Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-26149161-20161219015613

Welcome, friend! This is the tenth suggestion in the series about improvements to various biomes of Middle-earth. In this I shall suggest improvements to the perilous forest of Fangorn and the land of the Wizard Saruman. The prior suggestions can be found here:

Ithilien

Ered Nimrais

Rohan

Lorien and Surrounds

Southern Vale of Anduin

Emyn Muil

Dead Marshes

Barrow-downs

Old Forest

Biome Improvements:

Fangorn: Fangorn can be made even more "treeish". All the animals currently in it, save birds and Crebain, should be removed. Great grey lichens should cover the trees, and leaf-piles should cover branches and the ground. Stones should be found occasionally as well. In the sunlight, the wood should glow with rich browns and soft greens, visions of Yavanna's glory. The large dirt-patches should also be removed and replaced with grass.

A new tree should be found in Fangorn, called the Fangorn Holly. This dark and shiny-leaved tree is found here alone, and has olive buds and waxy, spineless leaves.

Derndingle is moved to south of Treebeard's Ent-house, in accord with the book.

Nan Curunir: The trees in Nan Curunir should be removed, save for charred and blackened stumps and logs cut and left. Brambles and weeds lie across the land, making caves where beasts live. Rank grasses sigh in the wind. Several new structures should be found here. Also, the road should be changed to uniform stone bricks, without a single blade of grass or moss.

New Biomes:

-Fangorn Hills: A foothill biome of birch and rowan thickets, and climbing pinewoods. Ents and Huorns spawn here on occasion.

-Isengard Desolation: Similar to the current Fangorn Wasteland, this is found upon the western slope of Isengard. Hewn trees and blackened stumps cover the landscape.

-Skinbark's Wood: A mountain-forest upon the west of Isengard, filled with birches and rowan trees. Ents and Huorns can be found here on occasion, but less commonly than Fangorn.

-Isengard Moors: Bare hills, with an occasional pine tree. These are covered in heather and ferns, and are found on both sides of the Vale.

NPCs:

Ents should be stronger than they currently are. They should throw stones at enemies, and do massive damage with a single punch. To fight them, one needs axes or fire. When they are enraged, their beard should stick out and their eyes light with green fire.

Ents also need far more variation. Leaf hair, different shaped beards, more, less, and varied fingers and toes, different levels of gnarled skin, different colors, ungnarled limbs, different heights, and more tree types such as ash, fir, rowan, linden, chestnut and birch. They should also look slightly less like trees, and the bushy part on top of their head should be changed to a slightly more hairlike alternative.

Finally, Ancient Trees (from the Old Forest suggestion) should spawn here as well in the dark glades, and be very hostile to outsiders. Their method of attack should be given to Huorns as well, because it is far more interesting than the current method.

To balance the Ent buff, Uruk-Hai Berserkers should become a powerful axe unit called "Man-Orc axemen", like the soldiers who slew Theodred. Though they should be made weaker, they should also be cheaper and more common. Dunland should also gain horsemen, and Uruk-hai made cheaper (though debuffed to the power of a Man).

Isengard should also get Half-Orcs, which would be another class of strong, man-strength infantry. The unarmored variant would be called Ruffians... hint hint. They would look human with orcish-style ears and sallow skin, and wield knives, clubs, and axes. These could be found rarely in Eriador, Enedwaith, Bree, and rarest of all The Shire. They would not attack Breelanders, Rangers, or Hobbits, but they would not be nice to them.

Finally, please replace the Uruk-Hai Crossbowmen with the longbowmen of the book. They were known for using yew longbows like those of Men.

Structures:

Ent-houses: Shallow caves, large stones, or hills, usually with a water feature and trees about it. An Ent sometimes spawns here, there is a rock table, and ent-draughts in stone jars (the current ones should be made grey and stone). A large bed would sit in a corner, covered in dried grass and bracken.

Derndingle: As with the Ring of Isengard, a circle of Fangorn Holly should be found around the small clearing. It should be nearly inpenetrable, save with openings on the north, west, and east.

Isengard Farms: A field tilled by Dunlendings enslaved to Sauron. These would be another farm unit for the evil side, as Orcs likely had no knowledge of how to farm.

Isengard Barracks: Large boulders and outcroppings of rocks converted into barracks for Orcs. They would have many dark windows and orcish-style decor inside.

Isengard Smithies: Holes delved in the ground, filled with anvils and furnaces, and capped with stone domes.

Items:

-Ent-bowls would be changed to grey stone textures, but they would also have another function: light. When shift-clicked, they would emit a beautiful light the color of the draught inside. Lights would dance upon the bottom of any bocks above them. Leaves nearby would begin to glow as well, in gold and green and copper colors. Treebeard used these outside his home.

Thank you for reading this suggestion! As always, comments, kudos, and constructive critiscism is much appreciated.

Ithilion, Discussions Moderator (Auta i lome) 01:56, December 19, 2016 (UTC) 