What to do at Ettenmoors?

[Rumil]

Hi Legate,

oops sorry regarding the 'borrowing'. I think what I had in mind was some sort of subtle crossover between the two stories, like your party comes across mysterious hobbit tracks in the snow, finds items lost by the other party or has an encounter with enemies defeated by the 'Downers' party etc. I like this sort of thing because it gives an impression that oher people are also around in the area on their own business. In a way a bit like the mentions of Gondolin in The Hobbit, which give glimpses of other stories. On the other hand it looks as if your timeframe doesn't match so probably this wouldn't work.

So, hoomm, what happens after the floods have subsided? You've already had the Tharbad refugees, and it seems likely that a great natural disaster would force migration of both people and animals. I'd also guess that by autumn many people would be getting desperate for food after just making it through the Fell Winter then perhaps having their crops destroyed by flooding.

Meanwhile the after-effects of the flood will still be felt, bridges and roads washed away, landslides still not cleared up. That's a point, who would clear up landslides etc? I guess you could come across a Dwarven waggon train stuck on the road and having to improvise a bridge, meanwhile trying to keeping the trolls at bay. Could be a chance for a bit of problem-solving how to get the road repaired and a rescue mission to find any travellers who have mysteriously disappeared in the night, folowing the muddy troll or wolf-prints.

On a darker note, perhaps alongside one of the fast flowing streams of the moors flash-flooding has uncovered Something Which Was Better Left Undisturbed (tombs, mewlips, nameless things which gnaw the world below etc).

By the way I like the website (even though I don't know any Czech) and its both cool and weird to see the maps in another language!

Cheers

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Yay, thanks for that, really inspirative thoughts... maybe some of the flood's after-effects could take place. Especially the "uncovering" idea I find very good, I'm probably going to use it, if not now, then surely later.

All right... let's think of it (I'll "think aloud" so that you can add if you had any idea). They can pass the bridge and then go one day undisturbed (but I'll try to awake the feeling in them that there's still danger lurking around). Another day they'd have to cross a "secondary river", created by the floods - they could not pass it, so they'd have to leave the road. It could be also that the road will lead down into a valley, which would be made a small lake now. This way I'll get them off the road... and make them get lost Then they could meet a troll or three and be later rescued by an elf or two (healed after the battle)... hmm... Oh, and that could be a good moment when the Elves could ask them to help with Lommy's quest for lost Something. Like that their patrol-friend was lost, or just info that some athelas is around (that would be just a hook for the party members to try to find and collect it for themselves), or something like that... I have an idea of making the party having to drown into a lake for something (created by water that remained in an isolated valley); maybe even before meeting the Elves - they'd see something shiny in the lake and then they'd realize there's a dead body, and it would be the Elves' dead comrade (killed by Who-Knows-What) - but he would have a certain thing (dagger, ring, whatever) which they could either keep or give to the Elves. Anyway, after the meeting, the Elves would leave them, because they have some other job to do... they could even be Elladan and Elrohir... or just one of them... but they would show them the right direction to Rivendell... then there'll be yet some trouble before Rivendell...

And concerning the combination with the Downs' RPG storyline, there's nothing wrong with that, just I'd have to read it all through first, which, well... It's a bit too long to read all at once.

Originally Posted by Rumil

By the way I like the website (even though I don't know any Czech) and its both cool and weird to see the maps in another language!

Thanks. I thought about making an English version of it as well so that for example some Downers who were interested could look at it; but especially translating "Letopisy" ("Chronicles"), which is the main part of it (containing all adventures of our company) would take great effort to translate (and to translate them in "nicer" language would be just horrible).
I understand what you mean when speaking of seeing maps in other languages, I find it always very interesting when I see something like that (or translation of some names in other languages in general).

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

I understand what you mean when speaking of seeing maps in other languages, I find it always very interesting when I see something like that (or translation of some names in other languages in general).

I used to plan that I should start a thread where 'downers from different countries could compare and present how the names are translated in their language and how they sound... I wonder why I never did that, now that you two reminded me of it...

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

I used to plan that I should start a thread where 'downers from different countries could compare and present how the names are translated in their language and how they sound... I wonder why I never did that, now that you two reminded me of it...

Do not ask and do it. I'll certainly be interested, if no one else (and Rúmil would probably as well, and I am sure more people will).

[Rumil]

Hi all,

Legate, seems like you're going well with the adventure now! I'd certainly like to read your site if it was translated, I guess the online translation tools would be horribly inaccurate but probably unintentionally hillarious.

Lommy, I do like the idea of a 'names in translation' thread, and it would be great for posters to say what sort of image or vibe a word brings to mind, an obvious example being Mordor, which conjures up thoughts of death -mort, mortuary, murder etc. Sadly I have no language skills to be able to contribute much. Do you know offhand if the name translations were made, vetted, approved or disapproved of by Tolkien?

Cheers

Rumil

[Thinlómien]

I've started a thread on the topic, feel free to check and continue the discussion over there...

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...886#post531886

And thanks for you both for making me both remember the idea and providing the "kick" to actually do something about it...

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Because I was asked and because I think it may interest you, I decided to let you know how I succeeded with the adventure you - well, you two, Rumil and Lommy - helped to create. In the final version of the adventure (as you will see), I was inspired by many of the things you posted, though did not use them mostly just in the form as you brought them forward, but modified them - sometimes just a little, sometimes more. But it's undiscutable that the adventure, which the players liked very much (they voiced their opinions aloud and they said that "this one was really good"), could not be created and could not be made that good without the aid of you two. Thanks once again, also for my players.

Instead of some brief summary (which I, as well as I know myself, I would not be able to post anyway), I decided to try to translate what I wrote in Czech on our pages. It's a few paragraphs and you can read the whole story of this adventure there. Since you could be confused concerning the main characters, I'm posting here a... ahem... it was supposed to be a brief desctiption of the five main characters. In the second post, you can jump right to the tale itself. Hope you enjoy it - remember, you helped to create it

Our company:

Bivoj, a young hunter from Enedwaith, who, upon reaching his maturity went North, crossed two rivers and met Larongwaloth and Blueberry in the Shire, where he joined them. Recently, he bought himself a black dog at Bree, hoping the animal is going to help him on his journey.

Blueberry (orig. "Borůvka". The similarity to the name "Goldberry" is a coincidence and I realized that after I tried to translate the names to English), a Hobbit, resp. Fallohide girl who never knew her parents, grew up in wilderness in the Greenhill country, possesses some unusual powers (like speaking with animals) but does not fully understand what she does. She befriended Larongwaloth when he was keeping some food outside his house for her. Blueberry also has a companion, the so-called "Forochel snowy owl". She got an egg from Old Took on his birthday party as a present; and she raised the owl.

Larongwaloth, a Sindarin elf who considers himself very old (he even grows himself a beard like Círdan did). He is a loremaster and a historian, very learned and wise. Originally, he lived in the Grey Havens, but was fascinated by the coming of the Halflings and from the foundation of the Shire he lived in Greenhill country in a cottage he let the (ancient) hobbits build for him, deep in the woods, but he secretly observed the Halflings and wrote into his own book tales of their history. His cottage stands there until these days, almost unchanged (due to the "elvish magic", as say the hobbits who know about it - and dare to venture there). Larongwaloth has a donkey named Donkey, for he is one of many in the row of his donkeys he had from when he came to the Shire; and a frog named Constance who is rather old and is not quite an usual frog.

The three friends left the Shire some time ago, Laronwaloth felt it is his "duty" to accompany Blueberry, because her abilities seemed indeed strange to the wise Elf. At Bree, they joined a company of Dwarves whose leader, Dúvi of Dwálin's tribe, went on some mad quest and Larongwaloth with his books and knowledge could provide him with the map of wilderness that he lacked. The company decided to accompany the Dwarves on their journey east because Larongwaloth and Blueberry thought it could be interesting to visit Rivendell, while Bivoj was always willing to explore new regions (as possible hunting grounds).
However, the last night camping near the Last Bridge, a troll appeared at night and though he was driven off, Dúvi the Dwarven leader lost his temper and accused his hired guard, Thrán, of not being cautious enough on guard. This ended, quite absurdly, in firing the guard.

Thrán is a Dwarven guard who was fired from the job as guard in one of the Blue Mountain dwarven holds because of problems with his boss. He got hired by Dúvi as a guard on his quest and was offered good payment, but ended fired as well. Since he is a Dwarf, if you wanted to picture him, he has black beard and his hood is grey

Grill, a Dwarf from the Blue Mountains is an expert on all the mechanic and explosive things. He was hired by Dúvi to make some "excavation works" for his company upon reaching their target. However, standing beside his friend Thrán, he ended fired by the short-tempered Dwarven party leader. Both Grill's beard and his hood are fiery red.