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Of Winding Ways and Cunning Devices

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[X] One of the first.
-[X] Fascination, here is one who even in defeat is great and lordly, one of the blood of those lesser men call gods (Cost 1 Bonus Point Gain Trait Black Numanorian, you are one of those who saw the wisdom of Sauron earely and in some small way benefited from his rise +6 Learning +3 Intrigue Can learn some of the dark arts he brings to the land)
-[X] The Library, books are more fragile than gold and silver, but rarer than gemstones... and unlike them you can both take them in your mind and pass them on (Rare tomes on subjects mundane and arcane Roll 2d6 for subject)
 
Raichu1972 said:
>Thinking following Sauron for any reason will ever be good.
Bruh, some of y'all are really on some shit lol.
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>Thinking Sauron is the focus of the quest.
Guys here know what they want and it's not to your taste. I think it's a nice line, though it's not my preference...

[X] Moar Friends
-[X] Vindication, behold one of those who was right hand of the Great Enemy as he kneels and begs for mercy of the King of Numanor (Gain 1 Bonus Point)
-[X] The treasury, seat of wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, the merest fraction of which would be enough for a temperate man to live a life of easy for life, a less temperate one perhaps less so (Gain Wealth with which to found a small mercenary company, found a merchant house etc...)
-[X] The dungeons, most would not think of the opportunity, but there is sure to be profit in freeing the prisoners of note within (Roll for friendly contacts with one of the other powers of Middle Earth)
-[X]The stables, you stumble in and there you find... (A New Friend?)

[X] One of the first

I'm trying to push a line that's not Morgoth and not the Valar...
Their affairs will soon be of no interest to us.
 
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DubiousDestiny said:
Illuvatar's power extends to worlds not created by him?
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When the numenorean head west he's the one who destroys them for rejecting their gift.

It's a big theme that humans are unique because when the world ends they are the only ones that won't end with it. Their "fate" extents beyond the confines of middle earth its called the "gift of men"
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Lotr and it's associated works are basically Tolkien's imaginary myth story for our earth. I mean DP already said magic will work on Earth so the 2 are in some way connected. This is of course my own conjecture and DP could say I'm wrong.
 
Hoppylo said:
When the numenorean head west he's the one who destroys them for rejecting their gift.

It's a big theme that humans are unique because when the world ends they are the only ones that won't end with it. Their "fate" extents beyond the confines of middle earth its called the "gift of men"
.
Lotr and it's associated works are basically Tolkien's imaginary myth story for our earth. I mean DP already said magic will work on Earth so the 2 are in some way connected. This is of course my own conjecture and DP could say I'm wrong.
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I assumed the worlds are not the same because there's no absolute good and evil of the sort we see in Tolkein's works.

There's no value in following the Faithful options closely, because there's no benefit (other than being some sort of religious warrior, and I'd hate such a role for our main char).

We might as well pick up points and friends. I think choosing more friends is the correct choice, because it represents more significant interactions in Middle Earth, which gives our char either more flavor or points.
 
Well we'll find out later (maybe) but regardless I imagine the question will be burning bright in our MCs head after he wakes up in a new place.
 
[X] Palacendo
-[X] Revulsion, a trick of the light perhaps, a grain of sand in the eye, but as you blink he seems to you kin in spirit to the most loathsomeness men you have ever faced in a duel, killers with a bitter smile oiling their blades with poison (Cost 1 Bonus Point Gain Trait Clear-Sighted, they say the Edain saw through the deception of Morgoth long ago and turned their face from him, perhaps some glimmer of that wisdom shines in your gaze +1 Diplomacy +25 to all rolls to reveal trickery and deception.)
-[X] The stables, you stumble in and there you find... (A New Friend?)
 
DubiousDestiny said:
I assumed the worlds are not the same because there's no absolute good and evil of the sort we see in Tolkein's works.

There's no value in following the Faithful options closely, because there's no benefit (other than being some sort of religious warrior, and I'd hate such a role for our main char).

We might as well pick up points and friends. I think choosing more friends is the correct choice, because it represents more significant interactions in Middle Earth, which gives our char either more flavor or points.
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It should be noted that we are playing the story of someone who is saved from the Fall and sent to Earth, given the nature of the Fall as literally Iluvatar's wrath odds are Eriol would have to come to some conclusion about maybe this Sauron guy not being the best even if you choose fascination now. That is not to say you would suddenly become one of the Faithful, or forget any Guldur you may have learned. LOTR has more grey areas than you would think, the Three are things of Discord and yet they are carried by three of the Wise, including Gandalf, who is our big good for most of the series.

As for holy warrior, that seems unlikely to be something you would get from the Faithful because they do not have what you would call a proselytizing view of religion. We know that because there are no Eru cults on the shores of Middle Earth where the Faithful landed, indeed the descendants of the Faithful, the Gondorians barely have any religious rituals. The closest we see is Faramir turning West after a meal in honor of the Valar/Fallen Numanor. Even when Minas Tirith is about to be conquered by an army of orcs there is no running for the temples because there are none.

One way or the others Eriol is going to have a hell of a culture shock when he gets to see the shores of Europe.
 
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rx915 said:
I believe you can be a Numenorean that rejects Sauron for being a shifty snake oil salesman but accept a different authority if you so meet one.

So you're going with RL Earth. What year?
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Not decided yet. I'll do a vote for time and location among places that would be made more interesting by the presence of a Dunedain exile and also places where you can rise in station and power.
 
After Sauron all mortal preachers must sound pretty weak.

Imagine you saw the Diplo 40+ Sauron preach of Morgoth and the power and eternal life he promises and then you have some weak-ass Diplo 10 priest talking about Jesus and the forgiveness of sins...
Even if you know for a fact that the whole Morgoth-worship ended up terrible, that's still not remotly convincing by contrast.
 
Artemis1992 said:
After Sauron all mortal preachers must sound pretty weak.

Imagine you saw the Diplo 40+ Sauron preach of Morgoth and the power and eternal life he promises and then you have some weak-ass Diplo 10 priest talking about Jesus and the forgiveness of sins...
Even if you know for a fact that the whole Morgoth-worship ended up terrible, that's still not remotly convincing by contrast.
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I don't know about that. People have done crazy things for their religion after all. I doubt the Pope was all that convincing when he sparked the first Crusade, (loot and glory probably played a big if not bigger role than salvation for the crusaders) but he still sparked the Crusades.

A priest doesn't have to be convincing. He can just offer a fig leaf of justification and people will do the rest.
 
TheGrape said:
I don't know about that. People have done crazy things for their religion after all. I doubt the Pope was all that convincing when he sparked the first Crusade, (loot and glory probably played a big if not bigger role than salvation for the crusaders) but he still sparked the Crusades.

A priest doesn't have to be convincing. He can just offer a fig leaf of justification and people will do the rest.
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We don't have the backround to believe this religion from the start though.
Totally different situation.
We would in fact have to be convinced that there's something to the whole stuff in the first place.
 
Sorry, I meant that other people can still be persuaded/prompted to act by IRL priests, which affects us indirectly
 
[X] Visit to library
-[X] Revulsion, a trick of the light perhaps, a grain of sand in the eye, but as you blink he seems to you kin in spirit to the most loathsomeness men you have ever faced in a duel, killers with a bitter smile oiling their blades with poison (Cost 1 Bonus Point Gain Trait Clear-Sighted, they say the Edain saw through the deception of Morgoth long ago and turned their face from him, perhaps some glimmer of that wisdom shines in your gaze +1 Diplomacy +25 to all rolls to reveal trickery and deception.)
-[X] The Library, books are more fragile than gold and silver, but rarer than gemstones... and unlike them you can both take them in your mind and pass them on (Rare tomes on subjects mundane and arcane Roll 2d6 for subject)
 
TheGrape said:
Sorry, I meant that other people can still be persuaded/prompted to act by IRL priests, which affects us indirectly
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Right, we certainly can't disregard priests since they still have power over other and so on.

I meant more that our internal reaction might be very unimpressed after we saw Sauron convince our entire people to sail against the Valar themselves.
 
I'm not sure on the real world if the Numenorean won't be meeting beings of immense power other than seeing Sauron. I just see it like if he sees Sauron as shifty but still isn't leaning towards the faithful I felt he could find a third option if he meets someone that's worthy of worship in the fantasy sense.
 
Hmm the more I think about it the more narratively unfit the idea of a evil/conquering black numenorean is in the context of Eriol character.

Sure we could choose fascination and after that choose more evil choices. But when we land on earth and realize it's not Arda because it's round and men speak in foreign tongues lol, the foundation of Sauron's lies and the King's men fear will have been destroyed.

Unless the MC is so corrupted at that time that he doesn't give a f and decides to do stuff that got his family killed and home destoryed.

And choosing to worship another entity is even more out of character for all potential version of Eriol. I mean he sees his home get destroyed for worshiping the wrong thing and doing bad things. And now he's going to find something that's more powerful than the entity that brought him to earth.
 
Hoppylo said:
And choosing to worship another entity is even more out of character for all potential version of Eriol. I mean he sees his home get destroyed for worshiping the wrong thing and doing bad things. And now he's going to find something that's more powerful than the entity that brought him to earth.
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Not if his hidden insight sees the hypothetical entity to be quite different from Sauron to be considered worth worshipping or respect.
 
Hoppylo said:
Hmm the more I think about it the more narratively unfit the idea of a evil/conquering black numenorean is in the context of Eriol character.
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Haughty and Lustful military man perfectly fits the idea of evil/conquering black numenorean.
Not that I want it and consider a desirable outcome. But it fits.
 
Pssss...
Why do you need this(plan Palacendo)?
If possible, collect a large collection of books in which there are all kinds of magic.;)

You only need to choose [] One of the first
 
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