Act III, part X: A Growing Evil in Mirkwood
With the evil in Dol Guldur growing ever more powerful, fell creatures in Mirkwood multiplied. The spiders of the wood became more daring and trolls and wargs now appeared in greater number. In the midst of these darkening woods still lay the dwelling of Tinnurion, who had not left his halls of late. He was in a mood of improving his craftsmanship, but he could not work the smithy, for it would attract unwanted attention, and that much aggrieved him. Instead he wrote at great length of his past experiences, which he found remarkably soothing. But his supply of paper and ink started to run low, as was his store of food and drink and other comforts more difficult to obtain. It was clear he could not remain indoors much longer. So it happened that, upon the new moon, he left his halls, seeking his usual nourishment in the woods. But to his unpleasant surprise he found that much of it was rotten and the air was thick with decay.
'Am I to abandon my home once gain and search elsewhere for peace and quiet?', he asked himself angrily, waving his hands in the air. “What accursed evil is it that troubles this forest so?”.
As he posed these questions in the dark, they were answered by an ominous howl. Wargs were close to his house and they were onto him. With swift strides he bore himself away and hid someplace to see his pursuers come nigh. In the spot where he had stood now appeared two black wargs, and they were hungrily sniffing the ground, trying to pick up a scent. These were just some scouts, but more would come should he assail them, so he did not. They quickly came upon the doors to his dwelling, where one of them howled to call in the others. Wargs were relentless stalkers. They would stay there lurking in the shadows for quite some time until he who lived there made an unlucky appearance. Little did they know Tinnurion was already outside, lamenting his next decision. For it was clear that he could not return home now. He decided to travel eastward out of the forest, where he at last came upon a starlit sky above a silent meadow. He had made it out.
In the following days he sought refuge closer to the mountains, still angrily cursing the evil that had forced him out of his home. With naught but his precious sword, he was again left to wander Rhovanion. In his search for a place to hide from the sun, he retreated deep into the mountains, for he remembered well the cave that had harboured him and his companions briefly during the second age, when the realm of Eregion was still inhabited by Elves. Here he now returned and was lucky enough to find it uninhabited. He abided here for a while.
Then came the day that a great host of Dwarves came pouring out of their mountain halls of Khazad-Dûm, fleeing from an evil they called simply Durin’s Bane. Tinnurion came down from the mountains to meet with these Dwarves. From them he learned what had passed inside their kingdom. A great terror of shadow and flame had come out of the depths and had lain waste to the kingdom, slaying Durin VI and his son Náin along with many other Dwarves. The kingdom of Khazad-Dûm had fallen and the surviving dwarves were now exiled from their home, much like Tinnurion. He pitied them greatly and he helped them where he could, telling them to avoid Mirkwood at all cost. But the Dwarves had no desire to travel eastward. Thráin I was now their leader, and he led them northward into the Grey Mountains and later to the north-east, to build a new kingdom at the Lonely Mountain. With a Dwarven presence in the mountains, Tinnurion found his stay there more welcoming, and the Dwarves reignited his love for smithing. He visited them on occasion, and he witnessed the building of a great kingdom in the north. But his thoughts often went out to his home in Mirkwood, and much he desired to return hither. Meanwhile the dark power in Dol Guldur grew with every moon, until at last, but unbeknownst to Tinnurion, a brave wizard entered the forest and drove out the shadow of Sauron.
Thus, it happened that, in the year 2063, the evil that had descended upon Mirkwood finally lessened and creatures of the less dangerous sort started to return to the forest. It was the beginning of what they would come to call the Watchful Peace, which lasted for nigh 4 centuries. During this time Tinnurion returned to his home with glee.
