Ûvatha, the Horeseman
The Ninth of the Nazgûl (Q. Úlaire nertea)
The Black Horseman, the Shadow-Lord, the Reaver of Khand
Mental characteristics
Personal history
5’ 11” and 190 lbs, Ûvatha was large for a Variag, but he was short compared to the other Nazgûl. His reddish brown eyes, light skin, and black hair typified the Variag norm, as it did his garish red and black garb. Ûvatha wore a light red breastplate, black pants, a black shirt, black knee boots, and a dark grey cloak being undisciplined of Sauron’s Ringwraiths. He was born in the Caves of Ôlbamarl as Ûvathar Achef in S.A. 1970. His father, Kîonid Achef was an exiled Variag Prince from Lâorkí in Eastern Khand. The young warrior shared the pain and uncertainty of his family’s continual flight, and the nomadic life that he led throughout his early years hardened him for the trials to come. Ûvatha rode a horse earlier than any Variag thought possible, and he killed a man before he reached the age of seven. When he was nearing the age of eighteen in S.A. 1988, he led the light cavalry wing of his father’s army at the Battle of Noz Peka (V. Knife River), where his gallant charge against the Variag King’s Guard decided the war that restored his family to the throne of Upper Khand. Kîonid Achef died at Knife River, so his brother, Mîonid, took the second most powerful throne amongst the Variags. Kîonid’s son, in keeping with Variag tradition, was ordered executed; but young Ûvatha escaped and rode westward into Sturlurtsa Khand, the capital of Lower Khand. There, the Horseman earned his nickname and garnered the support of King Ûrig Ûrpof, the Lord of two thirds of the Variag people. He was appointed Warlord of the main army of Lower Khand in S.A. 1999 and deposed the Ûrpof dynasty the following year. Turning on his uncle’s domain, he crushed the horse-warriors of Upper Khand in S.A. 2000, uniting Khand for the first time in recorded history. Two years later, he accepted a ring of power as a gift from the King of Mordor, becoming the ninth of nine Wraith-kings in the service of the Lord of the Rings.
Ûvatha the Nazgûl Mordor was always an important ally of Khand, and the Dark Lord knew the Variags quite well. His influence perverted their culture well before the rise of Ûvatha. After the unification of Khand under the Horsemen, though, the harsh Variags became one of Sauron’s most useful and most brutal tools of conquest. They assured the security of Nûrn’s open eastern border and decimated the peoples that threatened Adûnaphel’s rise in Near Harad. For the next twelve hundred and sixty years, Ûvatha’s people preyed on their neighbors and extended the shadow to the south and north of their plateau kingdom. Variags controlled the trade along the Ered Harmal, and vied with the powerful Númenoreans for the hearts of Harad’s Merchant-princes. In S.A. 3529, the Horseman led his main battle army across Relmether and over the Talathrant. For the next two years, the Variags fought beside the Chey warriors of the Úlair Ren the Unclean, leading to the Chey conquest of the Khargagis Ahar. vatha’s warriors received half of the booty exacted from the defeated Ahar and then returned home to Khand. Just as they arrived, however, the first armada of the Númenorean King Ar-Pharazôn arrived at Umbar. Their invasion and the subsequent overwhelming show of Adan arms led to the surrender of Sauron of Mordor a year later (S.A. 3262). As the Lord of the Rings resided as a captive on the island-continent of Númenor, the Variag King hid from the forces of Westernesse in his secretive hold at Ôlbamarl in the mountains of northern Khand. The Dark Lord resumed his reign in Mordor in S.A. 3319 after the Downfall of Númenor. Ûvatha came out of hiding and went into the Dark Land in order to serve his Evil Master. Acting as Sauron’s Messenger, the Horseman participated in the campaigns waged by Sauron’s troops in Rhovanion and Ithilien beginning in S.A. 3429. Ûvatha was at the Dark Tower in S.A. 3434 when it was besieged by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and he passed into the Shadows when Barad-dûr fell and Sauron lost his Ruling Ring at the end of the Second Age (S.A. 3441).
Ûvatha reappeared in Middle-Earth around T.A. 1050 returning to his old abode at Ôlbamarl in the southwestern most spur of the Ephel Duath. Fifty years later, he crowned himself King of the Variags while he stood over the bloody body of his predecessor, Ûonid Irbo. A five hundred and forty year (T.A. 1100-1640) reign of terror followed, as Ûvatha unleashed the unforgiving Variag tribes on the unfortunate lands of the south and north. The empire of the Kingdom of Khand expanded rapidly across northeastern Harad and southern Rhûn, and gradually extended to the western banks of the great river Talathrant and the southern shores of the Sea of Rhûn. Tribute came to the Court of Ûvatha from the Nûriags of Nûrad and the Asdriags of eastern Rhûn, the Variags closest kin. Only the presences of two other Úlair kingdoms – the domains of Adûnaphel of Near Harad and Ren of Chey Sart – prevented the Lord of Khand from laying claim to all of central Middle-Earth. Ûvatha administered his holdings through a loose but ruthless system of patronage and his departure from Sturlurtsa Khand in T.A. 1640
Ûvatha the Nazgûl Mordor was always an important ally of Khand, and the Dark Lord knew the Variags quite well. His influence perverted their culture well before the rise of Ûvatha. After the unification of Khand under the Horsemen, though, the harsh Variags became one of Sauron’s most useful and most brutal tools of conquest. They assured the security of Nûrn’s open eastern border and decimated the peoples that threatened Adûnaphel’s rise in Near Harad. For the next twelve hundred and sixty years, Ûvatha’s people preyed on their neighbors and extended the shadow to the south and north of their plateau kingdom. Variags controlled the trade along the Ered Harmal, and vied with the powerful Númenoreans for the hearts of Harad’s Merchant-princes. In S.A. 3529, the Horseman led his main battle army across Relmether and over the Talathrant. For the next two years, the Variags fought beside the Chey warriors of the Úlair Ren the Unclean, leading to the Chey conquest of the Khargagis Ahar. vatha’s warriors received half of the booty exacted from the defeated Ahar and then returned home to Khand. Just as they arrived, however, the first armada of the Númenorean King Ar-Pharazôn arrived at Umbar. Their invasion and the subsequent overwhelming show of Adan arms led to the surrender of Sauron of Mordor a year later (S.A. 3262). As the Lord of the Rings resided as a captive on the island-continent of Númenor, the Variag King hid from the forces of Westernesse in his secretive hold at Ôlbamarl in the mountains of northern Khand. The Dark Lord resumed his reign in Mordor in S.A. 3319 after the Downfall of Númenor. Ûvatha came out of hiding and went into the Dark Land in order to serve his Evil Master. Acting as Sauron’s Messenger, the Horseman participated in the campaigns waged by Sauron’s troops in Rhovanion and Ithilien beginning in S.A. 3429. Ûvatha was at the Dark Tower in S.A. 3434 when it was besieged by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and he passed into the Shadows when Barad-dûr fell and Sauron lost his Ruling Ring at the end of the Second Age (S.A. 3441).
Ûvatha reappeared in Middle-Earth around T.A. 1050 returning to his old abode at Ôlbamarl in the southwestern most spur of the Ephel Duath. Fifty years later, he crowned himself King of the Variags while he stood over the bloody body of his predecessor, Ûonid Irbo. A five hundred and forty year (T.A. 1100-1640) reign of terror followed, as Ûvatha unleashed the unforgiving Variag tribes on the unfortunate lands of the south and north. The empire of the Kingdom of Khand expanded rapidly across northeastern Harad and southern Rhûn, and gradually extended to the western banks of the great river Talathrant and the southern shores of the Sea of Rhûn. Tribute came to the Court of Ûvatha from the Nûriags of Nûrad and the Asdriags of eastern Rhûn, the Variags closest kin. Only the presences of two other Úlair kingdoms – the domains of Adûnaphel of Near Harad and Ren of Chey Sart – prevented the Lord of Khand from laying claim to all of central Middle-Earth. Ûvatha administered his holdings through a loose but ruthless system of patronage and his departure from Sturlurtsa Khand in T.A. 1640
Species
Age
2903
Date of Birth
1970 S.A.
Children
Eyes
Red-Brown
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Light
Height
5’ 11”
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Comments