The members of the Grey Company and their fates?

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Thanks for doing this!

The only one I still have a question about is Prestadir - those who tell Halros to stay in the Shire seem him read out amongst the list of the fallen after the Battle of Pelennor Fields, but for those that don't (as you mention) don't see anything about his fate mentioned.

My assumption is that Prestadir dies in the Battle of Pelennor Fields regardless - but if so, it would be nice to have his name included in the roll call during the instance with the flaming pyre (not replacing Halros, but in addition to).

[Phantion]

Thanks for doing this!

The only one I still have a question about is Prestadir - those who tell Halros to stay in the Shire seem him read out amongst the list of the fallen after the Battle of Pelennor Fields, but for those that don't (as you mention) don't see anything about his fate mentioned.

My assumption is that Prestadir dies in the Battle of Pelennor Fields regardless - but if so, it would be nice to have his name included in the roll call during the instance with the flaming pyre (not replacing Halros, but in addition to).

Yes, great to have the updated list, tyvm to the poster


What's so fascinating about that list is...

1- The sheer enormity of loss the rangers suffer at Tur Morva compared to other battles.
2- That you can rank the loss of rangers from the most lost to the least: Tur Morva, Pelennor Fields, and the Black Gate in that order.
3- That what makes Pelennor and the Black Gate stand-out is that its some of the more consequential / most well-known rangers perish in those moments in the story (particularly Golodir, Halbarad, and Calenglad, who led in Angmar, ND, and Evendim).
4- That Candaith, powerful as his death was, was only the beginning.......
5- Am I detecting a GoT fan behind the Grey Company's storylines? XD

It's very fascinating; what's so... joyous and yet tragic about that moment when you meet the GC out of Merethond is just... how, there's only an odd 20 of them left. I was thinking at first, "awwww. How warm and fuzzy. They all came out to toast!" And then it hit me: "All those others that were at Harndirion and all over Enedwaith and Dunland... and all Eriador before that! They're gone!!!"

Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. That's what makes that scene so bittersweet its brilliant; pretty much the majority of Eriador's surviving quest-givers stand right in front of you in that scene, and I could not believe that... Its easier not to notice going from quest to quest in the Epic I guess.

Kudos to MoL for pulling that off so brilliantly! Not a single sentence was needed about the losses; just the visual of who was there versus who was not- and it worked

I do have 1 unfortunate prediction regarding Halros:

I think that Lotho Sackville-Baggins' words in the inn in Brockenborings are pretty ominous. I bet that if you chose "Halros Should Stay," that will mean that Sharkey's ruffians are going to take him out, so he'll ultimately be dead no matter what version we get (unless he manages to escape and hide somewhere; it would be rather unfair to kill him off if our choice killed-off Horn). I'm also worried about Saeradan (because things get - worse - not better in Bree-land before the Hobbits show up on their journey home). Amarion feels pretty ominous as well unless there's some grand surprise concerning him.

That's honestly the plot detail that doesn't make sense about Schrodinger's rangers going between Forochel and Evendim and Minas Tirith for the Wedding. MoL, you will need some plausible reasons now for why these particular two fellows did not find out about Sharkey's doings in the Shire or warn Gandalf and the Hobbits about him, as the Shire is in the path between Forochel / Evendim and MT, and as even if they by-passed into Bree-land, there were troubles there also. It's also not entirely clear as to whether Lothrandir and Techeron confirm that Saeradan is all well and good and able to be "dropped-in" on by Radanir and the others, or why they would not have sought news of Saeradan on the way

I can't help it- LOL I love these stories so much, I can't help but nitpick

[auximenes]

So much great work, spanning over a decade. Truly epic.

[Nasami]

It's hard to believe that almost eight years ago, I created what I thought would be a simple one-shot post.

And then to come back all these years later, and people are STILL adding to it, STILL referencing it (even MoL - DUDE CHECK YOUR PMs, I JUST SENT YOU FANMAIL)... I'm just blown away. The kindness, the attention to detail, my heart is full.

This post was originally created re: my Lore-Master, Raelskye Riftwalker, who developed something of an affinity with the Grey Company during her travels with them. But MUCH later, I created a Captain, whose fate is ALSO tied to the Grey Company in a much closer sense (Captain Madelena Wymond is cousin to Calenglad). I've thought about writing Madelena's story for some time, of how her adventures through Middle-Earth have entwined with the Company and the Fellowship of the Ring, and of what her ultimate fate is 'after the end'. This thread is now a godsend.


***

PS - MoL... thank you. If the SSG team ever comes to PAX out in Seattle, look me up. Perhaps we will meet in some tavern in some peaceful land, and you will buy me a drink, and I will buy you three, and we will look back on our cares and laugh.

[auximenes]

I would vote for this to be included in a Top-10 LotRO forum thread list for sure. Lots of great work done here.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

I've compiled a similar thread for the Gabil'akka, if anyone is interested!

https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...35#post8089335

[Nasami]

With the announcement of Gundabad (and the involvement of the Iron Crown), I'm dying to see what involvement (if any) the Grey Company has, so this can continue to be updated.

My heart is STILL full from seeing how long this thread has gone on.

[Gwinthilnel]

With the announcement of Gundabad (and the involvement of the Iron Crown), I'm dying to see what involvement (if any) the Grey Company has, so this can continue to be updated.

My heart is STILL full from seeing how long this thread has gone on.

Oh I love the Grey Company! They hold a special place in my heart (my main has a made-up romance with Candaith, sadly ending in tragedy ) and I will always want more of them, but I'm not sure how they would fit into Gundabad. The Angmarim are certainly all tangled up in this, so I could *maybe* see Aragorn looking into things. One can only hope!

[MrHeatmiser]

SPOILERS FOR GUNDABAD

...

...

In Chapter 7.8 "A Silent Presence", I believe there was a ghostly vision cameo by Candaith. I also saw Talagan Silvertongue. While Candaith wasn't confirmed in quest text like Talagan was, I'm fairly certain it was him in his pre-Grey Company garb.

[Isi7140]

Re: Gundabad spoilers


Was he standing just at the top of the stairs, a bit to the left?

After looking up many videos last night (because I would have been very disappointed if Candaith was there and I missed him), I believe what may have happened is that the quest bugged and both Talagan and Amdir (who is meant to appear to Men) showed up for you. Oddly the vision of Amdir seems to be using one of the Candaith/Corunir/Lothrandir/many-other-Rangers model variations instead of his own, so that part tracks with what you said.

However, since you're playing an Elf, I'd say that in-universe you did in fact get a very unique Candaith cameo, congratulations!

[OldMadeOfLions]

I believe what may have happened is that the quest bugged and both Talagan and Amdir (who is meant to appear to Men) showed up for you. Oddly the vision of Amdir seems to be using one of the Candaith/Corunir/Lothrandir/many-other-Rangers model variations instead of his own, so that part tracks with what you said.

This one's not technically a bug (although I might have drawn Amdir's appearance from the wrong place; that's something I'll change if he's not right) -- whenever you see more than one vision in Chapter 7.8, it's because someone else on that exact stage of the quest is near enough to activate their own vision; there's a ten second window where you'll actually see *any* of the visions that can appear, depending on how many people are nearby and on that stage of the quest. I spent most of a weekend trying to keep that from happening, but there ended up not really being a good way to do it.

So consider it a fun, if confusing, bonus.

MoL

[auximenes]

Oh, I never knew other players' phased NPC's could ever be seen by others. Interesting.

[Isi7140]

Ah, I did also wonder if that might be the case! Thanks for the insight!

[OldMadeOfLions]

Oh, I never knew other players' phased NPC's could ever be seen by others. Interesting.

This is actually because the player-facing thing we call "phasing" is really just the tip of an iceberg that's three or four different things, each of them working together (or against!) in complicated fashion to get the desired result. In this case, the visions *are* phased (which is why you only see them during that ten second window), but triggering the *correct* one to spawn for you personally requires a different mechanic, which isn't client-side only in the way phasing generally is. The art of game design is such that writing a line in a spec that says 'And then a vision appears which is dependent on your character's history' is very easy, but making that happen in an MMO environment turns out to be harder than you might expect. The first few setups I tried didn't make anything show up at all, so the chance that more than one might show up feels better than the alternative. There's also an edge case that QA discovered where if you freeze immediately, it's possible for the vision to not appear. My guess is that most players will be riding mounts at this point, so the chances of that happening are low, although not zero.

MoL

[gildhur]

SPOILERS FOR GUNDABAD

...

...

In Chapter 7.8 "A Silent Presence", I believe there was a ghostly vision cameo...

I guess I missed these??? Playing on High-elf...

[MrHeatmiser]

Fascinating. Who do the other races see? (I'll get there eventually, but my next highest non-Elf/Man toon is level 100, so it'll be a while).

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

With the announcement of the Angle as a low level zone, and given that it was meant to be the ancestral home of the Rangers, this seems the perfect opportunity to delve into the backstory of some of the Grey Company that we meet for the first time in Enedwaith.

These include:
Mandan (herb master of the Grey Company, dies at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields)
Angwedh
Brungos (heads into Mordor post-ring)
Faeron (the burglar ranger, who gets involved in a lot post-ring)
Helchon (accompanied Calenglad to the court of the Huntsman)
Idhrien (the only female member of the Grey Company and a healer)
Mithrendan (involved in MM quests)
Tugonn (the ‘old’ ranger, involved in the Aragorn session play and combatting Gortheron)

It would also be cool to see Bree-land rangers such as Torthann or Leglinn, who have travelled back to the Angle to warn of the threats they have seen in Bree-land.

[Creah]

SPOILERS FOR GUNDABAD

...

...

In Chapter 7.8 "A Silent Presence", I believe there was a ghostly vision cameo by Candaith. I also saw Talagan Silvertongue. While Candaith wasn't confirmed in quest text like Talagan was, I'm fairly certain it was him in his pre-Grey Company garb.

You know what's funny, I stumbled on this thread on accident, and this specific post actually made me play Gundabad when I had no intention of doing so. I had stopped on my highest level character at the Wells of Langflood cuz I was bored of dwarf stuff, and seeing this sparked a fire in me. I spent WEEKS completing the WoL, then the MoA, followed the dwarves into the elderslade and into Gundabad JUST to get a glimpse of a ranger, even if it was a vision. That is the power Rangers have over me xD.

[Creah]

This thread is so wonderful- I can't say how much it warms me to see people loving the Rangers as much as I do, and seeing that someone already did the work of taking note of who survived and who didn't throughout the journey south and into the later books really saved me some work! I'm really looking forward to the new Angle area and I hope we get some new and in depth lore. And since I know you guys all like Rangers, I figured I'd link a little thread I made for titles and rep item ideas for this new area- I'd love for you guys to add on with any ideas you guys have or would like to see!

[SinordLoresearcher]

Hey everyone!

After exploring The Angle in today's Bullroarer Preview, and in particular the ranger-village of Tornhad, I was able to find numerous of the Grey Company members present! These include:

- Idhrien
- Calithil
- Himenior
- Prestadir
- Angwedh
- Faeron
- Helchon
-Mithrendan

In addition, there may be more rangers scattered about the Angle that haven't been discovered yet. Can't wait to see what comes next!

[Creah]

Hey everyone!

After exploring The Angle in today's Bullroarer Preview, and in particular the ranger-village of Tornhad, I was able to find numerous of the Grey Company members present! These include:

- Idhrien
- Calithil
- Himenior
- Prestadir
- Angwedh
- Faeron
- Helchon
-Mithrendan

In addition, there may be more rangers scattered about the Angle that haven't been discovered yet. Can't wait to see what comes next!

Ah, you beat me to it! I went around screenshotting them, but there are also two other rangers to the east relatively close to each other- Brungos and Demúr. Demúr is dressed up in Ithilien Ranger garb though...kinda ruins the immersion a bit :P

[OldMadeOfLions]

Demúr is dressed up in Ithilien Ranger garb though...kinda ruins the immersion a bit :P

Because this is all prior to the departure of the Grey Company, I'm trying to stay away from the GC-specific outfits, which doesn't leave us a lot of variety among Ranger appearances -- I figured the green/brown look would work here, but if people hate it he can look like everybody else.

MoL

[Beorhal]

Because this is all prior to the departure of the Grey Company, I'm trying to stay away from the GC-specific outfits, which doesn't leave us a lot of variety among Ranger appearances -- I figured the green/brown look would work here, but if people hate it he can look like everybody else.

MoL

No, please don't do this - leave his outfit like you planned it! I think the different colors of the Rangers are a perfect resemblance to the colors of the Trollshaws! Not grey, grey, grey, grey....

[Snowlock]

Does Faeron say "this is far from fair Ithilian" in that deep brogue over and over? Cause I'll miss that!

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Hey everyone!

After exploring The Angle in today's Bullroarer Preview, and in particular the ranger-village of Tornhad, I was able to find numerous of the Grey Company members present! These include:

- Idhrien
- Calithil
- Himenior
- Prestadir
- Angwedh
- Faeron
- Helchon
-Mithrendan

In addition, there may be more rangers scattered about the Angle that haven't been discovered yet. Can't wait to see what comes next!

This is awesome! Thank you MoL!

As for Ithilien grab, I’d prefer it if they weren’t wearing it, given the association with the Rangers of Ithilien, but I understand that views may differ.