend of Gaja, immediately dropped his claim and endorsed him while Martian\_Manic gave up and joined Dale as well. Three Gondorian soldiers loyal to Lae: Alithir, capt\_mike, and Zobair soon joined Gaja's new Dalish Kingdom. The High-Elven Lord Quipp soon joined Dale as well. While Fiene didn't renounce her throne the rapid consolidation of power around Gaja secured his claim to the throne.

Dale now saw a general reorganization. Lae was named Grand Advisor and Gaja’s principle domestic advisor while Mandatory became Grand Marshall and his principle military advisor. 0\_e didn’t stay after returning to the server but Hogwarts and Ridge were confirmed in their lordships while Quipp was granted Old Rhovanion, Zobair was given Bardhaven, Black31 was given Redwater Ford, and PizzaKingOfPizza founded a city in the Northern Forests (a region claimed by the Dwarves) known as Cramburg. Unlike Lego, Gaja had never sworn to respect Dwarven control over Lake-Town and Gaja’s reign was marked by intermittent fighting and arguments over control of the area. From Cramburg Dale sought to engage in territorial conflicts with the Dwarves until the Dwarves returned Lake-Town to Dale.

A primary issue within Gaja’s reign was lack of international support. While he held the solid backing of the nearby Woodmen and Wood-Elves, led by jakub8899 and Olgierd\_ respectively, Gaja had been known in Arnor as a deadly warrior with little strategic sense and a fiery temper. The Dwarven Council despised Gaja due to him blocking Fiene and fighting them over Lake-Town while the Dark Alliance and Mordor (as well as her puppets like Dunland,  Dol Amroth, and Lebennin) despised him for his campaigns against them as the General of Arnor. He held a long-time rivalry with King Morwe\_Haldkan of the Avari and the Mallorn Council saw him as a loose cannon.

Gaja’s plan for international backing thus was centered on the Coalition of Dawn, in which he had many close ties from his time as the General of Arnor. While figures such as King Sir\_Pandahead of Rohan, Crown Prince SentinelGuard 23 of Arnor, Lord HarrMac of Rohan, Lord Jimmy\_miner\_5 of Rohan, Lord JJofJ of Arnor, and Lord Councilor KevinLOTR of Gondor were close allies of Gaja, others saw feared that without supervision would go out of control and hurt their interests. These included Lord Councillors JerrekCarnelian, Icefrone, and TackleToWin of Gondor as well as King Elendil\_The\_Tall of Arnor, Lord RomanGuy1453 of Arnor, and many other important figures within the Arnorian and Gondorian leadership. With both the leadership of Gondor and Arnor against him and with only Rohan backing him he was thus unable to cultivate a closer relationship with the Coalition.

These factions first put up with Gaja and enlisted his aid in besieging the Avari at Balcaras on May 27th 2018, forcing the Avari to capitulate to the coalition demands, before effectively cutting him off. Gaja’s reign was one of massive development as Dale saw a total remodel, being almost demolished save for the walls built by Pancakeponcho. It was then rebuilt using a design made by Laeonathan in one of the most rapid building projects in ToS history. As Dale neared completion, however, Gaja began turning more towards the foreign affairs of the server. Increasingly frustrated by the Free Peoples refusal to induct him into the White Council or treat him as an equal, he and Laeonathan developed a new plan to punish the Free Peoples.

Gaja and Lae planned to transform themselves from the Kingdom of Dale to the Wainriders and quickly enlisted the support of all of the Lords save for Ridge, who was known to be a fierce Dalish nationalist. On August 6th 2018 they planned to name Ridge King of Dale, ruling a rump state at the Dalish Crossroads, while they took all the members and builds to found the Wainrider state. This faction would then ally with the Dark Alliance and Mordor. Aiding them was Ghastly\_Bespoke, who had been named King of the Avari the day before. Little did Gaja know that Ghastly had only became King by claiming that Gaja would invade the Avari if he wasn’t instated to the throne. Crucially the Avari owned the waypoint of Balcaras, which is the only mod-waypoint that mentions the Wainriders

The plan soon began to collapse when the Dark Alliance refused to accept Gaja as one of them and allied with the entirety of the White Council against him. Meanwhile Morwe condemned Gaja for his work in instating Ghastly, and when Gaja revealed that Ghastly was lying Morwe quickly ousted Ghastly in a coup. With the plan rapidly collapsing Gaja backtracked and announced that he would remain as the King of Dale.

Gaja’s tenure as King came to an end on August 10th 2018 when he was permanently banned for telling Near Haradrim players that they had an IQ of 3. Laeonathan was then crowned King. MandatoryPeanut soon departed Dale for Near Harad as he had only ever left his beloved faction to prevent the Dwarves from expanding further and Lae overhauled the Dalish ranking system. The Lordship of Cramburg was abolished with Pizza being granted East Rhovanion Gate, which Lae personally owned and was now bringing into the kingdom. The position of Grand Advisor was removed with all the Lords equally advising Lae. Quipp and Zobair became co-Grand Marshalls while Pizza and Hogwarts became co-Grand Recruiters, running the Kingdoms recruitment system. Ridge and Black were instructed to support both groups.

Lae’s reign saw the completion of Dale and the construction of massive walls at Old Rhovanion in preparation for a huge city while Bardhaven exteriors were built, although it wasn’t fit for habitation. Ridge continued developing Old Dalish Crossroads while Hogwarts prepared for a construction push at Running Ford and Pizza made small changes to East Rhovanion Gate. Redwater Ford, which had housed a large tower house guarding a bridge since the days of Lego, was the only build not to be altered.

The main goal of Lae’s reign, however, was a treaty with the Dwarves regarding Lake-Town. Unlike Gaja, who had tried to take Lake-Town by force, Lae entered negotiations with Bofur. As a sign of goodwill he showed Bofur the many secret passageways that Dale and other enemies of the Dwarves used to break into Erebor. Lae proposed an alliance with the Dwarves paired with an agreement that Dale could build its own Lake-Town, to be connected to the Dwarven version via a bridge. He proposed that if either side broke the treaty they lose their build rights.

Bofur agreed to the basic treaty but also wished to include a clause that he could evict the Dalish at any time and without giving compensation. Lae refused and broke off negotiations before launching a deadly raid. He realized that this was fruitless, however, and desired to distance himself from the Dwarves entirely and move back to his old faction of Mordor. The problem was that Lae had a severe heir problem. Ridge had just left the server to join the army while Quipp and Zobair were taking a break from the server. Lae also viewed Pizza, Black, and Hogwarts as inexperienced and unfit to rule. As such he gave the throne to jakub8899 of the Woodmen on November 5th 2018.

Beyond just turning the Kingdom over to a foreign power Lae sought to seize everything south of the River Running for Mordor and attempted to take Old Rhovanion and East Rhovanion gate with him. Pizza successfully blocked the loss of Old Rhovanion by going to the admins but Lae successfully took East Rhovanion Gate. As compensation for the loss of East Rhovanion, and as a reward for keeping Old Rhovanion, Jakub named Pizza Lord of Old Rhovanion.

Jakub’s reign can be seen as a general disaster. Pizza attempted to finish Old Rhovanion but the city was too large and he lacked the necessary schematics, resulting in the project being abandoned. Without the support of Lae Black gave up his plan on turning Redwater Ford into a city and went inactive. Hogwarts disappeared, throwing Running Ford into chaos and without Ridge the Dalish Crossroads stalled. Jakub had planned to finish Bardhaven but grew bored and instead raided virtually every faction on the server with his deputy from the Woodmen, KefinLOTR. Several promising Dalish recruits had left towards the end of Lae’s reign and the bad publicity of jakub’s reign, combined with Hogwarts’s disappearance and Pizza's growing inactivity, caused almost all the newer Dalish players to leave while no new ones were recruited. On December 7th 2018 jakub left the faction for Mordor and abdicated for KefinLOTR, who continued Dale’s decline. Pizza ensured that the last active Dalishman, Martin752003, waas appointed Lord of Dalish Crossroads before all but disappearing as the situation in Dale collapsed and Kevin raided all of the Free Peoples.

On December 26th 2018 KefinLOTR decided to leave the faction for the Morwaith. By this point Dale had no active members and only three members could still be contacted on Discord: Pizza, Black, and Martin. Kefin proposed that Harr be made King but was unable to give a foreign player, and one had frequently fought with Dale in the later days of the reign of Gaja and during his and jakub’s reigns, the throne without the consent of the Kingdom. He thus called the matter to a vote.

Black and Pizza both bucked Kefin and nominated and voted for themselves while Martin, who saw Pizza as his mentor on the server, voted for Pizza as well. Right before the crown was to be passed Pizza decided that he didn’t want to be responsible for rebuilding a once mighty faction alone and contacted HarrMac, who was an old friend of his. It was agreed that Harr would take the throne if in exchange Pizza was made Crown Prince and Lord of Bardhaven. As such on December 26th 2018 Harr officially became King.

Harr secretly planned to merge Dale with Rohan to create a Northmen Confederation but was blocked by Pizza who, with the backing of Martin and Black, threatened to use the banners he already controlled to resist Rohirric domination with the backing of evil. Harr thus decided to commit himself to Dale and Harr and Pizza worked to rebuilt the faction, growing it to number over 20 actives. These included the returning Quipp, Zobair, Martian\_Maniac and Hogwarts as well as Jimmy\_miner\_5, who joined Dale. Other new players of note included WibblyWolf, Einrollmops, MacIsCheesy, RHVT, and MicMic06. A new system of government was created with Harr serving as King, Pizza as Crown Prince, Jimmy as Grand Marshal, Black as Thane of Redwater Ford, Hogwarts as Thane of Running Ford, Martin as Thane of the Dalish Crossroads, and Wibbly as Thane of Old Rhovanion.

Harr’s reign saw some building projects as Wibbly sought to finish Old Rhovanion, Hogwarts restarted work on Running Ford, Pizza finished Bardhaven, and Martin and Pizza together greatly expanded the Dalish Crossroads. What truly marked Harr’s reign, however, was foreign relations. Among the first actions of Harr’s reign was attempting to join the Coalition of Dawn, something that was immediately supported by Rohan. Arnor and Gondor first balked, like they had done with Gaja, but after Dalish troops fought off a Mordoran attack on the Rohirric city of Eastmark Gondor recognized the need for more soldiers and agreed to induct Dale into the Coalition on January 27th 2019.

Harr sought to combat evil on all fronts and allied with several leaders, most notably Goldbar22 of the Winds, in battling a primarily Mordoran coalition of evil fighters across Middle-Earth. These battles resulted in massive casualties on the side of the Free Peoples, although the Dalish were by far the most effective part of the Free Peoples army. Umbar was targeted especially hard with Harr, Pizza, Jimmy, and Black frequently raiding and slaughtering the inhabitants of Anat-an-Phoinur in their quest to destroy the unstable Astrasi Empire.

When the Mordoran-Wind Dwarven War broke out Pizza and Harr balked at the idea of invading Mordor itself and offered to stay out of the war in exchange for 70k coins or the Rauros waypoint for Rohan. Mordor agreed to pay the 70k and in exchange Dale ensured that the Coalition would stay out of the war. When the inhabitants of Anat-an-Phoinur declared independence with the intent of aiding Mordor in the war, however, Dale invaded Northern Umbar on February 18th 2019. Anat-an-Phoinur fell and Northern Umbar was forced to pay 50k tribute to end the war, crumbling due to the consequences of the war shortly after making the final payments months later. As a result of this conflict the King of Umbar, DrunkCarbot, joined Dale while MacIsCheesy left the server. Following the war Jimmy announced that he was going to be mostly leaving the server, being available only for occasional PvP. Zobair was reinstated Grand Marshal.

The final defining part of Harr’s reign was the Lake-Town peace process, attempting to pick up from where Lae left off. Among the first acts of his reign was to sign the Erebor Pact with Bofur\_The\_Dwarf. In this treaty Bofur gave up both Erebor’s lingering claim of owning the northern region of Dale that it had inherited from Mathyas as well as Fiene’s claim to the Dalish throne. In exchange Harr gave up Gaja’s Dalish claims to the region north of the Dale biome and agreed to stop claiming Lake-Town. Dale and the Dwarven Council also agreed to a blanket alliance and Bofur agreed to consider permission for Dale to build its own Lake-Town, depending on the amount of military support the Dwarves received.

Despite the overwhelming amount of Dalish blood that was spilled in the 7 Battles of Erebor, not to mention the many other skirmishes fought by Dale in defense of the Wind Dwarves, Bofur steadfastly refused to move forward with the Lake-Town peace process and Harr and Pizza grew increasingly frustrated. On March 9th 2018 both Pizza and Harr informed each other that they were leaving the faction for Mordor (so as to allow them to raid the Dwarves) and on the same day Zobair announced that he was taking another break from the server. This thus threw Dale into a succession crisis as both Hogwarts and Black were seen as unfit to rule, Martin was too quiet and passive, and the rest of the kingdom was too inexperienced. In the end Pizza agreed to remain in Dale to keep the faction intact and was duly crowned on March 9th 2018. He immediately planned to replace himself as Crown Prince of Dale with Quipp, a proven leader, and planned to name RHVT Grand Marshal, thus beginning the process of handing over the torch to a new generation of leaders.

These plans were almost immediately thrown into chaos when Black and Hogwarts protested the promotions, demanding that they be named Grand Marshal and Crown Prince respectively. Pizza agreed to name Black Grand Marshal but refused to name Hogwarts Crown Prince, believing him unfit to serve due to negative views that the Coalition held on him and the fact that he had committed minor treasons against HarrMac by opening gates to let Mordoran soldiers kill Wind Dwarves. RHVT was instead named Thane of Bardhaven while Quipp was also named Thane of Carrock, a territory far to the west that had been loosely held by Dale since the reign of Laeonathan and which Pizza now took possession of.

Defections soon began falling hard and fast. Jimmy followed Harr to Mordor while Wibbly, who recognized that Dale was likely take a hard-line approach to Lake-Town, left for the High-Elves. He was replaced as Thane of Old Rhovanion by EinRollmops. Quipp suddenly disappeared after being drafted into the military, never to be seen again, and Pizza in response convinced Laeonathan to return to Dale and be named Crown Prince. Hogwarts threatened to withdraw from the Kingdom and take Running Ford with him if he wasn’t named Prince instead and Pizza, unwilling to tolerate his treason, seized control of the build and expelled him from the Kingdom.

Black had long failed to develop Redwater Ford and Pizza ordered a swap of the factions ranks, appointing Lae Jarl (the replacement for Thane) of Redwater Ford and naming Black Jarl of Bardhaven, which was largely an empty position as it was already finished. RHVT was, in turn, named Jarl of Running Ford. Carrock was placed under royal control until the faction was large enough to support a 7th council member. Redwater Ford was soon completed. On April 1st 2019 Dale, as an April Fools joke, announced that it was merging with the Daledoran Dominion and took Dol Amroth by siege.

With the backing of Mordor Pizza aimed to raise the temperature to get a deal regarding Lake-Town and canceled the Erebor Pact, agreeing to reinstate the NAP and alliance only if Dale was given permission to build a city of its own near Lake-Town. This was rejected by Bofur on March 31st 2019, however, and Dale steeled itself against Erebor. Pizza proposed that Dale declare war on the Avari, thus forcing the Dwarves to come to the defense of an ally they increasingly despised (the Avari) and give him leverage in the Lake-Town negotiations by being able to offer an end to the war if Dale was granted Lake-Town. This plan fell through when MateoKusel ofMordor refused to fully commit to the offensive, fearing the optics of openly allying with the Free Peoples faction of Dale.

Defections continued to fall hard and fast, however, as Martian left to join his friends in Angmar and other players began to disappear and fall inactive. A final death blow to Dale’s status as a super-power seemed ready to fall when on April 3rd 2019 RHVT and MicMic06 announced their plans to join 10 other famed PvPers in taking over Fangorn in a Civil War. After failing to convince them to stay, Pizza used his position as a leader to serve as Fangorn’s primary spokesman, hoping that it would enable him to exert influence over them when they inevitably took control and became the most powerful faction on the server.

To Pizza’s surprise and fortune, however, the Fangorn players gave up due to harassment and in addition to Mic and RHVT staying Pizza convinced Nalleboi, HenryReynolds, Auke123, Luqz, lolyourbad, and PafKabouter to join Dale with the agreement that they could hunt Dwarves. Their entry made Dale the strongest faction on the server and solidified its position as the powerhouse of its era. Per the joining agreement Pizza permitted his men to raid Firith Galad. This raid had massive diplomatic ramifications with Arnor and Gondor threatening to bring up a motion on expelling Dale from the Coalition of Dawn while the Dwarven and Mallorn Councils threatened to invade Dale and Crown Prince Laeonathan pressured Pizza to resign. Only Rohan, led by birgenspl and Sir\_Pandahead remained close to Pizza. A plan to go to war with Erebor with the support of the Shadow Pact collapsed when Angmar, the most powerful faction in the Pact and who had recently allied with the Wind-Dwarves, declared that they would support Erebor while Gondor and Rohan pledged neutrality. With the backing of only Rohan and the smaller evil factions Pizza was forced to bring down the temperature to prevent invasion and promised the Dwarves that no Dwarf would be killed by Dalish forces.

An under the table agreement was ultimately signed in which Pizza paid the Wind Dwarves 20,000 coins in exchange for the Wind Dwarves refusing to engage any Dalish players, allowing him to keep his agreements with both Dale and the Dwarves. The faction was now split into four groups. The first led by Crown Prince Laeonathan, consisted of Lae, Jarl EinrollMops, and the veteran player LaurenSappy. This faction was remarkably pro-Dwarven, desiring a full restoration of relations with the dwarves and the expulsion of many Dale PvPers. The second was led by King PizzaKingOfPizza and consisted of Pizza, Jarl Black31, Jarl Martin752003, and senior members Zobair and DrunkCarbot. This faction was loyal to Pizza and was focused on keeping the faction together and its diplomatic relationships intact, no matter the cost. The third was led by Jarl RHVT and consisted of the powerful PvPers RHVT, MicMic06, Nalleboi, HenryReynolds, and Mesmerized11. This faction was anti-Dwarven and pushed internally for war with the Dwarves but was generally reasonable and followed the will of the King. The final faction was led by renowned PvPer Auke123 and consisted of Auke, Luqz, lolyourbad, and PafKabouter. This faction was virulently anti-Dwarven and virtually uncontrollable. The remaining 20+ players were largely new and had no access to the factions political mechanics.

Tensions within the Kingdom of Dale spiraled within the Moot. Pizza relied on each group to further the kingdom's goals: Lae's to build up Dale's infrastructure, his own for loyalist support, RHVT and Auke123's for military strength. As such, he could not easily favor any one of them, resulting in most kingdom decisions being made via consensus between the four group leaders. Although remaining King, PizzaKingOfPizza's royal authority had diminished as he was forced into compromise to keep his kingdom together.

After Angmar turned against the Wind Dwarves, Pizza saw an opportunity to redirect his PvPers towards a different threat and ordered intensive raids against Angmar. Ever the astute diplomat, he also convinced Arnor to declare war on Dunland on April 24th 2019. Knowing the Shadow Pact had abandoned Dunland, the Coalition of Dawn faced off against Dunland, Angmar, and its Iron Pact. A series of crushing raids were soon launched while a siege was organized. Dale's influence and territorial extent was massively expanded.

In the final days of Pizza’s reign, however, Auke and his group raided Firith Galad and the Winds broke their agreement to close the gates, causing a diplomatic disaster. At the same time Nalleboi began searching for Lothlorien players to kill and once again overwhelming pressure was placed on Pizza by the Dwarves, Elves, Arnor, Gondor, and Laeonathan. Exhausted and tired of ruling, Pizza proposed that RHVT become King in the hopes that he could unify both Auke and Lae’s factions with his own. Seeing no support for such a plan in any factions, including the traditionally friendly Rohan, he abandoned the proposal. An agreement was ultimately agreed between Pizza, Lae, and RHVT in which Lae would become King and RHVT would remain loyal as Prince. As such, on May 4th 2019, Pizza signed the decree of abdication and departed Dale. He had built the faction up to an all time high of 40 active players, built Dale's strongest PvP force ever, and oversaw huge construction projects at Redwater Ford, Dale, and the Dalish Crossroads.

With the decline of royal authority in the latter half of his reign, Pizza's control over Dale had dwindled, reducing his efforts to compromises amongst his council members. Credit must be given where credit is due however, Pizza proved himself to be a capable statesman and diplomat. Despite a loss in authority, he succeeded in keeping an unstable and tumultuous faction together where lesser men might have failed. Being the powerhouse that Dale was, no external factors could pose a serious threat in comparison to its domestic factors.

Returning to the events following Pizza's abdication, Lae immediately signed a NAP with the Dwarven Council but Auke once again flaunted royal authority by joining in on a conspiracy to overthrow VetusGeneral of the Grey Dwarves. With the backing of RHVT Lae promptly kicked him and all of his members, something Pizza had never been willing to do. Lae then launched a general overhaul of the factions ranks, renaming Jarl’s to Earls, naming Nalle Earl of East Rhovanion Gate (a build which Lae personally owned) and removing Black31 as Grand Marshal in favor of Nalleboi while naming Mic Earl of Redwater Ford, a position he vacated upon ascending the throne. Lae then signed a treaty with the Woodmen in which Carrock was granted to the Woodmen in exchange for certain eastern territories.

After RHVT agreed to maintain the Kingdoms alliances with the Coalition of Dawn, continue the war in Dunland, and maintain the NAP with the Dwarven Council Lae abdicated in May 23rd 2019 after strengthening Dale’s internal and external position while maintaining most of the members Pizza recruited. Lae became RHVT’s Chancellor, a position similar to Grand Advisor, and a new heir was not named. RHVT finished the war in Dunland by winning a decisive victory and allowing Pizza, now the senior Woodmen advisor, to sign the Treaty of Carn-Dum to end the war. This treaty called for the Coalition and Angmar to agree not to go to war with each other, thus allowing the Woodmen to prepare for a war against Dol Guldur with Dalish backing.

RHVT recruited Joxu of Arnor and Jag\_sic of Rohan to the faction, greatly strengthening it and allowing it to maintain its position as the strongest faction on the server. At the same time, however, negotiations between RHVT and Pizza broke down regarding the Dol Guldur war as Dale demanded a portion of the lands seized while Pizza contended that Dale had no right to be in Mirkwood. As talks stonewalled RHVT, Laeonathan, Nalleboi, MicMic06, Mesmerized11, HenryReynolds, Jag\_sic, and Joxu all announced that they were leaving Dale for Mordor while Martin soon disappeared. Dale, which had been one of the strongest, if not the strongest factions on the server for around 12 of the last 14 months, had been nearly destroyed in a day.

The Kings of Dale, from GajaHasFallen to PizzaKingofPizza, ruled over a powerful and prosperous kingdom, known for the strength of its armies. Despite this however, the kingdom was relatively unstable: their periods of succession were often shadowed by crisis and civil unrest. But unstable or not, these Kings brought Dale to its hour of glory, though short-lived, it is a period fondly remembered by some as Middle Earth's golden age. The abdication of RHVT marked the end of the Middle Kingdom of Dale and start of the New Kingdom of Dale.

RHVT named EinrollMops as his successor as he, like Lae, Harr, and Pizza before him, viewed Black31 as unfit to rule. Mopsi effectively moved the capital to his city of Old Rhovanion, naming Black31 Prince and granting him control of the city. MacIsCheesy returned to the faction and was named Earl of the Great Dalish Crossroads, JeeferGG was recruited from Rohan and named Earl of Running Ford, Albanianblur was promoted to Earl of Redwater Ford, and mickminero was promoted to Earl of Bardhaven.

Dale joined in the defense of Arnor when it was attacked by Isengard on October 2nd 2019. Following this however, their diplomatic reputation suffered when King EinrollMops purposely antagonised their allies. So much so in fact, that other good factions considered declaring war on them themselves. They then dissolved all their alliances and left the Coalition of Dawn on December 24th 2019, beginning their policy of isolationism which continues to this day.

In the following two years Dale would finish Old Rhovanion and expand both Great Dalish Crossroads and Bardhaven. Dale would, however, fall into disrepair as it grew increasingly abandoned. A plan to redo the city of Dale was created by Laeonathan but shelved after he disappeared. The admins finally removed the Dwarven build at Lake-Town but the new Dalish leadership opted not to develop it. The faction having become less militant and less active than the old faction leadership.

When Black left the faction, EinrollMops named OneCrusadingFish and SadPenguin co-Princes to determine the better future ruler. Penguin won out but ultimately decided to leave the faction and on September 21st 2021, Ein abdicated after a long rule in favor of OneCrusadingFish.

Mopsi’s reign saw a dramatic culture shift away from the militant minded kingdom of Gaja, Lae, Jakub, Kefin, Harr, Pizza, and RHVT. Widely disliked for his behaviour, Dale's reputation suffered and its activity dwindled, comparable to Lego's early Dalish state. While his reign indisputably saw the collapse of Dale’s diplomatic influence and military might, he can be credited for maintaining the faction after its decimation.

On January 1st 2022 Aserin77 announced a Dalish Civil War. He decisively defeated the Dalish loyalists at the Battle of Redwater which allowed him to negotiate for favorable terms in a peace treaty. Semi-autonomy for Redwater in exchange for its warriors to see to the protection of the king of Dale. One story backed by several eyewitnesses claims the king was wounded by a poisoned arrow shot by an unnamed bowman in the thick of battle, which ultimately brought the conflict to a swift end.

Additionally, after little more than a year after ascending the throne, King OneCrusadingFish announced there would be two princes to the throne of Dale. On November 7th 2022, King OneCrusadingFish proclaimed MrJollyHam and StonewallJr as princes of Dale and Rhovanion. Like his predecessor before him, King OneCrusadingFish chose to have two potential heirs compete for the throne. Almost one month later, King OneCrusadingFish announced his decision to select MrJollyHam, Prince of Dale, to ascend the throne as well as his abdication. King OneCrusadingFish's reign saw the rebuilding of faction activity to a respectable level and the beginning of revamping many of the Dalish builds. While somewhat continuing his predecessor's policy of isolationism, King OneCrusadingFish sought to preserve Dalish independence and promote the development of the faction. Under his rule, the population of Dale nearly doubled as new recruits joined Dale and old players began returning to serve once again, and trade with neighboring kingdoms flourished, filling the coffers of Dale once again. As he once said, "I have planted the crop and watched the sprout grow. It's Jolly's turn to continue watching it."

King MrJollyHam's ascension to the throne of Dale came at a time when Dale was beginning its rise to prominence once again and as there was much tension throughout the TOS community. As the fifteenth king of Dale, King MrJollyHam was facing the task of guiding Dale through these times.

Inheriting the war started under OneCrusadingFish, King MrJollyHam was facing opposition from the Easterling Empire, which had months prior reformed under new leadership. Initially Dale was assisted by members of the Lothlorien and Lindon elves, but due to internal miscommunication the elves eventually chose to withdraw their support. Despite their withdrawal though, members of Lothlorien volunteered to serve alongside the army of Dale as they prepared for their counteroffensive into Easterling territory along with mercenaries from Forodren. Unfortunately, the combined strength was not enough as the Easterling Empire bolstered its forces with Uruk-Hai from Isengard. Near the conclusion of the war the relations between Dale and the Easterling Empire deteriorated, resulting in the NAP being officially annulled. The annulment began on Dale's end after the Easterlings violated the NAP by attempting to bring Angmar into the region through a loophole in the agreed upon war rules and pursued courses of action that caused a serious divide between Dalishman and Easterling alike. What was once a friendly war gave way to vicious personal attacks and a breakdown in communication. The official ending of the NAP took place when Dale allowed the elves of Lothlorien to march through Dale to invade the Easterling Empire after it was discovered the senior leadership was attempting to stage a coup within Dale's leadership. Since then there has been open hostility between the senior leadership of the Easterling Empire and Dale.

Not long after, a war erupted with the dwarves of Durin's Folk over a minor squabble for gold and fishing rights along the border. Though the war was fought with ferocity, the two sides largely agreed to a status quo. What was expected to be a decisive bloodbath actually ended with little change to the territorial boundaries.

Since the ending of the war, Dale has been focusing primarily on the development of Dalish holdings as well as promoting recruitment. Between May 2023 and September 2023 there was a significant increase in new recruits, ushering in a need for faction reforms to accommodate the new recruits. In addition, trade for the faction increased as wars were waged across the TOS community. Despite the frequency and intensity of these wars though, King MrJollyHam stands firm on the idea of Dalish neutrality and strengthening diplomatic ties with Dale's allies, especially Dale's oldest allies in the Dwarven Council.

## Faction Builds

**The City of Dale - Run by King MrJollyHam**

The Capital of the Kingdom of Dale. A large and magnificent walled city in the northwest of Dalish territory.

**Bardhaven - Run by Prince StonewallJr**

Dale's main port. This is a beautiful port town one the eastern border of Dalish territory, where the River Running meets Redwater. The costal town is surrounded by further buildings, farms and a castle.

**The Dalish Crossroads - Run by King MrJollyHam**

A city built on the Great Dalish Crossroads. This is a large circular city located in the very heart of Dalish territory. It is home to many buildings including a large tavern, blacksmith, library, markets and shops, and many houses.

**Running Ford - Run by Earl rikdatbenik**

A fortress situated on the ford of the River Running.

**Redwater Ford - Run by Earl KillerCyclone16**

A ruined fortress-town marking the easternmost border of Dale. The walled city is split into three main sections: a residential area, the market area, and a grand palace and gardens for its residents to enjoy.

**East Rhovanion Gate - Run by King MrJollyHam** -A town of Vale-Men who have sworn allegiance to the King of Dale

## Player Builds

**Old Rhovanion** -A city built on the ruins of the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Rhovanion, founded by EinRollsmops and currently being built by StonewallJr.

**Forwaelost** - A town north-west of the Crossroads, currently being built by KillerCyclone16.

**Raven Bridge** - An outpost at the borders of Dale, the Iron Hills, and Rhun, founded by Tsuki\_yt and being built by MrJollyHam.

**Fort Bard** - An outpost east of Dale that was established to protect the major trade routes between Dale and the Great Dalish Crossroads

## Requirements to Join

To join the Kingdom of Dale, you will need to complete the following.

* Gain 100 Dalish alignment
* Reach the City/Biome of Dale
* Have a Discord account

## Diplomacy

### Allies:

* The Lords of the Dwarven Council
* The Elves of the Woodland Realm

### Pacts and Treaties:

* Non-Aggression Pact with Dorwinion
* Non-Aggression Pact with the Union of Númenor (Gondor, Rohan, and Arnor)
* Non-Aggression Pact and Trade Agreement with Bree
* Trade Agreement with Durin's Folk
* Non-Aggression Pact with the Galadhrim
* Non-Aggression Pact with Forodren Gwaith
* Non-Aggression Pact with the Elves of the Woodland Realm
* Non-Aggression Pact with the Kingdom of Forochel
* Non-Aggression Pact with the Dwarves of the Mountains of the Wind

## Dalish Monarchs

1.) King Lego\_Army (November 2015 to October 2017)

2.) King ChildWalrus (October 2017 to December 2017)

3.) Queen \_Fiene22\_ (December 2017 to January 2018)

4.) King Lego\_Army (January 2018 to April 29th 2018)

5.) King GajaHasFallen (May 8th 2018 to August 10th 2018)

6.) King Laeonathan (August 10th 2018 to November 5th 2018)

7.) King Jakub8899 (November 5th 2018 to December 7th 2018)

8.) King KefinLOTR (7th December 2018 to December 26th 2018)

9.) King HarrMac (December 26th 2018 to March 9th 2019)

10.) King PizzaKingOfPizza (March 9th 2019 to May 4th 2019)

11.) King Laeonathan (May 4th 2019 to May 23th 2019)

12.) King RHVT (May 24th 2019 to June 23rd 2019)

13.) King EinRollmops (June 23rd 2019 to September 12th 2021)

14.) King OneCrusadingFish (September 12th 2021 to December 3rd 2022)

15.) King MrJollyHam (December 3rd 2022 to the present)

## Banner Texture Pack

To celebrate his abdication EinRollmops made a texturepack that changes the banners of Dale to a more royal aesthetic.

The download link is here on MediaFire: https://www.mediafire.com/file/nlvusosdcklms9r/RoyalBannersOfDale.zip/file