The gardens of Armenelos or the beginning of the end.

She looked at me, without uttering a word; yet, her clear eyes seemed to ask me for forgiveness and she replied with an ancient saying, which the Numenoreans use in very serious situations: “I gave hope to the Dunedain, but I have not kept one for myself”. She was silent for a few moments, finally she sighed and took my hand so she spoke: “Would you like, then, to break the orders of your sovereign? Do not lie to me, Erfea, for I see in your gaze the doubt and fear that my words have aroused in you; and yet, if the loyalty of my commanders were to fail, I would perish and others would suffer immense suffering ”. I watched her, coldly, because, although my heart was bleeding profusely, yet I could not ignore how much her words had, in vain, tried to conceal: “You are deceived, Miriel, if you believe that our loyalty to Numenor has come less; know, however, that we will only respond to it, when the time has come and no other”. Then she dropped my hand and her soul went cold: “Go, son of Gilnar and may your loyalty not fail when the time comes”.

In lingua italiana:
Nei giardini di Armenelos – illustrazione definitiva

Celebrian, daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn

Today I want to present to you the portrait – the work of the formidable Anna Francesca – of one of the most beautiful elven ladies, Celebrian, daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn, wife of Elrond and mother of the twins Elrohir and Elladan, as well as of Arwen lady of the Vespers. During the Second Era she formed a strong friendship with Erfea which lasted until the death of the Numenorean prince.

I like to remember her with this passage, which portrays her beauty and grace well.

«Velvety was the step of the lady and she wore soft white leather boots; when, frightened by such beauty, the high guards, heirs of the majesty of the sons of men, dared to look up, they uttered no word, even though the noble bearing of the Lady advised their use; but what sound could arise from the mouth of the Second-born in the face of such beauty, so that it did not seem shameless and unpleasant to hear? Men who had had the daring to admire her clear eyes, would have seen the majesty of Ulmo stirring in them and amazement would have invaded the soul, for there was no mortal lady whose semblance was so vivid and shining. A Lady among the Noldor she had come to this district to discuss the great events that had happened in those years, so far from our days: great was her foresight and the peoples needed the advice of the daughter of Celeborn of Doriath and of Galadriel del Lorien; Celebrian was her sweet name and she looked similar to Varda, Manwe’s bride»

Versione italiana: Ritratti – Celebrian

Ar-Pharazon, the last king of Numenor

Pharazon. Only son of Gimilkhad, father of Varaneli. Became the leader of the faction of the Numenoreans who opposed Palantir and, subsequently, to his daughter Miriel, assisted by the Nazgul Akhorahil, Adunaphel and Er-Murazor, seized the throne of Numenor. He forced the queen to abdicate her in his favor, marrying her against her will, but promising her that she would save her life from Erfea. Pharazon, after Sauron pretended to submit to his power, became a follower of the cult of darkness and decided to invade Valinor, the land of the Valar (Gods): this reckless gesture caused the wrath of Eru (God) who destroyed Numenor. Pharazon and his entourage, however, were trapped in the Caves of Oblivion and will lie there until the end of days. He appears in the following stories: The Sailor and the Princess; The Sailor and the Half-elf; The Sailor and the White Tree; The Shadow and the Sword; The Infamous Oath.

500 followers! Thank you!

I reached 510 followers in the week. I can’t believe it, it’s a great result! I thank you for taking the time to read my articles. I dedicate a triptych to you that represents the three main characters of my stories: Erfea, Miriel and Elwen.

Ho raggiunto in settimana 510 followers. Non riesco a crederci, è un risultato ottimo! Vi ringrazio per il tempo che mi dedicate leggendo i miei articoli. Vi dedico un trittico che rappresenta i tre principali personaggi dei miei racconti: Erfea, Miriel ed Elwen.

Uvatha, the Horseman. The ninth Nazgul

The ninth Nazgul was born in 1970 of the Second Age, in the Olbamar quarries in eastern Khand with the name of Uvathar Achef; he was the son of an exiled prince and his father’s unhappiness soon became his. Uvathar spent the first ten years of his existence in the steppes of Khand, where he learned the arts of hunting and war, the only ones that aroused his interest in him; fierce and proud he became his soul and even before he was sixteen he was stained with the blood of numerous men and knew how to ride like no other Variag. Eighteen years old, he asked for and obtained command of his father’s army, leading him to obtain several victories, which brought him the throne of the upper Khand: not satisfied with this success, the young Uvathar defeated the king of lower Khand, Urig Urpod, unifying for the first time in his history the entire nation of the Variags under one crown. At the age of twenty-five, following the death of his father, Uvathar became the new warlord of Khand, attracting the attention of the Dark Lord, who offered him the last of the Rings of the Power of Men in the year 2006. Uvathar accepted without hesitation, as his people had always been tributaries of Mordor, and many of them revered Sauron as a deity: in the following centuries, Uvathar changed his name to Uvatha according to the black language of Mordor, and conquered vast lands south of Mordor, with the help of the armies of Ren the Mad. In the year 3262, after the capture of his mentor, Uvatha took refuge in Mordor, near Lake Nurn, where he trained numerous armies. After the fall of Numenor, Uvatha participated, like the other eight Nazgul in the siege of Osgiliath, but was unable to take over the city; he then went to the pass of Cirith Ungol where he prevented the Dunedain from leading new forces against Mordor. Too late Uvatha came with his armies to Barad-Dur, for Sauron had fallen and he vanished into the shadows.

Suggerimenti di lettura:

Uvatha, il Cavaliere, il Nono

Do you want help me? https://gofund.me/7d835e8d

Ren the madman. The eighth Nazgul

«Born in the city of Ulk Jey Ama, in the year 1969 of the Second Age, Ren was the son of an enchanter and grandson of the Lord of the Chey: he had a quiet childhood, without any event suggesting what would happen once he became an adult. In 1992, Ren married Elyen, a woman of his own lineage, and moved to the Ered Harmal, where he resided for the next six years; in 1998, however, a severe plague devastated the Chey lands, and Ren was severely affected, although his body survived the long illness that prevented his awakening for many months: he finally woke up from a coma, however his mental health was been compromised. Ren had forgotten much of what he had learned in his youth, even his own name; yet, despite his wavering mind, he deluded himself that he had acquired a wisdom and a far-sightedness superior to that of any other Man: often, in the long night watches, his wife listened to him murmuring arcane and obscure words in his sleep, while, during the day, bent over his seat, he screamed to be the son of fire, the incarnation of the vital flame itself. Elyen tried desperately to cure her husband’s madness, summoning herbalists to her bedside even from western Khand, yet their care soon proved ineffective: Ren proclaimed himself king of the Chey and his followers practiced numerous violence, insulting women and sacrificing infants to the sacred flame. In a short time Sauron understood that the mad illusionist would be a valid servant, so that, in 2005, he offered him the eighth Ring of the Power of Men, with the promise that he would show him the source where the sacred fire came to life: soon Ren accepted , and driven by an unstoppable madness, aggravated by the corrupting power of the Ring, he organized his armies to conquer all of central-eastern Middle-earth; in the turn of a century, his troops, allied with those of the Khand of Uvatha, began to dominate an empire such as no man of their lineage had ever ruled until that moment. Ren settled in his hometown, after having his children and wife sacrificed to the purifying fire, the source of which was in the kingdom of Mordor; he left the capital of the kingdom of Chey only on the occasion of the arrival of Erfea Morluin in Numenor, when he joined the other Nazgul in an unsuccessful search. After the fall, Ren went to Mordor with his mighty armies and participated in the siege of Osgiliath, failing however due to the arrival of the troops of the Last Alliance; during the siege of Barad-Dur, the Witch-King ordered him to occupy the pass of Cirith Ungol, for fear that other troops of Gondor might come from the west: this strategy, however, proved useless, as the Ring was taken and Ren sank in the Darkness».

See also: Ren il Folle, l’Ottavo

Do you want help me? https://gofund.me/7d835e8d

Adunaphel, the Sorceress. The Seventh Nazgul.

Princess of Forastar in Numenor, lady Adunaphel was born in the year 1823 of the Second Age in the city of Armenelos, daughter of Initildun, prince and commander of the king’s fleet; from an early age she was distinguished from her companions by a sharp mind and a beauty similar to that of elven women: growing up, Adunaphel refined her talents, and numerous Men asked her hand, seduced by her charm and her will to steel. Adunaphel, however, disdained such proposals, not considering them to be up to her reputation. She feared death very much and never forgot the sufferings that her elderly father had suffered during the slow agony that had led to his death, caused by his mad desire to abjure death itself, persisting in his mortal body. There was little affection between the lady of Forastar and her mother, who supported the cause of the Eldar and was opposed to the king’s party, to which her daughter adhered enthusiastically: at the court of the sovereign she met Prince Atanamir, and her heart was filled with passion towards him, considering him superior to those he had rejected in the past; great was her anger when the Heir to the throne rejected her and she swore on her father’s memory that she would get the prince’s head. In 1914 S. A., Adunaphel abandoned Numenor to found a colony in Middle-earth and subdue its inhabitants; for a long time she traveled west, until she found herself in the lands of Variags, where she imposed her law: for some years the kingdom of Ard the Vain, as she called herself, expanded its borders to the east and south, until , tired of having to pay tribute to her king, she took the opportunity to declare her independence. Atanamir, meanwhile becoming ruler of Numenor, decreed her death sentence and she fled to the East, while her kingdom was occupied by the armies of Numenor. Anger and wrath broke out in her heart and long wandered in the deserts of Khand, until the day she was captured by a tribe of Variags, whose lord made her their favorite slave; she was patient until she seduced her master’s guards and was not sure she had learned the arts of the sword and the spear. After a year Adunaphel slaughtered the king of the Variags in his sleep and proclaimed himself queen of that people: Sauron then heard of the lady of Numenor and summoned her to Mordor, promising her revenge against the warriors of Atanamir. Adunaphel accepted the Dark Lord’s offer and received the Seventh Ring of Men, swearing eternal loyalty to his master, in the 2004 year of the Second Age. Over the next thousand years, the Nazgul lived in the capital of his empire, which in the elven language was called Minas Gulwen (Tower of the Witch Maiden), plotting the fall of Numenor; in the year 3277 Sauron sent her to Umbar, where she seduced the lieutenant of Ar-Pharazon, so that the influence of the Fallen Maia spread to the port. Erfea Morluin visited the stronghold of Adunaphel two years later and defeated its servants with the help of the elven prince Morwin: furious, Adunaphel then confronted the two warriors and would have won victory, if at that moment the Sun had not risen in all his mighty humiliating her black spirit. After Atalante, the armies of Adunaphel took the city of Minas Ithil and headed for Osgiliath, being severely defeated during the first siege: later, she was close to achieving her goal, when the armies of the other Ulairis arrived and Gondor seemed to collapse; however, the arrival of the Alliance forces upset her plans and she fell back to Dagorlad, where she was defeated again. In the last years of the siege she participated with the other Nazgul in the defense of Barad-Dur, falling into oblivion when Sauron fell.

Suggerimenti di lettura:
Adunaphel l’Incantatrice. La Settima
Ritratti – Adunaphel l’Incantatrice

Do you want help me? https://gofund.me/7d835e8d

Hoarmurath, The King of ice. The sixth

«Born in the year 1954 of the Second Era in Emurath of Uab, in the forest of Dir located in the far north of Middle-earth, Hoarmurath was a descendant of a lineage of rough mountaineers and hunters: his mother had been the great matriarch of the kingdom of Urdar until death had seized her during one of the numerous wars waged against the people of Forochel, leaving the throne in the hands of her eldest daughter Amurath, according to the laws of her kingdom; on that occasion Hoarmurath became the Lord of the House, thus achieving the most coveted office a Man could desire in the county of Urdar. Soon, however, Hoarmurath’s ambition deemed his position insufficient to accomplish the grand goals that his mind had matured during a stay among the people of Khand; there he was convinced that the royal mantle belonged to a man and that his sister should be deposed: returning to Urdar he recruited many supporters among those who detested Amurath, openly proclaiming the rebellion.

Outraged by her brother’s foolish behavior, the matriarch of Urdar ordered his arrest and ordered his exile; Armed clashes followed between the two factions, until Amurath fell under the blows of the assassins of his brother, who placed the crown of Urdar on his head in 1992; made arrogant by his successes, Hoarmurath set out to conquer the territories of the Lossoths. He feared nothing, because he was indeed a great warrior, yet his queen wife could not give him that male heir that would ensure the survival of his dynasty: then the fear of death took him and he turned to his ally, Khamul l Oriental, who offered him, on Sauron’s order, the Sixth Ring of Men; blinded by madness, he accepted it without asking any questions and fell prey to the power of the Shadow, in the year 2003 of the Second Era.

Over the next four hundred years, he expanded the borders of his realm, conquering the lands of the Lossoth and even pushing himself into Rhovanion, where he subdued numerous tribes of Esterling: finally, after killing his first wife and securing an heir to his kingdom, he left for Mordor , where he served his lord until his capture by the Numenoreans. After the Fall, he returned to Urdar, where he commanded the armies of Dir in the battles against the knights of Rhovanion who had not yet submitted to Sauron’s will, defeating them in battle near the Celudin River; However, recalled to the siege of Gondor, the Ice King, as his warriors called him, led his army south.

After the defeat by the Last Alliance, Hoarmurath participated in the defense of Barad-Dur, falling into the shadows when Isildur took possession of the One Ring».

Suggerimenti di lettura:
Hoarmurath di Dir, il Re del Ghiaccio, il Sesto.

Do you want help me? https://gofund.me/7d835e8d