06 · Politics and power

The Grey Moun­tains have never been the center of any large king­dom or empire ; the lands have not been for­gi­ving enough for a culture of this sort to grow and flou­rish. As the region is still lar­gely a wil­der­ness, more prio­rity is given simply to sur­vi­val itself.

Those races that have been able to gain a foo­thold in the region are as tough as the ter­rain they live in ; the Dwarves, Beor­nings, Ice-orcs and Orcs are all hardy races who are not daun­ted by the ele­ments alone.

Within these groups there is a degree of poli­ti­cal maneu­ve­ring and pos­tu­ring. Gene­rally, this does not extend beyond their own people, being concer­ned only with tribal mat­ters. Of these groups, it is the Dwarves who have been the most suc­cess­ful. Their reso­lute cou­rage has seen them build a net­work of mining colo­nies and set­tle­ments in the south-eas­tern spur of the Ered Mithrin. They have achie­ved much in a short time.

The Ice-orcs, too, have been suc­cess­ful. From their mighty stron­ghold in the nor­thern foo­thills their hege­mony stretches out across the tundra and icy wastes. They menace the man­nish tribes to the east and west.

The Orcish pre­sence within the moun­tains is mini­mal ; three small tribes, osten­si­bly inde­pendent from Mount Gun­da­bad, vie for control with each other, invol­ving them­selves in nume­rous small and petty inter-racial wars.

Situation in the North c. T.A. 1640

The Great Plague that devas­ta­ted Rho­va­nion from 1635–1639 was felt little in the north. The iso­la­ted peoples from the region suf­fe­red remar­ka­bly few losses. Their par­ti­cu­lar life­styles and their dis­tance from the major popu­la­tion cen­ters are the main rea­sons for their good for­tune. It is thought that the plague did claim one signi­fi­cant casualty — the Dwar­ven colony of Sil­ver­plunge. This has never been confir­med, but there has been no contact with the Dwarves for seve­ral years.

The truth, of course, is far more insi­dious ; Scatha the Worm and his foul kin could prove worse than a plague, and things do not bode well for the peoples of the north.

The Beor­nings are a people under siege ; their num­bers have dwind­led, and they are beset by nume­rous foes. Wolves howl at their bor­ders, Orcs raid their manors, and the incur­sions of the Ang­ma­rim are pushing the North­men to the brink, for­cing them into the more remote regions of the Nar­rows. But it is the Dra­gons who could well push them over the edge —many Beor­nings have already depar­ted south to their kin in the Anduin vales.

The Ores have been brought effec­ti­vely into line by Gun­da­bad (with help from Angmar). To the north the Ice-ores are in tur­moil. The Witch-king has absor­bed them into his empire after mil­len­nia of inde­pen­dence. The Ice-orcs are not sure what to make of their new” master, and many resent an out­side over­lord.

6.1 Government

The various diverse people of the Grey Moun­tains are self-gover­ning, although seve­ral answer to over­lords of some des­crip­tion.

Beornings

The Beor­nings are a widely dis­per­sed group. Though only small in number they are scat­te­red throu­ghout a large area. Gover­nance is imprac­ti­cal, and in any case not a part of Beor­ning life­style. They do have a Chief­tain Beor­nan in 1640, to whom they look for gui­dance in trou­bled times such as these, and for reli­gious and spi­ri­tual mat­ters. The Chief­tain cannot make laws or rules without the gene­ral agree­ment of the popu­lace. He may act as an inter­me­diary bet­ween dis­pu­ting par­ties, but rarely is this called for. His advice is valued most highly.

Orcs

The two tribes of the Grey Moun­tains, the Lor-uruk-shab and the Uruk-erag, are ancient tribes, both having been in the Grey Moun­tains since the early years of the Second Age. They are essen­tially auto­no­mous from Gun­da­bad, but in recent years Gun­da­bad has been able to enforce its will more stron­gly upon them. Tri­bute and sol­diers are dis­pat­ched regu­larly to the Orcish city to meet the gro­wing demand. The res­pec­tive War­lords of these tribes, Sha­grath and Cro, resent this, but they can do nothing. They do, howe­ver, have total control over their own indi­vi­dual tribe mem­bers ; their word is law.

The third tribe, the Asha­rag, are rela­ti­vely recent new­co­mers to the region. They hail from near Gun­da­bad ori­gi­nally, and were dis­pat­ched to the south-eas­tern foo­thills (below the Withe­red Heath) in 1395 by the Ash­dur­buk of Mount Gun­da­bad at the behest of the Witch-king. The Asha­rag are entrus­ted with the vital task of pro­tec­ting the Rhûn­nish supply trains at night. Ukog, the ruler of this tribe, is an Orc from Mount Gun­da­bad. He rules in the name of his Ash­dur­buk, Zalg.

Ice-Orcs

The Ice-orcs live mostly within their for­tress, Kala Dula­kurth, but others are noma­dic and roam the Forod­waith. All are the sub­jects of the King of the Ice-orcs. The only sphere out­side his control is the Cult of Mor­goth. Like all Orcish rulers, though, he rules only for as long as he is able. Dakal­mog, the cur­rent King, is not enti­rely secure on his throne.

The King must also answer to the Witch-king, and is often over-ruled by the Empe­ror of Carn-dum. Natu­rally, he resents this, co-ope­ra­ting only when forced.

Dwarves

The Dwarves have a very effi­cient and effec­tive govern­ment. The King, as an heir of Durin the Death­less, the Father of their folk, has the final autho­rity on all mat­ters. He is advi­sed by a coun­cil of res­pec­ted Dwarf-lords, who are dis­tin­gui­shed by their abi­li­ties and lea­der­ship qua­li­ties. The King dele­gates autho­rity to others in a chain-of-com­mand fashion. In the case of out­lying ter­ri­to­ries or colo­nies he appoints War­ders who rule in his name.

Admi­nis­tra­tion is car­ried out by capable Dwarves with a mini­mum of bureau­cracy. This system is ancient, dating back to the ori­gi­nal gui­de­lines as set down by Dunn him­self. It works quite well, but does have one draw­back. A dif­fi­cult or stub­born King who fails to heed his advi­sors or admi­nis­tra­tors strains the govern­ment of Durin’s folk to the limit. In some cases this can lead to disas­ter (e.g., Dain I, for under-esti­ma­ting his advi­sors about the Balrog).

6.2 People of note

The Dwarves

The prin­ciple cha­rac­ters in the Dwar­ven colo­nies are detai­led below. They hold, bet­ween them, the posi­tions of power and res­pon­si­bi­lity for the well­being of the colo­nies of Durin’s folk.

Azakhad

A Dwarf of Durin’s line, though not of the royal house, Aza­khad is the Warder of Sil­ver­pit. He is a pro­fi­cient admi­nis­tra­tor and a capable war­rior who does his best in the face of dif­fi­cult times and the tur­bu­lent poli­tics of Norr-dum.

Recently there has been trouble along the road from Sil­ver­pit to Norr-dum, many Dwarves having been lost to marau­ding Dra­gons. Aza­khad feels that the worst is yet to come. He favors a retreat from the Grey Moun­tains and a return to Erebor. He is not a coward, but sees sen­se­less death as a cri­mi­nal waste. He sup­ports ​“Throes and Borin’s attempts, within the coun­cil, to halt Dain’s rash plans. This act has made him unpo­pu­lar with his King, and Aza­khad rea­lizes that his post as Warder is in jeo­pardy. The Dwarves of the colony of Sil­ver­pit agree with Aza­khad in the main, but many believe their King will change things ​“magi­cally” (being an heir of Durin) to enable them to live untrou­bled.

While Aza­khad tries to pla­cate all sides he is plea­sing none ; Bonin has often asked for more tenuous sup­port, and this is strai­ning their age-old friend­ship. Aza­khad has a wife and three young Dwarf-chil­dren. He fears for their safety and plans to send them to live in Erebor should the situa­tion worsen fur­ther.

Aza­khad

Level : 16

Race : Dwarf (of Durin’s folk). 

Pro­fes­sion : Warrior/​Fighter.

Home : Sil­ver­pit, in Goat Moun­tain.

RM Stats : SD82 ; Co95 ; Ag80 ; Me70 ; Re79 ; St96 ; Qu76 ; Pr65 ; In75 ; Em66.

MERP Stats : Co95 ; Ag80 ; Ig75 ; It75 ; St96 ; Pr65. Appea­rance : 81.

Azakhad’s Prin­ciple Items :

Heavy Cross­bow

+15 to hit, this cross­bow is also self-loa­ding, it can be fired every round without penalty.

Hood and Cloak

This sky blue hood and cloak pro­vides +10 to DB. The hood (when about the head) acts as a helm, and will negate head cri­ti­cals 50% of the time.

Dain I

The over-confi­dent son of Nain II, the slayer of Leu­ca­ruth, Dain is the proud and stub­born King of Durin’s folk. Since suc­cee­ding his father in T.A. 2585 he has pur­sued a policy of vigo­rous expan­sion, des­pite the ongoing pro­blems with Dra­gons and the losses of the colo­nies of Thun­der-cleft and Long Peak. Dain fol­lows the phi­lo­so­phy of his father — he will not yield the holds of Norr-dum and Sil­ver­pit, not while there is a single Dwarf still stan­ding to defend it. He is begin­ning to believe his own rhe­to­ric and for­gets the how real the danger is that confronts his people. He has been known to make pom­pous sta­te­ments along the lines of : « We will not be driven from our halls the same way our fore­fa­thers were from Khazad-dum. »

Howe­ver, within his own hou­se­hold the King has detrac­tors. Thror, the King’s heir, and Bonin his youn­ger bro­ther believe he is cour­ting disas­ter. Aza­khad (see above) favors a return to Erebor, some­thing that Dain finds ludi­crous and refuses to coun­te­nance. Dain is dis­plea­sed with his Warder at Sil­ver­pit, but even though he has abso­lute autho­rity in all mat­ters, he is reluc­tant to replace Aza­khad, at this time, in the face of oppo­si­tion from the coun­cil.

His second son, Fror, is simi­lar in spirit to his father, and if Dain could he would rather see the throne pass to him. He also has a youn­ger son Gror, who cares little for poli­tics. Even at his young age Gror shows great pro­mise as a smith and he is absor­bed in his craft­work, paying little heed to the squabbles of his family.

Dain’s bra­sh­ness and false confi­dence stem from the deeds of his father, Nain 11. When Leu­ca­ruth chal­len­ged the gates of Norr-dum, Dain was the only Dwarf by Nain’s side as he slew the great Cold-drake. Dain, ove­ra­wed by what he saw, took the vic­tory as a sign that the Dwarves had ended the threat of the Long-worms. The reports of the more recent troubles he heeds little ; pride has dis­tor­ted his view and he for­gets the awful slaugh­ter of Thun­der­cleft, but remem­bers the valiant stand of the Dwarves of Long Peak.

Dain has allo­wed the vigi­lance of the Dwarves to slip. By pres­sing on with mining and explo­ra­tion the guards at the main gates are barely half the number they once were.

Dain I

Level : 17

Race : Dwarf (of the House of Durin).

Pro­fes­sion : Warrior/​Fighter.

Home : Norr-dum.

RM Stats : SD72 ; Co91 ; Ag78 ; Me74 ; Re77 ; St94 ; Qu81 I ; Pr76 ; In82 ; Em74.

MERP Stats : Co91 I ; Ag78 ; Ig76 ; It82 ; St94 ; Pr76. Appea­rance : 71.

Dain’s Prin­ciple Item

Ring

One of the Seven Dwar­ven Rings, this pri­ce­less heir­loom has been handed down from father to son since the days of Durin III. Dain is extre­mely pos­ses­sive and his son Thror is not yet aware of the ring’s exis­tence. It mar be that the ring is partly to blame for Dain s beha­vior. Powers : As with any arti­fact, the full extent of the powers bes­to­wed to Damn are a reflec­tion of his sta­ture. The powers it confers to Dain are listed below :
— x7 PP mul­ti­plier.
— Conti­nuous RM/MERP Pro­tec­tion Prayer 70’R affec­ting all allies within the radius of the spell or within sight of the wearer.
— Conti­nuous RM/MERP Mind Mas­tery Unpre­sence and Hiding Non­de­tect or MERP Nature’s Guises Blank Thoughts and Illu­sions unseen.
— Any lodes of pre­cious metal ores and all vol­ca­nic pipes of mine­rals and gem­stones within 7777 of wearer can be detec­ted by him and ana­ly­zed at will.
— Wearer may use RM Detec­ting Ways and Del­ving Ways to 50^th level or MERP Detec­tion Mas­tery and Essense’s Ways to 10^th level.
— Wearer may use at will RM/MERP Lore and Item Lore lists to 50^th/​10^th level.
— Wearer may cast spells from all six RM Alche­mi­cal base lists to his own level using his own PPs.
— Wearer and all within seven miles of him are ins­pi­red with extreme loyalty to mem­bers of their own race ; A Dwarf will sup­port ano­ther Dwarf ; even in an unjust cause, against any non-Dwarf.
— Wearer sub­ject to increa­sing desire for more wealth for as long as he owns the ring. Each year he must make an RR vs. a Chan­ne­ling spell that starts a 5^th level and increases by 5 levels each year. If he fails the RR by 50 or more, he will ignore all other things, desi­ring only to find more veins of pre­cious metals.

Fror

The middle son of the King, Fror, though still only a young­ster (37) by Dwar­ven stan­dards, has consi­de­rable power and autho­rity. This is due to his father, who dotes upon him. Of like mind, both father and son have visions of wealth and pros­pe­rity for the Ered Mithrin colo­nies.

Fror has ambi­tions of suc­cee­ding Aza­khad at post as the Warder of Sil­ver­pit. He believes that Aza­khad has ​“had his day”, and is too concer­ned with his own inade­qua­cies. Fror plans to peti­tion the coun­cil to set Aza­khad aside, clai­ming it would be in the best inter­ests of the Dwar­ven people. Fror is impa­tient that his father has not already done so. His influence with Dain is none­the­less consi­de­rable. He per­suades Dain to ignore the ram­blings of the older mem­bers of Dain’s coun­cil. These Dwarves are sur­vi­vors of Thun­der­cleft or Long Peak. Fror consi­ders them fools, and only half believes their tales about the Dra­gons. Des­pite being the youn­gest member of the coun­cil, he has mobi­li­zed sup­port for the hopes of Dain.

He is aware of the wor­se­ning situa­tion along the road bet­ween Norr-dum and Sil­ver­pit, but believes that Norr-dum is safe from any attack. He har­bors a secret desire in his heart (a fact he shares with no one) to be King after his father. He has visions of lea­ding the Dwarves into a golden age, dri­ving the Dra­gons from the moun­tains.

He shares an uneasy rela­tion­ship with his older bro­ther, Thror. He is jea­lous not only of his bir­thright but of Thror’s grea­ter skill with wea­ponry, and his abi­li­ties at the forges.

Fror

Level : 12

Race : Dwarf (of the House of Durin).

Pro­fes­sion : Warrior/​Fighter (Rogue).

Home : Norr-dum.

RM Stats : SD65 ; Co83 ; Ag87 ; Me80 ; Re75 ; St84 ; Qu97 ; Pr79 ; In77 ; Em61.

MERP Stats : Co83 ; Ag87 ; Ig78 ; It77 ; St84 ; Pr79. Appea­rance : 73.

Fror’s Prin­ciple Items

Battle-axe

A large two-handed weapon, this was the axe of Nain II, Fror’s grand­fa­ther. It cannot be fum­bled, confers a +30 bonus (+45 against Dra­gons) and yields x2 hits (x3 against Dra­gons).

Boots

Made from supple lea­ther, they arc boots of Tra­ce­less pas­sing and of Sto­ne­run­ning.

Thror

As the crown prince of Durin’s folk, Thror feels uncom­for­table in his role. Although it grieves him, he feels he must speak out against his father’s poli­cies. He well knows, having spoken with sur­vi­vors of Thun­der­cleft, of the irre­sis­tible might of the Dra­gons.

Thror looks to Bonin, his uncle, for gui­dance rather than to his father — ano­ther reason for his father’s dis­plea­sure. Toge­ther with Aza­khad they form an alliance of sorts, pres­sing for Dain to halt his expan­sions. They feel that the danger to the colo­nies war­rants more atten­tion. The gene­ral popu­lace are divi­ded on this issue (but always at the back of their minds is the spec­ter of Durin). They might follow a strong leader if he chose to leave, but Thror will not rebel against his father.

Thror is dis­mayed by the change in Fror’s cha­rac­ter, before Dain became King they were close com­pa­nions. He points the blame squa­rely at Fror for his father’s ludi­crous plans (he knows nothing of the ring). The two are barely on spea­king terms, but it would take much more for them to come to blows. In any case Thror would not strike first.

Thror is a lonely Dwarf, estran­ged from his father and Fror, he is also igno­red by his youn­ger bro­ther Gror, who pre­fers the soli­tude of the For­ging Halls to the com­pany of Thror. None­the­less he is deter­mi­ned that ruin should not befall his kin­dred or his family.

Note that Thror will have a son, Thrain, who will in turn have a son, Thorin Oaken­shield, friend of Gan­dalf the Wizard and hero at the Battle of Five Armies.

Thror

Level : 14

Race : Dwarf (of the House of Durin).

Pro­fes­sion : Warrior/​Fighter.

Home : Norr-dum.

RM Stats : SD68 ; Co91 ; Ag96 ; Me90 ; Re80 ; St90 ; Qu90 ; Pr75 ; In82 ; Em80.

MERP Stars : Co91 ; Ag96 ; Ig85 ; It82 ; St90 ; Pr75. Appea­rance : 77

Thror’s Prin­ciple Items

Neck­lace

An ancient heir­loom, given to each crown prince, it was made by Cele­brim­bor for the son of Durin III. Besides gran­ting +20 to DB, the neck­lace will also reduce the seve­rity of any of the cri­ti­cals (by one) obtai­ned against the wearer (i.e., ​“E” becomes ​“D”, etc.). Fur­ther­more, 1x/​day the wearer may Deflect True cau­sing any attack (melee, mis­sile or spell) within the wearer’s vision to auto­ma­ti­cally miss. Aside from its magi­cal pro­per­ties the neck­lace has intrin­sic value because of its beauty. The fine chain links are of gold, and seve­ral magni­ficent eme­ralds and beryls hang from it.

Borin

A prince of the House of Durin, the youn­ger son of Nain II, Bonin is the Warder of Norr-dum. Howe­ver, this is an empty title, for his young nephew, Fror, has all but usur­ped his place in the admi­nis­tra­tion of the capi­tal of Durin’s folk.

Des­pite the many pro­tests Bonin has made to his bro­ther, Damn, Fror conti­nues to do as he pleases. At times Fror’s over-ruling of Bonin has meant that some­times only a hand­ful of Dwarves have been guar­ding the gate. Bonin feels that this is an outrage in these trou­bled times.

The mentor of Thror, Bonin urges his charge to be more for­ce­ful, to assert him­self as an heir of Durin should. He is assis­ted by Aza­khad, although not as well as he would like. Aza­khad is a good friend and a former com­rade-in-arms, but of late their rela­tion­ship has been strai­ned. Bonin thinks that Aza­khad should also assert him­self more, and not be shou­ted down during coun­cil by Fror or Dain. Bonin grew up with the King and knows just how unlike Durin he is, but most of the popu­lace doesn’t share his views.

Bonin is a power­ful war­rior, a match for any of the Khazad. His pro­wess with the warham­mer is legen­dary.

Borin

Level : 18

Race : Dwarf (of the House of Durin).

Pro­fes­sion : Warrior/​Fighter.

Home : Norr-dum.

RM Stats : SD87 ; Co96 ; Ag99 ; Me78 ; Re61 ; St100 ; Qu98 ; Pr70 ; In75, Em70.

MERP Stats : Co96 ; Ag99 ; Ig70 ; lt75 ; St100 ; Pr70. Appea­rance : 68

Borin’s Prin­ciple Items

Warham­mer

« The wrath of. Mahal » is a large, deadly warham­mer. A +25 weapon it is a hammer of retur­ning, with a range of 140”. The warham­mer also deli­vers x2 hits. Bonin is also able to wield it in both hands, when he does so it deli­vers x3 hits.

Shield

A +10 Shield of Guar­ding. Should Bonin choose to do so he can set this shield in the air and it will pro­tect him (as per normal). The shield can func­tion like this but I x/​day and the ​“guar­ding” lasts for 7–14 rounds.

The Ice-Orcs

The cha­rac­ters detai­led below are the main per­so­na­li­ties of the Dark-ice for­tress. They hold bet­ween them all the power in the castle.

Dakalmog

Dakal­mog is the cur­rent Ice-orc king, the latest in a long line of des­pots. He ascen­ded the throne in T.A. 1625 when he mur­de­red his bro­ther in a well-plan­ned and exe­cu­ted coup. Prior to this he was the War­lord of the castle, a posi­tion he has entrus­ted to his most loyal sub­ject, Nadash.

At present, Dakal­mog believes he has a firm grip on the throne, and out­wardly it appears this way. He fears no rivals and his only worry is that the Cult of Mor­goth (see Urdrak below) may inter­vene to re-assert them­selves. Dakalmog’s pre­de­ces­sor was advi­sed clo­sely by Urdrak, some­thing that Dakal­mog is trying to avoid.

He must also be care­ful not to dis­please the Witch-king, who has ​“annexed” the Ice-orcs into his ever-gro­wing Empire. By ensu­ring that patrols are kept up and Los­ran­dir quotas are met (see sec­tion 8.0), Carn-dum is satis­fied and Dakal­mog keeps his inde­pen­dence.

Dakal­mog har­bors ambi­tions him­self. He would like to extend his influence east­wards towards the Bad Synac. With this aim in mind he has increa­sed raids on the Lotan peoples.

A cun­ning ruler, see­king ever more power and trea­sure, he is attemp­ting to sub­vert the pries­thood by favo­ring the youn­ger aco­lytes. So far he has had some suc­cess, but if Urdrak knew of this he would have the offen­ding priests bent over back­wards as the next vic­tims to be sacri­fi­ced.

Dakal­mog stands 6′1″ high, above ave­rage height for an Ice-orc. His hairy hide is his most unu­sual fea­ture — it is white almost to the point of albi­nism. Des­pite his gaunt frame, Dakal­mog is very strong and agile. In combat he is a fear­some war­rior. He resides in the Palace Caves on the second level of the keep.

Dakal­mog

Level : 17

Race : Akul-uruk.

Pro­fes­sion : Warrior/​Fighter.

Home : The Palace Caves in Dark-ice castle.

RM Stats : SD56 ; Co99 ; Ag100 ; Me69 ; Re49 ; St 101 ; Qu95 ; Pr86 ; In70 ; Em60.

MERP Stats : Co99 ; Ag100 ; Ig59 ; It70 ; St101 ; Pr86. Appea­rance : 44.

Dakalmog’s Prin­ciple Items

Sci­mi­tar

A large sci­mi­tar of black laen called Daga­lu­shar (aOr. Demon­blade), this is a truly ter­ri­fying weapon. Besides confer­ring a +30 bonus the sci­mi­tar has the power to (when a cri­ti­cal is achie­ved) deli­ver the effect of an Abso­lu­tion spell (30^th level attack).

Armour

Well craf­ted Chain Hau­berk, adds +25 to DB.

Scep­ter of Ice

Symbol of Dakalmog’s autho­rity, he car­ries it with him whe­ne­ver he leaves the Palace Caves. The scep­ter gives him the abi­lity cast (at will, 1 spell/​round) any spell from the Ice Law list (to 25^th level).

Urdrak

A tho­roughly evil crea­ture, Urdrak is a fana­tic, devo­ted to retur­ning Mor­goth to the world. After count­less attempts at making contact with the Black Enemy, he has suc­cee­ded at last — or so he thinks. In rea­lity, Sauron, aware that dark powers were being used in the north, was the being that Urdrak com­mu­ned with. Sauron is content to fool Urdrak, allo­wing him his delu­sions. He has ins­truc­ted the Witch-king to make use of the Ice-orcs as he sees fit. Thus, the Ice-orcs are now a part of the King­dom of Angmar.

Urdrak is una­ware that he is being mani­pu­la­ted and is using his new-found power for poli­ti­cal pur­poses. He knows, though Dakal­mog is igno­rant of this fact, that Nadash is plot­ting to gain the throne. In ear­lier times he would have infor­med the King or taken steps him­self, but now that Urdrak is playing the poli­ti­cal game he has deci­ded to wait for an oppor­tune moment. In the light of his contact with the ​“Spirit of Mor­goth” he has deci­ded that he would make a better alter­na­tive than either.

Urdrak, in any case, would like a firmer grip on the ambi­tious King. The pre­vious monarch proved very mal­leable for Urdrak, and he would like things to return to how they once were. He feels secure in the know­ledge that the Cult of Mor­goth is com­ple­tely under his control, and that their power would be enough to carry him to the throne. No priest has ever tried to rule the Ice-orcs and this is the one stum­bling block that is hol­ding Urdrak back. He does not, of course, know of Dakalmog’s attempts at sub­ver­ting his aco­lytes.

Urdrak resides in the Tower of Dark­ness above the main gate of the castle. His rooms are the highest of the keep. He is rarely absent from his cham­bers, except on days when he is requi­red at Dakalmog’s court or pre­si­ding over reli­gious cere­mo­nies.

Urdrak

Level : 15

Race : Akul-uruk.

Pro­fes­sion : Animist/​Evil Cleric.

Home : The Tower of Dark­ness in Dark-Ice castle.

RM Stats : SD90 ; Co76 ; Ag87 ; Me91 ; Re85 ; St73 ; Qu90 ; Pr91 ; In101 ; Em80.

MERP Stats : Co76 ; Ag87 ; Ig88 ; It101 ; St73 ; Pr91. Appea­rance : 31.

Urdrak’s Prin­ciple Items

Staff

A x4 PP mul­ti­plier (for evil spell cas­ters) this staff is attu­ned to evil. It aug­ments evil spells, dou­bling their effec­ti­ve­ness (where appli­cable). Anyone of good inten­tions who touches the staff must make an RR (vs. Chan­ne­ling) or suffer the effects of one of the spells of Black Chan­nels II. Urdrak will also use the staff as a weapon as a last resort, it is + I 0 to hit.

Robes

Full length black and red robes they give Urdak +10 to his DB. Although they pro­tect him only as normal robes (AT02) they offer him a consi­de­rable defense, as all attacks must be resol­ved on the Large Crea­ture Cri­ti­cal Table.

Power Points: (3x4x I 5)= 170PP

Spells: Urdrak knows all Base Evil Cleric lists to 10^th level, as well as five Closed Chan­ne­ling lists to 10^th level, and six Open Chan­ne­ling Lists to 10^th level. He also know two Base Cleric lists to 10^th level.

Nadash

The War­lord of Dula­kurth is a bru­tish war­rior. At 6′3″ he towers over most of his bre­thren. He is more power­ful and bul­kier than most Ice-orcs, sug­ges­ting that there is some Uruk blood in his veins. He does not use the tra­di­tio­nal Orcish sci­mi­tar, pre­fer­ring to use a large mace — some­thing more suited to his brawn.

Osten­si­bly Dakalmog’s staun­chest ally, Nadash is plan­ning to usurp his King. Shortly after Dakal­mog gained the throne and Nadash gained his pro­mo­tion as the War­lord, he began to have thoughts about his blind loyalty. When Dakal­mog, in a drun­ken vic­tory cere­mony, let it be known that Nadash was his ​“pet, Nadash became deter­mi­ned that he would one day rule. Even now he plots to take his place. Nadash is not overly bright, but has a sort of animal cun­ning and knows what moti­vates his bre­thren. To this end Nadash has bought off most of the royal guards, offe­ring them pro­mises of more wealth and power. Eve­ry­thing seemed to be pro­cee­ding accor­ding to his simple plan until Urdrak dis­co­ve­red his ambi­tions. Nadash now lives in fear of being expo­sed by Urdrak, as his plans have not yet fully ripe­ned. He is begin­ning to wonder why Urdrak has not already done so. Nadash hates and fears the Witch-king greatly and wishes that the Ice-orcs could return to the old ways, but he is smart enough to know that diso­be­dience would be use­less and pro­ba­bly life-threa­te­ning. If he knew that Urdrak was res­pon­sible for the Witch-king’s pre­sence he might be pro­vo­ked into atta­cking the priest.

Nadash

Level : 14

Race : Akul-​uruk/​Uruk.

Pro­fes­sion : Warrior/​Fighter.

Home : Warlord’s Tower in the Dark-ice castle.

RM Stats : SD70 ; Co100 ; Ag71 ; Me62 ; Re70 ; St 100 ; Qu80 ; Pr73 ; In68 ; Em54.

MERP Stats : Co100 ; Ag71 I ; Ig66 ; It68 ; St 10 ; Pr73. Appea­rance : 49.

Nadash’s Prin­ciple Items

Mace

A +30 Eog Mace, x2 hits, it deli­vers a Unba­lan­cing cri­ti­cal of one seve­rity less when a normal cri­ti­cal is achie­ved.

Shield

+10 Cru­shing Shield. Nadash can use this shield to make a +50 Large Crush attack while enga­ged in combat.

Durba

An expe­rien­ced tra­cker and Ranger, Durba is res­pon­sible for the patrols and raids car­ried out in the north. Well versed in the ter­rain of the Forod­waith he ensures that the Witch-king’s nor­thern flank is effec­ti­vely guar­ded. Fre­quently away on mis­sions of recon­nais­sance. Durba has ranged from the Bay of Foro­chel in the west to the Barl Synac in the east. He ensures that dis­ci­pline is kept up by the out­lying troops and the noma­dic Ice-orcs that wander the Arctic.

Durba is a leader by example, admi­red by his troops. Sur­pri­sin­gly he has no ambi­tions to rule — he believes that the risks out­weigh the gains. As such he remains aloof from the poli­ti­cal machi­na­tions that infest the castle, siding with no fac­tion. He is able to remain inde­pendent because Dakal­mog rea­lizes his value.

When he is at the castle he resides in the Warlord’s tower. 5′10″, his lithe form blends in well with the lands of the north. Skilled with wea­ponry, he pre­fers to use subtle tac­tics, out-thin­king a foe rather than defea­ting by phy­si­cal force alone.

Durba

Level : 13

Race : Akul-uruk.

Pro­fes­sion : Ranger.

Home : Warlord’s tower in Dark-Ice for­tress.

RM Stats : SD80 ; Co95 ; Ag99 ; Me70 ; Re80 ; St88 ; Qu99 ; Pr61 ; In98 ; Em71.

MERP Stats : Co95 ; Ag99 ; Ig7S ; It98 ; St88 ; Pr61. Appea­rance : 50.

Durba’s Prin­ci­pal Items

Bra­ce­lets

x3 PP mul­ti­plier, +10 to DB, these plain golden bands allow the use of the Nature’s Way spell list to 25^th level (PP cost incur­red each time). Both bra­ce­lets must be worn for any of the powers to work.

Cloak

Of concealment, it adds +30 to Hiding attempts, but it is sui­table only in the Arctic ter­rain (-50 other­wise).

Boots

Of Ice-run­ning, as per stone run­ning except that the wearer can run on ice, gla­ciers, or snow.

Durba’s Spe­cial Powers

Power Points: 78 PP.

Spells: Durba knows all Ranger Base lists to 10^th lvl, he also knows I Closed Chan­ne­ling list and 3 Open Chan­ne­ling to 10^th Ivl.

Beornan

The Lord of the Nor­thern Bei­ja­bar, Beor­nan leads his dimi­ni­shing people through trou­bled times. Forced into the more remote regions of the Nar­rows (Q. Arka) by the encroach­ments of the Orcs and the Ang­ma­rim, Beor­nan is faced with the dif­fi­culty of main­tai­ning old ways and tra­di­tions in a time where sur­vi­val itself is dif­fi­cult.

His home is a com­for­table Manor, in the typi­cal Beor­ning style, over­loo­king the Forest river, in the foo­thills below the Ered Mithrin. He lives here with his wife and their young daugh­ter. They are grief-stri­cken by the loss of their son (and bro­ther) who was killed, along with seve­ral other youths in a rash attempt on Bai­ra­nax the Bear-hunter. For this Beor­nan seeks revenge.

Like all Beor­nings he is phy­si­cally impo­sing, stan­ding 6′4″, and has about him an air of calm autho­rity. A deadly war­rior, he wields his battle-axe with skill, but will gene­rally fight in Bear-form when the occa­sion arises.

Beornan’s Spe­cial Powers

Shape-Change

Beor­nan has the abi­lity to take on Bear-form. He does this during reli­gious cere­mo­nies or during battle, if he so chooses. Beor­nan has control over this abi­lity.

Dwarf-friend

Beor­nan is also a Dwarf-friend, a strange friend­ship in view of their radi­cally dif­ferent life­styles. He admires their stub­born cha­rac­ter and brilliance as crafts­men. In turn the Dwarves view him as a valuable friend in an iso­la­ted region. He has had no contact with Sil­ver­plunge for nearly five years, and although contact was often spo­ra­dic, Beor­nan fears the worst. In addi­tion to his other pro­blems he now wor­ries about his Dwar­ven friends as well.

Beor­nan

Level : 18

Race : Bei­ja­bar (North­man).

Pro­fes­sion : Warrior/​Fighter.

Home : Waetan Lodge in the Nan Taur­duin.

RM Stats : SD79 ; Co98 ; Ag90 ; Me78 ; Re63 ; St99 ; Qu89 ; Pr90 ; In99 ; Em94.

MERP Stats : Co98, Ag90, Ig71 , It99, St99, Pr90. Appea­rance : 76.

Beornan’s Prin­ci­pal Items

Battle-axe

A large two-handed weapon, it is of Slaying Trolls, and gives the wiel­der a +20 bonus.

Armor

A finely tooled rein­for­ced lea­ther breast­plate, given to Beor­nan as gift from the Dwarves of Sil­ver­plunge. It wears as No/​I , but pro­tects as R1/9 and confers a bonus of +15 to the wea­rers DB.

Narvi V

Narvi V was once the Dwarf-lord of the set­tle­ment of Celeb-ost. Now fallen, the des­cen­dant of Narvi I has passed into the realm of the Undead and become a Grea­ter Ghost.

Phy­si­cally he appears much as he did during his life, stan­ding 4′2″ and pos­ses­sing the typi­cal Dwar­vish cha­rac­te­ris­tics, although now his eyes are red, and their inten­sity reflect his mood. He is, of course, insub­stan­tial and can walk through walls. He is also able to wield wea­pons.

Narvi was a power­ful Alche­mist, and he retains much of the spell-cas­ting power he had during his life, but the spells he now wields are more ter­ri­fying.

He is haun­ted by the atro­ci­ties com­mit­ted under his rule, and tor­tu­red by visions of mithril. He believes that all the silver of Celeb-ost is actually mithril (totally false), and he spends many hours gazing at it in his secret trea­sury (see sec­tion 7.3).

Narvi feels a constant need for life-energy, some­thing he has little control over ; he will some­times wander the Halls of Celeb-ost sear­ching for vic­tims to satisfy his wants. He will seek to trap poten­tial vic­tims within the intri­ca­cies of Celeb-ost, using the many secret doors and pas­sa­ge­ways to his advan­tage. He is cun­ning and will wait for the right moment to spring ; after other encoun­ters have worn the vic­tims down.

Should Narvi encoun­ter any Dwarves he will seek to iso­late them. If pos­sible he will trap them in a pit (or some­thing simi­lar). His mood towards a Dwarf or Dwarves will be friendly enough at first, but as time goes on he will become sus­pi­cious, accu­sing them of being hench­men of Thrain or Thorin. He will not try to kill them until others of their party are all dead.

Narvi also exhi­bits some of the cha­rac­te­ris­tics of a Barrow-Wight. If his ghostly form is des­troyed he will re-form, unless his trea­sure is dis­per­sed — so stron­gly is he tied to it. For this refor­ma­tion to happen, 60% of the trea­sure needs to be in one place, with in a 700” radius. This means that a party car­rying away his trea­sure might be in for quite a sur­prise !

Narvi V

Level : 21.

Race : Dwarf (of Durin’s Folk).

Pro­fes­sion : Warrior/​Fighter.

Home : Celeb-ost in the North-eas­tern Ered Mithrin.

RM Stats : SD(40); Co81 ; Ag70 ; Me88 ; Re81 ; St93 ; Qu80 ; Pr98 ; In90 ; Em101.

MERP Stats : Co81 ; Ag70 ; It90 ; St93 ; Pr98. Appea­rance : 20.

Narvi’s Prin­ci­pal Items

Warham­mer

Forged by Narvi him­self, this +30 warham­mer is able to be thrown once per round (it will return at the end of the round). The wiel­der of the warham­mer also has the abi­lity to cast 7x/​day the Bla­de­turn II spell (from Closed Essence-Shield Mas­tery).

Alche­mi­cal Tome

An heir­loom of his house, this book was repu­tedly writ­ten by Cele­brim­bor. It contains pages of spell runes, as well as some com­men­tary in Quenya on various magi­cal for­ging pro­cesses. Undoub­tedly of Elvish origin, it has been exten­si­vely used by Narvi V and his ances­tors in their for­ging and smi­thing pro­jects. The Alche­mi­cal rune-lists (from level 1–50) have been mostly used (90%).

Narvi’s Spe­cial Powers

Undead Powers: Drains 7 pts Co/​round (10’ R) at will. Touch deli­vers an ​“A” (-25) Cold Cri­ti­cal. If Narvi is des­troyed he will reform in 12–36 hrs unless he trea­sure is dis­per­sed, this applies only during the hours of dark­ness. Narvi can only be struck by magic wea­pons.

Power Points: 189 PP ; (x3 PP mul­ti­plier, neck­lace).

Spells: During his life Narvi could cast spells from all Base Alche­mi­cal lists (to 20^th level). He could also cast three Closed Chan­ne­ling (20), five Open Chan­ne­ling (20) and two Base Mage (10). Fol­lo­wing his tran­si­tion to dead, Narvi lost these abi­li­ties. Howe­ver, the spells he can now cast reflect his fallen sta­ture : Mind Domi­na­tion (20), Mind Death (20), Necro­mancy (20) and Spirit Mas­tery (20).

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