User:Calanon Evergreen

Biography
The Elven-king is a title used in Middle-earth for the ruler of the Woodland Realm, the country of the Silvan Elves who dwelt in the northeast of Mirkwood in the later Third Age. Little to nothing is mentioned of him in the line of events from the Second to Third age, but we learn later in history that he is Calanon, a great Elven king that ruled the northern Mirkwood in the Second Age.

The Elven-king had his halls underground, partly in memory (it was said) of the mighty but long-lost Menegroth of Doriath. He lived in attunement with nature, wearing a crown of flowers, or autumn berries, according to the season, and his banner was, naturally enough, green in colour.

Unlike his latter Sindar and Silvan kin, The Elven-king fostered a courteous friendship with the Dwarves of Erebor to the north. Other notable allies were the Horse-lords of Rohan, The Galadhrim Elves of Lothlórien, and the noble Elves of Imladris.

Background
The Elven-king Calanon was a Sindar Elf who travelled East to Rhovanion some time in the early Second Age. Before the great line of Woodland rulers (notable figures such as Oropher and Thranduil), he wandered the Greenwood and became highly acquainted with the vast forest. Before long, he reached the heart of the wood, and stumbled upon the Silvan Elves dwelling there in. In awe of his regal Sindar ancestry, they made him their king, and his rule over their Woodland Realm brought peace and prosperity.

The Shroud of Greenwood
Alas, their peace did not last long. For when the Orcs in the mountains learned of a united Woodland Realm under one they called "Elven-king", the forces of darkness rallied and set out to assault the young Woodland Realm. Towards the mid-Second Age, the orcs and foul creatures of the North flooded into the Greenwood, and pushed the Elven-king and his kin farther east, until their Woodland Realm was only a fraction of the vast, peaceful forest it once was.

The Northern Alliance and the Great Angmar War
In response to the influx of foul creatures now residing under the trees of the forest, the Elven-king assembled a great army of Woodland Elves and waged war on the evil lands of the North, now called Angmar. Behind him, he rallied the Dwarves of Erebor and the Horse-lords of Rohan to aid him in the war. Together, they assembled a mighty host of Men, Elves, and Dwarves at the foot of the Misty Mountains, near the northern tip of the river Anduin. Vaguely known in history as the great Northern Alliance, they marched to the lands of Angmar, intent on vanquishing this foe of the North.

The Northern Alliance passed over the Misty Mountains to Mount Gram, and from there charged into Angmar with a fierce and deadly wrath. The great war for the North had begun, and the forces of good and evil clashed at the foothills of the Misty Mountains. As the battle was underway, the Rohirrim suffered considerable losses, which lead the King of the Mark to lose morale in the cause of war. This ultimately caused him to betray the Elven-king and the King Under the Mountain, by allowing a great weapon of the enemy to pass into the ranks of the Elven and Dwarven troops. The detonation of the Orc bomb killed many Elves and Dwarves, and greatly wounded the Elven-king and King Under the Mountain. With both commanders badly hurt, and the Northern Alliance in complete disarray, the forces of good were forced to retreat and regroup in their respective homelands. The King of the Mark was tried for his act of betrayal, then expelled from the Northern Alliance, and banished from the Elven and Dwarves realms in the north.

After a considerable amount of time, the Wood-elves of Mirkwood and the Dwarves of Erebor restored the might in their armies, and again launched an attack on Angmar. They fought for many months, until they reached the heart of the foul land, and vanquished the remaining enemies in the North. The loss of their kindreds in the earlier battle were avenged, due to the sheer amount of Orcs destroyed in the war. But the treachery of the King of the Mark was not easily forgotten, which created a lasting grudge between the kingdoms of the North and Rohan for many years to come. Furthermore, the shroud of evil that came from Angmar still lingered over the now corrupted forest, and many foul things still crept beneath the trees.

The Assault on Erebor
After the Great Angmar War, the free-realms of the North enjoyed a watchful peace that lasted for a substantial period of time. To the guardians of the north, the Wood-elves and the Dwarves of Erebor, their once-great enemy lay silent in ruin. But in secret, a great Orc called Azog (not to be confused with the father of Bolg) escaped the Great Angmar War, and rallied all the surviving Orcs he could find in the southern part of the vast, shrouded forest that the Elven-king was still fighting to cleanse.

His force grew in numbers as time progressed, and even the evil in the lands of Angmar began to reappear. Combined, Azog's force in the southern forest and the developing forces in the heart of Angmar formed an enemy almost as mighty as the evil vanquished in the Great Angmar War. Together, they plotted to wipe out the great ally of the Wood-elves, the Dwarves of Erebor, and their mountain stronghold, for they were still too weak to march on the Woodland Realm of the Elven-king. Once the Dwarves were defeated, the Wood-elves alone would not be able to counter the combined forces of evil.

It was a morning like any other for the Men of Dale and the Dwarves of Erebor. But these conditions quickly shifted, as the Orcs from the southern forest and Angmar attacked the city of Dale without warning, and quickly defeated the Northmen. Because they attacked in plain daylight, and their assault was so swift, the Dwarves of Erebor did not perceive the evil on their doorstep.

Soon after the Orcs took Dale, they streamed onto the plains of Erebor and straight for the Dwarven kingdom. The Dwarves stormed out of the Lonely Mountain with their army, and on the plains of Erebor they fought the dark forces of Azog. What they had not foreseen was Azog had lured them out of their mountain stronghold, and away from the defensive advantage they had at Erebor. Azog took advantage of this factor, and pushed back the Dwarves to the River Running. It was there that a great number of Dwarves were slain, and the defense of Erebor all but diminished.

It was in this hour of need, that the Elven-king had come. For the Dwarves sent out a request for aid at the first sight of the evil host, which was directly addressed by the Elven-king. With the might of the Wood-elven army behind him, he drove the Orcs back behind the River Running.

Yet again, Angmar suffered drastic losses, and was once more vanquished to a silent land of shadow. Azog was slain in battle by the Elven-king, and the remnants of his forces retreated to the Ettenmoors. The Dwarves of Erebor suffered heavy losses, which stirred them to assemble a new army that would soon retaliate against the forces of darkness.

Battle in the Ettenmoors
Not long after the Assault on Erebor, the Elven-king and the Dwarves of Erebor assembled their armies in pursuit of the remaining evil. They met the Orcs in the Battle in the Ettenmoors, who had found allies in the mountain trolls who dwelled there. The fight lasted for many weeks, but ultimately the forces of good reached the brink of victory. It was in this stage of the battle, however, that the tide turned in favor of the Orcs for a duration of time.

The Orcs had lured the Wood-elves and Dwarves further into the Ettenmoors, where they had set a trap to snare the forces of good. They dug a concealed hole that lead to a vast, dark, underground cave system. As the forces of darkness seemed to be in retreat, the Dwarves of Erebor charged ahead, and unwittingly fell into the camouflaged hole that the Orcs had dug. Ironically, the Dwarves, masters of the underground, became trapped in the depths of the Ettenmoors, and needed to seek a way out before becoming lost in the dark tunnels below. For a period of days, the Dwarves of Erebor wandered the underground tunnels, while their allies the Wood-elves fought the enemy above.

The Elven-king and his woodland army fought valiantly above ground, fending off attacks from the Orcs on all sides. By the grace inherent in the Eldar, the Elven-king channeled what energy he could from the surface to the Dwarves below, in hopes that they would feel his presence and return to the surface. After days of battling the Orcs, to his relief, the Dwarves emerged from an obscure cave entrance nearby, and once again joined the fight against evil. The combined forces of Elves and Dwarves defeated the remaining evil in the realm of Angmar, and they returned to their homelands victorious.

[Work in progress. All events told are based on real game events.]