Realm The Old Forest and Barrow Downs.pdf

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VERVIEW

Few places in Eriador create

as much fear as the Old Forest

and the Barrow Downs. There

are ancient Powers in both

places, for good and ill.

The Old Forest is a large

woodland that stands just to the

east of the Shire. It is rumored to

be a place filled with dangers of

all sorts, and there are few

Hobbits willing to travel there

during the day, much less at

night. The Hobbits of Buckland

were known to go hunting there

from time to time, but they

never stayed there long, and

certainly never after dark.

East of the Old Forest lies the

Barrow Downs. Long before the

Shire was even a dream in the

heads of the Fallohide brothers,

the people of Eriador buried

their noble dead in great

mounds. Notably, they did this

in the region known as Tyrn

Gorthad. The kings of the

ancestors of the Edain—an

ancient race of Men—were

buried here, along with the

leaders of their descendants, who

became the Dunedain in later

years.

The dead rested here

peacefully for many centuries,

until the Great Plague in the

1600’s of the Third Age. At that

time,

the Witch-king

Angmar—the leader of the Nine

Nazgul—sent evil Wights to

take over the mounds and live

within them. They did so,

transforming the land into a

terrifying place into which few

dared venture.

This entire region, the Old

Forest and Barrow Downs, strikes

fear into the hearts of the

Peoples of Eriador. Only the very

brave, or foolish, enter.

OREST

The

Old

Forest

once

stretched across much of Eriador,

but it has greatly diminished by

the Third Age. By the time of

the War of the Ring, it runs only

from thee eastern border of

Buckland—as defined by the

High Hay—to the western edge

of the Barrow Downs. It stops

well shy of the southern side of

the Great East Road, and it

reaches not too far to the south

as well.

The River Withywindle runs

down out of the Barrow Downs

and through the length of the

Old Forest before it empties into

the Brandywine at the south end

of the High Hay. This is the

major waterway in the Old

Forest, and it is personified by

the River-woman, a nature spirit

that lives in a deep pool in the

heart of the Withywindle. The

River-woman is the mother of

Goldberry, who is also called the

River-daughter by her husband,

Tom Bombadil.

the

forest

since

time

immemorial. They are like the

first trees in the first forest,

before Elves, Men, or other races

ever came to Middle-earth. Age,

however, has twisted their hearts

as much as it has gnarled their

branches. They are angry and

bitter about the way their

domain has shrunk over the

years, impinged upon by those

who freely walk the earth, unlike

their long-rooted selves.

When possible, these jealous

trees trick travelers. By gathering

closer together or leaning across

good paths and leaving the way

clear to bad courses, they

manage to shunt unwary

travelers

further

and further into the

heart of the forest,

making it nearly

impossible

for

anyone to get out.

In game terms, this

is due to the

Huorns casting a

Misdirection

spell

upon the heroes,

causing

the

travelers to come ever closer to

Old Man Willow’s home by the

banks of the Withywindle.

ILLOW

Old Man Willow is a Huorn,

and the heart of evil in the Old

Forest. Once the heroes find

themselves under Old Man

Willow’s canopy, the black

hearted trees cast

Slumber

upon

them, hoping to cause them to

sleep against his trunk. When

the heroes are all asleep—or at

least unwary—Old Man Willow

attacks. He uses his branches to

try to swallow any victims who

might be leaning up against him.

Those who are a bit farther out,

he grabs and tries to drown in

the Withywindle instead.

If Old Man Willow managers

to swallow a victim into his

VIL

REES

The Old Forest is home to all

sorts of wild creatures, but the

most amazing are the trees. The

Old Forest is home to some of

the last Huorns in Eriador. They

are ageless, having been part of

hollow core, he is loathe to give

up his prey. If the victim’s

fellows try to harm the tree, Old

Man Willow uses his

Spoken

Thoughts

ability to tell the

victim that he will kill his

hostage if the tree is not left

alone.

Despite his bitterness, Old

Man Willow respects the power

of Tom Bombadil, which is

absolute in the Old Forest. If

Tom orders the mean old tree to

release a victim, Old Man

Willow

complies,

although

grudgingly.

OUSE OF

OMBADIL

The protector of the Old

Forest is Tom Bombadil. Tom is

a mysterious being, known as

Iarwain Ben-adar to the Elves,

Orald to the Men of the North,

and Forn to the Dwarves. Tom

Bombadil and his wife Goldberry

live in a stone house situated

high up near the headwaters of

the River Withywindle. Still

inside the Old Forest, it offers a

spectacular view of the rest of

the forest, as it faces west,

looking out over the leafy

canopy beyond. A path that runs

upstream along the northern

bank of the Withywindle leads

right to the place’s front door.

Tom and Goldberry live here

alone, rarely disturbed by visitors

of any kind, for there are few

foolhardy enough to brave the

Old Forest these days. Despite

this, the two make excellent

hosts. They offer visitors plenty

of food and drink, as well as a

place to wash up before meals

and to lay their heads at night.

Goldberry is happy to

entertain any guest, but she is

not terribly interested in the

world beyond the borders of the

Old Forest. Tom, on the other

hand, is ready and willing to

chat about many different

matters, into the wee hours of

the night.

The house itself is two stories

tall. The bulk of the first floor is

occupied by a large main room,

which includes a dining table, a

hearth, and plenty of chairs for

sitting and talking. There is a

large kitchen as well. The

kitchen features a back door that

lets out into a flat area that looks

up at the downs above. There is

a kitchen garden out here, as

well as a stable that has room for

several mounts, including Tom’s

pony, Fatty Lumpkin.

The bedchamber of Tom and

Goldberry takes up most of the

top floor. Tom also has a small

workshop here, in which he

spends many hours puttering

away at one project or another.

There’s also a cozy, private

sitting room for smoking a pipe

and having a think.

There is a penthouse attached

to the northern side of the

house. This was added on after

the rest of the house was built, as

a guest room. There are four beds

here, and a bench along the

opposite wall. The room’s

western windows look out over a

beautiful flower garden and a

spectacular view of the Old

Forest beyond.

ARROW

OWNS

The Barrow Downs are a

series of grassy, treeless lands

punctuated by rolling hills

dotted with many ancient burial

mounds. Some of these mounds

date back to the First Age, and

were built by the Edain.

The

Edain

were

the

progenitors of the Dunedain, and

lived both in Minhiriath (later

Cardolan) and between the

River Lune and the Weather

Hills. The Edain’s custom was to

bury their great lords in tombs,

with their wealth. When the

Numenoreans began to settle in

Eriador, in the Second Age, they

soon adopted the Edainic

traditions. This tradition stopped

when Elendil founded Arnor,

but soon started again after the

split of that country.

Although the mounds are

reputed to be filled with the

golden treasures with which

these ancient rulers were buried,

there are few foolhardy enough

to brave the barrow-mounds to

rob these graves. The barrows are

filled with Wights: evil, undead

creatures who chill their victims

with their touch and who wish

only to gather others to join

them in death.

Although the Barrow-Wights

are evil spirits, they possess

physical remains and can cast a

number of different spells. They

hide within their barrows during

the day, only venturing forth at

night, as the light of the sun

burns their flesh. They like to

catch their prey unawares,

binding them with spells. They

drag their victims back to their

barrow where they place them

upon biers and dress them in

burial clothes. They then slay

the victims with a Dunedain

blade and consume his life force.

The ruins in the barrow

Downs came in a number of

different shapes. Besides just the

barrows

themselves—hollow

mounds in which the remains of

nobles and some of the treasures

of their houses lay buried—there

are also a number of ring-shaped

depressions atop the hills. The

reasons these ancient markers

were once erected is long since

lost to time—perhaps the Elves

may know—but now they stand

as silent monuments to the

civilization that once thrived

here.

During the time of the Great

Plague

(TA1635),

when

Cardolan lay wasted and

Arthedain was still strong, the

Witch-king of Angmar sent fell

spirits to inhabit the barrows in

the Tyrn Gorthad. These Wights

made passage south on the

Greenway

difficult

and

frightening. The presence of the

Wights prevented Arthedain

from spreading south, into

Cardolan.

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