(ii) The Twelve Kingdoms of Men

During the Second Age there were established twelve kingdoms of Men, spread across the three remaining continents of Erâth: Cathaï, Thaeìn and Aélûr. Of these, three were founded in Cathaï, four in Thaeìn and five in Aélûr. Each kingdom governed their own small territory of the world, though much of the world remained uninhabited except by the creatures of darkness.

It was the power of the Portèn that made it possible for men to regain the world, but Men soon forgot the influence of this race. The Portèn, for their part, were happy to leave the world of Men to itself, having restored what they could of Erâth, and retreated to long slumber, unnoticed and ignored by Men. This left the lands of Erâth open to the conquest of the Duithèn and the Namirèn, and the Sarâthen were too few to do much more than hold them at bay. This left Men to resist the powers of darkness alone, and it is for this reason that the lands of Aélûr, and in particular Cathaï, long the strongest refuge of the Portèn and life itself, were the first to fall to darkness. […]

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