This work is © Erik Rågvik 1995-97. It may be distributed freely in unmodified form on a non-profit basis as long as I am recognized as the author. The explicit reliance of this work upon those of the late, great Professor Tolkien is not intended as an infringement upon the rights of Tolkien Enterprises or I.C.E. Inc, but as a homage to a wonderful story-teller.
The Disappearing Nobleman
This adventure offers no violence and little, if any, treasure, but good possibilities for detective work and role playing. It also gives the Gamemaster a reason for sending the players around the Lebennin countryside.
1. A Tale of a Bored Bard
The renowned noble family Luindol lives on the family manor Luindol close to the river Sirith. The current head of the family, Elros, is a bohemian and far from the ideal Dúnadan noble who is stern, dignified and very aware of duties and obligations.Elros, however prefers playing the lute and composing new songs to manage his lands and his manor. His wife, Celwen, is a very dutiful noblewoman who is ashamed of Elros' unmannerly behaviour. In the neighbourhood Elros is regarded as "nice but lazy" and a little weird.
One day Elros disappears without a trace; he merely rides out from the manor and does not return. Investigations are started in order to find the disappearing nobleman.
The True Story
Over the years, Elros has become more and more fed up with the life of a noble, with riches which he has not learnt to enjoy and with responsibilities he does not want. But most of all he dislikes his wife; though he respects her, but has nothing in common with her. In the last year she has acted more and more like a martyr:"poor me who has to take care of everything while you just play your silly tunes".
One day, Elros decided to get away from it all. He got up early, as always, and took some dried meat and fresh fruits in the kitchen, a purseful of gold, and went on his usual morning ride‹only that this morning he planned not to return. He knew very well that no one would suffer because of his absence.
He rode cross-country almost straight east and since Elros is a keen rider he knew the best paths. The country at the springs of the river Serui is sparsely populated and Elros stayed away from farms until he came to the valley of the river Gilrain. From Luindol to Gilrain it is approximately 80 miles, which is a 3-4 days ride
Then he thought himself safe from people who knew him and started his knew career as a troubadour, calling himself Carnendil. Since Elros is a good musician and sings well he has so far been successful. Currently, he travels south along the Gilrain aiming for Belfalas, and he is very happy!
2. The NPCs
Elros
Elros is the only son of Dior and sole owner of the manor Luindol and surrounding lands (see Settings). From his birth, he has been interested in culture in general and music in particular. He has never shown any liking for agriculture, fighting and hunting, much preferring to play the lute and compose verse.
In attitude, Elros is very mild and tries to avoid conflicts whenever possible. He is 54 years old, 6'2'' tall, with brown curly hair cut at the shoulders, beginning to gray a little at the temples, and brown eyes. He is good-looking in a nice and friendly way. Elros is fond of animals, being a skilled rider as well as having a good hand with dogs.
Celwen
Celwen, Elros' wife since 16 years, is 45 years old. She is 5'5'' tall with long blond hair and blue eyes, being beautiful in a slightly cold and forbidding manner. For the last decade, since the death of Elros' father Dior, she has managed the estate. She has very firm views of how things should be and takes here duties very seriously and is respected by the servants as being hard but just. She finds her husband's bohemian attitude annoying, but has ceased to try to reform him. Instead she mothers him and allows him to indulge in his "silly little harpings".
Since Elros does not have any children or siblings, his wife will inherit him. However, under Gondor's law a person cannot be declared dead until seven years have passed since his disappearance; in the case of a nobleman, this declaration has to be proclaimed in all the fiefs and provinces and the person has six months to come forth before being declared dead.
Findegil the Chamberlain
Findegil is the chief administrator of the manor and manages the day-to-day business of the manor. He has been with the Luindol family for 27 years and knows both Elros and Celwen quite well. Findegil is very firm on matters of propriety and etiquette and is very aware of how things should be done. He is 66 years 6'3'', with short graying hair balding in front and blue eyes.
Bregor the Stablemaster
Bregor has some Southron blood in him and is slightly darker in skin and hair than the average Gondorian. He is 5'2'' of stocky build and has powerful arms. The hair is long and gray-black and he keeps it tied back with a simple leather thong. Bregor used to be a soldier before settling down on the Luindol estate. He has worked on the estate for 17 years and is now 46 years old.
Gilmith the Maid
Gilmith is the personal maid of Celwen and has been in her service for 12 years, now being 33 years old. She has long straight brown hair and brown eyes. She is rather plain and has a demure manner. She always speaks softly and is very eager to please and is sometimes too ready to agree with the person who is speaking to her.
Peasants and Labourers
The average peasant, day-labourer, or stablehand belong to families that has lived in Luindol for generations. The lord and lady are the natural authorities and is by definition almost without fault. Since Elros is the lord, the workers respect him, even though many refer to the time of lord Dior as "the good old days". The workers have little understanding for Elros' "unmanly" behaviour; to them the ideal lord is a mighty warrior and a decisive ruler of the estate.
3. The Settings
The settings is of no importance to this adventure and the Gamemaster might relocate it to any part of the Coastlands.
The Luindol Manor
The Luindol estate is situated some seventy miles north of Pelargir on the western bank of the river Sirith. The manor was built in the 13th century and, as most houses of this kind, it is not built for defence but for comfort. The main building is three stories high overlooking the river. In the main building there is a kitchen and living quarters for the lord and lady, including a large banquet hall and the quarters for the personal servants.
Behind the main building are stables, barns, granaries, laundry house, bakery and brewery, the manor's carpenter and living quarters for the other servants.
There is a small walled garden for Celwen's pleasure, in which she cultivates beautiful roses and peach-trees with a fountain in its midst.
The manor is surrounded by a park with flowery meadows and fountains.
The Land To the East
The distance between Sirith and Gilrain is some 80 miles as the crow flies. For about ten miles around the rivers the land is cultivated, but there are some woodlands and bare ridges, too. The area between the rivers at the spring of the Serni is mostly covered by hardwoods.
In the summers, some farmers let their cattle graze on fields in the forests, guarded by one or two herdsmen who spend the whole summer in the woods with the cattle. The forest is not very dense and riding through it is fairly easy.
The Villages In the Gilrain Valley
The Gamemaster is advised to make use of the general description of villages and small towns in the Lebennin chapter in creating the villages of the Gilrain valley.
4.The task
Starting the Players
The players can either be friends of the Luindol family, or friends of one of the servants. The players might also hear about the disappearance in an nearby inn and volunteer their services. If the players approach the manor without any connections in advance, they will be interviewed by Findegil. The players will be treated according to their status, but Celwen and Findegil has no reason to refuse help from anyone.
What Has Been Done
The surrounding countryside has been searched. Since no traces of Elros or a violent encounter has been found, it is assumed that Elros has suffered an accident. Since a farmhand milking cows on the morning of the disappearance saw someone who he thinks was Elros one mile west of the estate, the search has been focused in that direction.
Aids
The players' main aid is their ability to get information from people. They might also be able to use some tracking abilities when following Elros through the woods.
Obstacles
The main problem for the players is to stop looking for criminals and realise that Elros has left Luindol voluntarily.
Rewards
Findegil or Celwen might offer a reward for the finding of Elros; its size should be decided by the Gamemaster depending on the needs of the campaign. If the players find Elros, he might be able to give the players some money for their troubles and to buy their silence.
5. Encounters
Talking To Celwen
Celwen tells them how she has run the estate, and how her husband have been playing the lute and making verses. Celwen is certain that something terrible has happened to Elros, and she cannot think of any enemies of Elros or the Luindol family. They only socialize with the local nobility and with her family. Elros has some childhood friends in Pelargir whom he meets once a year at the most. There are no conflicts with the neighbours.
Nothing is missing from the estate as far as Celwen knows. She will show the players her husband's petty cash, a drawer half full of assorted coins‹"he is so unorganised you know".
Talking To Findegil
Findegil will provide the same information as Celwen. He also says that all servants liked Elros and he cannot think of anyone bearing him a grudge. Either Findegil or Celwen will, if asked, discover that Elros' lute is missing. They have not noticed this themselves
Talking To Gilmith
She will corraborate that none of Elros clothes are missing. She will also describe the way Elros was dressed when leaving:brown breeches of soft brown wool, a white shirt, a red leather vest with embroideries in gold thread, a large woollen cloak in grey, high soft boots.
If the players are attentive, they will notice that she agrees with whomever spoke last.
Talking To Bregor
Bregor volunteers that Elros used to ride almost every morning at of dawn and stayed away for 2-4 hours. A stablehand saw him riding away as usual on the morning he disappeared. Elros' horse, called Trumpet, was a brown stallion with a small white blaze. Bregor says that Elros was a very good rider and Trumpet was a very good horse so it is extremely unlikely that they should have suffered an accident. Trumpet has not returned, which Bregor says that he would have, if Elros had fallen off.
If the players get good rapport with Bregor, he will tell them that Elros sometimes spoke to him of the meaning of life and his dissatisfaction with his life at the manor. Elros also used to play his new songs to Bregor who thought them to be very good.
Bregor might volunteer his own opinion which is that Elros just got fed up and left.
Talking To Other Servants
Any other servants are interviewed together with Findegil, who will admonish them to answer quickly and correctly and not lose their heads. None has seen anything out of the ordinary and no food was missing.
If pressed, they might admit that they really would not know if some meat, fruit or bread were missing. Findegil will then criticize them for not having the stores under control ("you mean anyone could feed themselves and you would not know‹shame!").
Finding Elros
When the players has realised that Elros has left the estate, they need some clues as to where he has gone. Below are some possible encounters for handing out this information.
A huntsman returns after some days in the woods and recalls that he saw, from a distance, someone riding through the woods mounted on a brown horse one day after Elros disappeared.
Depending on how quick the players have been, they might be able to track Elros. The tracks in the countryside has been destroyed by carts, cows etc, but the tracks in the woods might be found and followed by a skilled tracker. Before entering the forest, the players will be advised to visit Gilraen and Bergil, an elderly couple who live in a little cottage in the forest. The two are reputed to know everything that happens in the forest. The pair, both white-haired and wizened, live in a beautiful little glen in the forest, close by a spring. The couple treats the players kindly and display their old-folk charm. While not knowing anything about Elros, they recall that when they returned to their glen after a day of herb-gathering (the second day of Elros disappearance), they found a copper piece by the spring. It is customary to give something for the use of the spring, but never before had anyone been so generous as to offer a coin. Bergil tells that the best track from here is one that leads due west towards the Gilrain.
In Galadhad, the first village in the Gilrain valley that the players enter, anyone will tell them that no strangers has passed that way, but that a fantastic bard had played there some days before. The players will then be able to identify Elros as the bard in question and know of his alias Carnendil.
If the players eventually meet Elros, they have followed him down the Gilrain valley. He is using the name Carnendil of Sirith as an alias. If the players confront him and tell them that they know who he is, he will tell them everything about his reasons for leaving his home. He will then beg the players to let him continue his new, free, life. It is then up to the players and the Gamemaster how the encounter will continue.