It was during the Third Age that a shadow fell over Greenwood, lending to the name Mirkwood with which men now named the forest. For a thousand years this shadow darkened until at last it fled east before the coming of one rumored to be sent by the Valar themselves. However, the peace that followed was a temporary luxury, for evil returned to Dol Guldur with renewed strength. Orcs roamed with unprecedented freedom and the giant spiders of Shelobs spawn multiplied in great numbers, each with a stomach to fill. Greenwood the great had become Taur e-Ndaedelos once again. Sauron had returned!

Dark times followed, and hard was the life for many people of the Great Forest who bore a great burden in the defence of their homeland. For five hundred years they suffered at the hands of the great shadow, either unwilling or unable to meet this threat triumphantly in battle. Thankfully, Mirkwood's saviour once before had returned with the White Council to banish the Dark Lord from his throne of sorcery. Although the south of Mirkwood had not been cleansed entirely, the threat it posed had diminished greatly.

It was about this time that a strange and lonely traveller emerged from the shadows of the south. His ragged, dirty grey cloak which forever cast him in an ominous shadow, hateful stare and icy demeanour painted a nightmarish picture for one of the elven kind. Wandering in a seemingly aimless fashion through the forest, it was by chance that two of Thranduil's wood elves found him south of the Old Forest Road.

"Mai nach?" They called out hesitantly, at first unsure to whom or what they spoke to.

The ragged traveller's head snapped up in their direction and from within his hood glared two piercing eyes alight with an intense curiosity. It had been many, many years since he had heard the fair voice of his kin.Their gentle song seemed to awaken him from a daze. At first a little lost for words, all he managed to mumble out was "Telin o Guldur!"