Nine for Mortal Men Doomed to Die
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Of old there was Sauron the Maia, the Dark Lord. Before him was Melkor, whom the Elves named Morgoth, whom Sauron served in the beginning of Arda. In the days following Morgoth’s demise, there was peace in Middle-earth. But Sauron saw the desolation of Arda, and he was filled with hate. He sought to turn the Firstborn to evil, and went among them as Annatar, Lord of Gifts, for his hue was fair and wise; and he was received among them, and counseled them in many things. In that age, the Elves made many rings of great power; but Sauron, in his treachery, made a ring above the others to rule them, so that he may dominate the will of those who wore them; and Sauron forged it in the Mountain of Fire in the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. Much of his power passed into the One Ring, for to dominate the Elven-rings required a surpassing potency.
But when Sauron wore the Ring, the Elves knew him and his will, and removed their rings in anger and fear. And Sauron was filled with wrath, and demanded the rings should be returned to him under threat of war. But the Elves fled and hid the three great rings with them; Narya, Nenya, and Vilya, they were named. From that time forth war never ceased between Sauron and the Elves.
Sauron collected the remaining Rings of Power; and he distributed them to the peoples of Middle-earth, such that they would come under his domination. To Men he gave nine, for they were the easiest to sway; and those who used the Rings became mighty kings and sorcerers; but it brought their downfall. The gift of Ilúvatar they held no longer; yet life became unendurable. They could see beyond the world of Men; yet they beheld the wicked phantoms of Sauron’s devise. And they fell, according to their strength and heart, under the domination of the One, which Sauron held; and they entered the realm of shadows, becoming invisible to the world of Men saved to he who held the Ruling Ring. The Nazgûl they were named, ringwraiths in the Black Speech, and were the most terrible servants of the Dark Lord. Darkness went with them, and they cried with the voices of death; for their weapon was fear.
These are the tales of the Men who fell under the Shadow; to the service of the Dark Lord. This is
The Fall of the Nine
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Chapter 9: The Lord of the Nazgûl
However, there was a Númenórean who came to dwell there; Imrazôr he was named in the Númenórian tongue. He was a great lord of Númenor, and skilled in sorcery. And though his heart was set west, as was the way of his kind, he traveled east, for he desired to create a great kingdom for the Men of Middle-earth, so that they could be free from evil. On the western shores he established this kingdom, called Azûl-Zimra. And the Men of Middle-earth welcomed him and many became his subjects; and the Númenóreans aided the kingdom in their travels, yet always returned westward.
Although the city was in infancy, word of it spread among the Men of Middle-earth, and word of it fell upon the ears of Sauron; and he was filled with hatred, for Sauron feared the great Men of Númenor. Having gathered the Rings of Power, and seeking the corruption of Men through them, Sauron traveled to Azûl-Zimra with dark machinations in his heart.
Clothed in the fair form of Annatar, he entered the city, where he quickly found himself an audience with the king, due to his sly tongue and the credulous men. Despite the quick spell the Men of Middle-earth had fallen under, the king, now called Ar-Imrazôr, remained wary of him. Once in the presence of Ar-Imrazôr, Sauron kneeled before him.
‘Great Lord of Númenor, King of Men, I humble myself before you,’ he spoke, with hatred brewing in his heart. ‘For word of your aim, to build a kingdom to rival the great Númenor, to be a light in the east akin to the west, has spread fast across the land. This is a worthy goal, for the Men of Middle-earth have often come under the shadow of the Enemy. Therefore I, lowly Annatar, come before you to offer a gift; a gift that may aid in your great ambition.’ With his head still bowed low, Sauron lifted up his hand, revealing a great Ring of Power, its gemstone sparkling brightly.
Ar-Imrazôr, still wary of the gift and its giver, asked, ‘How shall this gift aid me? And who are you, “lowly Annatar,” that you may offer such a gift? For none among the great craftsmen of Númenor craft in this way.’
Sauron responded, ‘“Lord of Gifts” is my name in the Elven tongue, and I am known among them for wise counsel. Through my counsel they made many rings, of great power like the one before you. Through its might, your kingdom shall grow powerful and renown, and will bring great wealth. Extraordinary skills of sorcery shall be known to you, known rarely among Men. And I offer it merely as a gift, to aid in your noble quest.’
As Sauron’s war against the Elves had not yet reached Azûl-Zimra, Ar-Imrazôr knew not of his treachery; likewise, the name of the Elves calmed many of his fears, though he was not yet deceived. Yet upon hearing of the great powers that it may grant, Ar-Imrazôr began to covet the ring, for it worked upon his heart; and he sensed that Sauron’s words rang true, for Sauron did not mislead in word, but deceived in deed. Blinded by his lust, he began to walk towards Sauron to receive the ring.
However, as he approached, Sauron gently closed his hand around the ring. 'Before I bestow this gift, great King of Men, I ask one small thing: that you declare that you chose the gift; for its power may not confer to you, should you not choose it in both word and deed.'
Though he found this request odd, his lust blinded him and his heart remained untroubled as the ring worked upon him. ‘I chose the great gift of Annatar; praised may his name be,’ declared Ar-Imrazôr.
Within his dark heart Sauron laughed, for he knew he had condemned the Númenórean Lord. Finally bestowing the ring, Sauron bid farewell, saying ‘May your kingdom prosper for years to come; and may the gift aid you in your great endeavors.’
As he traveled away from Azûl-Zimra, Sauron wore the Ruling Ring; the moment that Ar-Imrazôr first slipped on the Ring of Power, Sauron felt it and laughed. For though the Númenóreans were great among Men, their power paled compared to the High Elves; and Ar-Imrazôr did not yet know Sauron or his treachery.
In the years following, Azûl-Zimra grew in stature and renown, as Sauron had foretold; the city grew great in power and wealth, and it was known throughout the western shores of Middle-earth; and some came to call it Azûl-Númenor, meaning “Númenor of the East” in the Númenórean tongue; for it had begun act in the same way. And the Men of Middle-earth, who had grown in its light and knowledge, called Ar-Imrazôr a god-king, for his power in sorcery grew and oft he would walk the earth unseen by all except the eye of Sauron; for he was a powerful ring-lord, and learned to use it to great gain; and he reigned in majesty for 500 years.
However, as the years passed, Ar-Imrazôr ceased to age, though his descendants retained the gift of Ilúvatar. “Great the power of this ring is, that it should defer the mortal Man’s curse!” he thought; for though he dwelled in the east, his Númenórean heart still longed westward. And though he praised the ring, he had begun to suspect, within his heart, its treachery; for the gift of Ilúvatar was not a matter to be trifled with. But he ignored these warnings, for the fear of death gripped him so and the ring had a powerful influence.
In his latter days, Ar-Imrazôr began to become weary; his life appeared unending, and yet it had become unbearable to him. Despite this, he clung all the more strongly to it. Although he had not aged, his physical strength had begun to fail, and frail he had become. And he continued to use the ring, as his body and mind wore away. In the midst of this, his city slowly came into ruin in parallel; and the Men of the western shores fell out of the light. Unconcerned the Númenóreans remained, as they assumed it was the folly of the eastern Men that the city should fall; and their eyes laid westward.
As his body failed, Ar-Imrazôr began to have dark visions when he slipped into the world beyond the eyes of Men; for he witnessed the horrors of Morgoth’s making as phantoms, as they were devised under the will of Sauron. Though great his fear was, the king was able to resist these phantoms more than any Man before him, for he was the last to fall; and the eye of Sauron witnessed this, and he called the Nazgûl before him, commanding them, “go forth to Azûl-Zimra upon the western shores. There you will find a king, who shall be the mark of your fear. He holds the final ring; imminent is his fall.”
“Thy will be done,” they snarled with fell voices and venomous breath, and rode off into the night.
As they arrived, Ar-Imrazôr bore witness to them in the realm of shadow; for they were unseen to the world of Men, but could be seen with use of the ring. With them came a great fear, such that the Men of Azûl-Zimra knew that evil was among them without sight to understand. But their fear targeted Ar-Imrazôr, and drove him into the thraldom of the ring as he witnessed them with his eyes. Their faces were ghastly white with a merciless, piercing glare and dead, glittering eyes; their gray hair held crowns not unlike his own; and their haggard hands carried swords of shining steel. His fear was all the greater when he witnessed them; yet, he felt all the more compelled to wear the ring when he could feel their presence, with resistance becoming nigh unbearable; he began to find himself wearing it, unaware that he had even slipped it on. Stripped of his kingship in the ruined city, Imrazôr could feel them command him with voices like death; for he was their prey, but their hunt was also sport.
Although they had departed together, they arrived not at once, but each in his time, so the tortuous burden would become greater. The weakest was first to arrive, and the strongest, called Khamûl, was last. All the Men had fled, for their fear was intolerable; even the Númenóreans felt to avoid those regions, though they knew not why. In rare moments of slumber, the dark designs of Sauron afflicted Imrazôr’s nightmares; in prophetic visions, he saw himself as one of these plaguing phantoms, though he knew not that this was his fate.
During these finals days, the Nazgûl tormented Imrazôr as his will breathed its final breath; whispered horrors and screams like death afflicted every waking moment; they ran at him with and struck him with phantom blades; for Sauron had commanded that no physical blows were to come to slay or diminish him. Dominated by his will, they obeyed.
After an anguishing period of time, the length of which he could not tell, the once-great Imrazôr’s will broke and his strength failed him. He slipped the ring onto his finger, and finally faded into the shadow realm amidst the ruins of his kingdom. And Sauron laughed at the merciless fate of Imrazôr.
The instant he fell, Imrazôr’s will was dominated by Sauron, and he returned with the other Nazgûl to Sauron in the dark land of Mordor. Sauron cast off the guise of Annatar, and revealed himself to Imrazôr; and Imrazôr knew him and what he had done, though he had no thoughts to fight against it. Taking back his accursed gift, Sauron held the ring of Imrazôr such that he would wield and command him.
There Imrazôr, as he was once known, swore a dark oath in the Black Speech, and even the dark land quaked before the evil that was uttered there:
I, Imrazôr of Númenor, choose freely to swear this oath. I give myself and my will to the Dark Lord Sauron, that he shall command my will in all things, and I shall obey. Should I keep it not, I call the Everlasting Darkness upon me. I swear this oath by the cursed name of Ilúvatar and by the dark power of Morgoth.
Upon hearing this, Sauron was pleased, and delighted in his own evil. ‘And I crown you Lord of the Nazgûl,’ he proclaimed, ‘for your fall was the greatest of the Nine, and your power is supreme among them. And you shall serve me, as I served Morgoth, and none shall be greater save I.’ Upon his head Sauron placed a dark crown, and in his haggard hands a Morgul-knife and a long sword. As he stood, he found himself greater than his former tormentors in height; and he wielded the greatest fear among them, his evil only surpassed by Sauron himself.
Then Sauron commanded him to find those who knew of Azûl-Zimra, and to slay them; for the eye of Sauron saw far, and though it had been forgotten among the Númenóreans, there were Men of the east who still told tales of the fall city. Obeying his master, the Lord of the Nazgûl found and slayed them; and a great fear followed him, and many became aware of his evil presence.
When the final memory was extinguished, the Lord of the Nazgûl shuddered; for the great deeds of Imrazôr were purged from the history, and all that remained was the evil of the servant of Sauron. He had fallen.
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And so concludes the tales of the Fall of the Nine.
And so concludes the tales of the Fall of the Nine.
-CVB
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