All The King's Men
PROLOGUE
Concerning the Partition of Arnor and the Rise of the Witch-King
At the height of its prestige, the great kingdom of Arnor stood over all the lands of Eriador, between the Misty Mountains on the east and the Blue Mountains on the border of Lindon in the west. Elendil himself ruled from this land ere his fall in the siege of Barad-Dúr, with his throne in the city of Annúminas upon Lake Nenuial. Following the death of Elindil, and Isildur who perished in the Gladden Fields ere he could assume the throne, rule of the kingdom passed to Valandil, Isildur's youngest and only living son.
With the passage of Isildur the fate of Arnor was thus divided from that of the southern kingdom, Gondor. Where Isildur is considered the right lord of both lands, kingship of Gondor passed on his death to Meneldil, the son of Anarion Isildur's brother. And while Gondor rose during the Third Age in prestige and renown, Arnor would fall early into disarray.
On the death of Eärendur the tenth King of Arnor in the year 861 of the Third Age, there was quarrel between his three sons over rulership of the land; and though Amlaith Eärendur's eldest son held the greatest claim, the dispute led to the partition of Arnor into three separate kingdoms. Amlaith took rule of the western realm of Arthedain from Fornost, then Arnor's greatest city; also were Cardolan in the south and Rhudaur in the west. The line of Isildur did not long survive in these two kingdoms, and though Cardolan remained friendly with Arthedain Rhudaur fell into evil. A clan of renegades and wild men overthrew the kingship of that land, and many wars were fought with Cardolan over the Weather Hills and possession of the palantir, the seeing-stone of the Elves that was held at the watch-tower Amon Sûl, which both lands bordered.
It was in this time that a darker threat arose far to the north. An evil silent since the defeat of Sauron at the end of the Second Age was gathering power, and his lands were called Angmar, the Iron-home. With this land Rhudaur would enter into secret alliance, and its shadow fell long over the two remaining free kingdoms of the north. The peoples of Cardolan and Arthedain feared assault, and after five centuries of decline knew they had not the strength to repel this foe. An effort was made by Argoleb I, king of Arthedain, to reunite the three kingdoms again under one banner, but this was fiercely rebuffed by Rhudaur, and nothing came of it. All throughout the northern lands a sense of doom came; soon the dreaded Witch-King, ruler of Angmar, would make his war; and when he did, few thought he could be repelled.
So it was until the year 1409, when such events would finally come to motion. While it would be some centuries yet before the final doom of both lands would be decided, herein is told the account of the last defenders of Cardolan and the first of the great battles for the fate of the realm that was once the greatest realm of Men in Middle-Earth, second only to Númenor itself.
Of the Heirs of Isildur
While Gondor was ruled by a line of kings traced back to Anarion, the younger son of Elendil, the kings of the North were direct descendents of Isildur by his only living son and thus were held the greater. This line remained unbroken in Arthedain alone after the partition of 861; king of that land in the year 1409 was Arveleg I, who was crowned in 1356 at the death of his father, Argeleb I son of Malvegil. Arveleg had one son at this time, Araphor, who was not yet fully grown.
Of Cardolan
This kingdom, whose name was Land of the Red Hills in the Sindarin toungue, was made he domain of of Faralaith Eärendur's second son. Mithranos, the Grey Citadel, was made the capital of Cardolan; it had before stood as a watch on the Barrow-Downs and the gateway to the far southern lands of Minhiriath, as it on the River Baranduin near the Sarn Ford. The colors of the Guard of Cardolan were thus silver and crimson-brown.