Cardolan- nothing to stop them going through large parts of it. But then you are back to square one, because Cardolan's border with Arthedain, which is in a safer part of Cardolan anyway, is guarded, and there would still be plenty of people that would spot Orcs coming through that area.
Whilst Cardolan is a bit iffy, and full of Dunlending raiders, most of the forces come out of Rhudaur or Angmar- and of that, most of the Orcs come from Angmar alone (even if they have come from Gundabad beyond, they would come through Angmar to get anywhere).
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Gorlim smiles.
"Well, that's good to hear. In fact, he is very interested in forming groups of varied tpyes like yourselves. He sent one such group of many parts to Baranar, and he may ask for others in future. As you did well on his behalf on Baranar and are showing interest, I think he may be interested indeed in your services.
"But for now... this is a time to enjoy ourselves. The Tournament opens soon!"
Well, anyone is welcome to do that.
Meanwhile, we have finally completed the process of updating you guys with the plot. A beleagured Arthedain, under its King, seeks victory not in outright war, but by putting its faith in the prophecy of Malbeth the Seer- and hence, Arvedui seeks alliance, to form a new Kingdom, and seeks people such as yourselves to demonstrate a unity of the Free People's of Middle Earth in order to show the value of such a thing. That is pretty much your purpose in this game.
Arthedain's struggle is the overall plotline that holds the Campaign together; each story has an individual focus on a different element.
For convenience, here are the various plot threads summarised.
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THE TOURNAMENT AND THE TRAITOR: The Tournament- a good chance to hone skills, get xp and make friends- is the backdrop in which the players will be looking for the Traitor on the Council (new players will be taken into that plot in a little while; right now it is Vardalain (Dexx) leading the way. A string of reverses to Arthedain has been put by many down to the power of the Witch-King, but King Arvedui sees through this mask of fear and thinks the answer is much simpler- even if the idea of a traitor on the Council is otherwise unthinkable.
Arvedui wants that problem solved but can't give any official power lest the Traitor be tipped off. The Traitor must be identified by good detecxtive and investigative work. Plenty of questions arise- why betray? What benefits are there? How betray? Knowing information is one thing- passing it to the Enemy, quite another.
Much could depend on this, hence it being the focus of the story.
KING ARVEDUI- For 2000 years, the power of Man has been steadily blunted. Gondor and Arnor have fought Civil Wars, intolerance and ignorance has grown. The Elves look on in despair. Yet this man reverses the fortunes of his Realm, seeks to unify by diplomacy where others have split by force, and brings the attention of Gandalf himself. What manner of Man is the King?
THE PROPHECY: Arvedui believes the Prophecy implicity. But can the fortunes of an entire Realm really be entrusted on an apparetly impossible mission, simply down to the words of an old man? Plenty- even among the most powerful in the Realm- are truly sceptical of such things. Besides, such power is seen as... creepy. Creepy enough amongst Elves, let alone Men; 'Magic; is too often the domain of the Enemy.
THE WITCH KING: Mirroring the story of Arvedui is his foe, the Witch-King of Angmar. What manner of man is HE? This King of Witches has plagued Arnor for centuries, which obviously enough is suspicious in of itself. Rumours tell of a Black Numenorean (basically an evil Dunadan) who has learned dark powers, elongated his life, bound the Orcs together and found alliance iwth the Dunlendings in order to take Arnor (they have always failed to take Gondor, lacking the strength). But this Man of Evil has shown unusual power lately- and the cursing of the Barrow Downs is a power beyond anything seen in centuries or more. Is he gaining in power? And how?
THE ELVES: Two millennia on from the Last Alliance, and the 'Last' but seems rather final. The Elves are, frankly, pissed off with Man, who seems to be failing at every turn. Elrond has gone further than any other to help Arnor; many Elves- who had no reason to risk their immortal lives- died saving it once before. Now, enough is enough; if Man is going to destroy himself, let it happen. Rivendell will help them no longer.
But even Rivendell will still take visitors; the Golden Wood of Lothlorien is considered by many to be as hostile as Angmar. Galadriel never cared much for Men even at the best of times, and cares still less now. But the Witch-King interests her.
At the far west of Arthedain, Cirdan guards the Grey Havens. Always the leat active of the Elven Lords, his message to Arthedain has always been one of passive friendship. But Cirdan does now what he alwayes does- he builds ships, and sometimes Elves come to leave Middle-Earth forever on them. He does not involve himself with the affairs of the land.
Finally, in the forests of Mirkwood, the King of the Sylans and his family rule firmly and oppose Evil vigorously- but they are themselves beset, for the Mirkwood was once the Greenwood; a creeping evil of Spiders and other dark things is preading across it.
Man clamours for help from the Elves. But do they deserve it? Even if Man did, do the Elves even have the strength to fight any more, outside of their unassailable Havens? And why should the Elves help- when Man itself will not help his brother. Which brings us to...
GONDOR: Surely if any help is to come to the Dunadan Kingdom, it is from the other Dunadan Kingdom? Founded as one Kingdom, split only by circumstance, surely the protectors of Man will aid each other?
Fat chance. Look at the historyof the real world- America wasn't going to send millions of its own to die in foreign wars until it was directy threatened, and it is hard to argue with that logic. Arnor is almost forgotten in Gondor- were it not for Arvedui, it would be totally so. And the distance between the two is great, and there are no cars or aeroplanes in Middle-Earth.
Gondor's King- a General made King- is wise enough and amiable to Arnor. But even he will not send aid as Gondor recovers after the invasion of the Wainriders- and as for his won Council of Lords, they are very much against any such aid.
THE NORTHMEN: Other than the good guy Dunadan of the West, wirth their Elvish blood, abd the bad guy Easterlings of the... err... East, generally considered to be all bad, one other major Human ethnicity exists, the men of the North. The Woodsmen of the Mirkwood live close to the Elves of that wood also, and fight the same evil they do. The Men of Dale in the Northeast have a civilisation of their own- but they were hard torn by thr Wainriders. To the North, the strange shapeshifting nobles of Beorn dwell, vigorous opponents of Orcs and the like- but who would deal with these stenge men? Finally, their rebellion against the Wainriders complete, the various tribes of the Eothraic people have combined into one nation- the Eotheod (centuries later, the Riders of Rohan)- and settled between the Mountains and Mirkwood. Of all people, they are the most likely to fight Angmar simply on general principles- they RWALLY hate Orcs, and they live uncomfortably close to Angmar. But... does this new nation, barely recovered form long years of oppression, have the strength to do anything?
THE DWARVES: With no Dwarvish player, little has been said of the mighty Dwarvish Halls. At these times, they are phenomneally powerful. The Dwarves are rich and strong, and no-one dares cross them- not even the Orcs. But they are also spectacularly neutral- so long as they are making money, they really don't care about much else.
THE HOBBITS: Ditto with the no players. Who, of course, cares about the Hobbits? Nearly everyone does not know they exist. The Enemy has no clue at all, and cares little. Some of the Elves vbageuly know, simply because they see far. Gondor has no idea at all, nor do the Northmen. Only Arnor really knows of their existance, because these funny little people settled in the west of Arthedain some centuries ago, and agreed to upkeep the roads and bridges of their land in return to having somewhere to live. Sometimes they come to pay money and homage to the King. But surely these irrelevant people have no part to play in things?
THE PLAN: If others won't help, what about the centre of Arvedui's plan- Arnor itself? Rhudaur is long fallen, but there may yet be help for Cardolan. Its Northeast is shattered, and refugees fill it. But to the south, many Lords remain ruling it with some strength. To the northwest, Lrd Baranar has made an agreement with Arthedain, and the borders of Arvedui's influence have grown somewhat. If Cardolan COULD be unified and turned its strength against the Witch-King... well, Prophecy or no Prophecy, the advantages are obvious. But the dozens of competing Lords do not want any of what Arvedui offers. They want to live their own lives, to be their own rulers- and not to make themselves targets.
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Arvedui's plan seems imppssible. How can anyone draw such a split world together? You guys are the exception; few really care. He wants you to set an example to all.. it;s going to be an uphill task.