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In Middle-Earth, there are many factions that are familiar to the average player. Gondor, Mordor, and Isengard are all familiar names; yet little is known about many others. Have you ever wanted to know the origins of the Half-Trolls of Pertorogwaith? Are you interested in the rise and fall of the ancient Taurethrim Empire? And what about the Golden Easterlings of Rhúdel? If so, you have come to the right place. The history of those unfamiliar to most inhabitants of Middle-Earth are soon to be revealed.
The Lost Chronicles were started by a group of moderators and Wiki staff (including Mevans, Boyd, Karseius, Grievous, Noah, and Gruk) in an attempt to flesh out and bring more attention to the lesser-known and mod-created factions of Middle-Earth. They are currently a work in progress.
Please note that none of these are official Tolkien canon, but should be considered official backstory in the mod itself.
Harad
The Half-Trolls of Pertorogwaith
In SA 1701, Sauron lost the War of the Elves and Sauron, and was forced to retreat to Mordor. His defeat made it clear for him had he had to improve his armies of Morgul-Spawn. The Elves and Men knew about Orcs, Uruks and Trolls, so in 1702 he left Mordor in secret and went south until he reached the great volcanic island today known as Tol Torog. Sauron intended to create a new kind of Morgul-spawn, stronger than Uruks and as intelligent as men to fill his ranks and lead the armies of Mordor to victory.
It is unknown how Sauron bred these creatures, but the results were impressive: Monsters twice the size of men and four times as strong were created, ready to follow their master into battle. Yet, Sauron had not reached his goal. These “Half-trolls” turned out not to posses the intelligence Sauron had hoped for, and were less intelligent than Orcs and Uruks. The biggest setback for Sauron, however, was the slow breeding rate of these creatures. It would have taken Sauron centuries to assemble an army of Half-trolls and lead them northwards - time he did not have. So he abandoned his creation.
After Sauron left Tol Torog, the Half-trolls started slowly but steadily to breed and multiply Although only few in numbers, the Half-trolls slowly took control of Tol Torog and even expanded south, into the lands called Pertorogwaith. Their massive strength and size allowed them to evict the native Far Haradrim from the lands, and all fled before them in terror.
With no opposition, the Half-trolls were allowed to breed in their dark lands and flourished. During the next hundreds and even thousands of years, the Half-troll population grew, and they terrorized the neighbouring Far Haradrim tribes. The Half-trolls organized themselves in simple chiefdoms, and conducted raids into the savannahs and forests of Far Harad. The eastern tribes of the Morwaith suffered most under the Half-troll attacks. They were not only driven out of Pertorogwaith - whole villages neighbouring these lands were destroyed by the Half-trolls, and their inhabitants devoured. The Morwaith would continue to fear them, and called them the “Grey Demons”. Other tribes did suffer as well, although significantly less then the Morwaith. The Taurethrim city of Kimen Kaah was razed by an army of Half-trolls, the Limwaith lost many villages, and the Cerinrim in the Bushlands constantly fought the Grey Demons. Of them, only the Cerinrim put up a fight: they hated the Half-trolls more than anything, and to bring the head of one to a Cerinrim chieftain was considered a great feat within the tribes.
The Half-trolls terrorized eastern Far Harad until the late Third Age. Upon his return to Mordor, Sauron remembered his long-abandoned creations and send envoys from Near Harad to call his creatures to his aid. When they reached Pertorogwaith they found that finally, after so many years, the Half-troll population had grown into an army ready to serve Sauron in his conquest of the west. The Half-trolls quickly made an alliance with Mordor and the Southrons, and made peace with the Morwaith. Now, they are ready for war, and soon will march on Gondor under the banner of the Red Eye...
The Morwaith of the Great Plains
Origins
The Morwaith are descendants of the second tribe of the original Haradrim, which we now call the "Plains Peoples." In the very early First Age, the Plains Peoples split off from the other two tribes - the "Desert Peoples", who settled in Near Harad and became the ancestors of the Southrons, and the "Forest Peoples", who, at the time, settled the Swamplands around Lake Chunha, who became the ancestors of the Taurethrim and Limwaith. The Plains Peoples settled the wide Grasslands and Bushlands of Far Harad, and over time they diverged into two separate peoples - the Morwaith of the Grasslands and the Cerinrim of the Bushlands. Of all the Far Haradrim peoples, the Morwaith were spread out the most by far, even after the Taurethrim migrated to the Great Jungle.
From early on, the Morwaith were very sectarian. Due to how vast a swath of land they were spread over, they quickly splintered into hundreds of tribes, each with their own chieftains and village networks. But remarkably, they have maintained many customs that their people have practiced since the beginning, and differences between the tribes aren't as pronounced as one could reasonably expect. The Morwaith live lives based around hunting and gathering, which has made their people into natural warriors. Morwaith tribes are usually rather small, generally no larger than the population of a single village, though larger tribes with multiple villages are not unheard of. The greatest warriors of these tribes become Chieftains, who prove their worth by killing the fearsome lions of the grasslands and wearing their fur. These tribes frequently compete with each other, though enemy tribes will usually band together against any sort of external enemy.
Central to Morwaith culture is the concept of the Great Lion. Though some Morwaith, especially younger members of more northerly tribes, have begun to worship Sauron, as many of their Southron allies do, most Morwaith worship the Great Lion, a deity they consider a symbol of strength, who both created the world and will destroy it in time. The Morwaith believe that the Great Lion grants strength to the worthy, and will devour the souls of all Men when their time is come. Of particular importance, especially to the western tribes, is the belief that the Great Lion waits beyond the mountains in the west, waiting to arise and swallow all the earth, ending the world of Men.
The Grasslands of Far Harad are perilous, and so travel between Morwaith villages is fairly infrequent, and usually only done by warriors. As a result, contact between Morwaith tribes is limited, and no sort of centralized government or community has ever developed between them. This, of course, complicates the matter of tracking and recording their history. As a result, their history is recorded here geographically, with the Morwaith divided into four regional subgroups.
The Northern Morwaith
The Northern Morwaith of the Arid Savannahs developed close ties to their Southron neighbors in Near Harad from very early on. Morwaith Hunters sold exotic goods like lion fur and rhino horns to the Southron merchants, while the merchants in return provided weapons. Besides being trading partners, the Northern Morwaith became famous over the centuries in Near Harad as reliable and brave mercenaries. It is said that, prior to her departure for Gondor, Queen Berúthiel of Harad maintained a personal guard of Morwaith Warriors from the Arid Savannah. It is rumored that these Warriors were a gift from a powerful Morwaith chieftain to the south, one of many of her lovers. Morwaith Warriors particularly earned their fame during the siege of Umbar in TA 1015, when a Morwaith mercenary slew the fourteenth King of Gondor, Ciryandil. Yet in the end neither Southron nor Morwaith forces were able to stop the Gondorian invasions of Near Harad, which was completed by King Hyarmendacil in TA 1050. After his victory Hyarmendacil send envoys to the northern Morwaith tribes to establish tributary relations with the warriors who bravely opposed him and his ancestors. These envoys were always violently rebuffed.
Still, Gondor’s hold on Near Harad weakened significantly over the following centuries, and the Southrons managed to drive the Gondorian forces further and further north. They often relied on Morwaith mercenaries in the early years of reconquest. During the late Third Age, the northern Morwaith were to some extend involved in the Southron advances north. After Sauron returned to Mordor, the northern Morwaith followed their Southron allies and joined his forces. Now, they rally for war on the Dark Lord’s part, and the coming war may see many more brave deeds of the Morwaith Merceneries.
The Eastern Morwaith
The tribes of the Eastern Morwaith live in the fertile grasslands and forests around the Great Lakes of Far Harad, a land full of beasts for the Morwaith to hunt. Until recently, they lived in relative isolation from the other Morwaith, and they remain the most primitive of the Morwaith subgroups. They warriors are skilled in stealth tactics, and even their civilians are known for their ability to hide, both skills that the Eastern Morwaith have developed due to millennia of hardship. They hold the Great Lakes around which they live to be holy sites, great sources of life that they fiercely protect from invaders. The largest settlements of the Eastern Morwaith are situated between the two northernmost lakes and near the Haraduin Bridge, an ancient Taurethrim construct that Morwaith Beast-Chainers have since rebuilt.
For the first half of the Second Age, the Eastern Morwaith lived more or less in peace. This changed in SA 1800, when monstrous creatures known as Half-Trolls started raiding the mainland from Tol Torog. The Half-Trolls gradually drove the Morwaith out of the lands east of the river Seregduin, which in later days became known as Pertorogwaith, and continued to raid westwards. The Eastern Morwaith were completely outmatched by the Half-Trolls and routinely slaughtered. They fearfully began calling the Half-Trolls the Grey Demons, who were more beast than man and devoured men whole. Many Eastern Morwaith villages fell victim to the Grey Demons, and the Morwaith were forced to adopt stealthier tactics to survive the raids.
Around SA 2130, Taurethrim refugees settled in the forests west of Pertorogwaith, and there built a city that, in later days, would be called Kimen Kâh. The Taurethrim of Kimen Kâh made peace with the Eastern Morwaith tribes, promising protection from the Half-Trolls in exchange for their service. Tribe by tribe, Eastern Morwaith gladly accepted, and their lands became the Empire of Kimen Kâh. Morwaith warriors were pressed into service to fight for the Empire and to provide Kimen Kâh with food, but there were few objections to this arrangement among the Morwaith, for while the Empire lasted it did indeed provide them with respite from Half-Troll attacks. Unfortunately for the Eastern Morwaith, it didn't last long. Around thirty years after the founding of Kimen Kâh, a huge army of Half-Trolls swarmed into the forests and attacked the city, burning it to the ground and slaughtering its inhabitants.
With their Taurethrim allies now completely wiped out, the Eastern Morwaith tribes were forced to unite out of desperation, and so they were able to prevent the Half-Trolls from conquering any of the lands beyond the rivers that bordered Pertorogwaith. Later in the Second Age, they allied with the Limwaith of the Mangroves and struck back against the Half-Trolls, who were crippled by infighting at the time. They were able to secure the Seregduin completely and weaken the Half-Trolls further, but they were unable to advance into Pertorogwaith, and by the start of the Third Age the Half-Trolls began to get stronger once more.
To make matters worse, the Limwaith began to focus more on getting revenge on the Taurethrim than holding off the Half-Trolls, and the tribes of the Eastern Morwaith gradually began to fracture. The Half-Trolls exploited this resumed their raids into the Grasslands, annihilating a number of Morwaith tribes and driving others into hiding. The Eastern Morwaith managed to keep the Half-Trolls away from the two northern Great Lakes, and to this very day that region is kept secure by their greater hunters, but the Half-Trolls ran rampant in the forest, and all the tribes of the Eastern Morwaith suffered at the hands of their raiders for most of the Age.
About midway through the Third Age, many of the Eastern Morwaith began to tire of this devastating cycle, and sought a way out. When Southern Morwaith tribes began making alliances with the Southrons, they got their chance. The kingdoms of Near Harad demanded tribute from the Southern Morwaith in exchange for aid against the Taurethrim, and the Southern Morwaith provided them with wood from the jungle and captured Mûmakil. A group of Eastern Morwaith inserted themselves into this arrangement, acting as middlemen between the Morwaith and the Southrons. They became known as the Beast-Chainers, for they came to specialize in the transport of captive Mûmakil, which the Southern Morwaith sold to the Southrons for use as war-beasts. The Beast-Chainers rebuilt the Bridge of Haraduin, and to this day Southern Morwaith hunting parties hand their captive Mûmakil off to the Beast-Chainers at this site. The Beast-Chainers then lead the Mûmakil north across the plains and sell them to the Gulfings of Khopazûl, who often trade them off to the other Southron kingdoms. The Beast-Chainers built their own settlement at a site where they frequently met the Gulfings, a strange village that the Gulfings nicknamed the Town of Bones. With war brewing in the North, the Beast-Chainers are thriving, and the Town of Bones is often visited by Gulfing traders and Northern Morwaith hunters.
For the rest of the Eastern Morwaith, life became even harder in the late Third Age, as Half-Troll attacks began to intensify for reasons unknown. To the dismay of the Morwaith, the Half-Trolls had organized, more so than they ever had before, and in their unity they threatened to destroy the eastern tribes. But even as these attacks grew worse, the Chieftains of the strongest of these tribes received envoys from Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, who promised that he would free them from their Half-Troll enemies if they swore allegiance to him. They readily accepted, as, eventually, did almost all of the Eastern Morwaith tribes, and the attacks ceased almost immediately. In gratitude, the Eastern Morwaith joined with their Northern brothers in the service of Mordor, eager to aid their savior against the Men of Gondor.
The Southern Morwaith
The Southern Morwaith are the most populous Morwaith subgroup, the inhabitants of the fertile grasslands along the river Haraduin. Though they are primarily hunter-gatherers, like all Morwaith, they rely on agriculture to a greater degree than the other subgroups, and are especially fond of yams. Frequently, their hunters raid the jungles for exotic prey and plants; in recent millennia, they have begun chopping down trees and capturing Mûmakil, much to the ire of the Taurethrim. Many of the local legends of Southern Morwaith tribes prominently feature the Gates of Fire, a small range of volcanic mountains that lies near the center of the Grasslands; many Morwaith believe that the Gates lead down to the heart of the earth, and some of the tribes that dwell close to the volcanoes send their young warriors there to prove themselves. There are several powerful large tribes among the Southern Morwaith; their largest settlements lie in the Upper Floodplains, in Deep Harad near the Gates of Fire, and at Nan Hardagorath, a lush green valley that has been the site of many battles.
The Southern Morwaith lived in relative peace until around SA 1250, when the Taurethrim Empire turned its eyes northwards, seeking to conquer all of Harad. On the orders of the Taurethrim High King, the armies of the Empire swarmed north into the grasslands, conquering any Morwaith tribes they encountered. Many battles between the Morwaith and Taurethrim were fought, including several at Nan Hardagorath, but the Taurethrim were stronger due to their superior equipment and unit cohesion. The Empire quickly conquered all of the lands south of the Haraduin, and then they pushed farther, moving north past the Gates of Fire and stopping only when they reached the borders of the Arid Grasslands.
All Morwaith tribes south of the Haraduin were outright enslaved, as were many north of it, and the rest of the Southern Morwaith were forced to become vassals of the Taurethrim Empire. Morwaith slaves were forced to grow corn and yams for their Taurethrim masters, and in the days of the Taurethrim Blood-Kings they were used also to build monuments, most notably the great pyramids of the jungle, an undertaking that came with a high cost in lives. Few Morwaith rose above slave status under the Taurethrim, and though there are tales of a few that became prominent warriors, these cases were rare. The Morwaith came to hate the Taurethrim for their cruel treatment of their people and the high tributes they demanded, and rebelled several times, only for each rebellion to be completely crushed. By SA 1600, all of the Southern Morwaith were under the dominion of the Taurethrim Empire, and they had little hope of breaking free.
But this was soon to change. In the year 1750 of the Second Age, the ruling High King of the Taurethrim Empire died of a black sickness that none could treat him for. In the wake of his father's death, a young boy became High King; his name was Kozawik, and even at that young age he had already become known as cruel. During his coronation, Sauron himself arrived from Mordor, greeting the new king and offering an alliance. Kozawik, seeing an opportunity to increase his power, agreed to ally and send tribute to Mordor, in exchange for guidance from Sauron and the destruction of his enemies. Among the Taurethrim, it is said that from that day forth a madness took him, a madness that turned him against his own people. He had been brutal before, in his own respect, and enjoyed the torment of living things, but now, through the power of Sauron, he had become an incredibly sadistic ruler. He slaughtered his own people for amusement, and in after-days was called Kozawik the Despised. How Sauron dominated him so is uncertain. Some say he was ensnared, as Ar-Pharazon of Númenor was. Other claim some fell magic of Mordor was to blame. Still more say that, at this first meeting, Sauron offered Kozawik a Ring to seal their alliance, a gift that Kozawik greedily claimed.
Kozawik was, at first, a very promising leader; he was able to lead his armies like none before, earning stunning victories against all that opposed him. Despite his brutality, revolts and attempted coups were few and far between, and always crushed in short order. But the power Sauron gave Kozawik, slowly at first, began to twist his mind. Kozawik's bloodlust evolved into outright brutality. Once he had killed thousands of the Limwaith, Morwaith and Cerinrim around the Empire, he started killing his own people. The Taurethrim suffered greatly under the hands of their own High King, yet the power of the Dark Lord prevented any uprising. As if to add insult to injury, Kozawik lived an extraordinarily long life - which he mostly used to devastate his own realm. His terrible rule started to bother Sauron, who wanted to let the Taurethrim bleed in his wars and not for the amusement of his puppet. After more than a hundred years of his terrible reign, Kozawik disappeared without a trace.
Kozawik the Despised left the Taurethrim Empire as a shadow of its former self, for which Sauron had no use anymore. He had massacred his own people for entertainment, and with his disappearance the Taurethrim were left without a ruler, for Kozawik left no surviving children, as he had killed his only son in a blood-rage. The Taurethrim Empire descended into chaos. A long and bloody civil war broke out, in which petty Chieftains and self-declared Kings struggled for power while further destroying the Taurethrim people and bringing their culture to the brink of death. But where the Taurethrim saw disaster, the Morwaith saw an opportunity - an opportunity to regain their long-lost freedom.
As the Taurethrim Empire collapsed, the Morwaith drove their former overlords out of the Grasslands, and then they began raiding the Jungle, seeking revenge for centuries of torment. Morwaith hordes flooded the northern Jungles, and many tribes even settled there. The Morwaith razed any Taurethrim cities or villages that they found, and over the course of a century the old Taurethrim Empire was completely destroyed, victim to the people it had once enslaved. Soon, the entirety of the Great Jungle fell under the rule of Morwaith chieftains, and the Taurethrim that were left were forced to integrate with them.
But gradually, those Morwaith that had moved into the Jungle diverged from those that had stayed in the Grasslands. As they merged with the remnants of the Taurethrim, they started to adopt Taurethrim empire, eventually coming to call themselves the new Taurethrim, the heirs to the fallen Empire. As the Empire of Kimen Kâh, the last holdout of the original Taurethrim civilization, rose and then fell, the Morwaith of the Jungles became a new people, one that had more in common with the ancient Taurethrim than with the Morwaith. Over the course of centuries, both they and their enemies stopped differentiating between the Taurethrim of old and the new rulers of the Jungle.
The remaining Southern Morwaith despised the new Taurethrim, and set out to finish what their ancestors started. Over the course of the Third Age, many battles were fought between the Morwaith and Taurethrim, as Taurethrim chieftains sought to expand the scope of their power and Morwaith raiders sought to wipe out their ancient enemies. During one such conflict between the two groups, many Southern Morwaith tribes began working with the Northern Morwaith, and with their Southron allies, in hopes of gaining an edge over the Men of the Jungles. The Southrons of the Gulf of Harad promised aid in exchange for tribute, which the Morwaith gladly provided in the form of wood from the Jungle and Mûmakil, which their hunting parties captured in Jungle raids and sent north to be used as warbeasts by the Southrons. Typically, Southern Morwaith hunters will capture Mûmakil and bring them to the Bridge of Haraduin, where they trade the beasts off to Eastern Morwaith Beast-Chainers and collect their payment.
In recent years, the Southern Morwaith tribes have also come into contact with Sauron, who, like the Southrons, offered aid in exchange for tribute. In exchange for some of their warriors, Sauron has promised to help the Morwaith completely annihilate the Taurethrim, an offer that made most of the the Southern Morwaith tribes allies of Mordor in short order. But though the Southern Morwaith are becoming increasingly involved with the Shadow, their primary focus is still on the Taurethrim, with whom they are still in a state of perpetual conflict.
The Western Morwaith
The Western Morwaith, the final cultural subgroup of the Men of the Grasslands, are few in number, and little is said of them. They alone of the Far Haradrim dwelt west of the great Mountains of Harad, from the lands around Taurelondë to the foothills of Mount Astras. They are much more peaceful than their relatives across the Mountains, and most western tribes are deeply religious and thoroughly devoted to the Great Lion. These were likely a contributing factor in the fate that ultimately befell them.
The Western Morwaith had the most contact with the Númenóreans, who set up many colonies in the rocky western coasts of Far Harad. At first, this was a positive influence, and the Western Morwaith gained much from trade with the Númenóreans. But when the Shadow began to fall over Númenór, it is said that it fell first and hardest over the colonies in Harad, and the Western Morwaith suffered greatly for this change. Black Númenóreans took over Taurelondë and its subordinate colonies across the western coasts of Harad, and they began pillaging the interior of the continent. Most of the Western Morwaith were enslaved by them, and the Black Númenóreans often used them as human sacrifices, spilling their blood in the name of Melkor.
Black Númenórean dominion over the Western Morwaith lasted for the rest of the Second Age, but the colonies quickly died out between conflict and decreasing populations. The Western Morwaith tried to recover, but the Corsairs of Umbar filled the void that the Black Númenóreans had left, taking over the coasts and pillaging the strip of land that the Western Morwaith occupied. Many of the Slaves of Harad sold by Corsair slavers come from Western Morwaith tribes, few of which now remain.
The Taurethrim of the Jungles
Origins
The Taurethrim we know today are descendants of the third tribe of the original Haradrim, called the “Forest Peoples”. These people split from the “Plain Peoples” (the ancestors of the Morwaith and Cerinrim) and the “Desert Peoples” (the ancestors of the Southrons of Near Harad) in the First Age, and settled the many swamps and forests of Far Harad. It is thought that the Forest People settled at first around Lake Chunha. In the late First Age and early Second Age, the Forest People suffered a decline due to a great flood in the swamps, and so they wandered south and settled the Jungle and Mangroves of Far Harad. Over the course of generations, the Forest People diverged until they formed two distinct tribes: the Taurethrim of the Jungles and the Limwaith of the Mangroves.
Early History
In their early days, the Taurethrim lived in small and isolated villages, which differed little from those used by the other Far Haradrim. But after years of living in the unusual Jungles of the South, the Taurethrim began to develop a more unique way of life. They began building larger cities, the first of which was Ya'ash Kåh, which the ancient Taurethrim founded shortly after their flight from Chunha. The Taurethrim slowly started to unite under the rule of Namakush, a great chieftain who declared himself the first High King of the Taurethrim. He united the Taurethrim and made his people into an empire, which quickly branched out into the jungles, building more cities deep in the woods and an extensive network of roads.
Tûnich Kåh, a great city of stone, was built to the southeast of Ya'ash Kåh, while merchants founded Otoch Kåh in the west, and Shaman Påh was built to the northeast, a great outpost home to many great warriors, who honed themselves in raids against the plains-dwellers to the north. The great city of Nohoch Kåh was built deeper in the jungles than any of the other early homes of the Taurethrim, and it was there that the Men of the Jungles first encountered the Mûmakil. They were awed by these great beasts, who they viewed as children of one of their chief gods, and so Nohoch Kåh quickly became the new capital of the Empire and the seat of all future High Kings.
In SA 800, during the reign of High King Kozamalotl, the Taurethrim first encountered the Númenóreans. Trade opened up between the Men of the West and the Men of the Jungles, with the Númenóreans desiring exotic goods and the Taurethrim desiring knowledge. Númenórean teachings led to great technological advancements among the Taurethrim, which saw their cities transformed into wonders of the world. Otoch Kåh became a hub of trade activity, as it was close to Taurelondë, one of the earliest Númenórean havens.
Taurethrim Empire
The new power and wealth acquired by the High Kings of the Taurethrim made them eager to expand their influence outside their forest. Around the year SA 1200, High King Tekwetli II rose to power, and announced that it was gods-given destiny of his people to conquer all of Harad.
His first target were the Limwaith inhabiting the Mangroves to the east. Although they were close relatives, the Taurethrim looked down on the Limwaith and considered them primitive, inferior by their very nature, destined only to be Taurethrim subjects. The Taurethrim army had no great difficulties in subduing the poorly-organized warriors of the Limwaith, and claimed all the Mangroves as part of their empire, taking the Limwaith as slaves. The Limwaith, under Taurethrim rule, would experience centuries of oppression, including several attempts to exterminate their culture and to assimilate them into the Taurethrim way of life, attempts that only ended with the Fall of the Empire. The city of Lakin Påh was constructed to keep watch over the Mangroves, and in the immediate aftermath of the conquest of the Limwaith the Taurethrim also built outposts at the Ethir Haraduin.
The sons of Tekwetli II continued his wars, and they targeted the Morwaith tribes living along the mighty Haraduin river. In the past, small Morwaith raids against Taurethrim border villages had been not uncommon, and the warriors of Shaman Påh had long been obliged to respond likewise, but the Taurethrim High Kings had not bothered to intervene before. This quickly changed, and Taurethrim forces attacked the southern tribes if Morwaith, those that dwelt closest to the jungles. Most of conquered tribes were forced into vassalhood, and were made to pay a great tribute to the Taurethrim High Kings, chiefly consisting of exotic animal materials and slaves. Their lands were claimed for the Empire, and their people were enslaved. The attention of the High Kings turned to the Cerinrim of the Bushlands to the south, and they expanded their Empire southwards, building estates near the Emerald Lakes, the great military city of Pishan Kåh, and Aktun Kåh, the southernmost city of the Empire, built among caves in a break in the range of mountains that rose through the midst of the jungles.
In the year 1311, the warlike and greedy High King Necalli was assassinated, and a period of peace reigned in the empire. King Moyolewani I took his place, and he became the first of the Splendour-Kings, a line of generous and beloved regents that brought a period of stability to the Empire. The Splendour-Kings greatly improved the infrastructure of the Empire, and they began to hoard valuable materials, most notably gold, which they began to mine in great quantities from the mountains.
But over time, the descendants of Necalli grew in strength. They started a cult devoted to the worship of their creator god Uz-Belehu, which spread quickly among the Taurethrim. In SA 1522, they retook the throne, with Tizok becoming the first of the line of Blood-Kings. His reign and those of his descendants were exceedingly bloody, but the Empire nonetheless grew stronger under them. It was Tizok who, after years of friendship, declared war on the Númenóreans, and began taking their goods and knowledge by force. The Númenóreans fought back, but they were never able to properly retaliate, as any army they sent into the jungles was quickly thwarted by the unfamiliar environment and the guerrilla tactics of the Taurethrim warriors.
During the reign of the Blood-Kings, the Taurethrim began building great temples, and their religious ceremonies once more began to involve human sacrifice, a practice they had abandoned under Númenórean influence. Among these many monuments were a series of massive pyramids built deep in the jungles, in which the High Kings began to hoard their greatest treasures, and which the shamans of the Taurethrim protected with ancient rites. These pyramids were built by slave labour, and frightening numbers of Morwaith and Limwaith died in the construction of the great monuments of the Men of the Jungles. Mûmakåh, the last of the great cities of the Empire, was built in the far south of the jungles during this time.
The Taurethrim Empire reached its zenith in the middle of the Second Age, around SA 1700. By this point, the influence of the High Kings extended far beyond the borders of the jungles, out into the savannahs, mangroves, and even some of the lands bbeyond. The Taurethrim grew rich off both the resources of the lands they ruled and off tribute from their vassals and neighbors, and aside from the Númenóreans, they were the mightiest force in all of Harad.
The Fall of the Empire
In the year 1750 of the Second Age, the ruling High King died of a black sickness that none could treat him for - a plague that, some claim, came out of Mordor, though the truth of that claim is unknown. In the wake of his father's death, a young boy became High King; his name was Kozawik, and even at that young age he had already become known as cruel. During his coronation, Sauron himself arrived from Mordor, greeting the new king and offering an alliance. Kozawik, seeing an opportunity to increase his power, agreed to ally and send tribute to Mordor, in exchange for guidance from Sauron and the destruction of his enemies. Among the Taurethrim, it is said that from that day forth a madness took him, a madness that turned him against his own people. He had been brutal before, in his own respect, and enjoyed the torment of living things, but now, through the power of Sauron, he had become an incredibly sadistic ruler. He slaughtered his own people for amusement, and in after-days was called Kozawik the Despised. How Sauron dominated him so is uncertain. Some say he was ensnared, as Ar-Pharazon of Númenor was. Other claim some fell magic of Mordor was to blame. Still more say that, at this first meeting, Sauron offered Kozawik a Ring to seal their alliance, a gift that Kozawik greedily claimed.
Years passed, and despite his brutality, the rule of Kozawik was very promising. The Empire flourished, and the Taurethrim were without question the rulers of Far Harad. Whatever power Sauron had over him was effective indeed, and it became apparent very quickly. Kozawik was able to lead his armies like none before, earning stunning victories against all that opposed him. Despite his brutality, revolts and attempted coups were few and far between, and always crushed in short order. But the power Sauron gave Kozawik, slowly at first, began to twist his mind,
Kozawik's bloodlust evolved into outright brutality. Once he had killed thousands of the Limwaith, Morwaith and Cerinrim around the Empire, he started killing his own people. Mighty Taurethrim families were killed when he felt they threatened his rule. People were executed purely for his amusement. The Taurethrim suffered greatly under the hands of their own High King, yet the power of the Dark Lord prevented any uprising. As if to add insult to injury, Kozawik lived an extraordinarily long life - which he mostly used to devastate his own realm. His terrible rule started to bother Sauron, who wanted to let the Taurethrim bleed in his wars and not for the amusement of his puppet. After more than a hundred years of his terrible reign, Kozawik disappeared without a trace.
Kozawik the Despised left the Taurethrim Empire as a shadow of its former self, for which Sauron had no use anymore. He had massacred his own people for entertainment, and with his disappearance the Taurethrim were left without a ruler, for Cozahuic left no surviving children, as he had killed his only son in a blood-rage. The Taurethrim Empire descended into chaos. A long and bloody civil war broke out, in which petty Chieftains and self-declared Kings struggled for power while further destroying the Taurethrim people and bringing their culture to the brink of death. Simultaneously, the Far Haradrim tribes that the Taurethrim had enslaved seized at the chance to regain their lost freedom.
The Limwaith of the Mangroves expelled the weakened Taurethrim from their lands, and took their bloody revenge by slaughtering any Taurethrim they found. Even more impactful was the uprising of the Morwaith around the Haraduin, who had suffered much under the rule of the Taurethrim. No matter what the scattered Taurethrim armies did, the Morwaith constantly defeated them, until the plains were abandoned entirely.
The Morwaith flooded into the northern Jungle, and killed, raped, and pillaged their way through many Taurethrim villages. This state of chaos lasted for nearly two centuries and had great impact on the Taurethrim: Much of their knowledge, culture and language was lost, and most of their cities became ruins. The great internal war that the Taurethrim had fought with themselves had caused the burning, collapse, or abandonment of most major cities, but it was the Morwaith that dealt the final blow. The remaining cities were sacked, and in a great battle the invaders wiped out the inhabitants of Nohoch Kåh, destroying the Taurethrim Empire forever.
The migration of great numbers of Morwaith into the jungles led to a merging of the two peoples. The Taurethrim, as they were, ceased to exist, though the new peoples adopted their culture. Many Morwaith rulers started slowly to adopt ancient Taurethrim traditions, seeking legitimacy in the history of the fallen Empire. The original Taurethrim language was lost, and the new Taurethrim people spoke a new tongue, one which combined the languages of the Morwaith and the Low Taurethrim speech, a language which had been spoken by the unlearned during the days of the Empire. The old names were forgotten, and the only remaining traces of the Taurethrim language were the names of the great cities, which now lay in ruins. Over time, all the peoples of the Jungle started to again call themselves Taurethrim, although the people inhabiting their lands were not truly, not anymore.
The Empire of Kimen Kåh
Seeing that the Jungle had not brought the Taurethrim any fortune in the past centuries of war, the Chieftain Acalan, who was considered one of the few true Taurethrim left in existence, looked into finding a new home for his people, and commanded his kin to leave the jungle and cross the Haraduin. There they founded a new city in the Far Harad Forest, which eventually became known as Kimen Kåh. It was the first time since the fall of the Taurethrim Empire that the Taurethrim had built a new city for themselves.
During the next few centuries, the city flourished and became known as the new and last true Taurethrim Kingdom. Acalan's dream had come true, and after his death in SA 2153 his son Ixbalnake became king. Only four years after the beginning of his reign, however, this new civilization came under threat. Unlike in the past, this threat was not Morwaith raiding parties or rival Taurethrim chieftains, but new creatures that were inhuman and terrible. The Taurethrim called them the “Grey Demons”, but they were known elsewhere as Half-Trolls.
These creatures had wiped out any Morwaith tribes living in the lands that became known as Pertorogwaith, and by the time of Kimen Kåh they were beginning to raid further and further westwards. The attacks of these Grey Demons intensified over the next few years, until finally, in SA 2161, the mighty city fell to the Half-Trolls. The Half-Trolls completely burned all that remained of the original Taurethrim civilization, and slaughtered the entire population of the city. It is for this reason that the site became called Kimen Kåh - the City of the Dead.
The fall of Kimen Kåh marked the end of Taurethrim attempts to settle the Far Harad Forest, as well as the end of the pureblooded Taurethrim. The last branch of the original Taurethrim Empire was completely destroyed, and with the city was lost grievous amounts of artifacts and texts from the old Empire. The river at which Kimen Kåh was built turned red with blood during the massacre, and so forever after it became known as the River of Blood, the Seregduin.
The Third Age
The situation in the Jungles started to improve at last in the early Third Age. Centuries of war, migration and chaos had led to irreversible change among the Men of the Jungles, and although by now they had little in common with their ancestors from long ago, they still proudly called themselves Taurethrim, claiming to be the very people who were once the undisputed rulers of Far Harad. They adopted the culture, the trappings, and even the way of life of those that came before, but they were not the same, and the Taurethrim would never again rule an empire.
The Taurethrim began to live in much greater isolation than they had before. They built their villages only in great clearings deep in the forests, usually around old monuments built during the time of the Empire. They rarely ventured outside the Jungles, and anyone that ventured beyond the treeline was, more often than not, greeted by blowgun-darts and daggers. Though they lived in peace compared to the time of civil war, the Taurethrim tribes were regularly disturbed by Southern Morwaith tribes, who sent and still send their warriors into the Jungles to capture Mumakil. This infuriated the Taurethrim, who still saw the Mûmakil as holy creatures, and they did everything in their power to stop the thefts, with little success.
Around TA 2500, tensions between the two people increased, as Morwaith incursions became more frequent, as they had begun to sell their captured Mûmakil to the Southrons. Even worse, in the eyes of the Taurethrim, was the havoc the Morwaith wreaked on the edges of the jungles. Wide swaths of land were deforested, as the Morwaith needed the wood from the jungles to send as tribute to the Southrons, and later to Mordor. The Taurethrim have effectively been in a state of war against the Morwaith and their Southron allies ever since.
The Taurethrim see Sauron as the ultimate reason that their great Empire fell, and as the root cause of all their suffering. For this reason, the Taurethrim are aligned against Mordor, and oppose any Haradrim allied with him to this very day. However, the struggles that the Taurethrim have endured have also given them a strong distrust of outsiders, and trust none other than themselves.
Religion and Culture
Not much is known about the Taurethrim's religion and culture. Only few tales survived the Fall of their Empire, including the creation myth of the Jungle: they tell of a colossal pillar of fire, which one day shattered and blanketed the earth in ash. From this ash came life, and this life grew and spread across a large swath of land. Some suspect this to refer to the destruction of the Lamps of the Valar - yet how would they know about these events?
The Taurethrim worships mysterious gods, which demand regular blood sacrifices. The only Jungle god known to the early Númenórean sailors was the goddess Uza-Mumaathu, who appeared as a Mumak and guarded the Jungle against evil spirits.
The Taurethrim language today is related to those of the Morwaith and Cerinrim, with mixes of the Low Taurethrim language (which was spoken by the poorer classes, and said to have been the tongue of the very first inhabitants of the jungles). The ancient Taurethrim language, which was closer to the Limwaith language, was lost after the Fall of the Taurethrim Empire, with all that remains in the daily speech a few words of half-remembered origin. The last speakers of this language or at least fragments of it are the shamans said to live in the mysterious city of Mumakaah in the deepest part of the Jungle, which is avoided even by most Taurethrim. It is said in whispered rumor that alone of all the Taurethrim cities Mumakaah, the most remote, was never destroyed, though it was abandoned for centuries.