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Hello All.
You’ll have seen that this is all new to me so I hope that I do this right. At any event, I have had some ideas about the game, and without further ado, here they are:
Given that the setting is going to be the lands between Lorien and Dol Guldur, I think this gives us a great chance to explore some elements of Prof. Tolkien’s mythos that were left rather unfinished. The particular thread I’m thinking about are the seven Dwarven rings (to match the three Elven and the Nine for Men). One of the few things that is revealed about Dol Guldur in Tolkien’s works is that Thorin Oakenshield’s father Thrain was held prisoner there when it was still the fortress of choice for Sauron (before the White Council attacked him there and he retreated to Mordor). Sauron took from Thrain the map that led Bilbo and the Dwarves to the secret door in the mountain, as well as the key. But in the Unfinished Tales (or somewhere in the appendices to LotR) it also says that Sauron also took from Thrain the last of the Dwarven rings of power that had not already been taken by Sauron or consumed by dragon fire.
This has always intrigued me. If Sauron had some – although apparently not all – of the Dwarven Rings why would he not have attempted to use them in the War of the Ring? Presumably, the ambassador to Erebor (in LotR) who promises “Rings of Power” in return for news of Bilbo and the Shire was talking of these, but that’s the only mention they get. I propose that we work these Rings into our story…and unsurprisingly I have a suggestion how:
The scouting party is sent out to find the lost border patrols, but there is no sign of them – only telltale signs that they have marched away from Lorien and toward the Anduin. Our scouting party follows. We find the patrol all encamped on the bank of the River; they are all acting very strangely – talking about their imminent attack on Dol Guldur as a first move, and then about the attack that they will launch on Morder. We find that they are led by four extremely powerful Elves, totally unknown to anyone. Somehow, we figure out that these guys are actually allies of Sauron – they are the final remnant of those Firstborn (so WAAAAY back from the First Age) who sided with Sauron. They have been given the four Dwarven Rings recoverd by Sauron, which gives them the ability to confuse the minds of their brethren. This has been the Big Plan for Dol Guldur all along! These four evil Elves are leading this small army into an ambush. The ambush happens (so, Epic Battle Number One), and the deluded Lorien Elves are all but slaughtered. Just before the battle, we manage to convince a few of the deluded Lorien Elves of their folly and send them back to Lorien to warn them. Our scouting party, stays behind to save as many of our kind as we can in the battle. We manage to save only a few and escape the slaughter with them. We pursue the orc army and the evil Elves to the verge of Lorien where they attack on 22 March. (This date is from the appendices to LotR – I know, I’m a total Appendices Geek: I also have the Atlas to Middle-Earth, and refer to the Unfinished Tales relentlessly – so if you find this sort of thing annoying, please let me know now!)
This is where I think things get cool. While the ‘big battle’ is going on the edge of Lorien, our scouting party, which is behind the orc army see that things are going poorly for our kin, because they cannot resist the unseen power and will of the evil Elves. So we decide, with little hope for success, to attack the evil Elves – who are keeping to the rear of their army.
Now, somehow or other, we defeat them, leaving the Rings ownerless. As they cannot simply be destroyed and we do not want to leave them there, four of our party take them – one each. The destruction of the One does not take place for three days (on 25 March) so we could have some real fun as the four with the Rings slowly succumb to them, while the rest of the party tries to decide what to do with them. Things could even get really ugly amongst the party (they are about to start fighting with one another??) when, on the 25th, the One is destroyed and the Rings in our possession lose all power.
Again, according to the appendices, the combined forces of Lorien and of Thranduil in the Mirkwood attacked and destroyed Dol Guldur on 30 March – I would say that our story end there, with our scouting company participating in that.
I hope that this isn’t too much (or too little, or whatever) for a first suggestion. Like I say – I’m new to this!
Fordim
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