Writewraiths in Middle Earth II: The Kingdom Rebuilt

[Silverstripe]

It has been five years since the Empress Calien first came to her kingdom in Middle Earth from the world of Mundane Earth (our own world! ) The Kingdom of Writewraiths has finally been rebuilt, and is ready for the rest of the Writewraiths to come in.

This RPG is open for everyone who likes LotR, whether you read WME I or not. Writewraiths and non-Writewraiths alike are welcome, both Mundane Earthers and those from Middle Earth! You absolutely don't have to know what happened in WME I to be involved in WME II. In fact, if possible, I would like to have some people who don't, to bring a fresh perspective to WME II.

At the end of WME I, Calien learned that the rest of the Writewraiths would be coming in five years. Some of them will be from Middle Earth, although the majority of them may be Mundane Earthers.

Now, you have a second chance to enter Middle Earth.

(Character descriptions should be included in the "Writewraiths in Mundane Earth" thread.)

[Silverstripe]

On the day I had expected the Writewraiths to start arriving, I arose at dawn, eager to meet the first of the newcomers.

I got out of bed ... well, okay, rolled is more like it.

"Mornin', Linde," I said to "my" bird, the white bird with silver wingtips that had come to the kingdom five years ago, after the death of Lubyla Greenleaf. Linde I had called her; song, for the songs that this bird sang were indeed beautiful.

Linde screeched in reply, making me smile. I could not understand her, but over the years, I had become almost certain that she could understand me. I still believed she had been sent by Lubyla as a protector for me, and I was glad of that protection, and Linde's companionship.

I got ready for the day quickly, glad I'd finally been able to convince everyone that even an Empress can indeed dress herself. Then I got Linde and went downstairs for breakfast.

There are several sort of "dining rooms" within the castle, one I typically eat breakfast in. Despite how early I had awakened, I was not the first person at the table. Many of my close friends were there already: the hobbit/shifter Princess Adrian and her love Lord Calliman, the hobbit Grace, my "brother," Hunter of the Kin, Lily Brandybuck, and of course Terwell, the red fox, my Link-twin. At this point, I even counted Andodulin, the elf whom I had once suspected of killing Lubyla, and still did not entirely trust. All of them were waiting for me.

"We were wonderin' when you'd get here, Empress!" said Terwell, "grinning."

"Sorry, I didn't know that everyone would be up so early."

Then another hobbit, Fredigar Burrows, came running down the stairs, huffing and puffing.

"So there you are, Freddy. Knew you wouldn't miss a meal," said Lily.

"Nor would you, Lily," I told the young hobbit, laughing.

"Aye, that's true."

We all laughed then, and someone started up a conversation about horses. I wasn't listening very well; I was busy thinking about the Writewraiths.

I wonder if they'll be on the computer when they're pulled into Middle Earth, like we were, or if they'll come some other way. I hope I can call all of the RIGHT ones. I wish Lubyla were here...

"So ... who was it that trained your Anmara, Empress Calien?" asked Lily. "Empress?"

I snapped out of my daze, my mind back in reality.

"Hmmm? Anmara? Starletta of the Rain, horse trainer of Rohan. Or it could have been Starlight Adams. Of course, they're both gone now, so I may never know."

[Lubyla]

Andodulin looked at the bird. " I still do not see why you honour that bird so, when it was the one who killed Lubyla." The bird just looked at him, and screached.

Soft footsteps were heard walking to the room, when entered Starletta, tired she looked, and smiled. Her hair, now changed, flowed down gently to her midwaist. Some of it was pulled into a braided crown it seemed.
`````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``
I sat on my bed, waiting. For what? I did not know. It had been five years since I had left the company of the empress. I watched out my window as the sun rose. I remembered at home, in Mundane Earth, how I would wait, and wish that someday I would live in a world not ruled by industry, where money mattered not, and cars were not real, nor planes, and firearms were not even an idea. Where fighting had a sence of skill and noblity to it, with blade and bow, and then I came here, my wish was true, and yet, I missed home.

I reached for the brush and ran it through my hair, quickly pulling it into the two braids it has always been in.Sighing, I got dressed, and made my way out.

[Silverstripe]

I simply smiled at Andodulin, and said nothing. I knew that Linde had not killed Lubyla, but I'd gotten into too many pointless arguments with Andodulin over it, and did not wish to get into another one today.

Then I smiled again, a more genuine smile than before, as Starletta, Starlight's "twin" from Middle Earth, entered.

"Hello, Starletta. Did you sleep well?"


..................................................

RING!!!!! My alarm clock, which is arguably the loudest in the world, went off.

"Erg... all right, I'm getting up..." I murmured.
It was 7:30 AM on Tuesday, time to get ready and drive to school. My roommate, the earlybird Joanna, had had a lot less trouble getting up, and was waiting impatiently for me to be ready.

"Hurry up, Kathie, we're gonna be late!"

That was probably a bigger problem for her than for me; I could see why she was so worried. Our first class of the day, which was the same for both of us, was in English. That's always been fairly easy for me, but Jo, while she's wonderful in anything math-related, has never been a great English student. She likes reading, but absolutely hates to write. Funny how she got to be my best friend.

I got dressed as fast as I could, fed my cat Tigger, grabbed my stuff, then ran out to the car to join Jo, managing not to trip over the cat as he rubbed against my legs, purring.

"I'm driving," Joanna told me.

I nodded, and blushed a little. Even though it was MY car we were talking about, Jo wanting to drive was understandable. I have absolutely no sense of direction, and to make matters worse, this was my first year to live in an apartment rather than the dorms at college. Last time I drove the car to school, I got us lost.

I was about to get in the car, when a small, striped blob ran past my leg. "Oh, no! Tig's escaped again!"

Jo rolled her eyes. "Oh, not again! Stupid cat."
Then she got out of the car to help me look for him. To hear Jo talk sometimes, you'd think she hated the cat, but I know she likes him as much as, if not more than, I do.

"Here. I'll go to the right, and you go to the left," Joanna told me. "That way we'll find him faster."

I nodded, and we walked down the sidewalk in opposite directions, calling Tigger's name, prepared to grab him if he didn't answer. Being a cat, he would only come if he felt like it.

"Tigger!" yelled Jo, "get your tail back over here NOW!"

I shook my head. As I said earlier, my roommate likes the cat ... but I've always thought that Jo's a dog person at heart.

Then, I spotted him! Tigger, lying in the grass, about to pounce on some bug or butterfly.

"There you are." I tried to coax him over to my side, but he wouldn't budge.

I took a step toward him.

He backed away, just one step, daring me to come closer.

I took another step toward Tigger.

Again, he backed away, just enough to be out of reach. He stared at me expectantly.

What is with this cat today? I wondered.

Several more times, I moved toward him, and he retreated just beyond my reach ... until we came to a field of grass. Then a chill ran down my spine, and the air shimmered as if there was too much smoke in it. I felt almost afraid to take another step.

Tigger looked at me, a gleam in his eyes.

"Oh, c'mon, Tig," I pleaded. He didn't move a muscle. He kept staring at me, daring me to come and get him.

"All right, cat," I mumbled. I took a step towards him, trying to grab him as I did so. The cat stepped lightly aside, and I fell into the shimmering air ...

All at once, I was floating! I yelped in surprise and screamed for Jo to get help. I continued to fly upwards. Higher and higher I went. What had happened? I had to be dreaming! I pinched myself. It hurt. I wasn't dreaming!

What had happened? It seemed like the laws of physics had been suspended, but they couldn't have been ... had I somehow become lighter than air now? Or had the air turned heavy, like water? How much further upwards would I go? I'd run out of oxygen to breath, sooner or later.

And then my upward flight stopped.

What goes up must come down...

With that thought I came plunging downward. I screamed again, and closed my eyes. I would DIE when I hit the ground! Or would I? People had survived falls from airplanes before, without parachutes. Of course, none of them were in very good shape, but they had lived. I began to pray as I fell, and although I hate to admit it, I cried a little bit, too.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, my fall stopped, and I was lying on a patch of soft grass. A part of me wanted to walk to the nearest hospital to be sure I was really all right.

Another part of me told me I wasn't going to find a hospital, that I wasn't in New York anymore, or anywhere in the USA.

I'm in Middle Earth.

[Lubyla]

"Alright I guess. It was strange, being my first night in and all. What all has happened within the five years, and what is this talk of Lubyla being dead?"

"She was killed five years ago today, by an evil trick of that bird there." He pointed to Linde

"A bird kill the power of the stars? Come now, I am not that stupid!"

"A new power rises, one more powerful than any. I would watch your back, Starletta, Rainmaiden."

"Bite your tounge Andodulin!You have spoken naught but lies ever then I met the TRUE you."Still a bit steamed, Starletta took a seat.
`````````````````````````````````````````````````` ` I walked down a few corridors, down a few fligts of stairs, and outside to the stables. Illali had not been seen for some time now, perhaps four of the five years here. I do miss her. Going over to Rainstorm, I brushed her mane and braided her tail. "Shall we go out for a walk?" She whinnied and I mounted her, bareback as always.

[Silverstripe]

I shuddered as Starletta and Andodulin fought. I sided with Starletta, of course ... but I could also tell there was a degree of truth in Andodulin's statements, and his last one had been completely true.

"Please, friends, do not argue, not today," I said, knowing it was up to me to keep the peace. "The new Writewraiths are coming, and we should all try to give them a good first impression of us.


Hunter, the commander of Calien's army, told her, <The soldiers are in place.> He and Terwell alone knew that Calien had been troubled by visions of the new dark power's rise beginning on the very day the other Writewraiths began to come. They had agreed that the army must be ready for this event.

<Thank you, Hunter.> I continued to chat with my friends and subjects, pretending that nothing was wrong, even though I KNEW that Andodulin, at least, could sense my fear. The bird Linde seemed to know something was
bothering me, too. She stayed even closer than usual to me, and glared at Andodulin all through breakfast.


.................................................

There was a small part of my mind that seemed to remember having been here once before. The other, more logical part of my mind, argued that that was utterly impossible. And why did I think this was Middle Earth? It could be
anywhere, if not on Earth than on some alien planet. After all, there was no sign of elves, hobbits, or dwarves. In fact there was no sign of sentient life anywhere.

I got up and started walking in no particular direction, thinking that wherever I was, I was right to try to find help. Yes, I do know that you're supposed to stay put when you get lost, but this was different. Being out alone in a strange place is dangerous. Especially if don't even know
what PLANET you're on.

I could easily be on some part of Earth, for all I knew. Maybe I was sort of teleported here or something, like on Star Trek, my roommate's favorite TV show.

"Beam me up, Scotty," I muttered.

But it IS Middle Earth, the fanciful part of my mind insisted. Once when I was younger, I came here. Calien the elf went to my world in my place.

At the thought of that, I shivered. The name Calien did sound familiar somehow ... but my being in Middle Earth was impossible, wasn't it? Then again, my getting picked up in midair while following Tigger, then being dropped gently by some unknown force, was also "impossible." And yet it had just happened.

I sighed and kept on walking, hoping I'd run into someone soon ... well, someone other than a serial killer. I had taken martial arts classes, but I was never that good at it, and I wouldn't want to have to try my skills out even if I were.

Please let me find someone who will help me, not harm me.

[Lubyla]

She nodded to Calien and sent a gaze to Andodulin. He seemed to not notice it, but stared at Linde.

``````````````````````````````````````````````````

I rode through the field, wind pulling my hair backed. I had always heard people saying how I looked young, maybe only 15, though I was 18. If I could only smite each one with my blade. I let the thought pass as I saw something stumbling around a bit. I unshethed my blade, and rode of to it.

"Who passes through the kingdom of the countess unknown?" The sword glittered in the sun as I narrowed my eyes.

[Silverstripe]

I watched Linde and Andodulin stare at each other, and wondered, not for the first time, if Lubyla had somehow connected the two of them. Or perhaps it was merely because Linde is so much wiser than any other bird I've seen or heard of.

..................................................

At that, I KNEW I could not be in the USA! Kingdoms! Wait, a Countess was running a kingdom? That didn't make sense.

Alina, I called myself, when I remembered the reality of Middle Earth, the fanciful part of my mind whispered to me.

"My name is Alina ... I mean, my name is Katharine Welsh. I didn't mean to be trespassing or anything. I got here by accident," I said, realizing at once how stupid that sounded.

Then I saw who was questioning me. She was young, could've been any age from early teens to early twenties. And she looked a lot like a girl I'd once met ... Starlight Adams? The exchange student who disappeared at the same time as...

No. Starlight Adams had been missing for five years. She had to be dead, like my childhood best friend Faith. Teenage girls just don't go missing for five years and then suddenly turn up again.

[Lubyla]

I looked at her. "Accident? Tell me traveler, where were you going to just appear here, and where do you come from?" I knew that look in her eyes. She thought me of young.Golly if I had a piece of Mithril every time I heard that.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````
"Tis a nice bird you have there Calien Empress. When did you find her, I am of corse assuming it is a girl."

[Silverstripe]

ooc: Note to other people -- please join.

"I come from New York state, in the USA," I told the woman. "My cat ran off, and I was trying to catch him, and I just ended up here. Yeah, I know it sounds impossible, but that is what happened."

Great going, Kathie, now they're gonna haul you off to an assylum somewhere. Unless ... IS this Middle Earth? The impossible was definitely beginning to seem likely.
..................................................

"Yes, Starletta, Linde is a she. She's been with me for five years, since Lubyla's death." That had become an even more important event since the departure of my friend Faith Lowe, after she had wounded me. "Andodulin thinks that Linde killed Lubyla, but I have always thought that Lubyla sent her as protection."

I didn't say who or what Lubyla would have thought I needed protection from. It was obvious. Since Andodulin was there, I didn't tell Starletta what else was on my mind.

Linde seems to want to protect you, too.

[Lubyla]

"New York, USA. WHAT DEVILRY ARE YOU TRYING TO BRING UPON ME???" I was a bit angry. What kind of a cruel trick could this be? I hopped off of Rainstorm, and sheathed my sword.

[Silverstripe]

Well, his is definitely not plain old Earth, I decided. Sure, a lot of the world seemed to dislike America, but someone who hadn't even HEARD of the USA?

"All right, if you haven't heard of America, just know that I come from a faraway place, on a planet called Earth. And now I'm lost."

The woman had a sword, and a horse; this looked more like a world from fantasy than sci-fi. Could this be Middle Earth after all? I decided to try and find out.

"Have you ever heard of ... um, Calien?"

That did it. At the mention of the name "Calien," the woman...


ooc: Your decision, Star!

..................................................
After breakfast, I took Starletta aside. "It's not just me Linde wants to protect. She's trying to protect you, too ... or warn you. I can sense that, I'm sure of it now."

[Lubyla]

"Aye, is this so. Linde, it sounds almost like Lubyla. The bird is not the one who killed Lubyla, if even she is dead. I believe it is this 'New Power'."

``````````````````````````````````````````````````
"Ah, yes I have heard of Calien, Empress of the Writewraiths. She is one of the nicer people I have met here. Another planet you say?I do not think you would go that far off.How do you know of Calien, if you are not from this world?"

[Silverstripe]

I nodded. "Aye, Starletta, and I've come to believe that it is primarily this New Power that Linde is trying to protect us from, and not Andodulin, as I first thought. I'm sure he did not mean it kindly, but our friend Andodulin did you a service in telling you to watch your back! For you should, Starletta of the Rain. We both should."

..................................................

An Empress?!

"I'm not quite sure where I've heard of Calien," I said, very much relieved that the woman was a friend of "Calien's." I explained how part of my mind thought this was Middle Earth, and remembered being here before, even though I knew it would sound crazy.

When the woman didn't reply right away, I added quickly, "umm ... Middle Earth is..."

"No, I know what Middle Earth is. And you ARE in Middle Earth," said the woman.

See? said the fanciful -- or maybe not so fanciful -- part of my mind. Then I started trusting this intuition, and fully remembered what I had forgotten. I told the woman,

"I think I remember now. My name is Katharine Welsh, and I am the one who once changed places with Calien when she went to my world. This is how I know of her."

[Lubyla]

I smiled a bit, there was nothing wrong with this girl." I see" Was all I had said. I always was a girl of little words.

``````````````````````````````````````````````````

"Begging your pardon empress, but I do not believe that was a friendly warning there. I watchas well as I need." There was something about Andodulin knowing so much about this new power.

[Silverstripe]

"But... I'm still lost," I told the woman, trying to get over the shock of what I had just remembered. "Now I know I'm in Middle Earth, but where in Middle Earth?"

..................................................


"Oh, I know that it was not a friendly warning, Starletta. But it WAS good advice, nonetheless. The New Power will be stronger than any we've seen before, and it will take all our strength to defeat that power. If, indeed, we can." A sort of "edge" crept into my voice as I spoke those words, and I shuddered again.

Oh no! Now I'm beginning to sound like him.

WAS Andodulin starting to influence me to the point that I actually sounded like him? No, it couldn't be. I didn't trust him one bit; I never had. All the same, I reminded myself to try to keep away from him for awhile. I concealed my concern from Starletta, and smiled.

"Don't worry, Starletta of the Rain. With all our Writewraiths together, by using caution, speed, and our combined skills, we WILL suceed if our intentions remain noble."

[Lubyla]

"I do not know exactally where we are in Middle Earth, fr here and the Kingdom of Writewraiths are the only places I have been to."

``````````````````````````````````````````````````
She looked at Calien"You sounded almost like Andodulin for a molment there, and lease, call me but only Starletta."

[Silverstripe]

"Well ... er ... what do you call 'here'?" I asked. "And what's your name?" It looked as though our conversation might last awhile, and I didn't want to keep thinking of my new aquaintance as just "the woman."

..................................................

I winced. Okay, I was DEFINITELY going to have to keep away from Andodulin now!

After a moment's hesitation, I told Starletta,
"I know, Starletta. I know that I sounded like Andodulin just then, and to tell you the truth, that worries me."

How much would I sound like Andodulin if I HAD trusted him? I reminded myself that I never had, and never would. Ever.

[Duddun]

William Bennet sat, attempting to write a column for the school paper. He stood up frustrated and chose to give his dog a walk. As he went out he picked up the paper because the paper boy had just dropped it off. He started strolling down the street. He came to the corner and when he turned it a larger dog was coming their way. He lost grip of the leash. The dog raced off and he followed. Then he dove after the leash, trying to regain control and began floating upward. High upward. He continued to go upwards. He began screaming, "I'm being abducted by Aliens! Help." Panic had overtaken him. Then he began to fall. But something told him he would not die.

ooc: I will finish later. It's a good spot to stop huh?

[Lubyla]

ooc: Yeah! A new person! Goody!

ic:"Excuse my manners, I am Lady Starlight, Maiden of the Rain. Here is__(ooc:Faith, help) We do not get many visitors here."

``````````````````````````````````````````````````
"If you accept my council, we are going to need to steer away from im a bit, and trust him less then you do. I do not feel is is of the right company. He knows too much about this new power, it just doesn't seem right--"

"What doesn't seem right?" Andodulin walked out into the corridor where they stood." Have I missed something?"

Her tone was bitter "Nothing concerning you, Andodulin."

"Right." He turned sharply and left to the courtyard.