It varies a lot. They do a lot in a single Friday night and might miss a week or two. Other nights we have spent the entire night on a single battle. On the other hand this group can occasionally spend weeks on one battle so it does vary a huge amount.
It is possible for things to sync up for a brief duration and you have met some of the same people already. Ghân actually know Bjorn the Beorning Druid in the other party. Mulligan’s brother Ponto Took is an NPC that is currently with them and has been before. Hodwain was the impetus for them heading down to Minas Tirith to get help. Both parties have met Arwen and Eldarion. One of Gilraen’s teachers is with them currently to heal. Merry & Gimli are with them know and were with you for your first adventure. Of course they got to meet Miron’s Lord, Legolas and Miron probably knows the elf of Thranduil’s kingdom that they have adventured with from the start. Bokken, the captain of the guard that lost both the 13 Dwarves and later Gollum. He had another recent screw up and decided to become an adventurer. Of course he has now realized a life long dream. He is a minor hero to the Lord of the Dorwinion. He is expecting much of their strong wine to be flowing his way.
As far as hooking up, it would have to be in a large battle where the two groups would not directly interact most of the time.
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Another question, actually- how are we integrating the existence of human wizardry in this world? Tolkien certainly didn’t have it, so is this something that has fundamentally changed in Middle-Earth, or is there a long-standing tradition of non-demigod* wizardry here? The latter seems problematic, since we’d have expected their intervention in the War of the Ring, while the former gives very little time for a tradition of wizardry to grow. Also, is there a relationship between the various schools of wizardry you mentioned in the first post here (Minas Tirith, Dol
Amroth, Ithilien, Fornost and Umbar) amongst one another or in relation to Gandalf? Should I expect to find wildly different magics if I find a wizard from another school?
*Is that a fair word to apply to the Maiar? They’re well above the human (I include Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, and probably Orcs in that term), but apparently mortal, at least in the sense that they can be killed, even if they seem not to age.
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Good question and not an easy fit. There has always been wizards and sorcerers. The Black Numenoreans had many among their numbers. Minas Tirith actually has a small guild now and it is causing an increase in numbers. They numbers are still rare. The average person has no idea that Gandalf and Sauruman were actual Angels or minor gods in human guise. It is generally thought they were ancient humans that learned the secrets of long life. Many black ages had learn some ways but always at great cost.
There appears to have been a great mistrusts and lack of safe teaching for Good Mages to coexist but Aragorn and Faramir knew and trusted a Wizard and offered protection to good mages to learn, experiment and grow. Umbar had Wizards of all ilks. Dol Amroth and Fornost each have but one or two White Wizards and no more.
As to different schools, every White Wizard you know of have spells and powers like yours but you have heard that to the South East are masters of illusions, Wizards that specialize purely in fire and of course necromancers, sorcerers and other dark witches and wizards.
Ultimately Wizards and alchemist do not fit neatly into this world and they have been jammed in for game play.
