Sauron

Gender	Male
Race	Maia
Region	Mirkwood
Area	Dol Guldur
Dungeon	Gostador
Map Ref	[14.6S, 43.5W]

Sauron, often called the Dark Lord, the Enemy or the Necromancer, was the great subversive Maia and the cunning champion of Darkness, of old the seeming most devoted lieutenant of Morgoth in the First Age and later his successor as the oppressive tyrant of the Second and Third Ages. Whether from his fortress-tower of Barad-dûr in Mordor or from his stronghold of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood, he weaves his plots to make himself god-king over most of Arda, including Middle-earth and once Númenor by means of guile or through overwhelming hosts.

Originally the mightiest Maia disciple of Aulë, Sauron desired the power to order all things according to his own vision, initially keeping the welfare of the world in mind until power became the end in itself. Drawn to Morgoth's abillity to affect his designs quickly he allied with him, becoming his most terrible and foremost captain. After the War of Wrath and the expulsion of his master, he took up his mantle as the second Dark Lord, greatest foe of Elves and Men for the coming two ages. Many were Sauron's foul servants: Orcs, Trolls, Wargs, Shades, a sparse few of the Dragons and other fell beasts; but some peoples of Men, such as the Easterlings, Variags and the Black Númenóreans, were also counted among his followers and worshippers. In the guise of Antheron, Sauron came to the Elves and taught them much of craft, guiding Celebrimbor and other smiths into forging the nineteen Rings of Power, while he fashioned for himself the One Ring to rule them all. Through both works of unparalleled deceit and his immeasurable legions, the Dark Lord strove to suborn the Free Folk and, as their tyrant, bend them to his will - the destruction of his One Ring, however, brought about his final downfall and he was reduced to an impotent spirit caught in the outer void, much like his old master before him.

Sauron is important in Aragorn's history because Sauron played a key role in the corruption and subsequent downfall of Númenor, which Aragorn's Dúnedain ancestors evaded and fled from. The Dark Lord was defeated by the line of the rightful Kings of Men three times. The Dúnedain owned the seven palantír stones that were brought to Middle-earth, and so Aragorn was able to wrest control of the palantír from Sauron.

In the context of LoTRO Sauron's primary agents are the Nazgûl (chiefly the Witch-king), the Gúrzyul, Borangos, Lhaereth and the two-faced Saruman.

Lore

Sauron is one of most powerful Maiar whose power only grew stronger with the forging of the One Ring.

In the First Age he was know as Gorthaur, Warden of Angband, and first in command after Morgoth.

For some four centuries, the forces of the Noldor had besieged Morgoth in his northern fortress of Angband, holding the northern mountain fences of Beleriand and their passes against his forces, until the Dagor Bragollach, the Battle of Sudden Flame, in I 455. For two years after the Dagor Bragollach itself, Finrod's tower of Minas Tirith, an elven outpost against Angband, had guarded the Pass of Sirion against Morgoth's forces. Then in I 457, Sauron himself came against the tower; he cast a spell of fear upon the Elves who held it, and they were slain or fled back to Finrod in Nargothrond.

Sauron then took Minas Tirith to dwell in, and watched the Pass of Sirion himself from its topmost tower. The isle on which it stood, which had been called Tol Sirion, was renamed Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves.

From there he commanded orcs, wargs and ancient werewolfes. But he was defeated by Huan and Lúthien, who had come to save Beren from captivity. Sauron was able to change into many different formes, for example a Master of Werewolfes in battle with Huan, and after, a great vampire while he was escaping back to Angband.

With the fall of Morgoth, Sauron hid in the deeps of Angband so he escaped the Valar and elves in the War of Wrath. Many years later he showed himself again, taking on the mantle of the heir of Melkor.

He began revealing himself once more, and by SA 1000 he gathered his power and established himself in the land of Mordor in eastern Middle-earth and began building the dreaded Dark Tower of Barad-dûr near Mount Doom. Around SA 1500, Sauron put on a fair visage and called himself Annatar (or Antheron), the "Lord of Gifts", thus befriending the Elvish smiths of Eregion.

Sauron was impersonating a minister of the Valar, a craftsman of great power and knowledge. He taught the elf-smiths to craft magic rings of power, and Celebrimbor the leader of Eregion crafted three elven rings called Vilya, Narya and Nenya which he gave to three great elf lords: Galadriel, Elrond and Gil-galad. In secret Sauron returned to Mordor where he, in the fires of Mount Doom, forged a Master Ring, the One Ring to Rule them All. He forged it from the fire and he crowned it with the darkness. He put it on with words:

"sh nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul. Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul."

In language of man:

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."

The Elves heard Sauron and they saw his treachery so they hid the three elven rings far from his reach.

In Eregion when Celebrimbor forged the three Rings, Sauron made many other, lower rings. They were given to the other races, Nine to Men and Seven to Dwarves, and Sauron mastered them. As the ancient lyrics say:

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie,

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,

One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Three were hidden, seven lost and nine, nine for men were given to great human kings and sorcerers but under Sauron control they became know as the Nazgûl, the most deadly servants of the Enemy.

In the One ring, Sauron installed a great part of his power so the destruction of the ring would severely weaken its master, but ring was giving him great power while he wielded it. With it, Sauron showed his true colours, gathered his armies and began a great war for Middle-Earth.

Appearances

Sauron himself makes a small appearance in Vol I. Book 9 as the Red Eye through a palantír, when the player escorts Sara Oakheart through Barad Gûlaran, where she later reveals herself as Amarthiel and asks him where the ring Narchuil is.

He also appears as the Red Eye in the instance Sammath Gûl, as the players approach Gorothúl, the third boss.

In the session play quest 'Daughter of Strife' from Volume I: Book XV, where the player takes on the character of Narmeleth, Sauron is also encountered in his disguise of Antheron, at the time he taught the elves of Eregion the secrets of the rings.

A brief apparition of Antheron can be seen in the Room of Dread in Minas Elendúr.

Sauron makes an appearance in his "Dark Lord" form in a flashback in Gostador. He is seen talking to Lhaereth and then Karazgar, in the quest Whispers from the Long Years from The Black Book of Mordor quest chain.

Another flashback of Sauron talking to his servant Karazgar is seen in the ruins of Gostador in the quest 'Whispers in the Pits' as part of the Lay of Rust and Rime quest chain.

In the instance The Glory of the Bright Company (the Black Book of Mordor, Chapter 12), you venture to the Upper Reaches of Barad-dûr together with Glorfindel and Lendelen, where Lendelen destroys the Vandassar while Glorfindel distracts Sauron.