So are there any Tolkien resources for this time period, or were FFG free to make up whatever they wanted? The characters so far revealed ring a bell, so I think they're following some sort of guide lines, but what are they? I look forward to trying this game, and I hope I'll be able to do so at GenCon, and hopefully buy a copy too! Here's hoping.

I don't know exactly what they are free to do thus far, there are some sources, though not as in depth as other time periods. I believe there's some fill in from Gandalf in the Fellowship of the Ring, as well as some info on it very slightly for filling in Gaps I believe in the end of the Silmarillion. Finally, I think it's touched upon in the entire series of books by Christopher Tolkien (or written by JRR Tolkien, but they are the writings that are gathered by and commented upon by his son) on the Middle Earth books.

FFG sent our store an email about products that are shipping before Gen Con, and MEQ was on that list.

Wow, that's fast! I thought it wouldn't ship until October at the earliest!