Getting Dol Guldur's History Right

[Boronind]

Attention Masters of the Legendarium! Your aid is much needed!

Two things prompted this post:

(1) I am about to begin playing a Woodman character in a campaign and am curious about how the Woodmen of (Western) Mirkwood (esp. the three major settlements mentioned in the Heart of the Wild) "related" to Dol Guldur over the course of the Third Age 1000 and forward to 2946.

(2) I just saw "The Desolation of Smaug" (no comment) in which DG figures as a more prominent site and as far as I can tell, the timeline and such has been altered, e.g. Gandalf knew the Necromancer's true identity in 2850 when Gandalf found Thrain II dying in the dungeons not when he goes for a visit in the movie during the Quest for Erebor. I'm worried the movie's version of things and such will trump something more in line w/ Tolkien's account.

Thus, what I'm looking for is a really good write up (and conjecture) about Dol Guldur's history, activity, and effect upon the surrounding area from the time of Sauron's taking it up to the time of him fleeing to Mordor--that remains as true as possible to the legendarium's account.

Here's hoping some of you will step up and give us some quality history (cough...Tolwen)!

[Beran]

I probably am stating the obvious here, but have tried a google search or something along those lines? Other then that I can only suggest ready the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and the information on GD listed in the LotRs.

[Láthspell]

About a year ago or so, I typed up a synopsis of the various historical events from the perspective of the various One Ring Cultures. I'll see if I can track it down.

[Valarian]

LotR Wiki article seems okay
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Dol_Guldur

[Boronind]

About a year ago or so, I typed up a synopsis of the various historical events from the perspective of the various One Ring Cultures. I'll see if I can track it down.

Yes, that is precisely what I'm looking for--and any discussion that might ensue.

Yes, I have looked at the obvious places (Wiki, Tolkien, etc.) but they are too thin and spartan for role-playing purposes. What I'm looking for a is a kind of Other Hands/Other Minds historical-cultural reconstruction of DG and its impact on the forest in much much more detail than what the legendarium gives and what Peter Jackson messes with.

With that said, pages 8-11 of Heart of the Wild is about as good as get from TOR's perspective. There are the key dates and events: 1000-1050 TA when the Necromancer takes up residence in DG: 1635 of the time of the Great Plague (causes anybody?); 1980 the awakening of Durin's Bane which is a catalyst for the Dark Years; 83 years later in 2063 when Gandalf vanquishes the Necromancer and begins the 400 years of the Watchful Peace; 2460 when the Necromancer returns to DG; the Ride of Eorl and the Battle at the Field of Celebrant (2510); the Long Winter of 2758. Not much is chronicled after that save 2845 and 2850 the year of Thrain's II imprisonment and 2941 when the White Council (details anyone?) assaults DG and sends Sauron packing east to Mordor.

So that's what I have, which is pretty good, but I think more could be developed about DG and its affects on the denizens of the Anduin Vales and the Eaves of Mirkwood. Here's hoping for more!

[Mim]

In addition to the excellent advice on here, I'd recommend taking a second look at Unfinished Tales. The book contains multiple references to Dol Guldur that you can use, including details of its previous history as Amon Lanc, the Elves, etc. I especially love the clash between Galadriel & Sauron during Eorl the Young's ride. Good stuff

The Darkening of Mirkwood will likely contain expanded info from the game's perspective.

If you still want to dig, you may want to contact Marquette U. about their Tolkien chronology. He wrote considerable details that didn't make it into the final published books (he or the editors changed them):

http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/tolkien.shtml

[Boneguard]

Another interesting sourcebook that -while not necesseraly 100% canon- is still really good and provide a lot of background is the Old MERP 2nd edition Dol Guldur sourcebook. It has a lots of background, great maps and a couple adventure seeds. Of course conversion would be involved, but it's fairly minimal.

They had quite a lot of material covering the Northern part of the continent, that could be useful as reference for TOR...personally I do use them a lot for the background info.

[Boronind]

Kudos to Mim and Boneguard. However, I'm not planning on making a trip to Wisconsin anytime soon nor do I own or plan to own the MERP DG book.

Call me lazy, but perhaps you LM's in-the-legendarium-know are willing to fill in the gaps or provide direct links that do.

[Mim]

Well, I'll try one more time to help you

Michael Martinez has a couple of articles that address Gandalf & Dol Guldur that provide some of the Q&A that fit nicely with ToR's write-ups:

http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/12/ ... ol-guldur/

http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/06/ ... ol-guldur/

If you still want more, search on the old Forums for the following four articles:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=198

Why Amon Lanc?
The Nameless Dwarf
Spiders of Mirkwood
An Easterling Warband

[Angelalex242]

Biggest thing about Dol Guldur is:If the PCs wander in there at the wrong time, they're probably toast, unless they're 250XP characters, and even then they're probably toast.