Nan Engui

The Nan Engui was a river vale encompassing the greater part of Andrast that faced Belfalas Bay. Much of the Nan Engui was wilderness, the only permanent settlement being the coastal fortress of Tharagrondost. Prior to númenórean timber-seeking in Middle-earth, the Nan Engui was heavily forested with mighty oaks. By the time of Númenor's Downfall, only tenacious stands scattered along the course of the Engui stream remained. It was not until after the Kin-strife that the Sea-kings, pressed by the sudden need to rebuild a war-fleet from scratch, once again turned their thoughts to the ancient groves for ship timber. Nevertheless, the meager survivals of the Nan Engui were little diminished by the royal demand, due to their great distance from Pelargir and central Gondor's other principal ship-building centers. The mountains that fenced in the Nan Engui to the northwest possessed one notable feature unique to them throughout all of Andrast: a straight line of flat, unadorned, man-sized stones, marking some invisible boundary or path, that ran for miles on end in a southwestnortheastern direction. Patently man-made, this strange configuration had puzzled the loremasters of the Dúnedain for generations. The most plausible theory of its origin suggested that the stone line was the work of the ancient forefathers of the Dunir of Andrast who, by some unknown or forgotten science, succeeded in orienting it to directionally correspond with the location of Tum-i-Cereg, more than eighty miles away across the rugged mountain ranges. The purpose of such a correspondence remained unknown; even The Dunir themselves lacked a coherent explanation, though most recognized its orientation towards their sacred burial ground.