The Fall of the North Planning/Discussion Thread

[Saurreg]

There is a discontinuality between my post and Kransha's

Mine was written with the following in mind;

“Command the entire rearguard to enter the city by any means they can find,” he said, directing the sentence at Belegorn, “including the main gate. Do not fight the foes in Fornost, if possible, and tell them to search the ruins for survivors. When all have been brought together, we shall rally at the gates. The city is to be evacuated.”

I need to know whether:

a)After Hírvegil gave his instructions to Belegorn, the latter goes on to make the arrangements as ordered and also analyse the situation to give his input. Everybody meets at the gates (west or not) and charges.

or

b)After Hírvegil gave his instructions to Belegorn, everybody immediately heads down to the gate and charges into the foray. Arrangments and no plans seem to be made.

kransha's post does appear to indcate b). If we are going along with B, then I will be making an alternative first post. However there are some issues that needs to be addressed:

1. Did everybody in the regiment hear Hírvegil's loud orders and subsequently joined in the immediate sortie? A line of over 800 men can stretch on for quite a distant.

2. Is every guardsman equiped with their field marching equipment and rations?

3. Does individual company COs and NCOs privy to Hírvegil's plans and understands what needs to be done?

4. What are the exact plans? Whom to be evacuated? How to comb the lower city with the overwhelming enemy presence?

5. How would Gaeredhel, Mitharan and Rôsgollo fit into the sortie if it was directed to the guardsmen around Hírvegil and Belegorn only?

[Kransha[/b] - I am now writing my alternative first post that correlates well with yours. Can you tell me what are my parameters or till which extent will my post cover? Thanks!

I love planning threads. it's good to sort things out before hand, no?

[Kransha]

Saurreg, that's quite a bio, and quite a post. I'm saure Belegorn will be a great addition to this game (as will Gaeradhel, Rosgollo, and Mitharan)! But, even though I did enjoy, and relish reading your post, I must be honest, and say I'm a bit glad that you have an alternate one. You've lost me a bit in the one you have, as it does not seem to correlate. I don't want to seem controlling, but I would like to clarify a few things, and answer your questions:

-The Dunedain of Fornost are not really strategizing at this time. I was thinking that all posts would contain, more or less, anarchy. The rearguard is battling orcs in the city, not really devising tactics. They have all spurted from the South gate of the secondary wall, and diffused through the immediate streets. The orcs are very disorganized (not even divided into Corps, really, just a big locust-reminiscent clump) and the fight is really chaotic. All Dunedain of the rearguard are presently searching for Elves and survivors. That is their only purpose at this time. After all First Posts have been submitted, in January, when the DT opens, I'll have devised a post explaining how the rearguard reorganizes at the North Gate passage to evacuate, with the Host of Angmar hot on their heels.

In short, the tactical situation is more in accord with the 'Plan B' you mentioned.

-The Elves are all in the city, and the Dunedain are searching for them, as I said. Mitharan is hanging about in the inner sanctum, and you may read of his other action in CoD's post. There is some semblance of planning, and possible get-togethers between commanders in the city, in the chaos of battle, but no running off to tents and surveying of the field. That time has past. When the Dunedain reach the North Downs, there will be strategizing again, in light of the new assault from the gaining hordes.

I hope that clears some things up.

Yes, Saurreg, it is good to get these things sorted out beforehand.

P.S. As pio aptly put it, no need to rush, my friends, we still have a month...But that doesn't mean you should slow your pace, if you get my drift.

P.P.S. To those of you that have cameo roles, I will shortly be PMing you with the necessary info for your individual characters, but, in any event, no need to rush those, especially. Most of them do not feature immediately.

[Kransha]

Arry, CaptainofDespair, Novnarwen, please check your PMs.

pio, here is the brief description of Mellonar, the King's minister.

Mellonar is a counselor of Arvedui, the King, and a provincial lord in his own right as well as the administrator of the wardens of Arthedain. He is a sickly, suspicious-looking man, with a weak body and very pale, smooth skin. He has a beardless face and long, greasy black hair, all dank of color but well-groomed. He clothes himself finely, in furs and thick, earth toned robes and cloaks, an assortment of various garments heaped one over the other to make him appear a little more stately and substantial than he is. He has the gait of a vulture, always hunched over and conspiratorial as he flits from place to place rather than walks. He is malicious, but not evil, simply malign because of his political circles, clandestine as they are. He is also suspicious of those around him, just as they are of his, but, surprisingly, he does not abuse his power. He is fiercely loyal to the king, though more in the way that a minion is to a master than a loyal hound to a man.


P.S. Welcome, Osse, to this game. I hope you enjoy it. You've selected a pivotal role, and might want to consult with Novnarwen, Nuranar, or Aman, but that's up to you.

[Osse]

Hail Krashna.

Thank you for your welcome. My initial post is in the intricate smeltering works that are the runways of my brain this very moment! Look for the finish copy in the next few weeks.

I look forward to writing with you all!

Regards,

Ossë

[Kransha]

Likewise, Ossë

I've been wanting to clarify one or two things, but never really got around to saying anything. So, this seems like the ideal time.

I must impress upon you, my fellow writers, that this is a game that takes place in a somewhat archaic time. Many of you have played in Rohan (and are probably more well-versed than I in the ways of BD writing/gaming, so this seems condescending), but others have not. This game touches on a civilization that is not widely portrayed in either Tolkien or RPGs, Arnor. Arnor is a sister of Gondor, in a sense, but an ancient one, as this game takes place a good millenia before the events of The Lord of the Rings, which, in itself, is not modern. Thus, it seems that Arthedain would be like an offshoot, slightly modernized, of Numenor, as I mentioned in my little note about the structure of Fornost.

I'm not entirely sure why I'm saying this. Everyone seems to have grasped the concept, but, I'll just make the point. Like I've implied, time and time again, I am trying to avoid becoming manipulative, and want this game to be as open-ended as possible, considering that it has a definite ending. Luckily, we've been allowed quite a bit of liberty, but I'd like to stick to a genuine ideal. Had to get that off my chest, if it makes any sense.

Saurreg: In a desire to get your bio complete, I'll give you a little critique of what you have. Your bio, in itself, is great, and Belegorn is a very interesting character, but there are a few quirks in your first post. You don't have to change these things, but they are merely oddities - For one, your use of military terms (i.e. regiment) is spot-on, but I do not think all of them are appropriate. The rearguard is not a regiment, in the normal sense, but I suppose you may call it that if you so wish. One thing that does seem inaccurate is the use of the term "Royal" to describe everything. In truth, the rearguard is Royal, I guess, but the army is not, and Royal seems to be too specific an adjective to describe the rearguard, especially capitalized, because that implies that all these things are royal, something out of 1600's France, perhaps. Similarly, I find the use of 'drummer boys' in an archaic setting to be jarring, but hey, that's just me.

There I go again, with my controlliness. Well, change whatever you want, it's not a big deal. I'll just make my peace here, and establish what does not seem to fit.

Also, I would like to consider something. At the time of this game, there was a very recent political controversy, of national scale and depth, involving Arvedui.

On the death of Ondoher [King of Gondor at the time, slain by Wainriders] and his sons, Arvedui of the North-kingdom claimed the crown of Gondor, as the direct descendant of Isildur, and as the husband of Fíriel, only surviving child of Ondoher. The claim was rejected. In this Pelendur, the Steward of King Ondoher, played the chief part.
'The Council of Gondor answered: "The crown and royalty of Gondor belongs solely to the heirs of Meneldil, son of Anárion, to whom Isildur relinquished this realm. In Gondor this heritage is reckoned through the sons only; and we have not heard that the law is otherwise in Arnor."
'To this Arvedui replied: "Elendil had two sons, of whom Isildur was the elder and the heir of his father. We have heard that the name of Elendil stands to this day at the head of the line of the Kings of Gondor, since he was accounted the high king of all the lands of the Dúnedain. While Elendil still lived, the conjoint rule in the South was committed to his sons; but when Elendil fell, Isildur departed to take up the high kingship of his father, and committed the rule in the South in like manner to the son of his brother. He did not relinquish his royalty in Gondor, nor intend that the realm of Elendil should be divided for ever.
'"Moreover, in Númenor of old the sceptre descended to the eldest child of the king, whether man or woman. It is true that the law has not been observed in the lands of exile ever troubled by war; but such was the law of our people, to which we now refer, seeing that the sons of Ondoher died childless."
To this Gondor made no answer. The crown was claimed by Eárnil, the victorious captain; and it was granted to him with the approval of all the Dúnedain in Gondor, since he was of the royal house. He was the son of Siriondil, son of Calimmacil, son of Arciryas brother of Narmacil II. Arvedui did not press his claim; for he had neither the power nor the will to oppose the choice of the Dúnedain of Gondor; yet the claim was never forgotten by his descendants even when their kingship had passed away.
-Appendix A, The Return of the King

This caused a great upheaval, no doubt, when it occured, and many people were forced to take sides, although it didn't matter to the decision, which was made by Gondorian counselors. I suggest that, it would be an interesting character exercise to think about how your character[s] might have felt about this incident, when it occured. Did your character support Arvedui's claim, or were they against it? All characters, except maybe the two Dunedain children, were around at this time, and must've had a political stance on the matter.

This is not a requirement, just a suggestion.

P.S. pio, in light of recent developements, I have written a little prologue to the game. Should I, perhaps, PM it to you for pre-approval?

[Saurreg]

If a military outfit is raised in the services of a monarch, then it is a "royal" unit. These units also include forces commanded by a banneret in the services of a king or queen. The guard units like the rearguard and such that are raised by the mornarch himself or adopted, are household units. Historical units are the Praetorian Guards, the Guard Grenadiers, Maison du Roi etc etc.

But fine, I will remove the royal and rename the rearguard even if I don't know what type of unit it is now.

Fair enough, the drummer boys will go. Even though after the second crusade, european armies started to deploy kress, nakers and tabor drummers on the battlefield.

Anything else you want me to change?

[CaptainofDespair]

Yes, but Tolkien's Middle-Earth isn't second crusade in nature. It is more of a Dark Age setting. Thus, drummer boys would not appear.