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Angelalex242 wrote:
"Lady Undómiel," said Aragorn, "the hour is indeed hard, yet it was made even in that day when we met under the white birches in the garden of Elrond, where none now walk. And on the hill of Cerin Amroth when we forsook both the Shadow and the Twilight this doom we accepted. Take counsel with yourself, beloved, and ask whether you would indeed have me wait until I wither and fall from my high seat unmanned and witless. Nay, lady, I am the last of the Númenoreans and the latest King of the Eldar Days; and to me has been given not only a span thrice that of Men of Middle-earth, but also the grace to go at my will, and give back the gift. Now, therefore, I will sleep.
"I speak no comfort to you, for there is no comfort for such pain within the circles of the world. The uttermost choice is before you: to repent and go to the Havens and bear away into the West the memory of our days together that shall there be evergreen but never more than a memory; or else to abide the Doom of Men."
"Nay, dear lord," she said, "that choice is long over. There is now no ship to bear me hence, and I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or nill: the loss and the silence. But I say to you, King of the Númenoreans, not till now have I understood the tale of your people and their fall. As wicked fools I scorned them, but I pity them at last. For if this is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter to receive."
"So it seems," he said. "But let us not be overthrown at the final test, who of old renounced the Shadow and the Ring. In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound forever in the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory, Farewell!"

"Estel, Estel!" she cried, and with that even as he took her hand and kissed it, he fell into sleep. Then a great beauty was revealed in him, so that all who after came there looked on him with wonder; for they saw the grace of his youth, and the valor of his manhood, and the wisdom and majesty of his age were all blended together. And long there he lay, an image of the splendour of the Kings of Men in glory undimmed before the breaking of the world.
But Arwen went forth from the House, and the light of her eyes was quenched, and it seemed to her people that she had become cold and grey as nightfall in winter that comes without a star. Then she said farewell to Eldarion, and to her daughters, and to all whom she had loved; and she went out from the city of Minas Tirith and passed away to the land of Lórien, and dwelt there alone under the fading trees until winter came. Galadriel had passed away and Celeborn had also gone, and the land was silent.
There at last when the mallorn-leaves were falling, but spring had not yet come, she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth; and there is her green grave, until the world is changed, and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten by the men that come after, and elanor and nimphredil bloom no more east of the sea.

I stand corrected. If there was mention in the appendix that Aragorn was the last to be able to return the Gift, then it would have been in the above quote. Either I made this up entirely, or I might remember it from elsewhere.

Hence my interpretation of Dunedain returning the gift.

Any of them can do so, recalling the dignity of Numenor in doing so. However, they have to be untained by Shadow to do so, or they start getting grasping and ungracious with their lives (like not so faithful Numenor). Assuming a Dunedain knows his time is getting near (and with Foresight cultural blessing, they know...), if he has no permanent shadow, he can sing or craft away any temp shadow he has and when it hits 0, die with dignity in the splendor of Numenor.

Yes, well, if the Orc Cults infesting Gondor succeed in their plots Eldarian won't get the opportunity to return any gifts anyway.

I have sent you a PM reply Michael, hope you like them!

When as a LM you are running a campaign 'outside' the time period of the books, the first question you need to ask is:

'what are the differences, especially in attitudes,beliefs etc. and what are the similarities'?

As someone who has studied History deeply, you have to incorporate the feeling of history into your campaign.

So, in answer to why Minas Mallor not Minas Anor, the simplest answer is that we are dealing with a different time period and a different outlook - so 'Tower of the Rising Sun' because the citizens of Gondor felt at the time of Eldarion's accession that they were the centre of the world - they did not want to go back to the old!
But they keep the name of Gondor because they are also aware of History!

Robin S.

Michael, having just checked your maps closely,

I would not have any forested or woodland areas in the plateau of Gorgoroth, as it is still a desert (and not only due to the long presence of Sauron - have a look at the land around the volcanoes of the Nth Island of New Zealand and you will see the land around for miles is devastated due to lava flows), nor would I have many in Nurn due to the land being mostly irrigated farms (with canals). It will take many centuries for the land to recover from Mt.Doom's activity.

Also, don't forget the land around the Black Gate is a Blighted Place (see The Black Gate is Closed in The Two Towers for description)

Historians of Middle-earth surmise that large irrigation systems were first devised by Sauron in the Second Age in Nurn. Try and think up new names for some of the cities along the lines of Minas Mallor.


Robin S.

Thanks, Robin! I've taken much of your advice here, and cleared out many of the forests in Gorgoroth and Nurn. I've also extended the area inside Udun out to the easterly road, making it a Shadowed area. I'll probably be adding a few more Nurn and Mordor locations as my players approach that area. For now they're in Rohan and on their way to the Treegarth of Orthanc. (Which is another thing I need to change on the map -- ah well. Tomorrow.)

[Edit] Here's the new Adventurer's Map:
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i6/vi ... v7pm8p.png

I have a Fourth Age map of Isengard that I found on the internet if you are interested!

Robin S.

Yes please! that would be great.

Hey all, here is the next region of the maps, including Lindon, The Shire, and Arnor of the Reunited Kingdom. As always, your thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Adventurer's Map
Loremaster's Map

michael.harrel wrote:Hey all, here is the next region of the maps, including Lindon, The Shire, and Arnor of the Reunited Kingdom. As always, your thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Very nice. I see that you did go with Gelion for the river in Forlindon. Thanks for using my suggestion of Siruial for the river that feeds into the R. Rhune from the Twilight Hills. I had fun coming up with that.

I do wonder if Cir Nogrod should actually be Cirith Nogrod (Nogrod Pass). Cirith seems to be the more accepted usage.

Tolkien never gave an indivual name to the ridge on the east side of the Southern Ered Luin. I like Emyn Sarn (Stoney Ridge) for it. Do you feel that it should be named?