Final abandonment of Itharil in the Third Age

Final Abandonment of Itharil in the Third Age

The city of Itharil, once the thriving heart of Lethrain, had long since fallen into decay by the Third Age. After the corruption of the ruling line by a Ring of Power, the kingdom entered a slow decline. The people of Lethrain, once proud and prosperous, began to leave the capital as the dark influence of the Ring spread throughout the land. Orc raids, coupled with strange occurrences tied to the supernatural, drove many from their homes, and Itharil became more of a ghost city than a capital.

Over the centuries, Itharil’s once-great buildings crumbled, and its walls were overtaken by the wilderness. Those who remained became haunted by strange apparitions, as the presence of the corrupted ruler’s spirit lingered. The city’s isolation and the growing shadow of Sauron’s forces made it a place of fear. Only a few brave souls, including rangers like Darethor’s ancestors, ventured near its ruins.

In the final days of the Third Age, during the War of the Ring, Itharil was fully abandoned. What few inhabitants remained fled as darkness crept ever closer. The city was left to rot, its streets overrun by creeping vines and the eerie echoes of its former grandeur. The legend of Lethrain and its once-glorious city faded from memory, its ruins now a dark and dangerous place, known only to those familiar with the land’s ancient history.

The abandonment of Itharil marked the final death of Lethrain’s legacy. Where once a peaceful kingdom thrived, only shadow and ruin remained, its cursed history buried beneath the overgrown stones of the forgotten city.