Disclaimer: I do not own anything the great Tolkien wrote(obviously).
The times of old were long past. The Third Age, the fading time of the Elves, was finally drawing to a close. With the most dire hour at hand,the One Ring was cast into the chasms of Mount Doom. At the precise moment the Ring was enveloped in the flaming depths, the power no longer contained by it created an invisible shockwave of energy. In the same instant, the other nineteen rings were alsorendered powerless. The resulting energy release of immense proportions caused rupturing to occur in the very fabric of space and time itself. The power then inverted, rushing towards the place in which it was first harnessed. It would have brought destruction down upon Middle Earth, into the Elvish havens and the White City. However, the Valar stepped in and absorbed the greater amount of the energy. What they could not absorb they focused towards the rifts, causing the very power that had pierced the folds of the universe to heal the damage.
While most of the ruptures healed swiftly, two lingered. They were the result of the most powerful rings, portals connecting their realm and ours. One was of the Elven rings. Located in a thick grove of trees near Mithlond, the nature of this portal was as an open door; one could enter the other place from either side, and return just as easily. In the instant between realms, it appeared as a White Bridge, shining and benevolent. This rift was entered only once, by an aspiring author who came upon it while hiking through a dense forest near Oxford, England. After some months sojourn the writer left, and the portal healed a few weeks later.
The other portal was of the One Ring. The nature of this rupture was as a one-way door on either side. In other words, one could travel through it to the other realm, but once one was there, any knowledge of it's location with intent of returning disappeared from memory. The image of this portal was that of a Black Stream, fetid and malicious.
This is the tale of the beings whose fate became intertwined with this dark rift......
