New Lord of the Rings Game ready to go soon! Interested players- sign up here!
Play after the end of the first part of my Lord of the Rings game was given a break for a while; I have been busy with a whole lot of stuff and everyone was on holiday, and so forth. Everyone is now back but I am just giving this game- especially the showpiece fight which will be the biggest darn thing I have ever attempted here, this time DEFINITELY with maps and everything- a little more time for preperation.
The game will be ready to start soon, however, and I think I shall start recruitment from scratch to get a good idea of who will be involved.
In the year 1972 of the Third Age, the great Human Kingdom of Arnor is nearing total collapse. Long ago split into three parts, one third of it, Rhudaur, has been occupied by the enemy for centuries. Another third, Cardolan, has been shattered and torn to pieces. Only Arthedain, under the great King Arvedui (truest descendant of Isildur), holds out. Arthedain's borders are heavily fortified and the Kingdom remains safe. But the dreaded Witch-King of the mountain kingdom Angmar, who over the centuries has smashed down Arnor from the greatest of all Kingdoms to its present ruin, has armies that have become vast almost beyond imagining, growing every day. When the strike comes, it will be the death blow for all of Arnor.
Arvedui knows this is the end of his Kingdom- it was long prophecised, as was his name (meaning the Last King). Arthedain is alone, seemingly forsaken by its allies; the Gondorians down south are haughty and uncaring, and only the efforts of its sympathetic King have caused even the most spurious aid to be sent northwards. Elrond's Elves have ceased their watch on Angmar, and no help comes from Rivendell now. The other forces of man are weak, and divided. It seems there can be no hope for Arthedain.
Yet King Arvedui, advised by Gandalf the Grey, has a plan that will beat both the prophecy and defeat the Witch-King. He prepares to turn his attention to Cardolan. Cardolan is a lost cause, already finished, a waste of time and resources for the badly over-stretched Arthedain, the suffering of its people something Arthedain has been powerless to prevent. But Arvedui sees hope in Cardolan. Its western half is almost intact. If the scattered Lords and peoples of Cardolan can be persuaded to accept Arvedui as their King, then Arthedain and Cardolan will re-unite into the new, re-born Kingdom of Arnor. Arvedui will no longer be the Last King, but the First King of the new Kingdom. And if this Kingdom can hold, the show of unity will be a rallying point for the free peoples of Middle-Earth to come together and take on the Witch-King as one.
Now his plan comes into action. A Cardolani Lord holds the best hope for starting Arvedui's new alliance. But persuading the Cardolani people- long forsaken, and suspicious of Arvedui, will be hard. Arvedui therefore sends, with his own people, a group of diverse outsiders- Elves from Rivendell, Dwarves from the Mountain, humans from the world over, maybe even Hobbits; people who have come to Fornost and sympathise with their plight. These are the players, and their job is to demonstrate to the people of Cardolan that this is no attempt at diplomatic conquest by Arvedui, but the realising of a vision where all are united against the darkness.
But the Witch-King has somehow predicted Arvedui's move. Dark things are happening in Cardolan, and what should be a simple piece of diplomacy turns into a desperate war to keep Arvedui's fledgling hope alive, in which only the efforts of the players can possibly prevail...
Part two of my Lord of the Rings story, The Fortress of Baronar, all set entirely inside Tolkien's published works and continuity, is starting soon! Anyone interested in playing, let me know here!