I found myself at the wiki page of Barad Gúlaran and this lore bit quoted there completely escaped my notice before:
"Unbeknownst to all but the Wise, however, he also built a fortress amid the wastes of Angmar, which he called Barad Gúlaran. There, he continued his studies in the dark arts he had learned from the Dark Lord Sauron.Though many secrets of power and the world of shadow had been laid bare to him when his Ring consumed him, there was much still he wished to learn. Chief and most secret of these was a way to break the bonds that enslaved him to the Lord of Barad-dûr, and thus make himself a great Power. When Eärnur, Prince of Gondor, and Glorfindel of Rivendell drove him from Angmar, the Witch-king’s hopes of gaining this power were dashed. He could never again return to Angmar, and was forced to leave his secrets in Barad Gúlaran free to whoever sought them." — lotro.com
Immediately made me think of that Máltagar relic introduced in Gundabad, maybe that's connected somehow. It's a cool idea that a Nazgul as powerful as the Witch-king would contemplate his freedom - I guess maybe that was his only shot at it... since Sauron wasn't at his best, while diminished and without the ring, plus Angmar was far away enough for WK to be a little secretive? His Angmar defeat would have hurt ten times more with that context in mind plus his later obsession with tethering of Earnur to himself just as he himself was tethered to Sauron... well, this could be pretty deep, actually.. never thought I could find something so deep in a Lord of the Nazgul but here we are
I found myself at the wiki page of Barad Gúlaran and this lore bit quoted there completely escaped my notice before:
"Unbeknownst to all but the Wise, however, he also built a fortress amid the wastes of Angmar, which he called Barad Gúlaran. There, he continued his studies in the dark arts he had learned from the Dark Lord Sauron.Though many secrets of power and the world of shadow had been laid bare to him when his Ring consumed him, there was much still he wished to learn. Chief and most secret of these was a way to break the bonds that enslaved him to the Lord of Barad-dûr, and thus make himself a great Power. When Eärnur, Prince of Gondor, and Glorfindel of Rivendell drove him from Angmar, the Witch-king’s hopes of gaining this power were dashed. He could never again return to Angmar, and was forced to leave his secrets in Barad Gúlaran free to whoever sought them." — lotro.com
Immediately made me think of that Máltagar relic introduced in Gundabad, maybe that's connected somehow. It's a cool idea that a Nazgul as powerful as the Witch-king would contemplate his freedom - I guess maybe that was his only shot at it... since Sauron wasn't at his best, while diminished and without the ring, plus Angmar was far away enough for WK to be a little secretive? His Angmar defeat would have hurt ten times more with that context in mind plus his later obsession with tethering of Earnur to himself just as he himself was tethered to Sauron... well, this could be pretty deep, actually.. never thought I could find something so deep in a Lord of the Nazgul but here we are
That's an awesome detail!
SPOILERS from Black Book below:
What's funny is that "Mordirith" may have somehow did precisely that . . . which does make me wonder if that had something to do with . . . his survival - even if only for a time - beyond the fall of Sauron AND if that's why Mordirith went straight to Barad Gularan after coming back from Minas Morgul to Angmar near the end of Volume I . . . mysteries unfolding into more mysteries . . . the "Eärnur" shard left in him, if you will, resisting the will of the Witch-King, perhaps . . .
Thanks for this!
Cheers!
Landroval player; I am Phantion on the forums only and do not have a corresponding character in-game with that name on any server. Cheers! :)
I'm not sure if Mordirith actually schemed something in secret from WK or maybe he was just lucky (though I don't believe Mordirth was that skillful of a sorcerer so perhaps not?). But I definitely enjoyed his moment of triumph at Pelennor, when WK dropped dead, and it was one of his knights with the "the King has returned! WK is slain! Victory at last!" plus it was Gothmog who actually took command rather than one of the other Nazguls
Oh but yeah, the secrets of Barad Gularan and whatever the Witch-king was up to... would have been cool to explore