The Mariners of Numenor

(Here is a brief synopsis of the events relating to the downfall of Numenor and activity of the exploring Dunedain Mariners. For more details and a richer look at these tales, grab a copy of the Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien and read the section titled Akallabeth.)

In the Second Age, in the days before their blessed Isle sank beneath the waves, the Mariners of Numenor spent centuries exploring the coastlines of middle earth. Great harbours and strong towers they made, and there were manythat lived in these coastal settlements. To the commen men of middle earth they appeared as lords and masters, and they gathered much tribute from their overawed and lesser brothers. The great ships of Numenor were borne east on the winds and returned ever laden, and the power and majesty of the Mariners increased, and they drank and they feasted and they clad themselves in silver and gold. In all this the faithful men of Numenor had small part. They alone came to the north of the land, keeping thier friendship with the elves and lending them aid in their fight against Sauron. Their haven was Pelargir above the mouths of the great Anduin river. But still, the powerful and greedy Mariners continued their far journeys east and south, and the strongholds they made have left many rumours in the legends of men.

After defeating Sauron (as detailed in the first post of this blog) and dragging him in chains to the Island of Numenor this industry changed. The Mariners were diverted from their exploration and they set about creating a massive fleet to assail Valinor, the Undying Lands in the West, where the Elves and Valar lived their lives under the light and guidance of Manwe. This was the work and plan of Sauron, who had been turned from captive to advisor to the last king of Numenor.
The men of Numenor were punished for their folly, and this fleet was sent to the bottom of the sea in a storm of epic proportions. The Island of Numenor was sunk, and Sauron lost his physical form in the destruction of the Island as well.

The Faithful men of Numenor, or "Elf-Friends", knowing the blasphemy that was underway, gathered a smaller fleet that sailed east to Middle Earth and their leaders arrived to create the countries of Gondor and Arnor. Using some of the ports and communities established earlier by the Mariners, they were able to transfer their culture, expertise and philosophy to the largely uninhabited northern sections of the continent. The ports in the far south and beyond were never visited again by the sea-going men of Numenor. Their work in the North was vast and they lacked the resources to continue with the settlements of the southern region. How the men, and Numenoreans left in those locales fared in the thousands of years that followed was at best a mystery.
After the sinking of Numenor the seas to the south were often in a state of perpetual storm...and no ship could survive passage to the southern regions.
At the end of the Third Age of Men, Sauron was defeated in his entirety, and things began to change. Flows of Essence that had fueled the storms of the past stabilised. And the clock began ticking on the date when the men of the far south would again regain contact with their distant bretheren of the North.