[the phantom]

Group C at Angfauglith

As the games approached many were discussing who would actually end up as the home team in Group C. Angband was so close, but then so was Hithlum, and fans of The Downer were interdimensional beings that could flit about Middle-Earth as quick as thought. And then of course there was Angfauglith, the official host, as the games would be played in the large, sand-colored stadium that stood in the middle of the empty plains between Thangorodrim and the Sirion. But Angfauglith had such a diverse make-up. Could they count on being backed strongly by any group?

As supporters slowly filled up the small number of usually vacant hotels and spilled out into a hastily erected shanty-town surrounding the stadium, it looked like Angband had sent the most. Trolls, dragons, wolves, spiders, orcs, orcs, and more orcs formed a never ending stream from the gates of Angband to the stadium. There appeared to be a good number that initially were looking to support Gothmog and the other two Balrogs on team Angfauglith, but suspiciously these fans group by group had a habit of turning up the next morning sporting a host of injuries and brand new Angband jerseys.

When supporters of The Downer began showing up, it seemed the denizens of Angband were keen to make converts of them too, but to no avail, as the wights were able to make themselves insubstantial at will, rendering them immune to physical coercion. "Yes, a gang of orcs threatened to 'tickle me with their swords'," said avid Downer supporter GreatElvenWarrior. "But unfortunately for them, their description turned out to be quite accurate," she laughed.

The hotels were mostly filled by men and elves. The House of Hador and its subjects were out in force, fully behind Hador's Hithlum squad, but also not entirely against the idea of cheering on Huor, Rian, and Fingolfin in Angfauglith's push to qualify. But possibly the most rabid Hithlum fans came, not unexpectedly, from the lands of the Sons of Feanor. They were nearly foaming at the mouth at the prospect of Celegorm and Curufin playing on offense this year. "Even as defenders they got on the score sheet occasionally!" said one elf. "Now they'll be scoring all the time!"

Very small groups of friends and family came from Gondolin and Nargothrond to root for Ecthelion and Gwindor of Angfauglith, and quite a few Noldor showed up to cheer on captain Fingolfin and the skillful striker Maeglin, and a larger than expected delegation of dwarves marched in to show respect for Azaghal, but all together their numbers were a bit less than Hithlum and certainly smaller than Angband. The Downer of course had the smallest group, but Wights are well known for being louder than any other race.

As far as the facilities, the stadium was one of the few stadiums in Arda capable of holding 100,000, understandably as it had hosted many a championship in the first age of Middle-Earth. It was built mostly from light colored sandstone, and sported few decorations or embellishments. The grass was a yellow-brown shade, and between that and the sandstone stadium and the barren plains surrounding it the overall effect was uncomfortably bright when the sun was out as well as a bit depressing if the crowd wasn't into it.

But no worries about that for the first game, as it was Angband versus Hithlum, which was certain to feature the most violently split crowd of all the Group C contests. Oddsmakers placed Angband as the heavy favorite to win both the match and the group overall, but the true winners are decided on the field and not by the sports writers....