Lockhouse Battle of Five Armies & The Third Age of Middle-Earth The current year for our Middle-Earth campaign is set during the year of 2946 of the Third Age. Inspired By J.R.R. Tolkien

In the quiet, rustic village of Bree—where the lands of the Shire-folk meet the lands of Men—the notion of a formal jail or "Lockhouse" is a practical necessity for any functioning settlement. Imagine a structure that fits the simple, self-governing style of this isolated community, a place where locals handle their own affairs.

Bree operates as a pragmatic, self-sufficient place, having maintained its peace for centuries through the common sense of its residents and the quiet watch of external protectors. This communal governance suggests that any holding facility wouldn't be a grand institution.

Rather, it would be a simple, sturdy building dedicated to short-term custody, perhaps used more for sobering up a drunk farmer or holding a transient while their story was verified, than for long-term incarceration. The architecture would blend seamlessly with the rest of the village, which sits comfortably on the slopes of Bree-hill. Picture a structure made of rough, durable stone or heavy timber, practical and unadorned. It might be a small, fortified room attached to a main watch-post near the town gates, or a solid, single-story building with a thick, iron-banded door and narrow, barred windows set high up. The design would emphasize function over fear—a necessary corner of a busy, cautious town. This building's importance would spike during periods of local strife, such as when ruffians and unsettling Southern folk moved into the area during times of war and lawlessness. During such chaotic periods, this lockhouse would become a crucial, if humble, center of local order. It would serve as the place where newly deputized townsfolk might secure a captured ruffian or a suspicious stranger found lurking near the gate after dark, highlighting its purely utilitarian role in maintaining the peace for both the Shire-folk and the Big Folk alike.

The name "Lockhouse" itself speaks to the plain, functional language of the common folk of Bree. It’s a term that fits the rugged, self-reliant nature of a community that handles its own problems. This imaginary lockhouse is a vital, albeit humble, part of the infrastructure of Bree, a place for practical people who believe in simple justice and security behind locked gates.