A/N: This chapter is a bit longer than the others, and more happens. Reviews are welcome. Enjoy!

The Fifth of Nórui, 3261 S.A.

Our armada is so massive they can't fit into Rómenna. In fact, only a tithe of them can fit along the docks and harbor wall. The rest of the ships are further out. The King's own vessel, Uinen*, is the closest to the palace. That is the ship that I will be on board during the duration of the voyage.

At least one-twentieth of the vessels are merely holding arms and armor for the soldiers. Yet another tithe bears all the food we will be needing for the voyage. Another twentieth carries most of the servants of the various Lords journeying with us. The rest are carrying the soldiers. I estimate there is at least 200 ships, if not much, much more, in the Harbor alone. I also estimate an average of 300 men per vessel.

It seems as if we must have deforested half of Endor to create this massive fleet. Indeed, the papers I have say over 200,000 trees were harvested for it, and those were only the most recent boats. The horizon is swamped with sails, making it seem as though it is a very cloudy day, despite the fact that there is hardly a cloud to be seen. At least, in the part of the sky that can actually be seen.

Ar-Pharazôn stood beside me, his body very tense. I believe he is stressed by all the planning necessary for the invasion, not to mention the magnitude of the journey we were about to embark on. The plank to Uinen was lowered by sailors already onboard and the King and I, followed by all the other Lords journeying with us, boarded the ship.

Unfortunately, Amandil is not on board. He decided to stay behind and look after Gimilzimir. It is a pity that Gimilzimir cannot be trusted by Amandil and I, for I would have enjoyed Amandil's company aboard the vessel. It is to be a long voyage, at least by my standards, estimated to take over 40 days. It will be slower than usual, for the whole fleet must remain together.

I turned around and faced toward the part of the town that borders the harbor. All of the city and the the surrounding area has turned out to see us go. The crowd is a mix of different emotions. Among this crowd are frightened mothers, worried for their sons. There are also brothers, no doubt jealous of their older brother's position in army. Undoubtedly, there are even a few of the Faithful in this mix. Each of these groups are linked by their connection to the fleet.

Ar-Pharazôn gave his farewell address to the crowd. He ssod how the capture of Mordor will double the amount of land we currently hold now. I know he intends to do no such thing, but his promises seem to encourage the people. The King then continues to lay out our future. He says that, using Mordor as a gathering point, we will move north and conquer the Drúedain infested forests.

After that we will invade the realms of the Eldar. Imladris, Lórinand, Mithlond, and even the small province of Greenwood shall fall under our command. Once we have established ourselves there, we shall overpower the dwarves in Moria and in the Blue Mountains. Once our rule of northwestern Ennor is established we shall conquer the deserts of Harad. After that, we shall take over the eastern reaches of Ennor, and drive out the Moriquendi that live there. Once they are defeated, we will enslave the other continents. Before long we will be the rulers in the Lands Without Death!

After hearing Ar-Pharazôn's speech (which was far longer than the notes I have written here!) end, the people broke out into great applause. Whether this was out of true respect or fear f the consequences I don't know. The cheers and applause were the signal for Ar-Pharazôn's Master Herald, Azruzûr, to belt out a single, low note on his horn.

At once, all the ships' captains commanded their crews to begin rowing. Luckily, all the ship's made it out without a single mishap. We were leaving Númenor and were on our way to making history.

Arnuzîr

The Eighth of Nórui, 3261 S.A.

We have been at sea for only three days, and already I am bored. I am feeling out of place on this ship. Without any papers to look at, or forms to fill out, my only purpose on this ship seems to be eating and sleeping.

Luckily I am not feeling sea sick. When I was younger, my father would take me sailing every month or so. As well as giving me a feeling of ease around the sea, these voyages allowed me to create my most miraculous invention. You see, even at a young age, I loved to read. The only problem was, my books would get soaked whenever I brought them out on the voyages. It cost a lot of money to have a scribe rewrite a book, a cost that I had no intention of paying over and over again.

Therefore, I created a cover for my books. Made out of a special kind of fabric (one that grows only in southern Valinor), it has several layers. Each layer would absorb water, hopefully absorbing all the water that would touch my books. The final layer was coated in a special resin, that would protect my book from all aquatic harm. It is this cover that I am using for my journal right now.

I have been trying for whole voyage so far to avoid Ar-Pharazôn. I fear seeing him would lead me to argue with him about his current policy, and it is much to late for him to change his mind now. I feel it is best to try and avoid a pointless argument, not to mention its best to avoid arguing with the King of Númenor. So far there has been very little work for me to do.

Arnuzîr

The 15th of Norúi, 3261 S.A.

The sailors are worried. For the first time in living memory, their has been no wind from the West to help us. Always before, there has been some sign from the Valar that they are on our side. Now there is nothing, no wind, no eagles to guide our way. What is even more unsettling, at least in the soldiers' mind, is that there has also been no sign of disfavor, no ominous clouds, no unsettling backdrafts. They are whispering amongst themselves that if the Valar are too busy to show any concern, whether positive or negative, about our invasion, they must be very busy indeed.

I think this so utter nonsense. The Valar are nearly all powerful. The only thing that could stop them from even sending us the briefest of favors would be if the Enemy himself broke out. But that would be impossible.

Ar-Pharazôn requested my presence for the first time on our voyage. I hoped that our meeting would go without hostility. The King stood at the bow of the boat. As I approached him he continued to stare at the water. Then, without turning his head to look at me, he asked "How do you think I've been running things so far"

I responded with the first thing I could think of, "Very well, My Lord"

"Is that really what you believe, Arnuzîr?"

I stood silently in contemplation for a few moments before replying, "Yes, Your Majesty".

"And why do you believe I've done well?"

"To be honest, Your Majesty, it's because your policies might have saved our realm. You see, without those conquered farms you established in Endor, we probably would have starved last winter".

"Is that the only reason you believe I've done well?

"Well, not entirely. I also think that-"

I would have liked to continue my conversation with Ar-Pharazôn, for, in my haste to answer his questions, I had forgotten all about the tension between us. I began believing we might be able to get along. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, we were interrupted.

An eagle soared a foot over Ar-Pharazôn's head, shrieking louder than the loudest horn. It was followed by another eagle,and then another, each shrieking like a banshee. Ar-Pharazôn and I covered our ears, but even then I could hear their majestic scream.

When fourteen of the Eagles had flow overhead and disappeared into the Western skies, each shrieking their beautiful yet cacaphonous roar, the wind suddenly rushed in. There was the sound of thousands of canvases wrinkling and thousands of oars relaxing, as our sails unfurled and the oars were dropped. At last, our voyage was truly on its way.

Arnuzîr

The 24th of Cerveth, 3261 S.A.

If our departure from Rómenna was majestic, then our arrival at Umbar was nothing short of godly. Unlike Rómenna, Umbar was designed as a harbor for a fleet. Rómenna, on the other hand, was designed (at most) for a large fishing fleet, or a small war party. Another difference was the fact that, while at Rómenna, when I saw them, the ship's were mostly stationary, or moving away. Here, with the ship's moving into the harbor, we looked far grander.

The few men stationed at the docks scrambled to get all the ships anchored in place. Our ship, being the King's ship, was docked first. I quickly gathered up my writing supplies and scrambled of the ship, closely behind Ar-Pharazôn. Despite the fact that I was used to long voyages (well, three day voyages anyway) I was relieved to be back on land.

The other ships seemed to have soldiers just as eager to be off, as they all poured away from their boats and headed into the massive barracks behind the docks. I followed Ar-Pharazôn to the King's House, where the nobles would be staying.

Ar-Pharazôn and I had had many more conversations after the Eagles. In a way, I got to now him very well. I soon discovered that, on the outside, he was a very charming person. On the inside, however, he could be cruel, petty and ambitious. Perhaps I am being overly vitriolic. After all, some of those traits are admired in leaders.

It was this recent understanding of Ar-Pharazôn that allowed me to pull up the bravery to ask: "When will we begin the attack?"

"Soon"

Although he seemed somewhat preoccupied, I decided to push further.

"Where?"

"Mordor"

Clearly, Ar-Pharazôn did not welcome my interruptions at this time. I decide to save my questions until tomorrow. I wondered what was bothering him so much; after all, he had already planned out the attack.

Arnuzîr

27th of Cerveth, 3261 S.A.

Today, apparently, is the day we go to war. Already, I can hear the soldiers preparing for the day. Today we will fight our first battle against the might of Sauron. I discussed some of the tactics with Ar-Pharazôn

"Tell me, Your Majesty, do you plan on waiting for Sauron to attack us, or do you plan in attacking him?" Ar-Pharazôn had recovered from his dark mood from the other night and readily responded to my query.

"I plan on attacking. We will advance up through Umbar and along the Mountains of Shadow. From there, we will break through the Black Gate and conquer the rest of Mordor."

"Don't you have any plans for fortify and settling territory?", I asked. I was worried about my King's lack of detail.

"Why worry about that now? We can focus on that once Sauron is in chains, on his knees before me. Now, go and tell Azruzûr to gather the troops"

I did as told and commanded Azruzûr to sound his horn. Immediately, every single one of the 450,000 plus soldiers that sailed over began moving into formation. Azruzûr blew a few more tones on his horn and the soldiers began marching out. I met back up with Ar-Pharazôn. He and the other Lords were in the middle of the mass of soldiers. I prepared myself for the long walk ahead of me, for I was not offered a palanquin.

It was the middle of the day when the first attack came. Almost, I did not notice it, for we were so far from the edges of the army that, over the din of clinking chain mail, almost nothing could be heard. However, I began to hear the scream of the maimed and the dying and saw vultures swooping in on the distant horizon. I commanded one of the mounted soldiers nearby to allow me to join him on his horse, that I might get a better view.

Right away, I was able to see the skirmish. While at first, the Orcs may have seemed intimidating (indeed, later analyzation would place the numbers of the Orcs at over 10,000, no small number), our massive numbers allowed the parts of the edges that weren't being attacked to surround the Orcs, easily outnumbering them.

While I would later hear from the soldiers that it was frightening to be in such a situation, it did not seem all that scary to me.

We did manage to capture some Drúedain prisoners (previous experience having taught us that Orc prisoners are useless), but they were extraordinarily tight mouthed about Sauron. We did seem to gleam that he had been building up to meet our Army, but that he was almost frightened of us. Ar-Pharazôn shrugged that of as nonsense, assuming it was some bluff.

After resting for a day, we are going to continue on with our march.

Arnuzîr

The Third of Urui, 3261 S.A.

Today has been the most important day in all of our history. At first, things were innocuous enough. We rose, ate, backed our belongings, and marched as usual. Actually I didn't march, having finally been given a palanquin of my own. One thing that I noticed was different on this day was that the sun appeared to be a little hazy when it went over the horizon. I would later learn his obstruction of light was caused by the dust.

I was unable to contemplate on this occurrence further, for Ar-Pharazôn requested my presence to plan out more details of his strategy. It was midday when things began going wrong. We had approached a mighty river, and were preparing the bridge that the soldiers had practiced so much**, when we heard fierce screams and cries coming from the North.

The Orcs were attacking for the second time. It was at this point I realized what had raised all that dust: it was the sheer numbers of the Orcs***. Indeed, it was afterward estimated that over 50,000 Orcs were present in that army.

Even this massive amount was still nowhere near enough to overwhelm us. As a matter of fact, we presumably outnumbered the Orcs 9:1. However, the some of the Orcs had been trained by Sauron in Dark Sourcery. I do not know precisely what their powers were, but their skills added a lot to the Orcs' army. Even they would not be enough to destroy our army, for once we ripped through a spellcaster' s bodyguards, they were easy to slay. However the Orcs also had the aid of the Haradrim, and their Mûmakul.

I later heard from soldiers in the army that all was not as clear on the battle as I just wrote, and that in fact, most soldiers that actually fought in the battle (later called the Second Skirmish) were killed, and that most of the Orcs were either killed by fallen soldiers or by our archers.

My own contribution to the battle as one of strategy, and while not much, it probably prevented more of bloodshed from occuring^. I noted that the opposing army had Haradrim in it. I then wondered that, if the Haradrim were in Sauron's side, then wouldn't that put us in enemy territory?

I relayed my thought to Ar-Pharazôn, and, being a former Admiral, he realized what I had not. The Haradrim were planning on attacking by us from behind! He quickly told his messengers to relay this information to the generals in our rear, and not a moment to soon. Almost a minute later, our rearflank was attacked by almost 10,000 Haradrim.

Despite the difficulties facing us, we eventually won out. The impotent remnants of the attacking army fled, and we were able to ford the river. It was almost dusk, and we were preparing or settle in for the night, when the horns of our sentries blew.

Our men reached for their weapons for the second time that day, when suddenly, a voice, a terrible ancient voice, sounded accross our encampment.

STOP

There was a sound of someone screaming at the "voice" and then:

I COME WITH A TRUCE

Ar-Pharazôn was the only one brave enough to reply. He said

"Enter our camp for further negotiations". While he put up a brave front, I could tell he was nervous, by the twitch in his eye.

This was the first time I saw Sauron. He was dressed in chain mail, covered by a black surcoat. He had the appearance of a mortal man, but he was far more beautiful than the Drúedain of this region. He was also much taller and his eyes, unlike the usual brown of this region (or eyes of any colour, for that matter), were a pale red. Despite his beautiful form, I felt a sense of dread, despair, and disgust merely being next to him.

He and Ar-Pharazôn disappeared into a tent, where they went to discuss terms of surrender. Sauron dropped his previous voice, speaking instead in a quieter (but equally commanding) voice. When they came out it appears they had come to an agreement that made them both happy (or perhaps equally unhappy). I have copied the terms into my journal.

"In return for the sparing of his life and his armies, Sauron, the King of Mordor, is to surrender all lands he controls, west of the Mountains of Shadow and north of the Ash Mountains, to Ar-Pharazôn, King of Endor and Númenor, Conqueror of the Shadow, Blessed of the Atani, Lord of Mittalmar [the remaining titles I am editing out]. Sauron is also to accompany Ar-Pharazôn back to Númenor, were he shall be put to work by the people there. The arms and armour of his armies are to be melted down. In return, the majority of the army of Númenor shall leave Endor. This surrender is subject to change as made by The King of Númenor."

One last event happened on that night. A messenger sent from the Noldor, who had heard of our arrival, apparently, came to our camp. His original mission was to deliver the blessings of his Lord, Gil-Galad, and observe our progress. However, the minute he saw Sauron, he dropped a scroll telling us of his mission, and fled in the other direction. Tomorrow, we head back to Umbar.

Arnuzîr

The 12th of Urui, 3261 S.A.

We have now been at sea for a couple days. Recently, I tried my hand at navigation, should I ever need it. I tried to remember the lessons my father taught me, but it had been so long since my childhood that I remembered only a few things.

I had a sextant with me, as well as a northseeker and a map of the ? Ocean^*. Unfortunately, without any knowledge of how to use these instruments, the exercise soon proved to be worthless. I resolve to find someone to teach me how to navigate.

Today, I spoke alone with Sauron, for both the first and last time. I would speak with him later, but always with someone else nearby. Never again would so be alone with him. I was summoned into his quarters by a Courier. Since we had successfully truced with Sauron, a few new terms had been added. Sauron would represent the new Lord of Ennor (a general named Ainrizúl) at Númenor. In return for this new position, Mordor would be added to our lands. Essentially what this meant was that Ainrizúl would pass laws in Ennor, while Sauron would speak him on the Lords' Council.

Thus new title made Sauron of equal rank to me, not that I would have dared refuse his any of his commands previously. I was cautious about granting a former enemy of ours such power, but I was helpless to prevent it. Amandil would not be pleased at this turn of events.

Sauron spoke, interrupting my contemplation.

"So, young one, they tell me you puzzle over my race and lineage".

I was about to reply, "No, and I am not 'young', I'm over 270 years old", but one glance from him had shuddering and falling silent.

"I have decided to tell you a little about myself to, perhaps, clear up some of your confusion about me". His tone brooked no argument.

"I was created in a place outside of this realm of existence. A realm so vastly different from yours, that there is no words in your language that can possibly describe it. Of all the mortal languages, only some of the lost words from the primitive language that the Quendi once used come close. In this realm, there were three main classes. The upper class held only one member.

"The man was a tyrant. His name was Eru."

I gasped in shock. This... whatever he was, had gone to far. In my rage I forgot my fear of him.

"How dare you blaspheme so! Eru is the savior and creator. It was he who gave us our Gift, who gave us life, who-"

ENOUGH

He spoke in the same tone as he had when I first saw him, only restricted to his cabin. The limited space only served to make his voice ten times as bad. I put my hands to my ears, immmediately falling silent.

"Anyway", he continued as though there had been no interruption, "The second class would later be called the Valar. They were almost as bad as the first, lording their might over the third class, the Maiar. The Maiar were split into three main classes. The Milya were the weakest and largestst class. The next class was of middling strength and size. They were the Endëa. The next class was my class. We were the Túra, the powerful of the Maiar.

"I'm sure you have heard the Ainulindalië. When the time came to sing, I was sure I would get a leading role, after all, I was one of the more powerful Ainu, probably in the top 20. However, I was instead given a minor role. When Melkor began his new theme, I was one of those who followed him, sure that I would gain a more prominent role. And afterwards, when we entered Arda, I was loyal to him, once more seeking power. Now, he has been removed from Arda, but I will find a way to restore him"

I began to grow more and more frightened of Sauron. As he spoke, his eyes turned redder and redder. I suddenly ran out of the cabin, bursting through the door. Sauron called out from behind me: "You will serve him too".

I can't wait to be off this boat, although that may be taking longer than anticipated, for yet again there has been no wind. It also appears we are to take a slight detour to supervise the construction if a new fortress in Endor.

Arnuzîr

*Editor's Note: Despite the Númenorians current contempt for the Valar, they held the Sea Lady in the highest respect. It is unknown, however, why a ship was named after her, since Uinen would most likely take offense to such an act

**Editor's Note: This process involved using several men to lay down sturdy supports, and then covering them with sets of planks, lashed together with strong rope. This tactic was also used prior to Dagorlad by Gil-Galad's armies.

***Editor's Note: The Númenorian army probably raised far more dust.

^ Editor's Note: Out narrator here seems oblivious to the fact that the Númenorians probably lost 60,000 men that day. This number has been estimated to be almost 5 times the number of losses reported by the Free Peoples in the War of the Ring.

^* Editor's Note: The Númenorian word for their ocean doesn't translate into Westron.