Veil of Mordor: A Lingering Darkness (Quest, Tolkein) 1 (Patreon)

I stood at the edge of the forest, shrouded by the darkness of the night. I was dressed in a simple cloak, clutching a small pouch of money to my chest. I had heard tales of an ancient being that lived in the woods, an eldritch entity with the power to grant wishes and make bargains. I had a feeling I'd regret it, but I'd made the decision to seek this entity out, it could supposedly bestow great wealth and success upon its supplicants.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the forest, feeling a chill run down my spine. They told stories of the strange things that lurked in the shadows of the trees, but I steeled myself and pushed on. At last, hours later, I came upon a clearing, where an imposing figure stood, surrounded by a mist-like aura. I stopped in I tracks.

I stared at the entity before me, taking a moment to process the fact that it was actually speaking to me. Its voice resonated like thunder, deep and low, as it said, "You seek to make a bargain with me. State your request."

I cleared my throat, feeling the weight of the moment, and replied, "I seek prosperity and success for my family."

The entity pondered my request briefly before responding, "Your request is granted. All that you need will be provided."

Relief washed over me, and I let out a sigh as I reached out to shake hands with the entity. The instant our hands made contact, a surge of energy coursed through my body. Dizziness engulfed me, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in an unfamiliar place.

Opening my eyes, I found myself surrounded by towering mountains, with jagged rocks and cliffs in every direction. I couldn't fathom how I had arrived there, as my memory held no recollection of the journey. As I surveyed my surroundings, I couldn't help but notice the peculiar shade of orange adorning the horizon—an odd sight I tried to parse, before giving up on it.

Attempting to gather my bearings, I realized I was no longer dressed in my humble cloak. Instead, I was adorned in a tunic, crafted from rough cloth and about as comfortable as a sack of rice. The realization struck me like a bolt of lightning—I had truly entered into the bargain with the eldritch entity. A mix of fear and awe sent a shiver down my spine.

Searching for signs of civilization, I found none. The desolation of these uncharted lands seemed to suggest I was destined to wander aimlessly. However, amidst the silence, laughter reached my ears. Intrigued, I followed the sound, and it led me to a crude looking outpost up ahead.

I could see dozens of figures moving about below, in and along the walls of the outpost. Some looked to be twice as tall as the majority.

─ Location: Cirith Ungol

─ Choose Archetype:

─ Gravewalker – You’re not supposed to be among the living here. You have been revived in some way, and unlike other mindless corpses you seem to be entirely living and possessing your own will. Human only.

─ Assassin – You’re on a mission. Whether or not you choose to carry it out, you have a much greater focus on moving quickly and quietly, tracking down and eliminating a specific type of target. Elf, Human, or Uruk.

─ Guardian – You are a protector. Your focus isn’t on combat or your personal survival, but instead running and safeguarding civilization in and around wars. You guard what would otherwise be lost in the battles for this world. Elf or Human.

─ Warchief – Fancy a proper brawl? While others might rely on resurrection, magical trinkets and the might of a city at their back, you have a simpler but just as effective focus. Brute strength, adaptability, and some of your own tricks have let you survive and thrive in the harsh land of Mordor. Olog or Uruk.

I blinked at the translucent screen that appeared in front of me. This was an unexpected twist. I vaguely recognized Cirith Ungol, but couldn't remember... wait, Mordor... that's from that Lord of the Rings thing, right? And Uruk is another word for Orc, right?

I shook my head, trying to make sense of what was happening. Was this some sort of game or simulation? Or was I truly transported to a fantasy world? I couldn't believe what was happening. But something stirred within me, a sense of excitement and adventure that I had never experienced before.

I reached out and touched the screen, my fingers merging with it as if it were made of water. A sudden rush of information flooded my mind, and I understood what I had to do.

{Choice Determined by Poll}

A sudden rustling in the bushes caught my attention, and I turned to see a group of Uruk-Hai emerging from the brush, their crude weapons at the ready. They let out a series of guttural grunts and charged towards me.

Adrenaline surged through my veins, and I instinctively drew a {Weapon} from my belt. With a speed and agility that I didn't know I possessed, I dodged their attacks and plunged my blade into the neck of one of the Uruks. The creature let out a gurgling scream and fell to the ground.

The others hesitated for a moment, surprised by my sudden attack. But they quickly recovered and renewed their assault. I fought with all my might, dodging and striking, my body moving with a fluidity and grace that was beyond anything I had ever experienced.

Despite their strength and numbers, I emerged victorious, my armament dripping with black, orcish blood. Looking over the terrain, I frowned slightly as I considered my next steps. I was in a strange land, witfhout any...

My hand, thankfully the one without a blade in it, flew to my head as a deluge of information flowed into my head.

─ Boons Gained: Common Tongues, Colourful Characters, May I Introduce Myself?

─ Common Tongues – It would be awkward to show up somewhere and have no idea what anybody is saying. This Boon avoids that problem, giving you perfect fluency in the most common languages of whatever world you end up in, written and spoken. In Middle-earth, you can converse in whatever the language of Man is, Elvish, Dwarfish, and any languages you know due to this won’t trip you up with unusual accents. You’ll understand and even be able to use them as easily as a born native. This doesn’t cover certain secret

languages though, and if something is in a language you understand but seems to be gibberish it’s possible that you’ve encountered something in code you’ll need to figure out using some other method.

─ Colourful Characters – The Orcs you might encounter here have somewhat more depth than you might have encountered in other stories involving the Lord Of The Rings. While they will often still show how cruel and violent their society is, they clearly have their own personalities in this setting. With this Perk, similar beings that might be considered generic or could be more-or-less interchangeable with no real motivations of their own will now have their own unique motivations, interests and personalities, even a sense of humour. Bear in mind this will not make those affected by it any less more or effective, threatening or dangerous – just because an enemy Orc clearly cares about their pet Caragor doesn’t mean they won’t feed you to it if they can, or one with a sense of humour might laugh at a joke as well as ripping you in half. This might cause a lot more variety in terms of verbal threats as well. On the plus side, recruiting such colourful characters would make any usually generic forces you build up much more entertaining to interact with, and it might be a nice change to have some more variety in your enemies.

─ May I Introduce Myself? – It may become notable that notable figures, such as Orc Captains, like to introduce themselves in a sufficiently attention grabbing and memorable manner. You’ll find you can do the same thing, and so long as you aren’t using the brief spotlight for an advantage other than style, you can call out the target’s name to attract their attention, which focuses it entirely on you and might even zoom in on you if necessary. You can then give a short speech of some sort that gives some sort of insight into your character, actions and intentions are in a suitably dramatic manner. It’s as if everything is momentarily paused while you introduce yourself like this, so they can’t just strike you down in the middle of your entrance. You can cause enemies to do this as well, just be aware they might get a sneak attack or trigger an ambush before introducing themselves properly.

─ {More Boons Determined by Archetype}

─ Gravewalker: One Wall, One Ranger & Adaptive

─ Assassin: Lightning Agility & Self Sufficient

─ Guardian: Historian & Swords and Soldiers

─ Warchief: Mordor, Born & Razed & Grog Drinker

Fuck, that hurt. More screens, more reading. Okay... they all made sense, but if I was stuck in some sort of video game, I was kinda expecting them to be more impressive. In fact, I knew they would be, but there was something else going on. It was like trying to catch up with a race on a bicycle while it was going a hundred miles an hour. I was just going too slowly, and the information was just racing through my head too quickly.

I blinked again, trying to get my bearings. Okay, I was in a game. I had a set of abilities and for the moment, I was stronger and faster than the monsters around me. I could fight and live, which meant that meant that I had something to contribute and way to feel powerful. This was going to be fun...

I was already walking again, my eyes scanning the landscape. I'd worry about all this other crap later. For now, I had monsters to fight and food to find.