"The world is changed; I can feel it in the water, I can feel it in the earth, I can smell it in the air. Once that once was is forgotten."
Where am I? What has happened? One moment I was dining in the halls of Eru Iluvitar, the next, a bright light flashes before me and now I am in a strange city of white.
As a I come to my senses, I see before me, a white tree. "Is that the White Tree of Nimloth?", I ask myself. I look around and see 4 knights staring at me in amazement. They are wearing the most beautiful armor, breastplates with the White tree on the crest, a beautiful black velvet cape, and a Helm with Raven Wings on them.
Their leader approaches me and says "Are you him? Are you Elros Tar-Minyatur?"
I respond, "I am. How did you know?"
Just then all 4 knights bow to me. Their leader stands back up and says "Follow me your Grace, King Eldarion has been expecting you."
"What is going on? Where am I? Who are you? What is happening?" , I say to the knight. But the knight does not say anything except, "Follow me your grace."
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I follow the knight into the what the knight called the "Tower of Ecthelion." It is beautiful. There is magnificent drawings on the walls. The walls and floors are covered in white stone. As I follow the knight into the tower, I see an old man sitting on a beautiful white throne. As I walk closer to the old man, the knight stops and says, "You are in the presence of High King Eldarion I, King of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor, Son of Elessar Telcontar, savior of the realm."
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"Enough of that", the King says.
"Are you him? Are you Elros Tar-Minyatur?", the King asks me.
"I am." I respond. "Where am I?" "Who are you?" "What is going on? This knight won't answer my questions."
"Yes, I told him to bring you to me at once, once you arrived. He was following my instructions", the King says.
The King stands up from his throne and walks toward me. As he approaches me, he bows. Just as he bows, everyone else in the throne room bows as well.
"What is going on? Where am I?" I ask him.
"You are in the city of Minas Tirith, the Capital of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor." "It was prophesied that were going to return to us when we needed you the most, and let me say, your timing couldn't have been better", the King says with tears in his eyes.
The King stands back up. "You were once the King of Númenór. The Great King of the Men of the West. I am sorry to say that Númenór is gone and has been for over 3 thousand years."
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My heart sinks into my chest. "What? How can that be?", I ask him.
The King responds, "The Men of Numenor fell under the influence of the Dark Lord Sauron. They turned away from Eru Iluvitar. Eru punished them by sinking Numenor into the sea and turning Arda round.
We are the decedents of the men that remained faithful. We fought the Dark Lord Sauron and his minions for over 3 thousand years. It wasn't until my father, King Elessar, came that we finally defeated him once and for all.
We have had over 200 years of peace and prosperity in Middle Earth but I am dying. I am without an heir. Since my father united Middle Earth 150 years ago, our people have grown complacent. They haven't struggled or wanted for anything. Everything has been handed to them. The number of men in our army is at an all time record low. So many people have become fat and lazy. I may be the King, but there is only so much I can do before people are up in arms.
To make matters worse, about 25 years ago, whispers started coming out of the far east of a great evil. An evil that is worse than anything we have ever experienced before. None of our expeditions to that distant lands have returned. We have started hearing rumors of settlements in the furthest reaches of our lands being overrun, by what, we don't know.
No one has seen the Dwarves of Erebor or Khazad-Dum in over a generation. The Elves in the Greenwood also haven't been seen in over 10 years. The Men of Dale are becoming increasingly hostile to us, and the King of Rohan, who is normally our staunch ally, is refusing to see our diplomats. The Corsairs of Umbar are becoming increasingly erratic. Everything that my father has fought for is coming apart. I am in the last years of my life. It was foretold that you would return to us in our hour of need. And here you are." As he finishes telling me this, I can see that he is getting emotional.
"I... That is just... I don't even know..."
The King cuts me off and says, "I know that this is a lot to take in. Take your time. Come find me when you are ready to talk."
"I need to pray. Where is a good place for me to pray?", I ask the King.
"At the top of the Tower", he says. "Show the High King where he can pray", the King tells the knight.
"It will be done, your grace", the knight says. The knight turns to me and says, "Follow me, you Grace".
-----
As I follow the knight up a long, winding staircase, when we reach the top, he says, "This is it, your grace."
From the top of the tower, I can see a 360 degree view of area. It is breathtakingly beautiful. "Wow, this is just... wow!", I say to the knight.
"If you need me, I will be on the floor just directly below you", the knights says as he starts to walk back down the winding staircase.
-----
I kneel, and as I begin my prayers a bright light appears before me. This was different though. It is not blinding like earlier, but bright nonetheless. Just then a figure appears in the light. He reveals himself, it is Manwe, King of the Valar. I fall onto the ground in respect.
-----
"Arise, my child", he says. "You have much work to do".
"My lord, I don't understand. Why am I here? Why was I picked for this task?" I say to him.
Manwe continues, "You were picked by Eru Iluvitar himself. His reasons are his own, but since he chose you then you are the perfect person for this task. This task has been appointed to you. You are to be the High King of all the Free Men of the West. The High King of the Reunited Kingdoms of the Númenóreans. You are to unite Middle Earth. Should you fail, Middle Earth will cease to exist."
Just then I felt a violent earthquake. An earthquake the size of that I have never felt before. I thought for a moment that the tower I was standing in was going to collapse.
"To help you in your mission, Eru has raised Númenór from the depths of the sea to serve as your capital. Unite Middle Earth, or perish."
Then, all of sudden, just as quickly as he appeared, Manwe was gone. He left me with more questions than answers.
The knight comes running up the stairs "Are you okay, your grace? Are you injured? I think there was an earthquake?", he says.
"I'm fine. Let's find the King. I have a lot I need to talk to him about", I reply.
