TEXT:  
  
   
  OVERVIEW 
   
       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 
  of 
  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. 
   
  THE OLD FOREST 
   
       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 EVIL TREES 
       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 
  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. 
  OLD MAN WILLOW 
       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 
   
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  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.  
  THE HOUSE OF              
  TOM BOMBADIL 
       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. 
   
  THE                   
  BARROW DOWNS 
   
       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. 
        
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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       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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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Lord of the Rings (LotR)/Realms/Realm The Old Forest and Barrow Downs.pdf