Gondorian

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This is a page about the Gondorian culture on Elendor. For information about Gondorian in J.R.R. Tolkien's books, see Gondorian (canon)


Quick Reference
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Gondorian

Ruler: Faramir - Rananar
Alignment: Good
Unrestricted Species: Human
Restricted Species: Dunadan
Allied Cultures:



Gondor

I hearby do swear fealty and service to Gondor and to the Lord Steward of the Realm: To speak and to be silent. To do and to let be. To come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying until my lord release me, death take me or the world end.

With these words, you have come to Gondor the Great. Honour, tradition, and fealty are the foundations of this land of Stone. Gondor it is called. Founded by the sons of Elendil: Isildur and Anarion, it is the last vestige of Westernesse.

Yet these are dark days and Gondor's might has waned. Now, a Byzantine empire, it is beset by foes upon all sides. It is only through the vindication of these ancient ideals that gave Gondor its strength, shall give it hope in the days to come.

A wide realm with a diverse and fair people, the Men of Gondor are not only versed in the arts of war. For in Gondor, the flower of Numenor has decayed, but not withered and strength there yet dwells while the Sun and Moon endure. Minas Tirith, Minas Anor of old, is the foundation of tradition, and power still runs through the land, be it in Belfalas under the Prince Imrahil the Fair and his proud Swan-Knights, or through the secret eaves of Ithilien in the hosts of Gondor sent forth to range against the Enemy.

Thus while Gondor is weakened, it has not fallen and by your aid can you help revive the blood of old and bring back hope to the West. The Sons of Elendil beckon you to the Land of Stone!

Credits: Sirion/Indilzar

Current Timeframe: The Third Age

From Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth

The age of Middle-earth beginning with the first downfall of Sauron and the death of Gil-galad and ending with the War of the Rings, the second and final downfall of Sauron, and the Last Riding of the Keepers of the Rings, in which the greatest of the Eldar still in Middle-earth departed over Sea. In this Age the Elves and Dwarves remained in Middle-earth but did little new, while Men increased in power and numbers. The Dúnedain kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor prospered at first, but waned as the evils of the Second Age, especially the Nazgûl and Sauron rose again. In the end, however, the desperate gamble of the Wise to preserve the Free Peoples succeeded and great evil was banished, but at the same time much good and beauty were lost to Middle-earth.

Called by the Elves the Fading Years


Contents

New Players

Help for the New Player

Welcome to Gondor! First of all, please read all of these files in +GHELP, as well as all of the files in NEWS. Then skim the files called HELP and +HELP for some basic commands. Once you have read these files and have been cultured Gondorian, (+mail the Local Administrators for Gondor to ask to be cultured.) then you may continue. To do so, type +GHELP as listed below in the left column. Once you have been cultured your default channel should be your Gondor com and you may speak or pose on it by typing: =(speak or pose). You will find the people on your cultural com very helpful.

Naming Your Character

If you have not noticed before, place names in Gondor are almost entirely in Sindarin, discounting a few rare cases where a prehistoric name has survived, or where old Adunaic influences still reign. This is not by chance, but a very important part of Gondorian culture. This tends to be true also where people are concerned; the more "high blood" and ancestory you possess, the more likely you are to have a Sindarin name. Now many people choose the names of their characters because they like the way those names sound, but certain names are without a doubt unthematic and out of place for most Gondorians. So, in an effort to make Gondor more proper, the local admins offer their services to you, the Citizens of Gondor. When choosing a name, remember that we will gladly help you find a thematic one to suit your character.

A few points and considerations. First, this does not mean you /must/ take a Sindarin name. We are not trying to police or restrict players in their choice (though if you name yourself Connor Macleod expect to be asked to change it.) Not all Gondorians hail from families with strong Numenorean ties, and some obscure names can occur. But keep in mind many Gondorians do have Sindarin names. A few families, such as Imrahil's own, also have a strong tradition of Old Adunaic names. Second, do not forget that even a name you make up might have a Sindarin meaning. It happens, quite often. Other names have Sindarin elements, anc could easily be corruptions or mutations of Sindarin words or meanings. Third, this only includes IC names, of course. If you name yourself "Little_Boy" for purposes of anominity, that's fine.

Finally, do not hesitate to ask for help, especially from your Local Admins. We are here to improve the culture and make your stay more pleasurable.

Writing a Description of Your Character

Once you have chosen a name for your character that has been approved by the Local Admins (LAs), you will need to describe your character. See help @desc for how to set up your description. You can see how other Gondorians have described themselves by typing ex *name/describe. This can be very helpful as you decide on how your character looks. Once you have finished, please contact one of the LAs to ask him or her to look it over and see if he or she has any suggestions. Descriptions should rarely exceed twenty lines, but should usually be longer then ten. Try to think about detail, but be concise. Some helpful ideas: use %R for carriage returns, and %T for paragraph indentation/tabs. For advanced descriptions, read +HELP +WARDROBE. PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Gondorians are descended for the most part from the people of Numenor. Due to this, they tend to almost uniformly exhibit certain physical characteristics, which holds especially true for the folk of Anorien, Belfalas and Ithilien. People from these regions are tall and fair, with black hair and grey eyes.

Those from fiefs such as Lamedon, Lebennin and Anfalas can, however, be somewhat shorter and swarthier than the average Gondorian, with brown hair and eyes. The reason for this is their blood is mingled with that of the hill folk who lived there before the coming of the Dunedain.

Please keep the above mentioned guidelines in mind while writing a description for your character. While a rare few Gondorians might stray from the norm and have blonde hair and/or blue eyes due to mixed Rohirric ancestry, anything else such as red hair, green eyes and the like are unlikely to the point of not being acceptable. Also keep in mind that this is an important factor when a player is being considered for Dunadan status. For instance, it is highly improbable that a character with blonde hair would have Dunadan blood in him.

Writing A History For Your Character

Writing out your character's background history is a very important part of making your character who he or she is and will be. This is perhaps the single MOST important element in creating your character and often the most abused. To write up a history for yourself, type: &history me= and when you hit the return key it will be set. Again use %t and %r to make it easier to read. See HELP @EDIT for details on how to alter it once it is written. When you are satisefied that it is to your liking, then you may set it visual by typing: @set me/history=vis. You will then wish to +mail your LA's and politely ask one of them to read your new background at their convenience and to let you know if they have suggestions to help your history be more in theme or more original. Most start small but add on as they Role Play, thus developing rich backgrounds over time that can become a source of both entertaining reading and prideful segments of who we are on this MUSH. You must have an approved history -before- you may ask to take your combat test.

Some things to NOT do with your background history are:

1) Do not list all of your family as being dead. This is hardly original and seems to be what everyone wants to do as an easy out. You will find having some IC family is often useful later for great RP.

2) Do not claim to be of other blood than of Gondor without a previous approval from the Gondorian +ruler. The only acceptable blood besides Gondorian is really only Rohirric and you really should still have some Gondorian blood as well. Fitting in is better than standing out when you are new. Leave that to the older, more experienced players.

3) Do not make your character ICly related to any Feature character. This is not allowed and is covered in the NEWS files. Even characters of Noble birth or high in Numenorean blood should be cleared with your +ruler first.

4) Do not claim amnesia or simular 'lost' background wanderer type. We in Gondor come from stable families, feel strong kinship to one another and put much trust in each other and our honor. Too often we have orphined or amensia backgrounds and this is hardly orginal.

Some things you SHOULD do with your background history:

1) List family by names.. those who are both dead or alive, (Mostly alive, we hope) as well as friends you ICly have and siblings. Is your character married and have children? Also think about where you are from ICly? What city, town, fief or farm?

2) What skills do you have ICly? What sort of jobs have you had or things you are good at or interested in? Been a farmer's daughter, son of a Guardsmen, student at the University? An apprentice Stone Mason? What does your family do for a living? We can help you with ideas but real life interests are also often useful to start with and easier to RP.

3) Now that you have family and some background as well as interests, tell us about your character's personality. Is he or she shy, greedy, have any phobias, passions, vices, fears, hates, allergies, etc? These will be more to make you an individual than anything else and be an aid in helping you to remember nifty things to add to your RP as you develope your character.

Genealogy

Areas

Anórien

"And there where the White Mountains of Ered Nimrais came to their end he saw, as Gandalf had promised, the dark mass of Mount Mindolluin, the deep purple shadows of its high glens, and its tall face whitening in the rising day. And upon its out-thrust knee was the Guarded City, with its seven walls of stone so strong and old that it seemed to have been not builded but carven by giants out of the bones of the earth." -- The Return of the King

The region of Gondor north of the Ered Nimrais and hemmed in by the Entwash to the north, the Mering Stream and Firien Wood to the west and the Anduin to the east, Anórien also has its seat at the great city of Minas Tirith. The three great beacons guarding the northern approaches are also to be found in its borders as well as the tomb/memorial to Elendil on Amon Anwar 'Hill of Awe'. The Pukel-men are known to live in the Druadan forest here.

Chief City: Minas Tirth

Minas Tirith is the capital city, a fortified stronghold against the evils of Mordor. The men of Minas Tirith consider it to be the last bastion against the evil of the Dark Lord, and therefore can be somewhat arrogant, believing that they and they alone protect the west. The city stands on a rocky outcrop at the eastern edge of the White Mountains in the northeast corner of Gondor.

Belfalas

This is the fief of Prince Imrahil, its seat being at Dol Amroth. Belfalas lies on the south coast of Gondor looking out onto the bay of the same name. At the end of the first age a great haven of Silvan elves was to be found here at the mouth of the Morthond river. From this haven, many elves sailed west, never to return to ME. The folk of Belfalas are tall and proud, of elven descent some say, and with eyes of sea-gray.

Chief City: Dol Amroth

Dol Amroth sits on the Bay of Belfalas. Ruled by Prince Imrahil, it is a great fortress surrounded by a small town and mainly occupied by the Prince, his court and the knights of the city. Closest by blood to the old Numenoreans, the Prince is a proud man but fair and wise and his judgement is sought by many lords.

Ithilien

A slender forested valley between the Anduin and the Mountains of Shadow. Ithilien was once held by Gondor and ruled from Minas Ithil (now Minas Morgul), but has since become a debatable land with with orcs and trolls wandering at will through it. However, Gondor has not yet abandoned its claim and the rangers of Prince Faramir still harry those of Mordor from their hidden hold of Henneth Annun.


Chief City: Minas Ithil until TA 2002

When Minas Ithil fell in TA 2002 to the Witch King, the people of Ithilien fled into Gondor. They are still distinguishable from the Numenorean Gondorians by their different customs.

Lebennin

"Fair Lebennin of the Five Streams" - those being the rivers Gilrain, Serni, Celos, Sirith and Erui. Lebennin is a fiefdom of Gondor consisting of all those lands between the Anduin to the east and the Ered Nimrais to the west. Its seat is at the port of Pelargir. Those who dwell there are a hardy folk of mingled blood for although reckoned men of Gondor there are those among them whose sires come more of the forgotten men who housed in the shadows of the hills. Called one of the 'faithful fiefs' of Gondor.

Chief City: Pelargir

Pelargir is the port city at the mouths of the Anduin. Defending against the constant threat of attack from the southern realm of Harad and the corsair city of Umbar, Pelargir consists mainly of merchants and guards. Merchants because the routes to the southern lands are lucrative indeed, and guards, ever-vigilant to the goings-on on both the land and sea routes.

Maps

History

Class Logs

Theme

RP Logs

Features

Library

Positions

Links

GMOTD Log

June 11th: It is a dark time for Gondor. The Knight-Herald, Lord Arathis Isilirim, is lost on his mission to the North. The details of it are unknown, but Prince Imrahil has not been seen in public for many months now. Rumors of a growing clamor for war with the South come from Dol Amroth.

And even while they do, a strange visitor from Harad arrives in Pelargir. A Haradrim named diplomat of Farside Tower arrives and requests an audience with the Steward. Denied, this Yildirim is instead offered a meeting with the Council of Lords in Minas Tirith, his purpose still yet unstated. Yildirim has trekked north to Minas Tirith with the group of Arathis' Knight that went missing for some months and only recently returned.

Meanwhile, enemies push at Gondor's borders in the East, and threaten their seas to the South. Even in the heart of Gondor itself, rumors of a company of woodsmen terrorizing the roads come to the ear of travelers up and down the South Road and beyond.

Gondor's walls of stone and the will of its men are chipped and cracked, but they hold still. But for how long for one day... both shall break.

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