privacy notice

last updated 6 september 2026

1 · who we are

mirkwood.com is operated by Mirkwood ("we", "us", the "operator"). we are the controller of the personal data described here under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK GDPR. contact: privacy@mirkwood.com. our postal address is available on request.

2 · what we collect, why, and for how long

the contact form. when you write to us we receive your message, your email address, your name if you give it, and the time it was sent. we use these only to read and answer you. legal basis: art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (steps taken at your request) and art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (our legitimate interest in answering people who write to us). we keep the exchange for up to twelve months after our last reply, then delete it.

technical data. when you load the site, our hosting provider processes your IP address, browser type, the pages requested and timestamps in server logs, for security and to deliver the site. legal basis: art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. logs are kept for no longer than thirty days.

preferences on your device. the site remembers whether sound is on and which scene you last visited. this is stored in your browser's local storage, stays on your device, and is never sent to us.

we do not use analytics, advertising, tracking or profiling, and we never sell personal data.

3 · who receives your data

our hosting provider (Replit, Inc., United States) and our email delivery provider (Resend, Inc., United States) process data on our behalf under data-processing agreements. images and sound may be delivered by a content delivery network. where data leaves the EU/EEA or the UK, transfers rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and, where the recipient is certified, the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework and its UK extension.

4 · your rights

you may ask for access to, correction or deletion of your data, ask us to restrict processing, object to processing based on legitimate interest, receive a copy of data you gave us in a portable format, and withdraw any consent at any time without affecting earlier processing. write to privacy@mirkwood.com. you may also complain to your national data-protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office).

5 · children

the site is not directed at children under sixteen and we do not knowingly collect their data. if you believe a child has written to us, contact us and we will delete the message.

6 · security and changes

the site is served over encrypted connections and access to messages is limited to the people who answer them. if this notice changes, the new version and its date will be published here.

terms of use

last updated 6 september 2026

1 · agreement

by visiting mirkwood.com (the "site") you agree to these terms. if you do not agree, please do not use the site. the site is operated by Mirkwood (the "operator", "we").

2 · what the site is

the site is an art and sound experience and an early look at a game in development. it is provided as a work in progress, may change or be withdrawn at any time, and carries no promise that any game will be released.

3 · our content

all artwork, soundscapes, text, the wanderer character, scene names and the "mirkwood" name and branding are original works of the operator and are protected by copyright, trademark and other laws. you may view them for personal, non-commercial purposes. you may not copy, redistribute, sell, scrape or mass-download them, or use them to train machine-learning systems, without our prior written permission. parts of the artwork and sound were produced with generative tools under our direction; nothing here is intended to depict any real person or place.

4 · an independent work

mirkwood is an original and independent creative work. it is not affiliated with, associated with, authorised, endorsed, sponsored or licensed by, or in any other way connected to the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien, the Tolkien Trust, Middle-earth Enterprises, HarperCollins Publishers, Warner Bros. Entertainment, New Line Cinema, Amazon, or any other publisher, studio, licensee or rights holder connected with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

the word "mirkwood" is an english rendering of the old norse myrkviðr ("dark wood"), a forest of germanic legend named in the Poetic Edda and used in english literature since at least William Morris in 1889 — long before any twentieth-century fiction. our use of the word refers to that older mythological word alone.

nothing on the site depicts, adapts, continues, parodies or otherwise refers to any character, place, name, language, event, text, map, film, series, game or other element of Tolkien's works or of any work derived from them; any resemblance is unintended and coincidental. we claim no rights in, and make no use of, any trademark or other right belonging to those rights holders; where their names appear here they appear solely to make this disclaimer clear. you may not describe, tag, market or present the site or its content as connected with those works.

5 · acceptable use

you agree not to interfere with the site or its infrastructure, not to use automated tools to access it beyond ordinary browsing, and not to send unlawful, abusive or deceptive content through the contact form. messages you send may be stored and used to reply to you as described in the privacy notice; please do not send confidential information.

6 · no warranty; liability

the site is provided "as is" and "as available". to the fullest extent permitted by law we disclaim all warranties and are not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential loss arising from your use of the site. nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including the statutory rights of consumers in the EU/EEA and the UK, which remain unaffected.

7 · governing law

these terms are governed by the laws of the United States and of the U.S. state in which the operator is organised, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. if you are a consumer in the EU/EEA or the UK you also enjoy the mandatory protections of the law of the country where you live, and you may bring claims in your local courts. the european commission provides an online dispute-resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr; we are neither obliged nor willing to take part in dispute-resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration body.

8 · changes and contact

we may update these terms; the current version and its date are always published here. questions: lantern@mirkwood.com.

cookies

last updated 6 september 2026

1 · we set no cookies

mirkwood.com does not set cookies and uses no analytics, advertising, fingerprinting or other tracking technologies. because we only use storage that is strictly necessary for what you ask the site to do, no consent banner is required under the ePrivacy rules.

2 · local storage

the site keeps two small values in your browser's local storage: mw.muted (whether sound is on) and mw.scene (the last scene you visited), so the site can resume where you left it. they stay on your device, are never sent to us, and are removed when you clear your browser's site data.

3 · third-party requests

images, sound and fonts are loaded from our hosting provider and its content delivery network. to deliver a file, those servers necessarily see your IP address; they do not receive any other information about you from us. see the privacy notice.

4 · changes

if we ever introduce cookies or similar technologies that require consent, we will ask for it first and update this page. questions: privacy@mirkwood.com.