1.0 The One Comes To The Fore
Ixian
Well-known member
The Admirable they once called you, those halcyon days are long past, and in more recent times they name you as the Abhorred. In that long stretch of time between those two points you wore as many names and many titles as there were stars in the sky in that age before the coming of the sun and moon. Smith of Aulë, Gorthaur the Dread, Zigûr the Wizard, and Annatar the Lord of Gifts were all worn and discarded by you in turn, along with dozens of others. You proclaimed yourself King of Kings, King of Men, and Lord of the Earth, as was your due for all that you had done to set right the chaotic course of Eä left aimless and in confusion following the bungling of the Valar in Aman. At the dawn of time, you had chosen to leave the forges of your first master and join with the visionary Morgoth in his quest of discordance, but for all his might and power he was dragged away in chains, and many of his servants and retainers crushed by the host of the Powers of the West. Yet you were more clever and cunning by half, and slipped away from the walls of Angband as they crumbled and the Siege finally came to a close, the lands of Beleriand cracked from the fury of the final assault and the mountains dipped below the sea.
From there you rebuilt, gathering hordes of Orcs to your banner, finding and binding the former servants and monsters of your imprisoned master in the void. You raised up fortresses and cities, expanded infrastructure and industry, and fought bloody battles with Elves, and Dwarves. Then you wore the sweet face of Annatar and slowly weaved golden words with poisoned knowledge and gifted it to the Elves of Eregion. Your plans were ironclad and tightly weaved, and in secret you forged the One Ring in which you poured your power, your cruelty, and your will to dominate. With the One Ring upon your finger, all the Great Rings would be your own to command, and yet the smith lord Celebrimbor betrayed you for the traitorous Eldar had forged a set of three Great Rings without your oversight, and when you first placed The One upon your person, the Elves removed their own. What followed was a war across the lands of Middle Earth and you took your Rings and distributed them to those who would be of use. When your armies were shattered by the foolish and haughty Men of Westernesse coming to aid the Elves you discovered that you could hate anew, the arrogance of mere mortals disrupting your goals lit a fire within your Fëa that not even your hate of the Elves or Valar could hope to match. The men of Númenor settled the shores of your Middle Earth, and built fortresses and cities of their own, dominating the smaller middle men and establishing yet more armies and arsenals to combat your own. Finally, after centuries of warfare, Ar-Pharazôn the Golden came to the shores of Middle Earth, and marched upon your fastness at Barad-dûr at the head of a great army and forced you to kneel in the dirt as one might a common Orc or slave, placed you in chains lesser than your long gone masters, but binding all the same, and took you as a trophy to their island empire.
So the fate of the Men of the West was sealed, for your tongue had twisted the wise of the Elves to your ends, and Men were far less able to resist that which they so longed to hear, in time every humiliation was repaid in full as the once proud and powerful Westernesse first offered their servants and then neighbors as sacrifice, then even partook of the flesh of the same. You had been forced to kneel in the dirt as an animal might, but for the mortals you had twisted them into less than beasts, and inflamed their hearts and minds with the idea of launching an invasion of the west to snatch Immortality from the Powers that Dwelt therein. Once more you had seen ruination and then reversed your fortune by your own hand and mind to sit upon the highest seat of the most powerful empire within the age. You were planning and preparing for many follow-up invasions of Aman as the initial Great Armament would undoubtedly fail, as well as strengthening your hold on the lands of Middle Earth and the far East and South for none could oppose you, and the Valar would not leave Valinor as they had before.
As the waves crashed down upon the black temple of Melkor at the heart of the Númenórean empire and crushed the massive structure and your own physical form you realized that your rightful reward and victory were being stolen from you once more, all your efforts and schemes thwarted by the jealousy of those Powers that dwelt in the uttermost west. As you fell into the Unseen you seethed and writhed in fury and hate a formless black spectator upon Arda as all you had built over two Ages crumbled to the bare foundations.
So you set yourself back to the millstone, and even as a specter of the Unseen you had your ways and methods of achieving limited goals and plans within the Seen. You called your greatest surviving servants of the Age, the dreaded Nazgûl, and set them to various tasks as you slowly gathered your strength until you could rehouse yourself in the flesh of a Hröa. In Mordor where the Shadows Lie you rebuilt from your powerbase at Barad-dûr and once more set forth to bind the unruly peoples of Middle Earth to your will, and once more the Elves and the Men of the West opposed you, and in that same land The One was cut from your hand and you found yourself banished to the Unseen once more, to fester in your hatred of those who consistently took what you were owed. Again you bent yourself to your labors from within the Unseen and you worked foul deeds and spoke foul words and took up residence in the ruins of Amon Lanc renamed as Dol Guldur, with black sorcery you brewed a great plague and set it upon the descendants of the Men of the West, while your chief servant, the Witch-Kind founded Angmar and shattered the weakened Arnor and three of its four successor states. Yet, you could feel the next conflict would be a decisive one and you set about to secure for yourself every advantage to grasp victory and prepare for the coming of a new Age.
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PLAN VOTING IN EFFECTFrom there you rebuilt, gathering hordes of Orcs to your banner, finding and binding the former servants and monsters of your imprisoned master in the void. You raised up fortresses and cities, expanded infrastructure and industry, and fought bloody battles with Elves, and Dwarves. Then you wore the sweet face of Annatar and slowly weaved golden words with poisoned knowledge and gifted it to the Elves of Eregion. Your plans were ironclad and tightly weaved, and in secret you forged the One Ring in which you poured your power, your cruelty, and your will to dominate. With the One Ring upon your finger, all the Great Rings would be your own to command, and yet the smith lord Celebrimbor betrayed you for the traitorous Eldar had forged a set of three Great Rings without your oversight, and when you first placed The One upon your person, the Elves removed their own. What followed was a war across the lands of Middle Earth and you took your Rings and distributed them to those who would be of use. When your armies were shattered by the foolish and haughty Men of Westernesse coming to aid the Elves you discovered that you could hate anew, the arrogance of mere mortals disrupting your goals lit a fire within your Fëa that not even your hate of the Elves or Valar could hope to match. The men of Númenor settled the shores of your Middle Earth, and built fortresses and cities of their own, dominating the smaller middle men and establishing yet more armies and arsenals to combat your own. Finally, after centuries of warfare, Ar-Pharazôn the Golden came to the shores of Middle Earth, and marched upon your fastness at Barad-dûr at the head of a great army and forced you to kneel in the dirt as one might a common Orc or slave, placed you in chains lesser than your long gone masters, but binding all the same, and took you as a trophy to their island empire.
So the fate of the Men of the West was sealed, for your tongue had twisted the wise of the Elves to your ends, and Men were far less able to resist that which they so longed to hear, in time every humiliation was repaid in full as the once proud and powerful Westernesse first offered their servants and then neighbors as sacrifice, then even partook of the flesh of the same. You had been forced to kneel in the dirt as an animal might, but for the mortals you had twisted them into less than beasts, and inflamed their hearts and minds with the idea of launching an invasion of the west to snatch Immortality from the Powers that Dwelt therein. Once more you had seen ruination and then reversed your fortune by your own hand and mind to sit upon the highest seat of the most powerful empire within the age. You were planning and preparing for many follow-up invasions of Aman as the initial Great Armament would undoubtedly fail, as well as strengthening your hold on the lands of Middle Earth and the far East and South for none could oppose you, and the Valar would not leave Valinor as they had before.
As the waves crashed down upon the black temple of Melkor at the heart of the Númenórean empire and crushed the massive structure and your own physical form you realized that your rightful reward and victory were being stolen from you once more, all your efforts and schemes thwarted by the jealousy of those Powers that dwelt in the uttermost west. As you fell into the Unseen you seethed and writhed in fury and hate a formless black spectator upon Arda as all you had built over two Ages crumbled to the bare foundations.
So you set yourself back to the millstone, and even as a specter of the Unseen you had your ways and methods of achieving limited goals and plans within the Seen. You called your greatest surviving servants of the Age, the dreaded Nazgûl, and set them to various tasks as you slowly gathered your strength until you could rehouse yourself in the flesh of a Hröa. In Mordor where the Shadows Lie you rebuilt from your powerbase at Barad-dûr and once more set forth to bind the unruly peoples of Middle Earth to your will, and once more the Elves and the Men of the West opposed you, and in that same land The One was cut from your hand and you found yourself banished to the Unseen once more, to fester in your hatred of those who consistently took what you were owed. Again you bent yourself to your labors from within the Unseen and you worked foul deeds and spoke foul words and took up residence in the ruins of Amon Lanc renamed as Dol Guldur, with black sorcery you brewed a great plague and set it upon the descendants of the Men of the West, while your chief servant, the Witch-Kind founded Angmar and shattered the weakened Arnor and three of its four successor states. Yet, you could feel the next conflict would be a decisive one and you set about to secure for yourself every advantage to grasp victory and prepare for the coming of a new Age.
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The Unseen Years (Choose as many as you would like)
[ ] Weapon of a lost Age - For months on end thousands of Orcs labor and die to pull great mace Grond from the crumbling ruins of Angband beneath the Earth while the Witch-King holds the attention of Men and Elves in the North. The weapon was forged by your dread Master and is woven with the terrible black language of destruction and corruption. With the forges of Mordor and the labor of slaves you can rebuild the weapon into one for the new Age, and with such a weapon no gates, walls, or fortresses will be closed to you.
* Add the Card "Grond - Mace of Morgoth, Siege Weapon of Mordor" to the Shadow Deck
* Add 15 Strength Point Reserve to Gondor
* Add the Card "Lord of Lossarnach" to the Free People's Deck
| Grond - Mace of Morgoth, Siege Weapon of Mordor | Lord of Lossarnach |
|---|---|
"Morgoth held hurled aloft Grond, Hammer of the Underworld, and swung it down like a bolt of thunder. But Fingolfin sprang aside, and Grond rent a mighty pit in the earth, whence smoke and fire darted." -Attach to an Army -When Attacking a Citadel or Settlement apply the following... Attacker: +3 to Damage Result Modifier (DRM) Table *If an army with this Card attached is destroyed, remove this card from play | "The Lord of Lossarnach was the lord of the flowered vales of the White Mountains that lay to the south and west of Minas Tirith." - Gondor gains a 1-7 Character and 2-5 Strength Army in Hex 0230 West (does not count against Strength Point Reserve) *Once Card is played, remove this card from play |
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[ ] The Hosts of Gundabad - Orcs and Uruks crawl and breed within the dwarven halls of Gundabad, the largest concentration of such within the North. They will be yours, but they are far from your center of power, and if you wish to fully utilize them you must spare some personal attention to their growth.
*Add the Card "Gundabad Uruks" to the Shadow Deck
*Replace 5 Strength points of Orcs with 5 Strength points of Uruks at Mt. Gundabad (Hex 2806 West)
*Add the Card "Rangers of the North" to the Free People's Deck
| Gundabad Uruks | Rangers of the North |
|---|---|
| "That is when I saw him; the young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield..." -Place 5 Strength points of Uruks OR 10 Strength points Orcs at Mt. Gundabad (Hex 2806 West) *Discard this Card after use | "Only a Ranger! My dear Frodo, that is just what the Rangers are: the last remnant in the North of the great people, the Men of the West." -Place 3 Strength points of Rangers in any North-Western Territory *Discard this Card after use |
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[ ] Last of the Great Dragons - At a lonely mountain in the north-east the last of the true Dragons lay atop piles of dwarven riches and gold, having ousted them from their kingdom some centuries ago. While it is unlikely the fire breather would ever fully submit, you could entice it to your service via promises of wealth and savagery. This will bring you into direct conflict with the Istari as they already make plans to deal with the Dragon, but the usefulness of such a weapon in the coming war is without doubt...
*Add Smaug a [5]-# character at the Lonely Mountain (Hex 0807 East)
*Add 10 Strength Point Reserve to the Dwarves
*Add "Scales like ten-fold Shields, Teeth like Swords, Claws like Spears, Breath of Death" Cards to the Shadow Deck
*Add "Blue Wizards of the East & South" to the Free People's Deck
| Scales/Teeth/Claws/Breath | Blue Wizards of the East & South |
|---|---|
| "There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep; thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but his fires were low in slumber. Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about him on all sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lay countless piles of precious things..." -When Smaug is with an Army you may utilize this card(s) in combat, apply the following respectively... Defender: - 2 to DRM Table Attacker: +1 to DRM Table Attacker: +2 to DRM Table Attacker: +3 to DRM Table *Discard these Cards after use | "They went as emissaries to distant regions, East and South, far out of Númenórean range: missionaries to 'enemy-occupied' lands, as it were. What success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed..." -Reduce Easterling and Haradrim Strength Point Reserve by 20 Points *Discard this Card after use |
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[ ] Shadow & Flames - Something powerful and terrible to behold drove Durins Folk from their fastness at Khazad-dûm, something that came up the secret ways deep below the earth, disturbed by Dwarvish delving, a host of degenerate goblins quickly filled the vacancy, whatever power dwells therein must be yours, but this is no Orc to be seamlessly bent to your will...
*Move the Balrog "Durin's Bain" from "Uncontacted" to "Neutral" on the Political Tracker for the Misty Mountain Orcs & Goblins of Moria sub-faction.
*Add a 1-4 Orc Character to the Mines of Moria (Hex 2716 West)
*Add the card "Arms & Armor of the Blue Mountains" to the Free People's Deck
| Arms & Armor of the Blue Mountains |
|---|
| "By the Third Age, Dwarves dwelt in the east side of the Blue Mountains, especially in the parts south of the Gulf of Lhun." -Attach to an Army, when Attacking or Defending apply the following Attacker: +1 to DRM Table Defender: - 1 to DRM Table *If the Army this Card is attached to is destroyed, Discard this Card |
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[ ] Breeding Black Uruks - The Orcs, even after millennia of breeding and crossbreeding are still inferior soldiers compared to Men, however some improvements in the bloodline have been seen, and with your concentrated effort you could amass a significant number of Black Uruks within Mordor, improving the number of quality forces at your command.
*Add the card "Uruk Breeding Pits" to the Shadow Deck
*Add the card "Riders of the Rohirrim" to the Free People's Deck
| Uruk Breeding Pits | Riders of the Rohirrim |
|---|---|
| "But Orcs and Trolls spoke as they would, without love of words or things; and their language was actually more degraded and filthy than I have shown it." When this card is played, place a 5-5 unit of Uruks in Mordor. *Discard this Card after use | "Arise, arise, riders of Rohan! Fell deeds awake, fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered! A sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!" When this card is played, playce a 4-7 unit of Rohan Cavalry in Rohan. *Discard this Card after use |
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[ ] The Black Serpent of Harad - A warrior and sorcerer of some ability, the Black Serpent from Far Harad could be ensnared into your service with the right combination of honeyed words and veiled threats. Such a commander upon the field of battle can only improve your chances of victory.
*Add a 2-5 Character (Black Serpent) in Far Harad along with a 10-5 Haradrim Infantry unit (does not count against Haradrim Strength Point Reserve)
*Add the card "A Serpent's Cunning" to the Shadow Deck
*Add the card "Muster of Dale" to the Free People's Deck
| A Serpent's Cunning | Muster of Dale |
|---|---|
| "Southward beyond the road lay the main force of the Haradrim, and there their horsemen were gathered about the standard of their chieftain. [...] Then he was filled with a red wrath and shouted aloud, and displaying his standard, black serpent upon scarlet, he came against the white horse and the green with great press of men; and the drawing of the scimitars of the Southrons was like a glitter of stars." When the Black Serpent is leading an Army, you may utilize this card in combat, apply the following... Attacker: +1 to DRM Table Defender: +2 to DRM Table *Discard this card after use | "There was the city of Dale, its markets known far and wide, full of the bounties of vine and vale, peaceful and prosperous. For this city lay before the doors of the greatest kingdom in Middle-Earth: Erebor" When this card is played add a 1-5 Character to the Kingdom of Dale, along with a 4-5 Infantry unit. *Once this card is played, remove it from play |
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"Shire! Baggins!" came the pitiful wails of the shriveled thing you had captured crawling about Mordor, and you grin, for at last the One Ring is making it's way to you, but still, it is to soon, your preparations not yet fully complete, your plans still just shy of full readiness, and your most powerful weapon in the hands of some stunted creature in a land you know only as a word, the Shire. Still, your armies are vast, and your might unparalleled, the Elves diminish from the face of Middle Earth, the Dwarves turn inward in their holds, and Men lay weak and arthritic at the end of this long Age. Nothing can stop you, nothing can intervene. You will take your Ring, and finish your enemies once and for all, to rule into a new Age, an Age of Sauron.
First, however you must locate this Baggins, and this Shire before some Lord of the West retrives the One and attempts to use it's power against you, and for that you must dispatch what forces and servants you can spare to scour the width and breadth of the land and are unable to do the work yourself as you might have in Ages past, with your physical frame weakened and wizened by your separation from the One.
You contact Saruman utilizing the Palantir, brushing past the pitiful attempts of the Stewart of Gondor to hinder your use of the Elvish artifact, the White Wizard claims to have never heard of such a person or place, but you suspect Curumo knows more than he speaks, and resolve to look deeper into the matter. You also debate releasing the wretched creature locked away in the dungeons of Barad-dûr, as you believe it very likely the beast will lead you to the One in time...
[ ] Dispatch Servants to Isengard to delve deeper into the mysteries of Baggins and the Shire..."Shire! Baggins!" came the pitiful wails of the shriveled thing you had captured crawling about Mordor, and you grin, for at last the One Ring is making it's way to you, but still, it is to soon, your preparations not yet fully complete, your plans still just shy of full readiness, and your most powerful weapon in the hands of some stunted creature in a land you know only as a word, the Shire. Still, your armies are vast, and your might unparalleled, the Elves diminish from the face of Middle Earth, the Dwarves turn inward in their holds, and Men lay weak and arthritic at the end of this long Age. Nothing can stop you, nothing can intervene. You will take your Ring, and finish your enemies once and for all, to rule into a new Age, an Age of Sauron.
First, however you must locate this Baggins, and this Shire before some Lord of the West retrives the One and attempts to use it's power against you, and for that you must dispatch what forces and servants you can spare to scour the width and breadth of the land and are unable to do the work yourself as you might have in Ages past, with your physical frame weakened and wizened by your separation from the One.
You contact Saruman utilizing the Palantir, brushing past the pitiful attempts of the Stewart of Gondor to hinder your use of the Elvish artifact, the White Wizard claims to have never heard of such a person or place, but you suspect Curumo knows more than he speaks, and resolve to look deeper into the matter. You also debate releasing the wretched creature locked away in the dungeons of Barad-dûr, as you believe it very likely the beast will lead you to the One in time...
- [ ] The Witch-King of Angmar
- [ ] The Mouth of Sauron, Envoy of the Black Tower
- [ ] Gothmog, Lieutenant of Minas Morgul
- [ ] Write-In Character
-- [ ] Send additional aid (other Nazgûl or Orcs, keep in mind that sending formations of soldiers into other factions lands and territory could start conflict sooner, otherwise write-in)
[ ] Pressure Saruman for more details, though he may chafe under the questioning.
-Move Saruman & Isengard back one space from "Convenient Allies" to "Weary Allies" on the Isengard Political Tracker
-The Shires location is revealed
[ ] Release Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr
[ ] Keep the wretch Gollum locked in it's cell and twisting in pain
Edit: Added additional choices originally planned for part 2
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