From our original guild application. This is outdated as of 2015.
A historical part of our Cult; 10+ years old from before we became a guild.
For those wantin a deeper understanding of our theme and how it came to be.

 

Guild name: Aina Amarth - 'The Holy Doom'

1. Contents

1. Contents
2. The Ranking System
    2.1 The Turamarth
    2.2 The Evandil
    2.3 The Ohtatyarim
    2.4 The Firfaroth
    2.5 Promotion
3. Members
4. Admission Requirements
    4.1 Evil Races
5. Internal Policies and What the Aina Amarth Will Add to Arda
    5.1 The Fundamental Religion of the Aina Amarth
    5.2 Secrecy
    5.3 The Dues System
    5.4 Disciplinary Actions
6. Features of the Guild Hall
7. Secondary Skills and Familiars
8. The Background of the Aina Amarth
    8.1 The Ithryn Luin
    8.2 The Quest for Immortality
    8.3 The Aina Amarth and the War of the Ring
9. The Guild Location

2. The Ranking System

The Aina Amarth is built upon a stern hierarchical order in which those of lesser ranks have to obey the commands of those of greater ranks without any questioning whatsoever. Those who obey the will of the Amarthatar and suceed in carrying through his wishes well will be richly awarded, but those who fail him will be severly punished. The Turamarth, the three leaders of the Cult, sustain their respect from the lesser members mainly by inflicting upon them fear. They also, in subtle ways, encourage others to do the same to members of lesser ranks. This way members who have been mistreated by their superiours will aim their anger downard in the hierarchy instead of upward. It should be noted that our purpose is not to wholly opress our members since this would create a very unattractive guild, but to strive towards the direction of the system described to achieve the effeciency of an intact hierarchy. 

We have set fixed numbers of members per rank in every section. They are as follows:

Turamarth 3

Ohtatyarim:
 
Luinhir 1
Ohtakaro Bereth 1
Ohtaroquen 20% of the Ohtatyarim minus Luinhir and Ohtakaro Bereth
Ohtakaro 30% of the Ohtatyarim minus Luinhir and Ohtakaro Bereth
Cyermer 50% of the Ohtatyarim minus Luinhir and Ohtakaro Bereth

Evandil:
 
Hammon Luin 1
Golotyaro 20% of the Evandil minus Hammon Luin
Anustar 30% of the Evandil minus Hammon Luin
Aerlinne

 

50% of the Evandil minus Hammon Luin
Firfaroth 20% of the Aina Amarth

2.1 The Turamarth

There are three "turamarth". They are closest to the Amarthatar, The Holy Father, and He speaks through them. They have equal authority over the members of the cult, but only one of them is formal GM. This makes work at the top of the hierarchy very effecient and prevents progress from stagnating. 

2.2 The Evandil

The Evandil, The Apostles, are the source of lore and wisdom of the Aina Amarth. Their primary task is to seek knowledge of immortality. Also, they shall 'translate' the ancient, holy scriptures to westron, in other words to create scriptures which will be claimed to be translated. Also, since the mission of the Aina Amarth is to prepare the coming of the Amarthatar, the Evandil will study Arda closely and write reports that will be documented in the library. They are freed from the duty to acquire weapons, and every time an Evandil completes a text or a translation he/she shall be rewarded as richly as the Cult can afford, so that the work of the Evandil will not be too unappealing. It is indeed a very important part of the Cult.


 
 
Hammon Luin 'The one Clad in Blue', the leader of the Evandil.
Golotyaro 'Maker of Magic'
Aunstar 'Monk'
Aerlinne 'Holy singer'

2.3 The Ohtatyarim

The Ohtatyarim is the Army of the Aina Amarth. The primary function of the army is to defend the cult so studies and research may be carried through without any interruption. Secondly, the army must destroy the enemies of the Amarthatar that threaten the existance of Him and the Aina Amarth so that Arda may be prepared for His return. The army will also be responsible for acquiring weapons for the Cult. In war (which we wish to avoid since it conflicts with our secrecy) the whole cult will be involved in destroying the enemy, and the Ohtatyarim will have an important role leading the members into battle. The Othatyarim is divided into several strictly hierachical ranks and they are as following:


 
 
Luinhir 'The Blue Lord', leader of Othatyarim
Ohtakaro Bereth 'Blue Warrior of Valour'
Ohtaroquen 'Blue Knight'
Ohtakaro 'Blue Warrior'
Cyermer 'Worshipper'

2.4 The Firfaroth

Within the ranks of the Othatyarim there are also the Firfaroth, the Pursuers of Mortals, the right hand of the Turamarth and the fear of Middle-Earth. This section will only consist of the most feared assassins, extremely skilled in the art of killing. They will not only keep strict control within the Aina Amarth, but will also constantly be prepared to rid Middle-Earth of people opposing the Amarthatar's will. The Firfaroth is not divided into any ranks, for they are all equal members of the Othayarim. 

2.5 Promotion

In a hierarchical organization it is important that the minors can ascend in rank and authority so that they feel they have something to strive towards. Without goals little would be achieved. Promotions in the Aina Amarth will be based on: the time of activity within the Cult, deeds of valour done for the Amarthatar, work done for the Amarthatar (i. e. translations, reports), and loyalty shown towards superiors. No rank, though, can consist of a larger number of members than the fixed percentage of the rank. A promotion of a member is proposed by the leader of the member's section to the Turamarth who make the final decision. It should be noted that an advancement of one member will often result in the degradment of another, vice versa.

3. Members (censured)

Nils Turamarth

4. Admission Requirements

New Dunlending/Dunedain/Eorling members are most welcome to join if the following requirements are met and fulfilled: 

1. A clear knowledge must be shown concerning the Cult of Aina Amarth. This simply means to realise and understand the basic function and principles of the Cult. Furthermore you must know the history and the thematic backing of the Cult. A rather small test will later be performed where simple questions such as "why is the main color of the Aina Amarth blue?" will be posed. A small vocabulary of elvish, quenya and sindarin, is also necessary to know. 

2. The Aina Amarth is a strict role-playing clan. Our wider goals include enhancing the theme in Arda with our presence, which can only be achieved with a fair amount of role-playing. You must be aware of the special characteristics of your character and of how he would react and behave in differant situations. In addition he must at all times act in the true spirit of the Aina Amarth. 

3. Utter respect and obedience must be shown towards members of higher ranks of the Aina Amarth. This involves risking your own life for the cause of the Amarthatar and his followers. However, in respect, other clan members are of course expected to do the same for you at any time. 

4. Level 15, four days old (recomended) 

In order to join our ranks you must first read through and agree with the points listed. If you do you will be interviewed and then presented a small test or quiz. 

4.1 Evil Races

The prospect of evil races certainly increases the chances of roleplaying. This is especially true in the Aina Amarth since we accept all men, no matter where they live. Although we of course will continue to accept western men like dunlendings and dunedains, it would be very thematic to include evil men, since they are the natural inhabitants of the places where the Ithryn Luin once travelled. However, until clear rules have been produced from the Ainurs of Arda, it is rather difficult to adjust to this rather peculiar situation. (It might be worth mentioning that we will only accept evil men and absolutely not orcs or trolls). We look forward to the production of clear rules and regulations and hope that it will allow us to include evil races that have been saved by Amarthatar. 

5. Internal Policies and What the Aina Amarth Will Add to Arda

The founding fathers of the Aina Amarth, Ford, Arvoreg, and Nils, were displeased with the lack of theme in the guilds and clans of Arda, thus they founded the Cult. We wish to give Arda a strictly thematic alternative with which we also may inspire other guilds to be more thematic. 

Our Cult shall consist of religious fanatics in any guise to please the will of the Amarthatar. His will is very subtle. The Turamarths shall interpret His will and see to it that it is carried out. The Cult's main occupations are to explore the West and record as much information as possible of it, and above all: seek to attain immortality. 

5.1 The Fundamental Religion of the Aina Amarth

The religion of the Aina Amarth is the guiding force and the leading hand of all its members. The beliefs which the followers of the Amarthatar possess influence and effect all their decisions and actions and form the bases of their earthly lives. 

In all of Tolkien's Middle-Earth related works men are often described as anxious and restless, often yearning for more than they already have. This is especially true when considering life after death. Men are not, contrary to the Elves, "bound to the world". They have by Eru been granted a special gift: death. When Men die, they go to the Halls of Mandos but do not stay there for long. They proceed away from the world and leave its borders, to which fate no-one knows. This has become a dread among Men, since they do not know what will follow. But this is a dread brought to them by Melkor, and the Elves, who are doomed to live on until the world ends (they stay in the Halls of Mandos), can't understand this fear of Eru's gift. 

Some Men claim that they are not mortal by nature, but that their mortality has been caused by Melkor. (The Elves, though, don't believe this, since they don't think Melkor has the power to change the fate of a whole race.) This is based on the old legend that can be considered the story of the "fall" of mankind. [1] 

The best example of the restlessness of men is the downfall of Numenor, when Sauron channelled their yearning for immortal life towards the immortal lands of Valinor, finally evoking the Great Armament which ended with the drowning of Numenor. The Aina Amarth are subject of the same type of impatient yearning for immortality. The bases of the religion of the Aina Amarth is thus the quest for immortality. This will be achieved through following the words and guidance of the Amarthatar, who will return to Middle-Earth on the day of the Doom. On this day all followers of the Amarthatar will be lead to the Halls of the Amarthatar where they will experience eternal life, and the foe of the Aina Amarth will on that moment perish and forever burn in the Blue Flames. 

5.2 Secrecy

According to texts written by J.R.R and C. Tolkien, the Ithryn Luin, the founders of what we call the Aina Amarth, were "founders or beginners of secret cults and 'magic' traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron" (the fall of Sauron in the Third Age of the Sun, that is). We regard every word of this sentance deeply. Since "secret" is mentioned we have felt we must set an upper limit of number of members to circa thirty-five, and no member shall carry the name of the Aina Amarth in for instance the 'legend'. Also, we will not be able to have any mailbox since this would also, unthematically, reveal us to the crowd. This secrecy will have, though, a limit. It does not matter much if many in Arda knows are name. The main thing is that our activities are not known. 

5.3 The Dues System

We require frequent activity from our members. We wish not to have any passive members. Those who, without informing the Turamarth, Hammon Luin or Luinhir ahead of time, are gone for a long time will be punished. We have decided to have weekly dues payment to force the members to be online often. The dues are: 500 per member per RL week. To be paid every monday to the highest rank of their section.

Note that the dues will only be demanded if the cult is granted a trial guild hall. 

5.4 Disciplinary Actions

Control is essential to sustain effeciency in the hierarchy. Therefor we have defined a system of disciplinary actions towards disobediant members. These actions will consist of: fines, degradation, death, suspension, exclusion, and in the worste case exclusion and death; all according to how seriously they have failed the Cult. 

There are two differant types of crimes: felonies and acts of disobediance. The punishment for a felony is carried out immediately, and an act of disobediance makes out a warning. Two warnings form a penalty with immediate effect. 

Felonies are:

Act: Penalty
spying exclusion and death
betrayel exclusion and death
unauthorised murder
within the cult
exclusion/death or degradation and
suspension
Acts of disobediance are: abuse of the name of the Aina Amarth disrespect towards higher ranks disobeying orders/failing to carry out orders failing/refusing to pay dues failing/refusing to pay fines unnotified longterm inactivity disrespect towards the Amarthatar (i. e. not praying once per session) 

Sentances for lesser crimes can be decided by a superior of the felon, but all penalties have to be confirmed by at least two Turamarth. In especially severe cases of acts if disobediance the Turamarth decide the sentance. All sentances that involve death are to be carried out by the Firfaroth. 

A more detailed book of rules will be published, for the members' sake, but we see no reason in writing it here. You may, of course, have it if you request it. 

6. Features of the Guild Hall

To force people to be thematic we suggest an altar where all members can 'pray to amarthatar'. Its benefit would be that endurance points would generate faster while praying. Also, since it is important to the theme, we would like to develop a system where we can log every member's praying session so that we can make sure that they do their one mandatory prayer per session. 

We would like the inside of our guild hall to be lawless so that we can punish our own members as we wish. 

The most important feature is the library. We even need one during the trial guild time, since it is very important to the theme. 

7. Secondary Skills and Familiars

Since the Aina Amarth is a Cult of "'magic' traditions" [sic] (see below) and its members are deeply absorbed by sorcery and often stumble upon the paths of devilry, we suggest our skills to be mainly wizard skills and our familiar to be some kind some sort of hideous, nameless creature, summoned from hell. 

Our first suggestion for a non-combat skill is 'meditation'. With this the members can find a peaceful place to meditate seeking to part the soul and the body from eachother. When someone succeeds in carrying through a concentrated meditation their soul parts from their body, and they have a so called "out-of-body-experience". This allows the player to explore places without actually being there, leaving his body behind. Entering a room where there are other players, all they would notice would be something like: 'You sense the presence of a lost soul', or 'A cold wind chills you to the bone'. Using this skill would of course drain lots of endurance points. The biggest flaw of using this would be that the body could easily be killed without being able to defend itself. If all the endurance points are used up the soul is cast back into the body.

8. The Background of the Aina Amarth

The Cult of the Aina Amarth is sprung from the Ithryn Luin, which Tolkien wrote very little of. This is what we have unraveled by studying his works closely: 

8.1 The Ithryn Luin

The Istari we all know well. We have heard much of Gandalf and Saruman, a little less of Radagast but almost nothing at all of the two remaining Istari: Alatar and Pallando,[2] called the "Ithryn Luin", the Blue Wizards. As far as we know from the works of J.R.R Tolkien at least one of them was the founder of the cult which we call the Aina Amarth. Of their background I wish to cite the following of Tolkien's words: 

"Of the blue little was known, in the West... for they passed into the East with Curinír but they never returned".[3] "Their task was to circumvent Sauron: to bring help to the few tribes of Men that had rebelled from Melkor- worship, to stir up rebellion".[4] "They must have had very great influence on the history of the Second Age and Third Age in weakening and disarraying the forces of East... who would both in the Second Age and Third Age have... outnumbered the West".[4] "[W]hether they remained in the East, pursuing there the purposes for which they were sent; or perished; or as some hold were ensnared by Sauron and became his servants is not known".[3] Here is the main fact that carries the foundation of the Cult on its shoulder: "[The Ithryn Luin] were founders or beginners of secret cults and 'magic' traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron".[5] 

The Aina Amarth, 'the Holy Doom', is a name that we have given to one of the mentioned "secret cults". Let us now state the interpretation of the facts: 

The time of the Ithryn Luin's arrival in the East is uncertain, but it must have been some years after the Istari's arrival in Middle-earth, in the year 1000 of the Third Age of the Sun.[6] Therefor it must be circa 2000 years between the coming of the Ithryn Luin and the War of the Ring. This means that the Aina Amarth could be a very old Cult, only it has just recently arrived in the West. 

We have also learned about the Aina Amarth by studying the East. No elves have tarried there since before the drowning of Beleriand when elven ships were built to sail upon the Sea of Rhûn.[7] If there were any stray wanderers, these would of been mainly dwarves. Thus, the only inhabitants of the East during the whole Second and Third Age were men. The ancestors of some of the inhabitants along the Sea of Rhûn were Bëorians and Hadorians (also called the People of Marach).[8] Most of the inhabitants in this area are, though, Easterlings. 

8.2 The Quest for Immortality

In all of Tolkien's Middle-earth related works men are anxious and restless, often yearning for more than they already have. Men have envied elves for their immortality, and elves have envied men for their mortality. The best example of the restlessness of men is the downfall of Numenor, when Sauron chanelled their yearning for immortal life towards the immortal lands of Valinor, finally evoking the Great Armament which ended with the drowning of Numenor. The Aina Amarth are subject of the same type of impatient yearning for immortality. They are jealous of the elves and therefor their enemies. This is one way in which they "were ensnared by Sauron". 

We have noted that it may seem contradictory that we use a lot of elven words and yet are hostile towards elves. The explenation for this is that Alatar and Palando, the Ithryn Luin, were Istari and therefor from Valinor their mother tounge being Quenya (High Elvish). They founded the Aina Amarth seeking to give the wild men of the East wisdom to rebell against the powers of evil and taught them Quenya. Though the Aina Amarth was "ensnared by Sauron", they continued to speak Quenya, the language of the enemy, since they took pride in speaking it, flattering themselves with being superior of other men. Also, many individuals of the Aina Amarth thought for themselves: "Perhaps the magic and the secrets of the elves lie in their languages...", naivly hoping that mastering their tounge would unravel the secret of immortality. 

8.3 The Aina Amarth and the War of the Ring

The Aina Amarth are indifferant to the War of the Ring, yet they may cross the roads of both good and evil while carrying out the will of the Amarthatar. 

9. The Guild Location

We would prefer our guild hall to be placed either alongside the Sea of Rhûn or nearby it, since it is the easternmost part of northwest Middle-earth. But the Sea of Rhûn does not exist yet. So, either we will wait, if there are any plans on creating the Sea of Rhûn within the near future, or place the guild hall in a temporary place until the sea is created - if you will permit a temporary location, that is. 

[1] The History of Middle-earth vol. 10, Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth
[2] Alatar and Pallando are also refered to as Morinehtar and Rómestámo, Darkness-slayer and East-helper, in The Peoples of Middle-earth, pp. 384-385
[3] Unfinished Tales, p. 390
[4] The Peoples of Middle-earth, p. 385
[5] Unfinished Tales, p. 401
[6] Unfinished Tales, p. 388
[7] The Peoples of Middle-earth, p. 391
[8] The Peoples of Middle-earh, p. 373



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