OOC: We've had to take some liberties with Tolkien lore to fit our guild concept into the strictures of LOTRO. Those liberties are taken with relatively ill defined areas of Middle Earth though, so there's more 'wiggle room' for personal interpretation.

We are a group largely made up of grown up and experienced roleplayers, though we are relaxed in our RP. We will likely be organising little RP events as time progresses including pub nights - which have been a success over several games. Kinship chat is largely non-RP and we like to be friends with our guildmates as much as possible.

We are accepting recruits fairly openly now, if someone can be vouched for, but we're likely to have some sort of quest of loyalty to 'filter' new recruits at some point.

IC: Samsara (Saṃsāra) is an Easterling or Rhûnish word, meaning the 'cycle of life', of death and rebirth, in some dialects it - or a debased form of it - can also mean ring, circle or cycle. It acknowledges the nature of Middle Earth's 'ages', first, second and now the third and the cyclic nature of both history and the lives of men upon Endor.

The concept is one that has spread amongst the men of the south and the east and is known amongst the Haradrim and the Corsairs as well as the Easterlings, even amongst scholars of Gondor and those living in the south of the lands considered those of the Free People.

Amongst these peoples, who served Morgoth and now ally with Sauron - for the most part - Samsara gives a sense of place and purpose, they are fulfilling their role in historical inevitability and in the mythic cycle of the world. It is their place to serve the dark.

For others Samsara is something that must be broken so that men might determine their futures for themselves, no longer slaves to the cycle of the world and the forces of light and dark. They fight for the dark as it is the strongest force amd it has the best chance - they feel - of breaking the cycle and bringing about a new age of freedom for men.

For others still, though a minority, the cyclic nature of history is a chance to correct old wrongs, to re-live old events and to redeem themselves of the stains of a dark past. Samsara itself is heresy of a sort, though one that is tolerable. This step, serving the light, the idea of redemption, this is not acceptable to the dark and as its strength grows, so does the persecution.

The Saṃsāra, taking the name from this belief are a group, founded at the start of the third age by Easterlings and Haradrim, seeking redemption for their people's treachery of the forces of good. Since that foundation The Saṃsāra have spread, becoming a secretive group, living amongst the peoples of all the lands giving rise to tales of helpful strangers, 'good' bandits and other... unconventional tales of derring-do by people who might otherwise be thought criminals.

The membership of the group is made up of those whose ancestors or whose selves have done 'wrong'. Thieves, bandits, murderers, liars, cheats, assassins all these once evil men make up their number all linked by the seeking of redemption.

To any who know anything the end of the third age of Middle Earth is readily apparent. The rise of Sauron and The Witch King are clear signs that the wheel of the world are about to turn again. This, for many, is it. The opportunity for redemption, the cleansing of past deeds, the ability to aid the forces of light against the forces of darkness, clear their name, allow their ancestor's spirits to rest and to become true heroes.