Somehow What Exit?, I’m not sure this was what you had in mind for extra roleplaying jaffa cakes.
For posterity without cluttering up the main thread.
BOOO!
Like you haven’t ever done anything… oh, well I guess you haven’t. 
At least I wasn’t posting from this game to the mafia game, that would have gotten my lynched for sure.
So what next in the game thread party? The most recent crop of orcs and goblins lay dead and there are rooms and doors to explore and at least one staircase going further down.
Remember, your party is but one small invasion compared to the 4 armies that have invaded the tunnels not to mention the other parties that have attacked gates.
This was a secret gate protected well by the undead themselves. This was not a gate in regular use or from the signs found even occasional use.
They have already lost their local troll and what is probably the better portion of the local garrison. I suspect this one poor goblin is an unhappy camper, even for a goblin.
I wouldn’t worry, we have yet to really meet any nasty undead fights.
Yet…
I think you have. Your group was asked to invade by this gate as you had a good mix of powerful people with skills and weapons to handle the undead. Any normal group trying to enter through this door would have been unlikely to have made it far. The large mass of mummies was quite tough and I doubt a company of 100 men-at-arms could have handled that fight without great losses. The wraiths at the beginning with the skeletons would have been tough to get past for many groups.
Your party coming along freed Glorfindel up to aid another weaker party that never could have handled what you already have. They are instead part of a force bottling up the Wolf’s Gate and thus keeping the wargs and warg riders penned in.
Languages are treated unlike 3.5 or AD&D 1st Ed. The Dwarves are both veterans of Goblin wars and have some goblin but goblins speak many different dialects and even languages and use a corrupt, base dialect of Westron to communicate. Most goblins know some Westron.
Gil-Gandel knows most of the local (western) goblin languages and dialects as a bard. Miron knows some, mostly those of Mordor. Bitur is actually reasonably familiar with the local Goblin Gate and Gundabad variants but not Moria. Gwaelur is stronger with some Mordor variants and Moria.
The Hobbits and Humans know none. Not even Brin.
As to Thoroncir, I’m not surprised. He’s only been fighting goblins and orcs for about five months now, since coming ashore from his previous service aboard the King’s Fleet.
You would know a few words and probably from more than one dialect. Your fleet service was basically as a mounted marine and (asst.) navigator. Your combat would have been against men and not orcs. I don’t think you’ve had much of a chance in game to pick up much Goblin.
While we’re in here, a semi-related question: are goblins not of evil alignment? I could have sworn they were, but maybe they are neutral? What about orcs?
I think this is related to a Paladin’s Detect Evil ability. The Detect and Protection from Evil only works against strong evil. Orcs and Trolls are almost always of evil alignment but rarely of a strong enough evil to be detected. That is reserved for creatures like most of the Undead, Balrogs, evil items, evil clerics/priests/shamans and the like. Some orcs are wholly evil and would detect as some Elves and even humans would detect as Good with a Detect Good spell. If orcs detected as evil than they would not be redeemable and would have to be hunted as strictly vermin to destroy. This would not only distress several of the players in the game but go against what Professor Tolkien seem to have in mind with orcs.
Of course Hraedsig has no reason not to hunt all orcs. That is up to each player to play out as part of their character.
Thanks, that makes sense, and good to know that my Detect will not necessarily work on everything evil.
They are basically the same creature. The words are interchangeable. While some call them goblins and other orcs there are many that use either.
Additionally it appears that among some populations they call the smaller, more craven, generally less warlike orcs goblins and use orcs for the larger braver variety and Uruks or Uruk-Hai for the largest and strongest tribes of both Mordor and Isengard.
They are all much more closely related though than Hobbits or Woses are to Humans.
Do the rest of you agree with my take on this?
I think there’s bound to be discrepancies given the three major sources for this campaign (LotR, AD+D 1.0, Middle Earth.) And of course every DM has his own ideas.
I personally differentiate between kobolds, goblins, orcs and hobgoblins.
I also play Detect Evil as spotting any trace of Evil (either inherent or because of what the person is currently thinking).
And I get players to tell me exactly what spells they are loading each day.
But none of this matters, because roleplaying is about enjoyment. 
If my DM tells a good story and is consistent and the game is balanced, I’m happy.
I think you are doing a fine job, especially given the constriction of Internet play.
My only (minor) criticisms are Nobody has come close to being killed, despite some ‘shaky’ play. And the NPCs keep telling us what to do…
Works for me.
Regardless, our current prisoner doesn’t seem to pose much threat, so Bitur isn’t planning on physically harming her. (But she doesn’t have to know that.)
Better if she doesn’t, anyway.
What Exit?, I agree with the minor distinction you draw between orcs and goblins. I don’t think the Professor did anything different.
I’m perfectly happy with however you want to do it. I had been playing it that orcs in particular - and not goblins - were on my shit list due to my past history, but I can shift that if you like. Does my Orc Bane ability apply to goblins?
You can choose to have your character make a distinction though the Dwarves do not. The goblin in question is probably only 5’ or less in height and maybe beneath your minimal level of loathing.
Yes it does and the Uruk-Hai that can actually be very dangerous.
Interesting,
My take on it was that Orcs and Goblins came from the same stock originally but over the centuries slowly devolved into two separate and almost distinct races. Certain features were similar and some not. Perhaps going a bit further than the distinction between the clans of the Elves.
All good fun and games though.
Just a heads up, I can’t comment on the current events since they reference a map I can’t see due to work blocking photobucket so I won’t even see the map until I read the thread after work.