Chapter 1

In Middle Earth, little is known of the south and the east; it is odd however considering so much came from those regions.

East of the dwarf-land of the Iron Hills and the lands of the Rhûn, there are stormy mountain ranges and wide plains of tundra and death. It is known as Luin'han and it is a wild and inhospitable place. No one knows what is beyond there; no one has ever gone beyond there and returned.

To the east of Mordor, there is a nameless land, once like Gondor. However, due to Sauron, it is now no more than fields soaked in blood and salt, towns are nothing but ruins and its people nothing but bones.

It is to the east of the lands of Harad where the only lands of interest are. This is a land similar to Harad, though their inhabitants don't call their land by that name which was given to them by Gondor. They call themselves the Makeel and their land, Makilim. It is a large open plateau with vast grassy plains with occasional oases. It has a crescent of mountains that stretches from Luin'han to Far Harad. They are not cold or squalid like those of the north, but has volcanic springs and vents that keep them warm and snow-free, making a good habitat for kreeyakhs (Makeel for Winged Creature). All northern knowledge of the Makilim was lost when the royal records were set ablaze during a civil war in the Third Age.

The Makeel are elves but look different to the short, slender, pale Silvian Elves or any other Northern race. Like their northern cousins, they are short, but are stockier, like men and have bronzed skin like the Haradrim. A nomadic lifestyle and tribal warfare has also made them more barbaric, warlike. However, the Makeel are goatherds for sustenance and know of many insects that have brightly coloured blood. So the Makeel are good at textiles. Their one concession to the arts is embroidery. The tribe's war banners are patterned with varying degrees of complexity. One's banner is an indication of your tribe's wealth. It is a humiliation to lose one's banner in war and a great success if you stole your enemy's. Makeelian carpets have elaborate, vibrant patterns. The dyes of stain bugs are very effective. It is boasted that if salvagers in Umbar could surface Makeelian carpets from trading vessel that sunk a hundred years back, one could find that the colours of the carpets are still as strong as they were when they were woven.

Another industry of Makilim is horse breeding. The human tribes of Makilim breed and raise bucephalion horses which are fierce and wild but very fast, equals, if not, greater than the horses of Rohan, but they don't age and grow lame like other horses. One such bucephalion horse was given to Gandalf the Grey when he came as an envoy, the first one to come from Gondor in centuries. However, the Makeel themselves would sooner be seen dead than riding a horse. Their beasts of burden are massive reptiles; the most common are kangkhars, large lizards that have legs that don't sprawl like most lizards but are straight like bears. They walk on four legs but if cornered, they will rear up and use the heavy claws on their front feet to punch and slash at any enemies.

Nearly all peoples of Makilim are nomadic, but there are some permanent settlements and cities in the mountains. Here, mithril is mined; dwarves from the north showed them how to mine it from the mountains and make weapons. Although they learned the skill, there simply wasn't enough ore to make such armor as the plates and mail of dwarves. So the Makeel were still clad in leather armor, but it was re-enforced with mithril. The leather armor gave the Makeel two advantages against the steel-armor clad Gondorian knights; firstly, it was lighter to wear so allowed them speed, and the slower knights were soon outmaneuvered, surrounded and killed. Also, the metal glinted in the sun so any attack could be spotted by Makeelian archers a mile away, just within arrow shot.

Never underestimate a Makeel archer. Enemies did so many times and it caused many Makeelian victories. It was because the only bows vaguely near the standard of the Makeel were the Silvian bows. The only wood in Makilim was a type of bamboo that grew to be 5m in height and 7cm in diameter and full of fibrous pulp. Its only real use is for bows and arrow. The bamboo is cut down into 1m sections which are then split lengthways into long segments, the hard bark is then separated from the pulpy inner. The thin, springy bark is put into layers with a small amount of leather between each of the layers. The middle of the bow is then glued together but the edges are only loosely bound so the layers can slip freely against the leather. By now the bow curves slightly to one side. The bowstring is made out of spider silk from a type of domesticated spider kept by the Makeel. The bow is strung against the curve to produce the most powerful bow in Middle Earth. The arrow shafts are then made from the inner part of the stem, which splits easily when wet and straightens itself when it dries. A mithril arrowhead and hawk feather fletching is then attached to the shaft to produce an arrow that will fly true and pierce armor with ease.

It is here, in this land forgotten by all of the considered free peoples that my story takes place and all that followed help shape all Middle Earth.

Writings of Khwarhazarm

General of The Third Tumen

Makeel Imperial Army