Comment on The Long Road Home

  1. SageofSlashes on Chapter 1 Thu 24 Dec 2015 04:35AM UTC

    I am sure it will be finished- from your other works, you don't give me the impression of someone who would leave a story unfinished without a very, very good reason. And I think you would explain why you had to leave it unfinished and would explain whatever hadn't been written yet, if that were to happen.

    I am also very happy to have gotten even part of Smaug's motive correct! As well as seeing someone having a dragon hoard something other than metals and gems. I'll admit the lack of dragons hoarding things like land, people, knowledge, love, etc in stories has always left me a bit disappointed. Those things all have their own values, even if their values can't be weighed in coin- and used correctly, they can all bring in coin- but coin can't necessarily buy them. Sorry for the ramble, I really am just very pleased to see someone have a dragon board something of less obvious value, even if it isn't the only reason. I am also eager to learn his original motive for invading the Shire over Erebor... And am also now wondering if gold sickness ever became as much of an issue for the line of Durin as it did in the canon continuity, whether the Arkenstone was ever found... Basically trying to determine what made the Shire a more appealing target than Erebor.

    I'm very surprised that I was apparently the first person to figure that part out- but I guess that is probably in part due to the bit I babbled about above with dragons usually being thought of as only hoarding metals and such. Thank you for the commencement on my guess, at any rate, and as well as for taking the time to reply.

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    1. Silver_pup on Chapter 1 Wed 30 Dec 2015 01:44AM UTC

      I understand exactly how you feel. It's always annoying to read about the stereotypical dragon hoarding only treasure simply because it's so important to some. Like, yes, the dwarves hoard it because it's important to them but you can't say the same about the elves or hobbits. Even the men crave power/land more than the gold/jewels the dwarves dig out. That's why in this story Smaug--who does still like shiny things as much as the next dragon--stays in the Shire because he knows how much the hobbits value it. Their home is everything to them and Smaug could sense that much like he was able to sense the dwarves' lust for treasure in the original verse. As for what made the Shire more appealing... I'll give you a hint: there is something in the Shire that attracted his attention and once he claimed it, he decided to stay because he felt/saw how much the hobbits valued it. :)

      As or the gold sickness, it does exist along with the Arkenstone but it's not as dangerous as it was with Smaug around to influence it. Like, the Durins can still suffer from gold sickness--or as I like to think of it, obsessive fixation on something/someone they care about--but they can fight it off better since Smaug isn't around to give power to the Arkenstone, which in turn holds more power over the Durin boys. Does that make sense? I swear it did in my head but we all can see how crazy of a place that is lol.

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