The Lord of the Rings; An Instrument of Fate.

Book One – Armageddon  

Disclaimer.

This is a new disclaimer, meant to tell people what this story is and what happens. I do not own the world, concepts, history or themes of Tolkein's creations. I do own, my character and my situations, you cannot take them, even if you are deranged enough to want to.

This story is not canon, remember that, remember that well. The story and the history is the Last Alliance but with many finer points changed. People who want to read an account of the Last Alliance, go and find one which uses the dozen characters Tolkien provides. There are many, many new characters and situations in this piece, I have tried to make them real and the like but they are still not canon. Differences like Celembrimbor having no children, blond haired elves who are not Vaynar and the titles of the various nobles are mistakes. They are known mistakes though, so deal with it, imagine them as something you like or leave if it offends your sensibilities.

Besides, this story is not especially strange, it is all very straight and proper, too much so probably.

This story is long and has a lot of dialogue in it, action comes later, like a 1950s war movie. If you don't want to wait that long, you had best not try to read this.

Grammar mistakes are common, especially with dialogue and the end of sentences, I know this. I do not have the time to go through and fix it though, as before, leave if you find the lack of commas nauseous.

Anyway, if you like this, leave a review, if you don't, leave one anyway, after all, I make a lot of mistakes.

Now, enjoy, or not as the case will probably be.

Prologue – Timeframe.

It was a dark time for Middle Earth. After the defeat of the great enemy Morgoth in the War of Wrath there were many who believed there would be peace. For many years the Elves and Dwarves prospered on the mainland of Middle Earth while the Edain ruled Númenor. The land of Númenor had been a gift from the Valar for their help in the war against Morgoth. That war had been long and terrible and in the end it seemed as though the men of the Edain and the Elves would be destroyed. They were saved by one person. Eärendil, the half-elven son of Tuor the elf-friend had sailed to Valinor to beg for help. In exchange for his sacrifice the Valar agreed to help the outmatched people of Middle Earth. In the coming war Morgoth was utterly destroyed and Númenor was raised from the sea to be the home of the Edain. They were granted many long lives of men as their reward but were not immortal like the elves. For many generations they were content but eventually they began to envy the immortal Eldar race and all contact with them ceased.

In this time a new enemy had appeared. Although they did not know at the time, Sauron once a servant of Morgoth had started his evil plan to dominate the world. He at first appeared in a fair guise and seduced the elves of Eregion to listen to him. These elves were accounted the greatest craftsmen of the Eldar and this was their downfall. Sauron persuaded them to construct great rings that he gifted to each race. In the meantime he had forged for himself a master ring. A ring with which he could dominate all of the other rings. At the moment that this ring was completed the Eldar saw his mind and his intentions and hid three of the greatest rings from him. Sauron was enraged and assailed Eregion and destroyed the Eldar living there and driving the dwarves back to Khazard-Dûm. In three great wars, he fought and destroyed the cities of Eregion and scattered it's people. The elves retreated to the haven of Imladris and the great land of Lindon.

Eventually Sauron challenged the men of Númenor for the domination of the world. With great fury the men of the Edain fell upon the black land of Mordor and captured the darklord. While this should have been the end of their troubles it was in reality only the start. Sauron corrupted the minds of the men of Númenor and fuelled their envy of the elves. In the end he persuaded the last king of Númenor, Ar-Pharzôn the Golden to assemble a mighty fleet and assail Valinor itself. Even the Valar were frightened by this as the men of Númenor were many and mighty. They appealed to Ilúvatar their master for aid. The great warfleet of Númenor and the island itself was engulfed in darkness and destroyed. Sauron escaped the wreck but could not again take on a fair form and became more twisted in hatred towards the free races.

Nine ships escaped from the ruin, led by Elendil the tall, the descendant of Eärendil he sailed with his sons Isildur and Anárion. Elendil hoped for aid from the greatest realm of the Eldar in Middle Earth, that of Lindon. This realm was ruled by Gil-Galad the last High King of the Noldor.

There were three main races on this world. The men were the most numerous and although they fought for both sides in these times, most followed the command of the free races. Men were either from Númenor or from Middle Earth. Those of Númenorian bloods lived to be older and were usually taller and broader than those who lived in Middle Earth. After the fall of Númenor and the establishment of the realms of Arnor and Gondor, the two sub-races mixed to a greater extent and within just a hundred years, the blood of the faithful waned and became slowly weaker. The men who fought for the enemy were either undisciplined hosts of tribesmen or were extremely well armed and trained. These famous 'red guards' as they would be known were from an unknown land but whoever they were, they were greatly feared by the enemies of the darklord.

The second most numerous of the races were the Eldar. These elves had chosen to live in Middle Earth and at the end of the second age of the sun, they were both numerous and powerful. Elves in this world could live for as long as they wished. Only death in battle or departure from Middle Earth could end their lives. The elves had always been the most formidable enemies of the darkness and it was perhaps that they were the embodiment of everything that the darklord was not that made them such. Eighteen hundred years before the present, the elves of Eregion had been largely destroyed but the remainder had gone to Lindon or Imladris.

The last race, the dwarves were the smallest in numbers. Only the mansions of Khazard-Dûm held any significant populations of dwarves. They seldom interfered with other races but they were not totally dispassionate to the grief of others and had given shelter to many elves during the wars of Eregion.

When the ships of Elendil arrived on the shores of Harlindon they were met by the High King who had ridden close to the shore after witnessing the terrible storm on the night of the fall of Númenor. On the beaches of his land he met and talked with the ragged king who had lead just four hundred survivors from the ruin. Totally at the mercy of the Eldar, Elendil was lucky to be treating with Gil-Galad who was one of the wisest people in the world. A historic pact was signed between the two races and it pledged both eternal friendship and a mutual defence alliance should the other be attacked. Building his capital on the shores of Lake Nenuial, he named it Annúminnas and made this the centre of the power of Arnor. His sons landed far to the south, near the banks of the Anduin and from there they assimilated more and more cities and towns into their fold until they finally declared themselves joint rulers of the kingdom of Gondor.

Ten years after this, the two kingdoms and the father and his sons were formally united at last. At the border of their two lands, the two kingdoms signed a historic peace which assured mutual support and peaceful relations between the two human nations. The alliance with the Eldar had been the next priority and this had been achieved two years later when a final treaty was signed by Gil-Galad and Elendil