Dol Guldur: The Forest Under Nightshade
The Woodland Realm of Greenwood the Great was a prosperous, thriving Elven country, first under the reign of Orophor and then into the reign of his son and heir Thranduil. However, around the year 1000 TA, a shadow fell on the southern reaches of the forest. For some time, it was not known that it was, in fact, the Shadow itself. Mairon, in the guise of the Necromancer, had come to darken the forest and spread his dark influence. He took for himself the abandoned capital on Amon Lanc and began construction on a fortress that would later be known as the Hill or Sorcery: Dol Guldur. Where once there was light and joy, gardens and trees, there was now rot and decay. Orcs began to populate the region, then wargs and trolls followed. Finally, hordes and hordes of spiders began to make their webbed homes in the unlight of the mountains. The Necromancer’s influence was slow and methodical. Soon, members of Thranduil’s court were ensnared in his schemes and promises of power and control. One such elf, Sirimir, attempted a coup against his lord and king. The attempt failed but the damage was done. Taking the name Angathfund, a name given to him by the Necromancer meaning “Ghost of Perdition”, the corrupted Silvan elf began one of the Necromancer’s chief lieutenants, organizing and directing the completion of Dol Guldur and the spreading of its corruptive influence throughout the southern regions of the forest. One of Angathfund’s spells, a bitterly cold, sound devouring fog began to spread for miles and miles around the fortresses and its environs, protecting and shrouding the land from unwanted eyes. However, in 2063, the Istar Gandalf entered the fortress through subterfuge, eager to suss out the identity of the Necromancer. In response, Mairon fled. Angathfund was left holding the forces of Dol Guldur together, moving them secretly into the Emyn Duir for the next four centuries. However, Mairon returned, still using his guise as the Necromancer and once again, the Hill of Sorcery was alight with dark magic. The dark forest forces were again interrupted when an open attack came from the White Council in 2941, this time driving out all of the Necromancer’s forces. It was not until 2951 that Angathfund, under the command of the Black Easterling, Khamûl himself, and two other Nazgûl, returned to the haunted forest throne. Khamûl and his fellow Nazgûl were detached from the day to day ruling of the lands they’d been given by the Dark Lord, which gave the opportunity Angathfund had sought for so long: the rule of the haunted hill for himself. Now, with much of the strength and power of Dol Guldur restored, Angathfund readies his forces for the imminent wars to come.
Angathfund, played by Frost
Locations
The Fortress
The Fortress, the administrative hub on Dol Guldur, is built on the foundations of the old capital of the Woodland Realm. One of the first construction projects of the Necromancer, he tore the old city apart, destroying all that was good and green on the hill and twisted it until all the environs were utterly unrecognizable. Using alien malevolent black stone from the black lands of Mordor to reinforce the walls, the fortress is built in the style of a massive ringfort; the center of Dol Guldur is a massive tower where sits the dreaded shadowthrone. Not so great as Barad-dûr, but no less imposing or filled with horrors beyond human or elven imaginings. It was once home to the Necromancer himself, where he brooded and plotted his unending schemes of revenge and control, but now houses the Ringwraiths, inscrutable and unknowable. At night there is a strange pale green glow from the highest rooms in the tower that seeps from stone and infuses the hill itself with a terrible alien light. Also within the walls are many of the barracks for the legions of orcs, as well as training grounds, a mess hall, armory, an alchemy laboratory, and wolf kennels. There was once a great library full of arcane secrets but in the intervening time between the Necromancer and the Ringwraiths, Angathfund had it moved his place of residence. Deep down below, carved out of the foundations and into the very hill itself, are the terrible dungeons of Dol Guldur where multitudes of prisoners are housed for torture, information extraction, or experimentation.
The Web
Just outside the fortress proper is the place known as the Web. No one knows the real name of the place, and no one is brave enough to ask Quolúvië (played by Moriel), the pubmistress and one of the Seven Deadly Sisters. The name is simply taken from the unending mass of cobwebs and creepy crawlies she keeps as part of her décor. Still the place is often alive with sounds of drinking, fighting, and gambling. Beware though, for within the Web, Quolúviëʼs word is law, and no man may kill a spider and hope to live. The Web, once a fine inn for those passing through Amon Lanc or on business in the capitol, comprises a split-level ground floor of taproom and bar, and a longer and more secluded room in which to sit- though no one is ever entirely invisible from the pubmistress's many eyes. The upper level with its vaulted ceilings is accessible only by a secret staircase, and comprises Quolúvië's living chambers. None may enter but by invitation.
Quolúvië, played by Moriel
The Hawthorn Mansion
Outside the fortress is a massive, ancient hawthorn tree reaching nearly a hundred feet into the air, the only tree upon the hill. Once, in the long days of yore, Orophor had a large mansion built into the tree. It was a place of joy, light, music and song, and beautiful colors. After the Silvan elves abandoned it, the mansion fell into decay as the tree began to reclaim the space. Angathfund has taken this once beautiful monument to Silvan construction and ingenuity into a place of horror and nightmares. There is no sound within the walls of his home, no conversation, no music, no laughter. A dreadful cold fog surrounds the mansion, like fingers of the frozen north. No one knows what goes on within the confines of Angathfund’s seat of power, and no one asks, too afraid of what the consequences could be for disturbing the mercurial former Silvan noble.
The Rotten Temple
Some leagues away from the hill, deep within the evergreens of Mirkwood, is a shrine to Melian, constructed by Orophor himself in honor and reverence to his former queen, Melian of Doriath. He continued to use it even after the capitol was moved. His son, too, kept up the tradition of yearly pilgrimages to the shrine. In return for this devotion, something similar to the Girdle of Doriath was placed around the old capital, making it difficult for the Shadow to enter the abandoned place and set down roots. However, Angathfund found the shrine and defiled it, throwing down the images of Melian and constructing his own horrifying effigies from the bones of animals, the desecrated remains of his fellow elves, and unholy wood of the trees he cultivated after the destruction of the sacred evergreens. Learning from the Necromancer himself, he filled these inhuman effigies with something similar to life. They guard his shrine now and hunt the grounds for any creature that dares enter, adding those they catch to their ranks.
The Smithies and Foundry
Carved into the hill in a strip mine fashion and continuing down into the lowlands around Amon Lanc, the Smithies and Foundry are perhaps the greatest achievement of the Necromancer and his successors thereafter. Hundreds of forges creating the arms, armor, and siege engines dot the landscape, an image evocative of Mordor. Created and maintained by slave labor, the forges work ceaselessly to create more and more and more in service of the Dark Lord. Hundreds of orcish sappers and engineers, handpicked for the work by the Ringwraiths themselves, oversee the work, demanding no less than perfection from their workers and their slaves. Deaths are common in the Smithies and Foundry, but workers are cheap. While a place of innovation and ingenuity, it are also a place of betrayal, schemes, and manipulation.
The Spider Dens
Deep within the Emyn Duir, the shadowy Mountains of Mirkwood, are the Spider Dens, monstrous descendants of both Shelob and Carníheniel. There was some pact made between the spiders and the Necromancer as he began his slow corruption of the Greenwood and they entered the forest and, as in Taur-nu-Fuin of old, filled the forest with shadows and webs and horror. Their leader, a monstrous creature by the name of Samreseth, heads a legion of nightmares, making the forests more dangerous than before, as well as swelling the ranks of the army, providing scouts, spies, and beasts of burden for the myriad siege engines. Very few can walk into the Spider Dens and come out alive, even though there is a truce between the spiders and the forces of Dol Guldur, any interloper found wandering in the haunted hills is fair game.
Samreseth, played by Frost
The Cave of the Whispers
Far beyond the light, down a tunnel that feels as though it’s leading down the very hellish fires of the center of the earth, is a cave, a prison, a tomb. The Cave of the Whispers is where Angathfund trains and molds his most terrible servants. Either taken unwillingly as slaves, or willingly as members of his old coup, Silvan women are taken and tortured and changed into something different: The Whispers. Assassins, spies, wraiths with an unflappable loyalty to Angathfund, their creator. They are hunters who will never stop searching for their prey. Often, the Lonely Lord will use them on special missions deep into enemy territory, targeted assassinations or daring heists of powerful objects. It is rumored that Whispers exist within the courts of Thranduil and Galadriel, maybe even within the forest valley of Rivendell itself. They are ruthless, unyielding, and savage and revel in bloodshed to a degree that make the most savage orc seem tame by comparison
Angathfund, played by Frost
Locations
The Fortress
The Fortress, the administrative hub on Dol Guldur, is built on the foundations of the old capital of the Woodland Realm. One of the first construction projects of the Necromancer, he tore the old city apart, destroying all that was good and green on the hill and twisted it until all the environs were utterly unrecognizable. Using alien malevolent black stone from the black lands of Mordor to reinforce the walls, the fortress is built in the style of a massive ringfort; the center of Dol Guldur is a massive tower where sits the dreaded shadowthrone. Not so great as Barad-dûr, but no less imposing or filled with horrors beyond human or elven imaginings. It was once home to the Necromancer himself, where he brooded and plotted his unending schemes of revenge and control, but now houses the Ringwraiths, inscrutable and unknowable. At night there is a strange pale green glow from the highest rooms in the tower that seeps from stone and infuses the hill itself with a terrible alien light. Also within the walls are many of the barracks for the legions of orcs, as well as training grounds, a mess hall, armory, an alchemy laboratory, and wolf kennels. There was once a great library full of arcane secrets but in the intervening time between the Necromancer and the Ringwraiths, Angathfund had it moved his place of residence. Deep down below, carved out of the foundations and into the very hill itself, are the terrible dungeons of Dol Guldur where multitudes of prisoners are housed for torture, information extraction, or experimentation.
The Web
Just outside the fortress proper is the place known as the Web. No one knows the real name of the place, and no one is brave enough to ask Quolúvië (played by Moriel), the pubmistress and one of the Seven Deadly Sisters. The name is simply taken from the unending mass of cobwebs and creepy crawlies she keeps as part of her décor. Still the place is often alive with sounds of drinking, fighting, and gambling. Beware though, for within the Web, Quolúviëʼs word is law, and no man may kill a spider and hope to live. The Web, once a fine inn for those passing through Amon Lanc or on business in the capitol, comprises a split-level ground floor of taproom and bar, and a longer and more secluded room in which to sit- though no one is ever entirely invisible from the pubmistress's many eyes. The upper level with its vaulted ceilings is accessible only by a secret staircase, and comprises Quolúvië's living chambers. None may enter but by invitation.
Quolúvië, played by Moriel
The Hawthorn Mansion
Outside the fortress is a massive, ancient hawthorn tree reaching nearly a hundred feet into the air, the only tree upon the hill. Once, in the long days of yore, Orophor had a large mansion built into the tree. It was a place of joy, light, music and song, and beautiful colors. After the Silvan elves abandoned it, the mansion fell into decay as the tree began to reclaim the space. Angathfund has taken this once beautiful monument to Silvan construction and ingenuity into a place of horror and nightmares. There is no sound within the walls of his home, no conversation, no music, no laughter. A dreadful cold fog surrounds the mansion, like fingers of the frozen north. No one knows what goes on within the confines of Angathfund’s seat of power, and no one asks, too afraid of what the consequences could be for disturbing the mercurial former Silvan noble.
The Rotten Temple
Some leagues away from the hill, deep within the evergreens of Mirkwood, is a shrine to Melian, constructed by Orophor himself in honor and reverence to his former queen, Melian of Doriath. He continued to use it even after the capitol was moved. His son, too, kept up the tradition of yearly pilgrimages to the shrine. In return for this devotion, something similar to the Girdle of Doriath was placed around the old capital, making it difficult for the Shadow to enter the abandoned place and set down roots. However, Angathfund found the shrine and defiled it, throwing down the images of Melian and constructing his own horrifying effigies from the bones of animals, the desecrated remains of his fellow elves, and unholy wood of the trees he cultivated after the destruction of the sacred evergreens. Learning from the Necromancer himself, he filled these inhuman effigies with something similar to life. They guard his shrine now and hunt the grounds for any creature that dares enter, adding those they catch to their ranks.
The Smithies and Foundry
Carved into the hill in a strip mine fashion and continuing down into the lowlands around Amon Lanc, the Smithies and Foundry are perhaps the greatest achievement of the Necromancer and his successors thereafter. Hundreds of forges creating the arms, armor, and siege engines dot the landscape, an image evocative of Mordor. Created and maintained by slave labor, the forges work ceaselessly to create more and more and more in service of the Dark Lord. Hundreds of orcish sappers and engineers, handpicked for the work by the Ringwraiths themselves, oversee the work, demanding no less than perfection from their workers and their slaves. Deaths are common in the Smithies and Foundry, but workers are cheap. While a place of innovation and ingenuity, it are also a place of betrayal, schemes, and manipulation.
The Spider Dens
Deep within the Emyn Duir, the shadowy Mountains of Mirkwood, are the Spider Dens, monstrous descendants of both Shelob and Carníheniel. There was some pact made between the spiders and the Necromancer as he began his slow corruption of the Greenwood and they entered the forest and, as in Taur-nu-Fuin of old, filled the forest with shadows and webs and horror. Their leader, a monstrous creature by the name of Samreseth, heads a legion of nightmares, making the forests more dangerous than before, as well as swelling the ranks of the army, providing scouts, spies, and beasts of burden for the myriad siege engines. Very few can walk into the Spider Dens and come out alive, even though there is a truce between the spiders and the forces of Dol Guldur, any interloper found wandering in the haunted hills is fair game.
Samreseth, played by Frost
The Cave of the Whispers
Far beyond the light, down a tunnel that feels as though it’s leading down the very hellish fires of the center of the earth, is a cave, a prison, a tomb. The Cave of the Whispers is where Angathfund trains and molds his most terrible servants. Either taken unwillingly as slaves, or willingly as members of his old coup, Silvan women are taken and tortured and changed into something different: The Whispers. Assassins, spies, wraiths with an unflappable loyalty to Angathfund, their creator. They are hunters who will never stop searching for their prey. Often, the Lonely Lord will use them on special missions deep into enemy territory, targeted assassinations or daring heists of powerful objects. It is rumored that Whispers exist within the courts of Thranduil and Galadriel, maybe even within the forest valley of Rivendell itself. They are ruthless, unyielding, and savage and revel in bloodshed to a degree that make the most savage orc seem tame by comparison
Rules and Guidelines:
All races are welcome but if you want to play a good aligned character, remember you are in their territory, not yours
Keep any OOC comments to the Hall of Barad-dûr: Mordor OOC
Refrain from using overly bright colors
Anyone can use any canon characters in their stories, there is no ownership in this thread
We are all adults here and can decide for ourselves the stories we want to read so rather than dictate what can and cannot be written in this thread, we will ask that any CW (at the discretion of the writer) be placed at the top of the post.
Keep overt silliness out of the Web, it might be a rowdy place but it isn’t On the Rocks
Double Posting is cool, just don’t spam
Don't over use images and no gifs whatsoever