Beorn and Viglund

[Corvo]

Thank you Falenthal: a very "thematic" idea.
I have to keep in mind Beorn's voyage to the Misty Mountains, and his trial there.

[Rich H]

Thank you for your suggestions, Rich.
I get your idea, but I don't want to take away Viglund's agency and make him the victim of someone else's manipulation: in my mind, it's pretty important for Viglund to be responsible of his own actions.

Why? Because in my campaign Viglund is the embodiment of principles like “the end justify the means”, or “a though man making tough choices”… principles that in Tolkien are bound to end in ruin.
This is a theme that I want to maintain (well, ideally the tyrant should be brought low by his own evil actions, but I'm not asking for something so difficult )

Yeah, I understand what you're saying and struggled with that, but think that could still be done. Viglund could 'search out' greater power which is still giving him agency - its his choice. And rather being a slave to it he retains his autonomy; for instance, perhaps the minions of Sauron were slain by Viglund and his Shaman/witch through their own ancient rituals. Perhaps Viglund himself has some Shamanic power what with mention of him also being a potential shapeshifter through his kinship with Beorn. Perhaps Viglund even stole the power (or part of it) from Beorn in some way... Anyway, they were just rough ideas/suggestions.

Another theme of Tolkien that I would like to explore is that in strife and war, something is always lost. Hence my search for a “dilemma”…

That could be evidenced through the suffering of those stuck in the middle of the conflict or those people used by Viglund to further his goals... Slaves, farmers just trying to live in peace, etc. The tragedy of war is that often/always it is innocents that suffer and those waging it often never do as they fight through various proxies.

That said, there was another point in your post that I found interesting: reconciliation. While I’m inclined to close Viglund’s arc in the campaign (it’s 2966), the story isn’t closed once he’s killed/driven away: a lot of people lived under Viglund and fought for him, and there should be some type of reconciliation between those people and the Beornings. This is particularly important in my campaign since the Cottars sided with Viglund against Beorn, due to the tragic mistakes of another fellowship of Heroes (revenge is a powerful yet dangerous motivation…)

I think that's a good way of also bringing home the cost of war - the great challenge of "winning the peace". The cost of kinstrife is that it may take centuries to forgive, it is never forgotten and may very well never truly heal the rifts created in those folk involved even generations after the events have taken place.

[Corvo]

Yeah, I understand what you're saying and struggled with that, but think that could still be done. Viglund could 'search out' greater power which is still giving him agency - its his choice. And rather being a slave to it he retains his autonomy; for instance, perhaps the minions of Sauron were slain by Viglund and his Shaman/witch through their own ancient rituals. Perhaps Viglund himself has some Shamanic power what with mention of him also being a potential shapeshifter through his kinship with Beorn. Perhaps Viglund even stole the power (or part of it) from Beorn in some way... Anyway, they were just rough ideas/suggestions.

Search for greater power... yeah, it can fit the character. The lure of power.

That could be evidenced through the suffering of those stuck in the middle of the conflict or those people used by Viglund to further his goals... Slaves, farmers just trying to live in peace, etc. The tragedy of war is that often/always it is innocents that suffer and those waging it often never do as they fight through various proxies.
(...)

They can be the Cottars. People trying to live their own life, now mired in a feud that escalated beyond any reason.