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Gladden Fields Revamp
Project leader: Phoenix108
Project co-leaders: Joske50, TotiGonzales
Introduction
This is the official project post for the continuation of the Gladden Fields revamp. After Andrew resigned, progress on the project has been slow but I hope for that to change that with the release of this updated project plan. Since the original project announcement, there has been a good amount of progress in the Gladden Fields. The marsh was completed, we finished one village and have already started working on another. Me and Joske have been continuing to terraform the terrain around the marsh and the foothills of the Misty Mountains. Now that the forest update has been released, we will be able to focus on getting trees ready for the Gladden Fields forests.
Project Progress
Approximate overall progress: 40%
Current progress phase: terraforming and building
Planning
Project Plan
Stage 1
This is the stage we are currently working on. We have already started work on the second village on the marsh and have given houses out for people to work on. After all houses have been accepted, we will be able to run a platform detailing job to finish this village. We will also have to get the base terrain surrounding the marsh ready so that we can build the last two inhabited villages.
Stage 2
Stage 2 will begin when the hills around the marsh have been fully completed. During this stage we will complete V3 and V4. These villages will be made in a different style to the villages we have made so far. Inspiration and concepts for these can be found at the end of this post. This will be the stage where we start working on a treegrid. As making trees will probably be the thing that takes the most amount of time to finish, we will start work on them in stage 2 and continue working on them until we are ready to start making forests in stage 4.
Stage 3
In this stage we will finish terraforming the foothills of the Misty Mountains, smoothly transition them into the flatter hills of the Gladden Fields and finish the last two rivers leading into the marsh. We will make all of the abandoned stoor farmsteads and villages in this stage. These villages will be built in a ruined variation of the style used to build V3 and V4. When all of the settlements are finished, we will connect them with a small network of roads in various states of ruin. Only the paths that connect the four inhabited villages with each other will be maintained well while the others will be forgotten and overgrown.
Stage 4
We will start this stage when the Gladden Fields treegrid is finished. We will update the section of the Anduin along the project border to be up to the standard of the Anduin at the carrock. By this stage, all of the base terrain will be ready so we can start making forests then. The last part of this stage will be filling in all remaining spaces in between the forests with fields and meadows. When the project has been finished, we will check the quality of everything we have built to make sure that it is all up to MCME standards and make any changes if necessary.
Project Lore
Etymology
Old English glaedene, "gladden" is another name for the "flag" or "iris". Loeg Ningloron, meaning Pools of the Golden Water-flowers.
Summary
The Gladden Fields are a large wetland area on the western side of the Anduin River, extending along the banks of the Gladden River. At points during the Third Age, Hobbits, Woodsmen and the Beornings inhabited the area around, in and to the north of the marsh.
Key History
The Gladden Fields (Loeg Ningloron). In the Elder Days, when the Silvan Elves first settled there, they were a lake formed in a deep depression into which the Anduin poured from the North down the swiftest part of its course, a long descent of some seventy miles, and there mingled with the torrent of the Gladden River (Sîr Ninglor) hastening from the Mountains. The lake had been wider west of Anduin, for the eastern side of the valley was steeper; but on the east it probably reached as far as the feet of the long slopes down from the Forest (then still wooded), its reedy borders being marked by the gentler slope, just below the path that Isildur was following. The lake had become a great marsh, through which the river wandered in a wilderness of islets, and wide beds of reed and rush, and armies of yellow iris that grew taller than a man and gave their name to all the region and to the river from the Mountains about whose lower course they grew most thickly. But the marsh had receded to the east, and from the foot of the lower slopes there were now wide flats, grown with grass and small rushes on which men would walk.
Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch I, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, Note 13
With Isildur went his three sons, Elendur, Aratan, and Ciryon, and his Guard of two hundred knights and soldiers, stern men of Arnor and war-hardened. Of their journey nothing is told until they had passed over the Dagorlad, and on northward into the wide and empty lands south of Greenwood the Great. On the twentieth day, as they came within far sight of the forest crowning the highlands before them..., the sky became overcast and a dark wind came up from the Sea of Rhûn laden with rain. The rain lasted for four days; so when they came to the entrance to the Vales, between Lórien and Amon Lanc, Isildur turned away from the Anduin, swollen with swift water, and went up the steep slopes on its eastern side to gain the ancient paths of the Silvan Elves that ran near the eaves of the Forest.
Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields
[It] is told that he was in great pain and anguish of heart, but at first he ran like a stag from the hounds, until he came to the bottom of the valley. There he halted, to make sure that he was not pursued; for Orcs could track a fugitive in the dark by scent, and needed no eyes. Then he went on more warily, for wide flats stretched on into the gloom before him, rough and pathless, with many traps for wandering feet. So it was that he came at last to the banks of Anduin at the dead of night, and he was weary; for he had made a journey that the Dúnedain on such ground could have made no quicker... by day. The river was swirling dark and swift.... He stood for a while, alone and in despair. Then in haste he cast off all his armour and weapons, save a short sword1 at his belt, and plunged into the water. He was a man of strength and endurance that few even of the Dúnedain of that age could equal, but he had little hope to gain the other shore. Before he had gone far he was forced to turn almost north against the current; and strive as he might he was ever swept down towards the tangles of the Gladden Fields. They were nearer than he had thought, and even as he... had almost won across he found himself struggling among great rushes....
Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields
“…[A]nd even as he felt the stream slacken and had almost won across he found himself struggling among great rushes and clinging weeds. There suddenly he knew that the Ring had gone. By chance, or chance well used, it had left his hand and gone where he could never hope to find it again. At first so overwhelming was his sense of loss that he struggled no more, and would have sunk and drowned. But swift as it had come the mood passed. The pain had left him. A great burden had been taken away. His feet found the river bed, and heaving himself up out of the mud he floundered through the reeds to a marshy islet close to the western shore. There he rose up out of the water: only a mortal man, a small creature lost and abandoned in the wilds of Middle-earth. But to the night-eyed Orcs that lurked there on the watch he loomed up, a monstrous shadow of fear, with a piercing eye like a star. They loosed their poisoned arrows at it, and fled. Needlessly, for Isildur unarmed was pierced through heart and throat, and without a cry he fell back into the water. No trace of his body was ever found by Elves or Men. So passed the first victim of the malice of the masterless Ring: Isildur, second King of all the Dúnedain, lord of Arnor and Gondor, and in that age of the World the last.”
Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields
'[When Déagol] washed the mud away, there in his hand lay a beautiful golden ring; and it shone and glittered in the sun.... But Sméagol had been watching him from behind a tree, and as Déagol gloated over the ring, Sméagol came softly up behind.
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 2, The Shadow of the Past
Lore Provided by: TheStephen
Geography
River & landscape Morphology
The main Gladden River channel descending from the Misty Mountains would be straighter on steeper elevation, then becoming more and more sinuous on the flat area of the ancient lakebed. Meandering channels would be found among the islets of reeds would be common. This channel would remain dominant, but have significant numbers of pools and small streams in other parts of the marsh. Channels here would not generally be deep, but could be broad and shallow. Deposited sediment would be found throughout the marsh. Small changes in terrain could be possible where trees have trapped enough sediment to build very small hills around their roots. The main Anduin channel would be a dominant waterway through the eastern end of the marsh and would not be obstructed by the marsh area. The force of water indicated in “The Disaster of the Gladden Fields” is more than enough to sweep Isildur a fair distance downstream, and therefore would have eroded any marsh blocking the main channel. The marsh would blend into the western bank of the main Anduin channel. The ground rises more steeply on the eastern side of the Anduin than the west. A small flood plain exists on the eastern bank, with a far more extensive plain on the west, incorporating the marshes. There’s mention of a ridge that the orcs come down on the eastern bank. There was also an old Silvan elf road between Amon Lanc and the Old Ford on the eastern side of the river.
River & landscape Morphology provided by: TheStephen
Forest Vegetation
General Treescape
Villages
Stilted Villages
Interiors
Landscape
How to get work
As we are currently finishing the first stage, all of the houses in the second village have been claimed and are being worked on so the only work we have available right now is terraforming. If you are a builder experienced with voxel and world edit and are interested in working on terrain, message me in game or on discord. When we start the next stage, I will make an update with all the new work we have available.
Project leader: Phoenix108
Project co-leaders: Joske50, TotiGonzales
Introduction
This is the official project post for the continuation of the Gladden Fields revamp. After Andrew resigned, progress on the project has been slow but I hope for that to change that with the release of this updated project plan. Since the original project announcement, there has been a good amount of progress in the Gladden Fields. The marsh was completed, we finished one village and have already started working on another. Me and Joske have been continuing to terraform the terrain around the marsh and the foothills of the Misty Mountains. Now that the forest update has been released, we will be able to focus on getting trees ready for the Gladden Fields forests.
Project Progress
Approximate overall progress: 40%
Current progress phase: terraforming and building
Planning
- Lore and geography background: Complete
- Project map: Complete
- Concepts
- Settlements: Complete
- Terrain and environment: Complete
- Main world planning: In Progress
- Tree repository: Not Started
- Rivers: In Progress
- Marsh: Complete
- Foothills: In Progress
- Hills: In Progress
- Forests: Not Started
- Fields and meadows: Not Started
- Inhabited settlements
- V1: Complete
- V2: In Progress
- V3: Not Started
- V4: Not Started
- Ruined settlements
- RV1: Not Started
- RV2: Not Started
- RF1: Not Started
- RF2: Not Started
- RF3: Not Started
- Roads: Not Started
- Farms: Not Started
Project Plan
Stage 1
This is the stage we are currently working on. We have already started work on the second village on the marsh and have given houses out for people to work on. After all houses have been accepted, we will be able to run a platform detailing job to finish this village. We will also have to get the base terrain surrounding the marsh ready so that we can build the last two inhabited villages.
Stage 2
Stage 2 will begin when the hills around the marsh have been fully completed. During this stage we will complete V3 and V4. These villages will be made in a different style to the villages we have made so far. Inspiration and concepts for these can be found at the end of this post. This will be the stage where we start working on a treegrid. As making trees will probably be the thing that takes the most amount of time to finish, we will start work on them in stage 2 and continue working on them until we are ready to start making forests in stage 4.
Stage 3
In this stage we will finish terraforming the foothills of the Misty Mountains, smoothly transition them into the flatter hills of the Gladden Fields and finish the last two rivers leading into the marsh. We will make all of the abandoned stoor farmsteads and villages in this stage. These villages will be built in a ruined variation of the style used to build V3 and V4. When all of the settlements are finished, we will connect them with a small network of roads in various states of ruin. Only the paths that connect the four inhabited villages with each other will be maintained well while the others will be forgotten and overgrown.
Stage 4
We will start this stage when the Gladden Fields treegrid is finished. We will update the section of the Anduin along the project border to be up to the standard of the Anduin at the carrock. By this stage, all of the base terrain will be ready so we can start making forests then. The last part of this stage will be filling in all remaining spaces in between the forests with fields and meadows. When the project has been finished, we will check the quality of everything we have built to make sure that it is all up to MCME standards and make any changes if necessary.
Project Lore
Etymology
Old English glaedene, "gladden" is another name for the "flag" or "iris". Loeg Ningloron, meaning Pools of the Golden Water-flowers.
Summary
The Gladden Fields are a large wetland area on the western side of the Anduin River, extending along the banks of the Gladden River. At points during the Third Age, Hobbits, Woodsmen and the Beornings inhabited the area around, in and to the north of the marsh.
Key History
- Early FA: Silvan Elves leave the Great Journey and pass the lake existing at the confluence of Gladden River and Anduin.
- 2 TA: Isildur and 200 Dunedain ambushed in Disaster of Gladden Fields. One Ring lost
- 1050 TA: Harfoot Migration to Eriador from Anduin Vale
- 1150 TA: Fallowhide and Stoor migration to Eriador from Anduin Vale
- 1356 TA: Fields around the Gladden re-settled by Stoors due to forced migrations from Angmar Wars
- 2463 TA: Deagol the Stoor finds the One Ring and is murderd by Smeagol
- 2851 TA: Saruman begins searching for the ring. Elendilmir found
- 2939 TA: Sauron’s spies search the area for the Ring
The Gladden Fields (Loeg Ningloron). In the Elder Days, when the Silvan Elves first settled there, they were a lake formed in a deep depression into which the Anduin poured from the North down the swiftest part of its course, a long descent of some seventy miles, and there mingled with the torrent of the Gladden River (Sîr Ninglor) hastening from the Mountains. The lake had been wider west of Anduin, for the eastern side of the valley was steeper; but on the east it probably reached as far as the feet of the long slopes down from the Forest (then still wooded), its reedy borders being marked by the gentler slope, just below the path that Isildur was following. The lake had become a great marsh, through which the river wandered in a wilderness of islets, and wide beds of reed and rush, and armies of yellow iris that grew taller than a man and gave their name to all the region and to the river from the Mountains about whose lower course they grew most thickly. But the marsh had receded to the east, and from the foot of the lower slopes there were now wide flats, grown with grass and small rushes on which men would walk.
Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch I, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, Note 13
With Isildur went his three sons, Elendur, Aratan, and Ciryon, and his Guard of two hundred knights and soldiers, stern men of Arnor and war-hardened. Of their journey nothing is told until they had passed over the Dagorlad, and on northward into the wide and empty lands south of Greenwood the Great. On the twentieth day, as they came within far sight of the forest crowning the highlands before them..., the sky became overcast and a dark wind came up from the Sea of Rhûn laden with rain. The rain lasted for four days; so when they came to the entrance to the Vales, between Lórien and Amon Lanc, Isildur turned away from the Anduin, swollen with swift water, and went up the steep slopes on its eastern side to gain the ancient paths of the Silvan Elves that ran near the eaves of the Forest.
Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields
[It] is told that he was in great pain and anguish of heart, but at first he ran like a stag from the hounds, until he came to the bottom of the valley. There he halted, to make sure that he was not pursued; for Orcs could track a fugitive in the dark by scent, and needed no eyes. Then he went on more warily, for wide flats stretched on into the gloom before him, rough and pathless, with many traps for wandering feet. So it was that he came at last to the banks of Anduin at the dead of night, and he was weary; for he had made a journey that the Dúnedain on such ground could have made no quicker... by day. The river was swirling dark and swift.... He stood for a while, alone and in despair. Then in haste he cast off all his armour and weapons, save a short sword1 at his belt, and plunged into the water. He was a man of strength and endurance that few even of the Dúnedain of that age could equal, but he had little hope to gain the other shore. Before he had gone far he was forced to turn almost north against the current; and strive as he might he was ever swept down towards the tangles of the Gladden Fields. They were nearer than he had thought, and even as he... had almost won across he found himself struggling among great rushes....
Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields
“…[A]nd even as he felt the stream slacken and had almost won across he found himself struggling among great rushes and clinging weeds. There suddenly he knew that the Ring had gone. By chance, or chance well used, it had left his hand and gone where he could never hope to find it again. At first so overwhelming was his sense of loss that he struggled no more, and would have sunk and drowned. But swift as it had come the mood passed. The pain had left him. A great burden had been taken away. His feet found the river bed, and heaving himself up out of the mud he floundered through the reeds to a marshy islet close to the western shore. There he rose up out of the water: only a mortal man, a small creature lost and abandoned in the wilds of Middle-earth. But to the night-eyed Orcs that lurked there on the watch he loomed up, a monstrous shadow of fear, with a piercing eye like a star. They loosed their poisoned arrows at it, and fled. Needlessly, for Isildur unarmed was pierced through heart and throat, and without a cry he fell back into the water. No trace of his body was ever found by Elves or Men. So passed the first victim of the malice of the masterless Ring: Isildur, second King of all the Dúnedain, lord of Arnor and Gondor, and in that age of the World the last.”
Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 1, The Disaster of the Gladden Fields
'[When Déagol] washed the mud away, there in his hand lay a beautiful golden ring; and it shone and glittered in the sun.... But Sméagol had been watching him from behind a tree, and as Déagol gloated over the ring, Sméagol came softly up behind.
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 2, The Shadow of the Past
Lore Provided by: TheStephen
Geography
River & landscape Morphology
The main Gladden River channel descending from the Misty Mountains would be straighter on steeper elevation, then becoming more and more sinuous on the flat area of the ancient lakebed. Meandering channels would be found among the islets of reeds would be common. This channel would remain dominant, but have significant numbers of pools and small streams in other parts of the marsh. Channels here would not generally be deep, but could be broad and shallow. Deposited sediment would be found throughout the marsh. Small changes in terrain could be possible where trees have trapped enough sediment to build very small hills around their roots. The main Anduin channel would be a dominant waterway through the eastern end of the marsh and would not be obstructed by the marsh area. The force of water indicated in “The Disaster of the Gladden Fields” is more than enough to sweep Isildur a fair distance downstream, and therefore would have eroded any marsh blocking the main channel. The marsh would blend into the western bank of the main Anduin channel. The ground rises more steeply on the eastern side of the Anduin than the west. A small flood plain exists on the eastern bank, with a far more extensive plain on the west, incorporating the marshes. There’s mention of a ridge that the orcs come down on the eastern bank. There was also an old Silvan elf road between Amon Lanc and the Old Ford on the eastern side of the river.
River & landscape Morphology provided by: TheStephen
Forest Vegetation
General Treescape
- Oak
- European Hornbeam
- Lime
- Beech
- Scots Pine (Common)
- Black Alder
- Downy Birch
- Willow
- Norway Spruce
- European Silver Fir
- Larch
Villages
Stilted Villages
Interiors
Landscape
How to get work
As we are currently finishing the first stage, all of the houses in the second village have been claimed and are being worked on so the only work we have available right now is terraforming. If you are a builder experienced with voxel and world edit and are interested in working on terrain, message me in game or on discord. When we start the next stage, I will make an update with all the new work we have available.
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