'But it is told that he was a renegade, who came of the race of those that are named the Black Númenóreans.... And he entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again, and because of his cunning he grew ever higher in the Lord's favour; and he learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron; and he was more cruel than any orc.'
A while ago I got asked by some Welsh man if I wanted to take part in some content creator painting challenge alongside other MESBG bloggers and YouTube creators. After first getting over the shock of being recognized as a content creator I tentatively asked what this would entail. "Don't worry, you'll only have to paint about half a dozen models and you'll have a couple of months to do it. Loads of time," was the reply. For context, my painting slowed to half a model painted in the 3 months prior to this conversation since the birth of my son. "Sure, why not" came my foolishly over eager response. Then I found out about the rules. Those rules were:
Each participant had to submit 2 colours to the organiser, Dewi (the aforementioned Welsh man).
We would then all be assigned a random colour combination from these submissions and a random Battle Company to build and paint before the deadline.
Easy, no problem. Unless I randomly drew either a company with models that I don't like (like Elves or Black Numenoreans) or colours that are hard to paint (like yellow). But what are the chances of that?
And then the draw happened...
@?$#@
Yellow and purple Minas Morgul.
Hitting not one, but two of the things I didn't want. Well at least it wasn't Elves.
 |
| The only yellow paint I own came from the 1st paint set I got when I started this hobby, now more than a decade ago. In this case my dog genuinely did eat my homework after I caught her chewing on the bottle several years ago. |
After getting over the initial disgust I eventually got into chopping, glueing and painting my Battle Company, consisting of 2 Black Numenoreans, 6 Orcs and their faithful canine companion. And here they are in all their splendor.
 |
| Herumor leading the Company through the ruins of Middle Earth |
"Shar? Shay-ah? Ba? Bac-eens? Bagg-eens?" queried Fuinur, trying to wrap his tongue around the strange syllables as he paced about the dimly lit room. "What is this supposed to mean?"
"How am I supposed to supposed to know?" Snapped back Herumor, angrily shooting forth a shower of sparks from an outstretched palm that briefly illuminated the small space. "If we knew that the the Master wouldn't be tasking us with finding out. That's all the whips and flaying knifes of the Tower could get out of the sniveling creature they captured. Not even the Black Hand himself could get anything else out of it."
"Maybe if they hadn't flogged it half to death they might have gotten something more to go on. I've seen those cutthroats at work, probably cut it's tongue out to get it to speak. And now we're to find information on what this wretch meant? What's so important about it anyway?"
"Some weapon for the war the Dark Lord is after." replied Herumor, summoning another shower of sparks as he peered at the rudimentary map laid out on the rough-hewen wooden table. "There were rumours of strange happenings surrounding the Lonely Mountain when the Dragon fell, that's where we'll start looking. See if we can't lure the Naugrim with a little something," he said as he pulled out a heavy gold ring set with a blue gem from a pouch he had on his belt and set it on the map. It sparkled in the dim light, seemingly with a glow of it's own.
Fuinur looked on in amazement, finally stopping his pacing to gaze in wonderment at the gem. "Is that..." He stammered, "How..."
"Indeed it is. One of the Seven. We're to tempt the Naugrim of the Lonely Mountain with it in exchange for information on this Shire Baggins," replied Herumor, stowing the Ring securely back in it's pouch. "We'll gather a squad of Orcs, lads we can trust, and head North. No more than half a dozen, secrecy is key."
Fuinur thought for a moment before a crude smile spread on the grizzled old warrior's face. "Lagduf and his lads were reliable enough in the Eastern Campaign and he owes me a favour after I saved his skin against those Dwarves in the Orocarni."
After studying the map for an extra few seconds Herumor finally stood from the table, rolled up the map and stowed it beside the pouch on his belt "That's decided then. We leave at dusk tomorrow."
 |
| Herumor the Sorcerer, the leader of the company |
 |
| Fuinur the Warrior, 2nd in Command |
 |
| Lagduf, the leader of the Orc pack |
 |
| Ufthak |
 |
| Othrod |
 |
| Belameg |
 |
| Gorgol |
 |
| Radbug |
 |
| Beruth the hound (because why wouldn't I take a dog?) |
. |
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
