Fangorn Forest

Faradin looked around at the scene and then starting pacing and thinking aloud. He found it helpful in situations like this.

"Elves and orcs. There are many more dead orcs so their forces had to be the greater. But what would bring them this deep into Fangorn? They consider the deep forest as deadly to them as Lorien is.

"Survivors!" he exclaimed loudly and heads, both elven and entish snapped up around the clearing. "There have to be survivors somewhere."

Findaluin raced deeper and deeper into the forest not caring where he ended up. All his men had died including some of his greatest friends. All this time he had been carrying his cloak and helmet, he put them on, and lept up into the tree. He had a feeling there were people after him.

Unvar looked down, surveying the battlefield. It had been tidied up a bit since happening, but not well enough to avoid showing that some quick and brutal fighting had taken place here.

"What's the report?"

"There were a few elvish survivors, but it was most definitely an orcish victory. The elves were on horseback and fled into the woods, pursued by orcs."

"I see. Then we will pursue them there. Get the men ready to move."

"Yes, sir."

As the force was gathered from its various positions on the battlefield, Unvar walked over to the edge of the forest. "Where have you concealed my prey?" he asked it quietly, shaking his head.

A branch quivered. Unvar felt the unpleasant feeling of someone being watched, but unable to detect the person who's watching. He scanned the trees carefully. No. There was no one there. He must have been mistaken. He turned to go. But just as he did, another movement caught his attention. No, there was no one there. It was just the same old tree that he'd seen earlier, leaned over towards another tree. Then, Unvar froze. A moment ago, the tree had been a couple feet closer. And come to think of it, it hadn't been leaning either. Unvar stared piercingly at the tree. Now, he could see what almost looked like two eyes. Unvar's eyes traveled down the tree, and now he could discern that the tree actually seemed to have a body. An old, gnarled, wooden body, but it resembled a human one in several characteristics. There was the nose, eyes, mouth, a pair of arms . . .

Unvar stepped back. It was a living tree. And now that he looked more closely, he could see three of these trees, among the normal ones. Unvar walked back to his men.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Very well." Then, in a quieter voice, he informed his men of the presence of the living trees. "So be careful. Try not to do anything that will alert their suspicion. I'd hate to have to find out what kind of combat skills those things have.
"All right. Let's go."

"At least one, possibly more of these elves must have survived the attack," Faradin said excitedly.

One of the ents stepped forward. "We have found one helmet among the dead which has no owner."

"One helmet too many," Faradin said. "No one in the thick of battle would take a helmet from the field and bring it with them. That metal cap came off a head. And that person must be still alive in the forest somewhere."

"One more thing," the ent rumbled on. "The helmet was of a fancier, or more ornate type than the others. Possibly from a higher in rank person. None of the dead bodies appear to have been high in rank. It may be that it's their captain who is still alive."

"Quite likely," Narsh nodded.

Suddenly, Faradin stiffened, and leapt sideways into the bushes.

A half second later, Unvar stepped into the clearing. The reaction was immediate, weapons were drawn and eyes quickly glanced around. They were surrounded on all sides by armed corsairs.

Unvar regarded them with interest. Then, when he saw their weapons, a hint of amusement entered his face.

"My greetings to you," Unvar said. "Might I have your names, and reasons for being here? I mean you no harm."

Dania raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Then what is your reason for having us surrounded with armed men?"

Unvar smiled coldly at the impudent elvish girl. "Perhaps I should amend my statement. I mean you no harm, as yet." He glanced around the Entmoot. "An interesting place you have here. Perhaps we should sit down, and all of us can discuss our reasons for being here."

Faradin watched from the woods quietly. This man was a Corsair, perhaps even descended from the Black Numenorians(spelling). He may be telling the truth but Faradin did not trust him.

He slowly drew an arrow from it's quiver and fitted it to his bowstring, if he intended treachery he would be the first one to die.*



*I'm not trying to be antogonistic, but this would be a descendent of Numenor's natural reaction to someone from Umbar. And I have absolutely no intention of shooting that arrow, or killing anyone's character off. At least not this early, especially when that character isn't evil.

*No problem. Hey, it was quite a surprise for me having you write just a moment ago. If you check the dates, you'll see I'd just written when your message popped up, and was sending a post into the Fangorn Discussion. Quite a surprise.
I have no comment yet on what's happening in Fangorn, because I have to have someone who's actually doing Unvar's conversation.*

Mal considered slipping into the shadows when the corsairs approached, but having already met with suspicion for his silent motions, decided against it. With a grand bow and a sweep of his broad brimmed hat, he said to Unvar, "Greetings, good sir. My name is Malagar D'Orthand - though I prefer to be called simply Mal. And as for my reason for being here, why, that is quite simple. I am here, in this forest, because I am new to this region of the world, and foudn myself a bit lost. I am here, in this section of the world, looking for some lost property of mine."

Obviously a lie. In Fangorn, in the place where a battle had just taken place, and right in the Unvar's path. Unvar looked again at the elves. He had thought that they were more likely to give information than their scarlet clad companion. They were quite possibly even a part of Fingaluin's company. What other reason would there be for elves to be in Fangorn, a forest far away from much and unimportant to many. Unvar glanced back to Malagar, if that really was his name. But he obviously had something to hide as well. This could get interesting.

"Very well." He looked back at the elves. "And you are?"


*By the way, I don't see how Mal could slip out from the center of a band of armed men without them noticing. I don't think that wizards could even do that. Otherwise there would have been many occasions when Gandalf would have used this skill*

*sorry it has taken me so long to post again, I have been away*

Sitting in his tree, Findaluin noticed they were rather thick and close together branches. So he decided to climb through the branches back to where the battle was to reclaim a few items he no longer had on him like his shield and helmet. Climbing through the trees branches was a rather slow and tedious job. But as he neared the battle scene he hear people conversing, so he dropped out of the tree to the concealment of the bushes. He crept forward very slowly to the edge of the clearing and eavesdropped on the conversation.

Narsh glanced at Dania, who was looking closely at the stranger. She looked back at him and shrugged. It could do no harm to tell. They couldn't have easily gotten this deep into the forest anyway without learning of the ents existence.

"We traveled to this place to tell the ents of a danger which has come to their country. Men have come and have been invading areas that long were kept hidden, and have been trespassing in areas that long were kept apart. We were sent to warn them."

"Ents?" Unvar asked. Then understanding filled his face and he glanced up with a smile to his lieutenant. "Ah, our tree friends."

A slight rustle of branches caught his attention momentarily and he glanced past the two elves, focusing on the bushes at the edge of the clearing. His eyes quickly looked back to the elves.

"Interesting," he said, leaning forward. "And why is Findaluin interested in the ents?"

* * *

Findaluin was having trouble hearing the conversation. The guard force which encircled the people kept him from getting to close, although his half elven ears still could hear a good deal better than most people. The mention of his own name caught him by surprise. Had they been sent to look for him? But by the looks of the men, he doubted that they could have friendly intentions. He'd never heard of Dul Amroth getting involved with people of this sort.

Findaluin pulled himself a little closer, straining to hear better.

* * *

Narsh and Dania exchanged glances of puzzlement. "Who is Findaluin?" Narsh ventured.

Unvar's expression hardened. "Don't trouble with denying it. You two are the survivors of this orc attack. But where is your commander?"

He rose to his feet and began to circle them. "I already know what your mission is. Your patrol across the edge of Fangorn. Quite unfortunate that the orcs happened across your path." He looked at them fiercely. "Although perhaps it is fortunate. It is just, at the very least."

* * *

What was the corsair talking about? From the blank expressions on the faces of Dania, Narsh, and Malagar, they had as little idea as he did.

Faradin still held his bow at ready, but now he was beginning feel a little curious as well.

* * *

"But tell me something," Unvar continued, "Who is your real master. I know that Findaluin isn't really the one. Who is it who is higher up? The one who really has the strength and ability to use it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about . . ." Narsh began.

"Don't lie to me!" Unvar roared, seizing Narsh by the throat and slamming him against the ground.

* * *

Faradin pulled the arrow string taut, arrow aimed for Unvar's heart.

* * *

Fingaluin strained his ears to hear what was being said.

* * *

Unvar yanked Narsh's face up and hissed into his ear through gritted teeth. "I'm going to release the three of you. Go, and tell your master that he has three days." His voice rose to a roar. "And if it is not returned within that amount of time, I swear that I'll never rest until I have killed him!"

*Hmm, It seems I've missed quite a bit of action..*

Dania glared at this strange warrior as he threw Narsh roughly to the ground again, the leather gauntlet on her hand taut as she gripped the handle of her dagger. It took only one glance to see that Narsh was ok, though he was rubbing his bruised neck rather ruefully.
"Your quarrel is not with us," Dania spoke above the chuckles of the ring of guards. "Narsh and I are independant, we work for no one lord or master. That we have been caught up in this battle was by accident, we heard the sounds of fighting and came to see if anything could be done. The Ents are peaceful, and enemies of no one, should they have been under attack we would have aided them."
Unvar sneered. "Liar!" he hissed. "You know very well what I am talking about. Had I the time, I would punish you for your insolence. But be sure to do as I said, three days. That is all. Your master knows what I mean."

Unvar took a deep breath. He was still angry, but now it was mainly at himself for his abrupt loss of control. Perhaps he had gone too far with this whole thing. He looked back at the elves again. There were two expressions on their faces, puzzlement and anger. The anger most especially coming from the elvish girl. She certainly had a strong spirit to resist. He supposed that was what had sparked him. He had had this pent up for a long time, waiting to explode on his victim. But he'd let it out at the wrong time. And now that he looked again, perhaps on the wrong people as well. There was still a distinct possibility that they weren't linked to Findaluin at all.

Think again, Unvar. It could still be that this entire thing is just a sham of Saruman's. If so, it was dreadfully out of character with the wizards. And Saruman was the leader of them. Still, there was something else behind all of this. Unvar almost felt . . . used.

He saw the elves were still looking at him.

"You may go," he said as he retreated back towards the main part of his host. "Your messenger will find me either at the original battlefield," he thought for a moment, "Or at Isengard. Come, men," he said, starting to move away. "By the way," he called over his shoulder as the elves turned to go. "You show promise, elf girl. It was through spirit very much like your own that I rose to the position I currently own."

Isengard, thought Findaluin, why would Saruman being looking for me? I have done no wrong, and why has he linked up with a person like this Unvar? It makes no sense, I think Saruman is up to something. Not only that, but he has changed, to send some one as rageful as this is not very wise.

And with that, Fin took off into the trees again but was tackled at the knees by a someone hiding in the trees with a bow. Fin was quick to jump to his feet and unsheath his gleaming long sword with studded gems of red and green in the black handle.

Faradin put his hand to his sword hilt, but resisted the urge to draw it.

"You are the one that man seeks are you not?"

He saw the muscles in Findaluin's body tense and spoke quickly before he could do anything rash, "I have no intention of turning you over to him. I am a Ranger of the North, you should know we bear no love for the Corsairs. But perhaps you should tell us your story."

Taking a chance he turned his back and walked back to the clearing.

The traveler stood next to the captain of the ship
It was strange for the captain cause it was the first time in mileniun that he actualy take the sea. And he never could have though that he would see the middle earth again.

The traveler breath deaply the fresh air.It's been too long since the last time she'd been on the sea.when was it 2000, 3000, well she had long time ago stop trying to keep tract of the time. It took her that much time to convince Ingwe and Manwe to let her go. And now that she left Aman she already miss the glory of the valar, but seeing again the middle earth was worth almost anything.

She wasn't on a touristic trip, far from it, she was to investigate few strange happening that weren't report by the Istari. Of course at first no question were ask but as the time pass the need for someone else become urgent.

And their she was a proud elven lady born at the very begining of the first age, going by the name of Syntia for this trip. It would be nice to feal the middle earth again.

Findaluin followed after Faradin calmly and continued past him to where his helmet sat. He picked it up, put it on, and then bolted back into the forest heading north.

The trio were quick to follow after him but soon lost site lost site of him. They stopped for a while to ponder over where Findaluin could of gone.

High up in a tree Findaluin was perched, daring only to breath, but nothing more. Then, when he was sure that his pursuers had ran past this tree and further he came back down and headed off west.

Night fell like a dark shadow across Fangorn Forest, bringing slumber to the eyes of those who toiled within. Unvar paced his tent, his face an image of both anxiety and impatience. He had laid down all his cards, but now he was simply waiting for his enemy to act next. It had turned out that normally the reason he succeeded wherever he put in effort was because of swift movement and hard cunning. First came the making of the plan, and next he hit his enemy as hard and as swiftly as possible, preferably in a dozen different places at once.

The tent flap opened and two people entered.

"Slythre and Ogravigan, I have a new mission for you both."

The figures remained motionless.

"There are two elves in the forest. But it is not them who I desire you to find."

"You already set your hounds on them?" Slythre asked in her low, quiet voice.

Unvar winced. "Yes, those I sent were both capable and relatively experienced. However I'm afraid that's not going to be enough."

"What is it that you want us to do?" asked Ogravigan.

"Someone was watching our conversation in the forest. I'd like you to find out who it was and bring him back to me."

Unvar turned to Slythre. "And I'd like you to find and bring to me a man named Malagar. Or at least that is what he called himself. He's handsome, athletic, and clad in red, although that might have been altered by now. He lied to me at our meeting. Can you find him?"

She nodded silently. "What has he to do with this business?"

"He lied to me, and also . . ." he hesitated. "I believe he might be in league with Saruman. Possibly sent out to monitor the others. Find out about him."

"Yes, my Lord," she said, bowing her head. She wrapped her cloak around herself and slipped out the tent flap.

"Ogravigan, I believe that this watcher is in league with either Saruman or Findaluin. Finding him will help me either way. I know that with your magically enhanced sight, you can spy on people from great distances, and even see through objects."

"Only if I try really hard. It's difficult."

"But it will give you an advantage in your search. That is why I send you and not any other. Go, and do not fail me."

"My lord," he bowed and exited.

As the halfelf was discovered, and then fled into the forest, Malagar watched in amusement. In the confusion as the others chased after the halfelf - obviously the one called Findaluin, thought Mal - he took advantage of the moment to slip away from the elves and ranger, and think over these developments.

Once he deemed himself far enough from the others, who had problably yet to notice his absence in the chaos, he willed his clothes back to black, and as he settled down upon a log, he raked one hand through his long dark hair.
"Why must the simplest things be so difficult?" he rhetorically asked the air. He had hoped it would be simple, and he would arrive right at some long forgotten treasure trove, and could reclaim some of his lost items, and lost power. But, instead, he found himself in a forest, amidst fighting and wrapped up already in the intrigues of others.

"I am getting too old for this," he groaned, and conjectured on another piece of information - the name Isengard. Where he was he still did not know very well, but he did know the name of Isengard - he had very carefully checked what powerful beings still resided in Middle Earth, and the Istari where among them, so he knew a bit on Saruman, the head of the White Council. If his treasure was held by HIM... that would prove slightly tricky. Still, Mal never doubted he could retrieve it - but he was anxious, and not in the mood for challenges, as he had been in ages past.

Suddenly Mal became aware of an approaching figure. Though earlier he had been distracted - and he was still disgusted with himself for the ranger getting the better of him - he actively sent his senses out now, and felt the form silently moving through the trees a couple yards behind him. He felt like applauding her, for she moved with stealth a cat might envy, and had something about her that even blurred her in the way he looked upon her. Still, he left his physical body in a normal position, acting as though unaware of her - as most any mortal would be - and leaned back, stretching, and then affecting a start of surprise as a dagger appeared under his chin.

Remaining calm, but adding a slight tremor to creep into his voice, he said, "Can I help you?"

"Indeed," came the soft response, "My lord Unvar wishes to enjoy your company for a bit."

"Well, let none say Malagar D'Orthand would ever refuse the hospitality of a generous host," he responded, holding his hands out wide to show he was unarmed.

The dagger drew up, and gestured for him to rise, and he complied, slowly rising off the log, and turning to see a slim figure, with a cloak that the eyes refused to focus upon, and long dark hair bound behind her. "Come with me, her low voice said, and Mal went before her to the camp of Unvar, wondering what had gotten him already tied up in other people's problems so soon...

The tent flap flipped open and two dark figures entered.

"Ah, Slythre, I see that you've brought our guest," Unvar said as he stepped from the shadows. "Please, take a seat," he said, motioning to a long bench. Unvar sat down on a chair facing him. "Now, Malagar, I'd like to know exactly what your business in this whole affair is. And doubtless you are also interested in why I am here." He leaned forward. "Perhaps it would be best if we both satisfied the other's curiosity. What were you doing in Fangorn? I'm more than just curious, I assure you. Are you working for Saruman?"

Ogravigan slunk through the forest. He glanced around briefly, his keen vision noticing twelve ents mixed in with the other trees. This clearing seemed to have many more of them than most other places. Interesting. I'll have to mention it to Lord Unvar. He glanced around, staring through leaves as if they didn't exist. Ah. Here is what he wanted. He had come very close to the edge of the clearing. The tracks were light, but for Ogravigan they were easy to see. He followed them a short way and then stopped in surprise. They joined with another set of tracks, and then the ground was marked with the obvious telltale marks of a struggle. But neither had died. The tracks both went back towards the clearing, and then sharply separated. The differences in the tracks were slight, but soon Ogravigan had discerned which were those of his quarry. The deepness that the toes had gone in showed that he'd been running.

Ogravigan strained his eyes, staring through the trees and leaves, looking hard in the direction the tracks had gone. Then he looked to the side, stared for a moment, and then smiled. There he was now, moving westward. It would take a while for Ogravigan to catch up. And once he did get close, he'd have to decide how to get close enough without being noticed. He'd probably have to make a long loop around to get in front of him. A very long loop. And then he'd have to be careful not to kill him in his ambush. He didn't think Lord Unvar would be interested in him bringing his quarry in dead.

Ah, if only he had Slythre's agility and quietness. She could have taken this one down with ease. But Ogravigan had years of experience on his side. He quickly moved forward, quickly gaining on his prey.