Epilogue and Final Editor's Note to the Second Edition of the Abridged Journals of Arnuzîr:
Since I published this book in 250 F.A., several of my colleagues in the Arnorian Historical Society have asked me several questions about some of the events in my book. After several years of research, I published this Second Edition with new Editor's Notes and annotations to help answer those questions. I also added some background material for those who don't know very much about the background of Númenor. I have decided to write this Epilogue ( or Appendix) in the form of a Q&A.
Q: What happened to Sauron after the Valar destroyed Númenor?
A: Although Sauron's body was destroyed, his spirit was still alive and able to rebuild a body because of the Ring. Sauron was originally planning to use the Valar to destroy Ar-Pharazôn, Arnuzîr, The Armament, and the Army in one strike. With them out-of-the-way, he would become King. He would then slowly turn Númenor into a place like Mordor and use the men of Númenor as soldiers in his war against the Elves. With no allies to save them, and vastly outnumbered, the Elves would be slaughtered.
Some people believe that he was planning on taking things a step further. He would bend the other races of Endor to his will and set them to work building a massive military. Once he had conquered every excepted Valinor. He would lead another attack on the Valar. He believed that he would succeed were the Númenorians had failed because his army would contain several fallen Maiar.
Fortunately, Sauron underestimated the wrath of the Valar. When Númenor was pulled into the chasm, he lost the form that he had taken while Ar-Pharazôn's captive. He was unable to take a beautiful form ever again. After his body was destroyed, Sauron's spirit fled to Barad-dûr, where he was resurrected by one of his Dark Shamans.
For 105 years, Sauron gathered up his forces in Endor. When all was ready, he attacked Minas Ithil, starting the events that would lead up to the Last Alliance.
Q: Where where the Rings while Sauron was in Númenor?
A: I shall answer this question by group of Rings
The Nine Rings of Men: 4 of the Rings had already been distributed to the Men already allied with Sauron. Sauron gave the remaining rings to the following people: Both Lords of Endor, the Lord of Hyarrostar, Lord Tarkûl, and a young noble whose name is still unknown. The reason the young noble had a ring given to him was because she showed signs of extreme magical powers; almost beyond Sauron's. Supposedly she also had a limited talent with Waerping (a powerful magical ability that allows the user to bend the fabric of Arda). It is unknown if these rumors are true.
The Seven Rings of Dwarves: These Rings had already been given out, with one swallowed by a dragon. There was originally one Ring for each tribe of Dwarves.
The Three Rings of Elves: The Elves had already hidden away these rings.
The One Ring: The location of the One Ring during this time is shrouded in mystery. There are two main schools of thought on the subject. Some believe that Sauron had hidden the Ring deep in the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Others believe that it was given to a trusted associate of Sauron's. The latter has been mostly discredited over time, after all, who would Sauron trust? However, it still has some followers today.
Q: What happened to Elendil and his family after of Númenor?
A: Luckily, Elendil had been forewarned by a messenger of Ulmo, one of the few Valar who urged peace for the Númenorians. He quickly took his ships as far away as possible from where the chasm would be. However, his miniature fleet was hit by the aftershocks of the destruction. The fleet was separated, with Elendil going to the North toward Mithlond and Isildur and Anárion going to the South towards present day Gondor. Elendil would go on to found the realm of Armor with its capital Annúminas. Isildur was his heir.
Anárion, with help from Isildur founded Gondor. His son, Meneldil was heir. He set up his capitals in the twin cities of Minas Ithil and Minas Amor, which were separated by the Anduin. The White Tree and four of the Palantirí were in Gondor and three of the Palantirí were in Armor. Sauron's attack on Minas Ithil, the city the White Tree and Isildur were in, would spark the Last Alliance and the end of the Second Age.
Q: What happened to the Moriquendi after Ar-Pharazôn destroyed their operatives?
A: The picture of the Moriquendi in Arnuzîr's journals is actually incorrect. Some differences need to be understood in order to understand the fate of them. First of all, Arnuzîr uses the term "Moriquendi" which roughly translates to "Dark Elves" meaning those who never saw the Two Trees. This could also include the Sindar and the Nandor. The actual group of Elves Arnuzîr was referring to was the Avari.
Another misconception is that of the structure of the Avari. The Avari are composed of around 12 tribes (this number is subject to change), each occupying a different region. These tribes are further split into ndossi or "large families". Each ndossi is led by an ataro or "father". Each tribe is led by a harame or "chief". It has been theorized that there is a King of all the tribes, but all expeditions to find this leader have been lost.
The "operatives" attacked by Ar-Pharazôn were actually one of the (at the time) 14 tribes; they were called the Nduwnawa, which literally translates to "Western". The loss of this tribe shattered the Avarin structure for the next couple centuries. It is thought that, because they were busy recovering from their losses, they did not notice how hostile their Dwarf neighbors to the South had become. This lead to their treachery and prevented the Avari from helping the Last Alliance.
The Avari would never expand further than Rhûn after the loss of the Ndunawa, preferring to involve themselves with their closer, human neighbors instead. Very little is known about their current exploits to us today, although a few Eastern historians claim to have information about them.
Q: How old was Arnuzîr at the time of his death?
A:Although concrete answers are almost impossible to find, it can be estimated that he was around 300, making him quite old for that time period. He is to have begun serving Ar-Gimilzôr a few years into his rule, which would be around 3107. This means he was a Steward for close to 208 years. An as-of-yet unpublished entry in his journal says he was around 60 when he began training as a Steward to a lesser noble, and that it took him around 30 years to move up in the ranks. Supposedly, he was a very talented Steward, which is why Ar-Pharazôn never let Sauron fire him.
Q: How did the Government of Númenor function?
A: I will describe each rank of the government from highest to lowest.
The King: The King was the Head of State in Númenor. He had final say over the laws that were passed, decided how to enforce those laws, and could overturn decisions made in the courts. He was also responsible for officially declaring his heir, although usually the law already had decided who that was. The King was the Commander of the entire military. He was advised on all his duties by his Inner Council.
The Inner Council: The primary function of the Inner Council was to advise the King on his decisions. The Inner Council consisted of: The Lord of Andustar, The Lord of Forostar, The Lord of Hyarrostar, The Lord of Hyarnustar, The Lord of Orostar, The Lord of Rómenna, The Lord of Númenor (also the Prince), The Lord of Mittalmar, The Lord of Endor, The Governor of Armenelos, The General of the Army, the Admiral of the Navy, The Steward of Númenor, and the High Priests of their respective religions. Rank in the Inner Council was officially determined by the "weight" of your titles, but in people usually listened more to those with seniority. The more rank one had, the more votes one got.
The Council could vote on laws to pass, but it has to get them approved by the King unless the vote was unanimous. The Council could not overturn cases or enforce laws personally, but it could create task forces to do these things.
Weight of Titles:
Lord: 6 points
Steward: 5 points
General/Admiral: 4 points
Governor: 3 points
High Priest: 2 points
Prince: 1 point
For example, before the Armament, Arnuzîr had 12 points and Sauron had 8 points.
The Outer Council: A Council made up of civilians nominated by the Governor/Mayor. They served one 10 year term. Their job was to inspect every person in the ruling class according to The Ruling Code Sections 1, 2, 4, and 7. If a member of the ruling class was found lacking, the Outer Council could vote to have them replaced. If the Inner Council unanimously opposes the Outer Council's decision, it is reversed. If necessary, the Outer Council could remove the King. During Ar-Pharazôn's rule, there was always one member for every 50,000 citizens.
The Lords: In addition to the Lords on the Council, there were several other Lords. The Lord of Vinyalondë, The Lord of Umbar, The Lord of Angrenost (whom Arnuzîr referred to as a Foreman), The Lord of Endor (in Endor), and the Lord of Arandor. The purpose of the Lords was to set and enforce laws within their districts. Some Lords controlled districts that contained other Lords. Usually, when this happened, the Lord would not be responsible for the subset Lord. Other Lords had positions that were purely honorary, like the Lord of Númenor, a position which only served to give the Prince a higher weight.
The Bureaus: The executive counterpart of the Council. The job of the Bureaus was to enforce laws on Númenor and ensure that the various parts of the Kingdom are running smoothly. The Bureaus included: The Mining Bureau, The Agency Bureau, The Port Bureau, The Shipping Bureau, The Agricultural Bureau, The Livestock Bureau, The Architectural Bureau, The Trade Bureau, The Military Bureau, The Logging Bureau, The Foreign Relations Bureau, The Investigation Bureau, The Information Bureau, The Treasury Bureau, The Economical Bureau, The Educational Bureau, The Justice Bureau, and The Health Bureau.
Traditionally, the Governor of Armenelos represented the Bureaus in the Council, and vis versa. The Justice Bureau is the limited Judicial system of Númenor. While nowhere near as extensive as the system in The Reunited Realms, at least Númenor had a functional one.
The Nobles: The rank below the Lords. The Nobles ruled over small areas with the Lords district called "Taxons". The duties of the Nobles were similar to those of the Lords.
The Departments: The Lords were to the Nobles as the Bureaus were to the Departments. Each Bureau has at least three departments.
The Governors/Mayors: The lowest rank of the ruling class. These people ruled over a city or town. They were advised by a city/town council.
For all groups, for a vote to be successful there must be a 2/3 majority.
Q: How do the Journals of Arnuzîr help historians?
A: The Journals of Arnuzîr are our best source for Númenor since the Elves released their collected notes on the subject. They are also the only source written by an inhabitant of Númenor. More importantly, they give us far better insight into Númenor than the Elves did (The Elves have altogether published only 50,000 words, much of which is summarized. The Journals contain 62,000 published words, and a further 6,167,000 remain unpublished).
Q: Why didn't Ar-Pharazôn have any more children?
A:While there is no concrete evidence for any of the reasons that have been suggested, a leading theory has come out. It is currently believed that both Ar-Pharazôn and Tar-Miriel were afraid to have any children after Belzagar's death. They didn't want to have another child for fear they would lose them. The birth of another heir wouldn't have made much of a difference, as all evidence says that once Belzagar died Númenor's fate was sealed.
As an interesting aside, it has never been conclusively proven that Belzagar was Ar-Pharazôn's child. While, obviously, he seemed to think that that was the case, he never was able to find any proof that Belzagar was actually his son. Phenotyping would not have helped, for both Ar-Pharazôn and Amandil looked very similar. Amandil might have believed that Belzagar was Ar-Pharazôn's child, but the only time he ever said so was in public. What his thoughts were in private, we cannot know. As for Tar-Miriel, the only sign of her feelings are written in a coded letter that we have been unable to unlock.
Q: How powerful was Sauron's army when Ar-Pharazôn attacked?
A: It is a well documented fact that Sauron's original plan was not to be brought back to Númenor. Originally, he was going to destroy Ar-Pharazôn utterly while he was in Endor, then conquer Númenor while it was unprotected. However, he realized that the might of Númenor was to much for his army and tried a more subtler approach.
From this, we know that Sauron's army must have been smaller than Ar-Pharazôn's army, which had around 345,000 men. We also know (from the treaty) that Sauron attacked with 70,000 men total and had at least 30,000 garrisoned in and around Mordor. From this, and other censuses, we can determine that Sauron had around 120,000 soldiers, almost twice his forces during the War of the Ring.
Q: What happened to Númenor at the end of the Journals?
A: When Ar-Pharazôn set foot on the shores of Valinor the Valar faced a crisis. They knew that they had to destroy Ar-Pharazôn's army, but they couldn't use their powers without also destroying Valinor. They decided to temporarily transfer power to Eru. Eru decided that he must destroy Númenor and the fleet at the same time. Because Númenor was an artificial island, it was easy for Eru to open a chasm next to it to pull it and the fleet in. He later restored all the water that was sucked in. This event alone would not have effected the rest of the world much, except for a severe long-lasting low tide. However, Eru also decided that Valinor must be made safe from Atani forever. So, he lifted Valinor slightly away from Ambar and then he curved Ambar, so that it was now a globe. Now, Valinor could only be accessed by "The Straight Road" a path through Ilmen used by the Quendi.
The act of curving the world had a pronounced effect on the world, the most important being the creation of new continents on the other side. It also destroyed most of the islands in the Belgaer.
Ivor Wellon, Writer of the Arnorian Historical Society
Sources (in order of use): Sauron's Slave, The Last Alliance by Jurn Erkand, Dark Dominion, The Ring Circle, The Black Númenorians, The Life of Agachac, The Elendil Saga, Tales of the East, The Dark Elf, The Seven Fathers, The Journals of Arnuzîr, The Downfallen, A New Form of Government, The Plebian Rulers by Salurien, The Beginnings of (Demo) Bureaucracy, The Lower-Upper Class by Gimil son of Gimli, The Last Emperor, A Queen to her Subject, The Treaty of Umbar, Mordor During the Late Days of Númenor, A Mad God?, A New Frontier.
Thank you all for reading! Please review and enjoy.