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Greetings Seekers,
Please read this post before joining the Society of Morgul Mages (MM). In this
post I am including comments from the King himself, comments from a person with
more than 10 years of experience as a Nazgul and my own thoughts after spending
two months as an apprentice.
Let's cut right to it... per the referenced Nazgul, if you buy into the role of
playing 'reek' (a Game of Thrones reference) the guild can be quite fun. For
those who don't know the reference, I include this from Google: "Reek is
submissive, terrified and conditioned to obey his masters every command". You
will need to buy into the idea of being physically abused (being hit and beaten
is normal), being told you are worthless, being told you are a failure, being
set up to fail etc. to enjoy this guild - and no there is no redemption of reek
in this RP.
Unlike other guilds, the apprentice process is not something to be endured so
you can 'graduate' beyond it. Citing the King, a full mage is barely above an
apprentice (in terms of worth) and can be removed at any time. To fully
graduate to the point of being above the reek roleplay you will need to become
a Nazgul yourself. Most people will never achieve this and those who do will
spend more than a year working towards that goal.
The Society is completely hierarchical. So rejoice if your desired roleplay is
to treat others like reek, for anyone who is below you in rank can be treated
thusly, while of course you are being treated that way by everyone above
yourself. Note that the Society has been known to play favorites, providing
shorter paths and promoting some with less effort, but any thought of
'fairness' should not be of concern - you are playing reek after all.
If you are still excited to be a Mage then nothing else I have to share will
change that, go have fun. For those still on the fence or wondering how people
not previously aware of this reek roleplay could have somehow joined and chosen
to stay in the Society, here is a bit more to consider.
The mechanisms of the Society strongly mirror those of a cult. Walking in
unaware, the first time you are hit or beaten you are likely to think this was
your fault, some mistake you made that you can learn not to make. In one
example I can share, I was asked by a Nazgul to tell him a story. I provided an
original story, based on lore but modified with the perspective of the Society.
In response my words were intentionally twisted, I was hit multiple times and
whipped. Afterwards I asked my Master how my story was 'wrong' thinking I had
incorrectly portrayed the MM perspective and he had no answer - there was
nothing objectively wrong with the story. The interaction with the Nazgul was
routine RP (I was supposed to be enjoying that).
Here is a quick overview of the cult like mechanisms of the Society:
1) Separating you from anyone outside the Society - for months
2) Blaming you for reacting negatively to RP interactions - a Mage has no
emotions and/or stating that we do not coddle people here
3) Punishments and push back for questioning any superior - you will be trained
to 'know your place'
4) Mocking / denigrating any action that suggests you might expect any type of
reward, praise or promotion - again coming back to not coddling and outright
stating that you should never expect any form of praise for anything
5) Making you fully dependent on them - if you do want to advance, you will
need to be promoted
6) Dehumanizing everyone - the proper references are IT and creature for anyone
below you (much easier to treat them like reek if you see them as an IT)
7) Denigrating anyone not in the Society - yes you are reek but somehow still
above anyone who isn't
What else can I share that might help you? A separate example perhaps. I only
know one other seeker turned apprentice and it was a few years ago. A couple of
weeks after he joined I reached out to ask if he was having fun. His resopnse:
"Eh, I kinda quit playing. Decided it was getting to the point where it wasn't
great for my mental health."
Thank you for taking the time to review this note. I hope it helps inform your
decision on whether or not to join this unique guild (you won't find this
anywhere else).
Safe Travels,
Sterling