Session 4.08 - Overarching Storylines, Final (I hope!)

MithLuin

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Session 4.08 will be held on Friday February 15th at the usual time.

This *should* be our final discussion focusing on season long story arcs. One can hope!

We will start by firming up the timeline of Eöl's storyline (as outlined in Session 4.07), and then move on to discussing the Villain plotlines (including the Hildorien issue).

Also a chance for thoughts about Lúthien.

Feel free to discuss any of the above in this thread.
 
I have suggested that Luthien be a healer or counselor, doing things that would not immediately reveal how powerful she is. @amysrevenge had suggested her stopping a volcano, but I don’t think that is in her skill set.
 
Yeah that's a bit ambitious haha. I still think our best bet is to have her prevent *something* terrible, thwart some plan of the Enemy. If not a volcano (I'm not sure that this is in Morgoth's skill set either honestly), then some other disaster based on lies and rumours perhaps. I would have had her tempering Thingol's initial reaction to the Kinslaying, but I really like how we put Celeborn in that role. But something like that would be perfect.

Perhaps there is the potential for a rift between Thingol and Melian, based on some misunderstanding deliberately crafted by Sauron, and Luthien stops it and patches the rift? Maybe not this specific thing, but some other similar thing? It would involve manufacturing and inserting drama and tension where there is none in the PubSil.
 
For the Villains’ plot lines:

The big question in Hildorien is whether or not to include it, or to have a more “nothing is scarier” vibe mentioned in flashback by Beor. If we decide to include Hildorien, we need to decide who to send and when. Morgoth should go at some point, while Gothmog should not since deception, subterfuge and corruption are not his thing. Sauron should have some role or another, since he is the primary villain tied into all three Ages and he goes 455 years of the First Age not doing anything of note. I think there is an agreement that he and his lieutenant Thuringwethil attend the Mereth Aderthad, discover the truth of the Kinslaying, and sow discord amongst the Noldor and Sindar, leading to the Ban, which I want before the Dagor Aglareb; then he will be in charge of more discord by capturing Elves and releasing them as spies amongst their brethren. Fankil’s existence is entirely dependent on whether or not we show Hildorien. I say Gothmog should release Glaurung as an impulsive, “I’m bored, let’s play with the new toy” move.

For the Dagor Aglareb, I say have Boldog lead a massive army of Orcs, with Gothmog present in a nominal capacity; Morgoth may be holding him back, but someone has to be present to make sure the Orcs don't retreat.
 
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I think it is already decided that we are not actually going to show anything in Hildorien this Season. (Whether or not we choose to show parts of it later in flashback is another question). What we will show is the 'Meanwhile, in Angband' villain perspective, so we need to know who is where and what they are doing so that we can craft appropriate conversations and plans for those left behind. In other words, we're going to 'tease' Hildorien this Season, and we don't want to contradict ourselves or paint ourselves into a corner later.

The Hildorien thread brought up a multi-part sequence:

Stage 1: Morgoth locates the 2nd Children. He scares them and returns to Angband.
Stage 2: Morgoth sends Sauron as a Gift Giver to start working on the Men's ignorance and fears.
Stage 3: Morgoth returns, during an eclipse*, wearing golden armor and crowned with the silmarils. He demands worship to save the Men from the Darkness, and they comply.
Stage 4: Morgoth and Sauron return to Angband, leaving a deputy (Fankil) behind to run their cult. A branch of Men rebel and break away, putting an end to the Morgoth-worship and seeking out the Elves (they'd been told lies about the Firstborn Children by Sauron, and now they want the truth).

* We should show the Eclipse in Beleriand, even if Eclipses don't typically work like that; something to tie that scene to the timeline.

We probably will run into problems if we send *only* Sauron to do this (how can he get them Morgoth-worshiping without Morgoth around? though he did that for the Fallen Elves) We could send *only* Morgoth, but it seems odd that his tyrant of Angband persona would be effective in this role. So, tag-teaming Sauron and Morgoth gets the job done. And then, for the Men to rebel...best if neither of those two is around when it happens.

This multi-part approach allows us not to subtract any one villain from Angband for the entire Season. Morgoth can be absent for a time, and Sauron can be absent for a time, but no one is gone indefinitely.
 
I've been toying with it in the earlier posts here (and in the other thread), but I think timing-wise and Luthien-wise, I'd like to invent a Sauron scheme in Beleriand to cause trouble, and have Luthien overturn it while he's away (it's too soon for them to directly meet - this is both a way to have Luthien do something, and to prelude their confrontation later).
 
Ok, so no Hildorien. So Sauron will be mainly preoccupied with the Elven capture program, Morgoth will be working with Dragons, and Gothmog is... training new armies?
 
Another suggestion of mine is Gothmog occasionally getting impatient with Morgoth's absence, because he wants to have a piece of the action.
 
We can still have Fankil sent away on a mysterious mission. I'd like to do that. But I think the outline we wrote in the "What ever happened in Hildorien?" thread is good.

I propose that Sauron is actually already back in Angband during stage #3 in the outline Marie posted/summarized. My thought is that Morgoth (in golden armor) is pretending to be Sauron Annatar, the Friendly Handsome Dude With the Bling and Awesome Gifts. It would also free up Sauron for whatever schemes are going on (spies, Mereth Aderthad, and capturing Elves) and keep a non-Balrog in charge of Angband at all times.

In that thread we didn't entirely work out just how the rebels become acquainted and friendly with Elves and Dwarves. There were some suggestions but not a consensus, I think. More suggestions are welcome!





(OMG, trying to bring together the ideas and conclusions from a dozen separate threads into a single, coherent season outline is going to be... challenging. :confused: I wish Nick, Marie, me, and whoever else wanted to write it could get together in one room, with notecards and a bulletin board. I actually think I should try the old-school notecard-plotting at home.)
 
We can still have Fankil sent away on a mysterious mission. I'd like to do that. But I think the outline we wrote in the "What ever happened in Hildorien?" thread is good.

I propose that Sauron is actually already back in Angband during stage #3 in the outline Marie posted/summarized. My thought is that Morgoth (in golden armor) is pretending to be Sauron Annatar, the Friendly Handsome Dude With the Bling and Awesome Gifts. It would also free up Sauron for whatever schemes are going on (spies, Mereth Aderthad, and capturing Elves) and keep a non-Balrog in charge of Angband at all times.

In that thread we didn't entirely work out just how the rebels become acquainted and friendly with Elves and Dwarves. There were some suggestions but not a consensus, I think.



(OMG, trying to bring together the ideas and conclusions from a dozen separate threads into a single, coherent season outline is going to be... challenging. :confused: I wish Nick, Marie, me, and whoever else wanted to write it could get together in one room, with notecards and a bulletin board. I actually think I should the old-school notecard-plotting at home.)
Perhaps Boldog is in charge of Angband, leading into the Dagor Aglareb?...

We could show Morgoth assigning Fankil a task, that we learn later is finishing the corruption of Men.
 
I really think Morgoth should start Dagor Aglareb, not some minion. Certainly not somebody minor like Boldog. Morgoth wouldn't leave him in charge of Angband.



@Ange1e4e5 , I like your idea of Gothmog being involved with Glaurung's breakout, although how to show his involvement is the tricky question.

Oh! If the captives escape during Glaurung's breakout.... but we won't have an arranged escape of an Elf under the Spell of Bottomless Dread, so that wouldn't work as a coda. Yet that's the best time for them to escape. But then when would be a good time to show their reception and ... see how they are, after their ordeal. I dunno how to do that.
 
I really think Morgoth should start Dagor Aglareb, not some minion. Certainly not somebody minor like Boldog. Morgoth wouldn't leave him in charge of Angband.
Boldog maybe is leading the Orcs in the field, with Gothmog present to keep the Orcs from fleeing? Perhaps Morgoth, in the aftermath of the Ban, tries to take advantage of the discord amongst the Noldor and the Sindar, as well as internal tensions amongst the Noldor.
 
I really think Morgoth should start Dagor Aglareb, not some minion. Certainly not somebody minor like Boldog. Morgoth wouldn't leave him in charge of Angband.



@Ange1e4e5 , I like your idea of Gothmog being involved with Glaurung's breakout, although how to show his involvement is the tricky question.

Oh! If the captives escape during Glaurung's breakout.... but we won't have an arranged escape of an Elf under the Spell of Bottomless Dread, so that wouldn't work as a coda. Yet that's the best time for them to escape. But then when would be a good time to show their reception and ... see how they are, after their ordeal. I dunno how to do that.
Maybe we have Gothmog say something like "Time to play with master's new toy".
 
There is a desire to show Glaurung arranging his own escape. It gives him agency and shows he's not a tame dragon. What to do with Gothmog this season isn't obvious to me.
 
Regarding things for Luthien to do, maybe she could be present at a gathering where two characters/factions start arguing. It gets heated, and she starts singing to calm them down. I can imagine her being subtle about it, like she's just doing a performance for entertainment's sake (maybe someone asked her to sing earlier?), but she puts enough calming vibes in that it makes a noticeable difference. It'd be quite a minor thing, but could foreshadow her ability to cause enemies up to and including Morgoth to nod off when she needs them to...
 
There is a desire to show Glaurung arranging his own escape. It gives him agency and shows he's not a tame dragon. What to do with Gothmog this season isn't obvious to me.
Maybe Glaurung convinces Gothmog to release him to go on a “sortie”, and Gothmog is persuaded because he’s bored.
 
Sure, but asking Gothmog "may i go for a stroll?" And then devastating the entire Area does not make him look very intelligent i think..
 
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