A light from the shadows shall spring (Tolkien AU)
Among the Powers that dwell in the uttermost...
Among the Powers that dwell in the uttermost...
A Light from the Shadow (Tolkien CKII)
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ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
A light from the shadows shall spring (Tolkien AU)
Among the Powers that dwell in the uttermost West and keep watch over Middle-Earth there is one that is not renowned in stories or song and wrongfully for her part into the world is great. Her name is Nienna and she is sister to Mandos and Lorien, the lords of death and dream. Her power has always been the light of compassion and pity and when her siblings sung the world into creation, she was already crying in remembrance of what will never was, what should have been and what never shall be. The elves depict her as a fair maiden always in tears, not for herself, but for the whole of Arda Marred. However as the Third Age of the Sun nears its ending, Nienna the Mourner decides to act openly in Middle-Earth for the first time of her eternal existence.
Dreams she send, portents and omens, not to those who walk the righteous path, for they do not need her gifts but to those broken by the discord of Melkor, those he enslaved and mutilated beyond all recognition and those he seduced to his service. She gives them a chance to redeem themselves, to join the forces of light and rise against the menace of Sauron. Her net is cast very wide, encompassing all orcs not under the direct dominion of Mordor to the evil men that worship Sauron as a dark god of fire and shadow. Even the last of the Valaraukar in Moria is contacted, albeit more directly than the others.
In the end, you are the only one to understand and answer. More exactly you and many of your direct servants. So who are you?
[] High Chieftain Gulghash of the Remnants of Angmar:
Long ago there was a kingdom of darkness ruling over the North of Middle-earth. The Lord of the Nazguls reigned since its fastness of Carn Düm, hewn in the northern peak of the Misty Mountains. His troops devastated the heirs of Isildur and reduced their kingdom to ruins. In this year 2980 of the Third Age, you eke a living in the ruins of the ancient citadel, leading the orcish tribes that do not pledge allegiance to Mount Gundabad, what pitiful remains of the Hill-Men of Rhudaur still endure and some spectres and wraiths cursed by the Witch-King. The dreams played on your desire to build a mighty kingdom not subject to any of Sauron's tyranical whim but also the regrets of a long life. For even by Orcs' standards you are old, remembering the fall of Arnor and the atrocities you comitted at the behest of a master that fled and abandonned you as soon as it was expedient for him to do so.
Pros: Vestige of Sorcery: In time gone by, your leader was know as the Witch-king and he altered you as he later altered his servants in Minas Morgul. Your orcs carry more elvish or even Umaia blood than normal and enough Dunedain's blood remain in your men to allow them the use o magic. Nothing as impressive as the arts of the Elves but still an ace in the hole if you need one.
Cons: Deserted Lands: While your redemption will ease the burden of the Rangers, many dark creatures still haunt the wastes of what was Arnor. You'll need to cleanse these lands and perhaps more difficult find a way to make peace with both the Dunedain and the hidden realm of Rivendell to rejoin the community of the Free People
[] Saruman the White of Isengard
There was a time where you would have denied the mere thought you needed redemption. After all you only sought what was the original project of the Ainur: Order, Rulership, Peace, all these things in which your allies hindered you rather than help you. The might of the West was too in decline, the power of your ennemy too great and to destroy him, you convinced yourself you needed the Ring of Power lost so long ago to turn the tide, banish Sauron and bring order to a chaotic universe. Lady Nienna's rebuke was perhaps the most embarassing moment of your entire immortal life but after that, you knew what choice was offered. You could help once more the Free People and ensure they remain free, free even to make their own mistakes. Or you could be the second of the Aulendili to walk the path of the Discord. You chose Harmony, recognzing at last the vicious inferiority complex you have concerning Olorin. You know it will take time but you are confident you can help to turn the tide.
Pros: Chief of the Wise: Even if the last meeting of the White Council occured 27 years ago, you still have influence over people as diverse as the Dunlendings, the Rohirrims, the Stewards of Gondor and the Istari. You still entertain a vast entourage of spies and informants who could be repurposed to be more directly useful to the war efforts. And let's not forget your greatest asset: The Palantir.
Cons: Father of Lies: Let's be honest in the past centuries you lied to all your allies. Some of these lies are not important and served the greater good but others, like the fact you guessed before everyone than Sauron was at Dol Guldur and did everything to not oust him before you had no choice will cause trouble.
[] Castamir of the Havens of Umbar
You are heirs to both greatness and darkness. Indeed while you bear the name of he who should have been the rightful king of Gondor, the blood that flows in your veins come from the Numenoreans that founded the city of Umbar. Most of them ended worshipping Melkor and making war upon the Elves and the Faithful until the kings of Gondor conquered them. Still you are mightier than most men, tall and grey-eyed like a northen Dunedain and even possess some small ability in magic. Recently you dreamt of the doom of the proud island of Numenor destroyed by Pharazon's folly, how the cult of Melkor not only did never bring the immortality it promised but caused your race's days to wane and diminish. You have made your decision, the descendants of Numenor will stand united and once again defeat Sauron. In exchange you will remain an independant kingdom, subject to no lord but yourself. At least if you can convince the Princes of the West of that solution.
Pros: Heirs of Numenor: Umbar is the foremost naval power of Middle-Earth in this age and your corsairs are feared on every coast. In addition you managed to retain most of the warlike traditions of Numenor intact, girding your elites troupes in thought mail and arming them with deadly swords. You are a military powerhouse able to heavily contribute to the war.
Cons: A Legacy of Hatred: One of the main reason the kingdoms of the South have participated in the wars of Sauron is that the Numenoreans enslaved them and sacrificied them to Melkor. The other is that you ruthlessly opress them into doing so for the past 1500 years. The Haradrim that surround your lands hate you, and righfully so. And they vastly outnumber you
[] Ghashudun the Balrog of Moria
You served Melkor who Arises in Might before the creation of the world, you were part of his entourage in the times of his splendor and followed him in his fall. You took a form great and terrible to help him make war upon the Valar and were present at the fall of both his fortresses. At the end of the First Age, you escaped the War of Wrath by fleeing to the roots of the world. There you slumbered until the dwarves dug too deep and too greedily. You lashed out, killing their kings and herding the goblins tribes to attack their mansion of Khazad-Dum until you were alone in the darkness surrounded by the oricsh swarm. You were contacted directly by Nienna that you had almost forgotten. She showed you how much of your power had dissapeared since your rebellion and how your life would one day end if you continued in your ways. The choice was deceifully simple. Make your penance here and now or wait for the day a hero would kill you and your naked spirit would be send under the eyes of the Valar for judgement. Unlike your master and Sauron, you chose redemption. Now what to do with a goblin kingdom at your orders.
Pros: Shadow and Flame: You are the most individually powerful being on Middle-Earth with the exception of Sauron. You tower over your troops like a vast shadow wreathed by flame, only blades forged by the Elves can harm you and you can defeat all but the most powerful lords of the Firstborn. As a being a primeval shadow, the creatures of Melkor tend to obey you instinctively.
Cons: Broken Instruments: The Moria Goblins are willful but not the smartest of Orc breeds, even in the ruins of the dwarves you will struggle to build a civilizaiton worthy of the name and of use against the armies of Mordor. Also surrounded by Orcs you cand dominate at your leisure, you are in danger of relapsing.
Among the Powers that dwell in the uttermost West and keep watch over Middle-Earth there is one that is not renowned in stories or song and wrongfully for her part into the world is great. Her name is Nienna and she is sister to Mandos and Lorien, the lords of death and dream. Her power has always been the light of compassion and pity and when her siblings sung the world into creation, she was already crying in remembrance of what will never was, what should have been and what never shall be. The elves depict her as a fair maiden always in tears, not for herself, but for the whole of Arda Marred. However as the Third Age of the Sun nears its ending, Nienna the Mourner decides to act openly in Middle-Earth for the first time of her eternal existence.
Dreams she send, portents and omens, not to those who walk the righteous path, for they do not need her gifts but to those broken by the discord of Melkor, those he enslaved and mutilated beyond all recognition and those he seduced to his service. She gives them a chance to redeem themselves, to join the forces of light and rise against the menace of Sauron. Her net is cast very wide, encompassing all orcs not under the direct dominion of Mordor to the evil men that worship Sauron as a dark god of fire and shadow. Even the last of the Valaraukar in Moria is contacted, albeit more directly than the others.
In the end, you are the only one to understand and answer. More exactly you and many of your direct servants. So who are you?
[] High Chieftain Gulghash of the Remnants of Angmar:
Long ago there was a kingdom of darkness ruling over the North of Middle-earth. The Lord of the Nazguls reigned since its fastness of Carn Düm, hewn in the northern peak of the Misty Mountains. His troops devastated the heirs of Isildur and reduced their kingdom to ruins. In this year 2980 of the Third Age, you eke a living in the ruins of the ancient citadel, leading the orcish tribes that do not pledge allegiance to Mount Gundabad, what pitiful remains of the Hill-Men of Rhudaur still endure and some spectres and wraiths cursed by the Witch-King. The dreams played on your desire to build a mighty kingdom not subject to any of Sauron's tyranical whim but also the regrets of a long life. For even by Orcs' standards you are old, remembering the fall of Arnor and the atrocities you comitted at the behest of a master that fled and abandonned you as soon as it was expedient for him to do so.
Pros: Vestige of Sorcery: In time gone by, your leader was know as the Witch-king and he altered you as he later altered his servants in Minas Morgul. Your orcs carry more elvish or even Umaia blood than normal and enough Dunedain's blood remain in your men to allow them the use o magic. Nothing as impressive as the arts of the Elves but still an ace in the hole if you need one.
Cons: Deserted Lands: While your redemption will ease the burden of the Rangers, many dark creatures still haunt the wastes of what was Arnor. You'll need to cleanse these lands and perhaps more difficult find a way to make peace with both the Dunedain and the hidden realm of Rivendell to rejoin the community of the Free People
[] Saruman the White of Isengard
There was a time where you would have denied the mere thought you needed redemption. After all you only sought what was the original project of the Ainur: Order, Rulership, Peace, all these things in which your allies hindered you rather than help you. The might of the West was too in decline, the power of your ennemy too great and to destroy him, you convinced yourself you needed the Ring of Power lost so long ago to turn the tide, banish Sauron and bring order to a chaotic universe. Lady Nienna's rebuke was perhaps the most embarassing moment of your entire immortal life but after that, you knew what choice was offered. You could help once more the Free People and ensure they remain free, free even to make their own mistakes. Or you could be the second of the Aulendili to walk the path of the Discord. You chose Harmony, recognzing at last the vicious inferiority complex you have concerning Olorin. You know it will take time but you are confident you can help to turn the tide.
Pros: Chief of the Wise: Even if the last meeting of the White Council occured 27 years ago, you still have influence over people as diverse as the Dunlendings, the Rohirrims, the Stewards of Gondor and the Istari. You still entertain a vast entourage of spies and informants who could be repurposed to be more directly useful to the war efforts. And let's not forget your greatest asset: The Palantir.
Cons: Father of Lies: Let's be honest in the past centuries you lied to all your allies. Some of these lies are not important and served the greater good but others, like the fact you guessed before everyone than Sauron was at Dol Guldur and did everything to not oust him before you had no choice will cause trouble.
[] Castamir of the Havens of Umbar
You are heirs to both greatness and darkness. Indeed while you bear the name of he who should have been the rightful king of Gondor, the blood that flows in your veins come from the Numenoreans that founded the city of Umbar. Most of them ended worshipping Melkor and making war upon the Elves and the Faithful until the kings of Gondor conquered them. Still you are mightier than most men, tall and grey-eyed like a northen Dunedain and even possess some small ability in magic. Recently you dreamt of the doom of the proud island of Numenor destroyed by Pharazon's folly, how the cult of Melkor not only did never bring the immortality it promised but caused your race's days to wane and diminish. You have made your decision, the descendants of Numenor will stand united and once again defeat Sauron. In exchange you will remain an independant kingdom, subject to no lord but yourself. At least if you can convince the Princes of the West of that solution.
Pros: Heirs of Numenor: Umbar is the foremost naval power of Middle-Earth in this age and your corsairs are feared on every coast. In addition you managed to retain most of the warlike traditions of Numenor intact, girding your elites troupes in thought mail and arming them with deadly swords. You are a military powerhouse able to heavily contribute to the war.
Cons: A Legacy of Hatred: One of the main reason the kingdoms of the South have participated in the wars of Sauron is that the Numenoreans enslaved them and sacrificied them to Melkor. The other is that you ruthlessly opress them into doing so for the past 1500 years. The Haradrim that surround your lands hate you, and righfully so. And they vastly outnumber you
[] Ghashudun the Balrog of Moria
You served Melkor who Arises in Might before the creation of the world, you were part of his entourage in the times of his splendor and followed him in his fall. You took a form great and terrible to help him make war upon the Valar and were present at the fall of both his fortresses. At the end of the First Age, you escaped the War of Wrath by fleeing to the roots of the world. There you slumbered until the dwarves dug too deep and too greedily. You lashed out, killing their kings and herding the goblins tribes to attack their mansion of Khazad-Dum until you were alone in the darkness surrounded by the oricsh swarm. You were contacted directly by Nienna that you had almost forgotten. She showed you how much of your power had dissapeared since your rebellion and how your life would one day end if you continued in your ways. The choice was deceifully simple. Make your penance here and now or wait for the day a hero would kill you and your naked spirit would be send under the eyes of the Valar for judgement. Unlike your master and Sauron, you chose redemption. Now what to do with a goblin kingdom at your orders.
Pros: Shadow and Flame: You are the most individually powerful being on Middle-Earth with the exception of Sauron. You tower over your troops like a vast shadow wreathed by flame, only blades forged by the Elves can harm you and you can defeat all but the most powerful lords of the Firstborn. As a being a primeval shadow, the creatures of Melkor tend to obey you instinctively.
Cons: Broken Instruments: The Moria Goblins are willful but not the smartest of Orc breeds, even in the ruins of the dwarves you will struggle to build a civilizaiton worthy of the name and of use against the armies of Mordor. Also surrounded by Orcs you cand dominate at your leisure, you are in danger of relapsing.
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Valar Choice
ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
Dark are your home under the mountains and dark are your dreams in your sleep of stone. Where you lie, in Morïa, in Khazad-Dum, there is nothing but ruins and corpses and the endless skittering of the goblins. They gnaw and laugh and scream and mate in the tunnels just above you but you are so weary you fall into slumber.
When was the last time you were whole? When was the last time you felt no pain? Hurt and weariness have not left you since your desperate flight from Angband all these millennia ago, when you deserted your post and wounded and bloodied you darted along the secret pathways under the world. Even at Melkor's side long years uncounted had passed since you were able to change your shape or even forsake your vestment of flesh.
Something is happening. From the Darkness of your usual dreams come a light and a sound. Music? Yes, it's music, the soft singing of one of your kind or rather your master's. Who is she? You are sure you knew it once upon a time. You have forgotten so many things, so many useless things set aside to build your form and your power, to become worthy to guard and serve Melkor he who arises in Might.
You have no body here and you rejoice in the freedom. You have forgotten that too, the sensation of being weightless, to soar above the ground like a cloud, to experiment the world in a manner no child of Eru will ever experiment. The song is all around you, a painful dirge for all that was ever marred. In a flicker of remembrance, you remember who sings so and sung so ere the world was even shaped.
You should rage but you are too weary even for this. Three times you raised your arms in rebellion against the One, and three times you witnessed the fall of what you had considered as power, strength and invincibility. You know you cannot triumph against a Vaile, even if Eru and Melkor had made you thrice stronger than you are. So you bow your inexistent head and wait that Lady Nienna that Is Compassion address you.
You are in her house, you guess both vast and cramped with the presence of many bodiless spirits, Maïar like you but also elves in great number waiting for the return of their bodies. From the windows come the salty air of the sea and the vast spaces that border Arda. You think you loved to sail the ocean of stars in the very first days.
"Morianor" say Her voice, "or rather Ghashudun if you still answer to this title. Little Companion what has befallen you?'
She towers over you in her gray robes and you could fit into the palm of her hand but her voice sounds like it is murmured into your ears, sweet and cold like a mountain spring, sweet in the hears and bitter in the mind.
She doesn't let you answer: "You are the last of the Valauraka in the mortal lands, the rest has already chosen the Void or Namo's judgement. You have deserted the side of our brother to rule, for a certain definition of ruling, a swarm of orcs in the ruins of the Children of Aulë.
Even you can feel it, winter is coming to your form. Ages pass and you grow weaker and weaker until even a mortal could slay you. Or you fall into a deep slumber under the stone, to never wake up until Dagor Daggorath and the End. Whatever the case I'll weep for you as I wept for the Maïa you should have been.
There is another option. Another path to take through violence and change, through madness and suffering. It is the choice your master refused so long ago, to redeem yourselves and dedicate yourself to the healing of Arda Marred."
You accept readily. For the music of Nienna still plays, showing how great the kingdom you ransacked was and how greater it could have been, how you could have been great among the Maïar, renowned for courage in battle and fierceness in the defense of the Free People. And you hear the truth in her words about your coming doom. Whatever the penance you should serve, it will be better than to remain in Mandos forever and a day or to be cast into the void or even to persist as the shade of a nameless fear to be forgotten until the end. And Nienna speaks again.
"So be it your penance can now begin and shorter it will be than the years you walked under the Shadow. For when the power of Sauron will be broken upon the world, you will be recalled here in Valinor and rejoin the number of our people, all crimes forgiven and all debts paid. However you shall not be a free agent on the world and you shall pledge hence declare yourself for one of the Valar that will reward your loyalty with the restoration of your forgotten beauty and power."
What Valar will you serve in your new life?
[] Evil yet to be good will be for I choose you Lady Nienna. My flames will warm those broken by Melkor's arts and my darkness will shield them. For I will redeem the race of the Orcs and so from Melkor's rebellion shall arise wonders he never dreamt of. I will not walk under the light alone but they will accompany me even to this very shore.
[] In the halls of the Dwarves I stand and sleep and so I dedicate myself to Aulë who is the Shaper. I'll cast down my garments of shadow for the strength of stone and metal and my fire will be used to create rather than destroy. And Khazad-Dum will be my first masterwork.
[] From the lowest to the highest, I call upon Varda that sits upon Taniquetil. For Melkor and my kin filled the night with terror for every living thing while it was pure at the beginning. My fire will be those of the stars of Elbereth and my darkness the veil of the night. Creatures of evil will fear the night as now they fear the day and the Elves will forgive my misdeeds.
[] No road is set in stone even those of the Aïnur. So I choose Namo that judges the dead and pronounces the doom of the worlds. Let my redemption herald that none can be ever sure of the path he'll walk. Fire and Shadow I'll remain, a sign of doom for those who I called servants and brothers and a sign of hope for those who fight the Discord.
[] Fighting is in my nature and love of battle in my veins. I will follow Oromë the Hunter for I contributed to the multiplying of foul beasts and strange creatures. I'll hunt the deep caverns of the earth where the world is gnawed by nameless things and I will teach them fear. No creatures of the depths will threaten this world.
[] Write-in a reason for a Balrog to follow Ulmo the lord of Water, Manwe the lord of Air, or Irmo the lord of Dreams.
When was the last time you were whole? When was the last time you felt no pain? Hurt and weariness have not left you since your desperate flight from Angband all these millennia ago, when you deserted your post and wounded and bloodied you darted along the secret pathways under the world. Even at Melkor's side long years uncounted had passed since you were able to change your shape or even forsake your vestment of flesh.
Something is happening. From the Darkness of your usual dreams come a light and a sound. Music? Yes, it's music, the soft singing of one of your kind or rather your master's. Who is she? You are sure you knew it once upon a time. You have forgotten so many things, so many useless things set aside to build your form and your power, to become worthy to guard and serve Melkor he who arises in Might.
You have no body here and you rejoice in the freedom. You have forgotten that too, the sensation of being weightless, to soar above the ground like a cloud, to experiment the world in a manner no child of Eru will ever experiment. The song is all around you, a painful dirge for all that was ever marred. In a flicker of remembrance, you remember who sings so and sung so ere the world was even shaped.
You should rage but you are too weary even for this. Three times you raised your arms in rebellion against the One, and three times you witnessed the fall of what you had considered as power, strength and invincibility. You know you cannot triumph against a Vaile, even if Eru and Melkor had made you thrice stronger than you are. So you bow your inexistent head and wait that Lady Nienna that Is Compassion address you.
You are in her house, you guess both vast and cramped with the presence of many bodiless spirits, Maïar like you but also elves in great number waiting for the return of their bodies. From the windows come the salty air of the sea and the vast spaces that border Arda. You think you loved to sail the ocean of stars in the very first days.
"Morianor" say Her voice, "or rather Ghashudun if you still answer to this title. Little Companion what has befallen you?'
She towers over you in her gray robes and you could fit into the palm of her hand but her voice sounds like it is murmured into your ears, sweet and cold like a mountain spring, sweet in the hears and bitter in the mind.
She doesn't let you answer: "You are the last of the Valauraka in the mortal lands, the rest has already chosen the Void or Namo's judgement. You have deserted the side of our brother to rule, for a certain definition of ruling, a swarm of orcs in the ruins of the Children of Aulë.
Even you can feel it, winter is coming to your form. Ages pass and you grow weaker and weaker until even a mortal could slay you. Or you fall into a deep slumber under the stone, to never wake up until Dagor Daggorath and the End. Whatever the case I'll weep for you as I wept for the Maïa you should have been.
There is another option. Another path to take through violence and change, through madness and suffering. It is the choice your master refused so long ago, to redeem yourselves and dedicate yourself to the healing of Arda Marred."
You accept readily. For the music of Nienna still plays, showing how great the kingdom you ransacked was and how greater it could have been, how you could have been great among the Maïar, renowned for courage in battle and fierceness in the defense of the Free People. And you hear the truth in her words about your coming doom. Whatever the penance you should serve, it will be better than to remain in Mandos forever and a day or to be cast into the void or even to persist as the shade of a nameless fear to be forgotten until the end. And Nienna speaks again.
"So be it your penance can now begin and shorter it will be than the years you walked under the Shadow. For when the power of Sauron will be broken upon the world, you will be recalled here in Valinor and rejoin the number of our people, all crimes forgiven and all debts paid. However you shall not be a free agent on the world and you shall pledge hence declare yourself for one of the Valar that will reward your loyalty with the restoration of your forgotten beauty and power."
What Valar will you serve in your new life?
[] Evil yet to be good will be for I choose you Lady Nienna. My flames will warm those broken by Melkor's arts and my darkness will shield them. For I will redeem the race of the Orcs and so from Melkor's rebellion shall arise wonders he never dreamt of. I will not walk under the light alone but they will accompany me even to this very shore.
[] In the halls of the Dwarves I stand and sleep and so I dedicate myself to Aulë who is the Shaper. I'll cast down my garments of shadow for the strength of stone and metal and my fire will be used to create rather than destroy. And Khazad-Dum will be my first masterwork.
[] From the lowest to the highest, I call upon Varda that sits upon Taniquetil. For Melkor and my kin filled the night with terror for every living thing while it was pure at the beginning. My fire will be those of the stars of Elbereth and my darkness the veil of the night. Creatures of evil will fear the night as now they fear the day and the Elves will forgive my misdeeds.
[] No road is set in stone even those of the Aïnur. So I choose Namo that judges the dead and pronounces the doom of the worlds. Let my redemption herald that none can be ever sure of the path he'll walk. Fire and Shadow I'll remain, a sign of doom for those who I called servants and brothers and a sign of hope for those who fight the Discord.
[] Fighting is in my nature and love of battle in my veins. I will follow Oromë the Hunter for I contributed to the multiplying of foul beasts and strange creatures. I'll hunt the deep caverns of the earth where the world is gnawed by nameless things and I will teach them fear. No creatures of the depths will threaten this world.
[] Write-in a reason for a Balrog to follow Ulmo the lord of Water, Manwe the lord of Air, or Irmo the lord of Dreams.
Power Choice
ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
Choose three among this list
[] Veil of Tears : The darkness that suffuses you has acquired the qualities of your new mistress. Where you shadow falls people are taken with bitter sadness as they see how their surroundings are, and how they could be. Elves are reminded of Beleriand or Valinor, Dunedain of the glory of their kingdoms while Orcs take conscience of their hollowness.
[] Song of Days Gone By: You can emit a terrible howl that will remind those who hear it the most shameful moment of their lives. How they react to these memories depends on them but as a rule hesitation and reflection follow.
[] Mien of the Mourner: You are still Shadow and Flame but your new mistress has made them pure again. So your darkness is without fear for the Free People and the brightness of your flame doesn't hurt the servants of Melkor you choose to shield. It can still of course burn them at your leisure
[] Barrow sense: Millennia passed underground have taught you about orientation, deepening your connection to the Earth. You can enter a trance where you instinctively know the path to all location situated underground. However, the Trance does not account for the presence of enemies on the path.
[] Glimpse of the Machine: Aulë et Melkor are more than alike in the mind of Illiuvatar and you benefit of this closeness. You have visions of strange technology, blasting powder, more efficient crops, crafting of items of power.
[] Dwarf-Friend: Your mien has been altered to be more pleasing to the Children of Aulë. You do not know the qualities in question but they seem to align with the new stony consistence of your flesh. Dwarves are favorably inclined to you.
[] star-Reader: The history of the world is written in the Great Music that was already played to its conclusion. For a reason you do not remember, the patterns of the stars enable you to remember flashes of the Music, discovering future events. Note that your redemption is a great grain of sand in the clockwork of history.
[] Flame of Elbereth: You can transform your flaming weapons in white fire that harms most the creatures begotten from the discord. The fire is also frightening for them and they flee at its approach.
[] Elf-Friend: Your darkness is now pierced with the light of Varda, reminding those elves that gaze upon you of the stars they saw in cuivenen so long ago. Elves are favorably inclined to consider you a messenger of the Powers and a soul in search of redemption.
[] Blade of the Feanturi: Everything you kill at the exception of a person linked to the world by a ring of power dies definitively and leaves no wraith. If you come to kill someone wounded by a Morgul-Blade, his spirit is spared wraithdom and goes to its reward
[] Call of Mandos: You are able to issue the Summons of Mandos on Elven spirits that refused them the first time. The Unhoused are naturally inclined to resist such summons but must contend with your own will to resist yours. The spirits so released are sent into the West where Mandos will judge them according to their acts in life or death.
[] Istar-Form: You have been granted the ability to shift between your form and a Mannish Fana. This fana is old, subject to all the weariness of mortal age, clad in violet robes and goes on the name Morianor. The other istari will be notified to your addition to their circle by dreams sent from the West.
[] Boldog-Form: You can assume the form of the Boldog, the great captains of the Orcs. While none will ever confound you for an ordinary orc as you have at least a head over them, you can evolve among them without subjecting them to the effects of a Balrog's presence.
[] Veil of Tears : The darkness that suffuses you has acquired the qualities of your new mistress. Where you shadow falls people are taken with bitter sadness as they see how their surroundings are, and how they could be. Elves are reminded of Beleriand or Valinor, Dunedain of the glory of their kingdoms while Orcs take conscience of their hollowness.
[] Song of Days Gone By: You can emit a terrible howl that will remind those who hear it the most shameful moment of their lives. How they react to these memories depends on them but as a rule hesitation and reflection follow.
[] Mien of the Mourner: You are still Shadow and Flame but your new mistress has made them pure again. So your darkness is without fear for the Free People and the brightness of your flame doesn't hurt the servants of Melkor you choose to shield. It can still of course burn them at your leisure
[] Barrow sense: Millennia passed underground have taught you about orientation, deepening your connection to the Earth. You can enter a trance where you instinctively know the path to all location situated underground. However, the Trance does not account for the presence of enemies on the path.
[] Glimpse of the Machine: Aulë et Melkor are more than alike in the mind of Illiuvatar and you benefit of this closeness. You have visions of strange technology, blasting powder, more efficient crops, crafting of items of power.
[] Dwarf-Friend: Your mien has been altered to be more pleasing to the Children of Aulë. You do not know the qualities in question but they seem to align with the new stony consistence of your flesh. Dwarves are favorably inclined to you.
[] star-Reader: The history of the world is written in the Great Music that was already played to its conclusion. For a reason you do not remember, the patterns of the stars enable you to remember flashes of the Music, discovering future events. Note that your redemption is a great grain of sand in the clockwork of history.
[] Flame of Elbereth: You can transform your flaming weapons in white fire that harms most the creatures begotten from the discord. The fire is also frightening for them and they flee at its approach.
[] Elf-Friend: Your darkness is now pierced with the light of Varda, reminding those elves that gaze upon you of the stars they saw in cuivenen so long ago. Elves are favorably inclined to consider you a messenger of the Powers and a soul in search of redemption.
[] Blade of the Feanturi: Everything you kill at the exception of a person linked to the world by a ring of power dies definitively and leaves no wraith. If you come to kill someone wounded by a Morgul-Blade, his spirit is spared wraithdom and goes to its reward
[] Call of Mandos: You are able to issue the Summons of Mandos on Elven spirits that refused them the first time. The Unhoused are naturally inclined to resist such summons but must contend with your own will to resist yours. The spirits so released are sent into the West where Mandos will judge them according to their acts in life or death.
[] Istar-Form: You have been granted the ability to shift between your form and a Mannish Fana. This fana is old, subject to all the weariness of mortal age, clad in violet robes and goes on the name Morianor. The other istari will be notified to your addition to their circle by dreams sent from the West.
[] Boldog-Form: You can assume the form of the Boldog, the great captains of the Orcs. While none will ever confound you for an ordinary orc as you have at least a head over them, you can evolve among them without subjecting them to the effects of a Balrog's presence.
Year choice
Prologue 1
ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
As you speak your oath to Nienna, pledging yourself to She who is Compassion, you see her smile with a sadness you do not yet understand. She takes your disembodied essence in her hand, soothing it with her song. She says : « I accept your oath and your service. Redempton needs more advocates in this world and only those ho have travelled the darkest road can truly lead others into the light. Painful will be your journey, full of hardships and obstacles for every soul that walk under me share in my mourning. Nevertheless you will be granted a new form to be the symbol of your rebirth. Anorestel I name you : Fire of Hope for if you can redeem yourself, perhaps my brother will at the end. »
Her song breaks around you leading your naked spirit to its home in the caverns of Moria. You do not regain your body for the Song of Nienna changes it as it changes you. You tower still over the throngs of the livings, being twice the height of the tallest Men. Basalt and obsidian is your skin, black now not like unnatural darkness but like the men of Morenor. Like a dark bird are your wings. Sweet and lambent are your flames, burning bright as the moon in heavens. As a great king of many men is your face, scarred and charred by wounds but possessed of a sad majesty.
Your mind has changed also. Now in place of dark dreams, you see glimpse of machines and gears. Great edifices carrying water to cities, fire that burns even on water, crops that wil abols famine, flame that burns disease. All that and more you remember having heard in the song of Aulë and Melkor at the beginning of time ere the Discord was a thing.
The main changement is the most drastic. Before you were nailed to your body as if he was not a fana, a flesh vestment, but an hroa a body of flesh like the Children of Illiuvatar. Now while still you cannot rejct it like mortal do their clothes, you can alternate between your accustomed form and that of a bearded man clad in violet robes, back bent by the burdens of the road, bones aching with the woes of the world, crying not for himself but for others, a staff like a cypress branch in hand.
While you ponder your new abilities, you hear the rumours of conflict. You dimly remember that Azog, the Boldog-spawn that declared himself « King » over these dead halls gave offense to the dwarves, beheading a visitor and warning his companion to his presence. In retrospect that was quite the foolish move as the dwarves made war on the Orcs, slaughterng them in great numbers. Completely awake you think upon your next move.
[] Let the battle play out.
[] Go to the East-Gate and decide on what you should do.
Her song breaks around you leading your naked spirit to its home in the caverns of Moria. You do not regain your body for the Song of Nienna changes it as it changes you. You tower still over the throngs of the livings, being twice the height of the tallest Men. Basalt and obsidian is your skin, black now not like unnatural darkness but like the men of Morenor. Like a dark bird are your wings. Sweet and lambent are your flames, burning bright as the moon in heavens. As a great king of many men is your face, scarred and charred by wounds but possessed of a sad majesty.
Your mind has changed also. Now in place of dark dreams, you see glimpse of machines and gears. Great edifices carrying water to cities, fire that burns even on water, crops that wil abols famine, flame that burns disease. All that and more you remember having heard in the song of Aulë and Melkor at the beginning of time ere the Discord was a thing.
The main changement is the most drastic. Before you were nailed to your body as if he was not a fana, a flesh vestment, but an hroa a body of flesh like the Children of Illiuvatar. Now while still you cannot rejct it like mortal do their clothes, you can alternate between your accustomed form and that of a bearded man clad in violet robes, back bent by the burdens of the road, bones aching with the woes of the world, crying not for himself but for others, a staff like a cypress branch in hand.
While you ponder your new abilities, you hear the rumours of conflict. You dimly remember that Azog, the Boldog-spawn that declared himself « King » over these dead halls gave offense to the dwarves, beheading a visitor and warning his companion to his presence. In retrospect that was quite the foolish move as the dwarves made war on the Orcs, slaughterng them in great numbers. Completely awake you think upon your next move.
[] Let the battle play out.
[] Go to the East-Gate and decide on what you should do.
Prologue 2
ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
As you climb along the ruined hallways of Moria, you are surprised by the lack of Orcs on your path. Azog's war seems to have depleted their ranks further still than you thought. Small camps of civilians are scattered through Khazad-Dum but most of the warriors are fighting outside and there is none to marvel at your presence before you approach the East-Gate.
Azog is here, of course, he surveys the rout and ruin of his army from the safety of the gates but you sense he will soon be forced to charge if he does not want to be cut down by his own captains. The dwarves have suffered many losses but are still valiant and you have no doubt they will win this battle and the war. Excluding of course your possible intervention.
Your choice is simple. which side will you help in the battle?
[] Kill Azog and finish the rest of the Orc Army
[] Fight the Dwarves
Azog is here, of course, he surveys the rout and ruin of his army from the safety of the gates but you sense he will soon be forced to charge if he does not want to be cut down by his own captains. The dwarves have suffered many losses but are still valiant and you have no doubt they will win this battle and the war. Excluding of course your possible intervention.
Your choice is simple. which side will you help in the battle?
[] Kill Azog and finish the rest of the Orc Army
[] Fight the Dwarves
Prologue 3
ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
Thoughts course through your mind. Even if you have promised to Nienna you would do your utmost to redeem Orcs, you know that trying to do that in the middle of a battle would be folly. To let the dwarves to be slaughtered would be madness as well, as you desire no more war between the Children and you. Moreover, you never liked Azog anyway, this Boldog-spawn has brought this entire war on himself. You doubt the dwarves would have raised such a fuss if their king had simply disappeared in the depths of Khazad-dum like so many explorers. Instead Azog pointlessly antagonized them and threw his subjects and most of the orcs of the Misty Mountains into the fray to no avail.
You reveal your presence, dread shadowy body clad in scarlet flames just behind Azog and his bodyguards. You dispense with any pretense of fairness and slaughter them as they stand under the astonished gaze of the dwarven units that advanced to the gate. You cast the charred corpse of the orc-chieftain to them with a smile and proceed to beat the orcish horde by yourself. None of them understand why they die and you mourn their losses but each of them reeks of atrocity and slaughter, in their footprints you can hear the cry of burned villages and tormented souls. Rather begin with a new generation. It will be difficult enough to overcome the taint of Melkor dark desire in innocents. Still your thoughts ask for forgiveness, for your patron to understand that you have no choice but to do this.
The battle end quickly and you see your intervention preserved most of the dwarven army. What you choose to do with them will be another problem entirely. Nain who accompanied Thror to this very gates is still alive and is as surprised of the rest of his army to see you. Instictively you forsake your dread fana and let yourself be clad in flesh for the first time of your life.
Your back is bent, your robes are violet as mourning. A simple staff has appeared in your hands, as much a part of you as your new aching bones. Nain still clad in steel and iron, axe in hands approaches you and ask you this dread question:
"Who are you, to emerge like this from Khazad-dum?"
What do you answer
[] I am Durin's Bane now redeemed and ready to pay my debt to your race. I will welcome you in the halls of your ancestors now nearly pure for Nienna sister of he you call Mahal has smiled on me and sent me to right old wrong.
[] I am a servant of the Mourner and these ruined halls are to be the crucible of the redemption of the orcish race. So speak the Powers. If you want to reclaim them, you shall stay your hands from the orcs that still live here for they have done no wrong to you or yours.
[] I am a servant of the Powers, sent to right old wrongs and redeem those beyond redemption. I leave you these empty halls if you want them and will simply guide the orcs that live here and done no wrong to the Children to a new home.
You reveal your presence, dread shadowy body clad in scarlet flames just behind Azog and his bodyguards. You dispense with any pretense of fairness and slaughter them as they stand under the astonished gaze of the dwarven units that advanced to the gate. You cast the charred corpse of the orc-chieftain to them with a smile and proceed to beat the orcish horde by yourself. None of them understand why they die and you mourn their losses but each of them reeks of atrocity and slaughter, in their footprints you can hear the cry of burned villages and tormented souls. Rather begin with a new generation. It will be difficult enough to overcome the taint of Melkor dark desire in innocents. Still your thoughts ask for forgiveness, for your patron to understand that you have no choice but to do this.
The battle end quickly and you see your intervention preserved most of the dwarven army. What you choose to do with them will be another problem entirely. Nain who accompanied Thror to this very gates is still alive and is as surprised of the rest of his army to see you. Instictively you forsake your dread fana and let yourself be clad in flesh for the first time of your life.
Your back is bent, your robes are violet as mourning. A simple staff has appeared in your hands, as much a part of you as your new aching bones. Nain still clad in steel and iron, axe in hands approaches you and ask you this dread question:
"Who are you, to emerge like this from Khazad-dum?"
What do you answer
[] I am Durin's Bane now redeemed and ready to pay my debt to your race. I will welcome you in the halls of your ancestors now nearly pure for Nienna sister of he you call Mahal has smiled on me and sent me to right old wrong.
[] I am a servant of the Mourner and these ruined halls are to be the crucible of the redemption of the orcish race. So speak the Powers. If you want to reclaim them, you shall stay your hands from the orcs that still live here for they have done no wrong to you or yours.
[] I am a servant of the Powers, sent to right old wrongs and redeem those beyond redemption. I leave you these empty halls if you want them and will simply guide the orcs that live here and done no wrong to the Children to a new home.
Character Sheet
ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
Character Sheet: Morianor the Redeemed Fire, Evinyatar the Renewer
-
Traits
Ainu Incarnate : Even if incarnation limits your possibilities you are still one of the Maiar offspring of Eru's wandering thoughts and few can match your skill : 10 as base skill : Roll 6d5 to determine stats. 50 is the limit for incarnate beings.
Friend of Nienna: +5 Diplomacy; -5 Intrigue
Valaruaka: +5 Martial,-5 Stewardship
Atoner: +5 Learning and Piety
Vigilant: You have reconnected with your memories of the First Age: +5 Martial and Intrigue.
Stats
Diplomacy: 15+26=41 (51): Who would have thought you the diplomat? Yet your voice enchants and your words are chosen with care.
Intrigue: 5+22=27+5: 32 (50): Ever vigilant after your passage into darkness, your eyes are always open.
Learning : 10+14+5=29: (41) The Knowledge of the Aïnur is not those of the Children of Eru, even if you are a shadow of your former self.
Martial: 15+14=31+5:36 (44): You sense your skills in battle lessened but so do the fury they brought.
Piety: 10+16+5=31: (38) "Mercy I show to others, in the hopes mercy will be granted to me."
Stewardship: 5+22=27 (37): You sat with Morgoth as he planned a war beyond all imagination, even from his madness you learned.
Titles
Morianor: Flame in the Dark
Evinyatar: The Renewer
Niennamelda: Beloved of Nienna
-Traits
Ainu Incarnate : Even if incarnation limits your possibilities you are still one of the Maiar offspring of Eru's wandering thoughts and few can match your skill : 10 as base skill : Roll 6d5 to determine stats. 50 is the limit for incarnate beings.
Friend of Nienna: +5 Diplomacy; -5 Intrigue
Valaruaka: +5 Martial,-5 Stewardship
Atoner: +5 Learning and Piety
Vigilant: You have reconnected with your memories of the First Age: +5 Martial and Intrigue.
Stats
Diplomacy: 15+26=41 (51): Who would have thought you the diplomat? Yet your voice enchants and your words are chosen with care.
Intrigue: 5+22=27+5: 32 (50): Ever vigilant after your passage into darkness, your eyes are always open.
Learning : 10+14+5=29: (41) The Knowledge of the Aïnur is not those of the Children of Eru, even if you are a shadow of your former self.
Martial: 15+14=31+5:36 (44): You sense your skills in battle lessened but so do the fury they brought.
Piety: 10+16+5=31: (38) "Mercy I show to others, in the hopes mercy will be granted to me."
Stewardship: 5+22=27 (37): You sat with Morgoth as he planned a war beyond all imagination, even from his madness you learned.
Titles
Morianor: Flame in the Dark
Evinyatar: The Renewer
Niennamelda: Beloved of Nienna
Last edited:
Prologue 4
ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
Your kingdom is not great but from humble beginnings can arise the mightiest empires. Still it is unprecedented in all of Arda's history. The first time where the Children of Melkor and the Children of Eru abide in peace with each other. Even if that fails, you know full well you have won a great victory as the Dwarves not only accepted your offer but abided by it, not without some grumbling but with all the good will they could muster. They have reclaimed the rich mansions of Khazad-dûm where their fathers ruled until you awakened and intend to keep it.
As they are not enough, not enough by far to take all the mines for themselves, they are content to occupy the higher levels and some rooms of historical or symbolic importance. They are still more numerous than the Orcs who were devastated by the battle and are reduced to some villages in the depths near what you called your home. You judge yourself lucky for the low number of Dwarves. Knowing their familial habits, you reckon they would take centuries to have the population necessary to fill the ancient city. More than enough to you to accomplish whatever projects you have.
Actually what do you want exactly? You promised Nienna you'll bring the Orcs back from the darkness you helped to plunge them so long ago. How to attain such a goal now your charges are secure. A choice lies upon you to take them and leave for some climes to raise them in seclusion and teach them at your leisure, or to try to cohabit with the Dwarves who have pledged to support your experience.
[] Exodus
[] Cohabitation
As they are not enough, not enough by far to take all the mines for themselves, they are content to occupy the higher levels and some rooms of historical or symbolic importance. They are still more numerous than the Orcs who were devastated by the battle and are reduced to some villages in the depths near what you called your home. You judge yourself lucky for the low number of Dwarves. Knowing their familial habits, you reckon they would take centuries to have the population necessary to fill the ancient city. More than enough to you to accomplish whatever projects you have.
Actually what do you want exactly? You promised Nienna you'll bring the Orcs back from the darkness you helped to plunge them so long ago. How to attain such a goal now your charges are secure. A choice lies upon you to take them and leave for some climes to raise them in seclusion and teach them at your leisure, or to try to cohabit with the Dwarves who have pledged to support your experience.
[] Exodus
[] Cohabitation
State of the World
ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
Default State of the World
From your new "allies" you learn much more about the world around your, their, ancestral home. After you chased their ancestors from these very halls Durin's folk dispersed around the world, living among the Aftercomers, plying their trade of blacksmithing and craftsmanship. An important portion of this sundered people established themselves in the Lonely Mountain of Erebor and much they tell you of its glory in time gone by. Alas for them Smaug the Golden greatest of the firedrakes still extant in the world took a liking for their home and treasures and descended upon them. Another exodus through flames and darkness followed until Thror was killed in the shadow of the Eastern Gate. Now they are home once more and sent word to their dispersed kindred who arrive daily to the great gates, bringing news of the world outside these walls.
Two great kingdoms of Man control the West. Apparently there was a third one long ago but Dwarves are not forthcoming on what happened to it. The most opulent of these is Gondor, the Land of Rock siting at the south-west of the mountains. From what you can gather it is a mighty empire, the Ruling Steward Beregond (Why are these people not ruled by a king if they call themselves a kingdom?) is famed for his many campaigns against the southern city state of Umbar, a place described to you as a haven of pirates and corsairs and recreants. Gondor's power is not at its zenith (you understand there were times they held Umbar) but they are mighty enough to fight the Dark Lord's armies coming out of Morgul.
The second human kingdom is Rohan, nominally a vassal of Gondor even if their links are not so defined now. Rohan is ruled by the King Folca nicknamed the Hunter who is determined to scour his land of every evil creature lurking there. Apparently there are quite of few of these now that the Dwarves have destroyed many orcish stronghold in the Misty Mountains. Rohan is famed for his exceptional riders but the Dwarves there are few and can't say much about the lay of the land or the customs of its inhabitants. From what you gather there is an ancient grudge between the Rohirrim and the Children of Aulé, something about a dragon's hoard.
The last bastion of mortal strength is located in Isengard or Orthanc. This old great fortress of Gondor has been reclaimed some decades ago by one of the Wizards Saruman the White. One of the Dwarves reveals you, by complete accident, the nature of this being when he gives you a list of names among whose is Curunir. You recognize this name as one of the Aulendili, the friends of Aule. You suspect the wizard to be a Maïa but you can't prove it as long as you don't stand next to him. And standing next to him you shall do for he is called first among the Wise and chief of the White Council.
Of the two other kindred Dwarves can only pass rumors. None of them approached their kin in the Blue Mountains for help and they don't know the place of the others mansions or holds their brethren still hold. As for the Elves, also there are only rumors and whispered words. There is, or at least was, a kingdom in the depths of the forest called Mirkwood. They talk to you without being sure of Rivendell in Eriador and of the Witch of the Golden Wood near your doorstep. You have a hunch this fair-haired queen could be Galadriel who earned a bit of renown in Beleriand but then it could be a daughter or a kinsfolk.
As for the forces of Darkness well they control most of the world. While you aren't very interested in the faraway land of Khand and Harad who, if they serve Sauron must be oppressed to do so just as the Easterling of the First Age were to Melkor. Still you sigh when you learn of the Black Land of Mordor, once inhabited by outcasts from Gondor and a light guard in the ancient fortresses but captured again by the forces of Sauron seven hundred years hence. Of Sauron the Great there is no word but of the Necromancer of Dol Guldur and of the Ulairi, the undead, lords of Minas Morgul there are terrible legends and atrocious stories.
Brave new world than this Arda where all is laid bare for you to discover.
From your new "allies" you learn much more about the world around your, their, ancestral home. After you chased their ancestors from these very halls Durin's folk dispersed around the world, living among the Aftercomers, plying their trade of blacksmithing and craftsmanship. An important portion of this sundered people established themselves in the Lonely Mountain of Erebor and much they tell you of its glory in time gone by. Alas for them Smaug the Golden greatest of the firedrakes still extant in the world took a liking for their home and treasures and descended upon them. Another exodus through flames and darkness followed until Thror was killed in the shadow of the Eastern Gate. Now they are home once more and sent word to their dispersed kindred who arrive daily to the great gates, bringing news of the world outside these walls.
Two great kingdoms of Man control the West. Apparently there was a third one long ago but Dwarves are not forthcoming on what happened to it. The most opulent of these is Gondor, the Land of Rock siting at the south-west of the mountains. From what you can gather it is a mighty empire, the Ruling Steward Beregond (Why are these people not ruled by a king if they call themselves a kingdom?) is famed for his many campaigns against the southern city state of Umbar, a place described to you as a haven of pirates and corsairs and recreants. Gondor's power is not at its zenith (you understand there were times they held Umbar) but they are mighty enough to fight the Dark Lord's armies coming out of Morgul.
The second human kingdom is Rohan, nominally a vassal of Gondor even if their links are not so defined now. Rohan is ruled by the King Folca nicknamed the Hunter who is determined to scour his land of every evil creature lurking there. Apparently there are quite of few of these now that the Dwarves have destroyed many orcish stronghold in the Misty Mountains. Rohan is famed for his exceptional riders but the Dwarves there are few and can't say much about the lay of the land or the customs of its inhabitants. From what you gather there is an ancient grudge between the Rohirrim and the Children of Aulé, something about a dragon's hoard.
The last bastion of mortal strength is located in Isengard or Orthanc. This old great fortress of Gondor has been reclaimed some decades ago by one of the Wizards Saruman the White. One of the Dwarves reveals you, by complete accident, the nature of this being when he gives you a list of names among whose is Curunir. You recognize this name as one of the Aulendili, the friends of Aule. You suspect the wizard to be a Maïa but you can't prove it as long as you don't stand next to him. And standing next to him you shall do for he is called first among the Wise and chief of the White Council.
Of the two other kindred Dwarves can only pass rumors. None of them approached their kin in the Blue Mountains for help and they don't know the place of the others mansions or holds their brethren still hold. As for the Elves, also there are only rumors and whispered words. There is, or at least was, a kingdom in the depths of the forest called Mirkwood. They talk to you without being sure of Rivendell in Eriador and of the Witch of the Golden Wood near your doorstep. You have a hunch this fair-haired queen could be Galadriel who earned a bit of renown in Beleriand but then it could be a daughter or a kinsfolk.
As for the forces of Darkness well they control most of the world. While you aren't very interested in the faraway land of Khand and Harad who, if they serve Sauron must be oppressed to do so just as the Easterling of the First Age were to Melkor. Still you sigh when you learn of the Black Land of Mordor, once inhabited by outcasts from Gondor and a light guard in the ancient fortresses but captured again by the forces of Sauron seven hundred years hence. Of Sauron the Great there is no word but of the Necromancer of Dol Guldur and of the Ulairi, the undead, lords of Minas Morgul there are terrible legends and atrocious stories.
Brave new world than this Arda where all is laid bare for you to discover.