Ardougne





Ardougne (pronounced "Arr-doyn") is a city in the realm of Kandarin, once under the rule of King Ulthas Ardignas until he died in the Year 136 in the Fifth Age (according to display case 47, north-east top floor, Varrock Museum). His sons, Tyras and Lathas, divided it into the two cities of East Ardougne and West Ardougne due to the rivalry between them. King Tyras eventually left on a crusade in to the Elven lands in the west, abandoning West Ardougne to a terrible plague. The city of Ardougne is named after the River Dougne, upon which it is located. This is similar to Lumbridge, which is named after the River Lum. This may in turn be inspired by the real-life city of Cambridge, the home-town of Jagex, which is located upon the river Cam.

Ardougne was made the capital of Kandarin in Year 164 of the Fourth Age. East Ardougne and West Ardougne is the modern capital of Kandarin. East Ardougne is currently ruled by King Lathas. West Ardougne is governed by King Tyras and is accessible only by members who have started the Plague City quest. Both cities are members-only. On 9 November 2009 a bit of mapping near Ardougne where the ground was overly spiky was reworked. Ardougne was chosen for the 6th tasks list.

Pronunciation
There have been a lot of questions as to how "Ardougne" is pronounced. Many players believe it to be pronounced "Ahh-doug-nee" or "Ahh-doon".. However, the official pronunciation guide on the RuneScape website gives the pronunciation as "arr-DOYN".

According to the Meeting History quest (released on 5 August 2008), it is pronounced "Ar-doy-in." When speaking with Laura from Meeting History, she asks what Ardougne is, but her speech is transcribed as "Ardoin". This gives insight into how to correctly pronounce Ardougne. This is most likely just a simple term that Jagex has used to make the storyline more enjoyable, and it is still pronounced the same way.

According to issue 35 of Postbag from the Hedge, it is pronounced "Arr-doyn". Dialogue when speaking to a lava titan suggests that the last syllable of Ardougne rhymes with coin.

The final confirmation is given during Carnillean Rising, wherein a number of voiced NPCs pronounce Ardougne as Ahhdoyn.

Trivia

 * Ardougne is split in two by a great wall, similar to the real-world Berlin Wall during the Cold War, although in this case the sides are reversed - east is the industrious, wealthy city, and west is the corrupt, poor and plague-ridden one. Or it maybe a reference to the peace lines in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
 * The name may have been adopted from Ardoyne (a district in Belfast, Northern Ireland) or Ardoyne (a rural area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland) which are pronounced in the same way.