Board Thread:General Mod Discussion/@comment-98.247.21.9-20160523044718

My Theory: The players are Ainur

Evidence 1: Respawning When the players are slain, they return from the dead, often near (but not exactly on their death location). Only one being (to my knowledge) in all of the lore has done this, Olorin the Maiar being given a second chance. This provides evidence for the player being a Ainu, as the have the form of immortality possesed by them.

Evidence 2: Alignment What human could walk through Lothlorien without being questioned at all? What human could kill a troll and then come back later and socialize with one of it's kin? What human could become of champion of Gondor, yet also work as an agent of the Orcs of Gundabad? What man clad in Uruk-Hai armor and wielding Fire of Orthanc could march strait into the Hornburg? The answer is, no human could do this. But, if they could somehow take on the appearence of another individual, then this would be possible. Sauron is famous for visiting the elven smiths of Eregion under the guise of Annatar, Lord of Gifts, even though he was a Maia who served as a leiutenant of Melkor, and the elves took no notice of this until it was too late. He is also known for once turning into a giant wolf whilst in combat. In addition, the Olorin is said to have shown himself to others as being a wise elf, but in the Lord of the Rings he is an old human. The players could easily have a passive version of this ability that allowed them to pass unhindered through certain areas as well as obtain alignment with many different factions.

Evidence 3: Fast Travel Now, a hunger system exists in the game that complicates long journeys, as well as bandits and invasions plaguing the roads. However, when players fast travel, neither food nor hunger is lost as well as none of the players belongs being stolen and the player not engaging in combat. An explanation for this could be a form of teleportation. I do not believe it was ever explicitly mentioned in the lore, but Ainu are shown as ardas versions of Gods/Angels/Demons/Devils, so teleportation would not be a power that it would be unreasonable for them to have.

Evidence 4: Languages When the player travels to the Woodland Realm, the understand every word of Sindarin. When the player travels to Erebor, the hold conversations in Khuzdul. When they arrive in Mordor, they fluently speak the Black Speech. Now, they could just be highly Learned scholars, but when they travel to the realms of the Tauredain, they can hire and command troops, and it is very unlikely that they would no all of these languages. An easy way to explain there infinite lingual knowledge, is to grant them two of the abilities of the Ainur, an infinitely long life in which to learn this knowledge, or the ability to have every word you say understood by every individual and vice versa.

Evidence 5: Block Braking/Regeneration Steve the player punches a tree for a couple minutes. It falls down. Steve the human punches a tree for a couple minutes. Steve now has bloody hands. Steve the player falls 3 meters off a cliff. Steve keeps on running without being hurt. Steve the human falls 3 meters off a cliff. Steve lands covered in bruises and prone, even rising from the ground being painful, let alone sprinting along and leaping 2 meters over a gaping chasm. Players are capable of feats of Strength and Toughness far beyond any human. Also, an elf or dwarf would never be accepted into the ranks of mordor, nor an orc or troll into the armies of gondor, which shows that only one race is left remaining that could do these deeds, the Maia.

Evidence 6: Inventory If the player fills there inventory (including a full set of pouches) up entirely with blocks of gold, they are carrying over 1.2 billion kilograms of gold (or around the mass of 171290 african forest elephants). No mortal (or elf) in all of arda can carry that much material without even being slightly encumbered. In addition, the player does not grow in size at all when doing this. If you can tell me how this is possible without the player being an Ainu, then Kudos too you.

Evidence 7: Portals The player can create magical portals. We have already addressed the player either being an Ainu or a Human, so even if an Elf or Nazgul could do this it would be irrelevant. I mean, when has a human ever created a portal between multiple dimensions using not that rare common and barely refined ingredients (ex. Nether/Ring/Gulduril/Elven portals)

Evidence 8: Unit Hiring When a player walks up to a captain and gives them coins, an intelligent being with equipment/race/skillset based on what is desired by the player is created, and this would be impossible without an Ainu in the mix. With so much other evidence for the player being an Ainur, they are the most likely candidate.

Evidence 9: Creative (or World Edit)/Commands/Other Mods More examples of the staple magic used by the Istari and Valar as well as some Maia are found in three other sources. With Creative/World Edit and some commands the player can rapidly alter the landscape at massive or micro scale. Using commands and creative players can summon creatures to fight alongside them as well as create clothes and weaponry instantaneously. With creative they gain invulnerability to damage. With mods such as Thaumcraft and Ars Magica they gain the power to call down thunder and lightning upon there enemies, or even create beautiful fireworks and shields of magical energy, and lastly use the complex constructs of Curunir to create gargantuan and sprawling magical machines.

Explaining Power Degree/Limits: There seem to be limits to the abilities of the players, Creative/Commands/Other Mods not being always available, having a general (though adaptable) alignment, and not being able to FT to places you have not been in the same region as aswell as hardcore, but there is a lore reason for this. For example, the Istari had limits placed upon them by Eru and Manwe about how much of there abilities they were allowed to use, and those limits could be altered, and the limits can be altered using commands and world settings as well as out of game modifications to your minecraft account.

Bonus Theory: Captains are Players in Creative Mode/Using Cheats Though the players are the most likely candidates for being the Ainu involved in summoning units, they may not be. They must be aligned with the captains, near the position of the captains, and with payment for the captains. In addition, captains share similar properties to players, such as respawning. This could also be applied to merchants, who have a seemingly endless supply of goods, and bandits who can appear out of thin air, as well as the leaders who use magical horns to summon there allies (horns of summoning and horns of conquest.) 