Erech and the Paths of the Dead
Erech and the Paths of the Dead is a supplement published by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) in 1985 for the fantasy role-playing game Middle-earth Role Playing, which is itself based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Contents Background In Tolkien's published history of Middle Earth, a people called the Daen Coentis ruled a kingdom on either side of the White Mountains at the end of the Second Age, and built a subterranean passage under the mountains to join the two provinces. They swore an oath of allegiance to Elendil and Isildur, but when called upon to join the Last Alliance against Sauron, they refused. The oath-breakers were cursed for their treachery, their spirits unable to depart from Middle Earth until they fulfill their oath to the True King. In The Lord of the Rings, after the fall of Saruman, Aragorn looks into the palantír of Orthanc and foresees that the Corsairs of Umbar will aid the siege of Minas Tirith unless he can immediately intervene. He doesn't have time to take the road around the White Mountains from Rohan to Gondor, so he and his companions dare to take the ancient subterranean passage now known as the Paths of the