(Character) moved into the forboding mountain range at dawn's start. Soon thereafter his mount began to become nervous and to move skittishly. Onward he moved, however, until he saw a large pillar of stone blocking the way ahead. His mount became rebellious and he had to dismount to lead it around the stone. As he passed the stone, he found a hollow in the side of the mountain. It was a cave of sorts and appeared to be the beginnings of a tunnel through the mountain. If it was, it would save many miles of the journey. But, upon approaching the entrance, he felt waves of fear rolling out the hollow and felt thousands of eyes peering out of the darkness known as the Paths of the Dead.
Character Encounter
2122
| Options | Free People | Neutral | Dark Servants |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENTER the cave entrance | Combat | Combat | Combat |
| State your ALLEGIANCE | ? | ? | ? |
| Say your NAME | ? | ? | ? |
| Say (only one word) | "Isildur" | ? | ? |
| FLEE | Escape | Escape | Escape |
ENTER: Combat. The character will be driven out of the cave by ghosts and spirits. It doesn't seem to matter how powerful the character is, which indicates that perhaps the encounter can't be won by sheer force. (Bobbins)
SAY: (Neil Rudd) Sending in Argeleb II and stating "Isildur" sends him through unscathed and out the other side (on the other side of the mountains) with a large bonus to his command rank (my Argeleb got 15 points). Anyone else going through and stating Isildur will be forced out without a fight (as far as I understand). (Neil Rudd) (NOTE from Raven: That's for 1650, what about 2950? Can Aragorn II do this?)
This encounter can safely be ignored. If combat ensues, the character will be driven out of the cave by ghosts and spirits. It doesn't seem to matter how powerful the character is, which indicates that perhaps the encounter can't be won by sheer force.
Historically, only the true king of the Two Kingdoms could walk the Paths of the Dead. In the trilogy, this was Aragorn; in our game, the true king would be Argeleb II, Aragorn's direct ancestor. If this is the case, it may be that only Argeleb can get a favorable response from the Paths. However, no character can actually summon the Dead as Aragorn did (GSI has flatly stated that this is impossible).
A character can safely ignore this encounter if he so chooses.