Post by Gandalf the Grey on Dec 14, 2012 12:48:47 GMT -5
The year is 2941 of the Third Age of Middle-earth. The Watchful Peace has ended and evil has begun to creep back into the world again. There are rumors of a shadow rising in the East. The great kingdom of the dwarves has long since been scattered from Erebor by Smaug the dragon and the people of Rohan still stand in a rebuilding time from their invasion and occupation by the Dunlendings. Middle-earth is in a dangerous stand still, as if it is waiting, watching from some great evil to rise.
There are those that would oppose such an evil, the white counsel (Galadriel, Gandalf, Saruman, Cirdan and Elrond), but the countries and realms of men stand in no position to hold an all-out attack. There are rumors in Greenwood of a great shadow spreading across the forest, so much so that it had been renamed Mirkwood for the evil that seemed to dwell within the ancient fortress of Dol Guldur.
The southern kingdom of men, the Kingdom of Gondor, has lost its two most prized cities. Minas Ithil is becoming known as Minas Morgul under the rule of the nazgul, and the once capitol city of Osgiliath lies dormant and virtually uninhabited in fear of the mountains of Mordor and the threat imminent attack from Minas Morgul. The East bank in contested by orcs and uruk hai and the West bank is loosely held by men and rangers, those that would stay to defend. Gondor is ruled by no strong line of stewards - no great men had sat on the throne of Gondor since Elendil. The armies of Gondor waned and was spread loosely to defend the borders and the kin strife for stewardship and dominion of Gondor had left the armies weak and susceptible to attack.
Still, the power of the nazgul grew in Mordor and Minas Morgul in preparation for the still hidden Sauron and the shadow in the North was becoming ever more relevant. The ancient kingdom and twin nation of Arnor in Eriador has all been forgotten. It is guarded loosely by the remnants of the Dunedian who guard the Shire, the surrounding realms with loose assistance from Cirdan of the Grey Havens.
Angmar is a forgotten enemy after the defeat of the witch king at the battle of Fornost several hundred years ago, no one has given much thought to the old kingdom of the nazgul. Still, as fate would have it, an evil, an old evil has presented itself in the world of Angmar, also hidden and buying it’s time to strike. This evil, in the form of a dark elf, a descendant of Eol waits in the ruins of Carn Dum to strike.
Middle Earth stands on the edge of a knife and one tip either way will cause it to fall. There are enemies from the north, the west and the east and the withered and diminished realms of men are far from their former glory. The elves, with this knew darkness rising, considered the great journey over the sea to Valinor and leaving Middle-earth to be ruled by men, who proved to be the race providing the greatest numbers; however the weakest minded. The dwarves, scattered across the world, in the Iron Hills, the Blue Mountains desire their homeland of Erebor but lack the strength and the resolve to conquer it from Smaug. It would seem that the will of good has diminished since the Eldar days and the days of Numenor when the will of men was strong to oppose darkness.
Sauron finds himself crawling back into the world with the aid of his nazgul and other evils find themselves poised with the picture opportunity to strike. The question that rises in the hearts of wise men or that of the older elves is this:
Who now has the strength and will to stand against the darkness, to stand as a light that would repel an ancient evil?
ADDENDUM:
For further clarification, our plot is following the movies. There has been confusion in the past on how the timeline is set, so I'm making an official post to say that as the movies are released, our site plot will progress.
With that being said, those wishing to play canons can currently only RP up until the Eagles scene; however, you are allowed to make as many side quests as you want as long as it within reason of their current journey. This allows for interaction with original characters and also lets us imagine what might have happened during the days when they were just traveling.
Also, with this timeline, there must be a steady progression of things. Bilbo can't be in the Shire one day and in the Misty Mountains a week later. With following the movies, there has to be some kind of chronological order. For instance, since the movie is still new, the Company will just be starting out in their journey. However, around October/November, Bilbo will meet Gollum and finally obtain the ring.
To some this may seem limiting, but there are endless possibilities of what the characters could be doing between these two times. It doesn't have to strictly be following the main quest. As many side-quests as you'd like are allowed, as long as the main quest gradually moves.
Others may think this is a long time to wait before allowing the plot to move further, but in my experience, a thread can sometimes take a month (or more) to fully RP out. With having things spread out, it allows for more creativity but at the same time there is an innate timeline within the movie releases. This board was also built with the idea that it would be around for a while. To just let the whole quest happen within the first 6 months doesn't leave much room for development.
That being said, I just wanted to post all this for clarity to new members who are thinking of joining. Yes, the canons are somewhat limited in what they can do, but that's why we have original characters that you can create and interact with along the way. :)
If you guys have any questions, don't hesitate to send an admin a PM!