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Akallabêth

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If ever there is a safe time to learn whether the allies (or 'allies') of the wizard can be conversed with, it is now when we are early into our journey.

[x] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
[x] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
[x] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
notbirdofprey said:
I say we need to 1. Hear the other side of the story and 2. Make an impression on more than just this one noble family.
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What other side of the story is there to hear? The words of a self-professed agent of Sauron, which are bound to be nothing but lies both willful and witless? The mad justifications of the dragon-sick, whose claims upon their neighbors are no better than Numenor's claims upon tribute from Middle-Earth? We went south to be among allies, and so we should. Not deliver ourselves so blithely back to our Enemy.

[X] March for Cirhael's father's keep, to take stock of the situation and be received properly by the lord of these lands. So long 'abandoned' by his King and beset unjustly by his enemies, there is no telling how he might react.
 
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[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
[X] March for Cirhael's father's keep, to take stock of the situation and be received properly by the lord of these lands. So long 'abandoned' by his King and beset unjustly by his enemies, there is no telling how he might react.
 
[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
Telamon said:
The legends say that in elder days their women garbed themselves as men and fought much like them also, that they held slights as great injuries for many years, and so in sullen silence moved among the eaves of long-ago Beleriand.

Two thousand years has changed them little
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should say three thousand years


[X] March for Cirhael's father's keep, to take stock of the situation and be received properly by the lord of these lands. So long 'abandoned' by his King and beset unjustly by his enemies, there is no telling how he might react.
 
[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
Zimmerwald1915 said:
What other side of the story is there to hear? The words of a self-professed agent of Sauron, which are bound to be nothing but lies both willful and witless? The mad justifications of the dragon-sick, whose claims upon their neighbors are no better than Numenor's claims upon tribute from Middle-Earth? We went south to be among allies, and so we should. Not deliver ourselves so blithely back to our Enemy.

[X] March for Cirhael's father's keep, to take stock of the situation and be received properly by the lord of these lands. So long 'abandoned' by his King and beset unjustly by his enemies, there is no telling how he might react.
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Yeah, what do we expect his story to be?

"I wanted to cut down their trees and they won't let me. The Wizard gave me a piece of paper that says 'I do whatever I want'." Oh geez dude that explains everything.
 
[X] March for Cirhael's father's keep, to take stock of the situation and be received properly by the lord of these lands. So long 'abandoned' by his King and beset unjustly by his enemies, there is no telling how he might react.
 
[X] March for Cirhael's father's keep, to take stock of the situation and be received properly by the lord of these lands. So long 'abandoned' by his King and beset unjustly by his enemies, there is no telling how he might react.

Also, people are blithely assuming the father will automatically be our ally just because the son favors us, will it be so without properly acknowledging him as lord of his lands and appropriately honoring him as our host and loyal Queen's man? While, on the contrary, dining with his bitter-most foe, and leaving ourselves vulnerable by means of sycophancy or chicanery or even physical duress to bend to his will and put Cirhael's folk to ruin?
 
[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.

Surprise him - if we go elsewhere first he'll learn and have time to prepare.
 
I like the tense reception we received. It really shows that things on Numenor are not well that lords may halt travellers on the road. I don't know if they're even Faithful or Elf Friends. They're just on the receiving end of of someone else's scheme. It feels like going into the backwoods. It's nominally part of the metropole, but a day or two off the main road and it's really not. In better times they'd likely be a bit private rather than defensive.

I don't see much reason to deal with Lord Zirauben. I've very concerned that he will immediately go running to the capital to say the queen was interfering in whatever he was doing and then we've drawn the attention of Sauron and the King right back to us. So much for our supposed retreat from capital politics. It seems better to me to go to Cirhael's father's keep to access the situation because we don't actually know what's going on. If we want to negotiate for our allies we should actually meet with our allies.

I also feel like being properly received is absolutely vital to rekindling links between the local lord and the royal house, i.e. us, and a gesture that grants Cirhael's father more authority than Lord Zirauben. He has the write of the Wizard, but our host as the goodwill of the queen. It'd be rude to speed through his lands to speak to someone else, nominally on his behalf or in his interest too.

[X] March for Cirhael's father's keep, to take stock of the situation and be received properly by the lord of these lands. So long 'abandoned' by his King and beset unjustly by his enemies, there is no telling how he might react.
 
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[X] March for Cirhael's father's keep, to take stock of the situation and be received properly by the lord of these lands. So long 'abandoned' by his King and beset unjustly by his enemies, there is no telling how he might react.
 
[X] March for Cirhael's father's keep, to take stock of the situation and be received properly by the lord of these lands. So long 'abandoned' by his King and beset unjustly by his enemies, there is no telling how he might react.

Unlikely to get anything useful from Sauron-aligned lord, and very possible for him to pull some sort of an attack.
 
One should note: the Wizard is charismatic, and personable, and seductive. He reads men's hearts easily and he is shrewd, he is dependable, and he is seemingly omnipresent. People do not necessarily need to be evil either in nature or mind to be swayed by his schemes — certainly not when he acts with the power of the king.
 
[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.

It's true that the local lord may send word of our actions back north, but the same is true if we defend these lands using force. Only this way, that report won't say that we killed King's Men on King's Business, just that we stuck our nose where it doesn't belong.
 
[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.
 
[X] Turn for Taurnen, and meet with Lord Zirauben. It is one thing to act on a royal writ in the Wizard's name, it is another thing to be face to face with a Queen. You might learn why he seeks this violence, or how to turn him from it.

Miriel is untouchable by local lords, and she should be a guarantor for the heir on this diplomatic mission. If necessary this can also work the other way if she needs to bring Zirauben to the local lord's hall to settle the issue. Either way, its doubtful a lord located this far out is in that deep with the Wizard. I'm inclined to think he's been given materials contracts, like for stone from his hills and wood of these forests, and he's let greed get the better of him.
 
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