Turn East, Never North

Prior Reading: Fires in the North

The following story can be experienced by starting the quest "Turn East, Never North" in Trestlebridge at the North Downs

Music Accompaniment:Lord of the Rings Online - The Creeping Gloom

Strider and the hobbits had crossed the Last Bridge and were on the road towards Rivendell. ‘Who lives in this land?’ Frodo asked. ‘And who built these towers? Is this troll-country?’ ‘No!’ said Strider. ‘Trolls do not build. No one lives in this land. Men once dwelt here, ages ago; but none remain now. They became an evil people, as legends tell, for they fell under the shadow of Angmar. But all were destroyed in the war that brought the North Kingdom to its end. But that is now so long ago that the hills have forgotten them, though a shadow still lies on the land.’
...

The heroes reached the Greenway crossroads shortly after departing Trestlebridge. Addy’s warning still rung in their ears; turn east and never north. They looked to the north, however, and saw a great barren field where an imposing ruin stood at the end of it. As they were about to turn east on the road as warned, they spotted the flicker of a campfire on the edge of the fields. Their curiosity getting the best of them, the heroes went to investigate where they came upon a ranger and his companions camped upon a small ruin.



The heroes introduced themselves to the ranger Mincham and his companions. The ranger told of the evil that walked upon the fields and of the great fortress Fornost. Fornost had once been the capital of Arthedain, one of the three kingdoms of splintered Arnor. The Witch-King of Angmar had made Fornost his own in the early ages of the Third Age and had been reclaimed by an alliance of Elves and Men at, what has since been called, The Battle of Fornost. While discussing this, the heroes began to hear eerie singing coming from the fields. Idhremmin, the elf companion, said little but warned that the source of the song surely led to death.



The heroes were not so easily deterred. They set to investigate the source of the singing within the fields of Fornost. To their surprise, they came upon a young girl named Idalene dancing and singing a dire song. As they approached her, she suddenly attacked the heroes. They managed to subdue her when an evil spirit left her body, naming themselves Olanthron before disappearing.



Idalene retreated back to Mincham’s camp. She had little memory of what had occurred and was driven with fear. The heroes, at Mincham’s behest, sought the whereabouts of Olnathron deep within the fields in hopes of stemming the evil in the field. They made for the graves upon the western fields for any sign of the evil spirit. Many twisted spirits roamed the fields that whispered Olnathron’s name.



The heroes told Mincham of what they had seen. He believed that Olnathron must be within Tham Lorn, a ruins to the west. Mincham had heard tales of the evil that stirred within the ruins and urged caution entering it. The heroes found the ruins full of vicious spirits and it did not take them long to find Olnathron.



The heroes managed to slay the fell-spirit and bring the darkness on the ruins to heel. Upon their return to his camp, Mincham thanked the heroes for their efforts in quelling the evil upon the fields and bringing peace of mind to Idalene. Mincham told the heroes that she had come from the east in Annundir, a stretch of farmland that had been overrun by wargs. Mincham asked the heroes to go to Amarion upon Amon Raith, a hillock on the east road to Esteldin, to help the exiles of Annundir recover their lands...



Further Reading: Fallen to the Wargs

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