Dear Lord Sauron,
Do you know what the Númenóreans #1 wish in life is?…
An even longer one!
This desire of theirs would be the key to destroying Númenor. The more joyful was their life, the more they longed for the immortality of the Eldar. See, our Enemy, Eru, has this idea that neither Elves nor Men are superior in dignity to the other, but we can’t deny the fact that the Elves have immortality and that was something that the Númenóreans want. The Men never seem to have enough time to perform the tasks they meant to do. It is your job, Sauron, to convince them that they need to be immortal. Of course, the Elves would want the mortality of the Men as well, as the grass is always greener on the other side. Our job is to convince them of the latter. However, for the Men, “Death is their fate, the gift of Ilúvatar, which as Time wears even the Powers shall envy.” (Silmarillion) Do you really think so? No! This was a choice that Eru asked them to make. However, they can make their own choices.
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Regardless, the Númenóreans ended up having longer life than other Men, though our job is to convince them that they were still settling for what was set upon by our Enemy. As a result, the Númenóreans were a special kind of Men, sort of like Imitation Elves. Convince them that it’s got to be the worst thing in the world. Convince them that as imitation elves, they basically do what the Elves do, only to be told by the Valar they can’t do what they do at the end which is to sail west into the Undying Lands. On average, they would have thrice the lifespan of ordinary mortal men. But unfortunately, the fact remains they would eventually have to die. The Valar will be worried that they would eventually desire immortality, though they are also immortal themselves. Remind them of the latter. Our goal is to make them jealous of the Eldar and Valar.
Eärendil, the father of Elrond and Elros, was able to sail west. Remind them of his deed and urge them to use that to stand up to the Valar and their Ban. Convince them that it’s cruelly unfair that Eärendil, who could potentially be their distant cousin, was able to go to the Undying Lands to seek immortality while they will not be able to do the same. Eärendil was an Elf. Our job is to stand up to the Valar and make sure the Númenóreans desire immortality. Elros would eventually die at 500 years old, which is the longest a Númenórean has ever lived. This was long for mortals, but cruelly short in the eyes of an Elf. As a result, this line of rulers would start from him.
Remember what the Enemy said: “… ‘But the Quendi shall be the fairest of all earthly creatures, and they shall have and shall conceive and bring forth more beauty than all my Children; and they shall have the greater bliss in this world. But to the Atani I will give a new gift.’ Therefore he willed that the hearts of Men should seek beyond the world and should find no rest therein; but they should have a virtue to shape their life, amid the powers and chances of the world, beyond the Music of the Ainur, which is as fate to all things else; and of their operation everything should be, in form and deed, completed, and the world fulfilled unto the last and smallest. (The Silmarillion, “Of the Beginning of Days”) He had convinced them that their gifts were different and equal: the Elves’ immortality and the Men’s mortality were because that would be what they desired.
What Eru didn’t see, however, is that the Men wouldn’t have enough time for their virtues to shape their lives with their current lifespans. It seems almost a double standard to them. It is our job to convince them of that. In order for Men to have virtues that would shape their lives, they would need to live longer. Convince them that Eru and the Valar didn’t see the desire for a longer life coming until the Númenóreans wanted it. Let’s face it: Númenóreans come from Elves who were part of a special line that allowed them to choose their fates. Lúthien Tinúviel decided to become mortal to unite with her husband, Beren. She was the first to be given the option to choose her fate. This was her choice. She was part-elf, part-Maia as the daughter of Thingol and Melian, respectively. Then years later, Elrond and Elros would also be met with the same fate. Elrond would choose to be immortal while Elros would choose to be mortal. Thus, the Line of Elros began.
Let me take a few moments to discuss the Ban of the Valar and its pitfalls. This Ban forbade the Númenóreans to sail so far west from their homeland they couldn’t see its coasts. Thus, they wouldn’t be able to sail west into Valinor. By sailing west, they wouldn’t exactly be able to achieve immortality. In fact, there’s a possibility that quite the opposite would happen if they sailed west as it was initially meant for the bodies of the Elves and the Valar. But we don’t want them to know that. Our job is to convince them that it would make them immortal like the Elves and Valar by turning the Númenóreans against them.
While the first person to stand up to the Ban of the Valar was Tar-Atanamir, the most vulnerable one of all would be Ar-Pharazôn, who would be the final King of Númenor, due to his desire for wealth and power. Much like me, Pharazôn would ponder long in secret. This was my chance to instill in him a desire for wealth and power. Another thing to note about Pharazôn is his fighting spirit. While the others were unsatisfied by their fates, their motives were all words. They merely just dwelled in their unsatisfaction and stopped speaking Elven Tongues. Ar-Pharazôn is a man of action. He would be deeply moved by the tragic death of his father, Gimilkhâd, who was “two years before his two hundredth year (which was accounted an early death for one of Elros’ line even in its waning),” and we as comrades should convince him that he must take steps to obtain this longer life, as his father died young. He wouldn’t want the same to be happening to him.
Like many other Númenóreans living in his time, Ar-Pharazôn wanted a longer life, though he has a unique desire for power many didn’t have or wouldn’t have had as much of compared to him. Our job is to convince him that his desire for wealth and power could be achieved by going to the Undying Lands and breaking the Ban of the Valar to seek immortality. Immortality = more time to acquire wealth and power.
There is only one problem: Ar-Pharazôn is friends with Amandil. Amandil is one of the Faithful, an “Elf-friend,” and as a fellow Númenórean he respects the Ban of the Valar. The Faithful and the King’s Men became distinct after the ruling of Tar-Atanamir in SA 2251, with the Faithful accepting the Ban and the King’s Men rejecting it. The chief issue is that Ar-Pharazôn would initially be the hardest to sway, despite being deeply moved by his father’s short life. However, once we separate Pharazôn from Amandil, our plan would be set in stone. We will first separate them by convincing Pharazôn alone to follow your will, separate from Amandil. After you return, Amandil will no longer be part of the King’s (Ar-Pharazôn’s) council. This can be achieved if you convince the King that you know what’s best for him better than Amandil.
Our next quest would be to set Pharazôn up with Tar-Miriel, the Queen Reagent of Númenor. Pharazôn and Miriel were too closely related to wed. They were closer than the cousins of second degree. This is a perfect scheme. We can convince them that it is not about their marriage as it is about their power. By having them wed, Pharazôn and Miriel would become king and queen. This makes perfect sense!
Meanwhile, make sure Pharazôn, as the King, Ar-Pharazôn the Golden, destroys the White Tree of Númenor. The White Tree is the memorial of the Eldar and the light of Valinor. This tree is named Nimloth the Fair, or Nimloth of Númenor. It grew in the King’s Court in Armenelos and brought as a gift from the Eldar. Our mission is to make Pharazôn jealous of the Eldar and Valar, to the point where he believes the Elves are the evil ones. How dare they have their immortality!
One of these days, Ar-Pharazôn will finally break the Ban of the Valar via his ship, Alcarondas, the Castle of the Sea. This would end Númenor indefinitely. Rejoice!
Your most trusted companion,
Melkor, Lord of All, Giver of Freedom
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