Penlod

**Motive**: Specify the motive

*"This is my redemption" - Teemo*

*"I could hear the scream of innocents dying before my last breath, I won't witness it again" - Penlod*

## Biographical information

### Title(s)

King of the Noldor (Noldóran)Loremaster (Ingolmo)

King of Lindon

Regent of Rivendell

Lord of House of the Tower of Snow

Lord of House of the Pillar

### Weapon

Sil-Maegil (Spear Bound)Macirillë (Sword)

## Coat of Arms

Banner developed and created by Sindavar (Server EOA)

Then Manwë said to Penlod: “You have been chosen by the Valar. Advise your people, keep them safe from any danger, for Middle-Earth is in grave danger. Let the Free Peoples of Arda be warned of the grave danger they are in.”

After what Manwë said to Penlod, he woke up in the middle of a green field of grass, he felt the breeze beneath his skin once again. The Elf had no clue where he was, the only thing he currently cared about is to protect his people. As he did, he stood up and started to walk.

Penlod walked for a long while, for several hours to be exact, until he stumbled upon a group of horsemen. The shields and banner were blue and had a swan on them. The men saw the elf and immediately rushed towards him. As the soldiers encircled Penlod, the Captain asked “What is an elf seeking in the lands of Dol Amroth?” As Penlod looked up to the Captain with his feathered helmet, he answered “My name may be unknown to men, but during the reign of Gondolin, I was known as Penlod the Tall. Lord of the House of Pillar & the House of the Tower and Snow.” The soldiers looked confused but the Captain remained vigilant. “The last time I have seen a random Elf wandering in these lands was when I was a little lad.” He replied as the men had to laugh. “Besides, even if you were to be Penlod the Tall, you are supposed to be dead.” As Penlod remained calm as always, he kindly replied to the Captain. “I have been chosen by the Valar, they have brought me back to these lands for my people once again need me.”

The Captain remained skeptical, but he also trusted Penlod. It was a strange feeling for the Captain and his men. The Captain then introduced himself “My name is Nérion and what are you looking for, may I ask?” as Penlod kindly replied to him “I am seeking for answers, I was hoping to see the King and hoping to ask him several questions.” Nérion remained skeptical, even more since he directly asks for the king. “And what shall you be needing from the King?” as Penlod put his hands behind his back he said “I have to make a long journey, back to where I need to be. I was hoping the King, or any noble, could provide me that.”

Nérion and his men decided to do a quick discussion about whether they should take him or not. The discussion didn’t last long and Nérion then said “The King is not available, however, Hazadbar Aerendyl better known as the Gondorian Elf is available.” Penlod looked happy. “I also heard something about Aerendyl having an expedition to Lindon to meet certain Elves from Gondolin.” A Soldier then said.

Penlod looked up “Will those Elves of Gondolin go with him?” he asked as the Soldier replied. “Chances are pretty big. We do not know where he could be though. He could still be in Lindon or already have returned.”

Captain Nérion laughed. “Only one way to find out, mate. Come, Penlod, I have got a feeling where he currently might be.”

### **The Fall Of Gondolin**

*This is a story in conjunction with another player, I suggest you read "The encounter" in the story of Aerendyl before.*

#### **Discovery**

And Aerendyl, without identifying himself, replied promptly: "Why are you looking for*r Aerendyl?"*

Penlod then said as he approached slowly: *"The subject would like to deal directly with him, do you know where I can find him?"*

Aerendyl looked at the guards escorting Penlod and with a gesture of hands, ordered them to leave, turned to Penlod and said:*"My time is short, get to the point, what brings you here?"*

*"I was sent by the Valar, I have a mission to accomplish, I need to reach my people, but I don't have much knowledge about these lands, I was hoping you could help me with that."* - replied Penlod

*"Can you prove your story?"* - Aerendyl asked

*"Unfortunately, I only have my word"* - Penlod replied again

Ascal, in turn, looked at the elf and said: *"You look like Penlod the Tall, but in other eras Sauron has already taken other forms to deceive the Elves, if you are who you say you are, you died during the fall of Gondolin and were reincarnated by the valar, like Glorfindel, right?"*

*"What ... what ... fall of Gondolin?"* - Stammered Penlod, hardly believing the words he heard

*"Is what Ascal said true or not?"* - Mithildin asked while holding Lhûgrist

*"Yes, im, sorry, I didn't know that Gondolin had fallen, that place was my home"* Lamented Penlod

*"If you are Penlod, you will know the correct answer ... What was the name of Rog's Hammer?"* Ascal asked

*"The names of the weapons were given for his deeds in battles, Rog was part of Gondolin's defenses, so his hammer never touched anything other than the anvil, so he never named his hammer"* - replied Penlod with conviction.

Ascal looked at Mithildin, then at Aerendyl, nodded, and then greeted Penlod with apologies for the inconvenience.

*"What do you need Penlod"* asked Aerendyl

*"At the moment I need to reach the Elven kingdom where the Noldor live"* Penlod replied

*“So it's your lucky day, there will be a ship leaving the port for Eriador in a few hours, the final destination of the ship is close to Lindon, you can embark with the troops and continue your mission”* - Aerendyl replied with a suspicious tone about Penlod

Thus, Aerendyl greeted everyone in the room and left, taking advantage of the cue, Alen addressed Mithildin, and the two also left, leaving only Ascal and Penlod in the room.

#### **More Than A Simple Tale**

Alone in the room, Ascal told Penlod all about the Fall of Gondolin

“Ascal... this is so weird ... for everyone it's been ages, but for me… I died defending those walls, it seems like yesterday, I still remember, and I remember and everything, the invasion, the smell of the city, it's hard to believe my home is gone.” Penlod said
“Tell me what do you remember…” – Ascal replied.

And then Penlod narrated:

The sun had just come down behind the hills… We set ourselves up, eagerly, for the festival happily looking for the sunsetting, expectantly eastward... When the sun was gone and all was dark a new light suddenly appeared and there was a brightness, but it came from the northern highs, everyone were astonished, and everybody gathered in the battlements. Then the astonishment became doubt as the light grew redder. The doubts became terror when we saw the snow on the mountains be tainted with blood. And soon Melkor’s dragons fell on Gondolin. Then, some watchmen crossed the plain, breathless, bringing the news, "Melkor is coming against us." Great was the anguish and fear within the beautiful city! The streets were taken by the weeping people… I could heard the shouts of the infants at every squares, those laments mixed with the clang of weapons and armors as the soldiers get readied. There were the flickering flags of all the great houses and families of the Gondolindrim.

It was still dark, in the middle of the night, when the sky was red in the north, east, and west… Those iron serpents had reached the Tumladen Plain, and the flames began on the lowest foothills, whereso the guards were captured and put under terrible torment by the all-destroying Balrogs. All around was death and destruction, save only by the southernmost region of Cristhorn, the Eagle’s Cleft.

And then the demons came, crossing the valley, and the white towers of Gondolin reddened before them. Even the strongest were terrified, seeing those fire dragons and those bronze and iron snakes that were already arriving at the city.The arrows were useless against them. Then a cry of hope was heard, we saw that the fire snakes could not climb the mountain. It was too steep and slippery and because of the waters that fall down its slopes, putting out the fire! But they lay at the foot of the mountain producing flames as high as the towers of Amon Gwareth. They dry out the rivers too quickly, and vast vapors rose covering Gondolin. The weakers passed out by heat, soldiers sweated to exhaustion under their mail, and all the fountains in the city, except for the king's fountain, heated up and smoked. So Gothmog, lord of the Balrogs, captain of Melkor's hosts, gathered all his Balrogs that could curl around and above all obstacles in front of them. These piled up before the north gate and their great whips reached even the threshold of the gate and they launched themselves against the towers and the bastions around it. Their immense weight made the gates fall! The noise of it was nearly unbearable, however, most of the walls around them remained firm.

Then the king's catapults poured darts and stones and molten metals on the merciless beasts, and their hollow bellies resounded with the blows, but that was of no use, as they could not be broken and the fire rolled over them. Then those at the top opened in the courtyard, and an innumerable host of orcs poured out of the breach. Then Rog shouted in a mighty voice, and all the people, those of Hammer of Wrath, and the House of the Tree, with Galdor the Mighty, leaped at the enemy. There the blows of their great hammers and the blows of their poles echoed to the Surrounding Mountains, and the orcs fell like leaves, and those of the Swallow under Duilin and the Arch under Egalmoth poured so many arrows that darkned the skies like the dark autumn rains upon the enemy, and both orcs and Gondolindrim also fell in the middle of the smoke and confusion!

That battle was great, but in spite of all their value, the Gondolindrim thinned out, because of the numbers of the adversaries, which increasingly increased. The soldiers were slowly pushed back until the orcs dominated part of the northern end of the city.

At that moment the battle at that gate was indeed going very badly. Duilin of the Swallow, while firing from the walls, was struck by a rain of fiery arrows shot by the Balrogs that leaped around the base of Amon Gwareth. Duilin fell from the battlements and perished. Then the Balrogs continued to throw darts of fire and flaming arrows like little serpents into the sky, these fell on Gondolin's roofs and gardens until all the trees were aflame and the flowers and grass burned and the whiteness of those walls and colonnades blackened! All was destroyed!

The battle wentworse when a crowd of Balrogs climbed on the back of the dragons and from there fired steadily from their bows and slings until a wave of fire began to burn in the city behind the main army of the defenders. Then, Rog said with a loud voice, “Who now will fear the demons, for all their terror? Behold the damned before us who have tormented the children of the Noldor for ages and who now set fire to our backs with their shots. Come, O Hammer of Wrath, and let us strike them for the evil they do.” He lifted up his hammer, and its hammer was long, and he made his way before him by the wrath of his advance, even coming at the overturned gate, and all the people of the Anvil ran after their leader like a spearhead! Sparks came out of his eyes with the force of his anger.

A great deed was that attack, and many of the orcs were thrown back toward the fires below, but Rog's soldiers leaped even over the voluted serpents and reached those Balrogs and hurt them gravely despite all of theirs flame whips, steel claws, and their giant stature. They hammered them into an indistinct mass or, clutching their whips, used them against them, lacerating them as they had previously lacerated the Elves, and the number of the Balrogs who perished was a terror to the hordes of Melkor, for before that day none of the Balrogs had ever been killed at the hands of Elves or Men. Then Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, gathered all his demons around the city and commanded them: some of them went to the Hammer people and retreated before this group, but the larger army, rushing by the flanks, found a way to get to the rear, going up through the voluted dragons and closer to the gates, so that Rog could not return and would perish with great death among his people. But Rog, seeing this, did not try to return, as was expected, contrarily, with all his people, he fell on those whose role it was to retreat, and they fled before him; these were plundered far below on the plain, and their shouts tore the air of Tumladen.

The House of Hammer of Wrath began to strike and chop down the frightened bands of Melkor until they were finally stopped by an overwhelming force of orcs and Balrogs. There they perished around Rog, attacking to the end, when the iron and the flame overwhelmed them.

Then the horror took over the Gondolindrim’s! Rog's death and the loss of his battalion fells most heavily… The Balrogs and orcs invaded further into the city where I finally faced them! Many orcs and Balrogs died there, but their hordes seemed endless, then, in that moment I knew I needed to buy time because the support of Maeglin and Salgant would arrive, but these never arrived!

Me and my soldiers were being pushed until we had our backs to a wall, where for some time we still fought firmly… But, it was only a matter of time until everyone there perished… Seeing both of my houses totally destroyed, I knew it was also my end, I was alone against all that army! Even with arrows being shot at me, I fought as hard as I could, until finally, a spear thrown by Gothmog hit my chest, making all my strength leave me… Then everything went dark, until the moment I couldn't breathe anymore…

#### **The New Beginning**

After a long conversation with Ascal, Penlod finally got on the ship back to Lindon and upon reaching his destination, Penlod was heartbroken to see all that was left of the Noldor.

Lindon was in a critical situation, the kingdom did not have a king or leader, it was completely abandoned, the villages were organized and helped each other as they could hoping for salvation, Penlod knew he would have a lot of work to do and finally understood why the valar chose he to return to Terra Media, Penlod was one of the great Loremasters of the first era, he was a magnificent writer and his stories flooded the hearts of those who listened to them with joy and hope.

In a few days in the kingdom, Penlod gathered a group of Elves and marched south of Harlindon, where they built a port village called Alquarrosë, in that same period, Penlod met Surion the great King of the North Dunedain and Emperor of Arnor, Dalinar the current High King of the Elves and Ephraim the king of Arteloth, these in turn, offered their friendship and support to the elves in the reconstruction of the kingdom, Penlod was not known as a king, but he was an elf with great respect in Lindon, his sympathy and wisdom, they made many elves to follow him and help him for a greater good.

During that same period a war broke out in Eryn Vorn, and Surion sent messages to Penlod to organize a platoon to help Arnor in the war, and so Penlod did, and Lindon's standards were seen in the war after many years of neglect, at this time Alquarrossë proved to be very important, as the village became a military post very close to Eryn Vorn, and there Elves and men could rest before going to war.

## **Heirloom Of A Lost Folk**

### **Macirillë**

Made by Rog, high elf from First Age, lord of the House of the Hammer of Wrath and sent as a gift to Penlod, Macirillë contained a proper glow and could burn the hands of all those who wielded it to evil.

After the fall of Gondolin in First Age, the sword traveled without a specific bearer with the Noldor and remained locked in the coffers of Ost-En-Edhil until the Eregion fall in Second Age, and after that, Macirillë was lost.

Penlod had become a lord in Lindon, and a war was starting in the east, Rohan had attacked Lorien and the silvan elves needed help from the Noldor. The then king, Dalinar, sent a message to Lindon:

"Men have succumbed to darkness once more, our relatives from the east ask for help to defend their borders, Sauron has corrupted Gondor, and wants to conquer Lorien to have a safe passage to Gundabad, this is a war for all free folks. Those who honor the King's call, must march safely through the lands of Eregion, and meet Rivendell's army at dawn on the second day at Moria's west gate. "

And honoring the call, Penlod gathered all those who could fight, followed Dalinar's instructions, and marched towards Misty Mountains, at nightfall on the first day, Penlod set up camp somewhere near the ruins of Ost-En-Edhil; while the Soldiers rested and ate, the Lord went down to walk to the ruins, to see with his own eyes the destruction caused there, and on the way back, a glow in the distance caught Penlod's attention, the Elf in turn approached cautiously and to his surprise, that glow was emanating from a sword, a sword very familiar to Penlod, who quickly picked it up and carefully observed every detail, with a smile on his face, remember his friend Rog and got Macirillë up the camp, where the soldiers asked him: Why that swordd shone, and Penlod only replied:

"This sword was made by the hatred Rog carried from Melkor, this blade has this shine because it carries a very strong power against Melkor's legions"

## **Origins Lost**

### **Penlod - The Tall**

Although Thingol was known to be the tallest among the sons of Erú, Penlod carried the title of tallest among the Noldor, what made him known as The Tall, despite being serene; Bravery, courage and intelligence were characteristics that defined Penlod, and that at some point led him to lead two houses in the hierarchy of the hidden city.

Penlod was born of a Noldorin father and a Vanyarin mother, and he has a sister, Anaire. He did not follow his mother to live under Taniquetil, opting instead to stay at Tirion, studying under Rúmil. On one of his visits to his mother’s family, he met a Noldorin weaver, Yelinnis, who was a pupil of Míriel. They wedded in 1321, and Nimril, their only daughter, was born in 1384.

Traditionally his family was in charge of the King’s Tower, in Tirion. It gradually developed into a proper House, the House of the Tower. When his sister, Anaire, wedded Fingolfin, son of Finwe, Penlod was given a House of his own, the House of the Pillar of Snow, named due to his closeness with the Vanyar and the sacred mountain.

He distrusted Feanor and did not take part in the rivalry of the Noldor, in the later days of growing unrest. Perhaps it was because he and Feanor’s temperaments were vastly different. He preferred instead to spend his time in the Great Library, or partaking in scientific discussions. His wife perished in the crossing of the Helcaraxe, and he never totally forgave Feanor.

When most of the Noldor decided to leave Valinor, Penlod was obliged to go because of Fingolfin, and also because he felt outraged at Morgoth for slaying Finwe. After the Kinslaying at Alqualonde, his father Alphros turned back, disenchanted, and he took over the management of both Houses, his father’s and his own, for a large part of the House of the Tower still desired to follow Feanor.

He assented to follow Turgon, mainly because Fingolfin wanted someone he trusted to be with his son, whom he could not see for long periods of time. This is how Penlod became to be in Gondolin, although he prefers Hithlum to a lesser replica of Tirion. A firm advocate of the fealty system, he is strictly loyal to Turgon. His shield bears a design of a tower, set against a white background, while the Pillar of Snow’s shield is pure white. In the battle, he wields a sword made by Rog although Vanyar blood ran through his veins, which always led him to choose to fight with spears and battlestaffs.