Fell Beasts

The main intended role for the fell beasts is to be a mode of transportation for the Ring Wraiths. But they also fill a lot of side roles that make them much more useful. Their size and appearance makes them rather impressive, allowing them to add to the already impressive ability of the wraiths to inspire terror. The Ring Wraith's main tasks appear to be looking for the One Ring and serving as commanders. The ability to fly and see huge areas greatly helps in these. As is the added speed granted by flying. Plus, they grant the ability to wipe out whole formations of troops and enemy equipment.   Now, their previous means of transit were horses. This is certainly better than nothing but not near as good as a fell beasts. Wargs is another possibility. They provide the same advantages as horses with added terror benefits. But neither have the height, speed, raw power or mental effects as a fell beast. Even wargs need some numbers to add weight to their charges to be effective. One wraith on a fell beast can charge enemy lines and break the formation on its own. So I see the fell beasts as filling a vital role that could not be accomplished with existing assets.   Their design is practical for a lot of their activities. In attacking and terrorizing ground troops they appear normally quite powerful. So much so that I feel they adequately meet the needs of Mordor in terms of inspiring terror in opponents and obedience in allies. In getting around, they also are impressive. So, in these two critical elements that they were used for, they are well designed.   There are problems though. They apparently can get wounded by arrow fire enough to be forced to retreat after a single well placed shot. A normal human with a sword is also apparently enough to decapitate one. They also didn’t seem to do so hot against eagles. Basically they are glass cannons - able to do a lot of damage but not able to take much in turn. So as long as they remain in the air, they are fine. But this keeps them from being as useful as they could otherwise be.   How would this be improved? Well, dragon scales. Sauron would know of dragons and their limitations. It seems logical that the addition of some form of scale like those found in dragons added to the bottom of the fell beasts would go a long way in making them more practical. This would have kept the Witch King from having to retreat after his steed was hit by a single arrow at Osgiliath. This single change could have led to Frodo getting captured. It also would have kept Eowyn from decapitating the same fell beast with a single sword stroke. When the use of the fell beasts appear to place them at increased risk of such attacks, it seems logical to beef up their natural defenses in this realm.   The other major improvement for them would be more in terms of their use. We see in the movies that the catapults Mordor sends to Minas Tirith are able to fire flaming projectiles into the city. But they suffer from range limitations constricting their effectiveness to the first level. The fell beasts do not have these limitations. So the use of the fell beasts to essentially be aerial bombers similar to the eagles would be a powerful addition to Mordor's arsenal that I don't see Gondor being able to counter.   The other major change here would be in adding an orc on the back with the Wraith armed with a bow. In order to more effectively counter eagles, fundamental changes would have to be made to increase their maneuverability. But these same things would make them less physically intimidating. Since they are too few in number, their terror role is more important. Which then means alternatives to direct combat is needed to deal with enemy air power - which is rare but cannot be ruled out. An archer would be able to fire at any eagle who got close enough to the fell beast to do damage - even with the limited range of the orc bows. This also allows for firing at ground targets as well.   Their intelligence is quite limited. But they do not need much either. They are the mounts for the main command and control element of Mordor's army. Its not like they would need to act independently ever or be expected to follow complex orders. Because they are effectively tools meant to be exclusively paired with a much more intelligent user, their poor intelligence is not a problem.   Now, they appear to be relatively new additions to Mordor's arsenal. Which means relatively few opportunities for battle testing. I suspect part of the reason the flaws in their design that exist are partly because Sauron did not have a chance prior to Minas Tirith to see how they would operate in real world conditions. The Black Gate fighting took place only 10 days after Minas Tirith. This is too short of a time to examine the problems, fix them and breed new creatures of that size.   But this is fixable. Prior to Minas Tirith, it came to the attention of Sauron that Isengard had betrayed him. Isengard was hunting for the One Ring explicitly to openly challenge Mordor. Isengard built an army meant for that same purpose. We also know that three ring wraiths were sent to Mirkwood to protect Sauron's fortress there and look for the One Ring. So it is entirely possible for the fell beasts to be used in an attack on Isengard to eliminate that threat and punish Isengard. Seems logical that this battle would have revealed the problems we discussed above. The only question I have is if there would be enough time to take advantage of lessons learned.   So, there does appear to be two major issues in their design that prevent rebellion. The first is their intelligence is too low. Effectively, they are unable to plan effectively. But more importantly, the sort of mind control essential to Mordor's command and control procedures is much easier the lower the intelligence of the target is. Seeing as how their riders are also central to this, I suspect they are effectively controlled.   Also - their hides are apparently quite weak. A ring wraith would have no problem exploiting the weakness to kill a potentially disobedient fell beast. The dragon scales I propose would only be needed on the front and belly of the fell beast. This leaves the area occupied by the Ring Wraith and the orc archer exposed to those riders. Thus, rebellion would lead to death.   Lastly there is the issue of need. The fell beasts are highly beneficial for the wraiths as a force multiplier. So we can assume that a wraith killing one would be sufficiently contrary to their interests to keep them from doing so on a whim. But the fell beasts are not essential for the Ring Wraiths to fill their roles. So they would not hesitate if needed. When one side does not need the other, that side has power over the other. All of this taken together suggests to me that they are not a threat to either Sauron or the Ring Wraiths.