Shagrat watches over the pass of Cirith Ungol

News had just come from Lugbúrz that a large force would soon be marching over the pass from the Orc camps below under the cover of darkness.

The Uruk captain stood upon the highest tier of the tower, looking west down in to the Morgul Vale.

From his vantage point atop the tower of Cirth Ungol, Shagrat was able to see just the topmost tip of the tower below in Minas Morgul. All the rest of the vale was shrouded in blackness.

The boss in Lugbúrz was up to something, the big war was soon to begin, that was the talk in the tower. Not that Captain Shagrat was told more then was good for him.

Shagrat looked west past the river and could make out little in the golden mist beyond. The land of the rebel white skins would soon be set to rights. The Nazgûl will ride forth and take the ruined city and then there won’t be anything between the brigands and the hammer of Mordor! Shagrat then tuned east and looked out upon Gorgoroth, the Valley of Terror in the Land of Shadow! It was alive with movement as long lines of Uruks moved along the road from Udûn to Mount Doom. The might of Mordor was indisputable, the power of Lugbúrz vast… soon all of Middle-earth will the under the power of the Eye… the time of the Orc has come.

As Shagrat looked out upon the might of Mordor, he became aware that his second lieutenant Brágor was standing waiting at his side. Shagrat turned to look at him. He was told that the prisoners were ready, three deserters who had been found fleeing along the Morgai. Shagrat told Brágor to bind the prisoners and whip them. Give them as much lash as their hides can take, then deliver them to the tunnels. Let Shelob deal with these snaga, it will be a warning to the rest of the rabble. Brágor grinned like an ape, eager and willing to watch Shelob at play.

Shagrat turned back to the window and once more looked out upon the plains below him. He, like all his kind was filled with the will of his Master, but for a moment he longed for the days before the war, when he a few trusty lads had lived out in the open, taking what they wanted and killing any who got in their way. Now he lived a soldiers life and he was one of the lucky ones, to be a captain. The average orc was always looking to the next meal and trying hard to avoid the lash. He wondered how this war was going out in the West lands, if things went sour, he planned to slip away and find a place to hole up in the mountains. However, as he looked out east toward Lugbúrz, he could not see how even the Tarks could stand against the might of the Dark Tower!

Shagrat grinned in the darkness as the red light from the mountain of fire lit up another day in Mordor.

Lay your staff on the link below to follow the Time-line of the War of the Ring from the Eye of Mordor.

The Mordor Appendices ~ The Time Line of the Year 3018 ~ 3019