Invidia
It was their undoing, it was their doom. What they had were turned against them, and they were blinded by their own ambition. They were the envy of all others, so why then had their own hearts been filled with such burning jealousy, such desire to claim what never had meant to be theirs?
It was his words, his poisonous words that had spread malice and evil thoughts among the people, his words that had corrupted their king. They had done what nobody ever had dared, tried to invade the sacred land, sailed to Aman to claim what only the firstborn were granted, immortality. How that envy had burned in their blood, how it had churned around in their minds like an itch one cannot scratch. It was forever there, growing, feeding of their fears and ignorance like a leech. How he had nurtured that fear, made it grow until it became obsession, how sweet his words, how hollow his promises. See what they have, see what they can achieve, surely you deserve no less? Surely they ought to give you what is rightfully yours to claim? Go take it, show them you are strong, show them you cannot be made slaves to cower in front of them. Bring the Valar down, make them beg you for mercy.
How could they have been so foolish? How could they have been so easily seduced? It had all been such a lie, poison masked as sweetness, as promises of a grand future. Now it was too late, the people of the island of Nùmenòr stared with disbelief at their doom, it was hurtling towards them, waves, impossibly tall, towering above the tallest towers. In their final moments many realized the depth of the deceit, what they had feared, what they had tried to avoid was indeed the gift of the one to his second born children and by trying to avoid it they had brought it upon themselves. When the sea once again fell calm there was nothing left, only the debris of a once great nation, seduced by its own fear, seduced by the longing to possess immortality, seduced by envy.