Throughout the dark places of Middle-earth, there can be found terrifying, bodiless spirits bound to the physical world. These ghostly spirits are the shades of Men of times past. Like the oath-breakers roused by Aragorn on the Paths of the Dead, they are bound to Middle-earth by an ancient curse, doomed to remain on the fringes of the living world until their curse is lifted.

Shades are ethereal, capable of delivering a deadly, chilling attack on their enemies and instilling fear by their very presence. Defeating a shade in LOTRO can prove to be a challenge for adventurers, but there are many less conventional ways to conquer these denizens of the spirit world, should the need arise. Traditional combat is not always what is needed; some shades are simply looking for release, or redemption, or even revenge, in order to free themselves from their lifetime of torment, tasks which may fall to the brave adventurer willing to attempt the quest on the shade’s behalf.

While The Lord of the Rings can only pause briefly on the precipice of the deepest delvings, where far below “the world is gnawed by nameless things,” we are privileged to be able to shine a light into those dark recesses, and reveal what new horrors may be found.

Hence the Rogmul: a powerful creature trapped between this world and the realm of the Unseen, enslaved to a great and ancient power of Middle-earth.

Scavenging the North Downs, like their brethren roaming as far west as the Ered Luin and as far east as their dark home in the Misty Mountains, the goblins of Middle-earth are as vile and cruel examples of Orc-kind as one may encounter. Rarely found alone, goblins traditionally hunt in groups both small and large, preferring the advantage of numbers to inflict their cruelty on the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.

In the pages of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Orc-kind may be recognized by many names. From lowly and numerous goblins, to the various tribes and breeds of Orcs, to the cruel and mighty Uruk-hai, LOTRO will feature each prominently as the foot soldiers of the dark tide sweeping across Middle-earth in the days leading up the War of the Ring.

Throughout Middle-earth there are many forms of insect; some mere annoyances, others more dangerous, and some that are a mystery rarely, if ever, seen. Neekerbreekers once fell into the last category. For ages, they were merely a distracting noise in the dark corners of the Midgewater Marshes, but recently a shadow has passed through Bree-land, and they have become more aggressive and begun to swarm.

In The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, many different varieties of this insect can be found across Eriador, known by different names: the relatively placid Neekerbreeker resides in the marshes of Bree-land, while the fiercer Norbog populates the crags of the Ered Luin and elsewhere. This is only one of many creatures first seen – or in this case, heard – in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings that players will encounter in The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.

There are more threats in the cliffs and crags of the North Downs than Orcs and evil Men. Many creatures that walk on four legs, both natural and evil, stalk prey in the hills and fields of the North Downs.

In the crags of Nan Amlug, lynx dwell in great numbers. While these mountain cats are mere beasts, with no care for the wars of Men and Orcs, they can still be extremely dangerous. They are able to move about nearly unseen, silently creeping towards their prey, springing upon the unwary with vicious precision. The miners of Othrikar, the dwarf-mines of Nan Amlug, must keep a constant vigil as they journey to and from their tunnels.

At the northern end of the Greenway, beyond the lonely town of Trestlebridge, and in southern reaches of Annundir, packs of wolves roam in search of easy prey. Unlike lynx, wolves are not mere beasts. They are highly intelligent and cunning, but worse yet, they are servants of the Enemy, corrupt and evil. From these hounds of evil were bred the fiercest of their kind, the Wargs. It is said that there was a time as well when fell-spirits were cast into wolves, creating a breed of Werewolves.

Of all the four-legged creatures which stalk the western North Downs, the Barghests of the Fields of Fornost are the worst. Evil hounds akin to the Werewolves, they are terrible creatures possessed of a fell-spirit. They are rarely seen anywhere but ancient fields of battle and burial grounds, haunting the grassy knolls where the dead lay.

The lynx and Barghests are new to The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, drawn from appropriate real-world and folklore sources. Wolves are seen with great frequency in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, always as creatures of evil, as they were portrayed in the folklore and literature of Professor Tolkien’s own day. In LOTRO, players shall encounter these and other such creatures throughout Eriador.

Recognizing the power of the Witch-king and of his master in Mordor, these creatures willingly joined with Angmar and Sauron. The smiths of Angmar outfitted them with powerful arms and armor, and they became Angmar’s most devastating fighters, set at the front of Angmar’s armies like the sharp edge of a blade. With their help, the Witch-king won many battles against the kingdoms of Arnor. Some say that it was Gorthorogs who tore down the Tower of Amon Sûl, toppling it into ruin, but none survive to confirm that tale.

In the last battle to drive Angmar out of the lands of Arnor, the enemy made one grave error. The Witch-king had held his last few Gorthorogs in Carn Dûm, planning to lure his enemies to their ruin with a false retreat. But in the end his attempt to reach the fortress failed, and the Witch-king was driven from the North. Angmar was defeated.

With Angmar’s forces scattered, the Gorthorogs retreated to the dark places of that fallen kingdom, which were to them much like the cracks and shadows in the North where they once dwelt. Some also say that a few Gorthorogs fled south and east, all the way to Mordor, and there were bred with Trolls by Sauron, and thus had a part in the creation of the Mordor’s most powerful and darkest of creatures. Of this, not even the Wise can say for certain.

Now, with the rumors of a flame rekindled in Angmar, there remains the danger that these creatures might yet ally themselves with whatever evil returns to that barren realm.

Orcs are one of the most recognized enemies from The Lord of the Rings.¹ As a result, rest assured that you’ll not only encounter lots of Orcs in the untamed areas of Middle-earth, but you’ll face lots of different types of them.

In the depths of time, the great race of dragons was bred by Morgoth in his dark realm of Angband. These terrible beasts are capable of spewing gouts of flame and crushing stone and metal with little effort. Few survived the fall of Beleriand, and fewer still remain in the Third Age. Smaug the Golden was the greatest of those who fled to Middle-earth, and he was slain by Bard the Bowman, who became King of Dale.

The winged drakes who now inhabit the stony hills and mountains of Middle-earth are mere shadows of the once-great majesty of their forebears. They hunt the landscape for aurochs, bears, and other large animals with which to feed their young – drakelings – though they will not hesitate to make a meal of stray Hillman or Earth-kin, if the opportunity arises.

Weaker still are the wingless worms who claw their way across the barren plains and hills. Like their winged kin, they live to feed, terrorizing beast and Man alike. Neither drake nor worm possesses the might of the great dragons, but they should not be underestimated. Rumor has it that something in the Misty Mountains is stirring, calling them to gather.

While the fellow shown here is not the only creature of dragon-kind in our corner of Middle-earth, he is the ONLY Dragon: one of the very few remaining in all of Middle-earth. We’ll leave his backstory and name a secret for now…

 

In Elven-tales, the dreadful Mornen, known as a Dark-water in the Westron language, is a creature formed from the depths and brought into being by evil spirits. Rising from the rivers and lakes of Eriador to fight the unwary, these beings of shadow and seething liquid are said to have originated in the darkness of Angmar during the reign of the Witch-king long ago. Their essence remains strong to this day, and they will relentlessly attack the Free Peoples of Middle-earth with no fear of death.

The Dark-water (Mornen in Sindarin, pl. Mernin) is a creature unique to The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar and expands upon Professor Tolkien’s lore of evil spirits bound to Middle-earth by dark powers, such as the wights of the Great Barrows. Adventurers should take warning from the dark mist that often swirls beneath the surface of a lake or swamp before the Dark-water rises to strike with cold hands. They should be especially wary of the crowned Mernen, who rule their kind in mockery of the Kings of Númenór.