I know that one Sauron's strengths is his ability to corrupt and fool the Free People, winning allies and using them as pawns. So it would seem natural that after declaring himself in Mordor one of the things that Sauron most likely did in the time leading up to the War of the Ring was to send out emissaries to convince communities that he meant no harm and that they would prosper from remaining out of any conflict or even aiding him.

My question is this, what would these representatives of the lands of Mordor look like? I would assume that they would be Southron (Haradrim) at least some if not all of them. I also think that they would be very courteous and charismatic.

In general I have a pretty solid opinion of how I think they would act and appear, but I am curious of other peoples opinions. In particular, opinions backed by Tolkien's writings.

Thanks.

Templar72
I'm not sure to what degree you are correct through out Middle-earth, but their is at least one known visitation.

In LOTR (Council of Elrond chapter), Gimli says that the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain are presented with a temptation to provide information on Bilbo Baggins, the Ruling Ring, Hobbits, the Shire, etc.

I doubt that this was a typical version of emissary visits, but the emissary sent to Erebor was the Mouth of Sauron. Considering his sub-human appearance and standing in Mordor's hierarchy, he may not be the best "first contact" for potential new vassals needing to be "sweet-talked" into service. I cannot recall if, like Saruman, he had an enchanting voice, which might make him a better candidate than I've painted him.

Sauron had no idea what Hobbits are, or where they could be found in Middle-earth, until getting information either out of Gollum, or Saruman.

Garn, I am not sure the the Mouth of Sauron's sub-human appearance is supported by the books. I believe that is solely a movie interpretation. He was of Black Númenórean decent and I believe in the books is only described as a man.

I think of the spread of the Enemy leading up to the war to be much more subtle, calculated and corrupting. Not all black winged doom and thunder. Just my opinion, which is why I am asking here, I am curious of others opinions.

Thanks.

I had a story set in Eriador in which Saurons emmisaries had gone out trying to bring various notables over to his side.

In this instance he used normal men from the region who he had already recruited. They weren't quite the Bill Ferny low-life type, but more able adventurers who just happened to be in the sway of the shadow for some reason. They visited the various notables and treis to gain their support.

If I remember correctly I did it to sow a bit of doubt in the mind of the PC's, to make them wander who may have been influenced.

In the 'Fellowship of the Ring' Frodo suggests that Saurons servants would, "seem fairer and feel fouler" in response to concerns about Striders loyalties. So I would imagine that any emmisaries sent out by Sauron prior to the opening of hostilities would seem the epitemy of culture, taste and politeness. First would come the velvet glove than the iron fist.

This is similar to my thoughts. You would think that an entity able to fool the Elven, Dwarven and Human Kings would have a velvet glove tucked away somewhere.

Hitler was clearly a monster among men, but he clearly put a silver tongue to use convincing Neville Chamberlain his intentions were non-threatening.

Templar72,
My recollection of the Mouth of Sauron and that of the movie were essentially the same - basically a covered face with a big mouth. Don't know where I got that imagery from, but it predates PJ's movies. The following paragraph gives us the Mouth's appearance. So unless their is some other citation for him (I only checked Return), I've totally foobarred this one.

I agree that toward the end of the Necromancer's existence (last 50 years?), spies and emissaries would have been dispatched to test the allegiance of current and former allies. Attempts would be made to re-gain the allegiance of any defectors who tried to gain independence and dominance during the centuries Sauron was missing from Middle-earth. Although I am sure most of it was done underhandedly and without revealing that Sauron was or could come back. It was just under some new power, with only the last couple of years prior to LOTR revealing this new power was the return of the old power.

Where I differ is my belief that most of the races and cultures had already chosen their allegiance (good or evil in general) by this point. Obviously there would be some changes, for and against Sauron. So there would definitely be attempts to seduce others into Sauron's allegiance. Sauron's style of evil is long term subterfuge - whether outright deceit or temptation - so initial reconnaissance would be long term, slow and work its way into positions of power / knowledge. However, the lack of evil in western Middle-earth would hamper Sauron's attempts to infiltrate Gondor and Eriador in general; this was probably where Saruman was most valuable to Sauron's war preparations.

Many of these initial spies and emissaries are probably not working for the Necromancer, Sauron, the Nazgul, etc. They would be working for a guy, who works for a guy, who.... eventually works for a crime boss, greedy organization, rapacious noble, etc. Who is probably also ignorant, but is evil. Heading up the chain from there would lead to more pronounced evil NPCs with each step revealing more links to Mordor, Dol Guldur or Angmar.


Inschskye
That meshes with my opinion as well for the initial feeling out of good races / cultures. It starts with a very miniscule "evil".

Maybe in village Whatsit, Gregor disagrees with his lord's policy regarding road upkeep. One day a servant of evil arrives and spends some time (maybe a merchant needing cart repairs or other harmless person & situation) and listens to Gregor's complaints. Maybe this merchant asks who has been traveling the roads lately - so he can have a business advantage over other merchants. Gregor is tipped for his information. Eventually the merchant asks Gregor for more detailed information and provides ever larger gratuities.

Gregor is thoroughly bought, but he is not Evil in the Mordor sense. Not even in the Bill Ferny sense (excellent analogy, btw). He's more of a "loose lips sinks ships" guy. A stool-pigeon.


Priest,
Agreed. The Emissaries would be fair. The spies would tend to be average for their intended . Although some better and some worse would likely be included as well due to cliques and other social groupings. So a noble spy within Minas Tirith would appear and act nicer than a spy living on a farm a couple miles outside of the city.

Absolutely, afterall communities (large or small) respond better to one of their own. I see Sauron as willing to use each and every means to ensure his victory and so would use the tools to fit the occasion.
Spies whether in the court of Minas Tirith or a small village would be sure to blend with their surroundings so as not to draw attention to themselves. Emissaries on the other hand would want to emphasise the 'benefits' of serving Lord Sauron or the 'price' of opposition.

Just thought I'd try and clear this up. I have a friend who is *obsessed* with the films, and his entire view of Middle Earth is based around them. It's rather annoying. However, there is apparently an excerpt in the bonus features of the extended edition that states that Peter Jackson chose to cover the face of the Mouth of Sauron to show that he really was nothing more than a mouth. Apparently the actor is also quite well known, and it came as a shock to him when he found out his face wouldn't be on screen.

Beleg,
Thanks for the info. As I said, apparently I totally screwed this one up.

(I am wondering where/how I got that impression though. Only thing I can imagine is some artistic rendering that stuck in my mind, perhaps a D&D image I thought was a good representation of the Mouth of Sauron.)

There's a piece of art work by John Howe entitled the Lieutenant of the Black Gate. It's possible you were thinking of that? It's actually of his interpretation of the Witch King, apparently, but his face appears covered by a mask. That or he's just really ugly

No worries, if it makes you feel better I had to go back and make sure my memory of the description of the Mouth of Sauron was correct after you said something about him being sub-human and I just re-read the books last fall.

There is a painting by John Howe of the Mouth of Sauron that looks very similar to Peter Jackson's interpretations but his whole face is covered. It's possible that sub-consciously reinforced your image of how he is described.

Priest: Thanks, I'd forgotten about the fair/foul quote.

Garn: Yeah, your summation kinda sums up how I feel some 'recruiting' would be done. I seem to recall that a theme I used in the campaign was one of redemption and so there were a few characters who had pulled down the path and the PC had the ability to try and bring them back.

Adding to the 'feel fair' quote, remember that Sauron himself was captured by the Numenoreans in his Annatar guise, they knew who he was and what he was like, but they still fell his lies and doomed themselves. Thats kinda how I would like to imagine some of his emmisaries. You know who they represent, you feel that you are aware of what they will/can do, but you fall for it anyway unless you are really strong.

Inschskye,
That strikes me as viable.

I also think Sauron's sudden inability to create a fair form on his return in the Third Age, forces a change in his activity. I think he might be discomforted by it to some degree (otherwise why should Tolkien make such a point-blank statement) and it caused him to alter his normal actions. I think he was more 'hands on' in previous ages, being physically present and participating in any local events if there were no pressing concerns.

Whereas in the Third Age things are done remotely. Sauron remains in Dol Guldur or Barad-dur and either watches (where possible) or receives reports (outside of his perception range) far more than in previous Ages.

It would be interesting to know whether it was his vanity that required a fair form? Or, was it like a tool, something that made deception more probable?

Hmm... I cannot recall Tolkien saying anything about Morgoth's form - pro or con. (But as I wasn't specifically looking for it, I might easily have missed it. I've only spot-checked the HoMe since it's such a tough read.) This might be important because for all we know, Sauron may be the first and only member of the Ainur who ever had this happen.

Kinda reminds me of a guy by the name of Palpatine from a galaxy far, far away!

As for Morgoth, his wikipedia entry describes him as being 'most powerful and beautiful' originally. He was able to take any form then.

As he became corrupted, he was bound to single form and acquired some interesting scars.

You're better off reading the entry, as it's a lot more detailed than my brief summary.

Sauron lost the ability to assume a fair form with the destruction of his beautiful "Annatar" body in the Downfall of Númenor. When he re-formed in Mordor and prepared his campaign against Gondor (which resulted in the War of the Last Alliance), he was already only able to take the terrible "Dark Lord" persona. The loss of personal power in the corruption of the Númenóreans led to the loss of his ability to assume a fair-seeming form.

IIRC his Third-Age appearance thus resembles his late-Second-Age persona which confronted Gil-galad, Elendil etc. on Mount Doom (e.g. looking the same, but without the finger which once bore the One).

Cheers
Tolwen

Just nit-picking, but we are starting to drift from the OP, Sauron was Morgoth's lieutenant so any description of Morgoth will not apply to Sauron.
"Morgoth's chief servants were Maiar he corrupted or monsters he created: Sauron, later the Dark Lord of Mordor and his chief servant" (Wikipedia)