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The Sword and Scroll
| Website | |
|---|---|
| Founding date | During the Years of the Sun near the end of the First Age. |
| Goal | Easing diplomatic tensions between the different races of the Free Peoples and driving back the darkness that threatens Middle-Earth. |
| Main area of operations | Eriador |
| Kinship type | Mixed |
| Friends/Allies | |
| Rivals/Enemies | Hopelessness and animosity. |
| Kinship status | Dormant (not recruiting) |
| Recruiting Officer(s) | Undulen, Thanrik, Trilandria |
Background
Ungarion Autumnhaven, Lindar of the Teleri, recognized the dangers of a divided people in the face of a great threat, forming The Sword and Scroll to bring the Eldar together. He even sought the occasional alliance with Dwarves. As the darkness grew throughout the Second Age, however, Ungarion extended The Sword and Scroll's membership to Men. Eventually, it reached its zenith in assisting the last alliance of Elves and Men.
However, when he perished at the Seige of Barad-Dur, the kinship quickly fell apart. The extended seige saw the ends of many of its members and supporters, and scattered those who remained. For a time, The Sword and Scroll faded into obscurity.
In the year 1050 of the Third Age, Undulen Autumnhaven, Ungarion's son, took up the mantle of Elder of the Scroll, reclaiming the documents chronicling its history. When he did so, he decided that, in order to prevent the Sword and Scroll from ever falling apart as it did when his father perished, he would create a second Elder rank, known as the Elder of the Sword.
Seeking out another to take up the role of Elder, Undulen decided that, in the interests of diplomacy, that Elder should be a Man. He left Mirkwood and ventured west of the Misty Mountains seeking Men of valour and strength to join him in his cause. Passing through the Misty Mountains, however, Undulen met Cirroc, a hermit Dwarf who lived there.
The circumstances of their meeting were a suitable prelude to Cirroc's induction as Elder of the Sword. This Dwarf was the first in a succession of Dwarves and Men who would travel with Undulen and lead The Sword and Scroll back to its former glory. Undulen kept record of these travels and the names of the Elders of the Sword, singing songs of their deeds throughout the centuries.
The Sword and Scroll's leadership is federal in nature. However, internal hierarchies exist; for example, in times of war, The Elder of the Sword assumes operational leadership in the interests of good strategy. The Elder of the Scroll oversees records, trade, diplomacy, and administration. The Elder of the Sword takes charge of military operations, strategy, and the organization and deployment of The Sword and Scroll's warriors.
The Sword and Scroll's members are inducted either as Acolytes of the Scroll, or Initiates of the Sword, and answer to their respective Elders. However, the Elders have equal leadership authority with regards to members. Furthermore, as part of The Sword and Scroll's values, all of its members exercise absolute autonomy, and so, are all volunteers, not conscripts.
Recruitment, then, is not a matter of payment, but of shared values. The Sword and Scroll holds to merit freedom and unity, its founding principles. Its members seek to uphold or institute these values in word and in deed, wherever they travel.
With the spread of the shadow of the Enemy across Middle-Earth, The Sword and Scroll has once again taken up arms, and Thanrik of Norlik, its current Elder of the Sword, leads The Sword and Scroll in its march against the Enemy.
