The Lost Chronicles of Middle-Earth

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In Middle-Earth, there are many factions that are familiar to the average player. Gondor, Mordor, and Isengard are all familiar names; yet little is known about many others. Have you ever wanted to know the origins of the Half-Trolls of Pertorogwaith? Are you interested in the rise and fall of the ancient Taurethrim Empire? And what about the Golden Easterlings of Rhúdel? If so, you have come to the right place. The history of those unfamiliar to most inhabitants of Middle-Earth are soon to be revealed.

The Lost Chronicles were started by a group of moderators and Wiki staff (including Mevans, Boyd, Karseius, Grievous, Noah, and Gruk) in an attempt to flesh out and bring more attention to the lesser-known and mod-created factions of Middle-Earth. They are currently a work in progress.

Please note that none of these are official Tolkien canon, but should be considered official backstory in the mod itself.

Harad

The Half-Trolls of Pertorogwaith

In SA 1701, Sauron lost the War of the Elves and Sauron, and was forced to retreat to Mordor. His defeat made it clear for him had he had to improve his armies of Morgul-Spawn. The Elves and Men knew about Orcs, Uruks and Trolls, so in 1702 he left Mordor in secret and went south until he reached the great volcanic island today known as Tol Torog. Sauron intended to create a new kind of Morgul-spawn, stronger than Uruks and as intelligent as men to fill his ranks and lead the armies of Mordor to victory.

It is unknown how Sauron bred these creatures, but the results were impressive: Monsters twice the size of men and four times as strong were created, ready to follow their master into battle. Yet, Sauron had not reached his goal. These “Half-trolls” turned out not to posses the intelligence Sauron had hoped for, and were less intelligent than Orcs and Uruks. The biggest setback for Sauron, however, was the slow breeding rate of these creatures. It would have taken Sauron centuries to assemble an army of Half-trolls and lead them northwards - time he did not have. So he abandoned his creation. 

After Sauron left Tol Torog, the Half­-trolls started slowly but steadily to breed and multiply  Although only few in numbers, the Half-trolls slowly took control of Tol Torog and even expanded south, into the lands called Pertorogwaith. Their massive strength and size allowed them to evict the native Far Haradrim from the lands, and all fled before them in terror. 

With no opposition, the Half-trolls were allowed to breed in their dark lands and flourished. During the next hundreds and even thousands of years, the Half-troll population grew, and they terrorized the neighbouring Far Haradrim tribes. The Half­-trolls organized themselves in simple chiefdoms, and conducted raids into the savannahs and forests of Far Harad. The eastern tribes of the Morwaith suffered most under the Half­-troll attacks. They were not only driven out of Pertorogwaith - whole villages neighbouring these lands were destroyed by the Half-trolls, and their inhabitants devoured. The Morwaith would continue to fear them, and called them the “Grey Demons”. Other tribes did suffer as well, although significantly less then the Morwaith. The Taurethrim city of Kimen Kaah was razed by an army of Half-trolls, the Limwaith lost many villages, and the Cerinrim in the Bushlands constantly fought the Grey Demons. Of them, only the Cerinrim put up a fight: they hated the Half-trolls more than anything, and to bring the head of one to a Cerinrim chieftain was considered a great feat within the tribes. 

The Half-­trolls terrorized eastern Far Harad until the late Third Age. Upon his return to Mordor, Sauron remembered his long-abandoned creations and send envoys from Near Harad to call his creatures to his aid. When they reached Pertorogwaith they found that finally, after so many years, the Half­-troll population had grown into an army ready to serve Sauron in his conquest of the west. The Half-trolls quickly made an alliance with Mordor and the Southrons, and made peace with the Morwaith. Now, they are ready for war, and soon will march on Gondor under the banner of the Red Eye... 

The Morwaith of the Great Plains

The Morwaith are descendants of the second tribe of Haradrim, which we now call the “Plains Peoples”. These tribes split from the “Forest Peoples” (the ancestors of the Taurethrim and Limwaith) and the “Desert Peoples” (the ancestors of the Southrons of Near Harad) in the First Age and settled the Great Plains of Far Harad. The Plains People settled the wide savannas and bushlands and diverged over the centuries, forming the two distinct groups of tribes: the Morwaith and Cernrinim.

The Morwaith are a remarkable tribe, since they kept many of the customs and traits of their ancestors. Having a small population, the Morwaith nevertheless settled a giant area covering all the savannas of Far Harad, which contributed to their relative isolated lifestyle. Typically, the Morwaith of yore (and also of the present) lived in small village communities ruled by chieftains, who often competed for power with neighboring tribes.

Traveling from one Morwaith village to another is a dangerous quest, due to the many predatory animals in the savannahs and the long distances between them. Therefore, contact among the Morwaith themselves was limited. The Morwaith never developed a centralized form of government, but instead remained in their tribal communities, which makes the tracking of their history a complicated matter. Morwaith History in the Second Age and onwards can best be observed from a geographical viewpoint.

The Northern Morwaith of the Arid Savannahs developed close ties to their Southron neighbors in Near Harad from very early on. Morwaith Hunters sold exotic goods like lion fur and rhino horns to the Southron merchants, while the merchants in return provided weapons. Besides being trading partners, the Northern Morwaith became famous over the centuries in Near Harad as reliable and brave mercenaries. It is said that, prior to her departure for Gondor, Queen Berúthiel of Harad maintained a personal guard of Morwaith Warriors from the Arid Savannah. It is rumored that these Warriors were a gift from a powerful Morwaith chieftain to the south, one of many of her lovers. Morwaith Warriors particularly earned their fame during the siege of Umbar in TA 1015, when a Morwaith mercenary slew the fourteenth King of Gondor, Ciryandil. Yet in the end neither Southron nor Morwaith forces were able to stop the Gondorian invasions of Near Harad, which was completed by King Hyarmendacil in TA 1050. After his victory Hyarmendacil send envoys to the northern Morwaith tribes to establish tributary relations with the warriors who bravely opposed him and his ancestors. These envoys were always violently rebuffed.

Still, Gondor’s hold on Near Harad weakened significantly over the following centuries, and the Southrons managed to drive the Gondorian forces further and further north. They often relied on Morwaith mercenaries in the early years of reconquest. During the late Third Age, the northern Morwaith were to some extend involved in the Southron advances north. After Sauron returned to Mordor, the northern Morwaith followed their Southron allies and joined his forces. Now, they rally for war on the Dark Lord’s part, and the coming war may see many more brave deeds of the Morwaith Merceneries.

The Morwaith of the east settled around the Great Lakes of Far Harad, as far as the lands today known as Pertorogwaith. The Eastern Morwaith lived in isolation from their kin and any other Haradrim tribes until around SA 1800, when monstrous creatures known as Half-Trolls started raiding the mainland from Tol Torog. During the next two hundred years, the Half-Trolls raged through the lands east of the Seregduin. The local Morwaith fell victim to the Half-Trolls, who were known to devour captives whole. The Morwaith named those creatures “Grey Demons” and fled in masses westwards, crossing the Seregduin. 

Around SA 2130, the Eastern Morwaith became subjects of the newly founded Taurethrim Empire of Kimen Kaah. The city-state was founded by Taurethrim refugees fleeing the chaos of the Jungles after the fall of their Empire centuries earlier. The rulers of Kimen Kaah promised the local Morwaith protection against the Half-Trolls in exchange for their service, which the Morwaith accepted. Yet in the end the Taurethrim did not follow their end of the promise, and in SA 2161 the city fell to the invading Half-Troll hordes. 

In complete desperation, the Eastern Morwaith united their small forces and through luck were able to drive back the Half-Trolls to the lands east of the Seregduin. Infighting between the Half-Trolls enabled the Morwaith to strike back. At around SA 2200 the eastern Morwaith allied with nearby Limwaith tribes to secure the Seregduin river and stifle Half-Troll attacks as much as possible, yet occasional but brutal Half-Troll raids could not be prevented. This situation continued deep into the Third Age. 

In the late Third Age, Half-Troll attacks intensified extremely for no known reason. The Half-Trolls seemed to have become more organized than ever before, and threatened the lands settled by the eastern Morwaith. But around the time of Sauron’s return to Mordor, the Dark Lord send out envoys to the chieftains of the Eastern Morwaith, with the promise to free them of their Half-Troll enemies in exchange for their service. The desperate Morwaith accepted, and suddenly all Half-Troll attacks stopped. The gracious Morwaith then prepared to join Sauron in his quest to conquer Gondor. Without the knowledge that their savior was responsible for their suffering all along, the Eastern Morwaith have joined their northern brethren, and will soon march north to war.

The Southern Morwaith settled the fertile lands along the mighty Haraduin and the Savannahs south of the great Jungle. They relied more on agriculture than their neighboring kin, yet sometimes went deep into the Jungles to hunt as well. With the rise of the Taurethrim Empire in the Second Age, the Morwaith fell under the influence of the jungle warriors, who conquered the lands along the Haraduin around SA 1200. The Taurethrim High King Matlal imposed his strict rule on the southern Morwaith, who were forced to grow corn and yams to feed to ever-expanding Empire. During the Taurethrim rule the Southern Morwaith suffered enormously. Taurethrim High Kings and nobles were known to treat them like slaves. Although a few Morwaith rose to prominence as warriors in the Taurethrim Empire, most Morwaith had to endure severe hardships, as the Taurethrim High Kings enforced high tribute payments and forced labor. Many Morwaith tribes rebelled against their Taurethrim overlords several times, yet with no success, as Taurethrim civilization proved to be too powerful. The last resisting southern Morwaith tribes were subjugated around SA 1600, thus securing Taurethrim hegemony for another 100 years.

But in SA 1700, a young boy became the High King of the Taurethrim Empire after the sudden death of his father. He quickly fell under the influence of Sauron, and he accepted one of the Nine Rings of Power. He was a sadistic ruler, who left the Empire in ruins. He bled his own people for his amusement, which at around SA 1850 led to the downfall of the Empire after his disappearance. The Southern Morwaith used this opportunity to regain their freedom, and even take revenge for hundreds of years of torment. As the once-mighty Taurethrim Empire collapsed into many petty chiefdoms and princedoms, the Morwaith flooded the northern Jungles with their warriors, establishing many Jungle chiefdoms of their own. Over the next hundred years, one by one the true Taurethrim realms fell victim to the Morwaith invaders, until almost all of the Jungle was ruled by Morwaith chieftains. Yet the influence of Taurethrim culture started to show. As invading Morwaith and Taurethrim merged more and more, so did their cultures. Many Morwaith rulers started slowly to adopt ancient Taurethrim traditions, seeking legitimacy in the history of the fallen Empire. Over time, all the peoples of the Jungle started to again call themselves Taurethrim, although the people inhabiting these lands were not anymore.

Those of the Southern Morwaith that remained in the plains hated the new Taurethrim, and many southern tribes have dedicated themselves to finishing what their ancestors started. Now Morwaith raids in the Jungle have begun once more, as the Taurethrim and Morwaith clash in a battle of ancient hatred.

Of the final Morwaith group little is said. These were the Western Morwaith, and dwelt in a narrow strip of savannah west of the Mountains of Harad. It is likely that these came under the dominion of the Númenoréans from early on, as the Men of the West formed colonies on the western coasts of Harad. However, these colonies quickly fell to evil, and the Black Númenoréans used the Western Morwaith as soldiers and slaves. Throughout the Third Age the various Black Númenoréan colonies collapsed, with the remaining Men of the West opting to move to Mordor and Umbar. However, dominion over the western Morwaith was retained by Umbar, who also enslaved the Western Morwaith. Few of those now remain.

The Taurethrim of the Jungles

Origins

The Taurethrim we know today are descendants of the third tribe of the original Haradrim, called the “Forest Peoples”. These people split from the “Plain Peoples” (the ancestors of the Morwaith and Cerinrim) and the “Desert Peoples” (the ancestors of the Southrons of Near Harad) in the First Age, and settled the many swamps and forests of Far Harad. It is thought that the Forest People settled at first around Lake Chunha. In the late First Age and early Second Age, the Forest People suffered a decline due to a great flood in the swamps, and so they wandered south and settled the Jungle and Mangroves of Far Harad. Over the course of generations, the Forest People diverged until they formed two distinct tribes: the Taurethrim of the Jungles and the Limwaith of the Mangroves.

Early History

In their early days, the Taurethrim lived in small and isolated villages, which differed little from those used by the other Far Haradrim. But after years of living in the unusual Jungles of the South, the Taurethrim began to develop a more unique way of life. They began building larger cities, the first of which was Ya'ash Kåh, which the ancient Taurethrim founded shortly after their flight from Chunha. The Taurethrim slowly started to unite under the rule of Namakush, a great chieftain who declared himself the first High King of the Taurethrim. He united the Taurethrim and made his people into an empire, which quickly branched out into the jungles, building more cities deep in the woods and an extensive network of roads.

Tûnich Kåh, a great city of stone, was built to the southeast of Ya'ash Kåh, while merchants founded Otoch Kåh in the west, and Shaman Påh was built to the northeast, a great outpost home to many great warriors, who honed themselves in raids against the plains-dwellers to the north. The great city of Nohoch Kåh was built deeper in the jungles than any of the other early homes of the Taurethrim, and it was there that the Men of the Jungles first encountered the Mûmakil. They were awed by these great beasts, who they viewed as children of one of their chief gods, and so Nohoch Kåh quickly became the new capital of the Empire and the seat of all future High Kings.

In SA 800, during the reign of High King Kozamalotl, the Taurethrim first encountered the Númenóreans. Trade opened up between the Men of the West and the Men of the Jungles, with the Númenóreans desiring exotic goods and the Taurethrim desiring knowledge. Númenórean teachings led to great technological advancements among the Taurethrim, which saw their cities transformed into wonders of the world. Otoch Kåh became a hub of trade activity, as it was close to Taurelondë, one of the earliest Númenórean havens.

Taurethrim Empire

The new power and wealth acquired by the High Kings of the Taurethrim made them eager to expand their influence outside their forest. Around the year SA 1200, High King Tekwetli II rose to power, and announced that it was gods-given destiny of his people to conquer all of Harad.

His first target were the Limwaith inhabiting the Mangroves to the east. Although they were close relatives, the Taurethrim looked down on the Limwaith and considered them primitive, inferior by their very nature, destined only to be Taurethrim subjects. The Taurethrim army had no great difficulties in subduing the poorly-organized warriors of the Limwaith, and claimed all the Mangroves as part of their empire, taking the Limwaith as slaves. The Limwaith, under Taurethrim rule, would experience centuries of oppression, including several attempts to exterminate their culture and to assimilate them into the Taurethrim way of life, attempts that only ended with the Fall of the Empire. The city of Lakin Påh was constructed to keep watch over the Mangroves, and in the immediate aftermath of the conquest of the Limwaith the Taurethrim also built outposts at the Ethir Haraduin.

The sons of Tekwetli II continued his wars, and they targeted the Morwaith tribes living along the mighty Haraduin river. In the past, small Morwaith raids against Taurethrim border villages had been not uncommon, and the warriors of Shaman Påh had long been obliged to respond likewise, but the Taurethrim High Kings had not bothered to intervene before. This quickly changed, and Taurethrim forces attacked the southern tribes if Morwaith, those that dwelt closest to the jungles. Most of conquered tribes were forced into vassalhood, and were made to pay a great tribute to the Taurethrim High Kings, chiefly consisting of exotic animal materials and slaves. Their lands were claimed for the Empire, and their people were enslaved. The attention of the High Kings turned to the Cerinrim of the Bushlands to the south, and they expanded their Empire southwards, building estates near the Emerald Lakes, the great military city of Pishan Kåh, and Aktun Kåh, the southernmost city of the Empire, built among caves in a break in the range of mountains that rose through the midst of the jungles.

In the year 1311, the warlike and greedy High King Necalli was assassinated, and a period of peace reigned in the empire. King Moyolewani I took his place, and he became the first of the Splendour-Kings, a line of generous and beloved regents that brought a period of stability to the Empire. The Splendour-Kings greatly improved the infrastructure of the Empire, and they began to hoard valuable materials, most notably gold, which they began to mine in great quantities from the mountains.

But over time, the descendants of Necalli grew in strength. They started a cult devoted to the worship of their creator god Uz-Belehu, which spread quickly among the Taurethrim. In SA 1522, they retook the throne, with Tizok becoming the first of the line of Blood-Kings. His reign and those of his descendants were exceedingly bloody, but the Empire nonetheless grew stronger under them. It was Tizok who, after years of friendship, declared war on the Númenóreans, and began taking their goods and knowledge by force. The Númenóreans fought back, but they were never able to properly retaliate, as any army they sent into the jungles was quickly thwarted by the unfamiliar environment and the guerrilla tactics of the Taurethrim warriors.

During the reign of the Blood-Kings, the Taurethrim began building great temples, and their religious ceremonies once more began to involve human sacrifice, a practice they had abandoned under Númenórean influence. Among these many monuments were a series of massive pyramids built deep in the jungles, in which the High Kings began to hoard their greatest treasures, and which the shamans of the Taurethrim protected with ancient rites. These pyramids were built by slave labour, and frightening numbers of Morwaith and Limwaith died in the construction of the great monuments of the Men of the Jungles. Mûmakåh, the last of the great cities of the Empire, was built in the far south of the jungles during this time.

The Taurethrim Empire reached its zenith in the middle of the Second Age, around SA 1700. By this point, the influence of the High Kings extended far beyond the borders of the jungles, out into the savannahs, mangroves, and even some of the lands bbeyond. The Taurethrim grew rich off both the resources of the lands they ruled and off tribute from their vassals and neighbors, and aside from the Númenóreans, they were the mightiest force in all of Harad.

The Fall of the Empire

In the year 1750 of the Second Age, the ruling High King died of a black sickness that none could treat him for - a plague that, some claim, came out of Mordor, though the truth of that claim is unknown. In the wake of his father's death, a young boy became High King; his name was Kozawik, and even at that young age he had already become known as cruel. During his coronation, Sauron himself arrived from Mordor, greeting the new king and offering an alliance. Kozawik, seeing an opportunity to increase his power, agreed to ally and send tribute to Mordor, in exchange for guidance from Sauron and the destruction of his enemies. Among the Taurethrim, it is said that from that day forth a madness took him, a madness that turned him against his own people. He had been brutal before, in his own respect, and enjoyed the torment of living things, but now, through the power of Sauron, he had become an incredibly sadistic ruler. He slaughtered his own people for amusement, and in after-days was called Kozawik the Despised. How Sauron dominated him so is uncertain. Some say he was ensnared, as Ar-Pharazon of Númenor was. Other claim some fell magic of Mordor was to blame. Still more say that, at this first meeting, Sauron offered Kozawik a Ring to seal their alliance, a gift that Kozawik greedily claimed.

Years passed, and despite his brutality, the rule of Kozawik was very promising. The Empire flourished, and the Taurethrim were without question the rulers of Far Harad. Whatever power Sauron had over him was effective indeed, and it became apparent very quickly. Kozawik was able to lead his armies like none before, earning stunning victories against all that opposed him. Despite his brutality, revolts and attempted coups were few and far between, and always crushed in short order. But the power Sauron gave Kozawik, slowly at first, began to twist his mind,

Kozawik's bloodlust evolved into outright brutality. Once he had killed thousands of the Limwaith, Morwaith and Cerinrim around the Empire, he started killing his own people. Mighty Taurethrim families were killed when he felt they threatened his rule. People were executed purely for his amusement. The Taurethrim suffered greatly under the hands of their own High King, yet the power of the Dark Lord prevented any uprising. As if to add insult to injury, Kozawik lived an extraordinarily long life - which he mostly used to devastate his own realm. His terrible rule started to bother Sauron, who wanted to let the Taurethrim bleed in his wars and not for the amusement of his puppet. After more than a hundred years of his terrible reign, Kozawik disappeared without a trace.

Kozawik the Despised left the Taurethrim Empire as a shadow of its former self, for which Sauron had no use anymore. He had massacred his own people for entertainment, and with his disappearance the Taurethrim were left without a ruler, for Cozahuic left no surviving children, as he had killed his only son in a blood-rage. The Taurethrim Empire descended into chaos. A long and bloody civil war broke out, in which petty Chieftains and self-declared Kings struggled for power while further destroying the Taurethrim people and bringing their culture to the brink of death. Simultaneously, the Far Haradrim tribes that the Taurethrim had enslaved seized at the chance to regain their lost freedom.

The Limwaith of the Mangroves expelled the weakened Taurethrim from their lands, and took their bloody revenge by slaughtering any Taurethrim they found. Even more impactful was the uprising of the Morwaith around the Haraduin, who had suffered much under the rule of the Taurethrim. No matter what the scattered Taurethrim armies did, the Morwaith constantly defeated them, until the plains were abandoned entirely.

The Morwaith flooded into the northern Jungle, and killed, raped, and pillaged their way through many Taurethrim villages. This state of chaos lasted for nearly two centuries and had great impact on the Taurethrim: Much of their knowledge, culture and language was lost, and most of their cities became ruins. The great internal war that the Taurethrim had fought with themselves had caused the burning, collapse, or abandonment of most major cities, but it was the Morwaith that dealt the final blow. The remaining cities were sacked, and in a great battle the invaders wiped out the inhabitants of Nohoch Kåh, destroying the Taurethrim Empire forever.

The migration of great numbers of Morwaith into the jungles led to a merging of the two peoples. The Taurethrim, as they were, ceased to exist, though the new peoples adopted their culture. Many Morwaith rulers started slowly to adopt ancient Taurethrim traditions, seeking legitimacy in the history of the fallen Empire. The original Taurethrim language was lost, and the new Taurethrim people spoke a new tongue, one which combined the languages of the Morwaith and the Low Taurethrim speech, a language which had been spoken by the unlearned during the days of the Empire. The old names were forgotten, and the only remaining traces of the Taurethrim language were the names of the great cities, which now lay in ruins. Over time, all the peoples of the Jungle started to again call themselves Taurethrim, although the people inhabiting their lands were not truly, not anymore.

The Empire of Kimen Kåh

Seeing that the Jungle had not brought the Taurethrim any fortune in the past centuries of war, the Chieftain Acalan, who was considered one of the few true Taurethrim left in existence, looked into finding a new home for his people, and commanded his kin to leave the jungle and cross the Haraduin. There they founded a new city in the Far Harad Forest, which eventually became known as Kimen Kåh. It was the first time since the fall of the Taurethrim Empire that the Taurethrim had built a new city for themselves.

During the next few centuries, the city flourished and became known as the new and last true Taurethrim Kingdom. Acalan's dream had come true, and after his death in SA 2153 his son Ixbalnake became king. Only four years after the beginning of his reign, however, this new civilization came under threat. Unlike in the past, this threat was not Morwaith raiding parties or rival Taurethrim chieftains, but new creatures that were inhuman and terrible. The Taurethrim called them the “Grey Demons”, but they were known elsewhere as Half-Trolls.

These creatures had wiped out any Morwaith tribes living in the lands that became known as Pertorogwaith, and by the time of Kimen Kåh they were beginning to raid further and further westwards. The attacks of these Grey Demons intensified over the next few years, until finally, in SA 2161, the mighty city fell to the Half-Trolls. The Half-Trolls completely burned all that remained of the original Taurethrim civilization, and slaughtered the entire population of the city. It is for this reason that the site became called Kimen Kåh - the City of the Dead.

The fall of Kimen Kåh marked the end of Taurethrim attempts to settle the Far Harad Forest, as well as the end of the pureblooded Taurethrim. The last branch of the original Taurethrim Empire was completely destroyed, and with the city was lost grievous amounts of artifacts and texts from the old Empire. The river at which Kimen Kåh was built turned red with blood during the massacre, and so forever after it became known as the River of Blood, the Seregduin.

Aftermath to Today

The situation in the Jungles started to finally improve in the early Third Age. Centuries of war, migration and chaos had led to the irreversible change of the Jungle people, and although by now they had little in common with their ancestors from long ago, they still proudly called themselves Taurethrim, claiming to be the very people who were once the undisputed rulers of Far Harad.

The Taurethrim began to live in much greater isolation than before. They rarely ventured outside the Jungles, and intruders in their forests were more often than not greeted by blowgun-darts and daggers. Living in relative peace, the Taurethrim were regularly disturbed by Southern Morwaith tribes, who send their warriors into the Jungles to capture Mumakil, creatures considered to be holy beings by the Taurethrim.

The tension between the Morwaith and the Taurethrim reached a new height when, around TA 2500, the Morwaith started to increase their hunts for Mumakil, and started chopping wood in the Jungle to send to Near Harad - and later Mordor - as tribute.

The Taurethrim see Sauron as the ultimate reason why their great Empire fell and as the root cause of all their suffering. For this reason, the Taurethrim oppose any Haradrim allied with him to this very day; however, it has also given them a strong distrust of outsiders, and trust none other than themselves.

Religion and Culture

Not much is known about the Taurethrim's religion and culture. Only few tales survived the Fall of their Empire, including the creation myth of the Jungle: they tell of a colossal pillar of fire, which one day shattered and blanketed the earth in ash. From this ash came life, and this life grew and spread across a large swath of land. Some suspect this to refer to the destruction of the Lamps of the Valar - yet how would they know about these events?

The Taurethrim worships mysterious gods, which demand regular blood sacrifices. The only Jungle god known to the early Númenórean sailors was the goddess Uza-Mumaathu, who appeared as a Mumak and guarded the Jungle against evil spirits.

The Taurethrim language today is related to those of the Morwaith and Cerinrim, with mixes of the Low Taurethrim language (which was spoken by the poorer classes, and said to have been the tongue of the very first inhabitants of the jungles). The ancient Taurethrim language, which was closer to the Limwaith language, was lost after the Fall of the Taurethrim Empire, with all that remains in the daily speech a few words of half-remembered origin. The last speakers of this language or at least fragments of it are the shamans said to live in the mysterious city of Mumakaah in the deepest part of the Jungle, which is avoided even by most Taurethrim. It is said in whispered rumor that alone of all the Taurethrim cities Mumakaah, the most remote, was never destroyed, though it was abandoned for centuries.