Long past, those dark days of Sauron. Long past, the days of the Elves and the Maiar. Long past, the Elder Ages.
At the end of the Third Age, the Realms of Men prospered, as the reunited Númenórean kingdoms in exile (the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor) under King Elessar and later his son Eldarion. Elessar rebuilt the once-ruined northern city of Annúminas and often dwelt there although his throne remained in Gondor. Allied realms such as Rohan and Esgaroth also prospered, as did the protected enclaves of the Shire and the Woses of Ghân-buri-Ghân. Despite the fall of Sauron, there were significant kingdoms of evil Men that had to be dealt with before the White Tree could grow in peace. Éomer fulfilled the oath of Eorl by riding with Elessar to war on the plains of Harad and beyond the sea of Rhûn, driving them back.
But now, Middle Earth is now embroiled in conflict, wrapped in the tumultuous affairs of Men. Rohan fights the incursion of the Rhûn into their territory, fighting spear and sword, arrow and gunfire, against the United Kingdom of the Easterlings.. those Men of evil nature that fought on the side of Sauron during the War of the Ring, those evil Men who now pushed into Rohan after conquering the Rhovanion. The Men of Rhûn lust to repay the bloodshed that the Men of the West wrought upon their defeated peoples at the end of the Third Age.
The Age of the Elves is over. In this age, the Fifth, almost all of the Quendi -- those first Children of Eru -- have passed over the sea to Valinor, the home of the Valar. Their great refuges lay abandoned, and no longer do their gentle serenades echo through the forests.
The Maiar have followed them, or at least the ones we know of. Saruman met his end in the Shire during the Third Age. Gandalf, Radagast, and Galadriel all departed to Valinor at the very end of the Third Age. As far as the world is concerned, the time of the Maiar walking free in Middle Earth is over. Done is their task set unto them by the Valar, and well-deserved is their rest.
Many of the great creatures of the world have now vanished. The Ents failed to find the Entwives, who perished during the War of Wrath, and as such they fell into slumber one by one. Dragons have not been seen in many an Age, having said to have flown farther into the North, past the Forodwaith and into lands uncharted.
The evil creatures of the world have since begun to make a resurgence. The Orcs and Goblins that fled to the East after the War of the Ring have now began to creep back into the West, coming from such places as Rhun, Khand, and Harad. The Trolls have been migrating down from the Ettenmoors and the Forodwaith, and many see this as a sign of dark times to come.
The Dwarves retook Khazad-dûm, and for most of the Fourth Age flourished in their ancient Kingdoms. But as the centuries wore on, their numbers dwindled. Often, the women would not desire to marry, or want a husband that they couldn't have. Similarly, many Dwarven men were too engrossed in their crafts and did not have the time to take a wife and have children. As of now, there are moderately-sized populations of Dwarves in Middle Earth, but their Kingdoms are small and their strength is waning.
The art of concocting gunpowder survived the destruction of Saruman. It was known by the Men of Rhûn and then was adopted by those of Gondor and of Rohan. It has evolved in usage since those days where Saruman used it to blast open the walls of Helm's Deep, and now is of more refined taste in destruction. It was the inventors in Rohan that first made the firearm. Adopting the principles used in the making of fireworks they channeled all of gunpowder's explosive fury into a small pipe, inside of which was a pellet. The pellet tore forth from the pipe and ripped through the solid wooden walls of their laboratory, and thus began the Age of Fire. Now, in these days, flintlock muskets and pistols are common sights, and while they have far from replaced the traditional swords, bows, and spears, they do see abundant use in the hands of warriors and commoners alike.
The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.
This is where you come in. You, of the Fifth Age of Middle Earth. You, and adventurer and a risk taker. You, a warrior, a ranger, or simply a wanderer in lust of the tales of the old days. You watch as Rohan and Rhûn fight their war of territory, and as Gondor waits at the side to see who remains in the aftermath. You see the world around you, and you read the stories of Aragorn, of Bilbo, of Frodo and of all those in the Third Age, and you long to travel the land and see what they saw, to fight as they fought. So you throw down your tools and the vestiges of your old life. You take up arms and the life of an adventurer, of a warrior, of a sellsword or a mercenary. You pick up the walking stick of the wanderer, content to travel the land and take in what you can in your travels. But now, there are whispers in the dark alleys, tales of a tome that was lost and now is found. In it, stories of a gem like no other, a gem whose beauty puts the splendor of the Arkenstone to shame. You travel to Bree, and there you tell yourself that you will find a company to travel with, you will revive the ways of old, and you will take the gem back from the White Mountains. Your motives are your own, perhaps it is for the promise of an unworldly payout, of power beyond your dreams, or simply the thrill of going there and then back again. But whatever you want of it, and whomever you are, you are set upon your task. This is the Age of Fire, the last age of the world.
- Code: Select all
NAME:
SPECIES:
AGE:
PROFESSION: (Wanderer, Soldier, Mercenary, Ranger, etc.)
SKILLSET: (Are you a famed swordsman? A skilled archer? A master of medicine and herblore?)
APPEARANCE: (Picture preferred.)
EQUIPMENT: (Please include a horse. You'll need one.)
BIO:
