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wildestmods) wrote2021-07-26 09:24 pm
wildestmods) wrote2021-07-26 09:24 pm
THE DARK LORD
THE DARK LORD SAURON
The Dark Lord Sauron is one of the greatest evils to ever exist in the world of Arda. Now that parts of Middle-Earth have been pulled into the Wilderlands, Sauron has set the gaze of his All-Seeing Eye over all of the Wilderlands. One of the two great powers, Sauron is often in conflict with the forces of the Unfinished Princess, ruler of the Golden Nation.
Sauron is an embodiment of pure evil, a being that revels in destruction and total control. The former servant of the Dark Lord Morgoth, a source of primordial evil in Arda, Sauron has risen up to take his place as the greatest threat in Middle-Earth. His evil forces kill and torture indiscriminately, often wielding great war machines, and the few survivors of the realms he invades are forced into grueling slavery. All land that Sauron touches withers and dies, choked by endless darkness and ash.
The nature of the Wilderlands means that the conquest and destruction he engages in is especially dangerous. The wild woods contain the spirit of the Green from every world there is. Destroy the woods in the Wilderlands and you destroy the spirit of the Green everywhere. While there are other forces threatening the life of the woods, Sauron is one of the greatest among them, and must be stopped before the Green is destroyed.
Sauron's forces of evil are mostly monsters and brutes. While they have some intelligence, they are largely submissive to Sauron's will, and live only for killing and tormenting other beings. Sauron's monstrous orcs make up the bulk of his army, and they often control lesser evil beings, like great trolls, wolf-like giant wargs, and other fell beasts. Alongside being known for their murderous tendencies, orcs are also known for their cannibalism, savoring the taste of manflesh.
Other terrible forces from different realms in the Wilderlands have also joined Sauron, due to the promise of being able to ravage the innocent indiscriminately. Wraiths, evil spirits, demons, liches and other undead, dragons from many realms, and giants are among their number. Many vampires and werewolves that have rebuked the self-control demanded of them by the Unfinished Princess have joined Sauron's forces instead of hers. Where the werewolves and vampires that have joined her want recognition as people, the werewolves and vampires that serve Sauron want to indulge in being monsters.
The Nazgul, also known as the Ring-wraiths, are powerful wraiths that were once nine mortal men Sauron gifted with magic rings. Corrupted by the rings, they wasted away until they became undying spectral wraiths, enslaved to the will of Sauron. They serve his will without question and are currently tasked with killing agents of the Green and doggedly pursuing the One Ring, which is in some unknown place in the Wilderlands. The Nazgul are relentless in this task, and are excellent trackers capable of hunting their prey into a state of exhaustion.
The Nazgul have dangerous blades that can potentially leave slivers of cursed metal in those stabbed by them, that convert them into minor wraiths under Sauron's control. These fragments must be removed before they pierce the victim's heart. They're also capable of harming people with their Black Breath, which curses them to fall into a deep and terrible sleep until they fade and eventually die. This can only be cured by an herb called athelas, which fortunately grows in many places in the Wilderlands. This herb is even more powerful in the hands of a king.
The most powerful of the Nazgul is the Witch-King of Angmar the leader of the Nine. According to prophecy, "not by the hand of man shall he fall." In Middle-Earth, he eventually fell at the hands of a woman, Eowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan, but he has been pulled from before that time.
The Nazgul have very few weaknesses. However, they can be waylaid and hindered by destroying their mounts, which are usually horses or winged fell beasts. They're also weak to fire. It doesn't kill them but causes them to flee because it damages the robes that shroud them.
Nazgul will travel by day but are far more daring at night.
Basics
Also known as Nachzehrers, Nightrenders are evil beings created from traumatic deaths from warfare, famine, or plague. It is unknown how they started to form but they are rumored to have been created first in the Wilderlands itself rather than coming from a specific world, or are created from several types of magic and creatures merging.
In any case, when they rise from the grave, they no longer have the memories of the person they once were. A corrupted soul given physical form, usually upon revival they feel a ravenous hunger, and will first eat their own corpses, then their burial shrouds (if they received a proper burial), and then will gun for the nearest humans as a source of sustenance to fully build their forms, sometimes killing their own families. After eating several people whole and stabilizing their new forms, they're able to venture into the world as mature beings.
They mostly communicate with other Nightrenders in growls and other inhuman noises but are are capable of some speech to other species, though it doesn't come easy to them. Their personalities may somewhat reflect the personalities they had in life, but always twisted to great malice and sadistic hatred for all living things.
Feeding
After they stabilize, their feeding becomes more particular. They start to feed instead on specific aspects of people relating to their identity, as if to make up for the identity Nightrenders lack: their brains and/or their souls. They are able to clamp their glowing mouths onto a being's head and suck out their brain, or suck on the air near the mouths of other beings to suck out their soul.
When they eat a brain, the original victim dies, and the victim's personality is copied inside them. The copy is trapped in endless anguish inside the Nightrender, and the evil being can draw on their victim's knowledge and experiences if they're useful. This can help compensate for the fact that Nightrenders can't remember their own life experiences.
When they eat a soul, the soul is temporarily alive inside them and can potentially be rescued, but once it finishes the agonizing process of digestion (which can range from instantly to several days, depending on how far back their last feeding was) the soul is snuffed out permanently and ceases to exist and is wiped from reality. The victim's body is left as a soul-less, catatonic shell, that usually dies within several days.
Other Abilities
Alongside their feeding habits, they have several other dangerous abilities. When they draw near, they can sense and feed on the positive emotions of other beings, forcing their victims to relive their worst memories over and over again. The very presence of a Nightrender can make the victim's surrounding atmosphere grow cold and dark and dreary, and they're filled with despair. Those affected by this evil aura, forced to view their darkest memories, can sometimes work through the visions and move, but others can't. Anyone who comes near these individuals might get glimpses of the bad memories. This can gradually weaken a mage's magical energy. Long-term exposure can cause depression, suicidal ideation, insanity, and drain a magic wielder's magic completely, though they can regain it later if they escape to some distance away.
Nightrenders can animate corpses (usually 4-5 at a time) and use them to attack, but the corpses are simple automatons that don't retain any knowledge and can only act as simple attack dogs. Nightrenders will do this if they need the numbers but prefer thralls as thralls retain all their skills, tactics, and knowledge, making them far more useful.
Thralls
Nightrenders have a mind control ability, though each one can only affect 4-5 beings at one time. The process of enslaving a thrall takes longer than feeding (which usually only takes a Nightrender a minute or two). They usually have to cast an ability that takes around five minutes to complete.
Once enslaved, the individual still sounds like themselves but loves the Nightrender more than anyone or anything in existence. They're willing to throw themselves into fatal situations to please them or kill people the victim once loved. Some people can resist but only if they have certain abilities, powers, or training in resisting mind control. For those that are successfully mind controlled, they can only be saved if the Nightrender controlling them is destroyed.
Thralls are usually viewed as extremely expendable and Nightrenders are known to snack on them if other food isn't available. However, Nightrenders sometimes have a favored thrall, especially one that reminds them of someone they once cared for in life, like a lover, sibling, spouse, or offspring. These favored thralls are still not viewed as people, merely toys they have slightly more fondness for. Their appreciation of them is selfish and possessive - and often fleeting - but while they hold favor they will sometimes treat them like beloved pets or give them little gifts and trinkets. These gifts aren't always what normal people would consider a gift; Nightrender gifts can be horrific, like giving child thralls body parts to play with like toys.
Weaknesses
Nightrenders are very durable and nearly impossible to destroy at night time. Spells that create magical manifestations of good will and happiness can harm them and drive them away. Other spells of light, happiness, or purification, can also cause some harm to the creatures. Individuals can also fend off the depression and despair by focusing on thoughts that grant strength and drive, but don't invoke the happiness Nightrenders feed on, like obsessions or feelings of vengeance. The after effects of Nightrender exposure can leave an individual feeling weak, cold, and shaky, but some food, warmth, and drink can help someone recover.
Nightrenders are more vulnerable in daytime. They often hide away in caves, dark under-realms, and other dark places because of this. If a Nightrender is caught in the sun, it calcifies and freezes in place, going into a deep hibernation. Its body will weaken from being nearly indestructible to being as hard as steel. This means some forms of magic or force can damage, destroy, or melt it. If caught in the open during the day, some Nightrenders have their thralls camp out nearby to defend them while vulnerable. The mind control magic controlling thralls is only slightly weaker during the daytime.
Despite the fact Sauron's warfare is responsible for originally killing many of the people that turned into Nightrenders, they have allied with him due to opportunities to feed and destroy the life they hate, and they have become feared and reviled throughout the Wilderlands, especially near warzones.
The One Ring is an artifact of great power created by Sauron. In the course of forging the one Ring, Sauron put in a part of his own soul, making the ring intrinsically linked to his life force. Sauron oversaw the forging of other magical rings and forged the One Ring in secret with the intent to use it to control the minds and power of the other ringbearers. He was only partially successful. The nine human ringbearers became enslaved to his will, turning into the Nazgul, but the 7 dwarven ringbearers proved too resilient to have their minds entirely conquered, and the elven smith Celebrimbor forged the three rings of the Elves separately, leaving them free of Sauron's taint. Still, the One Ring was vastly powerful, nearly allowing Sauron to conquer Middle-Earth multiple times.
The Ring is capable of many powers, the most notable of which is granting invisibility to the bearer. This isn't true invisibility, as it's caused by causing the wearer to be pushed partly into the spirit realm, invisible to mortals, but visible to wraiths and potentially Sauron himself. The ring also allows its wielder to dominate the wills of other beings and influence their loyalties, and can greatly enhance the innate powers of its wielder.
The ring has several dangerous effects on those who carry it. It can cause a powerful and immediate obsession and paranoia, making a ringbearer feel possessive towards it. It can extend the lifespan of those who bear it, but unnaturally so, causing them to grow incredibly weary over time. Evil in nature, and an extension of Sauron himself, it has a tendency to try to be found by the Dark Lord, betraying its bearer by slipping off a finger at an inconvenient time, or tempting its bearer to wear it at times that can cause them to get sensed and caught by Sauron's minions. The ring also has a tendency to lure and tempt others to steal it from its current bearer.
The location of the ring is currently unknown, as it is a well-kept secret even among the free peoples of the Wilderlands. All that is known is that the ring is currently in the Wilderlands somewhere, still out of Sauron's hands, and that Sauron is trying to retrieve it to make his domination of the Wilderlands complete. This means that the ring may come into play at some point during the PCs' adventure and they may need to find a way to destroy the ring -- in the fires of Mordor's Mount Doom or in some other way -- to take the Dark Lord out of the picture.
