*Author's note: This story will be changing perspectives between the protagonist, Berethor, and the antagonist, Burzum, quite a bit. It might get confusing at times, so please pay attention to who is mentioned in each paragraph.
Twenty years after the fall of Mordor, peace had fallen over the lands of Middle-Earth. The Elves were long gone, having returned to the undying lands, and the Dwarves had managed to get back the Kingdoms of Moria and Erebor. The orcs of the Misty Mountains and outlying areas were driven back into Mirkwood. Rohan and Gondor had long recovered from the wars with Saruman and Sauron. Eomer became the new king of Rohan. Faramir and his wife, Eowyn, became lords of a partially rebuilt Osgiliath. Aragorn and Arwen ruled over much of the western human kingdoms. The Ents returned to their peaceful lives, and vowed to never fight again. The only thing that still menaced the free peoples of middle-earth was occasional raids from the men of Harad and the soldiers of Rhûn. Unbeknownst to them, however, an evil lurked in the outskirts of Mordor, one that the beings would have never expected.
The lord of Udûn has come: Burzum, chief of the Olog-Hai.