Thank you, Nurumaiel- and yes, it was indeed Elian to whom I was referring regarding the resentment about chores. There is one sentence dedicated to a description of Elian in my initial post, based on the previously stated interactions between the boy and his cousin.
ArwenBaggins- I will lengthen my post to include more interaction with Smaug, and speculation about his intentions.
Regarding the terrain outside of Dale: I'm visualizing the farms of the Millwinds and Whitfields to lie outside of the town, perhaps just to the west or northwest. I imagine the area between the two southern arms of the Lonely Mountain (from Thror's map) to have included fertile farmlands, but also rock-strewn meadows and pastures closer to the mountain itself. As an isolated mountain, Erebor seems to me to resemble one of the volcanic peaks in the Cascades, in which case boulders and large rocks would have rolled off the mountain slopes at repeated intervals in the past. I imagine Rhysdan to have hiked closer to the mountain in search of his sheep, which would put him in the rock-strewn meadows. There is this passage from
The Hobbit :
Quote:
|
There the river, after winding a wide loop over the valley of Dale, turned from the Mountain on its road to the Lake, flowing swiftly and noisily. Its bank was bare and rocky, tall and steep above the stream; and gazing out from it over the narrow water, foaming and splashing among many boulders, they could see in the wide valley shadowed by the Mountain's arms the grey ruins of ancient houses, towers, and walls.
|
This is after Smaug has ruined much of the area, I know, but I still think that some of the terrain close to the mountain was quite rugged.
Just a general pondering about RPGs at this forum-I'm not really seeing the distinctions between the three different levels at this point. Admittedly, I've only poked my nose into a few of the games. Perhaps the differences will become clear with time and experience.
