Board Thread:Lore Texts/@comment-26149161-20170528025206

On the Fallen Empire of the Forest

Teithantna Ithilion Eleruth, goloth o Noldoli





It is said that long ago, in the Far Harad, a great empire was formed. This realm, led by the iron-fisted Emperor, grew great and powerful, as large as Gondor in its greatest might, and was at that time surpassed only by Numenor. But the empire fell long ago, and none now live who remember its majesty.

The Tauredain, as they are called, are known of mainly through documents of Numenor and legends handed down by the men of Gondor. Unlike their uncivilized kin in the South, they had a writing system, though they wrote little of lore and were for the most part unlearned. Much of what is known about them is surmised from their tales, or the experience of the Numenoreans. And much of that is now lost, for much drowned in the Downfall of Numenor. Here follows what little is known about the people, as can be guessed or surmised.





History

Like all other Men, the ancestors of the Tauredain would have woken in Hildorien. They travelled west from there, at what time is not known, but eventually reached the far plains of the South. The divided and scattered peoples encamped there for a time, before separating into the later groups. The people who became the Tauredain traveled to the mangrove swamps, and lived the simple life of fishermen, dwelling in modest huts amidst the tangled trees and fenlands.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The ancient Tauredain were descended from the marsh-folk of Far Harad, the Limwaith as they were known to Numenor. A faction of this people, discontent with a simple fishing-life, left the swamps and travelled southwest in the early Second Age until they reached the Great Jungle. Stricken by its beauty, they remained there and began to build homes, temples, and pyramids. Eventually they united, and building the great fortress of Ya’ax Kaah set up their leader in 385 S.A, the High King of the Forest, seen as a god. This incited them to begin a religious war upon their neighbors, and their armies, largest and best-equipped in the Far Harad, conquered all the swamps and plains. Many great cities were raised, and all paid homage to the newly-crowned Tauredain Emperors,.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">And the empire grew great, spreading from the Savannahs of the North to the Horn of the South, and from the arid plains to the coasts the battlecries of the Men of the Forest were heard. And so Sauron learned of them. His emissaries came bearing gifts, and then He himself. He spoke long with the Emperor. And some say that he gave to the Emperor a Ring, in the hopes to ensnare all that people and turn the second-greatest Kingdom of Men to his dominion. Whether he did or not is not known, and it is a matter much-debated. But it is told that he vanished without a trace, and the greatest Tauredain Emperor was never seen again by any of his people. Thus the glory of the Tauredain was shorn a little, but still they dominated the continent for eight centuries.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">But no group in Harad could avoid the attention of Numenor in its days of power. The Men of the Sea, great adventurers and mariners, sailed about the Harad, and made contact with the Empire on the western shore. The trading-town of Otoch Kaah was built by the coast, and merchants of both empires met there and exchanged products and sold wares. From this Numenor learned much of the Far Haradrim, and of the great riches of the Tauredain, who they named Orunan <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#092c16;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">â <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">i, that is Tree-folk in the Adunaic. And the Tauredain learnt the art of metalworking, and craftsmanship, and writing. Though now degraded and near unrecognizable, the first letters of the Tauredain were in fact the Tengwar of Feanor.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">But the friendship of Numenor waned. The Shadow fell upon the great Isle, and the Numenoreans came no longer as friends or teachers. They demanded tribute, of gold and gems, and the fruit and furs of the South that were renowned. The Tauredain were uninclined to give up such precious items, and they declared war on Numenor. The war was short-lived, culminating in the Battle of Otoch Kaah, in S.A 2087. In a fight said to last less than twenty minutes, eight thousands of the Tauredain’s elite were slaughtered by a host of Numenorean Steelbowmen. The city was then sacked and razed, the women carried off to Numenor, and one in every five men of the town summarily executed.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Following the disastrous defeat at Otoch Kaah, the Emperor fled, and his cousin claimed the throne. He surrendered to Numenor, and began to exact heavy taxes and tribute on both his people and the Moredain. All of it was sent to the ports of Numenor, and the lords of the Sea-kings grew rich. Though Otoch Kaah was rebuilt, it never reached the glory it had before the battle. The people of the Tauredain suffered, and the lower classes grew to hate the cruel lords of the West. This turned even darker when Sauron came to Numenor. Then the Black Numenoreans came not as conquerors, but slavers. Many were the men taken from the jungle, to be put to the lash, and the fairest to be slain and burnt upon the altars of Morgoth.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">A day came of great storm, and the Sea roiled, and all men, of Numenor and the Wood, were filled with fear. And the land shook, and the Sea was overcame some lands, and laid others bare. Of the Harad, the Horn was riven and shook, until it collapsed and was made smaller, and the Western coast was destroyed, and its people fled to the mountains as refugees. The Sea withdrew from Otoch Kaah, and the Ships of the Black Numenoreans carried far out and lost. A grey rain swept down, and lightning struck the cities of the Numenoreans and slew many. For the Isle had fallen.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Numenoreans, those who did not drown or flee or die to the lightning, troubled the Tauredain no more. They quickly intermingled with the Haradrim, and soon lost almost all evident western heritage. Most of their cities had been drowned or demolished, and their treasures lost. But a few of the Black Numenoreans survived in hidden forts and coves, and a few may linger still, Sauronians, servants of the Dark Lord. They did not trouble the Tauredain ever again, however, and no word was heard in the far South of the Last Alliance and fall of Sauron. The Empire grew again, though it never regained all the lands it had lost. The Emperors, greedy for the wealth of their ancestors, began to tax and subjugate their people, and the population was bled dry.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">But a plot began to spread through the empire, and in the year 963 T.A, it was executed. Rebellions sprung up in many of the cities, and the Emperor’s own army betrayed him. The masses slew taxpayers and governors, and declared that no longer would they suffer under such oppression. The palace of the emperor was stormed, and he and his family executed by the revolutionaries. A new leadership was established, the Council of Chiefs, to rule the empire fairly and equally. The Lords Everlasting of the Northern Imperial Nation¹, so the Chiefs declared themselves, ruled justly from the new city of Tuunick Kaah. The old empire was shrunken to just the northern half of the forest, and attacks from the Moredain increased in this time, along with a new people, the Cerinrim. These bloodthirsty cultists raided the edges of the southern woods and captured tribes of the Tauredain, sacrificing them to their god.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">But in the year 1645 T.A. a plague² swept from the North and through the Harad, and many of the Tauredain perished, for the disease thrived in the warm climate of the South. This was followed by repeated invasions by the Moredain, who began to steal the sacred animal of the Tauredain, the great <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mûmakil <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, to sell in the North. This infuriated the remaining Tauredain, who repelled the invaders. But brutal attacks by the Cerinrim led to the fall of the last shred of the glorious Tauredain realm, having stood for a total of 4,706 years. The few survivors fled deep into the jungle and hid themselves.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">But the people of the woods survived, in part due to an influx of peoples from the Mountains of Harad. Those survivors of the wreck created by the Downfall of Numenor, had dwelt to the west of the mountains and settled in them after the catastrophe. Their <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">kingdom<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, though never mighty, was facing problems of its own. Black Numenoreans had slain their leader and taken power of the capital, and the refugees were looking to escape. The last survivors of their people fled to the jungle, and merged with their long-lost kin, the Tauredain, who taught them of the worship of the forest and the Tauredain culture.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calligraffitti;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Culture

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Old Tauredain were a mighty and advanced people³, known for their great cities of stone and ingenious architecture. In battle, they wore gold and bronze armors with great crests made of flowers and feathers, and some wore masks shaped like the heads of the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mumakil <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> with decorations of ivory. In battle they wielded blades of metal, and deadly slings. They were the greatest military force to ever walk the continent, save Numenor only. Their great pyramids were especially renowned, built in honor of the forest and filled with passages and tombs. Some say great treasure could be found deep within them in hidden vaults. Tales even tell of pyramids built of pure gold. The people for the most part lived in great stone cities built amidst the forest, which were said to be of great beauty.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">After the realm fell, much of their technology and lore was lost, for their successors from the West did not understand the great buildings and masterful stonework created by the lost Empire. However, they do in fact enjoy hearing tales of the old Empire, and are relatively patriotic about the kingdom they have succeeded. The Tauredain now wear a more simple bronze armor, and weapons of wood and volcanic stone. Though sharper than the weapons of the ancients, they are far less durable and harder to craft. The westerners introduced a new weapon to the Tauredain, however. The blowgun, filled with poison darts, is a rapid-fire weapon adapted for jungle combat, and used by the Tauredain to great effect. While the new tribes cannot match the ancients in skill and might, they still hold in their hearts the flame of the ancient Empire.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Both old and new Tauredain races share a religion, centered around the worship of their woodland home. Many gods they claim to have, legends of serpents and birds and apes, but the greatest of them all is said to be <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mûmakûchu <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, whom they venerate. His sacred animal, the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mûmakil <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> of the deep woods, are held beloved by the Tauredain and they defend them with all they are able against the thieving Moredain. Great shamans of the Tauredain are said to lead the people in worship of these mysterious deities, through the construction of temples⁴ and the crafting of amulets. The Tauredain consider gold to be a sacred metal, and all decorations of gold are treasured. Their banners, of ancient Tauredain design, bear the two-tusked, great-eared head of the god in bright gold on a field of green, below which there is a golden pyramid, representing the jungle and its subservience to <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mûmakûchu <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Many of the people have a penchant for collecting the heirlooms of the Imperial period, especially the religious amulets used as talismans.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The dwellings of the Tauredain mainly consist of wooden houses made of mahogany and stone, with their lords residing in stone temples lit by flame. Their diet consists mainly of fruits and vegetables grown in their small farms, of which corn, yams, and mangoes are the staple. It is said that in their days of glory, the Tauredain farmed on floating mats by the edge of the Emerald Lakes, and the crops they grew there were used for many a special foodstuff. In fact, it is said their shamans have devised two special drinks, used by many of the Tauredain in their daily life. These are cocoa, a bitter mixed drink made of a bean, and jungle remedy, a mysterious green draught that can cure many ills.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;">

<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;white-space:pre-wrap;">Deep in the jungle dwells the ancient people of the forest, who have walked the land for millennia and once ruled the continent. Little of the ancient Tauredain blood remains, but the successor state honors their memory, and claims the name of the Second Tauredain Kingdom. Though they are not the descendants of the Tauredain Empire, they are its heirs, and desire to retake all that the High Kings of old owned. They have a long road to walk before they can truly claim the title of Empire, and the Tauredain await a champion to lead them to victory and the renewed glory of the Forest.

<font color="White">Ithilion, Discussions Moderator <font color="White">(Auta i lómë) 02:52, May 28, 2017 (UTC)<ac_metadata title="A History of the Tauredain Realms"> </ac_metadata>