Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-27753647-20161231105321/@comment-25101089-20170112141632

I would just like to clarify that we are not directly basing the mod's Easterlings on the MERP Easterlings. They aren't associated with dragons, and there is no mention of 'dragon-helms' or 'dragon-warriors', 'Loke-rim' or 'Loke-Khans' anywhere in the mod. (None of that is mentioned in Tolkien's writing.) Visually, they are based on the same 'Golden Easterlings' who appear in the films, so they could be considered cousins-in-adaptation to the Loke-rim, but - as with Harad - we have chosen to invent the vast majority of the non-canon content ourselves, rather than drawing from MERP and other fanmade lore. (I do not use the word 'fanmade' disparagingly - this mod is no less so.)

Disclaimer: I can't promise that we will never draw any ideas from MERP.