For a Better World by Ellynn  

Fanwork Notes

1. Depictions of the Orcish culture and their way of life (society, industry, etc.) have been of my original creation as Tolkien did not leave any description of their life in Mordor. In my opinion, the Orcs’ military camps are supposed to be far more brutal than their portrayal in this novel. However, as the main location of the plot is an ordinary village, I hold that daily life would be somewhat less intense than in the military.

2. We know that several Orcs lived long lives (e.g., Azog and Bolf), but Tolkien has not indicated the average life span of an Orc in his writings.  Therefore, I have decided that the time of growing up and coming of age would be similar to that of humans.

3. The Return of the King indicates that Sauron’s slaves (Men) have cultivated large areas of land around the Sea of Nurnen, growing food for his army of Orcs. The Southrons (Haradrim) and the Easternlings (Balcoth, Wainriders, etc.) were Sauron’s allies, so I hold they were not the said slaves. It would seem more likely that Sauron’s Orcs captured and brought to Mordor the members of the clans that Sauron had hated — the clans in the direct line of descent from the three houses of Edain. More precisely, those who did not set out on a journey across the Blue Mountains to Beleriand, but remained in the Rhovanion and White Mountains regions — primarily the ancestors of the Rohirrim. I assume this could have been happening during the first half of the Third Age, after Sauron’s gradual recovery from defeat and after restoration of his reign, so that the mentioned slaves are both the descendants of those first captured people as well as the Gondorians and Rohirrim he captured afterwards (later in the Third Age).

4. In my novel Reclaiming Khazad-dum, there are three scenes with Orcs, where their speech is distorted on purpose (just as in The Lord of the Rings, in the chapters with dialogues between Orcs). I believe we all imagine that the Orcs’ speech is grammatically flawed. However, irregular speech throughout the whole novel of this size would be rather tiresome for both reading and writing, so I have decided to use regular, proper language. Here and there, I will include minor irregularities in the dialogues, but it will be more the everyday slang rather than any major language distortions. Anyway, I leave to you the freedom to imagine that the orcish speech is distorted.

It is also understood that all the dialogues in this novel are spoken in the Black Speech, including the dialogues between Orcs and Men, because I believe that the slaves had to learn the Black Speech to communicate with their masters. There are some deviations from this rule, such as some words in the dialogues or contemplations of the main character that originate from the language of Men. These terms (or sentences) are written in the italic script to emphasise that they do not exist in the Black Speech and can be expressed only in terms from human language.

As is commonly used in writing, the italic script is also used for brief flashbacks, direct thoughts of the character, or special emphasis of certain words. I hold it unnecessary to make specific indications in the introduction to each chapter about flashbacks, direct thoughts, emphasis or human language, since all readers will easily identify each use of italics as it appears.

5. In the pronunciation of Orcish names, I have used the following rules (found in some articles about Black Speech): A is pronounced as in Arwen, I as in Lindon, O as in Gondor, and U as in Luthien.

6. The geography and distances are based on the book The Atlas of Tolkien's Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad. We know that the northern part of Mordor is almost completely barren and empty (a scorched volcanic landscape); however, The Lord of the Rings states that the southern parts of Mordor are green, fertile, and used for food production. Therefore, I take it that the southern part of the Ephel Duath (Mountains of Shadow) is also different from the northern part, i.e. covered in forests.

7. I will not indicate in chapters any disclaimers such as “violent content” or “death of a character” etc., because I hold these to be spoilers of a sort. However, since the novel is set in the orcish society, all of the above, and more, will be included. Even so, none of these elements will be explicitly described, and there will be no imagery of torturing, beating, etc.

Since violence is clearly present in the orcish society, count on occasional dark moments. But there will be plenty of bright moments, I promise! :)

-x-x-x-

I’ve made maps so that’s easier to follow events. If you have any troubles, please contact me and I’ll send you the links.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x1ftg6ofoyh0qca944hsn/Karta-veca.jpg?rlkey=ygx8jodrxsobvrjowvinwovhm&st=b05lf8je&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lq7gp2by4c7fn1ymp2o6x/Mapa-2.jpg?rlkey=eo0bkrafarqkbg9g3gp2z11t0&st=r3gpnxef&dl=0

Chapters will be posted once a week, usually on weekend.

Fanwork Information

Summary: Thirteen years before the War of the Ring, an orcling — more intelligent and more curious than most — is born in Mordor. His curiosity will lead him to both incredible discoveries and perilous situations, all of which will shape him into a leader unlike any Mordor has ever known. But to become that leader, he must defeat all his rivals, especially the most abhorrent of them all — his enemy since earliest childhood. Canon Source: Lord of the Rings Major Characters: Original Male Character(s), Orcs, Men Major Relationships: Genre: Adventure, Drama, Het Challenges: Rating: Teens Warnings: Expletive Language, Sexual Content (Mild), Violence (Mild)
Chapters: 1	Word Count: 3, 388
Posted on 20 September 2026	Updated on 20 September 2026
This fanwork is a work in progress.