The Voyage Begins

A solitary bell rang from a high white tower as dawn crept over the city of Dol Amroth. Down in the harbour, the long, sleek warship known as the Glaurung slowly rowed out to sea.  After the festivities of the night before, the city had slept late, and only a few, quiet folk had come down to see the ship off.

Once free of the harbour, the ship dropped its sail and used the gentle breeze to carry it slowly along the coast, past the numerous settlements that dotted the coastal road. Apparently word of the voyage had proceeded them, for hundreds of people lined the shores near these towns and villages, waving flags, blowing trumpets, and waving wildly to the adventuring heroes. Most of the voyagers paid little attention to the fanfare, but Darcarven often stepped upon the bow and waved his red scarf in appreciation.

That evening, after covering approximately 65 miles, the ship pulled into a quiet cove near the village of Yenth. Most of the crew went off to the village where warm beds were found for them. The next morning, the ship once again put out, running with the morning light. They passed more villages, though most of these were quiet. In the early afternoon, Nereth turned the ship away from the land, heading for the island of Tolfalas, which could just be glimpsed as a thin line along the horizon.

Luck was with the adventurers in their crossing, and the weather stayed fair, with a gentle breeze at their back. As late afternoon approached, they could see the harbour walls of Tolfalas, lined with guards and flapping banners. This was an island constantly under threat. Today, however, it was celebrating, for a beloved son was coming home. Althérion, the Sea Prince, and member of the crew of the Glaurung was the first to step ashore.

Once again the crew were invited to a great feast in their honour. More songs were sung and tales of valour told. Wine flowed freely, though most of the crew of the Glaurung drank sparingly. Rymond, who sat at the table next to Lady Valetha, watched intently the interaction between Althérion and his father and older brother.  ‘There will be trouble here one day,’ he said with a frown. Valetha turned her dark eyes to him, but said nothing. While the feast continued into the early hours, Breged made sure that all of his crew left in time to sleep well before the morning. 

Over the next three days, the Glaurung slowly turned south, passing through small islands, a few of which contained Gondorian settlements. Away to their left, the sandy expanse of the Haradwaith sat quiet and empty. As night began to close in on the fifth day of their voyage, the ship rounded an island and came in sight of the Wenlack fishing station, the most southern outpost of the kingdom of Gondor.

However, instead of the warm welcome of the fisher folk that the crew had expected, they were met only with silence and the smell of rotting corpses…

* * *

I manage to play my first little game with the crew of the Glaurung, which I hope to share in the next few days. First, though, the crew had to cover some ground. So, I took a few shots of the ship at sea.  The ‘sea’ here is actually my bath mat, but it works pretty well, even has some waves in it.  I didn't even try to put all thirty crew members in the ship. Instead, only the actual heroes are visible.

The Story of Santa Claus for £0.99!

For those in the UK who might be interested in reading my book The Story of Santa Claus, it is currently selling for £0.99 on the UK Kindle store. 

The sale has propelled the book to number 1 on Amazon UK’s Holidays & Celebration list, just edging out Thailand: Deadly Destination. 

For those who missed my earlier post about the book, you can read more about it and see some photos of the book here.

It's now less than a month to Christmas, so if you haven't gotten Mom a present yet, perhaps a cute little book full of Christmas cheer?

Just a suggestion.

The Desolation of Smaug – Extended Edition

Last week, with the baby asleep, and Mom on her first night-out in five months, I got to sit down and watch the Extended Edition of The Desolation of Smaug that has been sitting on my shelf, taunting me with its unbroken shrink wrap.

For those who have seen the movie, but don’t want to invest either the time or the money in this edition, I thought I might briefly review the major differences.

<<Spoilers>>

Although there are lots of little bits in the EE which differ from the theatrical release, there are three that I would consider ‘important’.

The first of these is Gandalf’s introduction of the dwarves to Beorn. This is one of the real highlights of the book, but, much to my disappointment, didn’t appear in the movie. The EE edition includes the scene, although it sets it after the dwarves spend a night in the house. (Beorn only appearing the next morning). The scene is actually a great comedy piece, with the dwarves repeatedly mistaking Gandalf’s ‘signal’ and appearing before he is ready. Unfortunately, there is just something a bit off about Beorn in the scene. In a series that has constantly had to deal with making people appear different sizes, this seems to be the worst example. He just doesn’t quite seem ‘there’. Also, his acting isn’t quite as good as it is in the scenes included in the regular edition. Having watched the scene and somewhat enjoyed it, I actually agree with the decision to cut the scene from the regular release. There is also a short conversation between Beorn and Gandalf about Dol Guldur, which I think should have been left in as it gives a little more reason for Gandalf leaving the Dwarves at Mirkwood.

It is in Mirkwood where we get the second major extension, and the reinstatement of another lost piece of the book.  Basically, we get several more minutes of Thorin’s company wandering in the confusing woods, including the crossing of an enchanted stream with a collapsed bridge. During the crossing over some twisted vines, Bombur falls in the water and into an enchanted sleep, forcing the rest of the party to carry him. This scene adds nothing to the overall plot, but it is fun, is in the book, and makes Mirkwood feel more like the great wood that it is – they cross so quickly in the regular edition that it makes it seem like a very small forest.

The last, and biggest, change from the regular edition is the inclusion of a new character, Thrain, father of Thorin. Thrain is briefly seen in the flashbacks in the first movie. We actually get some new flashbacks right at the beginning of the EE when Gandalf is talking to Thorin in Bree. (This also includes Gandalf asking Thorin about Thrains ‘ring’ – nice to see Gandalf doing his job).  Later in the EE, when Gandalf is exploring the ruins of Dol Guldur, a crazy, emaciated version of Thrain attacks him. This is an odd scene, as for a moment, Gandalf feels hunted, only to be jumped by a really unthreatening old man.

I think this scene is an attempt to work back in an element from the book – Gandalf meeting Thrain in the dungeons of Dol Guldur. However, in the book that event happens before the events of the Hobbit (though it is told later). Here it seems strangely out of place. In fact, it is so out of place, that the writers obviously didn’t know what to do with Thrain and have him quickly dispatched by the Necromancers for no particular reason. It’s all a bit strange really.

Peter Jackson and crew, however, must have realized the scene didn’t work and removed it. It is fascinating to see how they managed to completely remove the character from the scene. I think in some instances they must have digitally removed him from specific shots that made it into the final cut of the theatrical release.

So, all and all, while the EE is fun to watch, it probably isn’t as good of a film as the theatrical release, with only the Mirkwood scene and a few tiny bits of pieces that might have added to it.

Goodbye Middle-Earth

Although The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies isn't due out for another couple of weeks, Peter Jackson has already composed his goodbye to the fantastic world of Middle-Earth. In case you missed it, I've embedded it below. It's sung by Billy Boyd, who played Pippin in The Lord of the Rings and gave us one of the great moments in the trilogy when he sang his song to Denethor in The Return of the King.

It's a melancholy song, no doubt, but that is certainly fitting with Middle-Earth. In fact, I think many people will perhaps be surprised by how sad the final installment of The Hobbit is likely to be. Personally, I'm looking forward to it. While I've enjoyed the first two installments, I think they have lacked some of the real emotional moments that drove The Lord of The Rings forward.

Doctor Who – Season Finale

For those who haven’t seen the two-part, Doctor Who season-ending finale, I have just one spoiler – it’s garbage.

I mean it is really nonsensical trash.

I’d love to talk about the plot holes, but frankly, it’s more hole than plot.

Now, one might argue that Doctor Who has pretty much been nonsense for a while, and I think there is some truth to that. However, in the past, I was able to forgive a good bit of lack-logic because at least I enjoyed the ride. While Matt Smith was the Doctor, his episodes bounced along with a manic glee, led by a Doctor with a large heart.

While this episode moved along with the same speed, it proceeded by bouncing from one distasteful point to another, led by a Doctor who seemed annoyed to be caught up in the whole affair. If I wasn’t such a large fan of the series, I probably would have turned it off.

In many ways, this episode reminded me a lot of that other Steven Moffat led television series, Sherlock.  Even though I thought Sherlock was great television in many ways, in the end, I found I didn’t actually enjoy watching it. Instead, it just brought me down. In both instances, I feel like Steven Moffatt wants to write modern morality plays but can’t quite figure out the difference between right and wrong…

So, I fear I must join the growing ranks of fans who think it is time for Steven Moffat to step aside and give someone else a chance with Doctor Who.

An Update?

Nick at North Star Military Figures posted a couple of very interesting announcements on his company facebook page. Now, I can't say which game Nick is talking about, but I can say that I'm very excited about the news.  Here are the posts -

The last couple of months have been very exciting times behind the scenes at North Star. The next Osprey/ North Star project is a real Allied Forces affair, a combined effort from the hobbys best designers, Mike Owen, Mark Sims, Mark Copplestone, Nick Collier and Bob Naismith, bringing you quite a unique collection of figures for Osprey's 2015 game. We'll start to show the miniatures off soon, just so you know, this is one for the Fantasy gamers.

and

I announced earlier about how exciting the next Osprey project is for us at North Star as it is a fantastic collaboration between five great designers, all of whom are good chums of ours. What I didn't mention is that for the first time, we will be producing some of the range in plastic. And what I also didn't mention is that we are not just working alongside Osprey on this one, it is a true joint project, Osprey's first figure range. More details to come.

More news when I get it!

The Last Island Fight in Iceland

Drawing by Jack Powning

I just finished reading The Saga of Gunnlaug Wormtongue. Like most Icelandic sagas, this short piece was difficult and often dull, even in translation, containing as much genealogy as narrative. Still, I like to read the old sagas every now and again, because I often find little nuggets of interest. This saga claims to have an account of the last island fight in Iceland.

'Island Fights' were a part of the early Viking law-code. Essentially, it was a one-on-one duel, taking place on a small island. They could be to the death, or to first blood with the loser being ransomed. Generally, such fights were a last resort.

Near the end of The Saga of Gunnlaug Wormtongue, the eponymous 'hero' challenges his rival Hrafn to an island fight, as Hrafn married the woman that he loved. Since Gunnlaug is the challenger, Hrafn got to strike the first blow (that'll make you think about it before you challenge someone). As it happened, Hrafn struck such a heavy blow on Gunnlaug's shield that it snapped off the blade of his sword, the broken shard nicking Gunnlaug on the cheek. Immediately, both men claimed victory. Gunnlaug argued that his opponent was disarmed. Hrafn countered that Gunnlaug was wounded. The other men who had come to view the duel decided that the whole thing should be called off, and, soon thereafter, island fights were outlawed in Iceland.

Of course that didn't end the feud. A few years later, the two met again in Norway, where such duels were still legal. This time, Gunnlaug killed Hrafn, but was himself mortally wounded.