Darvan replies smoothly, "Palidan and I were just talking about some matters concerning Cardolan, but I grow tired of talk sometimes, and as I find it is impossible to hunt around the city, especially so close to the Tournament, I requested some activity from Lord Gorlim. He suggested I turn guide to some of the new arrivals, as I have no blade partner to practice with," with a slight bow, he finishes, "So here we are."
Kelvar is a local, Darvan- from his manner of dress he is clearly a Dunadan; he was with the Prince, until the Prince just stuck him on looking after Ellothiel.
Now, let's cut a long story short. Palidan and co are interested in finding out exactly what is going on in Arthedain, and Darvan wants to practice for the Tournament (and get chummy enough with the locals to go hunting). Ellothiel is intersted in the tournament and (I hope!) also not unintersted in the struggle against evil. Kelvar lives here and is kinda obliged to fight evil, though he is not 100% in command of the facts because they don't tell everyone everything, but I also hope he is an open-minded kind of guy (not to mention a young, thrusting ambitious Dunadan) who doesn't mind helping these noble (not to mention Elven, and hence a great honour to be with) new friends... and HE wants to be in the Tournament as well!
Hence!
1. If any of you want to practice for the Tournament, feel free to use each other.
2. As a merry band you can get the full story of the plight of Arthedain!
For which a guy like Kelvar is handy, as he definitely knows the basics. Let's delve into what he knows, hmm?
(Please note this map is dated from 1000 years after this game, so is slightly off)
Here you can see the local geography. This is very zoomed in- Arthedain goes on much further to the north and west, Cardolan to the south and west. Rhudaur goes on a bit to the North and East, and soon after that you run into Angmar.
As you can see, this map covers the ground between the Grey Havens in the west where the Elves head to if they leave Middle-Earth, to Rivendell in the East.
Fornost is at the foot of the North Downs, near the top. Note to the west, by that large lake, is Annuminus- this used to be capital of Arnor. When Arnor split, Arthedain adopted Fornost as its capital instead, and Annuminus lost importance.
The other two capitals of Arnor became Tharbad for Cardolan- which is wayyyy to the South of this map- and Cameth Brin for Rhudaur- which is actually on the area covered by this map but unmarked by the era the map shows- Camith Brin is on the far side of the Weather Hills to Fornost.
You can see the Shire on the west- this does exist at this point, though it is relatively new. It is part of Arthedain. The Shire ends at the Old Forest, and beyond that are the Barrow Downs that are the current point of contention.
The great North-South road plunging from Fornost down past the Barrow Downs is called the 'Greenway' on that map. That is what it will be called later when it becomes disused- right now it is just that, the Great North-South Road, companion to the East-West road which runs from the White Downs to Rivendell.
Do not underestimate the importance of these roads- they are the arteries that civilisations depend on!
The East-West road is the border where Cardolan ends. The Weather Hills form the border between Arthedain and Rhudaur. Note the hill Weathertop (home of the destroyed fortress of Amon Sul)- this is the meeting point of all three Kingdoms.
Cardolan is also bordered on the West by the Brandywine river- anything west of that is part of Arthedain. Remember, Cardolan goes on a lot further down south and west, though.
In the very south-east corner of the map you can see the gates to Moria. Moria is not a name used in this period- these are instead the gates to the great Dwarven Kingdom of Khazad Dum!
Baranar is just underneath the South Downs, at the lower left corner of those downs, just off the North-South Road.
To give a wider view, here is a political map- you guys are in the top left. This gives you a better view of the size of Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur, and where Angmar is in relation. You can see where Arthedain borders Angmar itself, and so where Embylosse would have been.
Much of that map is politically incorrect, it being 1000 years out of date again- Rohan doesn't exist in our continuity, and very little is in Mordor (the black area in the bottom right).
The Anduin Vales, over the mountains from Arnor, is where the Eotheod (precursors to the Riders of Rohan) currently live.
Gondor is that variety of areas down by the wide mountain range in the south. Gondor used to cover most of the entirity of southern Middle-Earth, from the Horse-plains in the east to Endehlwaith in the west. However, the Great Plague and the invasion of the Wainriders has shrunk that greatly, although it is still larger at this point than the three areas in white listed on this map.
Mirkwood is listed on the map as three areas, many still call it the Greenwood at this point, but creeping evil is spreading across it from the South and hence its darker name is spreading.
Lorien is in the north of Fangorn, inside the Golden Wood (not seen on that map, which is purely political).
Bordering Angmar, at the top of the Misty Mountains, is Gundabad, the last remaining known dwelling of the Orcs. Gundabad is basically part of Angmar at this point.
To the east of Cardolan you should also note Dunland- original home of the Dunlendings.
I think that covers everyone.
Now, here is the historical and tactical situation.
As I am sure you know, Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur used to be one mighty Kingdom called Arnor, and that name is still used to generically refer to the area. They split in three after a terribly trivial succession dispute that led to three people claiming the throne, so in the end they forcibly settled for one third of the realm each. Then they started fighting each other- mostly for an area of land near Bree known as 'The Angle'. Much to the eternal depression of Elrond, watching helplessly from Rivendell, Dunadain Kings- members of his own family- were dying in battle with each other.
When the Witch-King set up shop up north, he created Angmar, and became master of all the Humans who dwelt there. He then made alliance with the orcs of Gundabad and the misty mountains (though 'gained command of' is more accurate than alliance), and also made pact with the Hillmen of Dunland to the south. Looking to the political map, you can see how he had Arnor beset by enemies north and south. You will also note that Arnor is far larger and, freaky powers or none, the Witch-King would have had a damn hard time if Arnor hadn't been warring with itself.
This was about 700 years ago. Angmar was ignored (the Witch-King unknown) for about a hundred years, when the Witch-King was strong enough to make his first move. He struck the weakest of the three, Rhudaur- which he was able to attack straight out of Angmar. Thus started the first invasion of Arnor.
This went on for a long time- heck, I could do whole campaigns about it. Basically, over the next few decades, Arthedain held firm- even though the Witch-King tried a surprise attack on Fornost itself- and Cardolan kind of stood up for itself, but Rhudaur was actually eaten away from within. When the Witch-King's final blow comes it crumpled immediately. Dunlendings did most of the work, and Rhudaur is now Dunlending occupied- the Lord of Cameth Brin is a Dunlending, and in fact is part of a Dunlending dynasty now several times older than the original Dunadain Rhudaur line was when destroyed! From that point on, Rhudaur has been a home of the enemy- any good people there are many centuries dead.
A triumphant Witch-King pushed on, and the next great battle was at the Fortress of Amon-Sul- Weathertop. The remaining armies of Rhudaur allied with the Cardolani neighbours to take on the Witch-King's main army. At first they were happy when the Arthedani sent their army as well- then pissed when all the army did was turn up, say the battle was a lost cause, nick the Palantir that was being kept in Amon Sul, and go home. The Dunadain armies were subsequently destroyed by the Witch-King, as was Amon Sul. Any faith Elrond had in Man was lost here.
Rhudaur now history, Cardolan was in serious trouble because they had just lost their main army. The Witch-King felt able to thrust out at Cardolan at will, and in the devastation that followed, it is at this point that the Cardolani nobility fled west to the Downs and buried their dead there, becoming later known as the Barrow Downs, see? That area was known then as Tyrn Gorthad, and the Cardolani at the time managed to fend off attacking forces of the Witch-King.
In fact the Witch-King never finished the job- he seemed to be not that bothered, and when the Elves- perhaps feeling sorry for Cardolan after the Arthedani betrayal- sent forth what forces they could muster to drive the Witch-King away, he withdrew his forces to Rhudaur and Angmar and has pretty much sat there ever since.
Elrond hoped Man would sort out his own mess but he never did- without the Witch-King making active advances, Arthedain and Cardolan- obviously, not on great terms since Amon Sul- squabbled again and never aided each other. When the Great Plague spread up from Gondor (400 years ago), it wiped out the last of the Cardolani nobility. Cardolan, already weak, fell apart into the dozens of mini-states it is today. As earlier mentioned, the Elves are now sick of sending their numbers- very few- to die, in order to rectify Man's mistakes, only for the same thing to happen again later, so the Elves may as well not have bothered. They are declining now to help again.
That left Arthedain- still strong and mostly untouched, much as you see it today. It has been centuries since the Witch-King has bothered to advance again- but over the last couple of years, reports of swelling armies- then followed by the plot events of this game, culminating with the attacks on Baranar and Embylosse- have convinced people that the Witch-King is preparing a new war.
But remember, this is not like Sauron about to destroy the world, and for other people of Middle-Earth, the spats between Arnor and its neighbours are local troubles for those people to sort out.
In the last 50 years, things have become interesting indeed- but that is for you guys to find out.
But what you do know:
1. Last year, the Witch-King seemed to declare open season on Cardolan- it has not been invaded as such, but lots of casual Dunlending- and occasionally Orcish- raiders are swarming all over its east. Some of its smaller states have been crushed, and a great tide of refugees fled westward, many coming to Arthedain. The more civilised parts of Cardolan- especially the south near Tharbad- are untouched, but much of Cardolan is very dangerous now- Baranar being a notable exception in the North.
2. The Elves have recently declined to defend the Last Bridge, which on the map you can see is on the way to Rivendell. The Dunlendings hold it and are denying traffic. That is making it hard to get to Rivendell or back- you may remember you had to take a huge detour last game.
3. Meanwhile, the North-South road is not blocked but does run through a large part of the dangerous area of Cardolan, so transit is difficult- Baranar is strategically important for the access to guarding the road it gives.
4. There are no mass armies ready to invade anywhere- it is not that immediate. There are, as ever, hordes of Dunlendings in Dunland and Rhudaur, and the number of enemy forces in the mountains of Angmar and Gundabad are unknown. The Arthedain strategy has been to free up their armies for use elsewhere by use of the mighty fortifications on the Arthedain border, which have kept it safe for centuries. However, in recognition of the growing strength of Angmar, that programme was recently expanded- but the centrepiece of that strategy was Embylosse!
Which is why its recent destruction has everyone worried- Arthedain needs a new strategy.
So, there you go!