The Witch In The Tower

Finally, a new DnD session, but probably the last for this year with Christmas and all that coming next week. Oh well, it ended with a bang anyway. So it started were we left of, in a room with a chest filled to the brim with platina coins. Joyfully we thought our wishies had been granted, but alas, we mistook this as a favor from the gods, when in fact it was just a prank played on us. The chest and all that it comtain was cursed, they couldn't leave the room without physically hurting the ones that tried. So when we all tried to think out a strategy to dispell the curse our ribbin (sp?) found a letter in his pocket, somehow put there without him knowing by the dragonborn that found us before. We read the note and for some reason the dragonborn urged us to kill his master, the witch in the tower. So we did what every party does, we split up. My, (for some reason) half-elven cousin searched for information by the staff, the avenger went outside and was dispatched home by a eldarin wizard who took his plays in the party while I took the lead to scout out the tower together with out bard and the ribbin Vilo.

We sneaked past two guards while following the directions that was given to us on the note until we reached a locked door. The door vibrated with magical powers so our bard took forward his key and unlocked the door while dispelling the magical trap and behind the door was a staircase leading upwards. Sending the ribbin first and the bard and me after him we soon reached... another door. This time we had enough of this sneaking around thing so the bard knocked the door. An apprentice opened and wondered what we were doing. The bard then began making up so e story about being inspectors making sure everything was in order. Reluctantly he let us in to the chamber. The witch sat on a throne with two goblin guards and another female apprentice in the room. Fairly aggrevated by our presence the bard tried to stall for time while I and the ribbin scouted out the room, me taking in the details while the ribiin checked for magical traps and weapons. When the witch began to threaten us we quickly left and almost fell down the stairs.

Gathering our group together we found out that she didn't seem to be a nice person and many pursaded us that if we got a chans kill her since we will do nothing else than bring doom upon us. Not  much evidence to why our even a name, but still. Feels like the middle ages if you ask me. Anyway, we also tries to gather information from the lord himselves, but he side-stepped our questions and also began threathen us to leave her alone, and as punishment for our misuse of his name he took Vilo to repay our debt. What he did was finishing the potion he was working on to free Vilo's father and pointed him toward the noble responsible for his mothers death. So there he killed him after the noble struck first, but missed. Vilo questioned him and then left him bleeding to death in the nobles own house. He met up with his father and then left the town traveling home.

The rest of us got word from Vilos father that we must end the witches life so we sprung to action. We rushed up the stairs and our barbarian broke down the door. The battle began with our new wizard companian burning away the goblins, I took sight on the female apprentice and fired away. Of course my usual luck strikes and the dice never roll any good. The other concentrates on the other apprentice and then the witch strikes. She attacks the barbarian and then shapeshift to her. The barbarian reacts with attacking the dobbelganger, but it is a trap. The barbarian ends up hurtibg herself. To remedy this the bard begins mocking the apprentices and force them to attack their master. The battle continues in our favor with the witch switching appearance multiple times, but since we are aware we make sure we only attack the copy. She is bloodied and near death when it's my turn. Using my daily power sure shoot I give her the coue de grace. As my arrow sink into her heart I can feel a strange power filling me, a door in the back swings open and... hear end this session. Now we have to wait until next year to see what lies beyond the door.

Lost In Translation

Alright, so I checked up on some of the writings mistakes that the old translation had for Lord of the Rings and... well they mostly sucked. Ok, so I prefer the names for nostalgia, but I can't really shake it that they sound better if you compare it side by side. While the new translation is correct it just doesn't feel alive when it comes to the names. My case is probably not helped that Ohlmarks couldn't even decide what names to use over the course of three books. Then again, I think I haven't read the swedish translation since 2000, having been given an english lord of the rings for Christmas or birthday that I read ever since. The only instances I still frequently hear the swedish names is when I'm listening to the swedish radio dramatization of the books from 1995 who hides away many problems with the translation, but keeps the names. Except of course the new translation that just felt boring and unimaginative, or apparently simple when I read  the discussions between the translations which was intended in the original. Ohlmarks on the other hand felt the need to make it more special, or pompous and grand. A bit more like an epic. It have it's merits, a pity he was to stuborn to address the more idiotic translation misses (like when it suddenly becomes Merry who kills the Witch-King instead of Eowyn).

So... will I be spared now from the wrath of tolkien fanatics? No... well, yes, since their is no one reading this. What was that? Someone knocking the door? Oh dear!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Movie times again and it was time for the Hobbit. BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR! Fast action, awesome music and amazing sets. Great actors and a decent script. Although it is almost 3 hours long it keep you entertained and make you crave for more. Well worth a watch or even more. The story itself as a movie builds up the character decently and subtley differentiate the dwarves, although I can't say which name fits to which dwarf names, more their character traits. As a non-Tolkien fan It should be a good movie... for a Tolkien fan on the other hand (and here be spoilers):

Gonna be frank, most changes from the book I can justify in some way. For example, take the troll scene. In the book Thorin and co has just parted ways with Gandalf, short on food and with bad weather they are a bit grumpy, they see a ligth and send Bilbo to investigate. He finds three trolls preparing muttons. Bilbo see their wallet and deceide to steal it to prove his worth, but when he grabs it it talks and he is captured. After some blubering the trolls realice there is dwarves nearby and put one by one in a sack when they try to check on Bilbo. Except Thorin who fights them for awhile. Then Gandalf comes back and save them by mimiking their voices. In the film on the other hand Gandalf takes a walk to cool himself down from the obnoxious dwarves, the trolls steal their ponies, Bilbo tries to free them, get caught, dwarves try to save him, they fail and are almost cooked before Bilbo stalls for time until Gandalf shows up and breals a rock so that the sun turns them into stone. The changes establish Bilbo as a fast thinker, the dwarves a little bit more competent than in the book (how can you not suspect something wrong by sending one by one and none come back?) and probably shortened the capturing scene and one of the more fairy tale elements that feels to much "unreal" is gone.

Then we have the dwarven back-story. First a bit of nit-picking, discontinuity in the first minutes with the escape from Erebor, Thorin and Balin should have escaped together while Thror and Thrain took the secret door which gave the dwarves the idea to use it (if I remember correctly, haven't read that book in years). Anyway, it establish Thorin a bit more, but then we have the Azog story. Azog is the one that killed his grandfather the king when he and his servant went to Moria, the survent was released with the head of the king with the word Azog imprinted on his forhead, giving Azog the name Defiler (which cames out of nowhere in the film). This enrages the dwarves clans so they unite to avenge this shame and they march on Moria and fights a war driving the goblins and orcs back. During this fight Thorin gets the name oakenshield since he protects himself with an oaken bransh or staff (don't know which since it might differ in the translation between english and swedish) and Azog is slain by Dain Ironfoot as he hunt him down into Moria, but deceide to leave when he feels the prescense of the balrog. Not so much in the movie with Thorin maiming Azog and establish him as primary villain. In the movies defence it makes for a better antagonist than Smaug who they brilliantly teases the movie goers with from beginning to end only showing his shadow on the ground and in the smoke from the ruins he created until the very end.

The biggest change is probably the appearance of the White Council and the Dol Guldur subplot filling up the story which is more of a traveling guide across Middle Earth.  Anyway, the last thing to comment upon is the swedish subtitles writers who did an excellent job by sticking to the old translation where Rivendell is Vattnadal intead of Riftedal, and Baggins is Bagger instead of Secker (although for some reason Bag End became Säckers ände instead of Baggershus). Well, it was the right choice as a consistency toward the original movies. And I like Ohlmarks translation better, both for its nostalgia and also for a more lively text (although that might get me killed by real tolkien fans).