TOR2: A Brief Introduction

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It is the year 2965 of the Third Age and the Shadow is returning.

Twenty-four years ago, an alliance of Elves, Men, and Dwarves defeated a horde of Orcs and Wild Wolves, under a sky darkened by Giant Bats, inaugurating a new era of prosperity for the Free Peoples. But twenty years is a long time for peace to last, and in many dark corners of the earth a shadow is lengthening once again.

Rumours of strange things happening outside the borders of civilised lands are spreading with increasing regularity and, while they are dismissed by most as fireside-tales and children’s stories, they sometimes reach the ears of individuals who recognise the sinister truth they hide.

These are restless warriors, curious scholars and wanderers, always eager to seek what was lost or explore what was forgotten. Ordinary people call them adventurers and, when they prevail, they hail them as heroes. But if they fail, no one will even remember their names…

* * * The Folk of Eriador

West of Wilderland, between the Misty Mountains and the Sea, is the region of Eriador. Right in its middle is found the Shire of the Hobbits, a quiet land whose folk enjoy a secluded life behind guarded borders. Across the river Brandywine, east of the Shire, lies the Bree-land, a small inhabited region, rising like an island in the midst of the Lone-lands about it.

The Bree-land is traversed by the East-West Road, and in its chief village of Bree is The Prancing Pony, a resort for all weary travellers. These are mainly Dwarves of the Folk of Durin, going east to their far Kingdom Under the Mountain, in Wilderland, or west, on their way to the Blue Mountains. Sometimes, they travel in the company of Northmen from distant Dale, subjects of King Bard the Dragonslayer.

According to ancient stories, the region of Eriador was once the realm of Arnor, a great kingdom of the North, brought to ruin long ago by bitter strife and the machinations of the Enemy. Much of it is now forgotten, for the memory of mortals is short, and the days of the king are celebrated only in songs and proverbs devoid of their original meaning.

But some remember — the mysterious Rangers of the North, lonely hunters of the servants of the Enemy who guard all boundaries against Wights and Trolls, as do the long-lived Elves of Lindon, that at times leave their land along the western coasts to wander across Eriador, to witness with their immortal eyes the fading of the glories of the past.

North-Western Middle-Earth

The region where the Free Peoples and their foes dwell at the end of the Third Age is dominated by the great range of the Misty Mountains.

To the west of its snow-capped peaks lies Eriador, where once the North-kingdom of the Men of the West rose. To the east lies wild Rhovanion, where the dark forest of Mirkwood lies. Beyond the forest to the northeast is the Long Lake and the Lonely Mountain, where a great Dragon used to rule.

To the far south open the green plains of Rohan, bordered by the White Mountains. Further east is the South-kingdom of Gondor, the Realm of Stone, whose Tower of Guard faces the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie.