Ar-Pharazôn

The twenty-fourth and final King of Númenor (S.A. 3255-3319), Ar-Pharazôn was the son of Gimilkhâd and the nephew of  Tar-Palantir. When his uncle died a few years after his father, he resolved to seize the throne. Palantir's daughter Miriel, the designated Queen, was forced to marry Pharazon, and he took the sceptre of rulership for his own. Like Gimilkhad,  Ar-Pharazon was unhappy with Palantir's poli- cies of friendship to the Elves. This made him a very popular king, for sentiment in Numenor was increas- ingly hostile regarding the Eldar, and the King's Men and the com- mon folk were both overwhelming prejudiced against the immortals. They were also greedy,   which suited the new King  quite well. Hungry for power and land, Ar- Pharazôn led the greatest campaign of conquest that had ever been seen by Men in Middle-earth. In S.A. 3262, he landed a huge army at Umbar and defeated the Dark Lord, who was then at the height of the his power. Humbling the Lord of the Rings, the Golden King forcing him to surrender and return to Numenor as a prisoner of the Dúnedain. In his pride and self-assurance, however, the Ar-Pharazon made a fatal mistake. Sauron remained a prisoner for only a very short time; before long, he was Ar-Pharazon's chief counselor. The King desired most the one thing he could not win by conquest in war — immortality — and Sauron convinced him that the way to greatness was the worship of Melkor and the path of Darkness. In the ensuing years. Faithful were openly persecuted, the White Tree was burned, and Ar-Pharazon presided over human sacrifices to the Black Enemy. Sauron's revenge upon the overproud Edain was almost complete. He then persuaded  the  King  that  the Númenóreans could indeed wrest eternal life from the Valar. The Dark Lord noted that the land of Valinor, not its people, held the secret of immortality. Arrogant beyond reason, Ar-Pharazôn spent nine years building the greatest fleet ever constructed by Men. In S.A. 3319, the Great Armament was complete and the Golden One led his armada west- ward toward Aman, to the shores forbidden to mortals. The Ainur mourned, for the proud Edain broke the Ban of the Valar altogether and were bent on conquering the Undying Lands. The doom of the Dunedain was sealed. As Ar-Pharazon set foot in Aman, the Akallabeth (Ad. "Downfall") began.

So, the Valar laid down their Guardianship of Arda and asked their master Iluvatar (Eru), to take matters into his own hands and rebalance the world. The One opened Eä, swallowing Numenor in a great cataclysm and entombing Ar-Pharazon and his entire fleet deep beneath the earth until the Changing of the World.

Ar-Pharazôn's Principal Items:
glittering white adamants. The sceptre shimmered with a silvery light, and conferred upon its holder a True Aura.
 * Armor — full plate armor of a lightweight golden alloy.The armor shone with a gold light.
 * Sword —  ("Blade of the Sun") broadsword of gold alloy
 * Helm — ("Tall Helm of the Golden  King")   Fashioned of gold and yellow gems
 * Cloak of   Sunset  — Scarlet  cloak
 * Sceptre of the Sea-lords—  Symbol of the High-captain  of the Uinendili of Numenor, the Guild of Venturers. It was fashioned of mithril, a rod three feet long designed to resemble a stalk or branch. At the tip was a beautifully made flower with five tall petals.  Set within the flower, on tali stamens, were five