By now, war between Gondor and Mordor stood on the brink of erupting in full.
After defeating Gondor's ships at sea, the corsairs from Umbar began a frenzy of raids against the people of Gondor living in Lebennin, while concentrating their main forces on besieging Pelargir.
They also kept sending out small squadrons to plunder the coastal settlements along the Bay of Belfalas, preventing the lords of nearby fiefs from coming to the aid of Minas Tirith.
After enduring the Kin-strife and then the Great Plague, Gondor had struggled to maintain its control of the seas.
Repeated wars with the Easterlings, coupled with Mordor watching hungrily from the sidelines, left Gondor with no strength to spare for building up its navy.
The fleet Gondor's navy commanded could not face the corsairs of Umbar head-on. After all, the ships in the corsairs' hands had, in a roundabout way, been inherited from Gondor's rebels.
Thus, Gondor was at an overwhelming disadvantage in this war at sea. Most of its ships had retreated to Pelargir, where they were making their last stand.
Meanwhile, the Haradrim who had come from afar were camped in the eastern districts of Osgiliath. With help from the Half-orcs, they were repairing the great bridge that linked the two sides of the river.
Once the bridge was repaired, their all-out assault would begin.
Defending western Osgiliath was Ecthelion, son of Steward Turgon. He led the troops of Minas Tirith in preparing the western districts for defense, but his forces were far fewer than those of the Haradrim.
Cair Andros had fallen once again. Even with help from Saruman and the Dunlendings, an endless tide of enemies had taken the island fortress in short order.
Among them, the well-equipped and formidable Variags had inflicted devastating casualties on the Dunlendings of