Hobbits

Banner of the Shire

## Concerning Hobbits ...

The Hobbits of the Shire are a plain and quiet folk; led by **Wollibo, Thain of the Shire and Master of Tookland**; they want nothing more than to live in peace, untroubled by players who kill them and ransack their houses, trample their crops, and butcher their livestock. Hobbits are quick of hearing and sharp-eyed, and though they are inclined to be fat and do not hurry unnecessarily, they are nonetheless nimble and deft in their movements. And if it is needed, they defend their land fearless and brave.

## Join the faction of Hobbits!

Our faction is always open for new members who like to be part of the Hobbit's family. We prefer a cozy and peaceful playtime in the Shire with building our villages, Hobbit holes and taverns, with farming and lifestock breeding, with gardening around our holes, smoking pipes, drinking good ale and relish both kind of food, pancakes and pancakes with maple syrup. Also we are often involved in party business. And sometimes we are looking for an adventure too. So as a member of the Hobbits you can do what you like!

**How to join the Hobbits?**

- First you need +50 alignment with the NPC Hobbit faction at the server.

- Second please join the server discord. There is a channel where you can ask for joining our faction.

- Third you will get a little task by one of our leaders, for example clean an area of flying treetops or to renovate a NPC building like Hobbit hole, house, farm or tavern to prove your Hobbitability.

## The faction structure: It's so great to be a Hobbit!

The Hobbit faction is a community of free hobbits. This means each Hobbit grows and is responsible for his own potatoes. A Hobbit also decides for himself whether he would rather grow carrots or lettuce, or keep pigs or sheep, or both. Or cows or chickens. Or he opens a tavern and brews his own beer. Or he just lies in the grass and smokes his pipe. In all important matters, a Hobbit therefore decides self-reliantly and independently.

**First fool among equals: The Thain of the Shire**

For the unimportant things, the Hobbits appoint a leader, the Thain of the Shire. He should take care of the whole mess, please. That means guiding renovations, planning waypoints, doing paperwork. You choose him according to the motto "One Hobbit, one vote, together we decide." Or you just wait until you find a fool who will do all the work voluntarily. Since summer 2021 this fool has been called Wollibo Took. A fool of a took.

**County leaders and other busybodies**

Luckily, there are more idiots who also work voluntarily. These are the masters, ladies, mayors, wardens and other dignitaries responsible for each county in the Shire. There are 12 counties in the Shire, but more on that later.

There are also really important posts, such as the Chief Brewery Inspector, the Commish of the Ferry, the Caretaker of Bag End, the Cutter of the Hedge, the Chief Orchards Fruiterer and some more bumbles.

**Become a legendary Hobbit!**

On the other hand, if you are clever enough to stay away from these unpleasant tasks, you can take good care of your own reputation. Because active gameplay on the server is rewarded and you can advance from the Young Hobbit over 10 levels to the Legendary Hobbit. As you level up, the other hobbits applaud and celebrate you more and more, and you can even buy them a beer as a thank you. That's great, isn't it? By the way: So far there is only one legendary hobbit: Nopaosak Brandybuck, Master of Buckland and longtime Thain of the Shire.

## Real Hobbits and faction members

The Shire Hobbits have always been few. But it's a special challenge to be a hobbit with all your heart. Not everyone is made for the easy life and is able to chill mercilessly when it counts. Here are some of them you should know:

* Wollibo Took - "The Took" and a fool of a Took, Master of Tookland, Thain of the Shire and faction leader
* Nopaosak Brandybuck - "The Master", Master of Buckland and longtime former faction leader
* Bernt99 Hornblower - Mayor of Longbottom and Master of Southfarthing, Caretaker of Bag End
* Post\_It\_Notes Heather - Lady of Middlefield, Mayor of Bywater, Owner of "The Green Dragon", Chief Brewery Inspector
* Piwonia14 - Warden of Westmarch, Mayor of Greenholm, Chief Orchards Fruiterer
* ZZorken - excellent Hobbit and very long time faction member
* HuntressOfSkies - active chummy Hobbit
* IamUpoi - active young Hobbit

There are even some more, but they are not active at moment.

## The Shire: The best land in Middle-earth!

The country of Hobbits is the Shire. They settled here a long time ago, for it is clear to every Hobbit: The Shire is the finest land to be found in all of Middle-earth. All kinds of potatoes, turnips and carrots, leeks and lettuce thrive here. The trees bear apples, pears, plums and cherries. And there is pipeweed! What more do you want?

Thus in the Shire many Hobbit holes, farms, houses, windmills and taverns were built and small villages founded. It's easy to live here! And so that everything doesn't get mixed up in an adventurous way, the Shire is divided into 12 counties, each of which is administered by a county leader.

## Counties and buildings

The Shire is full of waypoints, villages and historic sites. Much has already been built and many projects are in progress or in planning. Things are moving forward in the Shire!

Some notable builds in the Shire are listed here:

* Spawn - north-east of Waymeet, the first location you will see if you enter Middle-earth
* New Player Store - maybe a good choice for the second location to visit, because there you can get first equipment for free and some information about the server and factions. You find it at the main road south of spawn at entrance to Waymeet.
* Waymeet - an interesting, but also one of the dangerous places on the server. All sorts of people from all factions meet here to chill or fight. Also for many new players, Waymeet is the first place they visit.
* Hobbiton and Bag End - legendary home of Bilbo and Frodo. A lot has already been built, a lot still needs to be done.
* Tuckborough - centre of the Tookland, home of the Took family and the Great Smials. Currently under construction.
* Bywater - little cute village in Middlefield, here you find "The Green Dragon" tavern
* Three Farthing Stone - the centre of the Shire some miles east of Bywater, this is where the Sout-, West- and Eastfarthing meet
* Bucklebury - the main town and beating heart of Buckland, always worth a visit!
* Brandytown - little village at Brandywine Bridge
* Newbury - little village southeast of Brandywine Bridge
* Longbottom - main town of the Southfarthing, center of the tobacco industry
* Greenholm - frontier town in the west of the Shire, main village of Westmarch

And even more is under construction!

## Laws and alliances

The Hobbits are a peaceful people. So there are hardly any quarrels among themselves or with players from other factions. In principle, the server rules apply. In addition, the rules that can be found on the Bree faction page apply, since Bree Folks and Shire Folks have been united in the Brandywine Union since the beginning of 2021 - no wonder, because there are also many Hobbit families living in Bree-land.

The Hobbits of the Shire have also been bound to the Kingdom of Arnor since time immemorial and forever. The Dunedain of the North are always welcome friends, and not just when evil figures appear in the Shire. And the Kingdom of Gondor is also one of the closest friends of the Hobbits. Thain Wollibo himself has spent a long time in Gondor and Dol Amroth and is always fond of visiting the white city of Minas Tirith. And also with the horsemen of Rohan, the elven and the dwarven kingdoms, the Hobbits live in peace. More about the alliances is written on the Bree page.

## History

**The dark times and the first Hobbits**

The first two Hobbits to settle in the Shire were **Kraxuss** of Northfarthing, and **Ffets** of Buckland. Kraxuss was known to be unforgiving of people who in any way would harm his fellow Hobbits or their land, while Ffets was known as a great loremaster and road builder. When both of them disappeared, the faction seemed dead and the outside world never heard anything from within the Shire's borders until a new Thain brought the Shire back into the light of day in June 2015.

**Unification under Thain\_Vibiras and secession of the North Shire Republic**

This new Thain was **Thain\_Vibiras**. He unified the Hobbits, and the construction of the Great Smials began in Tuckburough with the help of Mathyas57. The months that followed were relatively uneventful, until May 23rd 2015, when the North Shire Republic declared its independence.

It was feared that the NSR would harm the Shire and it's inhabitants, but a peaceful solution was found through talks outside of the Smials. Eventually, the admin minerofjustice declared that he wanted to rule Buckland on his own, which the Thain granted him. It was later made known that miner sold Buckland to the NSR, much to the Thain's dismay.

The Hobbits supported the NSR in their war against Dunland, which began on June 22nd 2015, and fought beside them in battle. On June 24th 2015, the great Battle for Dunland was fought. The battle was lost that day, and the NSR was forced out of Dunland. This resulted in the collapse of the North Shire Republic with the Hobbits purchasing their Shire holdings.

**Handover of Thain\_Vibiras to Nopaosak in 2015 and long years of peace**

On June 27th 2015, the Union of Numenor was established, comprising the Hobbits, Gondor, and Arnor. Thain\_Vibiras became a leading figure in the Union's invasion of Umbar, and following the successful invasion, Vibiras was installed as a co-king of Umbar. Vibiras soon began spending all of his time in his new southern holdings, and eventually chose to cede leadership of the Hobbits over to the Master of Buckland **Nopaosak**. He continues to rule the Shire a very, very long and peaceful time.

**Established Brandywine Union with the Bree folks in 2021**

On New Years Day 2021, the Hobbits of the Shire and the Bree folks of men and Hobbits officially merged and creating the Brandywine Union. It's a united faction with a joint government, rules and alliances. The Brandywine Union is ruled together by the 1st Master of Breeland and the Thain of the Shire, supported and well-advised by the members of the Brandywine Council, consisting of the Mayors, Masters and Shirrifs of Bree land and the Shire. So the Hobbits of the Shire and the Bree folks now working hand in hand for flowering landscapes and a good life.

**July 2021: The new Thain Wollibo, Master of Tookland**

To everyone's surprise Nopaosak stepped down as faction leader in July 2021. There was a great confusion for some days, but then the Hobbits agreed very fast to vote for Wollibo as the new leader. On July 24th 2021 **Wollibo**, a fool of a Took, was taking office as the new Thain of the Shire and leader of the Hobbits faction.

For the new leader, the next few months were all about revitalizing the faction and starting new activities. But until today it is very difficult to attract new players who want to join the peaceful Hobbit faction. Few have the patience, perseverance, and tenacity to become true Hobbits. In this fast-paced world, who has the patience to smoke a pipe? Or walking barefoot through the grass catching butterflies? Or just looking for four-leaf clovers? Just. Many new players join the server and ask for the fastest way to somewhere, complain that you can't teleport to the end of the world immediately and the distances are far too long for them. Well, the Hobbits are a little different: they take things easy and then look forward to some adventure for a change.

**Cleanups, villages and historic sites**

Still, there is always plenty to do in the Shire. It starts with the fight against flying treetops, which are up to mischief almost everywhere around the central waypoints. It continues with the renovation of the many plundered buildings. In addition, more waypoints and historical sites were started under Thain Wollibo. The Three Farthing Stone east of Bywater has been completed. Tuckborough, Greenholm and Hobbiton are currently under construction. Also farmer Maggots Bamfurlong and The Hedge on the border of the Old Forest. Bywater got a lot of renovations and beautifications. Other projects are in the pipeline, such as Michel Delving and Tighfield.

The Hobbits keep going!

**Dwarves:**
Durin's Folk •
Kingdom of Khazad-dûm •
Kingdom of Durin's Folk•
The Dwarves of the Mountains of the Wind •
Dwarves of the Red Mountains •
Blue Dwarves •
Dwarves of the Grey Mountains•
Northern Longbeard Dwarves

**Elves and Ents:**
High-Elves •
Rivendell •
Galadhrim •
The Avari Elves •
Wood-Elves •
Dorwinion •
Fangorn

**Orcs and Uruks:**
Angmar •
Dol Guldur •
Gundabad •
Mordor •
Isengard

**Northmen and Dúnedain**
Gondor •
Kingdom of Dale •
Rangers of the North •
The Riders of Rohan •
The Republic of Lebennin •
Dol Amroth •
Dunland •
**Hobbits** •
Bree •
Wood-Men of Mirkwood

**Peoples of Harad and Rhûn:**
Half-Trolls •
Morwaith •
Near Harad •
New Taurethrim Empire •
The Golden Easterlings of Rhúdel •
Eastern Tribes (Far Rhun Easterlings) •
The Variags Of Khand •
Umbar

**Disbanded factions:**
Kingdom Of Anduin •
Galdhrim •
Fire elves •
Kingdom of the Golden Wash •
Kingdom of the Isles •
Rúnandor •
Smaland •
The Northshire Republic •
Clans of the Northmen •
Lossedhil •
The Brotherhood •
Dwarves of Erebor •
Dwarves of the Iron Hills•
The Gladden Fields •
Vanwar •
Thartorogrim •
The Scourge