The Gathering of Five Armies

[Falenthal]

Does it actually say anywhere that the Gathering of Five Armies is an annual event? I see reference to the "first" Gathering, but not to any others or to any frequency.

I blurly remember that in Darkening of Mirkwood there's a mention in one of the years to a second Gathering. But as the Darkening is beginning, not all leaders attend (some have their own problems at their frontiers) and it's a powerful way to underline for the characters that all those "brotherhood among all folks" are gone. Specially if they attended the first gathering and, afterwards, learn from the problems of Beorn with the Viglunds, Thranduil with the spiders and the issues with Bardings lumbering in his forest, Mogdred and the Woodmen, etc.
Wilderland has once again succumbed to the isolationist behaviour of all kingdoms, and only some actions by the heroes manage to get them together once in a while from there on.

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Does it actually say anywhere that the Gathering of Five Armies is an annual event? I see reference to the "first" Gathering, but not to any others or to any frequency.

I blurly remember that in Darkening of Mirkwood there's a mention in one of the years to a second Gathering. But as the Darkening is beginning, not all leaders attend (some have their own problems at their frontiers) and it's a powerful way to underline for the characters that all those "brotherhood among all folks" are gone. Specially if they attended the first gathering and, afterwards, learn from the problems of Beorn with the Viglunds, Thranduil with the spiders and the issues with Bardings lumbering in his forest, Mogdred and the Woodmen, etc.
Wilderland has once again succumbed to the isolationist behaviour of all kingdoms, and only some actions by the heroes manage to get them together once in a while from there on.

The Crossings of Celduin, the adventure set during the festival, only says that the first Gathering of the Five Armies takes place five years after the battle in 2946. The adventure also has to start in 2946 at the earliest, so it either takes place during the inaugural one or a future one. I have the feeling that the first Gathering happening five years after the battle is where people are "remembering" that it takes place every five years. And this makes sense to me, as others have posted, since it is a major regional gathering and all those different leaders are not going to make that journey every year. Of course, there could easily be smaller versions of the Gathering in the four years between the big Gatherings that the leaders do not attend, but send their envoys to instead.

[Rich H]

Lots of stuff about Dale and the festivities to be found in my Guide to Dale: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nmok5kyz1qe6x ... 9.pdf?dl=0 within my resources thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=62

RIch, that's a great resource. I especially enjoyed your pie-eating contest, and the High Feast Random Events, any number of which give PCs an opportunity to spin off into a mini adventure of their own. Little side quests with minimal impact on the main story are always welcome, as they let the players color in the edges around the story.

Glad you like it!

Lots of stuff about Dale and the festivities to be found in my Guide to Dale: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nmok5kyz1qe6x ... 9.pdf?dl=0

Wow! Would be quite happy to pay money for this! I'm just getting into the One Ring and wanted to say thanks for doing this.

You're very welcome and thank you for the compliment. As an aside, check out the pdf of the Guide to Trait Usage; being newly into TOR you may find it useful. Oh, and welcome to the forum!

[Stormcrow]

I have the feeling that the first Gathering happening five years after the battle is where people are "remembering" that it takes place every five years. And this makes sense to me, as others have posted, since it is a major regional gathering and all those different leaders are not going to make that journey every year.

To me, it sounds more like a one-off celebration, plus a summoning of Wilderland leaders to try to forge bonds and strategize. Given that things go downhill in Wilderland after a decade or so, I could imagine it being the only event of its kind.

[Falenthal]

A celebration that is intended to be held every 5 years, but that doesn't in the end due to lack of motivation from the leaders, is still more in line with the theme and mood of Darknening.

[Rich H]

A celebration that is intended to be held every 5 years, but that doesn't in the end due to lack of motivation from the leaders, is still more in line with the theme and mood of Darknening.

This is what I went with...

I presented one in 2946 with the Eagles attending, after receiving their invitation from the PCs and Balin, as well as other Cultures from far afield along with numerous festivities as well as an optimistic mood and celebratory nature for the whole of the gathering and associated events.

A second was then held in 2951, highlighting notable absences; Beornings and Woodmen representatives as well as the Eagles in addition to no formal delegation from the Elves of Mirkwood (due to the destruction of trees by men from Dale and Laketown). This therefore made the second event feel very much smaller, and less of a celebration, than the first. At this point in time I also ran the 'Crossings of Celduin' as part of those events so the festival finished in betrayal, death, and war.

There will not be a third.

Having two festivals felt like the right way to go; the first was full of optimism and companionship, and looking to a brighter future for Wilderland, with the second showing a decline and highlighting potential issues but then quickly descending into tragedy.

[Enevhar Aldarion]

A celebration that is intended to be held every 5 years, but that doesn't in the end due to lack of motivation from the leaders, is still more in line with the theme and mood of Darknening.

This is what I went with...

I presented one in 2946 with the Eagles attending, after receiving their invitation from the PCs and Balin, as well as other Cultures from far afield along with numerous festivities as well as an optimistic mood and celebratory nature for the whole of the gathering and associated events.

A second was then held in 2951, highlighting notable absences; Beornings and Woodmen representatives as well as the Eagles in addition to no formal delegation from the Elves of Mirkwood (due to the destruction of trees by men from Dale and Laketown). This therefore made the second event feel very much smaller, and less of a celebration, than the first. At this point in time I also ran the 'Crossings of Celduin' as part of those events so the festival finished in betrayal, death, and war.

There will not be a third.

Having two festivals felt like the right way to go; the first was full of optimism and companionship, and looking to a brighter future for Wilderland, with the second showing a decline and highlighting potential issues but then quickly descending into tragedy.

Yep, since this festival is a creation of C7, we can use it however we want in our versions of Middle-Earth without accidentally messing with how Tolkien wrote everything. It could be every year or every five years or every ten years. I like it being every five years because the five is already part of it. As for how many times the festival is held, if you stick to how the adventure intro is written, there is the first one in 2946 and there is at least one after that if your campaign does not start that set of adventures until after 2946. So you could have just the inaugural one or you could have one on a regular schedule all the way til 3016, right before the War started.

[Majestic]

Beautifully written, gsecaur! You really compiled something that could provide much to a prospective LM!

My plan was to have the Gathering every five years as well. I skipped over the first, mentioning it only in narration as the place our PCs first met in 2946.

Then I held the first reunion of the event five years later, as the early part of "Crossing of Celduin" in 2951.

I always intended to get back to it, but we're now in 2970 and there were only ever the two of them, as alliances between the Free Peoples are not quite what they were decades before.

[Otaku-sempai]

Regardless of how often the Gathering of Five Armies takes place, The Darkening of Mirkwood states that the second Council of the North is held in Lake-town in the last days of November (25-29), 2956--ten years later. "The meeting has been moved from Dale at the request of King Bard. He fears that if the council is again held in his halls, others will claim that he is trying to assert his authority over the North, instead of being counted as an equal to the other leaders." The three-day festival of Dragontide took place from November 1 through 3.

It may well be that there was the intention that only one Gathering of Five Armies takes place with any certainty, with it being up to individual LMs to decide if and when any more are held. However, it seems that the second Council of the North would have been held in place of a Gathering in the year 2956.