Long Lost Leaves

[feawen]

Nami smiled at the shy A'mael as Ingwionis seemed, in Nami's view, to tell her off. Nami laughed "We were not idly talking of just songs sir! i may be young in elven years but i know my song lore! we were discussing any songs that may help us in finding a way around. i seemed to remember a song about a pass that, in the times of the song, would lead travelers safely though Rhun. However i do not think i ever know the whole song and i was asking A'mael if she know it!"
Nami turned to Radagast smiling, "im sorry to interpute. Please carry on!"
Turning back to A'mael she wispered. "You should stand up for yourself A'mael. i am glad you come! now i have two females to talk too when the man start talking man things!"

[The last sane person]

Interest finally perked, and Carnehillion listened intently to the intel the newcomer, Ingwionis, was providing them. He got up from his place next to the wall and walked over to where they were gathered, his mindset now all business. However, silently he cursed at the rather bad news, the odds seemed be of unanticipated disproportion against their favor.

So much for this newly arrived peace time. Though, I wasn't expecting it to be a stroll in the garden, but still, rogue armies marching around for themselves? Honsetly...

"Just what kind of terrain are we to be faced with? It seems a rather lengthy detour we are faced with, what of our supplies? Are we to by-pass all of these settlements? By the looks of it the cities of our enemies, since for all intents and purposes they are just that, have woven a rather tight net for us. It is fortunate that you have experience in this, for I think we'll rather be needing it. What are the accuracy of your maps for these territories?"

[Acalewia]

When the newcomer began to speak of Rhun and other such dangers, Aelfwine knew this wouldn't be an easy task. If the Balchoth hated Rohan as much as the elf claimed, her very presance would put them in danger. But Aelfwine also knew there were ways around that.
"If what you speak of the land is true, there will come a time when the trees will not be able to hide the Ents, if at all," She stated. Carnehillion spoke and Aelfwine could not help but agree with his question. She nodded but didn't speak.

[Earniel]

Radagast shook his head and sighed. "You bring much troubled news, Ingwionis," he said. The East seems far more turbulent than my latest visits and information indicated. We shall indeed have to deal with these dangers when we reach the East. It is perhaps fortunate for us that our quest will not go East directly, at least not immediately. With luck, matters with the Eastern people will improve in the mean time."

"Or worsen," Ingwionis interrupted.

"Or worsen," Radagast admitted. "But we do not have a choice. We can not go marching blindly into the East without knowing where we need to go first."

"And you don't know-?" someone asked.

Radagast held up his hand for calm. "Not as such," he said. "Going to the Brown Lands would indeed be pointless, the evidence of the Entwives' presence there has long since been destroyed by war and eroded by time. Many have crossed the Brown Lands, including myself, and have come up with naught. We will not find anything there, no. The East is indeed the only likely place to find Entwives, if any are left to be found."

"But" radagast continued, "the East is large and searching it thoroughly could take longer than all our lives combined. Gandalf never received any news or rumour concerning the Entwives from the East, yet he also told me he did not go there himself. No, the only possible clues as to the Eastern whereabouts of the Entwives lies in a place of an equal ill repute: Dol Guldur."

[orithil]

"Dol Guldur, Radagast Dol Guldur is not a place you can just walk into"
Hedrim said suprised.

[feawen]

"The old fortress of Dol Guldur should not be lightly compaired" Spoke up Nami. "I have lived in its shadow and known its past evil. To go into a place like that blindly would be like walking into the mines of Moria with a bright light shouting come eat me orcs! We meet more information Radagast!"

[Earniel]

"Indeed," Radagast said calmly, "Dol Guldur is still not a place where one treads lightly. Even though the walls of the fortress have been torn down and the pits have been opened by the Lady of Lothlórien, there is still a shadow of darkness lingering."

"But perhaps it is best I start at the beginning," Radagast said as he spread a number of documents on the table.

"When I started with this quest after Gandalf had left, I found myself soon facing a blank wall. Neither the Brown Lands or the long memory of Ents yielded anything new or usuable, and those paths had already been trodden many times by Gandalf and other seekers of the Entwives. If they had not found anything, neither would I. Then, I'll fairly admit, I had a most fortunate stroke of luck."

Radagast picked up a few pages of parchment, tightly packed with neat letters.

"This is a transcript of a letter, written by Fimbrethil to Treebeard. The letter dates back from the start of the destruction of the Entwives gardens and tells of Fimbrethil's plans of leading the few Entwives still left towards the East in the hope of being over-looked. She bids Treebeard to seek her there. Unfortunately the letter and the messenger bearing it never reached Entwood or Treebeard. No, this letter was found two years ago, by lore-masters of Gondor who have been put in charge of Orthanc, which many of you will know was the old abode of Saruman."

Radagast was silent for a moment. "One more treachery of one who I deemed both a friend and leader of my order, "he said bitterly.

"But again, the treachery didn't end there. Where the letter lay all these centuries, or how Saruman got hold of it, by chance or evil, we will never know. But when he came under Sauron's influence, Saruman sent the letter on to Dol Guldur. From the fragments of following communication we could deduce that Sauron, or either his nazguls had a vested interest in keeping the trail of the Entwives cold and hidden. It is unclear whether the lord of Dol Guldur knew where the Entwives had gone, or whether he was looking for them on his own. All the notes in Orthanc tell us that Saruman was ordered not to interfere."

[Acalewia]

Aelfwine frowned. She had no love for the wizard who had claimed frendship with Rohan. And she knew Treebeard would have torn the wizard limb from limb, according to Gandalf's discription of the Ent, had he known the letter was in his hands.

"Why would he be ordered not to interfere?" She asked. "Is there any evidence that Sauraman disobeyed that order," The name was bitter on her tounge.

[The Gaffer]

"Sharkey! I knew it. It was him and his men as what dug up my taters in the first place! I don't know much about the fancy names you outlandish folks bandy about, begging your pardon, but I know a bad sort when I see one. And bad sorts usually leaves a bad smell. There was mess enough left behind in the Shire, and he was only here for a few weeks. I don't like to imagine what his nest will be like."

Hamfast was red and shaking. He pulled a flask out of his waistcoat, unscrewed the top and took a sip.

"Well, we'll be needing vittles, and plenty of 'em by the looks of some. And don't trust 'em to young Barli here, or we'll all be on short commons."

[Ingwe]

Ingwionis frowned. "Of a time long past, Saruman was a servant of light; however the light that once was Saruman was extinguished, as the lights of many were. Even the very wise were a victim of the shadow long before the rings themselves were forged. Feanor's kin fell victim to it as well. I imagine if Illuvatar were truly forgiving, he may spare Saruman an eternity of darkness. His deeds have no excuse though, no matter what the circumstances."

Radagast closed his eyes in bitterness and began to talk of his old leader. "Saruman would have destroyed us all. He was naught but shadow in the end. His former self was gone forever once Sauron corrupted him. And his own greed for power led him to seek the Ring out for himself, so much indeed that he made his own. And it is because of that deed that Saruman would fall. It is synonymous with Sauron's blind arrogance at the Battle of the Last Alliance. His arrogance was his undoing. The Saruman you speak of, Master Elf, died over a century ago, when Orthanc and its seeing stone was placed into his possession. Beren, Steward of Gondor, made a great mistake in giving Saruman that fortress. But how was he to know that the leader of the White Council could be capable of such an act? The truth to it is that none of us were capable of it through our own nature. Aye, the Saruman you speak of, Elf of the East, is Saruman uncorrupted, not Sharkey, who he would come to be known."

Ingwionis began to think of why Saruman would conceal the letter and send it to Dol Guldur. Then it was so obvious - he wanted them out of his way. But still, should he have not known better to prepare the defenses against the Ents, or perhaps to mine wood from another forest instead of Fangorn, where the Ents lie?

"So he wanted to drive the Ents away, but he could not drive them all away."

Radagast nodded. "Indeed. Incredibly he wasn't swift enough to figure out that cutting down the trees of Fangorn would result in his diminishing later on."

"I was thinking the same thing," replied Nami. "Another thought came to mind. What if we were to explore more about Saruman by going to Orthanc."

"We have all we now need from Orthanc, most likely", A'mael quickly responded. "Everything else of Saruman's trickery was studied by Rohan and Gondor scholars. The original Elendilmir was found there by King Elessar. Much of what we know of Saruman's studies is now in the hands of Radagast. Since Gandalf left for the West, Radagast inherited the works of the Chieftain of his order, including the command of the White Council. Alas, we have to go with the information we have here."

"You both have a point. Orthanc may have other secrets locked away, some that only those who are of Saruman's order can find", said Ingwionis. "Radagast?"

"Alas, A'mael is right. What we have is now in our hands, as little information as there is. But we have a journeyman of the East with us, as we all know. Ingwionis, how far east have you traveled?"

Ingwionis pondered the question for at least 20 seconds, with his hand underneath his chin, deep in thought, for it had been long since he journeyed to the shores of the eastern sea. Finally, he remembered. "As you know I have been to the Eastern Sea, but have not traveled to the Storm Islands off the coast since my youth in the late First Age. Cuivienen was open back in those times. My last visit there met me with sorrow, for the lands where the Elves were born are now a vast sea of boulders, much like East Emnet. In the early second age, it was a bog, similar to the Dead Marshes. When the inland sea drained the lands there were left in ruin, and I have never met a single person in those areas. Just south of what I call the Eastern Desolation is the Wild Wood, where some of the Elves who would remain in the east settled in order to avoid the first Dark Lord. Even now, the place is heavily forested. Rhûn has no business there any longer, since the beginning of the Third Age, when the Elves of that region drove them back and became solitary."

Radagast interrupted - "excuse me? Elves!?!"

"Aye, the Avari. Most of the Elves who live in Middle Earth today have some kind of common ancestry with them. Now, their population is no more than five thousand. From the Wild Wood down to the southeastern parts of Middle Earth are the lands known to the mortals as Cathay, and north of that would be the place where men awoke, Hildorien, which some have thought was literally what Mordor was long ago. Very few of the Elves there speak a language any of us are familiar with. The language resembles primordial Elvish, known as Quendi, but the dialect is affected by the peoples of the East they have had dealings with over the last array of millenia. Upon my last visit, the Wild Wood was very much different from my prior visits. The Elves there are now spread thin throughout an area as large as Gondor. The Wild Wood is the most forested region in Middle Earth that I have seen in relatively recent times. If I were to look for the Entwives, it may be prudent to look there."

Earthshaker inquires to the matter of this "Wild Wood" - "Ommmm! The Wild Wood. I should have considered that, but we Ents have long ago remained in the western parts of Middle Earth, weeee do not venture east any longer."

"Indeed, Earthshaker, and I would not bid anyone to do this if they had any other alternative", said Radagast. "Ingwionis, A'mael, do any of you know how far it is to this 'Wild Wood' you speak of? Where must we pass?"

Ingwionis looked down, expressing his disappointment at where the journey would now likely take them. "It takes us through the heaviest concentration of tribesmen in Rhûn that we know of. There's no way to avoid the Balchoth unless we move north through Urd."

"Then we should take Urd!", exclaimed Nami.

"Indeed, we should, that is if we have the option open to us. The journey through Urd takes us close to where some say the ancient fortress of Morgoth once laid. For all of the time I have spent in the north, I now believe that Utumno did not lie north of that area, but more or less to the northeast of Middle Earth. I have journeyed south and east, and north. But not to those lands of the northeast. They have been blocked by two kingdoms of the eastern Dwarves for a long time. I don't know if they still survive to this day, but I believe they might. They could help us in avoiding any forces in Greater Rhûn, including the infamous Balchoth. But my friends, Middle Earth is a lot larger once you get to realizing that the west is awfully small in the grand scheme of things. The journey from here to what remains of the Eastern extent of the Iron Mountains and its junction with the Red Mountains would take us nearly two years to complete."

"Surely not!" Radagast exclaimed. "I have journeyed east on occasion but never had I imagined it to be that large."

"I wouldn't worry about the people of the north too much. We would be safe from enemies there. However, the journey itself would become our enemy. If we take the road 15 leagues north of the Sea of Rhûn and through the Valley of Columnois, where the Balchoth reside, we would cut down our journey to six months."

"Aye but don't be too hasty, young master Elf", said Earthshaker. "Do we know they might even be in the Wild Wood? Would we be sacrificing our entire party to these Men of the East? With all we know, they could wield axes the size of yourself! It would not be a long trip for me, but for you, it may seem very long."

Nami thinks of an idea - "we come as diplomats to the East! King Elessar made peace with Rhûn!"

"Peace with the government and citizens of Rhûn, yes. But the Balchoth are renegades, mercenaries, and murderers. The year after the One Ring was destroyed, a party of 150 Balchoth charioteers rode to Minas Tirith, in protest against Gondor. They attempted to assail Minas Tirith and were destroyed. Their commitment to their former Lord Sauron is that strong."

[feawen]

"Well at least its a starting point!" says Nami. "May be the entwives did as the elves did long ago and split up, deviding into smaller groups as they jounryed? One thing is for sure! this is going to be a long jounary. Are we all comited to such a long time on the road? Some people may have families and home to defend and be with."

[The last sane person]

"But wait a minute, if they did split up, just imagine what kind of hell that would be for us to try and track them down. Even though, more then likely that's probably what they did, I just hope for our sakes that they didn't split and go off individually, each to start their own flower garden or something." Carnehillion was starting to be a little concerned as to the complete lack of general direction the quest was taking.

He also was thinking of Nami's rather prudent observation, though he personally had all the time in the world to devote to this developing goose chase, if his comrades had other priorities and peeled off in the midst of the quest, things could get rather sticky in a hurry. Probably will be sticky anyways, given the hodgepodge group we are starting out with. 'Diverse' indeed!

[Nautipus]

Seratili, quiet by nature, sat almost overlooked in the midst of the group. He was a wanderer by trade, so his involvement in this quest was relatively sure. He wasnt as nervous as some, he had self-confidence, as well as the confidence of experience. But he also trusted Radagast, he hadnt always, but he had for a long time, in as much as their visits allowed.
"You can be sure of me, friends. Old and new, that is. I am yearning to depart. Let us find our direction."

[orithil]

"My land will be well defended, for long now there has been no evil and my armies are great" Hedrim paused "The journey will be long and maybe dangerous, so we must be prepared"

[feawen]

"The green wood does not need one more elf to defend it anymore, i will come on this quest." Nami said. "Any way, i am still young and can spare a few years of travel with good company. However i was thinking of those with lives not as long as my own" Nami turned to towards the humans gathered around. "I mean no offence by that."

[me9996]

Ferrin (Who had done nothing intresting sence arriveing) stood and stated loudly "I will go in search of the entwives, I have been a hermit for many years, so I leave little behind" and with this, he sat down.

[Nautipus]

Seratili still sat quietly, but he pondered the old Man. He liked his brashness. Blunt as iron, some might say. He continued to sit, and watch the other members of their party.

[Ingwe]

Ingwionis looked at everyone and sighed. "I suppose of my home there is nothing now that needs tending. With A'mael with me, I need not worry about her condition either. We will be safe...at least for now."

[Acalewia]

"Rohan does not need me to protect her," Aelfwine said. "The only family I have is younger siblings. For now my mother's mother watches over them. I will join you on this quest," Looking about her, she was sure she was perhaps the youngest gathered. "My age or my bow skill may not be as great as the others here, but Gandalf does things for a reason. He would not have chosen us for this Quest had he had any doubts about us,"

[Willow Oran]

Haldis sat behind Radagast, nearly forgotten among these adventurers with few ties to keep them in the west, and pondered this quest that she had wandered into. It would be wiser, she thought to herself, if she were to stay home and continue as she was. These woods would have need of her all the more with their wizard gone. Yet the legend of the entwives had stuck with her and the pull towards adventure had grown as she was listening to the gathered company. She would have to speak with Radagast alone, she decided, for though she felt inclined to go, he might need her to stay behind.