Once upon a time, there was a powerful wizard – Saruman the White they called him. He was a cunning wizard, and even though he had all the power he could ever desire, he craved more.
His greed slowly penetrated his white magic, like vines which easily grow into the crevices of great rocks and undermine their strength; his once unmovable heart became riddled with cracks and thorns.
Saruman slowly became the antithesis to what his fellow wizards adhered to – he became vengeful and used his magic to harm others and create evil. The Eye of Sauron saw this and began to try to manipulate the wizard into his own bidding. But when Saruman discovered that Sauron was using him, Saruman declared Sauron his enemy. Little did he know, that was exactly what Sauron wanted.
Saruman began to devise ways to build an army that would rival Sauron's – he dug deep within the earth to a place where the soil was fetid and molded a great army out of the mud. He made them grotesque, evil creatures, with the strength of the elves and the cruelty of men. These evil beings were called Orcs and their hearts burned with the joy of blood and war. But like any thing that reveled in bloodlust they became near impossible to control and Saruman could not manage all of them on his own. He needed another breed of orc, one with intelligence to rule the weaker minded mass.
But when he tried to create another breed out of the mud, they were all the same weak-minded beings as before. Saruman began to use the other creatures of Middle-earth as test subjects.
Saruman experimented with all kind of creatures – he submitted Ents into many forms of torture to try and warp their minds into evil, he tried to teach trolls knowledge, he captured hobbits and tried to purge them of their happiness and peace, but nothing seemed to work. So, Saruman looked towards mankind, elvenkind, and dwarves to twist into his evil commanders.
Saruman saw that mankind could rule great nations, but could fall easily into greed and were too quick to betray. He saw great loyalty and power in the elves, but their superstition and beliefs in the Valar made them unworthy - Saruman refused to believe in a higher power and fate. Dwarves could be brought into evil, but they were not versatile enough in battle to be of any use. Saruman was at a loss again.
Until, one day, a young woman wandered into the woods surrounding his fortress. She was not like anything Saruman had ever seen before. He knew she wasn't of man – her countenance was far too ethereal, but she could not possibly be of the elven race either, for she lacked their borne grace and awareness. Saruman knew that she was the answer to his dilemma and quickly captured her.
Saruman discovered that she was a half-blood, born from a human woman and an elven father. Because she was of both worlds she had all of the qualities he desired for his scheme and he began to try and groom her for his plans. But this young half-blood was no fool, and she began to realize that Saruman was trying to manipulate her into evil and vied to get away. After foiling her escape, Saruman locked her away and tortured her until she was bleeding and broken, until she could scream no more because he had destroyed her voice with his experiments.
Saruman used his new knowledge of her mind to create his new breed of orc, the Uruk-hai, a breed that was ready to lead his great army.
But, while Saruman was busy bring more Uruk-hai to life, the half-blood slowly healed and pieced together her broken mind. She laid waiting for many months formulating a way to escape.
On the eve of the Fall harvest moon she finally slipped through her restraints, past the sleeping guards and into Fangorn Forest were Saruman never saw her again. In vain he searched for her, and every time he sent out a scout they would never return. At every opportunity she would attack his fortress and steal as many supplies as she could. Saruman could never catch her, no matter how hard he tried.
For ten years she lived in the forest, killing any orc that dared venture into it, gaining knowledge and skill, waiting for the day when she could bring Saruman's fortress to it's knees. But on the tenth year, during the height of summer, she discovered a small band of elves scouting the area for the growing evils that they had sensed from these lands. In vain, she tried to turn the elves away without them knowing of her presence, for Saruman's minions soon captured them.
She quickly realized that it was her destiny to save the elves and return them to their home. She knew that saving them would be the only way to bring the knowledge of the evil in these lands to the outside world. They were her only hope for help.
Although her story does not begin here, it is the beginning of a great journey, one that was meant to me written, but forgotten until now.
She was the catalyst that gave the people of Middle-earth the knowledge to overthrow Saruman and weaken the defenses of Sauron. She was their beacon in the shadows, one whom was never remembered until now.
It all begins with her forest, and her discovery.