Application holloways_keep :: Smeagol / Lord of the Rings

[smeagol]

Name: Alma
Age: 31
Journal: almalthia
Contact: almalthia80 AT gmail DOT com

1. Character's Name: Smeagol or Gollum
2. Fandom: Lord of the Rings
3. Time Frame: After the Two Towers?
4. Age: between 570 and 600 years old

5. Background:
http://mirrored.flabber.nl/lotr.slightly.condensed/

Fellowship of the Ring


The Two Towers

6. Personality:
The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, explains that Gollum was once named Sméagol, a member of the secluded branch of the early Stoorish Hobbits. Sméagol spent the early years of his life with his extended family under a matriarch, his grandmother. On Sméagol's birthday, he and his relative Déagol went fishing in the Gladden Fields north of Lothlórien. There, Déagol found the One Ring, after being pulled into the water by a large fish. Sméagol demanded it as a birthday present and strangled Deágol when he refused to hand it over. Sméagol accordingly used the Ring for thieving, spying and various nefarious deeds. He was soon banished by his people, and forced to find a home in a cave in the Misty Mountains. The Ring's malign influence twisted his body and mind, and prolonged his life well beyond its natural limits; the appendices of The Return of the King explain that he lived for nearly 600 years. He called the Ring his "precious" or his "birthday present," the latter as a justification for killing Déagol, a crime that haunted Gollum for the rest of his life.

He lurked in the Misty Mountains for over 400 years, living on raw fish, which he caught from his small boat, and juvenile goblins who strayed too far from the stronghold of the Great Goblin. He found Elven food repulsive. Over the years, his eyes adapted to the dark; Tolkien describes them as lamp-like, shining with a sickly pale light, yellow when calm, green when agitated or angry.

During his centuries under the Ring's influence, he developed a sort of split personality: "Sméagol" still vaguely remembered things like friendship and love, while "Gollum" was a slave to the Ring and would kill anyone who tried to take it. In The Two Towers, Samwise Gamgee named the good personality "Slinker" (for his fawning, eager-to-please demeanour), and the bad personality "Stinker" (for obvious reasons). The two personalities often quarreled when Gollum talked to himself (as Tolkien put it in The Hobbit, "through never having anyone else to speak to") and had a love/hate relationship. As Sam observed, Gollum's eyes glowed yellow when the Sméagol persona was in control and green when the Gollum persona was dominant.

As elaborated in The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins stumbled upon the subterranean lake on which Gollum lived and found the Ring. Gollum had lost it in the network of caves leading to the lake, although (according to The Hobbit) in fact it is more appropriate to say that the Ring abandoned him, for it was known to have a will of its own; as Gandalf said in The Fellowship of the Ring, it looked after itself, trying to get back to its master, Sauron. After the famous Riddle Game, during which Gollum was unaware of his loss, he pretended to want to show Bilbo the promised way out but plotted to murder him. When he went to get his "birthday present", however, he found that it was gone. He suddenly realized the answer to Bilbo's last riddle — "What have I got in my pocket?" — and flew into a rage. Bilbo inadvertently discovered the Ring's power of invisibility as he ran, allowing him to follow Gollum to a back entrance of the cave system. There, Bilbo at first thought to kill Gollum, but was overcome with pity, so he jumped over him to escape. As Bilbo ran, Gollum cried out, "Thief! Thief, Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!"

As Gandalf explained in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gollum left the Mountains and pursued Bilbo a few years later, but the trail was cold. He made his way into Mordor, where he met the monstrous spider Shelob and became her spy, worshipping her and bringing her food. He was eventually captured by Sauron's forces and tortured, but he revealed only the words 'Baggins' and 'Shire'. His testimony alerted the Dark Lord of Mordor to the existence and significance of Hobbits in general and the Baggins family in particular. He was freed, but was caught by Gandalf and Aragorn, who interrogated him about the Ring and placed him in the care of the Silvan Elves living in Thranduil's kingdom in Mirkwood. He then escaped into Moria.

In The Lord of the Rings, Gollum came across and secretly started following the Fellowship of the Ring in Moria, and was spotted or heard by Frodo Baggins (nephew and heir of the hated Bilbo, as well as the Bearer of the Ring) and Gandalf on several occasions. At the end of the book, the Fellowship was divided when Gandalf seemingly perished while battling a Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, and Gollum continued trailing the remaining members. He pursued them to Lórien without their knowing - although many times Frodo heard what the other members of the Fellowship insisted were merely echoes of their own footsteps that Frodo took to be more than what they are because it was pitch black in the woods and they were all shaken by the horrors of Moria. Frodo glanced over his shoulder to make sure that no one was following them, and saw two eyes- which he at first mistook for lanterns- bobbing in time with footsteps. When Gollum realized Frodo has spotted him, he turned off the road and continued tailing them. Later, when the group had left Lórien, Gollum followed their boats down the river Anduin, floating on a log, and was again spotted by Frodo and actually tried to attack him while they were camped on the shores of the river. Frodo was keeping watch while the others slept, and was frozen with fear when he saw Gollum climbing onto the shore, and was saved in the nick of time by Aragorn, who was not asleep, and chased Gollum off. Gollum followed them all to Rauros, then pursued Frodo and Sam across the Emyn Muil when they struck out on their own towards Mordor.

In The Two Towers, Gollum confronted them in Emyn Muil and nearly strangled Sam. Frodo subdued him, however, by threatening to cut his throat with his sword, Sting. Frodo tied an Elvish rope around Gollum's ankle for a leash, but the mere touch of the rope- enchanted with the Elves' magic- pained him. Taking pity on the wretched creature, just like Bilbo once did, Frodo made Gollum swear to help them. Agreeing to the oath, Gollum swore by the "precious" itself, and Frodo released him. The unlikely company, guided by Gollum, made their way to the Black Gate, the entrance to Mordor.

Frodo's kindness brought out the "Sméagol" personality, and he made at least some effort to keep his promise. The two formed a strange sort of bond from both having been Ringbearers; it is implied that, in Gollum, Frodo saw his possible future, and wanted to save him so he could save himself. Sam, however, despised and distrusted Gollum ("Stinker") upon sight, and often warned Frodo of the creature's deception and slipperiness.

When they reached the Black Gate and found it to be well-guarded, Gollum told them not to go that way; he knew of another entrance into Mordor - "darker, more difficult to find, more secret". Along the way, Frodo and Sam are accosted by Faramir - Gollum slips away uncaught but not unseen and follows them. When Frodo allowed Faramir to briefly take Gollum prisoner in order to save Gollum, however, Gollum felt betrayed because, since Frodo was not given the opportunity to explain the dillema he'd been faced with, he thought that Frodo had been "tricksy" and "false" and had all along intended to lead him into a trap, and so Gollum allowed his "bad" personality to take control. Faramir found out that Gollum was taking them to Cirith Ungol (the Spider's Pass), and warned Frodo and Sam of the evil of that place, as well as the treachery he sensed in Gollum.

Frodo, Sam, and Gollum left Faramir and began crossing the pass of Cirith Ungol in the border-mountains of the Ephel Dúath. Gollum visited the giant spider Shelob, of which the pass was named, planning to betray the Hobbits to her and then get the Ring for himself. When he returned, the Hobbits were asleep, and the sight of Frodo sleeping nearly moved Gollum to repent. However, Sam woke up and spoke harshly to him, and the opportunity for redemption was lost. Gollum followed through with his plan and led Frodo and Sam into Shelob's Lair. There Frodo was bitten by the spider and taken prisoner by Orcs. He was taken into the Tower of Cirith Ungol.

~ Gollum speaks in an idiosyncratic manner, often referring to himself in the third person. He also uses his own versions of words similar to the original words. He usually adds -es to the end of a plural, resulting in words such as "hobbitses" instead of hobbits or "birdses" instead of birds.

7. Previous Game Developments: NA

8. Appearance:

9. Abilities:
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn states "his malice gives him a strength hardly to be imagined." In The Two Towers, Gollum's grip is described as "soft, but horribly strong" as he wrestles with Sam. He possesses a vicious, wiry strength.

10. Languages: Tell us what language they speak and write.

11. Items: What was your character carrying on them at the point you're introducing them into the Keep?

12. Weapons: Now, what weapons were they carrying?
What we’re looking for in this section:
∝ A list of weaponry that the character is carrying on them
∝ An indication of how each of these weapons will be limited in accordance with the rules.

13. Writing sample - Third Person: This can be any situation, but must be at least 300 words and in the third person.
What we’re looking for in this section:
∝ Good spelling and grammar. Proof read! This goes for your whole application, but this section most especially
∝ Decent writing standard. Avoid purple prose and thesaurus-syndrome.
∝ Accurate canon representation.

14. Writing Sample - First Person: Please give us either a first person journal sample or a first person prose sample, in character. You should write at least ten sentences, not including [action or description], should you choose a journal sample.
What we’re looking for in this section:
∝ Accurate canon representation.

15. Tattoo: Where is their Keep tattoo?

16. Room Preference: Would you like them near a particular character or in a specific room? Nominate here. We'll do our best to fill the request.