Chapter XXV

God of Distortions

Saruman spent many hours looking into the Palantír in an attempt to locate Pallando. However, nothing ever came of it. He looked out across the vast and geographically diverse land of Rhûn for his fellow wizard, but he was nowhere to be found. More and more men of the East turned to follow the will of Sauron and built dark temples dedicated to him. Lights were turned out, and all the land turned dark in honor of the Lord of Mordor.

Not knowing what else to do, he used the Orthanc Stone to cast his gaze West to seek Melian's help.

"I've searched and searched, but I cannot find Pallando," said Saruman. "I refuse to believe that he is forever lost, but I don't know what to do."

"The land of Rhûn is growing dark," said Melian. "As more men follow Sauron, more and more lightless temples spring up. There are shadows and black magic everywhere that can block the vision of the Palantír. I think that's the reason you cannot see him. The vision of the Palantíri can see through all physical obstacles, but is obstructed by darkness. You cannot see where there is no light. If Pallando is held captive deep within some dark cell, then the Palantír will not be of much help. So, I would advise you to go there personally and seek him out with Alatar."

Heeding his sister's advice, Saruman set out on the long journey to Rhûn. He passed over the vast plains of Rohan, the great river Anduin, and the realm of Gondor and its eastern provinces until he at last came to Rhûn. To the south lay Mordor, and the areas closest to the Dark Land were quite hot and dry. To the north, the country became more mild and pleasant with a diverse geography.

Much to Saruman's dismay, his mission was in the southern area near Mordor, for that was where Rhûn's capital city was located. Within sight of the Ash Mountains lay a grand city of beige stone surrounded by a great many olive tree farms. It was filled with extravagant mansions and towers that indicated vast wealth. Throughout the city, many people had their own personal gardens, many of which had olive trees. However, there were also many black citadels that looked like a great black scar upon the beige city. The north end of the city was on a hill, and at the summit lay the huge palace of the King of Rhûn. Even that beautiful palace was being renovated, slowly being turned into the monstrous black of many of the surrounding buildings. The flags that flew from the towers bore the symbol of the Eye of Sauron.

As Saruman walked through the streets, he marveled at the artful and elaborate architecture of the buildings. The people were strange and exotic to the wizard's eyes, and they wore flamboyant red and yellow colors. However, despite the bright colors that the people wore, the streets were strangely quiet. People walked to their destinations in silence, most of them with their heads bowed. Guards dressed in red and gold colored armor were stationed everywhere, silent and motionless.

Saruman sensed that it would be unwise to openly ask about either of the Blue Wizards lest the worshippers of Sauron learn his purpose, so he tried to think of more subtle questions to ask that might give him clues. Before he could act, however, he was approached by a man clad all in an elegant purple color.

"I take it that you are Saruman the Wise," he said.

"Why do you ask?" questioned Saruman.

"Because I know why you're here, and I can help you."

"How do you know? Who told you?"

"I don't really want to mention his name in public, but a few months ago he went on a journey to Rivendell to meet with you. He didn't really expect you to come, but I've been keeping an eye out just in case, and here you are. I can take you to him now."

"What is your name?"

"I am Ulfast. Come now. We must be on our way."

Saruman walked with Ulfast through the streets, following him to wherever their destination might be. As they walked, they recieved many strange looks.

"Do they have a problem with us?" asked Saruman.

"It's my clothing. Purple is a very expensive dye and is rarely seen around here."

"You must be a very wealthy man. What is your profession?"

"I'm in the textile industry. My main store is in the northern district of the city, but we have also opened up smaller shops at other locations. One of the newest ones is at Dale, since that city was reestablished after the death of the dragon Smaug. I'm actually hoping to expand into areas further west."

"Feel free to come to Isengard," said Saruman. "We already have a few such businesses there, but I'm far from opposed to new competing merchants."

At last they came to a large textile store. Within were many rows of workers sitting at looms, weaving fabrics of many colors. Completed clothing articles and tapestries were displayed on various shelves. Ulfast led the way up a flight of stairs near the back. They arrived at a large office filled with shelves that held many record books. A blue-robed man with a dark gray beard sat at a desk writing on a piece of parchment. It was Alatar.

"Look who I found," said Ulfast.

Alatar looked up from his work. "Saruman! I didn't think that you would bother to come."

"All my other methods for locating Pallando have been exhausted, so here I am."

"It is good that you have come," said Alatar. "This company was founded many years ago by Ulfast's great-great-great-great grandfather and Pallando. However, after I arrived a few months ago and found Pallando missing, I took his place in the company. We are trying to draw commerce, and, by extension, funding, away from services run by the king and the followers of Sauron. But steps have been taken to regulate the market in favor of our competitors, so profits aren't as high as we would like them to be. However, we can counteract this by convincing other merchants to join us. The king is seeking to stifle free trade and take the benefits of productive people's efforts for himself. He's even had many of my colleagues arrested and put in prison. As a matter of fact, there was a drought not too long ago, and there was a shortage of food, especially olives. A friend of mine worked to improve the city's irrigation systems and farming techniques, which is what saved the city. But the king instead attributed the city's survival to the will of Sauron, and he murdered my friend for claiming otherwise. If the local merchants seek to trade and barter as they please, then they can join us, and then we will move our business and all of our assets to Gondor, thus depriving the Rhûnic king of victims to leech off of. However, we would very much like to find Pallando. He knows the ins and outs of Rhûn and the company much better than I do, and I'm not willing to abandon my friend in a land under Sauron's control."

"It is actually very fortunate that you choose now to come here," said Ulfast. "If Pallando has indeed been taken prisoner, we have had no way of knowing it. The prison is guarded by a great host, so it is impossible to get in to look for him. However, the prison will be emptied tonight. All the captives will be taken to the Shrine of Worship just outside the city to participate in a ritual. This is our chance to find Pallando. If he is among the prisoners, we may find a way to release him and escape."

"So be it," said Saruman. "When shall we begin?"

"We can begin right now if you like," said Alatar. "We can go to the Shrine of Worship immediately and wait for the ritual to begin. Or we can wait until nightfall after the ceremony has begun."

"Are you not worried about being allowed into the Shrine?" asked Saruman.

"Why would we when we have you?" countered Alatar. "I cannot stress enough how lucky we are that you have chosen this very day to come here."

"Then we shall leave immediately," said Saruman. "I will get us into the Shrine of Worship, and then we will figure out what can be done from there."

Ulfast and Alatar agreed. The Blue Wizard retrieved his silver-colored wooden staff and led the way out to the southern side of the city. After traveling along the road a few miles out, they came to a great black tower that Ulfast identified as the Shrine of Worship. It was quite a stout structure lined with huge windows and mighty pillars, and it's entrance was protected by a host of guards. To the south beyond the Shrine were the Ash Mountains, the northern wall of Mordor.

"Well, Saruman," said Ulfast, "do your magic."

They approached the guards who stood in front of the grand entrance, and their captain said, "The Shrine of Worship is prohibited today until preparations for the ceremony are complete, and only those individuals designated by the hierophant may participate. Off with you now."

"We are to take over management of preparations for today's ceremony," said Saruman. "By order of the hierophant."

"Apologies," said the captain as he and the guards stood aside, swayed by the voice of Saruman. "Please, enter. You will be pleased to know that we are on schedule."

"We must make sure of that ourselves," said Saruman. "We do not want to disappoint the hierophant."

Saruman, Alatar, and Ulfast entered and found themselves in an empty room except for a great spiral staircase that led up to the next floor. They ascended the stairs, which terminated in the center of a colossal chamber. Four mighty pillars stood at the south end of the room, and the openings between them led out to a balcony from which the Ash Mountains and Mordor could be seen. At the north end of the room was a lofty dais with a great stone seat on top. A dozen or so men were constructing a huge upright wooden ring between the middle two pillars. The ring was filled with many wooden cells that had door attached to them so that they might be closed.

"What is it you want?" asked one of the men, a supervisor of sorts.

"You are to be relieved of management now," said Saruman. "On the orders of the hierophant, we shall supervise the construction."

"Well, you're a little late for that," said the manager. "We're just about done here. I'm quite insulted to be honest. Does the hierophant really have so little faith in my ability to get this done on time that he sends in replacements before I've even had a chance to tell him what progress we've made?"

"So there is no work left to be done?" asked Saruman.

"That's right," said the manager. "You can inspect it if you like, but I guarantee that not a single negative word can be said of the job we have done. Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way."

"Leave behind your tools, if you will," ordered Saruman. "We will need them to fix any mistakes you have made."

They did as he asked, setting their tools down on a table that stood near the wooden ring. The manager, quite flustered about others doubting his work, led his companions out of the shrine.

"I take it that this hierophant that they speak of is the one who commands this rabble," said Saruman.

"That is correct," said Ulfast. "The position was originally held by the Ringwraith before he left to join the rest of the Nine. Khamûl the Black Easterling he was called. The current hierophant organizes and oversees all of the cult's events, but he usually has one of his lackeys perform the rituals rather than do it himself, the damned coward. He will more than likely be at today's ritual, but dispatching him will be difficult. His personal guards are arguably better trained and equipped than the guards of the king himself, and he always keeps them close. Do you see that seat over there upon that dais? There is one of those at every ritual site, and it is the seat of the hierophant. He always sits there, just watching the ritual's proceedures, surrounded by his guards."

"Then what can we do here?" asked Saruman. "Should we try and disrupt the ceremony? Perhaps free the prisoners?"

"That's what I was thinking," said Ulfast. "They always build these huge wooden rings for ceremonies. Prisoners are locked in those cells and burned alive as sacrifices to Sauron."

"I imagine that more guards than those of the hierophant will be close at hand," said Alatar. "I'm not sure how we are going to do this."

"You seem familiar with these rituals, Ulfast," said Saruman. "Do you know where the guards are usually positioned, besides the hierophant's personal guards?"

"There are two groups of guards," said Ulfast. "One will be positioned at the entrance of the ritual site to keep out anyone who might interfere. The other is positioned near wherever the prisoners end up in order to make sure that they don't escape."

"I know what we should do," said Saruman. "Before the ritual starts, we will need to remove the nails holding the back of the ring in place so that we can easily remove it entirely later. That will allow the prisoners to simply climb down the back of the structure and escape. This can be done without anyone knowing because I assume that the doors on the cells would be closed, therefore obscuring the prisoners as they climb down the back. After that, we will collapse the ring down on top of the guards. The guards who watch over the entrance to the shrine will have to be dealt with as the ritual is taking place so that we may get out safely."

"Ulfast and I can take care of the guards at the entrance," said Alatar. "I suppose that you can take care of the captives."

"Then let's get to work," said Ulfast.

They took the tools that the workers had been using before and set about removing the nails from the back of the ring, but being careful to make sure that the wooden planks didn't fall down on their own. Next, they took a ladder that had been used to aid in the ring's construction and put it at the edge of the balcony, therefore allowing the sacrifices to escape from the temple.

"I will hide behind the ring while I help the captives escape," said Saruman. "How are you two going to get back to the entrance to kill the guards?"

"The ritual begins after nightfall," said Ulfast. "All will be dark, and the only source of light will be the fire that will burn the ring and the sacrifices within. We can slip through the crowds in the shadows."

"And are you prepared to fight?" asked Saruman.

Ulfast reached into the folds of his cloak and pulled out a knife. "Absolutely. It may not look like much, but there's a surprising amount of damage you can do with this."

So the three of them waited there behind the wooden ring. Hours passed, and eventually the sun crept down below the horizon, and thus the night began. After a while, they could hear a great many voices from outside. A crowd of people entered the Shrine of Worship and filled the vast chamber. Saruman peeked through a small opening in the woodwork of the ring to see exactly what was going on, which was difficult due to the nearly complete blackness. Some men were setting a pile of wood at the base of the ring. A group of soldiers dragged in many visibly terrified prisoners and locked them within the cells of the ring, using a ladder to reach the higher cells. The guards remained next to the ring to ensure that nobody would escape. The last people to enter the room were a group of heavily armed and armored soldiers, along with a cloaked and hooded man, who sat down upon the stone seat on top of the dais. Saruman could just barely make out the outline of the man, but he could see the glimmer of a silver ring set with a blue gem on the man's finger.

"That man upon the chair," said Saruman. "Is that the hierophant?"

"Yes," said Ulfast. "If I am not mistaken, there will be no others entering the temple, since he is always the last to arrive."

"Then now is your opportunity," said Saruman. "After you have taken care of the guards outside, come back here, and perhaps we can kill or capture the hierophant if he attempts to escape."

Alatar and Ulfast silently made their way through the crowd, staying in the deepest shadows. Saruman set about removing the wooden planks from the back of the ring, making as little noise as possible. He helped the sacrifices climb down and showed them all out to the balcony, where they could climb down the ladder to safety.

As Saruman did his work, the ritual began. One lavishly dressed man stepped towards the wooden ring and raised his hands in the air.

"Mighty god of the earth! Bountiful lord of our orchards! Accept our sacrifice, and make our blossoms fruit!"

Everyone in the crowd repeated the words, while the hierophant just slouched on his chair, resting his chin upon his hand. The man conducting the ritual was handed a torch by one of the guards, and he proceeded to ignite the ring. Soon, the ring was entirely engulfed in flames, and the crowd began to cheer.

By this point, Saruman had already helped all of the prisoners make their escape. So, he took his staff and struck the burning ring as hard as he could, and the entire structure was blown straight into the guards surrounding it, killing them. The hierophant's reaction to this was to simply straighten his posture, and his guards readied their weapons. Saruman stood atop the remains of the structure.

"Awake, men of Rhûn!" he commanded. "Turn away from your false god and his prophets!"

"Heretic!" cried a man in the crowd. "You will pay for what you have done here tonight! The Dark Lord and God of the Earth will see to it!"

"A god, is he? Hardly! Especially compared to the Valar, who are enthroned in the West, and Eru, the Father of All, who created them. A god has the ability to create and mold his environment in the world to his liking. In that respect, Sauron is limited; impotent. He has only ever stolen and leeched off of the efforts of others. Why, I am more of a god than he will ever be. I created the prosperity of an abandoned fortress and created a great force of arms hardly to be rivaled. All your 'god' can do is take what does not belong to him, not through achievements by his own efforts and of his own virtues, of which he has none. Now away with you! All of you!"

Compelled by Saruman's voice, the followers of Sauron hurried out of the temple, but the hierophant and his guards remained upon the dais. The hierophant held out his hand to one of the guards, and he was handed a rod, which he then threw at Saruman. The rod landed at the wizard's feet, and he picked it up to inspect it. It was a long staff of black wood, and the crown resembled a snake devouring a blue stone. It was the staff of Pallando the Blue.

Alatar and Ulfast returned. Now that all of the other guards had been taken care of, Ulfast took the opportunity to throw his knife at the hierophant. However, he could not see well in the dark, and only managed to graze the hierophant's shoulder. Alatar raised his staff and unleashed a stream of blue energy, but one of the guards leaped in front of the attack, taking the blow for the hierophant. In response, two of the guards grabbed the hierophant by the arms and made for the stairwell, using themselves as human shields. The rest of the guards ran straight at the wizards, fighting with great vigor to cover the hierophant's escape. Ulfast, now unarmed, retreated behind his companions while they dispatched the guards. As soon as the guards were dead, the three of them hurried down the stairs to the entrance chamber, but by the time they got outside the temple, the hierophant and his remaining two guards had mounted horses and were escaping back to the city.

Alatar looked at the second staff that Saruman was holding. "Is that...?"

"Yes," said Saruman. "It seems we were too late. Even if Pallando does still live, it is clear that our enemies have no intention of revealing him. I am afraid that we will no longer receive Pallando's help. I have failed you."

"No," said Ulfast. "We can still carry on. We can still finish our plan to bring the local merchants to Gondor. Rhûn will be deprived of the driving force behind its economy, and we will thus finish Pallando's work for him."

Alatar took the staff of his fellow Blue Wizard from Saruman and fell to his knees. "Go," he said. "Do what you must. We will have to finish this without him."

Disappointed with himself, Saruman left Rhûn and went on the long journey back to Isengard. Once he arrived, he felt compelled to have another look in the Palantír. His gaze was immediately drawn back to the capital of Rhûn, and Sauron's horrid voice pervaded his mind once again.

"Here is something I have wanted to show you."

The vision of the Palantír became warped from what Saruman should have been looking at, and instead he was shown a vision of a small, dark room. Moonlight was shining in through a barred window, illuminating a man in a blue robe curled up against the wall. It was Pallando. Saruman could hear his voice, and he seemed nearly on the verge of tears.

"What do you want?" Pallando demanded to seemingly nobody in particular. "What do you want!?"

The vision dissolved, and Sauron left Saruman with one last message.

"He is distorted."

Author's note: Yeah, I know. My update schedule has become a complete joke. But don't think that I'm ever going to abandon this story. We're in for the long haul here.

Kind of a dark note to end this chapter on. Pallando has been captured in enemy territory and is presumably being tortured, and nobody has any means of finding him. Even I don't know how he's going to get out of that. I've got the plot all planned out for the most part, but for Pallando's story arc, I'm kind of making it up as I go along.

The whole thing with burning people alive in a big wooden thing is obviously based on The Wicker Man, and the things that the guy who conducts the ritual says is based on some quotes from the original 1973 film. I chose to use a giant ring instead of a man because, you know, it's the Lord of the Rings, and the Rings of Power, and all that. It's symbolic or something, and that means this story is smart.

My sister just got her first job, which is good, and I'm happy for her. However, we don't get to hang out together as often as we used to, and that makes me very sad.