Damrod (Of Ithilien)



Character Name: Damrod



Name Meaning: Damrod is a version of Amrod. Amrod was the youngest son of Faenor, and is the Sindarin version of the name Ambarto, a variation of Umbarto which means “fated.”



Age: 102



Date of Birth: 2908 Third Age



Race: Man



Residence: Ithilien



Profession: Ranger



Appearance: tall; lean; shoulder length, dark hair; grey eyes; short, trimmed beard; visible scar on left cheek; although of extremely advanced years for a man, his Dunedain blood forestalls the signs of creeping age and he bears the visage of something more close to the middle range of one of 40 or so years



Personality: Like all Dunedain, he is innately, and by upbringing, noble in mind and body, wise, and discerning. Although the strength of his ancestors may have been diluted through intermarriage with “middle men” – more so than his kin to the North – Damrod still carries a keen sense of the honor and valor of his Numenorian predecessors in his veins, and in his spirit. He is not so old that he can easily recall a time when his family’s homelend was not under near constant attack by the forces of the east, and south. For this, he is somewhat dour, definitely somber – to the point of being uncommunicative. Some might call him grim. He is canny, stealthy, and totally self-sufficient out in the field. He is independent and prefers to work to his own schedule and direction. However, he will submit to another’s leadership, if it makes sense to do so, and the other has not shown himself to be either unjustifiably arrogant or an idiot. Imbued with melancholy from his earliest years, he comports himself with an air of dark stoicism. He isn’t given to shows of temper. He is more like a cold-blooded hunter, relentless, and sometimes ruthless, pursuing his quarry until the bitter end.







Parents: Daaron, deceased; 

Gwaedholon, deceased

Sibling(s): none



Spouse: 

none, but he had a child with a young woman, whose name was Inanin

Children: 

Gweadholon, daughter, age 18

History: Damrod was born in Ithilien, Moon-land, the eastern most province of Gondor, and the only part of the kingdom east of the Anduin. It is bounded to the east by the mountains of Mordor, the Ephel Duath, to the north by the desolate Emyn Muil, and is transected by the stream Morgulduin, creating North and South Ithilien. It was a rich and bountiful land during the first and second age, with many farms and orchards and gardens, interspersed with vast swaths of woodlands. But when the forces of Sauron began to once again appear in Mordor, and began to harry and threaten the human inhabitants of Ithilien, they retreated more and more back to the west. In 2002 T.A., Minas Ithil was taken, and renamed Minas Morgul, and the Ringwraiths used it as a base from which they could spread their foul influence. During the Watchful Peace, some farm folk tried to re-establish a Gondorian presence in Ithilian. But in 2475 T.A., Uruk swept in and ravaged the land once more. Boromir I successfully pushed them back to the Vale, but from that time onwards, the raiding from Mordor never ceased. It was into this world of never ending turmoil that Damrod was born.

The blood of Numenor ran through both his father and his mother’s families, although admittedly, their ancestors had intermarried from time to time with men and women who were not pure blooded Dunedain. Still, his father had devoted his life to soldiering and putting his bow and sword to the service of the Stewards, and he spent more time away from his wife and son than with them. Damrod and his mother lived with her people, in a small farming hamlet, hidden within a fold of the central hills of Ithilien. It was safe enough, for a while. But the enemies from the east, and sometimes the south, pushed ever further into the Emyn Arnen, and there came a day when the crofts burned and the people fled, north, to Osgiliath. Not all, though, and among those who fell was Damrod’s mother.

His father returned as soon as he could, and as Damrod was of an age to accompany his father on his scouting and wandering, the boy went with the man, and learned all he needed to take care of himself in the wilds. His father honed his burgeoning skills with sword and bow and spear, taught him how to hunt, and stalk, and track, and together they mourned for the loss of Gwaedholon. Damrod grew to manhood, possessed of keen senses, and the ability to understand the beasts and birds of the wilds. He also seemed to be possessed of some slight propensity for prophecy, and although unable to “predict the future”, his soul sometimes grasped a thing long before its manifestation in the physical world came to pass. For good or bad, such ‘impressions’ were never ones that foretold of prosperity in any sense of that word.

By 2901, all Gondorian inhabitants had fled Ithilien, and Gondor withdrew from the province almost completely. It was during this year that the Steward, Turin II, formed the Rangers of Ithilien, who were tasked with keeping a watchful eye on the enemies in the east, and south. Daaron and Damrod did not hesitant to offer their service, and from hidden bases, such as Henneth Annun, the Window of the Sunset, they scouted and skirmished with orcs and other vermin and foul creatures from Mordor, and the Haradrrim of the south, and their oliphaunts. In one encounter, Daaron met his doom, and Damrod grieved the loss of his father to his very core.

It was during this period he met a young woman who offered him solace, perhaps in the hopes of capturing his heart. If such was her motivation, she failed. But their brief encounter left her with child. When Damrod learned that she had borne him a daughter, he stood by her enough so that he pledged to always be a father to the girl, as much as any man who spends 98% of his life away from any town or civilization may be able to claim that title. The mother was taken from the daughter by a fever when the girl was young. And Damrod left the child, who he had named for his dear mother, with her kin in Minas Tirith. There the girl, Gwaedholon, has grown to womanhood, only infrequently interacting with her staid, silent father.

Meantimes, Damrod has continued with his duties in Ithilien, the rangers’ company led now by the Steward’s younger son, their Captain, Faramir. Dark days have fallen over this once fair land. Darker days still loom on the horizon and there is an added heaviness in Damrod’s heart as he watches to the east.