This is a guide to the Palantiri and The Mirror of Galadriel that were introduced in TATW 3.0. It also contains some related information that may be useful to modders.
Post 1 = Palantiri
Post 2 = The Mirror of Galadriel
Post 3 = information for modders
("Palantir" is singular, "Palantiri" is plural. The correct spelling is Palantíri but I don't have that character on my keyboard. Likewise for Barad-dűr.)
Neither Palantiri nor the Mirror are substitutes for spies and watchtowers. They are both random; you cannot tell them where to look.
Viewings are displayed in cinematic mode. However, you may still double-click on settlements and characters to see their detail scrolls. While a settlement scroll is open the viewing will pause.
Last edited by Withwnar; May 03, 2015 at 01:16 AM.
Fantastic guide. I've been leaving my sole Palantir alone (as Gondor) because i wasn't entirely sure on the benefits and drawbacks -- this article provided all i needed. Thanks!
Can't seem to rep you though...probably some arbitrary post count required for this
ahhh rite so thas how they work thanks i fort i mite not ever use 1 or the other kept pressing f1 an my laptop kept thinking i had a projector lol wot a wallie
Working for myself for 3years and still finding time to play Total War
"power down now. Have your crew step out or we will kill you!" - Conl Sharp (Transformers)
"what you talkin 'bout willis?" -Gary Coleman aka Arnold Jackson (Diff'rent Strokes)
if i get all the palantirs under my control,lets say like eriador,my general faction leader eill receive some kind of bonus or something like that at least?
No. If your realm already stretches from Elostirion to Barard-dur then I'm not sure that he would need any further bonuses. It would be a nice touch though: I'm sure that Sauron would be interested in collecting all four.
well with Eriador and Aragorn i have all 3 except Barad dur stone,but think if u have all 3 or even 4 then u ncould use one with the effect of all or 3 and have a look in the map,especially if sauron is destroyed then u can see anything across the line elostorion isen Minas tirith barad dur,that could be nice
Now these Stones had this virtue that those who looked therein might perceive in them things far off,
whether in place or in time. For the most part they revealed only things near to another kindred Stone, for the Stones
each called to each; but those who possessed great strength of will and of mind might learn to direct their gaze whither
they would. Thus the Númenóreans were aware of many things that their enemies wished to conceal, and little escaped
their vigilance in the days of their might.
from The Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor
Alone the
palantíri could only "see:" they did not transmit sound. Ungoverned by a directing mind
they were wayward, and their "visions" were (apparently at least) haphazard. From a high place their westward face, for instance, would look to vast distance, its vision blurred and distorted to either side and above and below, and its foreground obscured by things behind receding in ever-diminishing clarity. Also, what they "saw" was directed or hindered by chance, by darkness, or by "shrouding" (see below). The vision of the
palantíri was not "blinded" or "occluded" by physical obstacles, but only by darkness; so they could
look
through a mountain as they could look through a patch of dark or shadow, but see nothing within that
did not receive some light. They could see through walls but see nothing within rooms, caves, or vaults unless some light fell on it; and they could not themselves provide or project light. It was possible to guard against their sight by the process called "shrouding," by which certain things or areas would be seen in a Stone only as a shadow or a deep mist. How this was done (by those aware of the Stones and the possibility
of being watched by them) is one of the lost mysteries of the palantíri. 18
A viewer could by his will cause the vision of the Stone to
concentrate on some point, on or near its
direct line.
19 The uncontrolled "visions" were small, especially in the minor Stones, though they were much
larger to the eye of a beholder who placed himself at some distance from the surface of the
palantír (about
three feet at best). But controlled by the will of a skilled and strong surveyor, remoter things could be enlarged, brought as it were nearer and clearer, while their background was almost suppressed. Thus a man at a considerable distance might be seen as a tiny figure, half an inch high, difficult to pick oat against a landscape or a concourse of other men; but concentration could enlarge and clarify the vision till he was seen in clear if reduced detail like a picture apparently a foot or more in height, and recognized if he was known to the surveyor. Great concentration might even enlarge some detail that interested the surveyor, so that it
could be seen (for instance) if he had a ring on his hand.
But this "concentration" was very tiring and might become exhausting. Consequently it was only undertaken when information was urgently desired, and chance (aided by other information maybe) enabled the surveyor to pick out items (significant for him and his immediate concern) from the welter of the Stone's visions. For example, Denethor sitting before the Anor-stone anxious about Rohan, and deciding whether or not at once to order the kindling of the beacons and the sending out of the "arrow," might place himself in a direct line looking north-west by west through Rohan, passing close to Edoras and on towards the Fords of Isen. At that time there might be visible movements of men in that line. If so, he could concentrate on (say) a group, see them as Riders, and finally discover some figure known to him: Gandalf, for instance, riding with
the reinforcements to Helm's Deep, and suddenly breaking away and racing northwards. 20
The
palantíri could not themselves survey men's minds, at unawares or unwilling; for the transference
of thought depended on the
wills of the user on either side, and thought (received as speech) 21 was only transmittable by one Stone to another in accord.
notes
18 The later note referred to in note 17 treats some of these aspects the
palantíri slightly differently; in particular
particular the concept "shrouding" seems differently employed. This note, very hasty and somewhat obscure, reads in part: "They retained the images received, so that each contained within itself a multiplicity of images and scenes, some from a remote past. They could not 'see' in the dark; that is, things that were in the dark were not recorded by them. They themselves could be and usually were kept in the dark, because it was much easier then to see the scenes that they presented, and as the centuries passed to limit their 'overcrowding.' How they were thus 'shrouded' was kept secret and so is now unknown. They were not 'blinded' by physical obstacles, as a wall, a hill, or a wood, so long as the distant objects were themselves in light. It was said, or guessed, by later commentators that the Stones were placed in their original sites in spherical cases that were locked to prevent their misuse by the unauthorized; but that this casing also performed the office of shrouding them and making them quiescent. The cases must therefore have been made of some metal or other substance not now known." Marginal jottings associated with this note are partly illegible, but so much can be made out, that the remoter the past the clearer the view, while for distant viewing there was a "proper distance," varying with the Stones, at which distant objects were clearer. The greater
palantíri could look much further than the lesser; for the lesser
the "proper distance" was of the order of five hundred miles, as between the Orthanc-stone and that of Anor. "Ithil was too near, but was largely used for [illegible words], not for personal contacts with Minas Anor." 19 The orientation was not, of course, divided into separate "quarters" but continuous; so that its
direct line of
vision to a surveyor sitting south-east would be to the north-west, and so on. [Author's note.] 20 See
The Two Towers III 7.
21 In a detached note this aspect is more explicitly described: "Two persons, each using a Stone 'in accord' with the other, could converse, but not by sound, which the Stones did not transmit. Looking one at the other they would exchange 'thought' – not their full or true thought, or their intentions, but 'silent speech,' the thoughts they wished to transmit (already formalized in linguistic form in their minds or actually spoken aloud), which would be received by their respondents and of course immediately transformed into 'speech,' and only reportable as
such."
Last edited by dannyalex; February 29, 2012 at 12:21 AM.
500 mile limit huh? We might have to overlook that one. So to speak.
Interesting. So 'by default' they would see the surroundings of the other stones. That's doable: reveal the surroundings of those settlements but it is a question of when? It could only be during a viewing. One option is that in addition to the random viewing you are snapped to those revealed settlements for a short duration. That could work.
Also, perhaps a character with high enough will could see everything in a direct line between the stones.
Only the three though, I think. The Elostirion-stone should remain incommunicado.