The Hall of Barad-dûr: Mordor OOC

"Going to Mordor!" Cried Pippin. "I hope it won’t come to that!"
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Go for it, I can handle the blame :P

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viewtopic.php?f=15&p=3571#p3571

Greetings everybody!

Khazaddum has recently started their own Newsletter, The Mirromere. We would love everyone from each kingdom to contribute to it. It can be anything. Poetry, prose, a pencil sketch, a painting, a short story. Literally anything creative. If this is something that would interest you, pop on over to our Editor's Office (link above) and put your name down.

Thanks!
Thorin

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Caption Contest, so nice I did it twice and screwed one of them up! Fixed that, added the new threads, put caption contest and MorpIx under games because... because.
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

Balrog
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@Moriel quit trying to rat me out in Thief Hunt! I'll share the booty with you. I promise.
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

Black Númenórean
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@Frost Yeah uh huh sure, this isn't my first rodeo :smiley15:
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

Black Númenórean
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@Queen Nerwen @Fairy Nuff @Reikon Suchi-ru @Gwai @Oro @Aelita Sedryn @Sil

Five days is enough, turn 1 of Lava Snake Racing is a go!
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

Balrog
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@Moriel I feel so betrayed! I was prepared to offer you... 20% of the bounty! Leave it to a minion to be so greedy! :lol:
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

Loremaster of Gondor
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Just spreading the word, I was going through my old photobucket, and I saw I had boards from the old Word Sleuth games. And from the few games I officiated, I have all 26 letter tiles too. I have made a blank tile as well, just because.

The Word Sleuth Tiles are Here
The Word Sleuth Boards are Here
Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy- Stonewall Jackson
Hubris guarantees disaster.- T C

Balrog
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You have this minion's approval! I don't remember playing it back in the day but I'll jump at the chance to reconnect and have some fun
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

Black Númenórean
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I love WS! I would also play :smiley8:
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

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Never played this, though seem to recall it was one of the games during Olympics? Or am I mistaken, just sure we went to Fangorn to do this, or something :smiley14:

New Soul
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So, was it in the discord the Houses of Umbar came up? I never played in them, but remember seeing them around-- I'm not sure I remember them particularly well, but I have some assassin laden story/backstory I'm working through with a character, and if we brought those back, it seems they might be a fun place to play around and discover more of the plot I'm playing in. Were they one thread, set up with various houses feuding? I'd love to set up one of my character's uncles as some sort of person in one, or connected to one... if it ends up making sense.
they/he/mischief

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I know @Moriel is planning on doing an Assasin thread and she ran one of the Houses too I think she said. Put your head together with hers (And Sil) and make it happen! :D

Black Númenórean
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Apologies to everyone I owe posts too (Insanity, LSR update, the entirety of On the Rocks) but my allergies are out of freaking control tonight and none of it is getting done. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day!
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

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Don't worry about it Moriel, you just take care of you :) We are all adults, we know life and allergies get in the way! :P

New Soul
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Layna is going to make a reappearance in the Army thread, if that's alright? She was an assassin with the Vras, once upon a long time ago :)
She/her. Almarëa - Rivendell / Jaena - Lone Lands (T.A.) and Gondor (F.A.) / Layna - Mordor

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@Almarëa Mordollwen knock yourself out! Well dont actually knock yourself out.. If you want to find an equivalent rank, use old rank or start over, either is fine :)

Balrog
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The more the merrier! Now I won't feel like I'm trying to climb the ranks alone :smiley9:
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

Master Torturer
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Oi! I got TWO!! in there! :P

Balrog
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you're on your way to total and complete domination! (btw, I plan on writing another army post within the next day or so)
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

Master Torturer
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Doubt Mord and Borfang are gonna dominate anything :P They are troublemakers! Of the not so successful kind..

Balrog
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you never know! They just need to find their niche
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

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Their niche is the Pits! :P

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@Almarëa Mordollwen Turn that flame into a flaming eye, you know you want to!

Now that I'm no longer on my couch dying, I should be able to rustle up a newbie char or two to progress through the ranks... muahahaha
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

Thain of The Mark
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DARLING, DISGUSTING MORDORIAN FRIENDS,

It has come to my attention that while this pestilent land abounds with opportunities for fascinating roleplay, for getting sloshed in the pub, and for taking in a bit of fine theater, it tragically lacks a Black Market at present.

I believe that all creatures, even the vilest of minions, deserve the opportunity for a little retail therapy when the dictates of their Dark Lord have got them down. Also, Thalionwen recently came into possession of a lot of bodies she'd like to unload at Thali's Consignment Corpses: Wholesale or Spare Parts at a Reasonable Price.

Does anyone mind if I start up a market? I have no problems overseeing the thread, and should anyone wish to establish a business, they'd be more than welcome. I'll look in the Archives to see what you all had before, and add a list of pre-established vendors that can be staffed by NPCs or taken over if anyone wants them.

What say you?
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Bealdorhaelend
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@Thalionwen No objections here! MAWS and the Black Market are both long-standing Mordor institutions which you should be able to find a lot of material for if you go back through the archives. I hadn't quite gotten around to reviving MAWS when the plaza tanked so sadly I don't have any ready made made material to share. Others might have old studs saved though!

Speaking of MAWS etc. @Winddancer I opened up one of the old Black Host documents and found a list of tasks people could do to gain renown in addition to posting- as well as the fact that I was allowing posts in the Pits and MAWS to count for renown. What do you think about that? Here's the list of tasks:

Tasks for gaining renown
Open to all:
Pits training – 3
Propose a successful pub theme - 3
Make the Maugân LOL – 5
Challenges: single post – 8, multi-post – 5 per post
Successfully propose a Host RPG idea – 10
Complete a torturing session in the pits - 10
Successfully propose an Inter-regional Host RPG idea – 15
Rank up in MAWS – 20
Complete a mission – 20
Self designed task of substantial merit - 20
Lead a mission – 30

Sadan and above:
Create and run a major Host RPG – 50

Ashan and above:

Create and run a major Inter-regional Host RPG - 75


As well as the amounts of renown + tasks required for certain ranks:

Baukûan – 500+ and
-Run two Host RPGs

Ashan – 301-499 and
-at least one MAWS rank

Sadan – 151-300 and
-complete advanced training
-train a snaga

Dildhan – 50-150 and
-lead two missions

Snaga – 0-50 and
-complete basic training


Some of those are obviously defunct or we aren't ready for them yet, and the ranks are different than the ones you've created, but do you want to use any of this? I particularly like the idea of the open tasks for additional renown gaining.
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

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Sounds like fun @Thalionwen ! Just please don't call it MAWS, there was once a MAWS which was Minions Against Winddancer Society, and not in the good and fun way..

I am liking the additional points from posting in other threads (though 1 renown per post to make it easy to count), but the whole idea with this army thread was that no one was going to be the trainer or the overseer, that people could post and that would show what renown they had. Cant really claim to have 50 renown if people can go back and count your posts. So I would argue against the ones that require that, like Make the Maugân LOL. I also think the pub one is not army related, as with how it is right now, pretty much anyone can make a thread.

Keep in mind, this is NOT the actual army. While this system can be made in to the actual Army, this is a thread where you can get going, without having to wait for someone to respond to you, so that you can level up at your pace, if you want it fast or slow. If you DO chose to do it with someone, well then you will know that it will depend on your partners availability and that you chose to do it that way.

The reason why I did it this way is because Plaza has changed and for the better in my opinion (hugs NuPlaza), less restrictions and requirements. But, we are also waaay fewer people and posting is going to be a lot slower thanks to that. This idea would make sense if we were the busy Plaza we once were and where the sheer amount of people would require us to have more structure, but atm we are 3 people posting in there, well actually only 1 new one as both you and me made it to the top of the Mordor army rofl :P And this is the EASY version, so the lack of activity isn't because it's too hard to do :P

Earning 75 for proposing an idea seems great, but how successful would it be if we get 4 great ideas? We certainly don't have enough people right now to do 4, so do we vote on which to do? And given how long rpgs take, would we then ever get to the others?

So I propose, to keep it simple still, that you can get 1 renown per post for any army related post made elsewhere. It has to be done with the NPC/character you are training with and it has to be stated at the top of your post that it is an army post so everyone can count it easily.

Also, I reeeeally lowered the requirements for ranking up, A LOT. Like the first rank was like at 300 renown O.O, which would once have made sense, but not now. It is just a way to level up while posting, so that you feel you are achieving someting while posting and giving your character a story/background.

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@Winddancer I never knew or have forgotten about that MAWS, that’s terrible :smiley12:

As for all the army stuff- I just copy/pasted it directly from my old document, no expectations whatsoever. The way you’ve structured it makes sense and I’m not proposing we change that- the old renown requirements in particular are currently absurd :smiley16: It’s just material to pick and choose from, cannibalize, or ignore completely if you don’t like any of it!
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

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:smiley9: Yea, reminder of a time that was less fun. While there is lots to love about old Plaza, unfortunately there was so not so nice aspects, something I sincerely hope we never ever see again and prolly why I am a bit more passionate about making things more about "free rp" than someone running it. If no one runs it, there is nothing to covet or get jealous of. Wait, what I am I saying, we are minions! :smiley9:

I will add the 1 renown for army related posts elsewhere as that absolutely makes sense <3

Balrog
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What the fredegar is this MAWS nonsense?! I will not stand for it! I'm glad NarvPlaza is a lot small and the people seem more tight knit and friendlier.

I suppose as the only purely brand new recruit (I'm pretty sure I never joined the Black Host back in the day) I like the idea of going outside the main thread and doing missions in other Free RP threads. Otherwise it's going to be me posting over and over and over again :smiley16:
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

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Go for it Frost! I have added it to the top post <3 And soooorry, been meaning to post in there as well, will try and get one done soon :)

Arien
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Vote to rename MAWS as Minions Adoring Winddancer? :smiley8: (Disclaimer: not a minion) I always remembered it just as the Forging and Smithys thread tbh.

On another note: I’d like to start The Towers Of No Return again. To those who don’t recall it, it was an RP challenge where you fight increasingly difficult beasties, but you can RP the beasties’ responses so not a huge need to wait on others, coupled up with some lore questions/riddles thrown in as well. There was Tower Of Knowledge and Tower Of Might but it’d be easier to combine them tbh.

Anyways I was thinking, it might be a useful thing to throw into the Renown points for army training?
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I vote yes for Minions Adoring Winddancer, and Towers of No Return! Combined sounds great, I don’t think we need all three towers, not yet anyway.

You can’t fool us Sil we know you’re a double agent.
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Arien
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SHHH
cave anserem
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Ha ha :P And Silthis was way back, like 2003-2004. I dont even remember it being a smithy! That must have been run when I wasnt around *shrugs*

And go for it Sil (Since when do you need permission? We know you are an undercover agent :P) Dont recall those threads, but love the idea that they are self running so that you dont have to wait on a response <3 And already added in the Army thread that you can post in other threads for renown, you just have to use the character you are training with and state it in your post so it can be counted easily :)

Arien
Arien
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It’s up but I’ll need a co-runner to do Tower of Knowledge, because I can’t think of enough interesting riddles, lore questions or debate style propositions
cave anserem
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Black Númenórean
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Oooo. Riddling is my jam. I'd be up for the tower of knowledge! Unless someone else has a burning desire to do it who isn't already running things?
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Balrog
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I'm good at guessing riddles but I'm utterly hopeless at creating them, I'll bow out to Moriel there, and if we need a threadrunner for Minions Adoring Winddancer I'm up for it. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'll do it
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

Thain of The Mark
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Soooooo, I spent the last few days attempting to find an accessible instance of The Black Market in the Wayback Machine and was (frustratingly) unsuccessful. The market concept is pretty universal on the Plaza though, so is there any objection to me putting together something new, as an homage to the old Black Market?

MAWS is definitely a trickier beast, and more than I can take on at present. If there's interest in doing a specific Armory/Smithy/Forge later (which it makes sense to connect to the Army in some way) I can keep that aspect of trade out of the Black Market and focus on other goods.

Thoughts?
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Bealdorhaelend
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Go for it Moriel! Frost: <3

Thali, makes sense to have the Smithy connected to the market imo and I am fine with you making a brand new one, just make it nice and evil! :P

Thain of The Mark
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I can do that :twisted:
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Bealdorhaelend
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@Sil Looks like I'm it for Tower of Knowledge! :smiley8:

Lava Snake Racers, thank you for playing!! My question for you is: would you like to see another round of LSR right away? Or would you prefer another game? I have quite a collection, including Escape, DIE, Liar's Dice, Mafia... they're all a little different! Liar's Dice and Mafia I ran in Angmar when we were building that in the Lone Lands in Eriador, so they've only had a few outings but were very fun. Thoughts? Requests?
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

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What about doing a rotation, Moriel? That way the thread never gets old and those who really love know it will be back. Just an idea, dont have to listen to me as I didnt play :P

Balrog
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I'll echo Windy here, a rotation would be awesome because we could get back into the old games without burning out our (and the GM's) interest in the game. That said, LSR was awesome and I do hope it can come back relatively soon. You did a great job!
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

New Soul
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I am not actually from Mordor at present, but @Moriel I definitely remember Liar's Dice and Mafia! And a rotation of games sounds like a good idea to me. :smiley8:
She/her. Almarëa - Rivendell / Jaena - Lone Lands (T.A.) and Gondor (F.A.) / Layna - Mordor

Black Númenórean
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A rotation works for me! I'd been doing that in Mordor and Angmar before and it seemed to work, but I wanted to let the people speak in case they were obsessed with LSR :smiley16: I'll get to work on the next game then :smiley8:
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New Soul
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@Moriel a rotation sounds like a good plan! I always love LSR and will definitely sign up again, but mixing it up would be fun! Thanks for GM'ing btw!
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Third Marshal of the Mark
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You wanted a game?! It's hot, it's fresh, it's a risk of lava burns no matter what faction you choose to play with! DIE is back!
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

Thain of The Mark
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All you nasty scoundrels are cordially invited to participate in the newly relaunched Miss/ter Meduseld pageant! Just please don't kill our horses or burn and plunder our villages while you're in Edoras. ;)

The 2020 Miss/ter Meduseld Pageant (part of the Edoras Summer Festival) will be OPEN FOR PARTICIPANT SIGN-UPS June 18-19!

Sign-ups are LIVE!

ALL are welcome to participate, regardless of Kingdom!

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Last edited by Taethowen on Thu Jun 18, 2020 4:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Thain of The Mark
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Oh hey little Rohir lady, what are you doing on this side of the tracks? *waggles eyebrows at @Taethowen*
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Bealdorhaelend
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