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Nulin I is a dwarven ranger who set out from Belegost to rid the world of all creatures dark and foul, most important Morgoth himself.
The most current dump can be found here ...
Here's his diary:
The first trip from Gabilgathol, what you may know as Belegost, to the hill of Amon Rűdh.
It's the 496th year after the first rising of the sun, and the elves have failed, on the plains of Anfauglith, 24 years ago, and again in Nargothrond in last years autumn. The city is sacked, the few remaining survivors scattered to the four winds. It's only a matter of time 'til someone captured and imprisoned in Angband will reveal the location of fabled Gondolin, and then the elves are done. And like those 24 years ago, it looks like it's our -the dwarves- duty to save their asses from the dark lord. Sadly, beating back that dragon on the plains did cost not only our kings' life, but that of several hundred of our finest warriors as well, something we still have not recovered from.
So I set out to scout enemy forces, using the southern route, first in the Blue Mountains, through Ossiriand and Taur-Im-Duinath, then into East Beleriand, over the Andram and further on into West Beleriand.
That things aren't looking too good became painfully obvious today when I stumbled 'bout Balmec, a known minor cave orc leader, only a day after leaving Gabilgathol. Made sure he'll stay forever and not report any of his findings back to his foul lord, but it's quite disturbing to find them on our doorsteps already. Nothing more to report from the Blue Mountains.
Neither from Ossiriand.
Taur-Im-Duinath seems as dark and gloomy forest as it ever where - but astonishingly peaceful?!
East Beleriand - nothing unusual here.
Crossing the Andram went without problems.
Couldn't believe it at first - I was attacked on sight by a human when I came down from the mountains. Dispatched him fairly easily, and only found out it was Brodda the Easterling, ruler of Hithlum, after I got rid of his entourage which followed him. Shortly thereafter I found a dagger in the wilderness - untouched by the elements for unkown time, so it might be an artifact. Obviously, Brodda had been searching for it and thought I had come to get it before he could. Grave error. Hehe.
The dagger is quite a fine weapon, and even seems to have some magic, freezing anything it cuts. Nice.
Still in West Beleriand. This new dagger came in handy today when I destroyed another group of minor orcs, led by some "Orfax, Son of Boldor", and a hill orc named "Lug" shortly thereafter.
It's 2 days later now - the 11th day after I left Gabilgathol. Finally reached the Bald Hill, or Amon Rűdh. I found our suspicions that the petty dwarves are a bunch of mischievous, even treacherous, beings all so true ... orcs, and all sorts of foul animals are roaming the countryside. Turned out to be quite hard to find the entrance to the dwelling of the petty dwarves.
18th day: I'm still searching, and today stumbled upon a sort of .. petty human, I suppose. He was better at running than at fighting, but that didn't help him much. Must have been a thief or fence of some sort, because nearby I found a soft leather armour which looked pretty well-made and special, and what must be one of the legendary lamps of the Noldor, neatly stored in a hidden room. No more fuddling with lamp oil from now on, I guess.
20th day of my search - still no trace of the petty dwarves, or a way deeper into the hill. Got me quite a bit of marksmanship practice in the last days on a group of orcs - I've really grown fond of this special crossbow I bought way back home. The leader of the pack I finished off in a fair duel, after all of his henchmen where done: "The mighty Orcogar, Son of Orcobal", at least that's how I understood his babble, is no more. Was I supposed to have heard of him?
Another week gone - and I still haven't found the petty dwarves, but I'm sure they are around, and most likely cooperating with the enemy. Maybe I should have not attacked Ulwarth, son of the traitor Ulfang, when I met him on the side of the mountain, but followed him - bet he was on his way to meet Mîm, bringing a nice gift: when I looted his camp, I found a marvellous robe. Ok, actually, it might be an elvish tunic, or shirt, or sorts. But really, I don't care, it fits nicely, and feels great.
I can surely tell if something is special that has been made between hammer and anvil, but this robe is so awesome even I can sense it.
I think I will give up for now. I'm 400 miles from home, and burdened with these spoils of war, which I have to show to the smithes. Or I ask the next elves I meet if they can tell me more. 'bout the robe, that is. Guess I'll better not show them the lamp, or they'll have it back ...
The way back to Gabilgathol was long and slow, and boring. Until today, the 45th day of my journey, when I dropped through a trap-door into the underworld of the Ered Luin. Should have payed more attention to my surroundings, I guess, but I was still wondering whom that human meant who jumped me 8 days ago after I crossed the Gelion into Ossiriand, screaming 'bout avenging his brother ... .
That part of the underworld turned out to be the realm of the now deceased Lord of the Kobolds. Nasty, but not really dangerous. Could say "mostly harmless". Only really annoying thing was that their king, Mugash, was able to magic himself away if I hit him, so I wasted lots of good bolts in the dark caverns trying to pin that little piece of *** down. At least, those kobolds will never bother our miners again. Hehe.
Returning home I learned that indeed the lamp is of the Noldor, and that -sadly- that leather armor had caught a bad curse somehow, presumably during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, but the .. robe .. is really fine, I'm going to use that when I set out to scout the north in a few days.
Image is modified cutout from the 1992 HarperCollins edition of The Silmarillion, drawn by Christopher Tolkien
The most current dump can be found here ...
In hindsight, I maybe should have chosen an archer (warrior, actually, as there is no archer class in FA), not a ranger, as dwarves aren't spellcasters in Middle Earth ... . Just feels a little bit like cheating, especially on mountain levels, with easy movement through trees and rubble (which is great to fight from, as monsters have trouble attacking into it) and evasion to boot. 
Here's his diary:
The first trip from Gabilgathol, what you may know as Belegost, to the hill of Amon Rűdh.
It's the 496th year after the first rising of the sun, and the elves have failed, on the plains of Anfauglith, 24 years ago, and again in Nargothrond in last years autumn. The city is sacked, the few remaining survivors scattered to the four winds. It's only a matter of time 'til someone captured and imprisoned in Angband will reveal the location of fabled Gondolin, and then the elves are done. And like those 24 years ago, it looks like it's our -the dwarves- duty to save their asses from the dark lord. Sadly, beating back that dragon on the plains did cost not only our kings' life, but that of several hundred of our finest warriors as well, something we still have not recovered from.
So I set out to scout enemy forces, using the southern route, first in the Blue Mountains, through Ossiriand and Taur-Im-Duinath, then into East Beleriand, over the Andram and further on into West Beleriand.
That things aren't looking too good became painfully obvious today when I stumbled 'bout Balmec, a known minor cave orc leader, only a day after leaving Gabilgathol. Made sure he'll stay forever and not report any of his findings back to his foul lord, but it's quite disturbing to find them on our doorsteps already. Nothing more to report from the Blue Mountains.
Neither from Ossiriand.
Taur-Im-Duinath seems as dark and gloomy forest as it ever where - but astonishingly peaceful?!
East Beleriand - nothing unusual here.
Crossing the Andram went without problems.
Couldn't believe it at first - I was attacked on sight by a human when I came down from the mountains. Dispatched him fairly easily, and only found out it was Brodda the Easterling, ruler of Hithlum, after I got rid of his entourage which followed him. Shortly thereafter I found a dagger in the wilderness - untouched by the elements for unkown time, so it might be an artifact. Obviously, Brodda had been searching for it and thought I had come to get it before he could. Grave error. Hehe.
The dagger is quite a fine weapon, and even seems to have some magic, freezing anything it cuts. Nice.
O.c., I IDed it at once, and it turned out to be Nimthanc. I still don't know how to handle instant-ID scrolls and spells RPG-wise, because such things are just nonexistent in Tolkiens world ... . Using Nimthanc was a bit like cheating at this point, because resists where broken and cold damage irresistable ... Nimthanc doing full damage against cold hounds .. 
Still in West Beleriand. This new dagger came in handy today when I destroyed another group of minor orcs, led by some "Orfax, Son of Boldor", and a hill orc named "Lug" shortly thereafter.
It's 2 days later now - the 11th day after I left Gabilgathol. Finally reached the Bald Hill, or Amon Rűdh. I found our suspicions that the petty dwarves are a bunch of mischievous, even treacherous, beings all so true ... orcs, and all sorts of foul animals are roaming the countryside. Turned out to be quite hard to find the entrance to the dwelling of the petty dwarves.
18th day: I'm still searching, and today stumbled upon a sort of .. petty human, I suppose. He was better at running than at fighting, but that didn't help him much. Must have been a thief or fence of some sort, because nearby I found a soft leather armour which looked pretty well-made and special, and what must be one of the legendary lamps of the Noldor, neatly stored in a hidden room. No more fuddling with lamp oil from now on, I guess.
Thief of the Mountains came late on dLvl 24, and dropped nothing usable. On the same level there where The Armor of Volog and the Lamp of Gwindor lying on the ground, though. Sadly, the armor had some nasty negative modifiers, so I ditched it. I can't remember what it was, and I don't have an old save or dump available 
20th day of my search - still no trace of the petty dwarves, or a way deeper into the hill. Got me quite a bit of marksmanship practice in the last days on a group of orcs - I've really grown fond of this special crossbow I bought way back home. The leader of the pack I finished off in a fair duel, after all of his henchmen where done: "The mighty Orcogar, Son of Orcobal", at least that's how I understood his babble, is no more. Was I supposed to have heard of him?
Bought a Light Crossbow of Velocity (x3) (+12,+15) from the BM when I had the chance, and finally decided to take the marksman speciality - only to read shortly later that it's quite nerfed now with the new dam. dice distribution ... . But I'm doing this for RP reason anyway, don't I?
Another week gone - and I still haven't found the petty dwarves, but I'm sure they are around, and most likely cooperating with the enemy. Maybe I should have not attacked Ulwarth, son of the traitor Ulfang, when I met him on the side of the mountain, but followed him - bet he was on his way to meet Mîm, bringing a nice gift: when I looted his camp, I found a marvellous robe. Ok, actually, it might be an elvish tunic, or shirt, or sorts. But really, I don't care, it fits nicely, and feels great.
I can surely tell if something is special that has been made between hammer and anvil, but this robe is so awesome even I can sense it.
It's strange, isn't it? Uniques never drop anything useful, but often there's some nice on the ground nearby ?! Switched out the chainmail of "CantRememberWhatIsWas" for "The Robe 'Nienedre'" immediately: [5,+22] WIS,DEX +3; acid +40%, elec +35%, fire +35%; immune to elements .. and all @ 2lb !!
I think I will give up for now. I'm 400 miles from home, and burdened with these spoils of war, which I have to show to the smithes. Or I ask the next elves I meet if they can tell me more. 'bout the robe, that is. Guess I'll better not show them the lamp, or they'll have it back ...
The way back to Gabilgathol was long and slow, and boring. Until today, the 45th day of my journey, when I dropped through a trap-door into the underworld of the Ered Luin. Should have payed more attention to my surroundings, I guess, but I was still wondering whom that human meant who jumped me 8 days ago after I crossed the Gelion into Ossiriand, screaming 'bout avenging his brother ... .
That part of the underworld turned out to be the realm of the now deceased Lord of the Kobolds. Nasty, but not really dangerous. Could say "mostly harmless". Only really annoying thing was that their king, Mugash, was able to magic himself away if I hit him, so I wasted lots of good bolts in the dark caverns trying to pin that little piece of *** down. At least, those kobolds will never bother our miners again. Hehe.
Returning home I learned that indeed the lamp is of the Noldor, and that -sadly- that leather armor had caught a bad curse somehow, presumably during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, but the .. robe .. is really fine, I'm going to use that when I set out to scout the north in a few days.
Image is modified cutout from the 1992 HarperCollins edition of The Silmarillion, drawn by Christopher Tolkien
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