Naria, I believe the location would be Harad that you are looking for. Thanks for joining!
Di, here are your questions answered in order:
1) I'm not sure if it will be the 17th exact. We don't exactly have enough people to start it then so it may be later. How much later, I'm not sure.
2) Yes, all posts are to be in third person. Read the rules in the first post as I have (with
Saucy's aid of course
) fixed them up.
3) Yes, it is quite fine if you're a Hobbit.
Now, a note to everyone: You can choose any race from any Age. I have a way to incorporate it into my story line.