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There are dozens of ways the Valar could have dealt with the Numenoreans without harming anyone. The Bay of Eldamar was previously protected by a raging storm and, in some versions of the legendarium, a string of isles which put anyone trying to pass them into an endless sleep. We're also talking about the people who raised a massive mountain range in order to keep Melkor from sending anything nasty their way (and then raised it higher at a later date!).
The answer to this is that putting any of that in place would have made it impossible for the Eldar to leave Middle-earth, but... what, removing Valinor entirely from the spheres of the world wouldn't? Sure, maybe it would require a bit more attention to detail than Manwe was used to (I assume he would be the one controlling the storm), but they're the Valar, they could absolutely do that.
But that would have left the Numenoreans as a continuing annoyance. The Valar clearly didn't want that - but they also didn't want to take any measures themselves. And it's not like the Numenoreans were harmless: they reached Eressea, Alqualonde, and Tirion under arms, and could easily have sacked any of those. The only city the Valar actually protected by their actions was Valmar - you know, the one they themselves lived in.
hS
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