Khamul

Born at Laeg Goak in easternmost Endor in 1744, Second Age, Komul was the eldest son of Mul Tanul, the High-lord(Wm. “Hionvor”) of the Womaw. His mother, Klea-shay, was popular despite her Shay heritage, but died while the young heir was only seven; Tanul’s Elven consort Dardarian reared Komul and served as his principal advisor until he assumed the throne of Womawas Drus in S.A 1844. Komul’s relationship with the manipulative Dardarian corrupted his outlook and led to his incessant longing for immortality.

As Hionvor and Mul (Wm. “King”) of the Womaw kingdom, Komul I presided over the strongest realm in eastern Middle-earth. His people had descended from the remnants of the First Tribe of Cuivienen (Q. “Awakening Water”), the same lineage that produced the Edain of western Endor. Elven blood coursed through the veins of Womaw Hiona (Wm. “Lords;” sing. “Hion”), and their mastery over other Men was spurred in part by their longevity. Heavily influenced by the Avari, the Womaw of Komul’s day practiced both Wood and Word magic and enjoyed the benefit of a rich and practical cultural tradition. Their political and military sophistication enabled them to dominate the eastern coasts of Middle-earth for thousands of years. This hegemony withstood its stongest test during the middle of the Second Age, but Komul I was lost in the struggle.

The distant Numenorean cousins of the Womaw comprised the only group of Men who could challenge the supremacy of Womawas Drus, and as early as S.A. 900, the Dunedain established trade embassies in Womaw influenced territories. During the next 650 years, the Numenoreans swayed many of the Womaw’s southern neighbours and built fortified colonies in the isles of southeastern Middle-earth. The Men of Westernesse forced Womaw concessions and threatened the stability of the eastern kingdom. By the one hundred and fiftieth year of Komul I’s stormy, militaristic reign (S.A. 1994), Womawas Drus appeared resigned to outside domination and many of the Womaw Hiona had disclaimed their allegiance to the High-lord. Proud and desperate, Komul sought help elsewhere and turned to his age-old ally Dardarian.

Dardarian met Komul at the Isle of Sunrises, at the easternmost point in the Middle Land. There, the Elf-queen seduced her stepson, using her exceptional beauty and charm and, most importantly, an offer of immortality. Komul agreed to an alliance between the Womaw and Dardarien’s Avar kingdom of Helkanen. This union led to Numenorean concessions (under the First Acknowledgement) the following year, preventing any outright conquest and relegating Dunadan interests to centres of commercial rather than strategic value.

Unfortunately for the Womaw, Dardarien’s pact led to the downfall of the Hionvor. Unbeknownst to Komul I, Dardarien served Sauron of Mordor. In S.A. 1996, only a year after the First Acknowledgement, Komul accepted the instrument that conferred the gift promised by his lover. Taking one of the Nine Rings of Men, Komul became the immortal slave of the Lord of the Rings. His reign over Womawas Drus ended abruptly.

Komul I disappeared from Laeg Goak in the spring of S.A. 1997, after nearly seven months of virtual isolation from his people and his court. These seven months were marked by palace intrigue and a bloody transition to a new order. Over three dozen of the Hionvor’s trusted advisors perished in a purge that nearly ruined the kingdom. The outer Hiona gathered in preparation for a revolt, and Komul departed in favour of a Numenorean supported faction led by his cousin Aon. Almost no one in Womawas Drus realised the critical nature of their King’s abdication, but Komul’s dethronement probably saved the Womaw from the Shadow. The deposed monarch could do little more than swear a vengeful oath, a curse that he would act upon millennia later.

KHAMUL THE RINGWRAITH
Komul appeared at Barad-dur in Mordor around S.A. 2000. He was known thereafter as Khamul, in accordance with the Black Speech pronunciation of his given name. While at the Dark Tower, he served Sauron as the Master of the Hold, and his responsibilities included administering the maintenance of the citadel and its garrison. This wardship remained in his capable hands until S.A. 3350, when Urzahil of Umbar became the Mouth of Sauron and the Lieutenant of the Tower.

Khamul fled Mordor when Sauron was captured in S.A. 3262. Retreating into the East, he first went to Nurad and, after a brief stay, he proceeded into the Shay lands of his mother’s people. He remained among the Shay until S.A.3319, cultivating a network of servants whose greed fomented a sundering of the Five Tribes. This corruption continued after Khamul returned to the Black Land, and by S.A. 3400 Khamul’s agent Monarlan brought three of the tribes under the Shadow.

The Easterling remained in Mordor during the War of the Last Alliance (S.A. 3429-3441), sallying forth only during the campaign in Ithilien that opened the conflict. During the first four and a half years, he resided at Lug Ghurzun (BS. “Darkland Tower”) in eastern Nurn (BS. “Ghurzun”); but in S.A. 3434 the army of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men forced its way through Udun, so Khamul returned to his Master’s side. The Ringwraith stole into Barad-dur during the night before the outset of the long siege.

When the Dark Tower fell in S.A. 3441, the Nazgul met the vanguard of the Elven host and fought a long, brutal melee. Unprotected, Sauron was forced to engage his foes in personal combat. This proved to be his undoing for, although he slew both Elendil the Tall and Gil-galad, the Evil One lost his One Ring (and his ring finger) in the fray, and his spirit passed into the Shadow World.

THE THIRD AGE
With the departure of the Lord of the Rings, the Nine lost the ability to maintain form. They followed the Dark Lord into Shadow as the Second Age ended. Their exile coincided with Sauron’s and lasted over a thousand years. The first to return reassumed form in Endor around T.A. 1050, some fifty years after the reappearance of the Evil One.

Unlike his brethren, Khamul briefly took up residence with Sauron at the citadel of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood. The Dark Lord hid behind the guise of the “Necromancer” and slowly rebuilt his strength. Then, about T.A. 1300, he renewed his struggle against the Free Peoples, sending the Witch-king to Angmar in the northwest Misty Mountains in hopes of crushing the successor states of Arnor.

Khamul left his command of Dol Guldur’s garrison upon the departure of the Witch-king, and for the next three hundred and forty years the Easterling lived at Sart and Mang in the Mountains of the Wind. From these two rocky strongholds, he sought to gain sway over the peoples of southeastern Middle-earth. Often working in unison with Dwar of Waw, Khamul fought the influences of the Istari Alatar and Pallando and vied with the Blue Wizards for control of the region. His success was only partial but, by T.A. 1635, the Dark Lord was satisfied and ordered the Second of the Ulairi back to Dol Guldur.

Khamul’s arrival coincided with the advent of the Great Plague that ravaged northwest Endor, so for the next four years he stayed in Rhovanion as Sauron’s chief servant. He was keeper of the Hill of Sorcery and remained in residence there until the end of the Watch on Mordor in T.A. 1640. Late that year, he entered the Black Land and began work on rebuilding the Evil One’s domain. Three hundred and sixty years later he accompanied the other Nine in the surprise assault against Minas Ithil. Two years later, the Ulairi took the surrounded city for the Dark Lord, capturing the Palantir. Minas Ithil became the home of the Ringwraiths and was henceforth called Minas Morgul.

After Gandalf threatened to uncover Sauron’s deception as the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, the Dark Lord went into the East. Residing in Chey lands, the Lord of the Rings bided his time and expanded his dominion over the Men of eastern Middle-earth. These so-called quiet years in the west constituted the era of the Watchful Peace(T.A. 2063-2460). During this time, the people of Khamul’s mother, the Shay, fell under the Shadow. Khamul’s father’s people opposed the Evil One, but they lost most of their kingdom in the series of dire wars. Finally, Khamul the Easterling left Minas Morgul and returned home to Goak in northwestern Endor. He entered the defeated realm of his forefathers after crushing the Womaw in the snows of Yule, T.A. 2400.

Sauron returned to the West three years before Deagol found the lost One Ring at the Gladden Fields. Khamul followed, having decimated the strength of Womawas Drus. He left the once splendid lands east of the Orocarni(S. “Red Mountains”) in the hands of Sauron’s brutal nomadic vassals, and he returned to Minas Morgul. During his frequent trips to Dol Guldur, the Easterling continued his close association with the Hill of Sorcery, as well as his relative independence from the Lord of Morgul. On one such visit during Sauron’s last stay at Dol Guldur(T.A. 2460-2941), Khamul’s warriors captured the Dwarf-lord Thrain II and took his Ring of Power. From T.A. 2845 to T.A. 2850, the Easterling tortured his Dwarven captive, but during the last year of his imprisonment Thrain II gave Gandalf the key to the side entry into Erebor(S. “Lonely Mountain”). The failure of the citadel’s guard to stop the Grey Wizard’s covert entry – coupled with Khamul’s inability to derive concessions from the Dwarf-king – led the Dark Lord to chastise the Ringwraith, but the Easterling remained one of Sauron’s four most powerful servants(the others being the Witch-king, Gothmog and the Mouth of Sauron).

In anticipation of the White Council’s attack on the Hill of Sorcery, the Evil One briefly abandoned his hold in southern Mirkwood in T.A. 2941, retreating home to Barad-dur. From that time onward, he stepped up his search for the Ruling Ring and laboured to prepare for the conquest of the West. Ten years later, Sauron felt comfortable enough to openly declare himself once again and, following his proclamation, he ordered his minions to reopen Dol Guldur. Khamul went northward to the Hill of Sorcery with Adunaphel, where he kept watch on Rhovanion and, more importantly, Lorien. He communicated with the Dark Lord via Uvatha, the ninth Nazgul and the Easterling’s chosen envoy. The Witch-king and the other five of the Nine stayed in Minas Morgul, awaiting the coming conflagration.

War clouds gathered quickly and loomed ready to break by T.A. 3017. Then came the catalyst – the capture of the Stoor Gollum(Smeagol) in Mordor. Sauron learned little of immediate value, but realised the worth of the fallen Hobbit, knowing that Gollum’s insatiable quest for the One Ring would eventually lead him to his long lost prize. The Dark Lord’s plan went awry, though, when Gollum fell into the hands of the Ranger Aragorn. Seeing the threat presented by the enemies’ discovery of the Ruling Ring, Sauron resolved to act before a rival could come to the fore.

In the late spring of T.A. 3018, the Witch-king and the Nazgul occupying Minas Morgul led an army down the Ithilduin Valley and into Ithilien. Their foray swept away the few Gondorian defenders that stood vigil over the ruins of Osgiliath, and the servants of Mordor broke the giant bridge that spanned the mighty Anduin. Despite the surprise and fury of the onslaught, however, Gondor’s army gathered on the western side of the Great River, standing firm against any further advance.

As the battle raged in Ithilien, Khamul and Adunaphel led the Orcs of Dol Guldur against Thranduil’s Elf-kingdom in northern Mirkwood. Their plan was to crush the Silvan9 Elves and capture Gollum, but the scale of their assault proved too modest to afford any significant victory. As the Elves melted northward through the wood, they inflicted tremendous losses on Khamul’s underlings.

Sauron tested his enemies with this two-pronged offensive, but his ultimate purpose was to conceal the further exploits of his Ringwraiths. The Evil One hoped to tie his armies’ movements to those of the Nine, thereby misleading the leaders of the Free Peoples. Within weeks, the Nine gathered for their principal mission and set out across the Anduin in search of the Hobbit that held the Ruling Ring.

Khamul rode with the other eight Black Riders up the Nan Anduin in hope of finding the Shire near the Gladden Fields. Unfortunately, their quest proved to be a time consuming detour, for they found only ruins of an ancient Stoor settlement, together with a few abandoned homes that had enjoyed recent use. They failed to find the Shire, but realised that it must be in Eriador. Turning southward they skirted Lorien and rode through Rohan and past Isengard. Their search took them to Tharbad and up the Greenway to the crossroads that served as the junction with the road to the land of the Hobbits. There, Khamul, Adunaphel and Hoarmurath split from the main party and rode toward the Iach Sarn(S. “Stone Ford”; also “Athrad Sarn”) and on to Sackville. The Witch-king and the other Riders went directly north toward Andrath and Bree.

Khamul’s party crossed paths with the Hobbits in the Green Hill Country and the Easterling’s keen sense of smell nearly uncovered Frodo’s hiding place below the road, but the Halflings escaped and the three Riders did not see them again until the encounter at the Bruinen Ford. Although Khamul and his companions tracked them through Buckland(where they entered the Bolger yard in Crickhollow), they failed to run down the elusive Hobbits.

The Easterling’s party joined Uvatha on the road east of Bree and rode toward the Lone Lands, where they met the other five Ringwraiths. Racing the Company in hope of cutting them off from the safety of Rivendell, the Riders found their prey at the banks of the Bruinen. There, Khamul avoided the initial rush of the waters summoned by Elrond; however, his horse panicked like the others and died in the gushing stream.

Following the debacle near Rivendell, Khamul and Adunaphel returned to Dol Guldur and prepared for the war. Their orders were simple, but their mission was ambitious: Sauron charged the Orcs of the Naked Hill with the task of crushing the Elf-kingdoms in Lorien and northern Mirkwood. Both assaults failed, forcing Khamul and Adunaphel to retire back to Mordor just before the Battle of Morannon.

The Witch-king died on the Pelennor Fields, and Khamul assumed leadership over the Fell Riders during their airborne attack against the Army of the Free Peoples. Battling the Great Eagles above the chaos that gripped the barren slag-fields outside the gates of Mordor, Khamul faced Gwaihir himself – only to turn in apparent retreat. Sauron’s orders to stop Frodo and Sam from destroying the One Ring in Mount Doom took precedence over any challenge, and the Easterling was force to lead his fellow Ringwraiths on a fruitless flight to save the Lord of the Rings. Gwaihir gave pursuit but, with the destruction of the Ruling Ring, there was no need for further combat. Khamul and his brethren passed out of Ea with their fallen Master.