Nestled in the Westfolde, between the River Entwash and the Gladden Fields, the Rohirrim or “Horse Lords” make their home. Resilient, sober and principled, the villagers of Aldburg have bred and nurtured their horses in this pristine valley for generations. So intertwined have the two races become that horses are considered members of the family- an extension of the Rohirric lineage.
But another race is intent on expanding it’s territory and harnessing the power of the fabled horses of the Rohirrim. The Orcs crawl and clatter among the shadowed peaks of the Kintwise Mountains; setting their camps, such as they are, in an ever-closing noose around the riches of The Folde. Orc raiding parties go out regularly in search of loot, land, horses and Rohirrim to capture, tame, and enslave.
The Orcs are a mighty, slobering, band of hooligans led by a slighty-less-slobbery captain who is hell bent on dominating The Folde. His only problem (at present)… horses don’t like orcs.
The Westfolde opens wide beneath the crystalline sky, it’s vast resources glimmering like so much gold. This land is a treasure sought by many- to keep hallowed and alive as their forefathers did, or to pillage and consume in an undertow of destruction.
Who will rule The Glimmering Folde?
-Note 1: Choose which side you’d like to play, Orcs or Rohirrim and create a character accordingly. I have pre-loaded some character natures to choose from or you can write your own.
-Note 2: Since horses weigh so heavily into the identity of the people of Rohan, anyone who’d like to come up with a mini-bio for a horse companion for their character is encouraged to do so. I’m not trying to make this into a horse story, but I think we ought to have a way to use horses frequently… at least as an extension of our human characters.
Currently the Beta version of Storium only understands one character per user per game. (You can’t play a Rohirrim and his horse as two separate entities.)
If you’ll write a brief description of your horse (gender, name, temperament, etc.) I will create a batch of asset cards to give back to you instead in an attempt to enable us to use horses to meet different challenges throughout the game.
-Note 3: To offset the extra agility of a character with a horse, if you choose to play the Orc’s side I will write asset cards for you in line with orc abilities. Suggestions are invited.
-Note 4: While I based this story on J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings stories, this is
not a purist adventure. Using Rohirric-sounding names and terminology will add flavor to our story, but I only want to use those aspects that will be a jumping off point for a story of our own. I do not intend for anyone to be a prisoner to the original text. My goal is to imagine life as a Rohirrim or an Orc and to write about it rather than poring over research for accuracy, so have fun and don’t sweat the details.
–Some primer sites to dust of your Rohirric/ Orcish knowledge. (Besides the obvious reading the LOTR series or watching the movies).
General LOTR sites:
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Orcs
Map of Rohan:
Beric the Briton, Wulf the Saxon, Kristin Lavransdatter, The Paradise War Trilogy, Byzantium would be good inspiration. It would also be appropriate to incorporate aspects relating to Goths, Scandinavians, Norse mythology and the medieval Anglo-Saxons.
Hosted and narrated by:
Erin Teske (BeanMom)
Started 07/11/14.
Scenes played: 4
License: Community License
image source: A mountain in WY that I can no longer find the link to.
