| Minas Anghen | |
|---|---|
 Minas Anghen (MERP) | |
 Location of Minas Anghen (MERP) | |
| Statistics | |
| Other names | Glirhuin's Tower |
| Type | Tower (Castle) |
| Location | Morthond Vale, White Mountains (southern side) |
| Realm | Gondor |
| Ruler | Princes of Morthond |
| Inhabitants | Níniel (c. T.A. 1636) |
| Language(s) | |
| Summary | |
Minas Anghen (S. "Tower [of the] Long-eye"), also known as Glirhuin's Tower, was a small castle overlooking the Blackroot Vale.
High in the mountains, north of the mining town of Cabed Angren, the solitary tower rose above the stunted trees. Locals told discerning travelers that this was Minas Anghen. Climbing the mountain by way of a narrow foot-path, travelers could approach the tower, finding it to be the dominant feature of a little garth, or enclosure, set in a clearing just below the mountain's peak.
History[]
In T.A. 1170, during the reign of Prince Turgon II of Morthond, a Seer named Glirhuin came to the area. He tried to find a quiet place to pursue his esoteric studies, purchased this mountaintop from the Prince, and brought in an odd assortment of workmen, including some Dwarves from the Misty Mountains. He erected his home upon the seared foundations of a Dúnadan watch-tower. The structure that became known as Minas Anghen grew remarkably quickly, and was restored by the winter of T.A. 1171.
Glirhuin hired several locals as servants, his only requirement apparently being that they have no dependents and no relatives in the area. One of these servants became his apprentice, and took over as master of Minas Anghen when Glirhuin died. So he founded the "dynasty" of Seers of Minas Anghen, and so it continued. Over time, few saw these Seers except their servants, and the only sign of their continued presence was the servants' trips to town for supplies (either in Sarn Erech or Cabed Angren).
Minas Anghen in T.A. 1640[]
The latest Seer in the tower was Niniel. She was not the first female Seer, for the Seers traditionally found that talent sprang forth in women as often as it did in men. An orphan in the Foundling Home from the age of five, Niniel was adopted by the Seer Lowenec when she reached age twelve. She went from a poor but happy life into the wealthy but confined life of Minas Anghen. Brought in as a housemaid, she became Lowenec's apprentice only two years later. She grew from a lonely child into a lonely and eccentric woman. When Lowenec died, Niniel was 31, and she was as absorbed in study as any of the Seers had ever been. Reluctant to subject another child to a suffering life of isolation, she did not pick an apprentice.
The Great Plague came in T.A. 1636, and in the aftermath no one in the valley knew if Niniel was still alive, and no one bothered to check ― but the servants had not been seen in four years. All knew, however, of the sixteen merchants who had been killed in the past year and a half on the road between Cabed Angren and Sarn Erech, and the two who were killed between Mornen and Sarn Erech.
References[]
- MERP #8101: Haunted Ruins of the Dunlendings