In Memory of Arvedui 1.0

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• 1.0

The last king of Arthedain, Arvedui, was driven out of Fornost by the Witch-King of Angmar, and was eventually harbored in the far north by the Lossoth by the ice-bay of Forochel. The Witch-King's power was shown that year, with an unusually long and harsh winter. When Círdan heard of Arvedui's plight, he sent a ship to rescue him, which arrived in March.

The chief of the Lossoth warned Arvedui not to depart on the ship, saying: "Do not mount on this sea-monster! If they have them, let the seamen bring us food and other things that we need, and you may stay here till the Witch-king goes home. For in summer his power wanes; but now his breath is deadly, and his cold arm is long."

Arvedui did not heed the advice, and a great wind drove the ship into the ice, breaking the hull, drowning those on board, and causing the loss of much of the heirlooms of his house. Gondor, Rivendell, and Lindon then led a great force to confront Angmar, destroying it, but Arnor had already become a fallen kingdom, and Arvedui's son became Chieftan, rather than King, of the Dúnedain, and Arnor remained broken until Aragorn claimed kingship of both that realm and Gondor.

And so it is that Aragorn decides to master the seas on A Perilous Voyage to overcome the legacy of his ancestor's folly. He brings alongside him Arwen Undómiel on this pleasure cruise and a Dúnedain he can rely on, Amarthiúl. Actually, ships are pretty huge, so he's bringing most of the Dúnedain allies in preparation for when The Grey Company will need to sail upriver in great haste to the deliverance of Minas Tirith.

Aragorn is chosen for a few reasons. He has native access, making this easily quad-sphere; he is the only non-MotK hero natively able to wield A Burning Brand while atop an Armored Destrier; and his name is Aragorn, so Arwen Undómiel can pass him resources by discarding cards such as Elven-light. His ability is entirely useless here due to the effects of A Perilous Voyage, but no matter, there's enough threat to work with and enough benefits from the contract to make this still work well.

Speaking of the contract, there are two wonderful candidates for when you flip it. If you find yourself at 49 threat with one too many enemy engaged, use the ability of the contract to bump yourself up to 50, fish in your deck for a Forest Snare, and attach it to an enemy, perhaps right after the engagement phase. Alternatively, if you need more willpower and you have a good ally swarm out, give Aragorn his Inspirational Broken Sword. Now that you don't exhaust to quest, Tale of Tinúviel can give you a final push should you require.

As far as a starting hand goes, I like to see at least one of Steward of Gondor, Heir of Valandil, or Elven-light to get your engine going. The contract provides really good card draw (not just one extra each round, but the ability to choose between two different cards every round), which helps get everything else you need. Once your engine is up, utilize the card draw to pump out allies and attachments that allow you to keep enemies engaged while controlling any nasty shadows.