Background
The shade that came to called Vágari the Wanderer desires to confess to you the misdeeds of his past.
Objective 1
- Talk to Vágari the Wanderer
Vágari the Wanderer desires to speak to you of his past misdeeds.
- Vágari: 'I was born in Numenor, two scant years before its fall, but I cannot trust my memories of that land. Are they true recollections, or the fleeting shadows of stories I was told, the impressions of others? I cannot say. But I know the name I was given. I was born Adunzagar. It was only the first of my names, and not the last.'
- 'My father was Urizagar, the captain-general of Numenor's fleets, and his title was Sword of the Sun. Do I remember his cruelty, or his worship at the temples of Sauron? I thought I did. Do I remember the warmth of my mother Abrazani, or is that memory a creation too, balm for the hurts of my heart?'
- 'This I do know; my mother pleaded with the sons of Elendl to make a place for me on their ships when the deluge came to Numenor. In later years, when I was older Isildur told me that my father's spies prevented her from reaching the ships in time. Was it so? I do not know.'
- 'But that is how I came without father or mother to the shores of Middle-earth when Numenor sank beneath the waves.'
Objective 2
- Listen to the shade's account
Vágari the Wanderer desires to speak to you of his past misdeeds.
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Isildur took me to foster, and gave me a new name: Tárandil."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "I grew up with his sons, and they were as brothers to me."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "By the time I was a man, I had won a number of victories on Isildur's behalf."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Indeed, after the battle of Tarlang's Neck, it was I who accepted the surrender of King Rioc."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "I myself delivered Rioc's axe and spear to Isildur, and attended the victory feast with him."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Vows were sworn and speeches were made, but they passed me by like mist."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "I had eyes only for Bravantel, King Rioc's only daughter."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Why secretly?"
Vágari the Wanderer says, "King Rioc had pledged peace to my people, but he still hated the Men of Númenor."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Bravantel knew this, but the ways of the heart are not those of the mind."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Revealing the truth of our love would destroy the peace between our peoples, so we said nothing."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "But then Bravantel bore me a son. She named him Héol."
Objective 3
- Talk to Vágari the Wanderer
- Vágari: 'KIng Rioc was enraged, for he was certain that his grandson had been born a bastard, but Bravantel soothed his ire with reassuring words. She told the king she has been married in secret, not to an invading Numenorean but to one of his own warriors, who had recently been slain in battle with Orcs. Heol was born of that union, she said, and therefore the stain of dishonour would not cling to him. Rioc's anger cooled, and he agreed to raise the boy as his own grandchild.'
- 'I grieved that my son would not know his true father, but there was nothing I could do. I stole gold from the treasury of Prince Eartur of Belfalas and sent as much as could be done secretly to Bravantel to provide for the boy. But then I was summoned back east by my foster-father Isildur, for the host of Mordor had come down the valley and overthrown Minas Ithil. Sauron's war had begun, and the kings sent word to all their allies that it was time to honour their vows.'
- 'It was then that Rioc learned the truth.'
Objective 4
- Listen to the Vágari's account
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Héol had been born with blue eyes, uncommon but not unknown among the Wild Men."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Their eyes sometimes did not darken until they reached the age of two."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "But Héol's eyes did not darken, and his pale skin and black hair betrayed his Númenórean blood."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Rioc confronted Bravantel, threatening to kill her child, and she confessed the truth."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "She said she had loved a Dúnadan, but she would rather die than betray his name."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Incensed, Rioc ordered his warriors to set down their spears."
Objective 5
- Talk to Vágari the Wanderer
- Vágari: 'I pleaded with Isildur to show mercy, to forgive Rioc and his people of their oath-breaking, but my foster-father's wrath at their treachery was so great I feared for my life. I quailed before the storm of his rage, and told him not of Bravantel my wife or Heol my son. Would that truth telling have changed his mind? Would it cause him to repent of his curse? My mind dwells ever on this, not the earliest of my wrongs but the first I regret.'
- 'I went north with Isildur and my foster-brothers to summon aid from Arnor and from the Elves, and every night my heart pleaded with me to speak the truth, and every day the guilt pressed heavily upon me and weighed my lips shut. For all my time with the Great Alliance, I kept secret my marriage to Bravantel and the duty I owned my son; my brothers goaded me with the thought I might never marry, and each of their barbs pricked more deadly than they intended or imagined. I feared for Bravantel and for Heol, and when the war finally ended I was frenzied with worry for them.'
- 'Isildur offered me the chance to be the captain-general. I had dreamed of becoming, commander of all the armies of the Dunedain, but longer did my heart desire it. I longed only to return to the White Mountains so I could find my wife and son. "Then I will make you more than a mere lord, my son-of-noblood," Isildur said to me, "but rather a prince, for Eartur and all his sons perished during the war. Belfalas needs a new master. Go, and take my blessing with you.'
- '"I will take my blesssing," I said to him, "but not for me. Show mercy instead for the Men of the Mountain, and lift the curse you have placed upon them. I will bring you their false king's head, and his people shall swear their oath anew."
- 'But he refused. Always did Isildur refuse me this one request.'
Objective 5
- Listen to the Vágari's account
Vágari the Wanderer says, "I brought desperate search to the Vale of Morthond, but could find no sign of the Wild Men."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Their villages were abandoned, peopled only by bones."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "The Hill of Erech had become a blighted and fearful place."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "I followed the few signs I could find into the mountains, to the source of the Blackroot."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Deep within the darkness of the mountain-tunnels, I found that I came too late."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "The Wild Men had all died. Some had perished by starvation or disease."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Others had killed one another or themselves."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "Rioc lay among them, his own sword buried in his heart."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "But that was not the worst of it. Isildur's curse had taken hold."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "I was chased from those tunnels by the shades of Rioc and his household."
Vágari the Wanderer says, "From the top of the Hill of Erech, he howled his rage and fury at me."
- Shade of Rioc: 'I know now who despoiled my daughter, faithless invader from beyond the Sea'
- 'My rage will follow you forever, though I remain bound to pass no further than Erech! You will never be free of it, for my howling anger will pursue you wherever you think to go!'
- 'But that is the heart of the daggers with which I cut thee. This will be the sharpest; there can be no escape for my daughter and her child. You will share my sorrow, detestable thief, for she and the child will remain with me foreever!'
The shade of Tárandil falls silent, overcome with ancient grief
Completed: Instance: The Wanderer's Confession
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