The Talath Uichel (S. "Plain [of] Eternal Cold") was the rubble-strewn tundra situated north of the Rammas Formen of Arthedain and the Grey and Misty Mountains. It got drier as one traveled east from Forochel, and showed less greenery in summer. During the five months that the Talath Uichel was without snow, the traveler here was seldom out of sight of bogs, caru, and mosquitoes the size of a Dúnadan’s thumb.
East of the peninsula of Forochel, the countless leagues of Talath Uichel defined the Northern Waste. Few would wander this wild and dangerous tundra freely and without fear, trapped as it was between the killing colds of the Utter North and the ill-will of neighboring Angmar. Travelers in this land had to be prepared to face both.
Cowed with fear at his sorcerous power over the weather, those Lumimiehet who still wandered Talath Uichel under Angmar's shadow swore nominal allegiance to the Witch-king. Secretive and wary, they feared to speak with strangers, lest their conversation be reported to their overlords and read as treason. The Witch-king greatly mistrusted the nomadic Lumimiehet, frowning on their constant coming and going so near to the borders of his realm. On occasion, he demanded that a Lumimies heimo settled permanently in a given region. This "reservation" policy typically decimated the Lumimiehet, who starved unless they were allowed to follow the herds of reindeer and elk that wandered the plain in spring and summer. Similar frustration was encountered by Angmarean generals who attempt to incorporate these Lumimiehet into their armies. While they made excellent scouts and pathfinders, these reluctant conscripts, resentful of the role they were forced to play, often disappeared into the wilds, leaving a helpless army to fend for itself.
After the fall of Angmar, the Lumimiehet of Talath Uichel were more open and less fearful, but continued to suffer the depredations of Orcs and other creatures out of Mount Gundabad and points further east. They remained secretive and more possessive than other Lumimiehet. Their tales leaned towards grim sagas of stoic endurance in the face of hardship, and lacked the comedy and humor so characteristic of other Lumimies fables.
Notes[]
Original form in MERP: Talath Oiohelka
References[]
- MERP #2005: Arnor
- Wesley Frank: Map of Forochel, Other Hands 10/11, 1995 (Other Hands Issue #10 and 11.pdf)