Once upon a time... no, wait. That doesn't work. If I say once upon a time
you'll be expecting a fairy tale. With magic and monsters and evil
enchanters and brave warriors on a quest. Well, you'll get that, I suppose.
However, you'll also want true love, and beauteous heroes and repulsive
villains, and you'll probably even want a happy ending. Well, there is
love, although some is truer than others, but beauty and ugliness are in
the eyes of the beholder, and no ending can be happy for everyone. Endings
in themselves are rare enough in tales such as these. So if you turn your
head just right and look out of the corner of your eye you may see a whole
new story unfolding just under the surface of this fairy-tale beginning.
So...
Once upon a time, there was a Ring...
Of course, you already know the tale of the One Ring, or at least you should. You should already know of the Ring's evil and of the brave alliance of beings who sought to bring an end to it. But the tale you have been told is, I believe, a bit different from my own. If you will be better off from having heard this version of events, only time will tell.
My tale is mainly concerned with the events beginning immediately after the Ring's destruction. As you know, before the journey of the Ring began, many peoples of the Elvin race were leaving Middle Earth. However, after the darkness was vanquished this Elvin 'migration' came abruptly to a halt. Instead of fleeing, the Elves hid themselves away in their woodland fortresses, cutting off nearly all contact with the world of men.
I find it strange that so much can be flung into ruin for the sake of preventing a war over such meaningless things as power and control, I find it strange that good lords and ladies of all races and classes can be turned dark by their lust for these things. I find it stranger still when the hearts of some easily undo that which has been done by the wills of many.
We in Higher Earth knew that the war was coming, and we warily watched for the signs of its arrival. But I do believe that none of us other than Fate herself guessed how it would begin...
It was with Men, those who had become the master race of Middle Earth were the first to shed blood merely for hatred of another race. Over time the Elves seclusion caused many fanciful tales to be told of them, likening them to the Gods themselves. The Dwarves, ever sturdy of mind, body, and spirit, wisely dismissed such stories as mere foolishness. They remembered the Elves, with no small amount of annoyance, quite clearly as the ages passed. But they to had become detached from the rest of Middle Earth, and did not bother to tell the Men of the Elvin race, of its flaws and it's triumphs.
So, it was, in their jealousy of the image they had bestowed upon the Elves, the Men who first struck out. They attacked a group of Elves who lived in the mountains by a large town. In retaliation the Elves who survived gathered a small army and destroyed the town and the dwellings surrounding it. This continued for some time, the acts of violence mounting, the Dwarves were involved by a misunderstanding and soon the three great races of Middle Earth were in turmoil.
The final insult to the Elvin kind was the besieging and destruction of peaceful Rivendell, what began as a violent feud became a true war, and the land of Middle Earth, it seemed, was lost to us forever. Until one day, a Fay, reckless and impulsive in her youth, took a risk, a risk that could do more harm than it could do good, a risk that could destroy forever what might only be temporarily broken, a risk that was so stupid, so careless, so foolhardy, that it just might work. It just might be Middle Earth's last hope.
Until I, Cerlindria, tried to make light out of darkness.
You think, as many like you do, that the Ring was destroyed after it was thrown into the fire of Mount Doom. After all, that was as it was supposed to be, but Middle Earth was supposed to be saved from evil as well, but evil can be found in the heart and mind of even the greatest being. It was so with the Ring as well, for it was meant to be destroyed and gone forever from the plains of Middle, Higher, and Lower Earth. But the Gods are overly meddlesome and Fate, it seems, has a twisted sense of humor.
And so it came about that the One Ring was once again placed in the hands of an Innocent, and Fiona Brite was placed in it's tale.
Once upon a time, there was a Ring...
Of course, you already know the tale of the One Ring, or at least you should. You should already know of the Ring's evil and of the brave alliance of beings who sought to bring an end to it. But the tale you have been told is, I believe, a bit different from my own. If you will be better off from having heard this version of events, only time will tell.
My tale is mainly concerned with the events beginning immediately after the Ring's destruction. As you know, before the journey of the Ring began, many peoples of the Elvin race were leaving Middle Earth. However, after the darkness was vanquished this Elvin 'migration' came abruptly to a halt. Instead of fleeing, the Elves hid themselves away in their woodland fortresses, cutting off nearly all contact with the world of men.
I find it strange that so much can be flung into ruin for the sake of preventing a war over such meaningless things as power and control, I find it strange that good lords and ladies of all races and classes can be turned dark by their lust for these things. I find it stranger still when the hearts of some easily undo that which has been done by the wills of many.
We in Higher Earth knew that the war was coming, and we warily watched for the signs of its arrival. But I do believe that none of us other than Fate herself guessed how it would begin...
It was with Men, those who had become the master race of Middle Earth were the first to shed blood merely for hatred of another race. Over time the Elves seclusion caused many fanciful tales to be told of them, likening them to the Gods themselves. The Dwarves, ever sturdy of mind, body, and spirit, wisely dismissed such stories as mere foolishness. They remembered the Elves, with no small amount of annoyance, quite clearly as the ages passed. But they to had become detached from the rest of Middle Earth, and did not bother to tell the Men of the Elvin race, of its flaws and it's triumphs.
So, it was, in their jealousy of the image they had bestowed upon the Elves, the Men who first struck out. They attacked a group of Elves who lived in the mountains by a large town. In retaliation the Elves who survived gathered a small army and destroyed the town and the dwellings surrounding it. This continued for some time, the acts of violence mounting, the Dwarves were involved by a misunderstanding and soon the three great races of Middle Earth were in turmoil.
The final insult to the Elvin kind was the besieging and destruction of peaceful Rivendell, what began as a violent feud became a true war, and the land of Middle Earth, it seemed, was lost to us forever. Until one day, a Fay, reckless and impulsive in her youth, took a risk, a risk that could do more harm than it could do good, a risk that could destroy forever what might only be temporarily broken, a risk that was so stupid, so careless, so foolhardy, that it just might work. It just might be Middle Earth's last hope.
Until I, Cerlindria, tried to make light out of darkness.
You think, as many like you do, that the Ring was destroyed after it was thrown into the fire of Mount Doom. After all, that was as it was supposed to be, but Middle Earth was supposed to be saved from evil as well, but evil can be found in the heart and mind of even the greatest being. It was so with the Ring as well, for it was meant to be destroyed and gone forever from the plains of Middle, Higher, and Lower Earth. But the Gods are overly meddlesome and Fate, it seems, has a twisted sense of humor.
And so it came about that the One Ring was once again placed in the hands of an Innocent, and Fiona Brite was placed in it's tale.