Chatter: Atani

Far beyond the Sea of Rhun was another inland sea, the Sea of Helcar, and beyond that the range of Orocarni, the Red Mountains. Somewhere in the lost east, too, lay Cuivienen and Hildorien, where Elves and Men first awoke: all the Children of Iluvatar could trace their ancestries back to the eastward regions of Middle-earth.This Forum is for Work on the Rhun campaign setting for The One Ring RPG set in Middle-earth.
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Chatter: Atani

Post by Vardaen » Fri Oct 10, 2014 10:41 pm

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Men of the Lost East becomes one of the largest of the projects as there are so many options. We have to work out the various tribes of men and take each one individually. The largest group would be the Easterlings, which would represent those that fell to Melkor-worship and were under Sauron's command. From this group came Khamul the Easterling and several other Nazgul. They also would be the faction for which the various wars with Gondor have been fought.

The Easterlings also known as Swarthy Men, were primitive tribes of Men who roamed Middle-earth in the First Age.

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Easterlings_(First_Age)

History

Long after the Men awoke in Hildórien, some of them left that land to migrate to the West. Some of the ancestors of the Swarthy Men left their descendants in Eriador. Of those people came the indigenous Men that dwelt in the north in the later Ages.

They made their way to Beleriand; others desired its rich lands, while others were instigated by the Enemy. They entered from east of Ered Luin after Dagor Bragollach, much later than the Edain who had already established themselves among the Noldor and the Sindar.

Traits and culture

They are described as short and broad, with swarthy (dark) skin, eyes and hair. Some had greater liking for the Dwarves of the mountains than for the Elves. Some of their women were proud and barbaric.

It is seen that they were used to alliterate the names of father and sons/brothers, a custom also seen among the House of Beor.

Easterlings of the Third Age

In the third age, the Easterlings were a significant threat to Gondor; they were a more regimented force than the Orcs or even the Haradrim. It is likely that Sauron drew much of his inspiration for his Orc armies from these wicked men. Sauron suffered a harsh and heavy defeat from the Last Alliance, who vanquished his numerically superior Orcs with a ranked and ordered army. The Easterlings were all this and more, so Sauron greatly valued his alliance with the men of Rhûn.

The weapons that the Easterlings used were primarily jagged spears, making them especially effective against cavalry, as well as a shorter, odd, glaive-like version used for close combat. They also were known to run their foes down in great Wains, or wagons.

Variags

The Variags (in the real world, this is another name for the Varangians) were from Khand, and they first appeared in the West in 1944 of the Third Age, fighting alongside the Wainriders. They later appeared during the battle of the Pelennor Fields. Little was known about them, but they appeared to be a race of horse-men much like the Rohirrim, although they were fiercely loyal to Mordor.

Drúadan
Or Woses or Drug
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Woses

Another group of Men were the Woses. They were small and stooped, and were always few in number and short-lived compared to other races of Men. They lived among the House of Haleth in the First Age, and were held as Edain by the Elves, who called them Drúadan (from Drûg, their own name for themselves, plus Edain).

At the end of the Third Age a few Woses still lived in the Drûadan Forest. They held off Orcs with poisoned arrows and were vital in securing the aid of the Rohirrim in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. King Elessar granted the Drûadan Forest to them "forever" in the Fourth Age.

They could and should have remnants of their kind in the great forests of the East.

Dunedain of Nûmenor

Due to the fact that the Ban of the Valar restricted them from sailing West, the Númenóreans began to explore the eastern part of the world, reaching the shores of Middle-earth in S.A. 600 in Lindon and met with Gil-galad.

They explored the coasts of Middle-earth far southward establishing landing and trading posts that grew into cruel vice-kingdoms which left many rumors in the legends of Men, although the Eldar did not know about them. In the south they found a useful natural haven already called Umbar by the natives.

According to the legendarium and various maps the Númenóreans traveled along the coasts all the way to Hildorien. At various points in the East we could create history here, perhaps ships that were wrecked and Dunedain that settled the coast, perhaps some were Black Númenóreans or became so, ruins and influence might remain of these times, or noble blood lines still. There is a lot we can do with this.

Dorwinion
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Dorwinion

Dorwinion or Dor-Winion was a land which lay on the northwestern shores of the Sea of Rhûn, surrounded by the River Running. In Dorwinion was made a heady wine, which was strong enough to let even Elves get drunk and fall asleep.

Dorwinion is mentioned as the place where the special wine of the Elven-king comes from, and the crates are returned by way of the Forest River to Lake-town on Long Lake.

Probably as far west as we would want to go, but certainly trade and influence from here and even Dale might be felt in the East depending on the situation.

Men of Hildorien
Perhaps some men that didn't come west remained good hearted and were the enemies of the Easterlings in later ages. We can explore this option and create our own culture.
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Re: Chatter: Edain

Post by Vardaen » Wed Oct 15, 2014 9:39 pm

Men are going to be the most complicated to figure out I think, even with Elves living for ever and dwarves having lost homes and gone wandering as Petty Dwarves and the like.

We have to have a few "good" cultures and then the "bad" plus everything in the middle.

Easterlings and Variags are our antagonists.
Duneidain left overs on the coast and the men of Hildorien remain our good guys.

Put Dorwinion and the Druedain in the middle someplace.

That's a good number of options.
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Re: Chatter: Edain

Post by Vardaen » Wed Oct 15, 2014 10:37 pm

Possible locations for men in the third age
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Re: Chatter: Edain

Post by Vardaen » Tue Nov 11, 2014 12:58 am

I've updated the map expanding the control of the Easterlings to make them a true empire worthy of the rival of Gondor.
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Re: Chatter: Atani

Post by Vardaen » Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:28 pm

Starting at the begining:

Age: 1st Age

Year: 0001

Description:
At the first rising of the Sun the Younger Children of Ilúvatar awoke in the land of Hildórien in the eastward regions of Middle-earth; but the first Sun arose in the West, and the opening eyes of Men were turned towards it, and their feet as they wandered over the Earth for the most part strayed that way. The Atani they were named by the Eldar, the Second People; but they called them also Hildor, the Followers, and many other names: Apanónar, the After-born, Engwar, the Sickly, and Fírimar, the Mortals; and they named them the Usurpers, the Strangers, and the Inscrutable, the Self-cursed, the Heavy-handed, the Night-fearers, the Children of the Sun. Of Men little is told in these tales, which concern the Eldest Days before the waxing of mortals and the waning of the Elves, save of those fathers of men, the Atanatári, who in the first years of the Sun and Moon wandered into the North of the world. To Hildórien there came no Vala to guide Men, or to summon them to dwell in Valinor; and Men have feared the Valar, rather than loved them, and have not understood the purposes of the Powers, being at variance with them, and at strife with the world. Ulmo nonetheless took thought for them aiding the counsel and will of Manwë; and his messages came often to them by stream and flood. But they have not skill in such matters, and still less had they in those days before they had mingled with the Elves. Therefore they loved the waters, and their hearts were stirred, but they understood not the messages. Yet it is told that ere long they met Dark Elves in many places, and were befriended by them; and Men became the companions and disciples in their childhood of these ancient folk, wanderers of the Elven-race who never set out upon the paths to Valinor, and knew of the Valar only as a rumour and a distant name.

Morgoth had then not long come back into Middle-earth, and his power went not far abroad.... There was little peril in the lands and hills; and there new things, devised long ages before in the thought of Yavanna and sown as seed in the dark, came at last to their budding and their bloom. West, North, and South the children of Men spread and wandered, and their joy was the joy of the morning before the dew is dry, when every leaf is green. ...

In those days Elves and Men were of like stature and strength of body, but the Elves had greater wisdom, and skill, and beauty ...

Immortal were the Elves ... But Men were more frail, more easily slain by weapon or mischance, and less easily healed; subject to sickness and many ills; and they grew old and died. What may befall their spirits after death the Elves know not. Some say that they too go to the halls of Mandos; but their place of waiting there is not that of the Elves, and Mandos under Ilúvatar alone save Manwë knows whither they go after the time of recollection in those silent halls beside the Outer Sea.

The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 12, Of Men
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Re: Chatter: Easterlings

Post by Vardaen » Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:38 pm

History: First Age

Year: 0457

Description:
... at this time the Swarthy Men came first into Beleriand. Some were already secretly under the dominion of Morgoth, and came at his call; but not all, for the rumour of Beleriand, of its lands and waters, of its wars and riches, went now far and wide, and the wandering feet of Men were ever set westward in those days. These Men were short and broad, long and strong in the arm; their skins were swart or sallow, and their hair was dark as were their eyes. Their houses were many, and some had greater liking for the Dwarves of the mountains than for the Elves. But Maedhros ... made alliance with these new-come Men, and gave his friendship to the greatest of their chieftains, Bëor and Ulfang. And Morgoth was well content; for this was as he had designed. The sons of Bëor were Borlad, Borlach, and Borthand; and they followed Maedhros and Maglor, and cheated the hope of Morgoth, and were faithful. The sons of Ulfang the Black were Ulfast, and Ulwarth, and Uldor the accursed; and they followed Caranthir and swore allegiance to him, and proved faithless.

There was small love between the Edain and the Easterlings, and they met seldom; for the newcomers abode long in East Beleriand, but Hador's folk were shut in Hithlum, and Bëor's house was well-nigh destroyed.

The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 18, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin

[Note: the date is an estimate, set to follow the prior dated event: the capture by Sauron of Tol Sirion, two years after the Dagor Bragollach.]

Vman Note: There is plenty more in the first age but its all in Beleriand and not relevant to this land.
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Re: Chatter: Easterlings

Post by Vardaen » Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:40 pm

History: Second Age

The [Northmen of Rhovanion] were involved in war not only with [Orcs] but with alien Men of evil sort. For Sauron had acquired dominion over many savage tribes in the East ... and he now urged them to seek land and booty in the West.

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 2, Ch 10, Of Dwarves and Men

1701
Sauron is driven out of Eriador
Sauron was defeated by the Numenoreans and driven back into Mordor, and for long troubled the West no more, while secretly extending his dominions eastward.

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 2, Ch 10, Of Dwarves and Men: Notes, Note 35
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Re: Chatter: Easterlings

Post by Vardaen » Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:46 pm

History: Third Age
More ominous were rumours from the further East: the Wild Men were restless. Former servants and worshippers of Sauron, they were released now from his tyranny, but not from the evil and darkness that he had set in their hearts. Cruel wars raged among them, from which some were withdrawing westward, with minds filled with hatred, regarding all that dwelt in the West as enemies to be slain and plundered.

Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 4, Appendix B, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn: The Sindarin Princes of the Silvan Elves

490-500
1st Invasion of Gondor by Easterlings
- Tarostar Defeats the Easterlings

541-542
2nd Invasion of Gondor by Easterlings
- Tarostar, King Rómendacil I of Gondor, Slain
- Turambar Defeats the Easterlings

circa 1000
The vague tradition preserved by the Hobbits ... was that they had dwelt once in lands by a Great River, but long ago had left them ... when they no longer felt at ease in their homes because of the multiplication of the Big Folk and of a shadow of fear that had fallen on the Forest. ... The increase in Men was not the normal increase of those with whom they had lived in friendship, but the steady increase of invaders from the East, further south held in check by Gondor, but in the North beyond the bounds of the Kingdom harassing the older 'Atanic' inhabitants, and even in places occupying the Forest and coming through it into the Anduin valley.

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 2, Ch 10, Of Dwarves and Men

1247-1248
3rd Invasion of Gondor by Easterlings
- Minalcar Defeats the Easterlings

1636-1637
The Great Plague
When the Plague passed it is said that more than half of the folk of Rhovanion had perished ... They were slow to recover; but their weakness was not tested for a long time. No doubt the people further east had been equally afflicted, so that the enemies of Gondor came chiefly from the south or over sea.

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 2, Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan: The Northmen and the Wainriders

1851
Wars with the Wainriders (1851-1944): Overview
- Wainriders begin their attacks on Gondor
- Northmen of Rhovanion Ally with Gondor against the Wainriders

1856
Battle of the Plains
- Narmacil II, King of Gondor, Slain
- Marhari, Lord of the Northmen, Slain
- Northmen Enslaved by the Wainriders
- Marhwini Gathers the Éothéod in the Vales of Anduin
The people of eastern and southern Rhovanion were enslaved; and the frontiers of Gondor were for that time withdrawn to the Anduin and the Emyn Muil.

The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion

1899
Battle against the Wainriders at Dagorlad
- Northmen Revolt against the Wainriders
The revolt planned and assisted by Marhwini had indeed broken out; desperate outlaws coming out of the Forest had roused the slaves, and together had succeeded in burning many of the dwellings of the Wainriders, and their storehouses, and their fortified camps of wagons. But most of them had perished in the attempt; for they were ill-armed, and the enemy had not left their homes undefended....

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 2, Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan: The Northmen and the Wainriders


circa 1900-1943
Wainriders Launch Raids against the Éothéod
Wainriders, Haradrim, and Variags Ally against Gondor
... the Wainriders ... plotted their revenge. ... in lands east of the Sea of Rhûn from which no tidings came to [Gondor's] Kings, their kinsfolk spread and multiplied, and they were eager for conquests and booty and filled with hatred of Gondor which stood in their way. ... they feared the might of Gondor, and ... believed that its realm was larger and more populous than it was in truth at that time. On the other hand the eastern Wainriders had been spreading southward, beyond Mordor, and were in conflict with the peoples of Khand and their neighbors further south. Eventually a peace and alliance was agreed between these enemies of Gondor....

... it [later became] clear that the hatred of Gondor, and the alliance of its enemies in concerted action (for which they themselves had neither the will nor the wisdom) was due to the machinations of Sauron.

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 2, Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan: The Northmen and the Wainriders

1944
Invasion of Gondor by Wainriders and Haradrim: Overview
- Battle against the Wainriders at the Morannon
- Ondoher, King of Gondor, Slain
- Ondoher's Heirs Slain
- Battle of the Camp ends the Wars with the Wainriders

2510
Invasion of Calenardhon by Balchoth and Orcs: Overview
- Muster of the Balchoth for the Invasion of Calenardhon
- Cirion Sends for Aid from the Éothéod
- Ride of Eorl
- Cirion Defends Calenardhon against Invasion
- Battle of the Field of Celebrant
The people of that region [Calenardhon, later called Rohan] had become few since the Plague, and most of those that remained had been slaughtered by the savage Easterlings.

The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: The House of Eorl

2545
Attack on Rohan by Easterlings
- Eorl the Young, King of Rohan, Slain
- Brego defeats the Attack on Rohan by Easterlings

2758-2759
Invasion of Rohan from West and East: Overview
- Long Winter
- Days of Dearth: Famine Follows the Long Winter
- Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan, Dies
- Rohan Suffers Great Floods after the Long Winter
- Gondor Aids Rohan against the Invasion
- Rohan Repels the Invaders from West and East

3018
Sauron's Forces Attack Osgiliath

3019
'It is reported to us that many kings have ridden in from the East to the service of Mordor. From the North to the field of Dagorlad there is skirmish and rumour of war.'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 3, The Muster of Rohan

Battles of Dale and Erebor in the War of the Ring: Overview
- Battle of Dale
- Brand, King of Dale, Slain
- Dáin II Ironfoot, King under the Mountain, Slain
- Siege of Erebor

Siege of Minas Tirith: Overview
- Sauron's Forces from the Morannon Invade Anórien
- Sauron's Forces Blockade Roads
- Sauron's Forces from Minas Morgul Assault Osgiliath
- Sauron's Forces Breach the Pelennor Wall
- The Pelennor Is Overrun
- Siege of Minas Tirith Begins

Battle of the Pelennor: Overview
- Charge of the Rohirrim Begins the Battle of the Pelennor
- Eomer Takes a Last Stand
- Sauron's Forces Defeated in the Battle of the Pelennor
- Siege of Minas Tirith Broken
- Rohirrim Rout Sauron's Forces from Anorien

Battle of the Morannon
But the Men of Rhûn and of Harad, Easterling and Southron, saw the ruin of their war and the great majesty and glory of the Captains of the West. And those that were deepest and longest in evil servitude, hating the West, and yet were men proud and bold, in their turn now gathered themselves for a last stand of desperate battle. But the most part fled eastward as they could; and some cast their weapons down and sued for mercy.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 4, The Field of Cormallen

Crowning of King Elessar
In the days that followed his crowning the King sat on his throne in the Hall of the Kings and pronounced his judgments. And embassies came from many lands and peoples ... And the King pardoned the Easterlings that had given themselves up, and sent them away free....

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 5, The Steward and the King

History: Fourth Age
... though Sauron had passed, the hatreds and evils that he bred had not died, and the King of the West had many enemies to subdue before the White Tree could grow in peace. And wherever King Elessar went with war King Eomer went with him; and beyond the Sea of Rhûn ... the thunder of the cavalry of the Mark was heard, and the White Horse upon Green flew in many winds until Eomer grew old.

The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: The House of Eorl
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Re: Chatter: Easterlings

Post by Vardaen » Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:48 pm

Language

In ancient days the Naugrim dwelt in many mountains of Middle-earth, and there they met mortal Men (they say) long ere the Eldar knew them; whence it comes that of the tongues of the Easterlings many show kinship with Dwarf-speech rather than with the speeches of the Elves.

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 2, Ch 10, Of Dwarves and Men

Of the speech of Men of the East and allies of Sauron all that appears is múmak, a name of the great elephant of the Harad. A carbon copy of F 4 is extant, and here my father in a similar addition named beside múmak also Variag and Khand....

The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 1, Ch 2, The Appendix on Languages: Commentary


Etymology

[Balchoth:] So these people were then called in Gondor: a mixed word of popular speech, from Westron balc "horrible" and Sindarin hoth "horde," applied to such peoples as the Orcs. [Author's note.]

Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 2, Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan: Notes, Note 24

hoth 'host, horde' (nearly always in a bad sense) in Tol-in-Gaurhoth; also in Loss(h)oth, the Snowmen of Forochel ... and Glamhoth 'din-horde', a name for Orcs.

The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names
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Re: Chatter: Druedain

Post by Vardaen » Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:04 pm

The Druedain

First Age

[Historians] in Gondor believed that the first Men to cross the Anduin were indeed the Drúedain. They came (it was believed) from lands south of Mordor, but before they reached the coasts of Harad they turned north into Ithilien, and eventually finding a way across the Anduin (probably near Cair Andros) settled in the vales of the White Mountains and the wooded lands at their northern feet. "They were a secretive people, suspicions of other kinds of Men [by] whom they had been harried and persecuted as long as they could remember, and they had wandered west seeking a land where the could be hidden and have peace."

An emigrant branch of the Drúedain accompanied the Folk of Haleth at the end of the First Age, and dwelt in the Forest [of Brethil] with them. But most of them had remained in the White Mountains, in spite of their persecution by later-arrived Men, who had relapsed into the service of the Dark.

The strangest of all the customs of the Folk of Haleth was the presence among them of people of a wholly different kind, the like of which neither the Eldar in Beleriand nor the other Atani had ever seen before. They were not many, a few hundreds maybe, living apart in families or small tribes, but in friendship, as members of the same community.

[They] were not long-lived, and were ever few in number, their losses were heavy in their feud with the Orcs, who turned their hatred and delighted to capture them and torture them. When the victories of Morgoth destroyed all the realms and strongholds of Elves and Men in Beleriand, it is said that they had dwindled to a few families, mostly of women and children, some of whom came to the last refuges at the Mouths of Sirion.

In their earlier days they had been of great service to those among whom they dwelt, and they were much sought after; though few would ever leave the land of the Folk of Haleth.

A few lived in the household of Húrin of the House of Hador, for he had dwelt among the Folk of Haleth in his youth and had kinship with their lord.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain

In an essay [...] on the names of rivers in Middle-earth there is a glimpse of the Drúedain in the Second Age. It is said here [...] that the native people of Enedwaith, fleeing from the devastation of the Númenöreans along the course of the Gwathlö, did not cross the Isen nor take refuge in the great promontory between Isen and Lefnui that formed the north arm of the Bay of Belfalas, because of the "Púkel-men," who were a secret and fell people, tireless and silent hunters, using poisoned darts. They said that they had always been there, and had former lived also in the White Mountains. In ages past they had paid no heed to the Great Dark One (Morgoth), nor did they later ally themselves with Sauron; for they hated all invaders from the East. From the East, they said, had come the tall Men who drove them from the White Mountains, and they were wicked at heart. Maybe even in the days of the War of the Ring some of the Drû-folk lingered in the mountains of Andrast, the western outlier of the White Mountains, but only the remnant in tin woods of Anörien were known to the people of Gondor.

Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 1, The Drúedain: Further Notes on the Drúedain

Vman Note: Since they are seen among the people of Halleth, and their migration takes from from the east to the west, like any other branch of men they tarry on the road, and turn away from travel for various reasons. So they might settle in the wooded lands here and there in small kinships and families, and have survived through the ages until this day like their kin in the White Mountains.
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