Lady Eleanor has chosen a site to build a new fortified village to act as the center of her activity in Bluevale. It lies on a fairly flat island, in the North-East of the vale. The island is bordered on the south by the South Lake, on the west by the Ridge River and on the north and east by a flood channel. A small river runs through the channel which overflows extensively during the Spring thaws. A series of small Watchtowers have been build on the bluff between the flood channel and the Island to overview the approaches to the new building site. Sir Loth Strongarm and his son Stenon the High Ranger are inspecting one of the completed towers and discussing general concerns of the Vale, the new constructions as well as possible threats to the Lady's attempt to establish her rule. Meanwhile Stenon's oldest son Robb is leading the dwarf brothers Surwid and Norwid on an expedition to an abandoned mine to assess its potential for iron extraction and creating an iron, steel and related products manufacture hub.