Southern Rhûn began with a letter. I have been an avid fan of The Lord of the Rings since reading the books as a kid in late elementary school, and have read and reread them numerous times. When I came into contact with ICE, I was astounded, and gobbled up all of their products I could find, reading them as quickly as I could. It was a dream come true—Middle-earth still lived on—except for one problem: there was no module for Rhûn. I'd spent hours looking at maps of the place, and wondered what the region must've been like, and simply couldn't wait for more on it to be released. After purchasing and consuming several ICE modules, I decided to write and let them know how much I appreciated their products.

To my surprise, I received a nice letter back from Jessica Ney-Grimm (this was back in '89) that thanked me for my correspondence—and also told me about several hopeful proposals. She mentioned that a couple were for Rhûn, so I decided to help out. I collected all of the information that I could find about the area, compiled a timeline and several notes on the people, and then called ICE. I was only eighteen at the time, and was so nervous when I talked to Jessica that I figured I would die. Luckily I didn't; I even managed to inform her of all my endeavors in the region of Rhûn without (in my opinion) sounding like too much of an idiot. When I informed her that I would be willing to send her my research, she asked why I didn't just write a module myself. It sounded like a great idea.

And that's where it started. From there, I set about writing. In my eagerness to use all of the information that I had gathered, I had initially planned on covering the entire area in one module (I know, what a mistake). Jessica informed me that that simply wouldn't work, and that I needed to narrow my focus. Shortly thereafter we decided that I should focus on the Odhriags of southern Rhûn, and the shrines or temples that they had built to their fallen heroes.

Over the next few years I continued researching, and working on "Shrines of Rhûn," (as we were attempting to call it at the time), and had it near completion a number of times, but always found myself altering it. Several of these revisions were instigated by myself, and two revisions were to incorporate the works of other authors in the area, until I finally was ready for ICE's first glimpse at it. Jessica was very busy at the time, and didn't get a chance to look it over for quite a while. In fact, she finally turned it over to her assistant, Jason Hawkins, who helped me with the revisions.

After making the changes Jason suggested, I started a major overhaul of "Shrines of Rhûn," to transform it into Southern Rhûn. My original manuscript was based on the older "campaign" format (i.e., about 80 pages with around 60,000-62,000 words). At present, I'm trying to limit myself to making Southern Rhûn come in at around 130 pages with about 110,000 words, but I'm very pleased with this new format. It feels like the best medium that I've come across to accurately describe the region.

Not only am I excited about the new format and the depth it will allow me to give this area, but I'm also glad to be working with a number of new authors working in adjoining regions. As Mr. Rogers would say: "It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood." Jesse Dallin is currently working on Khand; and Chris Seeman, having just completed Southern Gondor, has moved next door to Northern Gondor; while the man responsible for the last issue of OH's Balchoth article, Luke Potter, recently signed on to cover Dorwinion and (hopefully) Northern Rhûn. We've got a bit of a "conspiracy" going over the Net as we E-mail each other constantly to make all of our ideas mesh.

Personally, I think that this correspondence will not only provide a much greater richness in all of our respective works, but in other future ICE products as well. Anyhow, enough about the history of the module's construction, and on to a few details about it.

My major premise for Southern Rhûn has been a simple one. The lands of Rhûn are, even by virtue of their name, part of the "East." Apart from most of the other places that were mapped by Professor Tolkien (Khand and the Harad being the obvious examples), this area was intended to be truly wild, and to a great extent, uncivilized. A place from whence hailed many of Gondor's enemies—Men who frequently served Sauron of Mordor, and made war upon his enemies at his bequest.

Yet while Rhûn may be part of the "Eastlands," its name is Sindarin, thus adding a bit of a "western" spin to everything. While the Rhúnaer (S. "Sea of Rhûn") may be surrounded by lands inhabited, for the most part, by Easterlings, it is still relatively close to Gondor and the West. In fact, one of Gondor's Third Age acquisitions, the region named Dor Rhúnen, encompassed the western shores of the Rhúnaer.

It has therefore been my aim, from the beginning, to present the lands of southern Rhûn as the frontier between East and West. Consequently, some of the traditions and values from both "worlds" will be represented here. Some will clash with their occidental or oriental counterparts, while other concepts and lifestyles will mesh and enjoin one another, thus creating an intricately woven fabric that could only be southern Rhûn.

In designing Southern Rhûn, I am firstly intending to have it provide a good and accurate timeline of the region. Since this region has never been detailed before, it has been a bit of an adventure pulling tidbits here and there from Tolkien's material and previous ICE products. The real fun has been in "filling in the gaps." While preparing the timeline, I've had two goals in mind: to explain why and how this region and its inhabitants are different from those of the "West," and to detail how they have interacted throughout the ages with their occidental neighbors.

Since this is going to be one of the first Realm modules set in the "East" (I know, its not that far east), I feel it of particular importance to give detailed treatment to an Easterling tribe. In fact, my main focus has been to describe the Odhriags and how they fit into the mesh of peoples and politics that make up their home region of Gathod (Od. "Home Place") in Southern Rhûn. Hopefully, the attention given to this tribe will provide a bit of a stepping stone for GMs who later want to adventure in the East. In addition, I'll be focusing a good part of Southern Rhûn to the details of the other Easterling tribes of the region, but not to the same extent.

Along these same lines, I envision providing a bit of a background for "campaigning" in the east. While there will be a multitude of fun things to do in Rhûn and many of the other eastern lands, there is definitely a shortage of the traditional keeps, lairs, and other sites found in the West. There will be, on the contrary, an ample supply of wide open spaces, hills, roaming Easterlings and a myriad of other things. My task, therefore, has been to provide a campaign environment where GMs will be able to get a good "feel" of the region, and be able to easily create fun and exciting "eastern" adventures.

Without a doubt, my primary sources for Southern Rhûn are Professor Tolkien's works. Of course, it needs to be mentioned that, while I've read The Lord of the Rings more than 20 times, and The Silmarillion at least 3 times, I've never been much of a big fan of some of the releases made by Christopher Tolkien. While I've perused Unfinished Tales and some of the publications detailing Tolkien's creation of Middle-earth, I've never made it a point to study them. I think that I've always preferred to simply enjoy Middle-earth's magic, instead of learning about how that magic came into being. (That's also why I like ICE's productions—the magic continues; I can simply read about Middle-earth as if it were real.) To this end, I'm very grateful to have a couple of very capable Tolkien scholars working in regions adjacent to southern Rhûn. Their comments have been very helpful in filling in my gaps of knowledge.

Apart from Tolkien's works and ICE productions, I've thoroughly enjoyed researching "real world" counterparts and histories for the peoples and regions I'm covering. The major linguistic bases for the region are from the Altaic and Slavic language families (with a bit of Gothic), so I've been tickled pink to learn as much as I can about those regions. One of my major foci has been on the Uighurs, a Central Asian people conquered by the Mongols. They've proven a perfect "base" for my main focus—the Odhriags, a group of part Ioriag and part Aharic tribes living in the southern region of the land between the Othnen (S. "Warwater") and the Sûrûbeki.

Now, as for what Southern Rhûn will cover, that would probably be best described geographically. For starters, we'll begin in the Pinnon Rhûn (S. "Spine of Rhûn"). While Luke Potter will be detailing the northern expanses of these old and weather-worn hills, we are both excited about what lies beneath them. At this point we're planning on putting a number of fissures—natural and Morgothic—under this chain. Most of these caverns and caves were flooded by the cataclysmic destruction visited upon the region at the end of the First Age. In my mind, these "submerged" Underdeeps will fit rather well near the Rhúnaer, especially after we throw in a few old and dynamic Water Drakes.

Other inhabitants of this ancient mountain chain will include (among others) the Dwarves of Thelór's line who reside in a series of incredibly well-crafted caverns beneath a small lake near Dol Calemir (approximately near the center of the Pinnon Rhûn). Named Núrunkizdin, these subterranean halls have been the home of two Dwarven Tribes. During the First Age, they were discovered and enlarged by a small group of Drúin's folk. This group later fled east after being attacked by a group of Orcs who called themselves the Uruk-marzguram (Or. "Orcs of the Crushed Skull"). The Orcs then took possession of the halls until they were ousted by Thelór's folk in the Second Age.

After conversing with Jessica, we've decided to give these Dwarves a bit of a different treatment than has been done in the past. While they'll still be sober, possessive, and industrious, Southern Rhûn will detail how a series of strange disasters has made them a bit more eschatological than many of their kindred.

To the west of the mountains that the Dwarves call the Zinûramahal, is a large expanse of grass covered plains and undulating hills known as the Talath Harroch. Much of this region came under the control of Gondor and its Northman allies in the Third Age, and therefore will be covered by Chris Seeman in Northern Gondor.

Situated at the junction of the cloudy waters of the Othnen and the Fiskastaiga (the small river that drains most of the Talath Harroch), is a small town by the name of Brithgobel (S. "Gravel-town"). Most of its inhabitants are the descendants of Eriadorian Northmen who made their way here after their participation in the war wagged upon Sauron by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men in the Second Age. Added to their number are a small population of mixed-blooded Gondorians, most of whom who flocked here after tiring of persecution in their homelands because of their non-Dúnadan heritage. While Brithgobel is no metropolis, it is a bustling little town, and profits well from trade in the area.

Upriver from this easternmost Gondorian settlement is Lest, a small town situated at the confluence of the Othnen and the Rhúnaer. Numerous ships frequent its harbors, and passage to any of the Rhúnaer's other harbors can be easily obtained for the right price. Its inhabitants are a strange mixture of Northmen related to the founders of Brithgobel, and a strain of Daen who call themselves the Donath. Here, as with the population of much of the Rhúnaer's southern shores, the lineage of these Northmen and Daen have merged so completely as to leave little trace of either heritage prior to their contact.

One of the largest concentrations of these Daen/Northmen can be found just northeast of the small port of Lest, in the city of Dilgûl. Located near the tip of the great southern peninsula that juts into the Rhúnaer, this city has a rich history. Originally, its Donath founders dwelt in natural caves that they enlarged in the cliffs of a natural "horse-shoe" shaped enclosure discovered in the rugged and rocky cliffs that make up the majority of the shores between Lest and Dilgûl. There they lived relatively unmolested for centuries, until contacted by adventurous Dorwinron explorers. Some trade was initiated, but their quiet lives of fishing and farming the lush fields in the cliffs above the Rhúnaer didn't drastically change until the early Third Age. Relatives of the Eriadorian Northmen who founded the town that would later be called Brithgobel ventured to the southern shores of Rhúnaer seeking a new life for themselves. There they encountered the peaceful Donath, whom they were welcomed to join. Join they did, and slowly the cultures and posterity of these two groups fused.

Of interest in Dilgûl are its shops and other sites, as well as an ancient tower perched atop a rock outcropping near the center of town. For centuries, this town has been surrounded by mystery, and Southern Rhûn will explain why.

One more city on Rhúnaer's southern coast that will make its way into pages of Southern Rhûn is the city-state of Mistrand. Like Lest and Dilgûl, its original inhabitants were the Donath, but the people of this town were later joined by a tribe of Urgath nomads who had been ostracized by their people because of their refusal to worship Khargûl, god of the plains. The Donath and the Urgath of this town fared well until it fell to Ûvatha of Khand in TA 1249. After its conquest, not only was a Variag overlord placed in control of the city with a large contingent of forces, but shortly after its fall, a large number of rebellious Variag farmers and herdsmen were deported to the city en masse to help quell internal problems in Khand, and provide an adequate agrarian base in the north to feed the Variag war machine. As the Horselord's conquests drew his attention elsewhere, the Variags of Khand in Mistrand (both soldiers and common folk) slowly intermingled with the Daen/Urgath peoples of Mistrand, creating a number of interesting social conditions and customs among a new culture of people who called themselves the Gathmarig.

Later, they would break free from the yoke of Variag oppression and taxation, and turn to trading and, at times, large scale piracy on the Rhúnaer. Speaking of the Men of Khand, I feel it of importance to mention that while Khand may be rather far removed from the southern shores of Rhúnaer, its politics (especially its campaigns—Ha, ha, a little word play there) do have tangible effects upon the inhabitants of southern Rhûn, as do the affairs of the Gondorians to west. Southern Rhûn is a land that is caught between two rather large and prominent empires—that of the Variags to the southeast and the Gondorians to the west.

Perhaps, the part of Southern Rhûn that will best detail this conflict between East and West will be the section devoted to the Odhriags. As a people, the Odhriags would be happiest if they were simply allowed to carry on with their lives without any outside influence. They have no aspirations for conquest or protracted conflicts—but they are perfectly capable of defending themselves, and seem to take pride in being able to do so. In fact, warcraft has become a tradition to them. The history of these people is a lengthy one, with interesting origins. Strangely enough, it starts with the Númenóreans.

During the early Second Age, when the Men of Westernesse were busy exploring the shores of Endor, an interesting bay was discovered near Acaana inside of the Shay Bight (near M 19-20 on the Middle-earth poster map, the area encompassing Shay, Jojojopo, and Lôdenûý). An outpost was later founded to trade with, educate, and converse with the natives of the land. Colonists subsequently followed, slowly made their way up the Acaana Rush, or Kizil Irmak, and began laying claim to lands that had long been held sacred by the Otyassi tribe of the region. Many of this proud tribes' people decided to lash out at these invaders from the Sea in SA 1624, but were betrayed by others within their clan.

Escaping with their lives, this small group of Aharic speaking natives fled north and west along the Ered Harmal, until they encountered a tribe of Ioriags seven years later. Both groups were having tremendous problems, and after a three day council, they decided to unite despite their differences. Their decision to confederate came at dusk, and as such, they have been known as the Odhriags (Io. "Twilight/Dusk Tribe") ever since. Later, due to Variag aggression, this tribe was pushed the land of Gathod, a place that their people would call home for many generations. There they fared well, nestled between the Othnen and the Sûrûbeki, and sheltered by the Ered Lithui ("Yeshev Dôrul," in the tongue of the Odhriags) to the south.

One of the goals of Southern Rhûn will be to detail how this people broke free from Sauron's grasp in the late Second Age, and how this freedom lead to a change from a patriarchal system to a matriarchal one—as well as influencing many of the tribes around it to make this change as well. Also, the relationship between the Odhriags and their fallen heroes, whom they call their Hur-kûdri (Od. "Guardians") will be covered.

A number of other things are planned as well, and hopefully, I should complete Southern Rhûn by the end of this summer. And then with a little luck, it might be published before the end of the year.