Valinor (Rules and Policies)

In Tolkien's world (see especially the Silmarillion), immortal beings - gods, if you will - are called "Ainur". A single god is an Ainu.

Tolkien's Ainur were divided into two broad groupings based on their relative power and rank: Valar (the most powerful) and Maiar (less powerful). A single god of each rank is called a Vala or a Maia.

In The Two Towers, those who 'run' the MUD are Ainur... the symbolism is fitting. Just as Tolkien's Ainur created Middle Earth through the singing of Eru's Great Song (the Ainulindalë), so our Ainur create Middle Earth through coding and descriptions of new areas, as well as by maintaining existing areas.

Within The Two Towers, we have refined Tolkien's two-rank system to include four ranks. Those ranks, and the associated duties, are:

• Maiar - Coders & describers. The majority of Ainur are Maiar. These are the "sharp point of the spear" of the Ainur community, those who actually create Arda for players.
• Overlords - MUD Leaders, each tasked with ensuring the quality and success of a functional area. The functional areas are General Quality Control (code and descriptions), Balance and Theme. There are usually between four and five Overlords.
• Powers - The Administration, those ultimately responsible for the management of Arda. Their functional areas include User Code, System Code, Production, Quality Control, Law and Administration. There are generally three to five Powers.
• Valar - The founders of The Two Towers and most senior of all Ainur, ever watchful yet mostly retired.

Maiar and Overlords (yes, there are "Overladies", but we aren't quite that politically correct!) are considered the two ranks of Maiar. Powers and Valar are the two ranks of Valar (in case you were wondering how to map our ranks to Tolkien's).

In addition to these ranks, there are a few "special status" designations for Ainur:

• Maker - The 'know-it-alls' of coding. These are the folks that maintain and create new commands and other non-area specific projects (such as coding the lawsys).
• Elder - Elders are members of Valinor who have earned, through their long term contributions, the right to remain in Valinor even though they may temporarily or permanently be retired, and no longer contributing.