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Escape from Numenor Module for Other Minds Issue 2 (draft 20080601a) PDF now available.
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The text in Italics is to be read aloud to the players.
It has been almost a year since the Fall of Numenor in 3319 of the Second Age.
The one year anniversary of [The Day of The Fall of Numenor]? is only a week from today.
It is now well into the Second Age 3320.
?What Season/Month/Day?.
It has been a sad and trying time for [The Faithful]?, with no word from Numenor, to this far land of Umbar, about the fate of Elendil and the other [Faithful]?.
Messengers were sent months ago to Pelargir by land, since all the ships that were not destroyed by the tumult caused by the destruction of Numenor, are now under very strict control of the Umbar City ruler the [Governor-General _________]?.
No messenger has returned yet. Though it WAS expected to be a long and arduous journey, there should have been some word received by now.
You are either a member of "[The Faithful]?" also known as the [Dunedain]?, or you are a supporter of [The Faithful]?.
You are proud of your beliefs and heritage, but alas you can not speak of it openly in this grim city, for you are a now spy deep in the heart of the enemy's land.
You are in the port city of Umbar, where those of the [King's Men]? who were not destroyed in The Fall now call home.
To be discovered as one of the Faithful would mean certain execution, as a traitor to the now-dead King Ar-Pharazon The Golden, if [Umbar City's Governor-General _________]? or his men get a hold of you.
But that fate would be far better, than if one of the followers of the Black Enemy were to seize you, and offer you up for dark sacrifices in one of their hideous rituals to the ancient Black Foe, [Morgoth]?!
(at this point the GM can decide which of two premises listed below to use, Option 1 or Optino 2, or split different party members between the options if you wish):
You are in Umbar because:
Option 1: You have been part of a group of “Faithful” that has for many years been operating "under cover" in Umbar to gather information, and help the causes of the The Faithful in Numenor and abroad.
You and other members of the Faithful and their supporters were recently captured in a late night raid by the Governor-General's Men.
Option 2: You were part of a group of Faithful who were lost at sea, en route from either Pelargir or The Grey Havens, to either Pelargir or Umbar, when the ship you were on was overcome, and you were thrown from the ship during the great tumult following the destruction of Numenor. Your life/lives was/were saved by sheer luck or maybe the divine help of ([Ulmo]??/ [Osse]??), and you were washed ashore near Umbar.
You were subsequently picked up by Umbarian patrols and imprisoned.
Everything else flows about the same from that point onward, except that none/few know the city as well as if they were here because of option 1.
You are all now incarcerated in the prison dungeons of the city.
During the middle of the night, the City's soldiers suddenly raided many of the homes of the [Faithful]? and their supporters, some of those captured or slain were only slightly connected to the [Dunedain]?.
Many here now suspect that someone in the Faithful must have betrayed their people, there seems no better explanation for the throroughness of the midnight raid.
You are split between several different cells in this underground detention facility. After an initial count by whispered voices you are able to determine that though many were captured, there are still many others not yet brought here.
It is possible of course, that they were taken to other cells, or slain, as you know was the fate of some few who had a chance to resist.
The question now is, what fate awaits those of you now captured?
You hear booted feet and heavy armor, accompanied by the sound of a gated doorway being opened somewhere down the hall.
You wait in trepidation for what is to come.
There WAS a “double agent”, someone of the faithful or their supporters who turned them in, but who that is, the other Faightul do not yet know.
This traitor to the Faithful may be one of the players or an [NPC]?. Who will intentionally allow him/her-self to be beaten, tortured and incarcerated with the rest of the group to maintain his/her cover up until their execution, in the hopes that the group will reveal more information while in prison, especially about where the rest of the Faithful are hiding in and around Umbar, so that he can relay that information to the Governor-General's Men.
At the point of the PCs? being sent to the gallows, one of two things will happen with the betrayer: A: The betrayer is supposed to be removed from the execution processional, and will then be revealed, or B: He/she will be strung up as if to be hung with the rest, but an archer or a nearby hangman is ready to shoot/cut his rope. However the traitor doesn't know this, so might protest and blow his/her cover. Then at the last instant, in addition to his rope being setup to not break his neck on the initial drop. If the traitor doesn't escape from the dungeons or the prcessional with the group, however, this betrayer does not know that he/she will then subsequently be secretly tortured to death (since the King's Men have no respect for a dishonorable turn coat, and can't trust him/her), depriving this person of even the respect (and martyrdom that the rest of the group would get in a public execution). It is even possible they will turn the traitor over to the [Morgothian Priests]? as a sacrificial offering.
If no players want to accept this role, then go ahead and assign it to an NPC.