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Welcome to MORIA 2e D and D Fourth Age Middle-earth Dwarf campaign

08:54, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

MORIA 2e D and D Fourth Age Middle-earth Dwarf campaign

It is two score and eleven years since the Lord of the Rings was defeated and the dwarves of Erebor, under King Dain Ironfoot, joined forces with the men of Dale, under King Brand Bainson, and marched forth to engage the Easterling hosts sent by Sauron.  The Battle of Dale, as it came to be known, was a terrible engagement, that saw the death of both Kings Brand and Dain Ironfoot.  Their sons, Bard II and Thorin Stonehelm, rallied their besieged forces and drove the Easterlings from their realms.  King Thorin Stonehelm was 153 at the Battle of Dale, and he is now an older, but still hale, dwarf of 202 years.  He has ruled well for 51 years, but on one particular issue there has long been dissent.
   It has been just as long since the dwarves of the Kingdom Under the Mountain heard of the death of Balin and his failed quest to reclaim Khazad-dum for his people.  Balin left two young sons, DWAIN and NOIN behind when he journeyed to Moria, for they were too young to accompany him, being but fifteen and thirteen at the time.  Now Dwain son of Balin is a hale 96 years of age, his brother Noin is 93, and both are eager to avenge their father and conquer the Dwarrowdelf once and for all.
   The King Under the Mountain's sovereign decree is that Moria remain forbidden to all, but that does not deter the sons of Balin.  The brothers have gathered a small but determined band of like minded followers, mostly young dwarves eager to see the mythical Moria, and now they must act.  Do they dare to go before King Thorin III, to proclaim their intentions and garner his support?  Do they defy his edict and leave the Lonely Mountain against the wishes of its King?   Do they leave on some other pretext and try their plan in secret?  They will need more support to retake Khazad-dum, and the wrath of the old dwarf king would be terrible indeed...

   Welcome to the Last Quest for Moria, a dwarven campaign set in year 49 of the Fourth Age of Middle Earth.  This will be a second edition dungeons and dragons campaign with several house rules to mesh the world of Middle earth with the old 2nd edition D and D rules.  If you haven't guessed by now, this is a Dwarven campaign, which means the majority of the characters should be dwarves, although I'd consider one or two others, depending on their background.  Let's just say you'd need to convince me why a Hobbit, or a Hillman or a Silvan Elf, or a Dunadan, for example, would want to travel with a group of outlaw dwarves on such a quest, but its not beyond the realm of possibility of course.  I am a HUGE Tolkien fanatic with over thirty eight years of experience with Middle earth so I know the world well.  I may modify some of the history in order to add drama though.  Like what if the struggle to cleanse Mirkwood and Mordor is still going on?
   I hope for a posting rate of at least one or two posts per week if we are going to accomplish anything, I'd of course be more than happy to do more if possible.  I've been on RPOL for years and I know it's limitations; we all have a life after all.  I'd like perhaps five or six players to start and the title characters DWAIN and NOIN would both be available for players of course (I'd prefer that) otherwise I'll NPC them.

   This game will be largely adventure, although the politics of the Fourth Age are extremely important as well and some of the important characters from the Lord of the Rings are still around, including some of the original members of Thorin's company!  Role play is always of paramount importance to me over rules, and I will gladly work with a good group of players and welcome reasonable criticism and feedback.  I'm not perfect, after all, but I do try to be fair.  I intend to be careful in my selection of players as I would like for this to be a long term campaign.  I ran this many years ago, and it was an amazing game, so I hope this time will be just as memorable.