Arda
Illúvatar said to them: "Behold your Music!" And he showed to them a vision...And as they looked and wondered this World began to unfold its history, and it seemed to them that it lived and grew."
- Ainulindalë, The Silmarillion
Arda, The World, was created by the Music of the Ainur for the coming of the Children of Illúvatar (Elves and Men) and soon thereafter was marred by Melkor, who rebelled and sought to claim it for his own.
At first flat, Arda was made up of two continents, Aman (the home of the Valar) and Middle-Earth which were separated by the sea of Belegaer. Later Aman was removed and Arda was made spherical.
Map courtesy of The Encyclopedia of Arda
Beleriand
Beleriand is the setting for The Silmarillion. The meaning of Beleriand is "the country of Balar", as at first Beleriand only signified the land about the Bay of Balar. By the year that the MUSH is currently set at, Beleriand included all the lands from the northwest coast to Firth of Drengist in the south and all the lands south of Hithlum and east of the Blue Mountains. Beleriand was divided into East and West by the River Sirion.
Map courtesy of The Encyclopedia of Arda
The First Age
"The First Age began with the Return of the Noldor to Middle-earth, the first rising of the Moon, and the Awakening of Men in Hildórien. It ended with the War of Wrath, the destruction of Beleriand and the final defeat of Morgoth. The end of the First Age was marked by the return of many of the Noldor, accompanied also by many Sindarin Elves, into the West to dwell on Tol Eressëa." - taken from The Encyclopedia of Arda
