Final Entry

A! Elbereth Gilthoniel!
silivren penna míriel
o menel aglar elenath,
Gilthoniel, A! Elbereth!
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees
The starlight on the Western Seas.


My friends,

For those who have asked if this blog has ended...
If I could, I would've let this game go on forever.
But alas, indeed it has run its course.
Here is the final entry written, much like the Book of Mazarbul that the Fellowship discovered in Moria.
Sorry this wont be of much interest unless you enjoyed the fluff that came with this blog's battle reports.


Below are the notes of the campaign battle scenarios that I wrote up and of how I think the story of Balin and friends should have ended in this game campaign story's timeline.

I suffered a stroke earlier this year but still have enough wits to write this bon voyage to the Moria Reclamation Blog, thank Iluvatar for that, well these 2 paragraphs at least.
My eyes dimmed before that, so my hobby days are long past done.
Sorry that we never gamed them out properly and no pictures accompany this post.
Ok how bout one last pic, for old times sake.
But my mind is still good if my jokes arent (were they ever?).

Gather round, young padawans
Let me tell you of the time when legends still walked upon Middle Earth...

 



1 - Battle of Little Round Weathertop

To the east of Bree the great road stretches out to the East.
Past the Midgewater Marches, there is an the ancient ruins known as Amon-Sul or Weathertop in the common tongue.
The ruins are the remains of an old tower that sits upon a hill and looks down upon the road for a great distance in either direction.
Aragorn had set up his defenses here to stop an Undead incursion coming along the road.
He hoped to smash this skeletal force quickly and then turn north to face another army coming from Carn Dum.
The Breeland forces have dug in their left flank around Weathertop.
They fortified their center lines south across the road and then further south to another set of hills to anchor their right flank.
While everyone knows about the famous Weathertop hill and ruin, not everyone knows about the smaller ruin on a smaller hill to the south of the road... Little Round Weathertop!
That little hilly ruin and the brave defenders had to hold that hallowed ground to prevent the entire allied line from rolling up to ruin.
"General order to the Brigade at Little Round Weather Top:
Hold that ground at all hazards!"
I'd like to think that Aragorn wins that battle.
With the help of Radagast the Forgetful, who has much to make for.



2 - The Battle Of Midgewater Marsh

The Lichemaste Krell, an Undead Dragon, Chaos hounds,and Chaos Champions strike Bree from the northeast!
I dont the Breelander humans would win this one.
Bill Ferny, who turned out to be the Resistance leader, puts on his best John Connor face and proclaims "I will be back."


3 - The Battle of Combe
George the Giant, minotaurs, the Nightmare Legion show up in this sleepy village for mayhem!
Here is another battle I think the humans would have lost.
Barliman Butterbur the Innkeeper turned Militia commander just isnt up to snuff for the "big" leagues.
Get it? Coz George the Giant is... big. (Crickets... oof)


4 - The Final Battle of Bree
Morbius the Liche with his skeletal warmachines meet up with Lichemaster Kemmler for the ultimate battle of Bree.
Skeletal catapults and chariots bring ruin to lines of Aragorn's army.
But the humans win!
Still its a pyrrhic victory,
Breeland is won but at terrible cost.
There will be no human or Rivendell allies for the Dwarves of Moria!
Still, Aragorn heads south  with a small band of heroes...

yes, overall, breeland is saved and the northern kingdom of Arnor is declared.  Aragorn in now king in the north!  send word to the elves of rivendell, to the beornings, to the house stark of winterfell...

when asked what he will do next, aragorn says he will ride south to moria and join forces with them and march to gondor and then war on mordor itself!

whispers among the army: "the king in the north should stay in the north also, there are no weirwoods in the south, the old gods cant watch over him."

rhosghobel has sustained too much damage and has lost its teleport ability. 
butterbur and the folks of bree say rhosghobel and radagast are welcome to stay.
but radagast says he will miss his forest and his animal friends, so he wonders how he will get his house back to mirkwood.
then ice queen says we will make giant skis.
everyone does a huh?
she explains: put ze house on giant skis and our kislev bears pull house back home.


5 -  Ambush At The North Undeep

With Sauron taking up residence in Dol Goldur in Southern Mirkwood, the Elves of Lothlorien are on heightened alert.
Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers have returned from scouting the borders of Lothlorien.
The Elves report that enemy forces are seeking to cross into the Wold - a no man's land north of Rohan and Gondor.
The force is indeed coming out of Dol Goldur and is fast approaching the North Undeep where it can cross the Anduin River.
Will these Orcs head south into Rohan proper, or will they head west to Isengard?
Or will they be heading north towards Lothlorien?
Galadriel decides not to wait.
The forces of Lothlorien will ambush them at the North Undeep of the River Anduin.
If any Orcs are captured, they can be questioned after the battle!
A small allied force of humans and Hobbits are spotted in the Wold.

Sir Rollins Royce, knight of Dol Amroth (has a brother who joined the Night Watch)
his companion is Beregond, ex-knight of the Citadel (banished by the Steward)
They are heading north to Bree along with some Gondorian Hobbits (the Steward's favorite cooks, but did they have leave of their master before setting out?)
The Hobbits (with thier HotPot catapult) wish to see if any of their kin survived the burning of the Shire. (see Battle of Willowbottom)
Along with them are some Freetraders of the Beorning Trade Company who have just sealed a trade negotiation with Gondor and are heading back north to the Carrock.
Such diverse forces traveling together? 
The caravan has strength in numbers.
Galadriel has given them leave to travel through the Golden Wood, provided they harm no trees or start any campfires in their travel.

“This is the Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone. Mayday, Mayday"

Finally a Dwarf riding a pony is seen.  Its Bofur!
Bofur, one of the companions in Bilbo's first adventure, was promoted as manager of the Erebor Trade company whose prime directive is to provide Moria with essential supplies.

Rage against the lack of yummy treats!
Cold beers and roast meats are en route!


6 - DWARF QUEST FINALE

when the quests are over, more dwarf king deliberation
show all remaining dwarf minis in march formation
they stand at attention.

so what did the quests accomplish?
they rescued turin turambar.
gimli and legolas got some magic weapons and items.
bugman and balin got the fiery ring of thori and
and they know where morgoth is imprisoned.
They also have Al-Pharazon of Numenor and Yrkoon of Melnibone as an ally.

the high king decrees that:
1) legolas and gimli get to keep their weapons
the fiery ring goes to slayer king ungrim ironfist.
with the power of fire, ungrim thinks about training some fyreslayers (or azer as they are called on the elemental plane of fire)
2) as for the high elf crown of atrazar, many dwarves tell him to keep it for himself (or at least tear off the magic gem part and add it to his crown).  legolas looks none too pleased, but the high king hands it to him and says it belongs to the elves and legolas is tasked with the quest to return it to them. legolas is torn about this, since he would like to heal dwarf elf relations and this quest could just do it.  but frodo...  while the high king ruminates on who to send it to, elrond... legolas interjects that galadriel is closer and she can aid the dwarves in their fight here in moria.  he also begs that the hobbits come to lothlorien where a nice hill area called cerin amroth that the hobbits could tunnel their houses into.  this way he could get frodo to lorien at least and be a good ambassador.  But scouts come in to report that Sauron is in Dol Goldur and is on his way to lorien and then to moria!  Legolas is disappoint, frodo must stay in moria.
3) Yrkoon is sent back to Melnibone to request more reinforcements, but also send word to the blessed isles that thangorodrim must be retaken and guarded lest Morgoth is somehow freed.
4) Al-Pharazon will go to gondor and raise an army to combat sauron.  Al pharzon promises the dwarves that men will come to honor the alliance.
5) Turin decides to stay with the dwarves and await sauron's attack here in moria.


the high king speaks to the fire wizard of Gondor and asks him what is to be done about otto aka wormtongue.

the fire wizard will return to gondor with al pharazon to request aid for the dwarves but also to tell the maesters of the Citadel about the traitorous wizard.

they discuss morgoth, the high king finds a passage in the book of grudges about how when morgoth was imprisoned by the allied powers at the time, that the magical wards placed on the dwarf forged gates were made by human and elf wizards powered by the blood of kings from all 3 races.
so dont send any dwarf, human or elf with royal blood there, problem solved?  no, what about all the chaos warriors there? what if they kidnap a king.  they should send word to human kings too.  rohan and gondor need to upgrade their kingsguards.  are stewards considered royalty?

the dwarf kings hope turin will help them slay the balrog first before slaying sauron.
he agrees, its the least he could do.
for a moment he is happy and almost thinks the dwarves welcome him as a friend, but remembers his curse.
will his curse affect the dwarves?  they are naturally resistant to magic, and curses are a form of magic, right?

all kings have a say about something
thorin and the slayer king thinks they should head into moria to challenge the balrog.
thorgrim thinks about saving bree from the night king
frodo asks about reclaiming the shire.

as they ruminate on possibilities, a shadow appears in  the distance...

its the Balrog! (surprise)  Man your stations1 (or Dwarf you stations, as it were)


7 -  Battle of Dimril Dale - to be told in little skirmishes
marius leitdorf the mad count of averland heads to the center,
ice queen of kislev heads to the hill with the guns to cast spells and arrows.

Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain! Up and to your posts!  Never let them forget you are from ol' Erebor!


1) first contact "dimrill dale" - slice of life at the front, humans and dwarves!
2) protect the guns "celebdil" - sneaky orcs try to disable the guns
kislev and queen.
3) brutes - big monsters, gandalf and kings.
4) flank attack "red horn pass" - stop the flank attack hobbit hill!
5) kings rally - dwarven heroes rally the troops
6) balrog - final battle of kings

at start of game, dwarf player has the frodo gambit card.
if he uses it, frodo gives the ring to a dwarf hero which
increases all stats and also provides a ward save.
if used, at end of game, roll a d6 to see what the dwarf does:  1,2 = pawn of sauron! 3,4 = keep the ring! 5,6 = return the ring to frodo!

at the last, one by one, the dwarf lords fall before the might of the balrog in combat.  balin, to save the dwarven race calls upon the powers of chaos and summons demons to him.  but balin falls before the balrog anyway, but not before wounding it.  finally it is gimli who borrows the ring from frodo and fells the mighty balrog!
after the battle, gimli, showing his true character returns the ring to frodo.


8 - elves explain how earendil has a flying ship in the silmarillion.
then show shocked elves as kharadron come swooping in with their sky ships!
from the sky a voice is heard "Hang on, we're in for some chop"
with a resounding boom a deep voice is heard as a skyship emerges from the clouds "Carrier has arrived!"
Its our sky brethren!
"Spawn more Overlords!"
"So... you're saying that 40 thousand years from now, the Zerg will attack our Homeworlds?"
"Nuclear launch detected!"
"Thank Sigmar and his Inquisitors! Prepare for Exterminatus... The Emperor protects!"


9 - turin turambar stats:
gurthang (stormbringer) can vampiric attack, levitate, negate armor, str increases with number of kills, cause frenzy in wielder

`
wormtongue comes before saruman and says he knows the location of morgoth in thangorodrim.
saruman thinks this is how he climbs the ranks of evil.
morgoth will reward him and saruman will be 2nd in command, not sauron.
saruman thanks wormtongue.
fitting since he is a slitherine wizard with parselmouth ability (talks to serpents for you muggles!)


10 - The END OF THE RING?

thorin convinces balin to let the ring go.
together, frodo and the fellowship armies take the ring to mt doom.
together frodo and bilbo throw the ring in.

---thorin and balin---
thorin humbly says he isnt worthy of being the high king and leaves control of the dwarven kingdom under thorgrim.
all he asks is that his cousin balin is given leniency.
thorgrim names thorin the eternal champion of the dwarves and that he must keep watch over balin.
thorin and balin start a new adventuring company, "just like the olde days!"
balin says to call it Thorin and Company.
Thorin says it will be Thorin And Balin Adventure Quest Incorporated  or TABAQI (for the love of pipeweed)
a rejuvenated bilbo joins.


11 - on the keeping of the ring!---

balin had the runesmiths reverse engineer the one ring and they have distilled its essence into a liquid format.
runesmith:  there is a 1200 page FAQ available for viewing on our website detailing all the new features of the New and Improved One Ring recipe.
the one ring brew adds magical resistance to all its drinkers and cures them of harmful effects and illnesses.
so powerful is the recipe that even the effects of chaos are nullified, and balin and all his remaining chaos dwarves are cured of the taint of chaos.
previous ills of the Dwarves like gold fever are kept in check.
but qualities such as stubborness, and loyalty, and martial spirit are enhanced!

White Dwarf:  I will keep its brewing a secret and never reveal it to the other races of Middle Earth.  Now for the required Dwarven vows... ahem...
Balin: (interrupting) we solemnly swear we are up to no good.
White Dwarf: wrong vow buddy...
Balin:  oh right!  I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men...
White Dwarf:  (facepalm)
All the Kings:  We vow to never reveal our secret fellowship to anyone not in our inner circle...  To keep safe the recipe of the One Ring... and to continue to drink the new and improved Bugmans Brew for all our days!
Bugman:  Here, here! To the Fellowship of the Brew... Mhinz Abeir!
Everyone: (cheering) Zyor Round!


12 - How it all ends after the End of the Ring?!

CAMPAIGN IN BRIEF: the fragile last glimmer of insane hope against insurmountable odds.
   
win moria and defeat balrog

win bree, but a pyrrhic victory

lose misty mtns, humans vs dark elves & great goblin
win moria, dwarfs vs balrog

lose rohan, aragorn & rohan vs saruman and skaven!

lose dol goldur, dwarfs, aragorn and elves vs mordor & easterlings

lose lothlorien, allies vs mordor & easterlings

win moria, allies vs mordor & easterlings

win osgiliath, allies vs mordor & southrons

win mordor, all allies vs mordor *Ring is revealed*

win moria, elves & humans vs dwarfs & hobbits


---crowning of aragorn, big after party---
gandalf says here ends the fellowship of the ring.
end of blog? of course it isnt!

Just like the movie there will be 9 final goodbye stories, dwarfs destroyed the ring, but the runesmiths have reverse engineered its secrets first!

but not the end!  begin "fellowship of the silmarilion"!


13 - Eagles Eyrie in Hithaeglir
A magical storm has descended upon the Misty Mountains.  The clouds of chaos have transformed the once gentle Great Eagles of Eagles Eyrie into evil skeksis birdmen.
kairos fateweaver is gwaihir
and lord of change is landroval

also use witch elves for evil gelfling servants - THE GUNDABAD GELFLINGS.  they willingly serve the skeksis.

show Aragorn climbing up the mountain looking for the eagles and instead having to fight the skeksis. 

the skeksis mock him for being alone and bringing a knife to a gun fight.  Aragorn says he is not alone...

 the skeksis look around nervously expecting elrond or galadriel to show up. 

Aragorn starts screaming a high pitched wailing sound and they hear the scurrying sounds of lots of little feet.  a whole army of forest creatures appear!  use reaper companions.  this is like kyras scene in dark crystal.

the skeksis call for garthim and slave gelflings.
the gelflings enjoy kicking the little forest critters!

Aragorn is saved by the beornings who drive the skeksis away. the beornings also have dwarf allies who are permitted to ride some of the bears. Aragorn is afraid that gandalf will be angry that he didnt get to send the eagles.  he hopes that doesnt cause any problems for gandalf. 

The beorning trades routes defense company arrives to reopen the misty mountains pass.  afterall, the spice must flow!


14 - Misty Mountain Hop

Mount Gundabad is a sacred place to Dwarves. It was there that Durin The Deathless awoke and became the Father of the Dwarves. In the Second Age it was lost to the Orcs in the War of Wrath.  Briefly it was taken during the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, then lost again as the Dwarven armies of vengeance moved on to Moria.  If Balin cannot be part of dwarf society in Moria then he will devote himself and his followers to the ultimate goal - the recapturing of Mount Gundabad.


15 - ---Dagor Dagorath, The Prophecy---

The Time of the Dagor Dagorath - The Last Battle of All Battles!

Melkor also known as Morgoth is the biggest baddie of Middle Earth. 
Sauron was just one of his pawns.
At the end of the War or Wrath, the Valar throw Morgoth into the Void behind the "Door of Night." 
But he will return according to the Second Prophecy of Mandos.
“Manwe will not descend from the Mountain until the Dagor Dagorath, and the Coming of the End, when Melkor returns” 

---The Quest---
The Dwarven Heroes having vanquished Sauron and secured a safer Middle Earth hear about the Prophecy and decide to be pro-active against evil this time.
So they go on a quest to prevent the resurrection of Morgoth and have followed clues to the islands to the West of Middle Earth.
They find ships at the Grey Havens and brave sailors to carry them hence.
We crushed Sauron... we come for you Morgoth!

The Hobgoblins have scouting info that may help them, so Balin vouches for them to join TABAQI.
everyone councils thorin to not allow it, but thorin thinks its a great idea to help rehabilitate their former goblin enemies, to the shaking of heads of everyone.
so this is how the chaos dwarves and hobgoblin alliance really started.


16 - Valinor - home of the valar!

our heroes get here to plead for help!
And Manwe the Lord of Valinor hears their plea and sends an army of Valar and Elves at the command of Earendil & Tulkas to fight Morgoth again.
Manwe will not come, but from here he will send eagles and coordinate the war effort.
A new alliance is formed to combat Morgoth for the Last Battle!
---the heroes of valinor---

Earendil the Mariner is a half elf and is Elrond's dad.
His wife Elwing a descendant of Beren and Luthien had a Silmaril and it was they who pleaded with the Valar to help overthrow Morgoth and end the War of Wrath.
Earendil helped fight in the War in his flying airship Vingilot.
Upon his brow he wears a Silmaril.
The armies of the Valar fought a hundred Balrogs, then Morgoth sends out an army of Dragons with Ancalagon the Black commanding.
Earendil and his flying ship slays Ancalagon and the great dragon falls upon Thangorodrim and breaks the enemy fortress.
When he returns, he wont fly an elven sky ship, but a dwarf one made by aule, so now im justified in buying an age of sigmar dwarf airship!

Tulkas is the champion of the Valar, golden haired.
he is strong like hercules and once defeated morgoth by wrestling!
Some say he will defeat Morgoth again (it becomes a competition to see who defeats evil once and for good!)

Manwe is the Elder King of the Valar and is the wisest of all.
He has blue robes, eyes and wields a sapphire scepter.
But, he is also the brother of Morgoth!
He couldnt kill him before, and its said he will not in the Last Battle.

Turin Turambar, child of Hurin and Morwen and his entire family was cursed by Morgoth.
Hurin's brother is Huor grandfather of Earendil, so Turin and Earendil are distant cousins.
He slew the dragon Glaurung.
He has a black sword Gurthang.
But everyone in his life comes to tragic ends.
It is said, he will be the slayer of Morgoth by plunging Gurthang into Morgoths heart and ending the curse on the Children of Hurin.

---The Wild Card---
Ar-Pharazon and the Numenoreans will come out of stasis from the Caves of the Forgotten where they have been waiting for the Dagor Dagorath.
But since he was preparing to invade Valinor and it was the Valar who stasis fielded his great armada and armies, it is interesting to see whose side Ar-Pharazon will take.

---The Silmarils---
The Silmarils will return as well, from the Earth, Sky and Sea. 
Together they will bring back the Two Trees!
All evil beings will try to destroy them, but Ents will come back from near and far to guard them.


17 - The final end of the ending, ends in conclusion, fade to black screen yet again!

---ending---
just as manwe cannot destroy morgoth his brother, thorin cannot destroy his cousin balin.
they decide to all enter the Door of Night together.
there will be checkers and bingo and lots of beer.
maybe eternity in the void wont be so bad afterall...