THE DWARF THAT WOULD BE KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN

This is the last account of Thrain II, son of Thror King Under the Mountain, and the father of Thorin. We first met him in Erebor when Smaug attacked it.

(See post: Jun 03 - Few may remember, but none shall forget (SR))

The Exodus of the dwarfs to Laketown, then Dunland and finally the Blue Mountains is a story well told in Tolkien’s chronicles, as are the travels of Thror and Thrain to reclaim their homeland. In our LOTR roleplay, Thror gave Thrain the Dwarves Ring of Power before the Battle of Azanulbizar to reclaim Moria, and made him the Commander of the forces.

(See post: The Last Council of Thror).

RING OF POWER

On the eve of this battle some may recall Thrain’s impassioned speech to the gathered troops before entering the East-gate of Moria, the entrance to Khazad-dum. As he held the Dwarven ring of Power high on his hand he spoke these words:

“...The Orcs thirst for blood. SO LET IT BE THEIRS! The Orcs wish for death. SO LET IT BE THIERS! The Orcs lust for our lands. SO LET IT BE THEIRS NOT ONE DAY MORE! We thirst for honor, we wish for freedom, we lust for what is rightfully ours! LET THAT BE OURS!...

....On our Kings command, follow me into the fray once more, like a terrible wind leaving devastation in its wake. FOR OUR KING, FOR OUR HOMELAND, FOR DURIN!"

In battle he was a brave and skilled strategist, sending contingents of warriors to the left and right flanks as he took the fight into the center of the battlefield where the Orcs had gathered in great numbers. Bowmen caught many in the crossfire, and eventually the high ground was taken at great cost.

BATTLE FOR MORIA

As in the movie ‘The Hobbit’, AZOG the defiler (the great Gundabad orc) who had sworn to end the house of Durin, battled and beheaded King Thror. Upon seeing this, Thorin rushed to fight him, but Thrain stood in his path, insisting he fight where he stood, and then turned and rushed AZOG himself to battle only to be laid low.

His son Thorin then faced AZOG and using only a branch of oak to protect himself, wounded and chased AZOG from the battlefield.

BLINDED IN BATTLE & BY RING

As in the stories, Thrain would be blinded in one eye from a grievous wound in the battle, but for our LOTR roleplay he would also be knocked unconscious and awaken among the dead, after the battle had moved to the upper reaches of the mines of Moria.

Mad with grief and blinded by the power of the ring as much as his wound, Thrain would wander off and be captured and brought to Sauron, who would sever Thrain's finger with the Ring of Power, and imprison and torture him in the fortress of Dol Guldur. Thorin would search for his father in vain, but it would be years later when Gandalf was investigating the dark magic force of Dol Guldur that an unknown prisoner would be discovered chained to the walls.

THE PRISONER OF DOL GULDUR

Gandalf did not recognize the identity of the one eyed prisoner, nor did Thrain know his own name (lost in a fog of delusion and illusions). Using his own wizardry, Gandalf would restore clarity to Thrain's mind, and learn of the rings loss and the one important secret Thrain kept from Sauron; the whereabouts of the titular map and key, which he gave to Gandalf before he perished.

But I would like to think it was Thrain’s signature facial tattoo (seen in extended editions of the Hobbit) that allowed Gandalf to recognized him. Although it appears as a stylized image of the Lonely Mountain, it's fun to imagine it coming as a vision to Thrain, and interpreted as prophetic mark foretelling the fate of Durin's Folk:

Thrain may have been a tragic figure, who lost the Ring of Power, his eye, and was tortured and imprisoned, but he was pivotal to the dwarves reclaiming their homeland in Erebor by preserving the Key and Map that would eventually guide Thorin and Company to the back door entrance of the Lonely Mountain. All as the evil grew stronger...

But that is a tale for another time