(2/10/14) A/N: Before I throw all of this factual nonsense
into your faces, so you actually know what you're getting yourselves into. (you're welcome). So here's a bit of a sneak peak, a sample of my writing if you please. Enjoy.

Sneak peak:

"How can I put this delicately…" Ania paused, choosing her words carefully as she fluttered to iridescent wings to rid them of any moisture. "Lyra is–"

Dead. The dragoness asserted bluntly, absently picking at some dirt beneath her nails.

This, of course, was met by blank stares from the company. Whether they were too shocked to understand, or they simply considered her previous statement to have been a joke, Lyra didn't know –nor did she care–. She was wet and quite put out at the fact that they had allowed an elf of all things to tag along.

Strangely enough it was the elven companion that managed words first. It took her several tries but eventually she was able to formulate the appropriate question. "Ania…" she appealed to the friendlier of the two women, "surely the B… that is, Lady SilverFlame jests?"

Ania's wings twitched lightly –a nervous habit– "Not really. I was just trying to find a nicer way to put it," she shot her friend a pointed look.

No pulse is no pulse. Lyra shrugged. There is no other way to put it.

"Well, you didn't have to dump it on them," Ania argued.

Again the woman shrugged. Would you rather I play dead? I can do that. Whatever mirth that might've been in her words was lost by her indifferent tone.

The dwarves were all staring at the two as though they had four heads. Well, not all of them, as Kili was currently groaning in pain as Bofur yanked the arrow from his leg, *(AN: I refuse to say knee)* Thorin, as always, looked irritated, and poor Ori looked like he might faint.

Ania smacked her forehead, "You aren't helping the situation."

Neither is he. She jerked her head towards the elf, who spun around and shrieked in surprise as she found an arrow leveled at her throat. That's attractive. Lyra snorted, her eyes snapping to the man currently threatening the ridiculous excuse for an elf, appraising him shrewdly. Are you going to shoot her or what?

There ya go, a little taste of what's to come. hope it catches your fancy. And now I shall
slay you with background nonsense (that is unless you're a geek like me, then
you'll love it!).

...

Alright, so I wanted to start off my story with some background information. You guys don't have to read it, if you don''t want to, but I put a lot of work into making sure my characters fit in the timeline, so if you're as much as a fan/geek as I am, I hope you enjoy this bit of factual fun. Hopefully this explains some questions that may pop up during the story. Fair warning there are spoilers in the background/ chapter 1.

Thanks,

~SNO

*I do not own any of Tolkien's character's or storyline, just my OCs and the mischief they create.*

(12/11/13) A/N: I've added some information about Mirkwood and the elves, since my third and final OC, Calawyn will be entering soon (relatively speaking) into my chapters, so i went ahead and did some background on her as well. Enjoy!...

...

Tolkien's Background

Chapter 1

Age abbreviations:

F.A. = first Age

S.A. = second age

T.A. = third age

F.O. = Fourth… something (it's a real age I promise)

…..

The Heir of Dunedain

The Westron was the language of the Dunedain of Middle-earth. By the end of the Third Age it was more or less a universal language spoken throughout the Westlands. For this, it was also known as the Common Speech as it was adopted by Men, Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves and even Orcs, derived from the second age language of Adûnaic ("Language of the West").

Estel (Aragorn before he knew he was Aragorn) was born March 1st T.A. 2931. His father Arathorn II was killed when he was 2 (in T.A. 2933). After the death of his father, his mother, Gilraen, took him to Rivendell seeking refuge. It was there that Elrond took Aragorn in as his ward, renaming him Estel in respect to his mother's wish to keep his lineage a secret. It was agreed that when Aragorn came of age in T.A. 2951, at the age of 21, his lineage would be revealed to him and he would be bestowed with the ring or Numenor.

Aragorn's mother, Gilraen was born in T.A. 2873. She left Rivendell shortly after her arrival with her son, leaving the boy to be raised by Elrond so she could lead what remained of her people. She died in T.A. 3007 at the age of 100 (Aragorn being 76).

During her childhood, Arwen did not live in Rivendell. She grew up in Lorien, her mother Celebrian's homeland, with her grandparent, Galadriel and Celebron. Upon her return to Rivendell, was when she met Aragorn and fell in love. In the year T.A. 2956, at the age of 25, Aragorn officially met Gandalf.

…..

The Dwarves and their Quest:

In the year T.A. 2770, The Dragon Smaug destroyed Erebor and drove out the inhabitants of the Lonely Mountain. Smaug's race was that of the winged firedrakes, or the Uruloki. Almost 171 years later, in T.A. 2941, Thorin and company began the quest to the mountain and arrived at Rivendell. At that time, Aragorn would have been about 10 and still under the guise of Estel.

Fili was born in T.A. 2859 and Kili in T.A. 2864. By the time the quest was underway, Fili was about 82 and Kili 77. Despite the 5 year difference in age, in the dwarves lifespan, the time is so small and their appearance so a like (according to the book) that they were often referred to as twins.

Balin was the oldest of the dwarves. He was born in T.A. 2763 and died in T.A. 2994. During the quest he would have been about 178 years old (passing away at the age of 231). After the quest, he was given control of Moria and Khazad-dǔm. He is the oldest brother of Dwalin. Balin was buried in the same tomb found by the Fellowship in the Mines of Moria.

Dwalin was born in T.A. 2772, dying in F.O. 91. During the quest, he was 169 year old. He is identified as being the only fully bald dwarf of the company as well as a distinguishing tattoo that decorates his head. In the long run, he lives out is big brother but the cause of his death is unknown.

Bifur's appearance slightly resembles that of a skunk. . he has a large piece of an axe embedded in his head. He is related as a cousin with Bofur and bombur.

Bofer is recognized by his funny-looking hat. Like Bifur and Bombour, his culture within the race of Dwarves, is either that of the Broadbeams or the Firebeards.

Bombour is by far the largest of the company. In the Fellowship, Frodo inquires about him and Gimli informs him that the dwarf had gotten so large, that he could nolonger move without the aid of six dwarves.

Oin was born in T.A. 2774 and died in T.A. 2994, being 167 at the time of the quest and 220 when he passed away. He's Gloin's older brother and uses a funny device for hearing.

Gloin was born in T.A. 2783 and died in F.O. 15. By the time of the quest, he was about 158 years old. He's most recognizable for his red hair, being Gimli's father. He also makes a special appearance in the Fellowship at the Council of Elrond.

Dori, Nori, and Ori are all brothers. I'm assuming Dori's the oldest because he's the only one with grey hair. Nori is known for his weird starish-shaped hair while Ori's is more of a bowl cut. Dori and Nori have a talent for playing the flute. Ori is the better known of the three, for carrying a journal. His body was found in Balin's tomb in Moria with a record of the great dwarf kingdom.

Thorin Oakensheild was born in T.A. 2746. He was crowned the king of Durin's folk in T.A. 2850, at the age of 104. He was 195 when he took part in the quest and ultimately met his demise in the battle of five armies, shortly after crowning himself king under the mountain. Thorin's sister Dis is the mother of Kili and Fili, making Thorin their uncle.

Gandalf came across Thorin's father when he (Thorin's father) was a prisoner of the Necromancer (Sauron). The dwarf, unbeknownst to Gandalf of his identity, gave the wizard a key and a map, telling him of the evil plans that could be achieved with the dragon Smaug's aid. So Gandalf set out to destroy the threat.

…..

The Elves of Mirkwood

Thranduil

Thranduil, the Elvenking, is a Sinda (grey elf) King of the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood in the Woodland Realm. The grey elves are elves of Telerin descent, from Doriath and Beleriand, often reffered to as "Elves of the Twilight." Within the Mirkwood, he had his halls underground, partly in memory (it was said) of the mighty but long-lost Menegroth of Doriath. They lay near the Forest River behind great gates.

Thranduil is the heir of Thingol and son of Oropher, as well as the father of Legolas (and my OC Calawyn). In S.A. 3434 Thranduil followed his father, and some thirty thousand lightly armed Elves in the War of the Last Alliance. In the Battle of Dagorlad Oropher was slain with the greater part of his people but his son survived. After the Siege of Barad-dûr in S.A. 3441 when Sauron was defeated, Thranduil led the remainder of his people north back to the Woodland Realm, where he was crowned king.

With the return of Sauron around T.A. 1050 southern Greenwood became dangerous and was renamed Mirkwood. Creatures like great spiders came to dwell in Mirkwood and Thranduil's folk retreated to the northeastern corner of Mirkwood, where they fortified themselves near the Forest River. The Grey elves despise the race of dragons, or Darastrix, because the Dragon Smaug had brutalized them for years after taking over the lonely mountain.

On March 21, T.A. 3018 Aragorn delivered Gollum as a prisoner to Thranduil. He was guarded day and night, but the Elves pitied him and allowed him to climb a tree that stood alone. When one night in June of 3018, Gollum refused to come down, the Elves were attacked by Orcs and Gollum could escape in the confusion. Thranduil sent his son Legolas to Rivendell to inform Elrond, and in the Council of Elrond Legolas was selected as one of the nine members of the Company of the Ring.

On March 15, T.A. 3019, during the war of the ring, an army of Sauron from Dol Guldur, tasked with destroying the Woodland Realm, attacked Mirkwood. There was a long battle under the trees and the woods were set on fire. But in the end Thranduil defeated the invaders. On April 6, Thranduil met Celeborn, the Lord of Lórien, in the midst of Mirkwood. Celeborn's forces had crossed the Anduin and had stormed Dol Guldur. Galadriel, the Lady of Lórien, had come after them, throwing down the walls of Dol Guldur and laying bare its pits. Thranduil had cleared all the orcs and foul beings from North Mirkwood, so that the forest was cleansed and Sauron's empire in the North was destroyed. Because the Shadow over Mirkwood was lifted, Thranduil and Celeborn renamed it Eryn Lasgalen, the Wood of Greenleaves. They divided it up, so that Thranduil received the northern part as far as the Mountains, and Celeborn took the southern part below the Narrows, naming it East Lórien. The wide forest in-between was given to the Beornings and the Woodmen.

Legolas

Legolas was a Sindarin Elf of the Silvan realm of Mirkwood, the only recorded son of King Thranduil. He became famous because of his membership in the Fellowship of the Ring, in which he served as one of their most valuable assets because of his superior sight, hearing, lightness of foot, and unrivaled archery.

Upon meeting Gandalf the white, he was delivered the message, "Legolas Greenleaf long under tree, In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more," from Galadriel. He had never before come near to the Sea, for his heart became suddenly torn when he heard the Gulls at Pelargir, and could never remove their mewing from his mind. His naiveté is demonstrated again when Legolas comments that Aragorn has journeyed further than he has.

During the battle of helms deep, at the time the Fire of Orthanc blew out a piece of the wall, his quiver was nearly empty. With the last arrow the elf saved Aragorn's life when he stumbled while pursued. At the end of the battle, Legolas had shot a total of forty-one, though Gimli surpassed his count by one. He did not like the stony structure of the man- made keep, missing the wide open forests of the Mirkwood. Afterwards, on the way to Isengard, Legolas promises Gimli that he will go to Aglarond, the glittering caves, should they both survive the war to come.

Amidst the Paths of the Dead, riding with the Grey Company, Legolas alone (save for Elladan and Elrohir, Elrond's sons) felt no fear of the Dead Men, and it may be remembered that the High Elves had power both in the worlds of the seen and unseen.

Legolas rode for the last time into battle beside his friends to the Battle of the Morannon. He witnessed the Fall of the Dark Tower, and after the battle attended the ceremonies of the Field of Cormallen in the honor of Frodo and Samwise and their victory. That night Legolas would not go to bed, but instead went away to walk in the woods, singing of the Sea.

a birthdate for Legolas is set to 87 of the Third Age. This would make him 2931 years old at the time of the War of the Ring

…..

The Heroines/ My OCs and their stories

Lyra SilverFlame

The Valar Yavanna was akin to the maiar Melian who married Elu Thingol, king of Doriath. It was said that they only had one child, Lύthien of Tinύuiel, but Lύthien had an older sister named Pasithea (another OC, outside of the story though). Pasithea played a part in her sister's search for her lover but along the way found her own love in a dragon of all creatures, the young Smaug. Because of this, she was shunned by her family and ended up staying with the dragon in the north. They had three children, Fàfnir, Attor, and Lyra.

Lyra and her brothers were born in 3248 of the Second Age. Their childhood was relatively happy and secluded, but also brief. You see, Lyra had a special gift called the gift of Ilύvatar (basically he created middle earth with his voice. Read the Simarillion). Her voice had a very real and physical effect on people, her mother and brothers were unaffected but Smaug was. It wouldn't have been bad but Morgoth's and chief Sauron's dark powers were growing and spreading. And Smaug was beginning to feel the effects of this darkness, as it fed off of his own inner greed and desires. He began showing violent behavior towards his children, forcing them into fights with impossible odds and punishing them with his own claws when they failed.

Heartbroken, Pathilea took her children and fled to Andrast (the White Mountains), still in the north but further east, close to the lonely mountains as it would happen. Lyra's mother became a recluse, withdrawn and silent, leaving her children to grow up in the wild and find their ways alone. When they were 193 years of age, they witnessed the downfall of Sauron, taking part in human guise to aid the forces of Numenor and the men of the north. After the famous battle that brought the second age to an end, Lyra separated from her brothers to travel, maturing with the young kingdoms. She ended up in Imaldris (Rivendell), where she befriended Elrond and his sons, Elladon and Elrohir.

When Elrond's wife, Celebrian was captured by orcs in T.A. 2509, Lyra aided the elf brothers in her rescue. And it was there, among the dead and tortured bodies of the elves, Lyra found something unexpected. Lyra's name is derived from the sindarin word lirilla, meaning song.

Ania GoldenRose

The Faerie, or fey, are descendants of the Valar and cousins of the elves. They are a forgotten race, thought of as nothing more than stories. But they survive, in the deepest darkest and wildest parts of the world, withdrawn.

Ania was born to the king and Queen of the Fey in the year 3236 of the Second Age. She was entrusted with a Simaril, one of the lost three. Her childhood was refined and educated, full of worldly knowledge and compassion for all that dwelt in light. But she was restless and young, anxious to get out into the world and explore. After one particularly outgoing adventure out of her forest (Fangorn) with her four sisters, they were ambushed by a group of orcs and taken into captivity. Rather than have the simaril fall into the hands of the orcs, Ania chose to absorb the gem into herself, becoming one with the Simaril.

During her imprisonment, after the heartbreaking loss of her youngest sister, Ania and her three remaining sisters met an elf-maiden by the name of Celebrian. Sometime later, their prison was stormed by Celebrian's two sons and a strange woman by the name of Lyra. Ania is derived from the sindarin word, anwa meaning true.

Calawyn LightCrest

As the daughter of Thranduil, is the holder of the star of Eärendil, one of the lost Silmaril he wore upon his brow. Being coped up in Mirkwood her entire life, Calawyn is constantly being smothered by her father, a constant reminder of his past wife. As a skilled healer and fighter, Calawyn dreams of someday traveling beyond the boundaries of her forest and seeing the world for herself.

As the mirror image of her late mother, who died in the same battle that killed her grandfather Oropher, Calawyn is a constant reminder of her father's failure to protect his wife. Hence, he smothers her, sheltering her from the outside world and making her incredibly innocent, naïve and privileged.

The name Calawyn is derived from the sindarin words Kala, meaning light. (There's also winge that means crest, as in the wave, but it's a stretch for -wyn.) Note, like GreenLeaf for legolas, LightCrest is an ephithet for Calawyn, since her name is... well, LightCrest.

…..

Tying it all together

Around the time of Ania's rescue, Ania was about 2714 years old and Lyra 2702 years old. Lyra personally took up the task of healing and rehabilitating the three fey princesses, finding a certain fondness for the four fiery sisters. Besides Ania there was Shea, Gelsey, and Rhoswen.

Upon the return to of the Faerie princesses to Fangorn, Ania rejected her right to the throne and opted to remain with her new friend to share in her travels and adventures. Together the two women became extremely close, learning each and every dark secret about each other, becoming as close as any sibling if not more. The two made an excellent pair, being perfectly balanced in similarities and differences. Ania even had the honor of meeting Lyra's mother before she left for the undying lands with Celebrian.

In T.A. 2770 Ania and Lyra were present during Smaug's Desolation of Erabor and Dale. They were separated in their efforts to help the inhabitants escape. It was then that Lyra attempted to confront her father, but the dragon was too far gone in the darkness to hear his daughter, but not to recognize her. No one knows exactly what happened between Lyra and her father, or how she managed to get out alive. Ania found her on the west side of the mountain nearly dead. The experience in the city of gold was so horrific, that her draconic draw to gold became a physical illness. The worst part however, was the physical damage. Her own father had ripped off her wings, so she could no longer fly away. Then he marked her face, so that no man would ever want her. (A/N: and possibly something else that could change my rating later on in the story, we shall see)

Ania on the other hand scored massive burn wounds in her attempts to help people escape. In her panic, she called for the elves of Mirkwood to help her evacuate, but Thranduil refused, saying that she was of lower blood and in no way viable to give him instructions. She often blames herself for the casualties that day and even more, for not being there when Lyra needed her.

When Ania found Lyra bleeding out on the rocks with no one around to help, she panicked and used a summoning spell for someone anyone who could help. It was then that she met Attor and Fàfnir, Lyra's brothers. The three brought the dying Dragoness to Fangorn where they discovered that Fey magic did not work on her… but Archaic earth magic did.

Fangorn is where the oldest earth magic of Yavanna resides. Something changed in both women that day. The simaril became fully active in Ania due to her desperate attempts to heal Lyra, giving her access to the purest light power. Lyra's Maiar blood was awaked, healing her physical wounds. But, it could not heal the psychological trauma, sending her into a deep depression filled with mistrust and paranoia.

During her time spent at Fangorn, she became known as Kallasilya (silvershine). This was where Ania learned exactly what the gift of Ilύvatar -the first of the Ainur (the holy ones whose songs shaped the makeup of the world)- was.

Ania and Lyra began working secretly with each other to master their gifts. It was quickly agreed that their abilities should be kept secret for they would be coveted like gold by the greedy. They did discover that Lyra could speak in her native tongue without affecting those around her, for it was guttural enough to mask her magic. From then on, she vowed to never sing again and almost never spoke outside of either her native tongue or a form of telepathic communication similar to that of Galadriel. Ania set herself two goals during her friend's rehabilitation; to learn the draconic tongue, and to make her friend smile again. Easier said than done.

After many years of Companionship throughout the third age, they came across the northern chieftain Arathorn II, who was in the midst of a decaying nation. They found themselves becoming close with the chieftain and his sweetheart, Gilraen and were present when the two were wed in T.A. 2929 as well as the birth of their son Aragorn II in T.A. 2931.

The two women brought Gilraen and Aragorn to Rivendell for refuge after Arathorn II was killed by orcs. Gilraen pleaded with Elrond to keep her child's identity a secret, so he was renamed Estel, which is Elfish for hope. Shortly after, Gilraen left to lead her people with the aid of Elladan and Elrohir.

Ania was called back to Fangorn after the death of her father and the question as to who would become the next leader of the people. They eventually agreed to conjoint leadership between all four of them. Ania was named the faerie emissary within Middle earth, representing her people. Rhoswen became the political leader. Gelsey took control of the faerie military. And Shea became the guardian of the Ents.

During their time apart, Lyra became the unconventional mother of Estel, having promised Gilraen that she would watch over her son. The two were not untied again until Gandalf approached them about the quest to the mountain.