Middle-Earth CAMPAIGN
At the end of 2022, our regular gaming group expressed interest in roleplaying in the world of Middle-Earth, and as any good DM would, I agreed to make it happen. January 2023 was spent rolling up some characters, fleshing out character backgrounds, and as the DM, figuring out how, where, when, and will it be fun...on February 18th we began our journey as the "Second Fellowship" at the beginning of the War of the Ring during the Third Age.
Session One begins with our characters in Rivendell standing in the wings of the courtyard while Elrond holds the Council of the Fellowship. It is December 25th, 3018. We listen as the Fellowship of the Ring is formed and then leaves on their quest. (As the DM, I played this part of the movie and let the players watch and listen). We file into the courtyard and speak with Elrond about another mission. A special mission. We are to travel north, to the Grey Mountains, and search for any sign of the dragons that may be left in the world. Perhaps we will find a missing dwarven ring of power. Next, we shall travel east, past the Iron Hills, to the far-off Red Mountains and try to find any sign of the Blue Wizards. Did they perish? Were they subverted to evil? If still for the Free People, they may make a valuable ally in the coming war against Sauron. After a good night's rest, the "Second Fellowship" will start their journey.
The party begins their quest on December 26th, 3018 and travels north, following the western edge of the Misty Mountains. The first day ends without incident and the party finds a small cave nestled inside a small canyon. The two dwarves Throme and Pete and the elf Devriel decide to explore the cave, while Thandir of Gondor builds a fire, and Herudig of Rohan gathers more firewood. Halyon the ranger goes hunting for supper and soon downs a deer. While field dressing his prize, the ranger is ambushed by three orcs. Thandir and Herudig hear the disturbance and quickly run to help. Meanwhile, quite deep in the cave, the two dwarves and the elf maiden stumble upon two orcs fighting over a satchel. A battle ensues but the orcs are quickly dispatched. Outside, those three orcs are also quickly slain, and we find out that Thandir has an unhealthy hate for the green skins as he mercilessly mutilates one of the monsters.
Everyone meets back up at the campfire for some roasted deer meat and Pete goes through the satchel where he finds:
a small sack of silver coins, four iron spikes, 50 feet of rope, and a weathered old map of an underground complex. There are dwarven runes written on the map that translate to "Turgost" and "Eldrog the Eternal". A watch schedule is set up and the rest of the night is uneventful.
During last watch, a group of orcs try to ambush the party, but Throme spots them from his hiding spot and alerts the camp. Instead, the party sets up an ambush of their own. Using the elf as bait, two of the orcs are lured into the cave with the dwarves and Herudig, while three other orcs are attacked from the woods by Halyon and Thandir. Using arrows and javelins, most of the monsters are slain. The last orc ends up in single combat with the ranger. It doesn't stand a chance against Halyon and his enchanted sword. The ranger searches the area for some special herbs before the party breaks camp and continues north.
The Second Fellowship spends the rest of December 27th in an uneventful journey, arriving on the outskirts of the Ettenmoors just before dusk. The party makes camp and soon has more deer meat cooking over a campfire. This draws the attention of a mountain troll. The group decides to leave the fire and meat for the troll and instead of fighting, to sneak away and camp somewhere else. The last thing they hear of the monster is it munching on some roasted meat. Happy and content. The rest of the night is quiet.
The morning of December 28th finds the party breaking a cold camp and continuing their journey north into the Ettenmoors, following an old trail that will eventually lead them into the Misty Mountains via the Northron Pass.
While traveling, Pete the dwarf studies the old map he found in the satchel...
"I seem to remember something about a place called Turgost from my childhood. An abandoned dwarven city in the Grey Mountains. Some called it Turogost" said Pete.
"Why was it abandoned, you think?" asked Thandir.
"It was a nursery rhyme. Turgost of Silver. A dragon named Orgrim. Something about lightning melting stone. It was a scary story" replied the dwarf.
"Oh wow yeah! Think of all the things I could harvest from the body of a dragon!" exclaimed Devriel the elf. She was fond of collecting organs and bodily fluids from monsters.
"My ancestor Fram, son of Frumgar, slew the dragon Scatha back in the twenty-five hundreds" Herudig shrugged. "Not trying to flex or anything. Just saying."
"I heard Scatha was a wee tiny dragon though" Throme said under his breath, trying not to laugh.
