Year 2958: A construction team departed from Roadway Town, heading for the old Rhovanion Kingdom capital ruins near East Bight, beginning to repair buildings and establish watchtower fortifications.
This commotion immediately attracted the Woodland Realm's attention.
They really couldn't help but notice.
The last time humans lived in this place was over fifteen hundred years ago. Back then, a group of northern humans established the Kingdom of Rhovanion here. What followed was fighting and alliances, expansion and conflict, and then it was gone—from founding to collapse, totaling just over six hundred years.
After the Kingdom of Rhovanion fell, one part formed a new people called the Éothéod—ancestors of the Rohirrim. They saved Gondor in a crucial battle, so Gondor gifted them vast lands. They founded a nation on this territory, becoming present-day Rohan.
Additionally, some went north, forming Dale, coexisting peacefully with dwarves—this was recorded in dwarven history.
Thorin had occasionally mentioned, "When my grandfather again became King under the Mountain, large numbers of humans who respected him migrated along the Running River, building a cheerful small city called 'Dale' in the valley near Erebor."
Besides these, others traveled even farther—some to the Anduin valley, establishing scattered villages, and some journeying to distant Dorwinion to live.
When you traced it back, many current Roadside Keep residents' ancestors came from the Kingdom of Rhovanion—this place had quite a connection with Levi's people.
To summarize: There was once a kingdom called Rhovanion, lasting over six hundred years. After the kingdom fell, people each sought their own paths forward.
Six hundred years wasn't long for immortal elves. In their view, the neighboring humans had simply established a kingdom, then many things happened, and they fought until it dissolved—barely a heartbeat in elven time.
Elves of this era had long lost their former vigor and engagement. They all preferred finding a place to dwell in peace—in the blink of an eye, thousands of years could pass. As long as outside events didn't directly affect them, whatever happened beyond their borders didn't matter—they were too weary to care.
However, there was one thing the elves remembered.
When the Kingdom of Rhovanion developed, they lacked materials, especially timber for building.
Then they clear-cut a massive area of eastern Mirkwood, forming the present 'East Bight' wasteland covered only with dead stumps and broken branches.
The western edge of this wasteland became known as 'Mirkwood Narrows,' meaning Mirkwood's narrowest section.
The Woodland Realm elves had been utterly dumbfounded at the time—living peacefully in their ancient forest when suddenly a large piece of territory vanished, cut down to build human cities.
But they said nothing then—after all, that nation was already destroyed. What else was there to say?
They couldn't very well seek explanations from scattered descendants centuries later.
Back to the point: Over a thousand years had passed since the Kingdom of Rhovanion's fall. Now humans came to this land once again, attracting many elves' curious attention.
They had received no prior notice, so out of genuine curiosity came to inquire.
Still the Woodland Realm's deputy handling this diplomatic matter, sent to speak with Levi directly.
Levi greeted him warmly. After chatting awhile about pleasantries, they entered the main topic.
"We're planning to build an outpost here—on one hand monitoring this wilderness's movements, on the other preparing for future expansion southward."
"You don't think we're going to cut down Mirkwood's trees again, do you?"
Combining the known history, Levi could somewhat guess their concerns.
"Rest assured," Levi said confidently.
"I have seeds for all Mirkwood's native tree species."
"Your meaning is?" The deputy was somewhat confused.
Why did the topic suddenly jump to seeds and forestry?
"Look over there."
Levi pointed toward the boundary between the East Bight wasteland and the living forest.
There, Mirkwood's trees not only hadn't decreased at all, but some newly grown native tree species now appeared in the adjacent wasteland.
The forest was recovering the dead land.
Life was being revived upon it.
The deputy's eyes widened with genuine shock.
"The forest is repairing itself," he breathed.
He looked at Levi, mouth opening and closing as if mute, unable to speak for a long moment.
"You're the first... lord who could make me feel such profound admiration."
This year, Levi brought reclamation teams to the old Rhovanion Kingdom ruins near East Bight. As a result, various buildings were carefully repaired, while East Bight's long-abandoned wasteland gradually became covered with new trees and green grass.
Soon enough, the designation 'East Bight' would completely disappear from maps, and the term 'Mirkwood Narrows' that had arisen because of it would also vanish into history.
They would all become merely historical footnotes, replaced by a complete, thriving forest.
Elves had a natural affinity for nature—they could always sense subtle changes within it, shifts invisible to mortal eyes.
It was precisely because of this deep connection that the Ents—the tree-folk—had befriended them in ages past.
For initially Ents couldn't speak at all—elves sensed them, communicated with them through other means, awakening in them the desire to speak and helping them develop their own ancient language.
"No need to mind too much. After all, I didn't come specifically for this—just handling it incidentally."
Levi spoke a characteristically elf-like phrase.
Just incidentally... yes, incidentally. Just like when elves dispatched armies to Dale years ago, their main stated purpose wasn't rescuing the humans there—the vast supplies they brought were also described as merely incidental.
After chatting with the Woodland Realm's deputy and touring the construction site thoroughly, confirming all aspects proceeded smoothly with no other pressing issues, Levi mounted his horse and departed.
Continuing south along the planned route, Levi traveled to the riverside, where he took a boat to Rohan's northernmost region.
The Wold.
In this place, there were only scattered small towns, the population was quite sparse compared to the densely populated southern capital region.
Fortunately, though, the area wasn't completely abandoned.
In a relatively large town, Levi saw what appeared to be a well-maintained road.
From helpful town residents, he learned this was the Great Road—just follow this road southward, and after crossing the second bridge, one could reach Rohan's capital at Edoras.
"That's quite a distance to travel."
Levi studied the map carefully.
Getting from the Wold to Edoras required crossing nearly all of Rohan—the two places were at Rohan's extreme northern and southern edges respectively.
Fortunately, though, there was still a maintained road. Future merchant caravans or other travelers taking this route wouldn't face too much hardship.
And so, after several years' absence, Levi came once again to Rohan's golden capital.
In the great hall, Thengel held his head in his hands, deeply troubled while conferring with many Rohan high officials about pressing matters.
Then a guard burst through the doors, interrupting this important meeting.
"What matter is so urgent?"
Thengel frowned with clear displeasure.
"We're discussing important matters of state. I hope you bring news more important than this."
Receiving the king's stern rebuke, the guard quickly approached, whispering several urgent sentences in his ear.
"Meeting adjourned. All withdraw. We'll discuss this again tomorrow."
The king made a sudden announcement. Many high officials exchanged bewildered glances, all somewhat confused by this sudden dismissal.