Re-taking the Greydelve
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 10:47 pm
Hello everyone! I'm a latecomer to TOR, but a long-time fan of Professor Tolkien's works in all of their forms. I recently started up a TOR game with the intention of running The Darkening of Mirkwood campaign. However, since my players Fellowship is composed solely of Dwarves, they've latched onto the goal of retaking the Greydelve.
Honestly, this isn't a problem, as I'll just have the major events of "Darkening" play out in the background and the Fellowship may become involved with them. I adore all of the Wilderland books, but wasn't able to find out much about Gredelve. So, I've been brainstorming some ideas for the campaign. The Fellowship is pretty fired up about getting started on retaking the old Dwarfhold, so that may happen ahead of schedule.
Their plan at this point is to try and win support with King Dain and others to build up an army and I'm planning to have that play out as per the canon decisions by King Dain, just perhaps a bit earlier. They also intend to do some scouting of at least the exterior of the hold and surrounding lands to see what they're dealing with, so here's what I've come up with...
-Unlike the rest of the major Orc holds in the area, the Greydelve wasn't as depleted, with most of the Orcs and Goblins refusing the call to assemble for the Battle of Five Armies. The reason for that, which the Fellowship may learn is that some "dark counselor" for the Orc Chieftain of the hold bade them to bide their time. This counselor told them that the Orcs would lose the battle and that once their forces were depleted they would be able to seize greater power and influence among the scattered Orc tribes, which they have been doing quietly (for Orcs at any rate). The Fellowship will discover all of this over the course of a few Adventuring Phases.
What they won't be able to learn until much later is that the "dark counselor" is a Long-drake that crept into the lower armories and treasuries of the Greydelve some decades ago. He is relatively young as his type measures time and is a grandchild of Scatha. At heart, he is a craven beast who wants treasure, but at little cost to his safety and using the power of his voice, he has become a sort of shadowy counselor to the Orc Chief who runs the hold. I was thinking that the Orcs aren't aware that the voice is that of a Dragon, as he speaks from the shadowy depths of parts of the armory and treasury that they've been unable to reach.
Greydelve was never a rich hold, and the Dragon is more than a little upset that he doesn't have a hoard worthy of his lineage (by his reckoning), so he hopes to have the Orcs build up enough power to eventually challenge Dale and Erebor and win at least a portion of Smaug's hoard for himself.
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So, my question to the group is: How does that sound for a campaign? My major concern is that it's too close to The Hobbit, with the Fellowship clearing a lost Dwarfhold of a dragon. I come from the school of thought that Dragons should be rare and wondrous beasts and I'm just worried that having two of them being the focus of tales so close to one another may make the story seem derivative.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Honestly, this isn't a problem, as I'll just have the major events of "Darkening" play out in the background and the Fellowship may become involved with them. I adore all of the Wilderland books, but wasn't able to find out much about Gredelve. So, I've been brainstorming some ideas for the campaign. The Fellowship is pretty fired up about getting started on retaking the old Dwarfhold, so that may happen ahead of schedule.
Their plan at this point is to try and win support with King Dain and others to build up an army and I'm planning to have that play out as per the canon decisions by King Dain, just perhaps a bit earlier. They also intend to do some scouting of at least the exterior of the hold and surrounding lands to see what they're dealing with, so here's what I've come up with...
-Unlike the rest of the major Orc holds in the area, the Greydelve wasn't as depleted, with most of the Orcs and Goblins refusing the call to assemble for the Battle of Five Armies. The reason for that, which the Fellowship may learn is that some "dark counselor" for the Orc Chieftain of the hold bade them to bide their time. This counselor told them that the Orcs would lose the battle and that once their forces were depleted they would be able to seize greater power and influence among the scattered Orc tribes, which they have been doing quietly (for Orcs at any rate). The Fellowship will discover all of this over the course of a few Adventuring Phases.
What they won't be able to learn until much later is that the "dark counselor" is a Long-drake that crept into the lower armories and treasuries of the Greydelve some decades ago. He is relatively young as his type measures time and is a grandchild of Scatha. At heart, he is a craven beast who wants treasure, but at little cost to his safety and using the power of his voice, he has become a sort of shadowy counselor to the Orc Chief who runs the hold. I was thinking that the Orcs aren't aware that the voice is that of a Dragon, as he speaks from the shadowy depths of parts of the armory and treasury that they've been unable to reach.
Greydelve was never a rich hold, and the Dragon is more than a little upset that he doesn't have a hoard worthy of his lineage (by his reckoning), so he hopes to have the Orcs build up enough power to eventually challenge Dale and Erebor and win at least a portion of Smaug's hoard for himself.
==========================
So, my question to the group is: How does that sound for a campaign? My major concern is that it's too close to The Hobbit, with the Fellowship clearing a lost Dwarfhold of a dragon. I come from the school of thought that Dragons should be rare and wondrous beasts and I'm just worried that having two of them being the focus of tales so close to one another may make the story seem derivative.
Thoughts? Suggestions?