Woodmen-town

[Vladim]

 

The oldest settlement of the Woodmen was founded by the folk of Balthi long ago. He brought the Lamp out of the darkness, and the light of the Lamp has ever protected Woodmen-town and its inhabitants.

 

The town nestles on the banks of the Dusky River, which blocks attacks from the east. The Woodmen also use the river to travel back and forth between Woodmen-town and Woodland Hall.

 

The Woodmen of Woodmen-town are proud and brave. Theirs is an ancient heritage, stretching back nearly a thousand years. To a civilised traveller from Dale or Gondor, they may look like rough wild Men of the woods, but the folk of Woodmen-town consider their lineage to be the equal of that of any king.

 

Woodmen-town faces a precarious existence. Spiders and other horrors out of the wood assail them regularly. Still, they have endured here for nine hundred years, and made this wood their home.

[Vladim]

 

1. Great Hall: Also known as the House of Balthi or the Hall of the Lamp, for the Lamp hangs from the roof of this building. On special feast-days or times of need, the Lamp is brought out and hung from a carved pole so that its light may be clearly seen for miles around.

 

2. Palisade: A wall of stakes to block attackers. The Woodmen have fought many different foes and learned the best way to deal with each of them. The wooden walls hold back Orcs and raiders. Dog packs watch for wolves that might slip through gaps in the palisade. Specially grown thorns prevent Spiders from crawling over the top. Children gather bunches of fragrant herbs that are then burnt to drive away the stench of noisome vapours and evil spirits. The wall is as strong as any wall can be in Mirkwood.

 

3. Market Green: Woodmen-town stands midway between Rhosgobel and Woodland Hall, so it is where the Woodmen come to trade and talk. The Market Green is a low grassy mound used for both markets and councils of war.

 

4. Docks: The Dusky River runs close to the edge of the town. The Woodmen use small, sturdy boats made from dug-out tree trunks to navigate the river. Larger rafts carry cargos up to Woodland Hall or down to the villages along the Black Tarn.

 

5. Guest Houses: As many folk from the other settlements visit Woodmen-town, they maintain these guest-houses. Normally, guests stay in the Great Hall, but there is not always space there. The original guesthouses were once inhabited by residents of Woodmen-town, but many people abandoned this settlement when the shadow returned to Mirkwood.

 

6. Kennels: The folk of Woodmen-town were the first to tame the hounds of Mirkwood, who are — it is said — descended from the hound-companion of Beren, a great hero of Men in the First Age.

[Vladim]

The Western Eaves

 

This tract of oakwood is the most thickly populated region in Mirkwood. Here dwell the Woodmen of Mirkwood. Their small hamlets and cottages are within a mile inside the forest edge — deep enough to offer protection from attackers, but not so far from their farmland. Their two larger settlements are hidden in the shadowy depths of the wood, and the trails to these refuges are well hidden and guarded by sentries. Whenever the Woodmen fear attackers, the farmers on the forest fringe pack up and bring their families and herds to the safety of Woodland Hall or Woodmen-town.

 

To the east of this region flows the Dusky River, which springs somewhere in the Haunted Hills and meanders west and south. The river’s water is silted and dark, hence its name, but the water is drinkable — most of the time. Sometimes, animal carcasses — rotting and curiously misshapen, as if they were mutilated before they died — wash down from the Haunted Hills, and they carry with them illness and foul water.

 

The river is navigable, and the Woodmen use flat bottomed boats to travel between Woodland Hall and Woodmen-town. The river empties into a wide lake called the Black Tarn. The still waters here are mirror-smooth and tranquil. Herons wade amid the reeds on the edges of the lake, hunting fish and eels. The southern edge of the lake is ringed by low wooded hills. Hidden trails from the northern banks of the lake run through tangled pine-woods to the forest edge and the home of the wizard Radagast, Rhosgobel.

 

Parts of the Western Eaves, especially around the Woodman settlements, are almost pleasant. The Woodmen thinned the trees, letting a little sunlight filter through the canopy. They made clearings as woodland pasture for their herds. Children play in the bushes near Woodmen-town. Still, this is Mirkwood — the pall of darkness still hangs heavy, even under the noonday sun. There is no safety in Mirkwood. One of those running children might stray five minutes walk from home, and find herself utterly lost amid unfamiliar trees.

 

Wildlife

 

Boars and deer are common on the western edge of the woods. The bows and spears of the Woodmen drove away the wolves that once hunted here. Black sparrows and pheasants live in the trees here.

 

The Woodmen keep herds of sheep, cows and pigs. The black pigs they keep in the forest, letting them forage for acorns and roots in the black oak woods west of the Dusky River. The other animals graze on the fertile lands of the East Anduin Vales, and dislike being brought into the forest. When the Woodmen are forced to bring their herds into the wood for safe keeping, they must also be on watch for signs of madness — animals from outside the forest sometimes panic and rush off into the darkness, and one bolting sheep can scatter a whole herd. Strangely — perhaps because they interbreed with the wild boar of the woods — the pigs seem untroubled by the forest.

 

Around the Dusky River, and especially along the Black Tarn, live many river-birds, and fishes in plenty swim under the surface of the waters. The river forms a natural boundary against the Spiders, who dare not cross the water. The Woodmen keep careful watch on their northern and southern borders to stop Spiders creeping around the river, and must be equally careful when boating on its surface. The Spiders cannot swim, but sometimes they crawl out onto branches that overlook the stream and dangle sticky strands of webbing down into the path of approaching boats, like monstrous fishermen.

 

Inhabitants

 

This is the land of the Woodmen. Less than a quarter of those who call themselves Woodmen actually live deep in the forest. Some live in the shadows of the Misty Mountains, at Mountain Hall, but most live on the edge of the woods. Still, Mirkwood is their home and their refuge, and the burial mounds of their ancestors are at the roots of the ancient trees.