Siege of Gundabad Discussion Thread - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

piosenniel · 10-19-2004, 08:24 PM

Basic Storyline:

Some years after the War of the Ring, it has been decided by King Elessar to send a troop of able-bodied soldiers to the Misty Mountains to resolve the situation of the orcs who dwell there. The orcs of Mount Gundabad may be offered alliance, but will probably refuse. In this case, the soldiers have been told to destroy this last orc refuge, but these goblins have plenty of strength left and are willing to fight to the end.

piosenniel · 10-19-2004, 08:25 PM

The purpose of the story is to: Defeat the Orcs of Gundabad

This means we will know the story is over when: When the orc forces holding Gundabad are either killed or routed from their positions.

piosenniel · 10-19-2004, 08:25 PM

Starting Location: The makeshift Gondorian camp, outside of Esgaroth.

Likely destination: The Summit of Mt. Gundabad

piosenniel · 10-19-2004, 08:27 PM

Timeframes:

This game takes place in the Fourth Age at around year 23.

The storyline itself or plot covers 10 days during December 12th to December 22th.

This game requires a time commitment of 10 weeks from the Shire Moderators, the game owner and from the major players.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Game opened: 10/26

Game closing date: 12/28 (10 weeks)

piosenniel · 10-19-2004, 08:28 PM

CHARACTERS IN GAME

Lieutenant of Gondor- will control the overall host of the Gondorians - played by CaptainofDespair

Players needed for:

2 Gondorian soldiers, male only: (These characters first posts should deal with their march north from Gondor, and their feelings of the mission, considering climate, supplies, etc.)

1.) Soldier of Gondor

2.) Soldier of Gondor

~*~

3 Men of Dale, male and female: (These men/women will be met as the troop of Gondorians marches towards Gundabad. These characters first posts can detail their escape from orc raiding parties that have been ransacking Dale.)

1) Man of Dale

2) Man of Dale

3) Man of Dale

~*~

Players needed for Secondary Characters:

1) Orc Chieftain of Gundabad- will control the host of orcs that have ‘dug in’ to defend Gundabad.

2) Goblin Commander of the Misty Mountains- will control the relief force that arrives to aid the embattled Orcs on Gundabad.

3) Orc Guard of Gundabad

4) Orc Raider Commander- commands the troop of orcs that are roaming the Dale.

Character types which would not belong: Any not listed above

piosenniel · 10-19-2004, 08:30 PM

CaptainofDespair’s character – the Gondorian Lieutenant

NAME: Uther Kahîr

AGE: By most accounts, he seems to be around 40 years of age.

RACE: Gondorian

GENDER: Male

WEAPONS: Uther wields the standard of the Army of Gondor, a simple long sword, crafted of the finest steel available to his social standing. Riding north with him, are his two wolf-hound hunting dogs, Ithil and Anor, which he uses as extra bodyguards.

APPEARANCE: As is the custom of soldiers, he wears the uniform armor of the Gondorians he fights for. He wears a steel chainmail cuirass over his torso, fitted with a black surcoat bearing the symbol of the King, the White Tree. He proudly displays a gleaming helm of steel, inlaid with silver, atop his head. His legs and forearms are protected by steel greavse and gauntlets.

PERSONALITY/STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: Uther is not like most men, nor like most soldiers. He displays some of the greatest traits of a field commander. He always rides forward of his troops, to boost the moral of his men. He is a romantic warrior, fighting on the front lines with the soldiers under his command, hoping to infuse the desire to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

A passion for war burns hot in his blood however, searing his veins with bloodlust. Cruelty is his standard, and both friends and foes alike fear his almost psychotic battle-field rages. He cares not for the survival of those individuals under his command, and willingly throws them into any fray, no matter what the cost. This has awarded him not only honor in taking many a fortified position, but more so a reputation based on fear and dread.

HISTORY: Uther was born into a small family of Gondorian peasant farmers living in an isolated village on the border of Rhûn. He knew not what year he was born in, and thus only counted the years from when he could remember. His early childhood was quite comfortable, and he lived quite contentedly, accustomed to aiding his father in the fields, and tending to what few livestock his family kept. This pattern of life drifted along on its own terms, for many years.

This all changed in when he entered early adulthood. The Dark Lord’s war machine was gearing up for an invasion, and his emissaries had come to prod the Easterlings into assaulting Gondor and her allies. Many of his village’s residents did not wish to take part in a war that they cared not for. Yet Mordor is not easily swayed by the protests of a few paltry farmers and herders. Two months after the village chieftain refused to send his men to war, Orcs came in the night, and they descended upon the village, like carrion birds, and they made an example of the village chieftain. When the morning light arose, the village found its leader dead, with a crude symbol of The Eye carved into his flesh, a warning of what was to come with further insolence. When the Dark Lord’s emissaries returned again, there came no protests, and the men of the village, including Uther’s father, were dragged off to be equipped for war.

For many years, Uther managed the farm with the aid of his mother. Yet, memory does not often fade into oblivion with the passage of time, and the memory of his father lingered. He had not returned from the war that Mordor had waged, no message of his death, yet no signs to prove otherwise. Hate began to grow in his heart, a passionate hatred for Mordor, for Orcs, for any who served The Great Eye. And so, Uther left his home, leaving his mother to care for the family property, and he went West, to Gondor.

The journey to Minas Tirith was taxing, for the road was long, and it reeked with many dangers. But finally, after two months of lonely traveling, at near starvation, the young Uther entered the White City. There, he joined the Guard, and went to fight in The King’s campaigns against the Haradrim, who were still in sustained period of rebellion in the Deep South of Harad. It was in these hot desert lands, that he learned of the cruelty of men, and how it could be used to his advantage. Thus, he adopted the ways of the Haradrim, incorporating their cruel ways into his own, unique fighting style. For many years these campaigns continued, and with each, he found himself attaining a higher, more socially elite rank. At the end of these relatively bloodless campaigns, he had reached a plateau, and settled into a minor administrative position as lieutenant in the Gondorian Army.

----------

CaptainofDespair’s post ---- FIRST FOR GAME

The wretched cold of the North had harried the small outfit of Gondorian soldiers for many weeks, as they marched through exhaustion to Esgaroth, the last way point for the army, as it prepared to make for Mount Gundabad, last of the major Orc strongholds in the north. Supplies had begun to dwindle, and the soldiers began to hope to arrive in the Dale soon, to replenish what they could before their confrontation. Yet, it was not food and water that the troops hungered for most, it was woolen cloth, and fur, to give them much needed warmth, so that they could fight, and not become mere statues in an endless waste of snow and ice.

This host’s commander was a brutally effective combat leader. With many of Gondor’s more able northern commanders unavailable due to the winter storms that were common in the barrens that formed during the blight of winter, Uther was summoned by King Elessar to remove the Orc threat of Gundabad. He was given a mandate; return to Gondor with an alliance, no matter how tenuous, or return with the head of the Orc chieftain. The aging Easterner knew better, for he had many dealings with the Orcs in the past. They would never submit to the strict stipulations of the King. Yet, on his honor, he was forced to at least offer the terms to his enemies, in hopes of them accepting them. His only real option, was to attempt to defeat the Orcs, on their ground. He did not like this, but he knew it must be done.

The actual size of the force that was put under Uther’s command was quite small, and was not wholly equipped to a siege of a mountain fortress. He had only managed to gather enough equipment to construct either a single battering ram, or build two or three light anti-personnel ballistas. With only sixty-five soldiers under his command, and countless orcs holding the well fortified, and easily defendable Mt. Gundabad, the prospects of a direct assault were slimmed to almost nothing. And to counteract any plans of his, the supply line had been thinned to nothing. He would get no reinforcements. His last bastion of hope was Esgaroth, where his army was now camping. Hopefully, with a little monetary incentive, he could obtain enough supplies to last a few extra weeks, should the siege drag on that long.

The troops under his command, though embattled by the elements, and beleaguered by the fear of both the stout Orcs they would face, and of their commander, remained surprisingly hopeful that at least a sizeable number of them would survive. Their hastily constructed camp was enough to hold off the brunt of the winter chill for now, but it was not suitable for the comfortable living many of them were accustomed to back home in Gondor.

Yet, with all the climatic hardships that were now set upon the Gondorians, they persisted. Uther had always been a driven, single-minded man when it came to war, and so he brushed aside the chill conditions, and prepared himself to face his enemy. His mind was set upon victory, and he was numb to the price he might pay to achieve that goal. But for now, he was content to plan his assault upon the battlements of Gundabad.

The aging commander had laid out a multitude of rudimentary maps, siege warfare doctrine papers, scout reports, and numerous other reports gathered from locals who had experienced either the Orc threat, or the terrain near the Mountain. He sat alone in a hastily constructed field command tent, with only his two hounds for companionship. But this was the way he preferred it. He did not always enjoy the company of his men, for many were brutes, or of the poor peasant class, and he did not wish to indulge their high hopes that war brought all men closer, no matter where they came from. But he was one of them, and that is what frightened him most, that he had risen through the ranks from that distant past, to a higher standing. His past was a burden to him, and he kept it to himself as much as possible. Thus, he kept to himself, so as not to reveal such matters to those who should not be privy to such knowledge. He had been like this ever since he came to Gondor, and joined the army. And now he only continued his lie of a life, pretending to be something he wasn’t, for the sake of vanity. And now he was yet again and scheming away, cooped up in his tent like a hermit.

piosenniel · 10-19-2004, 08:33 PM

Game Outline:

Day 1: Beginning posts within camp/set out for Dale

Day 2: Gondorian host reaches Dale, comes across a burned out village

Day 3: Host comes across fleeing Men of Dale

Day 4: Host attacked by Orc Raiders (raiders will either be killed entirely, or remnants may retreat to Gundabad)

Day 5,6: March to Gundabad, Goblin relief force nears the Mountain from the West.

Day 7: Arrive at Gundabad, set camp.

Day 8: Parley with Orc Chieftain, Scouts locate Goblin host.

Day 9: Gondorian camp attacked by Goblin relief force.

Day 10: The assault on the battlements, final stand of orcs.

10-19-2004, 08:27 PM	#4
piosenniel Desultory Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat..... Posts: 7,779	Timeframes: This game takes place in the Fourth Age at around year 23. The storyline itself or plot covers 10 days during December 12th to December 22th. This game requires a time commitment of 10 weeks from the Shire Moderators, the game owner and from the major players. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Game opened: 10/26 Game closing date: 12/28 (10 weeks) Last edited by piosenniel; 10-26-2004 at 03:25 PM.

10-19-2004, 08:28 PM	#5
piosenniel Desultory Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat..... Posts: 7,779	CHARACTERS IN GAME Lieutenant of Gondor- will control the overall host of the Gondorians - played by CaptainofDespair Players needed for: 2 Gondorian soldiers, male only: (These characters first posts should deal with their march north from Gondor, and their feelings of the mission, considering climate, supplies, etc.) 1.) Soldier of Gondor 2.) Soldier of Gondor ~~ 3 Men of Dale, male and female: (These men/women will be met as the troop of Gondorians marches towards Gundabad. These characters first posts can detail their escape from orc raiding parties that have been ransacking Dale.) 1) Man of Dale 2) Man of Dale 3) Man of Dale ~~ Players needed for Secondary Characters: 1) Orc Chieftain of Gundabad- will control the host of orcs that have ‘dug in’ to defend Gundabad. 2) Goblin Commander of the Misty Mountains- will control the relief force that arrives to aid the embattled Orcs on Gundabad. 3) Orc Guard of Gundabad 4) Orc Raider Commander- commands the troop of orcs that are roaming the Dale. Character types which would not belong: Any not listed above Last edited by piosenniel; 10-19-2004 at 08:42 PM.

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10-19-2004, 08:24 PM	#1
piosenniel Desultory Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat..... Posts: 7,779	Basic Storyline: Some years after the War of the Ring, it has been decided by King Elessar to send a troop of able-bodied soldiers to the Misty Mountains to resolve the situation of the orcs who dwell there. The orcs of Mount Gundabad may be offered alliance, but will probably refuse. In this case, the soldiers have been told to destroy this last orc refuge, but these goblins have plenty of strength left and are willing to fight to the end.

10-19-2004, 08:25 PM	#2
piosenniel Desultory Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat..... Posts: 7,779	The purpose of the story is to: Defeat the Orcs of Gundabad This means we will know the story is over when: When the orc forces holding Gundabad are either killed or routed from their positions.

10-19-2004, 08:30 PM	#6
piosenniel Desultory Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat..... Posts: 7,779	CaptainofDespair’s character – the Gondorian Lieutenant NAME: Uther Kahîr AGE: By most accounts, he seems to be around 40 years of age. RACE: Gondorian GENDER: Male WEAPONS: Uther wields the standard of the Army of Gondor, a simple long sword, crafted of the finest steel available to his social standing. Riding north with him, are his two wolf-hound hunting dogs, Ithil and Anor, which he uses as extra bodyguards. APPEARANCE: As is the custom of soldiers, he wears the uniform armor of the Gondorians he fights for. He wears a steel chainmail cuirass over his torso, fitted with a black surcoat bearing the symbol of the King, the White Tree. He proudly displays a gleaming helm of steel, inlaid with silver, atop his head. His legs and forearms are protected by steel greavse and gauntlets. PERSONALITY/STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: Uther is not like most men, nor like most soldiers. He displays some of the greatest traits of a field commander. He always rides forward of his troops, to boost the moral of his men. He is a romantic warrior, fighting on the front lines with the soldiers under his command, hoping to infuse the desire to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. A passion for war burns hot in his blood however, searing his veins with bloodlust. Cruelty is his standard, and both friends and foes alike fear his almost psychotic battle-field rages. He cares not for the survival of those individuals under his command, and willingly throws them into any fray, no matter what the cost. This has awarded him not only honor in taking many a fortified position, but more so a reputation based on fear and dread. HISTORY: Uther was born into a small family of Gondorian peasant farmers living in an isolated village on the border of Rhûn. He knew not what year he was born in, and thus only counted the years from when he could remember. His early childhood was quite comfortable, and he lived quite contentedly, accustomed to aiding his father in the fields, and tending to what few livestock his family kept. This pattern of life drifted along on its own terms, for many years. This all changed in when he entered early adulthood. The Dark Lord’s war machine was gearing up for an invasion, and his emissaries had come to prod the Easterlings into assaulting Gondor and her allies. Many of his village’s residents did not wish to take part in a war that they cared not for. Yet Mordor is not easily swayed by the protests of a few paltry farmers and herders. Two months after the village chieftain refused to send his men to war, Orcs came in the night, and they descended upon the village, like carrion birds, and they made an example of the village chieftain. When the morning light arose, the village found its leader dead, with a crude symbol of The Eye carved into his flesh, a warning of what was to come with further insolence. When the Dark Lord’s emissaries returned again, there came no protests, and the men of the village, including Uther’s father, were dragged off to be equipped for war. For many years, Uther managed the farm with the aid of his mother. Yet, memory does not often fade into oblivion with the passage of time, and the memory of his father lingered. He had not returned from the war that Mordor had waged, no message of his death, yet no signs to prove otherwise. Hate began to grow in his heart, a passionate hatred for Mordor, for Orcs, for any who served The Great Eye. And so, Uther left his home, leaving his mother to care for the family property, and he went West, to Gondor. The journey to Minas Tirith was taxing, for the road was long, and it reeked with many dangers. But finally, after two months of lonely traveling, at near starvation, the young Uther entered the White City. There, he joined the Guard, and went to fight in The King’s campaigns against the Haradrim, who were still in sustained period of rebellion in the Deep South of Harad. It was in these hot desert lands, that he learned of the cruelty of men, and how it could be used to his advantage. Thus, he adopted the ways of the Haradrim, incorporating their cruel ways into his own, unique fighting style. For many years these campaigns continued, and with each, he found himself attaining a higher, more socially elite rank. At the end of these relatively bloodless campaigns, he had reached a plateau, and settled into a minor administrative position as lieutenant in the Gondorian Army. ---------- CaptainofDespair’s post ---- FIRST FOR GAME The wretched cold of the North had harried the small outfit of Gondorian soldiers for many weeks, as they marched through exhaustion to Esgaroth, the last way point for the army, as it prepared to make for Mount Gundabad, last of the major Orc strongholds in the north. Supplies had begun to dwindle, and the soldiers began to hope to arrive in the Dale soon, to replenish what they could before their confrontation. Yet, it was not food and water that the troops hungered for most, it was woolen cloth, and fur, to give them much needed warmth, so that they could fight, and not become mere statues in an endless waste of snow and ice. This host’s commander was a brutally effective combat leader. With many of Gondor’s more able northern commanders unavailable due to the winter storms that were common in the barrens that formed during the blight of winter, Uther was summoned by King Elessar to remove the Orc threat of Gundabad. He was given a mandate; return to Gondor with an alliance, no matter how tenuous, or return with the head of the Orc chieftain. The aging Easterner knew better, for he had many dealings with the Orcs in the past. They would never submit to the strict stipulations of the King. Yet, on his honor, he was forced to at least offer the terms to his enemies, in hopes of them accepting them. His only real option, was to attempt to defeat the Orcs, on their ground. He did not like this, but he knew it must be done. The actual size of the force that was put under Uther’s command was quite small, and was not wholly equipped to a siege of a mountain fortress. He had only managed to gather enough equipment to construct either a single battering ram, or build two or three light anti-personnel ballistas. With only sixty-five soldiers under his command, and countless orcs holding the well fortified, and easily defendable Mt. Gundabad, the prospects of a direct assault were slimmed to almost nothing. And to counteract any plans of his, the supply line had been thinned to nothing. He would get no reinforcements. His last bastion of hope was Esgaroth, where his army was now camping. Hopefully, with a little monetary incentive, he could obtain enough supplies to last a few extra weeks, should the siege drag on that long. The troops under his command, though embattled by the elements, and beleaguered by the fear of both the stout Orcs they would face, and of their commander, remained surprisingly hopeful that at least a sizeable number of them would survive. Their hastily constructed camp was enough to hold off the brunt of the winter chill for now, but it was not suitable for the comfortable living many of them were accustomed to back home in Gondor. Yet, with all the climatic hardships that were now set upon the Gondorians, they persisted. Uther had always been a driven, single-minded man when it came to war, and so he brushed aside the chill conditions, and prepared himself to face his enemy. His mind was set upon victory, and he was numb to the price he might pay to achieve that goal. But for now, he was content to plan his assault upon the battlements of Gundabad. The aging commander had laid out a multitude of rudimentary maps, siege warfare doctrine papers, scout reports, and numerous other reports gathered from locals who had experienced either the Orc threat, or the terrain near the Mountain. He sat alone in a hastily constructed field command tent, with only his two hounds for companionship. But this was the way he preferred it. He did not always enjoy the company of his men, for many were brutes, or of the poor peasant class, and he did not wish to indulge their high hopes that war brought all men closer, no matter where they came from. But he was one of them, and that is what frightened him most, that he had risen through the ranks from that distant past, to a higher standing. His past was a burden to him, and he kept it to himself as much as possible. Thus, he kept to himself, so as not to reveal such matters to those who should not be privy to such knowledge. He had been like this ever since he came to Gondor, and joined the army. And now he only continued his lie of a life, pretending to be something he wasn’t, for the sake of vanity. And now he was yet again and scheming away, cooped up in his tent like a hermit.

10-19-2004, 08:33 PM	#7
piosenniel Desultory Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat..... Posts: 7,779	Game Outline: Day 1: Beginning posts within camp/set out for Dale Day 2: Gondorian host reaches Dale, comes across a burned out village Day 3: Host comes across fleeing Men of Dale Day 4: Host attacked by Orc Raiders (raiders will either be killed entirely, or remnants may retreat to Gundabad) Day 5,6: March to Gundabad, Goblin relief force nears the Mountain from the West. Day 7: Arrive at Gundabad, set camp. Day 8: Parley with Orc Chieftain, Scouts locate Goblin host. Day 9: Gondorian camp attacked by Goblin relief force. Day 10: The assault on the battlements, final stand of orcs.