After the Watch on the Heath: What to do with Raenar?

[Rich H]

Great stuff Rich! Started reading all of your journal thread now!

Brave man!

[Indur Dawndeath]

However, I have not come up with a nice adventure yet. I didn’t just want it to be a journey to the tower and then combat...

An open question to everyone (for ideas) but beyond the politics surrounding this, with Bard and his court and the Dwarves, what else do you think there is other than slaying the beast?

I Seem to remember that Dale had to pay tribute to Smaug, and as such existed for some time.
Perhaps it could be a great 1.scene that Raenar slithers down from the Watchtower and sacks one of the newly build castles.
Sends the frightened Barding noble on bare feet to Dale with the terrifying news, that Raenar demands a wagonload of gold and 5 Virgines as snack.
Of course no one want to deliver this to the dragon, but the demand cannot be ignored!!

[Falenthal]

Elstan, First Captain of Dale, would go solo to kill the dragon unbeknown to all but to Queen Una.
Before the first rays of dawn, with a golden spear and a handkerchief gifted to him by Una, he rides North.
The Queen cries in the highest tower of Dale for some days, gazing at the distant peaks of the Weathered Heath.

Mix Lancelot and St. George in Elstan story.

Whether he succeeds and becomes a new hero (maybe shadowing Bard...), or his is a brave story with a sad ending, that's up to you.

[Majestic]

Adventuring Phase: The Black Arrow

Great stuff Rich! Started reading all of your journal thread now!

You will find it is like an addictive drug. Just look at what happened here: just a taste and you're hooked!

[Otaku-sempai]

I Seem to remember that Dale had to pay tribute to Smaug, and as such existed for some time.

I'm not aware of any basis for that notion unless you are confusing Dale with Esgaroth.

"Lake-men, some nasty scheme of those miserable, tub-trading Lake-men, or I'm a lizard. I haven't been down that way for an age and an age; but I will soon alter that!"

The way Thorin told the tale, it does seem that Dale lasted a little while before it was completely abandoned; but it wasn't long and there is no indication that the town ever paid tribute to Smaug.

[Vladimir]

An open question to everyone (for ideas) but beyond the politics surrounding this, with Bard and his court and the Dwarves, what else do you think there is other than slaying the beast?

I guess the dwarves still bear a grudge against Raenar, so if they knew where he was, they would certainly try to hunt him down, especially while he's still weak. Also, although Raenar had to flee from the Grey Mountains when he was wounded, there are not many dwarves there any more, so he could easily re-take the abandoned holdings there, especially if he recalled where the greatest treasures were. Perhaps the orcs there would even worship him as a god. I could easily see combining this plotline with Frar's quest to re-take the Greydelve...

[Rich H]

An open question to everyone (for ideas) but beyond the politics surrounding this, with Bard and his court and the Dwarves, what else do you think there is other than slaying the beast?

I guess the dwarves still bear a grudge against Raenar, so if they knew where he was, they would certainly try to hunt him down, especially while he's still weak. Also, although Raenar had to flee from the Grey Mountains when he was wounded, there are not many dwarves there any more, so he could easily re-take the abandoned holdings there, especially if he recalled where the greatest treasures were. Perhaps the orcs there would even worship him as a god. I could easily see combining this plotline with Frar's quest to re-take the Greydelve...

Hmmmm... An expedition organised by Dain to the watchtower of Zirakinbar with the purpose of slaying Raenar; only for him not to be there! That would get the players suspicious... And when news arrives that he has reclaimed the Greydelve then some may think that it is better than him residing at Zirakinbar, and to leave him there, except that it would really make the crossing between the Grey Mountains and the top of Mirkwood truly treacherous - a dragon ruling over it as his domain.

[Majestic]

Since in my game the Greydelve has already been retaken (with the help of the PCs), perhaps I'll have Frar and some of the folk there itching to take down this Dragon, while also some of the nobles in Dale whisper that Bard has grown weak over the years.

Since the Dragon has slept quietly for decades now, I'm sure some (the PCs?) will argue that he should just be left alone!

[Rich H]

Since in my game the Greydelve has already been retaken (with the help of the PCs), perhaps I'll have Frar and some of the folk there itching to take down this Dragon, while also some of the nobles in Dale whisper that Bard has grown weak over the years.

That would definitely create some interesting dynamics within a campaign - depending on the PCs you may also get different views within the fellowship as to what should be done and perhaps some great opportunities to roleplay that tension?

Since the Dragon has slept quietly for decades now, I'm sure some (the PCs?) will argue that he should just be left alone!

Let sleeping dragons lie!

[Buscardieux]

In my campaign, I want to move the action west to the Vales of Anduin after the Watch on the Heath, since that's where most of the PCs ended up keeping their "home bases", as it were. Raenar's a good villain though, and I get the feeling it'd be easy to needle the players into action against him since they let him off without a fight the last time around. So I figure Raenar, maybe he's not as much of a loner as Smaug was. Maybe, in addition to his not-inconsiderable hoard of gold up in Zirakinbar, he'd like to keep some servants as well, some people to bring him meat and gold instead of him having to go out to get it for himself. He knows from the old days that Orcs make for better servants than humans or dwarves, provided you keep them on a short enough leash. And the Vales of Anduin would make for much more pleasant hunting grounds than the Withered Heath or the wastelands north of Mirkwood.

So I'm planning for Raenar to head west for Gundabad, to usurp the vacuum of power that currently exists there as described in Heart of the Wild. So, in the following years the Beornings note larger and larger Orc warbands roaming the east bank of the Anduin further and further south, with a strange white dragon device painted on their shields... And if that's not enough to spur the players on, I'll have Gandalf turn up on their doorstep to tell them some variation on the theme of "You absolute clowns have undone all my hard work with regards to Smaug, fix this fast or you're in for a wizarding." I'm planning to tie this in with a trip to Rivendell and a quest for the Last Watchtower, which seems like a really cool location in general.