In the battles with Morgoth and Sauron, there were many cursed, many plagued with misrible lives. This is the tale of one such soul who's end was not so sad as most.

He was captured by a horde of Sauron, brought to the Dark Lord himself. He was given a foul curse; that he would be transformed into a hawk and forced to watch the coming darkness, for he was also granted elongated life as part of the curse so that he might see more death and be unable to do anything about it. His battered body was transformed into a hawk and cast out of the realm of Sauron.

For a time, he wondered, embittered at how he could do nothing against the darkness. But then he happened upon a city of Elves. They were intrigued at the level of intelligence this hawk showed, and yet it was mute, it knew no languages they could tell, not of Elves nor of Hawks. They took to teaching him the tongue of the Hawks (with some help from some friendly and kindhearted hawks), and over time, the language they themselves used. Once he had learned enough to comunicate, it was then that they learned of who he was, a cursed Man of the blood of Numenor.

They were kind and treated him well, to the anger of Sauron who had cursed him, but this was their intent. He had once been a gifted smith, and now, with his Hawken eyesight and talons plated with sharpened mithril (gifted to him by the Elves), he was able to do complex and miniscule forging and crafting that they could not. It was in ths way that he eventually formed a band that he thereafter wore as mail. It went around his body and protected him from many blows.

When Sauron was finally defeated, the Hawk was finally freed from the curse, and returned into his true form, with the band around his wrist as if it were a bracer. He was otherwise naked and was quickly given a cloak by his Elven companions which rejoiced with him, for they were all happy that the curse of Sauron was broken. Afterwhich, he was long known as an Elf-friend, and the longevity Sauron had cursed him with carried over to his life as a Man, as well as some of his enhanced senses. It was said that all of his decendents had sharp vision and hearing, even amongst the Numenorians, although their lifespans were not all that much longer. The band was passed down through his family to the eldest son (or daughter if there was no son) and worn as a bracer in battle, mostly on the left forearm, though there were exceptions. It was said there was some magic in the bracer for the transformation, but if there was, no one had yet to discover it.