#it's written from the pov of the haradrim bc we get too much from the numenorean pov in canon :p

[arofili]

@secondageweek day five | worldbuilding | the origins of umbar

          It was in this time that the Men of the West arrived, naming the land Harad and staking claim over its coasts. Initially the strange, tall Men with elven voices shared their knowledge with the Haradrim, the two cultures exchanging goods and information, and even helping the mariner-king Tar-Aldarion when he encountered troubles in his voyages. The kings of the seaside nation Rûvashû allowed these Númenóreans to establish the haven of Umbar within their borders, and for some years there was peace between the Men of the South and those of the West.           Yet as the centuries passed, the Númenórean mariners grew hard-hearted and cruel. The fearsome Tar-Círyatan made forays from Umbar into Rûvashû and its surrounding territories, conquering those lands and demanding goods, wealth, and slaves. Word spread quickly to the inland kingdoms of the Westerlings’ cruelty, and many turned to the old legends of Sar-Myrin’s power and dominance, and above all his hatred of the West and its inhabitants.           When Sar-Myrin [Sauron] at last returned, he carried with him many Rings of Power, which he granted to the chiefest of his mortal servants: Vekmû, the vizier of Rûvashû, and Sarnūsh, the queen of Yettafaz. With these Rings they became fierce and powerful magicians known as Nazgûl, instilling terror upon their subjects and bending them to Sar-Myrin’s will. Sarnūsh earned the title of High Sorcerer as she learned the dark art of necromancy from her Master, binding wraiths to her service and raising the dead to fight and die again in her endless wars, while Vekmû used his newfound power to rally all the might of a thousand leagues about Rûvashû to free them from Númenórean control, pushing their enemies back to their haven of Umbar, his plunderings so violent his own soldiers named him the Forsaken Reaver.           [...] But the weakening of the Nazgûl’s power also allowed for the Númenóreans to return in force, expanding Umbar and founding the inland kingdom of Abrakhân. Before long, the arrogant king Ar-Pharazôn arrived in all his golden glory to demand the surrender of Sar-Myrin himself, and to the astonishment of all Rûvashû he humbled himself and submitted to Pharazôn’s shackles, sailing away with him back to Númenor.           In Sar-Myrin’s absence the Nazgûl only increased their cruelty, and it seemed that they and the Númenórean settlers began to work together to torment the people of the South. The brother-kings of Abrakhân, Herumor and Fuinur, built great temples to Sar-Myrin, enslaving the Haradrim and sacrificing any who protested their rule on their fiery altars...

—Men of Middle-earth: Haradrim