"The King's Men": A "Fourth Age Total War" Adûnabar faction Narrative/AAR.

[Mersechal]

Year 356

In the 356^th year of the Fourth Age of the Sun, the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor has fallen into a second Kin-strife. In the lands of Mordor and Rhudaur, a splinter kingdom has emerged, the Kingdom of Adûnabar. The ruling House of Adûnakhôr, descendants of High King Elessar, strive against their kin of the House of Telecontar proper, who they see as traitors to their Dunedainic heritage. Much blood shall be shed to see who will become the true heir of Elendil. But the new religion adopted by the royal family and most of their nobles is a deeper, darker matter. Within the arcane rites and rituals of the Shadow Cult lurks a Morgoth-element of hatred and malice.

---

The King and The Lord Black

The King of Adûnabar is Ar-Imrazôr of the House of Adûnakhôr. He was a second son of his father, who died in battle along with Imrazôr's brother at the last battle of Osgiliath. Ever since then, Imrazôr's hatred of the Nimruzîrin (Adunaic: Elf-friends) has been like the iron of Angband of old – foul and unbreakable. In character and demeanor, many liken him to the Steward Denethor II, although none in his presence. Strict, proud, tall and wise, he is an energetic and capable ruler and warrior, although his sternness and rigor in the campaign have inspired no great personal love in either his men or on the part of his sons.He is alike to the Dunedain of old in bearing and appearance, and holds something of the will and foresight of his forebearers. But his detractors, once many, and now few and mostly vanished, accuse him of indolence and over-boldness, and all suspect him of relying far too heavily on the mysterious sorcerer Lord Black, who has served the Kings since time out of mind.

He has a talent that is rarely seen in these faded days, he can sometimes, with great exertion, see flashes of distant lands and events in the Palantir of Minas Arnor, although true sight with it remains elusive. To aid in his studies on Palantir-lore and other magical arts, he relies on his adviser Herumor, who served his father and his father’s fathers.
On the Eastern shore of the Aduniun, Imrazôr camps with a strong host, awaiting the coming of the enemy. He orders the settlement of Calenhad, recently seized from the Reunited Kingdom, to be put to the Torch and the garrison there to be combined with his host. At his camp by the bridge across the River, he confers with Herumor, who is in truth, the former Mouth of Sauron, whose guile and powers of black magic have only increased in potency as the long years have worn on him. He is the true master of the Shadow Cult of the Black Tree that the men of Adunabar have begun to follow.

The King camps on the Eastern Anduin, his advisor and teacher accompying him:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The King is "counciled" by his Advisor:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Herumor had always considered himself a patient man. He had planned and worked for many years to bring about his master’s revenge, to ensure the unassailable consolidation of his power, and for nearly as long to corrupt the House of that damned Ranger of the North. His patience would see him through this setback, as well.

But it rankled.

His apprentice, the so called “Ar”-Imrazôr was still kneeling, head bowed, at the foot of the steps leading up to the throne. Imrazôr’s ragged breathing provided the staccato background to Herumor’s thoughts, but he was otherwise silent.

At least, outwardly.

Almost casually, Herumor examined his apprentice’s mind. Imrazôr had never learned the skill of disguising or sublimating his emotions. He was better at resisting interlopers, but he couldn’t back against the Lord Black. There was no subtlety to it. His mind was protected by a massive wall, and for someone like Herumor, who was by now intimately familiar with stealth and shadows, that presented no obstacle at all.

Now Imrazôr’s mind was a wild riot of pain and anger and no little amount of disgust. The disgust, Herumor was amused to see, was directed primarily at Imrazôr himself.

And well it should have been. Imrazôr’s failure with the palantir was trying even for the former Mouth of Sauron’s patience.
“Rise, ‘Great King’ ” Herumor snapped, his considerable patience at an end. Imrazôr’s wheezing was becoming unbearable. “It is very unlikely that you can correct your mistake, but I do wonder how you plan to try.”

My Master,” Imrazôr said at last, “although the time it took me to see in the Stone was …regrettable, the day is not entirely a loss.”

The King, despite his weariness and pain, dared to smile. "Lord Herumor, master of the Morgul-arts, prophet of the True God Marion, King of Men: I, the Great One's servant on Earth have a plan to take the White City."

---

The First Prince

“Ar-Imrazôr Adûnakhôr, High King of Adunabar, King of Arnor and Gondor and Lord of the West, desires that his Captain-General Zimrahil attend to him at Minas Ithil, and bring with him the main body of the Eastern Watch, leaving his squire Minalbar as commander of the Eastern Army in his place.”
Zimrahil, heir to throne of Adunabar and Captain-General of that kingdom, crumpled the terse note in his fist. He did not understand his father’s order. He knew that his father wished to sally forth and strike at the filthy Nimruzîrim in a great battle, and perhaps take the city of Minas Arnor, but to strip to the East of its garrison force seemed unwise to him. But perhaps his father’s advisor, a wise and goodly man, had seen this was a good plan with his sorcerer’s art. Or possibly his father had some foresight on this matter. In any event, his father needed him in the West, and he would take the bulk of the frontier forces with him. He would just have to trust in his squire, Minalbar and Governor Nuluzir's abilities to see off any Easterling raids. He gathered all of the men of the Eastern Army, save those Grim Spears that guarded the towns and cities.

Zimrahil set off to reinforce his father to the west.
Minalbar, Squire to the Captain General:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Eastern army under Zimharil marches West:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Nuluzir, Governor of Nurn:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

---

The Homeland Governors

Unknown to Zimrahil, Balkumagan, the Governor of Mordor and Keeper of the Tower Foundations, one of the Councilors of the King, shared his concerns. A friend of the Governor Nuluzir since boyhood, Balkumagan conferred with the Governor of Nurn by letter:

“Nulu, my esteemed friend, you know of the King’s demand for more men on the western front. I, and Gildor of the North, have counciled him against this, but he cannot be moved. His advisor, the Lord Black, has too much stock in the king's mind. Our lord does not see that the treasury is failing. Soon there will be no gold left in the storehouses. If this next assault on the White City fails, we must be prepared for whatever eventuality will come. You are the King's viceroy in Nurn, the largest non-royal landholders! Surely you have some influence on him. I look forward anxiously to your next missive. Your devoted friend, Balku.”

It is a testimony to the two men’s friendship, and that of their fathers’ that Nuluzir does not report Balkumagan’s letter to the king.
Nuluzir and Balkumagan resolve to attempt to restrain the King from wastefulness.

Balkumagan, Governor of Mordor:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

---

The Country Lord

In the town of Lathron, the governor Hirgon, Watchman of the Two Hills and Keeper of the Argonath, orders a foul shrine his men have discovered in the woods to be demolished. He convenes a council on the matter; for the “priest” in charge of the Shrine claims to have a mandate of construction from the king. Isolated on the edge of the Dunedain world, Hirgon does not connect the shrine to the novel new religion of the ruling family and sycophants. He believes the mandate is a falsehood.

"The entire copse must be burned, my lord?" The forester of Hirgon asks his lord.

"Yes my good man. These foul sacrifices will taint the trees, I can feel it. Burn it. Burn it all." Hirgon proclaimed as his men began the cutting of the trees of the grove for burning. He knew not of the political fallout that was to result from this action. Or of the growing powers he had unwittingly chosen to defy.

Hirgon destroys the Shrine:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

---

The North/ The Second Prince and the Captain

In the far North, in the old Lands of Arnor, Rivendell itself has been sacked and left to burn by the King’s second son: Indilzar, who has spent much of his manhood learning the speech and command of orcs and other foul creatures. He was acting on his own at the urging of Herumor.
“Imagine the power we could wield with such hordes!” he lustfully declares over a cache of captured elf wine to Gildor, commander of the armies of the North and Councilor to the King. Gildor says nothing, and excuses himself from the debauchery as soon as he can. You are a fool to rely on such creatures. He thought. In his inner mind, he recalled the thousands of men that had died against the defenders of Rivendell, a mere five score elves. And he seethed against Indilzar, who had arrived late, with a horde of beasts that had done more looting then fighting.

And an even larger fool to waste most of my best men in favor of your orc-trash and cultist rabble. The growing influence of the cult on the Army was concerning to Gildor, a man brought up on the old lore of the Dunedain.

Returning to his own camp, he shudders at the sight of the cages in which the prisoners of war are kept; right next to the troll stockade.

“Food for the beasts captain”, a man in a leering mask tells him. Shocked at the man's words Gildor demanded:

"By whose authority guardsmen? Enemies or not, these men are our fellow Dunedain, why visit this foulness upon them?"

The guard quailed at sternness of Gildor's countenance: "The order came from Prince Indilzar."

The angered Gildor went to confront Indilzar.
The orc horde leaves Rivendel:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

---

All these men, the King’s Men, made ready for war.

---

Hello everyone~! This is the start of my new AAR, a narrative/character-focused one. No heavy gameplay minuta here, this one will be almost wholly "story" focused, and I'm using a RNG and dice rolls to simulate character actions and personalities. So I have just as much idea as you as what's coming next. I'm also a very slow, year by year player, so timely updates may be somewhat difficult. Why did the King withdraw the Eastern armies? What is his plan, and why does it need his son? Will his be able to talk sense into him? What will happen to poor, gullible country lord Hirgon? And will Gildor and Indilzar be able to take the north without the two of them killing each other? Find out next time on dragon ball z
The King's Men!

[isa0005]

This is wonderful, can't wait to read more!

[Alwyn]

Great start! As you wrote, your opening chapter raises a lot of questions, I look forward to finding out the answers. I'm intrigued the the destruction of the mysterious shrine and wonder whether Indilzar's reliance on orcs will lead to his downfall.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

That is an interesting situation. I hope Hirgon will have enough warning to escape the inevitable retribution (and perhaps start gathering troops for a rebellion?)