Angmar, or where it all Began
At least for Holly/Thuri anyway.
Two quick notes before we begin. First, much like previous posts, I’m not going to assume any of you know what I’m talking about, so there should (hopefully) be sufficient explanations for folks who haven’t spent far too many hours in Lord of the Rings Online, where most of my headcanons have their roots. Second, I’m going to refer to Holly/Thuri as Thuri throughout the entire post because it’s easier that writing both.
With that said, let’s head below the cut because this is probably going to be long.
First things first, let’s get oriented, which means starting with a map.
This...is Angmar, as portrayed in LOTRO. Geographically, Angmar is due north of Bree, east and north of the Shire, and west and north of Rivendell. Per LOTRO, Angmar’s is accessed through the North Downs (between Angmar and Bree).
A bit of history mixed with the geography: after the Kingdom of Arnor (Gondor’s northern equivalent), split into three kingdoms, the original capital at Annuminas, was moved to Fornost, in the North Downs. Considering that Fornost fell due to forces led by the Witch King of Angmar (chief of the Nazgul, slain by Eowyn on the Pelennor Fields), access points in the North Downs make sense.
Angmar is infamously ruled by the Witch King of Angmar, from his seat in Carn Dum (north-west on the map) but seeing as how he’s busy chasing hobbits, there’s a pair of lieutenants that are squabbling over who gets to rule in his absence.
In game, there is really not a lot to recommend the region. Overall the scenery is harsh, inhospitable, and full of cliffs for folks like me to fall off of. And the death water. It’s dark, it’s arid, and it’s dangerous.
Access to Angmar is through a treacherous series of ravines referred to as the Ram Duath (see lower left hand of the map). In game, this is very hard to navigate (if you’re me and get lost a lot) and well-populated with “worms” (dragon-like creatures without wings) and “drakes” (dragon-like creatures with wings). (Yes, this is a stretch of Tolkien canon, but a game needs enemies to fight.)
If you make it through the Ram Duath, you find yourself in Aughaire.
This screenshot was taken while it was raining and night, but it does not get better. Aughaire is a series of small islands divided by shallow water, connected by bridges. The hill tribe that lives here is called the Trev Gallorg, and they’re allies of the Free People (anyone who doesn’t like Sauron). They appear to be primarily a hunter-gatherer culture, though do have a few herd animals.
Moving northwards from Aughaire, you find yourself in the territory of the Trev Duvardain, who are the Angmar-affiliated hill tribe. One of the towns that Angmar controls, with the help of the Trev Duvardan is called Donnvail (someday I will put together an explanation of what Thuri was doing there).
If you try and cross that open area with the bright green in the south-center portion of the map, you’ll encounter a line of watching-stones, inspired by the ones seen outside of Minas Morgul. They act as a barrier, keeping anyone from crossing from the west to east. LOTRO lore says that this barrier was activated when Golodir, a dunedan from the North Downs, tried to lead his company through Malenhad, and enough of his company died during that attempt that the entire company was presumed lost.
Now that we’ve got the geography bit done, let’s talk about how Thuri fits into all of this.
Thuri was caught in a bad magical accident involving several stray spells hitting a portkey she was trying to activate outside Grimmauld Place. When she woke up, she found herself alone in the Ram Duath, her wand a broken stub in her hand. It takes an unknown amount of time, but she finds her way to Aughaire, where the Trev Gallorg take her in, teach her both Westron (common tongue of Middle Earth) and their language (which I personally headcanon as being like Scots Gaelic), and adopt her into the tribe. She takes a new name during the adoption: Bronach, which means sorrow (if the internet hasn’t lied to me).
After she arrives in Aughaire, she calls Kreacher to her. The magic needed to cross dimensions would have killed him if he wasn’t bonded to the Master of Death, but neither of them is willing to risk his life in an attempt to return to their original dimension. Kreacher becomes a familiar fixture of life in Aughaire, and Thuri becomes a valued member of the tribe, learning any number of new skills (weapons use, weapon crafting, woodcraft, etc.) and finding herself slowly being draw into the coming war with Angmar.
This grows increasingly tense when Golodir and his company arrive, basing themselves in Angmar for a time. Thuri becomes friends with a number of the company, takes one of them as a lover, and learns even more skills (such as passable Sindarin and Quenya) and becomes drawn to the cause of the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. This is her first introduction to the dunedain and their chieftain/king-in-exile, and it sets the foundation for the rest of her life in Middle Earth.