[the phantom]

Group E at The Old Forest

Tom Bombadil is always a lightning rod for discussion at the Arda Cup. "The Master", as they call him, always plays in a ridiculous manner, skipping and tumbling about the pitch singing nonsense songs. But whenever he has a mind to do so he displays uncommon power and speed that few can match, and that combined with his distracting style really gives defenses fits. The question every year is whether or not he'll feel like applying himself and paying attention.

This year it looks like there is a good chance he'll be ready to go, as he is the organizer and captain of his own team this year- The Forest, made up of his wife and mother-in-law, several Ents, and single representatives of Doriath, Brethil, and Mirkwood. But not only is he the captain- he is also the host of Group E, playing in a stadium that he sung out of the ground from root to tip.

The Old Forest stadium is one of the smaller arenas to host in recent years, seating just under 50,000, but it is an excellent stadium nonetheless, with all the walls and seats and stairs made from living trunks and boughs. Even the goalposts are made from roots that arch out of the ground, draped behind by vines that mimic netting. A canopy of leafy branches provides a cover for the arena, filtering and spreading the sunlight evenly so as to provide nice even lighting and not blind anyone, and also keeping out the rain. The facility is also well equipped for night-matches, as hundreds of lanterns hanging on branches all over the arena can be lit, and due to some song of Tom's the leaves and grass glow softly as well.

The stadium is situated on the western side of the Old Forest, a couple hours walk from the hedged border of Buckland. There are no lodgings in the Old Forest, and the trees there aren't the hospitable sorts anyway, so the fans were instead swarming Buckland, especially Crickhollow and Bucklebury. The hobbits were delighted to host the Ents and other scattered supporters of The Forest, and also gladly welcomed the Elves of Nargothrond and their friends from the house of Beor.

They were considerably less happy to see the orcs of Mordor, but only a very few made the trip, as there was Barad-Dur and Minas Morgul and Wilderland for them to support in other groups. Not to mention the orcs were quite frightened to enter the strange forest, recalling tales they had heard surrounding the doom of the orcs of Isengard.

And last to arrive- a small and close-knit group of Wights and Werewolves supporting Tol In Gaurhoth. Very few of them sought lodgings with hobbits, as they fully expected to be turned away. The hobbits were understandably frightened of the creatures, and were also feeling a bit hostile towards them after the beating they'd give Shire-Bree United during the friendlies. But this suited the Wights and Wolves just fine, as they were looking to party in the forest in close proximity to the stadium. "We spirits have no need of food or beds," said PitchWight. "And we're not scared of the trees either!" added Wereomer. "If they bother us, we'll bite and claw their bark off. And if they keep pushing, well... a couple of us brought our tinderboxes along."

Forest supporters were more than a bit worried about their opening night match against Tol in Gaurhoth and their devious fans. TIG was the oddsmakers favorite to take the group, and if they prevailed against the host in the opener it would deflate the atmosphere and possibly lead to a bit of overzealous partying from the TIG group. But if TIG lost, well... the volunteer fire-fighting department was geared up to spring into action.