AN: Orkish and Black Speech inserts are either so well known that anybody with some knowledge of the ME universe knows them or can be guessed from context. Where neither case applies I will give a translation. Zoop provided me with most of the Orkish/BS vocabulary used in the story.
Dwarrows influenced by Soledad and Valandhir.
Hobbits influenced by Dreamflower02.
Dunedain racism inspired by Leaward.
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Upper Hoarwell Valley, 2981 TA early May
Aravir and Tarkil winced at another female scream. The slavers they were tracking were having their fun. Being able to hear and not being able to do anything to help was soul wrenching for the two Rangers. They could only grit their teeth listening to the raped females' cries. Fifty and fifty five years old, respectively, they were old enough not to throw themselves at the slavers immediately but to bide their time. Yet they were much, much not old enough to bear the situation without having their blood on fire.
While patrolling northern Eriador along the upper reaches of the Hoarwell, to the north of the Trollshaws, they had come across a group of eight to ten slavers – mostly orcs and some men. That had been two days ago. They had followed them and waited for the opportunity to attack and release the three to five slaves, all female, a mix of mannish and dwarrow women. That was their guess as to their number from the cries they heard and the glimpses of the column in the lightly wooded countryside. They were wary to approach too close and never got a good view of the group as to be able to count and identify everybody.
The weather was against them - the overcast days allowed the orcs to move all night and then all day about without much hindrance. They still needed to rest, though. The column made very good time and evidently was heading towards the northern Misty Mountains – between the High Pass and Gundabad - where their slave markets were located. The Rangers felt that the weather was to change soon and waited for their opportunity to come. They expected that tomorrow was to be their day. An unobscured Sun in a cloudless sky should force the orcs to take a longer rest during the day. The sun should also impair their sight and improve the chance of surprise. Hopefully it would not be the manlings on guard when they attacked.
The next day brought the desired weather. They had to circle the slavers camp, however, to stay downwind. This almost brought them out of range of the post march session of tormented female's cries. Almost. The conditions were perfect for the attack. The late morning sun was a pain to look at and they had it at their back. A quite strong wind blew in their noses and made enough rustling and other sounds among the vegetation as to drown out any non-twig snapping noises they might make. They dumped their packs some one hundred yards from the copse in which the column broke for camp and slithered through the grass and bushes towards the densest growth where they expected the orcs to take respite from the sun. They spied the orc sentry sitting on an overturned log and not very observantly gazing in their general direction. Aravir nodded to Tarkil who killed the guard with a shot from his bow.
They crept forward. After they passed the body they could see the camp. Some of the sleeping figures on the ground were evidently male, some female, and several could go either way. They could not cross out the possibility of there being another slaver on guard on the other side of camp but then again, few things ever were perfect. The plan was for Tarkil to stay at the edge of the camp with his bow, while Aravir was to charge in and lay on the enemy with his fell sword Spleenripper. Tarkil's job was to keep watch against "that other guard" and prevent anybody going for Aravir's back. Should any slaver make a move for the females he also was to shoot to kill to prevent any becoming a hostage against them.
Aravir quietly rushed the camp while Tarkil shot two of the prone figures which were evidently orc. They could not rule out that a manling could be a slave too. Even if the arrows would not kill due to awkward angle they would still maim and improve the chances of the Ranger in melee. Aravir decapitated the first sleeping orc before the dying scream of one of Tarkil's victims aroused the rest. He focused on putting the remaining slavers out of action leaving it to Tarkil to shoot any which staggered up again. The sounds of the fighting flushed out the second guard. He charged the stout Ranger from the bushes on the other side of the small clearing and got an arrow for his trouble. This released the elder Ranger from overwatch duty and he sprinted to join the fray. Within moments resistance was over leaving three stunned and wounded opponents. Aravir broke the unwounded arm of one slaver and pegged the arm of another into the ground with a captured sabre. He noted Tarkil similarly incapacitating another.
He then moved towards the multiracial gaggle of women. The younger Ranger cut their bonds with his dagger and moving from one to another made a count - three dwarrodams, a woman and ... an orcess? Bending over her he stopped, not sure whether to slit her rope or throat.
Seeing his hesitation and guessing the cause one of the female dwarrow cried out - "No, no, let her be!".
– "She's one of us!", she added.
Meanwhile Tarkil had finished maiming the two wounded orcs and one man. They were now defenceless. He gathered some knives and waved to get the females' attention – he pointed to the knives, the fire and the bleeding and prone bodies – "all yours ... ".
While cutting the orcess' bonds and listening to the rising screams of the tortured slavers Aravir took a closer look at her. She evidently was terrified of him - her wide open slanted, reddish-brown eyes were darting all over the place. Her fear was quite natural, Aravir thought grimly. Her quickened breath was one gasp after another. Her leather knee length tunic had seen much better days and was ripped and holed in many places. Lanky black hair, sallow or maybe olive skin - the filth made it difficult to say. Mottled - were these bruises? Hands and feet with strong nails, a strong jaw, flattish nose, delicately pointed ears, a wealth of scabbed cuts all over her body and dried blood on her thighs rounded out the picture. Scrawny. Probably half-starved, but what did he know? He had never examined a female orc before. He simply killed and burned them.
"No pieces of metal or bone stuck through her skin anywhere", he noted. – "Probably too poor for that", he decided. He straightened himself from the crouch and made a motion showing the orcess that she was free. She startled him by springing up and Aravir instinctively moved the knife to block her attack. But she ducked under Aravir's knife and rushed to the fire. She grabbed a branch and pressed the smouldering end into the Mannish slaver's privates. The scream which joined the howls of the other two slavers could probably be heard at Mount Gundabad.
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Author's Notes, bottom of page edition:
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Some timeline and premises used in story:
Before Time Began: Galadriel and Celeborn are born
Dawn of Time - Elrond, Twins and Arwen are born
Dawn of Time + 1 year - dirt invented
2799 – Dain slays Azog at battle of Azanulbizar
2864 – Aithon born
2911 – Fell Winter
2920 – Thannor son of Aithon born
2926 – Tarkil son of Aithon born
2931 – Aravir and Aragorn born, Arador, Aravir's father, dies
2933 – Arathorn, Aragorn's father and Aravir's brother, dies
2941 – Thorin's Company retakes Erebor; Bolg kills Thorin and dies at hands of Boern
2951 – Inzilbeth born, Aragorn begins 30 years of travel
2966 – Tarkil helps Inzilbeth escape Rohan
2968 – Inzilbeth is adopted by Aravir and accepts offer of marriage from Tarkil
2971 - Ashtuzual born
2981 – fun begins; Ashtuzual saved from slavers by Tarkil and Aravir; 50 y/o Aragorn engaged to c.2700 y/o Arwen "cradle snatcher" Undomiel, finally assumes Chieftainship
To obtain Ashtuzual's HAE (human age equivalent) multiply her calendar age by 1,5.
Gestation:
Depends on race of mother only.
Hobbits - 6 months (26 weeks)
Orcs - 6-7 months (26-30 weeks)
Uruk-hai (Isengard) - 7 and 1/2 month (32 weeks)
Dwarrow - 7 months (30 weeks)
Men - 9 months (38 weeks)
Elves - 12 months (53 weeks)
Languages used:
Hobbits - Westron
Breelanders - Big and Small Folk - Westron; Big Folk - Breelander
Hill Men/Haladin - Haladin
Dunlednings - Dunlander
Dunedain - Sindarin, most Westron; Rangers also Orcish, Dunlander, Haladin
Orcs - Orcish, most Westron (Black Speech is NOT Orcish)
Elves - Sindarin, some Westron
Ruling and trading class, regardless of race, knows at least some Westron
Not all Dunedain, women in the Angle particular, know Westron
Hill Men live in Misty Mountains to the North of Rivendell. Also across northern Eriador. For personal convenience I use the term "Haladin" for them and their language.
Black Speech is spoken in Mordor by part of Sauron's servants and by some Orc aristocracy elsewhere. The average Orc is as likely to know Black Speech as Sindarin.