Author's Note: Now we begin with the "Ar"s, as I call them. What do you think is the worst change in Númenórean thought since its foundation? Have you seen any positive changes? I'm asking these questions to get your brain-gears turning, and leaving your answers in a review will let me know that my endeavors are not in vain! Plus I'd really appreciate the feedback…

Ar-Adûnakhôr

Name(s): Ar-Adûnakhôr; Tar-Herunúmen

Race: Men

Life: He was born in 2709 S.A. and when he took the scepter as Númenor's twentieth king, he ruled for 63 years until his death in 2962.

. . .

You were the first king to take your official name in Adûnaic, and its meaning was "Lord of the West", a title usually reserved for Manwë. Were you trying to make a statement in all of this?

I was demonstrating both my personal power and the power of my fellow Númenóreans. We no longer needed to hide under the shadow of a foreign language, for we had made a name for ourselves that deserved to be used in all things. And I was the Lord of the West; I mean, I controlled the seas and the coats, and even the Dark Lord was afraid of me. Why shouldn't I take that title? Manwë hadn't been seen in thousands of years, and if he was still there, he should have stopped Sauron to prove that he was really the Lord of the West.

What did the Faithful think of your title?

They were quite upset, complaining about it on a variety of levels. Some were merely upset that I had broken with the tradition of using the Quenya names, which is laughable considering that I still had the stupid title recorded in Quenya. Other, however, had a more fundamental problem with it because they still considered themselves the slaves of the Valar. They accused me of blasphemy, and they loved to point out that I was probably incurring the wrath of the Valar. As if I was afraid of the Valar.

One member of the Faithful once had the nerve to tell me he was torn between his "loyalty to the line of Elros" and his "reverence of the appointed powers". Ha! Little did the fool know that I am both of Elros' line and also an appointed power in this world. The Faithful were always overdramatic and lacking in witty speech. They made me out as a villain, even though I was hardly different from my father at all.

Did the Faithful's opposition ever result in any incidents?

Yes; a few disagreements did result in some pretty serious altercations. Debates turned into challenges to the death, and although the Faithful often claimed that these challenges were interfered with or manipulated, that was probably because they were sore losers. But although we did have deaths here and there, no battles or anything of that kind ever broke out.

Why did you outlaw the speaking of the Elven-tongues in your presence and the teaching of Elven-tongues to others?

It annoyed me to hear foreign speech in my court. Everyone could speak Adûnaic just fine; it's not as if I was inconveniencing anyone. Besides, those blasted elven languages only serve to remind one of the doom of death that faces our race and not the favored Eldar.

I didn't want the languages taught because I didn't want to fill up our youth's minds with foreign ideas. Their main focus should have been on men and Númenor; not on the Eldar. The elves were the puppets of the Valar, and I didn't want my people to ever be stooped so low.

Did elves come to Númenor in your days?

Very rarely. Most had the good sense to stay away since they were not wanted here. I know that a few did come secretly to talk to the nearly-treacherous Faithful, but I couldn't forbid them to come without risking an uprising from the Faithful, who had already been brainwashed by the Valar's rules.

Were you glad that their visits were seldom?

Oh, yes. The fewer Valar-worshiping, king-undermining lunatics living in the country, the better. If only the Faithful would have understood the same message that the Eldar did and leave too!

Did you persecute the Faithful? If so, in what ways?

Well, I wouldn't say I persecuted anyone, but I did put some restrictions on their kind to keep them from poisoning other minds or from ruining society for everyone else. I didn't want them to enforce any of their radial ideas on my people, so I did take away a few of their nonessential rights, such as the unimportant freedom of speech, but they were completely fine.

What were your generation's views on death and the Valar?

Those bossy Valar had no business telling us what to do as if they owned us, and as proud Men, we did not take kindly to their annoying rules. But we could not wholly escape our fear of their wrath, even though we had no tangible evidence that they had power.

We probably hated death more than any generation before us, and we continued our labors to find a cure, though these endeavors were fruitless. In fact, no one can deny the decline of life span of the line of Elros, and it was no longer just a few years, either. It was quite concerning to some, and a couple people thought it was a foreboding of some great evil. Personally, I just thought it was one of those unexplainable things. After all, Númenor was too great to fall.

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