Campaign Arc - Request for advice

[Garn!]

Arquestan,

1) family still in the Iron Hills, but the clan elder hates Dain for some childhood slight - the party need to learn the cause and heal the rift

Something to consider here is the fact that Dain is portrayed as being very considerate and forgiving. So this slight is most likely something that occurred accidentally or unconsciously. Perhaps it didn't happen at all...

A dozen dwarves at a gathering are displaying examples of their crafting ability. One participant scratches the work of the Elder and Dain sees this occur. He tries to convince the guilty party to own up, but he refuses. Worried he will be revealed, the guilty party blames Dain, igniting an argument amongst the group as members take sides. Dain never reveals the guilty party, but this life-altering event is a part of the reason that Dain is forgiving. He knows that greed and animosity only leads to trouble.


Something to prevent simply replacing the noble families is that each line has a crafted ingredient that is needed to re-ignite the Forge. No single family knows all of the formulas. Each knows the formula for a single catalyst - which are useless without all of them present. The Ritual is really just a ceremony which allows a bit of sleight-of-hand so that the families can introduce their ingredient into the Forge without revealing the secret.

This would change the 4th option slightly, requiring that a written record of the formula be available. It could be hidden in a secret compartment or lying out in plain sight in the family library.

[Tolwen]

It should also be considered that even re-igniting an old forge with ancient formulas will still not restore the old skill/ability. Remember Gloin narrating at the Council of Elrond that the Dwarves of Erebor now (TA 3019) have surpassed their (pre-Smaug) fathers in masonry and stonework but cannot rival the old pre-Smaug smithing skills that seem to be lost.

Cheers
Tolwen

[Arquestan]

I had been pondering on those two options a little as well. For the grudge my latest thoughts were along these lines - house elder, then about 80 had discovered new veins of ore and persuaded his house to send most of their warriors to claim the territory just when Smaug attacked leaving his family undefended. Adding to his pain from the deaths he feels responsible for, the 'find' has proved to be tainted and almost worthless. His reluctance to return has more to do with guilt and Dain's belief that he has issues is simply due to his well meaning enquiries about the success of the house mines being poorly received. Not sure how the PC's might un-stitch that mess though. I was toying with some smelting knowledge that makes the tainted ore suddenly valuable but that feels a bit trite.

On the subject of requirements for re-lighting the forge I was trying to avoid a Pokémon collect he gym badges theme, but decided that the extinct clan needed a clearer requirement to close the chapter. I had been thinking that the symbol of office for each High Councillor might be a smithing hammer, and each hammer had to be struck in sequence to restore the forge. Lore would be another option though, less item collecting style but also less definable.

Interesting pointer on smithing lore being weak Tolwen, I think there's still space to improve the dwarves capability by re-igniting the forge but they may still lack the knowledge to use it properly. Does Gloin refer to early Erebor days specifically or simply older times? With Erebor being a relatively late founded Mansion a more general version would give a bit more 'wriggle room'.

[Tolwen]

Interesting pointer on smithing lore being weak Tolwen, I think there's still space to improve the dwarves capability by re-igniting the forge but they may still lack the knowledge to use it properly. Does Gloin refer to early Erebor days specifically or simply older times? With Erebor being a relatively late founded Mansion a more general version would give a bit more 'wriggle room'.

He refers specifically to Erebor's pre-dragon days:

Glóin began then to talk of the works of his people, telling Frodo about their great labours in Dale and under the Mountain. 'We have done well,' he said. `But in metalwork we cannot rival our fathers, many of whose secrets are lost. We make good armour and keen swords, but we cannot again make mail or blade to match those that were made before the dragon came. Only in mining and building have we surpassed the old days.
―The Lord of the Rings.Many Meetings

I'd say that Glóin is quite precise here with lamenting the smithing skills that were lost when Smaug sacked Erebor.

Cheers
Tolwen

[Garn!]

Arquestan,
It might also come across as a bit trite, but the Elder Hammers could each be crafted from different metal alloys resulting in different sounds/harmonics when used/struck. Basically this is a variant of the old tuning fork idea.

So a part of the Ritual is each Elder using their hammer to strike the Forge in a particular pattern/rhythm. Each strike, done correctly, causes a portion of the Forge to vibrate. With each successive strike altering the pattern and degree of vibration. Eventually, this vibration could unlock a mechanism within the Forge which allows it to be used.

So, for instance, you can light a fireplace, but without opening the flue it's not going to function correctly and you would have to shut it down. Something similar might occur with the Great Forge - perhaps it has a flue inside which is on a kind of see-saw/fulcrum lock. The vibrations are needed to cause the flue to move, eventually causing it to roll to the other side of the fulcrum, causing the flue to open or close. Alternately, a water-lock might exist which effectively has the pilot-light for the Great Forge underwater (ie, it's got a steady stream of water diverted from the underground aquifer [River Running] Erebor sits on) the vibrations could open and close an imbedded locking mechanism which allows the pilot-light to be ignited or doused.

Or mix and match with the catalyst (and other) ideas to make the Ritual more diverse. Although it might ultimately come across as "working together we can succeed".


As for the grudge, I need to think on that one a bit.

[ancientvaults]

While the dourhands are only in Lotro, Tolkien gives us precedence in The Hobbit,

"in some parts wicked dwarves had even made alliances with them."

And wicked dwarf would make sense as Sauron had ties to their maker (source Tolkien wiki)

[Garn!]

Although it's outside the scope of the License because it's from the Silmarillion (and I'm paraphrasing here), Melkor's song tainted some of every thing within Middle-earth. So every good thing in Middle-earth should have a negative version in it some where at some time.

Hmm.. I wonder if, conversely, a tainted orc might actually be good? (Well, for as long as he can remain sane and alive while being inculcated into evil through standard orc training methodology. Not to mention finally breaking free and having some farmer skewer you because you're an orc - and therefore evil without the possibility of redemption.)

[Chris Gardiner]

While the dourhands are only in Lotro, Tolkien gives us precedence in The Hobbit,

"in some parts wicked dwarves had even made alliances with them."

Oo. That's interesting! What does the quote refer to them allying with? Goblins?

[Garn!]

Arquestan,
The following message is dis-jointed because one idea built on another. Unsure which might better fit your needs, I left them both. But they look odd in a single message.


How about the following for the Grudge Family? The majority is unchanged, except the focus is moved away from the vein of ore, and closer to the Councilor himself.

Grudge Family: This Councilor, alive and in office when Smaug attacked, had just sent most of his family members to the Iron Hills to investigate a promising vein of ore. This weakened Erebor's defensive strength at a critical moment. The Councilor feels survivor's guilt and worse, terrible remorse, because the investigation ended up being a failure - the vein of ore was tainted/failed a short distance later - so his efforts were useless. Feeling that he personally is responsible for Smaug's success in vanquishing the Kingdom Under the Mountain, the Councilor refuses to return to Erebor as he is sure that the other noble families will hold a grudge against him. While the other noble families of Erebor will slight the Grudge Family, all of them recognize that Smaug's attack occurred without warning; there is no real cause for anger.

Originally you placed the vein of ore in the Iron Hills, but I wasn't sure if you still intended to use that location. You had mentioned travel to the Blue Mountains.


Alright, in the midst of writing this message it occurred to me that you might want to mix the Shadow Family (#2 on your list) with the Grudge Family write-up from above.

Essentially, the Councilor is tricked by an agent of the Necromancer (Sauron) to investigate the Mountains of Mirkwood or Dol Guldur (sorry, maps not handy) for a high quality vein of ore. The Necromancer made it easier for the dwarf investigators to get to the mountains without too much difficulty (or deaths!) so that he could enslave them, forcing them to work in his mines. Anyway, the Councilor is in Erebor for Smaug's attack and recognizes that if he had not sent most of his family away there would have been more defenders. Having escaped Erebor, the Councilor followed the route his family took and finds a sole escapee, learning that his efforts were useless twice over (failure to defend Erebor and sending his family into slavery).

In this latter case, the Councilor could be located almost anywhere, trying to drum up interest in a rescue party for his family members. Or hiding out, avoiding Dain, fearful of assumed reprisal. Maybe the Councilor walked right into the Necromancer's hands to suffer the same terrible fate as the rest of his family?

This has the benefit of requiring the journey rules while keeping the story arc within Wilderland and Rhovanion. So you wouldn't have to create detailed info for traveling from Erebor all the way to the Blue Mountains - a journey that might take one or two years to complete.

[ancientvaults]

Sorry, yes, that was from Over Hill and Under Hill.