Surprise update!
This was a fantastic chapter, really beautiful and kind of sad. It saddens me that our plan with Hazrabân did not work as I'd hoped it would, but honestly the result was so engaging to read that I can't be too upset. A part of me had really believed that Imrazôr and Elrond would simply be able to overawe him into realising he was wrong, and I think this was a bit of a reality check to my... hubris, in that regard. Hazrabân is still a mortal man, and there is no way to reach into the souls of men and change them but slow, patient love, and even then, ultimately someone cannot change if they do not want to.
However, we've still freed all of the former serfs of Tharbad, and the amount of time Hazrabân spent silent here makes me think this experience has affected him a lot? Whether it is for the better or not, I am unsure at this point, but I suppose we just have to hope. Ultimately, it's up to him to try and become a better man - we can only hold out our hand, and hope he takes it. We have perhaps planted a seed, or maybe hardened his heart, and only time will tell.
As far as other stuff goes, the long anthropology and linguistics digression was fantastic, and I really hope that you never stop doing these @Telamon, you magnificent son of Balrog. In particular, the big about the Beorlings was so sad and yet felt so appropriate, and felt so thematically fitting to the idea of people trapped in cycles of violence through misunderstanding and pride which permeates this story. The suggestion that the home of the Dwarf friends is a future Mount Gram also stuck out to me as a very clever (and somewhat sad) idea, although that puts it surprisingly close to Gundabad. Hopefully we can help avert the presumably unfortunate fate of the Naûdmegin might be averted in this timeline, but we'll see.
In terms of tidings from the rest of Middle Earth, and the arrival of the King's Envoy, interesting news indeed. In particular, the fact that he can inject himself into any expedition we undertake seems troubling, as is the connection to the royal family? It's hard not to draw the connection that he might be a spy, and that the King may have seen straight through what we're intending to do here - create a powerful city-state in the North built around craft and trade, which unites the Middle Men of Eriador in a Mannish-Elven alliance which is stronger than the sum of its parts. The placement of the Gimilkarasai in Lond Daer, which feels kind of bizarre otherwise, makes a lot of sense in this light; simply by being there, they stymie any attempt to turn Lond Daer into an entrepot by their mere presence alone. Of course, this could just be jumping at shadows, but it's a concern.
In terms of plans/votes, I sort of agree with what's been posted here already, and will try to have something up by tonight.
Broadly, I agree with the idea that an Expeditionary Force makes more sense for us right now than the City Guard. Realistically, the way we are going to defeat Mount Gundabad here is not via sheer dint of arms - we would have built our colony more along the lines of a regular Númenórean colony if we had wanted to do this. The path we have embarked on is to forge together an alliance of disparate peoples and lead them into battle - and that means power projection, being able to send a small but capable force into the far reaches of Eriador, is probably more important to us right now than maintaining a larger defensive force close to home. It might also make sense of have a militia as insurance, but it depends how many slots we can spare.
Lastly, I am very worried about the Daughters of Vâr being on the move. It now feels like they may be the spanner thrown into the workings of our half-built machine by the Enemy. If they attack and devastate the lands of the Naûdmegin, then we've just lost probably the strongest human member-state of our fledgling alliance. There's a limit to what we can do here, and trying to change the mind of a Dwarf who is set on a course of action is uh, a pretty tall order. (Though notably it happened with Thorin Oakenshield, if only at the point of death.) But I wonder if we should at least try and see if there is some resolution here?
If Durin's sons could demonstrate that they do not have the Ring, and help set Vâr's bones right, or perhaps give a convincing account of where they were lost, would this help? Probably not! But curiosity and the sheer incoming train that the Blacklocks now represent to our alliance kind of compels me to try and learn more, at least. We have some credit with Froin now, because we've done what he asked. Let's spend it, and find out more about this.
This was a fantastic chapter, really beautiful and kind of sad. It saddens me that our plan with Hazrabân did not work as I'd hoped it would, but honestly the result was so engaging to read that I can't be too upset. A part of me had really believed that Imrazôr and Elrond would simply be able to overawe him into realising he was wrong, and I think this was a bit of a reality check to my... hubris, in that regard. Hazrabân is still a mortal man, and there is no way to reach into the souls of men and change them but slow, patient love, and even then, ultimately someone cannot change if they do not want to.
However, we've still freed all of the former serfs of Tharbad, and the amount of time Hazrabân spent silent here makes me think this experience has affected him a lot? Whether it is for the better or not, I am unsure at this point, but I suppose we just have to hope. Ultimately, it's up to him to try and become a better man - we can only hold out our hand, and hope he takes it. We have perhaps planted a seed, or maybe hardened his heart, and only time will tell.
As far as other stuff goes, the long anthropology and linguistics digression was fantastic, and I really hope that you never stop doing these @Telamon, you magnificent son of Balrog. In particular, the big about the Beorlings was so sad and yet felt so appropriate, and felt so thematically fitting to the idea of people trapped in cycles of violence through misunderstanding and pride which permeates this story. The suggestion that the home of the Dwarf friends is a future Mount Gram also stuck out to me as a very clever (and somewhat sad) idea, although that puts it surprisingly close to Gundabad. Hopefully we can help avert the presumably unfortunate fate of the Naûdmegin might be averted in this timeline, but we'll see.
In terms of tidings from the rest of Middle Earth, and the arrival of the King's Envoy, interesting news indeed. In particular, the fact that he can inject himself into any expedition we undertake seems troubling, as is the connection to the royal family? It's hard not to draw the connection that he might be a spy, and that the King may have seen straight through what we're intending to do here - create a powerful city-state in the North built around craft and trade, which unites the Middle Men of Eriador in a Mannish-Elven alliance which is stronger than the sum of its parts. The placement of the Gimilkarasai in Lond Daer, which feels kind of bizarre otherwise, makes a lot of sense in this light; simply by being there, they stymie any attempt to turn Lond Daer into an entrepot by their mere presence alone. Of course, this could just be jumping at shadows, but it's a concern.
In terms of plans/votes, I sort of agree with what's been posted here already, and will try to have something up by tonight.
Broadly, I agree with the idea that an Expeditionary Force makes more sense for us right now than the City Guard. Realistically, the way we are going to defeat Mount Gundabad here is not via sheer dint of arms - we would have built our colony more along the lines of a regular Númenórean colony if we had wanted to do this. The path we have embarked on is to forge together an alliance of disparate peoples and lead them into battle - and that means power projection, being able to send a small but capable force into the far reaches of Eriador, is probably more important to us right now than maintaining a larger defensive force close to home. It might also make sense of have a militia as insurance, but it depends how many slots we can spare.
Lastly, I am very worried about the Daughters of Vâr being on the move. It now feels like they may be the spanner thrown into the workings of our half-built machine by the Enemy. If they attack and devastate the lands of the Naûdmegin, then we've just lost probably the strongest human member-state of our fledgling alliance. There's a limit to what we can do here, and trying to change the mind of a Dwarf who is set on a course of action is uh, a pretty tall order. (Though notably it happened with Thorin Oakenshield, if only at the point of death.) But I wonder if we should at least try and see if there is some resolution here?
If Durin's sons could demonstrate that they do not have the Ring, and help set Vâr's bones right, or perhaps give a convincing account of where they were lost, would this help? Probably not! But curiosity and the sheer incoming train that the Blacklocks now represent to our alliance kind of compels me to try and learn more, at least. We have some credit with Froin now, because we've done what he asked. Let's spend it, and find out more about this.
