USH'S LORD OF THE RINGS GAME PART 3- The Tournament and the Traitor
Fornost-Erain, Summer, 1972 TA
And so, the seasons give way to Summer.
It was a long fight. The winter- which, like all recent winters, has been growing longer and colder, especially in these Northern lands- held its grip for long past its natural life. The Spring has been cold too, and brought nought but ill news. But nature is not to be denied, and eventually, Summer did come.
And such a glorious one! The sun streams through with day after day of perfect weather. The green fields, rolling hills and beautiful cities of Arthedain are basking in the radiant glory of creation.
This is a time of joy, to celebrate civilisation. In the next few days will be held the mighty tournament of the House of Numenor, a royal celebration of an unbroken line of Kings stretching back beyond known history, back past the Civil Wars, back to the days of Isildur, slayer of Sauron, and back past that to the boundaries of time, and the ancient days of Numenor itself.
In these days there will be parties, feasts, celebrations- and games. Jousts, archery matches, mock field battles, duels and tests of every weapon and martial skill, in the long knightly tradition of Man. It is, without a doubt, the highlight of the year.
Travel to Arthedain is still difficult; the Great Road is hostile, the Last Bridge normally blocked, since Rivendell declined to hold it. Yet it is still possible, for those willing to brave the risks of the journey. Famed King Arvedui of Arthedain has opened his borders to all the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth., and many have come- to see the North Kingdom, to join the festivities, to pledge their respect to the great King of Man... and to answer his call to take up arms against evil.
For evil there is, in the nearby lands of Rhudaur and, worse, Angmar, where the infamous 'Witch-King' makes his plots. To most, a rumour- but the court of Fornost takes his existence very seriously.
It is known that the war has not gone to plan. During diplomatic efforts with neigbouring Cardolan- barely a Kingdom at all- a sneak attack by the Witch-King's forces has destroyred the nearly completed fortress of Embylosse, centrepiece of the Arthedanian strategy. Some feared the sudden and total collapse of the Kingdom. This was exaggerated- yet their plans lay in ruins. Many are uncertain about what measures can be taken, come the next threat effort of the Witch-King.
There are disagreements and arguments at all quarters. Should the current strategy be shored up? Should it change, totally, and Arthedain go on the offensive? Is all this talk of diplomacy and alliances hogwash, or the only viable path for survival? In the midst of the festivities, these dark questions haunt the minds of he nobles- and at the very highest level, few know the truth- that Embylosses' destruction was only made possible by treachery, inside the King's Council itself.
Is it not unthinkable that a Dunadan, of all people, would throw in his lot with the Witch-King? But sadly not... for that was how Rhudaur fell, centuries ago.
But of courde, few of you know anything of this. Some of you are old hands in Arthedain, and have met the King. Some of you have come from the recent expedition from Rivendell, and have been here but a short time. And some of you are new entirely, having arrived in Arthedain, and Fornost, for your own reasons.
Fornost may be the centre of an 'open' Kingdom- yet this is not the modern day, and travel is long and difficult even without the war. Therefore, strangers, whilst not unheard of, are still uncommon, and alll of you that do not belong here have almost certainly met and made association with all the others- please feel free to make yourselves acquainted in any way you like.
Let the celebrations begin!
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This, then, is the new part of the epic LOTR storyline (minus a. the Lord and b. the Rings, so a rather technical association...).
This is a rather different story. Having just had the enormous field battle against an Orc army, now we are having no Orcs at all. This game is set entirely within Fornost, and is concerned with things investigative, political, and social. The style of LOTR in general is different to the rush-rush style of Star Wars and Matrix, and this part in particular is thoughtful and relatively- dare I say it- intellectual.
This game has several major objectives:
1. Induction. It serves as a starting point for new players. New players have a chance to learn of Arthedain, its neightbours, their history, its King, the King's plan and, therefore, the overall plot of the game, which is quite involved. That will also work as a good reminder to older players who may have forgotten a load of it.
2. Arthedain. An important part of the entire storyline is the player's relationship with Arthedain, especially its ruling Council, which is the main authority in the game, like the Jedi Council in Star Wars. Earlier parts saw rather undiplomatic players try and continuously insult the Council and still expected to be allowed to do whatever they want; we shall wipe the slate clean here and start again and remind people that a. these people rule here! and b. these people are all important, established Dunadan Lords, much as Boromir and Faramir are in LOTR, and indeed, two of the Council are sons of the King himself.
This part of the storyline features heavily in this part, and is the time to try and see how Arthedain actually WORKS.
3. The Tournament., The specific focus of this game, the Tournament is a bit of fun- it allows me to make a fighting tutorial for new (and old!) players, it gives action to a game without hostiles to fight- and, simply put, doing well in it gets you experience points, which should get people motivated!
4. The Traitor. The central plotline of the game, the previous two parts being dominated by the Enemy knowing your every move, from the attacks on the camp and the Princess' convoy in the first part, to the blowing of the expedition to Baranar and the fatal misdirection that caused the destruction of Embylosse in the second. The unthinkable is true, a Council member is the Traitor, and that hole must be plugged. The King has turned to outsiders to help for his ionternal efforts are by definition hampered. At first asking Vardalain, time between then and now has led to all the veteran players being cleared to help out- more on that later. New players are not in the King's confidence and so will not be interacting with this plot yet- we shall see how things go!
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As the game starts, everyone is present at the Palace for the 'opening ceremony'. The King will turn up to start events off sooner or later, right now, there are vast crowds in the palace, on the streets, on the rooftops... there are streamers and confetti and people are selling things all over the place...
It is a good time to meet people and each other, and ask me or them questions.
Later on, we shall get onto what Tournament events there are, people's equipment (that's going to be kept simpler than last time, which took months), and how the investigation into the Traitor can start. For now... people should just interact and have fun.