The Easterlings provided a challenge unlike others during the creation of TATW. Little was written by Tolkien regarding them and a great deal of effort was required to assemble a reasonable unit list that fit the lore laid out by him. Additionally we had to find a way to meld the lore and Peter Jackson’s vision from the movies. To do this we took what we knew and filled in the blanks with what we consider reasonable “fan-fiction.” The result is a faction with considerable depth and meaning that will present a unique game play experience for all our TATW fans.
Recent History of the East
The Easterlings have been under the influence of Sauron, and before him Morgoth, it would seem from the very beginning. However it is their more recent dealings with Sauron that concerns us most. Before Sauron had established himself in Mirkwood he sought security in Rhûn. He used this time in the east to build the loyalty of the Easterlings. Around 1050 of the Third Age Sauron rebuild Dol Goldur in Mirkwood; however he maintained his ties with the Easterlings. He constantly sent emissaries to the men of the East to ensure they kept up their raids. These emissaries would eventually help establish the tribe known in the west as “The Wainriders” as the pre-eminent tribe in Rhûn. They were eventually able to establish a loose confederation under the leadership of the Wainrider Warlords. It was these warlords who attacked the west in 1851 of the Third Age by assaulting the lands south of Mirkwood. A constant state of war existed between the Wainriders and the West as an Alliance with Khand and Harad was formed. However with their defeat at the hands of Gondor in 1944 of the Third Age the Wainrider influence in the east disappeared. The tribes were fragmented once again and the alliances with Khand and Harad fell apart.
In 2064 of the Third Age Sauron was forced to return to Rhûn. For over 400 years he attempted to re-establish the might of the Wainriders. As the years went on the remnants of the Wainriders were able to rise to power once again. These people would be known as the Balchoth Horde in the west. By 2460 of the Third Age the Balchoth had established a Khanate and the foundations of a future “Rhûnic Empire.” Sauron, seeing the might of the Balchoth returned to Mirkwood and from their incited the Balchoth to assault the west. The Balchoth would push across the Anduin in 2510 of the Third Age. Once again however, despite initial successes the Easterlings would be defeated. This time by the people that would form the nation of Rohan. Rhûn and its tribes would again fall into a nomadic and tribal way of life. Tribes, when they became large enough would make invasions into the west. For hundreds of years the Easterlings would remain anything but united. When Sauron began to turn his thoughts once again towards the Ring and the West he once again looked to unite the Easterlings.
Rise of the Loke-Khan
Around 1000 of the Third Age Saruman, Alatar and Pallando, were sent East by the Valar. They were given the orders to break Saurons influence there. Saruman was forced to retreat west after Pallando was killed and Alatar was corrupted by Sauron. Chief among the emissaries that Sauron used over the years Alatar gained much influence in Rhûn. While Alatar remained a servant of Sauron he had his own ambitions. Using the powers available to him, he began the work of establishing cults to dark magic in the lands of Rhûn. Among the adherents of these dark cults was a sect of dragon worshippers, known as the Loke Egleria. Alatar fermented these beliefs establishing himself as high priest of the cult. It was not until the Balchoth Invasions that Alatar had fully established himself as Saurons Chief Lieutenant in Rhûn and was left in the East to watch over the invasions. With the failure of the invasions in 2510 of the Third Age Alatar fled further east with his Dragon Worshippers abandoning Rhûn to the chaos of that would follow the failure of the Balchoth.
Around 2800 of the Third Age Sauron sought to increase his influence in Middle Earth. He called on Alatar to bring his Loke Egleria Priests and Dragon Worshippers to Rhûn where he was to attempt to unify the tribes. The Dragon worship which Alatar believed had travelled east with him was still well established among the tribes of Rhûn. He began exploiting this, now ingrained, belief system using his own followers and priest to establish his influence among several of the Warlords. Several decades of war and conquest eventually resulted in a second khanate under the leadership of the Loke-Khan (Dragon Khan) with the corrupted Istari Alatar at his right hand. This Khanate was very different from that of the Balchoth Khanate and even farther removed from the loose confederation of the Wainriders. Alatar had formed a nation which steeped itself in the dragon mythos he had created. It permeated ever aspect of life which led to the loyalty of the Tribes to the Loke-Khan who was the human embodiment for the Dragons of Middle Earth.
Alatar, moving quickly to establish the might of the Loke-Khan established a standing army, The Loke-Rim which would serve as the personal bodyguard of the Khan and also to ensure the loyalty of his Clan leaders. Only the best men in Rhûn were taken into the army and a new social order was established. The professional soldier quickly became a social class of its own with the clan structure left to peasantry. Once a man was taken into The Loke-Rim all his decendants were immediately accepted into the social order. They children would train from birth to be warriors of the Loke-Khan and so a great deal of pride and honor was established within the army.
Below the army were the Clan Leaders, or petty Warlords. These men had their own household troops which they used to maintain their own power. It was not uncommon that two Clan Leaders would go to war with their personal armies. However, even combined the Clan Leaders could not challenge the might of The Loke-Rim and so the Loke-Khan was secure in his position. In times of full scale war the Clan Leaders were expected to field troops to augment those of The Loke-Rim. If the army still did not have the numbers required for the expedition then the peasantry was further conscripted.
It was this social and military structure that Aragorn witnesses in 2980 of the Third Age. It was troops of The Loke-Rim who were supplied to Sauron in the War of the Ring. At the start of the mod the Easterlings are being ruled by the 4th Loke-Khan and the might of the Khanate is unrivaled in Rhûn.
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http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...rlings-of-Rhun 
Rhun Dragon Cult Submod
Originally Posted by Mapengraf
. My only worry is that since Rhun has the culture of Melkor in the game, if I go against Mordor there is a high probability of revolts due to the allegiance question. Has anyone ever tried this before?
