Barad Mircandor

About the years of T.A.1550 there was a Governor of Anórien named Micandor; he was a good friend of King Atanatar II Alcarin, also called “the Glorious". Atanatar gave Micandor‘ a handsome grant of land and a good deal of gold, and with the gold, the noble lord had a tower built in the heart of the Ethir Onodló near the beginning of the Siriath Lain (S. “Threaded Waters"). The tower was strong and tall, constructed by master masons with stone quarried in the White Mountains. Looking out across the marshes, it was a place of refuge for all travelling through the delta. In those days there was rather more traﬁic between the northern provinces and Gondor's heartland, and the river folk eagerly relied on the tower's facilities. In the later days of the age, the Onodló was less busy and the tower less frequented by traders and travellers. The hold‘s exterior had been weathered by years of damp ice and biting winds and all its lower half was covered with moss and lichen. Creeping plants threatened to engulf the entire corner tower. The tower had been put in the hands of Hieryan, a Keeper under the command of Amtaur, Customs Master for the delta. The Keeper had a dual responsibility towards travellers in the region. He supplied pilots for a small fee (pilots also being quartered at Fen's Edge and Twyferry) and also maintained a small garrison for local patrols. Up to six pilots and twelve guardsmen were billeted in the tower; however anyone was welcome, should they stop and wish to pass the night in safety, even here in the heart of the uninhabited delta.The watch at Micandor’s Tower constantly scanned the marshes for signs of law-breakers