Morgomir

Morgomir is the name of one of the Nazgûl in the game The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king. In the game-storyline, he's the Lieutenant of Carn Dûm. This one-time Captain of the Black Númenóreans is the Witch-king’s left hand man and rules over the corrupted and evil Men of Angmar "with an iron fist".
== History ==
In the time of the first defeat of Sauron, his minions were scattered, demoralized, and leaderless. A minority of Orcs were eventually recruited by the Nazgûl. It was in this dark time for the forces of evil that the leader of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar, named his first in command in the Nazgûl as Morgomir and moved his forces upon the North Kingdom of Arnor in war.
It was Morgomir who acted as the Witch-king's chief Military-strategist, pointing out Arnor as being weaker than the kingdom of Gondor. He also commanded many of the deciding battles of the war. Morgomir's fighting technique is derived from the ancient Kings of Númenor - in battle he would usually deliver his strikes in a downward swing, or several twirling upward ones. He was more common to finish of leaders with a straight lunge into the chest. This battle technique was only used by Morgomir in the war with Angmar, during which the power of the Witch-king allowed him to permanently take his visible, "twilight" form.
=== The Rise of Angmar ===
When the Witch-king's forces began their assault on Arnor, there was only Morgomir and the Dread Lord himself. They arrived in the frozen mountain range just north of Arnor in the winter of that year. It was here that Morgomir pointed out a valuable unit, the Troll of the North Rogash, a viciously intelligent troll with the skill to wield a giant blade. Morgomir advised the Witch-king to coerce with the troll, and just as he had predicted, the troll and his legions of snow and hill trolls bowed to what was soon named The Iron Crown.
When the Witch-king's stronghold in Angmar fell under attack by the native Black Númenóreans, the new troll army crushed them and the Witch-king gave them a choice, either their wills or their lives would be forfeit. When they agreed to serve, the Witch-king rewarded Morgomir by naming him Commander of the Black Númenóreans.
=== The Fall of Rhudaur ===
When Morgomir made links inside the Hill-men of Rhudaur, his chief conspirator, Hwaldar the Hill Chief, was arrested by the forces of Arnor. Morgomir convinced the Witch-king that he was valuable, so the Witch-king launched a deadly assault on Rhudaur to free the hill-chief. It was Morgomir who cut down the royal guards and freed Hwaldar with a single stroke, again proving his worth as the Witch-king's Right-Hand-Man. This act earned the hill chief's respect and allegiance but landed Angmar in a very bad situation, for their attack force was dwindling and Arnor's fortresses to the east had been deployed, marching in their direction. And so, he turned again to Morgomir.
Morgomir trained a select group of Black Númenóreans to develop their dark-art skills. These warriors, called "thrall masters", developed the ability to summon armies from the dust and before too long, the Witch-king's army was replenished and a bloody battle ensued. With the fall of the two fortresses and the death of King Argeleb, the first in command of Arnor's royal house, Arnor abandoned the first kingdom and prepared for the Witch-king's assault on the second: Cardolan and the ancient burial grounds of Arnor.
=== The Destruction of Amon Sûl ===
After the Witch-king´s victory in Rhudaur the only invasion route to Arthedain was through the Weather Hills guarded by the watchtower of Amon Sûl. After many years of attacking the fortress the Witch-king himself with all of his lieutenants attacked the great fortress. Here a heavy strategy was needed for king Arveleg could foresee all their strategies with the Palantír of Amon Sûl. After an initial attack in the fortress they got inside and Morgomir showed a new spell in his deadly arsenal a power to reduce even the strongest tower to the ground, using it only in the main tower ruining it. But before the tower fell the King Arveleg with his personal guard managed to escape with the greatest desire of the Witch-king, the Palantír of Amon Sûl.
=== Retrieving the Palantír ===
Even if the Witch-king had destroyed Amon Sûl, he was still disappointed by the escape of Arveleg with the Palantír. The Witch-king decided to send Morgomir to hunt the king as a reward for his deeds in the Fall of Amon Sûl. Morgomir divided his legions in two; one would be of Orcs mounted in Dire Wolves commanded by two thrall masters to hunt king Arveleg and the other commanded by Morgomir himself to follow the others closely. The raiding party meets the king and his guard in the North Downs.
Morgomir arrived to the place some hours latter but found no sign of the king or the Orcs. After searching in the zone they found a crater with a small piece of glass stocked firmly to the ground. A group of Arnor soldiers arrived and a short but bloody battle emerged in which the men of Angmar emerged victorious. After taking the object Morgomir knew that it was a piece of the Palantír and searched desperately for the rest of the Palantir. After finding most of the seven pieces Morgomir discovered that the total of craters was seven so he led an attack against the outpost of Arnor to get back the remaining pieces. After the outpost was destroyed Morgomir took the shards to his master personally and with the powers of the shards they were able to train a elite group of Black Númenóreans into sorcerers which used the power of souls from their acolytes to launch deadly spells.
=== Fall of Cardolan ===
After the fall of Amon Sûl the men of Cardolan were not affected by Angmar so the Witch-king needed to destroy them quickly and easily and Morgomir knew the perfect way in the perfect place, the Barrow Downs. Morogmir knew that the desecration of these ancient soils would demoralize and anger the men of Arnor, pushing them into a hasty attack that would destroy them. The strategy consisted in sending small portions of the main army until the Prince of Cardolan came himself and then the main army would attack.
Morgomir arrived during the mid battle to challenge the vanguard of Cardolan holding them until the arrive of the Witch-king. Morgomir´s skills where very handy against the elite soldiers of Arnor. When the prince arrived Morgomir managed to maintain his troops aligned until the Witch-king arrived for they feared more Morgomir than the armies of Arnor. The Witch-king arrived and killed the prince and his army leaving Cardolan vulnerable for attack. Cardolan was destroyed completely few days after the battle. Angmar´s power was unstoppable at that time.﻿
=== Curse of the Barrow Downs ===
thumb|210px|Morgomir with the help of the Sorcerers of Angmar, corrupt Captain Carthaen's soul after the fall of Cardolan.
During the battle at Carn Dûm, the Witch-king became weakened in his powers, so he commanded Morgomir to take his army of newly trained sorcerers to lead an attack on the burial grounds of Arnor, soon to be named the Barrow-downs. The Witch-king had a great idea, using the new sorcerers, he commanded Morgomir to have the barrow tombs corrupted with a dark plague, that would kindle the spirits of the fallen Kings of Arnor in an ancient Necromancy Ritual, thus creating the Barrow-wights. This was the great plague that would spread so far as to weaken even distant Gondor.
Morgomir's forces arrived at the barrow downs later that evening, and with darkness growing in the East as Sauron regained his strength, Morgomir decided that all the Barrows had to be corrupted by sunrise to give their master enough energy to prepare for his return. When the armies and Captain of Cardolan discovered the activity in their burial grounds, they launched a massive counterattack that Morgomir had planned for. In a Black Ritual he performed himself sacrificing five Avatars, he called upon a monstrous spiritual wolf that arose from the depths of the earth and wrecked the army just as the rituals were completed. Out of every Barrow, arose twisted spirits that resembled Shades but had more of a form to them. The ghostly Barrow Wights.
It was in this moment, with the Dread Lord's victory over Cardolan, Captain Carthaen of Cardolan was cornered by Barrow Wights and forced against the doors of a corrupted barrow. Out of the shadows, Morgomir strode towards him. The conversation between the two, occurred like this;
* MORGOMIR: You have proven a worthy opponent, Captain of Cardolan.
* CARTHAEN: I do not fear you fiend! You can only kill me!
Morgomir let out a shrill laugh and drew the Morgul blade, as he stabbed the captain, the valiant warrior began to twitch. His spirit waned and his strength failed him as he assumed the form of one of the Witch-king's deadliest servants, the "Whispering Wraith" Karsh.
=== Fornost ===
More than four hundred years have passed since Morgomir's last battle, but he is still as able as he was. Instead, his skills have improved with the Darkness which was falling over Arnor, and at last its arms reached Arnor’s capital, Fornost, the last hope of the North was the only thing that stood between the Witch-king and total domination of Arnor. The battle was long an if it wasn’t for Angmar's commanders certainly they would not stood a chance but their commanders presence specially that of the two Nazgûl was enough to make even the wildest troll have the organization equal to that of the men of Arnor. Morgomir's ruining skill was very handy during this battle. Before twilight Fornost was taken the Witch-king sat upon the throne of Arnor and none dared to defy his power.
=== The Fall of Angmar ===
After the destruction of Fornost and the final eradication of Arnor, the Witch-king sat on the throne of Angmar, Morgomir at his side. And with Sauron's strength almost fully restored, the Dread Lord could see everything and hear everything. And what he heard amused him, the last leader of Arnor had fled to Rivendell, to the Council of Elrond. Men called for their last known leader to join the Elves in a final struggle against the Witch-king. The Elves called for Glorfindel and Elrond to lead the army in the final battle, so the army moved on the Witch-king and forced him out of Fornost. Before the Dread Lord knew it, he was retreating into Angmar's frozen hills to his last stronghold, with the final battle now before him.
Morgomir lead a strike force of Black Númenóreans to meet Elrond, Glorfindel and the prince Eärnur of Gondor. Karsh followed behind with barrow wights and sorcerers, whilst Rogash waited in ambush with his army of trolls. When Morgomir's troops met the alliance's, there was a vicious confrontation. The second in command of Angmar and the Nazgûl, dueled all three leaders at the same time, his skills pushed the prince to the ground and he drew a morgul blade. Glorfindel crippled Morgomir by slashing his middle three fingers off and sent the blade to the ground. Morgomir kept fighting, but the overwhelming might of Elrond and Glorfindel pushed him to his limits. His army was destroyed, and he fled from Angmar into Mordor where he and the Witch-king were reunited with the rest of the Nazgûl.
The Witch-king lost at the battle of the frozen plains and he retreated back to Mordor, where he was reunited with Morgomir's damaged spirit; he had returned to wraith form and had lost most of his acquired powers. He was just like the rest of the nine.
=== Afterwards ===
After returning to Mordor, the powers that allowed Morgomir to keep a physical shape disappeared along with part of his strength, but still he was a dangerous foe. He participated in the taking of Minas Ithil and was one of the six Nazgûl that dwelt there with the Witch-king. He was swept by the flood in the river Bruinen and lost his horse there, as did the others. He then returned to Mordor where he received a new steed (a Fell Beast) and he, Sauron and the other Nazgûl then planned the Great Siege of Minas Tirith.
Clarification: Once Sauron returned to Mordor, with seven Nazgûl waiting for him, Khamul became his the Witch-king's "second". Since Khamul is known to be from the land of Rhûn, Morgomir was different from him.
Morgomir was destroyed by lava-storm with the rest of the Nine after the One Ring was finally cast away into the Crack of Doom.
== Second Identity theory ==
According to the non-canonical Mordor: The Land of Shadow story-lines, Morgomir would have become the wraith Adunaphel, seeing as how he was from Númenor, and Khamûl is already confirmed to be the Witch-king's second; however, Adunaphel is named as the only female Ringwraith, which makes this knowledge more than a bit conflicting. Given how unlikely it is that any of the Nine were female, most fans are agreeable, though, with the identity of Morgomir being given to the 7th King of Men and the 3rd and last of the trio of former Black Numenoreans to fall under the thraldom of the Great Rings.
== In Game ==
Morgomir is a mid-game to end-game oriented hero unit that could be considered a tactical leader. He starts with no abilities, but gains the Morgul Blade for single target damage which turns the enemy into a Wraith if they are killed while the debuff is active. His Dread Visage reduces the attack and defense of any hostile units within the area. He also has two damage spike abilities: Dark Glory increases the damage and armor of Thrall Masters, Black Númenóreans, and Dark Rangers by a considerable amount and his last abilities is Ruin, a very high damaging single target skill that can only be used against structures. 
As the mid to end-game leader Hero, he is rather weak in a one on one fight against other heroes and cannot take down more than a few weak battalions. Concentrated fire will bring him down rather quickly, but he is more robust then Hwaldar is. His debuff ability makes him worthwhile to use alongside Hwaldar and the Hill-men, as it evens the playing field further against higher quality units.The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king
See also Morgomir at The Wiki for Middle-earth for game-information.
== References ==
Category:Non-canonical Nazgûl
Category:Non-canonical villains
Category:Non-canonical Minions of Angmar
Category:Non-canonical Servants of Sauron
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