Falls of Mist

The Falls of Mist were called such because of the mist that lingered in the air around them and constantly dripped from the trees surrounding the Falls. The Falls were located on the Limlight as it passed through the very northern edge of Fangorn Forest. At the top of the falls the river was fairly shallow, but just before it dropped the channel deepened and the river compressed to a width of 40, causing the water to leap over the edge of the cliff in a smooth stream and plunge some 60’ to the pool waiting below. In this pool formed by the falls over the years, strange currents and eddies prevailed until the river returned to its normal flow some 100’ downstream. The pool at the bottom of the falls was very deep throughout its area, but the white water caused by the falls could be misleading in this perception causing it to appear much shallower than it was. Directly below the falls in the pool was a particularly deep hole that had been formed by the force of the water over the years. This hole was 50’ deep but only 10’ in diameter. Should someone fall into this area the pressure of the falls on the victim would have nullified almost all attempts to escape. Approximately 15’down into the hole was an opening which led up and away from the falls to a small cavern that was the hollowed-out interior of the large rock dome in the middle of the basin. The current caused by the falls which rushed through this opening and the subsequent pressure from the falls itself made escape from this chamber nearly impossible without help from the outside. Several animal skeletons were located in this cave because they fell into the water and were trapped here.The Falls of Mist were used as a site of celebration and worship for the Ents amd Huorns in the winter, and were considered particularly sacred to the Huorns of the area, who would not tolerate tresspassers or despoilers. The falls also served another, more practical, need of the Ents as a recepticle for items found in or near the forest that were not used by them but not to be left lying about.Such things that were inorganic (magical or not) were thrown into the Falls and sank to the bottom of the hole. Organic items were thrown into piles of fertilizer to decompose on their own.Over the years a large assortment of these items had collected at the bottom of the Falls. A few smaller items had been taken by currents up into the cave and had settled there.Another legend that existed about the Falls of Mist concerned Amroth King of Lórien and Nimrodel his beloved. Supposedly in 1981 TA when Nimrodel fled Lórien in fear of the Balrog, she fled south to Fangorn Forest but was barred from entering the forest by Huorns, and was found soon after by Amroth. The Huorns that barred her entrance into Fangom were under the guidance of Ents who recognized her and knew Amroth would not be far behind. It was at the Falls of Mist that they met and there decided to travel to the seacoast beyond the White Mountains and sail to the West. This much of the legend was true. The fictional part also told of Nimrodel coming back to the Falls after Amroth’s death and lingering there a while. The legend-went on to say that she threw all her worldy posessions into the Falls and left Middle-earth soon after. This legend had caused several adventurers to try their hand at recovering these items.These legends and the fact that the Falls of Mist were used by the Ents (and for that matter just that they were inside Fangorn) made the Falls a special place. The dangers associated with adventuring here were mainly in the form of Huorns, but once at the falls those wishing to search the pool bottom for goodies would find other dangers in their quest.