Gondor

**The Kingdom of Gondor** was founded in Second Age 3320 by exiles from the destroyed continent of Númenor. It was a major component of the Last Alliance of Men and Elves that defeated Sauron at the end of the Second Age, and its glory and prosperity only grew. However, in Third Age 2050, King Eärnur rode to Minas Morgul to fight the Witch King of Angmar and was never seen again, breaking the line of kings. Gondor has thus been ruled by Stewards of the House of Húrin for the last 26 generations, and has entered a steady decline. Now the power of  Mordor rises again in the East, and the Eye of Sauron once again turns West. Will Gondor hold as it ever has, or will the white city of Minas Tirith fall to evil?

## Geography

Gondor is the largest & most powerful of the free peoples of Middle Earth. In the west it borders the tribes of Enedwaith, though only a few passes exist through the mountains. The entire northern border consists of the White Mountains, leaving the only path to its old ally  Rohan through Anorien. To the east lies the black land of  Mordor, from whence all evil flows; the only ways in are through the Black Gate in the north, the Morgul Vale in the center, and the far distant mouth of Mordor. Gondor also has formidable natural defenses: without traveling all the way around the Emyn Muil into the Wold of Rohan, only three passages exist across the Anduin. The island fortress of Cair Andros guards the north, the old ruined capital of Osgilath the center, and the islands of Ethir Anduin in the south.

To the south lies Harondor, once an integral part of the Kingdom but now an autonomous and debatable land. The rest of the south is populated by enemies-- the Variags of Khand, the mûmak riders of Harad, and the seafaring corsairs of Umbar who threaten Gondor's long southern coast.

## Focus Tree

Gondor's focus tree largely consists of branches dedicated to developing & utilizing the seven fiefdoms: Pinnath Gelin, Lamedon, Anfalas, Belfalas, Lebennin, Lossarnach, and Anorien. The political branch has four main sections:

**Look to our Defenses** branch aids in fort construction and the defence of Ithilien. It also leads to "The Passing of Denethor", which allows Gondor to rid itself of Denethor's despair-induced debuffs.

**The Glorious Legacy of Númenor** branch restores the cities of Minas Tirith, Osgiliath, and Minas Morgul to their splendor of old.

**Reclaim the North** branch only becomes available once a king is crowned and helps conquer/subjugate the lands once ruled by Númenóreans.

**The Dark Lord Defeated** only becomes available once  Mordor has been defeated or the One Ring has been destroyed and focuses on pacifying the rest of Sauron's minions.

There are also several focuses dealing with the Palantír of Minas Tirith, welcoming the returning King Aragorn or elevating the stewards to Kings, calling  Rohan to war, and aiding the Quest of the Ring.

## Special Mechanics

Gondor's laws each provide about half as much benefit as regular laws. Once Gondor crowns a king they will gain access to normal laws. If they take the "The House of Húrin" path to elevate the Stewards to kingship they gain access to "Stewardial Decrees" decisions. Each decision mitigates the sub-par laws and increases Stewardial Authority, which must reach 10 in order to crown a steward.

As long as Denethor is ruler, Sauron controls  Mordor, and Gondor has not completed the focus "Claim the Palantír", "The Gaze of the Anor-Stone" event will happen ever 180 days. Gondor will gain a small buff dependent on which branch of their focus tree Mordor is currently progressing down. Sauron will have a chance to twist what Denethor sees, and depending on his choices Gondor may gain a temporary decryption buff and/or Denethor may gain the increasingly severe trait "Despair", which decreases war support and surrender limit. The only way to remove this trait is to kill Denethor or defeat Sauron and complete the focus "Gaze Upon a Healed World".

## AI Paths

Gondor's AI has two sets of behavior that the player can choose between in the "Game Rules" menu before starting a campaign.

### Historical

Gondor will spend the first two and a half years taking semi-random fiefdom focuses. It will then focus on the "Look to our Defenses" branch, including "The Passing of Denethor", taking breaks to send Boromir to Rivendell and call Rohan to war. It will crown Aragorn as king as soon as it is able.

#### The House of Húrin

This is the same as the historical path, except that Gondor will cease its fiefdom focus slightly earlier and attempt to crown Denethor king instead of welcoming Aragorn.