Emyn Arnen, in southern Ithilien, was the ancestral home of Gondor's ruling steward Húrin's family, a spur extending from Ephel Dúath.
The region consisted mostly of hills covered in dense forests. Before Sauron launched this offensive, some people loyal to Gondor had still lived there.
Now, they had long since passed through Osgiliath and found land to settle on in the Pelennor Fields.
Yet today, this place, deserted for several years, received a band of unwelcome visitors: a force of Uruks lying in ambush.
By now, the season was approaching Rethe-May, in ordinary terms-and the sun overhead had grown fierce.
The Uruks' evil, dark creator had given them bodies that could just barely endure the sun.
Meanwhile, these creatures, cleverer than the Snaga, had obeyed their commander's orders and suppressed their bloodlust.
Clutching sinister black longbows, they waited on either side of the road for their prey to come to them.
After learning of Angmar's defeat, Sauron naturally had no intention of obediently waiting for his enemies to arrive and utterly ruin his plans.
Even though the power Angmar had brought back this time was enough to restore him to his peak strength without the Ring.
But how could Sauron, cunning, treacherous, and arrogant as he was, admit defeat so easily?
So he had ordered a trusted subordinate to lead a formidable army into an ambush along the route to Osgiliath.
The commander of that force was none other than the Mouth of Sauron, who had already been punished.
Although this Black Númenórean had performed poorly at Nindalf and received a savage flogging, he had not lost the Dark Lord's favor.
Now he had been entrusted with an important task: lying in wait here for the approaching enemy.
The Mouth of Sauron glanced at the sun, half obscured by dark