The Elves of Mirkwood
| Information | The Woodland Realm was established by Oropher, a Sindarin lord of Doriath, after the War of Wrath. Unlike most Sindar, Oropher and his household declined the Valar's offer to depart from Middle-earth for Valinor. Instead he migrated eastward and became the King of the Nandor of Greenwood the Great. Oropher and his household quickly adopted the language and customs of the Wood-elves, wishing to return to a simple existence natural to the Elves before they had been disturbed by the Valar.
Originally Oropher's realm encompassed the entirety of Greenwood, with its capital at Amon Lanc. However, during the Second Age he and his people migrated north three times.According to one tradition, the first movement was northward beyond the Gladden Fields, due to Oropher's desire to distance himself from the increasing encroachments of the Dwarves of Moria and his resentment of the intrusions of Celeborn and Galadriel in Lórien. However his people did maintain constant intercourse with their kin west of the Anduin. Oropher was also disturbed by the reports of Sauron's rising power and by the end of the Second Age he dwelt in the western glenn of the Emyn Duir or Dark Mountains and his people lived north of the Men-i-Naugrim or Dwarf-road.
In S.A. 3430, Oropher and Amdír led their combined forces against Sauron as part of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. During the Battle of Dagorlad the Silvan contingent refused to obey the orders of the Noldorin king Gil-galad, instead charging the enemy alone. They fought valiantly, but being ill-equipped and outnumbered most were slain, among them Oropher.
Oropher's son, Thranduil, succeeded him as king of the Woodland Realm and ruled for the duration of the Third Age.
Around T.A. 1050 an evil entity known as the Necromancer (later identified as Sauron) inhabited the abandoned halls of Amon Lanc, and Greenwood grew infested with Orcs and giant Spiders.[4] The Wood-elves retreated yet further north and many landmarks were renamed: Greenwood became Mirkwood, the Emyn Duir the Mountains of Mirkwood or Emyn-nu-Fuin, and Amon Lanc was known as Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery.
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| Characters |
King Thranduil I
Age: unknown, at least 5000
Items: Bow of Thranduil (+3 to offensive rolls, +4 to ambushing)
Traits:
- The Firstborn: +1 swordsmanship in battle
- People of the Trees: +2 accuracy of bows and +1 to ambush rolls
- Immortal: Never have death rolls
- Keen Eyes: +4 roll modifier to detecting ambushes (battle trait)
- Elvish Lore: Able to use Elvish Lore to cast spells and to negate Dark Magic (Units gained through economy each year; check Good Faction economy tab)
In the First Age Thranduil was a Sinda, subject to King Thingol. At the end of that Age he was one of many Sindar who stayed at Lindon, but at the beginning of the Second Age they travelled eastward. Thranduil and his father, Oropher, eventually ended up in Greenwood the Great, where Silvan Elves of Nandor descent lived. Oropher was taken by them as lord and founded the Woodland Realm with the capital at Amon Lanc.
The few Sindar who had come with Oropher and Thranduil were soon merged with the Silvan Elves, adopting their language and taking names of Silvan form and style.
In S.A. 3434 Thranduil followed his father, and some thirty thousand lightly armed Elves in the War of the Last Alliance. In the Battle of Dagorlad Oropher was slain with the greater part of his people but his son survived. After the Siege of Barad-dûr in S.A. 3441 when Sauron was defeated, Thranduil led the remainder of his people north back to the Woodland Realm, where he was crowned king.
Prince Legolas
Age: 700
The eldest son and heir of King Thranduil, Legolas often acts as an ambassador for his father. He is renowned as one of the finest archers in middle earth, and his skill with the bow is famed and revered.
Traits:
- The Firstborn: +1 swordsmanship in battle
- People of the Trees: +2 accuracy of bows and +1 to ambush rolls
- Immortal: Never have death rolls
- Keen Eyes: +4 roll modifier to detecting ambushes (battle trait)
- Elvish Lore: Able to use Elvish Lore to cast spells and to negate Dark Magic (Units gained through economy each year; check Good Faction economy tab)
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Thranduil's Halls, The Woodland Realm.
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