Eve of Mirkwood [Full]

[Dlsharrock]

*PLEASE READ*

Thanks for all your character submissions/ideas so far. As mentioned in a previous post (but may have been missed in skim reading, so I'll post it here where it's a bit more prominent) I think we have enough characters to be going on with for now. I'd like the group to be between 4 and 6 players. So far I have submissions/ideas from:

Fenris
Ilium
Shayuri
Redclaw
Binder Fred
renau1g
Necro_Kinder

I realise this is 7, but I'm anticipating at least one no-show, maybe two or three (based on past experience, and I'll be shooting myself in the foot this time probably, but never mind). Necro_Kinder, I'll allow you to slip through the fingers of my previous cap on characters as it wasn't a very prominent announcement and you probably missed it. Plus you sound enthusiastic and I like that

If, after I return from holiday on 13th April, any of the above have not posted again, or gotten back to me with a character, I'll assume they're no longer interested, and if enough are no longer interested, I'll open up spaces for new applications. I think we probably have a full compliment though.

One last thing: if you sent me a character idea by email, I probably didn't get it as I only just realised my email setting is out of date. I've updated it now so please resend. Sorry 'bout that.

 

[Dlsharrock]

we could always go with a logging camp

I like this idea a lot. Definitely has legs (and logs). I'd agree with placing it adjacent to Lake Esgaroth and the town of Dale as anything further south would be way open to attacks by Wainriders and the nasties of Mirkwood and probably wouldn't last long. The river in question, btw, is called River Running.

 

[Redclaw]

Aerec, son of Shild, was born as his family left the northern reaches of the Anduin. His father was chased from the vale by his people, unjustly accused of betraying them. (One thought is that he was a minor member of the royal family and was trying to make peace with the dwarves by offering up some of the dragon's treasure.)

Aerec was raised in Dale (or whatever village we agree on) amid tales of the valiant horsemen of his ancestry, and was trained by his father in the fighting style and riding skill of the Eotheod. He spends much of his time imagining a return to his rightful lands and people, although he has become attached to the people of Dale.

I plan on making him a straight fighter and having him take mounted combat, ride-by-attack, mounted archery and weapon focus (longsword).

Question: Did you really mean to have us use starting gold rather than average for 2nd level characters? That'll make it tough for me as far as actually having a horse goes, but I guess I can work with it.

 

[Binder Fred]

Aerec, son of Shild, was born as his family left the northern reaches of the Anduin.

Hey there, Redclaw,

Would Aerec be interrested in working at this little logging camp I know of? His skill with horses would make him perfect for the skidding part of the event (dragging cut trees to the landing where they are set off on the river; usually these are two person teams, one woodcutter, one man in charge of skidding). May help pay for that horse of his.

Renau, you still interrested in that dwarf? I was thinking of taking the smith role with maybe a Broadbeam dwarf, but I can make do if you want the spot. Two dwarves seem sort of unlikely after all, unless they're related.

Binder Fred, recruiting away.

 

[Dlsharrock]

Thanks for the character submission Redclaw!

Aerec, son of Shild, was born as his family left the northern reaches of the Anduin. His father was chased from the vale by his people, unjustly accused of betraying them. (One thought is that he was a minor member of the royal family and was trying to make peace with the dwarves by offering up some of the dragon's treasure.)

The dragon's treasure? By which you mean that of Scatha the Worm? This event doesn't take place at this point in time but is the concern of king Frum of the Eotheod, son of the current king Frumgar. It also relies on the dwarfs being present in the Grey Mountains, which they currently are not (and cannot possibly be) for which reason I can't fiddle with the chronology to make the story fit. I'm sure there could be other reasons for his father to go into exile. Self-induced exile for some reason or another may put the Eotheod in a better light in Aerec's eyes.

Some notes regarding the Eotheod would be useful at this point I feel, in order to build up your background or give you some knowledge of the race from which your character sprang.

Boring bit: In the official Middle-Earth chronology, the Eotheod (actually Éothéod and that's the last time I use accents in this game, it could get out of hand ) are the ancestors of the horse masters of Rohan and they don't move into the Vale of Anduin until *after* the fall of Angmar, which hasn't happened yet. However, I have included them in our period (and thus risk the wrath of purists) because I think the Rohirrim are just too cool to ignore as a race and I wanted them, or at least their forerunners, to play a prominent part in our setting. As they don't play any part in the history of Angmar or Arnor I didn't see a problem with it.

The reason I didn't just include Rohan is because Rohan simply can't exist yet. The Stewards of Gondor don't seek the alliance of the Eotheod until they're desperate, and the Plains of Calenardhon have only recently been diminished as part of the Gondor Realm (they are still within Gondor's borders, but a plague has wiped out most of the inhabitants), so they won't be given to the Eotheod for services rendered for quite some time yet. The kings of Gondor are too proud to call for help from Anduin. Indeed their pride will eventually be their downfall, but that's another story.

In any case, the ancestors of the Rohirrim were known as the Éothéod and were given the province of Calenardhon by Gondor after the Battle of the Field of Celebrant. That battle won't occur for many hundreds of years and therefore terms like Riddermark, the Westfold, and so on are not yet known to the Eotheod, nor are the well known Rohan domains like Helms Deep or Dunharrow (though these places do exist).

The Eotheod as a settled race live in the Vale between the rivers Langwell and Greylin at the source of the Anduin. They live in a small town called Framsburg under their king Frumgar and often travel on horseback along the shore of Anduin and the fringe of Mirkwood. They have a long standing connection with Gondor (trade and also ancestry) and have even been seen as far afield as Pelagir. They are excellent riders and are therefore capable of travelling great distances compared with the other races of Middle-Earth.

Aerec was raised in Dale (or whatever village we agree on) amid tales of the valiant horsemen of his ancestry, and was trained by his father in the fighting style and riding skill of the Eotheod. He spends much of his time imagining a return to his rightful lands and people, although he has become attached to the people of Dale.

Nice. And his emblem (and his father's emblem) is the white horse of the Eotheod, which he probably holds dear (attached). The white horse has always represented the Eotheod. It symbolises Felarof, Lord of the Mearas, in his evergreen field. The Mearas are a legendary horse long sought by the Eotheod in the lands of Middle-Earth as maiar spirits in horse form. It is said only the kings and princes of Men can ride the Mearas who will throw from their backs all lesser Men.

Question: Did you really mean to have us use starting gold rather than average for 2nd level characters? That'll make it tough for me as far as actually having a horse goes, but I guess I can work with it.

The starting gold is just to equip with the basics. I usually redress any common sense problems when I know what the character is. For a horsemaster, for example, a horse is probably a good idea but not necessarily something he needs to purchase given the likely content of his father's stables This is just my loose way of setting up characters though. If it's a problem for other players or gives rise to confusion then I see no problem with using the average for 2nd level characters.

 

[Redclaw]

Sorry about that. I thought I had put the timeline together, but I guess I was still a bit off. Since you had the Eotheod at the northern end of the Anduin I figured it was likely after Frumgar's reign, and therefore probably after Scatha's death and the resulting promblems. Since that's not the case I'll come up with some other reason for Shild's exile/presence in Dale. I want to keep Aerec interested in the Eotheod, and even have him romanticize them a little, but still have a reason for he and his father not to rejoin them.

Maybe Aerec's mother is a woman of Dale whom Shild met by chance near the border of the two lands. He was forced to choose between his people and his love. While he has willingly settled down to create a life in Dale he can't help fostering the love of adventure and horsecraft that he sees in his son.

Don't worry about setting me straight on chronology. I fear that I'm just not as well read on the history of Middle-Earth as I should be. I know the big four, but my knowledge doesn't go far beyond them. I'm happy to stay true to the time you've selected, I just need help getting the details straight.

 

[Dlsharrock]

Sorry about that.

Absolutely no reason to apologise. I probably confused you by setting the Eotheod there in the first place. By rights they should be further northwest at this point anyway.

With regard to chronology, and this kind of applies across the board for all players or visitors who choose to post in this thread, I intend to act as both GM/moderator and walking encyclopedia (to the best of my ability) during the character creation process and, to a lesser extent, during gameplay. I'm not the last word with all of Arda history, but this particular period I've researched very thoroughly before setting the game in order to (hopefully) give players a genuine exploration of Middle-Earth circa TA 1874.

Any chronological corrections I make are either FYI (to help with character creation process) or my own rambling. It's not my intention to be a pain in the ass pedant about the chronology and don't intend to spend the whole game banging on about it. Where a PC refers to a place that doesn't exist yet (if Aerec was wandering with his friends along the shores of Anduin and waxed lyrical on the beauty of Meduseld at this time of year, for example, when such a place doesn't yet exist) I'd correct you for purposes of keeping everyone abreast of what does or doesn't exist, has or hasn't happened and so forth. A sort of piecemeal introduction to the setting which will eventually build up to give you a sound idea of the world around your character.

Don't worry about setting me straight on chronology. I fear that I'm just not as well read on the history of Middle-Earth as I should be. I know the big four, but my knowledge doesn't go far beyond them. I'm happy to stay true to the time you've selected, I just need help getting the details straight.

As I mentioned in my first post, knowledge of the chronology isn't a requirement at all. I'm just happy to have a willing audience to whom I can blather on about Lord of the Rings history and who isn't my girlfriend. I think she's quite glad too

 

[renau1g]

Renau, you still interrested in that dwarf? I was thinking of taking the smith role with maybe a Broadbeam dwarf, but I can make do if you want the spot. Two dwarves seem sort of unlikely after all, unless they're related.

Binder Fred, recruiting away.

I'll take the human, I've got a dwarf in another game going so I don't mind taking the human. I'll work up a barbarian story ending up at a logging camp, probably his great strength would be beneficial.

 

[Binder Fred]

I'll take the human, I've got a dwarf in another game going so I don't mind taking the human.

Thanks! Seems I *was* rather looking forward to playing this guy after all.

I'll work up a barbarian story ending up at a logging camp, probably his great strength would be beneficial.

Hehe. Maybe he can skid without horses?

Forgot to mention this to Redclaw before, but the most dangerous, and therefore best paying jobs, are no doubt with the draftmen, following the logs down the river and stepping into the thick of things when/if they get stuck. Lots of agility and daring-do involved. Usually they unclog it with their cant hooks, but when it's really tight the modern version used to toss-in a stick of dynamite or three. Don't know if there would be a Middle-earth equivalent besides getting the horses down and pulling with ropes/chains.... Dave?

While I'm at it, I'm also wondering about the elven view re human logging of the woods. Could the elves and the Dale people have struck some sort of bargain or is it all under the table right now? Maybe we could have the equivalent of the modern-day forestry engineer marking the trees to be felled beforehand, an elf envoy who does or does not take his job too seriously (For some reason I see him planting clues and poems about the day's target instead of marking them with a clear X . What's your thoughts on this, Shayuri? Want to come-in on the logging front? It's the wave of the future/past/alternate history of the planet!

Binder Fred, working on it.

 

[Shayuri]

An excellent question, Binder.

What are your thoughts, GM? I was thinking at first of a sort of "refugee" from the corrupting influence of Mirkwood, but if there are elves that deal with the interloping outsiders...I mean, good men and women of Dale to make sure they don't overstep the bounds of common sense and decency then I could definitely take that part. I suspect I would enjoy finding little ways to remind them that if the forest is metaphorically a lake...they are amphibians, and I am a fish.