Prologue: Osgiliath
When Numenoreans come of age they chose their class.
They can be stealthy Burglars, that can sneak past their foes, easily spying on all potential adversaries.
They can be noble Captains, leaders of Men, leading their soldiers to victory.
They could be mighty Champions, warriors who can fight many foes, heroes of the West.
They might pick to be great Guardians, soldiers who can stand up to any foe, defenders of the West.
They can also be one of mysterious Rangers, hunters who can dispatch their enemies from afar, the bane of evil.
A Numenorean might also chose to be a proud Minstrel, a bard whose songs and tells inspire their allies to great deeds.
They might also deem to be a wise Lore master, an ally of nature, a mighty wizard whom all foes fear.
But this is not the story of Numenoreans, as their age has passed, but rather the story of one of their descendants, a man named Barothorn.
Barothorn's father, Aramir, was a great Captain, the leader of the Gondorian forces guarding Osgiliath.
On the day that Barothorn came of age, the brother's who were his father's immediate commanders came to Osgiliath.
It was an honor to have Boromir and Faramir at the celebration of his coming of age.
Barothorn was torn between which class to pick: A Ranger, like his father's kin, the Dunedain, or Captain, like his father.
As Barothorn strode to his father, to ask his opinion, an arrow flew past his father's face.
No! It came from Faramir, a Ranger. Was it possible Faramir believed his father was a traitor?
Then he noticed, Faramir was signaling to him to turn around.
As he did he saw a great host of orcs.
When his father blew his great war-horn, all the Gondorian men turned as one, and charged towards the enemy.
Knowing his father wouldn't allow him to fight the orcs in hand-to-hand combat, Barothorn picked up a bow, and along with Faramir, shot into the mob of orcs.
Horns sounded, arrows flew, swords clanged on swords, shield shattered, when finally, the mob of orcs dissipated.
Victory! As Barothorn raised his bow triumphantly, he saw, this was not a victory.
Again the men charged into battle, this time with Haradrim, traitors to Mankind, allies of Sauron.
Again horns sounded, men screamed, arrows flew everywhere, and then came the shadow.
A mighty shriek erupted from a rider cloaked in black.
The Haradrim charged again, with another group of orcs, the men of Gondor were fleeing.
Barothorn ran to find his father, and when he did he saw him surrounded by orcs, but his father had a last contingent of his men, including his friend, Baruk, a mighty Champion.
It would be a hard fight, but between his father, Baruk, the soldiers, and his own bow, Barothorn was confidant they could overcome the orcs and escape to fight another day.
Many orcs fell, more came, a couple soldiers fell. Then Barothorn noticed a shift, Baruk seemed to be absorbed by the waves of orcs along with his father.
Barothorn shot arrows into the mass of orcs, without seeming to diminish their number.
Then soldiers began to fall once again first one, then another, two, three, five, eight, too many to count.
Barothorn ran to fall alongside his friends, avenging them while he did. But he never got there, he stumbled into darkness.
When he awoke, saw Faramir, Boromir, and a Ranger.
They told him that when he had stumbled, he fell in the river and they had pulled him out.
They were trying to find the last surviving soldiers. They ventured out of the crumbling building.
Barothorn noticed some movement, across the river his father was running, behind him Baruk, and then foul orcs.
Barothorn ran ahead of his rescuers, and then he noticed that when the orcs reached the bridge, his father stopped and jumped in the river.
Barothorn ran to rescue him when he noticed two things, his father had been stabbed in the back, and Baruk was being paid by the orcs.
Baruk had betrayed his father!
When Barothorn had returned to his group and recounted what had happened, Faramir told him that they had seen Baruk.
He had told them that before he was separated from Aramir, Aramir had told him to visit his cousin, but Baruk didn't know where the cousin was, and believing his story, Faramir had told that in Archet he would find Amdir, Aramir's cousin.
Knowing that Baruk was going to Archet to find Amdir, Barothorn set off to track him down before he could kill anymore of his family…