BACKGROUND LORE:
Ithlien, or "Moon-Land," is the easternmost province of Gondor that is subdivided by the stream of Morgulduin into Northern and Southern Ithilien

In the Second Age and early Third Age, the land was prosperous, filled with many woods and gardens thought it was largely abandon over time with the rise of Mordor and loss of Minas Ithil (Minas Morgul). Since then, the province has been subject to constant raids by both Orcs of Mordor and Haradrim from the South. However, scouts were kept in secret locations throughout such as Henneth Annun.

The land is described as "a fair country of climbing woods and swift-falling streams," with gentle slopes "shielded from the east by Ephel Duath and yet not under the mountain shadow, protected form the north by the Emyn Muil, open to the southern airs and the moist winds from the Sea." It also included "a wealth of sweet-smelling herbs and shrubs" and a vast array of tree species, likely planted by men in earlier days. Despite the desolation, the land "kept still a disheveled dryad loveliness."

Henneth Annun: a hidden outpost in North Ithilien, consisting of a cave behind a west-facing waterfall that overlooks a pool, described as the "fairest of the falls of Ithilien" The cave had been excavated by the stream feeding into the waterfall, but originally fell from the hole in the cliff constituting the "window-curtain" name, however the stream itself has been diverted by men to fall from doubled the height and the tunnel was sealed.

The Field of Cormallen: a tree lined filed in North Ithilien on the banks of the Anduin near Cair Andros. This is where Aragorn and company greet Frodo and Same after their rescue from Mount Doom.

Cross-Roads: Surrounded by a belt of tall trees, this point marks where the north-south Harad road meets the east-west road between Osgiliath and Minas Morgul. Next to the road leading to Osgiliath, there is a statue of a Gondorian king. Though it is missing it's head.

There were groves of ash, bay, cedar, cypress, fir, juniper, myrtle, oak, and olive trees. The ground cover included heather, ferns, moss, and briars. Among the many flowers that bloomed in Ithilien were anemones, celandines, hyacinths, irises, lilies, and wild roses. Herbs such as marjoram, parsley, sage, and thyme grew there as well.

GENERAL PLAN:

1. Organize Project Post (done)
2. Map out Ithilien (done)
3. Design Concept (done)
4. North Ithilien (In Progress)
   1. Prep Terrain
   2. Execute Concept
   3. Add Landmarks
5. Add Finishing Touches (soon)
6. Party (always)

TO DO LIST:
North Ithilien (Part 1):

1. The Basics: [done]
   1. Terrain: Basic Terrain [done]
      1. Transition [done]
      2. Plateau [done]
      3. Rivers, Streams, & Ponds [done]
      4. Lore Locations [done]
         1. Henneth Annun Terrain [done]
         2. Fields of Cormallen Terrain [done]
         3. Crossroads Terrain [done]
      5. Lowlands [done]
   2. Tree Builds [done]
2. The Environment: [in progress]
   1. Forests [in progress]
      1. Concept
      2. Map
      3. Implement
   2. Vegetation:[in progress]
      1. Bushes
      2. Vegetation
      3. Flowers
   3. Lore Locations: [in progress]
      1. Henneth Annun Detail [done]
      2. Field of Cormallen Detail [in progress]
      3. Crossroads Detail [done]
3. The Details: [in progress]
   1. Roads & Ruins [in progress]
      1. Map
      2. Implement Ithilien Ruins
      3. Add Roads
   2. Ranger Camps [done]
      1. Map
      2. Implement

POSSIBLE JOBS:

• Concepts at ./warp IthilienConcept
• Tree Build
• Root Fixing
• Road Jobs
• Ruin Builds
• River Sources

Project post updated (new map!)

Glad you guys are excited @DSESGH and @natanyagrad .

My goal is to finish planning it the next few days and begin drawing out concepts by this weekend

DSESGH said:

Will all artists and staff be able to do concepts, or just staff, or just the project staff?

Click to expand...

Help is always appreciated. Just watch the forums, I will probably set up a warp soon for people to try things out once I run some more ideas. There will need to be two concepts, the dense forest (North) and the plains (South). If you want to work on concepts now and post screenshots, feel free (@Brazen_Helm you should post some screens for people to see )

_Ingwe_ said:

Not sure if you have seen this, but here is one that dags made quite a while ago.
I personally really like it

Click to expand...

I have seen this, and something similar to this might work for the outskirts. However, I agree with arcust that it seems a bit sparse for a region lush with vegetation. And though I like the waterfalls and rocky layout, I think something with more vegetation/variety would be better.

Brazen_Helm said:

Sorry about the delay, here are my concepts I did for Ithilien a while back:

A scene in southern Ithilien, based on where Faramir & co. ambush the Haradrim:

The Crossroad of the Fallen King:

One of the trees used in the crossroad, on its own:

You can see them yourselves on freebuild at /warp bhithilien and /warp bhcrossroad

Click to expand...

This is a great concept to work off of, I suggest people use this as a starting point for their work

I will likely do a ruined, and non-ruined version of the statue (no specific textures necessary as it wont be that hard) and implement whichever one looks best