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Description
The story of the Shapog-Gûr

The east of Middle Earth sparks hate and darkness into the world. Obscure banks of clouds loom in the Land Of Shadows, deep rolls of thunder shake the ground and hollow echoes resound. Evil gears up to bring war to men again.
In the land of Murdur rises a dark being out of the shadows. The Mouth of Sauron - a Black Númenórean - Lieutenant of the Dark Tower Barad-Dûr.

Once he served Sauron and became a mighty warlock, being able to extend his life considerably by black magic. But as time went on, his achievements and possessions weren't enough anymore. He strove for more power, more reputation and more authority. And above all, he wanted the excision of men who still resisted Murdur. The pale Shara-hai were a thorn in his flesh and he felt that it was time to campaign against them. The Eye had long been full of revenge for his enemies. If he, The Lieutenant, was able to weaken the Shara and draw fame to Murdur, then he would definitely attract The Eye's attention and gain certain privileges.

He pondered about how he could achieve his aims. Secluded in the Dark Tower, he mulled over his intentions and asked his high warlords - great Maugoth out of the race of the Dûra-hai - who were worthy enough to talk to him.
Soon he frayed to put the plans into action. The first order was to call together the hard-bitten Nadak from Udûn, the northern mountains of Murdur. They would build up a force, expelling men from the nearby city of Osgiliath. The Lieutenant assigned his Maugoth to take the recruitments and deliver him the gathered Nadak.

They didn't hear much about reasons or sense of the conscription. The Maugoth almost never spoke with the lower Nadak; only threats of a cruel death in case of denial rumbled out of their throats. And never the Nadak did see the great warlock, whom they should served, at close range. But the fact that they weren’t permitted to see him created trepidation and fear amongst them.
After the Maugoth had assembled an army, The Lieutenant considered giving a speech to the warriors. He knew those scumbags were frightened of him and he wanted to keep it that way, so he delivered his speech from a far distance, hiding his face in the dark shadows of his hood. Back then the Nadak were awestruck by the power of his words and realized once again that they were to fear The Lieutenant.

His troops were called “Shapog-Gûr”, “Murdur's vengeance”. By giving his army this name, The Lieutenant once again displayed his intentions.
The Shapog-Gûr were supposed to bring war to Osgiliath, the first capital of Gondor. The town was located on both sides of the river Anduin, its harbor was the most important trading post in Gondor and starting point of the main route between the West of Gondor and Ithilien. Here The Lieutenant wanted to attack first to weaken the human forces.

After all Nadak were armed and positioned The Lieutenant ordered the immediate departure. In the early morning the troops marched away from the Black Gate and so they arrived at night a few miles south from Cair Andros. The plan was to go down the river by boat right into the center of the town. At The Lieutenant's disposition a handful of pioneers had already spent a few days building boats for the troops.

The whole town was sleeping except for a few guards up on the towers and barriers, who were trying to brighten up the night with a few torches. Like silent shadows the Maugoth and their Nadak moved across the waters, and so it was their luck to stay unseen. The humans seemed to consider themselves safe, the northern walls were sparsely manned and archers were able to kill the few guards. Not until the river, which split Osgiliath, was full of black boats there was any warning cry.

The attack hit Osgiliath like a rapid avalanche. The Uruk spread from the boats across the shore and raged without mercy. The darkness was suddenly filled with dreadful cries and the clang of swords and shields. When the Shara noticed that it wasn't just a normal assault, more and more of them joined into the battle. In sight of the well organized Uruk-troops they soon realized Murdur's intentions.

The humans desperately tried to defend themselves against the brutal attacks. Although the Uruk seemed to be head and shoulders above the Shara at first, soon they were hard-pressed by the humans, who had overcome the surprise of the battle and were now hateful and angry. An unbelievable massacre took place in Osgiliath this night. The battle lasted until the sun rose, but when the Shara received troop-support from Minas Tirith, the Maugoth realized that it was impossible to defeat the humans any longer. More and more Nadak were lying on the ground, bleeding to death and screaming in a choir of anger, hate and pain. Only a retreat could save the remaining forces from being completely liquidated. The Maugoth commanded their Nadak to sound the retreat and so the battle ended without success.

The Lieutenant was very unsatisfied when his warlords reported the failure. He had to accept that the human forces were still too strong and that he was forced to send out a much bigger army. However the humans were now alarmed and very watchful, and so The Lieutenant was to wait for his next attack.

The number of losses required an assemblage of Uruk from all across of Murdur under the banner of the Shapog-Gûr. The Lieutenant used the waiting time also for breeding new Nadak. Years went by in which the whole new troops went through a hard training. The second generation of the Shapog-Gûr should finally take Osgiliath, bringing The Lieutenant the power and fortune that he strove for. This generation had now enrooted different tribes so that the variety of races increased in many cases. From Dûra-hai to Snaga-hai to Hiishtog-hai, the races were high in number. He wanted to reach his aims at any cost. Thus an overwhelming force arose, which should do the Najori in.

The Lieutenant sent out Thrak and Maugoth long time to search the country for even more warriors. The Eye provided the warlock with his armed forces and authorized the army leader to use his seal.
Many refused to join the army, but all of them were convinced by the written command of The Lieutenant and the seal of The Eye, that it wasn't recommendable to be reluctant against the recruitment. The Uruk had a strong belief in The Eye, and their fear of power and magic was omnipresent. Even if they had never seen a magician or one of such power, the Uruk were certain that they were able to perform horrendous acts of magic. The Lieutenant was one of those warlocks, mouthpiece of The Eye, and that was why he was feared and why no one dared to rise against his command.

A few rumours spread between the Uruk about what was expected of them and soon it became clear to all of them, that joining the Shapog-Gûr was to be sent out into a brutal war. To them The Lieutenant was an invisible shadow thereby, inaccessible and powerful up on his dark tower. Commands were only given by the Maugoth, who were always in touch with The Lieutenant. The privilege of being that close to the warlock let them appear godlike to the Nadak.

After a long time of planning and preparation the order to send the Shapog-Gûr to the front again came at length. The Shirku had reported that the situation in Osgiliath had calmed down and that the troops who had stayed for so long a time in order to brave a new attack had departed.

Again the Maugoth led the Shapog-Gûr to the banks of Anduin downriver of Cair Andros. And anew units of pioneers had built up solid boats to ferry across the river.
The Shapog-Gûr saw that the humans had learned, for they had arranged sentinels at the watersides above the city. Small assassin units ashore should abolish this circumstance. The Uruks sailed down the course of the river and this time the army of darkness was unending. The whole width of the mighty Anduin was filled with boats.

Warg Riders, a secret force of the Shapog-Gûr's, were on the way ashore to attack the eastern part of the city when all Shara would concentrate on the center of the city. The force of The Lieutenant was terrible – like a blain the black army, the “Revenge of Murdur”, walked towards Osgiliath. And this time the Najori were hit like a bursting thunderclap in the silence of the night.

The Shapog-Gûr fought hard to finally take Osgiliath. There were few ceasefires – the Uruk got the ultimate order to take the city in this last storm, even though they had to die for it. The Lieutenant had promised much in case they won. Plunderings, many possessions and enough food for a whole life. The possibility of a defeat he never had spoken of because he had found that it was more clever to remain silent about the consequences. When they were confident of victory the Uruk fought more determinedly. Besides, he didn’t endure a defeat anymore – this time it was perfect.

The Shapog-Gûr did smash most of the humans troops. Their fury was enormous! Finally the months of hard training turned to account. Constantly the Uruk continued marching into the collapsing city. They slaughtered everything that still was able to move. The combat endured two days.

In the early hours of the second day the human resistance was going to break. From the top of the Shara corpses the Maugoths' voices shouted at the Nadak and were announcing their victory – but then something unbelievable happened. Suddenly the cloud cover broke and shimmering sunlight gleamed down at the Uruk. Blinded by the light, they were struggling and there was total chaos. They were shouting because of the enormous pain and tried to cover their eyes with their hands. No Uruk was still able to fight. Suddenly they had become helpless.

The humans wondered, but then they began to attack the screaming Uruk and knifed them down. Totally disoriented Warg Riders were dashing through the streets and dragged Shara and Uruk. Soon their army was just a third of its former size. Some of the terrified soldiers jumped into the Anduin river to flee the Najori's rage. A lot of Uruks lost their lives in the rapid water.

They didn’t know what had happened. Saurons saving clouds had forlorn them. Something must have happened. Maybe the Black Gate had been attacked and The Eye's attention had to move there. The rumors concerning this occasion are endless. Some people think that the Shapog-Gûr can deal much better with sunlight than other Uruk, because of this incident. They aren’t able to walk under a hot warming sun, but they can bear the daylight since this day.

A feeble leftover actually survived. Blinded by panic they retired into darkness, and with that they went into the cave of the lion. The last Nadak and Maugoth fled to Minas Morgul – their only hideaway. The residentiary troops received the Shapog-Gûr and then handed them over to The Lieutenant. His anger concerning the defeat was like a force of nature that demolished everything. He wreaked all his anger on the Uruk.

Each attempt to explain failed in outburst of The Lieutenant's fury. Not even his Maugoth could speak with him and convince him of the sudden coming of the light. Even the venture to blame The Eye for its missing cover did cost some warlords' heads. To fail so close to his goal made him spit out his darkest curses on the Shapog-Gûr. Until today, none of the attenders ever spoke a word about the horror of these hours.

For the dishonor that was brought to him by the Shapog-Gûr, they would be punished appropriately. He instructed them to leave Murdur so they could counterbalance their deplorable failure.

He sent them out with the task to gather troops to reach the old strength and chart maps and explore unknown countries. The Lieutenant wanted the Uruk to make recruitments, so that they would be able to send them against Osgiliath again in order to eliminate the blemish in their life and the history of Murdur.

The Lieutenant had burned his anger into their souls and he had announced the sending of attendants and inspectors, so that they knew that he would observe them. Always! Never sleeping! Like the All-seeing Eye.

If they shall fail again, he promised to torture them to the brink of death with glowing iron. They would die by their purulent, fouly burns. In addition to that, a curse should show them insufferable pain even after death. All his wrath and all his malignity came along with his threats.

They had transformed his plans of becoming more powerful into the exact opposite, therefore he hates them.

Description
The story of the Shapog-Gûr

The east of Middle Earth sparks hate and darkness into the world. Obscure banks of clouds loom in the Land Of Shadows, deep rolls of thunder shake the ground and hollow echoes resound. Evil gears up to bring war to men again.
In the land of Murdur rises a dark being out of the shadows. The Mouth of Sauron - a Black Númenórean - Lieutenant of the Dark Tower Barad-Dûr.

Once he served Sauron and became a mighty warlock, being able to extend his life considerably by black magic. But as time went on, his achievements and possessions weren't enough anymore. He strove for more power, more reputation and more authority. And above all, he wanted the excision of men who still resisted Murdur. The pale Shara-hai were a thorn in his flesh and he felt that it was time to campaign against them. The Eye had long been full of revenge for his enemies. If he, The Lieutenant, was able to weaken the Shara and draw fame to Murdur, then he would definitely attract The Eye's attention and gain certain privileges.

He pondered about how he could achieve his aims. Secluded in the Dark Tower, he mulled over his intentions and asked his high warlords - great Maugoth out of the race of the Dûra-hai - who were worthy enough to talk to him.
Soon he frayed to put the plans into action. The first order was to call together the hard-bitten Nadak from Udûn, the northern mountains of Murdur. They would build up a force, expelling men from the nearby city of Osgiliath. The Lieutenant assigned his Maugoth to take the recruitments and deliver him the gathered Nadak.

They didn't hear much about reasons or sense of the conscription. The Maugoth almost never spoke with the lower Nadak; only threats of a cruel death in case of denial rumbled out of their throats. And never the Nadak did see the great warlock, whom they should served, at close range. But the fact that they weren’t permitted to see him created trepidation and fear amongst them.
After the Maugoth had assembled an army, The Lieutenant considered giving a speech to the warriors. He knew those scumbags were frightened of him and he wanted to keep it that way, so he delivered his speech from a far distance, hiding his face in the dark shadows of his hood. Back then the Nadak were awestruck by the power of his words and realized once again that they were to fear The Lieutenant.

His troops were called “Shapog-Gûr”, “Murdur's vengeance”. By giving his army this name, The Lieutenant once again displayed his intentions.
The Shapog-Gûr were supposed to bring war to Osgiliath, the first capital of Gondor. The town was located on both sides of the river Anduin, its harbor was the most important trading post in Gondor and starting point of the main route between the West of Gondor and Ithilien. Here The Lieutenant wanted to attack first to weaken the human forces.

After all Nadak were armed and positioned The Lieutenant ordered the immediate departure. In the early morning the troops marched away from the Black Gate and so they arrived at night a few miles south from Cair Andros. The plan was to go down the river by boat right into the center of the town. At The Lieutenant's disposition a handful of pioneers had already spent a few days building boats for the troops.

The whole town was sleeping except for a few guards up on the towers and barriers, who were trying to brighten up the night with a few torches. Like silent shadows the Maugoth and their Nadak moved across the waters, and so it was their luck to stay unseen. The humans seemed to consider themselves safe, the northern walls were sparsely manned and archers were able to kill the few guards. Not until the river, which split Osgiliath, was full of black boats there was any warning cry.

The attack hit Osgiliath like a rapid avalanche. The Uruk spread from the boats across the shore and raged without mercy. The darkness was suddenly filled with dreadful cries and the clang of swords and shields. When the Shara noticed that it wasn't just a normal assault, more and more of them joined into the battle. In sight of the well organized Uruk-troops they soon realized Murdur's intentions.

The humans desperately tried to defend themselves against the brutal attacks. Although the Uruk seemed to be head and shoulders above the Shara at first, soon they were hard-pressed by the humans, who had overcome the surprise of the battle and were now hateful and angry. An unbelievable massacre took place in Osgiliath this night. The battle lasted until the sun rose, but when the Shara received troop-support from Minas Tirith, the Maugoth realized that it was impossible to defeat the humans any longer. More and more Nadak were lying on the ground, bleeding to death and screaming in a choir of anger, hate and pain. Only a retreat could save the remaining forces from being completely liquidated. The Maugoth commanded their Nadak to sound the retreat and so the battle ended without success.

The Lieutenant was very unsatisfied when his warlords reported the failure. He had to accept that the human forces were still too strong and that he was forced to send out a much bigger army. However the humans were now alarmed and very watchful, and so The Lieutenant was to wait for his next attack.

The number of losses required an assemblage of Uruk from all across of Murdur under the banner of the Shapog-Gûr. The Lieutenant used the waiting time also for breeding new Nadak. Years went by in which the whole new troops went through a hard training. The second generation of the Shapog-Gûr should finally take Osgiliath, bringing The Lieutenant the power and fortune that he strove for. This generation had now enrooted different tribes so that the variety of races increased in many cases. From Dûra-hai to Snaga-hai to Hiishtog-hai, the races were high in number. He wanted to reach his aims at any cost. Thus an overwhelming force arose, which should do the Najori in.

The Lieutenant sent out Thrak and Maugoth long time to search the country for even more warriors. The Eye provided the warlock with his armed forces and authorized the army leader to use his seal.
Many refused to join the army, but all of them were convinced by the written command of The Lieutenant and the seal of The Eye, that it wasn't recommendable to be reluctant against the recruitment. The Uruk had a strong belief in The Eye, and their fear of power and magic was omnipresent. Even if they had never seen a magician or one of such power, the Uruk were certain that they were able to perform horrendous acts of magic. The Lieutenant was one of those warlocks, mouthpiece of The Eye, and that was why he was feared and why no one dared to rise against his command.

A few rumours spread between the Uruk about what was expected of them and soon it became clear to all of them, that joining the Shapog-Gûr was to be sent out into a brutal war. To them The Lieutenant was an invisible shadow thereby, inaccessible and powerful up on his dark tower. Commands were only given by the Maugoth, who were always in touch with The Lieutenant. The privilege of being that close to the warlock let them appear godlike to the Nadak.

After a long time of planning and preparation the order to send the Shapog-Gûr to the front again came at length. The Shirku had reported that the situation in Osgiliath had calmed down and that the troops who had stayed for so long a time in order to brave a new attack had departed.

Again the Maugoth led the Shapog-Gûr to the banks of Anduin downriver of Cair Andros. And anew units of pioneers had built up solid boats to ferry across the river.
The Shapog-Gûr saw that the humans had learned, for they had arranged sentinels at the watersides above the city. Small assassin units ashore should abolish this circumstance. The Uruks sailed down the course of the river and this time the army of darkness was unending. The whole width of the mighty Anduin was filled with boats.

Warg Riders, a secret force of the Shapog-Gûr's, were on the way ashore to attack the eastern part of the city when all Shara would concentrate on the center of the city. The force of The Lieutenant was terrible – like a blain the black army, the “Revenge of Murdur”, walked towards Osgiliath. And this time the Najori were hit like a bursting thunderclap in the silence of the night.

The Shapog-Gûr fought hard to finally take Osgiliath. There were few ceasefires – the Uruk got the ultimate order to take the city in this last storm, even though they had to die for it. The Lieutenant had promised much in case they won. Plunderings, many possessions and enough food for a whole life. The possibility of a defeat he never had spoken of because he had found that it was more clever to remain silent about the consequences. When they were confident of victory the Uruk fought more determinedly. Besides, he didn’t endure a defeat anymore – this time it was perfect.

The Shapog-Gûr did smash most of the humans troops. Their fury was enormous! Finally the months of hard training turned to account. Constantly the Uruk continued marching into the collapsing city. They slaughtered everything that still was able to move. The combat endured two days.

In the early hours of the second day the human resistance was going to break. From the top of the Shara corpses the Maugoths' voices shouted at the Nadak and were announcing their victory – but then something unbelievable happened. Suddenly the cloud cover broke and shimmering sunlight gleamed down at the Uruk. Blinded by the light, they were struggling and there was total chaos. They were shouting because of the enormous pain and tried to cover their eyes with their hands. No Uruk was still able to fight. Suddenly they had become helpless.

The humans wondered, but then they began to attack the screaming Uruk and knifed them down. Totally disoriented Warg Riders were dashing through the streets and dragged Shara and Uruk. Soon their army was just a third of its former size. Some of the terrified soldiers jumped into the Anduin river to flee the Najori's rage. A lot of Uruks lost their lives in the rapid water.

They didn’t know what had happened. Saurons saving clouds had forlorn them. Something must have happened. Maybe the Black Gate had been attacked and The Eye's attention had to move there. The rumors concerning this occasion are endless. Some people think that the Shapog-Gûr can deal much better with sunlight than other Uruk, because of this incident. They aren’t able to walk under a hot warming sun, but they can bear the daylight since this day.

A feeble leftover actually survived. Blinded by panic they retired into darkness, and with that they went into the cave of the lion. The last Nadak and Maugoth fled to Minas Morgul – their only hideaway. The residentiary troops received the Shapog-Gûr and then handed them over to The Lieutenant. His anger concerning the defeat was like a force of nature that demolished everything. He wreaked all his anger on the Uruk.

Each attempt to explain failed in outburst of The Lieutenant's fury. Not even his Maugoth could speak with him and convince him of the sudden coming of the light. Even the venture to blame The Eye for its missing cover did cost some warlords' heads. To fail so close to his goal made him spit out his darkest curses on the Shapog-Gûr. Until today, none of the attenders ever spoke a word about the horror of these hours.

For the dishonor that was brought to him by the Shapog-Gûr, they would be punished appropriately. He instructed them to leave Murdur so they could counterbalance their deplorable failure.

He sent them out with the task to gather troops to reach the old strength and chart maps and explore unknown countries. The Lieutenant wanted the Uruk to make recruitments, so that they would be able to send them against Osgiliath again in order to eliminate the blemish in their life and the history of Murdur.

The Lieutenant had burned his anger into their souls and he had announced the sending of attendants and inspectors, so that they knew that he would observe them. Always! Never sleeping! Like the All-seeing Eye.

If they shall fail again, he promised to torture them to the brink of death with glowing iron. They would die by their purulent, fouly burns. In addition to that, a curse should show them insufferable pain even after death. All his wrath and all his malignity came along with his threats.

They had transformed his plans of becoming more powerful into the exact opposite, therefore he hates them.