Morgomir

Morgomir is a named Ring-wraith, also called Black Rider or Nazgul, a servant of the Dark Lord Sauron. He is a character in "The Battle for Middle-earth, Rise of the Witch-king" video game, although the name Morgomir is not in the books of Tolkien, as he never detailed the Nazgul's names. Morgomir is the deputy of Carn Dum, based on the narrative in the video game. He is also one of the leaders of the Black Numenoreans and second in command to the Witch-king. Morgomir controls the dark, vicious warriors of Angmar.

On Sauron's first downfall, his followers dispersed, discouraged, and lost direction. For this reason, the Nazgul attempted to continue his cause. Angmar's Witch-king, chief of the Nazgul, selected his right hand among the Nazgul as Morgomir. They assembled many of the Orcs and shifter their armies to make war with Arnor, the kingdom of the Edain. Morgomir served as the battle tactician of the Witch-king. He showed the Nazgul leader that Arnor is more vulnerable than the realm of Gondor. He also led the major operation in the battle plan. The Kings of Numenor influenced the battle style of Morgomir. He would throw low hits or rotating high blows. He usually exterminates his enemies' commanders first, with a direct thrust to the heart. Morgomir applied this fighting style once during the Angmar War, in which the Witch-king's spell let him keep his physical, shadowy appearance.

It was winter when the dark armies of Angmar started their attack. Morgomir and the Witch-King appeared in the snowy peaks of northern Arnor. From where they stood, Morgormir spots an important instrument, the Troll of Northern Rogash. It was a cunning, wicked troll that has the skill to swing a massive sword. He urged the Witch-king to influence the troll. True to his expectations, the troll and his multitude, including hill trolls and snow trolls, heeded the dark schemes of the Witch-king. He wore an Iron Crown, and they called the Witch-king with this name from then on. As the Arnor's Black Numenoreans ambushed the Iron Crown's fortress, the legion of trolls decimated them. Upon their capture, the Witch-king allowed them to decide whether to surrender as his servants or die a gruesome death. They chose to have their lives spared and pledged their allegiance to the Witch-king, who then recognized Morgomir for the triumph through proclaiming him as Commander of the Black Numenoreans.

Morgomir set up spies within Rhudaur's Hill-men, and so the warriors of Arnor captured his primary servant, the chief of the Hill-men named Hwaldar. Morgomir persuaded the Witch-king that Hwaldar would prove to be useful. Hence they initiated a forceful attack to take the hill-chief from Rhudaur. Morgomir eliminated the gatekeepers and liberated Hwaldar all in one blow, once more showing his might as the Witch-king's second in command. The feat draws the hill chief's loyalty and regard, yet Angmar's position in the war waned. Their armies were weakening, and the stronghold of Arnor in the east was ready to charge towards them. Hence, it was Morgomir's strategy that the Witch-king relied on for their next move. Morgomir chose several Black Numenoreans to expand their black magic abilities. These shamans, referred to as thrall masters, acquired the means to call forces from the shadows and ancient past. Because of this, the Witch-king renewed his troops, and an intense encounter followed. With the destruction of the two strongholds and the downfall of King Argeleb, the chief war commander of the kingdom of Arnor, the people of Arnor fled from the first realm. They equipped themselves for the attack of the armies of the Witch-king towards the second kingdom, which is Cardolan and Arnor's final resting place of old.

Following the Witch-king's triumph against Rhudaur, they targeted the watchtower of Amon Sul next, as it protected the Weather Hills, the remaining passage towards Arthedain. Angmar's armies charged against the stronghold for several years. Eventually, the Witch-king and the Nazgul rallied against the magnificent citadel. They required an infallible tactic as King Arveleg can envision all their plans through the Palantir of Amon Sul. They began their strike by forcing their entry. Morgomir chanted a special incantation from his array of destructive spells. It was an immense force that decimated even the mightiest of strongholds. The Watchtower of Amon Sul fell in rubbles. However, before they destroyed the watchtower, King Arveleg and his royal protector successfully fled, taking with them the Witch-king's most sought after possession, the Palantír of Amon Sûl.

Although the Witch-King successfully brought down Amon Sul, the fleeing of King Arveleg and taking the Palantir thwarted him. He chose to entrust Morgomir to track down Arveleg due to his exceptional undertaking in Amon Sul's destruction. Morgomir split his armies for two tasks. First, the Dire-Wolf riding Orcs headed by two of the thrall masters would pursue King Arveleg. Second, Morgomir and the rest of his forces would trail behind the others to ensure the completion of their mission. The thrall masters and Orcs set forth to the king and his protector in North Downs. Morgomir then reached the area, yet his forces nor the king was nowhere nearby. Later on, as he and his army thoroughly looked around the expanse, they found a pit with splintered glass embedded on the terrain. Suddenly, a troop of Arnor warriors came, and a quick, fierce fight ensued. The warriors of Angmar overcame the men of Arnor.

Morgomir took the glass, knowing that it was a fraction of the Palantir, and sought eagerly for remaining pieces. He gathered several of the glass pieces and determined that each hole represents a piece of the broken Palantir. After finding seven pits in the ground, he saw that some have no glass pieces within. And so he concluded that the Men of Arnor must have caught the other shards. He set out to ambush the nearest guard station of Arnor to claim the missing glass pieces. He ravaged the outstation and seized the glass pieces. Morgomir presented it to the Witch-king, and with the magic of the glass fragments, they turned a distinguished class of Black Numenoreans into magicians. They instructed these magicians to take the souls of their servants and use it as a power to cast killing incantations.

With the downfall of Amon Sul, the people of Cardolan remained steadfast and fearless. Hence, the Witch King sought to decimate them the soonest. Morgomir set a plan with the Barrow-Downs for this. He expected the people of Arnor to be enraged if he violated the sacred grounds of Barrow-Downs. They would charge abruptly, which would make it easy to eliminate them. Their tactic would be to set forth a small group of fighters in the beginning, and once the Prince of Cardolan is engaged in battle, the full forces will take them. Morgomir came at the height of the fight to confront the royal guards of Cardolan, occupying them before the Witch-king joins the battle. The fighting techniques of Morgomir were effective against the best warriors of Arnor. When the Prince of Cardolan came, Morgomir kept his forces fighting upon waiting on the Witch-king (Morgomir's forces shiver at their master, more than the enemies from Arnor). The Witch-king finally came, he slaughtered the prince and his men, and Cardolan left unprotected and helpless. Cardolan was overwhelmingly devastated several days after the conflict. For this reason, Angmar became irrepressible.

The Witch-king's strength waned in the combat that ensued in Carn Dum, and so he sent Morgomir to go forth with his troop of honed magicians to head the assault on the sacred burial site of Arnor, later known as Barrow-downs. The Witch-king conspired with Morgomir to defile the graves with an evil pestilence with the help of the magicians. With a necromancy rite, it will call the souls of the late Kings of Arnor. This sweeping pestilence affected a broad expanse that it reached even the faraway lands of Gondor. The armies of Morgomir reached the burial grounds that nightfall. With the shadow intensifying in the East and Sauron recovering his powers, Morgomir resolved to contaminate the burial grounds by dawn so the Dark Lord will gain more strength for his coming arrival. When the Captain of Cardolan, along with his warriors, found out about the evil plans with the tombs, they devised a great raid. But the cunning Morgomir had prepared a counter for any intervention. Morgomir carried out the Black Ritual, offered five beings, which summoned a spirit of a wolf beast from the deep abyss.

It slaughtered the forces of Cardolan until the rite was over. Vile spirits emerged out of all the tombs, shadow-like but impervious creatures called the phantom Barrow-wights. The authorities of darkness triumphed in their feat against Cardolan. The Barrow-wights trapped the Captain of Cardolan named Carthaen and pushed him to the entrance of a defiled tomb. Morgomir walked out of the darkness and faced him. They carried on a confrontation, Morgomir praised him mockingly, saying that Captain Cardolan has validated himself as a notable foe. But Carthaen answered that Morgomir's diabolical nature does not fright him and that he could only take his life. Morgomir emitted a high-pitched chuckle then took out the Morgul sword. He thrust the sword into Carthaen, and the noble warrior violently quivered. His soul faded, and his vigor run out. Then he transformed into an evil creature, the Karsh, also called Whispering Wraith. He turned into a dangerous warrior creature of the Witch-King.

Four centuries after the last war in which Morgomir fought, he dwelt in the shadows, yet his strength never waned. His powers intensified even more with the wickedness that befell the lands of Arnor. Eventually, its dark forces came forth in Arnor's seat of power, Fornost, the last beacon of the Northern lands. The Witch-king must conquer this city for his victory over Arnor. The clash began and lasted for a while, the armies of Arnor were mighty, but the strength of the leaders of the Angmar forces reciprocated them. Two Nazguls fought in the battle, and their power enhanced the strength of their warriors. They turned one troll into a force imposing enough to match the warriors of Arnor. The warfare expertise of Morgomir was also instrumental in this conquest. By nightfall, Fornost fell into the hands of the Witch-King, who occupied the throne of the kingdom of Arnor, in which no one attempted to resist his rule.

Upon the desolation of Fornost and the ultimate defeat of Arnor, the Witch-king reigned from the realm of Angmar as Morgomir remained as his right hand. The power of Sauron has nearly renewed, and the Dark Lord has begun to see throughout Middle-earth and hear all things. It especially picked his interest upon hearing that the final commander of Arnor successfully escaped for Rivendell for the Council of Elrond.

The men of Arnor urged their final commander to unite with the Elves in an alliance for the last campaign to defeat the Witch-king. The Elves charged Elrond and Glorfindel to command their forces in the fight. Hence, their battle troops advanced towards the Witch-king, taking out his hold from Fornost. Their armies were powerful enough to dissuade Sauron and restrict the Witch-king. Hence, they moved their forces back to the snowy slopes of Angmar, their final fortress, in which they prepared for the last battle. Morgomir commanded an assault group of Black Numenoreans to counter Glorfindel, Elrond, and Eärnur,

The Whispering Wraith, magicians, and barrow wights came behind the first troop, while the Troll of Northern Rogash and his horde hid to ensnare their enemies. An intense battle ensued upon the clash of Morgomir's army and the Alliance. Morgomir, with all his strength, faced the three alliance commanders all by himself. His power crushed down on the prince of Arnor as he had taken out his Morgul sword. Glorfindel hacked three strong fingers of Morgomir, which impaired him and made him unable to wield his sword. Morgomir continued charging, but the remarkable power of Glorfindel and Elrond forced Morgomir to use up all his strength. And so, the Alliance commanders defeated the right hand of Angmar and prime among the Nazgul.

The armies of Elves and Men also obliterated the forces of Morgomir. He escaped from Angmar and rejoined his collaborators in Mordor. The Elves and Men also defeated the Witch King in the battle at the snowy slopes and fled to Mordor. And so, Morgomir, all of the Nazgul, as well as the Witch-king, retreated in Mordor. The Witch-king then beheld the fallen Morgomir. His soul diminished and turned back to its wraith appearance as his procured power faded. His former glory dissolved and once more became even as all the other Wring-wraiths.

Although he lost his powers, which made his appearance turn back to what it was before, Morgomir remained as a fierce villain and set his grounds upon his escape to Mordor. Later on, he joined the conquering of Minas Ithil along with the Witch-king and six Ring-wraiths. They all established their hold in there. But they were all crushed by the risen waters of the river Bruinen, with their horses carried away. Morgomir headed back to Mordor in which they acquired a Fell Beast as a new mount. Sauron, together with Morgomir and the rest of the Nazgul, devised their strategy for the Great Siege of Minas Tirith. As Sauron established his stronghold in Mordor, he had seven Ring-wraiths serving him, of which Khamul became the right hand of the Witch-king. Unlike Morgomir, Khamul hailed from the land of Rhun. Therefore, the newly named Nazgul is a separate Ring-wraith from Morgomir and not an alternate name. Morgomir perished in the magma torrents along with all the Nazgul, when the Mount Doom unmade the One Ring at last.

In the fan write-ups of Mordor: the Land of the Shadow, Morgomir could be the same character as Adunaphel. Morgomir was a Numenorean, while Khamul was the established right hand of the Witch-king. But there was another speculation that Adunaphel was the sole female Nazgul, which complicates this theory even more. Although it is questionable that one of the Nazgul was female, many fans were fond of this idea. Besides, speculated details of the former Morgomir include being the seventh King of Men as well as the third and final Black Numenorean bound to the rings of Men.

Morgomir is a character for middle and ending quests and also considered as a strategic commander. He begins with no known attacks, then achieves the Morgul sword within one strike to the enemy. In turn, the Morgul sword transforms the target to a Wraith if they were on a negative effect status and defeated. The Dread Visage weakens the defense and attack of enemy characters surrounding the premises. Morgomir also has two destructive stake attacks. First is Dark Glory, adding injury and strengthening the protective gear of Evil Rangers, Black Numenoreans, and Thrall Masters with a substantial quantity.

His closing technique is Ruin, a one target attack causing grave destruction, and this is only to take down buildings or formations. Being a middle and ending game character, Morgomir [1] is limited in hand in hand combat with other characters, so he is unable to defeat anything more than average troops. The Concentrated Fire attack can defeat him quickly, though he is more competent than the character Hwaldar. His negative effect advances make him a suitable opponent against Hwaldar and the Hill-men. They have evenly matched strengths and techniques instead of using stronger characters.

1. ^Battle for Middle-earth II: Rise of the Witch-King.