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Sauron went to Umbar wearing the Ring, not expecting to be captured and taken to Númenor. How did the Ring get back to Barad-dûr?

Sauron returns to Mordor and openly declares himself, and Umbar declares its allegiance to him. Told by Urzahil of Umbar, who later becomes the Mouth of Sauron.

Stories about Maedhros and the tribe of Bor:

I Maedhros remembers his encounter with Bor's tribe and the early days of their alliance.

II Now added: After the loss of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, Bor's granddaughter leads the survivors of her people back into the East.

The story of Aerin of the House of Hador and Broddun of the Easterlings, Brodda's sister. After the crushing defeat of the Edain in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Easterlings have occupied Dor-lomin. Brodda has taken Aerin to wife by force.

Aerin and Broddun find ways of dealing with it and with each other. Their friendship grows and survives amid difficulties, but the end is bitter.

Now added: an extra drabble.

Or an account of the battle in the forest of Brethil as seen by Beleg Cúthalion, told in two parts.

Melkor's thoughts before the making of the orcs.

Sauron recounts the first human sacrifice in the temple of Armenelos.

MEFA 2009: First Place - Races: Villains: General

The Númenórean King Ar-Pharazôn thinks he has won an easy victory when Sauron surrenders to him and becomes his prisoner. But the march back to Umbar with the conniving Dark Lord turns out to have many unanticipated twists and turns through a nest of politics and intrigue, including Sauron's attempted seduction of Ar-Pharazôn's favorite male courtesan.

This is volume I of a planned trilogy. An epic tale of political intrigue, the desire for immortality and love, sorcery, hubris, loyalty, lust, and catastropic amounts of water.

MEFA 2009 First Place winner in Genres: Longer Works: Incomplete  (Vol. I is now complete)

This fic was recommended in USA Today, May 20, 2015! (They have a fanfiction section. Who knew?)  Thank you to Uvatha the Horseman for the rec!

A depressing tale. Celebrimbor ponders his life just before Sauron begins his attack on Eregion.

Sauron the bad guy was good in the end, wasn't he? A take on Sauron's kin's feelings about his fall.

Sauron recounts his discovery of the fell beasts to Finrod, who visits the former Dark Lord during his imprisonment in the Halls of Mandos, in a tale of adventure and a bit of the macabre.

Pandë!verse-centric.  A little gory, some coarse language, mild sexual references.

Chapter 2 added:  Over tankards of ale, served in the replica of a familiar inn, Sauron continues his tale to Finrod:  his instructions to the Lord of the Nazgûl (who receives a disagreeable task); his uncertainties concerning the wisdom of leaving Mordor; and his journey to Layla’s homeland, where the Forbidden Valley lies.

"Thereafter the fire and smoke went up without ceasing; for the power of Sauron daily increased, and in that temple, with spilling of blood and torment and great wickedness, men made sacrifice to Melkor." (Akallabeth)

The life story of a certain fallen Maia, told from his perspective. Dark, or rather will be.

Sauron has plans for the future.

This story follows Melkor and Sauron through the main Melkor-relevant events of the Silmarillion. Beginning with Morgoth's triumphant return to Angband with the Silmarils, through the consequences of the taxing battle with Fingolfin and the troublesome Quest for the Silmaril, all the way to Dagor Dagorath... and beyond. 

During the course of this story you shall see Melkor risen high and fallen low and you will learn a thing or two about the loyalty of a certain Maia. There will be moments sad and serious and those quite funny as well. Please review!

Sauron assassinates Ar-Pharazôn before the Great Armament can be sent against Valinor, and takes power as Steward, turning the military might of Numenor and Mordor against the Eldar and Faithful; the history of Arda is altered forever.

A short essay for the fun of it.

To an old Friend 

During a Second Age equivalent of a natural history "field trip" in the upper Vale of the Glanduin River, a young Mélamírë finds her father's penchant for turning everything into a lesson to be stifling. Taking advantage of Father's unexpected nap, she sets off on a little expedition of her own, intending to return by sunset. However, she makes a discovery that turns what she intended as an afternoon's adventure into something far more harrowing and that challenges what she has been taught.

Rated Teen/PG13 equivalent for moderate violence; heads up for Pandë!verse-centrism

It is the Second Age of Middle-earth. Sauron is regrouping, the Rings are being forged, the Numenorians are beginning their descent into madness, and Glorfindel has been sent back to Middle-earth for...for what? Only time will tell, and when it does, all of Middle-earth will rise up to fight.

Mairon kickstarts the new Cult of Melkor in Armenelos. What does one do with inept acolytes, heretics, and abandoned gardens?

UPDATE - Chapter 3

This does not pretend to be the story of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. That is a vast tale of a battle to rival the Battle of the Somme in our own time, with all its moments of terror and heroism (plus dragons, balrogs, and the death of a king). This is just about Gildor, son of Lalwen, and Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower (which Gildor assures me sounds better in Quenya) and something of their experience during those six days of horror.

Melkor has been imprisoned in the halls of Mandos for all too long. The day of the trial is approaching, and now he's willing to do almost anything to convince his jailer of his change of heart. From then onwards, everything seems to go downhill for him, and upon returning to Angband, his relationship with Sauron will turn rather tense.

Part III of the Númenor Seas series, for the Sea Voyage challenge. Yehimelkor, the last High Priest of Melkor, stares at the sea thar robbed him of a loved one and bears his fate proudly.

In after days historians would forget much about the Dagor Bragollach, and many things were left out of the Quenta Silmarillion, written with the gift of hindsight. But the coming of Celegorm and Curufin to Nargothrond was at first held as the greatest fortune to come to the Noldor out of that battle, for by their aid alone did Orodreth survive the fall of Tol Sirion.

Sauron forges the Ring, and almost dies in the process.

This story is inspired by the turning-point chapter (18. Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin) where so much happens and in which so much goes unexpanded.  Of course prior to the occurences in this chapter much has already taken place, and there are allusions to past events as published in The Silmarillion and other works.

Exploring the lives of the Noldorin princes who would eventually produce the final king of the Noldor in Middle-earth.

Tells the story of the rise and fall of the two dark lords, from the collapse of the fortress in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, to the collapse of Barad-dûr, and what came next. Mainly told from Melkor and Sauron's perspective. Continuation of my other fic: "The Burnt God", though it may be read separately. Occasional slash (mainly Melkor x Sauron)

The Darkening of Valinor from Melkor's perspective. Now also from Turgon's perspective, but still a lot of Melkor in here!

The Steward Boromir, son of Denethor I, ruled Gondor at the end of the Watchful Peace, centuries before the War of the Ring.  He fought and repelled the Witch-king's forces in Osgiliath, but received a wound from a Morgul-blade doing so. Though his life was saved by his healers, he was crippled and died nine years later.

This story explores a different path for the life of the Steward...

The story of Maedhros' captivity in Angband, his rescue and his recovery is in the Silmarillion treated in a few paragraphs. This is a fleshed-out account of the events that may have befallen between Maedhros' imprisonment and his return to his old life... as far as that is possible.

Occasionally drifting into AU territory, depending on how closely you follow the source (WHICH source? :P).

The usual warnings apply - particularly to chapters marked with an asterisk.

Part One completed.
Part Two completed.

Part Three, Chapter 10 added: In which the reconciled Noldor make plans for the future. End of the trilogy.

When the Istyari of Second Age Ost-in-Edhil deny her a place in an important new initiative to be taken up by the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, a young master smith struggles to make her mark in the man's realm of the forges.   An opportunity arrives when the smith is offered a commission that will present challenges of both mind and heart.

Pandë!verse-centric.

Rated Adult.  Specific advisories will be posted per chapter as needed.

Two — count 'em, two — new chapters posted!

Chapter 10, In the Bright Light of Morning

Summary:  The morning after arriving in Ost-in-Edhil, Elrond and Erestor each suffer from the aches and pains of the long road from Mithlond as well as from other sources.

Chapter 11, The Path's Heart

Summary: Elrond finds a nearly comatose Mélamírë in dire straits.  She resists his attempts to reach her through sanwe-latya, until, with her permission, he gives her a bitter medicine that allows them to share a dream, called the lugnolossê by an ancient shaman of the Unbegotten.

Two elves of the Greenwood, a troubled warrior and a prince, confront the shadows from their past in the less than perfect paradise of Valinor. There, a tradition that has been kept every four long-years since the ancient days of the Great Journey is about to take place once more.