Use Dunedain-statue, Ancient Inscription, Ancient Cairn, Ancient Crest, Ancient Obelisk
Reward: Idealism+1
- Find the pages of the Journal of the Cardolan lost within the Barrow-downs.
- Use the Dunedain-statue
- "The worn but noble visage engraved on the statue you discovered belongs to Aranarth, first chieftain of the Dunedain after the fall of Arthedain.
- The statue was probably created sometime after the wars that destroyed the old kingdom, most likely by the Rangers who hold Aranarth in great reverence.
- It is in good repair which suggests that they tend to it to this day. The memories of the Dunedain are long, and their respect for the dead borders on obsession at times."
- Use the Ancient Inscription
- "The runes you found seemed to be very old indeed, and in style of ancient Arnorian script that few would readily recognise in these times. While you made out only a little of it, the inscription is likely an oath of fealty taken by Dunedain to their lords.
- The Men of those days put great store in ceremony and oaths, and believed to break one would bring a terrible curse upon the oath-breaker.
- Few Men put much store in ritual and ceremony these days -- save for the Rangers of the north, who are rumored to have descended from those very Dunedain who once ruled Arnor. Perhaps they are the ones who have protected the inscription from the wear of time?"
- Use the Ancient Cairn
- "The cairn is rather unlike many that the Men of old built, but you recall a tale of an old battle...
- In the time after the fall of Arnor, and the defeat of Angmar by the host of Gondor, few men remained in the north. Those who remained loyal to the old king banded together under the first Chieftain of the Dunedain and became the forebears of the Rangers who walk these lands today, or so it is rumoured.
- In those days there were still evil Men and worse who walked these lands and there was a battle that few Men alive today remember. Though the Dunedain were victorious, their numbers dwindled. The cairn you found is most likely the resting place of the Men who died in that battle, built hurriedly and in secret."
- Use the Ancient Crest
- "You found a carving with an old Arnorian upon it. It appeared to be the crest of the ancient kingom of Arthedain.
- The ruins of that kingom stretch for miles to the south-west and north. Bree-town itself was built upon a crossroads between Arthedain and its sister kingdom of Cardolan to the east. Once they were all one great kingdom stretching, stretching all across the north, but the folly of Men first sundered then, then set them against each other until one after the other they fell over the long years of the Third Age.
- There are some folk who still remember the Tales of Arthedain, but you suspect that the crest may be particular importance to the Rangers, for it is said that they are decendent from that line."
- Use the Ancient Altar
- "The strange altar you found appeared to be Arnorian in origin, with signs that some gathering or ritual had taken place there recently.
- You've heard rumors that Rangers here in the North occasionally gather for a ceremony to declare the coming of age for one of their number, where they induct the young man or woman into their rank by way of an oath to the old kingdoms."
- Use the Ancient Obelisk
- "You found an old obelisk out among the Arnor ruins, seemingly newer than the ruins themselves, with the names of many Men carved upon it. Your only guess is that it must be some sort of memorial.
- The design and form of the names you saw there suggest that it was built by the Dunedain, and given their reverence for their ancestors there is every reason to believe that it may be a memorial to their fallen.
- Some of the names seem to have been added recently, suggesting that the Rangers are somehow involved..."''
Minimum Level: 5
Race: All
Area: Breeland
Advice: Ancient Altar - Midgewater Marsh 31.2S, 44.9W, Ancient Cairn - Archet 27.1S, 46.6W, Ancient Crest - Bree 30.7S, 52.6W, Ancient Inscription - Staddle 30.2S, 49.1W, Ancient Obelisk - Midgewater Marsh 29.5S, 45.8W, Dunedain-statue - Chetwood South 33.4S, 48.8W