Skor, The Beast of Gondolin

Character Name: Skor

Name Meaning: From the Old English ‘Scoran’ meaning ‘to reject an offer, to repudiate.’
Other Names and Titles:
Culuruquen (Quenya: Gold+Fire+Person Neut, self given Quenya name, notable for including the ‘quen’ particle which indicates those who speak.)
Caranoron (Sindarin: Red+Fire+Male Verb Form: He Of The Red Flame / He Who Spews Red Flame or something similar.)
The Fire-Drake of Gondolin
Beast of Gondolin
Gondolin’s Ruin
Turgon’s Bane
Skor the Terrible
Skor the Magnificent
Skor the Ruinous
Skor the Lame
Skor the Ruined
King of the Druedain
Lord of Anorien
Lord Sunlending
He Of The Wyrm’s Whisper

Age: Unknown; ancient.

Date of Birth: Unknown, sometime in the First Age, probably after the Dagor Bragolach.

Race: Fire-Drake

Residence: The White Mountains between Gondor and Rohan; subterranean passages which he burrowed out over centuries, the main entrance of which lies within the Druadan Forest.

Profession: Treasure hoarder, servant of Morgoth and “King” of the Druedain.

Appearance: A gigantic serpentine beast with a great dorsal crest and golden scales, the mere sight of Skor at a distance would be enough to set most Men to flight. Protected all over his long body, save for its soft and slimy underside, by thick, dense scales which are impervious to most conventional weaponry. The sole vulnerability besides would probably be his left front leg which in years past was hewn by Tuor when Skor was still young, the foot still bears a noticeable vein of scar tissue which while not a mortal vulnerability would certainly cause him great pain when struck mightily enough. Indeed the leg itself, for all its armour appears withered and wretched in comparison to Skor’s other limbs and he noticeably limps on it when he rears himself up off the ground.

His natural weapons are his long, sharp claws, heavily muscled tail, to say nothing of his tremendous weight to begin with and his razor sharp teeth, one of which he is missing on the left side nearby another scar from the sword Glamdring. His eyes, even in absolute darkness seem to shine with a soft, hypnotic and icy blue light which appears to intensify as he focuses his dragon-spell on an individual. As a Fire-Drake, Skor is capable of breathing torrents of flame which he can form depending on his needs as anything from liquid like burning oil to a raging inferno, he is also able to discharge obscuring or noxious gouts of smoke from either his mouth or nostrils and when he breaths fire his innards seem to glow with it, most noticeably on his underside.

Personality: An exceedingly ancient and cunning creature, Skor’s vainglorious pride is perhaps not without foundation. Where others of his kind warred for centuries with Elves, Dwarves and Men after the fall of Angband he has survived down the years by choosing his quarrels wisely and expanding his hoarded treasures with tongue and wit rather than by tooth and claw. This is not of course to say that he is in any way cowardly, though admittedly he was much humbled in his youth when Tuor escaped his grasp and marked him with a scar he still bears today and as well in the War of Wrath where he was driven from the field by Tulkas and the huntsmen of Orome. Despite setbacks and hindrances in the past, he will fiercely guard his treasure and punish any transgressors therein with fang and fire, ere they think to steal from him.

Like many of his kin Skor takes a certain pleasure in riddles and wordplay and has over the years busied himself in learning the lore and language of those peoples that surround his home that he might better know and ensnare them where he may. He is at present fluent in both Quenya and Sindarin, Anduaic and Rohirric as well as the Black Speech of Mordor and tongue of the Druedain whom he has on-and-off held his sway over for centuries. Indeed, he much prefers in his age to sow dissent from afar, using the dragon-spell of his voice to great effect rather than to openly go forth into battle himself. As it is more pleasurable for dragons to steal treasures, he too finds quite a bit more enjoyment in having his enemies destroy one another than to levy his awesome physical might against them, a characteristic he’d likely never admit to sharing with Sauron.

Though an avowed servant of Morgoth in the Elder Days before the changing of the world, Skor is not a creature bereft of reason and entirely overcome by malice; though he holds the so-called Free Peoples in considerable contempt he can be reasoned with and holds now no loyalty above himself. Though any wishing to treat with the ancient serpent might choose their words with considerable care, dragons after all are known to have forked tongues.



Parents: Glaurung (father) and an unknown mother.

Sibling(s): Innumerable.

Spouse: Numerous, presumably none remaining.

Children: Many Drakes over the centuries, winged and wingless, fire-drakes and cold-drakes most now deceased.

History: Born in Angband at some point following his sire Glaurung the Golden, Skor was a dyed in the wool servant of Morgoth. Though not nearly as famous or infamous as his mighty father, he did participate in the Sack of Gondolin in which he bore Balrogs to battle upon his back and scaled the walls to confront Tuor and Ecthelion of the Fountain. He might have trampled them both then and there had Tuor not cleaved his foot, causing the young drake such agony that his thrashing slaughtered many of the combatants about him Orc and Gondoldhrim both. So great in fact was his wrath that much of Gondolin was torn down as he tore about searching for them.

Ecthelion in time fell to and felled Gothmog the Lord of Balrogs but Skor ever afterwards remembered and despised the line of Tuor and sought to destroy them where he could. In his rage and spite at the time though he devoured King Turgon, who lodged his great sword Glamdring in the beasts jaws before they fell upon him. There it would stay for some years until after passing into the northern wastes of Middle-Earth following the War of Wrath he managed to dislodge it and let it lie, desiring not the blade which had caused him such grief despite its worth.

When Earendil the Mariner made his pilgrimage across the western sea to Valinor, Skor had for many years resided within the ruin of Gondolin, brooding upon its hoarded treasures but abandoned his wealth willingly when Morgoth called his mions to arms. Though mightier than he’d been in the past Skor was still unable to hold fast the hosts of Aman and after Tulkas broke one of his fangs Orome drove the dragon and many of his broodmates away in a hail of arrows which bent and cracked even their scales.

Fleeing south in terror of the Valar he crossed into what would become Middle-Earth proper, eventually making his way down to what would in centuries become the Kingdom of Rohan. There he found Men of the Haladin whom he ensnared to his will, had guard the way to his lair and took tribute from as would a King. Solwly but surely he built his hoard, often piece by piece, but the Druedain were poor and so he would send them to contest with other tribes of Men who possessed higher crafts for him to add to his wealth. Occasionally he would send off emissaries to help ensnare other notables from the surrounding lands, sowing discontent and war, ever reaping the spoils.

During the Second Age he was approached by servants of Sauron who greatly desired his might to aid in the conquest of Middle-Earth, but Skor denied his request and devoured his messengers that they might not divulge his lair to the pretender Dark Lord.

The Numenorians that came to colonize the area proved somewhat resilient to his charms and for a time his influence was much diminished until the arrival of the Eorlingas, against whom he sowed dissent in the Druedain and Dunlendings both, furthering the long enmity between them which persisted well into the latter parts of the Third Age. The Middle-Men that had come with Eorl, while upright and steadfast had little of the resistance that the heirs of Numenor had possessed in their heyday, while he was unable to control them out of hand he secured tribute from many of their Kings in return for his continued dormancy.

The notable exception was Helm Hammerhand, whose wrath defied even the dragon-spell which had cowed his fathers. In recompense of his spurning the dragon’s approach Skor instead called to him Freca, a Rohirric lord of mixed blood on whom he bestowed heirlooms of Eorl’s House and encouraged to cast himself as an opposing claimant descended from Freawine. Though this would prove Freca’s death, the war that it started also claimed the lives of Helm and his sons, ending the first line of Rohan’s Kings and avenging Skor’s pride upon the Eorlingas.

Now with the Enemy on the move again Skor expects that one side or another may approach for his aid and while he believes he might make great gains with a cleverly worded contract he much imagines that he’ll wait out the clamour in relative peace. He was here before all of them and he shall continue to reside herein after as well.