The brooding fortress and the dark spire of Durthang stands in the heights of the Ephel Duath, on the craggen slopes several leagues west of the Isenmouthe. It overlooks the valley if Udan, and lies behind the Morannon on the south western cliffs of the Mountains of Shadow. The name means Dark Oppression, and the foothills beneath are riddled with mines and patrolled by many Orcs.
Durthang Castle was built by the Gondorians after the war of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men to keep watch on Mordor and prevent anyone or anything from entering there again, but it is now fallen into the hands of a great and sinister evil. For as the power of Gondor waned and the might of the Shadow grew in secret, the watch on Mordor became lapse and idle. The fortress was abandoned foolishly by Men. In the darkness came the fell servants of Sauron, to capture the formidable hold; for once stolen from the Enemy it could be made impregnable. Now it stands as another testament to the Rise of the Deceiver, under the scrutiny and command of the Lidless Eye.
The Dark Spire of Durthang Castle is an ash shrouded mystery, under beleaguered skies, its malignant presence spearing into the eternal night over which it presides. Within is rumoured to exist a clandestine order of the Shadow. It is said that brazen witchfires burn in the heights from arrow-slit windows that flash with strange and eldritch energies. It is further whispered that some of the order are eastern sorcerers, practicing their black arts in readiness to undertake arduous missions far abroad, to exert the will of their dark master in foreign lands. Agents of this order haunt the fortification, and the mines beneath can be their proving grounds, for the orcs are numerous and expendable: the blades that take them down are not so much. They are to be honed and made ever more deadly, so that they may pursue quests beyond the borders of Mordor, in the lands of the Enemy. Their designs are obfuscated and shrouded from the rest of Sauron’s armies, for the defeat of Gondor in the war to come and the lands beyond may lay upon a single scrap of information wrested from the dying lips of an addled and stricken foe. Likewise dark rumours of malcontent, seeded into the minds of the Enemy dwelling far across Middle-earth might bear insidious fruit; causing ruin and turning foe against foe. The Shadows of the Dark Spire steal those secrets, or tear them from the Enemy, they take lives in lands where lives are meant to be protected, and they sow seeds of evil to forge in the future a bitter harvest.
The clandestine order of the Shadows is comprised of sorcerers, spies and assassins. Enter Durthang Castle and approach the Dark Spire at your peril or face certain death at the hands of those within...
History:
At first Castle Durthang was like the other fortresses and castles built to watch over Mordor, being fully maintained and manned by the Gondorian Army. Gondor began to lose its power and influence over the long years of the Third Age, beginning in the 15th century, where it slowly fell into decline. Durthang was finally abandoned in Third Age 1640 after the Great Plague that vastly depopulated Gondor and struck it to the core of it's ailing heart.
Durthang was soon corrupted by Sauron upon his return to Mordor, used by the Nazgûl, and finally used by the Orcs and the Haradrim upon the beginning of the War of the Ring, but presided over by Dark Servants of the Lidless Eye, unknown to all but the Lord Sauron himself, some of the nine and the minions that populated the castle. The Shadows.
The name Durthang means Dark Oppression in Sindarin.
Description of Castle Durthang and the approach:
The Castle of Durthang is reached by climbing a steep, switch-backed mountain road. There is a sudden precipice drop on one side to the shadowed valleys of the Ephel Duath, while the vertical mass of the mountains confines the other side. The road ends in the high rocky crevice where Durthang grips the earth stoically. The tower constructed at this site was sculpted from the stone indigenous to the area; its rusting iron spire surpasses the height of 200 feet, while its foundations interlock with the caverns that riddle the peaks. The rocks in this portion of the mountains are rich in copper ore, lending them the green hue; in times past, Sauron had Orcs and slaves mine the copper in the richer veins.
The mountain road leading to Durthang is overlooked by the mouths of deepening caves where hundreds of Orcs dwell. Most of these are the remnants of mines left long abandoned after they rendered their yield. Some of these have fallen into disrepair, their entrances half-filled with rubble. A few are occupied by the Shadows for their own foul purposes. A strong defensive wall joined to a stone tower guards the foot of the road.
If you find yourself at the gates of Castle Durthang, it is because you have been summoned as you have been deemed worthy of attempting the rigourous and brutal training to become one of the fabled Shadows. The Shadows are so secret that any rumours of them are often quelled instantly, many only whispering about them under their breaths and with their hearts in their mouths.
It is implied that if you answer this call, your former life is forfeit and you are now willing to give your all to the Dark Lord.
There is no leaving the Shadows, it is for life. So choose wisely. Those that try anyway, are soon found dead in gruesome and horrific ways or disappear never to be seen again.
How to enlist:
Your chosen character will have received a letter, this will have been placed on your person without you even realising. In that letter is a summons, should you choose to accept, you will have cut and bled onto the paper and it will have revealed the directions to Castle Durthang and then ordered you to burn the paper once read. Enter the Castle as directed above and present yourself to the Chamber of Initiation. Word of advice, do not enter the room if Gauthir is in the middle of his initiations, wait your turn. You will never be arriving at the same time as someone else, so even if you see someone in the room in their post, it will be a different timeline to yours. You will always be in that room alone!
For your initiation you will be given a task. You will have to provide Winddancer with a means to contact you so it can be done in secret. You are not to share your missive with anyone or talk about it publically. You are welcome to use the admin email while she still holds the admin rank. Feel free to ask for Winddancer's contact info in the Mordor OOC thread. PLEASE do not join if you are not willing to receive your missive in private, as the whole point is that no one will know what you are up to.
Rules:
- Magic: I have left magic in, though not too keen on it. Keep it to an absolute minimum and in keeping with what was in the books please. Any Harry Potter magic and you are immediately out
- This is a serious RP thread, please no silliness
- Those who join and have gone through the initiation are welcome to RP their day to day lives in here and even do private RPGs if you choose to
- Please no use of bright colours in here. Dark browns, greens, reds and blues are fine
- Please use the provided icon and state where you are as well as your character name at the top of every post
- Any kingdom may join, but it must make sense that you were summoned, so sorry, no Hobbits or Ents. Dwarves, Elves and Men will have to have show some kind of allegiance towards the Dark Lord to even be considered. There were only 5 known Istari, so unless you are using one of those, no Wizards, unless you can come up with a really compelling reason and background. You are welcome to create a NPC, keep the aforementioned in mind
- This is a work in progress and things might change once it gets going, I will try and make sure you are made aware if it is. Suggestions are welcome, but do so at your own risk
- Right now there is 1 TR, this might change down the line. You will not be IC aware how to advance in rank and I haven't figured it out OOC yet, will see how it goes. Just keep in mind that all at a higher rank than you, will be more skilled than you are IC
- ALL OOC and questions to be done in the Mordor OOC thread HERE or directly via email/IM
- You will never be arriving at the same time as someone else, so even if you see someone in the room in their post, it will be a different timeline to yours. You will always be in that room alone!