The History of the mighty Army of Angmar

The history of the Army is a long and bloody one. It begins in the year 1500 of the second age when the elven smiths of Eregion, under the tutelage of our Dark Lord, reached the height of their skills and began the forging of the rings of power. Celebrimbor, the leader of the elven smiths, was jealous of the Dark Lords knowledge and skills, and after learning all that he could from our Lord, Celebrimbor betrayed his mentor with foul lies and innuendo. The other elves, weak in mind as well as body, failed to see that Celebrimbor was motivated by hatred and spite, and thus were deceived. As a result, in the year 1693 the war between elves and the Dark Lord began and ever since that time our Lord has continued in his attempts to restore order to the world.

The Dark Lord to this end made a gift of rings to nine of the greatest Numenoreans. The rings allowed these selected Numenoreans to transcend their mortality (the curse of the Valar) and opened their eyes to the truth of things. These nine, now known as the Nazgul, began spreading the word amongst the other Numenoreans in the hope that the truth would finally be heard. Unfortunately, many of the Numenoreans refused to listen, placing their fear- instilled faith in the Valar, who had oppressed and used them for so many years, rather than face the prospect of freedom under our Lord. The Dark Lord despaired in the realisation that these unbelievers were a blight, a disease that would undermine His struggle for order if given the chance and Hence he petitioned the king of Numenor to remove them. The king, sensing the honesty in the Dark Lord, agreed - banishing the unbelievers to Middle Earth where they formed the realms of Arnor and Gondor.

With the word spreading, the men of Numenor thought they might finally throw off the yoke of slavery that the Valar had cast about their neck and in the year 3319 sailed to Aman in the hopes of coming to some peaceful agreement with their masters. This was to no avail for the Valar were ever as treacherous as their minions and destroyed the brave men of Numenor before they had uttered a word. The Dark Lord returned to His home in Mordor with a heavy heart, realising that both the elves and the traitors of Numenor were beyond redemption and that Middle Earth's only chance for peace and freedom lay with their complete destruction. To this end, He gathered his armies of orcs and trolls and swept the Gondorian army out of Ithilien. Unfortunately, the combined might of elves and men was too much and in the year 3434, our Lord's army was defeated at Dagorlad ('Battle-plain'), just north of the gates of Mordor. The alliance besieged the Dark Lord at Barad-dur and after several years of bitter fighting, cruelly slew his physical form. Here ends the Second Age.

After a thousand years in the void, the Dark Lord returned and settled in Dol- Guldur, sending His Nazgul on missions across the continent to spread His power and prepare for His return. The mightiest of the Nazgul was sent North and formed the Kingdom of Angmar, gathering great armies of orcs and trolls to do the bidding of his master: the cleansing of Middle-Earth. The Witch-King, as captain of Angmar, sent many human agents and dark priests to infiltrate Arnor and as a result of their skillful manipulation, Arnor soon split into three smaller kingdoms. Rhudaur, one of these kingdoms, was the first to submit to the Army of Angmar, allowing them to liberate the Rhudaric Hillmen who had long been slaves of the evil Dunedain. In the year 1637, a great plague killed the majority of Dunedain in Carlodan, the southern kingdom in Arnor, resulting in the majority of its remaining people abandoning their homeland and leaving only Arthedain for the Army of Angmar to war against.

In the year 1973, the Witch-king threw the full might of Angmar against Arthedain and after a brief struggle, the final kingdom of Arnor collapsed in ruin. Thus the North was liberated by the force of arms of Angmar's Army. Unfortunately, it was not to remain so. In 1975, the Gondorian army marched North and, together with elves from Rivendell and Lindon, attacked the Angmarian troops. Despite the overwhelming numbers of aggressors, the Army of Angmar fought bravely and the result of the battle was long in doubt until, at a crucial time, the Witch-king deserted his troops and fled. The Gondorians, with their spirits uplifted, forced the Army of Angmar to retreat in bad order with huge attrition. After the defeat, the remnants of the Army of Angmar gathered in the Misty Mountains and with heavy hearts, brooded over what should have been.

Little is known about the Army until the year 2060 of the third age, when the Dark Lord returned to Dol Guldur and sent north a new captain for the Army. This second captain was a mighty child of Numenor named Morgrond ('black-club' in common tongue) as a sign of respect for his mastery of fighting with clubs. Other than his combat prowess, he was renowned for being unfailingly loyal to the Dark Lord and the Dark Lord only, which led to him being called, 'The club of the Dark Lord' in some circles. Unlike the Nazgul, he had not needed a ring of power to show him the truth and righteousness inherent in the Dark Lord's great scheme - he had known it all along. Morgrond had no difficulty in regathering the Army of Angmar for most still believed in the Dark Lord's cause and could not help but admire their new captain whose belief epitomised their own. In the year 2063, the newly reformed Army marched over the Men-i-Naugrim to Rhun and there built a fortress which they inhabited for the next 400 years. The army grew both in strength and numbers, achieving under Morgrond, unsurpassed mastery with the club - the only weapon the Army has used since this time.

In the year 2460, the Dark Lord returned to Dol Guldur and took the newly revitalised Army with him. In the year 2510, the Balchoth army, ordered by the Dark Lord, launched an assault against the Dunedain. Morgrond with a small part of the Army of Angmar joined them in order to observe the progress and report results to the Dark Lord. The Balchoth were defeated on the field of Celebrant when the Gondorian Army received support from Eorl the Young and his cursed Eothed. Morgrond, while fighting in a desperate rear guard action, was slain but his bravery allowed the soldiers of the Army of Angmar to retreat to Dol Guldur and report the anihilation of Balchoth to the Dark Lord. He then appointed a third Captain for the army known as Belturma ('Strong Shield'), who taught the Army advanced defensive techniques involving the use of the shield, as well as various strategies for close-formation fighting. Under the orders of the new captain, the Angmar army went in search of Eorl. With the help of Dunlendings and Hillmen from the southern Misty Mountains they found him in the year 2545 on the Wold. With the fire of retribution burning hot in their hearts, they wreaked their vengeance on Eorl's troops and smashed Eorl to his death.

In the year 2941, the Dark Lord was forced to abandon the home He had made in Dol Guldur by the foul machinations of the White Council. Before leaving, He ordered the Army of Angmar to head west to the Misty Mountains in order to protect the misty passes from incursion and harry the followers of the Valar. The journey undertaken by the Army was a difficult one and many soldiers were lost both to the treacherous mountain passes and skirmishes with the cowardly elves of Lorien. By far the greatest loss was Belturma, who at the age of 512 died a natural death and was buried on the slopes of the Misty Mountains. So it was that the Angmarim arrived at their current location, once more proudly raising the banners of the Dark Lord in the North.

Having read the ancient scroll, you can look around the library and ask for another manuscript to read, or you can consult your map of the strong hold to take you to some other area of the guild.