Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-26350183-20150427193641

Hail, and well-met!

I'd like to delve a little more into a suggestion for a faction. I've noticed Beornings are already listed as a planned feature, but I'm not certain in the way in which they're planned. Hopefully I can at least provide some feedback that might influence, even in the most minor way, the creation of the faction. While some of my ideas actually have a canon backing, lots of it is my personal opinion on how they would've been like.

The Valesmen of the Anduin are a canon faction in the Third Age of Middle Earth, also known as Beornings. The Valesmen were mostly composed of Northmen, but they also had a few Beornings with the ability to shift shape into bears among them. They were lead by Grimbeorn, Beorn's son.

Appearance: Valesmen would look like Northmen, with fair skin and a wide range of hair colors, from blonde to black. They would often be bearded, and would wear simple cotton clothing combined with fleeces/hides of animals that they farm, or hunt in the region.

Insignia: The Insignia of the Valesmen of the Anduin with which I am most familiar is profile of a golden falcon, with It's wings spread, and It's claws extended as if it is about to grasp onto prey on a brown/burgundy field. Another obvious viable option is a bear insignia, or the paw-print of a bear. I still like the color combination of a gold sigil on a brown, or burgundy field, however.

Culture: The Valesmen would be a culture of farmers, and woodsmen, farming along the river Anduin. They would have a clan-based culture, with Earls in command of their own small forces of warriors and villages. Their religious leanings would probably closely resemble some sort of naturalistic paganism.

Equiptment: As a relatively primative faction, the Men of the Vale of Anduin wouldn't have armor of the highest quality, but would rather rely on physical strength, and the power of Beornings among their ranks. The best armor they would most likely have would be chainmail, and iron helmets, crafted in a similar fashion to Dunlending/Rohirrim gear. Leather armor would be much more common among their warriors, crafted in the same manner as vanilla leather armor. As most primitive factions, their favored weapon would be spears, equal in quality to iron spears, and swords would be a rarity. Perhaps a faction-specific claymore type sword could be added. Beornings would have few archers, but they would use vanilla bows, or something of equal quality.

Diplomacy: Valesmen would be friendly towards other Northmen and the Wood Elves, and indifferent to Gondor, Rohan, etc. They would be especially hostile towards Gundabad orcs, and any other orcs from the Misty Mountains, as they would be the primary threat, raiding their lands, and tresspassing. They would probably also be hostile towards any allies of Sauron, and while they dislike Dwarves, they wouldn't hate, and attack them.

Buildings: Valesmen would have something similar to mead halls of the Dunlendings, but built in a more squat, rounded-cornered fashion. In addition, they would also have farmsteads that would spawn alongside water, especially along the Anduin vale, with some wheat, perhaps a pen with animals, and a small farm house/hut. Some kind of warrior camp with tents could be added where captains/merchants could be found. A stout, short lookout tower with a couple of archers up top would be nice as well.

NPCs: The NPCs I would suggest that this faction would have would be Valesmen Warriors: A front-line figher, equipted with stout shields, bearing an eagle crest, and mostly spears. They would have chainmail coats, or leather armor, and iron helms. They would be equal in stats to Dunlending Warriors. Likewise, Valesmen archers would be equipted with vanilla bows, leather armor and helmets, and would be equal in stats to Dunlending archers, minus the armor. Valesmen would be a regular unit, armed with varrying weapons, iron/stone daggers, axes, battleaxes, and spears, and would be equal in quality to Dunlendings (Sorry, I really like/know the Dunlendings ;P). Most notably, and most expensively, they would be able to recruit Beornings, who would be equipted with leather armor, and armed with battle axes, and would occasionally shape-shift into bears. Beornings would be a fairly reliable warrior, close in strength to elf soldiers, and noticibly stronger when transformed into bears. Perhaps they would have some kind of speed/strength boost in this form. Valesmen Merchants wouldn't wear armor, but would be equipt with a dagger with which to defend themselves. Lastly, Valesmen Captains would wear the chainmail armor, and iron caps of their warriors, and would be equipted with Iron 2h swords, if they're ever added.

I think this would be a really cool faction to have, even if It's a far-future thing. I really hope that this relatively minor faction doesn't get entirely overlooked.

Any feedback is welcome! I apologize in advance for any spelling errors, or mistakes in my grammar.

Thanks for reading! I'll do my best to answer any comments, or questions. 