Thinking about writing some Tolkien fan fiction...

[Horrim Carabal]

I have an idea for a piece of fan fiction set in the Fourth Age (sometime after the events in Return of the King) but I am not a Tolkien afficianado at all. I mean I have read all the books and some of the analysis, RPG, histories, etc. But not obsessively enough to write fan fic from memory.

I'm wondering if any of the big Tolkien fans can help me with this background material. Anyway here is my list of questions:

1) At the end of the books, who leaves Middle Earth and who stays? I'm talking about important main characters. I know Elrond leaves, but what about Galadriel?

2) Are all the Elven rings taken to Valinor?

3) What is the state of the Easterlings and southern Men? Do they still oppose Gondor?

4) How many orcs are left, any Uruk-hai? Trolls?

5) Do the Ents stay in Middle-Earth or leave?

Thanks in advance, if I get these questions answererd!

[thranathiril]

Most of these questions are answered explicitly in the Lord of the Rings (the book).

The only one that isn't is about the Ents. They certainly do not leave Middle-earth, they probably survive for a while longer, but without the Entwives, they will eventually die out. In the published letters of JRRT, he states that he "thinks" that the Entwives were probably gone for good.