Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-26296200-20160123014258/@comment-26172435-20160123074953

To my feeling, there is too much wishful thinking regarding the degree of organizational structure and cultural / political splendour of Umbar in the OP (original post). Considering the centuries of turmoil preceding the WOTR, I cannot imagine the Corsairs to still be as organized and powerful as they might have been in their golden years, a few centuries earlier. After Umbar seceded from Gondorian rule, and the Corsairs merged with the Umbarians to basically form a 'renegade province' with ever-increasing Haradrim influence, the economical lifeline of Umbar changed dramatically. Before, they would have undoubtedly profited from their position as trade center in the south, between north-west and Harad / Khand. After, the flow of goods from and to the north-west obviously dried up, with their increasingly piratey behaviour along the shores of the Bay of Belfalas. This will have strongly weakened the central powerhouses in Umbar and their rule. With increasing Haradrim influence, and a near-crumbled central rule in past century, I suspect the faction 'Umbar' to be incomparable with the likes of any if the main other factions. Sure, they will still have some oc their traditional ranks and weaponry, and some central rule to control their forces to some extent, but no exceptional forces. I suggest to follow Ithilion's proposal with 3 types of military NPCs.

Regarding structures: focus on ruined splendour and only two or three 'live' structures would do, like 'trade houses' (incl. Slaves) and 'inns'. My guess is that their main hardware resource infrastructure has suffered strongly in past century before TWOTR. So, I don't expect them to have many functioning smitties and a significant dominant military structure. Maybe 'brawling arena's' located alongside inns and trade houses would be fitting.

I have no indication of the health of Umbarians and Corsairs to be significantly different from that of Gondorians and Near Haradrim. Just assume 20 hp.