Session 5-13 and 5-14: Last of the Elves + Villains

Ok I read amysrevenge’s post as being about Dagor B, since he referred to Morgoth ‘steaming out of Angband’.
 
Haakon said:
I would like to remind people that last season, we said that we should avoid showing too much of the doings in Angband and the Bad Guys. It tends to make them less terrifying, and we also risk ruining the element of surprise when they attack - this will be of particular importance this season. So, while we do want to show for example that Morgoth attacks prematurely, we should indicate this by brief hints rather than a long continuous series of scenes. For example, we could show Sauron being surprised or by the attack or unhappy with it - he had perhaps suspected it should happen later, or at least preferred it if he had been in charge. He doesn't have to take part in the greater attack of Dagor B; his moment comes afterwards, when he takes Minas Tirith.
So maybe we can focus the Bad Guy stories on Sauron & Co. This does not rule out showing something of Angband, Glaurung etc.
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On Sauron and Co.: We want Tevildo to do something other than die this season and Dragluin has had little to do since his creation and next season's death by Huan's paws. Do we send both to Nan Dungortheb to harass Aredhel's party?

Speaking of Aredhel: we seemed to have missed this part in the session on Aredhel, but are we allright in having her escort be mainly Tower of Snow redshirts? Should Glorfindel, as Aredhel's kinsman, go along anyways?
 
I want us to use Glorfindel and Ecthelion, but as companions, and then they part as she wants to go through Nan Dung but they don’t; she leaves without saying goodbye.
 
I’m not sure she needs someone else. It would be cool if she passes through Nan Dungortheb alone.
 
Haakon said:
I’m not sure she needs someone else. It would be cool if she passes through Nan Dungortheb alone.
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There's also the other guy, Egalmoth. He's slated to survive all the way to the Third Kinslaying

Also, who should be the foe in Nan Dungortheb?
 
Haakon said:
I want us to use Glorfindel and Ecthelion, but as companions, and then they part as she wants to go through Nan Dung but they don’t; she leaves without saying goodbye.
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The difficulty there is that it's going to hard to pull that off without them looking like cowards, unless we make Aredhel look stupid for wanting to take the risk.
 
Nicholas Palazzo said:
The difficulty there is that it's going to hard to pull that off without them looking like cowards, unless we make Aredhel look stupid for wanting to take the risk.
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It’s a time of peace. They aren’t really equipped for battle, so they aren’t against such a journey per se but under the circumstances. Aredhel on the other hand could be better equipped since while the others are just coming along for a part of the journey, she’s not planning to return for a long time. Perhaps she will look foolish but then she makes it, so her foolishness will look a bit heroic then, right?
I think it’s better to use named characters than redshirts.
 
Haakon said:
It’s a time of peace. They aren’t really equipped for battle, so they aren’t against such a journey per se but under the circumstances. Aredhel on the other hand could be better equipped since while the others are just coming along for a part of the journey, she’s not planning to return for a long time. Perhaps she will look foolish but then she makes it, so her foolishness will look a bit heroic then, right?
I think it’s better to use named characters than redshirts.
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So the other guys wouldn’t be well-equipped for a long journey?
 
Ange1e4e5 said:
So the other guys wouldn’t be well-equipped for a long journey?
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Sorry if I’m being obscure. I mean the others are not going as far, and, since it’s a time of peace, they didn’t bother to bring equipment they’d otherwise bring (if they’d planned to fight giant spiders for example).
 
Haakon said:
Sorry if I’m being obscure. I mean the others are not going as far, and, since it’s a time of peace, they didn’t bother to bring equipment they’d otherwise bring (if they’d planned to fight giant spiders for example).
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So maybe they just bring sidearms, swords that is?
 
Nicholas Palazzo said:
The difficulty there is that it's going to hard to pull that off without them looking like cowards, unless we make Aredhel look stupid for wanting to take the risk.
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The Silmarillion tells us that "the riders became enmeshed in shadows, and Aredhel strayed from her companions and was lost. They sought for her long in vain, fearing that she had been ensnared, or had drunk from the poisoned streams of that land; but the fell creatures of Ungoliant that dwelt in the ravines were aroused and pursued them, and they hardly escaped with their lives. When they at last returned and their tale was told there was great sorrow in Gondolin ...."

It has always sounded to me like the reason the three lords accompanying Aredhel returned to Gondolin was that they presumed she was dead; not because they were cowards. If all the available evidence suggests that Aredhel has been eaten (perhaps they could find some garment of Aredhel's near some unidentifiable corpses that have been sucked dry) and the spiders start attacking them, I really don't see how the audience could criticize Glorfindel, Ecthelion, and Egalmoth for returning to Gondolin.

We need not even reveal that Aredhel has avoided the spiders or somehow survived her encounter with them until after the three lords leave. We can show her searching around for her companions, and, when she doesn't find them, resolving to continue east to visit the Feanorians.
 
Yeah of course they could all try to see if it’s possible to go through Nan Dungortheb, even though they’re ill equipped. I agree that there are ways to do this without portraying them as cowards or unskilled or whatever. I really like @Rhiannon’s idea.
 
Something on the Villains' storyline regarding Annael: how aware should the audience be that he's been put under Sauron's spell? Is it not immediately apparent and we see the spell cast in a flashback, or do we have Sauron put him under his spell and he's essentially a time bomb waiting to go off until he interferes with a rescue effort (is that what we have for the revealing event, right)?
 
Haakon said:
Yeah of course they could all try to see if it’s possible to go through Nan Dungortheb, even though they’re ill equipped. I agree that there are ways to do this without portraying them as cowards or unskilled or whatever. I really like @Rhiannon’s idea.
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I have less of a problem with this than with them being unwilling to go in and she just leaves them behind.
 
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