Gondor

Vorondir, Lord of Garvirionath, holds the green vales of Anorien beneath the beacon of Amon Din, where his fathers have kept watch since the days of Steward Belecthor. Gallant in the saddle and grave in council, he bears Lossen, the silver sword forged at Pelargir for his grandsire who fell at the Crossings of Erui. In these dimming years he has set his oath unbroken with Lord Denethor, holding the old custodial bond above the rumour of a king out of the wild North. By day he rides the marches with Rohirric scouts; by night he watches the eastern stars and counts how long the shadow has grown.

Anaratan, great-uncle to Lord Vorondir, is the living chronicle of Garvirionath, having ridden in his youth with Ecthelion the Second against the Corsairs at the haven of Pelargir. Sixty winters have whitened his hair but not dimmed the iron in his glance, and the household defers to his counsel in matters of lineage and oath. He holds firm with Denethor, saying that an old house keeps its word though the heavens fall.

Nimethil, only daughter of Vorondir and Silmariel, was raised within sight of the beacon-fires and learned to ride ere she learned to weave. She is dark-haired and grey-eyed after the manner of her kindred, slender as a rowan and twice as proud. In the gathering quarrel she stands with her father for Denethor, though she has been heard to speak softly of the old prophecies of the king's return.

Rumen of the line of Cirdacar rode out of Pinnath Gelin to wed Nimethil, bringing the green banner and the troth of shepherd-spears unto Garvirionath. Though yet young in years, he proved his valor at a skirmish nigh Cair Andros, where he held a broken ford against orc-scouts until the beacon-riders came. He follows his lord-father Vorondir in the cause of the Steward, and dreams of a sword-name of his own ere his beard is grown.

Silmariel, born of the lesser house of Tarondor in Lebennin, came to Garvirionath in her twenty-second summer bringing a dowry of fair river-meadows and the loyalty of pikemen of the Five Streams. She is a lady of soft speech and unbending mind, and the hearth-hall of Amon Din has prospered under her hand. In the matter of the Steward and the claimant from the North, she counsels her lord to keep faith with Minas Tirith ere all is sundered.

Amandir, Lord of Hirilionath, is the eldest of the Tier lords of Gondor, and his memory reaches back unto the boyhood of the Steward himself. His seat is at Ethring above the fords of the Ringlo, in upland Lamedon, where the hill-spearmen have served his house for nine generations. He bears the silver-on-sable banner of his fathers, and the long sword Tirnaith, named for a kinsman lost at the Dagorlad of old. In the matter of the king out of the North, Amandir has cast his weight with the claimant, holding that the Steward's oath was sworn until the king should come again, and that this hour, ere he himself passes, is that hour.

Balatar, cousin-german to Lord Amandir, has kept the lower hall of Ethring these forty years and is reckoned among the last men living who remembers the funeral of Steward Turgon. He is broad-shouldered yet, though his beard is wholly white, and the household captains seek him out for tales of campaigns long ended. He stands with his kinsman Amandir for the King, saying it is meet that an old man should see the old oath fulfilled ere he is laid in stone.

Ciriel was born to the seafaring house of Lhanthir in Belfalas, and the salt of Dol Amroth is yet upon her speech though sixty-seven winters have passed since she rode inland to wed Amandir. She brought to Hirilionath the alliance of Swan-Knight kinsmen and a chest of pearls from the silver shore. In her age she counsels her lord and her son alike, and stands with Amandir for the King.

Dorwen of the house of Maeglion in Morthond Vale came to Hirilionath bearing the troth of Blackroot bowmen and the stern watchfulness of her shadowed valley. She is grave of countenance and slow of word, and has borne her husband Pelamir one son and many years of patient stewardship while the old lord lingered. She follows the house in its turning toward the claimant, though she remembers the old oaths to the White Tower with sorrow.

Pelamir, only son of Amandir and Ciriel, has stood three and forty years in the long shadow of his father, learning patience as other men learn the sword. He is grey already at the temples though his sire yet lives, and the hill-folk of Lamedon call him quietly the Waiting Lord. With Amandir he has declared for the king out of the North, and many say that when the old lord at last passes, Pelamir shall ride east at the claimant's banner without a backward glance.

Sarnion, son of Pelamir and Dorwen, is two and twenty and the youngest sword of Hirilionath, dark-haired and lean as a hill-hound. He was sent in his fifteenth year to foster with kinsmen in Morthond, that he might learn the bow of his mother's people alongside the spear of his father's. He follows his grandsire and his father in the cause of the King, and burns with the hot certainty of the young.

Born into the noble line of the House of Caladionath, Eldorion can trace his mighty ancestry back to the ancient island kingdom of Númenor and has ever been a most noble and honorable vassal of Lord Denethor. Now, as the shadow in the east grows longer and his days grow old, he once again must take up arms, defend his liege and be the northernmost bulwark against the incoming tidal wave of darkness. And yet, through these dark days, hope remains and the banners of Lord Eldorion may fly high once more.

Nimriel, Lady of the House of Caladionath, was born in Anfalas of the windward stock of Langstrand, daughter of a huntsman-lord whose hawks were prized in the courts of Dol Amroth. She came to Eldorion's hall in her twentieth year, bringing the sea-wisdom of the coast and a keen falconer's eye that has more than once warned the watch ere the beacons were lit. She is of the elder Númenórean cast, fair-skinned and tall, and walks the battlements at evening as her lord walks the muster-yards. With Eldorion she stands faithful to Denethor son of Ecthelion.

Orlathiel, daughter of Eldorion and Nimriel, is two-and-twenty, and counted among the fairest of the ladies of the upper hall, grey-eyed and dark-haired in the manner of her father's line. She was schooled in the histories of the House of Húrin and in the songs of the Stewards, and rides with her husband's archers upon the long patrols toward the eastern fences. The folk of the hall name her the Lady of the Morning Watch. In the present sundering she follows her father's faith, and the Steward's banner.

Orlendir came from the Morthond Vale, of an archer-house that has kept the Stone of Erech in its long sight since the breaking of the oath of old. He is two-and-twenty years of age, dark of hair and quiet of bearing, reckoned the keenest bowman to ride beneath the banner of Caladionath. His marriage to Orlathiel bound the watchful Blackroot to the northern bulwark of Eldorion's hall. He holds, as his good-father holds, with the Steward of Gondor.

Rondamir, head of the House of Hýarthulionath, holds the upland fastness of Erech-march in Lamedon, where his forefathers swore fealty to Mardil Voronwë in the dimming after Eärnur rode forth. Tall and grey-eyed in the old Númenórean mould, he bears the sword Calanril, drawn in his great-grandsire's hand at the Crossings of Erui. In this hour of sundering he holds firm to the Steward of Gondor, deeming the oath unbroken while the Tower of Ecthelion yet stands. Now, as the shadow grows long upon the Ephel Dúath, he summons his hillmen to the muster of Minas Tirith.

Galdirion, son of Rondamir and Rondiel, is but fourteen summers old, yet already the household masters at arms set him to the practice-blade each dawn upon the courtyard stones. He is grey-eyed as his father, and quiet in the manner of the old Númenórean stock, given to long readings of the Annals of the Stewards. The hall names him heir of Erech-march, though he has not yet ridden to war. Ere the Shadow is broken, men say, his hour shall be required of him.

Galinwen came out of Pelargir, daughter of a shipwright-house of old Faithful blood that has watched the sea-roads against the Corsairs of Umbar since the days of Castamir's flight. By her hand the House of Hýarthulionath has gained tidings of every keel betwixt Ethir Anduin and the Bay of Belfalas. She wedded Silmador in the autumn of a year of fair harvest, binding hill to haven. In the present strife she follows her husband's house and the Steward's banner.

Rondiel, wedded to Lord Rondamir, was born of a lesser branch of the House of Ecthelionath in Lossarnach, and brought to her husband's hall the gentle learning of the Vale of Flowers. She is versed in the Sindarin tongue and in the lore of healing herbs gathered ere the frost. Her marriage knit the stern hill-folk of Lamedon to the orchard-lords of the south, and she is held in honor as a Lady of measured counsel. With her lord, she stands faithful to Denethor son of Ecthelion.

Silmador, kinsman of Lord Rondamir and second of the hall, is reckoned the swiftest rider of the house and warden of its eastern marches toward the Mering Stream. He bears a coat of mail wrought in the smithies of Erech, bequeathed to him by his uncle who fell on the Pelennor of an older war. By his wedding to Galinwen of Pelargir he has drawn the salt-wind of the haven into the high vales. He holds, as his kinsman holds, with Denethor of the House of Húrin.

Thingol, in his five-and-fiftieth year, is the elder kinsman of the house and warden of its archives, and was first sword-bearer to Rondamir's father in the campaigns along the Poros. He is grave of speech, sparing of laughter, and the names of all the fallen of the house lie graven in his memory. In council he speaks last and seldom, yet his word turns the chamber. He counsels his lord that the oath to the Steward must endure while the King is not yet come.