Chapter 10: The Great War of the East
Rumors soon spread that a powerful Necromancer was in Rhûn and may even be allied with the Nazgûl. Intel starts coming in to the Eastern Alliance that all the Dark Forces were mobilizing for what looked to be a large campaign. Dark Armies consisting of Orcs, Goblins, Ogres, Easterlings and Variags, all lead by the four Nazgûl.
The Sea Elves were the first to engage, as the Fleet of Dark Ships lead by the Pirate King came into the Eastern Sea. The Sea Elves fought valiantly but their ships were outnumbered by the Dark Fleet. The Sea Elves retreated back to the Sanctuary and they were able to hold off the Dark Ships for a time from coming ashore.
The Dwarves last Stronghold was under siege at the Stonefoots' Great Mansion by two large armies. One army came from the north lead by the Wasteland Sorcerer. The other army came from the south lead by The Dreaded. Numerous armies believed to have come from Mordor, set out across Rhûn wiping out a great number of the Acolytes.
The Dark Ships eventually overtook the Sanctuary and began coming ashore. The Sea King becomes separated from his people during the battle and comes head to head with the one called Shadow of the East. Ëararan moved swiftly dispatching the Orcs that where enclosing around him. Alatar and Pallando were too far away to aid the King and where doing all they could to hold back the Horde while the remaining Sea Elves escaped to the South.
Pallando had to hold back Nemirel as they watched Ëararan fight against the Nazgûl. Ëararan was able to defend himself with impressive skill; but even with all of the Kings precision strikes, the Nazgûl and surrounding Orcs were too overwhelming. The escaping Sea Elves stopped when they heard Nemirel yell out to her brother. They all saw as the King gave one last look at Nemirel, then he performed the same heroic move he used so long ago against the Sea Beast, now this time impaling the Nazgûl General thru its chest armor with his sword spear.
Ëararan could no longer be seen as the Orcs over took him. The Blue Wizards and Elves all watched as the Dark General rose removing the King's blade that impaled his chest plate. The Eastern Shores were lost and the Elves retreated towards the dark forest. While on route, the Sea Elves and Wizards rendezvoused with the Great Dwarven Army to make their last stand within the forest. In the event the Eastern Shores were lost; the Wizards knew the Stonefoots' Mansion would be a death trap for the Alliance. The Stonefoots' Mansion had only a scarce guard within it's walls, in hopes the Dark Forces would commit at least half of its army to lay siege to it and buy the Eastern Alliance some time.
While making last minute preparations in the forest, Pallando once again had the same feeling he had after Alatar destroyed Ungoliant; that they were being watched. The Blue Wizards also noticed that the dark forest had changed dramatically since the last time they were there. The forest floor was greener with grass; the large opening with the cave was now covered with vegetables and bright flowers. The dark forest had become a place of incredible beauty.
Alatar and Pallando were standing at the front lines when they saw that their plan had worked and less than half of the Nazgûl's Army had followed them into the forest. The majority of the Dark Army along with the Nazgûl themselves went to the Stonefoots Mansion to lay siege. Standing opposite of the Wizards was what seemed to be a man in black armor wearing a hood; this Dark Captain was leading only a quarter of the Dark Army against them in the Forest.
As the Dark Captain gave the order to charge; movement within the forest could be heard. Groups of beings started to appear on both sides of the Dark Armies' flanks tearing into them. Surprised and caught off guard by these beings attacking them; many of the Orcs, Easterlings and Variags broke rank and retreated from the Forest. Although the Dark Army was still many in number; the number of those with the courage to fight till the end was few. Alatar and Pallando saw in the confusion the perfect opportunity to unleash their weapon.
The Dwarves got the signal and from the cave entrance came the One Horned Cold-drake they captured; now harnessed and controlled by a team of Dwarves. The pale blue Dragon charged forward into the Dark Army crushing Orcs within its jaws and destroying rows of Easterlings and Variags with its powerful tail. With the tide now turned to the Alliance's favor the Elves and Dwarves charged forward.
The fighting did not last long, for the Dark Army suffered a great loss with a lot of them fleeing from the battle. Alatar did end up fighting the hooded Dark Captain one on one; with most of the Dark Armies' numbers retreating, so too eventually did the hooded Captain but not before he told Alatar that he would soon have the heads of the Blue Wizards.
When the fighting ceased; one of the beings approached Alatar and Pallando. In a somewhat slowed speech it said "I am called Fimbrethil and we are the Entwives. We are pleased to return the favor of aid. You helped us by ridding this Forest of that foul demon." Fimbrethil spoke to them about how the Entwives were mostly destroyed, along with their gardens by a Dark Lord at the end of the Second Age. Alatar told of his and Pallando's journey thru that land in the west and was sorrowful to say that is now barren and called the Brown Lands.
Fimbrethil explained how she and the remaining Entwives fled to the East as they were pursued by a force of Orcs. The Orcs hunted the Entwives all the way to the Far East into the Dark Forest trapping them. Suddenly the Great Demon Spider appeared from the Cave devouring the Orcs. The Entwives from that time on took root in the Dark Forest and slept until the Blue Wizards came and rid the Forest of the Demon.
Fimbrethil then looked at Pallando saying she had something for him; handing him Nemirel's Moonstone. Fimbrethil described a shock wave that came thru the forest and the Moonstone falling from the sky. She said when she picked up the Moonstone an image of the Blue Wizards came to her and she knew they would return to the forest again. Pallando and Alatar thanked Fimbrethil and the other Entwives for their aid.
Pallando went looking for Nemirel, but she was nowhere to be found. Now worried, Pallando grips the Moonstone tightly looking into it; concentrating on Nemirel. Pallando then sees a vision of Gôrtoc capturing Nemirel during the fighting and taking her away; then the visions suddenly go dark. Alatar could see Pallando's frustration and he felt grief for his friend.
The siege upon the Stonefoots Mansion was quickly ended once the four Nazgûl realized the deception. Before they could reorganized their attack, the Nazgûl seemed to have been called away from their commands; as they were last seen riding west together. Pallando using his map indicated that if the Nazgûl stayed true to their path they would be riding straight for Mordor. The Nazgûl's armies and commanders also left; most boarded the Dark Ships and departed setting sail to the south and then to the west. Later on it is learned that the Gondorian City of Minas Ithil fell to Nine Nazgûl and was now called Minas Morgul.
With the dwindled number of Acolytes; Rhûn was now more vulnerable to attacks from the Easterlings, Variags and to a lesser degree of coordination from the Orcs. Alatar and Pallando with the remaining Eastern Alliance defended the Far East for many years against the ever present and seemingly endless Darkness. Pallando never gave up the search for any clues on the whereabouts of Nemirel. Even finding clues on the location of Gôrtoc lead to dead ends; as he too seemed to have disappeared. Although the Moonstone comforted Pallando with the sense of Nemirel being alive; it only showed darkness when ever he used it for locating her.
During the War of Dwarves and Orcs; the Stonefoots, Blacklocks, Ironfists and Stiffbeards answered the call to arms from the King of the Longbeards. With most of the Dwarven Armies gone to the West, the Eastern Alliance was now at its weakest. Alatar and Pallando traveled to the Southern Shores to watch for a patrol of Dark Ships they heard rumored to be in the South Sea.