Session 5-25: Harad

For the purposes of Silm Film (and I think a point worth making outside of Silm Film), we are treating Harad as a large and complicated landscape - it is by no means monolithic nor homogeneous. So, yes, there are no doubt portions of Harad and kingdoms within Harad which have remained loyal to Sauron in his absence. But keep in mind that at least some of that absence was a true absence. When Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron's finger at the Last Alliance, Sauron was lost and presumed dead for many years -- not simply by Gondor, but no doubt by the Haradrim as well. He was reduced to a shadow and could not embody himself. His followers may no doubt have kept up his cult in his absence, but it was not simply a matter of him orchestrating from afar.

We are focusing on one city-state. It is a coastal city, presumably a port and trading hub, with Numenorean origins back in the Second Age. We have decided that this particular city-state values its independence, and treats the cult of Sauron as an ancestral reality that has fallen by the wayside long ago in their history. So, this particular city-state is one that was 'lost' to Sauron post-Last Alliance. He will need to send emissaries to re-establish the connection, and he will have to work to corrupt the people to the point where they will be willing to join with him. As to where this city is located - it is on the coast, and Gandalf reaches it via ship. It is not technically more difficult for this city to be in Far Harad than Near Harad.

As always, there is certainly more than one direction our stories can go in. We make decisions based on the ideas that are brought to the table during a discussion. Sometimes, there are points we don't consider or that are not raised at all. No one is suggesting that the decisions of Silm Film are the only possible decisions, nor even the best possible - we are saying that, given everything, that was the decision we arrived at and thought was best for the story.
 
Haerangil said:
Shouldn't Incánus be pronounced 'ink-uh-noosh" ? There was a comment on it by Christopher Tolkien if i remember correctly.
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That note by Christopher Tolkien is in Unfinished Tales, yes. If Incánus is taken to be a word in the language of the Haradrim meaning 'north-spy', the final -s should be pronounced -sh. As you know, Tolkien eventually rejected that proposed etymology, and instead went with a Quenya meaning, presuming that the name was given in Gondor. It would not be pronounced with an '-sh' in Quenya.

In reality, the name is Latin and means 'grey-haired'. I don't believe the final '-s' is pronounced '-sh' in Latin.
 
So the Cult of Sauron does human sacrifice; is there anything else we want them to do? I'm getting real "cult of Doom" vibes here (from the 1982 Conan the Barbarian).
 
We know that human sacrifice was practiced by the cult of Morgoth (led by Sauron as high priest) on Numenor. It is safe to assume that the Mouth of Sauron-led cult in Harad will reach the same point eventually, but not within the timeline of our frame story. We do show them practicing animal sacrifice, which is referred to as blood magic.
 
The advantage of an oligarchy as a form of government is that it makes it clear that not all decisions are up to the ruler (in this case, the queen). She can decide things, but she will need to be diplomatic and know whether or not her nobles/lords/etc are supportive of any ideas she might have. So when the cult of Sauron experiences a resurgence, her hesitance to quash it could be because she knows several prominent families are involved, and any attempt to run the cult-leaders out of town would be met with resistance from those quarters.
 
I would really prefer northwestern africa...but culturally we can steal from as many cultures we like, even iberian, italic, etruskan, anatolian or other mediterranean cultures.But west african is what i am most interested in at this point..

The etruscans were known for using reds and golds and having braided hair, but the Wolof, Mali, Igbo, ancient ghana... all very fascinating cultures
 
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As far as climate goes, I imagine a dry, Mediterranean climate. So perhaps more scrub than full desert. I imagine that this city-state has a natural harbor, probably at the mouth of a river. And, of course, there are oliphants. And the sun is strong there.
 
It sounds a bit like a copy of umbar...

Does anybody of you remember MERP? The rpg?

They had a setting in Far Harad they called the Raj or Bozisha Miraz, the dowry of the goddess.It was a coastal city state or a number of settlements dominated by one big city set in a large inland bay at the mouth of a river which created a paradise like fertile land inmidst of hilly scrublands. They also were ruled by a council of local influential men led by a primus inter pares after in the second age their king had been killed and never officially replaced. There also is a local dark cult active that plans to make one of the indigenous lords the new king as a puppet ruler for Sauron who already has been building up a large army in some neighbouring country not that far away.the native haradrim themselves follow a quasi-pagan religion in which they revere celestial powers like a moon goddess, a sky god, a sun god... these have a little resemblence to some valar, but the dark lords already have some place in it as an agressive sun-fire god, but he is not the main deity, which is the moon goddess who much resembles Elbereth. However the setting is in TA ca 1640, almost 1400 years prior to the lord of the rings...

Nevertheless All of this VERY much reminds me of our frame scenario
 
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Haerangil said:
It sounds a bit like a copy of umbar...

Does anybody of you remember MERP? The rpg?

They had a setting in Far Harad they called the Raj or Bozisha Miraz, the dowry of the goddess.It was a coastal city state or a number of settlement dominated by one big city set in a large inland bay a d the mouth of a river which created a paradise like fertile land inmidst of hilly scrublands. They also were ruled by a council of local influential men led by a primus inter pares after in the wecond age their king had been killed and never officially replaced. There also is a local dark cult active that plans to make one of the local lords the new king as a puppet ruler for Sauron who already has been building up a large army in some neighbouring country not that far away.But the setting is in TA ca 1640, almost 1400 years prior to the lord of the rings...

All of this VERY much reminds me of our frame scenario
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Nope. I don't do rpgs (not even the explosive ones).
 
I already have been thinking if Corey, who i know played MERP in his younger years, might have unconsciously brought up elements from it.However it is a pretty good background i think and it is a relatable story.I mean just because somebody else came up with a similar scenario 30 years ago does not mean we cannot use ours.It just shows that other people who already worked in this field came to similar conclusions... in a way it shows we may be on the right track.

I have started getting interested in old african cultures and started to read some articles and watch a bit of documentary on yt...

The Nok culture is very interesting i think...
 
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Here is the Frame Story as we have it so far, for the first 8 episodes:

docs.google.com

SFP: Season 5 Frame Outline

Silmarillion Film Project Season 5 Frame Story Gandalf (Incánus) visits Harad. He has a Hobbiton-in-the-south community that he visits there - a coastal town with Black Numenorean origins (Ûrîsakal). The leader Azrâindil has two sons. The older brother Abrazân (21) is more of a jock type. The...
docs.google.com docs.google.com

Season 5 Frame Story
Gandalf (Incánus) visits Harad. He has a Hobbiton-in-the-south community that he visits there - a coastal town with Black Numenorean history. The leader Azrâindil has two sons. The older brother Abrazân (21) is more of a jock type. The younger brother Arnubên (19) is more studious - more of a wizard’s pupil. (Boromir/Faramir dynamic) Incánus is a tutor for the brothers. The Mouth of Sauron is also in the area, trying to recruit support for Sauron. At some point - oliphaunts! At the death of their mother the queen, the younger brother accuses his older brother of treason, and Incánus and Abrazân flee to Gondor. Arnubên will go on to become the Mouth of Sauron.

Episode 1:
Teaser: Gandalf boards a ship in Gondor to Harad, mentioning his travels.
Scene 1: Entrance to Hobbiton-in-the-South - parallels to Gandalf’s entrance with hobbits, but also a street preacher in the marketplace. The younger son Arnubên meets “Incánus” and gives a Bilbo-like speech. He brings Incánus in to meet the leader - his mother the queen.
Scene 16: Incánus meets with the leader of the seaport town. The queen reacts with surprise that Incánus, who was an old man last time she saw him, is still around - the Men of the West are long-lived. She introduces her older son Abrazân.

Episode 2:
Teaser: Incánus and the leader Azrâindil discuss the cult of Sauron. The queen has a ‘benign neglect’ attitude - she dislikes ‘foreign’ influence, but considers them weak at the moment. She has a greater concern though; her sons are not ready for the challenges of leadership. The elder son Abrazân is not interested in learning about the past, and the younger son Arnubên is not interested in the here and now. They look down on the sons in a courtyard from a balcony.
Tag: The brothers are getting instruction from a terrible instructor - it’s boring and about economics or something. The queen calls the instructor out of the room. Incánus begins with a booming voice, reciting a lay about the adventures of the First Age. He turns to face them. Let’s start at the beginning though.

Episode 3:
Teaser: Abrazân (older brother) is teasing younger Arnubên for book-reading. Lesson - You can impact the world, but only your corner of it. Your life makes a difference. You have to write your own destiny. (You have to decide what to do with the time that is given to you, but NOT THOSE WORDS)
Tag: Arnubên is reading. Abrazân tosses a ball at his face. Younger brother catches it without looking up; he and his brother exchange a grin. Younger brother closes his book, and they go out and spar together.

Episode 4:
Teaser: A weird event has occurred! A guard reports to the queen that they keep finding piles of dead birds left in abandoned buildings. Incánus, who was there to hear the news, goes to investigate. The elder son Abrazân accompanies him.
Tag: Scene of the crime. Incánus walks around the scene, looking for the altar. Abrazân wants to know...what happened here? Incánus tells him this was no accident, but this was a beginner’s attempt at blood magic. Audience sees a flash of the ritual (live bird, knife, chanting). Abrazân is horrified - who would do that?! Incánus says that of all the evil deeds those in service to this master would do, this is the least.

Episode 5:
Teaser: The Mouth of Sauron arrives in the city to petition the queen for ‘permission’ to rebuild the old temple. The queen receives the ‘guest’ graciously, and offers to think over it. Incánus and the younger son Arnubên are together at this meeting in court, and Arnubên has a ‘Do something! Stop this!’ approach. Incánus pulls him aside. Arnubên: You know how this will end! You know what Mordor is! We should put a stop to this right now! Incánus: Your mother knows what she is doing.
Scene 16: Being so heavy-handed will drive people to resent the leader’s decisions. You must do the right thing, yes, but in the right time and in the right way. Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement {not those words!}….. Arnubên: But...you know what is right, don’t you? Incánus: Yes, but we cannot force the issue now. Trust your mother’s sense of what to resist and how to resist it.

Episode 6:
Teaser: Abrazân, the elder of the two brothers, is engaged in a public debate with a street preacher. His younger brother Arnubên and the Mouth of Sauron are in the audience. Abrazân’s debate skills are...not impressive, and his younger brother is frustrated with him and embarrassed by him.
Tag: The Mouth of Sauron, who stands behind Arnubên in the crowd, mentions that while men of action will always be necessary, it is men of words who are most important.

Episode 7:
Teaser: Incánus talks about the history of Gondor while teaching the brothers. Arnubên had a question that brings up Gondor’s history - perhaps something about Numenor. Abrazân says they know all they need to know - Gondor was their enemy at such and such time/place. Incánus replies that everything you’ve said is true, but you will need allies if you are going to keep Mordor from your gates, and if you hold on to the old enmities, you will be blind to the possibilities.
Tag: Incánus points out that the Men had legitimate grievances against the elves, but even so, chose to join them in the fight against evil, because without doing so, they all would have been destroyed. Abrazân points out, ‘Not all of them,’ and Incánus agrees, ‘Sadly, not all.’ Arnubên is troubled.

Episode 8:
Teaser: Abrazân volunteers to check out the Cult of Sauron, see if they are up to no good or planning harm to the city. Arnubên - no, I’ll go. Remember the street preacher? Incánus: Take care.
Scene 16: Street preacher introduces Mouth of Sauron. Survival through strength! We must all fight for our land and our people! Arnubên listens.
 
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The plot gives me an uncomfortable feeling.It reminds me of current issues on religious tolerance and minority politics and it puts Gandalf in a weird light because... he could be very wrong.

This means i actually like it.
 
I will admit that when I am thinking about our city in Harad, I am thinking of the kingdom of Kush (modern day Sudan). Not quite Egyptian, not Arabic, but unique enough to be its own thing. Not saying that we need to add pyramids and hieroglyphics to this culture, but the general idea of reds and golds, serpents, ruling queens, trading hub...that all fits well enough.

I would love it if we could make the climate Afro-Alpine - that would be a very unique look and one I'm familiar with. But, alas, you need high altitudes for that, and we're right on the coast. So, no Ethiopian highlands popping up in our frame story.
 
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