@dorcuartholweek day 1: farewells

'Now fare well, Beleg, to feasting long neath Tengwethil in the timeless halls where drink the Gods, neath domes golden o'er the sea shining.'

— THE LAY OF THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN: III. FAILIVRIN

With all the Gollum game stuff going on, I’m going to pitch yous my cursed (cough) idea for a Túrin Turambar game.

You play as Túrin (naturally) and you’ve got a curse gauge that fills up as you play. You can’t stop it completely, but you can try to slow it down through the various choices you make through the game. BUT, being Túrin, it’s not as simple as Good Choice = slows gauge and Bad Choice = fills gauge. Sometimes if you make the Good choice, Morgoth will go off to sulk, so the gauge stalls. But sometimes, he’ll be so pissed off he’ll accelerate it for a bit, just out of spite. And sometimes just making the Good choice has an equal and opposite reaction that wreaks devastation on you and the NPCs around you.

Sometimes choosing the Bad option will slow the gauge down, simply because Morgoth is too laughing his ass off at you. Other times it’ll accelerate the gauge because from a purely objective standpoint HOLY FUCK WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Every so often the gauge fills up and unleashes something terrible. Your best bet is to be somewhere relatively isolated so the damage is minimal. (Or you might be one of those sickos who likes to watch the world burn, so you plank yourself in the middle of a crowded marketplace or slap-bang in the halls of Menegroth to watch the fireworks.)

There are several romance options. None of them end well.

Gurthang talks to you as you move around. Usually telling you how awful you are, usually at the most inopportune times, when you’re trying to line yourself for a tricky jump, or in the middle of a stealth mission where silence is key. After the first few times of this you’re ready to eat your controller in rage.

There is no good ending.

Also, naturally, because it’s a Túrin game, the whole thing is bugged tae fuck.

(After you complete the main storyline, you can unlock a secret mission where you play as Tuor, trying to navigate Ivrin without attracting the attention of the strange man in black.)

niënor the gothic heroine actually. niënor the final girl forever in the making. niënor who grew up wearing winter clothes in a dark house because fuel was scarce and candles couldn't be wasted. niënor who always stayed indoors because morwen's influence could only reach so far. niënor who spent years with a brother's shadow for a playmate, convinced that her father lived in the woods and was keeping them safe. niënor whose understanding of culture and gender and family and home were mixed up always with dispossession and violence. niënor who understood femininity foremost as liability. niënor for whom bravery was never a question. niënor who was condemned to mourn in two lives. niënor for whom coincidence always aligned. niënor the bad omen; niënor the ill-starred girl, niënor the doomsday deus ex machina who met a dark handsome troubled stranger in a thunderstorm and walked the path of ruin to its end !

*to the tune of Rasputin* Tu-tu-Turambar, Doriath's best warrior. There was a man who really was doomed!

Then Morgoth stretching out his long arm towards Dor-lómin cursed Húrin and Morwen and their offspring, saying: "Behold! The shadow of my thought shall lie upon them wherever they go, and my hate shall pursue them to the ends of the world."

— THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN, CHAPTER III: THE WORDS OF HÚRIN AND MORGOTH

“I put the Turambar in 'depression'.”

—Túrin, obviously.

x x x x x x x x x

Orodreth board! thank you to @welcomingdisaster and @searchingforserendipity25 for imagery ideas! Welcomingdisaster suggested doves and Seren suggested cranes. I chose mourning doves specifically

Peep at my lil Tolkien Shelves.

Never once as they wandered together on long and grievous paths did Túrin speak, and he walked as one without wish or purpose, while the year waned and winter drew on over the northern lands. But Gwindor was ever beside him to guard him and guide him; and thus they passed westward over Sirion and came at length to the Beautiful Mere and Eithel Ivrin, the springs whence Narog rose beneath the Mountains of Shadow. There Gwindor spoke to Túrin, saying: 'Awake, Túrin son of Húrin! On Ivrin's lake is endless laughter. She is fed from crystal fountains unfailing, and guarded from defilement by Ulmo, Lord of Waters, who wrought her beauty in ancient days.' Then Túrin knelt and drank from that water; and suddenly he cast himself down, and his tears were unloosed at last, and he was healed of his madness.

— THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN, CHAPTER IX: THE DEATH OF BELEG

"she alone stands between you and your doom"

finduilas 11x14 Stonehenge graphite and charcoal

But suddenly her eyes looked into his, and then Húrin knew her; for though they were wild now and full of fear, a light still gleamed in them hard to endure: the elven-light that long ago had earned her her name, Eledhwen, proudest of mortal women in the days of old." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children of Húrin, "The Death of Túrin"

[ID: an edit comprised of two dark-toned posters in red and shades of brown and tan.

1: A close-up of nepali model and musician Varsha Thapa. She is looking towards the viewer with a serious expression and her dark hair blends into the black background. She has light tan skin and is wearing dark red lipstick. Text in red and tan reads "morwen eledhwen" / 2: A group of white and red buildings surrounded by mountains. Red and tan text reads "Morwen was dark-haired and tall, and for the light of her glance and the beauty of her face men called her Eledhwen, the elvenfair; but she was somewhat stern of mood and proud. The sorrows of the House of Bëor saddened her heart; for she came as an exile to Dor-lómin from Dorthonion after the ruin of the Bragollach" and is framed by curly corner borders in the same colors /End ID]

Currently Reading The Children of Hurin By J.R.R. Tolkien

I've read (and love) The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but I've never read any of Tolkien's other material.

This was a lovely gift that I received for Christmas, from an old friend who shares my love for LotR and sat alongside me when those films first graced cinema screens. I'm looking forward to delving into Tolkien's fantasy world once again.

Turin & Glaurung - by Raoul Vitale Art