[Boromir88]

Group B at Wilderland
Last year lots of grumblings were made when the Arda Committee awarded the Gorgoroth team with hosting Group B. More than a few believed Sauron had underhandedly bribed and threatened the committee to have the games in Mordor (Sauron claimed he wanted the West to finally wake up and see the improvements and modernization going on in Mordor). And this year, the rumours of dirty money dealings are growing as Sauron's team was yet again chosen as the host team. But where would Sauron construct the new stadium, or would he try to renovate existing ones like in Dol Guldur? Wilderland was a vast and diverse land, and is representative of all the teams in Group B, which have a large cultural mix.

Wilderland almost had to give up their host bid, as Sauron really struggled trying to find a suitable location. Sauron has only himself to blame for the Brownlands being unhospitable for a tournament and the committee denied Sauron's request to build the stadium there. Then he was denied by Thranduil to return to Dol Guldur. Sauron was not happy but Thranduil held firm saying that "Greenwood" was finally beginning to recover and would not allow Sauron to foul up his forest as he had done many years ago, and it didn't matter to him if his father played for Sauron.

So, in the effort to hold onto Wilderland's hosting rights, Sauron brought the captains of Anduin, Esgaroth, and Misty Mountains together to determine the most suitable location. The skeptics would say Sauron was just trying to manipulate the captains to get the most beneficial deal for Wilderland, but Sauron's supporters would tell you he cares about creating the best tournament experience and he should be commended for the effort to unite the culturally diverse land.

The proceedings were mostly kept behind closed doors, but we did see Fram, Earnil II, and Beorn leave expressionless, Saruman left trying to cover up a big grin, and Girion left red-faced. Then Sauron announced he would be building a new stadium, on the edges of Wilderland, and in fact a stadium near the Gladden Fields as a landmark to commemorate the historical fields. Fram was content enough to keep the location along the Anduin, as the team's fans live near the river. Saruman was very pleased, knowing the Misty Mts were near and was likely guaranteed good fan turnout. Girion had wanted the games nearer to the Long Lake and tried convincing Sauron Esgaroth could accomadate the games far better than trying to build up a whole new location, but was overruled by the other captains who were obviously pleased to keep the location closer to them.

When construction of the 50,000 seat stadium was getting underway, despite Thranduil turning down Sauron to rebuild Dol Guldur, he was not going to turn down Sauron's deep pockets. Many supplies for the stadium's construction came from nearby Mirkwood, and Thranduil also agreed to provide at least half the food, and most of the lodging for the duration of the games.

Due to the cultural diversity of the land and all it's teams it would be hard for any of them to have a dramatic advantage in fan support, and also many fans would have mixed allegiances. Like, who would the Beornings support in the 2nd game between Anduin and Wilderland? Would the Orcs and baddies of the Misty Mountains be totally aligned with their team (it helps Durin's Bane is back on the team, as he always has a loyal following of baddie support), or would they want to support the orc Bolg or the dragons on Wilderland?

Once the seat alottment was released, people began to see why Saruman left the meeting of the captains glib and how Sauron was able to pull this whole deal off. 20,000 seats would be alotted to fans of the teams playing in the current match. 2,500 each to the teams not playing. Which left 5,000 seats and while Mirkwood provided the supplies, Saruman agreed to provide the labor and soon the area had a host of dwarves brought by Narvi and orc laborers brought in by Azog to construct the Gladden Fields stadium. Critics also thought Saruman was unsure how his mountain spirit could be at GK, if he was far removed from his source of power in Caradhras. Thus Saruman was pleased with the arrangment when the 5,000 remaining seats were awarded to the Misty Mts for providing all the labor in constructing the stadium and it's surrounding hotels and vendors.

Though, some can't help but wander if this was just Sauron pulling the sheep's wool over Saruman's eyes, as the Wilderland mastermind is surely expecting with icons like Scatha, Smaug, Khamul and Bolg on his team the extra Misty Mountains alottment would have little trouble in supporting his Wilderland team as well.

And what is one to make of the marble statue, titled at the entrance of the Gladden Fields Memorial Stadium? A statue of Isildur, with orc arrows in his back, and titled "Isildur's Bane" is surely to get the orcs joyfully rowdy. Sauron said "It was just a bit of fun for a very old friend of mine." But when word came that the Arda Cup committee would send in demolishers to destroy the statue, by morning it suddenly had disappeared and no one knows to where. Sauron denied all accusations that in the dead of night he ordered the statue secretly removed and relocated to Mordor, saying "If you know about it, then it's not a secret now is it?"