A Game of Gods Season 4: Interest Check/Signups

Chortleous' clarification of Brutaka's (Voya Nui) portal powers is accepted.

GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs

Saruman the White

• Age: A Spirit Whose Being Began Before the World
• Universe: Middle Earth
• Appearance : His face was long, with a high forehead, he had deep darkling eyes, hard to fathom, though the look they now bore was brave and benevolent and a little weary. His hair and beard were white, but strands of black still showed about his lips and ears.
• Personality: Saruman carries himself with a regal bearing, inspiring respect by his mere presence. Made proud by his achievements and easily wearied by the meddling in his affairs on the part of those he deems to be lesser folk, Saruman may at times appear a haughty lord, aloof and distant. But it takes him a moment to turn his gaze upon a listener and offer a benevolent regard; then, his words turn into music and every advice he gives becomes as precious as a rare gem. Indeed, all who partake of Saruman’s wisdom come away with an eased burden, though they often recall little of what was spoken.
• Backstory: Saruman the White is the head of the White Council, first among the five Wizards who came out of the West in the Third Age of Middle-earth.
• Powers/Abilities:
  • A Subtle Voice: A skilled manipulator, it is easy to fall under the sway of Saruman's voice. Those who reject his command or counsel must do so with a degree of conscious effort.
  • Disguise: Though typically taking on the appearance of an old man, Saruman's skill is great in hiding his form and he can often pass himself off as a stranger to those who know him or even another wizard.
  • A Forger of Rings: He has learnt some way in the art of ring making in his study of his former foe. His rings give subtle aid to a bearer seeking to sneak by unnoticed, awe or persuade others, or even a portion of Saruman's own insight and knowledge.
  • A Forger of Creatures: A darker use of his arcane arts has been to find a means to blend the form of different creatures in the forges below the Orthanc fortress.
  • A Forger of Many Things: Saruman possesses a great cunning in all the applications of smith-craft, designing many things from explosives to iron citadels.
• Skills: Essentially the same as powers and abilities, though once deprived of his magic these skills become more limited and fallible; his crafts are no longer magic nor do his words bear the influence which they once did.
• Equipment:
  • An Old Man's Walking Stick: A staff which helps his voice carry particular subtlety
  • A Ring : He's wearing a ring he crafted and we're never told what it does. Could be that it helps him disguise himself; not making him invisible but making him less likely to be noticed in a crowd or when he otherwise doesn't want to be.
  • Many Coloured Robes : Robes that are described as consisting of all colours that ressemble a gleaming white. Might subtly assist with the whole daunting presense thing?
  • Palantir : One of the seven seeing stones, which can allow its user to glimpse distant places in the past, present and future. However, it is known to actively mislead, particularly through the manipulations of Sauron in Middle Earth.
• Territory/Followers: Isengard; a rapidly industrializing valley with a mighty tower at its centre, inhabited by Uruk-hai, Half-Orcs Goblin-men, Dunlendings and a handful of Rohirrim who all serve the Wizard in varying capacities.

Garnoc Age: 28 Universe: Lord of the Rings [One Ring RPG] Personality: A bold and ambitious chieftain of a defeated people. He is content to obey the Wizard's command, as he receives many boons in return, though he enjoys testing the boundaries of his master's patience at times. Backstory: Once a raider, he was sought out by Saruman after a few too many of his visitors went missing. The Wizard saw Garnoc's potential and made him an ally; his charisma and bravery made him stand out as a leader among his people. With the wizard's aid he has risen to lead the wealthiest and most powerful clan in the Vale and his influence extends over many more. Skills: A skilled warrior, raider and tracker. Equipment: A wickedly barbed spear which he uses to hunt fish and men. Territory/Followers: Leader of the Iseneach Clan, most other Clans in the region recognize his overlordship in some manner; though not all embrace it happily.

Lurtz

• Age: 5 Years; emerged as the first fully formed and mature Uruk-hai ready to serve in Saruman's army.
• Universe: Lord of the Rings [Film Trilogy]
• Personality: Ferocious and relentlessly loyal, but narrowly focused and uncreative.
• Backstory: The first of Saruman's Uruk-hai, Lurtz's first act upon emerging was to strangle an Orc to death. He has risen to leadership among the newly created Uruk-hai through sheer determination and maintained his authority through fear. Saruman sees him as little more than a blunt weapon to be pointed as his foes when the time comes, but Lurtz is slightly more perceptive than he appears. His instincts and experience have taught him to rely on simple and direct solutions (usually violence) but he's shown some capacity of creative solutions.
• Skills: Punching. Stabbing. Cutting. High Pain Tolerance. Surprisingly good shot with a bow.
• Equipment: Sword, Shield, Bow, Armour.
• Followers: The Uruk-hai, Goblin-men, Half-Orcs and Orcs of Isengard recognize Lurtz as Saruman's foremost lieutenant.

Gríma, son of Gálmód

• Age: 42 Years
• Universe: Lord of the Rings
• Personality: A curious mix of opportunism and pessimism.
• Backstory: Little is known of Gríma's life before he became advisor to Théoden in Edoras. Likely a Rohirrim noble of little note, it is said that he sold his services to Sarumen in exchange for promises of wealth and power, soon rising to Théoden's side. He serves as Saruman's ambassador and spy.
• Skills: Gríma has a keen eye for traitors, fools and doomed causes, which he usually uses to stay one step ahead. Although lacking status with outsiders, he must bear his allegiance more openly, still, he has proven an asset as a diplomat.
• Equipment: Dagger, Horse.

Bocaern

• Age: 72
• Personality: An old man who is always shuffling about, leaning on his staff and muttering to himself as he carries out some task which requires immediate attention. He has little patience for foolishness or brutishness, but a deep abiding respect for the Wizard
• Backstory: Bocaern has served Saruman since his youth, after impressing the Wizard with his appetite for learning. He has tended Isengard's scriptorum since that time, for longer than most can remember.
• Skills: Though Bocaern casts little in the way of charms, his knowledge is as vast as his insight into others. Saruman seeks his counsel in both matters.
• Equipment: A walking stick, a vast repository of knowledge.

Followers: Melmidoc, a young apprentice set to replace him as Bocaern's age catches up with him

Geth

• Age: 54
• Personality: A man of few words, Geth speaks more to his birds than any mortal man and even then only in whispers. He views the wizard with great reverence, bowing his head whenever Saruman's name is spoken.
• Backstory: Once regarded as a great Soothsayer among the Dunlendings, his dreams led him to Saruman's service. Since their meeting, Saruman has come to view him as a valued servant.
• Abilities: Can speak the language of birds.
• Skills: Perceptive and a skilled hunter.
• Equipment: Dagger.
• Followers: Birb friends from Saruman's Rookery

Territory

• Name of the Territory: Nan Curunír
• Universe of Origin: Lot R
• Description: Set between the snowcapped peaks of the Misty Mountains, the fair green valley of Nan Curunír is cut through by the riven Isen which flows down into the gap of Rohan. The county is known to most by its older name given to it by the Rohirrim; Isengard.

Contents/Locations:

• The Orthanc: Saruman's tower, a massive stone tower jutting from the ground. Beneath it lie a network of tunnels filled with hidden forges, gaols, and the brood-chambers of the Uruk-hai and others like them.
• The Walls of Isengard: A mile-wide wall encircling the settlement of Isengard, no force or cunning device may hope to open a breach in the ringwall. Saruman has built thousands of homes here, which he has filled with Dunlendings returning to their ancestral land or fleeing the Rohirrim. Saruman's word is law within these walls, but residents are rewarded for their loyalty with rich gifts and boons; it is said none who reside there have even fallen to illness.
• The Gardens: The once plentiful trees of Isengard have diminished greatly in recent years and Saruman has even begun to send Uruk-hai parties out as far as Fangorn forest to seek out lumber there.
• The Mountains of the Vale: The black walls of the southern spurs of the Misty Mountains that mark borders of the realm of the White Wizard and serve as its greatest defence from invasion. Wargs have been found in these hills, and with work some have been tamed.

Specialties: Saruman's power is greatly invested in the land and his magic may subtlety influence it in many ways; whether warding illness or calling fog, his power of Isengard is unmatched. Population:

• Dunlendings: A Mannish tribe driven from their homes many generations ago by invading Rohirrim. Many tribes of Dunlendings have returned east from over the Misty Mountains to their ancestral lands. Saruman allows these clans to live as they please outside the ringwall. Most Dunlendings are unaware of the extent of Saruman's dealings with Orcs.
• Goblins, Orcs and Mixed Breeds: Saruman has long ordered his servants to capture Orcs rather than slay them, keeping them beneath the towers in hopes to turning the Darklord's servants against him. He has achieved some success in this regard, though most retain the brutal instincts which they are known for; Saruman hopes he can turn this to some good.
• Uruk-hai: Created entirely through magic in the forges beneath the tower, these servants emerge as loyal servants from the moment of their birth. They retain the brutal instinct of their Orcish cousins, but with a greater sense of discipline and order. Some believe they lack the dark cunning of Orcs, but in their short time, the Uruk-hai have proven themselves as keen-minded and brutally efficient, though lacking the same experience as their older cousins.
• Residents of Isengard: Only a few hundred in number, mostly Dunlendings but also including exiles and outlaws from the Rohirrim and others from farther afield who have sought out the White Wizard. They are fanatically loyal and blessed with his boons but few in number.
• Wargs: Wolf-like creatures with a strange, if bestial intelligence. Wargs inhabit the local mountains; while Goblins have had some success in taming them, Dunlendings view them as dangerous creatures which must be put down.
• Ents: A handful of Ents at the edge of their territory have been taken along for the ride. They have begun to see the White Wizard as a foe rather than a friend, but discovering themselves in this new realm has renewed hope among them that they might reunite with the long lost Ent-Wives.

Notes: So, I think there's a lot to play with and adjust potentially in how this faction could work. My goal going in is basically to have a faction with a lot of emphasis on diplomacy and adaptation.

Saruman is a skilled crafter but none of Middle Earth's greatest wonders have prepared him for Mobile Suits or some flashier forms of magic; in the early game, he's going to try to industrialize Isengard up to speed with everyone else.

Meanwhile, he's got to deal with the push and pull of competing internal factions, almost all of which are raiders to one extent or another and have very little reason to get on or like each other outside of his direct influence.

The ultimate goal is to see what would become of Saruman without the influence and fear of Sauron and with the rather bizarre mix of tech afforded in this setting; only time will tell if the forges of Orthanc manage to start producing high tech weaponry or if the region collapses in under the strains of internal tension and outside invasion.

Edited by Fauxlosophe on May 11th 2024 at 4:41:24 AM

Isengard and its inhabitants are Accepted.

GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs