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in the end it is an abstraction to tally a long term effect of continuous journeys. I wouldn't necessarily attribute too much value on the dictionary meaning of the assigned key words.
you could call it enduranceA and enduranceB if you want.

how much effect on difficulty you want it to have on your party is of course up to you.

Agreed to a degree. I actually do attribute value on the words used to define how something works in an official rulebook, as if those words are not well defined or clear it can create confusion for both player and LM - which this did with our group. I simply wanted clarification on how this interaction works because for me it wasn't clear and now it is. Hopefully this also clarifies it for other people as well.

I will still be homebrewing it so you recover 1 point of fatigue when a prolongued rest is taken so it makes sense, but that's for our group and not for this thread.

I'm curious - has anyone run the math on the journeys we saw in the books, to see if the rules can model the fiction?

The Hobbit: Bilbo and the Dwarves travel from the Shire to Rivendell, which should qualify as a sheltered and safe refuge. The book states "they stayed long in that good house, fourteen days at least," which means they should have removed all of their Fatigue. The second part of the journey is the harder one. The group leaves Rivendell, travels through the Misty Mountains, is carried by eagles, and finally arrives at Beorn's house. Assuming that is also a sheltered and safe refuge, they stay for two days, leaving around midday on the third (removing two points of Fatigue), before heading into Mirkwood. The group travels through Mirkwood, and is captured by elves. I wouldn't necessarily consider a prison cell a "sheltered and safe" refuge for the Dwarves, but even if it is, Bilbo did not have that benefit. The group then journeys to Lake-town, where they had significant time to rest ("within a week they were quite recovered"). The remainder of the book seems pretty reasonable on the Journey front, though it is unclear if the Lonely Mountain is considered "sheltered and safe" with an army camped on its doorstep.

Fellowship of the Ring: There are two main Journeys - Bree to Rivendell, and Rivendell to Lorien. The first, despite the peril to Frodo, wasn't too difficult, and the group had ample opportunity to recover in Rivendell. The second leg was far more difficult, with a few failed rolls at the pass of Caradhras, and then a harrowing trip through Moria before finally reaching Lorien. They start their next journey near the end of the book, splitting into multiple groups with different destinations at the end.

The Two Towers: There are no less than three different groups - Merry and Pippin as prisoners, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pursuing the orcs holding the hobbits, and Frodo and Sam trying to get to Mordor by themselves. I'm going to focus on Frodo and Sam as they had the most difficult path of the three groups, but the legendary trek that Aragorn and company make should be noted - was Aragorn wearing light enough armor to qualify for Endurance of the Ranger after leaving Lorien? Anyway, Frodo and Sam add Gollum to their group as the Guide, and eventually reach Faramir - who does not have a sheltered and safe location to offer them. Indeed, Gollum is nearly killed. They eventually are separated, with Frodo captured and Sam alone.

Return of the King: Sam rescues Frodo and the two undergo "several long and weary days of travel." Keep in mind that neither has had a chance to recover Fatigue since Lorien, and Frodo is also feeling the weight of the Ring. They don't finish their journey until they reach Mount Doom, by which point they are both definitely Weary. There doesn't seem to be a limit on Fatigue points, so it is quite possible that both have Fatigue + Load in excess of their maximum Endurance by this point.

Being in danger all the time of even feeling in danger all the time IS going to cause fatigue. This is going to be hard to shrug off until you feel safe.

Being in danger doesn't cause fatigue - travelling does. But you do whatever works for you.

Being in danger doesn't cause fatigue - travelling does. But you do whatever works for you.

I meant in a 'real' world situation, as I'm pretty sure you understood.

Not being able to rest safe and sound has a draining effect on a person's reserves.

The fatigue rules are some of my favourite rules.

Actually no, I didn't understand you. There are a lot of people in these forums who post their feelings and what they want to do based on personal opinions. Some of it is constructive, some not, but all of it is good so that's ok! We're all different and sharing our thoughts and ideas are how we improve things.

Now me - I like to follow what the rules for a game say and use them as a framework for what can and can't be done with the caveat of LM has the final say. Where the rules aren't clear, particularly for key game mechanics (which I feel endurance, load and fatigue are), then I want it clear for all (LM and player characters) from the outset.

In this specific case I didn't think the rules were clear. I asked for clarification and I got it, which is incredibly awesome and I am really appreciative of the answer and am happy I got it. It's really great that there is such a good level of interaction to get feedback on questions like this so it makes it clearer for me (and anyone else who was interested in the topic) how to apply the rules.

My understanding before was a prolonged rest would recover a point of fatigue. However now players can't just stay in their tent and sleep overnight to recover fatigue, or stay in the forest with a company of elves, or sleep in an abandoned cave. They have to be in a sheltered and safe place (like an Inn) or they have zero fatigue recovery, irrespective of how many prolonged rests they take. That wasn't clear to me before (and I am sure it wasn't clear to other people as well) but now it is, so I am thankful for the answer and clarity provided.

Does that mean I agree with it? Of course not, hence why I mentioned I will homebrew a different option which won't affect anyone else other than the group I play with. And hopefully they will have fun which is the objective. So long as you are having fun playing your way and I am having fun playing it my way it shouldn't matter to either of us. In any case, this thread asked a question on the rules and got an official answer - which quite simply is brilliant.

Moving forward, people wanting to follow the rules should run with this clarification and those that don't - well, they can make some "house rules" that work for them and their group.

Following this clarification we will definitely be homebrewing for our group so that when a player takes an uninterrupted prolonged rest in addition to the normal rules they will recover 1 point of fatigue.

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I would strongly suggest trying the rules as written. Bear in mind Michelle's point that some Virtues in the game were written specifically to moderate Fatigue gain and won't shine as brightly if Fatigue (especially from journeys) is downplayed.

I’ve found this a very helpful discussion, and appreciate Michele weighing in.

I love the foregoing analysis of the actual journeys! My one quibble is that my recollection of the encounter with Faramir (in the books, not the film) is that Henneth Annun counts as safe and sheltered once Faramir makes clear that he is not going to seize the Ring (the interruption to capture the gangrel creature Gollum notwithstanding).

As a Loremaster, I will certainly grant that a powerful troop of Wayward Elves creates safe and sheltered conditions for the party to regain a point of fatigue. They are on the road (quite literally: the Old Forest Road), but the magic of the Elves creates the conditions for restorative sleep. But this is all tweaking to make the narrative flow. I’m not such a hardass that I will require players have access to proper sheets and pillows to regain a Fatigue point.

It is a lot to manage: Endurance, Fatigue, and Shadow. Ultimately they’re all levers for the LM to pull - forcefully or gently - to enhance the theme.

Following this clarification we will definitely be homebrewing for our group so that when a player takes an uninterrupted prolonged rest in addition to the normal rules they will recover 1 point of fatigue.

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I would strongly suggest trying the rules as written. Bear in mind Michelle's point that some Virtues in the game were written specifically to moderate Fatigue gain and won't shine as brightly if Fatigue (especially from journeys) is downplayed.

Generally I think house-ruling a game you haven't played yet is rarely wise.

Fatigue exists to make Journeys have longer-term effects, just like HP in many games. If you make Fatigue unimportant, or HP unimportant, it can affect the game in ways that are bad for any group.

We all play differently, but that doesn't mean every individual decision I make is smart, and that nobody else should ever offer me an opinion based on reasoning rather than pure subjective taste.