I would hate it if they went all XVIIIth century pirates for a Belegaer/seabound adventures cycle.

I also think we'll get a new Leadership hero in The Lost Realm, hopefully Halbarad. That'd be so cool, this is the perfect time for him to appear.

I expect Halbarad to be our second deluxe expansion hero as well. I wrote a post for my blog about what other heroes I hope to see, including a poll of most anticipated characters. If you have a chance, check it out and log your vote!

https://masteroflore.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/anticipating-angmar-awakened-the-heroes/

The only thing I missed from your post is that I hope to see the ancient Numenórean past of the Dúnedain and their connection with the elves, I find that really interesting. Remember when Frodo dreamed of a tall figure (Aragorn) with a star on his brow? That could be a Star of Westernesse event or something. That's just and example, but this is what I'm talking about basically. In another post I mentioned an Elendilmir attachment and more Palantiri, and Sceptre of Annuminas, that'd be just perfect. I also hope the Dúnedain work with Valour so that Legacy of Númenor will make much more sense thematically speaking.

I don't agree. Adding new character deepens the FFG universe. A game like this is an interpretation and will always have situations that are ludicrous (eagles flapping around in khazad dum in spare hoods and cloaks for instance). Trying to remain 'true' to the original only restricts the ways the game an go. I really would like a search for entwives led by treebeard, cattle hunting in Rhûn or a seabound adventure around elves trying to get to zee fazerland

Well I never said anything about quests or stories.

I'd love to see all vague lands explored in time.

I don't agree. Adding new character deepens the FFG universe. A game like this is an interpretation and will always have situations that are ludicrous (eagles flapping around in khazad dum in spare hoods and cloaks for instance). Trying to remain 'true' to the original only restricts the ways the game an go. I really would like a search for entwives led by treebeard, cattle hunting in Rhûn or a seabound adventure around elves trying to get to zee fazerland

completely agree..

The only thing I missed from your post is that I hope to see the ancient Numenórean past of the Dúnedain and their connection with the elves, I find that really interesting. Remember when Frodo dreamed of a tall figure (Aragorn) with a star on his brow? That could be a Star of Westernesse event or something. That's just and example, but this is what I'm talking about basically. In another post I mentioned an Elendilmir attachment and more Palantiri, and Sceptre of Annuminas, that'd be just perfect. I also hope the Dúnedain work with Valour so that Legacy of Númenor will make much more sense thematically speaking.

Yes, I whole-heartedly agree! The various royal regalia of The Lost Realm are definitely artifacts that I'd love to see appear as attachments or objectives in this cycle. Stay tuned for a future post on these!

What I would really like are huorns. player cards that switch to the staging area (willpower becoming threat) as soon as there are no ents in play (to herd them, so to speak)

Hey everyone, I'm bumping up this thread to share my latest article at Master of Lore. This one explores all the history of The Lost Realm from Númenor to Aragorn. I hope you get half excited reading it as I did writing it. Enjoy!

https://masteroflore.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/anticipating-angmar-awakened-the-history/

Awesome article! We should be getting a preview of the new hero (Halbarad, hopefully) pretty soon.

I made this visual chart on the line of Dúnedain from Elros to the Aragorn to go along with the article. Can that boat with The Lost Realm on it please hurry up?

Very informative! And yeah, I'm so anxious for this expansion!

Beautiful work, and a great article! However...

Would you lore-masters please help me to understand something... Why could not the Kings of Gondor, the heirs of Anarion, become High King and unite the kingdoms? Why were there stewards and not kings from Mardil onward?

The Gondorian line of Kings only survived a couple decades or so after the defeat of Angmar. The last king of Gondor was Earnur, who had that famous confrontation with the Witch King in the Battle of Fornost. After Angmar was defeated, the Witch King relocated and took over Minas Ithil, renaming it Minas Morgul. When Earnur became King, the Witch King challenged him to single combat. Earnur refused once but eventually accepted and never returned.

I don't recall if it was mentioned in the article or not, but there was a marriage between the Gondorian line and the Arnorian line at some point, so after Earnur's death the Arnorian line that led to Aragorn would have had one of strongest claims to Gondor itself.

Beautiful work, and a great article! However...

Would you lore-masters please help me to understand something... Why could not the Kings of Gondor, the heirs of Anarion, become High King and unite the kingdoms? Why were there stewards and not kings from Mardil onward?

Great question! My sense is that the Kings of Gondor were to preoccupied defending against Mordor to pay much heed to their erstwhile brethren in the North.

As for why the Stewards ended up taking over, it is actually linked to lore mentioned in the article. Earnur, the Captain of Gondor and son of the King, did go north with a fleet to fight the Witch-king alongside Elrond and Glorfindel in 1974. But his horse 'could not endure that onset' and ran away.

Afterwards, Earnur was seething for a rematch with the Witch-king who had punked him at the Battle of Fornost. In the year 2043, Earnur took the crown from his father and the Witch-king, now relocated to Minas Morgul in South 'challenged him to single combat, taunting him that he had dared not stand before him in battle in the North'. Although his Steward Mardil talked him out of the fight at the time, 7 years later, the Witch-king 'repeated his challenge, taunting the king that to the faint heart of his youth he had now added the weakness of age'.

Like Marty McFly in the Back to the Future movies, Earnur couldn't stand to be called chicken any longer.

Earnur rode out to face the Witch-king but 'none of that riding were ever heard of again'. It was assumed Earnur died in torment in Minas Morgul. Since the line of Kings in Gondor had been thinned by the three 'great evils' (the Kin-strife, the Great Plague, and the Wainriders), 'no claimant to the crown could be found who was of pure blood or whose claim all would allow' and so the heirs of Mardil continued to rule while 'the crown of Elendil lay in the lap of King Earnil in the Houses of the Dead, where Earnur had left it.'