The Mistress, Chapter III: The Betrayals

Hence somewhere between T.A. 2050 and T.A. 2900 Amarthiel regains her position as Champion of Angmar, now assigned to Mordrith, Regent of Angmar in the absence of the Witch King. For a long time, her position is stable – a champion, Angmar’s servant, Mordrith’s fetch-n-bring girl. Even deprived of Narchuil, her power is remarkable and she is able to use some magic when she assumes the form of Sara Oakheart (and later of other people she killed). There is a lot of desire for power in her, probably fueled by the fact that while she was captured by Laerdan, someone else took her place. Mordrith. We know she at least desired to overthrow him as she reveals in words You’ve done me a great favor in Carn Dum when players, led by Golodir, strike The False King down. She was actually on her way to his throne room, most certainly to steal the palantir in his possession, but who knows if not for something else as well? Not that Amarthiel doesn’t let her true feelings show before: while The False King resides in Carn Dum, she dwells in Barad Gúlaran, the tower of the Witch-King, true lord of Angmar. But before that happens, she’s a servant with some side projects, a leader her followers obey blindly. We know she is the one who orchestrates the summoning of Udunion, a Rogmul called forth in Barad Gúlaran: when she tricks heroes into meeting her in her tower, she approaches the Castellan saying that she brought two relics that will help calling the devil; one can only guess that she retrieved them from Garth Agarven (either Staff of Dark Shadows of Scroll of Ruin) and Fornost (probably the Horn of Arnor, lore-wise it would fit), with the help of the players…

After Mordrith is stricken down, Amarthiel takes his place as Regent of Angmar, with the blessing (and warning) of Sauron. She also sets out to reclaim her lost ring, Narchuil. She and Elrond race against each other, a race which Elrond wins and both halves are delivered securely to Rivendell. However they don’t stay there in relative safety but are reclaimed by Narmeleth’s father, Laerdan, who – while being captured by her forces – was bewitchered by her and led to believe that his daughter can only be freed from the shadow of Sauron and from the control of Amarthiel with the power of her lost ring reforged. And thus, Laerdan brings the pieces of Narchuil to Mirobel. With no more use for him, Amarthiel leaves him to die at the enterance of the forges, and herself restores Narchuil.
But she does not enjoy her regained power for long, for Mordrith enters the scene again, arriving to Mirobel on a Wyvern to reveal that Amarthiel has lost the favor of Sauron because her ambitions were reaching too far. Mordrith throws her down and offers Mordrambor, a Black Numenorian who players have encountered numerous times before and who was a traitorous servant of Champion of Angmar, a reward for his service – the ring Narchuil; Mordrambor cuts of Amarthiel’s hand and takes his reward of her finger, but before strikes her dead, Laerdan arrives and instead she is left alive, in misery, seeing her father die.
Elrod imprisons Amarthiel, who now claims to be her fair self again in Delossad. After Glorfindel, on his request, tests her heart and judges her intentions to be true. He also foresees that only her hand can strike Mordrith down. And again, he is right – with the help of the heroes of Eriador, against whom she before – as Amarthiel – have fought, and whom she used in her dark plots, she sets off against Mordrith. She reveals a secret passage to Mordrith’s chambers (something she might have found out as Amarthiel, while already plotting against him) and she deals him a killing blow with the very same sword Golodir has wounded The False King before.
And there, in Angmar, her story ends. Was that deed enough to redeem her for all the evil she has done..?

The Mistress, Chapter II: The Champion of Angmar

The next circa 3500 years*** in the story of Narmeleth are very vague. We know that Sauron broke her mind and we can suspect that the ring of power she forged for herself (either while still in Eregion, or after she left, which is either way irrelevant) , as linked to the One Ring, could have played a role in that (like the Nine Rings broke the Nine Kings until they became the Nazgul). When her spirit was broken and she herself became corrupted, Sauron named her Amarthiel. I would suspect that she was tied with the other Servants of the Rings and that she was present when the Witch-King founded Angmar at circa T.A. 1300. As her ring Narchuil was of a lesser power than the nine given to the kings of men, she was less powerful that the Nazgul were, but still she bore a great power which gained her the name Champion of Angmar. She was eager to fight even as Narmeleth (And father says I am not ready to fight in the wars. See how they fall before me!, as she comments to her elf friend in her session play), and so she probably did in the wars wrought by the Witch-King on the bidding of Sauron, until the Battle of Fornost, where the armies of Angmar were driven forth and Amarthiel, the Champion of Angmar, struck down.

Here comes the twist (kinda): at first we are led by Laerdan to believe that Narmeleth and Amarthiel are not the same person and that his daughter’s hand bore the sword that struck Amarthiel down, but Champion of Angmar’s malicious spirit was so powerful that it possessed his daughter. The first part of the story – the one I described above – player only learns much later. But as they are one – as Narmeleth herself claims and we know she does not lie because Glorfindel admits that he senses no lies in her words – Laerdan’s first version of the story can not be true.
What exactly happened is never revealed, we only know that Amarthiel was defeated and Laerdan took her captive with her ring. Maybe when Amarthiel catched a glimpse of her father in the heat of the battle it gave the spirit of Narmeleth strength to break from the spell temporary and surrender herself to him? This would mean that the first version of the story players get to know still holds a piece of truth – it would be Narmeleth that bested Amarthiel. This would also explain why Laerdan fell so easily for her decoy, when Champion of Angmar assumed the apperance of Narmeleth claiming that she managed to take over her evil spirit just for time long enough to tell him that if he gets Narchuil back to her, she could set free of it forever... After all, Laerdan would have seen her doing it before.

Whatever happened during the battle, only the outcome was certain. The army of the Witch King was driven forth in the pyrrhus victory of North in the Battle of Fornost and Laerdan captured Narmeleth barely recovered from under the control of Amarthiel as well as her ring Narchuil. Laerdan attempted to destroy it to set his daughter free from the shadows, but as the task was beyond him and he only managed to break it in two, he decided to secure the pieces in the best way he could. One f the fragments he gave to his friend, a warrior in King Earnur’s forces who will, after Earnur’s dissaperrance, serve his son Arvedui and perish with him in Forochel. The other half he kept himself.

Believing that Elrond would sentence his daughter to death and certain that only his love and care and her seclusion can recover his daughter from under the control of Sauron, Laerdan hid Narmeleth away in desolate area of Trollshaws. There, he locked her up in Sithad - now known as Delossad - assigning a long line of riverfolk (my guess, judging from Sara Oakheart’s appearance and from the fact that riverfolk – like hobbits – are resistant to corruption) as her guardians. He also hides his half of Narchuil there. Meanwhile Narmeleth shows little signs of recovery, often struggling between Amarthiel and her noble self and complaining that she doesn’t remember anything good and pure from the time before Sauron broke her mind – that she doesn’t remember flowers, only blood. This continue for a while, until one day, at the absence of Laerdan, Mordrith, a regent of Witch King, appears in Delossad and sets the Champion of Angmar free, allowing Amarthiel to take control of Narmeleth again. Out of malice, she kills her last guardian, docile Sara Oakheart and burns her cottage down.

The timeline for this event for not entirely clear – it had to happen between T.A. 2050 (this is when Eärnur, son of King Eärnil of Gondor shamed at Fornost accepts Witch-Kings challenge to duel and, as game-lore tells us, is captured, his spirit broken and he himself becomes Mordrith) and T.A. 3001 (when Frodo becomes the Ring-bearer). Actually at least a century before that, because the fisherman family in Trollshaws states that the remains of Sara Oakheart’s house were a ruin for as long as anyone can remember.

*** Rings were forged around S.A. 1900. Second Age Ended 3441, Battle of Fornost took place in T.A. 1974

The Mistress, Chapter I: Smith of too great skill

It’s hard for me even to start writing about Amarthiel because I feel that my word-smith skills are not sufficient to address a subject so complicated and so important for me. This piece lore, even though coming completely from Turbine, not only seems to fit perfectly into the puzzle of lore left by Tolkien, but also – at least in my humble opinion – is worthy of other works of the Master.

I also must admit that I got mesmerized by Amarthiel – I have a soft spot for villains in general and it grows even softer for beautiful, strong femme fatale. And the Lady in Red – well, she hit right into the bull’s eye… I can remember exactly the first time she sent a little shiver down my spine, long ago when my Silirien was still wielding a bow and when she first reached Fornost – and I didn’t even got to know her name back then, nor if she was anyone important. A shade of a traitorous warrior from the time of the Battle of Fornost mentioned a Champion of Angmar for whom he betrayed, using a she as a reference. I picked that line immediately, because the lore of Middle Earth is characterized by a strange absence of female characters.

The story evolved slowly, first as a background-lore of side quests and later taking over the main stream of epic books by storm. I also well remember the confusion once it turned out that both currents of the story seemed to differ from each other. But as I began to give the story more and more thought, I began to think that even if this difference was due to a mistake Turbine storywriters made, it didn’t compromise the tale, but in fact it gave it more depth. But I shall keep those remarks for later. I gave in into by boyfriend's plea to publish the story in chapters; maybe this will motivate me to elaborate a bit more on the story covered by epic books - I didn't see much need in going into details of something everyone can dig up easily and at first I simply concentrated on the facts hidden between the lines.
I'm also holding back an awesome character design made by Gorrem, it will make the last chapter.

The tale of Amarthiel begins in Eregion of the Second Age, where a Noldor* maiden by the Name of Narmeleth, daughter of Laerdan lived in Mirobel**. She was a Forge-Maiden (as Glorfindel refers to her when he tests her heart few thousand years later), a Smith of too great skill by the words of her father who, like many artisans of Eregion, fell under the spell of Sauron.
For somewhere in the around year 1900 of the Second Age, after recovering from the loss of his Master, Sauron initiated a scheme that he hoped would enable him to subjugate the Elves to his power. Assuming a beautiful appearance and calling himself Annatar "Lord of Gifts" (Antheron “Gift-lord” in game) Sauron befriended the Elven-smiths of Eregion, led by Celebrimbor, and counselled them in arts and magic. Some of the Elves distrusted him, especially the Lady Galadriel and Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor. The Elves in Eregion, however, did not heed their warnings.
Among them was Narmeleth, who – as I dare to say, even though no direct hints to this have been given in the game lore – fell for him not only like an apprentice falls for the Master and his knowledge as he promised to show her how to make things not even the mind of Fëanor has imagined, but also like a woman falling for a man. How else would one break a woman’s spirit so completely, if not through love? Was there any other reason for Tolkien’s heroines to disobey their fathers to such extent, if not love? But in the end, the reasons are of lesser importance here. In her session play, we see Narmeleth sneaking out into the woods to meet Sauron, disobeying her father who already forbade her to speak with the Gift-lord – still in his beautiful appearance – secretly, but followed by Laerdan. After a confrontation, Narmeleth decides to leave with Sauron against her father’s wishes, and Laerdan doesn’t stop her. As I believe, they then set out for the Mount Doom in Mordor, because once Sauron left Eregion to forge The One Ring, he never returned: as soon as he wore the Ring, the Elves became aware of his true intent. While they are leaving, Sauron promises her that They shall begin her learning immediately - how bitter this sentence sounds! Narmeleth herself confesses in Book 15 Sauron took me away... and broke my mind…



* Not only were the elves of Eregion of the Noldor lineage, but also Narmeleth herself in her session play comments 'Dost thou see? No uruk can withstand the might of the Noldor!'
** Also in Narmeleth session play Laerdan urges her ‘Come, Narmeleth. We are returning to Mirobel at once!’