* Prologue *
The world has changed again.
I can feel it in the water…
I sense it in the earth…
I smell it in the air…
Much that once was is…lost.
For now none live who could remember it…
Darkness crept back into the forests of the world. Rumours grow of a Shadow in the South, whispers of a nameless fear, the doom of men… But how could this be? The One Ring was destroyed and the Dark Lord Sauron defeated thousand of years ago…
But not Evil…No. For as long as Good walks upon the Earth, Evil will always hide in the Shadow.
Waiting…
And it knows its time has come again…
One by one, the Evil forces crushed the Kings of men. One by one the Great Cities fell into the Shadow, all hope lost of ever finding the light again, for now none live upon Middle-Earth that could help them…
The Dwarf Lords away in their mountains, digging and seeking riches feared the war that was above them, so they built tunnels and caves where their people could hide and wait for the end of those dark days. They care about themselves only. The years have taught them…nothing.
The Hobbits are still living in the Shire; small lives for even smaller spirits. They sense the danger, but --in their own words—are too little to do anything, to help anyone. At night though, they tell their children bedtime stories of a brave Hobbit and his three companions that defeat the great Dark Lord. As it seems, History became legend and legend became myth…
And the Elves…They left the forests two thousand years ago heading to the shores of Middle-Earth. Their time had come and the Undying Lands called for them. They had chosen to be with the Valar in Aman, leaving the Earth in the hands of men. They slowly sailed to the West, leaving behind the land they so cherished.
But there were some that stayed behind, a few that were unwilling to leave Middle-Earth at the mercy of men and their cruelty and ambition. For they knew that men desired just one thing: Power.
So the last refuge of the Elvish people stood at Rivendell. Ever watching and ever listening they were the first to sense the new threat. And time will soon come when elves will shape the fortune of all…