The shores and river valleys are quiet now but the memory of the Great Cataclysm are still raw and unnerving. Whenever the western skies darken with the threat of a seaborne storm you can see the terror fill the eyes of the coastal folk. They are hardy peoples. Some of them are descended from the first Dunedain who colonized the Anduin valley almost a thousand years ago.
From Belfalas to Ephel Duath the sound of new construction rings across the hills and valleys. Mighty towers are rising to watch over the peaceful lands of the Dunedain-in-Exile. Led by the sons of Elendil, who fled Númenor with nine ships and all that could be saved of Andunië’s Faithful Edain, the clans and tribes of the lower coastlands have joined with ancient Dunedain families to raise a new standard in Middle-earth.
Isildur, the elder, and Anarion have proclaimed a kingdom of Gonndorë(the Stone Land). Far to the north their father has founded the Kingdom of Arnor and his sons acknowledge him as High King of the Dunedain-in-Exile. Not all of Númenor’s survivors have welcomed Elendil and his followers, though. Near the southern Ephel Duath and farther south along the coasts of Middle-earth for a thousand leagues or more the old royal colonies of Númenor have rejected Elendil’s claim to lordship over the houses of the Edain.
It is unclear what the future will bring. Isildur is proud and strong and some say he dreams of conquering the rebellious colonies that supported Ar-Pharazôn, the doomed monarch of Númenor. Pharazôn and his fearsome armada sailed west from Númenor to seize the gift of immortality from the Valar. Their fate is unknown but Elendil’s small fleet was driven toward Middle-earth by great waves and winds of incredible force. Shipmasters who are now too old to sail the open seas look west fearfully and say they have never beheld or heard of a storm as devastating as that one.
The captains of the nine ships brought their vessels — damaged and nearly ruined — to the only safe harbors they could find. Elendil arrived at Forlond, Gil-galad’s capital city in Lindon, with four ships. Isildur and Anarion landed at Pelargir with five ships. The quays were destroyed and many coastal villages were swept away by the towering waves but the ancient harbor remained largely unharmed.
The vales of Anduin have been peaceful for many years. In fact, since Ar-Pharazôn brought his mighty army to Middle-earth to humble the Enemy from Mordor, peace has flourished all up and down the Anduin. Elves again walk in Anorien and Ithilien, for there is still traffic between the Eldar and Silvan folk of Edhellond.
Men have spread along the river, breaking new land and building towns and villages. Lebnenin is quite populous but ancient Númenorean families have established homesteads as far north as Calenardhon. Wherever the Dunedain settle other Men flock to their towns. The bloodlines mingle and a hardy folk of mixed heritage has prospered under Pelargir’s watchful eye.
The city was once a royal fortress owing loyalty to the Kings of Númenor. But over the past few centuries the garrison and fleet have turned their eyes more and more to the House of Valandil, lords of Andunië. The lords of Pelargir, Belfalas, and Lebenin quickly accepted the sons of Elendil as their new kings. And they welcomed new princely families among them.
But it is not Pelargir’s fate to be the home of kings. Isildur and Anarion soon led a vast number of people north along Anduin to found a new city, Osgiliath, which Númenorean architects promise will straddle the river via a magnificent bridge. Sea-ranging ships will sail as far north as Osgiliath where their crews and cargos may then be transferred to lesser vessels that navigate the river as far north as Cair Andros.
And yet though they raised their thrones side-by-side in Osgiliath the brethren kings were not satisfied. Anarion began building a fortress in the southern Ered Nimrais to ward off the wild tribes of the hills. Isildur, wary of the evil creatures that may yet dwell in Mordor beyond Ephel Duath, cut a road up into the mountains and there built Minas Isil, the Tower of the Moon. It guards the most important road from Mordor into the lower Vale of Anduin.
Minas Anor has the advantage for it overlooks a wide plain that runs around the foot of the mountains. Further north in the land that Anarion has taken for his own fief — Anorien — there are deep woodlands and tributary rivers that flow down from the mountains into the Anduin. Anarion is building a second, lesser city some miles north of the Glanhîr in a deep valley of the Ered Nimrais.
North of the small city two more fortresses are also under construction: Aglarond on the northern side of the Ered Nimrais and Orthanc at the foot of the Hithaeglir, the Misty Mountains. Aglarond — so named because it adjoins caverns of wondrous beauty — defends the lowlands against the hill-clans of the Ered Nimrais. Orthanc protects the grasslands from the wild clans of Enedwaith.
The loremasters of Osgiliath and Pelargir say that many of those hill tribes are distant kinsmen to the Edain. From their blood came the Folk of Haleth, that troubled people who sought refuge in the ancient forest of Brethil upon fabled Doriath’s northeastern border. Although more than three thousand years have passed since Haleth’s ancestors ventured north to Beleriand, those who study the languages of Men say they hear traces of the ancient Halethian dialect in the Ered Nimrais.
Some of the hill tribes have made peace with the Dunedain. In fact, they have mingled with the Dunedain in many places, for it is said that their clans have settled as far north as the deep hills and woodlands of Arnor. Although not friendly to Elven folk many of them have played no part in the great wars of Middle-earth.
But during the War of the Elves and Sauron the Gwathuirim of Enedwaith — akin to the hill-folk of Ered Nimrais — served the Enemy. Some loremasters pity them and say they were deceived. Most of their clans were cruelly slain in the battles along the Gwathlo, the misty river for which they were named. But some few may have survived in small corners, harboring their ancient hatred of Númenor and the Eldar. It is for this reason that Elendil and his sons have agreed to fortify the ancient city of Tharbad.
Tharbad, much like Pelargir, is an ancient harbor that receives ships from the sea. But our kings have sent engineers to forge a highway from Osgiliath to Elendil’s city of Annûminas. The highway passes north through Anorien, past the great fortresses in the mountains, and through Enedwaith until it arrives at Tharbad. From there it passes north to a lesser city of Arnor, Fornost. From Fornost another road runs west to Annûminas.
But at Tharbad the great kings have positioned strong garrisons on either side of the river to keep the peace and ensure that the hostile Gwathuirim make no trouble. The region was once inhabited by many Elvish folk and Men of Edainic blood as well. But only since Elendil’s arrival has Tharbad truly flourished. Trade flows up the Gwathlo from Gondor, Edhellond, and Lindon. People follow the great roads from Arnor and through Enedwaith. Even the hill-folk visit Tharbad, which some describe as the most diverse city in Middle-earth.
The wealth of Men, Dwarves, and Elves gathers in Tharbad and Arnor no doubt flourishes thanks to the river city. And yet it is held that Gondor has the greater population. The southern lands enjoy a milder climate and their soils are rich. Also, the ancient garrison at Tharbad and the Elvish refuge at Edhellond have warded the lower Vales of Anduin for centuries. Despite our proximity to Mordor evil creatures have rarely troubled these lands as much as they have the north.
Like Tharbad, Osgiliath serves as a crossing point over a major river. But though southern Gondor has been settled by many people there seems little prospect of trade with the peoples living in Harad. Most of them were very loyal to either the Enemmy or to the Kings of Númenor. The few merchants who have dared to visit those lands say there is little love for the sons of Elendil and other Númenoreans from among the Faithful.
Gondorian hearts remain hopeful. The people believe that a great evil has been taken out of the world and the differences between Men, they feel, can be healed by time. Gondor is threatened by foes in all directions: the hill-tribes and coastal peoples of Anfalas are unfriendly to Númenor; the old Númenorean colonies to the south remain loyal to the memory of the kings; the Enemy’s former realm is still home to many evil creatures; and the descendants of the Gwathuirim living across Enedwaith nurture the embers of ancient hatred and jealousy. Many challenges lay before the Dunedain but they are unfazed. They look out upon a Middle-earth that is now their home and they feel a heavy burden has been lifted from both their spirits and the world’s peoples.
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