#of duion

[nenuials]

also i love that you add a trope list for each character, it's a very quick way too learn more about them. i was curious though, do you already have in mind the tropes when creating the characters or go around tv tropes looking for what fits each one of them?

Both! By the time I write their big bio pages I already have a pretty good idea of the history of the character as well as how they would behave, so I have a couple of tropes in mind. But I also like finding similar characters and see if any tropes match to what I have in mind! (For Duion I used Eric the Huntsman from Snow White and the Huntsman.)

i finally had some time to properly read dûion’s page wow. how i wish there’s at least one avar character in tolkien’s books! i love how he’s interested in the affairs of the world but when it comes to the calaquendi he’s like “nope. not these assholes.” and the fact that he’s so old makes me really interested in his interactions with younger characters

If I’m not wrong Eol and all the elves of Nan Elmoth are avari so there’s that. Duion is interested in everything east of Mirkwood. If it’s west of Mirkwood he couldn’t care less. It took Naeriel so much time to convince him to cross the Misty Mountains and visit the Shire with her just once. He was just so convinced that he was going to meet a Noldo, since the Red Horn Pass is so close to Rivendell. Also, he used to visit Lorien when it was ruled by the likes of Amdir and Lenwe, but as soon as Galadriel moved in, nope … never visited again.

[nenuials]

A small explanation into how my Tolkien OCs are connected to one another

Lothrin 

met Astoeth in Lindon, sometime before the ending of the Third Age. They marched together to serve in the War of the Last Alliance. Both lost someone dear to them in the war (Lothrin her elder brother and Astoeth her betrothed). Have stayed truest friends forever since.

met Sidhen in the North Downs, during her childhood. They are frequent travel companions, as Sidhen is always tasked with delivering messages between the dunedain fortifications. They both have a fondness of visiting hobbit dwellings. Through Sidhen she sometimes meets Toram and Maradan.

met Melilot and Adamanta Hornblower during their young years. Has had short meetings with them from time to time, whenever she rode through Oatbarton

met Giznik during her young years of the Second Age. They both have fled the destruction of Eregion and worked together with other people on the construction of Imladris. Parted ways, when Giznik settled in Ered Luin.

met Calnedon for a short while after the Battle of Pelennor in Minas Tirith.

through her friend Naeriel, she has met Duion, but only for a couple short times. 

 never met Lileyn, Bron, Hav or Balna

Sidhen

Toram and Maradan are her friends and companions. She has constant contact with them.

She has a fondness for Melilot and Adamanta and frequently travels to Oatbarton with Toram, for their company.

met Astoeth, whenever Astoeth came to the Shire to gather herbs

Has frequent contact with Lothrin.

Lileyn

at one point in time during the war of the ring she met both Bron and Hav of Dunland. Through time and trails their bonds have grown.

met Calnedon when after the War of the Ring, she traveled to Gondor

Duion

met and befriended Balna of the Orocarni. They frequently exchange favors.

[nenuials]

Do all of your OCs get along with each other? Or are there any who would dislike another OC of yours for whatever reason?

Dúion and Lothrin wouldn't get along that well simply because Dúion wouldn't take two looks at her before deeming her a blood-traitor for her frequent associations with the Noldor, while Lothrin would be really hurt by someone so close-minded that they wouldn't even allow her a chance to defend herself. Maybe if they were locked in a room somewhere and had to spend a sizable period of time together they could overcome those differences and arrive at a begrudging friendship.

Astoeth is simply way too busy to try and unravel Dúion's layers. Like, you need a patient person to try and see the diamond under Dúion's many, many, many layers of smart remarks and downright antagonistic comments. Under all those many layers there's a really funny person hidden, but it takes a really patient individual to get to that point which Astoeth simply isn't. She has way too much on her mind to spare a second look at some distant Avari messenger. He would definitely be annoyed by her indifference while Astoeth would be annoyed by his temper.

Of course Lileyn and Hav & Bron are blood-enemies by birth, since the animosity between the Rohirrim and the Dunlending has a really long history. I think if they've met any time before the War of the Ring a fight would've ensued, but the War changed much in both countries and I'm happy that any cultural animosity was solved in the end.

A thing I really like about Lord of the Rings is just how fast friendships get struck between the characters like people just meet and suddenly they're best friends. *thinking back on eomer and gimli* I think the same principle applies to my OCs too like most of them would be fast friends, and any initial animosity would be quickly solved when they'd find out about the other's allegiance.

[nenuials]

Do all of your OCs (if they know each other) get along, or are there any tensions between them? How would Dûion feel about Astoeth who was tutored by one of the Noldor for example?

For an explanation of who knows who please see > this post

Taking that aside, Duion is the perfect example to start with. He’s never met Astoeth but knows of her exploits through Naeriel. Credit is due where credit is due and he respects the incredible work she’s putting into the betterment of all free people. Doesn’t mean he has to agree with the source of her tutoring or resources so it’s best he keeps his distance. Duion has never been to Lindon and never intends to.

Lileyn and Hav + Bron started out as sworn enemies since the Rohirrim and Dunlending people do not get along for the simple fact that the Rohirrim stole their ancestral lands. But through trials during the War of the Ring their bond grows and they manage to start building together a brighter future for their respective settlements. 

I don’t know if I ever mentioned him but I have a secondary character called Njall who I would like to add to the minor character list. Njall is a born Angmar(ean?) who served the Iron Crown of the Witch King. He was a scout and often sent beyond the borders of Angmar into the North Downs and Evendim to gather information on the free people of Eriador. This instantly puts him at odds with all my dunedain characters as well as Lothrin. Njall got captured by the dunedain while on a scouting trip in Evendim.

Balna gets along splendidly with the dwarves in the east but might find cultural differences when coming into contact with her kind in the west.

Minor squabbled might arise between any of my characters, it’s impossible to have any kind of relationship with anyone without arguing from time to time. We are different people and see differently on some issues.

If I can think of more examples, I’ll edit the post and add them here. 

[nenuials]

I saw that you previously answered a question about how your elves characters met their ends. I am very curious about how to they feel about what happened in the first age, about the wars in beleriand and the silmarils?

Honestly, my elven characters have polarizing opinions when it comes to the past and especially the First Age. 

The character with the easiest stance to guess is Duion. By the end of the Third Age Duion is more or less 10.000 years old and breezing through the third elven life cycle. Everything that happened in the First Age, all the horrors and wars he blames on the Noldor as well as the Valar. No Noldor > no Silmarili to be stolen > no wars waged for the blasted jewels > no need for Morgoth to come and establish his domain in the north of Beleriand. While Duion and his people have been affected the least because of their geographical position, that does not mean they haven’t felt the tremors of everything that happened. He hates the Noldor with a passion and wishes they would have just stayed in Valinor. He and Nimrodel must have formed a club at some point titled “I don’t want Noldor in my lands.”

Astoeth on the other hand is at the other end of this spectrum. The history of Beleriand is her people’s history. While she does not have any particular opinion about the Silmarili, she has experienced first hand the plight of the Noldor, Sindar and Avari who escaped the destruction of Beleriand. Her own home has been geographically torn in half due to the cataclysm of the War of Wrath. While she is not happy about the deeds the sons of Feanor did, she does recognize they do not represent an entire population, thus she welcomes and aids all who fled the destruction.

Lothrin’s opinion lies in the middle. While she is a born Nandor and thus raised with the convictions of the eastern clans of elves, she has also dwelled for many years in Lindon and Imladris and thus came to know the thoughts and plights of the Noldor and Sindar. In her eyes most of the refugees who managed to escape the destruction of Beleriand are just like her, people trying to find their place in the world. The action of a couple of their leaders does not reflect their own character. It is truly both interesting and polarizing to be at the crossroads of all these cultures and beliefs. In the end, she would rather deal with humans and their politics than elves. At least humans die in a hundred years, elves live for as long as Arda endures. 

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Did any of your Elven characters travel west following the War of the Ring? And why did they choose what they did?

For Astoeth it was a very hard choice. If she sails to Valinor, her whole life’s purpose becomes futile. There are no mortals to heal in Aman. So she lingers very late into the Fourth Age in Lindon, till she becomes the very last elf left, alone in her apothecary with no patients visiting her anymore. Resigned, she sails together with Celeborn and other elves on the very last boat left. But not before she passes down all her life’s work to as many human and dwarf healers as she can find. 

Dûion certainly did not, even at the cost of the love of his life. It was a choice between a life spent with his lover but lived surrounded by calaquendi (and especially the noldor) or spent alone but in his ancestral home together with his family. And he chose his home. In the end, as it is the fate of all elves, he fades but refuses to answer the call to Mandos. Since in this state, their spirits are bound to the command of the Valar, he is forcefully summoned to Mandos but vehemently refuses to be reembodied. He is forever left to wander the Halls of Mandos.

Lothrin has a predicament that is close to Dûion’s, but at the same time while she loves her culture and lands, she has also seen thousands of years of warfare and death. Valinor seems like a very tempting offer for her very weary mind and body, a land where trauma and tragedy can’t touch her anymore. Also the place where her closest friends Naeriel and Astoeth sailed to. Late into the Fourth Age, after Lothlorien, Imladris and Lindon become deserted, she leaves Eriador and goes to Celeborn’s colony in Eryn Lasgalen. By the time Celeborn announces he is finally ready to sail to Aman, Lothrin is still undecided. So she stays in Middle-earth for many more years. She alongside all the avari, silvan and sindar left fade and her spirit answers the call to the Halls of Mandos. In the end, she is reembodied in Aman.

[nenuials]

I'm a sucker for a good love-story so I can't help but ask; how did Dúion and Naeriel first meet and what initially drew him to her? Hopefully this isn't too odd a question!

i’m such a shipper trash for those two like i’m so invested in their relationship

first, you need to know a little about the characters here & here about duion and here about naeriel (click on the big star near “maiden” and then on dossier)

i suggest reading it from their own pov duion & naeriel (sorry for the small text)

but if you want, i’ll summarize it: it’s an “enemy to friends to lovers” trope, but they are not enemies, they simply disliked each other in the beginning. He is the first to fall in love, completely and irrevocably. For her, it takes a long time to warm up romantically to him, but he has always been patient and gave her as much space as she needed. They are two avari, two moriquendi in love with the stars, who wander the lands that have always been theirs. 

Their great tragedy is when Naeriel after the War of the Ring longs to sail, one thing Duion can never do. He cannot leave the lands to which he has always been bound. But he doesn’t want either to keep her away from what she longs for. The decision, as well as his heart, remain in her hands. 

edit: i re-read it and saw that you actually asked about their first meeting sorry

they met at the S-E border of Taur-nu-Fuin, Naeriel as a border guard and Duion, trying to reach Thranduil’s halls with a message from an avar lord. They are ambushed by a small party of orcs from Dol Guldur, but quickly dispose of them. She guides him to the Halls, and that’s kind of it for their first meeting.

What drew him to her? Everything. Naeriel’s fire, comparable to his, and her knowledge and wanderlust and stories of many traveled places. Her love and talent for the forge and making things with her hands. He was fascinated by how many she has seen and lived, of her stories of the many battles she fought, of her witty remarks and guarded self. Although the feels train hit him hard and fast, it took hundred of years to earn Naeriel’s not only good impression but friendship and ultimately heart.

[nenuials]

hey can you tell something about Dûion? (sorry but i saw "avar" and my brain went "!!!! YES GOOD!!")

Well, the basics are here (I role-play him in the tumblr tolkien rp community, because he’s a very fun character to work with). 

What can I say? I know it’s wrong to choose between your own children, but he alongside Lothrin, Astoeth and the Hornblower sisters is my favourite. 

Dûion (the sindarin counterpart to his true avarin name and the name by which he is known in the west) is an avar of the Orocarni and a descendant of those who first woke at the waters of Cuivienen. His tribe, the Hisildi, are the guardians of the last remnant waters of Cuivienen and they guard the secret of its location with ferocity. The Hisildi are also the ones who spread the misconception that Cuivienen has fully disappeared due to the seismic cataclisms of the First Age. They jealously guard it from the Noldor and Sindar and only few of the avari and nandor are allowed to know of its existence.

Dûion (or by his avarin true name Dōmēyondō) is a guide and a messenger by profession. He loves to travel and cannot stand remaining in one place for too long. He is usually tasked with delivering messages between the various lords and ladies of the avari and sometimes he guides both men and elves through the vast plains of Rhun. 

He is no warrior and war tires him, although he fought his share in the battles of the First Age that were born in those parts. (If you want to read more, MERP has a very interesting article). His one true love are stars, as he lived in the time where there was no sun or moon, but only the stars to gaze at night. He is rash and abraziv and diplomacy is not his strongest point, but he is a very interesting company if one can be deemed interesting enough to earn it. (Not on little occasion he managed to offend people.)

He fears the Noldor. Fears he will be spat upon and discarded for being a moriquende (he hates the term and he hates what they brought upon the world). He has never travelled to Imaldris or Lorien or Lindon, and up to the Third Age he never crossed the Misty Mountains. He seldomly comes to Mirkwood, with messages for Oropher and Thranduil. 

His heart belongs to Naeriel of Nan Elmoth (written by my friend Alex. For info on her click on the big star near “maiden” and then on dossier) and for a long time his love has been one sided, although she is the only one besides his own mother who softened him. She is the one who convinced him to travel over the Misty Mountains and she is the one who introduced him to hobbits, people of which he is now fond of.

Dûion has no major part in the great histories of the world and he likes it this way. He never sought glory. All he ever wished for was travel and gaze at the stars.