Realms of Resistance

As the Third Age draws to a close and the Shadow stretches out across Middle-earth, in the west, there remain three bastions of Light. The Elder Days when the Elves once sang and danced under the canopy of the forests that stretched the whole of Middle-earth are long gone, their numbers greatly reduced in the wars against Sauron and his predecessors and by the loss of hope that led others to take the secret paths and ways to the Grey Havens, and from there sail into the West and find peace in the Undying Lands. For those that remain, the Long Defeat yet looms over them, the triumph of Sauron and Shadow, even as they take refuge under the protection of four great Elf lords and ladies, protected by the greatest magic of all—the Three Rings! These are the Elven Rings of Power, forged in the Second Age by Celebrimbor in Eregion—Vilya, Narya, and Nenya—hidden away and untouched by Sauron. Worn respectively by Elrond, Círdan the Shipwright, and Galadriel, they have each used their Ring of Power to protect their realms—Rivendell, Lindon, and Lothlórien—against unwanted change. They remain long into the Third Age and are the subject of Realms of the Three Rings.

Realms of the Three Rings is a setting supplement for The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings. Published by Free League Publishing, it expands upon the setting material given in the core rulebook for The One Ring and Ruins of the Lost Realm, the regional guide to the lands of southern Eriador, and adds depth to the background of any Elven Player Character in a campaign for The One Ring. There is scope for the lords of these Realms to become Patrons to the Player Characters, for non-Elves to become Elf-friends, and potentially some of the secrets that these lords hold. Of course, the Realms are not safe and even as they feel inviolable, Sauron and the forces of Shadow plot to undermine them and Realms of the Three Rings details three of these plots. Nine landmarks are described, some of which are tied into the three plots, some of which are located within the Realms. Lastly, the supplement offers options for the player, but in the main, Realms of the Three Rings is primarily a book for the Loremaster.

Ruins of the Lost Realm begins with a history of the Eldar from the Elder Days to the Twilight of the Third Age and what is surprising about it is that it kept to just two pages. It could have been much, much longer given how lengthy and detailed the history of Elves is in Middle-earth lore, but to be fair that history is available elsewhere and much of it is unlikely to have a direct effect upon a Loremaster’s campaign. This does not mean that the Loremaster cannot instead do her own research and bring elements of that history into play, because effectively that is what the authors of Ruins of the Lost Realm are doing. Their focus is upon the Three Rings of Power, how they were created by Celbrimbor, and the rise of Sauron as he used his own ring to subvert the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. It may not be an extensive history, but is enough here at least.

The influence of Three Rings of Power can be seen in the strange experience of staying in one of the surviving Elf-lands. There are literally a timelessness and an introspectiveness to the Realms that means that visitors will often initially feel overwhelmed by its apparent idleness and lack of urgency. In time, they either learn to live in step with it or never quite shake of its dream-like feel. The timelessness also means that visitors are never quite aware of how much time passes whilst they are there, weeks passing by before they are ready to leave again. There benefits to staying in an Elf-realm though. When a Company visits one of the three realms, it automatically triggers a Fellowship Phase. One of the things that that Player-hero can do is the Heal Scars Undertaking and remove a Shadow Scar. However, this is in addition to whatever Undertaking the Player-hero wants to do. It costs Adventure Points to do so. Otherwise, Player-heroes who are not Elf-friends or native to one of the realms cannot spend their Yule Fellowship Phase there.

Each of the three realms—Rivendell, Lindon, and Lothlórien—is richly detailed with information about its numerous locations, its Ring of Power, notable figures, and more. For example, the description of Lindon includes details of the Nine Houses of Mithlond, guild-like organisations that regulate labour and professions, organise festivals, sponsor festivals, and more. These are a ready source of NPCs and possible plots should the Loremaster decide to develop them. Of the three realms, Rivendell is the most well-known, having previously been detailed in The One Ring Loremaster’s Screen & Rivendell Compendium, but it makes sense have it described here with the other two Elf-lands. That said, Realms of the Three Rings does not simply reprint the previously presented information, but expands on it to detail the wider hidden valley of Imladris, so now the Player-heroes can spend time with Gandalf sharing stories and music under the Hoary Old Chestnut, and perhaps hear a rumour or whisper on the wind, or follow the sound of the Piper in the Woods. Of the three realms, Lothlórien is the most mysterious and the most closed off, understandable given its proximity to Moria. Indeed, given that proximity, the Loremaster may want to have Realms of the Three Realms close to hand if she is planning to run Moria – Through the Doors of Durin. Much like the Fellowship, Player-heroes here may receive the Gifts of Galadriel if they take the Meet Patron undertaking and one Player-hero and his Fellowship Focus can even ne allowed to look into the Mirror of Galadriel. Of course, there is a chance that the Player-hero will see a harrowing vision, scarring him as much as it does give him insight, but looking into the mirror is a momentous event and should be treated as being very special.

One nice touch is that although all three realms are described as unyielding and unchanging, each includes a table that adds a fitting random element. For Lindon, this is ‘Exploring the Markets’ giving a range of interesting traders and craftsmen to buy from and learn from; for Rivendell, it is ‘Many Meetings in Rivendell’, a table of NPC types that the Loremaster can develop; and in Lothlórien, there are ‘Elf-Minstrel Songs’ that the Player-heroes may be lucky to hear. These add a little variation and again, can be developed further by the Loremaster to add extra detail and flavour.

The encroaching nature of the Shadow comes to the fore in Realms of the Three Realms with a plot directed at the Elven realms, each intended by Sauron to bring ruin to the Elves. Each includes some background and explanation of the plot, stats for the NPCs involved all of them nasty and evil in their own way, and a timeline that stretches twenty years into the future from 2965 TA. These are set-ups more than anything else, but they are detailed set-ups whose suggested plots and events can be woven around other adventures. As expected, these are particularly strong storylines for Player-heroes who are Elves, exposing them to some of the vile fates that Sauron and his minions have inflicted upon their fellow Elves. In ‘Perils of the Last Road’, Sauron sends Morlhoss, the Dark Whisper, a vengeful, spurned Elven spirit, and Zagruk, the Voice From Beyond, a gifted Orc Sorcerer who bears The Mask of Spirits, an iron mask that enables him to become a host for Morlhoss, to prey upon those Elves who have decided to journey into the West, making travel difficult across the Misty Mountains in particular. The Dark Lord targets Rivendell in ‘Memories of Ancient Wounds’ as he sends Cauthlin, an ancient spirit known as the weasel-lady, to take her revenge on the Elves of the Last Homely House. Playing on his grief at the loss of his wife, Celebrián, and fears of the possible loss of his daughter, Arwen, Sauron hopes that Elrond can be drawn out of his refuge where he will be vulnerable. In ‘Old Hatreds May Still Breed War’ sees Sauron drive a wedge between the Elves of Lindon and the Dwarves of the Blue Mountain when an Elf, recently escaped from captivity of the Orcs of Mount Gram, claims to have seen a great hoard of Dwarven arms, armour, and treasure in the Orc hold and that the Dwarves must be paying tribute to Mount Gram! This is an insult that cannot stand on either side as the lack of wisdom amongst the young Elves and their yearning for valour and glory pushes them into confrontation of the infamous stubbornness of the Dwarves.

All of the NPCs are nicely drawn here and it should be noted that not all of the villains are totally and utterly villainous. There is a path to redemption for some of them, though not all. Cauthlin, the weasel-lady, is genuinely evil and that is clear from the unsettling illustration of her that accompanies her description. If there is a downside to the three plots, it is that Lothlórien does not receive one, though given how closed off and inaccessible that realm is, it may be that Sauron has not yet devised a scheme which he thinks will make it vulnerable.

Lastly, Realms of the Three Rings details nine Landmarks, adventure sites across Eriador. Some of these can be tied into the plots described in the previous section. For example, Ost Breniellin is a fortress that guards Lindon’s north and is home to the House of Exiles, who now make the accusations against the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains in ‘Old Hatreds May Still Breed War’, whilst ‘The Valleys of the Dwarves’ is home to the accused. ‘The Singing Stones’ are Elven ruins on the edge of the Misty Mountains where songs can be heard in dreams, but not remembered, and is where an NPC tied to the plot of ‘Memories of Ancient Wounds’ could be encountered, whilst events later in that plot can play out at ‘The Wailinghole’, a worked cave network that has been turned into an outpost by the Elves of Rivendell and has secrets of its own. ‘The Winter-horn’ is both a sound and a place in the High Pass of the Misty Mountains, whose sound is said to be strong enough to keep giants at bay, and perhaps can be found as part of the ‘Perils of the Last Road’ plot, as can ‘Whitehorn Hay’, a farm where Men welcome Elven visitors.

The others include ‘The Palace of the Sea-birds’ is the ruined island home of an old Elf-lord, now the seat of King Arovall, a massive seagull who rules over all of the region’s seabirds; ‘The Vineyards of Glauria’ sit high on the side of the valley above Rivendell where the ancient winemaking practices of the Eldar are still continued to this day; and ‘The Falls of Nimrodel’ lie on the edge of Lothlórien, potentially a place of refuge from nearby Moria, whilst the nearby ‘The Ruins of Dwarferry’ details an ancient Dwarven crossing point across the Anduin. Where most of these Landmarks are given a location, both ‘The Hollow Wood’, a refuge for Elves on the road westwards, and ‘The Isle of the Sorceress’, a refuge of a more mystical nature, can be placed anywhere by the Loremaster.

Finally, the appendix adds options for the Player. These include two new Heroic Cultures. One is the High Elves of Rivendell, which previously appeared in The One Ring Loremaster’s Screen & Rivendell Compendium, whilst the other is the Elves of Lórien. The High Elves of Rivendell have the Cultural Blessings of ‘Elven-Wise’, able to spend Hope to achieve a Magical success with a skill roll, but also ‘Beset by Woe’, meaning that their long memories cannot forget the mark left by the Shadow on their spirit, limiting when they can remove Shadow points. Their notable Virtues are ‘Artificer of Eregion’, enabling a Player-hero to craft Marvellous Artefacts like the Elven-smiths of old or identify qualities about a Marvellous Artefact or Wondrous Items, and ‘Might of the Firstborn’, which lets a Player-hero expend Hope to negate a point of Hate or Resolve spent by a foe to activate a Fell ability. The Elves of Lórien have a single Cultural Bless, that of ‘Tree-People’, which lets a Player-hero spend a point of Hope to achieve a Magical success with a skill roll when in a forest, but more Virtues to choose from. These include ‘Lembas’, gaining access to the famous waybread after spending time in Lothlórien; ‘Deadly Archery’, granting the ‘Prepare Action’ with a bow whilst in the Rearward Stance as a secondary action; and ‘Favour of the Lady’, which grants the blessing of Galadriel to gain more Hope points during the Fellowship Phase, but at a cost of an extra Shadow point, which can be negated by returning home. There is a lot of flavour to both Heroic Cultures, enabling players to create interesting Player-heroes. The last item in the appendix is ‘Elf-Lords in Solo Play’, a guide to creating powerful Elves born in the First and Second Ages who have yet to make the journey West. These are specifically designed to work with the solo rules for The One Ring—called ‘Strider Mode’—and enable a player to roleplay a much more powerful figure who can more readily face greater foes. It is a welcome new option for the ‘Strider Mode’.

Physically, Realms of the Three Rings follows the look of The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings with an almost parchment look upon which the pen and ink art sits beautiful artwork, some of which, like the depiction of the weasel-lady is quite unnerving. The cartography is also very good.

If there is an Elven Player-hero in the Company, Realms of the Three Rings is a supplement that his player will want his Loremaster to purchase. It places the Elves in the spotlight in the Third Age of Middle-earth, a place that ironically, they would rather avoid. It not only details their realms as places to visit, but provides with the Loremaster with the means to bring their reticence, their waning hope, and their elegance into play and develop her campaign around their included plots. Realms of the Three Rings adds depth and detail to Eriador, scope for Elven Player-heroes to shine, and other Player-heroes to explore their grandly elegant, but declining world.