men of middle-earth ☀ misc. dúnedain ☀ headcanon disclaimer
Castamir the Usurper was the bloodthirsty, devious despot who overthrew the government of King Eldacar amid the chaos of Gondor’s Kin-strife. Though after a decade of tyranny, he was ousted from his throne and killed in battle, his grim legacy would endure for many generations. The wife of Castamir was Lady Núriel of Pelargir, who bore him two sons almost as vicious as himself. After their father’s death, Airesarno and Ninquo withdrew to their mother’s city, but Núriel had long since grown sick of the conflict her husband stirred up and surrendered her keep to Eldacar’s army. Her sons then fled to Umbar, where they were taken in by the Black Númenóreans and assimilated into their Council of Lords. Airesarno and Ninquo married daughters of their fellow lords, solidifying their place in Umbar’s Council and integrating themselves into the culture of their new home. There they learned the truth of Eärnil I’s death, arranged by the rulers of Umbar after his conquest of their haven and not lost in a sea-storm as the records of Gondor said. Though they lived in exile for the rest of their lives, the sons of Castamir instilled a deep hatred of Gondor in the hearts of their own descendants. Ninquo was killed before his time in a duel with a rival lord, leaving his wife Zôriphêl to raise their daughter Lômirôth. In this she was aided by Airesarno and his wife Azûlindil, growing intimately close with them to the point that Lômirôth and Airesarno’s son Dôlguzagar considered each other siblings rather than cousins. Lômirôth married one of Dôlguzagar’s close friends Gimlân, a lord grown rich off his piracy, and their son Azgarzîr quickly became embroiled in his father’s corsair lifestyle. Much like his foster sister, Dôlguzagar’s heart was won by a sea-voyager: the pirate queen Azruphêl, scourge of Gondor’s coastlines. But Gimlân and Azruphêl had many quarrels between them that forced their spouses and children apart, and thus Dôlguzagar’s son Arnakhôr remained with his father in Umbar’s political sphere while Azgarzîr sailed the mighty seas. Still, the cousins would not be separated forever, and not long after Gimlân’s death in a ship-battle, Azgarzîr returned to Umbar to comfort his grieving mother. Upon witnessing Arnakhôr’s impassioned speech at Gimlân’s funeral, Azgarzîr became enamoured of his long-lost cousin and struck up a friendship between them. Soon he established himself as Arnakhôr’s right-hand man and personal champion, learning to loathe Gondor’s kings as he never had before. The cousins schemed together to fulfill the promises of their great-grandfather Castamir and destroy the line of kings entirely and place Arnakhôr as the Emperor of Umbar and Gondor. Azgarzîr rallied together the disunified pirates who operated out of the haven under his lord’s banner and led a great fleet against Pelargir; though they did not succeed in taking the city of Núriel the Faithless, as she had become known to her wicked descendants, they struck fear into the hearts of Gondor’s soldiers and earned the Quenya names Angamaitë and Sangahyando for their ruthlessness in battle. Arnakhôr Angamaitë and Azgarzîr Sangahyando retreated back to Umbar to adjust their tactics, but before their plans were full-wrought, they heard that King Minardil of Gondor had taken his wife on a visit to Pelargir. Eager for slaughter, Azgarzîr stirred Arnakhôr to action and the cousins led their fleet back to the coastal city and led a devastating raid upon the port, demolishing the city and slaying Minardil. Amid his bloodlust, Sangahyando had left little to rule in Pelargir, and in disgust Angamaitë forsook the ruins of the city and returned victorious to Umbar. The royalty of Gondor plotted revenge against the Corsairs of Umbar, but so also did the Corsairs connive to overthrow their enemies entirely. Yet neither had the chance to strike, for only two years after Minardil’s death the Great Plague descended upon the south of Middle-earth and ravaged its peoples, killing the first new King Telemnar and his heirs and then Arnakhôr and Azgarzîr themselves. Though neither Angamaitë nor Sangahyando had children of their own, they had many remaining kin through the younger children of their parents and grandparents, who took up the mantle of vengeance against Gondor. These descendants of Castamir would hold Umbar for some generations as the region recovered from the Plague, but eventually the line of the Usurper was wiped out when King Telumehtar Umbardacil conquered the haven for Gondor once more. Yet the Corsairs of Umbar endured, though the line of their founding lords was lost, and would not cease to trouble Gondor until the ultimate defeat of Sauron in the War of the Ring.